Closed | Tonight We're Gonna Party

[portolan]

Who: Balthier portolan, David helpdesk_hero, Bart kid_flash_found, Otto doctopoda, MCU Peter tinglesense, Strange rehandle, Loki ikols, Billy wordiness, Eddie slidesrightoff, Aleks morozova and any +1s I missed
What: A fancy dinner party at Balthier’s house
When: May 14
Where: Balthier’s House
Entry
Living Room
Kitchen
// generally beautifully restored historic late 1800s building in muted green and gold accents with antique furniture. pls compliment or insult him //
Content Warnings: none yet



[ The antique table has both leaves in it, extending from the dining room into the living room with twelve chairs around it. It's got a stately tablecloth and pale gold napkins. All the places are set with white china trimmed in gold, except one, which is green and gold and clearly for Loki, with a matching cup. There are name cards. There's a seating chart. The far wall of the dining room sports a buffet laden with stunning food in matching dishes, and the kitchen counter serves as a bar with a ridiculous amount of nice wine and alcohol.

The furniture in the living room has been rearranged to accommodate the table. The windows and doors are open to create a breeze and the back porch has additional seating. If people are looking for privacy, they can disappear to the basement, which is just a storage room, bathroom, and laundry unit, or upstairs where there is a loft study, a bathroom, and two bedrooms. One is locked. There are no bathrooms on the ground floor so excuses abound.

There’s also Romantic piano music playing on an honest-to-God gramophone. The whole house is restored original wood, antique furniture, old books, and nice art. Balthier is extremely pleased with his ship-like house and happy to finally show it off. He also asked Strange to enchant it to make it more or less metaproof for the evening.

TLDR:
-There will be a fine meal and plenty of alcohol
-Balthier will be giving Loki poison as condiments at some point (don’t @ him David and Billy) ((definitely @ him))
-There’s music if anyone wants to dance
-There are private places to slip into
-The house has been metaproofed to some extent by Stephen but Balthier will frown upon breaking his stuff
-Chaos pls

Feel free to thread jack! Mark things you don’t want threadjacked ]

Comments

[kid_flash_found]

"My favorites are the satirists like Mark Twain, but I'm pretty sure you need to know the world before you can enjoy people making fun of it," Bart said, chuckling a little. "Maybe we can get together and read aloud some of the classics, so you can ask questions if you miss something."

It's a different way to enjoy what is usually a solitary activity. "Trust me, getting David to read to you is a treat."

[portolan]

“I’ve a love of satire, but alas, comedy is always culturally the most difficult. I could use the assistance if you’re offering.” He’s deeply pleased that Bart is making gestures toward spending time together. He wants to be more integrated with the people who matter to David. “David keeps trying to get me to write down stories from Ivalice. Maybe an audience will motivate me.”

He grins at the last statement. “It truly is. I’ve gotten to enjoy that one a few times already.”

[kid_flash_found]

"We could always try something like Gulliver's Travels which works pretty well even if you miss some of the subtext," Bart said, grinning slightly. "I think you'd get a kick out of some of Ben Franklin's essays. He wrote one called 'Fart Proudly' that is a particular favorite of mine."

[portolan]

"I'm more than happy to take your recommendations. I was wondering about essays -- they don't seem in fashion anymore, though I quite like them. Honestly, art historical information has been my priority for my work, but I've been compiling literary and historical elements to delve into as I have time."

[kid_flash_found]

"No, they've mostly been replaced by the editorial in modern press, although anyone stuck in school has to produce plenty over their matriculation," Bart commented, accompanying the last bit with an eye-roll. "You can still find them in the more literary publications sometimes."

[portolan]

"I see formal education was a favorite of yours, then."

He can put together that if Bart is able to read and process this quickly, a rigid structure without much room to explore or self-guide could be miserable.

[kid_flash_found]

"It was always more of a chore than something useful. I don't need rote memorization for facts and figures to learn things, so having to continually regurgitate known material in new ways was beyond boring," Bart said, not wanting to really say anything bad.

"And because I was seen staring off at nothing in class and such, I got labeled a slacker and an attitude problem. It took me a while to figure out how not to end up with records in hours spent in detention."

[portolan]

"I think we had similar tastes in schooling styles," Balthier admits. He was the sort of student who performed well even when he hated it, but he'd left that kind of behavior behind when he left, well, his life behind.

"Systems are often built to perpetuate the power structure of those in charge. Those of us who question them come under fire more readily." He'd always had a pirate's heart, and sympathy for others who did as well.

[kid_flash_found]

"Some of us fit into systems like a square peg in a round hole." But he doesn't mind. Not fitting in has never been one the things he worried about.

"I wish I could have a place like this. The farm's great and all, but then there's all the strings attached." He's...still got plenty of doubts about the Alliance. Moreso after what he's heard about with the Expo.

[portolan]

He chuckles at the square peg in a round hole comment. "Indeed. Which always seems a motivator to try to file off our edges."

To the place comment he nods. "I'm not entirely free of guild attachments, but I've made an effort to get things in my name in the event of separation. And store money away where they can't entirely keep track. My spending habits don't make inflated purchases unreasonable." Look he's a pirate with an aristocratic background; he knows how contracts and money work.

[kid_flash_found]

"It's a lot harder when society says you aren't old enough to own a home in your name and stuff like that. So I'll figure things out in the year I have before that magical age, and then see what I can do," Bart said with a shrug. He doesn't really know what he will or won't be doing in a year.

"I think they need to be watched more than anything, but I'm not about to report anyone who decides to wear the cape outside of their oversight. I just...don't know. Things are strange. Back home the Justice League didn't tell you what you could and couldn't do as much as set an example to live up to."

[portolan]

"I remember those days," Balthier says with real sympathy. "I don't recall if I told you -- I ran away when I was sixteen. I had to change my name and give up my family connection for safety. I was powerless in society and out of it. Much prefer possessing things. If we were on my world I could offer you forgery of papers, but alas, I'm not much use with that here yet."

To the latter, he stops and considers thoughtfully. "I'm not remotely abreast of what is normal behavior for metahumans or their equivalents." He hates the word superhero and will avoid it. "But I'm familiar enough with systems of power and the benefits and dangers of them. They are all corrupt, in the end, but order has value, as does resource access. That said, I'm not holding my breath that there isn't something unsavory happening with the guilds, and I have no qualms jumping or sinking ship if it comes to that." Which he isn't being extremely open with, in general, but David knows that about him, and Bart is close to David.