crescentview | jan event.

jan event.

summer has arrived

As the last of the sakura blossoms fall away and the leaves on the trees grow into ever more vibrant greens, the familiar buzz of cicadas begins to echo all throughout the isle. Summer is quickly approaching and bringing brighter days and blazing temperatures along with it.

Summer also signals the start of the wine production season. Grapes growing on trellises are a common sight on Crescentview during the summer and a notice on the town memo board from the local barkeep encourages farmers to consider growing some varietal grapes of their own.

Temperatures are rising, so put on a comfortable pair of shorts and head to the Town Plaza to see what’s cooking! While you’re at it, take a look at the calendar for Summer 1st through 15th.

This season’s crops are corn, onion, pumpkin, watermelon, and pineapple. Summer’s seasonal flowers are poppy, rose, sunflower, lily, and hydrangea. As for mushrooms, shimeji, trumpet, and common brown spores are available for the summer.

hot! ...or not

Posted prominently at the top of the Memo Board is a cartoonishly-written advertisement for the first annual Hot or Not hosted by the Goddess herself. Contestants will take to the stage while the audience votes on whether they are as hot as the blazing sun or cooler than a dead fish. Leave your egos at the door! ICly, this event takes place on Summer 8th.

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 January 1st to February 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.

---

This month’s tasks are centered around getting to know your fellow neighbors on a deeper level. As such, the Goddess has put together a small human scavenger hunt to encourage people to learn more about the people they are living with — and hopefully falling in love with.

Find someone who...

1. Was born in the summer
2. Pours milk into their bowl before the cereal
3. Plays a musical instrument
4. Has more than 3 siblings
5. Works out 5 times a week or more
6. Doesn’t like animals
7. Would like to date the Harvest Goddess
8. Has traveled around the world
9. Speaks two or more languages
10. Is wearing socks that aren’t black or white

Each submission will earn you two random bags of summer seeds. Specify whether you want crop, flower, or mushroom spores in your submission. This task can be completed a total of 10 times.

---

Many ingredients used in wine production grow in the summer, but so do a variety of tea plants and grains. Grapes, tea shrubs and grains like wheat and barley can all be grown on your farm or in your greenhouse, if you have one.

Complete the following tasks to earn yourself some nice beverage-producing crops for the farm:

1. Take something from last month’s harvest and gift it to a neighbor. You can give it to them directly, cook it into a meal, etc. Alternatively, craft them a bouquet, flower crown, or another gift from the flowers you grew last season. Complete 3 times for a total of 6 grape starters.

2. Share a piece of hot gossip with a neighbor or exchange secrets with them. It doesn’t have to be your secret! Complete 3 times for a total of 6 tea starters.

3. Exercise with someone. Go on a run, swim in the ocean, help them stretch out! Complete 3 times for a total of 6 grain crops. You may choose from wheat, barley, rye, or rice.

---

Summer is the perfect time to hang out on the beach and splash around in the ocean. Participate in some summer fun at the beach and earn more animals for your barn and coop.

1. Swim in the ocean, build a sandcastle, or bury someone in the sand. Do any of the following for one of the following animals: cow, sheep, alpaca, or goat. This task can be completed once.

2. Participate in Hot or Not. It’s an annual tradition! Submit yourself or comment on someone else for a single chicken or rabbit. This task can be completed once.

local happenings

The Crescentview Times newspaper has chronicled the latest happenings around the island. A physical copy of the paper will arrive on your doorstep early in the morning on Summer 1st.

Recently, a group of townspeople have taken it upon themselves to check out the abandoned mine. They’ve made good headway on opening up the path in the hopes that would-be explorers will be able to take to the mines and find some of Crescentview’s fabled gems and minerals buried in its depths. They expect to be done by Summer 15th.

A strange “gurgling whisper” has been reported by some concerned townsfolk living in the mountains. The concerning sounds are coming from one of the lakes at the foot of the mountain. Supposedly, the voice is asking for offerings of... something. The townsfolk have yet to identify what exactly is being asked for.

A hurricane has been brewing off the southern coast of Crescentview. Meteorologists have yet to determine whether the hurricane will make landfall or not, so stay tuned for more updates.

mod notes

⬥ Welcome to our second event! We want to thank you all for participating in our game and contributing your efforts to it. Thank you for playing!
⬥ A second event post will go up in mid-Jan.
⬥ Please plot over at the Jan 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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh, many of you have. Do not worry about that. I was very particular about my picks, after all.

[ Even if they seem to be performing poorly. Don't worry about it. ]

Now, how about an introduction, dear?

Ahh, right, right... [When there's already been two sheep stampedes at bare minimum, the bar has been set abysmally low.

He does have to pause a second to consider a couple things, but for as nervous as the Touken usually is, he doesn't seem to have a bad stage presence. He can even project. Wow look at that, idol skills do come in handy.]

Otegine, one of the three greatest spearmen of my time. I might not be as fast or sharp as the rest, but no one can outclass me with the piercing I can do.

This isn't the battlefield I'm used to, but it's a group of faces I hope to count on in their own way, so long as we get to know one another. There's a lot I have yet to learn, but... there's strength in finding versatility in those around you. [A bow toward the audience, from the waist, formal but brief.] I trust myself in your care.

Thank you for the splendid introduction. Now, if you could please, tell us good points about yourself excluding piercing.

[ Yup. You heard her, Otegine. No piercing. ]

Ah...

[This is a deceptively long amount of time to have to think about this, as though the man legitimately has nothing else that comes to mind. Because he doesn't.]

I, uh... guess it depends. That's really the only point I've ever been praised about, so I kind of have to be flexible about everything else.

[What are good character traits? Never heard of em.]

So you are adaptable. It allows you to accommodate to whichever situation you are in. You are flexible.

[ There's one good trait, Otegine. She helped you think of one. Do the rest yourself. ]

...I don't know about that, but...

[FLEXIBLE IS NOT A WORD HE'D CHOOSE... but it's probably not a good thing to talk back against a goddess on Live Stage. Not to mention he would technically be contradicting himself a little - he did just say he had to be flexible about stuff, didn't he?

...

He crosses his arms across his chest, giving it some thought.]

...

I guess I'd rather not show myself off for anything more than what I am. [Humility.] And I don't have a lot of reason to pretend I'm any different than what I am as it is, so... I might as well just be as upfront as I can. [Honesty.] But... I don't want that to be an excuse to not at least give plenty of effort in what I choose to try. [Hard-working.] And if people are showing the same kind of effort with whatever they can try to do, I think it's something I try not to forget easily, or to question. [Loyalty.]

...

[He just laughs a little under his breath, slightly frustrated and self deprecating, but gives the goddess a shrug.]

Something like that, right?

Yes, "something" like that. I will have to hope that "confidence" will be one of those traits in the future.

[ Self deprecating isn't hot. ]

[Can't believe he's getting roasted on live TV.

Still, he'll give her a firm nod almost immediately. HONESTLY, YEAH HE'D LOVE THAT, TOO.]

The only way to do it is to try. If I can manage it, so can anyone else.

Oh? Are you setting yourself as the standard?

[ That's rather bold, but not in a good way. She continues to watch him carefully. ]

Not really.

[This, at least, he can stand his ground on.]

If somebody can find a way to have genuine confidence even if they feel they don't have much going for them, that can be more encouraging than someone who seems to know what they're doing no matter the situation.

It's something I like to see, so... I don't know if it's a standard so much as just wanting to be something to admire like I admire in others.

[ The goddess slowly blinks. Hm. Hmmm. ]

Dear, be careful not to blend confidence and stupidity together. Only one can be worthy of being called confident and it is still not the fool who has no idea what they're doing even after a good result for them. Confidence is using much less words to describe positive traits about yourself and churning the words out from the start.

[ She quietly breathes out. ]

That aside, it did not answer my question. Were you claiming that if confidence is so difficult to achieve for you, then anyone can? Because you set yourself so very low that the standard must be buried inside of someone's farm?

[There's a flash of irritation, briefly, at being underhandedly called both a fool and pathetic in rapid succession. But he holds his tongue, his expression withering a bit as she rewords her question.

...]

... Oi. Just because it's a weakness doesn't mean I've lost all respect for myself, you know.

It's difficult because I don't know anything else. If something like me that's starting from scratch can learn to be confident, or to farm, or to get married, then so can anyone else you've chosen. If admitting that makes me the lowest standard here... [It stings. A lot. But he just exhales, trying to let it go.] ... then I've just got a lot of work to do.

[And he's definitely not winning this little hot or not thing at this rate, but it's fine. He had a feeling he wouldn't, regardless.]

Edited 2023-01-08 00:18 (UTC)

No, dear. I was saying that you were considering yourself to be the lowest standard here. But I know you are earnest in your hard work. I believe in your work ethic.

[ There is her vote of confidence. ]

[Kamisama please, his heart strings can't take the whiplash.

The fact that they've had this conversation before keeps him silent rather than sputtering. This isn't new news to him... just, rather, something he wasn't entirely sure he'd earned yet, despite an entire season of time passing over.

Maybe he was just setting himself up for his own failure assuming as much, though.

He blows out a slow breath through the nose, though the sourness of his expression softens.]

...Mn. I know.

[...

Something difficult to read passes over his expression toward her. But he shoves it back, instead bowing at the waist.]

Like I said... I hope our efforts meet up to your expectations.

[Even if it takes him a while. He still has no intention to stop trying.]

(no subject)

harvestashya - 2023-01-08 19:38 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

passthrough - 2023-01-08 19:42 (UTC) - Expand

[ After Otegine's stint on stage, he gets a rather tall tree approach him with a little smile. ]

You're Commander Syrlya's housemate, aren't you?

[After he gets peeled apart by the goddess and put back together, Otegine's a little worse for wear, but he'll still at least willing to offer a polite smile and a bow of his head in response.]

Yeah, that's right. He's been a pleasant companion.

[why do you both look so much like plants... but that is a rude question so he will keep that to himself]

Are you familiar with him?

I am.

[ proudly! His smile widens. ]

I am his friend, brother, and commanding officer.

[ He extends a hand for a shake. Time to gauge you, soldier. ]

I'm glad he shares company with a fellow soldier. I'm certain he's more comfortable this way than rooming with otherwise.

[Oh boy, outranked all over the place here!

He doesn't do handshakes too often, but he still easily meets Trahearne's grip with a firm hand, another low bow out of respect for someone who very clearly outranks him.]

I appreciate your kindness.

All I can hope is that I can provide him some sort of level of comfort that he's already provided for me. Sharing a living quarters with my teammates isn't new, anyway.

If anything, I don't mind approaching this situation just like I'd look at a battle, anyway, haha. It's hard to explain to most.

[ Otegine may be outranked, but he certainly isn't out-talled. Damn.

A firm handshake, a polite bow--he seems reliable and dependable already. Trahearne offers a smile and a slight nod in response to the bow before letting go. He's pretty sure Otegine is doing enough for Syrlya, considering he hasn't heard any complaints. ]

Not many would understand. But careful thought and perseverance can serve well in most situations, be it battle or farming. I'd say your mind is in the right place.

I hope the change in scenery hasn't been too hard on you, though.

[ Sometimes, it's impossibly difficult going straight from war to peace. ]

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't restless. My usefulness in combat is all I really have going for me. [yes, yes, he just had to give that extended list for the goddess, but old habits die hard]

Still... it hasn't been too horrible. We grow our own food at the citadel. Our commander likes to say it helps train our self-discipline and keeps us busy when we're not on assignment.

[The marriage part, though? Lmao.]

Edited 2023-01-11 11:48 (UTC)

Your commander has been right to teach you. [ Trahearne wonders if he wouldn't have done the same if given more down time. Then again, he had his hands full... ] That you have previous experience must be a huge help.

And don't forget that combat tempers your physical strength--farming is hard labour. I guarantee you have it easier than those whose expertise lies elsewhere. [ He nods. ] I'm certain you have more transferable skill than you believe.

[ We will ignore the marriage part. ]

[The practical nature of the compliments hits different, a harder thing for him to naturally combat.]

A-ah... I wouldn't really know how well I'm doing at all at this rate, honest. But... thank you. I suppose you've got a point. So long as the effort is helping Syrlya out and keeping us fed, that's all that matters to me.

If others can find use of it all... I can't promise them anything like a bountiful harvest, but I can try my best otherwise.

[ He smiles. He can tell Otegine needs the encouragement, but it isn't like he hasn't done this before. And it isn't like there are hundreds of other soldiers he needs to look after now. He makes a mental note to check up on him later. He has adopted that whole house now. ]

Your best is all I ask. And Syrlya seems to be doing well--he's happy and healthy--so I'd say your efforts are paying off.

[ He clasps a hand on his arm, a familiar gesture he'd use with Syrlya, too. ] Chin up, soldier. You're doing fine.

[No wonder this person is a officer.

With a slow exhale, the brunette nods, first hesitantly, then with a little more firmness, his smile a little stronger.]

R-right... right.

Thank you, sir.

[From somewhere unseen above him, a brief, soft rain of pink flower petals drifts down. Didn't the cherry blossoms end weeks ago? Oh well. Someone hasn't quite noticed.]

Your take on the poetry up there was really admirable, too, if... you don't me saying so.

[ As Trahearne drops his hand from Otegine's arm, his gaze briefly flits upward. Petals? Strange. It's summer.

He doesn't get much of a chance to think about it, because the topic shifts. There's a bit of surprise on his face when Otegine when directs the praise back at him. Not out of offense, but genuine surprise. ]

Not at all. [ He smiles a bit, grateful. ] Thank you. I admit I don't have much experience "wooing" an audience, so I decided to stick to what I know.

[ POETRY COMPLIMENT THOUGH... ] Have you much interest in poetry?