peckishmods: ([place] elflock falls)
peckishmods ([personal profile] peckishmods) wrote in [community profile] peckenpaugh2019-11-16 11:00 am

TELLING OF THE BEES FESTIVAL

the telling of the bees
what's up? Sunny skies make an otherwise brisk late autumn day positively pleasant. The air is crisp and sweet, the smell of honey and baked goods mixing with the cold. Winter is coming, but it’s not quite here yet. Before it starts, it’s time for one last harvest hurrah as Elflock Falls celebrates its special relationship with the bees in its life. For the next three days the Telling of the Bees Festival is going on in town and Elflock Falls is decked out for the occasion. Lampposts are transfigured into bright shining beehives, large magimechanical bees bumble overhead cheerily, honeycomb patterns decorate storefronts and streets and the Riverwalk is dotted with all manner of stands, some simple, others magically enhanced, peddling snacks, handicrafts and other goods related to the autumn harvest. It’s a great time to pick up some handmade winter wear!

The Telling of the Bees Festival runs from Saturday to Monday, but the first day is by far the liveliest as it features both the meadery contest and the actual Telling of the Bees ritual. Peckenpaugh students can get discounts from food stands all weekend.
visuals!
volunteer slots! Mr. Berzelius needs some help getting the Peckenpaugh hives ready for the celebration. Can't let the school's own bees feel left out of the celebration! He recruits 💯 [CHARACTER A] and 💯 [CHARACTER B] to do some decorating. They're tasked with decorating each hive with scarlet cloth and setting out a dessert of apple dumplings for the bees to enjoy. A good effort (a thread with 3 replies each) will earn each student 5 Points for their Houses while a damn fine job (6 replies each) will earn each student 10 Points. Good luck with those bees, guys! You have until the end of the month.

Valkyrie is just trying to be helpful when they noticed a knocked over trash can near the carousel, but they're surprised when an inordinately chubby raccoon pops out of it. The raccoon seems just as surprised to see Val, and gets tangled up on their feet trying to escape before it scampers off with just a mint tin and a paper plate, sticky with honey.

A few students make a game of trying to sneak samples during the mead contest:
  • [CHARACTER D] and [CHARACTER E] can't get past the age line and wind up growing magnificent beards.
  • 💯 Wyatt manages to get a sample, but their selection leaves them breathing actual fire for the next hour. It's not hard for Ms. Min to connect the dots when she spots them. They lose 5 Points for their House, but Ms. Min sends them off with a tums, too.

[CHARACTER G] spots Mr. Crockett arguing with Liquor Store Zed heatedly about ... fanfiction?

It's the last carousel ride of the night, and Lionel climbs aboard at the same time as all three Quackenbushes. The ride starts out fairly ordinary, but, predictably enough, goes downhill quick, and it starts spinning faster and faster and faster. It takes eight full minutes and four brave townsfolk to get the carousel to stop before it spins off into the stratosphere.
how this works! The Telling of the Bees Festival is Elflock Falls’s late autumn harvest festival, the main draws of which are the traditional Telling of the Bees, various arts, handicrafts and tasty snacks being sold, and the annual meadery contest (but that’s for adults).

The Telling of the Bees Festival starts on Saturday morning and goes until Monday night. This IC/OOC focuses predominantly on Saturday, but feel free to thread multiple days by indicating which one in the subject line of your comment!

Saturday's Festival features include the actual Telling of the Bees around midday, as well as a Best Magical Mead of Elflock Falls contest. There are further county fair-styled food and craft contests throughout the weekend.

The Telling of the Bees is a tradition found throughout Europe and the United States wherein important life events are shared with the bees, who need to be included in such events or, it is said, they will despair and die or leave their hives. In Elflock Falls this tradition has taken on its own unique spin. The locals like to share how their years went, their secrets and their gossip all at once, once a year, with the magical bees of Elflock Falls.

Fill out the form under the Tell The Bees section and post it to that subheader to let us know what you told the bees. Bees are good secret keepers. :)
locations! 🍯 WHAT'S UP?: Did you get an apple dumpling with ice cream or without? Does the carousel look like a bit too much thrill for you? What’d you decide to wear when you told the bees your secrets, and did you pick up any new accessories from the local handicraft stands on the main street? Tell us all about your day!

🍯 TELL THE BEES: Around midday, the Telling of the Bees begins. Participants head off the Riverwalk path to a clearing where decorated wooden hives have been set up. It’s tradition, to tell the bees about your year, or your secrets, or any good gossip you happened to hear. They may be all abuzz, but you don’t need to worry about them spilling your secrets.

🍯 ANONBEEMOUS MESSAGING: You don't have to limit your secrets to just the bees! Want to send a nice note to a friend? Wish someone well this coming winter? Spill your secret affections to a crush? What better way to do it than by magimechanical bee?! For the magical equivalent of $1US, you can send a simple note to someone via those great big artificed bees floating around the festival area. They'll happily deliver your note to whomever you wish.

🍯 SHOPS & STALLS: The main street of Elflock Falls downtown is packed with stands and stalls. Everything is intricately decorated and welcoming, some of them are so fantastically designed that they resemble actual cottages and all of them are hoping to get your business. Stop by support local artists and craftspeople and grab any variety of sweet autumn treats. The main draw is all the bee-based products, honey-based potions in cute beehive bottles, and beeswax candles in designs running from simple to "spooky", cosmetics and soaps. There's plenty of stalls full of art, artifice and other handicrafts, too. Simple magical knick-knacks, handmade clothes and accessories, and even expensive artisan brooms and wands are being peddled. Food-wise, honey, apples, pumpkin and the local paw paw fruit feature heavily in most offered dishes, from sweet ice creams and preserves to savory and spicy dishes like pumpkin curry. There are spots to grab traditional greasy fair food, as well, if you're not up for experimenting, and plenty of places to pop a squat and people watch. There are a few different people busking: a one man magical band, a person in a bee costume on stilts, two girls juggling to violin music played by a third.

🍯 CAROUSEL, GAMES & SHOWCASE: The end of Elflock Falls's main downtown drag is a small midway with simple games like bobbing for apples and balloon popping. There're also stands showing off winning crops and crafts, including the biggest pumpkin, best honey (won this year by Mr. Berzelius and Peckenpaugh's bees) and of course best locally brewed mead. The main draw, though, is the large magical carousel that runs all day and well into the evening. This truly impressive black-and-yellow beehive-shaped merry-go-round is a triple decker ride featuring free floating single-rider worker bees, fuzzy multi-rider bumble bees and slightly more private honeycomb-shaped seating for two. The middle level moves opposite the bottom and top, and it all lights up at night, making it as entertaining to watch as it is to ride.

🍯 RIVERWALK & HAYRIDE: Down along the riverwalk where autumn colors still burn bright and beautiful, a horse-pulled trailer filled with hay trundles along the path. Wool blankets and glass jars of handheld, non-burning flames are available to help fight the cold. Early in the evening the hayride is very popular with local kids. As the night wears on and the air gets chillier, the trailer empties out and it's not a bad place to snuggle up with someone sweet.

🍯 ELSEWHERE & EVENING: This spot is for any scenes that don't take place at the festival. Did your student skip to hang out under the pitch bleachers? Want to do a late evening scene with your dormmates turning in for the night? Here's your spot!

🍯 OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!
arisahn: (✨ 142)

Viola & Aris Shop Till They Drop

[personal profile] arisahn 2019-11-17 04:58 am (UTC)(link)
Viola's right. Knowing that the girl had spent so much time just sitting and waiting all alone would've made Aris worry a little. He doesn't question the answer she gave, though, and turns with her to resume looking at the items on the shelves. There's still so much, but he wants to see everything. His fingers trace over a beeswax candle in the shape of an owl -- would gram like this or does she see enough owls already? -- and he considers.

"The things that matter the most to you will probably matter the most to them, right?" he suggests after a moment, "You could look for the pages where you wrote the most or you doodled stars or wrote your crush's initials or whatever? Or just...tell them what you're thinking about the most right now?"
tristfully: (063)

Viola & Aris Shop Till They Drop

[personal profile] tristfully 2019-11-23 07:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Her back is to Aris as he speaks but she is listening intently. She is unaware of how this might be perceived as rude. It doesn't help that she takes a long time to respond to his suggestions and she continues to examine the various potion bottles as she turns his words over in her head.

Is she just supposed to know what matters most to her right now? And, in this very moment, she is thinking most about what her skin will look like in 80 years. Will she need a stockpile of the Wrinkle Relaxer Potion she is currently holding between her palms? What if she lives for 120 years and all of her skin just melts until she is so wrinkly that fungus begins to grow in her creases? Viola shudders and places the potion back on the shelf before turning to face Aris.

"I don't think the bees want to hear what I'm thinking about right now," she sighs and moves to leave this very fret inducing space. "What did you tell the bees? If you don't mind me asking." It's your turn to fret, Aris.
arisahn: (✨ 200)

Viola & Aris Shop Till They Drop

[personal profile] arisahn 2019-11-23 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
While Viola is prone to overthinking, Aris tends not think enough and so doesn't give her prolonged silence or the fact that she's turned her back to him too much consideration. She's looking at things and she's thinking and that's just fine with him. He continues to examine the crafts until she's ready, but tilts his head at the answer. He's about to ask what she's thinking about when she turns the question on him and he smiles. The expression is a bit sheepish.

"I...haven't told them anything," he admits, stepping close to Viola and confiding with a half-laugh, "They sorta creep me out, to be honest? Up close." He has never and will never do well with bugs. They're so creepy crawly and they have too many legs and some of them have stingers. No thanks, nature.
tristfully: (136)

Viola & Aris Shop Till They Drop

[personal profile] tristfully 2019-11-23 11:07 pm (UTC)(link)
As they wander on to the next stall, Viola slows her pace so that Aris bumps up against her as he steps in close to divulge his secret fear of bees. She enjoys the sensation of being loomed over and purposefully meanders from side to side to keep Aris close over her shoulder. Her urge to catastrophize slowly ebbs and she even returns his laugh with a soft simper of commiseration. "They're a little overwhelming when they swarm," she agrees. "I don't enjoy feeling outnumbered."
arisahn: (✨ 34)

Viola & Aris Shop Till They Drop

[personal profile] arisahn 2019-11-23 11:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Offering a quick apology for the bump, Aristotle drops a hand onto Viola's shoulder as they continue along, both so he can stay next to her in the crowd and so he can avoid another collision. It certainly keeps him within looming distance, though. At her point, he gawks comically and shakes his head; he hadn't even though about swarming! That's way too many bees.

"Maybe we can find someone else to tell our secrets to," he suggests, ignoring the fact that this would miss the entire point.
tristfully: (009)

Viola & Aris Shop Till They Drop

[personal profile] tristfully 2019-11-24 04:31 am (UTC)(link)
"No, I'll tell the bees once I'm ready," she says with conviction. It's important to her. While she can't really put it to words, deep down she really does think something bad will happen if she doesn't participate in this yearly ritual. She is aware that not everyone feels this way and isn't compelled to change Aris' mind about the creepiness or worthiness of the bees, but the act of expelling secrets is a worthwhile release, she thinks. "But you can tell me your secrets if you'd like," she offers, glancing back over her shoulder at him.

Edited 2019-11-24 04:32 (UTC)
arisahn: (✨ 140)

Viola & Aris Shop Till They Drop

[personal profile] arisahn 2019-11-24 06:55 am (UTC)(link)
Aris isn't compelled to change Viola's mind either; if she wants to talk to the bees, she should talk to the bees. Especially if it's as important to her as it seems to be. "I'm sure you'll figure out what to tell them!" he says, giving a small nod she won't see and squeezing her shoulder, "When you're ready."

When she looks back at him, he smiles automatically but pauses before answering. It's a kind offer. But there are reasons that he keeps some things to himself and the idea of her seeing him differently afterward is difficult to shake. "...Is that a bee-season offer or an anytime offer?"
Edited 2019-11-24 06:56 (UTC)