The Festival of Flowers

[ateratmods]

Who; EVERYONE
What; The Flower Festival!
Where; The Circus Complex
When; 5/23 - 5/29
Warnings; None! Please warn if your individual thread would typically require a content warning.

It’s a beautiful day week in the neighborhood! With the dawn on Sunday, 5/23, it becomes apparent what everyone has been preparing for. Many merchant stalls common to the market have relocated to the circus complex for the week, streets and parks throughout the city have been decorated with the finest fresh flowers of the season. There is laughter and music wherever you travel. Yes, to spite some of the darker events of recent days, the city is awash with the celebration of life! The real party is found in the Circus Complex and the surrounding park, though. Here can be found all the trappings of a spring festival: flowers, music, dancing, singing, food. Everyone is in high spirits (and there’s plenty of those to go around, too)!


THE FESTIVAL OF FLOWERS

Days in the park have never been as lovely in anyone's memory. Flowers of hundreds of colors line the paths and fill the fields. Minstrels have set up shop in various areas of green and vibrant colors, with baskets ready for coin. Children and adults alike, crowned with flower crowns at the entrance to the park, whirl in time with the music, and all is merry. Oh, and that flower crown? Yeah, you've all got one too. It seems it's required to even enter the park itself, or the Circus Complex. People are there, ready to greet you with a smile, a warm hello, and a party favor in the form of a woven crown. They come in a variety of colors, strangely coinciding with the color of your home apartment building and key, whatever that might mean.

The longer they're among the flowers, though, the less mysteries like the colors of the crowns seem to matter. The pollen of the flowers has a calming effect on anyone who smells them for long, and the more time spent in the park amid all the blooms the more likely someone is to want to participate. There are stickball games, frisbee, hopscotch, and even a game or two of soccer being played in the more open areas.

There's food to be found here as well, all kinds of food. There is roasted meat on sticks, pretzels and other bread easily carried while wandering, sweets, and just about any sort of spring fare you can imagine! It isn't just limited to the park, either. There are street vendors in every available spot in the Circus complex.

CHOCOBO BREEDERS WANTED

The big draw at the Circus itself, the building roughly 200 meters long which houses the track on which the great birds are raced in summer, is the Chocobo Breeders Forum. Breeders from far beyond the walls of the city, in the great expanse of plains, have brought their birds for view. Investors mill about, investing coin in promising future racers and some of the more divine birds anyone in Aterat has ever seen are on display. If you've accrued a bit of coin, you can even take ownership of a newly hatched chick, but those who do so should be warned: they aren't pets. These creatures will grow rapidly in the next 6 months or so into an 8-foot tall land bird with a voracious appetite for greens and an affinity for stealing sparkly things and hiding them.

Several breeders do have stalls in their stables for rent, though, and are more than willing to let them out to fellow breeders. They'll even give you lessons on how to train your new friends to ensure your bonds are strong, whether you plan on using them as beasts of burden, travel companions, or competitively.

(OOC: If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask)

GLADIATORS WANTED

Not to be outshown by overgrown birds, the Arena in the Circus Complex is also working to coax combatants into the frey. You see, next month it seems starts the season, advertisements suggest and callers near the gates attest. They call to anyone passing by who seems they could hold their own in a fight to join a trial match while they're visiting. The Arena has weapons at their disposal, should they have neglected to bring their own, and there are prizes based on crowd approval. The crowd bets of favorites, you see, and a portion of the prize fund goes to the winning combatants. You're able to compete in groups, duos, or singles, and the prizes are better the more challenging the fight.

These fights can be against NPC opponents, friendly matches between other visitors, or even against monsters!

(OOC: If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ASK)

FOR VISUAL REFERENCE

Comments

[gadaboutdetective]

A ball? That was something to think about then, to pass along to Rhy as something to look forward to in the future. His husband had taught him formal dancing after all, and he knew how much Rhy enjoyed more grand events. The subject of Christmas got a small rise of his brow. “They celebrate Christmas here…? How interesting.” He hummed a little, “I wouldn’t have thought they would in an entirely different world.”

Llewellyn had celebrated on occasion, and still participated with those who were close to him if invited (who was he to pass up holiday treats of any kind?) even though his family was actually Jewish. But that was more because Toronto was predominantly Protestant and he hadn’t been raised by his parents so Christmas had been what everyone around him had celebrated until recent years when he had a chance to connect with people who knew more of his heritage and he had the opportunity to learn and observe traditions. Shaking his head a little, he supposed if the world was growing and learning from the majority of people who were brought here, Christmas might be the default here.

The point was, he supposed, that there were seasonal celebrations. “So they celebrate the seasons in various ways here, that will be nice to learn more about… Things to uh— look forward to learning about the longer I’m here.”

[areasontohope]

"It wasn't familiar to everyone. But apparently they have quite a big celebration for it here. The townspeople wore red and some wore green. And I heard something called christmas carols. People stand in the street and sing their christmas songs to anyone who will listen." Those same carolers also accepted coin, food and drinks too for their service if anyone cared to pay them somehow. Mostly though they were there because they wanted to be and they loved singing. Even children joined in at times.

Yuki had a god of the zodiac incarnate but other than that, they had their own religion. So christmas wasn't something he'd ever celebrated back home. But thinking of some of the others here, he cocked his head to the side as the wind picked up a few of his greyish locks of hair.

"They said something about Halloween here too but that was in Autumn."

[gadaboutdetective]

“Sounds rather uh— festive?” And no mention of creepy little elf dolls like in the last world, so that was at least nice. He’d never stop being sour about that… They stole his hat and he never got it back! “Mm… Someone I worked with back in my world loved Christmas quite a bit. He probably would have enjoyed it.” Augustus Jackson would have more than enjoyed it. The man would have probably thrown himself into it and dragged everyone else with him. Well meaning, of course, but very insistent. But the man’s joy was infectious, and even he had a hard time not smiling at the energy the man had brought to the station house the year they’d worked together. 

“That would make sense, Christmas for winter, Halloween for the autumn… This flower festival for spring.” He added with a small hum. It was still a bit interesting to think about. That a world that really didn’t reflect the one he knew in more than aesthetic shared the same holidays in some form. He’d keep that in the back of his mind for later, when he was trying to fit some new pieces to this place’s puzzle together. 

But that was for later. His friend was talking to him now. Surely he could keep himself from getting too lost in thought for now. “Have you any interesting plans for this particular celebration, Yuki?”

[areasontohope]

Yuki nodded slightly. They didn't have christmas much where he was. He'd heard of it from some foreign exchange students, but never really looked into it much himself. So the customs were all brand new to him and he'd done some reading on it. Mostly though he tried to observe and that had been a learning experience. He'd even received an unexpected gift of mincemeat pie from a small boy caroler that had reminded him of Hiro.

"It's a different kind of holiday."

It had a completely different feeling to it unlike any that he was used to back home. There was a spirit of goodwill, cooperation and caring even by strangers that he truly wasn't used to at all. And then of course there'd been the older woman who out of nowhere offered to knit him a scarf simply because he hadn't been wearing one at the time and she thought he needed one. So he'd been confused about all of it a great deal of the time because of that.

Thinking of the things Llewellyn was saying made sense. They celebrated the seasons a little differently than what he was used to, but of course he could adapt..as long as he was here. Still, he shook his head.

"No, but I figure with some of the other things that had happened here, this is a nice break."

[gadaboutdetective]

“A nice break, indeed. “ He responded with a little nod, “The last world I was in liked to throw festivals and parties too.” He rubbed the back of his neck lightly, looking around at the people going about their day absently. “So I’ve learned that it’s good to take a little time off from all the chaos and seriousness that tends to follow one around…” Learned, still learning, close enough… Right?

“There’s a lot more to see here, though.” It felt bigger, somehow… Perhaps that was just because he didn’t feel so contained or claustrophobic here. “The complex has a lot to choose from for snacks, I’m rather curious about it all. There seem to be things even I haven’t tried before.” Which was saying something, considering his appetite and love for trying new foods.

[areasontohope]

"They did?" Yuki asked genuinely curious. For a place so far under the water how could they find any sort of reason to celebrate? It would be one thing if they could come or go as they pleased but if someone was that far down below the surface, he wondered how people even managed to keep their sanity.

Llewellyn did have a point though, to take a break whenever they could. That still wouldn't bring Caelan or Jacob back, but at least it was a start to learn to do something. Miss Yuna had always tried to encourage him to lighten up even just a little bit, but she had no idea how much her attitude reminded him of Miss Honda's and it had helped him far more than he could ever tell her.

The mention of the food made him nod and he recalled the more to see. "There's chocobo races at the Circus complex. And something about gladiators fighting too so I'd imagine they might have themed foods to go with that."

At least they did at christmas.

[gadaboutdetective]

“Yes, there were quite a few… It broke up the less pleasant aspects of the place. I’m not entirely sure how some of them were even pulled off, but there was a lot about the place that I never quite worked out…” Llewellyn responded with a small shrug. There had been too many questions, not enough answers, frustrating for a detective. He was hoping this world would be a little less frustrating to try to make sense of.

Nodding a little as Yuki mentioned the complex, he continued. “I had heard, I haven’t quite made my way over there yet? Was rather enjoying the flower displays.” The detective rubbed the back of his neck lightly. Gladiator fighting seemed fairly self explanatory… He saw enough violence in his daily life before, so he wasn’t sure he saw the entertainment value in it. The detective preferred watching (or vaguely judging) plays if he were to choose something to sit down for a length of time and watch…

Chocobo races, though. They could be interesting. “I admit I’m rather curious about the races. I can’t help but think they wouldn’t be too dissimilar to horse races in my world, but I could be wrong.”

[areasontohope]

Yuki wondered how anyone survived, but he was definitely glad Llewellyn had made it out in one piece because that was important. And while he wouldn't ever say he enjoyed fighting, the Gladiator displays were something Yuki was going to try and watch, just to get some fighting tips. But he wasn't sure how long he would be able to stomach it if these were anything like he'd read in history class in school.

Still, fighting in general would be necessary here from time to time and that was a fact of life here. There was really no getting around it.

"The flowers are the main draw, though I've heard other people saying they can't wait to see the chocobo races or the fighting." That would be something the cat would get into and he'd probably drag Miss Honda along. He sighed and focused his attention on the detective.

"From other people talking, they were hoping to bet on winners."

[gadaboutdetective]

Llewellyn’s personal philosphies, and certain traumas he’d experienced… were something that made watching violent displays turn his stomach. Sometimes even a raised voice would set him on edge, his flight response was strong unless someone else was in perill… and then he tended to default to ‘human shield mode.’

“The flowers were the main reason I came today, certainly… I might look into the chocobo races later though, they might be interesting to watch.” Though at the mention of placing bets, Llewellyn’s expression shifted to something slightly more awkward. “I suppose that is a natural addition to any sort of competition, people sometimes get a small thrill at the risk of one’s wallet in that.” If he still gambled, he probably would have gotten into it… But it hadn’t gone well for him, and it was an addiction that he didn’t intend to fall back into.

Not that people seemed to understand when he was firm on the matter, trying to encourage him that it was all ‘for fun’ when it was only fun for those who weren’t at risk for falling into bad habits. His life was a lot better off now than it used to be, and he had ample reason to not risk what he had. Even Rhy hadn’t pushed on the matter of gambling on card games the odd time the suggestion had been made. If they played, it was for fun and nothing more.

So Yuki would have to forgive him if he didn’t seem excited or overeager at the idea.

“I’m probably going to spend most of my time here and around the park though, the food and the entertainers are quite exceptional, after all.”

[areasontohope]

He nodded. Not everyone was keen on watching all the blood and gore and there was a reason he was interested in seeing the gladiator fights himself, even if only for research. His upcoming plan to ask to train was one thing and it was another thing altogether if he somehow found himself in a fight. There were going to be no rules, no conduct to it, and of that he was absolutely certain.

Yuki had even overheard there was going to be cotton candy in the chocobo colours, which was going to be something he was going to have to see for himself. All of the little kids that had passed by him seemed to be clamoring for such a thing and of course kids had no idea of how loud they could get and what others could overhear.

Not that they probably cared anyhow.

"Gambling isn't my thing." Yuki replied with a shake of his head. But he listened as the detective seemed to be happy to stay where he was. Still, he had work to do.

"I'll see you at the office then. I'm going to go see the races."

[gadaboutdetective]

That admission get’s a lighter expression, “It’s not mine either. Well… at least not anymore.” He shrugged slightly, glancing around as his eyes were already on a snack stand advertising some sort of deep fried treat. “But uh- yes... I’ll see you at the office.” He nodded in place of tipping his hat, since he still hadn’t found a replacement yet.

Moving to walk off on his own, he paused with a little glance over his shoulder. “I hope you enjoy the rest of the festival, Yuki.” Because he seemed like he could stand to have a little more fun, and these events were important in his opinion. A break from whatever had happened, and whatever might be to come. “Have fun!” He added, with a little gesture in place of a wave before he finally goes to investigate the food stand that had caught his attention.