[ open ] for i've grown a little leaner, grown a little colder, grown a little sadder

[holyshihtzu]

Who: Juliet O'Hara + You
Where: Juliet's room
When: December 1st-4th
Rating: PG
Summary: Juliet is getting into the Christmas spirit early by hosting a little get-together at her place. Network video and party post below the cut!
The Story:

[ ✹ .002 [ video ] ]

Happy December, Wonderland!

[ Juliet offers a brilliant, if somewhat strained, smile to the network. The camera isn't directly aimed at her face at first--she's still getting used to video chatting--but she reaches out to adjust it quickly before continuing. ]

I know not everyone here celebrates Christmas or... Even knows what Christmas is, but! In the O'Hara household, Christmas is a big deal. I mean, I really big deal. All my family comes in and there are games, and arts and crafts, and a ton of food...

[ People probably get the idea, Juliet. ]

So! I know things always get really crazy during the holidays anyway and I wanted to get on top of things so I'm having a little pre-Christmas get together at my place. So whether or I know you or not, come by room three on the seventh floor anytime over the next few days and I promise we'll have a lot of fun. Open door policy.

[ She pauses. ]

Not literally. Knock first.

[ room 3, level 7 ]

Juliet has gone all-out for the holidays, as an O'Hara is wont to do. With no financial limits and no job to distract her, she's put everything into decorating her place. Anyone walking past room three on the seventh floor will be greeted immediately with an timely wreath and equally festive doormat.

The decorations don't stop there. Juliet has decked the halls to the point that they are bursting, having even extended her living room quite a bit to accommodate food, fun, and hopefully a lot of guests. Every wall is decorated with some kind of garland, wreath, or lights. She's even got a sprig of mistletoe hanging in the corner for any couples who visit that might be so inclined.

And, of course, there is the the Christmas tree in the corner of the living room.

Anyone who visits will also be greeted by an unimaginable spread of food from cookies, cakes, and various snacks to some traditional Scottish fare like mince pies. There's another corner table dedicated to just Christmas crafts, from cutting out paper snowflakes to sewing Holiday themed pajamas.

Maybe it's a little early to go full out, but Juliet couldn't wait. Christmas is her favorite time of year and she hopes that getting to it early will help her miss her family less - and maybe help her find a new family in Wonderland.

[ This is a party/mingle post! Feel free to top level and tag out with other people, or just thread with Juliet, or just respond to her network post if you so desire. Have fun and get into the holiday spirit before shit goes down! ]

Comments

[bibliocorn]

Pony, a horse is something else, in my world. But people make the confusion all the time.

[HUMANS do, anyway. It's a very human flaw. He's learned to deal with it with some grace and calm though. Not like Starlight, who deals with this stuff...pretty terribly. All the time.]

Ooooh! I know about Scotland!! [He bounces, excited.] I have a very good friend here named Claire who's from there! I read up a lot on it, it's a fascinating country.

[holyshihtzu]

Oh! I'm sorry. Pony.

[ She gives him an apologetic look but is relieved that she hasn't seemed to offend him. If anything, her smile brightens when he starts to bounce, and she laces her hands together, beaming. ]

I met her! She knows a lot more than me, though, I've never actually been there. I've just heard things from my grandparents.

[bibliocorn]

It's alright.

[At least she apologised for it, that's a rare thing and does wonders to endear herself to him.]

Everything I know about it is from what Claire tells me, or what I read in books, because I'm not from Earth. [A pause, a self-depreciating laugh.] Uh...obviously. But if I had the chance, I'd sure like to see it.

[holyshihtzu]

I'm trying to imagine a world of just ponies but I'll be honest. I'm having a hard time imaging it.

[ Though, it is fun to try. ]

You know, it's too bad we can't figure out how Wonderland works so we can travel between worlds. [ She wrinkles her nose. ] In a good way. Not in a traumatizing event way.

[bibliocorn]

You'd be surprised how often I get that.

[Like. All the time. Forever.]

There is actually travel between universes where I come from. We have an alternate world where everypony is a human and everything. It's just not really common knowledge. But you're right, it would be pretty neat to see one another's worlds in a...not awful way.

[holyshihtzu]

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel weird about it. Mostly I'm fascinated by everything I hear about other people's worlds, especially since mine is so normal in comparison.

[ By "normal" she mostly means "boring." Even Shawn's abilities are starting to look a little lame compared to what she's heard. ]

So there's some alternate reality somewhere where you are a human?

[ Oh she so hopes the hair stays the same. ]

[bibliocorn]

It's fine, at least you weren't weird about, or kept asking me why I could talk, or continued to call me an animal. You're doing better than a lot of humans I first meet. And you'd be surprised, normal is in the eye of the beholder. Someone might find your world fascinating.

[Earth is a big old mystery to him. He nods.]

Hmmm. I don't know what he...err me?? Does, as far as I'm aware the one mare to travel regularly between the dimensions hasn't come across me. But yes, somewhere there is. [Then, with a soft, disgruntled snort:] Wonderland turned me into a human once. So...that's a thing that happens.

[And in that case, the hair absolutely stayed the same. ]

[holyshihtzu]

Someone called you an animal? [ She wrinkles her forehead, offended on his behalf. ] Some people forget that what they say can hurt someone else's feelings.

[ Juliet tries not to be that kind of person. She can verbally spar with the best of them, but it's impossible for her to mean and pretty hard for her to be disrespectful. ]

I wonder if we'll ever have an event where I turn into a pony. [ She might seem a little too excited about that. ]

[bibliocorn]

More than once, yes. It's rather irritating, honestly. Animals aren't sentient in my world.

[But he deeply appreciates her being offended on his behalf. It makes a nice change.]

It's always a possibility? There's two of us here, so it stands to reason that might happen one day.

[He delicately avoids the fact Starlight just turned a ton of people here into ponies not long back because that never reflects well on his best friend. ]

[holyshihtzu]

I'm pretty sure animals are still sentient on my world, even if they can't talk. I mean, my cat definitely seems sentient.

[ She loves animals too much not to think there isn't something there that at least demands a little respect. ]

I wonder if having more than one person--or pony--from any given world raises the likelihood of having an event from there?

[bibliocorn]

Heh, I'm sure pet owners in my world would agree.

[Because of course the tiny horses keep pets, but of course. ]

I would imagine so. Every extra person would be a whole other slew of memories from that world for Wonderland to pick up from.

[holyshihtzu]

[ It never even occurred to her that ponies could also have pets but, heck, if she can have a cat she's not going to hold it against anyone else. ]

Hmm. [ She twists her face up thoughtfully. ] I guess that might explain the onslaught of zombie accounts I kept finding the further back I went on the network.

[ There are so many people from zombie worlds here it's awful. ]

[bibliocorn]

Hmmm. That was apparently a very popular one. I came here just at the tail end of all that. The ones I came across were defeated with karaoke? Which was...exactly as weird as it sounds.

[He'll happily avoid that forever. His own world might be insane at times, but at least zombies are fictional there. ]

[holyshihtzu]

That doesn't sound so bad. Weird, but better than guns and baseball bats.

[ She's more than happy that her own world is zombie-free. The only dead people she has to deal with are the ones that Shawn talks to. ]

Is there ever an event from just a normal world? It's kind of making me wonder what one from my world would look like.

[bibliocorn]

From what I understand of those sorts of worlds, yes, it was.

[He offers a wan smile.]

That depends on your definition of normal. 'Normal' for me is a world filled with magic and ponies and celestial bodies being controled by our royalty. Something that I'd say is decidedly not normal for you. But in turn, something from your world would definately not be normal for me.

[holyshihtzu]

That's a good point. I guess taking a walk near the beach with humans everywhere would be weird for you. Or not weird, since there are humans here. And a beach.

[ Now she's just back to thinking there is no way her world would be interesting enough for an event. ]

It's different, though! Santa Barbara is really nice and exciting.

[bibliocorn]

When I first got here it was very weird. But yeah, I've gotten used to you guys by now.

[He's even used to having to look UP at everyone all the time to talk to them. ]

It is? What's it like? From my understanding, Earth's climate can be as varied as my own world.

[holyshihtzu]

Earth's climate is very different and really complex. There are a really varied amount of ecosystems, and they are actually pretty delicate which is causing a lot of problems in my world right now.

[ Humans kind of ruin everything. ]

But, I live near the ocean. It doesn't get that cold, but that also means we don't really get snow. I love it there, though. I love the sun and the beach and all the people that visit. And before that, I lived in Florida, which really wasn't all that different, it's just on the other coast of the country I'm from.

[bibliocorn]

Ponies control our own weather, in Equestria. But the other countries just deal with it as it comes naturally. I suppose if it's meddled with in the wrong ways, it could cause trouble.

[Not that the ponies have to worry about that.]

That sounds nice. I bet the beach was really nice to be near when you were little. I grew up in the mountains, myself. In a really little town.

[holyshihtzu]

I don't know if we'd be better or worse off if we could control our own weather.

[ She wrinkles her nose thoughtfully. It seems like a great idea, but someone was bound to ruin it somehow. ]

It was great. Miami and Santa Barbara are very different, though. Miami has a pretty big population, and Santa Barbara isn't a small town but sometimes it definitely feels like one. Did you like living in the mountains?

[bibliocorn]

It makes harvesting crops easier, given we can time our own seasons. When you're from a herbivorous species, that's kind of a big deal.

[But equally when their magic gets screwed with everything goes to hell twice as fast.]

Sounds nice all the same. [He grimaces because he hasn't been home in years and really never wants to go there again.] It was pretty? But like is a strong word. I liked the setting?

[holyshihtzu]

That makes sense. [ What ponies eat hadn't entirely occurred to her, but neither had them tending to crops. How would they... With hooves...? She's not sure how to ask that question in a way that wouldn't sound incredibly patronizing. ]

A lot of people don't like where they grew up. I think everyone just gets used to what they see every day and take it for granted, even if it's something that would be unique for someone else.

[bibliocorn]

[She best not, that's a rabbit hole she'll very much regret peering into. Therein likes questions such as 'but how do ponies BAKE?' and 'but if cows are sentient why are they kept in paddocks for milk?' No good lies in this direction.]

Hmm. I prefer where I live now, the Crystal Empire. It's got a very rich history, and if the name didn't give you any clues, it's very pretty.

[It's also in the Far North well away from the vast majority of the rest of civilisation. Which is what drew him there in the first place.]

[holyshihtzu]

It sounds beautiful. And magical.

[ Like something out a storybook, which isn't surprising, considering she's talking to a magical pony. ]

What's it like there?

[bibliocorn]

Oh it is! Very.


[He's more than happy to talk about his adopted homeland. ]

It has a fascinating history! It was cursed by the tyrannical king who once ruled over it with an iron hoof. It vanished for a thousand years! It showed up a couple years ago when Sombra returned. He's been dealt with [from what Sunburst understands, he's SUPER DEAD] and the Crystal Empire has been ruled under Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armour ever since.

The place is beautiful, covered in crystal and the ponies who are native to the Empire are utterly unique! They are bound, emotionally, to the Crystal Heart, an ancient relic which protects the Empire from the Frozen North surrounding it. It's the light and love in the Crystal Ponies that power it- and that light and love shine across all of Equestria, helping power the harmony magic my world thrives on. It's fascinating!.