⇨ SHABONDAMASHII

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 92 - Day 99
Where: Shabondamashii Bathhouse
What: With the Silver Mirror claimed and the animals of Eden relocated, it's time for the carnival to kick back and enjoy an interdimensional bathhouse and the surrounding festival city. Meanwhile, the scattered shards of the Mirror have an unexpected effect.
Warnings: Dark/Light halves acting weird.

THE BIG CLEANSE↴ As the carnival recovers, the Ringmaster has brought it to the gates of a famous interdimensional bathhouse to rest. She won't be joining you for most of it, though she will be checking in frequently and available by radio. She's fixed a large portion of the Silver Mirror after it shattered, but it seems like pieces are missing. She doesn't want to rest until the missing shards are dealt with, and the Mirror itself is locked away safely. ► YOUR OTHER HALF: The shards missing from the Silver Mirror didn't just disappear - after breaking apart in Eden, fragments of the object embedded themselves in the spirits of those not already touched by its powers, and those that had been the most fae-touched. That means, your characters. The effect of this, explained in more detail on the plotting post, is that some characters will be splitting into two versions of themselves: the Light, and the Dark. This doesn't mean good and evil, of course, it's far more complicated than that. Splits can start happening at any time after arriving in Shabon, and initially characters won't know how to rejoin with their twins. Later on, it will become apparent that they need to reconnect via the shard of the Mirror they share... of course, in order to rejoin, you have to have both halves, and not all twins will be as eager to go back to the way things were before. This plot point is optional. ► SPA DAY: When you're not engaging in metaphysical division, you are free to enjoy the many luxuries that Shabon offers. Things will mostly have an east-Asian bend, like what you would see in the movie Spirited Away, but as long as it doesn't affect the setting much, you can honestly have whatever spa-type services available that you want. Food is served both in restaurants and 'buffet' style. There are also well paid sex workers here, if that is your thing, but make sure to tip well. ► FESTIVAL TOWN: The city surrounding Shabondamashii is largely meant to catch the business of interdimensional tourists. There are frequent parades and other events held, and the architecture is very closely packed. It's easy to get lost if you leave the bathhouse, but it's definitely worth it if you like party. You can pick out a few outfits for yourself and some fun nick nacks, but nothing that would normally require mod approval.

Comments

[periphrasing]

Some magic nonsense. Alright then.

Peridot is so not amused anymore.

"I don't suppose you bothered to tell the Ringmaster about this so-called 'magic nonsense'?" she groans, rubbing her gem. This is supposed to be a relaxing stop! Why are the relaxing stops never actually relaxing!?!

[stompadour]

Jasper freezes, looking guilty. "Well... not yet..."

[whattaprick]

"No thanks," Lambert shrugs. "I don't like being stuck with anything that isn't useful or toilet-trained."

Which might sound harsh, but this Lambert isn't all that interested in mincing words. The pile of fur curled up next to him stirs, and a marbled polecat looks up to blink slowly at Shura.

"You're not going to get any sense out of him, you know," she sighs.

[kingsroads]

He means her tail and her big ol'meaty feet! How's Strange supposed to know if those are gem parts or fleshy parts, magic's stupid and he's never touched them!

The problem with already laying down on the table is that Strange has no idea that Patches is coming and what sort of bizarre massage snakey treatment he might inflict on these two. Instead, Strange just straight up lies down and puts his face in that weird little face pillow area that massage tables have.

"You know what I mean," Strange replies, with a dismissive hand gesture, seemingly unaware that Peridot doesn't know what he means. "Besides, I've got mirror parts. If they can work with those, then they should be able to work with your gem parts."

Fun fact: Strange has no clue if the massage people can work with his mirror parts.

[whattaprick]

Celandine's fur settles a little, the part of her less actively angry at Strange for distressing any part of Lambert winning out. Childermass obviously is worried enough for Lambert, if nothing else, so that mollifies some of her unhappiness a little.

"We can deal with it later," she says firmly, then sighs quietly, "Get some rest ... I can wake you when he wakes up."

Which she does, in a couple of hours, small paws gently shaking him awake by pressing into his shoulder and calling his name softly. That's all the warning he gets before Lambert jerks violently, only to curl in on himself just as quickly with a low curse, shifting on the bed.

"What..." he starts, and then his gaze lands on the person beside him. He goes sickly pale and freezes, hand curling against the bedspread beside him as he swallows.

[periphrasing]

Jasper looking guilty? Jasper... not telling an authority figure about a potential threat???

"I'm going to talk to her," Peridot announces once she manages to pick her jaw back up off of the ground. She turns on her heel to walk away. Sorry Jasper, she wants to be thrilled about your new, more cultured and curious side but this is just way too damn concerning.

[moonfang]

"You don't know, that lamp might be real good people~" he drawls, arms open in a shrugging gesture and a bit of a slur evident now that he's saying more than one syllable at a time. He's still doing better than Lambert and Childermass, at least -- just pleasantly toasty and not three sheets to the wind. He does come closer though, close enough for them to touch.

Which might also be a bad decision.

He looks at Lambert with a frown, "Awwww, you didn't know about my hole? I'm real upset by that, it's real important ta me. Don't touch it though."

The last bit is spoken like a true threat with a decent bit of venom behind it. Then he's back to a lazy smile.

Zangetsu bends down and lets Childermass touch one of his ears, which are covered in downy feathers instead of fur. There's probably ten holes in each ear with a variety of rings and chains and bars between them. "Hehehehehe....! Well you see, I had to show Gon a good time... he was feeling a bit more like a teenager than an old man. I ticked off all the rebellious hellion ticky-boxes with him."

[stompadour]

"Wait--!"

Jasper trots after her.

"Wait, Peridot --" She has to bend down real far to grab Peridot's shoulder, but she does it anyway. "It's not that important. It can wait."

[whattaprick]

"It has," Lambert agrees, though with little apparent concern. "You didn't answer the question."

[hippocarnival]

Yuya pouts. "Well, it's not like it's a good thing." No offense to Lambert personally, this just seems like a crappy result.

"I'm not mad, I know no one's doing it on purpose." But this was supposed to be relaxing, and while nothing's exploded it's still a creppy situation and resulting in some terrible things being said. Done.

"Do you know where the... other you is?"

[whattaprick]

Did Zangetsu ever tell Lambert about his hole before? Hell if he remembers. The threat is completely lost on him, though, as he frowns in consternation at the hole.

"Didn't think he had any," Lambert snorts, and corrects, "And he is a teenager. He's fourteen."

Which makes him snort again, giving him an uncharacteristic fit of the giggles. He's still mopey though, so they're quiet giggles, and he's turning his head and burying his face against Childermass's shoulder to muffle them.

[whattaprick]

"Well, don't keep it to yourself. I'm all ears," Lambert snorts, said ears wiggling pointedly as he looks to the gem. "I'm not a mind-reader."

[atouts]

"No one wants to touch your hole, Zangetsu." God, that's a hard name to pronounce. Childermass ends up slurring on it a bit, idly feeling the feather-covered rabbit ear he's been offered. How do they even stand up with all that metal? And maybe he can nick one via the shadow of his hand when it passes over? Possibly. He's sure going to try and pickpocket an ear through magic if he can, whatever earring is shiniest.

All while carrying on with a snort of laughter at Lambert's own outburst and looking over at the witcher.

"You don't know. Fourteen... why, maybe that's a venerable age for... whatever he is." Then he frowns, brow furrowing a little. "He's not human, isn't he? Wasn't he always a... dog?"

Dogtaur. Dogperson. Dogthing. Gon hadn't looked terribly human even when Childermass first saw him and his appearance has only gone a thousand miles worse at this point.

[whattaprick]

Lambert shrugs. "Somewhere in the city, probably. It doesn't feel like you said losing your soul does," he adds, casually referencing the tidbit of information Yuya shared with Ignatius like it's no big deal, either.

"I don't feel hollow, and it doesn't feel like I'm missing anything. It's just ... better."

[moonfang]

"Yeah, but he never acts like a teenager. He has the soul of an old man. I just showed him a good time, thassall. And had some fun myself!"

There's definitely some sparkly ones in there. Zangetsu doesn't notice when Childermass filches one of the ones with a gem inlaid, but he does notice when the hole immediately seals itself shut, healed over as if it was never pierced in the first place. Zangetsu swats at Childermass's hand and stands back up straight. "Oiiiii! Don't do that!! Now I gotta... now I gotta pierce that place all over again!"

He pouts a bit, but doesn't seem too put out by it.

Back on the subject of Gon, Zangetsu taps his chin thoughtfully, "Ahhh... well, he's been a tree-dog ever since I knew 'im, but he says that back home he's just a normal human kid. I mean. 'Normal'. Fer a kid who speaks like an old samurai..."

[hippocarnival]

"But you are missing things. You're missing parts of you, just like the other you is."

He folds his arms in a stubborn gesture. "I don't know exactly what's going on with this, but I've seen both sides of people being split. It's like--" Like him, like what happened with Zarc with less purification, but he pauses and remembers he hasn't told Lambert the entire story yet. Mostly, that means it'll probably be lost on him.

"... It's like each side got different parts, but neither one is whole." Which Lambert might not like to hear about himself, either, so he immediately follows up. "Why do you think it's better?"

[naturalsakura]

Haruhi takes up her own rings and nods. "Alright, thanks." Well, here's to hoping. Haruhi takes a deep breath before she begins her throwing. She misses more than she does actually manage to land something. She squinted. "Really?" She slouched her shoulders. Totally rigged. "Your turn."

[whattaprick]

"Why are you changing the subject like you think I'm going to get angry?" Lambert counters evenly, that placid ease never lifting. Nonetheless, he doesn't see any reason not to answer, so he'll continue:

"I'm calmer. I'm happier. I can appreciate what I have, and I can focus on the things that are important to me. Don't I deserve that?"

[hippocarnival]

Yuya pauses, his expression shifting to unease as he has the accusation turned back on him. "I didn't mean you don't deserve that... but losing pieces of yourself isn't a good way of doing it. And what about the other you?"

Both Strange and Gongenzaka's more stable halves had been... well, not exactly empathetic about their messier opposites, but they at least recognized the position they were in. They knew they had to come back together, even if those other parts didn't have their best traits, because that's who they were.

[apaintingdarkly]

He has his own very specific interests, one of which is getting what he needs from the fae. Questions like 'how' and 'why' just aren't important.

"I told you I'm an art thief," he explains patiently. "I'm good at what I do. The best. Slipping in and out unseen is too easy, it's boring. So I play with a handicap. I let everybody know exactly what I'm going to steal, and when." He shrugs.

"Every now and then I get an actual challenge."

[apaintingdarkly]

He chuckles at the exclamation.

"Of course it's rigged, it's a carnival game." He takes his own turn and misses the first few tosses. He has a pretty steep learning curve, though, and once he makes one toss he manages to hit the same peg more precisely each throw. He wins a prize with no rings to spare.

When asked, he points out the bunny plush Haruhi wanted. The game attendant hands it to him, and he turns to offer it to Haruhi. Never let it be said that Dark shies away from the cliche.

"Here. For your friend."

[periphrasing]

"Well. First off, it probably demands clarifying that... while we were in Eden, I managed to hone my heat generating abilities to the point where I can now generate an electric discharge from my physical form," she says, taking a moment to look extremely proud of herself. She has her hands up in front of her, wiggling her fingers a little for emphasis.

This is explanation is, of course, a falsehood; there was no honing involved. She figured it out completely by accident.

"So... I'm wondering if there is a way that I can use my newfound abilities to help craft a wearable personal magnetic forcefield generator that would help to repel iron projectiles."

[periphrasing]

Peridot stiffens and cranes her neck to look back at Jasper like she's gone and gotten herself cracked again. "Are you insane? People splitting into two versions of themselves!? This could be a magical threat of incredible proportions!" she argues, trying to jerk her shoulder out of Jasper's grip.

[periphrasing]

Peridot shoots him a look, but he's already laying down so. She gives up and does the same. "Whatever. It's-- what's the human phrase again? No skin off of my nose--? If it doesn't work."

"Regardless of your unique anatomical features, we can guarantee that this massage will be a wholly pleasant and relaxing tactile experience for you both," Patches interjects in a purring voice. "Our snakes are second to none!"

Not that Strange or Peridot can see it, but he is currently fishing a gigantic python out of the basket as he speaks, gesturing for Bryndah to come help.

[stompadour]

Jasper's grip tightens, but her brow furrows anxiously.

"Rrgh..."

She lets go.

"Fine. You're probably right. But let me come with you."