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pumpkinhollow) wrote2024-07-21 01:43 pm
pumpkinhollow) wrote2024-07-21 01:43 pm
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!
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"A big moth person? I've not heard of --" this is where normally there would be a record scratch moment, but instead there's only a sigh. This is the equivalent of finding out Crichton is a wizard because of course he is. "Why are you psychic?"
It's always a good idea to ask drunk people existential questions about their very existence.
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An annoyed huff, "This is the most outloud speaking I've done in my life."
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He wants to be accommodating toward his friends! And yes, since literally everybody on the beach is his best friend right now, that includes Imbros.
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He blinks up at Imbros, eyes owl-wide and unfocused.
"How?"
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He makes a soft humming sound. "But I do find you amusing."
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He manages to prop himself on one elbow so he can lean closer, his voice dropping to an exaggerated whisper.
"Do you eat people?"
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"I certainly do." In the most congenial tone of voice.
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But then it's gone, and he nods sagely as he says, "Oh, y'should talk to Dolly sometime. She lives in the woods'n eats people, too."
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So many emotions. So many memories in there. Delicious. Tasty memories. But for now Radar is far more amusing alive than as a snack. And Imbros has a lot of restraint.
"Dolly? The winged creature in the woods? We've met."
He's definitely thinking of Demona, but close enough.
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He suspects she had ulterior motives of wanting to eat Radar and then he was too amusing to eat. Kind of like what Imbros is experiencing right now.
"You're rather astute for how drunk you are. No one is above their biological needs - if that is what she eats, that's what she eats. Same for the wyverns. And for me." He runs his fingers through his tentacles. "At least people come back here so it's not permanent. That's beneficial. Though I'm sure humans find that traumatic, you are all so mentally fragile sometimes."
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He turns a wobbly look up to the sky.
"'Cause eventually we're not gonna. And some people don't ever. I mean. I mean, 'f we're talking about food... I'm from a farm, I know how all that works. Y'know? We gotta eat, animals gotta eat, nobody eats anything without killin' something. But I don't like it. 'M sick of everything'n everybody dying all the time."
Radar gnaws his lower lip.
"Sometimes I think nobody dying here makes it worse. 'Cause everybody stops caring if things die."
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"It's true, if everyone comes back what difference does it make if they die? Why hold grudges against those who've killed you as all parties knew it was impermanent. But eventually it does change their outlook." A soft wry chuckle as he thinks about that, "The first one to die permanently will be quite a shock."
He stands up, smoothing out his robes. "I think the natural progression of this line of thought will not be something you'd enjoy. So best we not go down that route."
Because if there's no reason to get mad at people who murder others, then why doesn't Imbros just eat whoever he wants? A moral quandry he doesn't really want to consider right now with the person who's currently topping the list of: most edible on the island. (Closely followed by Rue).
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Doleful: "Are y'gonna eat me now 'cause I'm not funny anymore?"
He doesn't want to be most edible on the island!
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As if that's something great and fun and not that Radar might be wishing he had been eaten.
"Enjoy your evening. Make good memories."
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"Yeah, you too Imbros." He manages to lift a hand enough to wave. "Byyyyeeee."
(And indeed, the next morning, as he helps break down the Baker Ranch campsite with the worst hangover he's ever had in his life, Radar might be heard to mumble sadly, I wish the squid'd just eaten me.)