milliways_bar | Twelfth Night Party, Pontmercy style!

You -- yes, you, whoever you are -- got an invitation to the party. All of Milliways is welcome!

If you choose to come, you'll find Bar directing you to a big round tent that went up this afternoon on the lawn outside the bar. Marius and Cosette and various friends spent a lot of time this morning ferrying decorations in, and the waitrats spent a lot of time in the afternoon ferrying food in, but the doors won't officially open until close to sunset.

But this isn't a cheap white plastic tent, oh no. It's warm and domed and made of thick fabric, something like a very large yurt. A bit of magic keeps out the drafts, making everything extra cozy.

There's a fire in the middle of the floor, with a low screen encircling it but also magic meaning that this fire puts of warmth but will not actually burn anything, even if you step right into it. The floor is wood -- great for dancing, if you feel like it! There's a piano over against the wall for anyone who wants to make some music.

Everywhere there are garlands of European evergreen branches and herbs, studded with bright dried fruit and sparkling ornaments. (Mistletoe might very well be among them, though the Pontmercies haven't thought to supply that as an intentional party game.) There are candles and lanterns everywhere, and a big chandelier. There are no electric lights at all -- it's all fire -- but a good number of them are magical, so that nothing's going to get set on fire or covered with smoke. The general intended impression is of genteel, welcoming festivity, in a very French and very early 19th century European way.

There are food and drinks galore. Come in and enjoy the party!

[OOC: Party-style post! Subthreads for various categories and activities, etc. Open from now until whenever!

Edit: As of Joly's arrival, Cosette now has a mini-polaroid camera. Fear, Milliways. Feel free to assume that she's popped up to take a candid picture of your character(s) at any point, as long as they're not doing or wearing anything scandalous! She will happily give the resulting picture to your character if they want; it probably won't be a very good picture, in terms of composition or focus, but it will be cheerfully enthusiastic.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He notes the acceptance, shy but without argument, without really thinking about it, only a certain awareness--Good,gifts are all right, then. That little bit of information hadn't been the point--he's always given gifts readily and happily when he can-- but it's good to have.

"Some of the islands we passed were great floating rocks-- some that bobbed along like a raft, and some that sank once a day. Is that land, or is it flotsam? And then there was the turtle-- ah, you won't believe me, you'll think I'm making things up! --but it was so, a whole island city on the back of a giant turtle, one who hardly moves more than twice a year, I was told. I wish I was making it up-- there was a better story there than any I've ever tried to put down, I'm sure of it."

Gifts are all right, from friends.

So are blatant lies, if they're amusing. "A turtle! Truly? No, you must be making fun of me, how wicked of you!" Her laugh belies any sense of real outrage about this.

Edited 2017-01-11 01:38 (UTC)

"Ah, you doubt me! A terrible blow!" You can tell by how he's laughing. "I admit it's an unlikely tale. But--there we are--" The music is stopping, a pause between tunes. Bahorel ends the dance with a bow, more dramatic than polite, and reaches into his coat pocket.

"Doubt me you may, the memory of even an honest man may lie! But what of this?" This turns out to be his camera, the same one he used just now to show Fantine her own face. But now the images playing on it are, obviously, of an ocean, from someone approaching a port--port on an island, a very suggesstive chain of islands-- and there, almost but not quite unmoving as they draw closer, almost under the surface of the waves, an incredible, massive fin.

Fantine looks, and her eyes widen. "Oh! How marvelous--though I suppose," she adds, with a hint of shy teasing, "that you might have done some trick to change the picture. I know you can do that with these phones." She's been in Milliways for a bit now, you can't fool her with Photoshop! "But tell me, if there is really a turtle, what's its name? What happens when it wishes to move and eat something, or have children, or...?"

"As to the mysteries of the great turtle's heart, and matters of its family, I cannot well say; I was only there two days, and then I woke up here again. The name I know; I am sorry to say it has the eminently,obviously useful name of Turtle Island. I was setting myself the job of improving the situation before my visit so suddenly ended." Turtle Island! that would be a dull name even if it only looked like a turtle. As it is, it's like calling the sun Big Sky Light. Accurate to the point of insult.

"I've heard that people can make videos like this, and seen some of them; but it's beyond me yet! Can you do it?" It's a real question. Fantine's been here a while, now; a while that he wasn't. He has no idea how wide her studies might have become.

"Me? Why, no--oh, but it would be such fun to learn. And I think even someone like me, with no education or learning, could do it."

"As to that, you have exactly as much education as I do in the matter; which is none, except to have learned it can be done. But that's enough to start learning more!" It's an exciting idea--to use photographs and film as the base sketch, and along with art, and then--? "There's the whole Library to search for guides. --And how are you coming with the reading?"

"I feel so stupid about it," says Fantine, shamefacedly, "but I am getting better, truly I am, though I'm still very slow."

"Hah, now you're making fun of me! But never mind it, it won't work, you cannot get me off my guard so easily; I have seen you make a skylark come to hand, I know your cleverness!" But everyone feels slow sometimes when they're learning something new, probably!

"Oh, but birds like me, and they're sweet creatures. It's not like reading at all! But," she adds, a little wistfully, "it would be nice to learn to make pretty pictures."

Twelfth Night Party, Pontmercy style!

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