Hello, everyone!

For those of you who don't know, my name is Ema Skye. I'm a forensic-investigator-in-training; I'm due to be assigned to a precinct once I finish school. I've already worked with prosecutors and defense attorneys to help find the truth and fight crime! [Well, working with Phoenix Wright clear her sister and helping Miles Edgeworth that one time both count, right?] Like the little girl who was on this thing before, I think there's been a lack of imagination in these parts. A lack of scientific imagination!

So, who wants to come with me to investigate the wild places and experiment with the dirt we can get from there? I want to get a team together--I can't be the only scientist here!

[Pause.]

Someone who can fight and protect us would probably be good, too. I... I'm not really well-equipped for wilderness.



((ooc note: Gotta run for now, but I should get to tagging later this evening! ♥ ))

[The Vine's tentative creepers inside every stone building unravel slowly to reveal a mirror. The picture it reveals is rather more comforting than what lies outside: a maternal-looking woman sitting in a rocking chair, with a fire burning in a fireplace behind her.]

Good evening, my daughters. I would ask if you are well, but I'm afraid I know the answer to that question. Don't fear. When the storm ends, you will be safe here. I have made it my business to take care of you. Stay warm. Stay close to each other. This, too, shall pass. You must not go outside...

Ah, but children don't listen. If you do go outside, don't go alone. You'll have no chance. The things in the storm are vulnerable to the bonds between you. Defeat them together.

But really, my daughters, you should stay inside.

[ America is snuggled into the sleeping bag as much as she can possibly be. It's too damn cold where is the Sun.

She groans, tossing and turning, eventually grabbing onto the nearest person. She has not yet noticed that there is not supposed to be a person there... Or, in fact, two. But hey, she has people who will listen to her complain! ]

Someone turn the Sun back on, OK?

[The mirror pops into view, flickers a few times, then reveals the Queen of Hearts once again, still against a dark background. This time, there's a holly wreath perched atop her hair.]

I'm sorry I haven't had the time to listen to all your helpful suggestions, darlings! It turns out creating a world is hard work...ahahaha, who knew?

Besides, I'm feeling a bit...

[She trails off, looking absently to the side, then quickly readjusts her wreath and continues.]

Anyway! One of my less tame incarna has shown her face, has she? I may not like her attitude, but I think she had a good idea this time. There are so many ways to enjoy this season, but this might be the best!

Now, I have work to do. At this rate, the whole place will fall down around my ears while I'm working on opening the dungeons...ah, it's enough to drive a girl crazy!

[And the mirror shrivels back up. But the mistletoe, that remains, wherever you are...]

[OOC: The Queen won't be replying to comments directed at her (she is, like she said, busy), but this post is free to be used for general mistletoe antics and mingling so that everyone who wants to make use of the mistletoe doesn't have to make a whole post.]

[Tonight on the voice part of the vine, there is the voice of one Alice Margatroid. It is clear from her tone that she is not pleased.]

This library is useless, it shouldn't even be called one. After giving brief looks to most of what was inside, all I saw was poetry and biographies. Along with... other material. But not a single magic tome, grimoire or even simple notes. A library is supposed to have a wealth of knowledge, not simply be a holding house for two or three kinds of literature!

Even a simple story book would have tided me over for a small amount of time, but there was not even one of those. I can hardly believe this...

[A new face has shown up on the vine tonight! It must be; how many people here are decked out in one of those especially revealing Santa costumes? In any case, she's smiling very tersely indeed, leaning down for a rather nice view of the... ornaments.]

Ladies, ladies, ladies! I am most disappointed.

I've been keeping a list and checking it twice, but there's not enough naughty and far too much nice. Means you wouldn't know how to take advantage of wishes if they were tied to a chair in tinsel and pretty lights, for those who can't keep up.

Where's your holiday spirit? 'Tis the season to be giving! If you're into receiving, that's fine too. Her royal bustiness told us you'd be encouraged in no time, honestly.

It's high time I take matters into my own hands, don't you think? Yes? Glad we agree!

[That's that, apparently. It takes nothing more than a teasing flick of the wrist to prompt some alarmingly quick plant growth in the background. Maybe you've encountered these before. Then have a kiss blown at the mirror, as if to demonstrate:]

Now pucker up, girls. You'll thank me later.

[OOC: You heard the, um, lady. Mistletoe now decorates the Gardens, and any two people caught beneath it will be compelled to kiss. For child and pre-teen characters, this does not have to be a kiss on the mouth. The mistletoe will last through Saturday the 18th, after which point it can be assumed that the Vamp got bored of putting it back up after its victims tore it down or set it on fire.]

[Ramona appears in the mirror holding scissors and a flat iron. She has cut her hair shorter (into a bit of a bob) and straightened it, but it's still the same blue it was before. Several different boxes of hair dye sit on a table next to her - red, pink, mauve, magenta, purple, green, pine green, lime green, sky blue, navy blue, midnight blue, black, sable, orange, tangerine, blond, platinum, gold, silver, crystal, ruby, sapphire, emerald, and a few that might not even exist on the color spectrum. She pauses for a moment before starting to speak.]

Well, if I'm gonna be here a while, and from the looks of things, I am [glaring off to the side, presumably at the absent Queen] I figure I might as well try to keep things interesting for myself. Haven't touched my hair in a few months now other than to re-dye it, and by my standards, that's like decades.

So help me pick, people. Which color says "Help, I'm stuck in an alternate dimension and I can't get out" best?

[EDIT: Later in the day, Ramona eventually decides on a vivid reddish-pink, seen here.]

[There is a young woman wandering around the Gardens, still dressed in the plain white shift of a new arrival, although she has in her hands a red and white cheerleader's uniform. She's also holding an armload of scrolls she took from the cats, but she still looks rather... lost. She hasn't actually read any of the scrolls, you see.]

This is nicer than last time I got abducted by aliens.

... Am I in Heaven?

We're certainly getting a lot of newcomers, aren't we? And still no answers.

...from what I've learned, going to the edges of the garden and returning with the soil allows you to create things. Houses, items, whatever you'd like.

I'm beginning to wonder if this isn't a dream.

[Any ladies who check the vine today are greeted to a new face. She's wearing the default white shift, although she's carrying other clothing in her arms and has put a hat and rose-lensed white glasses on top of her head. The first thing she does when the video begins is gasp dramatically.]

Ah! It worked!

[She leans in closer to the mirror, her eyes wide and her expression inquisitive. It's almost as if she doesn't really believe that the Vine is actually recording.]

Well, if anyone can hear me, my name's Ema Skye. Does anyone know how this whole thing works? It seems really... unscientific.

[Judging from the girl's expression, being unscientific is a crime--right up there with kicking puppies and punching babies.]

Ms... Queen of Hearts lady, I have a flight back to Europe in a few days and I need to continue studying science so I can become a forensic investigator, so I'd like to pass on your invitation. I asked the cat how I can get home, since that's what you suggested--although I have no idea how they understand me--but it just curled up and went to sleep.

Cats are kind of fickle. Maybe you should consider getting better pet-servants.