hashtag_chocobro | The Apartment above the Photo Hut; Sunday Afternoon [02/11]

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The Apartment above the Photo Hut; Sunday Afternoon [02/11] - PuppyBowl Birthday Party!

Prompto would be entirely honest; if there was anything a bit different going on in town, he was completely unaware of it, because he'd been singularly focused since pretty much Friday on getting things all ready and set up for Noctra's birthday party today. The decorations were an amalgamation of both puppy things and football things, with a both First Year Down! and Let's Pawty! balloons to really drive it home.

And, of course, the birthday girl herself was showing her appreciation for the theme, as well! Unfortunately, with her dad's excitement all morning in getting things up, she hadn't been able to nap like he was hoping she would, so he was holding his breath that the whole thing wouldn't make her too cranky or overwhelmed, but at least there was plenty to distract her in the meantime. Including a little help from Rain pulling in duty as Party Ruferee.

Then there was getting everything with the catering set out for the guests, which included your typical moddable game day fare, but especially puppy chow, mini hot dogs, and, of course pizza rolls! There were a puppy bowl birthday cake, even, with some vegan cupcake puppy players!

And, of course, near the entrance, there were plenty of party hats for anyone who wanted to claim their allegiance for Team Ruff or Team Fluff or just Team Noctra (he suspected those would be the most popular, really).

And for once, after everything was set up and copious amounts of pictures had been taken, Prompto actually wasn't feeling like he hadn't gone enough on the theme, and was feeling pretty good about this one, actually!

[[ open party is open! If you've ever talked to Prompto or Liz even once, you probably got an invitation. Heck, even if you've never talked to either of them, you could have ~mysteriously~ gotten one, too! Maybe it's your big destiny to meet your true love at a one-year-old's puppy bowl party, you don't know!! ]]

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"I see," Steven said. "That would be a bit of a ~~nerf~~ hardship, wouldn't it? Get in the way of the travel if you had to be concerned about being hurt while you did it. Though I suppose it makes it all the braver for you and the others to do what you do. Take the chance instead of walking away for good.."

Liliana took a quick sip of whatever it was she was drinking. No reason, she was simply parched. Obviously.

"It was a trying time," she agreed when she had swallowed, deliberately not thinking of the absolute hell those first years had been, all the pain and grief and hardship. "With a number of fatalities, I'm sure. One doesn't go from being immortal and invincible to vulnerable overnight without needing some serious lessons in your new limitations."

Or so, you know. She'd heard. She'd been fine. Obviously.

"Must've been like learning to walk again," Steven said as he thought about it. "A whole new way of interacting with something you knew so well."

Steven then grinned as he realized. "Learning to planes walk again."

Liliana gave him a polite smile - not his fault, the joke was quite cute, but it just hit too close to a nerve for her to be charmed by it.

All that was left were ashes...

One might note that an excellent way to avoid this kind of thing was to be open and honest with people about the hardships you'd faced, but that couldn't possibly be right. Much better to hide it away and pretend that nothing fazed you. Clearly.

"I wasn't sure how many Planeswalkers from those days had survived, but we're up to four by my count, which is double the ones I'd known of a few months ago," she said, angling the conversation away slightly.

"That's good then, isn't it?" Steven asked. "Were they friends of yours?"

"Oh goodness no," Liliana said with a laugh. "I didn't recognize the kor woman when I freed her, and the other is Sorin Markov, a tiresome, miserable, self-righteous bore of a man. I hope he chokes on his next mouthful of blood."

There was a lot to unpack there so Steven went with the last bit and asked, "So he's a vampire then?"

"Yes," Liliana said. "As far as I can gather, about six thousand years ago, his grandfather created the ritual to turn himself and his allies and investors into vampires. Sorin underwent the ritual, possibly against his will? And that's what ignited his spark, but the damage was done and he was already a vampire."

You know. As happened.

"I see," Steven said. He was rather proud of figuring that out. Because surely Liliana wouldn't have randomly wished for someone's mouth to be filled with blood when it wouldn't normally be, right? She wasn't that kind of person.

"At least not all vampires are bad? There's that one on the island who works with Lucifer. Doesn't hurt anyone."

Not on the island anyway.

...

Oh, Steven, you sweet, sweet man. No, of course she wouldn't. Not ever. ~~She wouldn't wish for it, she'd just make it happen~~

"Oh yes, vampires on the whole are fine. One of my mentors in necromancy is the progenitor of the Stromkirk clan, and my...mmm, friend is close enough, I suppose, friend Olivia is the progenitor of the Voldarans. It's not their fault that Sorin is determined to be a miserable bastard and Henrika Domnathi's a dreadful cow who believes sleeping with demons is a perfectly adequate substitute for a personality."

Look at you, Steven, getting the all the hot Innistradi vampire goss!

"Vampires are one of the first things Khonshu protected people from," Steven said, since hey: he had a little lore of his own he could share! "Those and werewolves since, well, moon. But if they're not hurting anyone he's not fussed about it. One of the few nice things about him. He's not interested in harming those who haven't done something wrong, no matter what they are."

"I mentioned before that Khonshu would adore Innistrad, yes? Because the moon controls basically everything and there are plenty of vampires and werewolves and spectres and necromancers to protect people from?" Liliana asked.

She didn't think Steven would like it at all, but Khonshu might have a ball with it.

"Have to admit I'd find it interesting?" Steven said. "He's an odd bird - er, in many ways. But you never know with him. Just as like he'd be fussy about not his moon as he would be that all moons and night skies are under his protection if he'd like them to be."

Look, just because you were a god didn't mean you lost the right to change your mind about things. Besides, if you couldn't be capricious when you were a god, when could you?

"Haven't yet had our powers fail us in other - er - planes," Steven said, correcting himself because he was talking to Liliana. "Suppose that's a bit of a hint. Might not be the moon from where we're from but his abilities still reach us no matter where we are."

Or until ~~the plot~~ something came up to get in the way with that. There were infinite places out there in the multiverse, you couldn't rule that kind of thing out.

Much like how language worked! It was a mystery for everybody!

"If you'd like, I can bring you sometime during New Moon, once it warms up again," Liliana offered. "If you're interested in doing a bit of experimentation."

"Like on holiday?" Steven asked.

"A few days, perhaps," Liliana said. "Stay at my manor, perhaps visit Dranau or the like."

Thraben would still be undergoing its reconstruction, but she was avoiding that anyway.

...No reason.

"That's kind of you," Steven said. "Would it - no, you just said it would be when it was warmer, yeah? So not too cold? This time of year Llewellyn and I try to have a change of pace and go where it's warm, you see."

Mainly a need on Llewellyn's part but Steven wasn't going to specify that if he didn't know if Llewellyn had mentioned it to the person already.

"Yes," Liliana assured him. "New Moon oversees the spring season. We can go later in the moon, close to Harvest Moon, where it's warmest. Innistrad never gets particularly hot, but it does get perfectly temperate."

They just had to schedule a visit before Avacyn went crazy because of Emrakul.

"Wonderful," Steven said. "And kind of you to offer your home like that. Do the phases last for months then? Or is that the name of the moon each month? Like back home Harvest Moon happens in the fall, but we've a new moon phase every month, you see."

Hope you didn't mind zombie servants everywhere, because that's all Liliana's various houses were staffed by.

"Yes, each moon lasts roughly about mmm, a hundred and ten days or so, which is the entire moon phase," Liliana said. "Well, New Moon is about a hundred and ten and the shortest. Hunter's Moon is the longest and usually about somewhere around a hundred and twenty or so? With Harvest Moon in the middle both temporally and lengthwise."

For some reason hearing Hunter's Moon made some far distant aspect of Steven shiver with recognition. But it wasn't anything this version of Steven recognized besides a name ~~unless we get more canon and it pulls one of the better storylines from the comics I'm just saying~~ so Steven didn't react in any way.

"That long? Oh that is interesting. Does that affect the position of the stars as well? Navigation and the like? Is it all the same moon or are there multiple?"

Sorry, Liliana. His interests in such things predated him meeting Khonshu. As far as anyone knew.

Far be it for Liliana to protest teaching.

"The stars have a continual orbit," Liliana said. "And there's only one moon, said to be a vast desert of silver, from which all silver on Innistrad comes, which is why silver is so potent magically."

"That's fascinating," Steven said. "And would make sense, wouldn't it? Something sort of otherworldly having properties that couldn't be found on the planet otherwise. Not that the moon is a world, obviously. Are there other things like that as well? Most of what we get back home is on the planet."

Other than things which also came from not on the planet but Steven's knowledge of those was limited by canon not being clear on how much of that he was in the loop on.

"Other planes where things come from otherworldly properties?" Liliana clarifies. "Hmm. You know, I'll have to think about that. None that currently come to mind, but then, all planes have something slightly different about them, like the Lorwyn-Shadowmoor cycle and Alara being shards, instead of a proper plane."

Steven looked curious. "Shards? So instead of a globe it's more like a crystal?"

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Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

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Re: Arrive & Mingle - PuppyBowl Birthday Party! - 02/11.

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