Let's partyyyyyyy! [open]

[livingdeadgirl]

Who: EVERYONE.
What: A meet-and-greet party for everybody in Anchor!
When: early October
Where: the VR room lobby
Warnings: none yet
Format: go wild!

[ The day before, a wild network post appears, from the username @aa : ]

hi everyone!
i just wanted to let you all know
the meet and greet party previously discussed in this space
will be held tomorrow afternoon!

it will take place in the vr room lobby
and of course everyone is invited
refreshments and games will be provided
but if you would like a little extra challenge
please feel free to bring something to share!

attendance is mandatory!
(lol just kidding)
seriously though i do hope to see all of you there ;)

[ She's also posted handwritten signs to that effect in the mess hall and several of the staircases. Just in case! ]

---

The day of, a party appears in the VR Room lobby area, as promised!

Though it's not brightly lit, the lights there are are brightly colored, creating a chilled-out evening atmosphere like you'd find at a club. Plush chairs and couches are interspersed throughout the room, and there's been a solid attempt to clean the place up, or at least do something about all the dust.

A shortage of conventional party supplies has forced Ami and Cho to get creative, so the tables and parts of the wall are decorated with paper flowers, and the buffet table is presided over by a number of ... weird, pink, glitter-covered, vaguely animal-shaped sculptures made out of spare plastic pipes and stuff. With googly eyes. If nothing else they're a conversation piece.

FOOD: The main offering is barbecue! There's a pretty wide assortment of meats, all of which Cho has certified safe for human consumption, and also certified delicious. Chips, dried fruit, and a few different desserts are available, including homemade chocolate chip cookies that Ami made herself (wich Cho's help). All the trays are helpfully labeled, including allergy information.

Any and all potluck submissions are welcome as well! Just set it down over here and make a little card of your own.

DRINKS: Sadly, the coffee machine is still out of order. But there is a cooler stocked with ice and a few different choices of juice and soda. Alcoholic selections are limited to two types of pre-mixed drinks, which are intentionally weak on the alcohol, but at least they're not tequila sunrises. If guests want anything stronger, they'll need to bring it themselves.

ENTERTAINMENT: In fiddling with the controls, Ami got the overhead speakers to play some music, but couldn't figure out how to modify the playlist, so it's just one song on loop. Maybe if she keeps the volume kind of low, no one will notice. No live music is scheduled, but if anyone wants to bring a guitar and jam for a while, they will be more than welcome to.

And most of the arcade games are online! Anyone for Fruit Ninja? Air hockey? Dance Dance Retribution? Virtual Billiards? Or perhaps you'd like to try out a full-simulation game in the VR Rooms proper? Now's as good a time as any!

Oh, and don't forget to enter the raffle! The winner will be chosen randomly and announced a few hours into the party.

Comments

[abheirrant]

Ami, Professional Party Planner, Announcer of Gatherings, Greeter to those Gathered. Long may be her reign.

[His tone is a little flat, but he's smiling beneath that mask. Maybe that's just how he jokes.]

[livingdeadgirl]

[ Holy shit, stop the fucking presses, we have MADE CARLISLE LONGINMOUTH SMILE. (Does that make him Wide-in-mouth?) Ami laughs heartily, grinning from ear to ear, and does an inelegant curtsy. ]

Thank you, thank you! I pledge to rule with an iron fist!

[ AMI NO ]

[abheirrant]

[Well, Carlisle isn't saying anything to discourage this.]

We should find you a crown. I would loan you mine, but I'm afraid it's a part of the outfit.

[livingdeadgirl]

[ CARLISLE NO ]

Well, hey - we've got paper! We've got scissors! Together we can forge a new crown, to rival that of the Burger King himself!

[abheirrant]

[He raises an eyebrow.]

The Burger King? Who is that?

1/2

[livingdeadgirl]

Ah, the Burger King! That mighty monarch of meat, with his cardboard crown and creepy-uncle smile! His stealth skills are unmatched by even the sneakiest ninjas. He's in your house, he's in your bed, in your closet, in your head! Exit light, enter night, he'll jump out when you least expect it...

2/2

[livingdeadgirl]

[ Then she drops the ominous tone altogether and mimes offering Carlisle something with her free hand. ]

... to present you with a hamburger and a happy little dance!

[abheirrant]

[Carlisle has gone from curious to quietly apprehensive, deciding he already does not like this Burger King fellow.]

So... is he real? Or is he merely a legend meant to scare children?

[livingdeadgirl]

Both! [ ... ahh, no, she can't keep pretending to be serious about this. It's no fun if it feels like a deception. ] Haha, just kidding. He's a fast food mascot. But you could say he's become a legend, in a way.

[abheirrant]

[And now he's just confused.]

A fast food... mascot. What quantifies food as fast? Must you chase it first?

[Because if that's the case, they call that hunting. Hunting is a perfectly good term.]

[livingdeadgirl]

[ Oh, right, you're from fantasy times. Don't worry, Carlisle! Ami is here to drag you into the 21st century kicking and screaming! ]

Oh, no. Fast food is - it's a type of restaurant where they serve your food really quickly, that's all. Usually stuff like sandwiches and finger foods, so you can eat it on the go. It's convenient and cheap and delicious and atrociously bad for you.

[abheirrant]

[He'd ask why anyone would consider eating something with a reputation of being bad for you, but he can extrapolate the reason easily enough.]

I suppose you are trading nutrition for convenience. Is it worth dealing with this mascot fellow?

[livingdeadgirl]

[ She laughs. ] Let's be real, "trading nutrition for convenience" is pretty much the one through-line of all American food.

But nah, you don't have to deal with the mascot. He just shows up in commercials, it's not like they have a guy in costume at every single Burger King. Even if they did, though, you could always use the drive-thru.

[abheirrant]

[He clearly has more questions. 'Every single Burger King' implies there are many of them, and each one has its own monarch. Are these restaurants beholden to a specific ruler and region? What happens when one king is confused for another? How can anyone tell which is the real mascot and which are the pretenders if there are decoys?]

What a strange place you come from. [Yeah, that about sums it up.]

[livingdeadgirl]

[ More laughter. ] Oh, man, you don't know the half of it! This is just the normal stuff, you should hear some of the actual weird stuff.

[abheirrant]

Do I actually want to know the weird stuff, if this is normal for you?

[Legit question, okay.]

[livingdeadgirl]

Hmmm. Well, who knows, actually? Maybe what's weird for me is totally normal to you! How about, uh...

[ She has to think for a second to come up with a worthy candidate. Entire colors disappearing, everyone forgetting horses exist, the reincarnation bullshit - those are probably still weird no matter where you're from. However... ]

How about chocobos? The giant yellow flightless birds that you can ride like a horse. Does your world have those?

[abheirrant]

[He shakes his head.]

I cannot say we do, though if they do exist, they are likely in warmer regions than mine. I live in the mountains, and what birds we have are smaller, hardy.

[But terrifying, as all birds tend to be to Carlisle.]

Would the feathers not get in the way of a saddle?

[livingdeadgirl]

No, not really! The saddles are different from a horse saddle, obviously. You just kinda - do you guys have ostriches? They're built kind of like an ostrich, with the long neck and long legs, but they're bigger and less spindly. So you sit right at the base of their neck, and your legs go in front of their wings.

[abheirrant]

[Coming from a world that doesn't have ostriches either, Carlisle attempts to put together a mental image of this horse-sized bird. Long neck and long legs make him think of a crane, but cranes are certainly spindly. So... a very muscular crane?

It looks terribly silly in his mind's eye, and he's sure it looks just as silly in real-life.]

And this is a real creature? Not another 'mascot'?

[livingdeadgirl]

[ I mean... he's probably not too far off. They do look pretty silly! ]

Yeah, it's real! I've ridden one.

[ But that's not something he finds normal, either, so she'll try something else. ]

Let's see... weeeeell... what about an enchanted forest corrupted by a wicked witch?

[abheirrant]

That is closer to what I'd find familiar, though the forest isn't enchanted, and it wasn't corrupted by a wicked witch. They are called the the Blighted Wealds, and it was necromancy that poisoned the land. One might think they were enchanted, given the undead are known to rise there, but it is said the ground itself is so tainted with vile magics that there is no letting them rest.

[Maybe he'd be a cheerier fellow if his 'normal' was all silly, muscular cranes instead of that.]

[livingdeadgirl]

[ At first, Ami's eyes widen in surprise - but as Carlisle goes on, her smile widens, too. That's not fear, it's excitement. ]

Oh my god, you guys have necromancers??

[abheirrant]

[That was not the reaction he was expecting at all.]

You sound so... thrilled about that.

[livingdeadgirl]

[ She giggles a bit at his tepid reaction. ] Yeah! I'm a goth, so I'm way into that kind of dark, spooky stuff. Actually, I had a DnD character who - oh, wait, you don't know DnD. Uh... are you familiar with the concept of role-playing games?