♥ January (Lasra) Event Log

[hugtopiamods]

January (Lasra) Event Log
The new year has dawned and many natives are busy with their VR pilgrimages to the sacred mountain. Others are busy redecorating the town after all the excitement of the last month. With the cold winter days and nights continuing, the occasionally clear blue skies seem all the colder even with Havenwell's nicely temperature controlled environment. The winter has fully set in and so the celebrations continue as natives try to incorporate more of the offworlders' traditions into their own. They know it can't be easy being away from your homes for so long, but they hope adding touches of home to their celebrations might help ease the loneliness some.

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❥ PROMPT I: Festive Flora Festoons

They're trying to keep the holiday spirit going with some greenery among all the cold wintery snowy weather! All around the city, over doorways, strung across roads and walkways, threaded in entryways and hallways alike, people can find colorful wreaths and garlands hung overhead. Prominently displayed among the Rawna-centric ribbons and synthetic greens are real live plants! It seems the natives have picked up on the idea of holiday decorations involving seasonal flora and other decor to brighten the darker winter days. Sadly, it seems they've missed the mark on what kinds of plants are meant to be involved. Here and there, people can find all manner of plant strung up from things that look like ivy to pine-adjacent trees to weird decorations that miss the 'plant' mark entirely. Moreover, it seems these decorations are being tampered with by the gods in a haphazard manner. Some, not all, of these decorations carry a strange field around them, affecting people when they walk beneath them. Watch out, offworlders! While the natives are also getting caught sometimes, you're the most susceptible to this mysterious meddling.

♥ Mistletoe: Some of these plants are actually mistletoe, and for those familiar with the Earth tradition, they carry the same effects. On occasion when you and another person walk under the mistletoe, an invisible force field springs up, trapping you both in a six foot circle beneath the plant. Any attempts to destroy the decoration does nothing to dispel the field and teleportation does nothing but bounce you to the other side of this odd bounded circle. For those in know, they may have an inkling of what needs to happen to escape this little trap: positive physical contact in the form of hugs or kisses! Platonic kisses on the hand and cheek do seem to work for some people, though, so maybe you can both escape this without too much embarrassment? ...Maybe?

♥ Missile...toe??: Some of the plants around town have brightly colored stockings and socks hung in them. The natives seem to think that hanging footwear is an integral part of the offworld winter tradition, so they've carried it over to Lasra. On occasion, when you and another person are caught under these decorations, a cloud will form overhead and begin pelting both of you with tiny foam darts. The cloud moves with you both and will give chase for an indeterminate amount of time. It even seems that it can follow you indoors, which is entirely illogical but so is a cloud blitzing you with foam darts and here we are. It isn't omnipotent though and quick thinking or some fancy moves can throw it off your trail for awhile. The only problem is you and the other person can't seem to get more than six feet apart from one another, so you better come up with an action plan to either dispel the cloud or figure out a way to elude it or you'll be spending your day annoyed at the constant barrage of toys.

♥ Verdant veritas: This is just getting weird now. Some of the garlands have miniaturized versions of entire trees hung upside down from them. These trees range from off-colored pines to what passes for this world's version of plastic palm trees to miscolored birches, oaks, and fruit trees. Most of these trees are plastic, but it can be a little strange to see a scaled down tree hanging into the roadway. Getting caught under one of these with another person when they go haywire will trap you both in an entirely uncomfortably small circle of 3 feet from one another. The only way to widen it is to tell the other person a truth about yourself that they may not know. With each truth you tell, the circle widens by 1 foot until it snaps at some indeterminable point. For some, this might just be 2 truths and you're free. For others it might be 20. The natives tend to get caught by this one the most, so at least you have examples of what needs to happen should you find yourself trapped!

♥ Berries aplenty: Some of the decorations are filled with red and white berries hanging in clusters. These are the most innocuous seeming of all the garlands and, since the berries are small enough, the easiest to miss. They do, however, seem to be causing quite a stir with anyone caught beneath it. When you and another person walk beneath these garlands, you'll find yourselves trapped with one of you suddenly wearing a Santa outfit projected over your normal clothes like an illusion. You cannot escape the six foot circle under the berries unless you sit on Santa's lap and tell them what you really really want for the holidays. You've been a good person/robot/cat/creature this year, right? The gods hope so because only those on the Nice List who say what you want and mean it get to leave the clutches of the berries.

❥ PROMPT II: Ski for Free(dom)

For those of you who frequent the worlds of virtual reality, there's a new game available! In SkiFreezin', you and a friend can enjoy an excursion to a beautiful mountain covered with freshly-fallen snow for a fun ski trip!

But hopefully you're quick to clear the course; every so often innocent skiers looking for a fun time might find themselves in the sights of the mountain's inhabitant; a cranky creature giving chase with stick figure limbs and angry eyebrows. Better get to the finish line quick! If it catches up, you just might find yourself dumped into a pile of snow with a hat placed on your head at a jaunty angle befitting a snowman.

And the chase doesn't end there! The VR network's errors that brought on Havenwell's cube-shaped bee friends is acting up again, bringing the particularly pixelated pursuer to the city's snowy streets to chase around the local inhabitants. And if it catches you...well, Frosty, hope you like snowbanks!

❥ PROMPT III: The Weather Outside (and Inside) is Frightful

To some, the best part of winter is the beautiful snowy landscape and Aellyn is delivering on that this year. All across Havenwell, the snow is drifting down in lazy, cozy piles that turn the city even more picturesque than usual. It's a lovely sight and even the natives are enjoying it by doing things like building snowrobots, snow forts, snow sculptures, and snow fights! Some of the less jolly ones are grumbling about the need to shovel the snow to keep roads and walkways clear, but overall the city seems to be enjoying the weather.

The grumbling might be justified, however, because at random times and in random places all over the city, the gentle drifts of snow suddenly become small localized Snowpocalypse pockets! Small storm clouds will whip up in pocketed areas, dumping feet upon feet of snow all at once before dissipating. These massive snow drops have the potential to trap people inside homes, businesses, in doorways, or even bury them outside. If you're unlucky enough to be caught outside, you'll need to cuddle up to keep warm until you or the locals can dig you out. If you're stuck inside, you better start digging out from your doors or you might be stuck for awhile. The cold of these snow drops seem to seep in through the walls, making even those inside want to cuddle up for warmth before either digging themselves out or awaiting rescue.

The gods must not know the saying, "All things in moderation" when it comes to snow!

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This event will run from 15 January to 31 January. Click on each prompt's title to see the text. If you have any questions, feel free to direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread. You can also use the Havenwell Status page or the General Plotting Comment to give you other ideas for original prompts!

Comments

[hedgehogsdilemma]

Receiving praise over it would still be awfully tough to swallow, but admitting that he actually enjoyed chasing after a pursuit of his own choosing is... easier than it may have been even just a year ago. Even just realizing that he'd done something of his own volition that wasn't just productive, but enjoyable, had been a very strange feeling at the time, and going over it now evokes the same sense of strangeness. It isn't bad, though, the smile Kyoko's wearing assures him as much.

"I'm sure Kaji-san had his reasons for keeping his under wraps, but I don't think I'd be able to keep something like that to myself, even if I tried." The underlying desire for some kind of validation is far too strong to resist, but mostly, "Getting to share everything at the end was really satisfying, too."

[daikonrose]

That brings a warm little giggle out, as Kyoko agrees, "I can't complain about getting spoiled~"

Which is maybe not exactly true, she is plenty capable of putting up a fuss, but she really was very happy about it! "But I'd be glad even if you only planted things you can't eat, too. Hard work paying off is bound to feel good no matter what, right?"

[hedgehogsdilemma]

Well then, she should prepare to get even more spoiled now that she has the benefit of living at garden central. Surely she'll have her pick of plenty of watermelons next time around, without the caveat of needing to retrieve them or have them brought over. Convenient melons.

"It really does." A nice change of pace, specifically because it's something he chose to do on his own. It's hard to think of it as anything but a rousing success when he has such sunny confidence pointed his way. "You know, even if I end up growing a bunch of flowers too, you'll have your pick of any if you wanted to press them."

[daikonrose]

Convenient melons! What an incredible luxury, goodness. And he's even willing to offer up his flowers, on top of that? Where does the generosity end?

"Ah, really?? I hadn't thought about it until now, but it would be awfully nice to preserve a little piece of your efforts."

[hedgehogsdilemma]

Adventures in flower crafting, between both Kyoko and Kaito, had given Shinji the impression that it was mostly the aesthetics and end result of it that were important. Sure, the dandelion ring getting preserved was important for the memories attached to it, but for things like bracelets and crowns, what mattered was the effort put into crafting the trinkets, rather than growing the flowers, he'd assumed. Having her remark so pointedly aimed at his efforts is, as a result, pretty surprising.

"If... if that's what you'd like to do, then, of course." He's the one who offered, so he can't really argue. "We'll see what kinds of things we end up with when spring rolls around."

[daikonrose]

While aesthetics are super important--and yes, sometimes the only goal--most of Kyoko's crafting is motivated by a more concrete need. Needing a bag when she can't afford to just buy one, needing the satisfaction of bullying a voodoo doll, needing to keep something precious from wilting away. Pretty pressed flower decorations made from the fruits of her dear friend's work would fit right in.

Not really getting Shinji's surprise--isn't he the one who offered? huh--Kyoko only pauses a moment before shrugging it off, and beaming at him. "I'd like to! Aah, it really makes you look forward to the season changing, right? I wanna see what you pick out."

[hedgehogsdilemma]

"One of many things to look forward to."

Weather improvements, fresh new plant life, whatever... strange things Havenwell feels like throwing at them... it'll be fine, probably. There are plenty of good things waiting on that promise of spring to make up for whatever strangeness is surely around that corner as well.

"You'll have to let me know if you have any requests," maybe the gods will be willing to keep them in mind, should they dish out extra seeds to him again this year! Wouldn't that be nice? "But I'll do my best to brighten the yard up a little bit with whatever I can get my hands on."

[daikonrose]

Kyoko shakes her head, smile softening into something fonder. It's so good to see Shinji smile this much--he really does it more now than when they first met, doesn't he? "Seeing the garden that you want to raise up is really good enough for me, though, you know? If I'm gonna request things, you have to let me tend them too."

[hedgehogsdilemma]

"I wouldn't stop you if that's what you really wanted to do, you know."

Maybe she had meant it in order to dissuade him from any more generous offers, but if that's truly what she wanted... then have at it. Even so, "But if it ends up being something only I was taking care of, then I'd still want to grow things that everyone else in the house likes, too."

It's also what he wants! So it meets her criteria, right? Definitely.

"Even if you don't have anything you'd want, I do hope I end up growing things you'll like, too."

[daikonrose]

"Really?" Maybe she shouldn't be, but she's genuinely a little surprised to hear that. "You wouldn't mind having someone else play around in your garden? I might mess it up though, you know."

Isn't it sort of his own special project? That's part of why it's so much fun to wonder about what he'll plant. "But even so... I can't imagine you'd pick anything I would dislike."

[hedgehogsdilemma]

"I only have a little experience, you know. I don't think you'd be any worse at it than I was when I started." She'd probably only be capable of ruining things as much as he could, really, and he's sure he could trust her not to do anything malicious in the first place. Maybe that's sort of beside the point, though. That last comment leaves him feeling warm in spite of the chill in the air, and a small smile to match crosses his face.

"The offer's going to be on the table no matter what. Even if you're just curious enough to hang around for a little while, it's a spot you'll be welcome in any time."

[daikonrose]

Kyoko has to smile, warmed by how wide Shinji keeps opening his door for her. Ah, they really have come pretty far as friends, huh! It's a nice thought.

"I'll come bother you, then, for sure," she grins. "You'll just have to tell me which weeds I'm allowed to pull."

[hedgehogsdilemma]

"Of course."

It's easy to keep these opportunities available for her when she reacts to them with such a charming smile, aimed right at him! There was a time, not too terribly long ago, where something like that would have simply felt too overwhelming to be intentional, but now... what a nice treat it is, getting her to grin like that.

"Hmm," he shifts gears a little, casting a quick glance toward the sidewalk behind him. "How much space do you think all of that got us?"

[daikonrose]

"Oh!" That's right, they have an objective! As nice as this little chat has been, it's no good if it's not setting them free and getting poor Shinji on his way to warmth. "I wonder! We've said a lot of things by now, right? Let's see!"

Time to investigate! Throwing her hands out in front of her, Kyoko turns around and ventures out a few steps. And then a few more. And then some more?

She's still going??

[hedgehogsdilemma]

There? She goes?! Shinji's eyes widen a little in surprise, and he quickly moves to check as well, just to make sure they're both actually free. Reaching out like he's anticipating something in front of him, he takes a few paces as well.

And another... and another...!!

"I think we did it."

Sweet freedom! Thank goodness!

[daikonrose]

Look at them go! Striding right out in the open! Flying free like birds!

Kyoko raises her arms up and spins around to flash a bright grin. "We did it!! We bared our souls and won the battle! Shinji! The air is so sweet!"

[hedgehogsdilemma]

Even if the air wasn't exactly getting stale in their invisible prison, knowing that they have managed to free themselves does make everything feel much more fresh.

He turns to Kyoko with a relieved smile of his own, "Thank you for your hard work!" Real tough stuff, saying all sorts of truths about themselves. A very serious battle indeed. "Were you on your way somewhere? Do you want me to walk with you?"

[daikonrose]

Shaking her head, Kyoko settles down with a tamer smile, though still plenty cheery. "Thank you for fighting alongside me! I was heading to the library, but don't take a detour because of me. You should warm yourself up quickly!"

[hedgehogsdilemma]

Probably for the best, that way no one gets trapped again.

"If you're sure," he won't argue, not really. He has! Gotten pretty chilly! But if she wanted the company he would have been happy to oblige. Until then, "I'll see you at home, then."