New Years Festival!

[leaderkun]

Who: EVERYONE! Chosen and Partners, Damemon, Deputymon, Starmon too!
What: The New Year's Festival and Masquerade Ball
Where: Shinjuku Gyoen in the Park
When: December 31st



December 31st has at last arrived, and despite certain events depriving the Digital World of the original creator, the people involved with the New Years Festival managed to pull through. With Roze's work already underway and the designs and directions sent out, it wasn't hard to finish what had been started.

At mid-afternoon, a general text was sent out to all the D-Terminals announcing the festival grounds as open. Going to the Shinjuku Gyoen part of the park revealed a tiny wonderland of games and food manned by Chosen, Partners and Damemon alike.

Every Chosen and Partner have Damemon helpers and shifts rotate at each stall, making certain no one is kept from enjoying themselves to the fullest.

To either side of the festival grounds are picnic areas set up with several tables, all surrounded by bright white and yellow string lights. The four rows of game and food stalls are all decorated with large red paper lanterns, paper dragons and bright string lights, allowing the festivities to proceed well after dark.

At the front of the entire festival grounds Roze's Digimon - Julie the Impmon and Musashi the Kotemon - hand out copies of a simple map. On the back of each map the times for the masquerade dance are printed in case people forgot the time from their invitations.

In the Taiwan Pavilion, from the start of the festival to the end, Maya Matlin and Ryan Evans play music on piano and cello, rotating with Neku Sakuraba who maintains a steady flow of pre-arranged music. Several times throughout the day a handful of Digimon put on a simple but entertaining Taiko drum performance. Two long buffet tables filled with food and punch stay full throughout the day and night.

Jin Uzuki teaches calligraphy at one stall, as well as performs tea ceremony and lectures on Japanese traditions for those not educated on the themes presented by the festival.

Squall Leonhart stands sentinel over the Kingyo Sukui (goldfish catching) stall.

Campbell Saunders covers the ball toss, where people can try their luck knocking down milk bottles.

The Medicine Seller mans the Okonomiyaki cart, where people are free to order any combination of ingredients and eat hot food straight from the iron.

Mikasa Ackerman covers a colorful and pleasant-smelling stall where festival-goers can choose from dozens of bananas on sticks, the fruit dipped in different flavored coatings and numerous toppings.

Shannon Vaughn and Eli Delacroix cover the stall on the center walk where those at the festival can pick up sparklers and handmade papier-mâché masks for fun or the masquerade, if they have none of their own.

A ping pong toss with water-filled glass bowls sits with a pair of Damemon attendants cheering on participants.

Next to the Okonomiyaki cart, Saori Nakagawa and Laguna Loire provide fresh Takoyaki (octopus balls) on sticks, steaming and delicious.

The local Prince, Rowan, cheerily provides personal pies or slices of ready-made large ones and chats amiably with anyone who happens to be drawn in by meat or fruit fillings inside flaky crusts.

Cheerful little Miwako Sakurada watches the Yoyo Tsuri (water balloon yoyo) cart, balloons in bright splashes of color floating in a rotating pool of water, casting a rainbow across the cloth roof of the stall.

The ever large and boisterous Rider struts around a Strongman Hammer game, jeering and cajoling the men and complimenting the women, making bets and offering arm-wrestling competitions.

Little Wily-Kit has a raised platform surrounded by cushions where people can sit and listen to her play the flupe and regale them with tales from her homeland.

Dante sits at a stall of his own, playing guitar when he's not giving kisses for donations to the festival fund.

A ring toss game where one can try to put small rings around the necks of glass bottles stands manned by two Damemon arguing restlessly about the arrangement of the bottles.

Waver Velvet and his Wizardmon stand to dazzle onlookers with card tricks and details of magic performed in Waver's homeland.

Next to Wily-Kit's storytelling and Waver's tricks, Harry Potter serves up a variety of hot drinks close to the front of the festival so people have something to warm their hands and bellies while they enjoy the festivities.

Throughout the entire festival ground, Seifer Almasy and his hand-picked group of Digimon patrol the area, ejecting trouble-makers and seeing to damages while Yu Narukami and his team keep supplies full and assist Seifer with damage control.

The festival continues on through the day until the Masquerade Ball begins. All the stalls close and people are free to dress and attend as they like. Food and punch remains present and the music continues until midnight, when masks are to be removed and the New Year begins!

Comments

Front Entrance - Musashi and Julie

[leaderkun]

[marinebiting]

You could have both come without me.

[Shark is standing at the entrance of the festival looking quite annoyed at both it and the two digimon beside him.]

Like I'd go anywhere alone with her.

And it's no fun being here on our own.

[Betamon takes it upon herself to take the lead, approaching the two greeters at the gate.]

Is there a fee to get in?

[oneeyedterror]

Well someone arrived at the front entrance, and looks annoyed as hell to be there. But considering how Whirl is dressed? Can one blame him.

Heck he's even got on a fancy eye patch, and his hair is done up nice, all because of Jetstream. And the Impmon didn't even have the courtesy of dragging him here, instead he's being escorted by his Gotsumon, Rotorstorm.

"I don't see the frikking reason why I had to wear this ridiculous get up," he muttered more to himself then anyone near by. Hopefully Tetsushi would show up and this whole farce could get done sooner rather than later.

Pavilion Masquerade - Ryan, Maya, Neku

[leaderkun]

Re: Pavilion Masquerade - Ryan, Maya, Neku

[ruffntumblenut]

Ruffnut had found herself surprisingly drawn to the music of the pavilion. They say that music soothes the savage beast, and such was the case here.

Standing awkwardly to the side as her partner wandered off to get food Ruffnut found herself swaying to the music and feeling pangs of misery with each new song.

Snoggletog had come and gone, and Odin had not found them.

Worse yet...neither had her brother.

She felt a pit in her stomach that was growing with every day threatening to devour her like so many dragons in the past.

The Taiko drums were her favorite, they reminded her of the drumming of proud vikings around a fire as they roared and told stories of bravery and heroics.

Could she be one of those heroes people told stories about without her other half?

[innermonologues]

[ Of course he knew where to find Neku. He looked over the map over and over until he had all the booths and the people running them memorized. When he was on his break he walked over to the music and glanced around. It shouldn't be too hard to spot a short kid with bright orange hair, right? ]

[headup_stickontheice]

Cam knows the music team quite well, so when he's on his off-times, it's natural that he gravitates toward the pavilion, to wait for their off-time or talk or just listen. He really likes the listening. He wanders over more than once, to catch Neku and Maya on their separate shifts.

9:30pm, half an hour into the dance...

[fullofthorns]

The festival winding down, the dance cranking up, it seemed a good time to come in. Then again, she hadn't arrived long ago. When she realized the event was going on and she somehow hadn't missed it, there was no way she would now. Neither hell nor high-water would prevent her from going now that she had the chance, regardless of her mood and reservations.

It wasn't quite the entrance one expected from the movies - then again it never was - but the woman appearing at the wide entrance of the palisade flanked by a familiar Impmon and Kotemon could be no one other than Roze.

She seemed taller, her figure more imposing, though physically she hadn't grown an inch. She was fuller of figure, slightly less porcelain-skinned, more cream, and the long mass of pink hair that fell unbound around her shoulders was even richer in color than before but those sharp green eyes were the same. It was Roze Ichishi under the beautiful dress and mask covered in green roses and crystals. The sleeveless design displayed the bold lines of her tattoos and new additions like a large criss-cross scar on her right shoulder, or a bit of scar peeking out from under the mask.

She said nothing to anyone, walking into the dance with her chin high and her green eyes cool. As she entered into the pavilion, light caught on a bracelet and necklace only familiar to some. The most impressive accessory, however, was the enormous, slithering tail weaving on the ground behind her like a giant serpent, covered in dark, purplish-red scales and ending in a massive fluff of hair as thick and pink as that upon her head.

When she heard the music and saw the people, her chilly expression warmed slightly, though only just, and she moved away to the side and one of the balconies, turning slowly on the spot, the long tail reminiscent of Chinese dragon's coiling around the base of her dress in two long loops.

Julie and Musashi were instantly attendant to her, one rushing off and retrieving a glass of champagne, the other a plate of sushi, practically falling over themselves to see to her needs as she stood there, cool and detached but there and real.

Calligraphy & Tea Ceremony - Jin

[leaderkun]

[needsteaplz]

[If there's good quality tea, Saori was bound to be there upon hearing it. During her time off from her own stand, she came down to Jin's stand. After some New Year specialities from the buffet table, a cup of tea was just the thing she needed.]

Kingyo Sukui - Squall

[leaderkun]

[innermonologues]

[ Squall was bored-ly sitting on a stool behind his booth. He wouldn't have even shown up, but he made a promise to Roze that he'd show up and do his job. So even though she was still nowhere to be seen, he was going to be a man of his word and stick around.

To show off how easy this game was at least for him, every once in a while he'd get off of his stool and demonstrate the scooping game. He had a large glass fishbowl sitting on his counter of all the fish he's managed to catch so far.

Don't let his grumpy exterior scare you. He was harmless for the most part after all. ]

Milk Bottle Ball Toss - Cam

[leaderkun]

Re: Milk Bottle Ball Toss - Cam

[changelingdude]

Just like old times.

[Beastboy skillfully tossed a ball into the air and caught it in his mouth like a dog ready to play fetch, grinning at Terra as Rita and Chili quietly excused themselves to leave Beastboy and Terra some privacy on their date.]

Okonomiyaki - Medicine Seller

[leaderkun]

[blatantlies]

[While he looks no different than usual, his standard style of dress is actually entirely appropriate for once. In fact, he seems almost at home behind the griddle aside from the fact that he's clearly standing on a box to compensate for the fact that this was not built for someone his height.

Don't be shy, step right up and request whatever you want on your savory pancakes~]

Dipped Bananas - Mikasa

[leaderkun]

[allidoiswin]

[ Mikasa's seen a fair share of strange treats during her short duration in this world, but this definitely ranks up there. She's already prepared a number of them, but she's willing to dip a fresh banana per request. ]

Hello, would you like a treat?

[ Her voice is soft, barely audible over the crowd, but one look in her stern eyes should be enough to scare any festival goer into buying one. She takes this job intensely... more so than she should really. ]

Sparklers & Masks - Shannon, Eli

[leaderkun]

[heroofbrightwall]

Leaving his own Digimon in charge of the pie stall for a while, Rowan eventually makes his way out into freedom to explore. His first stop, however, is the stand where Shannon and Eli were meant to be.

"Greetings!" he chimes happily, bearing his teeth in a smile. He was wearing a simple white lace-up shirt and dark purple breeches tucked into his boots for now. Cooking pies was messy work. "I believe I promised freshly baked pies?" the young royal remarked, setting a cloth-covered basket on the stall counter top. "I made you several full pies as requested, and one meat pie, just in case the lot of you get hungry while you're here."

Beaming that smile, bright eyes drifted from Shannon to Eli, a hand dusty with flour jutting out in greeting for a shake.

"Hello. I don't believe we've met. My name is Rowan."

Takoyaki - Saori, Laguna

[leaderkun]

[needsteaplz]

[Saori had spent the morning getting the batter and other ingredients ready. Guren and Kiyomi helped along with the Damemon with getting the grill set up with the pans used to give the takoyaki their round shape.

With takoyaki being heavily associated with her home region, this Kansai girl's pride was on the line. Using a pair of takoyaki picks like chopsticks, she's able to make sure each one was golden brown to perfection. Pop 8 of them, four for each stick, onto a boat shaped container and top it off with okonomiyaki sauce, Japanese mayo, and a generous sprinking of aonori and katsuo to create the greatest takoyaki Terminal has ever tasted. And if octopus isn't something for you, there were a few alternate fillings listed like cheese and corn, and sausage.

As much as she'd like to greet the guests herself, creating takoyaki on the fly was a very demanding test. Thankfully, Laguna was up in front taking down orders.]

Fresh Pies - Rowan

[leaderkun]

[heroofbrightwall]

"Fresh Pies! FRESH PIES! Made to order, fillings of your choice! Fruit, meat, vegetables! Apple pies, chicken pot pies! Personal pies!" Rowan barks, flashing that dazzling smile as he runs a rolling pin over dough and cuts crusts.

Ser Walter and Piper both labor in surprising seriousness for once, the latter in her Champion form, dicing meat while Walter peels apples. The scent of sweet crusts and flavorful fillings drifts all around the cart and beyond, enticing customers. With the pies priced reasonably - not the usual inflated prices one could expect at a festival - people easily walk away with two and more of the palm-sized pies.

Yoyo Tsuri - Miwako

[leaderkun]

[happiestberry]

Come one come all to the stall with all the right things! We've got bounces we've got color! We've got so much fun we can't nearly hold them all! Just look at Lucephina over here! Can't you see how much fun she's having?

[ Miwako's Lucemon was sitting on a stool in the booth boredly making the water yoyo bounce. ]

Wee.... so much fun.

See? If she can have fun so can you!

Strong Man & Arm Wrestling - Rider

[leaderkun]

[bigsoftie]

Arm wrestling? Leatherhead seemed tempted to do that. After all, it had been some time since he really done any combat and really, he'd feel bad for letting those skills go to waste.

He looks at his arm, dumbfound a bit. He asks himself, "How...how does this work?"

Storytelling & Flupe - Wily-Kit

[leaderkun]

Re: Storytelling & Flupe - Wily-Kit

[elementofpeanutbutter]

Trixie came to see how the young human...cat...thing would perform now that the time had come for her show. She had to admit that while she preferred to be on the stage there was a part of her that loved watching others perform. It was a love of the art that she sometimes forgot about.

She had also come prepared with some effects to offer should the girl still wish for her help. It was difficult to construct special effects of any sort in this city, but Trixie had made due with what she had.

Guitar & Kissing Booth - Dante

[leaderkun]

Re: Guitar & Kissing Booth - Dante

[badluckbabe]

Jinx could hardly resist plunking down some bits of her own at the kissing booth when she saw who was offering.

"Aren't you the charitable one." She teased with a gleam in her eye.

Magic & Card Tricks - Waver

[leaderkun]

Re: Magic & Card Tricks - Waver

[elementofpeanutbutter]

A huffy Trixie was in attendance at the so called "Magic" show. She had been informed that humans could not perform magic and now there was this?! Was the show all about the Digimon?

She was munching on a chocolate banana as her sharp eyes were focused to take in every detail of the tricks. She had to determine if this was actual magic, or misdirection like she had been raised on.

Hot Drinks - Harry

[leaderkun]

Re: Hot Drinks - Harry

[scaronfire]

[Well, Harry is a nice English boy, so for him, the quintessential hot drink is, of course, tea. He'd offer butterbeer, since it is very nice during the cold weather, but alas, he doesn't know how to do it. Don't worry tea haters, he also has some hot chocolate going.

He's a teenage boy, cut him some slack in the lack of choices. Anyway, Harry's enjoying some of the merchandise himself while he waits for customers, because damn it, he gets cold too.]

Security Team APLHA!!! & Festival Committee - Seifer, Yu and Company

[leaderkun]

[howamanlives]

[Masaru is in on the security team, wanting to make up for the mistakes he made while under the effects of the virus... helping to protect something seemed like a good way to start that. And to be honest, Seifer and Yu looked like they needed more than just a bunch of Damemon to help them]

You guys do realize these guys couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag, right?