Oh what a beautiful afternoon!

[cyan_maid]

Who: Jane Crocker and YOU! (Open)
What: A relaxed garden party
When: May 16th, beginning around noon.
Where: The castle gardens
Rating: G for GARDEN PARTY

If you enter the castle's garden today, you are met with the sight of a party!

There are blankets laid out on the grass, and numerous, various outside activities have been set up - games like croquet and bocce are joined by various sport balls, Frisbees, jump ropes, and anything else you can imagine. Nearby a table has been placed, holding various foods prepared by the attendees and the nice kind of disposable plates and cutlery, the sturdy kind with little flowers on them. If none of this tickles your fancy, there's always the actual garden to keep you occupied.

Chances are you heard tell of this party and came to participate! Though no one would begrudge you for just taking food and leaving, much less the hostess. Jane will welcome you with a smile no matter what.

Comments

[psych0p0mps]

Aradia arrives a little late. Once she's found a spot for her casserole (which is basically Hamburger Helper), she seeks out Jane and - after the basic hello hello - goes ahead and delivers a message with her customary tact.

"Vriska and Nepeta aren't going to make it, they're still dead," she says.

[cyan_maid]

The Hamburger Helper is a very welcome addition to the spread!

Jane is...a little used to Aradia's tact. Or perhaps it's the castle she's used to? Either way, she nods. She'd smile, but she can't even bring herself to give a sad one.

"That's alright. They can't help it, after all, though I do hope they come back soon.

[psych0p0mps]

Aradia nods back. "Yeah. And that they're all right, when they do." Given what she'd seen coming out of Vriska's think pan, there were really no guarantees on that front. "I just want to figure out what happened to her. Vriska, I mean. Nepeta didn't go half as maggots as she did. It would really suck if she came back and we just had to put her down again."

Yes, Aradia, this is totally appropriate party conversation.

[cyan_maid]

Now that takes Jane aback, but she is nothing if she's not able to bounce back. "Well, um, gosh! I couldn't say. We should probably ask her when she comes back, shouldn't we?"

Yes, let's not continue to kill our friends, how's that sound?

[psych0p0mps]

Aradia shrugs with a sigh. "Probably. Not much we can do until then, I guess."

With that out of the way, she takes a look around the party, putting a cheerful face back on. "So we're just hanging out and eating food then? I brought a couple of board games, if you want. I know you don't normally play those outside, but we can be rebels."

[cyan_maid]

Jane is grateful for the change in topic - it's not fun to talk about dead friends, after all - and she grins at the mention of board games. "I don't think anyone would object to a bit of rebellion! What kinds did you bring?"

[psych0p0mps]

In response, Aradia takes a small pile of board games out of her sylladex, in boxes of varying shapes and sizes. Trollopoly is on top, but there's also Sorry!, Pictionary, Jenga, and Settlers of Catan, among others. "Pick your favorite," she says.

The sad thing is, there probably WAS a Crockeropoly in the Post Scratch universe

[cyan_maid]

Ooh, Trollopoly has got to be interesting. Jane points to it. "Is this any different from the various versions of human Monopoly?" She asks. "We had a well-loved Betty Crocker version back at home, but I have played the other kinds."

omg yes. do you think it involved making actual baked goods? :3

[psych0p0mps]

"It's a little different," says Aradia, popping the others back in her sylladex. "I've played the human version a grand total of once, but it's mainly things like hexes instead of squares, dee-twelves instead of dee-sixes, and human Monopoly doesn't have a combat system."

Troll economics, it turns out, are every bit as brutal as the rest of their culture.

It comes with a mini oven. More compact than EasyBake and 2x better.

[cyan_maid]

"A combat system?" Jane raises an eyebrow. "Oh, my, I have got to see this." She reaches out to the box. "You don't mind if I give setting up a whirl, do you?"

i would play the shit out of that game, corporate brainwashing be damned

[psych0p0mps]

Obligingly, Aradia hands it over. "Be my guest!"

Yeah so the board's probably a hexagon and all that ever got determined about the rules is that your starting money is "about a fistful". The pieces are remarkably similar to those used in Earth Monopoly, with the addition of a spaceship and an Imperial Drone. There's no cat because seriously what the fuck was that all about (sorry Nepeta), and no thimble because that one was deemed too suggestive a long time ago.

We could be brainwashed together!

[cyan_maid]

Jane takes careful note of the similarities and differences as she sets everything up. It seems enough like human Monopoly for her to get it, so she looks even more excited to give it a try. "Which piece do you want?" She asks, "It's your game, you pick first."

[psych0p0mps]

"Hmm..." Aradia looks over the pieces assembled, then plucks one out. "I'll be the hat. Want me to grab the Peradventure and Populace Pyxis decks?"

[cyan_maid]

"Um...sure?"

The terms are a bit out there for Jane, but if it's part of the game, she'll play along. She picks up the iron, because it is a reliable and sturdy piece. Who needs scotty dogs when you have a wrinkle-wrecker?

[psych0p0mps]

Yeeeeah, wreck those wrinkles! So yeah we'll say they get started. Aradia plays nice, though, because it's not about winning or losing for her, and anyway it wouldn't be fair to try and ream someone who only just started playing.

[cyan_maid]

It's kind of tricky for Jane in the beginning, but she picks up fast enough. It's not about winning or losing for her, either, she's just happy to do something new.