aterat | The Festival of Flowers

Entry tags:

The Festival of Flowers

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

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Sam has always loved the spring time. It meant being on the road with the windows rolled down and singing along with whatever tape Dean had shoved into the deck. As such he loves that this place is celebrating his favorite time of year and Sam himself can be found just about anywhere, browsing the stalls, enjoying the food and just generally people watching Feel free to come and bug him.

Can the chocobos here fly?

Wonderful question! Not as of yet, no.

Teleporting Through the Flowers

Most days Arkady wore the same outfit: a simple see through long skirt with a spaghetti strap shirt. Today wasn't most days though. There was something special about it and so she'd put together something a little more exciting to wear to the festival. Modesty had never really been something she'd concerned herself with even before the whole end of the world disaster back in her own world. After that though? Well, after some of the things she'd done to herself there really wasn't much of a reason to be modest. Instead she just embraced every moment and went with the flow of things. Which meant she was eager to accept a flower crown and proudly put the blue crown on her head.

It didn't take much to get her to join in games, she'd have done it all on her own and she can be found playing hopscotch for way longer than any normal person should. If you happen to pass by her she'll wave and try to beckon you over with an excited question of "wanna play?" After she's had her fill of games she can be found in the building with the chocobos. She stops in front of one and grins brightly at someone passing by.

"This one will win more than a few races, so you'd definitely make your investment back!" Does she actually know that or is she just trying to scam someone? Hard to tell really, though she seems extremely confident in her statement.

Picnic Time: Closed to Vincent

As the sun starts to set Arkady makes her way to an area in the fields of flowers away from most of the crowd. There she's set up a small blanket and a dinner for two. It's nothing too fancy: champagne to drink, pesto pasta with large chunks of mozzarella cheese, a loaf of focaccia, and the real star of the show tiny strawberry cakes with whole strawberries on top. None of it was perfect looking by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't bad either. It looked homemade and it smelled surprisingly good. The cakes were definitely the thing she was the most proud of, especially since she'd had a failed attempt before redoing them.

It took a few minutes to set everything up around the mat and then she just had to wait for Vincent. When he showed up he'd find her sitting with her legs crossed floating just a bit above the ground. How strange was it that this was her first actual date in years? She'd known him for such a long time in various worlds but there'd never really been a chance. And back home well...it wasn't any different with the person she liked there. There just wasn't time to think about things like that. Not to mention he was a lot like Vincent, clueless to his own feelings and wrapped up in guilt.

Now there was time and she found herself...oddly nervous. Huh. How weird.

A different kind of language Any date of the festival

Llewellyn was an energetic man to begin with. He wasn’t prone to sitting around idly unless forced to, and even then he tended to fidget and fuss until someone gave him something to do.

And being above outside, even in a world where he was still adjusting to, had only added to that energy. He was moving about the festival with interest, dressed in a three-piece suit that rather suited (haha) the season. One he’d arrived in, made in the last world he’d lived in to reflect the style of his era he was accustomed to but with the flair of blue and gold accenting green with flowers embroidered on the pockets.

The detective could be spotted here and there, seeming to be admiring flowers and the wildlife in this world alike. Some would find him plucking at smaller blossoms, pulling a hawthorn blossom from a tree and fussing with it lightly as he strolled around, only to press them between the pages of his latest note book a moment later.

At another point he could be found crouching next to some flowers springing up at the park. Pale purples and vibrant yellows mixed among a few whites, he hummed a little as he reached out to brush one aside to get a better look at the yellow. “Crocus, means cheerfulness and youthful glee in my world. Wonder if it does here too…” Maybe he was talking to someone nearby, or maybe he was just talking to himself.

Only one way to find out, of course.

So much to choose from. Any date of the festival

Llewellyn eventually pried himself away from the other festivities to take a look and see what the vendors had to sell, be it food or trinkets. Of course, most people would find him wandering around with a pretzel in hand (and likely another tucked safely in his pocket for later). Others might spot him pondering over other selections, curious about the different fair foods that he didn’t recognize or hadn’t had the chance to try before.

Chances are… If you haven’t got a snack yourself yet, he’d be agreeable to sharing. In fact, he was rather a pushover when it came to dividing up what he was eating if he hadn’t already gotten enough for multiple people.

Closed to Rhy Backdated to the first day.

“Hm… I think they suit you.” He murmured, fussing with the red blooms woven together to rest on his husband’s head with a smile. More sure of the choice given to Rhy than the blue one that sat on his own head (forget-me-nots… he couldn’t help but wonder if that was a like joke on his occasionally spotty memory), though he didn’t notice it as much considering he had grown used to having something on his head over the years. It was almost nice to have something there now, and it complimented the accent colours of his suit.

The flower crowns rather reminded him of someone in their last world, so between that and his love for flowers, he’d regarded them more fondly… The entire festival was a pleasant surprise, between the overall celebration of spring and the lively energy around them. Being free to stroll with Rhy, under a clear, sunny sky was a nice bonus to small celebrations they enjoyed together in the past. They hadn’t had much chance to explore the circus complex yet, though it was something he was eager to do.

Not to mention the adjoining park, with it’s many plants and wildlife. He hoped to make it over that way together eventually, the distant sound of ducks inspiring a fond and old memory… But first there seemed to be a lot to see around the circus complex where food, trinkets and entertainment appeared to be scattered about.

They’d both been working rather hard to find their places in this world and figure things out, so it was a well deserved break.

Yuki felt like he was going to be dizzy from the vast array of beautiful colours of the flowers. The gardener in him was having an absolute delight although he was one to plant vegetables and not flowers. Some of the flowers that were here now were ones he'd never seen before except in pictures back home and he did wonder at them.

He had volunteered back home to help the committee with their flower planting but that seemed to be almost a lifetime away now.

Turning, he of course recognized the detective and was standing nearby when he thought he heard the man talking to someone so grey eyes blinked around to see if that was indeed the case. But as he listened he realized the man was talking to himself and he smiled.

He could always just pretend he misunderstood.

"Oh.. the flowers have meanings?"

Flowers -

Since he was told that the flower crown was tradition, he wore a green autumnish one that resembled the season after this one a little in his opinion. This was because he was here looking at the flowers with a wedding in mind that was coming in the Autumn. So this was a perfect place to begin to look at such things.

It was fitting in his mind that Nida loved Autumn and that's when they would marry due to that favoritism. After all they'd met during the Fall and had started talking when he'd been out with his black cat Ebony. So it all sort of rolled together quite nicely really.

But now he was here with a handful of pretzels because he was determined to make them on his own. He'd even stood around chatting with the vendors of the doughy creations, all the while keeping his sharp green eyes on the cooking methods they used.

He hadn't mentioned anything about the dessert pretzels, those he kept as an almost very cherished secret that he refused to share with just anyone.

Right now though he was admiring two different arrangements of Autumn coloring flowers, trying to figure out how to work them into decor for the wedding itself. Of course they could be somehow arranged with trees because trees were a definite Nida thing.

"I wonder which one you would choose."

(Feel free to think he's talking to your character here)

Chocobos (closed to Nida)

Oh they were just everywhere. The babies were flapping and flying, trying to peck at each other and just generally act like human children would. It warmed Ignis' heart to see the chicks here and it reminded him of being at Wiz's Chocobo post back home with the lads. He found then that he looked everywhere for more black chicks but he'd only seen the one so far.

Realizing this was probably the best way to get his fiancée' to actually deal with a chocobo, Ignis was looking over the babies, trying to figure out which one was going to work best for this occasion. So he did look over the Blues, the Greens, the Reds and even saw a White bunch, Red bunch and Pink bunch, with their parents nearby, nervous at the approach of humans. But the advisor kept his distance, continuing to look for just the 'right' one.

They grew fast and he knew that of course. So he would have to get a small one and Nida would be able to watch it grow. Along the way though, he found one that most resembled the one back home and he slowly knelt down as to not startle her. With a soft smile he looked at this black chocobo chick and spoke softly. "Well I don't suppose you'll be snatching my spectacles any time soon."

Then he looked up at Nida, still kneeling on the ground. "Have you found one to your liking?"

Edited 2021-05-26 06:35 (UTC)

Flowers - (closed to Lauri-Ell) - It was amazing to see all of the flowers here. It was enough to make him have to take out a book and start writing things down so that he could keep track of how many different varieties there were. He spoke to the different vendors, careful to make sure he could read his notes later. But he was here with Lauri-Ell close by.

He wore his blue hydrangea crown and didn't even seem to mind that a blue ribbon had been attached to the back of it. There were so many beautiful colours to drink in and he realized he was getting a little better day by day.

He missed Jacob with a fierceness but those feelings he kept locked inside. The man obviously had other things to do with his life than be trapped here. Hopefully he was back with his sister. He missed Caelan and Miss Yuna too, she would've loved all of these flowers he'd bet.

But he glanced over at Lauri-Ell and nodded. "Looks like we have our work cut out for us."

Chocos - Yuki had never seen chocobos back home, they simply didn't exist. But they resembled chickens and he was familiar with what a Rooster looked like even though Kureno's curse had broken and he hadn't known about it. So he stood there looking at a blue one and was told it could be ridden.

Ridden?

He had noticed the bridle and saddle but that was just not something he would be comfortable doing, no matter how many times he was told it was okay by the owner. So he stepped back, shaking his head so much that his Blue hydrangea crown nearly came off of his silver head. Politely he held up his hands in a gesture of mock surrender and smiled. "No thank you."

So he walked over to see some of the other chocobos and the pink one put him in mind of Miss Honda. Then he turned to look at a red one and Machi came to mind as he recalled Manabe teasing her about liking red which had meant Yuki. Deciding he was hungry, Yuki took a look at a white one and then another green and blue side by side and left the pen area altogether.

Little did he know a little blue chick had decided to follow him.

Having the feeling that he wasn't quite alone, he turned back and noticed his little 'shadow' trailing after him as fast as its little legs could carry it. Grey eyes blinked disapprovingly. "No, you need to go home before your parents come after me." And thoughts of being chased by a large bird didn't sit well with him, though fortunately that wasn't the case..yet. The little thing chirped and the silver head shook. "No, you need to go."

Gesturing with his hands in a 'shoo'-ing manner, Yuki turned back around. And of course the little Blue tried once again to keep up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the little feathers and he spun around getting only a little louder. "Quit following me!"

Turning around, he realized that there was a person standing behind the chirping blue chocobo chick and his face turned red. "I'm..so sorry.."

Edited 2021-05-26 22:15 (UTC)

Llewellyn was at least still aware of the surrounding crowds of people. This was a festival, after all, and he could hear them moving about around him. He was simply a little more focused on the greenery and colours around him. He had missed this, seeing them in a more natural and familiar setting. The sun warming him as he crouched next to the blooms and plucked a yellow one to press between the pages of his notebook.

A brow rose as his comment got a response, blinking a little in surprise and glancing over his shoulder to see that Yuki was there. Surprise shifted to something more welcoming, though, and he smiled a little at his friend and colleague from the office. “They do, well— at least in my world and some others they do. It’s… a nice way to send a message, discreetly or more obvious depending on how you give them I suppose.”

Mono had been following a lot of people around the festival. Stubbornly the flower crown (greyish foliage with a few small white daisies woven into them) he’d been given to be admitted was balanced off the corner of his paper bag. He still wasn’t really comfortable with the idea of abandoning it yet… But he wanted to see what all the fuss was about, at least for a little while… Plus what better way to get a better idea of the way the people here were than to see how they celebrated.

There hadn’t been any red flags so far, and eventually he’d happened upon Ignis. Following the man curiously from a distance to start, around the pretzel stand he’d almost come forward (the man had come to be identified as ‘food bringer’ to the child’s mind). Instead, he watched as Ignis seemed to be having a very in-depth conversation with the person working the stand. So he kept to the edge of the crowds for a while until finally his stomach grumbled and he moved forward to where Ignis was looking at flowers.

“I dunno. Flowers don’t really grow where I’m from.” He commented quietly, standing on tiptoe to look at the arrangements better. His tone suggested he wasn’t entirely interested in flowers, but to actually say so would be a fib. Mono would be picking a few flowers to bring back to the grey building with him to leave for the nice lady who lived there now. She had said she liked flowers, and she kind of reminded him of a princess in stories… so she should definitely have flowers.

Mono wasn’t entirely sure what he thought of the festival, but he recognized the game being played as he moved past the area where people were playing. Hopscotch… The kid had seen it played before. The bullies at the school drew the squares on the floors in chalk. Though this version of the game involved a lot less pushing people down before they got to the last square. Which meant it looked like fun, and he kind of wanted to try playing… So the invitation wasn’t exactly ignored, scuffing his toes against the ground lightly as he considered Arkady’s offer. “How do I play, are there rules?”

Just in case there was something he didn’t know or hadn’t observed yet.

Lauri-Ell was loving today, and all her time out with her good friend Yuki. When they had arrived she had nearly needed to kneel to receive the crown of flowers on her head, but she had been delighted with it, turning the thing to the side so she could undo the braid on the side of her head and rebraid it with the training blue ribbon amid it. It would keep the crown on and she really was loving the look. And with the ribbon holding it still, she wasn't about to lose her forget-me-nots.

"Perhaps some of these vendors can sell us small, potted flowers? Or seeds? Miss Aerith suggests that some plants and flowers can be used for medicines too. Yes, I want some pretty things for myself, but imagine if we could give children healing plants as well as food!"

Their plan was something she was very devoted to.

1. Flower Queen OTA
If there had ever been a festival that Lauri-Ell found herself suited to, it was this one. She had been quite happy to receive her crown of forget-me-not flowers, even going so far as to keep it in place by braiding the long blue ribbons into her braid. After having finished her time with Yuki in their research, Lauri-Ell had gone off on her own, pouch jingling with coins, as she moved through market stalls.

Right now she had found a beautiful stall filled with small pots for plants, glazed in all sorts of colors. Which of course left her wondering...

"Do you think," she mused to the shop keeper, and anyone who might hear, "these could be used to keep plants in my home space?"

2. Learning to Dance OTA
If there was one thing that Lauri-Ell had learned from Yuna and Caelan, it was that there could be pleasure derived from music. What was more, it was not just in the listening to music that one might find joy. No, there was dancing.

Her mood was oddly buoyed by the atmosphere of the day, or really by all of the flowers she had partaken of the scent of today. It still moved her closer to the music, to the dancers. Oh how she wished to join him. Except...

"How exactly does one dance, though?"

The question offered by the towering woman was definitely the only barrier she had between herself and the dances.

Edited 2021-05-28 17:57 (UTC)

The way that the people had just immediately offered out a crown of scarlet roses had earned such a wide smile from him that even the person who handed it over had to smile shyly back at him. Once his own was settled he had reached up to touch Llewellyn's and whisper 'fondness and charm' in his little way of explaining meanings back home.

"So, beloved, where should we begin?" he asked with a smile, linking his arm to his husband's.

If there was one thing Rhy had most definitely not seen before, it was these small little bundles of feathers. Okay, there was nothing small about a Chicobo, Rhy got that, it looked like the size of a roasted goose, but with feathers.

"How is it possible," he said to one that was red in color to match his own rose crown, "that something as small as you might grow as large as a I have seen your sort be on the roads?"

Surely someone could explain these little feathered things to him.

It was not right to say that Nida was quaking under his crown of dark red peonies, but he was totally quaking under his crown of dark red peonies. They had barely even begun to approach the area with chicobos before one had jumped on his leg, red as his crown, pecking at it. Nida had gone still at first and then tried to push down his fear to reach down at pet the thing's head. The thing toppled over in excitement and Nida had just immediately fled to Ignis's side.

"I'm sorry I'm so bad at this," he admitted to his partner as he looked around them at the small birds. "These ones are chubbier than the one my roommate kept in the last world. But, uh, maybe we should get one you will like?"

In case it tried to eat Nida and it needed a better father.

Lowering his hand once the roses were settled ‘just right’ to his mind, he blinked a little as he heard the soft whisper directed his way as his husband touched the blooms resting in his hair. A small, soft smile crossing his face as he realized that once again the flowers meant something very different to Rhy in his world than they had where Llewellyn was from, but in a much nicer way than he would have expected. Perhaps the forget-me-nots weren’t so much a joke after all…

The question gets a curious glance around them. There was just so much in this place. It was hard to really say where to start. “Well… I was rather thinking we could stroll through this circus complex I’ve heard so much about, see what interesting things we could find before we visit the park? Unless, of course, you have other ideas?”

"This sounds lovely," Rhy agrees, moving to kiss his husband's cheek lightly. "I've never been to a circus. It shall be nice to see one."

And the park? Oh yes, he intended to enjoy the park, quite a bit. To walk amid the open grass and trees would be lovely.

He'd kept a close eye on Nida to be sure, but he couldn't reach into the other's chest and pull the fear out. But Ignis had thought it best to start out with babies and it might grow to want to be doted on by Nida. But his eyes did note the toppling and he couldn't help but smile even if it was swiftly covered up as the other came over to him.

As if Ignis could do anything. Still, it was adorable.

Patient as ever, the advisor shook his head and permitted himself the tiniest fraction of a smile. "Darling, we're here for you to pick out a chocobo."

And besides, that red one had liked him so far..

“I admit, I’ve been to one or two in my world. I’m not entirely sure how alike they’ll be by comparison though, but we’ll see what we can find.” He smiled, a light flush crossing his cheeks at the affection while they began walking. Still moving arm in arm, he moved along next to Rhy. A free hand gesturing at the greenery that seemed to be the theme for the celebration, “They’ve certainly decorated well… It’s nice to see so much colourful life in a place.”

Humming a little, he looked at the stands as they passed them. It seemed like such a large space, “It seems there is plenty of entertainment.” He added, nodding to a small group of performers playing near one of the many vendor stands. “There might even be some small games set up somewhere.”

Nida wrapped his arms around chest, as if to protect himself from the small animals. The red was back on his feet now, running for Nida to peck at his legs once more. Nida bit his lip and tried to deal with it.

"Wish I had a different GF here, one that could gather up the fear and press it down," Nida said. It was a lot for him to admit that what he had going on was fear, of course. But Ignis had been helping him through it.

"Do you know how to raise a chicobo?"

Hearing the young boy's voice made Ignis smile. And while it was true he hadn't expected the boy's presence, it was always a more than welcome one. "Flowers don't grow where you're from? How peculiar."

The advisor wondered what type of place Mono was from if there weren't flowers there. But to sit and grill the boy wasn't anything he was going to do and so he smiled. He hadn't quite gotten around to dropping food off for the boy today. But he could make up for that and he knelt down after taking one of his extra pretzels in hand to offer.

"Do they have pretzels where you're from?"

"Colorful is lovely. Things at the Sphere could be drab," Rhy said. Except for the rarer events in the months. Those could be colorful. The entertainment had him come to a stop to smile.

"It feels like London near my birthday."

"Facing chocobos is something you should face on your own." Ignis countered gently. Really it was nothing that he saw anyone could help with. His eyes then noticed the chick pecking at Nida and he smiled. "And I think you already have found a friend in one of these birds."

Kneeling down, he pet the little red head and green eyes shifted their gaze to Nida. "No I don't. But I suppose it will be something like becoming parents, and we'll learn as we go, much as they do."

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Page 1 of 22

The Festival of Flowers

Questions

Sam Winchester

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Arkady | OTA

Llewellyn Watts | OTA

Language!

Ignis Scientia - OTA

Yuki Sohma - OTA

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Flowers

Teleporting through flowers

Flower Friends!

Lauri-Ell | OTA

Husbands

Rhy Maresh | OTA

Chocobos

Yay!

Re: Yay!

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