The weather is bleak this time of year off the coast of Iceland, but as end of term approaches, Muse Academy students and faculty alike have one thing to look forward to: the annual Holiday Party and accompanying Gift Tree. Although less spectacular than the balls the Academy holds on May Day and Halloween, it’s delightful in its own spicy, coniferous way.
(For reference, here’s how the party and the tree unfolded last year.)
Yay! I think we should continues the ‘anonymous gifts’ tradition like before.
Maybe we could have a winter wonderland theme?
I just looked at the previous threads for this and I think I have a pretty good idea what we do. Wait, so when the tree thread opens we post anonymously on it describing our gift and then later if we gave one we choose one?
Winter Wonderland would be an amazing theme. Although, do you mean, an actual winter wonderland inside with snow bunnies and snowflakes and lovely snow covered trees and stuff? Or just a room decorated to be all snowyish and have everything be blueish and awesome and sparkly? Or a room decorated to look like a wonderland, but not really? Could we have live songbirds, perhaps?
Could we have several trees throughout the room, some leafless deciduous, some pine, to create the feeling of being in a winter forest? And could we have little prisms hanging off the branches to send rainbows everywhere?
Cinnamon. We have to have cinnamon.
Brainstorming.
Icicle ornaments hanging off the trees? Along with the prisms, they would sparkle and spread light everywhere. Everlasting snow? On trees and…floor? Woodland animals? Fake woodland animals? Real songbirds. Snow falling? Where do we sit, etc? Perhaps a cabin? Woodsmoke smell. Winter wonderland outside, perhaps a warm fire and a tree and food inside rustic cabin? Maybe. Sparky things…scents of cinnamon and nutmeg and cider and spices. One horse sleighs. Jingle bells hung on trees? Wreath on cabin door???
??? I’m sorry if that makes little sense.
Ooh, I like the forest idea. A foresty winter wonderland. But what would be the point of having it indoors, then? There are plenty of forests in Iceland, and I know of several wizards who would keep the weather and bears in check for us.
4- Cinnamon? Just cinnamon? Tables, chairs, wallpaper made of cinnamon?
It should smell like cinnamon.
Let’s just do it all the way and make it a real, outside forest in the midst of an Icelandic winter. Recommended attire can be fluffy coats, colorful scarves, mittens, and boots.
Really? A party in a forest? In winter? Icelandic winter? The best part of that party would be getting back to someplace warm to recover from it. (Besides, there are no forests on Hyperborea. You’d have to go to the mainland — not a pleasant trip this time of year.)
I was about to suggest a Narnia theme.
Just because there aren’t currently any forests on Hyperborea doesn’t mean there won’t be by the sixteenth. And as I mentioned, I have contacts there that would be more than willing to tame the elements for a night.
Besides, you can’t have a snowball fight indoors.
I was
thinkinghoping it would be nanotech, Diamondage style…Personally, I’d much rather attend Muse Academy than Hogwarts.
Although… If I attended Hogwarts, I could wreak havoc with my vast knowledge of AVPM quotes… And I could hang up a Zefron poster in the Headmistress’s office…
You’re Harry freaking Potter…
You don’t understand, you’re a legend man, to us all…
Every son and daughter… safe!
From You know Who, all because of you! You were small, but I wonder if you can recall…
Long story short, this guy *whispers* “Voldemort,” was super cruel….
Voldemort? -gasp- SHH!
He tried to kill you and and parents, and this is where it gets intensely cool…
Even though you were a tiny little boy…
Oh no, MA is very different and has a far better safety record. Also, it’s classload is WAY more diversified.
Well, perhaps we could have it outdoors but have a cabin for those who wish to warm themselves briefly by a fire. Sleigh bells and sparkling icicles and cardinals and yule logs…
Forests make everything better.
Curiously, tonight’s forecast low here in central NC is actually colder than the forecast for Reykjavik.
I was thinking something cozy, with a large fire, and somewhat resembling the H&H.
Or the Narnia theme. Ooh, I like that idea. With an antechamber full of cozy armchairs and a warm fire in case you get cold, and then a bunch of fur coats hanging which lead into the main room, full of the glistening perfection of a forest covered in snow and ice, and a giant christmas tree in the center, with all the gifts below.
And woodland animals? Or at least animal sounds? You know, like an owl hooting or a few late birds chirping…
I like the Antechamber idea.
Oooh, sounds yummy! I like this! Maybe you could travel through a vortex or a portal to get into a real forest, complete with animals and birds and everything you usually find in a forest, but we could also bring a decorated tree and presents and stuff through.
We could have an outdoor portion as well as a cozy indoor portion. That might be the best compromise.
I agree.
Me too.
Me three.
I suggest placing the outdoor section outside of open wooden doors, on ground level so that we may come in and warm our hands after snowball fights.
I’d like to second (….or fourth) Errata’s idea of the Narnia theme. There was always something for me about the idea of an older time, with castles and traders and furry handmade coats.
Perhaps why I’m so obsessed with RPGs.
Now, looking down to KaiYves, I like the snowflake ornament idea!
I looked at the picture and thought it looked like silver. Maybe we could produce them in, say, sapphire or something more Christmas-sparkly kind of looking.
Robert’s idea, not mine.
Hm… Outdoor section? Isn’t this what the rooftop garden is?
The rooftop garden should be inside.
That doesn’t begin to make sense.
There could be walls around the garden, and maybe a roof on top of the roof, but doesn’t that completely defeat the purpose of the garden beng on a rooftop?
Some restaurants have canopy heaters in their outdoor dining areas. You could do something like that with the gazebo.
I like that idea!
Nothing I say ever makes sense. It could be like… a floating room.
Yeah, never mind. I don’t know what I’m saying.
Why NOT a floating room? We could put it above the main floor and have a warm, heated staircase leading up to it. It could wrap around the edges, like the thing floats directly above, right? So the staircase wraps down and around, because they’re the same size (both rooms) and then hits ground parallel to the floor and takes a turn right and so lands on the dance floor.
I’ll send a hand-drawn image of my idea. GAPAs, what’s the email for images, again?
I sent an email containing a floor plan for the ball. Always nice to have a collective reference point so we’re all on the same page. I did send it to @musefanpage.com, not @gmail.com. I hope I got the right one :\ The second email actually contains the document. The first one I accidentally sent without the image. It’ll be coming from an @comcast.net, with the subject saying something about Castle and museblog.
I also have a new email, which is why my email will show up differently in my Name* Email* thingies.
Can we decorate the gift tree with these “snowflake” ornaments from the Metropolitan Museum of Art? (Only one is actually based on a real snowflake pattern, the others are patterns from objects in their collection that happen to look like snowflakes.) Only painted, not plain wood.
http:// store. metmuseum. org/christmas-ornaments /2010-mini-snowflake-christmas-ornaments-set/ invt/80007094/?temp= enlarged&layout= empty
I don’t know whether or not I’ll be attending, but we should do some sort of Nightmare Before Christmas theme
A big, overstuffed Grinch plush?
…no, I said a The Nightmare Before Christmas theme, not a The Grinch Stole Christmas theme.
Please tell me I’m not the only person here who’s seen that
/Nitpick/
It’s “HOW The Grinch Stole Christmas”.
/Nitpick/
As for refreshments, borrowing from last year…
ENTREES and DINNER:
Roast turkey, lamb, and chicken
Christmas pudding
Smoked salmon
Ham with maple syrup
Salads
Artisan cheeses with crusty bread and honey
Various soups
Freshly-baked bread
Creamed potatoes
DESERT:
Muffins
Gingerbread cookies
An international assortment of various other types of cookies
Gourmet popcorn
Mince pies
Pumpkin, apple, and cherry pies
Greek yogurt, with jam and honey
Doughnuts
Peppermint candies
Toffee
Fudge brownies
DRINKS:
Hot chocolate
Hot apple cider
Eggnog
Chai tea?
Sure!
How about, for the tree, an ice theme. Scratch that. How about and ice theme!
I would like the rooftop garden to come back. I’ve missed it at the past two balls. I love mini-RPGs!
Same. I’ve missed it, too.
Castle’s conception of Beedle’s idea of the MA ballroom:
 Â
Squee! Muchas gracias, Castle! It’s super!
Oh, look! It made it! Thank you, GAPAs!
And thank you, Beedle! It took me about three tries to get just right, and all it is is pen on paper scanned in. As you can see in the upper right, nothing is really to scale, it’s just a sketch of the general location. I like the idea of a big hearth, and maybe a tree up on the stage so there’s room to party. The stage is big, so there’s plenty of room for everything.
….I don’t think I’ve ever been complimented like that, Beedle. Or at all, for that matter. Thankses
You’re welcomses!
People should appreciate you more.
Awww….
How have I not been participating here? I love balls! Especially winter balls! Might I suggest a Hogwartsian enchanted ceiling, so that snow appears to fall from the ceiling and dissipates just above our heads?
That sounds great! But should the ceiling be enchanted to show the sky?
Okay, so we have the inside as a cozy cabin/antechamber with a fireplace and large armchairs, and the rooftop garden/floating room as a winter wonderland?
Ice sculptures… Ice skating under the stars… Wintery little birds chirping all over…
(The roof can be glass.)
When is the ball starting?
The party (not a ball) starts tomorrow, December 16, and continues until the end of the year.
So we’re all clear on the decor?
Yep! Let the festivities begin