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

Handsome Jack - Ecruteak

[thedifferencebetween]

The 13th, General

[It's been a hell of a...however long it's been. Jack's been a busy man, hardly on the Network the way he usually is, barely keeping up with people beyond necessary conversations that have something to do with his numerous plans. The shit, as the old saying went, was about to topple into the fan.]

[He'd been enjoying not having to scramble here. Not having to rush things. He hates rushing, that's how mistakes get made. But it's fine. It's cool. He's got this...]

[And PR is so important. So he makes the time to put in an appearance at the festival. He's got Doom Boner on a leash, and if one pays attention, a disgruntled looking Trubbish can be seen following Jack around. He's mostly just checking out the various stalls and attractions, not caring much about the festival itself. At the start, he's wearing his trademark Hyperion sweater and a pair of jeans, his pocket watch hooked to his belt instead of a lapel.]

14th - games

[This whole set up is almost Pandoran. The carnival games are the type he'd think of when he thought of clan celebrations - not that he thinks about that often. Why would he? Like he cares what a bunch of savages do. Did? Does that stuff even still happen?]

[Again, it doesn't really matter. But the games, they're all the kind that require expert aim and timing and everything else. Which...hey, whaddya know? Handsome Jack has. But there's no point if there's nobody to show off to, so he's just going to kind of hang around until he's got an audience...]

15th - Bonfire

[By the time the bonfire rolls around, Jack has been badgered into an appropriate outfit. He doesn't really care that it's technically a woman's yukata, his one stipulation was it had to be black and yellow. And he could stash his flask in it.]

[He's not about to dance, but he'll sit and watch and drink and smoke and try to ignore the freaky ghost Pokemon that keep drifting over.]

Re: 15th

[cardboard_boss]

[Snake spots Jack in his rather choice attire. Huh. At least the colours suited him. He sat next to Jack and stared out into the hot flames of the bonfire.]

Got a spare smoke? Haven't had one in ages.

[thedifferencebetween]

[Jack reaches inside his fancy robe and pulls out a slim silver engraved cigarillo case. It has an 'H' on the cover.]

Blap.

[He flips it open and offers it to the other man.]

They're like the bastard child of a cigarette and a cigar. Got a nice sweet flavor. Not like candy sweet, though. I dunno, they're good!

[cardboard_boss]

Thanks.

[Snake took the smoke and placed it in the corner of his mouth, as he would a cigar. It felt good to have something there again after the long absence of being disallowed his cigar.]

Got a light?

[thedifferencebetween]

[Jack's hand disappears into his robe again and he flips open his lighter to get Snake's cigarillo going.]

No problem. How can you enjoy a bonfire without a good smoke? Could do without all the little spooks, though. What's up with them?

[cardboard_boss]

[Snake inhaled the cigarillo and blew out a thin trail of smoke above his head. Oh, that tasted and felt good. It had a nice taste to it.]

The ghosts? No idea. Some say it's to do with the festival. Japanese culture I guess.

[Kaz could explain it better this time.]

[thedifferencebetween]

Well, it's not like they're real ghosts, they're Pokemon. Kinda weird, though. Maybe they figure it's atmospheric. Gotta say, a big carnival seems like a kind of a slap in the face, as far as revering the dead goes.

[Mourning's supposed to be a private, somber thing. This...what the hell is this?]

[cardboard_boss]

Yeah but they act like real ghosts. The whole not being there but still there kind of shit.

[Yeah, Snake's not really one for supernatural stuff. He's dealt with far too much crap to be dealing with actual Pokémon that are ghosts. The Skulls were enough supernatural weird shit to deal with in one soldier's life.]

It's like making a mockery out of the dead. I don't really get it but it's almost like they want us to have fun out of dead people. Weird shit.

[That sounded wrong, right?]

Back home I respected our dead soldiers by crafting their bodies into diamonds. Then had each diamond sewn into the living soldier's uniforms. That way we'll remember them and take them into battle with us. Their spirits live on in us.

[Snake showed Jack where the diamond would be just on his left shoulder. Of course, that was back on his sneaking suit, which was now back in his own world.]

15th

[kissmyaspis]

[Maybe it's because of Tim's incessant bugging to indulge in the festivities, or maybe it's just something about the air of the place, but Athena... has kind of loosened up. Not enough to dress up or really enjoy the festival, but her shoulders are loose, and her hands are shoved into her pockets, as opposed to her usual crossed-arm stance. It's probably the most relaxed anyone who's not Janey has seen the ex-assassin, so of course it doesn't last that much longer.

She was idly trailing after Xiphos, who seemed quite interested in the bonfire and mingling with the other Ghost-types. It was weird, thinking of a floating sword as a ghost of all things, but hey. As long as he was keeping himself out of trouble, she wasn't going to recall him.

... She reconsiders that, though, when she sees him drifting towards the crowd, and nearby is... ugh. Of course it's him.]

Xiphos! Back to me.

[The crowd around her is loud and merry, so she has to shout for her pokemon to be heard. And of course, if Xiphos can hear her, that means Jack probably can as well...

[thedifferencebetween]

[Aw shit.]

[Jack hears her. And he looks over, and his eyes narrow. Athena's the last person he wants to see face to face. He doesn't put it past her to make good on her threats and just light into him in front of the magic llama and everybody.]

Doom Boner.

[He whistles low, calling the dog to his side. Doom Boner...sluggishly complies. Tongue lolling out. And casting looks to the floating sword because of course Athena has a freakin sword Pokemon. At least Jack's got Boner to the point where he can breathe fire. Even if he's not at all skilled at using it. It's something.]

[He stands up, just because he's not gonna be sitting with her standing. It's simple power posture. And he figures even in the robe, he probably looks pretty imposing, in the glow of the bonfire.]

[He'll see what she does before making a move.]

[kissmyaspis]

[Maybe once, he might've looked imposing. To most other people, he probably still does. The fire certainly helps, yeah, but in that robe, all that's crossing Athena's mind is that day when he'd contacted her, drunk off his ass in a bathrobe, and proceeded to make an utter fool of himself.

So, honestly, she's not worried. Her shoulders square up a bit, and even without her armor, it's still a pretty solid posture, but she doesn't look like she's about to strike. Not yet.]

What an... intimidating beast.

[She will never, not in a million years, say it out loud, but... that dog is kind of cute. Cute, but absolutely useless-looking when it comes to the whole intimidation thing Jack's trying to pull off right now.

[thedifferencebetween]

I got better ones in balls. Don't shame the puppy, Athena. Only assholes shame puppies.

[It's different when he does it, he's doing it out of affection. Sure, the Pokemon's fat and looks like he might have mild brain damage and he's useless in battles, but damn does he sell merchandise.]

What do you want?

13th

[thatwasours]

[Havoc's been getting better, lately. Ish. He still has an unfortunate tendency to growl at anyone who gets too close to Kaz, but by now it's chiefly an empty threat. Kaz is working on it, and at the moment, he's working on it by keeping the dog on a very, very short leash and getting him accustomed to a larger number of people. it's still early, and thus, not yet all that crowded-- later, he'll probably put the Houndoom away.]

[hilariously, he spots Doom Boner before he spots Jack, because... wow, that is an amazingly fat puppy, and the back of Jack's head isn't particularly recognizable. but, the Hyperion sweater and jeans is, especially at an event where people are mostly in yukata, Kaz being no exception.]

Jack. Got something that belongs to you.

[thedifferencebetween]

Hey!

[Jack turns, giving Kaz a grin. This is one of the few people that he actually likes. He snorts a little at the festival outfit - why is everyone getting so into it? - but doesn't say anything.]

The man and his monster in the flesh! How are ya?

[God damn, that is a beautiful animal Kaz has got. Doom Boner looks extra pathetic and cuddly in comparison.]

[At least it sounds like his team's about to improve. He can't imagine anything else the other man could have for him.]

[thatwasours]

[well, in theory, it could have been a belated A-rank chef birthday cake, but it's not.]

Having a good time. Didn't expect you to be here, but if the comms are anything to go by, you've got your hands full.

[he sounds pretty amused by that fact, and turns to dig around in his bag, shoving aside the large metal arm sticking fist-first out of the top. a moment later, he pulls out several Pokeballs, and holds them out.]

Magikarp, Espurr, Pachirisu, and Skorupi.

[thedifferencebetween]

Hey, gotta mingle with the adoring public sometimes!

[Jack grins.]

Plus, big fancy hooplah like this...the ladies are gonna be looking their best. Don't wanna miss that. But yeah, yeah, I've been busy as hell.

[He likes it that way, though. He needs to have things to do, he's not an idle hands kinda guy.]

I...only know what that first one is, but awesome. I'm starting to make more money, so we can start talking raises soon. My team'll actually be useful! I mean, I assume. How's the beast doing?

[He jerks his head toward Kaz's Houndour. Who Doom Boner is attempting to wiggle toward, barking happily.]

[thatwasours]

[...his ego really is unbelievable. and he's seemingly not worried about all the people that seem to have it out for him, which means he's either arrogant, or has a plan in place. probably both. Kaz lets out a snort at the ladies comment, though. he's right.]

They're a psychic cat, an electric squirrel, and a giant scorpion. Take it as a gesture of altruism that I didn't just catch you half a dozen owls-- next time, close the duplicate catch loophole. And if we're talking raises, let's talk stock.

[because the best business maneuver here is clearly getting in on the tacky greeting card company.]

Better-- gotten smarter since he evolved. Hasn't tried to bite me in a couple weeks, hasn't snapped at anyone else in... maybe one. He even listens, sometimes.

[as Doom Boner approaches, the Houndoom bares his fangs and growls, but offers no further hostilities, opting to watch the puppy instead.]

[thedifferencebetween]

....giant scorpion? Hell yes!

[Now that's more like it! Oh yeah, that deserves a bonus! That one'll need a good, intimidating name.]

Cats are always good, people love cats and the ones around here are painfully cute. Squirrel...yeah, I can work with that.

[Hanna can probably whip up half a dozen stupid captions about 'nuts' alone.] Stock? You mean...Pokemon? I really don't care if I end up doubling.

[It's easy enough to give them to other people, and random gifts of Pokemon are pretty swaying of someone's opinion. He notices that his fighting failure is attempting to make friends. That's...not gonna go well.]

Oh, oh Boner...don't. I know, I know, you think you're gonna grow up into that! But you...oh, you are not. I dunno what you're going to grow up to be, but it is not that beautiful destruction machine that's gonna bite your cute little head off. C'mere.

[Jack bends down to pick up the pup, with a bit of a groan. He'd love to fight Kaz's Houndoom, but not like this. Havoc would destroy Doom Boner without breaking a sweat.]

Speaking of, how is he in battle?