bravenewworld | Soulfasting Mingle

Who: EVERYONE
What: Soul Fast
When: During Soul Fast
Where: All over Ninetails Vale and in people's houses, etc.
Summary: The Celebrations of Soul Fast Begin!

It's that time of year again, and all throughout Union and in particular the Ninetales Vale, celebrations are beginning. A festival celebrating the passage of another year, of remembering and honoring the dead, and of placating particularly violent spirits has begun. Soulfasting, an old Union tradition, is one of the most popular holidays celebrated, with the Ninetales Vale being overrun with people of all ages.

Children scamper through the streets of the Vale in masks and costumes, begging for candy, while surly teenagers do the same and occasionally play pranks, and adults celebrate in a variety of fashions. Elaborate, highly fashionable costumes are all the rage, and even the nobility slips out into the Vale for a bit of fun. It's not exactly a popular destination most of the year, given the high concentrations of Dark and Ghost-types but during the festival it's most definitely in vogue and teeming with people all happy to help revitalize the area for a week.

The sounds of music drift through the air, celebratory tunes, dirges, jigs, and tunes for all ages. From the Kurain school on it's hill overlooking most of the Vale, a pipe organ solemnly plays out traditional tunes, and is surprisingly cheery for a ghost school. Across the neighborhood on another hill, Hikawa Shrine has it's doors wide open to welcome visitors, with decorations of all sorts set out.

Games are set up at both locations, including Apple Bobbing, Ducklett Pond raffles, and Pin the Scroll on the Spiritomb, though there are others set up all over the Vale's plazas. Skeeball, Target Shooting, Bell-and-Hammer games, and perhaps most strangely a “Whack-the-Diglett” that's been possessed by one of the local ghosts to give the little wooden Digletts faces all hideously angry ones. Eating contests, Pokemon Battle Circles, a Haunted House (with real ghosts!) and dozens and dozens of fortune telling stands all further add to a carnival atmosphere that even the dead can enjoy!

Lanterns and faux Spinarak webs hang from every lamppost and awning, and food stalls line the streets as vendors ply their wares. Food from all over is available, and it all seems to come together around a central square between the two hills. A stage has been set up, with musicians from all over the known world called in to show their stuff. There are dance tunes from Caldera, Union Pop and Jazz songs at work, setting crowds on fire. Sanctuary has sent a full orchestra to play various classical pieces, while Citadel's famous woodwinds and tribal drums surprise and delight. And towards the end of the day, a band from Glacier comes on stage. Their music starts out slow and ambient, but after a few sets they set up electric guitars and the gloves come off. A folk metal concert, complete with an armored warrior-woman doing the vocals and several of the soldiers from the battle weeks prior (some still bandaged) backing her up. It might be a bit shocking, but some of the youth are definitely getting into it...

And then night falls, and the party atmosphere becomes a little quieter. Plays, family meals, Ghost-story tellings, and more subdued activities become the norm though there's still a contingent of rowdies at the heart of the celebration. It's then that the ghosts really come out to play, slipping through walls to greet relatives or tease revelers. For the most part they seem friendly but not always. As usual, some specters of ill-repute have slipped in among the friendly ones, and they're making trouble. Good thing you have a Warp Band to call an exorcist, right?

((OOC: This is a general mingle log, feel free to put up your own top levels and tag around! Welcome to Soulfasting, everyone! We hope you enjoy =D ))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh.

[...what in the Savior's name is "fun".]

I see. There are places to get masks at this festival, right.

Feliks thought back to who he'd seen among the vendors.

"Yeah, pretty sure. Like, there are usually some near where they've got all the food stalls?"

"I see..."

Well, she doesn't literally, but she nods seriously to Feliks's suggestion. "Do you have any recommendations? You see to be...knowledgeable about clothes."

"Defs, if by 'knowledgeable' you mean 'a total expert!"

Feliks looked her over, humming in happy thought.

"I think you should go with something super cool and strong! Like, maybe in a color that looks good with your clothes?"

She nods, thinking. "I know enough to know that blue suits me. Perhaps a Salamence or Gyarados mask?"

It's easy to tell what her aesthetic is, at least.

"So like, something pretty badass? How about, like, a Sharpedo? Or a Greninja!"

Water types were a pain to fight. He was in no way biased by his fire typing.

"I'd like to stay away from Dark-types if I can help it," she says, then reconsiders.

"Although if the goal is to intimidate other ghosts, perhaps. I'm not entirely clear on the purpose of this holiday."

"Not big on Dark-types?"

Huh, that cut out some of the good possibilities for tough, cool Pokemon. Feliks tilted his head. "I mean, like, the point is mostly getting sweets and playing pranks and telling scary stories, so I say dress up like whatever you want!"

"I try not to be judgmental, but it's just not a Type or an outlook I'm compatible with," she says, sighing.

She taps her fingers on her hip thoughtfully. "If it's simply down to what I want to represent that isn't myself...Dragons."

She nods affirmatively. "Definitely Dragons."

Feliks glitters a bit. Now they're getting somewhere!

"Ok, so like, what's your favorite Dragon-type?"

"Well, aside from the legends of the god that stands in eternal opposition to the White Dragon," she says, idly thinking back to a dozen burns, "I am fond of a rare species of dragons called Salamence. I believe I've seen one or two around Union, so there should be some masks..."

"'Kay, so let's look for a Salamence one. But go back to that legend! That sounded, like, wicked cool!"

Saber bows her head and tells it as best she can from memory.

"Salamence evolves, ultimately, from Bagon, a tiny dragonling that can neither fly nor float like a Dratini does," she begins, "but it is said that from the moment they hatch, they dream of flying. Through sheer force of will, they become Shelgon, an intermediate form that hatches into Salamence, a graceful Dragon/Flying type."

She smiles slightly. "I can look up to that kind of impossible dream that gets realized regardless. I'll only ever be a possessed weapon myself, but...I like the idea."

Feliks tilts his head, listening curiously. It's an interesting story -- he sometimes forgets how powerful and willful Dragon-types can be, because he's personally pretty strong against them, and because his most obviously Dragon-y dragon type is more or less his spoiled baby. But they're pretty cool sometimes, aren't they? And he can definitely get behind the idea of dreaming big, and making it happen through sheer stubbornness.

There is something she says that doesn't sit quite right with him, though. He grins at her, as they come up on the mask stand.

"If that's what you are and who you are, why should you need to be something else though? I say own it."

He picks up a mask, not of a Salamence, but of a Bagon. "Dreaming big and not giving up -- isn't that pretty cool all on its own, whatever comes of it?"

"Hm?"

Saber looks at the mask, a little surprised. Well, Bagons are cute...

"Well, when you put it that way...you can't achieve a dream without having it in the first place, can you?" she observes, accepting the mask. "I can honor the dreamer when he has the idea just as well as when he realizes it."

Seeing that she seems to get what he meant, Feliks sparkles brightly.

"Exactly! Plus, that one's way cute."

"Er...yes, yes it is. Thank you for pointing it out to me, Feliks."

Saber's still not sure exactly how this form blushes, but there it is again. Something about child evolutions of very strong Pokémon just triggers protective instincts, she supposes.

"No big, no big!"

Feliks digs in his bag, and tosses a couple of coins to the mask vendor -- it's not expensive enough to put much of a dent in a noble kid's pocket money, so he doesn't think twice about it... or even once, quite probably.

"Okay, so now you've got your mask, I'm gonna tell you the most important part of Soulfasting -- ready?"

Saber blinks in surprise at being paid for, but doesn't comment on it. She's already thanked him, and making too big a fuss out of it would probably embarrass both of them. Instead, she hangs the Bagon mask around her neck and stands at attention.

"Oh? I mean, ready," she replies.

For a second, Feliks was quiet, enjoying drawing out the suspense. Then, beaming from ear to ear, he announced:

"Go have fun!"

Saber sighs, but smiles a little.

"I think Union is probably the only place in the world where that's commonly phrased as an order," she says, putting on her mask.

Then she salutes. Is that a joke? Maybe. She's wearing a mask now, who knows.

"No idea why," he jokes, glimmering brightly in the afternoon sun. "It's a super serious one! You should like, report back later, or something."

He returns the salute, rather more obviously joking. "Ok, get to it! Dismissed!"

Soulfasting Mingle

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What even happened to my formatting a week ago

Formatting is hard sometimes

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