FEED THE BIRDS FESTIVAL!

[peckishmods]

feed the birds festival!!

what's up?

Tired of cold and snow? Well, there’s still more of that to come ⁠— it is the dead of winter, after all ⁠— but there’s a reason to get out and enjoy it today: winter berries are sprouting! Rosehips and cotoneaster are out alongside crabapple and mountain ash fruits. Bright splashes of color against the wintry white and gray bring birds into town for a midwinter snack. It’s time, then, for Elflock Falls’s annual Feed the Birds festival.

The town has been decorated with garlands fashioned from bird-friendly goodies, rustic decorations welcoming feathered friends. For the next few days, the streets will be1 filled with the songs of birds that flutter overhead. Today it's a birdwatcher's paradise!

Hit the Riverwalk to take in the colors or rent some skates and glide across the magical ice rink. At the city square there are craft stands, warm food, and places to pick up seed and other treats to feed birds. Pay a visit to the Owl Post and say hello to one of the town's diligent workers (feathered or not), the human ones are happy to regale visitors with the history of Elflock Falls's owls. As you wander, keep an eye peeled: found feathers are a gift of good luck and protection. Also, there's a very real chance you might get pooped on.

visuals!

volunteer slots!

For whatever reason Laszlo is attacked by a large goose while on the Riverwalk, and must be rescued by Armani!

Felicity and Imogen crash into each other while ice skating, bonking faces hard enough to give each other nosebleeds. Is this romance?

Viola is on the Riverwalk path when they noticed a murmuration of small black birds swirls overhead. Viola can't stop watching the dance as they stroll. The longer they watch, the more their ears start to buzz. They hardly notice they've wandered off the path. Viola almost walks right into the icy Greentooth River, but Wyatt nabs them by the coat collar and yanks them back. When asked about the cloud of black birds Wyatt has no clue what Viola was talking about. Strange.

how this works!

⬥ Welcome to Elflock Falls's Feed the Birds festival! While the bird-feed decorations will remain up for the next couple of weeks, the festivities themselves last only today. This festival happens every year around this time, but doesn't start until the rose bushes fruit and the birds start popping up to feed.

⬥ It's tradition to give the owls in the Peckenpaugh owlery a treat today. If you've got your own owl, remember to give them a nice snack!

⬥ This is a low key scene prompt festival, but if you've got any ideas for RNG games you'd like to run (skating contests, etc.) we encourage you to do so!

locations!

⬦ WHAT'S UP?: It's not snowing today, but there's still a solid layer of fluffy powder on the ground. Remember to dress for the weather and don't forget those warming charms! How do you look all bundled up? What did you feed the birds and did they appreciate it? Did one of them try to attack you while you were just trying to get to the ice rink? If tossing seeds on the Riverwalk doesn’t appeal, you can visit the Owl Post and get a tour. Don’t forget to pop by the school owlery to show your appreciation to the school birds, too!

⬦ CITY HALL SQUARE: FOOD & FUN: Ears of corn, ornaments made from seed and peanut butter and squares of suet have been hung from the trees around the City Hall square. From sunup to sundown, the wide open court echoes with the chatter of happy, hungry birds. The usual food stands brought out for such festivals have been dressed up to look like bird feeders, but it’s not all for our feathered friends! Fair-goers can get hot chocolate, spiced cider or rosehip and winterberry teas. This time around the cinnamon rolls are to die for, and don't forget to pick up a bag of bird seed or other treat for the local wildlife. As with every festival, between food stands are tucked artisan craft stalls that today sell handmade bird houses, bird feeders, warm winter wear and various bird-themed handicrafts and decorations for your dorms. There’s also a tent made cozy with warming charms where kids (and teenagers) can get some magical face painting done for free.

⬦ ICE SKATING: For many, this is the real draw. On the Riverwalk, there’s a rental booth for those without skates where for half a dragot, Ex-Mayor T-Bone will lend you a pair ⁠— she’s a cat, though, so it’s kind of an honor system. A rink has been set up down by the waterfront, surrounded by wooden benches and lit by lights charmed to look like little red berries. There’s plenty of space to get wild on your blades if you know how and the ice glows softly under the skates, leaving trails of pale light behind skaters as they drift by, alone or in groups.

⬦ AROUND TOWN: FEEDING THE BIRDS: There are tons of spots in town to toss seeds, or you can head back to Peckenpaugh's owlery to give your feathered friends a treat. Everything is decorated in bird-friendly garlands and ornaments made from apples and pine cones dressed up with seeds and berries. The owl post is more open to visitors than usual today, head in to receive a tour of the operation.

⬦ ELSEWHERE & EVENING: While many students stick around to skate into the evening, the cold sends most people home not long after sundown. It's a chilly one tonight. How did you spend it?

⬦ OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

Comments

WHAT'S UP?

[peckishmods]

CITY HALL SQUARE: FOOD & FUN

[peckishmods]

Claudia's Knock Off Facepainting Experience (OPEN++)

[nublada]

Claudia should not be painting faces. She's decently talented at a number of things—math, broomsports, packing a trunk to maximize efficiency—but art is not one of them.

Neither is saying no.

So when a first grader from Elflock Local asked her to paint a robin on her face, Claudia had no other choice. The line for the actual artist was so long, and it was her fault for sitting so close to the booth.

"All right, this is a lesson in keeping your expectations low, little buddy," she says with a yawn as she shoos away her latest victim and waves forward the next. "Step right up folks, I just learned what a robin looks like today."

RIVERFRONT: ICE SKATING

[peckishmods]

RIVERFRONT: ICE RACE With Tybalt and VICTIMS++!

[princeofcat]

Tybalt glides along the ice rather the same way he does on a broom. Not quite as effortless, perhaps, and he's definitely not capable of any fancy leaps or spins. But he has the basics down. He can go forward really fast, and stop, and, as he's demonstrating now, he can absolutely speed backward past the first person he recognizes and grin like a particularly cold demon. "Oh, you can go faster than that." He cajoles, skating in a large circle in front of his target to afford them a head start. Never say he's never been kind.

RIVERFRONT: Chanel & Eddy & Frankie the Birdie

[necrodanseuse]

It's Frankenstein's special day, which he's celebrating by being very cold in Chanel's front pocket and intermittently fluttering to her shoulder for treats. She should probably have brought him home hours ago, she thinks idly. But he's comfortable. And she can't risk any time away from the festival while there's a DATE-date still going on. She has a sibling and a friend to spy on.

And another to skate with. Luckily. For their sake. She stands with Eddy now near the good Ex-Mayor's skating booth, and produces a dragot, for both their skate rentals. "This," she lays it down with some gravity, "Means you can't let us die out there, deal?" Actually, she's smiling. This is mostly a joke. She wouldn't risk her and her bird's lives on half a dragot, she knows her worth a little more than that.

RIVERFRONT: Felicity and Imogen

[bratsquatch]

With each lap around the rink, Felicity gains both speed and a misplaced sense of confidence. There reaches a moment (and critical velocity) when what she's doing goes from "skating" to "actively trying not to fall." The two look similar, but are very different. The former avoids Imogen, the latter doesn't.

There's a "Whoa!" followed by a Crack! followed by warm blood flowing down her face. At least this succeeded in getting her to stop moving. Her nose smarts, but it's nothing worse than one of her broomsport injuries.

"Sorry," she apologizes, tipping her head back and pinching the bridge of her nose. She spots Imogen's matching injury and gives a sheepish-guilty grin. "Need me to kiss that?"

RIVERFRONT: Zadie vs. Ice (Open)

[zadielovelace]

In Zadie's opinion, water is a far more friendly thing than ice no matter how deep or fast or treacherous it might appear to be. She knows how to move in the water. Standing awkwardly on the ice with her knees trembling as she attempts to balance herself, she thinks that coming out here at all was probably a terrible mistake. She makes a small, careful slide forward and pauses to check her form. Then another. And another. Then stops to look back at the edge of the rink.

Maybe she should just retreat before she ends up falling on her butt? That definitely seems like the logical thing to do.

AROUND TOWN: FEED THE BIRDS

[peckishmods]

AROUND THE TOWN: A GOBLIN (Open I guess?)

[damnnearkilledem]

When she thinks no one is looking, Winter pulls a short string of what looks like cranberries, popcorn and peanut butter rolled in bird seed from a tree and nibbles on it.

AROUND TOWN: CONSULT THE BIRDS

[chirographic]

Cicero attends the festival in the company of his very large, beloved, magical and old cockatoo. He adopted her after the death of an elderly neighbor, whose children weren't keen on inheriting the bird. She constantly yells nonsense but seems to understand English and basic grammar.

Perhaps you were blessed by one of dear Sweetie's nuggets of wisdom.

<b>NAME:</b> <B>WHAT DO YOU ASK SWETYNE:</b> Or maybe what did you just say near her. She's feeling social. <B>WHAT DO YOU FEED SWETYNE:</b> "She has a refined palate to rival even the likes of Queen G," Cicero says, but it's common knowledge she's a garbage eater and stole a grilled cheese from a freshman earlier this very day. <b>A WORD:</B> Any word. This is the word her response will start with. <b>ANYTHING ELSE?:</b>

AROUND TOWN: Armani rescues Laszlo plus audience members?

[notpoison]

"Armani."

Laszlo says its quietly at first. He's been making eye contact with the creature for several seconds. It's not backing down. It can sense Laszlo's fear.

"Armani."

He inches closer to his friend. Friend? Yes, still a friend, but not just a fri—oh no, the goose, it hissed, like a snake. Laszlo retreats closer to Armani. "It's aggressive."

It's a goose.

AROUND TOWN: Hawthorne Collects Feathers (OPEN)

[artistree]

He's not quite sure what he'll do with them yet, but Hawthorne has been collecting samples of any berries or things with colors that strike him. He makes a hushed little sound of excitement when he spots a glossy blue-black feather on the ground outside the Gastrognome, and practically hops forward to scoop it up.

He doesn't even break any glass or trip anyone when he does, though a clay pot does fall out of a window above and nearly take his head off. He stares in stunned silence for a second, then puts his attention on his shiny new prize. This would be a nice color for ink.

ELSEWHERE & EVENING

[peckishmods]

SCHOOL OWLERY: Kermie & OPEN+

[maledictorian]

"Okay! Okay, wait your turn!" Kermit stands on the middle of the owlery, covered with owls and feathers and poop.

"Mortimer—Mortimer, you've already had your share, let Millie have a chomp!" he scolds one oversized owl, shooing him away from his cupped hand full of seed, and he's replaced by an even bigger, fluffier owl. "Cristela, are you sure this is on your diet?"

It's important to note that Kermit neither owns an owl nor knows any of these owls personally. But he sure is enjoying the company.

RIVERWALK: Viola & Wyatt

[tristfully]

Lately, Viola has had her eyes on the sky. She would have never guessed that her patronus would turn out to be a creature so effortlessly free. If you had asked her a month ago, she would have guessed something miserable and small and scared, like a mouse or a mole. Now, as she wanders along the Riverwalk, she looks up at the birds and wonders what lessons she can learn about herself from them.

As if by magic, a murmuration of blackbirds—a flock of her soul—swirls into sight. She pulls her heavy headphones from her ears and lets them dangle around her neck, listening instead for blackbird song. The charming chirping builds as she follows the flock along the path, rising into a crescendo until it coagulates into something different. She has only the foggiest sense that what she is hearing is not the melodious warble of bird song but a loud, insidious buzzing deep in her ears.

She's entranced and only vaguely aware that she is following these blackbirds somewhere. She'd follow them anywhere——a jerk at her collar stops her. Light as she is, she lurches back a step and blinks back into reality inches from the icy Greentooth River. She looks over her shoulder to see Wyatt standing there and she's really not sure if he is supposed to be with her, or not. "I—" She doesn't know what to say, so she doesn't try, just yet. A confused, frustrated expression passes over her features, crinkling her brow and drawing her eyes into flat, suspicious slits.

"Have you ever heard of Franz Mesmer?" Viola asks, after an uncomfortably long beat.

OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

[peckishmods]

Re: OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

[gasgiant]

once many, many moons ago in a game long since gone, I did a thread with someone set in the Hogwarts owlery where their character propositioned mine to bang right there with all the birds and my character was absolutely horrified by the idea of rolling around in poop, which apparently did not occur to the other player and they got offended that I "turned it into a joke" and anyway now this is what I think of every single time I think of Harry Potter owleries.

Re: OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

[tristfully]

Can I snag Character E with the hope of reviving the spirit of my dumb children through spook?

Re: OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

[nublada]

Ok I might have to fight the government later today but UNTIL THEN I'm going to distract myself by writing a bunch of opens!! Let me know if you want anyone in particular but everyone (Mary Grace, Kermie, Cedar, Claudia) is here!!

Re: OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

[andpoke]

I’m trapped at work til late again so starters won’t pop up til later but
All of my kids are here! Namely Audrey(loves to feed birbs,) Chanel (tells gleefully about how rice might explode birds), Tybalt (insufferably fast on skates, race him, maybe he’ll fall in,) and Atlas (likely to get pooped on just out of bird karma somehow)

Let me know if you want them specifically!!!

Re: OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

[quidditched]

biiiiiiiiiiirbs

thank you ♥

Re: OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

[negligently]

OKAY OKAY OKAY

I love birds.

All my kids are here, for better or worse. Laszlo is on a DATE-date with Armani, he thinks? Social cues and emotions are hard. Uriah wants to SKATE RACE even though he can't skate very well. Might die. Val can skate pretty well and she's here to show off or maybe teach a cutie how to navigate the ice. Cicero is here with Swetyne, his massive cockatoo that speaks in full sentences like a neural network. I'm going to make interacting with her an RNG game.

Re: OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

[teratophilia]

i love these volunteer slots lmfao

SO!! all three of mine are here?? lmk if y'all wanna thread.

armani has a DATE-date with ~LASZLO~ and all the tree goths know about it because it's all he's talked about since laszlo asked him. he tried on every winter outfit he owns this morning and his section of the room currently looks like a disaster area. he's carrying around a parasol in case a bird tries to shit on him and ruin his DATE-date.

howdy is having fun misidentifying birds. and he's absolutely one of the assholes that's skating around really fast. will probably get in a fight with a bird by the end of the day.

echo's a native and i don't think she really gives a shit either way about birds, and has probably been to this festival too many times to care anymore. if anything, she'd do pretty twirls on the rink to show off and then go visit her abraxan while she's in town. horses > birds

Re: OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

[teratophilia]

mommies can laszlo and armani pls have spots A and B, respectively