Wingulls wheel and dive in the salty springtime air of Olivine City's harbor, as white as the gleaming sides of the ship moored directly below. The S.S. Aqua isn't an infrequent visitor in the slightest, but this time it's for a very special occasion! Colorful banners stream from the sides, each one proudly declaring the word
PROM in glittery font.
The boarding starts around noon on Friday, and the sight of the huge ship alone is enough to get many people and Pokemon swept up in the party atmosphere. The captain is even there when the ramp is rolled out, wanting to welcome each otherworlder onto the boat personally with a hearty handshake and (mentioning he's a renowned 'people reader'), a recommendation on what part of the cruise he thinks they'll like best based solely on a glance. Weirdly enough, guests might find that he's usually right!
Unsurprisingly, it takes a good long while for everyone to get on board and accounted for, which leaves each guest with plenty of time to find their rooms, dump their luggage, let their Pokemon out to stretch their legs a little, and finally head back to the deck to wave goodbye to the harbor as the SS Aqua heads out onto the open water.
IT'S FINALLY HERE, THE BEST TIME OF YEAR!
For the next three days until it makes its way back to shore on Monday, the lucky cruisegoers can live it up as much as they want. And, as the captain boasts over the announcement system once things are underway, the S.S. Aqua and its staff truly are the hosts with the most-- not even Gorgeous Resort has as much variety as this!
THE ATTRACTIONSFIRST OF ALL, THE ROOMS! Each room is fitted with either one or two king-sized beds, making them perfect to share with partners or friends, along with a wide-screen TV, dimmable lights, and fancy bathrooms. With little soaps that have "Please Steal Us!" printed into them.
Depending on whether they're exterior or interior rooms, they may or may not have porthole windows and balconies on the outside.
Check out the "Mood" channel on your TVs, you won't be disappointed.GET YOUR SWIM ON @ THE WATER PARK Possibly the first thing about the ship that most people notice (because it's noticeable from a mile away) are the set of pools and waterslides (proudly titled the Winged Mirage Pools) on the very top deck. It's about as wild as it gets while staying within the acceptable safety level for being pools on top of a huge boat. Each pool has its own set of waterslides that turn and twist to your heart’s content, so be mindful of your fellow guests rushing out to drop in on the fun!
Lifeguards are stationed and well-equipped to keep watch over patrons, and will do their best to keep the pools’ populations separated according to the ship’s rules. It would be unsafe, after all, for a small Pokemon to be bowled over by a group of rowdy folks playing water volleyball, or some similar incident.
The Articuno Pool is limited to human swimmers only! It has a small cold-water jaccuzi on the side, and the mosaic tile laid down looks quite similar to deep arctic ice. Pokemon are allowed in the vicinity of the pool but not within the pool itself.
The Zapdos Pool is special pool just for small to medium sized Pokemon to enjoy! It is staggered in two “tiers” and features greenery and water properly calibrated to suit even the pickiest sea Pokemon’s taste. Humans are allowed to supervise their Pokemon, but are asked to not interfere with the many Lifeguard Starmie on duty.
The Moltres Pool, flanked by two warm jacuzzis, is where people and small Pokemon are allowed to swim together! The water is calibrated carefully to be safe for all swimmers, and while it is expected for swimmers to get a little rowdy, Pokemon larger than their trainers are asked to refrain from cannon-balling, for the safety of everyone around them.IT'S NOT PROM WITHOUT DANCING! For the main dancing action, you’ll want to go to the Nido-King and Queen Ballroom. There, you can get down and funky with friends and your roster alike in your nicest prom duds to tunes spun out by a live DJ, who will happily and eagerly take your song requests. Don’t be shy, bust out those moves you’ve been holding onto all year!
For those of you who might prefer an all-night techno thump to your dancing, the Porygon2 Discotheque will keep you up and about long into the wee hours of the morning. Featuring actual Porygon2 assisting their DJ trainer, you’ll have their ill mixes and projected lights guiding you into perpetual party heaven.AND IT'S NOT A PARTY WITHOUT FOOD AND DRINK! Food is plentiful on board, nowhere more so than Wailord’s Bounty, a buffet operating round the clock to make sure all guests have the chance to fill their plates with delicious morsels whenever they want. While there’s plenty to go around for people and Pokemon, cruise staff do ask that Munchlax and Snorlax are not brought into the buffet. There have been... incidents.
For those looking for fine dining in the evening, look no further than The Mother-of-Clamperl. Slightly fancier than the other areas of the cruise, guests are expected to be dressed somewhat nicely. No showing up in flip-flops! Wear a dress shirt and have some champagne!
Somewhere in between on the fanciness spectrum, The Shiny Corsola may look like a gaudy bar, but lurking in that sparkly, shimmery haven is a smooth nightlife scene with all of the fancy liquor and exquisite jazz you could ever want. The jazz is live, by the way - the Jazzypuffs play an ever-rotating set for your listening pleasure, setting the mood for a sweet, sexy, relaxing night away from the hustle and bustle of cruise life.AS FOR NON-AQUATIC RECREATION... The Radical Croconaw Cove is the dope place to chill for preteen and teen promgoers, ya dig? Chock full of tubular snacks and stocked with retro video games that are the bomb-diggety, this is the off-the-hook zone to get your chill on! There’s also some board games too, for you tabletop nerds who want to squeeze a session in.
If you’re after live entertainment, Sudowoodo Centerstage has all your needs covered. Live comedy? Check. Sketches and skits performed by an ever-rotating cast of human and Pokemon actors fresh from Unova’s Pokemon Musical stage? Check! Opportunities for open mic performances by guests? Oh, honey, that box is done CHECKED! That’s right, guests of all species are encouraged to come on up and belt out that Lady Gardevoir cover that’s been stuck in their head, or perform in any other way! the only limitation is that guests are asked to keep Pokemon moves involved to non-destructive ones. After all, this is a cruise ship, not a Contest! And renovating a ship stage can be pricey.
While Goldenrod and Celadon have their Game Corners, the SS Aqua has the Mystery Egg Arcade, welcoming all ages to come and earn technicolor tickets via timing, chance, sharp eyes, and steady hands! Your first twenty tokens are complimentary, the rest shockingly reasonable in price (the equivalent of twenty-five cents per token), and the prizes you can glean are, while not the usual battle items or rare Pokemon, still very nice! Everything from well-made toys to good quality candies to the usual arcade bits and bobs like whoopie cushions and harmonicas, tiny parachute plastic figurines and paper finger traps...it’s all here, and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg in tickets to win it, either!
For those looking for more intellectually stimulating pursuits, the Mantine Maritime Library offers a decent selection of reading materials, all seafaring in nature. From glossy photo spreads of underwater expeditions to reproductions of nautical journals from early sailors in Johto and Kanto history, this place has...well, not everything, but enough to whet your academic appetite.
What cruise ship is complete without an awesome rock wall to climb? Shuckle’s Challenge is specifically for humans, and any Pokemon that can’t learn Rock Climb or similar moves. It’s a test of ability and will, and the top of the rock wall offers a grand prize - the most spectacular view of the open sea on the entire ship.
Colorful and cheerful, Phanpy’s Putting Green is exactly the kind of kid friendly minigolf experience you could come to expect from the Pokemon world. Springy green turf adorned with figurines and obstacles depicting various baby Pokemon in play, it’s a hit with little children as much as it’s amusing for all ages to play a round or two together.
No ship is complete without a place to get in some rigorous physical activity, and The Rink is the perfect place to do so! Fitted with colored spotlights, this arena is fitted with all sorts of sports stuff that shifts throughout the day. For a few hours, it’s a basketball court, then, poof! It shifts to tennis, or racketball, or even a roller skating rink! And in the evening, it is of course open to Pokemon battles! Feel like hosting an impromptu tourney in your friend group with your best partners? This is the place to do it!
...And oh, don’t worry. We didn’t forget the most essential cruise amenity of all. Shuffle board courts can be found where you least expect them, and are always maintained by at least one friendly-looking elderly staff member willing to show you or your Pokemon the ropes. It’d be criminal not to make sure everyone has access to this timeless and treasured activity!AND ONCE YOU'RE DONE PARTYING HARD... Rejuvination is the core to the SS Aqua’s Max Revive Spa Center. Equipped with saunas, mineral soaks, and fancy mud masks, you’ll feel like a new ‘Mon once you emerge from their pampering. There’s even a special Trainer and Pokemon massage package for those of you who would like to try and improve your bond with one of your partners. Does it work? Only one way to find out...
While they may not have a specific name, the outdoor deck lounges can be found most everywhere on the outer decks, offering peaceful views of the ocean and any land in the distance that the ship might pass. These decks are awesome places to work on your tan or read a book or chat with a friend without disturbing others or being disturbed, and hold wonderfully atmospheric aesthetics for anyone looking to spot breaching sea Pokemon or take pictures.[Feel free to toplevel to your heart's content! For more information about the event, check the infopost over here!]![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
indigo_events) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
victory_road2019-04-18 11:19 pm
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"Kazuki, right?" She held out a hand for shaking. "Good to finally meet you face to face."
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Yet, once the notion had a moment to settle inside his head, it fit his mental image of Annie quite well. A big, sincere smile dawn on his face, and he took her offer to shake with enthusiasm. Maybe a little bit too much enthusiasm.
"Yeah! It's super great to meet you too!" He replied, and the Chatot on his shoulder echoed super great from his shoulder. "You're so quiet, you almost gave me a heart attack! Make a little noise when you walk-- or were you trying to sneak up on me?"
The fact that she was so small (even shorter than Kazuki initially thought) may also contribute to her overall stealth factor.
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Her eyes flick up toward the Chatot, then back out to the Lapras. "You were otherwise occupied at the time. I doubt how quiet I did or didn't move had much to do with it."
Then again, she walked softly out of habit for not wanting to draw attention to herself. He had a point, for a civilian.
"What were you playing earlier?"
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"This is my trumpet! You said you'd never heard of one before, right?" Kazuki held out his instrument, offering for her to look at it or touch it if she liked. "And that song was Over the Double Eagle by Josef Wagner. I've played it for a concour, so it's a tune I can bring up without sheet music pretty easily."
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The trumpet had her attention, and when he held it out toward her she reached out to trace over the metal with a finger. Just as experimentally, she depressed one of the finger buttons over the valves, seeing how much resistance it offered to her touch. She pulled her hand away after, curiosity addressed to some degree. "I have no idea what most of what you said means. What's a concour? Sheet music is printed, I assume, versus what you memorise. Josef Wagner is a..." she trailed off, trying to find the word she wanted and coming up blank. "An artist from your world?"
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He wasn't exactly frightened by her approach-- his aim was more to make her feel at ease around him. Whether her nature was quiet or loud (although he doubted the latter) she could be herself around him.
His grin turned toothy as she tried the pressure on his trumpet's valve. He really loved introducing music to people, and he rarely got the chance to be someone's first experience. Usually total newbies were small children, so it was a special treat to play for a person past their formative years.
"You've pretty much got it!" He nodded encouragingly. "A concour is like a music competition, where different musicians play for judges and they choose who they think played best. Sheet music is just that; music printed out on a page. And someone who writes music is called a composer!"
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So to speak. She did have a tendency to keep herself fading into the background.
The rest of what he said was filed away, words with definitions she didn't need added to an inventory of language she expanded each week passed by on this world. Concour, composer. Surely they had those things back home, she knew it, but music seemed like the white noise hidden in layers of privilege, both on and off the island.
"Mm, so that's what you used to do?" She studied the trumpet with her eyes alone for a few seconds longer, considering. "I know you perform here, but when did you start performing back in your home?"
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Kazuki was being humble. His music was less refined than his competitors, that was true, but it didn't make it any less magnetic. He had a natural knack for entertaining an audience.
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"Twelve's the youngest you can enlist with the military. Late for some things, I guess, right on time for others."
Hard to imagine so many of the people she'd met here in those situations. Marley or Paradis Military. Observing him from the corner of her eye, she supposed he'd at least look good in uniform. It was about what the Garrison had been good at doing before they were forced into more active service, and more than the Military Police Brigade managed most the time.
Marley's uniform wasn't worth thinking about.
She closed her eyes, pushing those thoughts away. "What's your favourite piece to play?"
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He could make a jab at himself if it would bring some brevity to the conversation. There was something slightly bittersweet that he was picking up from Annie. He wondered what she could be thinking about. He'd be bashful if he knew she was picturing him in uniform!
"That's impossible," he answered with a laugh in his voice. "There are so many songs I love! And more get written every day. The beauty of music is that the possibilities are endless! There are even genres that are dedicated to being a little different every time you play, like jazz."
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She figured he meant it to lighten the conversation, and it bothered her, in the same way it didn't bother her when she said dismissive statements about herself. People's strengths and weaknesses weren't stagnant, but they all existed, and needed to be seen for what they were. For her, living here for half a year is a half-year of driving herself to do anything except linger on the idea of what am I without my father and still caught in the lies of the world that hates me? A world that hated her almost as much as she hated herself when she woke up from her nightmares, her hands stained with blood.
She was a poor conversational partner because so often her mind was pulled back to those unchangeable things. It was better to stay quiet with nothing less raw to say. Annie shook her head, pulling on what Kazuki was saying to try and shift away from the self-reflection that didn't sit any better on her shoulders here than it did back home. "Haven't heard of jazz before." Maybe in passing on the radio, but not as one of the background music stations of life here, and not as a genre of music. Unsurprising, if she knew the origins. "Is it something this world has too?"
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He regarded her gently. He could see something behind her eyes that was causing her pain, but there was no way to know what it was. He would never ask. And while he was quite good at reading other's emotions, he definitely couldn't read minds.
"Yeah, there's jazz here too," he replied, settling into a lighter tone with ease. "I'd play some as an example for you, but it's a genre that really shines when a group of musicians play it. They play off of each other's creative energy to make something fun and unique on the spot."
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Better for all that no one knew what was in her head. There were dark places no one needed to go, that Annie was more than aware of herself. Perhaps that was what made the open skies overhead appealing, just as she found sunsets beautiful and heartbreaking. Her photography, the only foray into art she'd managed since arriving, has an unfair share of sunset shots. Landscapes captured in dramatic lighting, shadows elongated, stark, and beautiful in contrast. The cruise was worth it for the sunsets alone.
"Sounds like what you'd find at a festival with enough musically inclined people around. You get things like that sometimes back home, though how much of it is creative energy and how much of it is alcohol is a matter of perspective."
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He'd have to ask her about her photography. She told him about that once, didn't she? Kazuki encouraged any and all artistic pursuits, even if sunsets were one of her only subjects.
"So you do have some kind of music where you're from? I'm glad," she'd successfully piqued his curiosity. "What sort of instruments do people play? If there's no sheet music, then there improvisation must be a valuable skill... And I guess alcohol can help some people open up."
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The photographs, however, she would share, for all she'd find the request unexpected. Or that he'd remembered. She'd figure only Marco would remember, having traveled with her for a few weeks on end.
"Drums, pan flutes, lutes... violins. Stringed instruments more than others, but I'm not the person to ask. I'm not all that cultured, let alone aware of what the rich indulge in when it comes to music." Marley had more variety, but the face she wore here was always presented to seem as it if was from Paradis alone. Her words were true regardless. She really didn't know what instruments people played back home. They were for peoples and lifetimes she'd never be or lead.
She pushes back from the railing, turning around to lean against it with her back. Pushing hair behind an ear, she sighs, flicking her fingers. "It's not that there probably isn't sheet music out there, I just haven't seen it. Military Police Reports? Military Training Manuals? Sure, seen plenty of those. And festival music is all that way, spontaneous and improvised and loud. Which the alcohol aids. Though if you want to come play at a bonfire, I won't object."
Be a sight better than what happened at the funeral pyres.
"Do you have anything like that? Where people spill into the streets, just celebrating whatever the hell it is?"
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If they were only taking Paradis into account, then Kazuki was on the mark. But Marley? If they have zeppelins, they have trumpets.
"Armin told me he's never seen any either, and he's always got his nose in a book," so he made the safe assumption that it simply hadn't been invented yet. "Oh, totally! The biggest celebrations in Japan are the New Year and Obon. People crowd the shrines at New Years to bring in good luck, and the bonfire is the biggest event at the Obon celebrations. In Kyoto, they make a bonfire so huge you can see it on the mountainside. It spells out the character for 'fire!' But you mostly only hear traditional Japanese instruments at the festivals, like taiko drums."
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Annie hummed a noise neither acknowledgement or much of anything else. They'd hit the era he was thinking of, had for a long time, depending on where in the world he looked. But not for Paradis. So far behind the rest of the world, and isolated away from it.
Which they are in a way here, too, only no one lied about it. Much more palatable, without the lies and memory wiping.
"Armin always sounded like he and Eren were interested in the outside world. The natural world, at least. After all, nothing human's supposed to survive outside the Walls. Anyway, what do you mean, it spells out the character for fire?" She hadn't heard about a writing system that used characters, and was perplexed by the word choice.
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"Oh, writing in Japanese is different kinda different from how they do it in most of the world... How would I explain..." Japanese wasn't his best subject either. He had to think about it for a second. "Most languages have an alphabet with letters that make different sounds, and you string those together to make words. In Japanese, most of our writing is made up of characters called 'kanji.' Each Kanji is a different word, and then they can make more different words when you put them together. The Kanji for 'fire' looks like this..."
Kazuki held out his palm for her to see, and then drew 火 on it with his finger for her.
"It's actually one of the characters that makes up my surname!"
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She watched him draw the kanji for fire on his hand, trying to make sense of the lines and motion. Annie figured she had it to some extent, but she still held out her hand, palm flat and facing upward, to see if she could get him to replicate the drawing in a more tangible way for her.
"If fire's part of your surname, what is the other part? Or parts, if it's more than two words."
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He then drew 原 for her. It was a lot more complicated, but it was his name, so he knew the stroke order by heart.
"This one means something like 'field' or 'plain.' Fire is hi and this one is hara, so Hihara! The two characters together don't mean anything special... They're just two characters that are common in surnames."
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"So many lines," she said, "All this to say fields of fire. Sounds poetic. Or warlike, depending." Perspective was everything, she supposed.
"What are the characters for your given name?"
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"My first name is even more complicated... The first character is 和. It's actually normally pronounced wa. Kazu is probably, an..." he paused as he fished for the word he was looking for. "Archaic reading? If I'm remembering that right? Either way, wa is a special concept. The easiest translation would be... Harmony? It's the Japanese ideal of the whole working as something more important than the individual. It's really important, culturally. You kind of have to go to Japan to really see it in action."
"And ki..." This time, he wrote 樹. It's so complicated it probably just feels like a mess of lines on her palm. "It means, like, a thick forest? Or sometimes it just means lumber. It depends on the context. And the two together don't mean anything special, again. Usually names don't."
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No, what pulled her attention more, and had her studying his face with some visible taken abackness, was simple. "You can read the same character in two completely different ways?"
Sure, vowels and consonants had multiple pronunciations, but ch in chair, choir, and charade were all different, but still recogniseably the same two letters. Even the thousands of common Kanji didn't sound like anything too out there for native speakers, or even those learning to handle another language. It was a matter of memorisation and route repetition. Archaic or not, having multiple readings of the same character caught her off guard.
Her fingers curled toward the center of her palm, having no sense of what the last character had looked like. She'd been distracted still with the thought of Wa, no, also Kazu's pronunciation.
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"Like, if we go back to fire..." He drew 火 on her palm again as a reminder. "Hi is probably the most common pronunciation, but it can also be ka, or bi, or ho when it's combined with other Kanji in certain ways."
"So... It's not like you can just randomly read a character with any of those pronunciations, outside of proper nouns. The same word is read the same way every time, but it all depends on what characters make it up."
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By now she felt she recognised hi without difficulty, and his explanation made sense, filling in the blanks she had regarding a language different from those she knew.
"Then part of the process isn't just memorising these kanji, but the combinations that inform you about their reading." She didn't frame it as a question, but watched his face for any affirmation or correction. Then asked, seized by curiosity, "What's the kanji for mountain?"
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