⇨ 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

(returning from hiatus!)

[spaghettimonster]

"I don't know about interested..." Papyrus considers the question like it's a sincere thought, rather than Alphys putting herself down again.

"Janitors are just part of the scenery, when we're doing our jobs right, and I haven't talked about being king very much... Talking about that would take talking about unhappy things, that I don't want to acknowledge. It was kind of awful. I don't think I'll miss it when we go home."

He shakes his head, freshly aware of the crystal crown's weight since he's thinking about it. "So our fae problems are more interesting, and anybody can talk about that with anybody! Even you!"

[fortuneglass]

"Eh? ...I mean, what happened was terrible but..."

She frowns. "...I was one of those scouts. ...I was one of the ones who was followed back..! ...To leave right after something that was possibly my fault..."

Well.

She couldn't.

[fortuneglass]

As always, her guess on what's right to say is right on the money!

(Not that she typically has that kind of luck, there's a reason she's not the one to have talking to others after all)

No one can say no to free things though, and the fact is she's treating them to what amounts to fast food. It's hardly an issue no matter how much they eat!

(She's going to regret those words, perhaps)

"Of course!" Carly cheers, still fighting off a few giggles regarding the 'word'. "Just this way, I'm pretty sure I saw a sit-down stall in this direction..." She's had enough time to explore, but it's still pretty damn easy to get lost in this place...

[betheman]

"Mnh..." He stops briefly- if at least because he doesn't have the will to really not listen, but...

"I... ...Somewhere!" he vaguely replies, fidgeting as he tries to determine a particular path.

He'll probably pick at random, at this point.

[exaomori]

Sorry, Strange, you lost her at physiognomy. Her nose wrinkles as if she just smelled something terrible, and she has to down her cup before she replies.

"I don't understand half of what you're sayin'. If you wanna ask that kinda stuff, you should ask that Four-eyes." Good job, Shura, passing the buck on to Yukio.

[betheman]

"Auh..."

"oh..."

"...In...most cases it is a city in the United States, though..."

While Marishi continues to hem and haw, Gongenzaka tries to continue. "...In this case, it refers to the version of it from an 'Earth' we visited. Fae which had prior interactions with the Ringmaster were there."

"Suffice to say, us going there reminded them that she exists! ...They didn't like that." There's more, but god, if they have to explain all of that in one breath...

[bananaspeedrider]

Most of us try to look out for kids before they look after themselves. You'll see how it is the other way around when you're older.

[But...]

At the same time it's easy to forget that you can tell how we're feeling anyway, which makes it kinda useless eh?

[whattaprick]

Lambert isn't going to have too much to say in return, just obediently (and slightly tipsily) following Carly. Unlike the magician, he doesn't have the option to cheat with drinks, and he ends up hanging off his arm for support most of the way there, feeling cautiously... happy isn't exactly the right word for it. Content, maybe.

[kingsroads]

Strange looks a little confused for a moment. Four-eyes? However, context clues mean that he's able to figure out glasses + someone from her world = Yukio Okumura. He'll make a mental note to bother the shit out of poor Yukio when the time comes.

"I'll keep that in mind. Of course, if you have any questions about myself and my world, please feel free to ask."

At least he realizes that he's just been hammering Shura with a barrage of questions.

[soft_focus]

[Boy that frowning just Continues.] ...Yeah.

[Yeah.] That's not smart either. If you can't look out for yourself, how are you going to look out for someone else first?

[bananaspeedrider]

You make it sound so easy to avoid doing when you break it down like that.

[His voice is bitter on top of what Reira can read from him like an open book being shoved in her face.]

[soft_focus]

I didn't say it was easy, I said it wasn't smart, [she counters, scowling. Don't be so salty, Yuugo,] Lots of things aren't easy.

1/2

[bananaspeedrider]

[Yugo briefly presses his eyes together with his fingers as if staving off a stress-induced headache.

Lots of things aren't easy or handed over, he knows that. But if only he could take everything wrong with himself... and just push it OUT-]

*THUNK*

[And then it's TWO... of Yugo looking incredulously at each other when they sit up from the floor.]

Wha...?!?

2/2

[bananaspeedrider]

THE FUCK?!?!?!

[Wow. Language, other Yugo.]

[soft_focus]

[Uh.

UH.

UH!?!]

...You can turn into TWO people!?

[Yes that's the key bit here.]

[periphrasing]

Hearing the both of them speak-- and interact with each other, no less-- seems to snap Peridot out of it. She shakes her head rapidly and fixes a scowl on them both, finally rising to her feet to experience the extremely rare opportunity of being able to loom over them both while they're sitting in the water.

"No. Nuh-uh," she says, shaking her head in disagreement. "I'm not dealing with this. You two need to fuse back together right now!"

[bananaspeedrider]

[Well one of them looks at Reira with pure disdain at what they're likely percieving as a completely stupid question.

The far less insulted looking one pipes up first.]

This never happened before...! Er... not like this!

[periphrasing]

She listens, a confused frown crossing her face as she tries to picture what Amethyst is talking about. Without even realizing it she's listening for something, anything that she can use to discredit what Amethyst is telling her, any detail that rings illogical enough that she can pick it apart and prove that Amethyst must have misunderstood the situation.

She can't find anything.

"That's-- No. Lapis wouldn't do that," Peridot insists, though it sounds more like she's trying to convince herself than she is Amethyst. "Even if she wanted to, I've always been able to talk her down! I would never just leave with her, that's ridiculous!"

[periphrasing]

Peridot can't say she disagrees with that. She prefers this much more relaxed version of Jasper over the original. But, she also can't just ignore suspicious magical bullshit when it pops up.

Eventually they find the Ringmaster and get an explanation for what's going on. The mirror shards, the division of the light and dark in a single entity into two separate entities. The Rignmaster doesn't have much advice for how to deal with it either, beyond just making sure that neither half gets killed.

As they're marching away from that discussion, Peridot can be heard grumbling: "Typical. Of COURSE The version of you that I actually find tolerable would be the one made up of all the traits that you apparently hate about yourself!"

[periphrasing]

"Yeah, I think I'm going to pass on that," Peridot says to Patches, sitting up now and signaling him to stop as he tries to approach holding yet another python. "I don't really want a wild animal that's larger than I am to be crawling all over me."

She replies to Strange after that: "Anyway, newsflash: The Serpent was mountain sized. She was like, a thousand times bigger than these things."

[soft_focus]

[Uh.] ...what do you mean 'not like this'... Are you talking about the mirrors..?

[Or Zarc??? Whatever.] Um...well...

How do you go back?

[bananaspeedrider]

[The two look back at each other for a moment, both appearing to ponder over the question. Until...]

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Screw you too, I don't need some loser holding me back!"

[Guys...]

[verbaltic]

Hanamaru still doesn't understand everything: Gongenzaka's explanation is slightly helpful, but she's missing a few core terms and a few core backstory details. Still, she's trying her best to understand.

"So we went from fighting vampires to fighting other faeries? That sounds like a handful."

And she can't help but frown slightly as she thinks. How chaotic that must have been! And no wonder so many people have changed since she saw them last!

(returning from hiatus! and omg i hadn't seen a recent image of hinawa before, sheepmom...)

[lmpatientdefense]

It takes a second of squinting at her. That could be curly hair, Beau isn't a shepherd. But the horns stand out, and the legs, all adding up to a partly-animal look that she's realized is a thing with the carnival. And at the moment of recognition, Beau pulls back a little.

"Oh, uh, hey there. You're the f... We've met. Right?" There's no good way to say creepy hugging clone lady, especially not when it takes most of her conversational effort not to start swearing in front of someone so mild-mannered.

[whattaprick]

Lambert doesn't startle at the daemon's shout, though he does give it a curious glance.

"Pretty lively, aren't you?" He asks, though the tone of his voice makes it clear it's more an observation than a question he expects a serious answer to. But to the stall owner's words, he only laughs, shaking his head at Reira.

"It's also about using your head," he tells her. "Look -- when only part of it is wet, it's going to tear more easily because some of it is heavier, right? Dip the whole thing in, it won't break as fast."