fandomtownies | Fandom Pride Parade: Saturday Afternoon

The day started with a rainbow. Not that there had been any rain last night, really. The island, noticing the ~~handwavy~~ posters up around town, had figured it wanted to contribute to the spirit of the whole thing, and slapping a big, bright rainbow into the sky had seemed like the obvious way to do it. By around noon, it was clear that the rainbow was going to be sticking around, too, less a meteorological phenominon and more a banner painted across the sky. Down below, little flowers had popped up overnight in bright colours, some mimicking the rainbow up above, some in other configurations; pink-purple-blue, blue-pink-white-pink-blue, black-grey-white-purple, yellow-white-purple-black, and so on. The flowers, fortunately, were there to be pretty, with no other weird effects on the island's populace.

Though, really, if presenting a bouquet of them to one's favourite person ended well for somebody, the island wasn't going to complain, either.

The parade itself was to start on the Causeway, a good gathering point for Fandomites in the past, and a fairly central location on the island. From there it would follow Griffin Lane to Galactica Drive, Serendipity Place, Godiva Street, back onto Serendipity and following it until it turned into Loon and Loon turned into Chimera. Then one final turn onto Apocalypse before ending up at the Park, where people were welcome to sit and mingle to their hearts' content.

The weather was nice, making liars out of the meteorologists in favour of shunting clouds aside for sunshine and a pleasant breeze. A perfect day for a parade!

[OOC: Open! Welcome to Fandom Pride!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Not if it's actually gonna make him feel bad," Eliot said, more serious this time. "That kid has earned the right to wear anything he damn well pleases." And Eliot would perfectly happily make sure of that.

Hannibal raised his eyebrows. "Of course. I should think that that goes without saying."

Eliot shrugged, looking at Hannibal askance. "Yeah. Sometimes I wonder."

Hannibal just raised an eyebrow at him. He had never been anything but good to Sparkle, and had never been overtly insulting to anyone that hadn't deserved it.

"I once asked you flat out if you were with the mob, man," Eliot pointed out. "You know I know you got a mean streak under that fancy exterior."

"Only one of my alternate versions was ever in the mob," Hannibal said. "And I am never mean without a reason. Have you ever known me to be petty or belittling, particularly to those I care about?"

Eliot nodded. "Didn't know you two were so close."

"We've known each other almost since my arrival on the island," Hannibal said. "He has been my student, my TA, and my friend. In another of those alternate versions, I adopted him officially. I've been working very hard with him to get him to accept himself. So no," he finished, "I am not about to tease him past what he'll find amusing."

He'd already teased him a little, which was how he'd ended up in eyeliner.

"Well good. 'Cause Hardison and Parker have taken to him pretty hard too. And they can be protective."

And of course, so had Eliot, but he rather felt he was pushing his luck with managing to claim Kathy as his own.

"So can I," Hannibal said mildly. Which yes, was both threat and reassurance.

"It's good to hear; he hasn't often had people willing to take his side unequivocally. Do you know," he confided, "one of the first things I did with him was to make a wager - if he could go one week without saying anything disparaging about himself, I would do something nice for him. I wasn't convinced he would make it."

But he had. The first time, even. Hannibal was still proud of that.

Leverage had helped him find his sister, and when it didn't go well, Parker helped him burn down a house. Eliot would hope that Sparkle had worked out they were unequivocally on his side, by now.

"Huh." Eliot thought that one over, nodding slowly. "Hell, I think he'd have at least a little trouble with managing that now."

There'd been a whole lot of "why are you being nice to me?" in Eliot's interactions with the kid, yeah.

"He has made progress over the years, but there have also been setbacks," Hannibal said. "I have faith that he will keep improving."

He would see to it.

"He's young yet," Eliot said. "He's got plenty of time to grow."

Hannibal nodded. "He has. And Fandom is a good place for it."

It gave its residents quite a breadth of experience, if nothing else.

Fandom Pride Parade: Saturday Afternoon

Re: Before the Parade: Mingle on the Causeway!

Re: Before the Parade: Mingle on the Causeway!

Re: Before the Parade: Mingle on the Causeway!

Re: Before the Parade: Mingle on the Causeway!

Re: Before the Parade: Mingle on the Causeway!

Re: Before the Parade: Mingle on the Causeway!

Re: Before the Parade: Mingle on the Causeway!

Re: Before the Parade: Mingle on the Causeway!

Re: Before the Parade: Mingle on the Causeway!

Re: Before the Parade: Mingle on the Causeway!

Re: Before the Parade: Mingle on the Causeway!

Re: Before the Parade: Mingle on the Causeway!

Re: Before the Parade: Mingle on the Causeway!

Re: Before the Parade: Mingle on the Causeway!