Winter log

[faithfulsupport]

Who: Everyone!
What: Open Log
When: December
Where: The Hunter's Lodge
Warnings: N/A
Notes: This is a mingle log, so people are free to set up their own TLs under it. So tag in and tag around!


Snow has fallen outside and while it's not heavy it's set just enough down to gently cover the wooden benches and ground outside. The chairs have been removed but the lanterns are still out and lit (as well as the little lights that have been replaced with more festive ones) if people want to walk around outside and have private chats among the snow, the trees and the lighting.


Potluck - Food is all around. Got a story about how the food you brought is part of a long standing family tradition? So much the better! But Ignis for his part has been researching and working on bringing the foods he's heard about. So here you'll find an appetizer platter along with a cream cheese tree, turkey, ham, his version of the Crown City roast, stuffing balls, roasted potatoes and roasted vegetables, and of course a few different desserts.

So you can find him making sure the table is decked out in christmas colours and full of food. But as he sets the last appetizer tree down on the table, he nods. "Quite glad to see that you could make it."


Trim a tree A small group of freshly cut green trees are sitting in a corner with room to go around the back. Simple lights are already in place, but there are ornaments with hooks sitting in silent invitation to decorate the tree and gather around as well as different coloured garland too.

But there's plenty of supplies and being able to decorate a tree with Nida last year was all sorts of fun as it will be again this year. So the advisor is definitely happy that nature can come inside at least temporarily.

Ignis stands back and takes a look at the trees with a satisfied sort of nod. "I suppose after the holiday, I will see about replanting it outside." Turning to his guest, there's an easy smile. "It won't do to simply throw it away do you think?"


Gift exchange - Gifts aren't required, but people are free to do so. This can be as private or as public as wished! The royal strategist is busy arranging gifts under the tree, trying to make some sense as to how they should be grouped, so he's on his knees trying to keep the order straight. As soon as someone approaches, he acknowledges their presence with a smile. "Would you mind handing me that blue wrapped gift sitting on the chair right next to you?"


Wild card- Dancing? Snowball fights outside? Feel free to make up a thing here!

Comments

Mono - OTA

[monochromatically]

Tree Decorating

Mono still avoided the lodge most of the time… But when there was a celebration going on and it was decorated, with more than a few people he knew present, he would venture forth with a little more security. It was a good way for him to get used to the place that shared a similar name with a place in his world where very bad things had happened.

Still… The child couldn’t help but feel like he was more than a little confused. Perhaps even more than the wedding.

Decorating trees?

This was another strange thing that he didn’t quite understand. Trees were outside things! A place for animals like birds and squirrels and other stuff to live in! Why would you bring them indoors? This whole celebration thing was so very odd to Mono, but he was doing his best to learn about it when people talked about it.

Holding up a round, shiny ornament, he looked at his reflection on its surface. “Wow, this is shiny…” he tilted his head one way, then another as he watched himself warp slightly in the rounded reflection. “Still kinda strange… Like it’s pretty, but weird…” He mumbled on to himself as he put the ball down and began looking at other decorations. “And a little familiar…”

Mono thought he might have seen boxes of these in an attic once. Covered in dust and a few of them broken. But they hadn’t really meant anything at the time. Did anyone do things like this in his world before the corruption?

That train of thought was interrupted as he tugged at a strand of garland resting on the floor, blinking a moment later. “Shiny colourful rope? Do you gotta tie up the trees too?”

Playing in the snow. - Take your pick of snowmen or snow forts!

Mono was rather enjoying this snow thing now that he had shoes and warming clothing to wear. He even dared to try some of the interesting games he’d seen other children playing last winter when he arrived!

Snow people were still kind of creepy, in his opinion, but rolling the snow and piling it was still pretty fun. So anyone who happened upon the child would be greeted by the sight of about three to four very strange attempts at it. He even put a couple of hats from the collection that he’d stowed away in his coat on their heads, decorating their faces with rocks, acorns or pine-cones he’d found. The one he was currently working on was still taking shape, only one misshapen snowball finished.

If one were to show up later on in the afternoon, investigation might also reveal that he’d built them in such a way that they guarded another particular construct he’d been working on. A snow fort.

Tree

[areasontohope]

Decorating for christmas wasn't something Yuki had done last year. He'd meant to see about it, but soon after things had gone very wrong and he spent most of his time indoors, trying to focus on something other than being upset and drowning himself in it. He didn't want to go back to the dark places he'd been in his mind and knew he wasn't trapped on the Sohma estate or chained to Akito's side.

Yuki had quite a bit of the food and knew Jacob was here somewhere. So he headed over to the tree to see if he might be able to get some ideas since decorating trees was something the other had mentioned to him as a ritual that had been performed in his world.

He was trying to study it as he got closer but then he happened to see Mono among the decorations looking at his reflection in one of the ornaments. It made him smile and he moved over towards the boy.

"I don't think they tie the trees up, so much as lay the rope around it on the branches."

[monochromatically]

Mono glanced up from where he was crouched curiously as Yuki approached, still playing with the bit of garland. It seemed pretty impractical as ropes went, though it looked nicer than regular rope. He didn’t think it would be good for climbing up if in a pinch… Probably break pretty easy. “To make it look like they’re tied up?” No, Mono. The goal is not to tie them up, or to trick people into thinking they were.

He tilted his head slightly, “I don’t think I understand this whole decorating thing very good.” He finally decided, nose wrinkling a little as he put the garland down and went back to the shiny baubles meant to hang.

[areasontohope]

"I think it's more for just decoration." Yuki smiled. They didn't do trees like this back home, but he remembered the ball here last year and recalled how pretty the rope made the tree look. "And I guess it's not really rope..I just can't remember the name of what they called it." For the moment it eluded him because it was a word he heard once and that was about the extent of it.

But he had to smile softly at Mono's declaration. "I don't know that anyone here is an expert. And there aren't any manuals or right ways to do it." Still, he picked an ornament up and put a hook in the top of it.

[monochromatically]

“I wonder what it’s called then?” he hummed, looking at it curiously again. He’d have to figure that out later, but Yuki was probably right. Rope wasn’t quite what the stuff was. At least not a good rope, anyway. It seemed too fragile for practical things, definitely wouldn’t support much weight…

Oh well, this was another thing he’d have to figure out as he went. “I guess you're right… It sounds like everyone does this stuff a little different? Every time I think I figured out how you do this, someone else does something else.” Mono commented with a confused tilt of his head. “So… I guess that means you can’t do it wrong… Or I hope not.” Not having a specific way this was supposed to go, or a guideline, did make it hard for him to figure out. “It seems to make everyone happy, though. So I guess that’s the main point?”

[areasontohope]

"I can't remember, but if I find out, I'll let you know." Yuki promised. Christmas wasn't a holiday his family celebrated, but some of the foreign exchange students did, and that was a thing he did recall. It just wasn't widespread and there weren't many people who did celebrate it where he was from.

He smiled at Mono. "I think it's just a matter of what appeals to you or what has meaning so you make whatever it is a tradition. And you just keep doing it." And he considered the other's words. "Ya, happiness seems to be the point." So he turned to look at the softly glowing tree. "So I don't think there's a right way to decorate it if it makes someone happy."

Snowman!

[faithfulsupport]

Ignis needed to take a minute out from the warmth of the Lodge. He of course had been cooking practically all night and morning to ensure the food was plentiful and delicious. So he decided to just take a moment and go outside and perhaps admire the snow decorated trees.

Going outside, he smiled as a light snow came down softly and he lifted his green eyes upwards. It was such a magical moment whenever snow fell and he couldn't resist feeling slightly childlike at it. He thought to go get Nida and share it with him when his eyes then rested on Mono.

Curiously, Ignis walked over to the boy and looked at the misshapen balls. And he had to smile at the hats and creative acorn and pinecone placements. "Well, what are we building here?"

Re: Snowman!

[monochromatically]

Peeking out from behind the large, oddly proportioned snow ball he’d been trying to pack a little more snow on, Mono grinned to see Ignis. “Oh! Hi, Mr. Ignis. I’m making snow people!” He chirped, before moving around the snowball to start on another one. “I saw the other kids making them last year when I got here, but I didn’t like how cold it was then so I never tried.” No shoes in the snow had been very uncomfortable and made winter games seem impractical at the time.

“They’re kinda weird, but it’s more fun than I thought!”

[faithfulsupport]

Ignis refrained somehow from the sudden appearance of Mono's face. Fortunately he'd had plenty of practice back home so it wasn't too tough. So he kept to the task of looking over the snow people as the boy had termed them. "Are they supposed to be taller or?"

He wasn't sure if Mono had a small army in mind or if his design was supposed to be simply more like just regular village snowpeople doing different things here. However Mono's words made him nod. "And how can I assist?"

[monochromatically]

The question gets a thoughtful hum from the child. “I dunno? I never asked if there were rules or anything about how big they should be. I just watched to see how they did it.” His really were a little on the shorter side, though. Closer in height to Mono himself than the larger, more towering ones that other people made. “I kinda like them smaller though.” Big things could be scary, after all. Especially where Mono was from. It was a sign of danger.

“Um… I guess I could use more stuff to give them faces? Snow people need faces just as much as regular people, I think.” Yes, that was a strange observation… But when you came from a place where people’s faces got stolen, it was something that stuck in your head. “I’ve been using stuff that fell off of trees, mostly. I’ve been using my hats too, since I got a few.”

[faithfulsupport]

Ignis was asking his questions from a point of view of an adult. But as a child he'd never gotten to play in the snow even when it appeared because his life wasn't about play. From a very young age he'd been sent to a school of gifted children and then he was in Noct's service at the age of six.

From there it was all about being able to learn things to assist the future king. Of course there was more play time afforded to him when the adults were too busy at moments and they (well moreover Noct) got up to shenanigans so lies would be told that it was his own idea.

But building snowmen or playing outside, especially with the crown prince wasn't a thing that happened because they even got into trouble for going outside to see the stars at night. So he just smiled at Mono's height suggestion. "Small it is then." More like Mono sized, but then again that was the name of the game here.

And then Ignis smiled. "Well I can certainly see about collecting things for faces if that's what is required." Berries could be useful and if there were any more acorns about, those would work splendidly as well.

Playing in the snow

[soulsword]

Considering where Illyana grew up, she was extremely familiar with snow. Yet, for some reason, it stirred some strange feelings inside of her that she couldn't place. Again. Maybe getting her soul back wasn't what she should have done after all. She let out a little sigh as she continued to watch Mono from a safe distance. Memories danced around in her head, memories of her as a little girl which seemed like an entirely different life. A voice in the back of her mind chided her to remember that it was, soul or not she wasn't that Illyana.

Her face scrunched up into a scowl and that meant she needed a distraction. Well, there was Mono right there playing around with an attempt at making snowmen. The idea came fast and well...once she got an idea she usually decided it was a great thing to go fully through with it. She waved her hand and whispered a few words directed at one of the snowmen Mono had already finished.

After a few seconds it shouted, "Happy Birthday!"

I love this so much, please know that

[monochromatically]

Mono would have been quite delighted to see Illyana. She was probably one of his favourite people at this point. He was quite focused on his task though, trying to get the faces of his current snow person right. Faces were funny things, sometimes. He wanted to get it right; he didn’t want to leave them without faces… Everyone should have a face.

Especially in this world.

He’d watched the children making these the prior year, and even if they did seem a little strange and unsettling at times, it was fun… And he also had never seen evidence of them coming to life. So they were just… things made of snow.

Or so he thought.

Illyana’s surprise definitely startled the boy, jumping at the unfamiliar voice, shouting happy birthday at him. Pity the child wouldn’t get that reference. Instead he let out a shout a loud “Ahhh!” and whirled to face it, eyes wide as he lost his balance and landed on his butt in the snow. Had he done this? Was this some kind of… weird ability he didn’t know he had??

=D I'm glad! I was worried

[soulsword]

The snowman blinked like it was the most normal thing for a snowman to do and turned it's head slowly to the side. "Happy birthday!" it shouted again, this time more clearly and with more emphasis. In a way it almost sounded vaguely...menacing...? Or perhaps that was just the fact that a black eyed snowman was shouting happy birthday that made the entire situation seem vaguely menacing.

"Hey, I said my first words! No congratulations?" Somehow, even asking about the no congratulations sounded vaguely threatening. Almost as if the snowman might decide to go on some rampage if it wasn't properly congratulated for it's monumental achievement of saying it's first words. Which, honestly, was entirely possible with a spell cast by Illyana.

Aww never be! I love our threads!

[monochromatically]

Mono stared at the snowman like it had two heads, for a very tense moment his eyes darting around for some makeshift weapon like he would have back in his world if something turned mean… The snowman hadn’t, of course, but it was nice to be prepared. He was pretty sure there was a shovel sticking out of the snow somewhere from when they were clearing paths… Not as good as a sledgehammer, but it could work.

“Um…” He stared for a moment longer as the snowman started talking again, “Congratulations…?” Mono responded uncertainly, trying to get an idea of if he should move or not. “Do snowmen usually talk? I never saw one talking when kids made them last year.”

[soulsword]

"Do we usually...talk..." the Snowman seemed to be asking himself that question more than Mono. "Do we? Maybe the kids made them wrong." His cold black bead eyes narrowed at Mono as if he were deep in contemplation about whether or not he was the faulty snowman here or if it were the other ones this that were wrong.

"You talk. Why shouldn't we?" Maybe Illyana's spell at given it a bit too much free thinking. She let out a sigh as she watched. As long as it didn't get too angry she could let this go on a bit longer. Besides, it'd be a shame to end things just as their conversation was getting interesting.

Tree

[unbreakable_king]

That Rhy was here for this evening was, in a way, a coincidence. He had no intention of staying very long after all. This sort of thing was not, from his understanding, the sort of way that his husband celebrated winter’s passing. But he had asked Ignis before if it would be okay if he came to pack up a small meal for himself and his husband, and while Rhy waited for the energetic serving man with that Snow White hair to pack that up (which no doubt was already done), he had started to look around.

And of course run into his favorite young man.

“That’s a garland,” Rhy observed as he saw the young man holding the thing up. This was something he did recognize, though not in this specific form. The things were often put up in the palace for celebrations. “I’ve never known them to go on trees.”

[monochromatically]

Mono looked up quickly when Rhy spoke, one of his clumsy but honest smiles crossing his face to see the tailor. “Hi there, Mr. Rhy!” He chirped, before looking down at the shiny rope in his hands again. “Garland… So that’s what it’s called. Guess it had to be called something other than rope, not very strong… Probably be bad for tying something up or using it to climb.” He mused, though it was a funny word. Garland… Huh…

“So you use it for more stuff than just trees?” He hummed a little, it was pretty… But he shook his head a little, “I didn’t know what it was at all, didn’t know they brought trees inside either. It’s kinda weird. Pretty, but weird.” That did bring a question to his mind, though. “What do you do with it in your world, if you don’t use it for trees?”

[unbreakable_king]

“We tend to use them to decorate banisters and stairs and even high eaves,” Rhy answered, his voice a bit pensive. “Not commonly, though, because often we made them of fresh boughs of different plants. These are very strange to me.”

[monochromatically]

Mono considered what it might look like if you wound it around a staircase. “That would look kinda nice, too. I think that makes more sense than trees.” he responded, still finding this whole tree thing a bit strange. Fresh plants would also be rather nice to look at, though again posed the odd, puzzling thought of ‘why’ when outdoor things tended to need to be outdoors.

The comment about the garland being made of something strange gets a small hum. “It’s really light. I think it’s like a really thin, shiny plastic. So I guess it won’t start to look all sad like plants would.”

[unbreakable_king]

Yes, it was truly fetching when decorating against marble and the like. But this shiny stuff seemed… well, strange. Very strange indeed.

“Plastic? Oh dear, that stuff. It is dreadfully disagreeable isn’t it? Always bits of it getting everywhere. I feel better sweeping up bits of plants because I can just put them out the window and not care.”

Snow Fort

[harrythelizard]

It was, in fact, later in the afternoon when Harry came upon the boy. The minor snowfall reminded Harry of home, and it was with a tug of homesickness in his heart that he went for a walk that afternoon in the first place. Things had been relatively quiet of late and that usually spelled trouble no matter which way you tried to look at something. He liked to think this place wouldn't try something during the holidays, but that usually wasn't the way of it.

His steps slowed as he approached the small regiment of snowmen, though, and he watched them suspiciously, eyes narrowed. His senses didn't suggest he should worry about anything supernatural attacking him, but it still wasn't something you'd see every day.

He cleared his throat before speaking. "Knock, knock? I come in peace."

[monochromatically]

Mono probably wouldn’t blame Harry for looking at the snowmen with such suspicion. They were fun to make, but he’d thought they were a bit creepy when he first saw them the prior winter. It was part of the reason why they made excellent guards for his little snow fortress that he was working on.

At the sounds of someone outside, he peered out of the entrance curiously. “Hi! You don’t gotta knock, there’s no door.” He commented to the mock-knocking with a little tilt of his head as he crawled the rest of the way out of the fort.

[harrythelizard]

"Oh, hey, buddy." He'd had a suspicion of who he might find inside the fort, but it was nice to have it confirmed. "You sure you're okay letting the wizard into your snowman club?"

[monochromatically]

“I’m not a snowman, so I don’t think you gotta be one to join.” He responded with a little shrug, glancing at the snowmen army. “Maybe hats are a rule, though… They always got hats so I gave them some of mine, and I got one…” Gestured between his hat, and the snowmen wearing the remains of his hat collectionn. “But I’m new to snowmen stuff, anyway.”