juril catch-all (open)

[unholey]

Who: Pannacotta Fugo & Others
When: Juril
Where: Throughout Aefenglom
What: Quests, carnival, and general catchall for the month!
Warnings: jojo's bizarre adventures fashion choices (see username) will update as needed!

I'll be updating this log throughout the month with various prompts. All prompts are OTA unless marked otherwise. If you want to plot around these or other private starters, please PM me at this journal!

Comments

i. extremely bad fashion decisions (quest: part-timers wanted)

[unholey]

[This is a respectable tailor's shop, or: Sew It Seams. It's a small shop in a respectable neighborhood. Its owner is a well-known stitch witch known around the Coven for her talent of weaving impeccably tidy charms for things like fabric strength, stain resistance, and keeping wrinkles out. While there's nothing particularly innovative or trendsetting about her clothing, it's easy to work into your wardrobe and is sure to last.

The owner of the shop is not here right now. The person managing the shop this week is her talented, if a little quirky, grandson. And he very much wants to prove to her that he has what it takes to inherit her business, by tapping into Aefenglom's next Next Big Fashion Craze(tm).]

I don't think this is going to catch on.

[Perhaps you, too, have been recruited by this earnest young man. That's how Fugo got here. Because what he's wearing... sure is something. What with the holes and cutouts, his choice to wear a perfectly knotted tie but no shirt, and strawberry themed accessories. Fugo frowns down over at the pattern he's working on, which is marginally less wild than what he's actually wearing. But that... sure is shaping up to be a shirt with a pretty intense chest cutout.

Someone should probably do something about this.]

ii. if you can't beat them... join them? (quest: suspicious activity)

[unholey]

[So, there's this cult. Well, almost a cult. A sort of cult-in-progress. Right now, it's more of a club with a really terrible hobby that hasn't really got a solid membership yet. Trouble that has yet to become a proper problem.]

Before we rendevous with the target, let's go over the script one more time. [Fugo says this while fanning his face with a sheaf of papers. The sun is close to setting, but the heat of the day hasn't left the streets of Aefenglom. And their disguises, heavy black robes complete with ominous-looking hoods, aren't helping matters at all.] The goal is to convince them that we're new recruits, ready to carry on their work, so they're free to leave the city. How good of a liar are you?

iii. chatty cattails (quest: wondrous things)

[unholey]

[In hindsight, Fugo should have known something was fishy with this job. He's been here long enough, worked enough of these odds and ends jobs, to know that the offered pay was too high for this sort of errand. It's his own damn fault for not asking more questions-- what it was about this particular plant that made such good fabric, that made it so hard to recruit people to harvest it.]

It's such a disgrace! Bringing a traitor-- [Whispers a thin, reedy voice. Fugo reaches out to grab the plant and neatly nips off the head. But, of course, this sets off another plant:] To think he would just throw away--

[Snip. If he works fast enough, they can only whisper his secrets in bits and pieces.]

[heartmunculus]

[The heavy robes are new, but he's had a grand total of exactly one outfit back home. So anything different from his usual butler like uniform would be an adjustment.]

I don't know. I've never had to lie before.

[It's just not the kind of thing anyone is going to learn when they've been asleep for a decade.]

[unholey]

You've never-- what? [How can... that has to be bullshit. Fugo shoots Sieg a withering look.] Are you trying to be funny? If you really don't know how, you're going to have to learn quickly.

[heartmunculus]

[Look at him all you want, it's still the truth. He doesn't even shrink back when Fugo glares at him, gaze holding steady- though he does look sheepish.]

I didn't have much time to learn.

[What was he going to say? "No, sir, I'm not a homunculus, please ignore my white hair and my pink eyes. Definitely not a homunculus."]

[unholey]

[There's a long moment of uneasy silence, as Fugo weighs the likelihood of Sieg telling the truth or not. In the end, he sighs and gives up the line of questioning. Who knows. All sorts of people come through the mirrors. Maybe, before coming here, this guy lost his memories, or something like that. Maybe he just doesn't have much experience talking to people, as strange as that seems.]

The trick is mostly in keeping a straight face. Look who you're talking to in the eye-- and don't fidget.

[heartmunculus]

[If he doesn't know how to lie, he's definitely not going to lie now. And if he does know how to lie, why would he confess right now?

He does look very sincere as he considers the advice and nods.]

I see... Do you have a lot of experience in this field?

[Who asks like this?]

[fulgency]

[As could likely be predicted, Ozymandias does so enjoy being a trendsetter. Since quite nearly a year ago, he's had quite a positive relationship with another tailor in the city whose style is typically considered a little avant-garde by the much more conservative and modest standards of Aefenglom. But even his work pales in comparison to whatever monstrosity it is that is being drawn up (or worn) right now.]

[He honestly doesn't even know where to start.]

Perhaps you ought to consider fewer holes in the design altogether.

[As in none. None holes.]

[unholey]

Oh, don't worry.

[He breezily says, scissors not wavering as he continues to cut the muslin for his prototype. Snip. There's a lot to worry about.]

Our employer is only interested in the construction of a jacket with the cutout. If you're having a hard time picturing it in one piece, think more along the lines of that blue jacket Giorno likes to wear. Just a different shape. [He pauses, then:] Minus the studs. Those are a little tacky.

[Is it a joke? Does Fugo mean that sincerely? Who knows, because he said it with a completely straight face.]

[unholey]

I'm not in the business of lying, if that's what you mean. But everyone gets experience eventually.

[Which doesn't entirely answer Sieg's question. But even if they weren't strangers, there's the job at hand to worry about.]

The point is, do you think you can convince them? If you aren't confident, we'll need to come up with a different tactic.

[Which would be a bit annoying, now that they've gone to the trouble of dressing up these robes. Who the hell wears all black robes during the height of summer?]

iv. musical connections (locked to sageprincess)

[unholey]

un: hemlock

Princess Zelda,

Good evening. I hope Juril has been finding you well so far.

Although it has been a considerable time since our last conversation on the subject, I have recently found a piano practice hall in the Entertainment District with reasonable rental rates.

If you are still interested in learning more about the piano, I would be happy to book a time for us to use the space to demonstrate the instrument for you.

Sincerely,
P. Fugo

[This might be, perhaps, a touch too formal for a simple invitation. But when you rewrite one three times out of nerves, these things tend to happen.]

[heartmunculus]

Is that right...?

[Maybe if they were on earth for their whole lives.]

I can stay silent. [He's gotten very good at that. Speaking to people though... that might be a bit difficult.] And I can probably follow a lead.

[fulgency]

[Funny how Fugo's assurances don't really add up to much when there's still the steady snip, snip of his scissors. Utterly strange how Ozymandias' expression hardly changes as he observes (this horror of horrors)!]

That is the part you take issue with? The studs?

[Although as soon as he asks, Ozymandias supposes he shouldn't be surprised. Looking at how Fugo...chooses...to dress...himself...]

Are these trends popular in your world and time?

[Please say no or Ozymandias is going to suggest to "Solomon" he go screw up your timeline instead, Fugo.]

[unholey]

Don't you think they're a little redundant? It's like circling something you've already highlighted.

[Fugo briefly pauses in his cutting to look up at nothing in particular. Fashion... trends. This is not his wheelhouse.]

I don't think so? But that's not something I particularly pay attention to. That's a better question for Giorno.

[Not to worry, Ozymandias. A certain priest has that all taken care of.]

[fulgency]

[It is a little reassuring that Fugo does not appear to be particularly aware of the trends of his world as the natural conclusion one would reach is that he completely misses them altogether in his decision-making process for outfits. Still, he crinkles his nose at the suggestion to ask Giorno anything related to fashion. After he put that atrocious brooch in Ozymandias' eye the trust there has been thoroughly broken.]

...I am willing to assume both of you outliers in that case. [Ozymandias shakes his head a little.] But I suppose there is nothing wrong with having your own unique sense of...style.

[He almost cannot even say "style." It feels like a horrendous misuse of the term even if it remains technically correct.]