6766/Let's Get Wine Drunk And Buy A Hardcover Book

Let's Get Wine Drunk And Buy A Hardcover Book
Date of Scene:	02 July 2021
Location:	Rococo Bookstore and Wine Club
Synopsis:	The titular activities occur. A brief conversation on science fiction and fantasy casting is held. Autographs are obtained...
Cast of Characters:	Xi'An Coy Manh, Darcy Lewis

---

Xi'An Coy Manh has posed:
TONIGHT, IT COMES... A book that will change the world.

Maybe.

There is a series of novels out there... well, they don't claim to be novels, as there are usually associated things, such as maps, in-universe narrative components, faux-period pieces, and other pieces of design fluffery and bric-a-brac. 'Haydee la Fille du Temps' is written with overwrought prose, featuring its titular character travelling through bizarre situations and, typically, resolving mysteries using only the powers of deduction while spending time with a range of historical figures, both authentic and slimly disguised, in what is approximately the fin du siecle period. The novel titles are all in complex French, meaning they are usually referred to by number. (Naturally, you MUST read them in order.)

This is the release of #11. A number, it must be said, without particular portent or ominosity, which might be why the husband-and-wife team behind the series have opted to have this signing event in Gotham. It would be tempting God to do it for #13. #11? That does not even tempt Volstagg.

Filing in for the signing event requires you to go by the wine bar, where you are able to make important purchases, such as:

* A hardcover edition of #11 (for obvious reasons, abundant)
* A hardcover edition of the previous entries in the series (#1-3 are well represented; the intermediates less so)
* One of four signature totebags
* Wine

Xi'an Coy Manh enters from the front and is drawn, magnetically, to the spread of goods. She is in a sporty red dress and has done up her hair with a relatively tight bun which has been skewered with a replica pin from the six-part BBC adaptation of entry #1. There is a mild flow of people making their purchases and then joining the queue, which appears to be snaking through the entire bookstore, probably to expose people to as many other books as possible. (Naturally, the other end of this great digestive process emerges near the registers.)

"Is there a limit on how many copies you can get?" Shan asks the harried wine distributor. ("Five," he says, before moving on to deliver a tray of rose to a cluster of people in far more specific cosplay taking photos of one another.)

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Darcy is a lot of things these days. Brilliant scientist (and in this capacity a teacher, researcher, consultant), much less brilliant associate spy, and occasionally (too often) a participant, willingly or otherwise, in adventures numerous and strange. At heart, though it's all really much simpler than that. She's a nerd, and a bit of a hipster, and to such a person the appeal of this series -- and in turn, this event celebrating it -- is imeasurable.

She has other hobbies, true, and interests, and things which take up a lot of her time not totally by her own design, but there is something about this particular set of novels and associated materials that appeals. Maybe it is a kinship felt with the fictional protagonist, a sense of shared identity found in their parallel bizarre adventures. Or maybe it is a convenient way to indulge in the vulgar fantasies of decadent French salons while cloaking one's purient interest in a more legitimate intellectual pursuit.

Regardless, Darcy is here. She would arrive early, but her work has a habit of being intrusive, so she gets to the signing as she can manage. The wave of summer heat has rendered her usually more baggy styles ill-advised, although to a degree she still attempts them. Short denim shorts, yes, but full-length tank top with some kind of sprawling galaxy printed on in various swirling colors, and also a throw-over sleevless knitted shawl kind of thing. Except, of course, the latter she's given up on and tied around her waist. She wears very large dark sunglasses and very large leather hiking boots.

Looking back and forth as she hurries inside, it may appear she is fleeing the uncertainty of the Gotham streets, which she has risked despite their reputation. Such is her devotion to the cause. Clutched in hand, well, in both arms and held to her chest, is tote bag that might bear some resemblence to the ones being offered. Doubtless, it is from a prior event. It probably contains various treasures related to the series. This venue is new to her, though, and she spends a moment or two looking and/or bumbling around before she finally ascertains the expected order of operations and route: to the bar!

Whatever she's brought, she buys everything they're selling anyway. Well, just the one totebag.

She ends up behind Xi'an, with only her singular copies. "Oh are you getting some for friends?" she finds herself wondering, intrusively. AND THEN AT A WHISPER: "Or for ebay? That's pretty smart."

Xi'An Coy Manh has posed:
Shan looks up at the approaching Darcy, as if Found Out.

Her eyes narrow, conspiratorially. She leans in slightly. "I thought about getting an entire complete set, though they're out of Five. But I want a replacement for Seven, myself. Mine got paraffin on it."

"Drinks?" says another Wine Distributor, looking at the two women for a moment. Shan glances at a chalkboard, points at a middle entry at the white wine - "That one."

After Darcy has the opportunity for her own, Shan is picking out several copies and a tote with an image of Haydee lFdT herself in an Art Nouveau style, atop a starry background. (In that one, she was shot out of a cannon to the moon. A supporting character died from the obvious side effects of this.) "I love your boots: are you doing a costume? Oh, I'm Shan, incidentally." It seems that whether she likes it or not, Darcy will be standing near this woman in line!

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"Oh right!" The wine! "Uh, yeah, sure, I'll have one too."

It is possible Darcy has spent her life in pursuits that did not involve upscale wine tasting. Just another reason this lush fictional vision of European culture at it's most... well, European and culture-y holds a certain vicarious appeal.

However, it's only when they get to the totes that is suddenly gets awkward, because she ALSO really likes the one Shan picks. Only this time, it's not because she's faking wine literacy. It's got spaaaaace on it. Like her shirt! So for the second time, and now just a little more self-consciously, she asks for the same as Shan. At least there's an option for redemption, in their further chit-chat.

"Oh, no, it's not a cosplay," she explains. "Just a happy coincidence. I kind of do... space things." She's found that it's weird telling people what she does outright, even the non-classified version. "I thought about dressing up, I even have this kind of bustier top that would kinda work but... I couldn't really, I'd have had to bring everything to change at work and it woulda turned into a whole thing." At other jobs, her coworkers would just think she was weird. At SHIELD, they might scan her to make sure she wasn't experiencing time-displacement.

"Oh, hi. Uh, Darcy. Nice to meet you."

Xi'An Coy Manh has posed:
Two glasses of white wine are presented, in short order. It's cool! And... clear! It is quite adequately drinkable, although it is certainly table wine.

Shan takes a small sip. She seems obscurely amused at something. She also slides the books into the tote, /pre-emptively/. "Oh really!" she says, even as the exciting adventure of

THE QUEUE

begins. Which is mostly going past a range of popular genre fiction right now, although there is also a small display of some translations of French novels which were extensively referenced here and there. (There are even small hand-made cards in case you didn't know. Marketing!)

"Enchante`," Shan says. Another sip of wine. "I looked into ordering one of those dresses from the show, but they were all ruinously expensive. I suppose they haven't made them in mass production, yet." Her voice lowers. "Maybe if they actually do the movie..."

"I did order this," Shan says, pointing (roughly) at her hair pin, "but that is one of those little things you can use every day. You came here straight from work, then? I took a half day, myself."

Darcy Lewis has posed:
At some point after the pair begins their exciting adventure through the twisting turns of

THE QUEUE

that Darcy seems to be questioning the wisdom of the way all of this is organized. "Isn't it kind of weird to drink in line? I mean, not that I- I've had drinks in some weird places, I guess. But it just feels sort of weird." This hasn't stopped her from going on and enjoying a few sips. "I guess it's kind of like when you're at a party, including the part where you feel like don't have enough hands for your drink and your food and even worse if someone wants to shake hands. I guess it makes the totes pretty mandatory, though." Such fiendish marketting.

Speaking of, she does evidence occasional distraction by the variety of books strategically surrounding them as they make their halting, zig-zagging, stop and start journey through the store. Mostly, this just means her leaning or looking one way or the other to double check a title. In most cases, it seems like she's already read them or is already sure she wouldn't be interested in them, by whatever set of criteria. Also, despite the particular focus of the event, the French translations do not seem to hold the same degree of interest. Maybe it something particular to HlFdT itself, its premise or heroine, than the broader body of French literature.

"Oh this one is great." It's called 'The Crystalline Bride of the Unknowable.' There are some other (and also very silly) similarly pulp-y kinds of titles in her wandering interest, although not all of them. At least one title she will recommend is a fairly prominent, NYT Best Selling sort of affair about a generation ship going to find a new world. "She really did her research for this one. All the propulsion ideas, the way the ship is laid out and designed, very plausible." Next to the goofier titles ('Enslaved by the Women of Jupiter,' anyone?) her sudden and very serious analysis stands out.

"Most period stuff is really pretty expensive if you want any kind of quality," Darcy finds herself agreeing on the topic of further costuming. "But it does help if it gets more popular. Then you'll get, yeah, like the kind of mass produced ones, or even sometimes those really cheap Halloween versions." Which would be a horrible sin for proper cosplay, but perhaps appropriate in certain other venues. "That's really cute, though, and you're right, you could totally wear it just... wherever, and I don't think anyone would know. Well, unless they were fans." A badge of the secret society.

As for work? "Yeah, we've had... some things going on. I have a project I have to finish and I can't really slack off until it's done."

Xi'An Coy Manh has posed:
"I think it shows a certain wisdom, because if you have something to drink you won't necessarily feel as if you're wasting your time. It seems to be moving a little bit - ah - perhaps I spoke too soon," Shan concludes.

She tilts her glass. "As you say." Another sip.

They thread around, moving forwards. There ARE occasional big delays, but Darcy can probably suss out the approximate periodicity: half a minute, plus or minus - mostly plus - but the cuddly closeness of the shelves as well as the position of the velvet ropes is making it relatively easy to feel like you're moving through station by station. Objectively speaking, it may not even be that big of a line.

Shan's attention turns towards the proffered book as they hit the sci-fi paperbacks, with the glamorous prestige ones (fifteen to twenty dollars retail, Shan thinks) surrounded by the more pedestrian editions (eight to twelve dollars retail, Shan thinks). She forcses herself to focus on the book. She reaches forwards to claim the Crystalline Bride... for her own.

"Really," Shan says, at the generation ship comment. The Bride is placed in her bag of plunder. "That is the concept where the ship is really more of a gigantic habitat, right? Because if you cannot go faster than light, you will be old by the time you reach another star, at best, and more likely long dead. I think that I heard of one that had... vampires?"

"It really is! It's tragic. I've thought about taking up sewing, but I mean, I will be honest with you that I don't want to, I just want the outfits." Shan continues. "It seems like a pain in the butt." Another faint, secret smile as she reaches up to touch her hair pin, jingling a subtle little silver chain with it.

"I'm glad you made THIS much time, then. You don't want to burn out or you're just leaving yourself open to all sorts of bad consequences... isolation, neglect..."

There is a sudden burst of cackling, cacophonous laughter from a woman. It cannot be seen, but it overcomes the books' absorption. "We must be nearing the front," Shan says. "That sounds like Maëlys, if I should guess." Maëlys (the umlaut is vital) is the primary author of these books, of course. The other half (Josh) mostly does the multimedia stuff... or so they claim.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Other than the mild awkwardness of her wine, which is only really awkward when she's not drinking it... or eventually, when she's finished drinking it, Darcy doesn't seem bothered by the line. It's true, that given the size of the store and the niche quality of this fandom, it is not exactly a mob of a crowd. And there's books to browse!

"Right, yeah, exactly. In this one, they stay... I think it was in the range of about point one to point three c," Darcy answers, before pausing and helpfully translating. "Ten to thirty percent the speed of light, that is. And they use laser propulsion, partly! How cool is that?" Apparently that detail really stood out to her. "They're traveling to system that's known to have planets in what would be considered the habitable zone orbits. A real star, that is. But yeah, that's still the trick, even at that relatively short distances, it's still about a century and a half to get there, and it handles how their little society works on the ship, living in their artificial biomes with various crops and animals they're bringing from Earth. Anyway it's pretty good, if you like harder sci-fi."

Grinning, she also has to admit, "Vampires would be a good spin. They'd handle space travel no problem. Well... they'd need good insulation on the ship. Stellar radiation is way worse when you're outside an atmosphere. Do you know what the title was?"

The laughter draws her attention up front, including a bit of a side-leaning peek around a shelf, and she does look relieved to be getting close. If only because the wine has run out. "Luckily I'm not, uh, I guess you could say I'm kind of more of a consultant so at least I have a little more flexibility. Otherwise, when big stuff goes down, it can be a real all-hands kind of situation. Very grim and serious." She scrunches her nose a bit. "Still, yeah, while those people who make their own are really impressive, I just can't imagine finding the time."

Xi'An Coy Manh has posed:
"Certainly, of course... and really? With a laser? Was it an accident or something? Or do you mean the, space drive, it shot a laser behind the ship?" Shan says, having evidently gotten the time figure just fine but not being up to the minute on theoretical propulsion options. Maybe she is... in the humanities.

"It sounds like it would be very painful for the people in the ship, though," she muses. "I mean to say not so much the first people, because they would have all been on board for it. But you would in time have children, right? That is the idea. Imagine it, you are born and you find out that you are in this big machine because of a decision of your great grandfather's..."

"I wonder if they would be able to complete the mission, or even if they would want to." Shan says. "But perhaps I have just discovered the plot...?"

"I'm trying to remember now. It wasn't like these, these have fun titles," Shan says. "It was something like... The Endless Night, but that is like every other vampire book. I thought it was bold of it to -- no, I should not say."

"I know what you mean about crises," Shan says, finishing off her wine.

A moment passes.

"I have to ask you the question now," Shan continues. "I know this is abrupt, Darcy. But..."

"... The film version, if they make one. Who plays Haydee? I have my thoughts but I am curious to hear your own."

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"No, not an accident- right, yeah. Well, not /out/ the back of the ship, so much as the other way around. They shot one /into/ a capture device mounted at the back of the ship from a large laser array built inside the solar system, accelerating it via radiation pressure. Allowed them to slowly but constantly speed it up without burning any of their reaction mass. It's theoretical at an application level, but definitely a real phenomena. We have to account for the sun's 'push' on our space probes, for instance."

Maybe it's at this point that Darcy realizes she's going not just full nerd, but full actual specialist in this field, and gives a mildly self-conscious sort of chuckle and accompanyingly nervous smile. Probably enough on those specifics. Helpfully...

"Yes! That's actually exactly one of the themes of it. The first generation is all gung-ho astronauts, scientists, engineers, specialists... all the best of Earth. Massive competition to get on the ship. But their children... never made that choice, and they're trapped." The worry about over-specific nerding goes away, because clearly they are now on the same radiation frequency. Indeed, her smile turns somewhat sly. "It does lead to /dramatic conflict/, as one might imagine. I don't wanna get spoiler-y, though." As for the Vampire novel, she's confident enough: "I'm sure I can google it, based on that much."

As for the controversial, deeply personal, and perhaps fandom-dividing question that follows, Darcy's answer ends up being... well, one that is not likely to accidentally crash abruptly among such treacherous shores: "Well... I don't know exactly, I kind of feel like, it might be the sort of thing where it's better that they find someone new, you know? An unknown? If you take some big star, then we're just watching them in their newest flick, you know? I kinda want someone who can BE Haydee." One might take it as a diplomatic answer, if it weren't for the earnest passion in her tone.

Xi'An Coy Manh has posed:
"Someone built a laser that big...? Imagine it," Shan says, thinking about it. Indeed, that's the idea! Her lips purse for a moment. She is grappling with it. The social issues at least make more direct sense. ("I have a hard time imagining such a laser existing, and not being hijacked, I will confess," Shan adds, parenthetically.)

"If they actually make it to that planet, or wherever, something must have been done," Shan says. "But I think that I read one myself, though it was perhaps more of an article, that said they might figure out to do such things with asteroids instead. And they would only land upon planets to visit."

Shan's head then tilts forwards. Her face, slightly red from just knocking back a big glass of inexpensive white wine at her body weight, is slightly veiled. "You're perfectly right," she says. "*PERFECTLY*. This is so much better than who *I* thought--"

"Margot Robbie," Shan concludes. "You know her? From Wolf of Wall Street?"

* * * *

The autograph session is brief. Josh is stoic, well dressed, completely boring looking, and does most of the personalization of the book after asking a couple of questions. His penmanship is immaculate. Maëlys has clearly had at least four glasses of wine, greets everyone, makes herself available for selfies, and makes the umlaut in her name with two stars in each signature.

Maëlys has no opinion on who should play Haydee. This is probably to avoid prejudicing the negotiations.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"Well, at the point you're talking about interstellar space missions, massive generation ships, there's a lot of necessary advancement you kind of have to already assume. You can't launch something like that from Earth, Tsiolkovsky's equation kicks your ass every time. So you're already assuming infrastructure in Earth orbit, probably on the moon - and in this story, even further out - before you start launching interstellar missions. You're building stuff out there, at scales you can't do in a strong gravity well." Despite the return to hyper-nerdery, she has to admit: "Still, yeah, a giant laser is pretty cool and ripe for all kinds of shenanigans."

In the realm of the more 'realistic', she opines: "Generation ship's probably not the way to go. Really, there's not a lot of scenarios where just normal travel makes a lot of sense. If there's any real chance, well, you're probably talking about more esoteric stuff. The Eistein-Rosen bridge." Movie callback! But also somewhat real science, as the name suggests. "Or other kinds of space-folding. That's kinda-"

-her thing. But she realizes that's probably getting past the point where she can really legitimately brag in public, even to this cool fellow fan!

As for the casting, she laughs a bit. "I mean if you're just gonna get someone famous, which is likely anyhow, then yeah, she's pretty good. I think she could manage the setting pretty well, too. Something old-worldy about her."

The signing itself, brief and formal as it is, has Darcy smiling all the same, and by the time she's moved past, hugging her newly signed treasures to herself with tremendous affection. After that, however, they are both still at some indeterminate middle-point in their conversation and, moreover, still in a place dedicated to books and serving wine. Collectively, this prompts a suggestion: "Wanna get another glass?"

Xi'An Coy Manh has posed:
From her nodding and the focus in her eyes, Shan recognizes the name. This is the power of a liberal arts' education: you at least know *who* those people were. And...

After the signing:

"Absolutely."