⇨ 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

[verbaltic]

Iron weakness does suck. Hanamaru looks super worried as she looks over at Eruka's burn, frowning still.

"Why'd they do that? I don't know what kinda crazy justification you can have for hurting people!"

[exaomori]

Nah, I wanna see what kinda tastes you have!

[ But first, time to eat the other half of her tempura and down the rest of her sake, setting the cup down on the table with a satisfied sigh. ]

[stompadour]

Another curt nod.

"Alright," she says. "Radio me if you need anything."

[betheman]

Hah. Hhahahahhaa.

"Welll..."

"..For the moment at least, it is the time to have a rest from such things- no doubt, we will return to someplace where tracking the 'Beast' is more possible, after this."

Hah

[betheman]

Huh.

Well. "...Dare we ask why?"

[fourthscribe]

That's...definitely not normal. She frowns slightly and sets the bags down before making her way over to him.

"I wouldn't call two hours 'just got back'. Are you feeling alright?"

[reflash]

[He finishes off his cup as well, and eats another piece of tempura.]

How would I know what kind of taste I have? I don't have your years of experience.

[dontpokethat]

"Does it matter?"

He immediately feels a little bad, but what's been said is said - and he's pretty sure he has a point, alright. He rolls his head back to where it was, staring up at the ceiling with his arms crossed.

"I'll live."

Ha.

[exaomori]

Fine, fone~. But don’t regret if it’s too strong.

[But first, they have to finish what’s in front of them. Shura thinks for a moment, then nods. ]

Heh, I know what to do~. Let’s play a game. It’s better with more people, but we can still play it like this.

[ Time to harass the poor server again, this time asking for a few more cups and something small. The server seems to know what she’s asking for, and will return after a minute with the requested items. ]

This is easy! I’m going to hide something under a cup, I’ll move ‘em around, and we’ll take turns trying not to pick the cup that has somethin’ in it. If you pick that cup, you gotta fill up every cup that’s been turned over and drink it.

[amphibiopathic]

"Well," Eruka grimaces. "It was the 'Flame of Inspiration,' so they were using it to give animals all sorts of crazy talents. Like art, and dancing, and all that." She waves her hands, magic nonsense, you know how it is with the Carnival, Hanamaru.

"And I mean ... you're good at singing, Maru, but it was crazy. They were so good at art they could use it to bend reality and stuff!" Or something like that. Possibly the bending reality was not a consequence of the art itself but a precursor to it, but Eruka missed that bit of exposition so Maru's getting her butchered infodump instead.

"But ... it turns out they weren't just giving people inspiration for fun."

[soft_focus]

Well. It doesn't hurt literally, so-

"...ummm....is that supposed to mean I'm stuck?" Because sure, she's stuck then.

[verbaltic]

I can help inspire people or stop their pain when I sing. [ there's a little awkward pause before, ] I can show you if ya want, zura. It really ain't that hard.

and back to nontraumatic drinks

[atouts]

"Alright then, does it make you made of silver instead of glass?" Childermass asks ever so innocently. Polished silver, Silver Mirror, it would make more sense, actually. "Bit of a waste if you are. Steven was bleeding out gems earlier and it's not as though he can sell it all off, either."

[dontpokethat]

"...Yeah." Yeah, actually, he does know, without even taking a moment to think about it as he's pulled along. "I think I know what you mean. If this place is meant to... clear away people's worries, it sure does a good job of it."

Or, you know, just clearing away their ability to worry about shit works too.

[dontpokethat]

"Hmm..." He considers that for a few moments, crossing his arms as he examines the stall's offerings. "Well, you could always start with miso soup; it's mostly broth, so there's not much to stick to begin with. And you wouldn't have to chew."

He's guessing she would appreciate not having to chew, starting out.

[dontpokethat]

Ginko raises his eyebrows and starts to open his mouth to reply that that's probably partly because, with the way things have been going, he's even more reluctant than usual to let himself indulge in alcohol.

But, before he can, Lambert is off, and... ah. Yep. Should've figured.

"Let me guess, you figure we should go ahead and fix that now?"

[verbaltic]

As Eruka waves her hand, Hanamaru nods. Magic nonsense, she's got it. She's learned to roll with weird magic shit happening and everyone treating it as normal. She continues to listen to Eruka's explanation, gasping a little at the idea of being so good at art that they could bend reality.

Even with her singing, she could never be as good as that!

"I take it there was something super bad about them giving everyone inspiration, zura."

[verbaltic]

She can only hope that'll happen. Because the more Hanamaru hears about the Red Beast, the more hopeless this situation seems to be. Relaxation and not thinking too much about this for the moment sounds like a good possibility.

This sounds like a 'talk it over with the Ringmaster' sort of problem anyway.

"Iiiin that case...wanna see if one of these spa rooms is a proper onsen, zura?"

yay for the happy thread

[kingsroads]

"It makes me made of mirrors," Strange pedantically corrects, knowing full well that all mirrors are glass (but not all glass is mirrors so ha, that counts.)

Though the bit about Steven bleeding gems is interesting, to day the least. "Do you know what gems he was bleeding?"

[whattaprick]

It’s hard to say how a split half of Lambert takes all of this, though he listens to it all patiently, with a neutral expression. He lets Reira get it all out at her own pace, neither hurrying her along or slowing her down by asking questions, even if he doesn’t entitely understand. People getting turned into babies and reborn seems like an awfully specific thing and he doesn’t entirely grasp what Reira’s getting choked up about here. By all accounts, Zarc was a person who’d reaped what he sowed. Had he ever considered stopping just to tell this ‘Leo’ guy that he didn’t like what was happening? Trying to break the world seems a bit excessive, and Lambert should know.

There’s a considering pause while he considers how to respond. Then he reaches over to plant a hand on Reira’s head, though he doesn’t ruffle her hair or anything like that, just rests.

“I don’t really understand,” is what he begins with, bluntly. Even if he was all of himself, he doubts he would. “And I don’t understand how someone could be split into pieces and whole at the same time. But I do know one thing.”

There’s another pause.

“Your mom sounds like a real bitch.”

[atouts]

"You can't protect someone from their own stupid plans, Lambert," Childermass chides gently. However... "I am sorry. For flying off without you. That was my own fault."

[fourthscribe]

"Of course it matters!" Tanyuu puts her hand over Ginko's own, her brows creasing with worry. Being wrung out is one thing, but Ginko hadn't been this despondent when she left this morning. "Did something happen?"

[dontpokethat]

It's not even all that much contact - but it's enough for Ginko to go stiff, his throat tightening up and his fingers tensing under Tanyuu's. He goes to sit up, halfway as an excuse to pull his hand away in favor of planting it on his bed.

"It's-- don't worry about it. This is probably better, actually."

At least now there's one of him who can do things right.

[fourthscribe]

...he hasn't reacted like that in years.

Tanyuu goes still when Ginko pulls away, something going tight in her throat for a moment. "What is better? Ginko, please..."

[pipers_son]

"So yer gettin' drunk."

Well, at least now he knows what to look out for, and he tunes out whatever is happening to his arm as he grins over at Carly.

"How much will it take, I wonder? I'm sure they have all sorts of delightful things that could get ya hammered in one gulp~."