iStones, april 6

[catpiper]

[You know those pressing, intense questions that keep you up in the middle of the night? Well, this is one such moment and anyone unfortunate enough to be awake, or awakened, during these early morning hours will be hit with an extremely important q from a confused girl.]

What's a joke?

[And, a few seconds later-]

How do you 'prank' someone? Is that a treasure? 

Comments

[reflash]

[Yukio was actually just waking up now. He doesn't sleep much.

But most other people are probably asleep, so....]

What's a wizard's favorite subject in school?

[Time for dumb jokes with Yukio (don't tell anyone).]

[catpiper]

[That's a q, isn't it? She's half tempted to shake one of her companion elves awake to ask what they liked in school, but decides against it. Oh well. Guessing time!!!!]

Cooking? Baseball? Music?

[reflash]

Spelling.

[catpiper]

[Is it gonna land?? It sounds like it might by the silence that follows. Her brain's working overtime because, yeah, Taako can spell better than her. Maybe jokes are just the truth? Or good guesses?? ]

He can spell really good. I've seen him write signs [Pause] That's a good joke.

[She still doesn't get it. Clearly. Puns are beyond this apocalypse child. Sorry friend.]

[yallstupid]

[You know, there has to be a goddamn off switch for these stones. Like, chucking them in the ocean is so tempting some days, and while he loves Ren from the bottom of his heart, these early morning stupid questions make him want to strangle her. Or the people she surrounds herself with who just expect her to know everything they're talking about with no fucking explanation.

He's getting real, real tired of people not educating this clearly sheltered girl about things in the world.]

A joke is something someone does or says that's funny to themself or other people. It usually includes a play on words or making fun or someone or something.

A prank is a joke you pull on a person or a group of people. A lot of the time it causes the person that's targeted to get hurt or humiliated in some way, so watch out. Not all pranks are good pranks, and y'all can get in some serious trouble pulling a prank on the wrong person what decides to retaliate.

So if you're thinking of doing any pranking, kiddo, I'ma be real with you right hecking now - don't. [The tone of his voice leaves little to be argued.]

[catpiper]

[Look, she lives by the beat of her own drum. Petition the Storyteller for iStone blockers 2k19.

The problem is she doesn't want to hurt anyone and she doesn't quite get how a person can pull a joke by telling it. This is too much. All she wants to do is meet some friendly, elusive god. Why's that so hard!!]

I won't hurt anyone. I don't like to do things like that.

[Even if she does sometimes break and enter or loot. That's probably different.]

Do you know jokes? Does something make you laugh?

[yallstupid]

Yeah, I know you don't, but you're also gullible and real easy to persuade. [GUZMA DON'T LIE AND DON'T PULL NO PUNCHES.] Besides, pranking has this nasty little habit of going too far and not stopping. Things could be physically harmless, but you could hurt someone's pride or their feelings real bad. Just ain't worth it in the long run, personally.

[Has Guzma pranked? Oh, absolutely. Has he been pranked? Once. Neither time ended very well for either party, and there's better forms of comedy than playing pranks. Stand-up for one...and slapstick, but he'd rather keep Ren away from the latter.]

My sense of humor is a lot diff'rent than yours, darlin'. Any jokes I tell have been told by others and, uh...things you prob'ly shouldn't be hearing, or wouldn't understand anyway. [He's pretty sure Ren wouldn't get a single joke by John Mulaney.]

[catpiper]

[This is clearly why the concept is so hard for her to grasp. The fine line between a good prank and hurt pride isn't one she can understand. Not that she gets the basics to begin with. Pranks sound bad?? And jokes-

He's not wrong. People have been telling her some over the iStone that she just doesn't get, but this doesn't get her any closer to-]

The Traveler might like your jokes. You can say them to him-I'll cover my ears.

[Maybe she can meet this elusive god by proxy. She can beat the system.]

[vagabone]

[He definitely sounds like he's just woken up. A nice fresh groggy skeleton. Whatever, it's fine, he can sleep in as long as he wants. Gotta love that island life.

...That hazy feeling sure makes the question harder to answer, though. Hm. Jokes. How does one actually describe a joke.]

A joke's... something stupid that makes you laugh. Hey. Why can't you see elephants hiding in the trees?

[catpiper]

[Sorry sleebi skele!! This is how life is. Just hang up fast.

But that's a HARD question. What even are elephants?? Are they like heffalumps?? Or cats? Whatever.]

Because they're good at hide and seek.

[vagabone]

Yeah, you got it. Funny, eh? [Heh. He's... not hanging up?? Why should he, he doesn't need to be up early.]

What's red and bad for your teeth?

[catpiper]

[Oh my god, skele. She's confused!! Jokes are hard!! What's an elephant!!

But at least she knows the answer to this trivia q.]

A seashell.

[solperierat]

[Unlike most of the rest of these losers Ed was awake anyway because what is even a sleep schedule, so he doesn't sound perturbed at all when he answers.]

Jokes are something funny you tell to people to get them to laugh. Usually they're funny because you don't expect what comes at the end of it--that part's called a punchline.

Pranks are when you set something up to cause trouble or confusion for someone that winds up funny for everyone else. It's usually harmless but some people can get carried away with it.

...you hadn't heard of those before?

[catpiper]

No, I didn't know about things like that, but that kind of thing makes the Traveler happy.

[This combination of words means nothing to Edward, probably. She's taking it seriously though.]

Do you like jokes? Do you laugh at them?

[solperierat]

The Traveler?

Yeah, I like jokes pretty well. Everyone laughs at different things, depending on what they know and how they feel about some topics. [He REFUSES to bring height into this.]

[catpiper]

The Traveler is a god who likes this kind of thing.

[And now she has to know.]

What makes you laugh?

[postictal]

You live with Lup and Taako, and they never thought to tell you what a joke is? Or a prank?

[What the hell kind of parenting IS this, elves.]

[catpiper]

[And they won't even wake up while she's discussing such important philosophical topics!!! It's RUDE!!!]

They tell me about lots of things, but I don't know if they know what that stuff is either.

[postictal]

Joke's something that makes you laugh. Like...a word or phrase or something, maybe.

[He did not major in English he has no idea how to explain these things.]

Prank is more complicated.

[onegreeneye]

[Nice things about being nocturnal: He's already awake for stuff like this.]

A joke is something you say to try to get people to laugh. A prank is... I guess something you do so you can laugh at someone else. Did nobody tell you this stuff before?

[Fair, he guesses. It took him a while to gain any understanding of humor, too.]

[catpiper]

No, I didn't know about this. I don't think Seto did either.

[Nighty night peanut club assemble!! They're awake because time is FAKE and they own the night.

The explanation is starting to sink in about now, even if she isn't quite comprehending the true meaning behind jokes.]

What makes you laugh?

[onegreeneye]

...

[There's an... embarrassingly long pause there as he tries to figure out how to answer that. He's not totally sure when the last time was that he actually laughed? Made faces at people, sure, and maybe a couple involuntary noises that sounded sort of like laughter, if you did the aural equivalent of squinting.

Hmm.]

That's kind of... difficult to explain, honestly. I suppose it helps if something is kind of-- I don't know, unexpected? That tends to be a big part of humor.

[ohshitsweetflips]

[You know what's a joke? Taako's sleep schedule and/or entire life. Possibly even a prank, played by an as yet undiscovered god of terrible vacations.]

A joke is a thing you say to make someone laugh, by surprising them a little. A prank is like that but uhh, more involved--like with stuff instead of words. Obviously Taako is great at both, but jokes are easier.

[catpiper]

[Is he awake??? If he's awake she's gonna-

Keep talking through the iStone anyway because she loves it.]

Is that stuff magic too? Is that why you're the best at that kind of thing?

[ohshitsweetflips]

[Shut up. Taako's not heartwarmed by Ren's easy praise at all.]

Nope! That's all natural talent, pumpkin. I mean, you can do pranks with magic, but that's just a shortcut. Anyone can make jokes...in theory, anyway.