vatheon | Monthly Mingle Log

Another month has passed and it is time for another oppertunity to mingle. Knowing of the curse that haunts the foreigners, Station Master has taken extra care to plan this party and the preparations only during the daylight hours. Wouldn't want to cause a giant panic, right?

Today, the little tucked away part of the plaza has been livened up with a host of spooky decorations, black cats and witches, skeletons and tomb stones, they have all been placed amongst the food tables, allowing for a casual halloween-ish mood. There are also a lot of pumpkins there, freshly prepared especially for this feast.

The tables of food are back too, filled to the brim with pumpkin pies, pumpkin squash, pumpkin cups cakes, honestly, you can put a pumpkin in and it is there. There are also large bowls of candy, free for the taking.

Naturally the two booths are there again, the one belonging to the welcoming committee, for any new (or old) character with a burning question, and the one belonging to the host club. Who knows what theme they have this week. Only way to find out is to check it out!

Finally, part of the plaza has been set up to allow for the talent contest that was to be held here, organized by a few of the foreigners themselves. Maybe it is time to check it out and see if there are any cool talents on display? Or maybe you have your own talent to display. If so, feel free to visit the show.

As every month, an invitation had gone out to all the foreigners in the day leading up to the party, reminding them of the party, the date, the times, and this time, attached had been an invitation to come dressed up. They might not be able to celebrate Halloween during the evening hours, but maybe a slightly late Halloween party would lift the spirits anyway? Station Master has certainly joined in himself too. For a day, he has exchanged his trusty cap for the scariest thing he could possible think of: a familiar white nurse's cap. 2spooky.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I...I don't know myself? I didn't grow up around other people like most kids did, so I never heard any spoooooky stories about what the pumpkins mean. Since Halloween is big on this evil spirits and goblins stuff, though, it might be a symbol to keep them away from your house or to make sure you don't get lost.

I don't get it, but if everyone's having fun, I want to help too.

Could've sworn I read about it somewhere. Guess I just didn't care enough to remember.

[ Oh, well. Obon is better, anyway. ]

I won't lie, it sort of always made me laugh, how people try to dress up as these terrible, frightening things. Sometimes I hear of them even trying to do summoning rituals. Even if they worked--they don't--they wouldn't wanna deal with what comes up.

[ At least this dog design is easy. He can actually talk and do it at the same time. ]

No...they really don't.

[She is so over monsters, you don't even know.

Also she'll try not to show off and actually carve a pumpkin by hand this time rather than space magic as she's been doing.]

I'm supposing even if you lived in a country where Halloween was actively celebrated, it still would not be something to be enthusiastic about being an exorcist and what not.

[ Oh he has a pretty good idea. ]

Probably not, no. I know some of them in other countries get called a lot to go deal with accidents during the week. There really is more demon activity around this time of year than usual, but it's mostly petty attacks, minor possessions, things like that.

[ SHRUG.

He adds the pumpkin to the rest of them when he's done, sitting back a moment to look at it.

Not bad, Bon. Not bad. ]

So more often than not they're a nuisance, I guess.

[Where does that leave Rin--Imean--

GEE PUMPKINS ARE COOL.]

Pretty good, Ryuuji, was that your first time carving a pumpkin?

[ No he's still at nuisance levels. ]

Yeah. Big ones don't come around too often, and the higher ups are called in to take care of them.

[ We'll just blithely ignore what happened in Kyoto.

He glances at the pumpkin again and tilts it back. ]

Guess so. As I said, not really a thing we do back home. Obon is probably about the closest thing we have, but that's to honor our ancestors.

Tell me about Obon.

[Because it's not like she'd ever hear about it from anyone that came from her world.]

Are you saying that you also make lanterns for this Obon? [Huh, maybe she should make one for her grandpa.]

Obon is a traditional Buddhist custom that started around five hundred years ago. It lasts for three days, and during that time we visit ancestral homes to clean our ancestors' graves. It's also during this time that the spirits of those who have passed are supposed to visit the family shrines. We celebrate now with festivals, complete with rides and festival food and fireworks.

[ He pauses, briefly considering going into the folk lore of how Obon started, but decides against it. He could ramble about this for hours. ]

There's a bonfire, and a dance. At the end of the three days, paper lanterns are lit and floated down rivers to signify the spirits' return to the realm of the dead.

Hmm... [she regards the pumpkin she has in her hands. There's no river in Vatheon, only the ocean all around them. And even if a pumpkin was sea-worthy, she wouldn't want to send one out on its own like that.

So she just begins forming the face of a mustachioed man with silly teeth and glasses ~~like hers~~ in the pumpkin.]

That sounds like fun! We should see if they ever have festivals or dances or something like that here. I am vaguely aware of this place having an amusement park, but I have not been yet.

We should go some time.

[ Pause. Wait. Don't stop there. ]

--I mean, I haven't been either, and it's always more fun exploring that kind of thing with a friend, right?

Yes! That's exactly what I was thinking! I'll be honest and say that I've never been to an amusement park in general, so you can be a guide there, if that's okay? I mean I know you have Rin and surely it would be funner to go with someone you know from your world.

[That and there's a sliiiight risk of her dopey twin brother trying to spy on their excursion.]

[ Any chance they can get there without John finding them? ]

Then it's a--[ notadate ]--n excursion. I look forward to it.

Monthly Mingle Log

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