for all the world's a stage - LIBRARY LOG

[libraryassistants]

Who: The Editors
What: The Library changes once again...
When: January 9- January 22
Where: The Library
Content warnings: Please put them in the comment headers!

The Assistants have vanished into their backroom once again, leaving only the increasingly unbelievable “Back In 5” sign on the Help Desk, but at least they have attempted to impart some knowledge on the Editors before departing (or… attempted to do anything but, depending who you ask). The customary tea cart with drinks and increasingly stale biscuits is parked in its usual spot, though it seems that the quality of the tea at least has improved some. (Still waiting on coffee improvement.)

There’s a new crafting setup in the Maker Space, a table with an iron and machine for making vinyl designs, along with the instructions on how to use it, and a stack of t-shirts in various sizes. Usually there’s something in the correct size, but, well, mistakes happen. While this addition to clothing is a boon, there is the problem that the t-shirts can’t be taken out of the room until some sort of design is put on them. Get creative! Show off your style! Or maybe just steal one of the shirts that are there for display purposes. It’s fine, the Library can make more.

In the second week as the Library begins to change once more, the Lobby’s wooden floor shines with extra polish. The walls make an odd creaking sound as they shift, warping into brick covered with velvet drapings in a rich, dark red. Gold thread twinkles in the stitches, a sense of opulence woven through. The sound of ballroom music drifts by and, while in the Lobby, characters will be taken by the unusual impulse to dance.

Outside, in the Garden, the day/night cycle has paused firmly on a cloudless night. A full moon hangs in the air - literally. About the size of a basketball, it follows the first person who enters the Garden; hovering a couple of meters above their head. A white aura spreads from them, powered by the moon, and those who are caught in its light will find themselves unable to speak anything but the truth.

When the person to whom the moon is attached leaves the garden, the moon and its aura will leave them; and the moon will attach to the next person to enter instead.

On the circulation desk, there is a sign: “This Week’s Recommended Reading: Twilight!” The accompanying sign up sheet waits next to it for those wishing to check it out- though some will receive the movie instead of the book, with no particular rhyme or reason to it. Periodically someone might also receive something else entirely. Whoops? The Assistants at least will fix that quickly. Richard will be embarrassed, while Phillip will be trying not to cackle.

While not advertised, various iterations of different stories will be available throughout the Library. In particular, someone seems to have left the projector in one of the meeting rooms running, with a variety of different recorded plays. These range from professional productions, to parodies, to what appear to be high schoolers (of which one production features a sixteen year old version of Phillip running around being an absolutely nuisance.

Comments

[starandhope]

"Your colors?"

Mina laughs at the sight of the heraldry. "I wouldn't mind that so much. Green is my favorite color."

Which should be obvious from the one dress she arrived in, which, while dark, has forest green accents.

[ohaiyo_isekai]

He proffers a spare Team Sigrid shirt in what he supposes to be Mina’s size.

“To greatly simplify, what is destined to be The Tragic History of Sigrid Von Verdholtz concerns the love triangle between two suitors of Sigrid’s: the lord Konrad Von Lachfuss, to whom she was betrothed by a very evil father but who is trying to do right by her; and her childhood friend from a neighboring country, her kindly co-religionist Prince Edmund Beauforte.”

He laughs.

“I wonder what transparent alias the devs will use for the Shakespeare figure… or the Chaucer figure, as he’d be a contemporary.”

After a moment’s consideration, he frowns. “…perhaps I shouldn’t be so flippant about a person I might actually meet.”

[starandhope]

Mina accepts the shirt, though she has no plans to actually wear it. She might pull it apart and use it for scraps.

Also she has no idea what a “dev” is or why such a person would need to imagine a new name for Shakespeare, or Chaucer.

“I suspect Master Shakespeare had quite a good humor,” she points out.

“And as for this Sigrid - it seems to me she should be able to choose the man she loves best, and avoid tragedy.”

[ohaiyo_isekai]

“And THAT is why we’re on Team Sigrid along with Siobhan,” he says. “If you’re going to break this down for parts, the golden apple serves as a symbol for the whole.”

“…there are some strange aspects of our situation that I’m not sure if I can explain, but I feel like I ought to.”

[starandhope]

“What, more?” Mina laughs again. “Goodness, how many complications can one life have?”

She thought she had a lot, and many of them she is reluctant or simply unwilling to share with the people here. Some things don’t have to be known, after all.

[ohaiyo_isekai]

“Ereblood, please don’t tempt God or the Mundane Gods by asking.”

Hikaru puts a hand on his forehead, suddenly feeling a headache coming on.

“Did I explain why I look like this and know magic given the only thing the Story got wrong about my background was my being from America?”

[starandhope]

“No,” Mina says. “Nor have I explained why I look the way I do, and have knowledge of vampires.”

She waves a hand vaguely, indicating the others around them.

“You are far from the strangest-looking person I have met here, Hikaru. It is hardly my concern. Your world is your world. And you are who you are. But if you believe some further explanation is required, then I shall be happy to listen.”

[ohaiyo_isekai]

“Jonathan told me a little, I’ll confess, and given my experiences as a monster hunter that he and you merely survived battle with an elder vampire is part of why I hold you both in high esteem,” Hikaru says.

“Some of it is not my story to tell, so I’ll hold it under my hat until a Story makes it need to know.”

[starandhope]

“Oh, I’ve done nothing of the sort,” Mina says - truthfully. “Though it does Jonathan credit that he speaks so well of me.”

She studies Hikaru for a moment, a serious expression on her face. “I hope you know that you needn’t explain yourself to me. I know everything about you that is important. That you are a good and honorable man, a man of good character. Your origins mean little and less to me, in comparison. And your form matters not at all.”

[ohaiyo_isekai]

There is a moment of deep silence where Hikaru meets her gaze and absorbs her statement.

And then he nods.

“I shall endeavor to believe you,” he says.

[starandhope]

She smiles then, though it is a little sad. “And I am sorry, if in your life you’ve encountered those who judged you for your form, or origin. My world sadly also has many who do so. Who, for instance, look at me and see only a penniless orphan. It is the way of people, I suppose, in all worlds.”

[ohaiyo_isekai]

“I must remember to trust that my friends are my allies and comrades also,” he says. “As Jonathan proved to be. He ran into a girl suspicious of his chivalry, you see, and when he asked after our roles, I answered him.”

[starandhope]

That gets a delighted laugh from Mina.

“Questioning Jonathan’s chivalry? How very shocking! You must’ve been very suspicious indeed.”

[ohaiyo_isekai]

“In Michiko’s defense, the unchivalrous of her era pretended to chivalry in order to make the ladies swoon. You can imagine a young lady’s reaction to someone who thought an older man was insincerely chivalrous, I’m sure. But, no, he’s the genuine article.”

[starandhope]

“Such deceit is not unknown in my world, as well,” Mina says. “But I’ve known Jonathan so long and so well - regardless of the fact that the one here isn’t exactly my own - the idea is simply ridiculous. He hasn’t a deceitful or disrespectful bone in his body.”