EVENT ★ WINTER WONDERLAND

[futurologists]

HOLIDAY PREPWORK The sun might still be AWOL, but that doesn't mean it's time for a vacation! The goblin community seems even more motivated to get their holiday preparations together, working tirelessly to brighten up the grim atmosphere. To that end, they've enlisted the help of the ALASTAIR recruits that've been bumming around. Characters that signed up will be invited or roped into the goblins' various holiday traditions and events. Though they may refuse or fail these tasks, for every one that isn't accomplished, characters will suffer one effect from the curses list for upsetting the holiday balance. Note that those that didn't sign up can still help with tasks out of the goodness of their hearts, they just won't be assigned anything themselves or suffer any curses. Additionally, though PCs are magically bound to work with some partners, they may team up with others as well. GREETINGS FROM LLOYD ALASTAIR sends their holiday tidings! Some characters will find special deliveries addressed to them by name from the mysterious Lloyd of HR. The packaging might be messy and overtaped, and some of the gifts are less nice than others, but it's the thought that counts. MISTLESNOW The first snowfall of the year arrives, and though this may not bode well when there's no sun to melt it away, for now it's pristine and beautiful. Flurries and gentle snowstorms continue for days, blanketing all of Chantes and the outskirts. With it comes a uniquely magical weed epidemic. Mistletoe grows off every surface it can, stems and shrubs of it creeping off of anything it can cling to, including trees, archways, lanterns and buildings. This parasitic plant is a notorious holiday tradition, but in Chantes it packs an extra punch: when two characters step under it together, they'll find themselves magically rooted in place. Mistletoe's spell can only be broken by a kiss, and while chaste exchanges usually work (kisses to the hand, butterfly or eskimo kisses, etc.), more stubborn weeds do exist. This effect lasts until characters smooch or the weed dies from lack of sustenance, which could be anywhere between several hours to a full day. Mistletoe can be destroyed by a third party in a pinch, but be careful not to get stuck under the plant as well! As an OOC note, feel free to be creative on the range and strength of the mistletoe, but please respect other players' boundaries! If you would like to break the mistletoe with a hearty handshake or have your character be immune, be our guest. HAPPY HOLIDAYS All the hustle and bustle aside, the festivities themselves are peaceful and joyous -- and thanks to the ALASTAIR recruits, not punctuated with death or ominous Chimera motifs this time. A large bonfire continues all night with food and mulled wine aplenty. It's time to kick back, make some snow angels, and relax.

Comments

Papyrus | OTA

[boneafide]

[There's no sun. There's snow. There's holiday-orientated decor everywhere.

Just like home!

If Papyrus didn't know better, he'd swear they were back in Snowdin. Which maybe isn't really for the best, but similarities to his hometown aside, Papyrus was an endless tornado of excitement for a variety of reasons, one being that he very much liked being around snow again. He had no idea how much he would miss it, since it had been a near constant in his life.

Snow aside, Papyrus is practically a blur of activity with these new "tasks" given to the ALASTAIR members to complete for the holidays. He's always liked doing chores, and he absolutely goes batshit crazy over the holidays, Christmas particularly, and all together, this has formed a perfect storm of Papyrus being so excited he may be going where (s)no(w) Papyrus has gone before.]

[A.] COOKING

[Being a self-titled Master Chef, Papyrus was naturally one of the first to volunteer to help cook for the holiday feast.

What the Goblins, and really... not too many people here know yet, is that while Papyrus loves to cook, he lacks in skill entirely. His teacher in the ways of cooking usually winds up setting things on fire herself, and Papyrus isn't much better. Perhaps someone ought to... assist, as he starts to help prepare one of the meals for the feast.]

You sure are lucky you have enlisted my help! My expertise and sheer talen in the kitchen is unparallelled! Now, where do you keep your marinara sauce?

... What do you mean you don't need marinara sauce??


[B.] ART

[He might not be great at cooking, but it seems Papyrus is actual rather talented in sculpting snow people. So far, he's made a very... uh... "hopeful" Snow Papyrus, along with a Snow Sans, a Snow Undyne, and is currently working on his next snow person... which could very well be whoever walks up to him next, because hey, he needs inspiration.]


[C.] CURSED

[Against the odds, what with Papyrus being so very into the holiday spirit and very much on task with doing anything asked of him...

He's been cursed. Why, one might ask? He did so well, didn't he?

Well, he can't even tell you, because the curse he's suffering from is being mute. What a shame, his beautiful, screeching voice is silenced for at least 24 hours. Oh no. How will anyone go on, etc, etc.

He doesn't seem too put out by it though, because as it turns out, he's able to communicate decently though gestures and his hands alone. In fact, it seems like he wants to communicate something to your character now! Which he explains, by jumping in front of them suddenly and rapidly waving his hands around. Ah yes, everything is explained.]

B

[headlining]

[Honestly, these sculptures are pretty good. If you gave Keats the task of creating something out of snow, he'd probably just roll up a big ball of snow and be done with that.]

[He stands and looks at each one, before finding the sculptor himself working on his next creation. And it's...a skeleton. Well, Keats doesn't mind, he knows a walking talking skeleton from back home, so this is hardly out of the ordinary.]

Creating a regular snow sculpture museum, aren't you?

[boneafide]

As a matter of fact, I am! The task was to "make snow people versions of the team" and they never said when to stop, so... I'm making everyone! Nyeh heh heh!!

[Papyrus finishes rolling up his first ball of snow, beginning to start the second piece.]

I've never met you before. My name is Papyrus, what's yours?

[headlining]

Papyrus? Like the plant?

[Says the guy who's used a typewriter for most of his life, WHAT IS THIS FAMILIARITY WITH COMPUTER FONTS YOU SPEAK OF.]

Ah, it's Keats. [He reaches up to scratch the back of his head as he looks back at the snow people.] So, if they asked you to make these, what are these for, then, decoration?

A

[wright_idea]

[...A skeleton. Trying to cook. When he probably doesn't even have a tongue or a stomach.

...Sure, okay. I sort of give up on any sense of rationality in this career.]

Uh, maybe you could just make a normal tomato sauce? Not sure if they have tomatoes though...

[boneafide]

If they don't have open-pollinated heirloom tomatoes, then what's the point?

[ Woah, food snob alert. ]

They don't want me to make tomato sauce at all! Or spaghetti?? Can you believe it?! What kind of feast is this going to be without the epitome of pasta-based dishes?? This whole outfit is a sham.

[wright_idea]

[Probably doesn't help that Italy doesn't even exist in this world.]

Er, maybe you could help with something else? Diversify your portfolio a bit. I mean, there's gotta be something that's NOT pasta-based you could learn?

B

[ninmu]

[ so this isn't his first snow ever, but he still lacks experience with this kind of weather. Seeing a convincing facsimile of a human skeleton rise up out of this cushy white ice is fairly shocking to him. Melan doesn't walk up to him, exactly - it's hard to walk in the snow - but he does hover over, floating a few inches off the ground as the air from his feet displaces some of the lighter powder. ]

Papyrus. How did you do that?

[ monotone melan actually sounds faintly impressed... ]

[boneafide]

I used my hands! Gravity helps.

[ Well............

He's not wrong.

And hey look, Melan is floating again??]

You're not really a fan of it though?

[ Gravity, he means. ]

[B.]

[defenceless]

[we're sorry, rin. your skeleton is in another castle.

she's not sure what to think when she spots just one more walking, breathing, building six-foot skeleton before her very eyes. the snow sculpture that suspiciously resembles the short skeleton who scared the hell out of her doesn't exactly make her confident he and sans don't know each other. but this can't be sans' little brother, right? "little" is the key word.

it isn't hard to miss rin once she comes up beside him because of the jingling of bells—bells that are nowhere to be seen. she forgets to introduce herself.]

[boneafide]

[With that lack of an introduction, Papyrus assumes he is simply being admired by a stranger and proudly puffs out his chest as he takes a step back from his current work in progress.]

Hello, elf!

[......... well she's jingling, what else is he supposed to think. Also yes, that's definitely Papyrus' voice. No mistaking him for someone else huh. Not that he won't be reintroducing himself in 5...4...3..]

Come to admire the work of the Great Papyrus, hmmmm?

A.

[powerdriven]

[ never fear, goblin chefs and bakers. Levi has stepped into the royal kitchen, and though his hands are occupied tying off the knot on the white apron he's just donned, they're free just as soon for brandishing ingredients and utensils. which, in this case, happens to be a rather long knife aimed at scoring the Christmas ham.

...you might think the sight of this tall skeleton would be distracting for anyone unfamiliar offering a hand in here, but no, not for Levi. simply accepting the strange things around him has become a necessity when there's other work to be done. but said skeleton is getting in the way of accomplishing this job in tandem, so before he proceeds to slap down a cutting board, he'll make his directions clear. ]

You heard the chef. We follow the plan.

[ there goes the cutting board, with Levi sidling up beside him to set the meat atop it. ]

[boneafide]

[Normally the type to have more of an argument with someone over the correct procedure involved with cooking such a grand dinner, Papyrus knows that commanding voice when he hears it.]

R-Right! Captain!

[Nevermind that he doesn't know exactly what to do with this knife, cutting board, and meat placed in front of him. For all the bragging he's done about how he's a master chef... he's done mostly only pasta dishes so far. Maybe a quiche here and there, but he's very much a beginner in terms of anything else. Scoring a ham is not his strong point.

But he's not going to not try! He is, however, going to let out a little "hmmm" before picking up the knife and staring down at the meat in front of him.]

A

[perma_banned]

[There was a bit of humming across the ways of the kitchen people were working in, piercing the hurried conversations between people and their friends. Without paying mind to anyone else, Ban was hurriedly at work making a feast of his own, showing an unnerving calm and placidity which was normally antithetical to his entire image. He looked bored, in fact, as if he were simply going through the motions.

Roasts, bread, gingerbread men, dumplings, hand-made pasta--he began churning out dishes with dexterity that forced a few of the goblins to watch. Their hands got slapped away when they tried to sneak samples.

From time to time, even he liked quiet distractions.]

[boneafide]

[Papyrus is actually rather engrossed in watching Ban work. Sure, he loves to cook himself, but he also loves to watch other people cook too. Mettaton's cooking show is actually his favorite one of Mettaton's entire network, although there's usually not so much cooking happening as there is of the robot winding up talking about himself the whole time and then just showing a cake or something at the end.

But still. Papyrus doesn't try to steal any samples, but instead leans on the counter opposite Ban with his head resting in his hands, watching in awe.]

Wowie, Ban! You're- an expert! A true master at this! I'm so impressed!!

[He means it, of course.]

C!

[sunderings]

[ Head cant, to the right.

Cursed himself (with an ugly sweater, no less!), Sion can sense the enchantment upon his teammate, and wonders how it is that they're meant to work together to promote holiday balance and cheer when the most exuberant of their trio has been silenced.

In any case, Sion muffles a laugh (politely, with the back of his hand!) as he considers Papyrus, his amusement good-natured to say the least! ]

You have my attention, friend.

[boneafide]

[Oh, good, he's gotten Sion's attention! He was hoping he'd come across the other, since he is his apparent "teammate" for these tasks, and if anyone was going to understand what he was trying to communicate (besides Sans), it'd be him. ...Hopefully.

Papyrus then proceeds to try and communicate with his hands that he'd like for them to go shopping. But unless Sion is can understand what those rapidly made gestures mean, he's probably going to have to just let himself be dragged around by Papyrus from store to store.]

A

[cutlery]

[ Sebastian has probably been busily bustling about the kitchen, since it's one of the places he does feel the most at home. Preparing an excellent feast is something he excels at as the butler of the Phantomhive household. This was the sort of thing he had done frequently, so really, he was happy to be doing something familiar. However, when he hears someone (a... skeleton?) asking about marinara sauce, well.

This is the familiarity of home that Sebastian was decidedly not looking for.

But all the same, he's quite quick to step up with a polite and perfect smile. He seems quite willing to offer his help, but the way he smiles seems a touch passive-aggressive. He's not saying that some people shouldn't be allowed in the kitchen, since that's rude, but. He's certainly thinking it. ]

Oh, my, thank you for your help, sir... But I do not believe that anything on the menu calls for such a sauce.

[boneafide]

That's preposterous! Marinara sauce is a pinnacle of good cooking! To leave it out of whatever it is we're making is a mark of potentially bad decisions being made in this kitchen!

[ Now, no one would say Papyrus isn't a nice guy. He's extremely kind, giving, and thoughtful, almost always.

But sometimes, he's kind of a brat. Like... right now. ]

...What are we even making, anyway?

B sort of

[aspearation]

Hey! Papyrus! Heads up!

[ When Undyne spots her friend and the vague snowy silhouettes, the only logical way to greet him is to make the biggest snowball she can-- more of a snowboulder, really. She holds it over her head, waiting for him to turn around, threatening not only him but all of his artful works... ]

LAMENTS THE FACT I FORGOT A WILDCARD OPTION.....

[boneafide]

[Also laments the fact I forgot to make an icon of Undyne tackling Papyrus.

It's actually really impressive Undyne is able to hold that much snow at one time, without it becoming a powdery mess and falling apart in her hands. Also, she's probably picked up a lot of rocks and dirt and sticks simply due to snow's cumulative nature, when she picked all that up. Neither of these thoughts are on Papyrus' mind though, as he already knows that when Undyne goes "Heads up" it usually means she is about to tackle and/or do something to him.]

W-WAIT, UNDYNE, NOT ON THE SNOWPEOPLE!!

A.

[alphatar]

What even is marinara sauce? I'm still trying to find the soy sauce.

[Korra's stuck in the kitchens for one of her tasks and hasn't paid close attention to who's been in there with her. Papyrus gets a wide eyed look when she turns around.]

Oh. Um.

[Hi. Dead person.]

Hi.

[boneafide]

Hello! I'm sorry, I haven't seen any soy sauce either!

[He's either oblivious to her shock... or ignoring it. ]

Marinara sauce is when you get tomatoes, garlic, and onions, and you punch them into a liquidy paste you put on pastas like spaghetti! I can't believe they don't have any!

B

[capital_asset]

[Well, there's always a snow... snowman?

Raidou, for his part, is completely unfazed at the sight of a walking, talking skeleton. He's met too many back home for that (although strictly speaking, Gashadokuro doesn't so much walk as float, given her lack of legs). So he just gives Papyrus a polite nod, while Raiho bounces over to examine the sculptures.]

Hello.

[boneafide]

Oh, hello!

[Papyrus gives a friendly wave, patting together the final touches on his snowwoman of Ran now.]

I've never met you before!! What's your name?