paradisalogs | may day masquerade {OPEN!}

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may day masquerade {OPEN!}

what; may day masquerade!
who; Anyone and everyone!
where; Just inside and outside of City Royale.
when; May 1st, early afternoon until late evening
rating; PG to PG-13 to start! If a thread goes into adult territory, please put a warning in the subject.
note; Prefer brackets? Go for it, whatever is most comfortable for you.

Though the May Day of last year had been a grand affair, there had not been enough people attending, because she could not convince more than a few city residents to venture near the castle. This year Anne has brought the party to them, and though a location would have been written on the invitations, there is even more assurance that one won't become lost along the way from the castle. The road is already clear enough, but when it branches away there will be markers, indicated by flower carpets and banners carrying the Tudor rose that will be lit with torches by nightfall, creating a path that leads to the city's outskirts. Here the celebration is spread not only over a grassy incline but also leads into a small square in the merchant's district. Here, free masks decorated with seasonal flowers will be offered in baskets to any who might have arrived without one. Though it is a masquerade, the masks are truly optional.

Light and playful music will begin early in the afternoon, the musicians moving about but most often remaining in the square where the dancing is meant to be, and where merchants are taking advantage of the crowd to sell their wares. The large dais in the center is sturdy but beautiful, with the rose theme continuing in banners that are strung around the base and up into street lamps that won't be lit until dusk arrives. On the dais are makeshift thrones, the same from last year should anyone remember, though they number three instead of four.

Once it seems the majority have shown themselves, Anne will depart from greeting people and lead three masked figures up onto the dais. Even behind ornate masks and striking dress, some might be able to recognize Molotov Cocktease, Brock Samson, and Ben Paul even before she names them. Anne herself is dressed as a phoenix, covered in reds and golds, even in her braided hair, but she is hardly in disguise as she introduces herself (a custom she has gotten used to). Her speech might confuse a few city-dwellers who don't quite understand (or remember) some of what she talks about, but she keeps it as light as she can. ...Which means it's still a mouthful.

"Welcome, beautiful denizens of Cair Paradisa and the City Royale, it is I, Queen Anne. And you are beautiful. All who gather here have come for one reason, and I hope it is for the good of it, as there is not one soul here who does not deserve merriment. This is not only a celebration, but a rebirth! Look around you. Here we are, together as one and still separately unique even after many sufferings. Such different and powerful peoples carry various forms of character, and yet you come together not only against conflict but also to celebrate peace. This gathering is only possible because of the good spirit and hard work of those that hail both from this city and the castle.

"May has come, and as we grow accustom to the changes that have surrounded us, I am reminded that not all surprises must carry fear for us. The year last we were shaken and the ground with us, but in this year the city flourishes in merriment as if untouched. There is much here that is still unknown to us, but some of it is beautiful, and that is what we appreciate now. Spring flourishes, lovers are born, and while we are always aware there to be mystery about, we also discover new truths and these have shaped us. As this city was reborn, so too are we. This will be a year of promise; of a babe's curiosity and scholar's wisdom, but never without God's love.

"Here to lead us in this celebration of newness and adventure is not I, but our May royalty. So many were loved, that again there cannot only be two."

Finally to the point, Anne backs up so that she can motion for each person to sit when she lifts a crown, one woven with roses and other colorful flowers, and two twisted and bent with branches. She names each as she settles the crown upon their head, curtsying after each announcement to playfully show deference to them.

"Queen Molotov. King Brock. And Prince Ben. You honor and delight us, as we defer to you this day."

When they have all been crowned, she'll curtsy again and back off of the stage, allowing them to announce the official start of the partying!

{ Maypole Dance || Dance Floor || The Dais || The Feast || Bonfire }

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's with a start that Jenny glances behind her, so focused on the ribbon that she's surprised to hear anyone sneak up on her. She shies back a bit, embarrassed, and shakes her head.

"No, they haven't got maypoles where I'm from," she says, and offers her ribbon to the woman, immediately deferent to an older, clearly noble woman. "I've heard of them before, but I don't think anyone in England does them."

Anne has to laugh at that, though she keeps it soft so as not to startle this clearly shy girl.

"They most certainly do in England! If they are not present in your time, for that I am sorry, but you can learn now." She shakes her head and motions for the other girl to keep hers, then steps in front of her while carefully wrapping her ribbon over.

"You must not be too slow or yours will hidden. Walk in the other direction, and weave through people as if you were practicing needlework."

Jenny frowns, confused, and tries to follow along after the woman, though she's too distracted by watching the ribbon wrap around the pole to keep up properly.

"Wait, wait!" she demands, holding up her skirt with one hand as she tries to catch up. "They're going to cover my ribbon up!"

Anne treats this as the dance it should be, skipping and turning when she needs to move out, then in, lifting and lowering her arm as needed to let others duck under or over. Hearing the girl protest, Anne slows and looks over her shoulder, hopefully not long enough to get knocked over or anything.

"You must not let it! It is your ribbon. You must mark this pole with it, to show your beauty to the world. Come!"

The biggest problem here is that Jenny is far too small to get her ribbon over any of the others. Every time she tries, raising her arm as high as she can, no one can duck fast enough to get all the way under, and so her ribbon seems to just become twisted in on itself.

At one point, she starts jumping, blue eyes brimming with frustrated tears. And when that fails, she kicks a boy from the town in the shin, so that he might fall and she can actually get her ribbon over his.

Let it never be said she's learned nothing from being temporarily parented by pirates.

When Anne turns again, at the sound of a cry, she has only moments to gather what happened at the scene of the girl hopping over a collapsed boy. It seems his pride keeps him from complaining that a girl just kicked him, or shoved him, or whatever it is, Anne can't really tell. Her eyes go a little wide, and she tries not to show any amusement. The shy ones should not be underestimated when pushed, it seems.

She halts so that the girl must be forced to as well, unless she feels like kicking Anne in the shin, too. She tries to give her a disappointed look at such behavior, but can't hold it for long, instead crouching down a bit with one arm held out behind to usher her onto her back.

"Here, you can be just as tall as me. Be quick, lest we become swallowed!"

There is definite triumph in Jenny's face when she overtakes the boy, and there's no hesitation for her to clamber onto the woman's back, now that she knows she can make her ribbon show this way. Her eyes are still watery, but she's smiling now, her sparkly little shoes dangling at the woman's sides as she stretches to move her ribbon through the others.

"There, it's working now!"

With one arm behind her to help support the girl up, Anne doesn't skip quite so lightly as before, but she doesn't seem to have too much trouble moving. Elizabeth never got this big, but it's only too easy for Anne to let her imagination take over while they move, and picture that it could be like this. Just like this.

It makes her laugh, as purely as she can, nodding as they move in and out, their ribbons overlapping side-by-side as they move. "You see, your ribbon is no different from a queen's!"

Meanwhile, Jenny wonders where her numerous guardians are, if Father or Miss Anne or James would rather be the ones holding her up, but she's so pleased with how this has turned out that she can't spare too much thought to that.

She laughs too, starry-eyed as the pole takes its stripes again and again. "A queen? A real one?"

Though some here would argue, she almost snips out, but holds in such dry sarcasm. Children aren't fools, and she doesn't need a young girl to pick up on any of Anne's bitterness. There are plenty of people in Europe who would argue, too, but damn them all.

"Indeed! But I am no May Queen, so this is not my day. Today I am a phoenix."

The ribbons are getting shorter and shorter, and that makes the pole beautiful, Jenny's smile widening across her face.

"A phoenix? Then am I a flower? I thought it was only a mask."

"A mask is what you make of it, child. There are no limitations."

The maypole is looking more and more beautiful, and it's a soothing, familiar sight to Anne. The upbeat music only encourages her, but it gets more difficult the lower the bindings get on the pole, and soon she needs to crouch to let Jenny down again.

"Such beauty!"

Jenny hops down when it becomes necessary, as now she's small enough to properly do the movements anyway. She's so excited to have participated that she bounces a little when the pole is done, clapping along with everyone else.

"I wonder why they don't have them anymore at home."

Yes, Anne very much approves, applauding the work of all when it's through. Of course then can unwind it and do it again for all she cares, at least the initial ceremony is done. And her arm is killing her a bit, but before the night is up, her leg will probably be hurting more. Fun is as much pain as beauty, sometimes.

And then she's reminded of England's gloomy future. She doesn't like much of anything she heard after Elizabeth's reign, truth be told.

"I cannot answer that. Is there another person here from your time who might inform us of why such a travesty is permitted? I am now curious myself."

Clasping her hands in front of her, Jenny peers up at the older woman, thinking with her mouth twisted.

"Well, there are lots of people from my time or near it here, but I don't think any of them would know, really. Most of them don't even live in England anymore, they've gone elsewhere."

Anne will tap her chin thoughtfully at that. She so hates resorting to this, after what she last had to gleam from a history book, but...

"Mayhap if we can locate a book on England in your time, we can learn why. There have been many changes to the castle and city, so I cannot say for certain if we will find what we wish, but we may certainly try. Can you read?"

She half expects her to say no, but then many children in Paradisa have surprised her with what they do know.

She nods, and twists idly, childishly fidgety at such a big party. "I can read and write," Jenny says, glancing around before catching herself and focusing. "A lot of people can't, but my mother made sure that I could."

Of course, the Scotts were a wealthy merchant family, not peasants, so it would have been par for the course anyway, even without her mother's specific intervention.

Anne smiles all the more at her praise for her mother, and she nods while moving to step away from the maypole, reaching down to subtly guide the girl with her by the shoulder.

"Your mother sounds like a very intelligent and wonderful woman. I was also blessed to have a father who insisted on educating me beyond what was required for my place at the time. I am ever grateful.

"Do you enjoy reading stories?"

Jenny is easily guided, used to things like this, and just walks along as she talks, occasionally glancing down at her own shoes to watch them sparkle -- she's been fascinated since the castle gave them to her this way.

"I like to read, but I prefer to have stories told to me," she says, looking over at her new friend. "All of my family here have lots of interesting stories to tell me, and that's better than fairytales or just words on a page, I think."

"Ah, your family is here then? What a lucky sweetling, and I would have it no other way."

Anne's just going to keep walking, doing double duty of both checking on everyone's behavior and slowly heading away from the square and in the direction of the food.

"What is your name?"

"Yes, most of them. My father, and my younger brother and his son. And also Father's friends, they're like family," Jenny explains. "Before I came here, I only knew Father for a day, and Haytham and Connor aren't even born yet! But here, they're very old, Haytham is even older than Father!"

She beams at her companion, even though this explanation of her family probably made little sense.

"I'm Jenny Scott. And your name, ma'am?"

That's a lot of names to tuck away at once, but she does her best to remember. One never knows when names will become useful, though she doesn't think she personally knows any Connor or Haytham. The differences in age doesn't surprise her as it might some.

"I am Anne Boleyn. It is a pleasure to know you." Glancing down sideways towards her, Anne is always paying attention to how people react to her name. Now that she knows, anyway, but she is hardly suspicious of a child. "I can understand how confusing it might be to have time played with so frivolously here. Mine own daughter was here before me, yes she was older than myself. Such a strange time, but I would never trade it for anything. I am certain your father feels just as blessed to know you for proper."

Anne Boleyn rings a distant bell, but Jenny already knows her to be a queen, and she's learned the most famous royals, so she isn't surprised. It isn't familiar enough to immediately cause an impression.

"Was it difficult, for your daughter to be older than you? Did she keep secrets from you, about things that haven't happened to you yet?" Jenny bites her lip a bit, attempting to appear casual, but she wonders often how these sorts of problems are dealt with.

It's not a question she was expecting, not in the least, and it puts Anne off balance, her expression one of mild alarm as she glances to the girl. It really is almost too perfect of a question, but...perhaps these things are more commonplace than she realized.

Well, everybody has secrets.

"...Yes. I believe she kept much from me, in order to try and protect me." Of course then Elizabeth had left all the bombshells in her farewell letter for Anne to find, but that doesn't need to be noted here. "But I think in her age, it was easy to forget that is the mother or father who ought to do the protecting. Sometimes you must trust them, because you do not always gain a second chance."

Jenny isn't looking at Anne at all, not at first -- she's busy worrying her lip and thinking about how to live knowing only that there's secrets afoot and no one has thought to inform her of what they might be, instead only thinking to share that they're bad or good.

Wishing she had Dolly's hand to hold, Jenny watches her feet on the ground. "But... do you think she should have told you, would you preferred to have known? Even if it was bad, if something terrible were to happen, would you have trusted her choice to not share?"

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