Entry tags:

11/08 - 11/13 Cultural Festival

The school campus opens its doors to the public early Monday morning, with family, friends, neighbors, and strangers arriving to fill up the halls, each visitor having eyes of gold and wallets full of cash. Festival events run from 8AM to 4PM, and pamphlets are handed out by students lining the locker area, which include a schedule and a map of the campus:

✽ The opening event on Monday is an idol performance in the auditorium by the twin star unit GEMINI, consisting of Natsume Sakasaki and Subaru Akehoshi. On Thursday afternoon, the music club will hold a performance in the auditorium, featuring the typical choir with piano accompaniment, a capella performances by smaller groups of members, as well as solos, with requests taken in between performances so members can switch off and take a break.

✽ The student store is open every day up until noon on Saturday, and while the absurdly high prices are still absurdly high, there is a sign up in front of the rock gacha that one of the prizes is an all day pass to any of the school's events for one day of the festival. The odds aren't worth the price, but it's not like the shopkeep reveals the odds.

✽ Class 1-B is hosting a themed cafe in their homeroom.

✽ Class 1-D has turned their homeroom and neighboring classrooms into escape rooms, which runs from Tuesday to Friday.

✽ The robotics/programing club and the gaming club have set up a variety of video games in 2-A, and are hosting a competition between visitors and their AI.

✽ Class 3-D is hosting a kissing booth in their homeroom.

✽ In the home ec cooking room, the cooking club is hosting a cooking contest, with student judges and prizes for the winners.

✽ The sewing club and the art club have put together a photo booth inside the home ec sewing room, featuring all sorts of props and costumes imaginable to try on and pose in front of a number of hand painted backgrounds. Photos are taken by an instant camera for visitors to take home a keepsake. In the art club room, the art club has a gallery set up, with paintings hanging from the walls and sculptures set up in front of them, and a strict no touching policy or one of the members threatens to scoop your eye out with a palette knife and she doesn't look like she's joking. There is a large open canvas, however, for visitors to try their hand at paints or charcoal or pastels on what will become a collaborative art piece done by an entire week's worth of visitors. Occasionally throughout the festival, an art club member will have a space off to the corner for portraits or face painting.

✽ The sewing club has also contributed plush toy prizes for various other class' game stalls throughout the school, where visitors can pay to play for a chance to win small prizes, and are able to trade up several smaller prizes for larger ones.

✽ Out past the courtyard, various sports teams host games throughout the week, including relay races and obstacle courses and tug o' war and """soccer""". Basically it's sports day, because there had been a sports day on the calendar but I never look at the calendar so it was already halfway through the month before I realized.

✽ The fourth floor hallway has been cleaned up and turned into the rest area, with rugs laid out across the ground and comfy chairs scattered around the room and little bags of cat treats for sale to entice the fluffy white cat into hanging out in this space all week. Even without treats, she is content to sit on people's laps and rub against their ankles and let them bury their faces in her stomach. Healing.

✽ In the evening on the final day, after all the visitors leave, a large bonfire is set up in a non-flammable area between the courtyard and pool building and left to burn late into the night for those students who choose to remain on campus until around 8PM, when the festival culminates in a small fireworks show that lights up the sky overhead in reds and golds, while on the ground, sparklers are passed around for a quiet moment appreciating the beauty, and transience, of life.

OOC

✽ Throughout the school year, merit points have occasionally been earned through interactions between students involving strong emotion, whether positive or negative. This month, characters may notice that this happens much more frequently, and the amount of merit points earned is also sometimes more than the typical one point. Please report threads of strong emotion below, as this will minorly affect December.
✽ On 11/23, Yogen sees its first snow of the year, a light dusting across campus that does not stick when the sun rises again the next morning, but it will snow on and off until the end of the month.
✽ This event log doubles as a TDM, with new characters experiencing the recurring feeling of drifting in (school life) and out (canon life) of sleep up until they "open their eyes," after which they will have full awareness and come to their senses.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[yeah no that's way too easy, you don't just ask three members of the gardening club to water some plants and call that a challenge]

What's the catch?

Consideration. Which two of three lack, so I suspect it shall be a while before I see you back.

[It feels a little easy, but...

> Deal?]

( ...Luckily he's nicer to flowers than he is people hitting on a girl who can't say no, but Natsume still studies him for a moment and sighs. )

Is there an order we should water them IN, or should we ask the plants themSELVES?

( Deal. )

Edited 2021-11-13 16:28 (UTC)

[Iolanthe's eyes return to the other, and then across the whole of the room. Which, despite the map design itself, really is filled wall-to-wall, floor and all, with flowers and plants of all kinds and colors.]

Second. A word of advice for one so fair, [though he isn't look at Yashiro at least while he says it,] blue and yellow require a pair.

[... It's their one hint, apparently. He tucks the envelope back where he'd taken it from, peeking out just a little now, and then faces the three again.]

You'll know if they dislike the drink they taste, so ask do I that water you do not waste.

[Iolanthe's last gesture is a slight nod to a trio of watering cans not unfamiliar to them from the gardening club, though very much in the style of the room in their decor. They may be a little unwieldy given their handcuff situation, though.]

( What a chore, but there's three of them; it shouldn't be too bad, as long as they work together.

...Handcuff situation aside. Add's in a pretty bad spot between the three of them considering he's got to contend with being more in-the-middle, but they'll figure that out. )

We appreciate the HINT... Fair Iolanthe. We'll be back once our duty has been seen TO.

( He'll take one of the watering cans and gesture for Nene to do the same, thoughtfully looking at Add... hmm. )

Wasting water would be terriBLE, so do your BEST.

Edited 2021-11-14 06:04 (UTC)

( blue and yellow require a pair... so, two of them watering those colors, then? either way she takes a watering can as well, and tries to grab the last one to hand to add to the best of her ability, after moving the first to her chained hand. a natural and downright impulsive inclination to be helpful and handcuffs do not a sense of comfort make.

she doesn't think things through sometimes and i'm sorry guys. idly, she scans the room for what could be a good place to start. if they're to return to iolanthe last, would the flowers he's tending to also need watering? should it be first or last, if so? carefully, she takes a step, as if leaning over to a flower curiously to ask in her own silent way if it would like some water. )

[Ohhhh, there's absolutely some dumb catch and they're not even gonna explain it properly... Add narrows his eyes, but otherwise holds his tongue and takes up the can offered to him. Whatever this game is about, he's sure as hell not going to lose... they'll just have to play cautiously until they learn the rest of the rules.]

If we're not supposed to "waste", should we skip the fake plants? [does that count as a challenge, identifying real and fake plants... it's still not a very hard one, but assuming they each have a challenge to pass in here it might make sense for the first task to be an easier one.

regardless, he's going to follow Nene's lead and keep an eye out for these "blue and yellow" flowers, since those are the only ones they have specifics on thus far. what about them requires a pair?]

[Iolanthe watches Yashiro, then the other two, and returns to his flowers with a soft, airy comment towards the... other mean boy:]

All plants are real within the realm of the Seelie. Cast falsities from your mind, unless you and yours would like to be treated in kind.

[... Then, gentler to Yashiro--]

They require a voice, fair one. Your others should aid you, if they be companions true.

[As for the flowers and plants themselves--

There are six colors! White, blue, yellow, red, orange, and purple. While blue and yellow must be watered at the same time as per hint, they won't always be next to each other; in addition to this challenge, plants which have no flowering parts are potted in colored pots which follow the same rules as their counterparts.

Once a flower has been correctly deduced, they may be freely watered in a full action. Before that, however, please specify the color being watered. And remember -- all of the plants in the room must be watered, so walk around!

This area at present has only white flowers.]

( shoot. nene can't help but feel more like a supporting role at the moment- and yes, they're important... but. she wants to help more. still, she nods in understanding and looks to the other two. it looks as if for right now, they'll have to lead the way. )

[yeah well maybe he wasn't asking YOU iolanthe!!!!! (i love and appreciate our fairy tulpa even if add doesnt, crying)

He sighs, doing little to hide his irritation... but "they require a voice" is another clue, and it's easier when he can focus on the problem at hand instead of the annoying person bossing them around. So the requirements are blue and yellow in pairs, and they have to ask the plants their preferences verbally... whatever that really means. Plants don't normally speak, so there must be some other indicator triggered by verbal input.

... welp, they won't get anywhere just standing around! This feels incredibly stupid, but Add approaches some of the white potted plants since they're the closest and... stares awkwardly at it for a moment, tries to think of how to say this politely, gives up, and just goes with how he'd address one of his machines—]

White flowers. How do you want to be watered?

After our amazing fairy's proposal, it's true, the room is filled with plants from top to bottom, a variety of colors for them to sort through. Since they chose the white flower that's closest, upon inspection, they will find that the flower is fake.

Even though it's fake, in the realm of the fairies, it's all real to them! Which is true, because real flowers don't talk, and fake flowers can't speak either. So perhaps our trio is at a stand-still. Either way, they may do as they please, but there's something odd about the room, a small little shake of the floor, the smallest tremor, but nothing to worry about. If they happen to look around, everything in the room seems to be in place, nothing has fallen over, and the fairies are tending to their stations as normal. Perhaps something happened underneath the classroom, or maybe out in the hall, but if the fairies aren't kicking up a fuss, do our companions have to?

Due to the small shake, the music seems to have cut off, and now another piece of audio plays instead — the previous song was copyrighted in the land of the fae.

maybe there will be an indicator when it's had it's fill?

( oh lordy, typing one-handed is already hard enough on these things, but then that tremor happens-- at least it's relatively small, nothing disturbed... ... has that happened before in this place? was that part of the escape room? HRM... )

( ...oh, that's Valkyrie. Natsume pauses as he looks to the direction of the DJ fairy, lips pursing; it's not too surprising to think more of their music had come around, considering the ease in which him and Subaru had gotten the instrumentals for their performance, but...

He misses Shu. He hadn't realized the extent of it until now.

Interesting song choice for their circumstances though, to be honest. The tremor is... something to be concerned about too, but he puts it in the back of his mind and focuses back on flowers.

There has to be a way to tell, both for their answer—because otherwise asking about watering is mere courtesy, even if they wait a little bit to hear it—and for when one of them has had enough... Well, they're part of the gardening club. )

In geneRAL, you should only water your flowers about an inch; it isn't that difficult if you're used to knowing the timing of IT. ( Should be okay. ) The flower hasn't said no anyWAY, so give it a TRY.

( like yeah it also didn't say yes but whatever. we're waiting, add, be the guinea pig. )

I know how to water a plant. [and if he sounds flustered it's because he feels really stupid now for trying to talk to one

but okay, fine, since apparently he's the sacrificial guinea pig... he peeks more closely into the pot first, just in case he can spot some kind of monitoring device in there or something else that might hint what they're supposed to do or how they're being tracked. unless there's something suspicious, though, he'll go ahead and... water the fake plant.

...]

[...

A not-so-gentle spray of water from Iolanthe's hose shoots out at the watering teen. It'll aim for his legs, at least, to avoid dishing out onto Yashiro and the other.]

They're not ready.

[asdfsajhgsdg

WHAT HAPPENED TO NOT WASTING WATER he is 2 seconds away from strangling this tulpa so help him]

Then how are we supposed to know when they're ready?!

[Fun is never a waste.]

You'll know.

( if nene looks around the room closely, what do her big doe-eyes see that could mark flowers as different... ready, one may say... or do we gotta find that ourselves. also don't mind her just immediately grabbing add's wrist, don't do a violence please. )

[Is there another split second before Nene grabs Add's wrist where the air seems to feel unnaturally heavy, like someone about to metaphorically flip the table that is this puzzle room...? hmm, must've been their imagination again.

he hisses out a very strained sigh, and he's just going to glare a hole into Iolanthe until someone else solves this part of the puzzle because if he has to talk to another flower and look stupid again he's going to just lose it]

( sighs, okay, at least they know something about blue and yellow flowers, so you know what? the little mermaid is taking the lead a blue flower instead. ... hopefully with how soft he is on her, iolanthe won't spray her with water though if they get something wrong... she really doesn't need her curse activating in front of so many people. )

( natsume, who tried very hard not to laugh and just coughed politely when add got sprayed, extremely thankful he let their grumpiest cat take the hit—

if nene is taking a blue flower, then natsume will find a yellow flower, since if they do need to be watered they have to be done in pairs... preferably one by nene, since she's unable to talk, though with his slack he really ought to focus on reaching ones further away.

but he doesn't trust add to drop his shame for ten seconds again to be sweet on flowers. anyway, )

Little Ones, would you like some water? ( ♪ ) It's alright if you don't say a word; I'm well-versed in chaRADES. One of my best friends prefers to speak with actions, in FACT...♪

( gotta be SWEET SWEET SWEET— )

[...

This time, that boy gets sprayed. Yashiro remains water free.]

They're not ready.

[he'll forgive Natsume for that suspicious cough since they've both been sprayed now, they're even again]

If you're so certain that they're not ready, then just tell us how to tell when they are. Or should we wring that answer out of you by force instead?

[torture still isn't off the table.]

[Iolanthe looks at him, then at the other boy, and finally softer at Yashiro. He stays quiet, then touches a new bud.]

You'll accrue quite the debt here, should you use such words with no fear.

[A fair warning, and the only time he'll give it--

before he sets the hose aside and holds two closed hands out to the three, palm down. Nothing about them seems particularly different, they're just similarly dusted with green.]

One contains the truth, the other a lie. Choose one.

( well- this is a game of chance, isn't it. would he give them the lie or the truth on a whim, or was it truly assigned to whichever hand they picked? --and what could iolanthe be holding, anyways?

... she doesn't want to make a decision without consulting the others. so, after a moment, she looks to add and natsume and raises her write hand as much as she can, tapping it questioningly. this one? or the other? )

11/08 - 11/13 Cultural Festival

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