⇨ 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

[osteothropy]

"Ah, geez," Sans-Lite says, rubbing the back of his skull. "Don't ask him that." He's already got an idea of what the other half must be feeling, because it's all weirdly absent on this side. "You can... sense emotions and stuff, right kiddo?"

He's pretty sure there are multiple empathic children and Reira is definitely one of them. Meanwhile, Sans-Dark is still just laying crumpled on the bed, seeming unsure of what to say.

"Don't bother," he mumbles.

[soft_focus]

"Yeah." She takes a moment to look from Dark to Lite, blinking. "...I still don't know what all of the feelings are called. But they're there." Normally 'what's wrong' is supposed to be the safe question she thought, but apparently it's not? "...I won't ask that again though I guess."

As it is, she tilts her head at Dark. "...You don't know what I'm going to 'bother' with though... ...I think?" It's silly to tell her to not do something before she even tries it you know. "...What 'm I not supposed to bother with?" The question is arguably aimed at 'Dark'- but she looks at 'Lite' when she asks it, genuine confusion on her face.

[osteothropy]

Sans-Lite drags a hand down his face. Reira is a very literal person, he knows. He just needs to figure out how to explain this to her.

"He's... part of me, or something. You've felt what I feel like before, right, kid?" Sans-Lite asks. He's worried, but also strangely unburdened by the myriad of existential and trauma-based pains that hangs around Sans like a fog from time to time. Sans-Lite is concerned, but it's in a rational, controllable, and practical sort of way. He sees a problem, so he's worried.

His other half, though? Well, Sans-Dark is completely falling apart inside, and without any real provocation. Feelings of self loathing and hopelessness are thick.

"You can tell that I'm missing something, right?" Sans-Lite says. "It's like all of that bad stuff manifested and flopped down on the bed over there."

[soft_focus]

"Well...I guessed that part," she admits, regarding the 'parts of people' bit. "...Umn...I don't think it's like you're missing something, what I'm feeling though. It's just that you're not feeling certain things right now. Or, one is, I guess..." She furrows her brow, trying to figure out how to put it into words. "...Ummm... like how people aren't always scared, I guess. It's a lot more of everything else for both of you though..." Everything being...well. The things they're both experiencing. Without one to temper the other, it's a pretty concentrated mess. Sans' guess of feelings being 'missing' isn't as far from the reality as Reira thinks.

"...Yuugo did that, sort of." They didn't so much break into Sad and Confident as...Angry and Confident, those 'two'. "Ummm..."

She decides she should probably ask what she didn't get to ask Yuugo on that point. "...This is probably bad, isn't it? If one part is 'all sad', are you going to be able to make them feel better at all?"

It's a confusing question to take apart. The gist seems to be 'how can you make something that's ONLY SAD, happy' however.

CW: passive aggressive suicide related stuff

[osteothropy]

Well, now that the first part is established, they can focus on the problem that Reira has just highlighted: if this clone is bearing all of his baggage, how the fuck are they supposed to do anything about it? Even under normal circumstances, Sans has struggled to cope with that.

"I mean, personally? I feel great," Sans-Lite says, shrugging helplessly. He's not even really thinking about it in terms of 'cheering up' his emotionally dead doppelganger. He's already under the impression that it's impossible. "Maybe you don't realize how much of an all the time thing this has been..."

Sans-Dark only really looks up to scowl at the two of them.

"Then why don'tcha just blow my brains out, huh? You'd be doing everyone a favour, including yourself..."

Sans-Light puts his hand to his face again. "Could you not, in front of the kid?"

"Fuck off," Sans-Dark says, giving Sans-Lite the middle finger.

[soft_focus]

It's astounding how little Reira reacts to given certain situations. She's about to answer 'Lite' that she's only felt...Smaller sadness. Which wouldn't have made much sense but would probably have confirmed the theory that it was harder to catch. When Dark cuts in however she just stares.

And stares.

And gently tries to move the other's middle finger down. Considering her palms are about the size of her face now, that might be awkward- regardless of how close one hand gets to the other. "...We're not supposed to do that with our hands, I think." It's rude, or something.

"...And...I don't think that's a good idea, doing that other thing," she says honestly. "...Even if you have bad feelings, they're there for a reason. If you didn't feel bad sometimes, you wouldn't be able to feel as happy when the good things happen. Which means you're both supposed to be here." She remembers that quite clearly after all. "...Because all feelings happen for a reason, I think..."

Ahem. As it is. "...either way, it wouldn't be the same 'you' anymore, if part of you was gone, so that's a bad idea I think."

[osteothropy]

Sans-Dark swats away Reira's hands when she tries to reposition his finger, not so willing to let it go. He may be depressed and lethargic, but he's also bitter and angry.

"You don't know anything about it," Sans-Dark says, sounding emotional already. "How about feeling bad all of the time, huh? You know what that's like? Don't... don't try to give me this 'there's no sweet without the sour' crap, okay?" Dark Sans pulls the cover over himself. "There's no reason for a ton of the bad things that happen to people."

"I mean," Sans-Lite says, carefully. "He's got a point."

[soft_focus]

Oh, well fine. Keep your finger where it is then. She moves her hands to her knees, frowning. "...That's not what I said," she mutters. "...I said there's a reason feelings happen. It doesn't mean what made the feeling is okay. It just means it happened." She doesn't push the good versus bad of it all though. Not if both sides are agreeing on it.

"...It still means both sides have to be there though. Um....not that you should always feel bad I mean," she adds quickly, looking to 'Lite' on that point. "Just... ...I don't think it's good if you're not able to. ...I... like being able to feel things when something happens, even if some of them are bad. ...Maybe I don't like when I'm feeling bad but..."

The girl furrows her brows, trying to phrase things properly.

"...But... ...mnh... Since things have reasons, maybe something can... ...Mnh...Or someone... ...hmn." She starts to say something, but it doesn't take long before she's forced to cut short to look at the ground. "....You told me not to ask about 'why' you're sad though. ...no one tells me when I ask why," she mutters a little bitterly. "...Why can't people try to help other people..."

[osteothropy]

"We both know what the problem is," Sans-Lite says, patiently. "It's just not gunna make him feel any better having to go over it. I used to hate having to tell people anything about myself, so he probably does, too."

"The key point, I think, is that the Sans dealing with these problems might not have any alternative, so trying to fix him may be the wrong approach..." Hel adds.

"I couldn't fix myself even with all the good stuff I had going for me," Sans-Lite says. "Trying to force it out of him now just seems... cruel, or somethin'."

[soft_focus]

"Mnh..." Reira chews her lip a little- but she eventually nods. It's a bit different from being brushed off- very different from someone plastering a smile on their face and claiming they're fine. Heck, that was half the reason she'd taken to ignoring when someone was pretending not to be sad in the first place.

Enough people insisted on lying about it that it just wasn't worth trying to get involved anymore.

This is very different though, and now it feels a bit like they're in a rut. Reira looks to Sans-Lite, and then to Dark, and then for a moment to Hel as well. "Then... ...what do we do..?" How do they help, if helping is part of the problem?

It's a bit of a headache.