starhuevalley | STARDROP CELEBRATION: FINAL DAY

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STARDROP CELEBRATION: FINAL DAY

LET'S PARTY!
premise | rules | taken | pick-up

A. Arrivals and Much More

You’re here because you were dropped somewhere that tried sending you home, or you're someone with a call to the heart to explore the vast universe. The buses run at odd schedules, so please pardon any interruptions! I hope you fellas make yourselves at home, here!

[ Marjorie’s whole speech rings through your ears as you begin to explore the area. It seems a few people who arrived on the TDM have already been here for a week, but you’re just a newcomer. So where are you when this all went down? Are you trying to get back on a bus that’ll take you home, or…?

B. Home Sweet Home

[ The dust has settled on the bus ride here, and you can’t help but notice that your farmland… well, it’s a mess. Rocks and grass everywhere, no matter which layout you were set with. You were given a set of tools, and the message that this land is yours to shape or change or build on no matter what you want, so long as it’s yours. The little crate by the edge of the house is what will hold your bounties from farming, collected nightly with money delivered to your mailbox the following day, like some kind of Produce Fairy visited.

The house is in alright shape. It’s not brilliant, but it has a kitchen, a bathroom, and a studio bedroom where all your belongings can be. It’s wide enough to accommodate several things until you upgrade it.

Sometimes you see a stray dog or cat at the edge of your property. Do you adopt it?

Anyway, it’s time to make what you will of your farm. ]

The Last Day Of
The Stardrop Celebration!
FESTIVAL PLAYLIST

[ Down a hill a little ways from Pelican Town is a remarkable festival set-up! Several attractions and vendors line the streets where everything is going down. Where will you go? ]

C. Food Stalls

[ Surrounding the entire property are dozens of food stalls, from all around the universe. Marjorie bussed in caterers from all around with a healthy sum of gold, and they’re happy to sell their wares in this strange place tonight. Where you might find octopus balls, you’ll also find kraken balls. Where you might find corndogs, you’ll find dogs selling corn.

It’s a veritable buffet! And the gold you’ve started with is more than enough to go shopping for food. Have fun! ]

D. Games

[ All manners of Carnival Games are set up! From throwing a baseball at bottles to catching goldfish with a paper net, everything you can dream of is here. There are even some unorthodox games, like dance-offs, karaoke, and a little bit of everything. Apparently, the NPC couldn’t choose who to go with what. It definitely makes for a big festival.

In addition to the above, there’s water gun races, squeaky duck ponds, skee-ball, target shooting, test your strength with a hammer, pitching speed, shooting hoops… and more! ]

E. Three-legged Race

[ You didn’t think this festival was going to go by without tomfoolery, did you? For the prize of 1,000 Gold, you can rally up a partner and get tied to them by the ankle, participating in a no-rules no-bars-held race. The winners will be randomized! But the real gift is going to be the fact that the ties around your ankles? Aren’t coming undone. You’re going to have to be tied together until 11 PM! ]

F. Fireworks

[ Errant magic and mishaps aside, you have to admit, the fireworks show at the end of it all is really something. Marjorie hired a pony for them, and the lights are as ethereal as they are non-traditional. It’s a good moment to snuggle up to someone or enjoy company with a new friend. ]

G. Wildcard

[ Exactly what it says! Make your own prompt. ]

[ OOC; Hello, everyone! This community is L I V E, from now on, you can make both network and action posts on this community, as well as use the notice board pinned to the top of the community! You're also welcome to make IC inboxes for one on one conversation and messaging! We hope you enjoy the community and if you need anything, please leave a note on the contact page! Thank you!

People who want to keep their CR from the test drive; you may! Your characters just arrived a little earlier than others! ]

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It should! It does.

[ She rallies a little at that. As fraught as the topic is, that is something she's had lived experience with. That's something she can say with confidence, even if the path has been rough. ]

Sometimes it doesn't seem like it. When you're living it, it's hard to tell... but it does get easier. It has for me.

Most things do.

[Really, after accepting that you're going to be killed, most things ought to be easier. Hope, thus far, had been elusive--like a switch turned off that was harder to turn back on.]

Then I hope that this will too. Learning to have hope is a pretty good way to live.

[ If she hadn't, then she knows things would be incredibly different for her now. Maybe she still would have made it here to this sleepy little land of farms, but would she have been happy? There's not so many steps from wary disbelief and the confidence she's rebuilt for herself. ]

[That's worth the briefest flicker of something like a smile. It's the closest thing he can manage to a 'thank you' just now.

Thankfully, Yukizome seems like someone who can carry a conversation.]

[ She's become something of an expert at picking up silent cues like that. Her two best friends are pretty big on the implied intent, rather than coming out and saying anything. ]

Anyway... have you tried any of the games yet? They're pretty fun! Like you'd expect from a festival like this, but fun.

The--?

[Of course they're games. Several of them say 'game' across the top. It still takes Horatio a moment blinking around to settle on what she means.]

...no. I... haven't.

Do you wanna?

[ Maybe he's the sort of shy that needs someone to encourage him to start? He seems younger than she is, in which case, it'd be kind of sad if he doesn't know how to play... ]

Most of them are pretty simple! I can explain any if you're curious.

[There's a clear flicker of hesitation. There's a fairly complex mental calculation that has to come with this sort of thing, after all.

But, well, he is still actually young enough that the idea is compelling.]

...you're sure?

I'm sure! I think it'll be fun.

[ She offers her hand, keeping it relaxed, palm up, fingers softly curled. ]

Let's try and make some nice new memories to start off our time here, okay?

[Skittish dogs always need time, as much as anything else, to circle their way back into absolute comfort. Horatio doesn't startle very much at the offered hand, but the innocuous gesture is met with a certain blankness before he takes a simple half-step closer to follow her.

Touch isn't easy, but following isn't so difficult.]

[ Honestly, good enough. Chisa keeps smiling encouragingly at him, careful to be slow as she drops her hand and leading him towards an aisle of booths set up for games. She passes up the shooting games and the goldfish one... maybe this ringtoss one? It seems fairly reasonable in its setup, and it lacks lots of flashing lights and loud noises. ]

--How does this one look?

[The lack of sensory overload is silently appreciated. It's actually a relief to focus in on the relative low-tech simplicity of the ringtoss, enough so that Horatio even takes a half-step forward of his own accord.]

You--?

[It's obvious, of course. There's rings, there's bottles, there's a counter to stand behind. It still feels a bit like a fascinating puzzle.]

We can both try it!

[ As she says that, she's fishing change out of her little coin purse. So what if she's been frittering her money away in drips and bobs all night? Sometimes it's worth it to spend some money. ]

I can show you, if you'd like, and then you can try.

[He's been here a week. The sensation of having actual money to spend is new, but Yukizome's movements prompt his own patting for a few coins.]

--please. Thank you.

Okay! Let's see how it goes, then!

[ Spoilers, she's one of those people who is obnoxiously good at too many things. Even as corrupt as the school became, there's still a lot of truth in the sort of elites that Hope's Peak groomed for graduation. And it's not like carnival games are that difficult when you're used to them.

Which is to say, she does hit her target each time, pretty effortlessly. ]

[Horatio is good at a limited number of things. He's quite good at the things he's had a lifetime of practice for, and he's got quite a bit of untapped potential in mathematics.

But this game? Horatio is not good at this game.

His lips start to twitch toward a smile all the same, because this actually feels like a game. Sure, he's missing every toss, but nothing bad happens as a result. The rings just bounce around and come to rest between the bottles--and no one gets hurt. No one has to suffer. Nothing gets taken away but a handful of small coins.

It pulls a soft sound almost like the beginning of a laugh to his lips after a few moments.]

[ Oh she's vibrating so hard, watching him. Not because he's doing badly, but because she can see that he's not getting frustrated by it, and his attitude is honestly a lot better than her old students would have -- her old classmates, too. She wants to encourage that! It's such a nice change to see!! And ultimately, Chisa Yukizome is a person who is loud and exuberant by preference, so the effort of holding that in and startling him or sending him scuttling back into his shell has to be tamped down.

What she does instead is bounce on the balls of her feet, making little abortive cheering motions as she watches him. Once or twice an excited little squeak escapes her when the ring gets close. Yeah!! Yeah! You can do it!! ]

[Somewhere in this game is physics. Somewhere in the careful adjustment of angles and speed and aim is a mathematical puzzle that time and effort could begin to properly unlock, even without natural talent.

For a heartbeat, Horatio has to wonder if he's actually having fun. It's not something he knows particularly well, but if he had to guess, this might be it.

But then a little squeak ruffles his attention, and forces him to blink back into place.] --sorry.

Ah! No, no, it's okay! I'm sorry!

[ She flaps both hands quickly at his apology and for hers in return. No!! The opposite of what she wanted has happened! ]

You're doing really good! I was really impressed!

[ And she means that honestly, in fact; he might not be getting the rings in place, but the fact that he was relaxing enough to smile feels like a pretty big accomplishment to her. ]

[Horatio isn't terribly familiar with the game, true, but he's still dead certain that he isn't doing well at it. At all. Even a little.

Really, Yukizome doesn't seem disingenuous. She doesn't seem terribly patronizing, either. It's... nice, feeling he's genuinely pleased someone, even in a brief and likely passing way.

But nervous animals often take a beat to relax back after a startle. His fingers twist fretfully around the next ring, suddenly uncertain of himself and at a loss as to how to explain it away.]

I mean it.

[ It's a little easier for her to be calmer now, now that she's no longer !!hype!! to cheer him on. No sudden movements, this time; she keeps her hands folded before her, in plain sight, and rocks gently on her heels. ]

Something like this, it's not really a matter of "how good" you are at it. [ She says, used to the elite of the Super Talented. Whatever!! ] If you enjoy it, and you make a good memory out of it... to me, that's more important than anything else.

[This is easier. This is slow, gentle motion and a soft voice. Really, this is also a little easier to work his mind around with each passing second.

His shoulders are relaxing again. His brow is unfurrowing a bit. His breath is coming easy again as he hazards a nod.]

...a good memory.

[It's an interesting thought--certainly one to latch onto and turn over as his fingers stop fidgeting.]

Mm! To me, that's one of the most important things you could do. Life won't always be easy, but remembering good times can really help you get through.

[ It's certainly saved her more than once, even during the Despair years... which isn't something that she can easily bring up now, and very possibly never, but this part is still something she can say with confidence. ]

It's not just about surviving, it's about living, too.

[Well. That's a sentence Horatio Hornblower hadn't known he had needed to hear.

Everything, from his earliest memory to the moment he had fallen asleep after the first day in the Arena, has been survival. And that, apparently, is what's been missing from this last week in this strange place.

It hits like a punch to the gut, to the point of physically crumpling his shoulders for the few heartbeat it takes to really hear the words.

This is a good thing. This is an important thing. This is going to take a few long seconds of quiet all the same to get the air back into his lungs.]

Ah... Horatio-kun?

[ It's a response she's somewhat familiar with, but one she's only seen in people she's known much better and for much longer than him. He seems skittish enough that she doesn't want to risk misreading him, but... hopefully that was a good thing to say? It's a philosophy she'd abandoned for years under Despair, but at least she's made some progress in reclaiming that. ]

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whisted - 2018-07-26 12:53 (UTC) - Expand

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