It's All Fun At the Carnival

Prologue

John found himself holed up in Gamzee's respiteblock a LOT these days. Really, it was the only place Gamzee and him could talk and do stuff without anyone else doing something to set Gamzee on edge. Even if they didn't really DO anything, one wary look would bring Gamzee's mood down.

So John resolved to stay in here with Gamzee for most of the time. Sure, he missed some interaction from his other friends, but he hated it when Gamzee couldn't be included in things. Besides, Gamzee's respiteblock was pretty neat. He had a ton of Alternian comic books, a pretty cool (if not weird) music collection, and an assortment of books pertaining to Alternian Highblood culture.

It was those books that John really gave the credit to for not making as many faux pas as he used to, even if they WERE a bit bloodcist (was that even a word?). But he recognized that the trolls weren't human, and different places had different lifestyles and guidelines, and it would really be silly to assume the whole universe functioned the way Earth did.

He managed to find a way to duplicate the books, but have them duplicate translated in English using the alchemiter so Gamzee didn't have to keep translating for him, and he was admittedly hooked on the stuff. It was like reading science fiction, but BETTER.

John had just finished one of his books and picked up one from the pile Gamzee gave him to translate, looking at the copy. "…Hey, Gamzee?"

Gamzee looked up from his blanket pile, cracking an eye open. "Sup, motherfucker?" he asked. John smiled. He was used to Gamzee using 'motherfuck' a lot, ranging from nouns to adjectives, and could even tell by now when he used it as a term of endearment or an insult. He held up the book he had just picked up.

"…What's a Subjugglator?"

THAT perked Gamzee up. He sat up and began telling John everything about his religion, the Mirthful Messiahs, the customs, EVERYTHING. His enthusiasm was clear, considering nobody really ASKED him about it before, let alone sat there and LISTENED.

John indeed did listen, and whoa, was it something to listen to. He'd heard from Karkat that Gamzee worshipped 'some asshole gods or the other', but there was so much MORE to it. Not that he would PERSONALLY convert and be all about the sacrifices and stuff, but hey, some religions ate and drank the proverbial body and blood of THEIR messiah, so who was HE to judge?

"Wow," he said, sitting back. "Didn't know your face paint was that important. It all makes sense now."

"SEE, motherfucker?!" Gamzee said, flailing his arms. "YOU SEE! I've been tryin' to motherfuckin' schoolfeed th' ignorant motherfuckers about it all, but none of 'em motherfuckin' LISTEN!" He growled, baring his teeth. "Especially not th' motherfucker who blasts that MOTHERFUCKIN' BLASPHEMY—"

"Shoooooosh." John reached over, shooshpapping Gamzee's head. "Yeah, Dave doesn't get it. For all his talk of 'irony', he REALLY doesn't grasp the concept of 'tasteful satire' at ALL."

"…th' fuck is 'satire'?" Gamzee asked.

"Oh…it's a way of making fun of something, like a parody…but it can be done WITHOUT offending someone. Like, if someone's in on the joke." John sat back, flipping through the book. "It's especially funny if someone who has no idea what you're talking about takes it seriously, then you can laugh at their ignorance. So it's like a double-joke for the ones who play it."

"Huh." Gamzee. "…So…th' Motherfuckin' Blasphemy….ISNT this…motherfucking 'satire'."

"Sort of. But you've already established that it's offensive, so it's not tasteful satire. You weren't a part of the joke, you WERE the joke. And even though you've made it clear you don't like it, he's still making it offensive. Now, if YOU made up some jokes about your own religion that YOU were a part of, THEN it's back to funny. See?"

Gamzee scratched his head. "…yeah," he finally said. "I do. I motherfuckin' get it." He gave John a long, hard look. "….so you're sayin'….I can make a motherfuckin' joke of th' ignorant motherfuckers who know shitfuck about anything 'cause they'll believe it."

"Exactly," John said, still focused on the book. "Like….you could make up some REALLY bogus but REALLY scary goth poetry and tell them it's a holy sermon or something and make them listen to it."

"Mm," Gamzee grunted his approval of the idea, still staring at John. "…Hey, Johnbro, I have a motherfuckin' idea. A BIG motherfuckin' idea." John looked up just as Gamzee was pulling off a grin that showed off all of his teeth.

"….a REEEEEEEEEEEAL motherfuckin' big idea."