⇨ 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

Jonathan Strange | ota | first half of the week

[kingsroads]

1: clickbait weird spa treatments
The problem with the yukata is that Strange occasionally sets his hands and forearms on fire. After accidentally incinerating the long sleeves of one poor yukata, Strange has decided to stick with a loose short-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of simple cotton trousers. Aside from that, he is all in for the spa day. He's only had one super intense spa day before, back in the Summerlands, but that was enough to tell him that he is going to live it up and have a grand time.

But all in all, he'd rather he live it up and have a grand time with other people. So when he spots someone from the carnival, Strange makes a beeline towards them, wide yet still kind of tired grin on his face.

"I've managed to find a list of the treatments they offer." He bothered some poor employee until said employee gave him a list. "I've circled the ones I'm interested in: pick one and we'll do that." On the list, Strange has circled normal things like 'sauna' and 'manicure', but he's also circled more esoteric spa treatments like 'fish pedicure,' 'wine bath,' 'fire cupping therapy,' and 'snake massage.'

2: remember to actually relax
He's only mentioned it to a few people, but Strange has noticed something odd about his magic ever since the Ringmaster extracted him from the Mirror: it isn't working as well as it should be. He can still do all of his spells and still knows all of his tricks, but he has to go about it in a certain way instead of what he's used to. Strange is spending part of his vacation tweaking and fiddling with his magic.

Unfortunately, what little finesse he had has just about vanished. Strange was never very good at small scale things to begin with but now, he's terrible. Which is why Strange is muttering under his breath as he holds his hands over a bonsai tree that has rapidly grown out of it's pot and now looks like it's in danger of enveloping the entire table.

wildcard!
Splitting apart and serious stuff will happen later, right now it's dumb prompts. Strange can be found all over the place: living it up in the spa, most often in a massage room, or stuffing his face with sushi.

B!

[soft_focus]

Reira's magic may not be working quite at 100% either, but that's probably more because she spent a good two weeks consciously avoiding it. Being out of practice sucks, so she's definitely taken some time during vacation working on it.

Everyone else seems to have decided that vacation means she shouldn't be worrying about such things though. For starters as soon as she started asking various people questions on what 'this' or 'that' was, she was promptly herded away to get a 'yukata' and try a fish catching game. And every other game.

She has somehow only now escaped, and her large wing like hands currently hold her daemon in them as she approaches the bonsai tree.

Gaping, her daemon takes the opportunity to shift into its squirrel shape and scramble up the thing curiously- it takes her a bit longer to actually snap out of her stupor long enough to notice Strange.

"....That's a big tree..."

Longer still to notice that it's STRANGE. At which point she jumps. "AH! You're better now!"

She'd sort of wondered where he...was. Actually. It didn't help that she had people fussing over her during their time between worlds, which kept her from really going to check on anyone.

[kingsroads]

That is a big tree. In fact, that is too big a tree and about 500% more tree than Strange was hoping for. The tree has stabilized and is very slowly starting to shrink. However, as soon as Reira's daemon hops up on the tree, Strange stops the intensely slow and baby steps shrinking magic that he was working on. Now, the tree's about 480% more tree than Strange was hoping for.

He turns his attention to Reira and gives her a little smile. "I am. And I see you're better as well—or at least, out of that prism."

Having spent most of the past few days in a slightly tired haze, Strange really doesn't know how the mirror prisms affected those inside them. Thankfully, he's got enough sense to realize that's a question you bother people about later. Strange places his hands back at his side before fully turning to face Reira and give her his undivided attention. "I'm sorry I couldn't be much use during the final fight. The Mirror prevented most of my magic from working."

honorifics for a guy who doesnt understand honorifics time eyy

[soft_focus]

Oh, are they in the way??? The daemon certainly doesn't care. This is a cool tree, they like it.

Besides, you should take a break or something, Strange.

While the daemon explores, Reira nods- a large and wide smile on her face. It only somewhat falters when Strange offers his apology. The expression is quick to recover. "Umn! You told everyone what I told you though, right?" If it's possible, her smile widens even further. "If you hadn't...then the Ringmaster, and all the others, they might not have known Lilith was there in time to fight her...and the others there wouldn't have been helped fast enough either...! So..."

The girl pauses, fingers twitching a bit at her sides as she scuffs the ground with one foot. "...So, I wanted to say, 'thank you', actually," she finally manages. "...You told me it was going to be okay, and you made sure everyone got help...I don't think things would have happened as good, otherwise. So..."

Alright. Here goes. "...So, thank you, 'Strange-Oji'!"

She really, Really hopes Yuuya gave her the right word.

weird spa treatments

[anti_nonsense]

Rita's changed her outfit to that of a simple tank top and shorts, though it's unclear if it's also in the spirit of relaxation, or if it's because her regular clothes had to get repaired and altered after their last adventure. The joints in her legs have changed position, giving them a catlike form, while a thin layer of light-colored fur covers them, with two dark stripes across her thighs. Incredibly, she was able to find a pair of sandals that actually fit her feet.

She wrinkles her nose at the list. "What's all that weird crap they have listed? Can't believe they call them 'treatments' -- it just looks like nonsense to me."

[kingsroads]

"It's hardly nonsense," said with a little shake of his head. "I'm certain that whoever gives the-" and he quickly looks to the list to pick out a random treatment "-the snail facial can tell us the purpose of the treatment when we get there."

Even if Strange himself isn't entirely sure what snails had to do with spa days. Maybe they ate them later?

"If you don't pick something, then I'll pick it myself." Strange looks down at the list of treatments and randomly points at one. "There. If you don't want to pick something, we'll do that."

The thing that Strange has chosen is 'dog yoga.' Fun fact, he has no idea what yoga is, he just circled it because it had dogs in it.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita just gives him a look.

"I hate dogs," she says plainly, like he must have chosen it just to spite her. She doesn't actually know if 'dog yoga' involves dogs, because what the hell is yoga anyway, but she's already decided it must be awful.

[periphrasing]

You know who's also all about trying weird new shit? Peridot is. She's never had a spa day before but, now that the opportunity has been presented to her, she is 100% ready to make the most of it.

The good news is that, since Strange bothered to apologize after their argument back in Eden, she's more or less back on speaking terms with him... even if she's still having trouble getting some of the stuff he said about her and Lapis out of her head. That said, a day of goofing off and trying weird treatments sounds pretty ideal for getting over that! She eagerly takes the list and squints at it thoughtfully, eyes flicking back and forth as she goes over each item.

"What the heck is a snake massage?" she asks, squinting curiously at the words as if that will somehow give her more insight to their meaning.

[kingsroads]

Strange is assuming that Peridot knows what snakes are. But does she know what a massage is? Hell if he knows. So, he's just going to assume that she doesn't and explain anyway. Who knows, maybe rocks don't get massages. There wouldn't be much muscle to work with anyway.

"A massage is when someone pushes down into your muscles and rubs them in a certain way to help relieve tension and stress. How snakes enter into it, I've no idea." But that doesn't change the fact that it sounds interesting and Strange wants to try it.

"Shall we get one?"

2

[starseedling]

Steven sees this table and tree situation, and isn't immediately sure what to think of it. Strange has never really expressed having problems with control before, so initially, he sort of assumes he is doing this intentionally, for whatever reason.

Of course, there are probably a few empathic hints that give him the idea that this might not be working as intended. Yet, he would rather be polite, instead of just butting in.

"Um... did you want it to be doing that?" he asks, pointing at the tree.

[kingsroads]

Even before Strange sees Steven, he gets an odd feeling in the back of his mind. He's a little bit magically sensitive, so normally Strange would chalk the odd feeling up as someone performing great magic, but when he hears Steven's voice, that kills his theory right off the bat.

He opens his mouth like he's about to rebut that of course he meant it to do this, before Strange gets the awful, sinking feeling in his stomach that he's realized a while ago only happens when he lies. Urgh. Fine body, he'll tell the truth and look a bit ridiculous.

"No," Strange admits, with a little frown. "My magic's been acting odd lately. I only wanted it to grow a little bit, not...this." Said with a vague gesture towards the bonsai tree that has pretty much eaten the entire table. "You can talk to plants, correct? If it isn't too much trouble, would you mind asking it to shrink a bit?"

Fun fact: Strange has zero clue how Steven's version of plant magic actually works.

1 Daaaay 94?

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya turns to Strange when he's accosted, briefly confused before he's pointing out the list. Syrlya hasn't really been engaging in the more luxurious treatments around the spa, so he regards it with a slightly suspicious squint.

"And you want company. What is--is that actually just soaking in wine?"

He points to it, as though Strange knows.

works for me!

[kingsroads]

"I have absolutely no idea," Strange responds, with a wide grin on his face. What's a wine bath? He doesn't know! But this place is full of new experiences and new things to do and Strange wants to try everything.

Plus, if it involves wine, it can't be that bad. Maybe there's some for drinking and not for soaking!

"Care to try it with me?"

2

[pipers_son]

"Strange.... Christ. What is that, even...?"

Normally, such a ridiculous sight would have Joker amused at the mess that magician is getting himself into, especially since it's such a minor little thing compared to literally anything else Strange could be doing. Right now, however, Joker just sounds pretty tired.... And, frankly, he looks it, too, despite the fact that he's wearing a bright red yukata with a playing card pattern on it and that his makeup is as colorful and bold as ever. Funny, since they're in a spa resort. Isn't that going to be taken off anyway...?

Either way, wings tucked in tightly against his back, Joker wanders off, eyeing the tree warily.

[kingsroads]

"It was a small tree. Now it's a large tree." Said in a tone of voice that's very ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer. It's a tree, Joker. Duh.

Strange doesn't seem to pay attention to Joker's normal, slightly over the top attire as he looks over at the tree. If this was a problem with magic, then he'd have to take multiple precautions while trying to reduce it's size. At least it's just a tree.

"It's either the spellwork or the magic behind it that caused all this," said with a vague wave towards the tree. "I'm trying to find out what."

1

[exaomori]

"A list, huh?" Shura knows to sound only half-impressed when Strange presents a list of treatments. What poor employee did he harass to get this? Well, whatever, it's nice to know everything the place offered.

Snake treatment is out, as are some of the other ones that require a bit more nudity. Shura may be lack shame, but hanging out in a tub with a married man wasn't something she was interested in, even if said married man was very much in love with his wife. But a fish pedicure? She points to it on the list, handing it back to Strange. "Aah, I can't remember the last time I did that~! Let's do that first!" First, because obviously they can't just do one.

[kingsroads]

Obviously they're going to do all of them! Strange grins as Shura chooses the fish pedicure. He looks back at the pamphlet, looks up at a sign with room directions, then gestures for Shura to follow him.

"This way, I think." And he starts to walk! "I've only done this sort of thing once before. Is it commonplace where you're from?"

Wildcard

[hippocarnival]

In the later half of the week, Strange's room will be disturbed by an audible crash from the bathroom, accompanied by a high-pitched yelp and a groan.

The good news is, Yuya didn't break anything as he hit the floor. The bad news is, that hurt.

[kingsroads]

By this time, Strange has accidentally split. Thankfully, Yuya gets to deal with his sensible half, not his reckless half who said sensible half is currently trying to find: there's a basin of water set on the bed and Strange has been attempting tracking spells.

There's a pause while Strange goes through the options and decides that yes, that must be Yuya. He knew the bathroom, his other half would be more coordinated than that.

As he gets up, Strange is taking a few steps away from the door. Yuya most likely needs a cold compress, his magic is still acting up, he's not going anywhere near Yuya while he makes an improvised compress out of two pairs of socks.

"I hope that was you, Yuya," he calls out.

For Tyki, later in the week

[kingsroads]

Strange is bored. He's separated into two halves, one reckless, one sensible, and the reckless half is bored out of his mind. Lambert's no fun and he doesn't really want to do anything on his own...so, time to bother Tyki. He's always been good at enabling some of Strange's desires and the reckless half of the magician wants to take full advantage of that.

Finding Tyki was easy via scrying and traveling through the reflections. So, there's a fully clothed yet still super casual Strange walking over towards Tyki. The dried blood on his upper lip and the awkward angle of his nose is a clear sign that Strange lost a fight.

"Tykiiiii," he whines in a slightly childish tone as he looks down at the other man, not even caring that he's bothering him in the middle of the bath. "Can you hurry it up? This place is dull and I need your advice on something fun to do."

[prazerbutterfly]

His ears perk at the sound of Strange's voice, his own body covered mostly in water from the neck down. He tilts his head back, the cloth on his forehead sliding back, and he lazily stretches from where he is. He wasn't napping this time, like he does often underwater, and it doesn't take much for him to sit up, rub at his neck, and pull himself out of the water. A conveniently placed towel at the right moment helps Strange prevent getting an eyeful, and he looks him over when he whines.

"Dull? I would've thought someone like you would enjoy getting catered to," he says casually, taking in the dried blood that he was sure wasn't there a couple of days ago. Plus, Tyki rarely hurries unless it is urgent, "What happened to your face?"

clickbait

[sunflowerfields]

Hinawa isn't very hard to catch, because she's been incredibly tired and sluggish since getting stuck in a magic, life-draining prism. She blinks a few times as she tries to focus on the list Strange is showing her. Oh, he's talking to her?

"Oh, I'm..." Squints. Is she reading these correctly? "I'm sorry, I... don't really know what some of these are."

What in the world is a fish pedicure.

[kingsroads]

"Then pick the one that sounds the most interesting and we'll find out what it is."

He says this like it's the most obvious thing in the world. It's perfectly fine for Hinawa to not know what something is since, in Strange's mind, not knowing but figuring out what these things are is the whole point of the visit.

wildcard, some...time... after Strange isn't split?

[atouts]

Childermass — which is to say, one side of him — will inevitably be tracking Strange down. It's some vague time between convincing dark Lambert to sober up and rest for real and god knows what else, but he'll pop in and out of shadows until he actually finds the other magician. While he hasn't had any major costume changes just yet (that comes later), the fact that he pretty much storms up to Strange the moment he spots him, wearing an expression that isn't even remotely neutral, probably says enough.

"Strange! Where do you get off kissing Lambert?" It seems he's here to fight. Well, okay, not really, since that would take an effort, but he can loom and jab fingers at chests in a vaguely threatening manner. "You've no right! You've got a wife!"

Yeah, the usual Childermass doesn't typically do jealousy and yet here we are. It's really stupid.

timelines are flexible, this works for me!

[kingsroads]

Childermass finds Strange as he's leaving one of the medical wings. His nose is a little more crooked than normal, thanks to Lambert outright breaking it and only herbal remedies being in stock, but it looks enough like his normal nose that it's good enough for Strange. After a long twenty four hours of dealing with a split, getting his nose broken thanks to the split, and learning all the damage that his needy, clingy, reckless other half did, Strange just wants to go back to the carnival and take a nap.

So here comes Childermass, storming out of the shadows, glaring and pointing at him in a very un-Childermass like manner and motherfucker, Childermass is split, isn't he. That's the only thing to explain that expression. He has just had an intensely bizarre day, why does he have to deal with what Childermass on top of this?

Strange just looks at Childermass for a moment before he sighs and keeps walking. He could say 'you idiot, that's how I dispel magic.' But Strange is just too tired to give the obvious answer right now. He's had a shitty day, might as well be a bit of an asshole and get a few kicks before pointing out the obvious.

"If you wish to chastise me for all the people I've kissed during my stay at the carnival, we'll be here all evening." He's kissed a lot of people, this is weird, Strange realizes that. "Besides, when I was enthralled by Ignatius, Lambert kissed me. It's only right I return the favor."