worktodo: (COFFEE ☮ why does it taste like fish)
Albert Rosenfield ([personal profile] worktodo) wrote in [community profile] route_10652012-12-23 03:53 pm

We Survived the Snowmageddon

Who: Albert Rosenfield ([personal profile] worktodo) and whoever is congregating at the Justice Farm for the Christmas holiday!
Where: El Rancho del Justicia, aka Albert's house in Saffron City
When: Anytime between Monday the 24th and Wednesday the 26th!
Summary: A lot has changed in a month, but some things never do. Losers getting together to fail their way through the holiday season is one of them.
Rating: Individual threads may vary, but let's go with G overall and warn otherwise!
Log:

Despite generally doing a very excellent Grinch impression, Albert doesn't actually hate Christmas. Granted, it's not one of his favorite holidays the way that Thanksgiving is — it's a little too overdone, a little too commercial, lacking in some of the spirit of togetherness in favor of the spirit of consumerism — but it is decidedly a holiday, and once again Johto has presented him with a situation where he is forced to make a choice. For the second time this year (by Albert's reckoning), Johto appears to have done everything in its power to prevent them from putting on a holiday, including but not limited to summoning up the actual apocalypse. The question that begs to be asked, therefore, is simply: is Albert willing to surrender Christmas in the face of all these apparent attempts to ruin it?

The answer, naturally, is: oh, hell no.

It is, however, an undeniably different atmosphere from the one that filled the house on Thanksgiving. Most of the occupants of the house are worse off now than they were then, be it emotionally or physically — some from spooky encounters, some from harsh truths, and some from going out in the apocalyptic snow like the damn fools they are — so if there's slightly less pep and enthusiasm saturating the grounds, that could certainly be why. Any decorations applied to the outside of the house have been battered at best and outright wrecked at worst. But as the slightly paraphrased song lyric goes, "Though the weather outside is frightful, by the fire it's so delightful", and the interior of the house is a thankfully different story.

On Monday, Albert will be spending the Eve of Christmas largely in the kitchen, having allotted the whole day for getting all the components of Christmas dinner prepared and readied in advance; on Thanksgiving, it's a fundamental part of the holiday tradition to run around the kitchen like a madman trying to get dinner to the table on time, but for Christmas, he'd rather everything just go smoothly. Early arrivals are welcome to hang out in the cozy parts of the house, grab some cocoa, and carefully avoid him; otherwise, they might get drafted into menial labor like shoveling out the front walk or putting the finishing touches on the interior decor before the party officially kicks off.

By Tuesday, it's all Christmas all the time; there is no victory quite so sweet as the one that comes hard-won, and as far as Albert is concerned, the most effective "screw you" to Johto's Snowmageddon is putting on an occasion that is positively bursting with holly and jolly anyway. Somewhere near the kitchen, Zack the Porygon2 is contributing by blasting from his Gear's speakers a concert of every Christmas song he knows (of which there are three: "Feliz Navidad", "Grandma Got Run Over By A Stantler Reindeer", and the Weather Girls' "It's Raining Men"). A stately (albeit slightly lopsided) Christmas tree that is probably the Johto equivalent of a Douglas fir is set up in a corner of the living room near the fireplace — which is burning merrily — and its branches are decorated with makeshift ornaments like Pokeballs and paper throwing stars along with the standard colored bauble variety. Stuff your presents below; there'll be time for opening them later, but for now they're part of the decor. There's holly on the piano and fake candles in the windows, and you better believe at least half of those doorways have mistletoe strategically placed near them. Don't get caught! (Or do, if that's what you're here for.)

The one new and interesting addition to the house can be found in a corner of the living room, where a little space has been carved out for a small end table topped with coasters, a chair, and a tripod apparatus just the right size for holding a standard Pokegear. Got someone to call and wish a Merry Christmas? Do it from the comfort of this corner like it's Masterpiece Theater.

But however Tuesday is spent, there's sure to be a lot of love, gifting, and good Christmas cheer. Or else.

When Wednesday comes along, it'll be the standard post-Christmas wind-down — leftovers aplenty in the kitchen, trash bags of crumpled wrapping paper tucked into the corners, and a nice low-pressure environment in which to interact, gush over gifts, and enjoy the spirit of the season a little longer before getting right back to work on Important Business. For some, that might mean playing in the snow or having a snowball fight; for others, that might mean coordinating federal agent business for the future. But either way, it's another Christmas survived, and that's what really matters, right?


[OOC: Just like last time, this is an open log for everybody coming to Albert's for Christmas! Feel free to start your own threads as you please — open them to everybody, close them to specific people, whatever works for you. Just make a note in the header of what day it's taking place on and who all's invited, and have fun, everybody! Also, for people who aren't physically present at the Farm on Christmas, feel free to use the designated Skype Thread™ to chat with them over video anyway!]
foolishwren: what doesn't kill you gives you a lot of unhealthy coping mechanisms and a really dark sense of humor (well you know what they say...)

[personal profile] foolishwren 2012-12-24 11:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[CUJO IS THE THING THAT GOES BUMP IN THE NIGHT BROAD DAYLIGHT.]

[Hiccup arrives presumably after Ziva's helped Heather with some of the load, perhaps taking the coats from the rest of the party. Heather's kicking her boots off when the young Viking's greeting strikes her ear. She looks up with a grin-- a tired grin, but still a cheerful one.]


Hey, Hiccup! Feeling any better?

[She assumes 'yes', and without even waiting for a reply, hands him one of the cookie-baskets, which was just brought in by a lumbering Croconaw in a scarf.]

Here, I promise THESE ones won't make you sick. Henry and I tested 'em.

[Neither of them had died and Henry only got sick because he ate seven of them in two minutes, so they figure they're good. :Ib]
newberktown: (i can't believe that worked)

[personal profile] newberktown 2012-12-27 04:00 am (UTC)(link)
[He'll just go ahead and confirm that 'yes' with a nod even while taking the basket from her. He might be giving it a bit of a wary eye, though he grins again at her statement.]

Thanks. [Hiccup cautiously reaches out to pat the Croconaw on the head. You never knew, with this sharp-toothed creatures.] If Key had been carrying these, they would all be eaten by now--she's my Feraligatr.
foolishwren: you're like, the silliest goose i ever met (aw babe)

[personal profile] foolishwren 2012-12-27 06:15 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah? They can be total jerks sometimes, can't they?

[She reaches out to pat him on the head as well, though-- he had stopped and given Hiccup an almost hesitant look, unsure how to react.]

Zilla's shaped up a lot, though. He's a good boy, he knows better. Right, Zilla?

[The Croconaw promptly shuffles a clawed foot, looking away bashfully. He and Heather BOTH know that in his Totodile days, he'd have eaten every crumb and been completely unrepentant about it.]
newberktown: (there there)

[personal profile] newberktown 2012-12-28 02:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Maybe I should have let Key grow up a little before she turned into something with the appetite of seven vikings. [He offers Zilla a smile.] Looks like she could take a leaf out of your book, huh, bud?

[Doop da doo, time to set these cookies down in the kitchen... If Albert didn't want them there, he would deal with it with his usual cheeriness.]

You guys're all coming back tomorrow, too, right?
foolishwren: me: i am an atrocity to god, but thank you (someone: ur cute)

[personal profile] foolishwren 2012-12-30 12:47 am (UTC)(link)
HAH, yeah, that, uh... might've been a good idea. [She plops her hand down on Godzilla's head and rocks him back and forth slightly (not that she's actually... strong enough to tilt a Croconaw back and forth, he's just moving with the motion obligingly-- while shooting Hiccup the crocodile's equivalent of a bashful smile in return).] I waited with this guy... or more accurately, I guess HE waited. Dunno why, but it turned out for the best.

Anyway, yeah-- should be! I don't think we'll be spending the night... but I'll at least stop by tomorrow. If only to make sure all the presents got opened.

[She knows a couple people who might need reminders...]
newberktown: (what's this?)

[personal profile] newberktown 2012-12-30 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
Heh... If everyone spent the night, I think people might end up in the basement...

[The house was big, but wow, there were even more people than there were at Thanksgiving.]

Why wouldn't they all get opened?
foolishwren: but whatever the hell is wrong with him is WAY funnier (honestly i COULD fix him)

[personal profile] foolishwren 2012-12-31 04:41 am (UTC)(link)
'Zactly.

Plus, my roomies can only take so much socializing at once.

[Her father is shy, and the weird hermity photographer they adopted is even shyer. It's honestly amazing she was even able to drag them here in the first place.]

And ehhh... a few of them've just had other things on their mind. Wouldn't put it past them to forget.