Seasonal Event: Oktoberfest

[fernwehmods]

WHO: You
WHEN: October/November
WHAT: It’s that time of year, Fall is in the air, the trees are changing, and Gazin is celebrating Harvest! Below you will find celebrations and prompts for your consideration.
WHERE: Gazin
WARNINGS: None

Catfe Gerdri
A small cafe opened its doors onto its friendly little street. Inside it was selling hot drinks with funny names to make its clientele laugh for the season. There were pumpkin drinks and apple drinks, drinks made with coffee, drinks made with tea but the real draw was its cats. There were cats of all sizes and all needed to be pet and loved on. They were even autumn colours; creams and whites, gingers and deep browns. Some of them were up for adoption and had little red collars on with little golden bells. They looked fancy and neat and ready to travel.

In the cool autumn air, come in for a hot drink, meet fellow travellers, and stay for the fabulous company of Mrs Gerdri’s cats. If you’re looking for a job, the cat lady herself is hiring! Must love cats.

Harvest Festival
Gather around! It’s that time of year of harvest and merriment that no other season can do just right! It’s the Harvest Festival in Gazin, of course! There’s games and prizes to be won, music and laughter, magic to be seen, and all sorts of harvest foods to be had. Try some cake, have some bread, make something magical for a friend!

Whatever you choose, leave room for dancing because Gazin sure goes all out with spectacle and music and their finest of beers. There’s something for everyone at the Harvest Festival, which will run for six weeks before it’s done.

Gazin’s Shield Day
Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian, Xue Yang, Wen Kexing, Zhou Zishu, Merlan O’Keefe and many other locals have been busy for quite some time working on a citywide shielding project for Gazin. On this day, they’re making it official with the revealing of the project in its final state. It’s enough of an accomplishment that it’s become a bonafide celebration in itself. There will be a magic fireworks display as well as festivities. With so many talented magic users in on this feat, its success is assured.

Monsters beware, Gazin is now officially protected!

Comments

Finnick Odair | The Hunger Games | for annie and open

[fishermansweater]

harvest festival

There was a time, once, when Finnick used to enjoy the Harvest Festival. Before he knew any better what it meant. When the glory and the excitement of a Victory Tour that coincided with the feast at the end of the festival was what he longed for himself. Sometimes he feels so disconnected from that time in his life it's like he's a different person.

But that doesn't mean Finnick doesn't understand the desire to gather with the other members of the community to celebrate the ending of a year. The thing that does surprise him is that Gazin's Harvest Festival is in the fall, well before the midwinter he associates it with. And that the word is it will run for weeks - something he's not sure about. He can't imagine the Harvest Festival he knows going on that long - it's a time to mark the end of the year, and come together as a community, and to celebrate if District Four brought home a victor, but more years than not there's no victor and just the normal supplies of food. And that reminds Finnick every time of what that loss costs.

So in some ways, he can't even imagine a Harvest Festival without that.

for annie

So he's not sure what to expect when he and Annie arrive at the festival, but it's definitely not the amount of enjoyment and festivity that permeates the whole marketplace and much of the rest of the city. All around them, new stalls have appeared, more people are out in the streets, and there's laughter and the smell of fresh-baked goods all around them.

It makes him reach for Annie's hand, to hold it, because while he knows that being around a lot of people can make her nervous, he's not sure what to expect either.

"What do you want to do first?"

open

He comes back on later days, sometimes with Annie and sometimes just to wander through the new market stalls, taste the baked goods on offer, or enjoy the music. Those days, he does his best to blend into the crowd. It's easier here, where people don't know him as anything other than a fisherman. He's not followed by fans here, his name isn't being spoken everywhere he goes. But people still notice him and take a second look, or let their gaze linger on his face. But it's still ... very different from Panem, where he was constantly under scrutiny whenever he was in public.

Here, he can wander the market, talk to the stallholders, sample bread and admire cakes without being the center of attention. So he does. He indulges, a little more than he should, and he seeks out the cake stalls most days. He tries a couple of samples, and occasionally he asks the stallholder what's new or good.

Some evenings, he comes for the music. Finnick likes dancing, especially now he's not under any obligation to dance with anyone if he doesn't want to. So he's usually dancing with Annie or on his own. But occasionally if a stranger asks and he doesn't find himself instantly distrusting them, he might say yes.

Some nights, he prefers to perch on a table and try one of the beers on offer. He's never been much of a beer drinker, but it seems to be the done thing at Gazin's festival, and as the month goes on, he gets more comfortable with doing things just for the sake of participating. If he sees someone he's met, or a stranger who meets his eye, he'll give them a smile raise his glass.

"Hi".

[treadswater]

No one has died.

It's the one aspect of this festival Annie keeps tripping over. No one has died. No one has watched 24 children killing each other. No one is left to mourn over 23 caskets and the lack of food for another year. No terror, no guilt, no march of the Capitol machine. She isn't even dressed that fancy, because her wardrobe is at home. In Panem. And she's not in Panem, so she just has some ribbons braided through her hair and a pretty bodice she bought the other week: otherwise, she's dressed normally.

Oh, except for her shoes. She did splurge on some boots with a hard heel. Just in case there is dancing.

(There is always dancing.)

Finnick reaches for her, and Annie steps in close to him, weaving her fingers through his. She can do that, here. It's still strange.

"I don't know? Um. I guess it can't hurt if we just do a circuit, right? And, and, uh, look at it all first?"

[fishermansweater]

The festival in Panem is never easy for him. There's no possible outcome that he doesn't regret: a victor brings more food, more money, more celebration, one less funeral, but one more person twisted into the Capitol's nets. He's never been able to really convince himself that it's the best outcome, even though he's seen so many times what the alternative is.

At least here, he doesn't have to feel guilty and caught up in grief. Whatever the festival means to the people here, he's not part of it. He's just one of the people brought to this place, trying to enjoy the festival with his lover. Annie looks beautiful, in a new bodice and with her hair decorated with pretty ribbons, but it's the feel of her fingers weaving between his that really sinks into his awareness, helping him anchor himself in this moment, this festival, not any other.

He nods, and gently squeezes her hand.

"Ok. That sounds good. Wouldn't mind finding out where that smell is coming from."

He's always had a bit of a sweet tooth and he's noticing now that something, somewhere, smells very enticing.

[treadswater]

And that? That is Finnick. If there is something sweet on offer, he will find it. So Annie laughs, quietly, and squeezes his hand back.

"We can fortify ourselves first."

One of the brightly coloured stalls near them (conveniently near them, and the entrance of the square - Annie would applaud the stall-owner's sense strategic thinking except her hand is occupied with Finnick) has rows of little cakes, glistening buns topped with cream, baskets of candies. It's nothing like the glittering displays of the Capitol. The bright colours here aren't from dye, but fruit and caramel. The food isn't perfect and it isn't stacked to the ceiling. There's enough there to fill the table, and from the smells as Annie and Finnick walk closer, more is being cooked in the back.

It's an honest feast.

[fishermansweater]

There are some things he can't quite disentangle from the Capitol and their supposed largess and his love for sweet things is one of them. Sugar is special, and when he was a kid they were too poor to afford it. The ability to afford cakes and sweets was one of the things he gained as a victor that he hasn't wound up hating. But here, he can afford what he can afford because of work and he's still getting used to that, after years of having more money than he could realistically spend, even with his often-lavish habits.

"Mmm," he agrees, swinging their hands between them as he steers in the direction Annie's looking - the source of the delicious smells. "As you know, treats are essential to any large undertaking."

This stallholder isn't one of the people Finnick's gotten to know while he's been selling fish in the market, but he still smiles in greeting as they approach.

"Something smells nice," Finnick says, studying one of the displays of cakes. They look good, too, but without the ostentation of the Capitol. "What's good?" He says it with his most charming, enticing smile.