entrancelogs | I'm a tangled-up puppet, spinning around in knots

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I'm a tangled-up puppet, spinning around in knots | OPEN

Who: Wirt

singloversing and OPEN
Where: Around the mansion in various places.
When: 2/1 - 2/4
Rating: PG
Summary: Wirt gets a little too close to the Nest Egg and comes out of it much smaller with many strings attached.
The Story:

It was totally an accident.

That's what he keeps telling himself, anyway. He hadn't meant to go anywhere near that egg thing. He just wanted to go to the kitchen and get some cereal - why is that always so hard? He managed to walk just a little too close to it and just...felt compelled somehow.

He's paying for that curiosity in spades now, and he's very quickly learning never to touch anything in Wonderland. He probably should have learned that after the cookies at Christmas though, so he's really kicking himself this time (even though he's pretty sure it wasn't actually his fault).

Everything from the tip of his hat to the toes of his shoes is made of wood, except for a felt cape glued around him. He's made out of very simple shapes (just a hat, head, torso, and dangly legs), and his feet don't quite hit the ground. It's as if he's being held up by a few invisible strings. His movements are very jerky because of it, and he bounces up and down quite a bit when he walks...or, "walks". Is it walking if his feet aren't on the ground? It doesn't feel like flying...

He's also very very tiny - no more than a foot and a half tall, and at least four inches of that is his hat. Wirt decides that part is a good thing, because now maybe no one will see him and he can just hide forever and ever. This is absolutely mortifying. He got a glimpse of himself in the bottom edge of a mirror and saw he has these cute blush marks painted on his face and ugh everything is so embarrassing. He's adorable and he knows someone is going to laugh at him for it, or for getting turned into a marionette in the first place. He can't even hide his face - he doesn't have hands or arms anymore, and his cape is glued on so he can't duck into it. He's weirdly fixated on this particular part of it, though perhaps that's because he's become too tiny to hold onto more that one emotion at once.

Unfortunately, being attached to strings and not having arms makes life very difficult for someone who wants to hide in disgrace forever. When he tries to sneak under tables or behind things, his strings just get caught and tug him. However, sometimes if he goes up to something, the strings will pull him up and plop him on a countertop! ...But, that's a very long fall back down, so whenever he tries it he finds himself trapped and in need of rescuing.

Feel free to encounter him just about anywhere (though, not outside. He's pretty sure he'll get stuck in the snow) having an exceedingly difficult time trying to hide or get down from high places. He's very distinctive and easily spotted with his cone hat and cape. Unfortunately, his strings cannot actually be cut.

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There's a blob on the prowl. A very annoyed, dumpy-lumpy blue blob.

Thankfully for others it's a very muted sort of annoyance, mainly because she's found she can only say her name. There's also too many other things filling her mind. She's very preoccupied with wanting to see things and become them, as if she were destined to be the world's best mirror. Whenever she has a full moment of clarity, she goes off in a little blobby rage at being reduced to such a state, but those have been few and far between.

Most of all, though? Mystique wants to fight.

There's a drive to find an opponent to please some mysterious outside force. Then she can grow stronger and find more opponents and she'll be the very best! Like no one ever was!

So it's with that resolve that Mystique squishes her way into the kitchen, searching for foes. Eventually she comes to a stop in front of a puppet boy skittering around. Aha! A wild challenger appeared! She'll show her true might!

With a soft gurgly noise, she's soon Wirt's mirror image. Let the battle begin!

"Mystique!"

Edited 2015-02-03 08:50 (UTC)

Wirt, meanwhile, has been trying to get underneath the kitchen table for about twenty minutes now. He keeps tugging and trying pulling himself under, but the further he climbs under the table, the less he's able to move since his strings can't tug him well. He tried just throwing himself on the floor once, but the strings just dragged him back out and up onto his feet.

It is a tragic, losing battle and - hey, what's that blue thing?

He tilts his head (which, as a marionette, doesn't really work that well. It's more like leaning half of his body to one side) and stares at the weird little blob. It moves closer and closer and Wirt staggers back until his wooden body hits the refrigerator and then...and then the blob turns into him. Puppet-him, specifically.

"What the- mystique? What does that even even?" He has a voice and it's coming from somewhere, but his mouth is only painted on. "I-I mean I know what it means - something mysterious and awe-worthy but...but what?"

This doesn't make any sense at all, and he takes a long hard look at himself - literally. Soon he has to turn away in embarrassment, since he can't look down or hide his face properly.

"Oh my gosh. I can't believe I actually look like that...what cruel twist of fate has left me hanging from puppet strings? My destiny is in the hands of some unknown being above, forcing me to dance and bob for their omniscient amusement! Even in wire shackles, am I to be deprived of all dignity?"

He groans, officially too depressed about it for any more poetry. "I could have at least been painted without a blush on my face..."

Edited 2015-02-04 07:31 (UTC)

Mystique's puppety-Wirt face isn't nearly so limited, so during real-Wirt's whole diatribe, her expression looks confused and exasperated. Have they entered a Shakespeare play?

No matter! She's here for a purpose! For a cause! And no matter the incessant babbling of her opponent, she will do what she came here for! Wirt's face reverts back to the smiley, blushy thing it is, but now there are angry eyebrows on it, too.

"Mystique," she repeats slowly, as if that'll somehow convey the message better. "Mystique, Mystique Mystique!"

Fight me! in other words.

Because, well. She can't do anything until he makes his move. So move!

He's kind of jealous, to be honest. He wishes he could move his face more than he can at the moment. But what is this weird thing that copied him? What does it want?

Finally, Wirt decides that he'd just rather not know.

"Uh. Okay. I'm...I'm gonna just. I'm gonna go," he says. "Bye, um. Me."

And he turns to RUN off, bobbing as he goes. Unfortunately, due to the ancient rules of Pokemon he CAN'T ESCAPE! - He tries to walk off in the opposite direction, but his strings hold him in place.

Tragically, that uses up his move, so Mystique is free to see what sort of moves Wirt has up his sleeve and use them against him.

Wirt's face falls. "Mystique...?" Really...?

Her opponent is highly disappointing so far. He is so below her level! Sure, any other time she would laugh at someone fearing her so much that they'd immediately want to run. But that's not what she wants right now!

She sighs, rolling Wirt's eyes. She'd love nothing more than to kick the stupid cone off of real-Wirt's head, but something holds her back and prevents it. So, she instead ponders her lame opponent, her puppet mouth gritting its teeth.

Then suddenly! She strikes! Mystique uses FLAIL!

...Which means she kind of just shakes around a bit until her puppet feet weakly hit Wirt a few times. It's...not very effective.

Mystique retreats back to her side, Wirt's face incredulous. This is the worst fight ever.

For some reason, his double seems to be able to express himself facially with much more ease than he can, and he's about to comment on how totally unfair that is when suddenly his double is invading his personal bubble and smacking him around.

"Ow!" he cries out instinctively, but then he realizes that...this doesn't really hurt all that much. "Hey, cut it out!"

Eventually the other Wirt backs off though, and the real one glares, as much as a wooden puppet can glare at anything.

"What-- What's wrong with you? Why are you trying to beat me up? What did I even do to you?"

In other words, Wirt uses LEER.

Mystique takes a shuffling step back. What on earth was that? She--she feels slightly weaker. It's a strange feeling, feeling weak. It's even worse feeling weak against the world's most cowardly puppet.

"Mystique!" she cries angrily, and very nearly LEERs back. But no! Her next move must be amazing! Powerful! The best!

Wirstique suddenly looks pleased. She does a little puppet dance of glee, then puts on an evil grin. This will be great! (And...it's one of the only decent moves this pushover has offered her.)

With a squeaky little cackle, she turns into a mess of flaily legs and uses CONFUSION!

"Why do you keep saying that?" he shouts, or at least he tries to shout. He's never been great at projecting his voice, so it's honestly more of a whine. "I don't want to fight you; you're me!"

He pauses at that, horrified.

"...I-I mean. You're not...not literally me, because I'm me. I'm myself. You just look like me. Like a lot like me. A-And why-" and this is punctuated with the awkward, nervous laugh of someone on the edge of a breakdown. "-why would I be fighting myself? What would that even say about me? Who goes around beating themselves...up..."

He does. A lot, actually. He'll do something dumb and then agonize about it for days, or he'll talk himself out of things because he assumes he's not wanted. The truth is, he's actually kind of terrible to himself.

"-Literally, I meant literally! Not figuratively, e-everyone does that now and then, right? Right, that's totally normal. Super normal. Not like fighting yourself, because that's just not normal at all - i-it shouldn't even be possible, because there's only one me that's really me. I...I'm myself. And you're you. ...Right?"

This is giving him a headache, which he decides to try and resolve by swinging himself into the table leg, the way someone might gently thunk their head against a wall.

Wirt is CONFUSED! He hurt himself in his confusion!

Wirstique laughs, delighted at this turn of events. Clearly things are now in her favor! He must fear her so much now that all he can do is babble!

...And run himself right into a table leg.

"Mys-tique-tique-tique!" she cackles, doing a little puppet dance. Now it's time for the grand finale! Her final move!

Her face goes completely evil as she poises herself for this. She had to search hard for this move, ponder it for a while. But it seems fitting. She hopes he'll collapse in fear from the very sound of it!

You're gonna hear her ROAR!

Mystique prepares another laugh, ready to watch the results, but then--what is this?! Her face gets covered in shock as her feet start wiggling towards the door. She angrily tries to fight it, but it's all for naught. Soon enough, she's scurried out of the kitchen, shouting her name in disbelief.

Wild Mystique ran away!

At the moment, Beiste can only sort of fit into the entrance hall. Most of her head has peeped in to investigate that scratching noise, but given her current proportions, that's about all that's going to make it. But that's enough to get a good look around at things, and it doesn't take her long to spot the big red cone peeping out from behind a table leg.

"Wirt? Have you been scratching in here?" Beiste tilts her head curiously. What is Wirt doing scratching at the mansion? Does it have an itch?

Edited 2015-02-08 23:21 (UTC)

Wirt peeks out from underneath the table and looks up - way up. He should probably be a little more scared than he actually is, but...he's not, really.

(Okay maybe he is a little, but only because she's easily one hundred times bigger than he is right now.)

"I'm not scratching. I was just...I was trying to get under this table, and-"

Well, he demonstrates. He tries to flee under the table, but his strings keep getting caught on the top of the table. That, and the sound of his tiny wooden feet struggling against the floor, are what's making the scratching sounds.

"Oh." Beiste watches, puzzling at it all. "The strings are in the way."

Which solves that problem. But it doesn't solve the OTHER problem. And Beiste just has to know:

"Why are you trying to go under there anyway? Is there candy? Or treasure?"

"The strings shouldn't be there at all," he whines, quietly. "I'm not supposed to be like this..."

He really, really, really doesn't like this, and tries to keep himself behind a table leg because now he's just mortified all over again.

"There's no candy or treasure," he mutters. "Just lots and lots of horrible embarrassment."

Beiste's eyebrows furrow for a moment. If he's not supposed to be like this, then why is he? Why doesn't he just stop being like it? But then Wirt keeps talking and her curiosity shifts to this new topic.

"And that's bad! So why do you want to be under there with the embarrassment?"

"Because I can't get away from it, and if I'm under there then no one else has to see me like this!"

This whole thing is awful. He just wants to burrow a hole in the floor to hide in, but even if he could dig through floorboards he doesn't have any hands right now.

"So you want to not be seen? You mean like you want to be invisible?"

Beiste thinks on this for a moment, then gives out a loud gasp, suddenly dancing excitedly on her big feet.

"James has an invisibility cloak! You could be really really invisible! Maybe the most!"

"I-I-I don't know who that is! I'm not going to just ask some stranger for his...h-his invisibility thing!"

Were he completely himself, Wirt would be more intrigued that such an artifact exists at all, but right now he only has enough room in his tiny puppet self for excessive amounts of anxiety and fear.

"Oh! James is my friend." Beiste smiles toothily, as if this explains everything.

But Wirt just goes back to being trembly and upset, so Beiste's attention is brought back to the matter at hand. Wirt wants to hide? Where would Beiste hide if she wanted to?

"Have you tried hiding behind a tree? Or a big rock? Or maybe in a closet?"

Wirt gasps, loudly and dramatically.

"A closet! That's perfect!"

He practically flutters out from under the table, and rushes over to the nearest closet door so fast that his feet don't touch the ground. Unfortunately...the door is shut. And he doesn't have any hands. And while he has feet, they kind of uselessly dangle under him. None of this is helpful for opening doors.

So, he resorts to the only tool he has left. He tilts his head forward and puts the point of his (now wooden and sturdy) hat in the crack of the door, and tries to use it to jimmy the door open somehow.

Beiste follows, although her urgency is much lower. Mostly she just wants to see what Wirt is doing. And what Wirt is doing is very silly looking.

"Are you trying to do a headstand? That isn't right. You should take your hat off. It's too pointy."

"No! No, I just-- almost!"

He wiggles his head a bit more and then suddenly the door pops open a little! Wirt is positively delighted by this, and he hurries inside before the door can shut. It slams closed, too heavy to move from inside the closet, but there's another problem.

It's obvious that something is shut inside, because anyone who passes by can see his strings shut in the door.

Beiste creeps a little closer. Waits a moment, to see if Wirt plans on jumping out and saying "Boo!" or "Surprise!" but that doesn't happen, so.

She looks up. Then down again.

"Wirt. Your strings are stuck."

The strings struggle a little, but aside from that there's no response from Wirt. Is it because he's ignoring her? Or is it because he can't actually open the door from the inside?

The world may never know.

...Or, no, it's definitely because he can't open the door to fix it. Oops.

She almost flies right by Wirt, without giving him so much as a second glance. Weird, flailing marionettes? Yeah, she'll pass. Besides, she has more important business to attend to, like--laughing at people for turning into puppets and things. Because she's a nice person all the way through.

She's not sure what it is that grabs her attention and makes her realize that it's Wirt, and not some other weirdo, but the fact of the matter is that she she does figure it out. It's probably the hat. That thing's hard to miss. She lands near him, a little disappointed she can't land on his shoulder like normal. Not that she would have anyway. She's still not one hundred percent sure where they stand right now.

"Wirt?" She should probably be sympathetic, but honestly, this is as hilarious as it is strange. She stifles a laugh and clears her throat. "So, strings, huh? What, did you insult a puppet or something?"

She would take this more seriously, if she thought this change was permanent, but...she's pretty sure it's just wonderland being a huge jerk, so she's not actually worried.

Wirt actually shouts and stumbles backward when Beatrice lands. For once, it's not because of any awkwardness between them, but because Beatrice the tiny bluebird is now suddenly at least half his height and it's a little terrifying at first, okay?!

"B-Beatrice!"

His voice seems to come from absolutely nowhere, because his mouth sure isn't moving, but he sounds distressed enough that it's a little hard for him to be creepy in any way.

"I-I. I didn't do anything!" He sounds way too flustered for that to be true though, so he changes his story pretty quick. "It doesn't matter what I did; I just got stuck like this!"

Wirt sounds as though being turned into something tiny and adorable is easily the worst thing that's ever happened to him. Surely Beatrice can relate.

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I'm a tangled-up puppet, spinning around in knots | OPEN

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