pumpkinhollow (
pumpkinhollow) wrote2024-07-21 01:43 pm
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July Mini Event - Seaside Sway
Pumpkin Hollow Community Bulletin
It’s the end of July. Summer is peaking, hitting its stride. In the forest, frogs sing and fireflies dance through the night, and dragonflies go about their business in the sun. In town, farmers roll up their sleeves and young ladies swap out their many layers for breezy floral gowns. And on the beach, swimmers take to the sea for water at its warmest and young crabs climb up from the sun-drenched sand. Kora’s glory at its finest!For about a week now, a flier has been up on the community bulletin board. :
Midsummer Beach Festival!
Join us on July 21st and 22nd for our annual beach bash! Organized by the Temple of Sacred Roots in tandem with Town Hall, all townsfolk are invited to join in for seaside festivities in honor of the height of summer. Activities will include:
- Live music (Sign-ups for performers will be available at Empty Pockets Music Bar)
- Locally made strawberry wine from last summer’s strawberries
- Beach pit barbecues for lunch on both days
- A hot food banquet for dinner on the 21st
- A fish fry breakfast on the 22nd
- Paper lantern float
- Beach games
- Tents and bed rolls for beach camping
And, as promised, the festival opens up on the afternoon of July 21st, where the smell of barbecue rises up from Tawny Beach. Tables sit on wooden plinths to avoid sinking in the sand, bearing fresh summer fruit and drinks. Pork, fish, and lamb roast in a sand pit. Enchanted barrels covered in magic frost keep frozen treats like orange juice shaved ice and strawberry sorbet cold. A station for assembling little wood-and-paper floating lanterns can be seen off in the distance and Cormac and the Banshees are setting up for their opening set. Tents and bed rolls have been set up toward the Marina. Literally everything is decorated with thin golden coins on strands of twine, sea shells, and sea glass. In the center of it all, stones have been laid into the shape of a massive compass rose, whose center houses the makings of a bonfire.
Those who were here last year will recognize that this festival is much larger than last year’s, and was not preceded with desperate pleas from Town Hall for help providing food and decor. It speaks plainly to the health of the town now. Even with all that has been going on, the growing population and renewed sense of community and purpose have improved matters around the island considerably.
Near the tent area, a family of crabs (one red, one blue, and three purple) can be observed. The small purple ones are poking each other with sticks. The Limoncello has made port, and Royal and his crew are splitting helper duty with the staff of Town Hall, and are dancing and partying the rest of the time. All is as it should be. For once, there is no dangerous surprise lurking in the shadows.
So, what’s on your agenda? During the day, volleyball, swimming, and a game that involves throwing small fabric sacks of dry lentils into wooden hoops in the sand can be enjoyed, alongside a plethora of frozen treats. At night, food and wine and lemonade are served at the banquet tables and lively music plays on the temporary wooden stage for dancing by firelight. There is also the lantern float, which encourages participants to send a glowing lantern out on the water in honor of the lost and the distant, ending the first night in a moment of peaceful sobriety. You may also notice a charming stranger milling around, cozying up to Royal, and drinking after nightfall--- a woman with dark olive skin, raven hair that soaks up the firelight, and rum brown eyes who wears a billowing blue dress and (whenever she hasn’t placed it onto someone else’s head for fun) a wide-brimmed black hat.
Then, at night, camp on the beach under the stars or head home by additional lantern light. The festivities will continue until the following afternoon! Feel free to share your beach fit in the fashion show thread below, as well. Enjoy!
Sunset
"Hey, are you okay dude? You look like someone used some fancy moves on you."
cw: hyperbolic references to self-harm and sexual assault
Of course he doesn't really do that. But he does cross his arms and adopt a cooler more in control face -- yes, while still lying in the surf -- and says, "Oh, you know. Just got a little mind-raped by an elder god, no big deal. Business as usual, really."
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"Do you need help getting home?"
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Shen Qingqiu stares up at Crichton like he just started speaking a foreign language. Isn't this guy supposed to be the kind of irreverent joker that never takes anything seriously? So what's with the sudden change in attitude, huh??
"Oh no, I'm fine," he insists, not moving from his position lying prone in the surf. "Actually the water is helping a lot. Salt water has great purification properties, did you know that?"
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"Did that really happen? Did that thing actually get inside your head?"
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"Since that night? Closer to a month, I think... Damn, you got scrambled worse than a Grand Slam at Denny's at three a.m. Maybe I should be taking you to a doctor instead."
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He starts to sit up. "I need to tell someone -- something --"
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"We all died that night, and then everyone but you showed up as a ghost after, all clustered in the woods. I'm told the ghost thing is normal." That part was a strange new experience for Crichton.
"Hey, hey, whoa, not so fast there, buckaroo." Crichton puts a hand on Shen Qingqiu's shoulder to try and stop him from getting up too fast. "I'm serious. I think we need to get you looked at by a doctor. If you need to give someone a message that bad, why not use a sending stone?"
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"I've never felt pain like that before in my life," he finally sighs. "I'm lucky my golden core didn't crack right in half. Such a stupid move on my part...Hubris, your name is Shen Yuan."
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"You really are damn lucky, dude. Gotta give it to ya, you're tough. Most people don't come out the other side of the spin cycle with their marbles still all in one bag." This is spoken with a surprising amount of confidence, almost like he has some experience.
"If you don't have your stone on you, I'll lend ya mine, but I'm not letting you go off on your own yet, Shen Yuan."
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He finally pushes himself to his feet, by long habit trying to brush off his clothes before realizing the futility; they are, after all, soaked with sea water. "Why am I in my underwear?" he wonders out loud, too confused and -- to be honest -- sore to be embarrassed.
It's worth mentioning that what he's calling 'underwear' is still a double layer of ankle-length white robes, with loosely-fitted trousers on underneath. Xianxia has its own ideas about modesty.
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"That's only your underwear? How long does it take you to get dressed in the morning, dude?"
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He gives Crichton an arch look and holds out his hand, saying, "If you're my son, then be a good boy and help your poor mother find someplace to sit down close to the fire, won't you? My head is killing me."
You've heard of gay chicken? Well get ready for the latest innovation, straight from this weirdo's twisted brain: MILF roleplay chicken.
"And for the record," he adds, "It only takes a few extra minutes to get dressed, and my clothes are way more comfortable than anything you're used to wearing, I'm sure."
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"Whatever you say, Mother Dearest." He's strong enough to lift this prissy brat out of the sand with one hand, but it's damn tempting to just scoop Shen Qingqiu in both arms like the princess he is. Only remembering that deadly touch technique keeps him from doing it. Then they'll both need help up.
"Are you sure? Haven't you ever worn blue jeans before? Can't beat blue jeans and a floral shirt with the buttons open. Oh, hey, wanna see a magic trick?"
Before Shen Qingqiu gets to answer that, Crichton points a finger at a dry log of driftwood twenty feet up the beach, a streak of fire shoots from his finger into the log, instantly setting it aflame. "There's your fire. Happy mother's day."
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He does raise an eyebrow though, a little impressed by the pyrotechnic display. Just a little. "Such a good boy," he sarcastically gushes, patting Crichton's arm. "So talented. What other tricks have you learned?"
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"I can shoot lightning from my fingertips too, but I don't think you want me doing that while you're still sopping wet. Besides, it's your turn to show and tell. What did you mean by your 'golden core?'"
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"My golden core is...it's the seat of my power. You might think of it as a sort of addition organ, here in my lower belly." He pats the general proximity of his navel. "Young cultivators practice techniques to increase their spiritual powers, and they meditate in spots with high concentrations of the stuff to draw more in from the environment. Eventually, if they do it right, it sort of coalesces and solidifies into a...a ball. A golden ball inside the body. And after that it can be used as a battery for greater spellwork."
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"Huh. I was expecting something a lot less physical." He doesn't doubt it. He's seen stranger things in his travels, but that kind of name really did sound metaphorical. He didn't think there would be an actual organ involved.
"Would you know for sure if it's been damaged permanently? Is it something you can feel?"
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wrap?
sure!
(The poor fools don't know they're going to end up as neighbors yet. Won't that be a fun new surprise? Plenty of opportunity for Crichton to pester him later~)