crescentview | jan mid-month event.

jan mid-month event.

midsummer storms

The unrelenting summer heat has begun to let up as of late and those who make a habit of reading the news will know why: a hurricane is set to make landfall on Summer 16th. Spread the word to your neighbors and keep your loved ones and animals indoors. Expect that there may be some damage to your property, field and trees!

Fortunately, the hurricane brings with it only moderate wind and rain. Once the storm subsides and the whipping winds calm, you’ll be handed a letter by one of the Goddess’ many sprightly fairies who look quite a bit healthier and happier than they used to. Some of them look like they’ve been hitting the gym while others have a nice set of shiny new acrylic nails on their fingertips. Good for them.

Anyway, the letter details an upcoming event hosted by the Goddess: the first annual date auction. She has considerately included a form with her letter inviting islanders to volunteer as dates to be auctioned away while others have been voluntold. Oof. With the promise of a fabulous and extravagant vacation for those participating, the reward may very well be worth the price of entry.

With more news to announce, she requests that everyone meet up in the Town Plaza. The task board hasn’t seen any mid-season additions, but the upcoming date auction and the recently opened mines promise to keep islanders well occupied through the rest of the season.

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.

and... sold! first annual date auction

It’s time to d-d-d-date auction! Participation is highly encouraged by both the Goddess and her pushy little helpers. Every islander received a form delivered to them by said pushy fairies that contains the following application:

Describe yourself in three sentences or less:
List three of your best and worst qualities:
If you were a fruit, which fruit would you be and why?
Describe your ideal romantic partner:
Why should the auction attendees bid on you?

...You may have noticed that the form does not include a section for your name. That’s because this is a blind auction in which bidders must place their bids based only on the information provided in their application. Love is blind, as they say!

While some people may eagerly volunteer themselves to be auctioned away, those who are less bold may have been signed up to participate by a friend, neighbor, or the Goddess herself. In so many words, if you’d like to sign your character up but don’t believe they’d willingly volunteer to be auctioned, worry not! You may use the Goddess (or another character) as your convenient excuse so sign them up anyway.

Submit your applications here by the 20th at 12pm EST. The date auction will go live on the 21st at 12pm EST.

As mentioned in the overview, all auctioned off parties and their winning bidders will win an all expenses paid trip... somewhere. The Goddess’ lips are sealed as to the destination, but you get the feeling this trip will be quite a bit more than you bargained for.

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.

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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.

to the mines!

The once abandoned mines have been reopened and are now accessible to any brave islanders who wish to explore their depths! But be warned: doing so may come at a cost. Will you take the risk and come out on top with rare and otherworldly treasures, or will you trip and sprain your ankle after stumbling over a small rock? Only one way to find out!

OOCly, the mines can be explored once per week and exploration is undertaken in a cyoa-style thread. The mines are a permanent feature and can be accessed now until the end of the game. Have fun!

mod notes

⬥ Welcome to our mid-season event for month 2! We hope you have all been having fun and enjoying yourselves. As always, if you have any feedback or concerns, feel free to reach out to us on the mod contact page.
⬥ The next event (and the season of fall!) will go live on February 1st.
⬥ Please plot over at the Event 2.5 Plotting Post.
⬥ As a reminder, please keep all plotting on the OOC post as not everyone uses Discord or Plurk.
⬥ Please submit your completed tasks at the top-level below.
⬥ Have fun!

navigation

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Ellis gets it, since Adelis is, well, Adelis. He will forever be a unique person to Mishka and everyone else. He is his own person. If Adelis were to die, then Adelis would go extinct. That's how unique he is. ]

I wasn't bad enough to be likened to a stray, but I think that if Gaku hadn't chased me after I threw him away, I would still be the same as I was before. Sometimes, the hardest thing to do is get the ball rolling in the first place.

[ And if Mishka is wondering what sets Ellis apart from what he was before— ]

I recently learned genuine empathy, so I guess that's a start.

( Mishka reads through the message, seeing where Ellis is going with this thought - though his eyebrow does raise when he hits the last bit. Inch resting. )

Is this from being with Gaku? Or loving him?

( They sound similar enough - but they are just so slightly different. )

[ It honestly doesn't take any hesitation for Ellis to hold up a single finger. It's the former. He knows it's definitely not love, because he didn't love him when all this started falling in place. ]

Words are powerful things. So is persistence and thick skin. I feel like I can see a very faint parallel.

[ He doesn't have to say it, does he. ]

( Mm, he seems to think it over. )

I suppose, I'll grant you that. Then how do you suppose things look from Adelis's perspective, if you think you have some view of it?

( He still believes, and will believe, in his mission statement, but he isn't so dull-minded as to completely ignore the vantage point of another. )

[ From Adelis's perspective. Hm. What he's seen so far and personally experienced is something that he feels like he only barely scratched the surface of. Even with Mishka's help, it feels like Ellis can't get a good reading on Adelis.

But. ]

Despite everything, he probably won't like it if you're gone.

[ This is honestly a lot of guesswork, but with how they keep seemingly butting heads, Mishka knowing Adelis personally and how to act upon it, those 5-6 years... yeah, he thinks this is correct. Also with Ellis's personal belief that if he himself didn't like anyone, he'd flat out ignore them forever. ]

Because you were the first one who brought him out that allowed Adelis to be who he is today.

( For what it's worth, Mishka will take the guesstimation, because it, at least, asks him to think beyond his own presumptions - like an optical illusion, when you're struggling to see it both ways.

He seems to enjoy Ellis's answer. )

I think you may have some point. There are few things he values more than himself - perhaps nothing at all.

( Who he is; the things that made him the way he is today. If he considers himself part of a collection of things Adelis feels are relevant components to his identity - that he does not, necessarily, wish to lose...

Well, perhaps it doesn't see eye to eye with his own feelings (the ones he won't acknowledge), but it certainly is a more optimistic perspective than presuming Adelis has outgrown him entirely. )

You ought start charging for your time, Doctor. ( Half teasing with that "doctor." ) I feel near inclined to turn myself in to Van Zieks after taking all that for free.

[ Ellis laughs lightheartedly. Do not. He doesn't want to sit in community jail to stabilize Mishka for hours. ]

I'm just a guy. Getting different perspectives is nice sometimes. It feels refreshing.

[ Right. ]

( Not to worry, he would never make Van Zieks's life that easy... unless he wanted to give him a false sense of security, he supposes, for a brief evening. )

You're doing me a great boon, if you ask me. ( Doctor it is! ) Did your relationship with Gaku fall into place with ease?

[ Ellis tilts his head one way and then the other way.

Then he simply nods and looks at Mishka as if ask why did he ask. ]

( Huh, seems impressed. )

... It's just hard to imagine two people's hearts meeting so easily. Certainly, the jagged edges of each must scrape more often than mesh.

[ Truthfully, it wasn't as clean and so neat in slot. It was pretty messy, but if he had to compare it to the difficulty that some people are having, he'd definitely say it's easy in comparison. ]

Relationships don't mean you have to agree with the other for everything. Don't need to be a yes man, but both sides need to learn how to compromise and communicate.

[ At least, that's what he thinks, anyway. He's still new to this. ]

( The messy couples of Crescent View are hard at work making everyone else feel better about themselves. You're welcome!

But, hmm. Seems legit, he supposes. The sort of thing he'd hear and agree with, but finds harder to implement in practice. )

I suppose that makes sense, in theory. ( He killed people for a living. He has no better frame of reference for genuine relationships and romance. ) My profession asks me to work solo much of the time - on occasion, with other professionals - and it is only quite recently that I began to appreciate the value in a diverse portfolio of company.

I would not suggest I have learned empathy as you have, ( he says this kind of like, he doesn't think it's that important? Like, it'd be good to have, but he doesn't see how it's a big deal to fail in this regard? ) but I appreciate the idea of relationships in concept. They are quite important, despite the difficulty behind maintaining them.

[ Honestly though? Mood. It's good to have, but it also sucks having it. He already kinda hates empathy, but what can you do after you've let yourself feel it? ]

It's always a lot easier to be alone, because then you don't have to think about anyone else.

[ But still, relationships are important. It's what Ellis built his entire fake ass bitch persona off of when he first got here. If anything, being on the good side of other people make it easier to survive. All he needed was them, their resources, and their company to serve as even more distractions. Use them all like the tools and drop it once it stops being novel.

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But being alone means your thoughts get more intrusive without distractions, so you need to weigh your options!

[ He smiles. ]

( The pause makes him go, "?" - but it's only a pause. If only Mishka knew what was going on in some people's brackets today. )

Oh, yes. Things only grow worse when you're alone. I had not understood this so acutely until I began to travel with company of my own.

( A beat. )

But I feel I've occupied your company long enough, if you need a moment to yourself.

[ If only... Ellis tilts his head, confused. ]

Do I look sick?

You seemed a little distracted for a moment, is all.

[ Distracted? Ellis tries to think, but then he looks like he has a flash of realization, then a scowl. It's followed by a deep sigh and a scribble on the notepad. ]

I think I'm getting too ahead of myself. Thanks for letting me know. I should take a break.

[ In doing what? Gathering gossip? It's fine. ]

Edited 2023-01-25 02:20 (UTC)

( Raises eyebrow. )

A coin for your thoughts?

( Yeah, he did ask if Ellis needed a minute, but he is still asking if he wants to share despite that. It's the little bits of failing empathy, sometimes. )

[ The funny thing is, Ellis regards this as normal and doesn't see anything wrong with what Mishka is asking. A coin for his thoughts. A coin... thoughts...

...

He'll write anyway. ]

It's just when you think you're having fun, you get small reminders that no, you're not allowed to have fun.

( Oh? )

Anxiety? Or something tied to the thing you are?

[ He holds up two fingers. Peace? He'd like that, sure. But then he waves his hand a little as if to say "it's not a big deal". ]

( Hmmmm... )

It certainly seems like one.

( He prods, but won't exactly wrestle it out of him at present. )

I've been meaning to ask, by the by. Is there a sign language you use? I know one of some kind, but it's tailored to my work, so I've doubted its use here.

[ Ellis just stares at Mishka, like.

Bruh.

You could have said this a lot sooner?! ]

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