who will be coming?

[small_magics]

Aianon has made a plant in the open airless space above the surface of Thilanushinyel. It is a very, very large plant - some dragons will be attending the party, after all, even if Ansharil in particular is going to be assorted small things and stay on Sarion's person the bulk of the time.

The locals will be Sarion, her beloveds, their other beloved, the five conjured dragons (and their Bondmates, where applicable: Virgivere and Lissa), and Liselen - Magania has, as usual, declined, and so far no Bell party has featured Bell parents.

Amariah is bringing her boyfriend and spontaneous daughter and two of the spontaneous daughter's friends, as well as an Alethian instance of the Rupert template.

Shell Bell is bringing Pearl and Screwdriver.

Golden is bringing her usual large contingent, as usual not including her husband but including her daughter and daughter's grown fosterling (the other remaining at home) and his wolf, both mothers-in-law and one father-in-law, adopted siblings, staff members including the Joker and Nathan, and the children of the aforementioned.

Glass is bringing both wives, all three daughters, Kanim, and her cat. She invited Icarin and Valeria, but their parents are not willing to let them gallivant into other worlds unsupervised and had a scheduling conflict.

Stella's bringing a smattering of people including Alice, Anna, Sandy, Libby, Bridget, her college roommate Janine, and Lazarus.

Tab is bringing Aelise (but not Kers) and Luhan.

Etty is bringing only Nona.

Aether, likewise, brings no one but Celo.

Pattern comes with Ripper, Slipstick, Queenie, and Ghosty.

Aegis is accompanied by her four-bodied boyfriend, Merryweather, Whitlock, and Howlett.

Aurora comes with Brilliance, Lexi with her Device Persica, Agent Honey with her Device Adularia, and Beth.

Rose brings her husband and three children and her former apprentice, Luc.

Angela brings her husband, her four children, several of her friends, and some of those friends' children and grandchildren with and without wings. Keziah also brings a friend.

Juliet shows up with Soph, Minus, Red, Giles, James, Virginia, Minnie, Ike, and Val.

Cam brings Jellybean and Tilly and stops there.

And from unBelled worlds hail additional Sherlocks and Tonies, Darcy, Matilda, Pepper, and Eights.

Comments

[newtimov]

"It is not particularly a secret or anything, but if I say it I might not stop blushing for a week, so I think I will not."

[snowandsparks]

"Um, okay."

[grabsthebutt]

A red-haired girl with a strong family resemblance to Ike happens to be passing by. She says helpfully, "They had sex," and then keeps walking.

[newtimov]

Ike blushes harder. "Thank you, Val," he mutters.

[snowandsparks]

"Oh."

[newtimov]

Ike continues to blush.

[snowandsparks]

"...And that's not a secret," Lucas clarifies.

[newtimov]

"It is not a secret!"

[snowandsparks]

"...At home," says Lucas, subdued, "it would be a secret."

[newtimov]

"Things of that general nature have to be a secret in some parts of my world too," he says. "But where I live it's mostly okay."

[snowandsparks]

"...When I was a kid, Isabella suddenly made it legal for two men or two women to get married, if they wanted, in her province, and about a third of the people I knew thought she was being bribed by Jansai to make it easy for them to find - people who would, um, take the bait."

[newtimov]

"...The bait being... marriage, and the Jansai's interest being...?"

[snowandsparks]

"It didn't actually happen very much, crime in Bethel has been way down, but people thought they wanted to know who to avoid doing business with or who to send their violent teenagers after or something."

[newtimov]

"Happily, I have my sister to deal with violent teenagers for me. Even more happily, she almost never has to."

[snowandsparks]

"That sounds useful."

[newtimov]

"Val is very handy."

[snowandsparks]

"I have three sisters and two brothers. They're all mortals, though, and none of them would be of particular use against violent Jansai teenagers."

[newtimov]

"I only have the one, but she is good at dealing with violent people. Mainly by hitting them until they go away."

[snowandsparks]

"Yeah, I suppose that would be the way to do it. I've never actually been in a fight, partly because everyone knows better than to pick one with an angel, which is just as well because I'm not as confident as conventional wisdom that I'd be able to make any use of angel strength."

[newtimov]

"I think I know what you mean," says Ike. "Val is not any more physically equipped to hit people than I am, at least when she's not using iethat, but mentally it's no contest."

[snowandsparks]

Lucas nods. "I mean, I suppose I know the thunderbolt prayer too, but nobody uses that, which is probably why no one has noticed that allegedly all of those requests have to go through Isabella now."

[newtimov]

"...What, um, is the thunderbolt prayer?"

[snowandsparks]

"It's a song. If you sing it - at home, anyway, on the right planet - then you get a thunderbolt, aimed where you called it to. I don't think anyone's called one since the accident at Cedar Hills, and the last time one was called on purpose it was almost two hundred years ago when the Archangel Gabriel destroyed Windy Point."

[newtimov]

"...Someone called one by accident?"

[snowandsparks]

"Yeah, when you're learning the song you're supposed to stop in the middle, sing something else, then pick up with the rest. Somebody forgot."