September Event - Guest Appearances

[pumpkinhollow]

GUEST APPEARANCES

Ignition

September 20th is the Autumnal Equinox. Many places across the world of Concorde celebrate the first day of fall. While various nations and regions have their own cultural practices surrounding it, nature is god everywhere. And so the inception of Mother Autumn’s domain is universally recognized, even if the names change from place to place. But on a little island named Marrow, in a little town called Pumpkin Hollow, there is another reason to celebrate.

The birth of Dahlia Leeds is not so important an event that it supersedes Celestine herself, and neither Dahlia nor anyone in town is foolhardy enough to claim as much. In fact, after the events on this very same day last year, one might argue that perhaps her birth at least started out as a bad thing. But she is certainly the wealthiest person in town. It is through the combination of substantial wealth and a generous heart, two things that are very seldom found in the same place, that we end up with a soiree where the birthday girl would rather spoil everyone else on her day than herself.

The doors to Leeds Estate, which presides proudly over the town upon its throne at the crest of Founder’s Hill, are flung wide open. Large sums of Brass are paid to caterers, florists, and seamstresses to make sure this place is decorated to the nines. Some businesses labor all year, just to prepare for the handsome payoff they’ll get from this event alone. And you, dear neighbor, are invited. Not only are you invited, but you are dressed for the event in whatever your heart desires, completely at the birthday girl’s expense. Dahlia ensures no cost nor conflict stands in between anyone in town and a much-needed break. She is determined for this birthday of hers to be a good night.

Or else.

Incipience

{ The timeframe between ignition and the peak of burning, where a small, contained fire spreads and grows gradually into an established flame. All it takes is a spark. }

The whole town is abuzz as preparations for the gala begin. From the moment people begin to wake up for the day, the air throughout Pumpkin Hollow just feels electric with excitement. After August, people have been needing this lift in morale, and after how last year’s gala went… well, there’s a lot riding on this one. And Dahlia seems much more in control now.

Speaking of being in control, the whole lead-up process has been incredibly organized. You wake up to a delivery--- your outfit, perfectly tailored and completely paid for. Accessories are included. She truly thought of everything.

It’s noteworthy that Dahlia’s invitations this time included another name beneath her own. “Suzanne Marie Dyneax,” it said. Most people don’t know the name, but gossip gets around in a small town like this. It’s not hard to pick up on the fact that this probably refers to Susie, one of the teenagers that Dahlia recently moved into her home, whose own birthday was ruined by Seemingly’s attack. Gift baskets have been delivered to others whose days were in proximity to the disaster--- Zivia, Capochin, even CT. Wine, fruit, and sweets, along with a birthday card. Dahlia has said in the past, “my birthday is your birthday,” but never has that felt more true.

With businesses mostly closed for the celebration, you are left with the majority of the day to prepare in relative peace. For many of the women in Dahlia’s inner circle, there is even a pre-party group dressing room set up on the third floor of her home. Only those who received her special invitation (Susie, Noelle, Fever, Cassandra, Anya, Alice, Patty, Melanie, Basira, Elsie) are permitted to join, but any friends or partners are gladly invited to wait at the bottom of the stairs for the girls to make their grand entrance.

The food is laid out, flowers placed, dresses laced and buttoned. The clock strikes 6pm, and the fun begins.

FLASHOVER

{ The moment when a blaze reaches its maximum size and heat, and the radiant heat in the space is such that all combustible materials ignite at once, allowing the flame to steadily and freely burn for the rest of the night. }

By the time it reaches 6:15, the ballroom is already flooded with eager dancers and hungry dinner guests. After all, the whole town is invited, and everyone’s excited to see Dahlia’s beautiful new ballroom and take a load off.

The music is elegant, played by a rotating cast of musicians who join the party when their act is over. The food is extravagant--- Dahlia and two of her partners are some of the biggest foodies in town, so this is expected. There is talking and laughing and the swirling of ballgowns, and all is well.

But there is a guest you do not recognize in the corner of the ballroom. An older man with white hair, strong features, and a dour expression. You can see Dahlia eyeing him, then flitting over to him, then talking to him. Her expression shifts from anxious, to annoyed, to resigned, before at last she sighs heavily and leaves him to it. Whatever it is that’s going on, clearly it’s something Dahlia is willing to begrudgingly tolerate in order to get back to having fun.

The reason for the disturbance becomes clear in short order, but by the grace of Celestine (and perhaps Eligos), it isn’t a reality bending nightmare or an attack by some monstrous beings. It is simply more guests.

A lot more, in fact.

Those who were on the island in September of the previous year will recall the Visitor’s Center, which appeared briefly just past the beach and served as temporary living and meeting quarters for visitors from the homeworlds of current residents. It would seem that this is a repeat incident. For the night of the gala, one to two “plus ones” have been invited for the vast majority of offworld residents. Most of them are friends or family who are happy to see their guests--- but this is ultimately a working of Eligos, so naturally, this is not always the case.

At the very least, Eligos seems to have been generous with his own granddaughter. As she turns away from him, she very nearly runs into someone much shorter than her. A dark haired human man with dwarfism. He laughs at the accident, grinning up at her as she stares back at him, utterly baffled. Then, petticoats billowing out, Dahlia sinks to the floor and embraces him as tight as she can, head pressed to his chest with little regard for her carefully-styled hair. Even those across the room can hear her shout his name. ”Jonah!”

Within the hour, the ballroom is packed with nearly double the people originally expected, turning the party livelier than it’s ever been. Tearful reunions, laughter, dancing, mischief, romance, sparring, cruelty, and even proper, righteous violence. Truly, this Leeds Gala will be one for the books!

--------
[ OOC reminders: each apped-in player character is entitled to one or two guests from their homeworld. This can be former selves, family, friends, enemies, and they do not have to be from the character’s exact canonpoint. They can be from the past or the future. You may play them yourself, ask another member player to do it, or recruit a non-member player to do so with moderator approval. Non-member players are permitted to join the Discord server while they’re active in this event! Threads you write for your own guests are eligible for AC for the character they’re there with, and threads you write for someone else’s guest can be used on the AC of a character of your choice. Just make sure to mark them as guest threads. After the gala, guests will be allowed to move freely about town, stay the night on Saturday and go home Sunday, or leave right after the gala if preferred. And last but not least, characters played in the gala can be apped directly from this event, rather than going through the normal arrival process. Let a mod know if you have questions, and have fun! ]

Smoldering

{ The decay of a flame as available heat, oxygen, and burning material gradually diminish. Eventually, the flames will recede entirely into glowing embers, glittering like orange starlight amid the ashes of what once was. }

The party rages well into the night. It’s not typical for residents of Pumpkin Hollow to stay out this late, with everything around here that goes bump in the night, but eventually party-goers begin to find their way out. They move in small groups, huddled around lanterns, may they ever stay lit. Perhaps the surprising bit is that their guests can go with them. There are even reservations made for board overnight at the Oak & Iron, all under the name “E. Rex”.

But alas, these reservations are only booked for one night. And by the time the sun begins to set on the darker half of the year for the first time, an unfamiliar black boat is moored at Jack's Marina. One that the guests will recognize as the vessel on which they arrived. They must leave by the time it becomes dark.

Or must they? Perhaps for a select few, they will fail to feel the call which draws them home. It is unclear why. There are many that Mortanne would have allowed residency for, if she could. But for some reason, all but a small few feel the pull. Perhaps Eligos has simply abandoned them here. (Or maybe none at all end up marooned and everyone goes home? That all depends on you, dear reader.)

When the sky goes dark, the aptly named Heavy Heart shoves off, with only her crimson sails hanging suspended seemingly in midair in the moonlight. The black ship is otherwise consumed by the night. And soon, even those flashes of red vanish into the distance.

Moments recede into memories, like a dying fire settles gently into glowing embers at the bottom of a hearth. The festivities are over, and the guests are gone. Life in Pumpkin Hollow resumes as before. But maybe just a little warmer and brighter.

“My birthday is your birthday,” as Dahlia often says.

Happy birthday.

References to the appearance of Leeds Estate can be found here!

Comments

[closureisformovies]

There is the most split of seconds where she catches the familiar colouring and wonders who the hell dolled Capochin up, before her eyes actually catch up with her—nope, different guy, very different vibes, that makes more sense.

And he's laying it on with the compliments. Okay she likes this guy immediately.

"Aww, thanks—you're also really rocking that look," Alice grins, whilst swaying her skirt manually just a little because she can. "I absolutely went ten times harder on this 'fit than I usually would and y'know what it wasn't even to show up a bitch until I got here? I mean. Now it kinda is. Before it was mostly the looking good part."

[yours_cooly]

"Why, thank you!" Vib strikes a little pose, flashing long claws painted gold.

"And y'know, it's like that sometimes. You show up lookin' fresh to death just for the hell of it and then a bitch shows up. Who is she? I wanna say mean things about her outfit."

[closureisformovies]

Alice stretches up a bit on her toes to get the best vantage on the party she can, looking for Celia. Please don't be holding the baby right now, please don't be holding the baby right now— oh thank god.

"Dark hair in the green suit over there," she says whilst pointing. It's not subtle but Celia doesn't seem to notice.

[yours_cooly]

It's not actually a bad suit. But Vib can always find something to pick at when he wants to.

"Ugh, that shade of green is not her color, and the theme tonight is clearly blue and gold. She looks like one of those lil' marry-moe balls walkin' around. And who even wears a bowl cut like dat anymore? Those went back outta style again before they ever came back. She mighta tied it together with some glasses, but ugh." Vibiano rolls his eyes dramatically, then looks back to Alice.

"Okay, foist of all--- I'm Vibiano, nice to meetcha--- and second of all, dish. What'd she do?"

[closureisformovies]

Marry-moe? she mouths to herself, before being re-distracted by the roast that she almost feels bad for laughing at even now—almost. The frustration and hard-earned pettiness wins out in that battle.

"Well damn, Vibiano, you're good," she snorts, before: "Name's Alice. And she— well, okay, it's weird and complicated, like, two parts office drama two parts interdimensional evil? The short version is we were friends but she dated my ex and then sent him to near-literal hell."

Bloody absurd sentence.

[yours_cooly]

"She was your friend and she dated your ex??? And she sent him to a nightmare dimension?! What the fuck! If you're gonna steal your friend's boyfriend, at least keep him, ya skank! Cripes, what is wrong wit' people dese days?" Vib huffs, hands on his hips. "Have you told her to go to Drain yet?"

[closureisformovies]

"I mean, okay so technically she met me and said ex at the same time but she knew, like she fully knew enough to imply I was jealous— which, okay, I was, sure, but that's not the point. The point is she spent months playing us both so she could yeah, throw him into a nightmare dimension! I'm not perfect but at least I don't do that to my boyfriends, christ—"

Ugh she gets more pissed off every time she thinks about it. All that time encouraging his bad habits! And for what!

"But uh, not yet. The ex has had a go at her I think but I feel like if I go over there I'm gonna start a decidedly unsexy catfight in front of her literal baby."

[yours_cooly]

Vibiano's jaw drops. "She COMMENTED on you being jealous?????????????? Knowing that she was gonna throw him to the void?! What kind of a supervillain power move---"

Okay, this homewrecker needs to be soundly destroyed. Tapping his lip, Vibiano thinks for a second.

"I could play with her kiddo, if ya like! Distract the lil bug. They don't need to see that."

[closureisformovies]

"I know, right? And then she spends bloody weeks pretending she was helping rescue him, god she fucking—"

She devolves into indistinct grumbling and only isn't dragging her hands through her hair because she needs to stay looking hot.

"That might work? Unless she's gonna get all paranoid about Jack I guess."

[yours_cooly]

"It's fine! I'm adorable, look at me. I look like exactly the fuzzy lil' animal-person you'd wanna leave a kid with." Vib strikes a cutesy pose. "Y'know where he is now?"

[closureisformovies]

Alice snickers a little—okay, yeah, can't argue with that logic. "I think they've got a kiddie area like— over that way? That's where she keeps going, anyhow. He's a chubby little thing with a whole head of black hair already."

It's a perfectly average amount of hair for his age, Alice knows nothing about babies except that they're loud and cute. Jack's sweet enough, shame his mum fucked everyone over so bad.

[yours_cooly]

"I'm on it whenever you're ready, hon, you just say the woid," Vibiano agrees. "I'll keep that lil' pumpkin so entertained he'll have no idea his momma's gettin' chewed out by a baddie."

[closureisformovies]

"Y'know I don't think I've ever been called a baddie before which really just shows how long I've been off the clubs and dating circuit." Good lord her social life at home sucks, so so bad. Anyway, her mouth twists, considering. "Do I neck this whole glass of wine before charging over or should I save it for getting wine drunk after?"

[yours_cooly]

"Before," Vibiano advises, ever the bad influence. "And I'll grab us a bottle for after!"

[closureisformovies]

"Mm. I like your style." And she necks the rest of her glass, sets it down somewhere, wipes her mouth, and quickly makes absolutely sure her hair and everything is in place. "Right. Okay. I look hot, I'm the teeniest bit buzzed, and I'm full of bitter rage. Let's do this thing."

And she does. Quite loudly, actually, sorry to everyone else, but better out than in. Vibiano seems to manage his job of preventing the infant from crying and causing her to feel bad about yelling at his mum, at least.

By the time she walks away she definitely needs that wine, though.

[yours_cooly]

"You look SUPER hot! Go get her!" With a parting blown kiss, Vibiano scampers off to find Jack.

He's SUCH a cute kid. Vibiano almost forgets to watch Alice lay into a bitch because he's so stinkin' cute and squishy and funny. Unfortunately there are a few tail pulls, but that's understandable, and Vib musses Jack's hair lightly before saying goodbye. "Have a good night, sugarplum! Byyyye~"

Then he nabs a bottle of white wine from the bar (he's a riesling girlie himself) and fresh glasses before returning to the table. "Hey! How'd it go? Me n' the kiddo could barely hear it, thank the gods."

[closureisformovies]

Alice drops into her seat and throws her head back more dramatically than entirely necessary, reaching immediately for a glass like a lifeline. (She's playing it up a bit, because she's allowed.)

"Well I feel both better and worse. Think better's got an early lead, though." Months of building resentment with no escape valve, released. It's a tremendous weight off her chest that just so happens to have revealed a few leaking wounds under the pressure. "She apologised, which, sure, thanks, okay, bare minimum, but christ I can't get over how little she fucking respected me to not even once— talk to me, about what was going on."

[yours_cooly]

"Did she say why boyfriend had to go to the nightmare hole or no?" Vibiano's already primed and ready to pour her another glass.

[closureisformovies]

"So," she sips, sighs, "she's from the nightmare hole. And the nightmare hole is trying to— pull her back in, or something? So she decided, you know what, maybe it'll accept a trade! And instead of picking anyone else for this fucked up little experiment, she went with him. And like, okay, there's reasons why, he was investigating some related stuff, but jesus christ."

Ideally, no one would go in the nightmare hole, but Alice isn't so above favouring her loved ones to a fault that she can say that if it had to be someone it should've been literally anyone else.

"I just keep thinking that she could've asked us to help her. And she didn't!"