songerein | { flower fest 2024 }

Entry tags:

{ flower fest 2024 }

FLOWER FESTIVAL 2024

It's the third annual Flower Festival! While the majority of the event is focused on the actual festival portion, we do have a part two featuring Nahida's Dreamscape that is creating a time loop for the third day of the festival. A separate log will be posted on the 17th and it is part of the TDM so those who are TDMing can also participate on both logs.

More details on everything can be found here and here. As a reminder, events double as our TDMs and information can be found here. Any outside characters participating in the log are canonly logged as appearing in Songerein in April and will remain in Songerein from the IC date of April 12th, a few days before the Festival begins. TDM only characters can only thread within this log. Anyone who apps in and is accepted will have their character count April as their first time in the game without any disruption, so all content will carry over. Those who do not apply will disappear which should not seem too unusual, however players in game can choose to retcon and pretend a character was never there to begin with if it would be easier; or even think their presence was just a dream.

IMPORTANT! All outside characters MUST have "TDM" in their subject line, even if you might not app. This will help people differentiate those who are already in the game and those who are not.

TDM threads are required for samples. Refer to the Game Info for general information and feel free to toss any questions here. Reserves will open April 24th and Applications will open on May 1st. Our application cycles are bi-monthly so the next cycle after won't be until July.

TDM Toplevel Link Directory (click to view)

TO BE ADDED

We will request any thread submissions for certain prompts during AC and TDM threads will count. For more information, refer to the Game Notes.

I. THE FESTIVAL

II. FINAL DAY(S)

COMMENTS

I. THE FESTIVAL

Another year, another festival to usher in the beautiful season of spring. This year, the festival will have an Alice in Wonderland theme, with the flowers more lively, giant mushrooms available to sit and rest under, and a very whimsical atmosphere all around. While many will be taking the opportunity to pursue more romantic endeavors, the festival encourages all kinds of relationship building.

A. POLLEN PROBLEMS. It's as if the trees themselves are doing this as the pollen is thick and heavy when the Festival comes around. Coming in different colors, it is everywhere, even blanketing surfaces with a thin coat of it. Those who get an unfortunate whiff will find themselves in a bit of a sneeze attack, and at the end of it a random effect will occur. From changing hair colors, to sneezing bubbles or glitter, to gaining a shining, flowery aura—the possibilities are endless and the effect will last for a few minutes before it goes away. While ultimately harmless, those with allergies are having a worse time, so efforts are being made to try and wash away any heavily affected areas.

B. PRANKS. There's a lot of mischief going on during the festival, caused both by devious pixies and people who just enjoy messing with others. Some even try to use these pranks to help bolster "relationships," but whether they succeed is another matter.

🌷 Flower Curse. Some flower pixies are having a lot of fun this year by turning random people into different flowers. Fortunately, it's quite obvious when someone is cursed since the flower itself is still very large and has the person's facial features in the center. Totally not creepy. It will wear off after ten minutes, but to help free the cursed individual faster, they just need to pour honey water over them.
🌸 Cherry Blossom Flood. Somehow or another, there is an enormous amount of cherry blossom petals flooding the streets, and in some places it's thick enough that it seems to flow and move like a small stream. While some find it entertaining and even try swimming through it, others would rather have it cleaned up.
🔫 Flower Showers. Careful while walking past certain orchids as they will suddenly spray water. Fortunately it's just a light spray and not a full hosing, but if enough of them decide to work together…
🌼 Flower for Your Thoughts. There are special daisies that will sing whatever thought or idea passersby may have, and they have quite a sizable radius. Can't keep any secrets around these!

C. ACTIVITIES. There are numerous different games and activities available around town, most of them flower themed, but traditional festival game booths are around for those who may want a break from the flowers.

🪢 Red Rose String of Fate. When it's least expected, a special ring with a small red rose will appear on the ring finger with a red string attached. Following it will reveal another person on the other end. Could it be their fated partner!? Well, sort of—while it could have romantic undertones, it can also be platonic as ultimately this string is to connect people to just go around the festival with! They must participate in at least one festival activity for it to fall off.
💐 Bouquets. Make some cute floral bouquets and arrangements! Could be for a gift or to take home for yourself. All flowers will have positive dreamotion effects, making anyone who sniffs them feel light and happy. However, be careful as some pranksters have slipped in some of the silly prank flowers (water spraying, singing thoughts).
🪷 Flower Terrarium. Participants can hand pick special flowers from a designated garden to design their own unique terrarium. Miniature figures and decorations can also be used, and it is said that if made with a significant other, the terrarium will grow and change to reflect their relationship.
👑 Flower Crowns. A fun tradition of making beautiful flower crowns to wear around the festival. This year the butterflies will be attracted to them, so don't be surprised if they flutter around.
👒 Flower Hats. For those who may want a bit more shade from the sun, hats are an option to make instead. One can either use a normal hat to adorn and decorate with various flowers, or actually try to weave their own basket hat.
🌺 Flower Charms. There is a special station set up for anyone who would like to craft their own flower charms to keep. Using positive dreamotion, crystallize the flower petals, paint and decorate the charms with beads, and who knows, maybe these charms will come in handy! For example, clovers will grant extra luck, roses will attract people to the bearer, gladiolus petals will grant a bout of strength and courage. How people use these is up to them!
🖼️ Petal Pictionary. Who doesn't love a fun game of Pictionary? Participants must pull a prompt from a hat and draw it using only dreamotion and flower petals. Good luck!

D. TEA PARTY. To fit the theme of the festival, the fae have organized a charming and whimsical tea party for all to gather amidst a garden of flowers, complete with floral-inspired refreshments and delicacies. If you are looking for a place to relax in a quiet place away from the thick of the festival, want to sit and enjoy some food and drink, then you've come to the right place. While normal foods are provided, there are some special ones that should be noted.

💮 Candied Flowers. From flower shaped candies to candied edible flowers, these delectable treats will make anyone feel sweet, though eating too much may give a bit of a candy rush.
🍰 Special Cakes. Eating a bite of the cakes will bring forth good, happy memories and will leave people feeling nostalgic, and at ease with a sense of serenity. However, be wary as the fae can be tricksters, and some cakes are laced with magic that will randomly shrink people down to teacup size.
🍵 Tasty Teas. These sweet teas are quite enjoyable, and will make flowers of all kinds bloom in one's hair when drunk. For those who have been shrunk down to size, the tea is the answer to regaining their rightful size again. Find the correct tea by taste-testing some, but this is just as random as the cakes. You may need some help from a friend, though.
☕ Curious Coffees. A great pair for the cakes, these coffees will spark curiosity in even the most uninterested of people. They will feel more compelled to ask questions and start conversations when they may otherwise not.
💟 Speed Friending. Sometimes, the fae will initiate a fun little game that will get everyone up and moving around to different tables. Each "round" will last about ten minutes, and in that time, they encourage and even expect people to get to know the person they are sitting across from before the timer is up. Ask questions, tell a story, share a cake, make a new friend!

E. TERRARIUM FLOWER MAZE. Everyone loves mazes, and this year there is a new twist to it. That is because when one reaches the location where the maze is, there are only several tables with terrariums on top of them, all of different designs and sizes. The mazes are inside these terrariums, and participants are shrunk down to the size of a small bug, making all the flowers, plants, and structures inside huge despite their original small size. Now they must utilize all their skills and resources to try and make it through the giant flower maze. Fortunately there are friendly caterpillars inside as these terrariums are doubling as a safe place for them to make their cocoons, and will help guide anyone who is really lost. There are also small miniature buildings and bridges that are just the right size for the maze goers, so one can take a small rest or just enjoy the new perspective.

F. ORKILI HOLOPROJECTION. As part of their contribution for the festival, the Orkilins have provided a special stage with a holographic device similar to the one they use in their city to project the sky on the cavern ceilings. The one used for the festival will project whatever scene or thought from those behind the stage and create a unique performance no one will have seen before. Musicians in particular will utilize this technology to throw louder and more energetic concerts than before, dazzling listeners and dancers with the lights and visual effects.

II. FINAL DAY(S)

The winners have been announced and as customary magic descends upon everyone and in the next moment they are in their assigned costumes. Every other guest will find themselves in some kind of chess themed costume. As usual, players can have a lot of creativity so you can make them as normal, silly, sexy, or some kind of combination you feel like tormenting your character with. Those who are white will be part of the "Day" court, and the black pieces will be "Night". a character's movements may be affected by their chess costume. Bishops will have a tendency to to walk diagonally, Knights may want to jump around to move for no reason, and Pawns take small steps. This isn't something that happens all the time, but at random, so have fun with it! And when faced off with an opposite color, a sense of competitiveness will form and people may try to compete or be difficult to let anyone pass by.

A. ROYAL COURT. Those of the Royal Court in particular will be out either enjoying the festival in their new "roles" or trying to help cheer and help entertain with the use of their costumes.
🐇 Animal Roundup. Some animals are on the loose all over town, and those in the animal costumes will have a better time catching them and returning them to their pens. Alternatively, those in the animal costumes may find themselves surrounded by animals and have difficulty moving, so they might need some help.

B. CHESS GAME. There is now a giant holographic chess board, courtesy of another holographic projector provided by the Orkilins. Everyone can act as a chess piece on the board, with fake plastic pieces used for any fill-ins. Try and win against the opposing team—or fall over and end up in a game of musical Twister when the machine glitches.

C. PAINT IT RED. A new game is introduced where those who wish to participate are given special paint brushes and must paint as many things red as possible. Don't worry, the paint isn't permanent and will glisten and shimmer once dried. Of course some will counter this by either washing off the paint or change it to blue. The Queen of Hearts will not like this at all, so fix it quickly!

D. FLAMINGO CROQUET. Another new game has been set up near the Terrarium Flower Maze called "Flamingo Croquet." There are a few differences to this croquet gain. Instead of wooden mallets everyone must use plastic flamingos and the arches to hit the ball through are made of cards. There are also a few new conditions...

🦩 Flamingoed. Whether it's by the Queen of Hearts herself or someone else pretending to be her for the game, if someone is tapped by the "Queen" they will turn into a flamingo. Now the person must use their head or beak to smack the ball through the arches—or have someone pick them up and use them as a mallet. Successfully getting it through three times will return them to normal, or at the end of the round if they fail to do so.
🃏 Substitution. Sometimes the cards will get knocked over and will refuse to stay up. At that point, a random person will be selected to take its place. Either stand there with legs spread open or go on their hands and knees to create an arch. They must stay this way until better cards are provided to replace them or until the end of the round.

E. WILTED. Strangely, some flowers and plants around town show signs of wilting with the tips of their leaves withering. Gardeners speculate that all the activity may have had an adverse effect on the flowers and thus suggest any who are able to try and soothe and help the flowers relax. Sing to it, pour special honey water over them, or even replace the soil to give them some fresh nutrients. Doing so will bear signs of improvement.

F. ON REPEAT. As the festival draws to a close, some will wish they could spend another day with all the fun and good cheer that blossomed over the weekend. And just as everyone starts to return home and awaken the next day… They will start the last day of the festival all over again and are none of the wiser. The Royal Court winners are announced again, the costumes appear once more, and everyone starts the day as if they never experienced it before and without any recollection. And it happens again and again and again… Until the cause of the loop is broken.

While most people will remain unaware, others may notice a few things on subsequent loops: becoming more sluggish and tired, questioning an action while feeling an intense sense of deja vu, all of which increases with each iteration. To break out of the loop, they must notice different details that change, such as a pot of roses that was changed to daises, or the location of a stall moved to another. Perhaps even repeating a series of actions and noticing a different action is taken. Once broken out of the loop, they can go out and search for the cause, which will be Nahida's dreamscape (separate log to be posted later).

I. THE FESTIVAL

II. FINAL DAY(S)

COMMENTS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

“Ah I see. In any case, you would have liked seeing the glitter pollen in the previous festivals when everyone is stuck with floral based costumes. Maybe we could have traded it for anything, including food, for any and all attempts to clean up the town with.”

“Arf, arf!” Pooka barks nervously as he and Madhka see their master to continue walk very very slowly.

“I really do hope that this small step quirk will end at any moment now. It is getting very tricky for me to walk around without the worry of tripping and getting hurt.”

Najaran nodded. "I like how much food is everywhere, but it is hard to eat like this."

“No kidding, I didn’t expect these costumes to be this difficult to wear or get used to. I got to admit, this does remind me similarly of what I had been through in the Realm of Stories before I came here. We had to take on roles in order to restore a story with some twists of our own.”

"Oh, like how I was turned into a character from a book I found after the other week?" She wanted that power back.

“Yeah, it is very likely that it is very similar to my time in the Realm. I mean, anyone can take on a role from fairy tales and legends and make their own version of said tale.”

"Like they could choose?"

“Back in that world, we don’t usually have a choice on which role we get to play as. In most story campaigns as we call the missions in there, you can’t repeat the same roles twice. In one story campaign alone, I had taken on three different character roles. Likely so people can take turns portraying those characters in some fashion.”

"Oh... I just wouldn't mind having that power I had when I was changed into one again. But without losing my other abilities..." Or memories.

“Yeah that could be a good possibility. I was already thinking about how anyone can could try to gain the abilities and powers related to one tale without losing any pre-existing abilities we have. There were plenty of people who have gained the similar abilities during a major battle we had less than a year ago in order to face the Story Eater and get to keep them in the end.”

As someone who got the chance to be Vasilisa the Beautiful twice by now, she could see more people gaining fairy tale based abilities and still be themselves and retain their normal abilities too like what she had went through throughout her world hopping adventures.

"But there might be a way?" she asked, hopeful.

“That is a good question you have brought up. I think that there could be more opportunities for people to get those abilities someday. It would be amazing if anyone can tap into them and use them in any way they see fit. May take a long time to get there but it is very much possible based on my experience.”

Oh gee these small steps might be getting her pretty dizzy from staring at the ground all day. Pooka is whimpering in fear of his owner falling on her face at any moment if this costume shenanigans keep on happening.

"That would be wonderful! My power was turning things into yummy food. Then I'd never have to go hungry again!"

Or... she might eat a whole world. But there was no one here to point that out.

“The ability to turn anything into food? Hmm. Now that does sound like a unique ability that a lot of people wouldn’t normally consider having, that would make you stand out more from the crowd. I’m pretty sure that it will come in handy if ever we need to have food during a trip or a very long quest.”

Honestly, Anya isn’t too surprised by Naja’s large appetite by this point although her pets didn’t seem to take notice of such big thoughts of food from a person before.

"I... was just thinking that I could make sure me and my friends all have enough to eat..." she admitted sheepishly.

“Well that is still nice to ensure that your friends are being taken care of and make sure that they have something to eat, looking after people’s needs is a honorable thing to do. Even if it is just for friends and family.”

She nodded. "And then... I wouldn't be upsetting anyone else with how much I eat either!"

“Well I don’t see anything wrong with eating loads of food. Everyone needs to eat food in order to go about their day and enjoy life, so there should be no looking down on people who really loves to eat a lot.”

"Thanks," she said with a weak smile.

“Anyway, do you want do something in the festival at the moment while we’re still in these costumes at the moment? I might need to do something to keep that dreadful thought of thinking too hard on these small steps.”

“Bark, bark!”

"Can we get food like this?" she asked, unsure.

“I do hope so. There is a big tea party in here that we can go to get some sandwiches, cakes and teas,” Anya informs her, “They have a good variety of food in there so you can pick whichever food you want to eat. Tea parties seem to be a very big thing in Europe from what I have seen.”

“Bark, bark.”

"I never heard of a Europe, but it sounds yummy!"

Anya chuckles for a good while, she didn’t expect someone with no experience with geography to find the continent of her origins to have a delicious name but she finds it very humorous regardless though.

“Okay then, let’s head over to the tea party before people start to come in and the place gets crowded.”

"Yes!" she said, happily.

“Alright then, let’s go!” Anya happily chimes as she leads the way to the tea party even while she is struggling to move around with her still stuck to walking in small steps and her pets watching over her as they have to be ready for any falls she might encounter.

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