aterat | Winter is not a season

Entry tags:

Winter is not a season

Who; Everyone (don't forget to tag in & tag around!)
What; The Winter Festival
Where; The circus complex and the park
When; Today & lasting for 1 week
Warnings; None, but if something needs a warning, please label as such!

Back in November, Ignis petitioned Halcyn for a Winter Festival. He requested snow, lots of lights, and an in ground hot tub or two or more.

Train/moogles/horses - There's also a small train to go ride around the city, and horses will again appear for sleigh rides. Moogles will be appearing/on hand to give directions to where things are if people get lost. They are also serving as sources of information in case someone doesn't know anything about a festival or activity. Just ask the moogle kupo!

Food/shopping - Ignis also learned of and requested that European style christmas markets (including Japanese ones) so all of the foods for those countries and all of the things/traditions that they are associated with will be available. Whatever country has what, feel free to learn about it, or whatever different world. Recipe books will be available for whatever place too so pick one up while you can because you might want to learn to cook it for yourself! (Sorry folks, Remy not included) Enjoy all the shopping and fooding even if you've never heard of that place, world or food before. So eat, drink and be merry!

Activities/things to do - Skiing, sledding, skating and tobogganing will be available and if you're really tough, maybe archery hunting in skis may appeal. Riding on a ski lift can be a relaxing thing to do as well. Snowboarding is available as well, but a few words of caution on that. There may be sledding moogles as you go, lots of trees to run into, balloons, and if you hit an igloo, there may be an angry moogle that throws a table at you. There are also snow chocobos and snow moogles along that path.

For those not so daring to go snowboarding, the snow moogles and snow chocobos will be around town in different spots so that they're not missed. And while they won't throw snowballs at you, your friends just might! And you can ride a horse to go see a model of a royal library. A word of caution however, as there may be monsters even if they're mostly slimecicles. There may be some Luminous Lamplings or Bongo Fandangos lurking about too.

Other activities/happenings - There will also be events and things for the Chinese New Year, such as lion dances, all sorts of traditional foods, decorations, fire works, firecrackers and kids might get red envelopes. Since it is now the Year of the Rabbit, adorable rabbit decorations of all sorts are everywhere. On the last day of this Winter event will be the Lantern Festival.

Something else to note - If you're feeling adventurous there's a place or two to get married! The Hunting Lodge is always open so you could married there too! Take a walk through some Christmas illuminations for romance, or just because they're pretty.

Other notes - People from home will appear this week too as it's a fourth wall event, so be on the lookout for them! And if all of this stuff doesn't work, feel free to choose your own wintry adventure!

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I. Lost In The Markets

This was not where he had started the day by any measure, which was something that had given Genesis pause. The last thing he remembered was being in Banora, facing Angeal's little puppy and being carried out of the caves. He remembered being sat against a chair with Zack's little blonde boy, and then the apple in his lap, and...

And then here. In this busy little winter market. It hadn't been winter minutes ago, and he had most definitely been in the middle of a rain forest with the ground near him scarred open to the mako glow of the lifestream itself. And now what was this?

Genesis curled his leather coat more tightly around himself, truly upset for the hole where his wing had once protruded, for it made him quite cold.

"Excuse me," he said as he came up to a stranger, "but what is going on here?"

II. Monstrous Conflict

If nothing else, he had found himself a suitable means to work through his frustration at this new twist of strangeness in his life. The horse (and he had never seen one before but the one ridden by the summon Odin himself) moved with a very different stride from a chocobo which was causing little flashes of pain up his spine despite his durability, and of course now there was this.

"And what are you supposed to be?" he asked aloud of the Bongo Fandango before him. What an absurd looking creature. One that was already annoying him. With a sigh he pulled the crimson blade of Rapier (which of course looked nothing like a proper rapier) from his side to point it at the creature.

"Stand aside. I seek that library, and the knowledge sealed within. I will allow none to halt my progress."

III. Different Fireworks

Clearly this was some form of seasonal celebration, and since no one seemed to recognize him or think he was a problem, well, he supposed he could just keep going through the motions here. It did remind him, to a degree of Wutai which kept him on edge, but Genesis kept going until he saw people with firecrackers.

"Your fuse is too short," he announced as he came closer. "It's unsafe. Stand back. I'll light them for you safely."

And with that he curled his fingers in the air, charging a fire spell.

Edited 2023-01-27 21:05 (UTC)

I. Moogles Are Real?

This wasn't quite what he'd expected today. Being in a random place that reminded him of the old festivals that used to happen in Lestallum wasn't high on the list of expectations when someone was living in the Long Night. But damn, there was something even weirder here.

"Hey, anyone willing to snap a picture for me?" he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. There was NO WAY he was not getting a picture of him with honest to Astrals moogles to show Iris. This is so fucking cool.

II. Hot Tub Time

Gladio'd always had some pretty serious tolerance for the cold, perhaps because he'd spent so much of his youth when not working barely having a talking relationship with the idea of shirts. But there was a difference between handling the cold and enjoying the cold. The best way of enjoying the cold, after all, was with some serious warmth to help you through it. And was there a better choice than slipping into a beautiful hot tub with a great view?

Gladio leaned back in the water, letting his eyes close. This was perfect, this was refreshing, this was a vacation he'd needed for years. Nothing would drive him away from it, not even the sound of someone else joining him in the hot tub. Without opening his eyes he raised his fingers to offer a brief wave.

"Yo."

III. Food Is Worth It

It had been so long since Gladio had been treated to an amazing meal. You got what you got in the basically apocalypse of his world, and while he still didn't fully understand where he was or why, there was no denying that the food was amazing. Sure, it wasn't amazing that they didn't have ramen, but there was so many forms of noodles, and there was fresh fruit, and hell, he was so excited about this.

Gladio had basically acquired a large tray he had found elsewhere, and moved around the markets, loading it up. Once he had himself loaded he found himself looking around to try and find somewhere to sit. At last he sighed.

"Anyone know where I can find a table?"

I. No Getting Off This Train We're On

There is a lot to be said for the simple pleasures of sitting back and enjoying a ride. In fact, Zack was really enjoying this thing, because he's on his third ride in a row, seated in the caboose, enjoying the scenery around them. It was beautiful, and hey, less cold than Modoheim had been.

"Strangely peaceful, you know? I feel like a cryogrenade is going to jump out at me at any second. Well, I guess not jump, given they float."

II. Snowboarding

This wasn't a sport he'd ever tried before himself, but that didn't mean Zack wasn't aware of it. There had been plenty of people in the program who had a lot to say about snowboarding, and it had always been on his list of 'things to do' to head up to Icicle and try it. Which of course had never happened, which was a serious sadness, but not as much as a lot of the rest of his life.

For now though there was something good to be enjoyed here. Zack was looking over the board he had been offered, one with a pattern of chocobos on it.

"This is going to be so fun," he says with a smile.

I. Hot Tub Hangout

Winter was the absolute worst, and Tommy was never going to get used to it. Cold and speedsters did not go together, and it was often even worse for Tommy because his powers were so heavily caught up in acceleration and thus heat. Cold left his joints aching in ways he hated, left his fingers tingly, and definitely made using speed more dangerous. So when he'd heard about the hot tub, well, of course he was there.

Tommy hissed happily as he stepped into the heat of the water, closing his eyes before he sank down into it. Damn but he missed this.

"Who knew you could get proper fucking hot tubs in such a backwards place. I'd so just fun a fucking place that had things like this if I could," he mumbled as he settled down and opened his eyes. "Bless it."

II. Armful Of Rabbit Plushes

Well, it was some sort of new year, right? And it was the year of the rabbit. There were awesome little plush toys everywhere, and Tommy had been considering them for a good while now. With a sigh he crossed his arms over his chest. He needed to make a decision here.

"Hey," he said aloud, hoping the person nearby might assume he was talking to them. "Need some opinions here. Trying to figure out if I should buy these for my employees. But do kids even LIKE stuffed animals these days?"

I. A Winter Market

There was something almost familiar about all of this, in a way that made Rhy's heart warm. He moved slowly through the market, his gloved hands wrapped around a cup of hot chocolate, and smiled to himself. He was reminded of his first year here, of his time in the Sphere, and the energy of delight that came with festivals. There was so much to be said for them, for the energy, for the joy.

And the shopping.

"Oooooh," he purrs in delight as he looks at a display of hand made statues of little golden cats holding something that looked like coins. "So pretty."

II. Lion Dances

Voices come down the path, people excited and laughing and gasping in delight. Rhy turns to regard it and looks about shocked ot hear it all. When he turns he sees what is going on. The sea of market shoppers are spreading before a large form snaking down the markets. And Rhy stares in delight.

Large, fancy, red and gold, and followed by music and dancers? Oh it was almost designed to captivate Rhy through and through. The man claps in delight as he watches it progress, watches the giant fluffy thing approach.

"What even is it?" he whispers. "And this music, it's wonderful. Does this come every year?"

I. Horse Girl Life

Chocobos and horses were beasts not at all like each other, and while he and chocobos were still having difficulty, this was a whole other thing. The beautiful horses that were harnessed to the sleigh waiting for passengers were worthy of attention, and Nida was cooing as he stroked its neck.

"You strong, graceful beauties," he said as he held out a sugar cube the driver had given him as a treat for them. "Look at you with your lovely hooves. I bet you never try and kick poor mercenaries to pieces. And look, no scythe horns to throw at people. So pretty."

II. Gonna Climb It

Word had reached him of a model of a towering structure, and if there was one thing that was going to lure Nida from his enjoyment of a festival, it was something to climb. Maybe he had a problem with his fondness with heights, but he didn't care. He was too happy to consider the very chance of it.

And it had taken some work (and his chocobo) to get out here, but Nida was happy with it. Sure he'd had to make his way through monsters to get here, but they had been easy enough, and this? This looked like a challenge.

"Stay here and stay safe my dear," he told Hibiscus as he looped the reins over a low branch. It wouldn't be hard for her to pull free in an emergency in this way, just in case.

Then he pulled on his clawed gloves, this would be fun. Which was of course when he noticed someone else approaching.

"Ho there! Well met!"

I. Recipies On Display

There were many things that Lauri-Ell was still learning in her time here, things that had been lost in the shuffle of learning to care for plants, becoming a blacksmith, and of course learning how to properly write the human language.

Cooking had been one of those things she had been awed with and had yet to try her hand at. Knowledge that she felt was important to possess. So perhaps it was no surprise for one to find her at a small stand, flipping through the pages of one such book.

"It seems so simple, written out like this," she said to herself as she considered a recipe for something called a 'meat loaf'. "I thought only bread came in loafs though."

II. Lanterns

This whole festival has been a marvel of things that Lauri-Ell was not familiar with, one she had been happy to learn. And here she now was, on the final day, watching as people started preparing what seemed like a wealth of paper structures.

"What are these?" she found herself asking a nearby person. "And why are they making so many?"

Yuki was wandering around although his fiancee' wasn't far behind. There was another plush rabbit he'd wanted to get a hold of and bring home, and so he needed to go get it and meet back up with Jacob.

A little girl got in front of him and so Yuki waited. And as he did, he heard someone requesting to take a picture of him with one of the moogles that had appeared.

Plush rabbit was going to have to wait a minute, so he kept a polite distance from the rather tall and ruggedly built gentleman.

"I can take a picture for you if you'd like."

Yuki is sitting down, and having some sugar rings with this blue slime thing on his table that talks funny when he hears people seeming to get closer and louder. Little children are running on their tiny legs and moving to squeal in delight and that brings Yuki to his feet, excusing himself from his little blue host.

Nearly knocking into a wandering moogle, he excused himself and got over to where he could see the parade coming down. Yuki then heard a familiar voice and turned to see Rhy. Smiling up at the man, he nodded. "We have parades like this where I'm from."

Although he'd have to travel to see them.

It took him awhile to work up the nerve to get into the hot tub, even with Gladio sitting in it already. He had been served a drink by some moogle and was told it was apple cider. So he knocked it back and then went out into the freezing cold.

It was about as cold as when he summoned Shiva back home, or colder. And at least then he had a lot more clothes on.

"Hey." Noctis replied in return as soon as he talked himself getting into the hot water. It was better than just standing there and freezing his ass off.

Noctis had heard of this place and could only think of the Assassin Festival in Lestallum. So he'd found a chocobo and came out here to investigate. He was looking at the structure, imagining someone doing the leap of faith, as had been done there.

Of course this wasn't that and there was no cart full of hay to jump down into or flip down into or any of that.

He'd noticed someone else here and they had a similar sort of idea. So he dismounted his black chocobo and nodded at the stranger, giving the same greeting he'd given to an unfamiliar warrior when he served under Materia's banner in another world.

"Hey there."

Sleigh ride (closed to Jacob)

Yuki had been sitting at a table, occasionally watching a pig in a hat do some sort of strange dance with another one of its kind. But then he recalled he had to meet Jacob at the sleigh ride station for some reason. Jacob had been elusive in answering, just something about meeting him there and that was all the information he got.

So when Jacob arrived, Yuki had finished his hot chocolate and smiled. "What was the thing that you wanted to show me?"

Market

He was really trying to get Jacob a gift. So he went to the small bookshop that had popped up and it was chock full of cookbooks. Gray eyes scanned every single one and he wondered what he should get. There were so many it seemed.

Selecting one on Japanese cooking, Yuki stepped back to stay out of the way so that he could peruse the contents and see if this one was worth taking home or not. But as he did so, he bumped into someone.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

Skating

This was something he and Jacob had done, but at least this time, ice skates in all sorts of sizes were available. Yuki was absolutely delighted to have the proper equipment this time and so he laced his skates up and waited for an opening so that he too could skate in what was called 'The Fountain of Neptune'.

Cautiously he made his way out there all bundled up.

"Alright, this can't be too hard to do, right?"

Ignis wasn't far behind, watching his husband feed the sugar cube to the horses. Nida seemed far more at ease with this horse, and he was going to have to ask Halcyn for a horse even though they'd exchanged their christmas gifts and had done all of that already.

They could make room for a horse.

So he walked up to stand on the other side of the beautiful animal and smiled. "I should take your picture with these lovely creatures."

Edited 2023-01-30 10:33 (UTC)

Ignis had blinked several times while he was helping to serve meals. The man he'd seen walking around was so familiar although he'd only seen him from the back. Excusing himself, he dared to follow behind a good distance and stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the man speaking.

How in the Six was he here?

So he moved his long legs and tried to sound as nonchalant as he could and folded his arms across his chest.

"There's a perfectly serviceable table behind you if you would but look."

Ignis had totally been looking forward to getting a little bit of time to himself so that he could go see this pop up bookshop or whatever the rumour was. He'd been told by a moogle about it and at first he'd had to contend with a slime knight and his slime mount to get out of his way so he could look.

And it was a lot of inward hemming and hawing as he found that he'd gathered quite a collection of cookbooks from different worlds and countries. Ignis termed it a business expense to himself, and also rationalized that there was absolutely nothing wrong with improving one's cooking abilities. Plus it could be a belated christmas gift to himself, as well as an early birthday gift.

So after he made his stack of book purchases, he happened to see a man standing alone in a long red leather jacket. Turning to the gentleman, Ignis listened to the question and nodded.

"A winter festival is going on at the moment and lasting a week."

Food - Ignis has been cooking, trying to do another sample of promotion for the Hunting Lodge. He had gotten a large stack of new cookbooks that he couldn't wait to get home and tear into, and there may be a few more volumes that caught his eye that he will purchase before this day is done. For now, he's serving up dishes and having a rather good time at it.

"How are you today?"

Library Ignis is scribbling notes and taking pictures of the tomes that fill this place. He could spend so much time in here although he's more than well aware that isn't a thing that he can feasibly do. The monsters in here aren't going to mess with anyone unless provoked although he is wary of a dragon professor looking type creature.
As he sits down, there's an immediate "Drat. Now where did I put that red book I just had?"

New Year fireworks

Ignis had found a comfortable spot to sit in. And even better was that it was a heated place so that he found that he could enjoy the fireworks a lot better. Settling his back against the comfortable chair, Ignis crossed his legs and sat back with a well deserved cup of coffee.

"I'm rather looking forward to the fireworks."

It hadn't been easy to get him to change his clothes but when he saw that it was proper tradition, Hendrik acquiesced to it. He too had been wondering what everything was about and had been informed so there he was.

Hearing a voice, he looked up. "I have been told that it is called a Lantern Festival. But as to the amount, that I can not say."

Behind Genesis, Angeal smiled. He was dressed up and had been trailing his friend all day. But he had to cover a laugh when Genesis stated that a fuse was too short. Angeal wanted to pipe up at that point and tell him to look at himself for that one.

When the firecrackers were going off, he nodded at the red haired man. "They're having a fireworks show in about ten minutes. Let's grab some drinks and head over."

The snow brought a sense of peace that Modeoheim never did. Of course he'd had plans and that didn't include sight seeing in that place or enjoying anything. It had even rained on him that fateful day as it had his pup's.

But he turned his head towards Zack at what he was hearing and shook his head. "Just focus on relaxing, Soldier."

Leon was trying to enjoy this hot apple cider thing, and he'd bought a hot chocolate too because he couldn't decide which to try. Carefully he made his way over to the table and set both down, fortunately he'd been given a tray.

Hearing Tommy's voice, at first all he saw was a bunch of stuffed rabbits. Laughing slightly, Leon shook his head. "If I give you an answer, do I get one too?"

Terra had never seen anything like any of this, so he was out trying to figure out what to do. He'd tried a few of the different foods which had been pretty good. Currently he was carrying around a cup of hot tea with little sugar and cream in it to keep himself warm.

Seeing Rhy, he stopped and looked at the cats that the other man was looking at. "I heard something about how they're supposed to bring good luck."

But of course he had no idea if it was true or not.

Terra was looking at some books on meditation, thinking he should probably do more of that. So he found himself at the book place and was looking through a few of the tomes there. Frowning, he reached out to grab one and started flipping through the pages, seeing if this was going to help or not.

But then he heard Lauri-Ell's voice after a few minutes and smiled for a moment before the words she'd said registered. "Meat comes in loaves?"

Train Terra hadn't been on a train before, but he boarded and sat next to a window, determined to see all of the snow outside as it went. He wished Aqua and Ven were here to share it, or maybe even Namine, but maybe he could enjoy it for them and report it to them when or if they showed up.

As the train closed its doors and started up, a moogle floated by with a hot cider drink and Terra took one after a moment. "When did moogles become waiters?"

Tobogganing - This looked like fun. It had a long wooden sleigh like structure and the path downward was a long steep hill. They had another choice with inflatable things, but Terra decided that the wooden structure looked more solid. So he looked back at whoever stood there.

"Want to share one with me?"

Lantern Festival - Terra dressed for the occasion and was putting together one of the lanterns. A few other people around him were working on them too and it was getting dark enough to where they'd be released.

He was almost finished but needed to get one more piece. "Could you hand me the scissors so I can cut this?"

Edited 2023-01-30 11:49 (UTC)

Tidus is already in the hot tub when Tommy arrived. He'd been trying to focus like he did before a game so his eyes had originally been closed. But hearing a voice had him open them and look to the person who had come in.

Back home no one soaked pre game with him but this was okay, it was a different place, right?

So he sighed and closed his eyes again. "This place does seem to be backwards."

Tidus had been there, standing around and drinking something called a London Fog Drink. Seeing Zack come up, he looked at the snowboard with the chocobos. Of course he'd been observing some of the other people and he wasn't sure this was a good thing, but the people had been enthusiastic.

So he gestured with his hot drink to the slope. "So you're gonna ride on that thing all the way down the hill? I mean, what happens if you fall off of it?"

Edited 2023-01-30 12:03 (UTC)

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Page 1 of 24

Winter is not a season

Genesis Rhapsodos | FF7 Crisis Core | OTA (Fourth Wall)

Gladiolus Amicitia | FFXV | OTA | Fourth Waller

Zack Fair | FF7 | OTA

Tommy Shepherd | OTA

Rhy Maresh | Shades Of Magic | OTA

Nida | FF8 | OTA

Lauri-Ell | Marvel-616 | OTA

Moogles

Lion dances

Hot tub

Climb

Yuki Sohma | Fruits Basket | OTA (Except first prompt)

Horse

Food

Market

Ignis Scientia | Final Fantasy XV | OTA

Lanterns

Fireworks

Train

Rabbits

Market

Recipes

Terra | Kingdom Hearts | OTA

Hot tub

no subject