you and me in the moonlight

[crosslaced]

Who: You!
What: A year end party MINGLELOG to help everyone recover from the Shit we’ve been through.
When: Forwarddated to Nov 24
Where: Enso E4, close to the ST Temple
Warnings: Mark as necessary, but none expected.

As the end of November draws near…… it’s time for that player plot the mods hinted at in their latest announcement.

Laurent’s Witch Labyrinth! -no, actually, it’s just a party.

[preparation]

All day on the 24th people are hard at work setting up on the golden beaches of Enso. The Storyteller’s Temple can be seen from the site and vice versa; it’s just a short walk away. There’s quite a bit to be done, so every extra pair of hands are welcome!

[the party]

As evening falls, a series of torches light up the party site for the lost; most prominent are the three large campfires spaced out across the beach, offering a variety of gathering spots for those who don’t like the loud partying going on at the other one.

There’s more than enough food to go around. An entire Cariborn is being dug up from the sandy soil way up the beach, having been roasted in the ground. There’s a wide variety spread out on tables… of handwaved origin… maybe they’re the ones left around from 4/20?? It’s probably fine. Herb- baked vegetables, fresh fruits, meat of various types, pizza!! and yes, Muffet’s Magic Blackberry Alcohol abound.

We’ve also got party favors. Amongst them, it seems like..... owo are these sparklers?

Come hang out! It’s a well-deserved break.

[activities]

The children (and adults so-inclined) have some cute party games to have fun with. There’s a simple little ringtoss area set up, with rings that aren’t even proper circles (listen, Laurent tried) and wooden stakes in the ground to be ringed.

Across the wide stretch of sand there's a lot that can be done- want to build some sandcastles? Pick some shells? Fight some crabs? The beach is dotted with doodles in the sand, inviting you to join in.

The biggest attraction is perhaps the petting zoo- well, it’s a cluster of animals just hanging out, but you get the idea. Located far up on the beach and away from the danger of the waves, the petting zoo has three whole Chocobos, two whole Tigerlilies (one of which is clearly guarding the Chocobos), and one whole horse. Sometimes two horses, but the grey wandering one is wearing a plaque that says “I BITE. PET ME CAREFULLY.”

[storyteller?]

Yes, ST-chan is invited! I’m leaving it to them to top-level or tag out at their leisure. Keep an eye out for the bunny god, they’re Coming.

Comments

[want_to_belong]

So she was a bit taller than him and probably had more HP than him. No problem. He willingly offered up the rings and stepped back with a bounce in his step.

He wished they had something better, but these crude objects could do for now. Maybe they could carve better rings out of coconut sometime. He watched happily as she tossed one and encouraged her with a smile.

"It just takes practice! And these aren't perfectly balanced like rings you'd usually have. Luckily, there's no fees or anything, so you can practice here all you want."
Unlike at carnivals back home. He stepped closer, holding out a hand tentatively, "I could show you how to hold them if you want?"

[barberian]

While he is explaining this, Yasha gives it another go and her throw still has way too much power in it. The second ring nearly ends up in the sea. In her defense, she does not specialise in ranged attacks, also her arm muscles are very very big.

The stranger seems very eager for her to get it at least once? Yasha was thinking she might be able to flub all three throws and then leave but they are offering to help out with her technique now, and they are being very nice about it. She shuffles her weight awkwardly from one side to the other, then sighs, and hands her last right over without further comment.

"... Okay. What should I do?"

[want_to_belong]

"It's not that complex. You want the ring to spin, so you snap your wrist when you throw, though that might not work as well with these rings..." He went and collected the other two as he talked, bringing them back so he could demonstrate with one. "And you want it to drop down on the peg, so better to go high than go far."

As he aimed he swayed his hand back and forth, as if he might whip it through the air at any second, but he paused before he threw and held it up so she could see better. "Dominant hand, between the thumb and index finger." Lowering it, he continued aiming. "Wrist straight."

This was one of the things he was talented in so he felt fairly confident about what he was doing, though he was still taking his time to aim it - especially when it was oddly shaped like this. That made it more unpredictable. None were balanced and none were quite the same as the other ones.

After a moment he let it go. The top of the ring tapped one of the wooden pegs, but ultimately ended up leaning against it instead of going over it. Still, despite the 'failure', he was in good spirits, and offered the second ring back to her. "It can be a little tough, but after a few tries you'll get a feel for how much strength you have to use."

[barberian]

It's not that complex, he says, and then goes on to over-explain the whole thing. Yasha nods dutifully along with it all the same, watching carefully as he gives the ring a lofty toss, trying to absorb the techniques used. This all seems a bit ridiculous, there aren't even prizes to be won, so what's the point exactly? She doesn't want all of the explaining to go to waste though, so after he's made his throw and stepped back, she takes reluctant aim at the wooden peg with the proper grip.

Her throw has less power in it this time, though this has less to do with his advice and more to do with the outcome of her last two throws. She does not quite make the peg, but she does knock his ring clean out of the way? It's something, at least. Yasha drops her arm and puts both her hands on her hips, squinting at the result with something like satisfaction.

There's certainly an air of 'good enough' about her.

"How's that?"

[want_to_belong]

It was all practically second nature to him at this point. He wasn't just a gunner, but you could say at carnivals he was the friend you wanted to win the prizes.

He gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up. "Pretty good." And was quick to go pick them all up and bring them back. Glancing at them, he took out the last one he'd previously used and handed the others to her, before stopping to obviously take aim. It wasn't as if he threw without looking, clearly. He was feeling it out. This time, he thought he had a better idea of how this ring moved in the air, and after many seconds he let it loose.

It was a 'slow' throw, and was just about to soar over the peg before the back of the ring smacked against the top of it. The ring spun a couple of circles around the peg before it hit the ground.

With a fist pump and a celebratory, "Yesss," he glanced up at her and gave her a light, friendly tap on the arm with the back of his hand. "Wanna try again? Good time to practice if we ever have a festival in the future."

[barberian]

Sure, if there were any prizes to be won at all. Yasha is a little put off by that, because she likes the competition of it all. If there is a prize then you have a goal, don't you. Her teacher flings his second demonstrative ring and Yasha watches it loop the peg satisfyingly before it clatters against the ground.

"Good throw," she says, and abruptly pulls her arm away from where his hand had touched her without so much as a sideways glance, "I will try... one more time."

The problem is that Yasha isn't built for being careful. She's broad, she has large hands, she cannot make her movements slow and graceful. Mollymauk calls her 'the muscle' for a reason. Her second throw has too much power in it again and the ring clears the top of the stake by a good margin, flying off to the edge of the shoreline along the beach. Yasha stares at it, and frowns, her arms folding across her chest.

"If this comes up in a festival in the future, I don't think I will attend."

[want_to_belong]

Welp. He'd tried to help out.

"Little bit too hard," he said weakly but cheerfully, knowing that would be pretty obvious. Well, maybe he thought this stuff was fun, but he couldn't force other people to think the same.

"Well, they always have other games at festivals, too. Like strength contests and stuff. You're always welcome to give it another try if you want."

[barberian]

Yasha perks up a little at the mention of a strength contest. Now there's something that she can do without making a complete fool of herself.

"That's okay." She's tried enough. Also she doesn't want to do it any more, it's frustrating watching him hit the mark while she tosses her rings into the surf. Oh, she should probably go and get that one huh. She lumbers off before the tide can get it and brings it swiftly back, wiping the sand on it off on her jeans.

"Here." She hands it over, and folds her arms across her chest again. "What is your name?"

[want_to_belong]

He accepted it, wishing he could have done a little more to help, but these things took practice.

"Thanks. I'm Prompto." He grinned up at her awkwardly. "Nice to meet you. You're relatively new here?"

He figured, since he had a basic idea of who had been around when he first came, but 'new' encompassed a fair amount of people when he'd been there for over a year now.

[barberian]

"Yasha," she offers. It is relieving that he did not give her a hand to have to shake. "I've been here... oh, a week now? Something like that."

It's been one hell of a week. So much has happened that Yasha is a little disbelieving of it. "How long have you been here?"

[want_to_belong]

"Wow, seriously? Not long at all. Be glad you get to party so soon, a lot of people came here in pretty precarious situations."

His own almost seemed like nothing in comparison, but considering the islets didn't even exist when he arrived perhaps he shouldn't quite say that. "Know anyone here? I've kind of noticed that, uh... a lot of people do. It's kinda weird."

[barberian]

"... No, it was fairly precarious."

There was a stampede, and everything. Yasha makes a face.

"I know three people here. Is that strange? Do you not know anybody?" If she hadn't found Beau, Mollymauk and Nott, Yasha might have gone on thinking that nothing was awry for quite a while. She might have thought herself off wandering as per usual; she's glad that they're here.

[want_to_belong]

"Nah, I know people, too. I just think... Like, there's a bajillion people on all these different worlds, right? When I ended up here, I was separated from my friends back home. So, isn't it kind of weird that of all the people in the world, only people that I knew came here with me? We weren't even together at the time. And of all the people on your world, people you know are here? It seems like it can't be a coincidence."

Even Prompto could be suspicious of stuff like this. Of course, Yasha barely had time here to even learn about all of it yet.

"...Glad you know people, though. It's a lot easier to get settled in if you have people you trust with you."

sorry for the slow reply!

[barberian]

"... I hadn't thought about it like that."

But now that he mentions it, of course that's odd. Yasha's been focused on the fact that they all seem to be from different points in time to question that. "Though, I suppose other people here could be from my world here too and I wouldn't know it. I haven't met everybody in the world, you know?"

Maybe Prompto is from her world. That opens up a new possibility that is a little staggering to think about.

"But I'm glad that I know people too. I don't find it hard to work alone, but it is nice to have somebody all the same."

No problem. Shall we wrap up? Old thread is old

[want_to_belong]

"I thought that at first. But, we, uh... Don't have spider ladies or elezen or talking animals or whatever back home. It's pretty much just us humans. Made it obvious something was up pretty quick."

He shook his head. "I guess that's stuff we can try and figure out in the future, though."

sure haha

[barberian]

"I... don't think that we have talking animals back home," Yasha says, looking thoughtful, "but maybe I just haven't met any yet." When magic is possible in your world, it's pretty easy to be able to suspend your disbelief.

Anyway. She shrugs, and glances back across the beach as if expecting to see somebody she knows, as it seems they have pretty much exhausted this particular topic of conversation. She doesn't, but she's going to take off anyway, because that's what she does. She jerks a thumb over one shoulder, lamely.

"... I will see you later." And then she's just going to turn and leave... her strides are maybe too big, she's clearly a bit awkward about the whole thing.