Carcosa, pt. 2

[polymods]

✖ Carcosa

Ⅰ. CARCOSA
You Are Still Here.

Another month, and you’re still in the city of Carcosa! Isn’t that just wonderful?

You still have access to the city’s temple and the High Temple.

The side effects you may have suffered from throughout the month of May are now at an end - if you had a pesky mask glued to your face the whole time it will now fall off. You might need a little moisturizer, but otherwise you’ll be just fine.

You could sit around inside the relative safety of the temples, of course, but why not get out there and explore the city some more? Come on, grumpypants!

---

Ⅱ. SPEAK EASY
CW: Optional alcohol consumption.
What kind of pet shop is filled with rambunctious yahoos and hot jazz music at 1 AM? That's right - the best damn pet shop in town! Sidle up to the back door of Curly's Pet Shop and a panel will open enough to reveal a pair of eyes. "What's the password?" you'll be asked. Whatever word first comes to your mind, well, that apparently is correct because you're let in at once.

The front of the building definitely does indeed house fish and birds and kittens, but the back room is definitely not a good place to find a new animal companion; you find yourself in a crowded little room with low lighting and a small bar crammed into one corner. There's seats and some tables, and most importantly there's a band playing jazz music across from the bar.

Why not take a seat and have a drink? It's probably not paint thinner. Probably. Maybe you'll spot some of your fellow Travelers and you can sit and have a chat. Make a new friend who can hold your hair back if you party too hard.

And you better hope that the place doesn’t get raided!

Notes:
1. The drinks are all era-appropriate - you’re not getting Redbull with vodka here - and even if your character has non-human physiology they will work the same as they would on a baseline human. That’s right, your magic or your healing-factor or your vampire blood is no match for these Gin Rickeys!

2. If Curly’s does get raided while you’re there, you can run and hide or choose to engage with the police, who are armed and not too shy about opening fire if you go on the offensive. As with the rest of the regular residents of Carcosa, the officers are human and can be killed. Killing them may affect the colour grading of your Scrywatch depending on the situation. (Is it beneficial to personal growth to kill in order to save someone else, for example? You tell me!)

3. Did you want a pet from the front of the building? Well, just remember that baby turtles and alligators might SEEM like a good idea, but they grow up! Also any animal you take will not travel with you to the next island. So sorry.

---

Ⅲ. EXPRESSIONISM YOURSELF
CW: Optional paranoia, hallucinations.
If you wander the streets at night, you may find yourself getting turned around. You'll find that the streets have lost their many lights, and the beautiful and delicate art deco architecture has given way to something much more stark and heavy. The buildings are block-like, but they curve in exaggerated ways that hurt the eye if looked at too long. All are in blacks and whites and greys. Nothing looks quite real, but you can walk along just fine. Probably better not to go off alone, though.


Periodically you will encounter that pesky sign of some sort painted on the walls. If you follow the sigils, you will eventually be led to a long staircase that winds down and down until it finally terminates in a large white room lit by a few electric lanterns. There's black paint there, with brushes. Maybe you're feeling creative?

Notes:
1. You’re pretty sick of this stupid sigil, aren’t you? In fact, you consider yourself QUITE the detective and have been searching after its meaning! Or maybe you played Call of Cthulhu a lot in college, you nerd!

Painting the sigil on the wall will cause you to feel disoriented and paranoid until you leave the white room. From that point on you can discover a copy of a play entitled The King In Yellow anywhere in the city you choose. Reading the first act of the play has no effect on you, however if you choose to read beyond the first line of the second act you will spend the rest of the month suffering from periodic hallucinations, often of a tall man in a pallid mask.

2. While there is no compulsion to paint, choosing to work out any of your character’s issues through art therapy can be reflected in your Scrywatch colour if it is significant enough.

---

Ⅳ. AS FAR BACK AS I CAN REMEMBER, I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A GANGSTER
CW: Optional gun violence, injury.
Art? Theatre? Music? BAH! Boring!

Maybe your tastes are a little more on the dangerous side? Whatever this island may be, it seems to offer plenty of opportunities to get into the seedy underbelly. Maybe you feel the need to steal a car, rob a bank, transport some illegal hooch for a smiling fellow in a yellow fedora. Grab your tommy guns, kids, it's time to outrun the Feds!

Naturally, you could wind up injured having all of this fun, but surely you could get some help from your fellow Travelers, either directly or by having them haul you to some sort of underground doctor. These doctors do exist, although it might take a while to get referred to one by a local.

You might also find yourself under arrest and stuck in an old-timey jail cell for a month. What fun!

Notes:
1. As was stated in the first prompt, the regular residents of Carcosa are normal humans. Killing them is possible and may affect the colour grading of your Scrywatch depending on the situation. Any weapons you find are era-appropriate.

2. You can break out of jail if you’re resourceful enough.

3. The underground doctors aren’t working in a real hospital for a reason. In fact, some of them might be less doctors and more, well. Vets.

You still jamming to that Carcosa playlist?

Network · Logs · OOC · Memes · Plurk

Comments

[unkindled_madness]

...you aren't.

[There's something of an implied "yet" to that statement, but for now he doesn't mind. He's a short ways past the rosemary story, though it's not one he would have picked out.]

I have. Is it a particular favorite?

[neverwither]

( An implication that isn't lost on her, and makes her more watchful for any signs of her presence becoming bothersome. Her little smile thanks him for humouring her. )

It's one I like. It might not be the best of the bunch but... I like it. And you? Is there one that stands out to you?

[unkindled_madness]

[Sephiroth doesn't return the smile, but he does close the book, holding his place with a finger, to give her his attention.]

Thus far I'm partial to "The Man Without a Heart."

[neverwither]

( Alright. No smiling. Not that it will probably stop her. What she does do is make sure she maintains a respectful distance. )

Oh, I like that one too. Though I do find it sad. Turning people to stone isn't exactly the most charming thing to be doing but... he was so terribly lonely, wasn't he?

[unkindled_madness]

[He appreciates the distance, but his eyebrows raise at her response.]

You pity the old man? I thought the girl rather clever in discovering his weakness, that he might be killed.

[neverwither]

( She ducks her head for a moment, slightly embarrassed. When she speaks, she makes sure to look back up at him. )

Well, yes, she was very clever... And with the old man, I suppose it can be taken as he just wanted something young and pretty for himself. But... Perhaps he was terribly lonely and terribly jealous... So... Yes. I suppose I do feel sorry for him.

[unkindled_madness]

Hm.

I suppose it's only a faerie tale, and not a character study. The stated motivations tend to be shallow, so we can only extrapolate based on our own experience.

[neverwither]

I've been known to read a little too much into things from time to time.

( While she tries to make light of it, and herself, the self-consciousness lingers. Like she's taking a test and knows she's giving all the wrong answers. )

Yes, you're right. Though it's fascinating in itself how the same text can be interpreted in different ways. You said you appreciated the girl's cunning so I wonder what you take from the story?

[unkindled_madness]

Perhaps I envy her. I have yet to learn enough to kill our captors, after all.

But, it may be a bit much to hope for the husband and the happily-ever-after as well.

[There's a smile. That part of faerie tales is always absurd to him.]

[neverwither]

( That catches Chloe completely off guard, and it shows in the momentary widening of her eyes. Unsettling as their situation is, that thought hasn't crossed her mind. Not even close.

The smile also throws her for a loop. At least she can more adequately address the latter half of what's said. Part of her agrees with him. Most of her wants the happy-ever-after to be true. Most of her believes it can be. )

I'm not so sure about that. I think it's possible to create a happily-ever-after. It would be a shame to lose hope in it.

[unkindled_madness]

[He notes how she skips right past the murdering-their-captors part, but he's not going to say anything about it.]

I think it's unrealistically simplistic.

[neverwither]

Oh, I don't mean in the fairytale terms of slipping on a shoe, finding your prince and blissfully adoring one another. I just meant... That it doesn't seem too much to find someone to be happy with. Even if it does take work. And hope.

[unkindled_madness]

[Slipping on a shoe...? Sephiroth glances down at the book he's holding, but Cinderella is in a different collection; he hasn't gotten to it yet.

It's clear he doesn't find what she's describing much more realistic though.]

So you're a romantic. I suppose most people are.

[neverwither]

( Chloe gives the smallest of shrugs. She is what she was made to be. There are moments like this, these unexpected moments, that remind her of that fact. Not that one ever truly forgets a fact like that. )

I think I probably am. But, if you don't mind me saying so, maybe there's a little bit of a romantic in you, since you brought up the husband and happily-ever-after.

( Though that could have been nothing more than him picking out the well-worn tropes of the genre. Still. It was the trope he decided to single out.

She did warn him about her reading too much into things.)

[unkindled_madness]

[That gets a laugh out of him, like she's said something especially funny.]

Hardly.

I appreciate the irreverance of the characters wedding immediately after the old man's murder, but it's no goal of mine.

[neverwither]

( Oh dear. She’s way, way off base here. But at least making someone laugh is a positive? Looking on the bright side and all. But an apology is still in order. )

I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so presumptuous.

But yes, a lot of the tales can be really rather sinister.

[unkindled_madness]

[He waves his free hand dismissively. It is good to laugh sometimes.]

Never mind it. It's only natural to make some assumptions about a man reading faerie stories.

But I do prefer the sinister aspects.

[neverwither]

( She hadn't figured on fairytales being read specifically for their sinister aspects, despite the dark roots of many. It raises... some questions. )

Ah, you'll easily find plenty of those. Most of the tales are quite horrific, honestly. The original versions, that is. Have you read many others?

[unkindled_madness]

[What questions? He's an extremely well-adjusted person. Or at least mediocre, according to his bracelet.

He shakes his head.]

Not from Earth. I thought these collections would be a good start.

I suppose they don't count as original, in translation.

[neverwither]

Are you not from Earth yourself, if you don't mind me asking?

( Given the people she's met so far, it's not such a strange question to be asking. Or it doesn't feel so strange, anyway. And it's not as though Chloe is going to be winning any Most Average and Normal awards any time soon. )

I meant more as opposed to the sanitised versions rather than translated. A lot of the stories have been adapted several times, and usually those aspects are downplayed or removed completely.

[unkindled_madness]

I see. That's unfortunate.

And no, I'm not from Earth. I realize that puts me in the minority here.

[As if silver-haired giants are the norm where he comes from. But no one's questioned him about that yet.]

[neverwither]

It's usually a matter of marketability. A lot of those adaptions are intended for children so the gory details aren't really suitable.

( But she smiles pleasantly rather than seem like she's judging his opinion. Those who lean towards the darker sides of life aren't unknown to her. The creator she's spent her life with up until this point is hardly sunshine and rainbows.

But he never meant for her to look into the darkness. )

I don't think it really matters, quite honestly. From my experience so far, most seem to be... varied in their backgrounds.

( In other words, not to worry. Not that he sounds particularly bothered. Still, it's in her nature to offer reassurance. )

[unkindled_madness]

[His expression says that he's not convinced about that "unsuitable for children" part, but he's well aware he didn't have a normal childhood, and he prefers to keep any conversation far from it. He lets it drop.]

But you have some shared frame of reference. That has its advantages, especially in a city based on some part of it.

[He might be slightly bothered by it. He's playing catch-up here.]

[neverwither]

I'm sorry. I ramble on at times.

( After what strikes her as misstep after misstep, Chloe is keen to try and gain some more positive ground. Whatever issues her opinions and conversation may be stirring up is entirely her fault and she should be far more mindful. )

Yes, I suppose you do have a point there. If there's anything I can do to help, I'd be very happy to.

[unkindled_madness]

...what's your name, anyway?

[He's not asking to be polite. If she's been active on the network, he might know something about her already that could determine the usefulness of that offer.]