GHOST TRICK PART ONE: Festival Log!

[indigo_league]

Who: Everyone!
Where: Either Ecruteak City or Lavender Town; please mark your toplevel comments accordingly!
When: August 13th-15th
Summary: Celebrate O-bon at a festival near you! For details, see the infopost.
Rating: Will vary from thread to thread. Warn for common triggers if something comes up.
Log:

The streets are lined with NPC-run stalls for food, games, and the assorted tchotchkes of every summer festival you’ve ever seen in your animes! There’s Goldeen Scoop, heaping cones of Swirlix Candy, Test Your STRENGTH (there are two different machines for people and Pokémon; HM04 not required); basically, if you can think of it, it’s there. There will also be a yukata rental stall if you want to go full hog on the cultural side of things. Ecruteak boasts a small stage where the Kimono Girls give a short performance once every two hours; the festivities in Lavender Town are a little quieter, but they also have Haunter-shaped ice cream treats. When you lick them, they Lick you!

On the last evening (August 15th) of the festival in either location, there will be a large bonfire and traditional bon-odori dance in which everyone is welcome to participate. In Lavender Town only, they also set paper lamps afloat in the water past the cliffs.

The closer you get to midnight on the last night of the festival, the more ghosts pop up.

Again, please say which city your character's in and note what dates/times they're there in the header of or within your top--level comment to avoid confusion. Play nice and have fun!

Comments

13th!

[crimsonchin]

[ ...Hrm. That huge smile and boisterous attitude... ]

I don't think that's a challenge either of us want to settle.

[ Asuka seems fairly confident as she looks over the tower; if it's just a matter of hitting the platform hard enough to make the weight hit the bell at the top, there shouldn't be much of a problem with that. With good enough form, a child could probably do it, provided they could hold the mallet properly...

Besides, she'd have to put down the arrangement of candied apples wedged between her forefingers. And she doesn't completely trust her little Happiny, scurrying around at her feet, to hold onto them without eating them all. ]

...I wouldn't want to embarrass you, is all.

[ Aren't you supposed to be an adult, Asuka........ ]

[outloving]

[ Minako is very much Not an adult and will therefore be making chicken noises at Asuka. ]

That sounds like something a coward would say! If you're scared, it's okay to admit it.

[crimsonchin]

[ Oh my God. The chicken sounds are one thing. But if there's something that Asuka's competitive streak refuses to let her allow, it's being called a coward, especially not by some brat. ]

...Happiny, hold my fucking candy apples.

[ The tiny Pokemon certainly doesn't seem to have any problem with that arrangement, taking the sticks of each apple in its little nubs, determined to protect them at all costs!! ]

You go first.

[outloving]

[ ...Oh, she knows that look. That's the look that Rei would give her whenever she was fed up with her behavior (and occasionally Ami, whenever Minako complained too much about studying), so she knows that she crossed the line, and a slight fear comes over her. She fucked up. However, Minako refuses to let her bravado down in front of Asuka and continues to act as though she's confident in her strength. She knows she's athletic, far more so than the girls from her school, even without her powers, so she knows that she at least won't make an entire fool of herself. ]

Alright, then here I go...!

[ She takes the hammer, raises it above her head, and swings down with all of her might. The meter goes up to at least halfway. ]

[crimsonchin]

[ Huh. Not too bad, for someone who looks like she's probably just in high school, or maybe younger. Still, a score like that should be easy to beat...her strength far exceeds that of a normal person of her build, so it's just a matter of proper form...

She grabs the mallet and breathes in. Hoists it over her shoulder. Circular motion, brings it down on the platform...

The weight travels pretty high up. Or, at least, it looks like it's about to, because the mallet lands with an incredibly satisfying slam on the button. But for one reason or another, it stops short, ending just slightly below the halfway point.

Minako wins, amazingly enough. ]

Was zum Teufel?!

[outloving]

[ Minako watches with baited breath as Asuka takes her turn, already expecting for the girl's score to be much higher than her own - karma's way of telling her that she needs to stop being overconfident and learn to humble herself already. She even momentarily considers that change in personality as she watches the weight rise and rise...and suddenly stop short of Minako's score. ]

...I won?!

[ Even she can't believe it, but she quickly tries to play it off as if she knew she was going to win all along. She does a little victory dance where she stands and praises herself before realizing that she shouldn't brag too much, especially not in front of this girl who seems frustrated that she lost. Besides, Minako isn't quite the type to gloat in front of someone to hurt their feelings, so she flashes Asuka a friendly smile and extends her hand. ]

Hey, good game! I'm Minako, what's yours?

[crimsonchin]

[ It was probably just a fluke, she wants to think to herself, or the machine is rigged or something, but even so, a win is a win. And as slight as it was, it wasn't as though it was a close call, either. Asuka's score got trounced.

Ridiculous. Asuka's tempted to slap poor Minako's hand away, but, that would be in poor form, and on top of that, incredibly childish, so, she at the very least grabs her hand and shakes it. ...It's just a game, she wants to say, but deep down, it's a blow to her pride. ]

...I guess you're stronger than you look, too.

[ It's as close to a compliment as you'll get from her, Minako. ]

Asuka Langley Shikinami.

[outloving]

Nice to meet you, Asuka-chan!

[ Because jump straight to the friendliness with the person you just beat, why don't you, Minako. Not that she's ever been the type of person who liked formality in the first place. Anyone she met, she immediately considered a friend, even people who were coming off as cold as Asuka, so she never felt the need to be formal. ]

You play sports or anything? That was a really good swing.

[crimsonchin]

It's Shikinami-taich--H-Happiny, quit it, will you?

[ When she starts to correct her, Happiny starts prodding at her leg with one of her candied apples. At least one of them knows how to socialize... ]

...If nothing else, just Asuka's fine. I'm really not too big of a fan of being called "-chan".

[ Just reminds her that she looks like a schoolgirl. How annoying. ]

It's military training. Gotta be in peak physical condition if you want to be a pilot.

[outloving]

[ Minako glances down at the Happiny, unable to hold back a snicker as she watches the little pink creature prod at the girl's leg. ]

Asuka it is.

[ She winks at the Happiny, but at Asuka's next words, her expression changes to curiosity. ]

A pilot? You mean, the ones who fly planes?

[crimsonchin]

[ If Happiny had thumbs, she would give her a giant thumbs up! But for now, she'll just give a little cheer in return. ]

Not quite. It's more like "the ones that control giant mechs". ...But I used to fly planes, in the Air Force.

[outloving]

Oh, that's cool!

[ ...Wait, what. ]

Hang on just a minute...did you say "giant mechs"?

[crimsonchin]

...Well, to be specific, the full title of the one I pilot is "General-Purpose Humanoid Battle Weapon Android Evangelion Utility Model Unit 02". But, that's a bit...much, so, we tend to just call it EVA-02, or Unit 02.

But it's basically a giant mech, yes.

[outloving]

[ Minako's eyes immediately light up, and she leans forward, closer to Asuka. ]

That's way damn cooler than piloting a plane! I wanna pilot a giant mech, too! Hey, what do you have to do to become a pilot? Tell me, tell me!

[crimsonchin]

L-look, it's not like piloting is something I do for fun, okay?! Not just anyone can hop inside an EVA and pilot it, you need to be specifically chosen. There's only one person in the entire world who can pilot Unit 02, and that's me. I didn't do anything special to get that position, though. It just so happens that Unit 02 and I are compatible with one another.

...We're very understaffed, though. I used to be a part of a government organization called NERV, but, I broke off from them and took Unit-02 with me. Now I'm with a small mercenary group called Wille. And unfortunately, we only have two Evas, and both of them have pilots.

[outloving]

[ HEAVY DISAPPOINTED SIGH. ]

Damn, that sucks...it would've been fun to pilot a giant mech. I bet all of my friends would be jealous.

[ Even if you don't think it's fun, Asuka, Minako certainly does. ]

[crimsonchin]

It's not fun. It's...

...

Okay, it's pretty cool sometimes, I'll give you that, but, I don't do it because it's cool. If there's ever a job opening for a pilot, though, I'll keep you in mind.

[outloving]

Really?! You're the best, Asuka!

[ And she lunges for a hug...stop her while you can. ]