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

[cetrary]

"Sometimes the wisest things come from the smallest people," she said with a warm smile. "Besides, stories aren't always accurate to reality, are they?" It might be nice if they were though. Then maybe some wise wizard would come and give them all advice on everything they actually needed to know.

"Hmm..." she pointed at one of the red bean buns. "How about that one?"

[monochromatically]

Mono had to admit... She made a good point. “I guess that’s true... I met a wizard here, and he wasn’t old or wrinkly.” So that definitely proved that things weren’t always like the stories... But it really would be nice if they met someone wise enough to tell them what to do about stuff here.

His eyes darted to the buns she pointed to, “One of these...? Okay!” He promptly reached out. Thoughtfully he picked one that looked like a nice size for him and he took a bite. The child was pretty quiet as he sampled the bun, taking this quite seriously since she wanted an honest opinion.

Then he took a second bite... and a third. Yeah, these were absolutely delicious! “Wow... These are really good, I like the stuff in them... It’s kinda sweet, but the texture isn’t like chocolate or anything. What is it??”

[cetrary]

"See! Point proven," she said matter-of-factly. Though somehow even Aerith's matter-of-fact voice just sounded upbeat. She watched as he ate, very carefully and with a clear look of expectation. She definitely wanted an honest opinion but she also really wanted people to like them.

"They're red bean buns! You make kind of a sweet paste out of red beans then use that as filling for the buns. They sold them a lot at the Wall Market back home. Everyone seemed to love them."

[monochromatically]

“Beans? Really?” Mono looked at the filling and then took another few bites. Who knew beans could taste like that! “It’s really good, and I don’t think I’ve had anything like it before!” He responded with a pleased sound as he finished off the red bean bun. “So I think people will really like them! It’s different from the other stuff people brought.” He added with a glance to the table with all its other treats.

[cetrary]

"Never would think that, huh?" Even if they weren't as good as the ones at Wall Market she was happy that he seemed to like it. "I hope you're right! That people will like them, I mean. I kind of wanted to bring something different than what I thought most people would end up bringing. Or from what I'd find around in general. Seems more fun that way, right? Getting to experience a few different things!"

[monochromatically]

Mono shook his head, “Yeah, I never would have! It’s not like beans at all. It’s like a trick, but a good one.” And that was the best kind, in the kid’s opinion, a tasty trick.

“I think you’re right, there’s so many things I’ve never had before and it’s been really fun to try stuff.” So her logic was sound in Mono’s opinion. It just made sense! Or maybe it was because he hadn’t had many opportunities to try things in his world, so it would be a continued novel experience here until he ran out of new food to try. “So I bet everyone else will think so too, especially these. It seems like sweet stuff is important with this holiday thing.”

[cetrary]

"Beans are in fact very tricky little guys" she said with a bright smile. "I'm glad it was a good one though! A tasty trick is the best kind of trick there is." Somehow it was always kind of weirdly nice to be surprised by just how good something tastes.

"Me too! It's exciting to get to see and try so many different things." It was one of the nicer things about this place. There was a lot to learn, try, and experience. Somehow, despite the dangers here, it still wasn't as daunting as the idea of traveling back home. Maybe that came down to it just not holding the same weight of all she knew there.

"Sweet stuff is important all the time!"

[monochromatically]

Mono brightened at that, “It really is!” It was extremely exciting, between how easy it was to get fresh food here and how many different kinds of tasty things there were, the kid definitely had been eating well in the last few months. Her comment gets a quiet, soundless giggle, though. “I think you’re right. I really like the sweet stuff the best!” He folded his arms a little, glancing around. “But some of the adults seem to think it’s important to eat the other stuff, too.” Not that he complained about eating non-sweet stuff… The kid would take whatever was handed to him because there was always the light anxiety that things might change. But… Sweet stuff was definitely his favourite now.

Though his eyes darted to her other buns, “So what’re the other ones like? Are they secretly sweet too?”

[cetrary]

"Me too, looks like we have a lot in common." She looked thoughtful for a second and then shook her head. "Well, clearly those other adults just don't understand enjoying yourself." Probably not something she should be telling a kid, but sometimes it was nice to just have fun.

"Why don't you try them and find out?"

[monochromatically]

“Yeah! At least with foodstuff, I guess.” Which was nice, to think he was at least kind of like other people around here in some ways. And… He was pretty sure she was right, at least on the subject of adults not understanding. “You get it! I don’t mind eating the other stuff, but if there’s tasty sweet stuff, it’s good to enjoy it while it’s there!”

Mono nodded quickly at the offer. “Okay!” He reached for the other buns, carefully selecting one and looking it over curiously. Kind of hard to tell what they might taste like inside just by looking at them, though. “They really are kinda mysterious, like they got a secret inside there.” He commented, before finally taking a big bite out of one to get at the filling.

Oh, wow! He hummed at the rather surprising flavour. Definitely not sweet, but still good. Kind of savoury with a little spice, “They’re not sweet, but they’re pretty good too!” The spices smelled a little like some of the ones he found wandering through old abandoned grocery stores in his world, but he hadn’t really known what they were for.

[cetrary]

"Only pretty good this time, huh? Well, sweet is best," she said with a grin. She couldn't blame him there. At least he liked it despite the fact that it wasn't sweet, or so he seemed.

"We have a lot of things like this in a place called Wall Market. That's where I got the idea from." She tapped her chin thoughtfully for a second as she thought back to all the food offered there. "I bet you'd like it actually."

[monochromatically]

Mono definitely liked them, it was pretty easy to tell as the kid continued to eat it eagerly while they talked.

“Yeah? If it’s got tasty stuff like this, I bet it’s a really neat place!” The kid wasn’t sure what a Wall Market was, but he didn’t have any reason to doubt Aerith’s word on that. “What’s it like?” He asked with a curious tone after another bite of the bun. Mono couldn’t help but wonder if it was like a wall to wall food market, or if there were other things too.

[cetrary]

"A lot of it is good and super unique! There's so much of it too!" She moved back and forth on the balls of her feet as she thought about Wall Market. "It's..it's own place I guess," she said with a laugh. "That doesn't explain much, huh? It's basically a big market that's kind of left to run all on it's own in it's own way. Which isn't necessarily a great way, the main guy in charge is pretty scummy." Pretty scummy is a vast understatement about that disgusting guy, but she didn't really want to get into it with someone as young as Mono.

"But it's basically a market with a ton of stalls and restaurants and some clubs too. There's all kinds of different food that you can try as you walk through it."

[monochromatically]

Mono was listening rather eagerly. It was interesting to learn about other worlds. Munching away on the bun, he nodded when Aerith admitted that ‘It’s its own place’ didn’t really explain much. He wanted to hear more about it! “When you say it’s a big market, it’s bigger than the one here?” He asked curiously, finishing off the bun and then eyeing the red bean buns again… probably wondering if he could take some for later.

At the description of of the guy who ran the Wall Market, he frowned a little. “If he’s scummy, how come they don’t get someone else to run it?” It sounded kind of neat if it had all sorts of food. Wouldn’t you want someone good to run a place like that? Well… Things were rarely that simple, he knew. His world wasn’t so easy a fix as getting rid of one bad egg.

[cetrary]

"Much! It's also a lot more crowded." Whether or not that was a good thing was completely up in the air though. Aerith often liked how busy it felt and how everyone had their own story and goals that they were trying to make into reality. They all had hopes and dreams that they wanted to accomplish. It felt alive and that was really nice. But there was no denying Wall Market in particular had a lot of unscrupulous types. A lot of them, actually. None more so than Don himself.

"Because Wall Market is run in it's...own way," she tilted her head to the side and gave a little shrug. "At least until recently. We kiiiiinda may have changed that." It was too bad Don Corneo seemed to have gotten away.

[monochromatically]

A lot more crowded was a bit scary to imagine, but it also probably had a lot more stuff to hide and sneak around behind if it was even more full than the marketplace here. That might make for an interesting game, certainly… “I bet it’s really fun to watch people in a place like that! Lots of different stuff to see.”

Mono tilted his head slightly, not quite understand what she meant by the place being run in its ‘own way,’ other than the fact that it was run differently from other places… But his knowledge of things being run at all were a bit skewed between his world and this own, so he supposed it would probably be hard to understand even if she did say more. But he perked up a little as she continued, “So you might’ve fixed it, anyway! Like heroes, getting rid of the bad person in charge.”