{ flower festival 2022 }

[dreamposts]

FLOWER FESTIVAL 2022

The three day Flower Festival has started and the town is covered in blooming flowers, music, smell of good food, and excited atmosphere. Full details on everything can be found here, but an important reminder that this event log doubles as our Test Drive Meme and information can be found in this section.

This means any outside characters participating in the log are canonly logged as appearing in Songerein in April and will remain in Songerein for the rest of the month of April. However, outside characters can only thread within this log, so for those seriously considering the game, you are welcome to use non-festival prompts for your toplevels. Anyone who apps in and is accepted will have their character count April as their first month in the game, so all content will carry over.

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 Sunday, 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)

Y'shtola (FFXIV)
Kotetsu Kaburagi (Tiger and Bunny)
Aerith Gainsborough (FFVII)
Nene Yashiro (Jibaku Shōnen Hanako-kun)
Isabela Madrigal (Encanto)
Rinwell (Tales of Arise)
Lumine (Genshin Impact)
Gran (Granblue Fantasy)
Sanji (One Piece)
Meilin "Mei" Lee (Turning Red)
Rob (The Amazing World of Gumball)
Akira Toya (Hikaru no Go)
Zhongli (Genshin Impact)
Yuuki Konno (Sword Art Online)
Kuja (FFIX)
Nice (Hamatora)
Peggy Carter (MCU)
Leo Valdez (Heroes of Olympus)
Snatcher (A Hat in Time)
Roland (Library of Ruina)
Son Gohan (Dragon Ball)
Gracious Skylark (OC)
Faith Lehane (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Thancred Waters (FFXIV)
Izaya Orihara (Durarara!!)

I. FLOWER VIEWING

There are gardens and flowers everywhere, but the main central location for the flower viewing is around the eastern side of town between the treehouses and the outside fields. Here there are plenty of both open and shaded spaces anyone can take to sit back, have a picnic, and enjoy the flowers blooming in the trees and along the ground. Food stalls are stationed by the treehouses for anyone who needs a meal and they provide blankets and picnic baskets as well.

A. Flower Crowns. Can't enjoy a flower viewing without flower crowns! There's an abundance of flowers that can just be taken and used to make them, but there are folks who go around and pass some out for those unable to. Or perhaps flower pixies may "bless" people with special flower crowns, tailor made with flowers that match the individual's personality. Once worn, the flowers will reflect the mood of the wear and may even grow depending on how much positive emotion they soak up from the wearer. That crown may become more of a headdress.

B. Flower Serenade. Although it's meant to be a calm, relaxing affair, the flowers are drinking in the festive atmosphere and now have a tendency to sing their joy. They are especially drawn to any couples and will start to serenade them with…an assortment of "romantic" songs. Some may be persuaded via calm emotions to quiet down to a more melodious hum while others may be a little more obnoxious.

C. Flower Maze. In one of the fields, a special flower maze has been erected made of hedges and questionably large flowers, their petals spanning several feet in length. These flowers will move and shift, using their petals to create sudden dead ends and new openings to alter the paths through the maze. No pushing past! The petals will be resistant. If a couple is being particularly flirtatious, they'll curl out and drop down to form a kind of "flower curtain" with their petals surrounding the pair. Whether it's to give the couple privacy or to shield innocent eyes, who's to say. In this scenario the petals can be easily brushed away and the flower will lift up to return to its position.

II. ENTERTAINMENT

All along the market square and the riverbank, stores and booths line the streets to provide goods, food, and entertainment for all festival goers.

A. Music and Dance. In the Central Plaza near the Tree of Memories is a cleared off area with a stage platform set up. Here anyone is welcome to grab an instrument, the microphone, and start singing or playing music to entertain the crowds. The floor is open for anyone to dance along or even show off a special dance performance of their own. Flower petals will join along as well, swirling through the melodious winds and even taking on the shape of some of the music notes.

B. Game booths. Come one, come all! Try out the various carnival games on offer. The game booths can be found lining around the riverbank and while there are many, here are some of the more popular ones:

• Pebble Toss. Use dreamotion to change the color of a pebble and toss it into a bucket of water. The bigger the effect on the water, the more points scored. Earn enough points to win a prize!
  
  
• Goose Rings. Try to toss a ring around the neck of a goose sculpture. Which is, of course, magically enchanted to move around and dodge the rings. Being a goose, the sculpture is a bit of a jerk; it’s attuned to players’ dreamotion energy and will absolutely move around more as they get frustrated, so keeping one’s cool is important.
  
  
• Bubble Pop! Use dreamotion darts to pop magical bubbles floating across a board. Can be played alone (score points by popping as many of one color as possible) or competitively (whoever pops the most of their color wins).
  
  
• Flighty Flowers. Create colorful paper flowers and use them to craft a floating lantern. The higher and further the lantern flies, the bigger the prize earned. Or, if one is especially creative or creates especially colorful flowers, they may just win a big prize regardless of how high it flies. Players can keep their lanterns if they wish.
  
  
• Smash! Toss balls at a series of bottles to try and knock them over. To keep with the theme of the festival, the bottles are tiny terrariums. Thanks to the magic of the festival,, the plants inside the bottles remain undisturbed no matter how many times they’re knocked over.
  
  
• Swan Boat Races. Find a boating partner and participate in a timed race where you have to navigate through obstacles and try to post the fastest time with fewest penalties. Use dreamotion to get through obstacles like ramps, slow whirlpools that will cause the boat to spin in place, turbulent waters, etc. If not interested in the races, people are welcome to help paint and decorate the swan boats! They have to match the mood of the festival, after all.

III. TREE OF MEMORIES

At the center of town is a giant tree that is as tall as a clock tower and with giant books about as tall as a person hanging off its branches. There are a few attractions set up here and there are also some small owls that fly around and greet anyone who come by. They serve as the "guardians" of the tree, and should anyone try to harm it, they will converge together to form a giant owl to deal with them.

A. Dream Petals. As the Tree's petals fall, anyone who manages to catch one before it hits the ground will find their secret dream reflected on it. It could be something they are longing for or something they wish to keep from anyone. Once the dream's reflection is complete, it will remain on the petal and can be viewed at any time.

B. Dreamscape Rooms. Selected by the owls, a few of the books can be found lying open on the ground. Everything is blank—there are no titles, no words, no pictures. The owl will beckon anyone who wants a "fun adventure" to dreamwalk into the book and have an adventure through its pages. It could be any established fairy tale, folklore, myth, legend or perhaps something random. The "players" will be thrown into random roles for the story and will need to complete at least three objectives (which can be handwaved). There is a one hour time limit so if anyone is unable to get through the story, the owls will yank them (safely) out and the book will remain on the ground for another group to try their luck. If they succeed, the story will magically appear on its pages and the book will hang proudly on the tree's branches.

C. Soaring Butterflies. Ever wanted to just ride on something huge and enjoy the flight? There are giant butterflies that are large and strong enough to carry up to three people on their backs. These butterflies are actually local to Songerein and brought in by a native Fae. Whether that makes them more or less trustworthy is up to the character, but the butterflies are definitely frisky—and fast.

D. Book Cages. Sometimes something a little weird happens around the Tree. Black wispy energy will seep from the hanging books and they will suddenly drop down on unsuspecting visitors, especially anyone who has a lot of love in them. The book will open and the pages will fly out like walls and trap the victim before it transforms into a cage and hurls them back up high into the tree. Although unharmed, the prisoner will start feeling some of their feelings of love being drained away and making them more irritable and hateful towards things. It will be up to someone else to try and get them out. Fortunately it's not too difficult a task—just need to get up that tree somehow and break through the iron-paper bars. Some fire should do the trick. The problem is, it needs to be fire made from dreamotion and focused on some variant of love or loyalty. It doesn't have to be towards the prisoner at least, so anyone should be able to help. However, the tree seems intent in keeping the prisoner, so thorny vines will try and smack anyone away. The owls will also try to assist, but they're kind of small and useless and can't use their ultimate transformation to harm the tree. Maybe the Giant Butterflies might be useful?

IV. FINAL DAY

On the third and final day of the festival, the winners of the Flower King and Queen contest are announced. However, there's a huge surprise as everyone finds themselves in a costume. While all contest participants have their own "Royal Court" theme, everyone else will find themselves suddenly dressed like a flower. There are a lot of variations from elegant to downright silly. Best(?) of all, the costumes will stay on until sundown. While parts may be loosened, altered, and removed for a short period of time, the costume will refuse to be changed out of and any attempts will be futile.

A. Flower Power. While some may feel very…uncomfortable in their new "wardrobe," others are having a blast with the small powers that come with the costume. With just a wave of their hand flowers will appear and bloom, and they will leave a trail of flowers wherever they go. But most importantly, they have glitter pollen which is to help bring about love and joy to all! However, not everyone is enjoying the glitter all over the place and some are growing more irritable and hateful instead, which is twisting their own pollen to spread negative feelings instead. Help soothe the unhappy ones and clean up the mess!

B. Flowerworks. Once sundown hits and everyone is back to their usual attire, a call is made to announce the "Flowerworks" presentation and for all to gather out into the fields. The moment the sun is completely set and the stars appear in the strange, moonless sky, a light will shoot up and burst into a beautiful, flowery display. It's a fireworks show, but instead of using traditional fireworks, glowing flowers are sent up instead, their petals illuminating brightly as they drift harmlessly down to the crowds.

Comments

Gracious Skylark | OC | TDM

[inspiteful]

1. Game booths
[ Skylark can be found most likely at the Pebble Toss, Goose Rings or Bubble Pop booths, where you'll find he has very good aim.

Mostly. When it comes to the Goose Rings, he's caught off guard by the moving goos statue, and as his attempts go on the goose statue just moves more. The dead-eyed stare he's giving it says a lot about how annoyed he is. ]

I think the goose is mocking me, at this point...

[ He can also be found trying his hand at some of the other games, if you'd like to come up with your prompts! ]

2. Tree of memories
a. Dream petals
[ Skylark's personally never seen a tree this big before, so when the petals fall, he reaches out to catch one out of curiosity. He definitely wasn't expecting to actually see something reflected on it: a woman who looks quite similar to him, seated and playing a guzheng while smiling serenely.

He finds himself staring at it for a good long while, with an expression that can only really be described as "complicated". ]

b. Dreamscape rooms
[ He's heard about the dreamscape rooms, and he's curious to try them out!

He also has no idea how this "dreamwalking" is supposed to work, so he's been looking at some of the empty books in confusion before he works up the courage to ask someone for some help. ]

Excuse me? Would you be interested in trying one of these out?

c. Book cages
[ Who has two thumbs and found himself getting caught in a book cage? This guy. Possibly you heard him yell as he was getting trapped, or maybe you're seeing him try to cut the iron-paper bars with a knife to no avail. Either way, he's pretty irritated about this. ]

Oh, come on!

3. Wildcard
[ If you'd like to play something else, or just want to plot or discuss things with me, you can hit me up at paperforest or paperforest#2872! ]

1

[zomboii]

Ouhhh....

[ That goose statue is definitely mocking him. But hey! At least Gracious won't be alone in his suffering, because someone else has been watching him fail at ring-toss-on-a-goose for some time now: this guy.

His clothes are a bit frayed at the ends and more than a little worse for wear, his hair's unkempt and the pallor of his skin is a bit off, but he is watching poor Gracious's attempt with rapt attention...............or well. He's watching the goose with rapt attention, because it looks close enough to the actual thing that he's wondering if he would get in trouble if he tried to climb the counter to get at it.

Part of him was hoping Gracious would catch the goose with the ring and maybe he could ask him to share it (yes, he's absolutely convinced the prize of this game is the goose itself). So naturally when Gracious looks like he might be giving up he decides to hover a bit closer, leaning in to peer at him.

"No?" he signs, pointing at the goose (trying to ask "you're not going to catch it?" but lacking the vocabulary) ]

[inspiteful]

[ Unfortunately, Skylark does not know sign language, but he can tell this guy is trying to ask him something. Right now, the pallor doesn't seem too unusually off to him (but probably that's because he's preoccupied with beating this damn goose).

...It's about the goose, isn't it? ]

I mean, I would like to get this stupid goose.

[ Please. At this point, his pride is at stake. ]

[zomboii]

[ The goose must be defeated, it is true. It has never been more true than in this moment!!

....because he really, really wants to try eating goose. He's had chicken before, but geese tend to be good at flying and all that, which makes catching and eating them much harder than land-bound birds. ]

Ouh...

[ He received no response in sign, so he interprets it correctly as Skylark not knowing it and tries a different approach: a thumb's up as he points to the goose. If this guy is done throwing rings at the goose, maybe he can convince Skylark to allow him to just bum-rush the thing. ]

[inspiteful]

[ ???

...Wait, this guy can't be suggesting... ]

You want to try?

[ He has no idea he's maybe consenting to bum-rushing a goose statue and not just an attempt to beat this game. ]

[zomboii]

Auh, auh!

[ I mean. Skylark didn't give him an obvious no, so he's just going to nod and keep that thumb nice and poised.

Don't you worry, Skylark. He's got this.

...Which is about all the warning he gives before he climbs up and over the game counter and jumps after that goose 8') ]

[inspiteful]

[ THIS WAS NOT WHAT HE WAS EXPECTING??? ]

Wha— wait, what are you doing?!

[ Not that Skylark can quite stop him because, there he goes. The good news is that while the goose statue is enchanted to dodge the rings, it's not quite suited to actually attempt fleeing someone trying to grab it?

...On the other hand whoever's running the booth is probably going to notice this commotion. ]

[zomboii]

[ Ohhh yeah. It's hard to miss someone launching themselves at a rather distressed enchanted goose and trying to take a bite out of them.

"Wh--hey! What the heck do you think you're doing?!"

These words, of course, fall on deaf ears. Zombie boy's biggest concern right now is trying to keep a hold on the enchanted goose as it honks loudly and flaps in the utmost distress. Even more frustrating is that every time he bites it, the goose is hard--almost like it's made of wood or something. But that would be silly, right? Geese aren't made from wood. Who would want a wooden goose?

Clearly he just need to gnaw on it a little harder.

"Stop that!! Get down from there!!" ]

[inspiteful]

[ Why's he trying to eat the goose, holy shit?! At this point, Skylark climbs over I to the booth to try grabbing onto the boy's arm, or something. He turns to try and speak to the stall owner:]

I'm sorry, I think this is a misunderstanding—

[ "Just get him down from there first!" ]

[zomboii]

[ But Skylark he has to kill this goose!! He's sure there's tasty meat in there somewhere...!

Or, he's pretty sure up until the moment that his sleeve is grabbed, stopping him mid-lunge for the poor thing's neck. Only then does he actually look back and see the commotion he's caused, the irate and flabbergasted stall keeper, and poor, poor Skylark. ]

....Ou.

[ So. This looks a little sticky ]

book cages

[startraveler]

[As Aether investigates the tree, he notices the cages and thinks of checking them later. His plans, however, change completely the moment he hears a yell. The traveler quickly scans the area and soon enough spots someone trapped in one of the book cages.

Not wasting any time, the boy decides to climb. Thankfully climbing is something he's done way too many times back in Teyvat so he reaches the captive's level in no time.]

Don't worry! I'll get you out of there!

[He's not quite sure what to do yet, but he's good at figuring things out. Sadly, Aether never realizes there's a thorny vine right behind him. The tree won't let him free anyone easily!]

[inspiteful]

[ Not gonna lie, Skylark wasn't expecting someone to actually try to rescue him, and he's impressed by how quickly Aether climbs up -- but he doesn't have time to dwell on either of those when he spots the vine behind Aether. ]

Behind you!

[startraveler]

[At the warning, Aether quickly turns his head, just in time to see the vine lunging at him. He avoids the attack, then tries to push himself up onto a branch to free his hands. A sword quickly appears in his hands, almost as if out of thin air. The tree is relentless though, and soon more vines join the first one. Aether tries to cut them as fast as he can, but they still land a hit on him, making him struggle to keep his balance on the branch.]

...This will take a moment, but don't worry!

[He doesn't want to give up.]

[inspiteful]

[ Skylark would like to say that if someone tells him that, that just makes him worry more? But that's not at all helpful in this situation. Besides, standing here and doing nothing while someone's trying to help him out doesn't sit well with him.

He reaches out between the bars of the cage and seems to pull a silver knife out of thin air before he tries to throw it at a vine. The limited movement of his arm means it's not a very effective attack, however. ]

Ugh, damn it. Be careful!

[startraveler]

[The throw may not be very effective but it makes the vines flinch and gives enough of an opening for Aether to attack. He slashes a few times and thankfully this is enough to cut into the vines and make them retreat.

He has to work fast now.]

I'll get you out of there.

[He tries to get to the cage now and examine it. A slash with a sword proves that the paper-like bars can't be destroyed that easily.]

[inspiteful]

[ Why is it a cage made out of book pages that can't be cut? Seriously! Where's the logic in that? ]

Do you have any fire or something? Maybe that will work?

[ Surely, right? ]

[startraveler]

[Fire is one element he still doesn't control, so Aether takes a moment to think. Suddenly, he recalls Thoma showing him how to use dreamotion energy and the traveler decides to give it a try. He focuses on his feelings like he did when he was training with Thoma. Back then thinking of his sister formed the energy in his palm like a shine of the star. Will this be enough to create fire?

He presses his hand against one of the bars made of paper and closes his eyes. It takes a moment of silence, before faint light starts emanating from his palm. The light then turns into a small flame that burns the bars away.]

It's... working.

[Aether is amazed he managed to do it.]

[inspiteful]

It's working!

[ And Lark will be curious to ask Aether how he did it, but only once they're in the clear (and hopefully, far from trouble). Once the bars burn away, Skylark hops out to land on a nearby tree branch. He smiles in relief at Aether. ]

Thank you so much. I owe you one.

[startraveler]

[Aether smiles right back.]

Don't mention it--

[And just as he says it, the tree comes back with more vines. It looks like it doesn't want to give in just yet!]

...It looks like it'd be better if we get away from here!

[This tree is just not friendly at all.]

1

[crowdobserver]

[Izaya has been watching this amusing dude for a while. The way he gets frustrated and annoyed amuse Izaya quite a bit he couldn't help but walk closer to the guy and say:]

My my... you are not really good at this aren't you?

[inspiteful]

You know it's pretty rude to come up to someone to tell them that, right?

[ ...Says the kid who's too irritated to bother with being polite himself, at the moment. ]

[crowdobserver]

Hmmm... so you would rather let me lie to you and said you are doing well instead?

Wouldn't that be rubbing the salt to the wound?

But if that's what you prefer it's fine with me. You are actually not bad at this game!

[he smirks. clearly playful. sorry you have to deal with this.]

[inspiteful]

[ ... What the heck's with this guy? Is he just unlucky to have met a smartass??

(Somewhere internally, Lark is bracing himself to age like 5 years or something just from this conversation. There's a feeling in his gut, conditioned through a lot of experience, that tells him it's probably gonna happen. This already sounds like it's gonna be tiresome. ) ]

I'm not asking you to lie to me, but you don't have to say it either.

[crowdobserver]

Because you already know it yourself? I guess pointing what's obvious is not really helping.

[then Izaya just stand there, observing him.]

So, are you gonna continue?

[inspiteful]

Yeah. What, are you gonna watch?

[ He fully intends to play regardless of Izaya's answer, but he feels the need to ask, if only so he knows if he's gonna be bugged further. ]