dec event.

[crescentviewmods]

prologue

You awake to find yourself in a bed that creaks with your every movement, motes of dust flitting about the sparsely lit room. Whether you wake alone or with another by your side, you exit the worn-down building to find yourself on an old, abandoned farm. It isn’t long before a familiar voice lilts in your ears, carried to you on the breeze—

“Hurry over to the town square. Chop chop!”

Whether you go willingly or find your feet inexplicably compelled to trudge into town makes no difference. Once you arrive, you find yourself surrounded by a small ocean of new faces— some confused, some angered, and others quite chipper. At the center of the crowd is a bright-eyed woman with an otherworldly allure, her white hair tied up neatly in a bun, pamphlets and assorted papers tucked in her grasp.

“Welcome to Crescentview, farmers!”

Spreading her arms out wide — as much as she can without her papers blowing away — she eagerly regales the crowd with some fun facts about the island and the town while also reminding everyone of one very important fact:

“Remember, you’ve been brought here to tend the earth, fall in love, and begin your new lives together. You’re not leaving until you do. It will be quite the experience for you, I’m sure.”

Complain, grouse, or rejoice if you like, but don’t expect the Goddess to budge. Oh, right, there’s that too: she, the Harvest Goddess, is the one presiding over this land. Don’t get on my bad side, she gently warns as she stuffs pamphlets into the hands of Crescentview’s aspiring farmers.

spring breeze

While you’re here, you may as well check out the pamphlet the Goddess insistently pressed into your hands. Within it, you’ll find a handy infographic on each of your neighbors detailing their likes, dislikes, and... ideal dates? Even the Goddess’ profile is there. How invasive! Each farmer’s picture is hand-drawn by crayon into simple stick figures with the only difference being how the hair looks on top of their heads… if it can be called hair with the mess of crayons, that is. Every single stick figure is smiling. In front of each personalized pamphlet, there’s a stick figure on the cover with the same style as the photo. It’s definitely yours with how the hair color seamlessly matches yours. For the ones who have multicolor hair, you might notice the goddess seems a little more huffy with you.

The pamphlet also includes a map of Crescentview and lists the services available in town. There aren’t many on this small, remote island. Learning how to fend for yourself seems like the best course of action. Finally, a hand-printed bingo card has been made up for each new island resident. The Goddess must have spent quite a bit of time making these...

The Goddess gives her new questionably loyal followers a chance to mingle and mix before speaking up with another announcement. A small group of haggard-looking fairies appear at her feet, and clapping her hands, a notice board springs into existence. When the fairies fail to react, she gives one a nudge with her foot, prompting them all to burst into the world’s smallest round of applause. It’s a little... pathetic.

“Ta-da! Behold: the task board. Every season, I’ll give you new tasks to complete, and in exchange, you’ll be richly blessed by me, the Harvest Goddess. Spring is the season of new beginnings, so let’s take a look at what we’ve got cooking, hm?”

task board

The task board is located in Town Square and changes from season to season. In real time, a season is one month long. The following tasks are available from December 1st to January 1st and more tasks may be added mid-month.

Certain rewards are only available through event participation, so please keep this in mind when planning your threads. Multiple tasks may be completed within a single thread, but when turning in, please link to the individual tags in which each task was completed.

Finally, rewards are per character, not per farm, so those with housemates may want to coordinate with one another with regard to what animals you’re bringing home to your farm.

1. Greet your neighbors. For every person you meet, you will be given a random bag of spring seeds. Potato, cabbage, turnip, strawberry, and cucumber seeds are available at this time. Alternatively, random mushroom spores are also available. These include morel, matsutake, and common white mushroom spores. This task can be completed a total of 10 times for rewards. Please specify how much of each you would like when submitting your threads, i.e. “I’d like 5 random spring seed bags and 5 random mushroom bags, please!”

2. Exchange names. Start learning some names and faces: you’ll be seeing a lot of these folks! For each name you learn, you’ll earn a random bag of spring flower seeds. Daffodil, tulip, forget-me-not, primrose, and hyacinth are available this season. This task can be completed a total of 10 times for rewards, and yes, you can cheat the system and introduce yourself to someone you already know, but the Goddess won’t like it.

3. Check out your new farm. Take a look around and settle in! After a bit of wandering, you’ll notice a small cat or dog following you around and looking up at you with them big ol’ eyes. Looks like it wants to stay with you, but will you adopt it? This task can be completed once.

4. Till your field and begin planting. Find the beat up farming tools in your beat up house and begin beating your farmland into submission. Plant some seeds and be rewarded by the Goddess with a single chicken or rabbit to keep in your coop. This task can be completed once.

5. Visit another farm. Pay one of your neighbors a visit to receive a stationary set blessed by the Goddess herself. There are no cell phones or Internet on the island, so get used to sending all your “LOL”s and “XDDDD”s by hand. This task can be completed once.

6. Make a new friend. Isn’t friendship wonderful? For each person you proclaim to be your friend, you will receive two random gacha items. This task can be completed 3 times.

7. Pray to the Goddess. Whether you do so grudgingly or willingly doesn’t matter much to her so long as you’re doing it! Clasp your hands together and bow your head or throw an offering into her pond— she’ll hear you either way. Praying to the Goddess will net you a barn animal of your choosing: a cow, sheep, alpaca, or goat. This task may be completed once.

Caution: throwing certain items into her pond may have consequences. Choose your offerings wisely.

mod notes

⬥ Welcome to the game's opening and our first event!
⬥ A second event post will go up in mid-Dec.
⬥ Please plot over at the Dec Plotting Post.
⬥ As a reminder, please keep all plotting on the OOC post as not everyone has Discord or Plurk.
⬥ Please submit your completed tasks at the top-level below.
⬥ Have fun!

navigation

Comments

[associative]

[ Hm. That lifelessness makes him uncomfortable, even though he's used to seeing smiles that don't reach someone's eyes in the entertainment industry. But here? It's off-putting. ]

Sure. I don't have a name for this cat yet, but he's mine.

[ He takes a step closer to Childe. ]

You can pet him if you want.

[sluice]

[ PAL, HE GETS WORSE??? These googly dead fish eyes never quit. ]

Looks to me like he's plenty attached already. He must've taken quite a liking to you! ... Guess that goes both ways. [ Cue a token pat on Childe's end. How soft. ] So what do you make of all of this? You seem to be handling it pretty well.

[ But it doesn't hurt to go along with anything on the task board when the requests are so benign. ]

[associative]

So do you.

[ But that's neither here nor there. Those dead eyes say a lot, after all, so Gaku isn't going to get into that. ]

There's not much we can do right now other than follow along. I've got things I need to get back to, and freaking out over this won't get me back sooner. I don't want to piss off the wrong person and have no chance of waking up back in my own bed.

[ And truthfully, he's still in shock. It's a numbness that's set over his entire body and has yet to full dissipate, and he's not sure how long that will take. ]

[sluice]

I'm flattered you think so! I do try my best to keep a level head.

[ Helps that he's usually the one stirring up trouble on a catastrophic scale. This is one of those rare occasions where it isn't the case. ]

Given that you'll be playing along, why don't I pitch in? Anything I can do to lend my aid?

[ If kowtowing to this so-called goddess will result in anything remotely good, Childe's willing to assume deference for as long as it takes. ]

[associative]

Teach me how to farm.

[ He's completely lost in that regard! But on a more serious note... ]

She wants us to fill out those bingo cards, right? Want to work on some of that?

[sluice]

That's optimistic. [ Snezhnaya is a hellish winter wonderland and a cruel mistress, so his """farming""" experience equates to a couple seeds and a dream. ] Here's hoping!

[ And here's his card, offered up with little fanfare. It's deranged. There's a lot of sick shit on there to be sure. ]

Anything catch your eye?

[associative]

[ Sharing a drink with two straws? Disgusting.

He desperately tries not to flush at the dirty talk or phone sex prompts, attempting to keep his expression impassive, but it's not foolproof. ]

We might have one or two in common. Here.

[ Gaku fishes his own card out of his back pocket and hands it over. ]

[sluice]

[ Right up there with eating ice cream and matching t-shirts, truly unforgivable sins. After much careful thought and consideration: ]

Well, I'm not against drinks.

[ See, Childe's not a wine guy, but for some reason the goddess also has him pegged as some inveterate alcoholic with a thirst for the finer things in life? Maybe Gaku can help him expand his taste beyond hard liquor and unchecked bloodlust. ]

[associative]

[ He's incredibly thankful that Childe doesn't go with skinnydipping. That's something he needs a couple of dates beforehand to do. ]

Let's see... would you rather paint or have dinner with it? Just warning you—I'm no artist.

[ Well. Painter, at least. ]

[sluice]

[ Wait for it. ]

Conceding defeat already? You ought to relish the opportunity to hone your skills. [ Read: Childe also sucks with the humanities. The only thing he's any good for is the one thing these cards have failed to provide. ] I'll take what you're willing to give.

[ Stick figures or Childe's abomination of a dish? Your call. ]

[associative]

It's not defeat. It's knowing what I'm good at.

[ But he won't avoid it entirely either. The problem is that he'll get competitive with painting and he doesn't want to show that side of him just yet. ]

Let's do wine and dine. But if you really want to, we can paint another time too.

[sluice]

I'll relish the opportunity as it comes, then.

[ Besting Gaku at something he sincerely enjoys ought to prove exhilarating. His competitive streak is a mile long and Childe tamps it down, but he's radiating exultance all the same. Something a little more genuine than that empty, placid smile he'd given Gaku initially. ]

Lead the way.

[ Be sure not to lose the kitty, either. Intoxication won't help matters any. ]

[associative]

[ The energy has definitely shifted, and Gaku isn't sure what to make of it. Is it a good thing?

Eh, whatever. He'll see what happens. ]

Let's go grab some wine first, then we can head back to my place. I've got the kitchen stocked up so we can cook something. Maybe we can even exchange dishes.

[ Gaku Will Regret This Later. ]

[sluice]

[ Regret it soon. The regret's forthcoming. It's in the future but it's biding its time as he joins Gaku on this scenic route. ]

Came prepared? [ Interesting... ] Now this I have to see.

[ What can he say? Friendly competitions in the kitchen also fire him up. ]

Let's make a sport of it. I'll prepare my specialty. Assuming you've got the ingredients on-hand, that is! I'm no stranger to improvisation, if need be.

[ SAY NO, HURRY, IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO REFUSE, ]

[associative]

Improvisation, huh? What do you need for your specialty? I might have some of that stuff.

[ He's cooking for two now, so he had to be fully prepared to get their meals ready every day.

But in the meantime, he's already thinking about what kind of dish he'll make. ]

[sluice]

Crab, mint, calla lilies... well, just to name a few. I could jot down the recipe, but I don't suppose you have anything to write with?

[ A bit of an omission on his part, neglecting to mention the letters currently in his possession. Plenty of papers to scribble on. Nothing he'd relinquish to anyone else, though. Childe doesn't bother bringing it up. ]

[associative]

[ How rude of him!! But it's fine, because— ]

I do, back at the house. We had to write things down earlier, so I made sure to get plenty of pens and paper.

[ He grabbed mint for flavoring purposes, but lilies? ]

I don't think I have lilies. Crab shouldn't be a problem, since we're on the beach. [ ... ] If you wanna hunt for one.

[sluice]

I can handle the crabs. [ Don't let him do this. ] Why don't we meet up a couple hours from now? I'll figure out what to do about the lilies in the meantime.

[ Perhaps they can even smash cut to a timeskip to avoid the logistics of Gaku procuring liquor and his stationary set while Childe emotionally manipulates marine life? Consider this option while he stares very expectantly at Gaku with his goofy dead eyes. ]

[associative]

[ His sweet and beautiful dead eyes... ]

Sounds good to me. My house is over that way.

[ And Gaku will point to... that way. Wherever his house is. He'll even throw in a marker for Childe to use to guide himself there later.

Before they part ways, however, he has a very important question. ]

Oh yeah. What kind of wine do you like?

[sluice]

Ah, so you're letting me decide what we'll share?

[ What a question! Not like he's well-versed with wine varieties. No time to broaden his horizons, ever since he joined the Fatui. There's not much Childe favors or dislikes, besides. So allow him to settle on a cop-out: ]

I think I'd like something rich.

[ AKA, grab some Côtes du Rhône blend and go to town. With a two-fingered salute, Childe's off! Catch you at your doorstep in a few hours, Gaku. He'll rap the door to signal his arrival. Knock, knock. Please let him inside. ]

[associative]

[ Good thing he wants something rich, because Gaku grew up a rich kid himself so he doesn’t have any issue picking something out. He grabs a couple of wines—Côtes du Rhône red wine and a Côte Rotie Brune red wine so that they have some options if one doesn’t work out. He’s busy staring at the bottles in his hands after getting out a couple of wine glasses, wondering why this feels so much like a date.

The knock breaks him out of those thoughts, however, and he sets the bottles down and opens up the door. ]

Hey.

[ He steps aside to let Childe in. Much like everyone else’s home, his looks terrible too. ]

Come on in.

[sluice]

[ Because it is a date, silly. ]

Hey! Pardon the intrusion.

[ Stepping inside, Childe's careful safeguarding his oh-so-precious cargo with both arms, which is... namely, a bucket of crabs. He may or may not resemble an actual cryptid right now, what with the tang on the sea still on him, this ocean-heavy scent that he wasn't able to completely scrub away. Smiling so ferociously through his noticeably wet bangs, he probably looks like a lunatic. At least he isn't dripping water everywhere? ]

Hope you weren't waiting too long. [ Crab-catching was a time-consuming endeavor, and his search for calla lilies has come up empty, but it is what it is. ] Ready to get the ball rolling?

[associative]

[ He sure does! But maybe he just really likes catching crabs, who knows?

Whatever the case is, Gaku points to the kitchen. ]

Put that bucket on the counter.

[ Gaku has his own myriad of ingredients set up on one of the counters, chopped and ready to be cooked up. ]

Yeah, I am. Do you like sesame?

[sluice]

I'm fond! I even had a few dishes with it recently...

[ Inazuma cuisine is so interesting. Everything's his favorite when he doesn't bother keeping real preferences! Setting the bucket on the counter, he'll go ahead and allude to the elephant in the room: ]

Manage to find some paper?

[ He'll scribble down the recipe for you. ]

[associative]

Yeah.

[ Gaku opens up one of the drawers and pulls out a notebook and a pen, dropping them down on the counter. ]

There you go. Write to your heart's content.

[ But mostly write the recipe. ]