❄ I just wanna keep on waiting underneath the mistletoe ... [sisi voice] A Jingle Mingle

[alittlefuninstead]

Wherever you are, whoever you are, you'll likely find yourself blinking one moment and teleporting in a flurry of snowflakes the next. Luckily for you, there's no murder this time! (Probably.)

Rather, you'll hear Christmas carols aplenty as you approach a winter castle, snow lightly falling and various paths leading to gardens filled with still-blooming flowers (how.) and lit topiary displays.

Upon entering the castle, you'll find it's brightly lit and decorated...welcome to the party! Frost lightly dusts the walls and some nearby surfaces and guests will find there are halls and floors aplenty to explore. There are rooms filled with plush chairs and fireplaces for those looking for something cozier, rooms filled with all kinds of games and toys, and naturally there's a large ballroom prime for dancing. Spread through you'll find tables of snacks, full-course meals, drinks, desserts, and even champagne towers. Are you looking for something specific? Simply ask a member of the staff. Watch your step though! Their assistants really are doing their best to help, and the jingling bell may be too faint to hear if you aren't paying attention.

It seems as though you've all been invited to a wonderful holiday party for no reason at all...but there is one thing amiss...or, should I say...amistletoe?

Pinned up on every doorway is a sprig of fresh mistletoe, decorated with bright red bows and dustings of frost. And sure, perhaps it's easy just to avoid the doorways if you want to be a spoilsport. But should you avoid it for too long, it will seem as though the mistletoe is following you, almost as if some asshole is hiding out and purposefully trailing behind to keep it dangling over your head.

Oh. And did I mention you can't leave the castle grounds until you play along? Pucker up.

[ooc: this can be any past murdergame characters y'all, go nuts.

for clarity sake, this includes characters from: reapsody, grimmoired, plasmatio, subdivided, thotordie, bluesclues, tropicalgetaway, notagain, and redactable!

edit: and by popular demand any of you from the above games can also bring your yuggoths and your tikirobos. The Robowests were in CRAU and therefore don't count goodbye.]

Comments

[dianxias]

Is that so? It's beautiful.

[ wow cute. xie lian smiles, tilting his head and clasping his hands together!!! swords! ]

Does it have a name?

[goldpeony]

[STOP. He points the sword at Xie Lian!! But Xie Lian really hasn't done anything but compliment the sword, so he quickly brings it back to himself protectively.]

Suihua.

[He's looking Xie Lian up and down suspiciously now.]

[dianxias]

A fine name for a fine blade, indeed.

[ ....... ]

...Is... something the matter, young master? [ this is not the first time he's had a sword pointed at him but that's fine. why are you looking at him like that, little man. ]

[goldpeony]

[Well, now he just wants to keep the blade behind his back and legs. THIS SUS HOBO DUDE?

He really is eyeballing Xie Lian now, trying to figure out this guy's anything.]

Why do you want to know? Who are you?!

[dianxias]

[ ah!

he bows, politely, fist to hand. ]

No need to be worried, young master. I'm just a humble daozhang - and you are a cultivator, are you not? It is a pleasure to meet you.

[goldpeony]

[Oh. Well, shit. He looks only, like, slightly less suspicious at the introduction.]

Yes. A pleasure. [He returns the bow. But he also hikes his chin afterward.] I'm the leader of the Lanling Jin Sect. Jin Ling.

[There's no way he's using Jin Rulan. :unamused: And he doesn't have a fancy title......yet.....

Also, this brat is, like, very clearly fifteen at best.]

[dianxias]

A Sect Leader? Oh, goodness.

[ he knows like

nothing about human sects at all. the idea that a kid could be the leader of one? sure. checks out!

praise time ] You must be quite talented, to do so at such a young age! Very impressive, very impressive!

[goldpeony]

[WHAT THE HECK, NO, STOP THAT!!

His face gets a little red again. He doesn't know what the hell to do with these compliments!! The Jiang Cheng in him wants to run away. The Jin Zixuan wants to peacock a bit.]

I--am! [It sounds like he decided this on the spot.] I'm... I wouldn't let the Jin Sect be made into fools.

[dianxias]

[ welcome to the praise train! dw it made your uncle freak out too. which uncle? yes.

anyway. ] Of course. I'm glad - I was not expecting to see someone from a realm similar to my own! Even Yin Yu was a surprise. How nice to find such similarities in such an unfamiliar face! I'm afraid I haven't heard of the Jin Sect, but, ah... that's not your fault... I'm a poor traveler, so....

[ ..... ] - Oh, I forgot to introduce myself! My family name is Xie, given name Lian, but just daozhang is fine. [ xie lian bows. ]

[goldpeony]

[Oh.... Stop being nice!! He can't be an asshat if you're nice because then he just looks extremely unprofessional for a sect leader!]

Mm. Daozhang.

[He also. Bows again. He's trying his best. It does help that... Xie Lian seems to be familiar with his kind of world? THANK GOD. He had been so alone.]

So... you have sects, too? And--qi? And a golden core? Do you have... demonic cultivation? Do you know my uncle, Sect Leader Jiang?

[dianxias]

[ if this was frac xie lian he could say yes!

alas. this is so many questions... okay, okay. xie lian nods enthusiastically once he's gotten through his list. ]

...We do have all of those things, yes! Demonic cultivation is a bit unpopular, but I suppose it's around...? I know a young lady who is quite talented in it. I don't spent that much time around the sects or anything, myself, but I know they exist in various parts of the land...

[goldpeony]

[Hey, it's memeworld, maybe it IS a bit of frac Xie Lian.]

Ah--yes! Demonic cultivation is--disgusting!

[The way he says it, clearly he isn't sure about this, he's kind of just putting on airs. He doesn't want Uncle Jiang to hear him being, like, "WELL, MAYBE..."]

It's a very crooked path. I just... didn't know if where you're from is the same... There wasn't anyone else... where I was from at the strange house. Well... Wei Wuxian was at the other place...

[dianxias]

[ can you even imagine. your uncle smashed betray on me once and your uncle was also my right hand man and we were very awkward but still i think we were friends for months afterwards. wow.

jin ling, please... ]

Mm. No other cultivators or anything of the like? There were two people from my realm at my own experience, including myself, but not anyone ...

[ "not any humans".... he can't say that ] ...well, not anyone I've never met before! How exciting. I'm glad you must not have been missing long!

[goldpeony]

[STOP]

Oh... [Belatedly, I realized that I just completely and totally erased poor Huaisang from Blues, but it's fine, he wants to paint fans, not cultivate. TEEJ, I'M SORRY.] I--

Well, it was... a couple of months. Uh, for me. But Uncle Jiang and everyone... didn't notice anything strange. It was like I hadn't even been gone.

[dianxias]

[ nothing of value was lost, ]

...It was much the same for my own realm. I left in the middle of a very, ah, sticky situation - but everything simply resumed the moment we finished! It was quite curious.

[ anyway!! gosh when was the last time he got to talk to a human cultivator. xie lian smiles at him. ] Tell me a bit about your sect! Your uncle, does he help you with it? What sort of cultivation do you practice - going on night hunts and the like?

[goldpeony]

[SISI

This man is too nice. Something just isn't right. People are never "too nice" to him. They treat him exactly like the rambunctious child he is.

After an awkward moment or two, he slowly puts his sword back in its sheathe. If there's one great way to shrink the Jiang Cheng in him, it's being nice.]

Yeah... We do night hunts, and sometimes help villages with spiritual problems. Unlce helps... a little. But he has his own sect to run. [He peers at Xie Lian.] What kind of sticky situation...?

[He's curious for... reasons.]

[dianxias]

Ah, well... a very powerful ghost [ something something there are a thousand ways to translate in english that basically means VERY BAD MONSTER ] had just recently re-appeared after we'd all thought it was quite dead. It seems that it was attracted to the kiln in Mt. Tonglu, where a new supreme level ghost was going to rise, so we were in the midst of attempting to stop that from happening.

[ very, very sticky. sometimes your eight hundred year enemy just "surprise, bitch"'s you when you're least expecting it. ]

...Something of a night hunt, but on a very grandiose level. Haha...

[goldpeony]

[His eyes get a little big with interest. A powerful ghost?!?!? WAH.]

Really?! Uncle Jiang would be proud of me if I could defeat something like that!!

[He is truly a rambunctious teenager.]

We deal with ghosts, too, sometimes. But mostly, it's fierce corpses. [He looks suddenly a little guarded, and then glances around them warily.] Before the... carnivorous house... I was in the middle of a bad situation, too.

[dianxias]

[ your honor, he's baby.

xie lian tilts his head, though! ] Fierce corpses... such as reanimated ones? That sounds quite dangerous. Was that the situation you were dealing with?

[goldpeony]

Yes.

[Zombies, but China says they are absolutely not zombies because of lore.

Again, he sort of glances around them out of the corner of his eyes. His voice lowers a bit, like it's a secret.]

We were at a temple. Me, and stupid Wei Wuxian, and Hanguang-jun, and Sect Leader Lan, and Sect Leader Nie, and... Uncle Jiang had just come through the doors.

Uncle Jin... wasn't who we thought he was.

[dianxias]

[ he has no idea who any of those people are or how serious that is, but jin ling is a very good boy and very serious about this issue so xie lian nods along, giving him his full attention and even leaning in a little as he lowers his voice! ]

Oh...? A member of your sect, too... Did he betray your family somehow?

[ human politics... some things never change. ]

[goldpeony]

[The way he looks down, he's ashamed. It's a righteous kind of shame; he feels embarrassed that something nefarious would happen under the Jin name, but he also knows he would never willingly be a part of it.]

Mm. I don't understand how... [He really gets the Jiang Cheng irritation then.] He gave me my dog, Fairy, and looked out for me.

[Tch. Adults.]

It's fine, we... Stopped it.