hfm_logs | The Spooky Night Scare Celebration

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The Spooky Night Scare Celebration

Warnings: SPOOPY. Also potential violence and/or drinking.

Location: Various locations in Freesia, especially the Park and Cathedral.

Characters: Anyone and everyone and Lux.

When: Night of September 9

Summary: Most of Freesia is celebrating tonight. Ward off the darkness with lanterns and masks and maybe chat with the local light god.

In a change from their usual behavior, the citizens of Freesia are out and about during the night in order to celebrate another festival.

Called “Spooky Night,” the atmosphere of this holiday may seem familiar to some of Freesia's outsiders. Lanterns patterned after all manner of monsters and other creepy things are visible everywhere, resting on doorsteps, hung from trees, placed in windows, and there are smaller ones strung between buildings and across streets.

Equally creepy masks abound as well. They're mostly worn by the children, but some adults can be seen indulging as well, the eyes and mouths of their masks glowing like jack o' lanterns.

Most of the citizens seem to be enjoying themselves, chatting and laughing with one another, jumping around and trying to scare each other, drinking and buying snacks from opportunistic vendors. Many of the festive citizens have gathered at a bonfire in the park, but groups of people can be found just about anywhere tonight.

But despite the party atmosphere, you may want to pay close attention to the city tonight...

A: The masks and lanterns mentioned earlier aren't going to be hard to find. The lanterns are visible everywhere of course, and more can be found for sale in the shops and stalls, alongside a wide variety of masks. Most of the designs are generic monsters, such as ghost or skeletons or werewolves, but if you look around, well... Whatever you're afraid of, if it's something you can put a face or likeness to, you'll run into a mask or lantern of it eventually. Creepy as that might be though, anyone who dares carry or wear their fears will be rewarded with an extra bright glow emanating from it, something that may come in handy if they run into any of the Nox tonight.

B: If you head down to the park tonight, but stray away from the bonfire, you'll notice that the cathedral is active for once. A very small group of citizens has gathered there, primarily consisting of the elderly- and at least one person you may find familiar. There isn't any laughing or drinking going on in this part of town, and everyone in the cathedral is either silent or speaking to each other in hushed tones. As far as can be observed, they've gathered here to place candles and flowers everywhere.

C: Autumn isn't quite here yet, but the nights have been getting longer lately, the shadows deeper. Don't wander too far tonight and if you do, take care to bring some light with you. The Nox are especially active tonight and will happily attack anyone who wander into the shadows, local or not, not to mention breaking anything they can get their shadowy hands on. A few of the bolder groups will even stray to the edges of the festival in order to knock down the decorations. They're in a vicious mood tonight, but if you thought to pick up an especially spooky lantern or mask before confronting them, their viciousness will evaporate and you'll have them running scared instead.

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Rose has seen a ritual similar to this one a few times, since Greg started exposing her more directly to humans. She's still not quite sure what the appeal is of trying to scare people, or why people would want to be afraid in the first place. In her experience, feelings like that are generally something that you'd want to avoid.

Still, most of it just seems to be for fun! You can find her admiring all the work that's been put into it. The costumes and decorations are so charming, like the... extremely familiar faces on those masks. Which is... extremely unsettling.

Of course, you might also find Rose closer to the outskirts of this little event, too- keeping things safe for everyone else by crushing a few stray Nox she spots with some boulders.

And tagging along, by force and under protest, is Peridot.

On a child's leash. She's got her arms folded and her feet scuffing the ground, which means she trips occasionally as she trudges behind Rose. She can't really see the masks that well from the ground, and when she tries to climb up the table...she almost immediately falls back down on her butt.

The masks are a little too familiar for her liking.

Rose just rolls her eyes at the tiny Gem, who seems determined to try to make things as difficult as possible. She can't quite remember where she found the leash at, but she's glad she's got it- it's helpful to make sure Peridot doesn't run off and get herself hurt or something, like she seems so keen on doing. "Peridot, please. You're supposed to be trying to appreciate this little festival the humans have set up, not throwing a tantrum. If you need help, just ask," She says, while just picking her up and setting her down on the table now.

Of course, now that she sees what Peridot was looking at... "Although... I am very curious where these decorations come from. They seem way too close to just be a coincidence." She frowns a bit, resting her hand on her chin as she examines the faces of some of her enemies, right by the faces of her closest friends and allies.

Peridot can't walk around without stepping on masks and she really doesn't want to look at the visages of the Crystal Gems anymore, twisted into scary monsters or not. Not that she cares much about stepping on the masks but the dirty look the stall-runner shoots her is enough to discourage it.

"You want me to appreciate...what exactly? Go on, please, explain what's so great about this little...whatever it is!"

She keeps stealing glances at the masks of the Crystal Clods, more and more nervous at the sight of them, and the sight of Yellow Diamond and Jasper are hardly comforting either. Rose does make a point...what does this mean? What does ANY of it mean?

"Well, the... culture!" Rose pauses a bit, trying to think of how to put it into words. Of course, she finds humans and this whole event fascinating, but it's difficult to think of how to explain that to someone like Peridot. "All these people put in all this time and effort into having a good time tonight at this little festival. Making all these decorations, and... setting them up..."

Her point is somewhat muddled though, by the appearance of all these familiar faces, turning it from just an appreciation of some nice designs to raising some serious questions about how and why these masks got here. "I'm not going to pretend to understand it completely, but it's obviously important to them, and something that they had to work hard on, which is something that you need to learn to respect."

Peridot gives an indulgent glance around her.

"And this doesn't seem like a massive waste of time to you?" She can't see the point of it all. "Humans don't get all that much, so why do they spend it like this?"

"There may be more productive things to do, yes, but that's not how humans are. They don't just want to work all the time... they want to live! They want to have fun and enjoy themselves. They have such a passion for life despite how limited it is for them... It really is something special. Something that we could stand to learn from."

"And this is...living?"

Peridot would tell anyone she was trying, but she just can't see it. Her skepticism is as biting as the chill in the air. Surely there are other ways of displaying passion that make a little more sense. She snaps up the Garnet mask and holds it out in front of her to examine it.

"Do you think they do this because they're afraid of Gems? Or is some kind of statement on fusions?" It's called Spooky Night, right? Wait, do humans even fuse?

"...There's nothing wrong with fusions." Rose's tone goes a bit colder for the moment, not appreciating the disparaging remark about one of her friends.

"I can't tell you why these are here, though. To my knowledge, humans aren't really that afraid of us, and the ones in this city shouldn't know about us at all. It's just... confusing." She picks up the Jasper mask, looking over it as well... is it just her imagination, or did the gem on front start glowing a bit now that she's holding it?

"Then why did that fusion have to live on another planet?" It's mumbled under her breath, the tiniest little bit of defiance from someone who has absolutely no power.

The Pearl and Amethyst masks emit the same kind of glow when she touches them, however briefly. "Hmph. It could be trap, you know." Somehow. In a way Peridot hasn't quite figured out yet.

"Because she chose to protect it. Garnet being a fusion had nothing to do with it." Rose, on the other hand, is raising her voice a bit, and speaking firmly.

"It's not a trap, Peridot. They're just masks." However strange they were, Rose couldn't see any way for them to pose them any kind of danger. "If you're that concerned, though, then we can just move on." She says, taking a few steps away from the mask stand- and giving a somewhat unnecessarily rough tug on Peridot's leash, a couple of pebbles on the ground moving as well.

"She chose to protect it because she knew Homeworld wouldn't let her be...that." Peridot knows when she's right.

...Peridot KNOWS when she's right. "These people make terrifying masks of everyone we know and despise and it's not a trap? Have you gone completely crack-OOF!"

And Peridot is pulled to the ground, absolutely no match for Rose's strength.

"No, they wouldn't. But that didn't mean she had to risk her life to defend the Earth." If only Peridot could learn to shut her mouth. Rose has always had a lot of patience, but this tiny Gem is certainly straining it.

"The entire point of the holiday has to do with things being terrifying. Stop being paranoid." Maybe if Rose slips on that Yellow Diamond mask, Peridot will stop complaining... "See? There's nothing dangerous here." The mask is still glowing, but other than that, nothing out of the ordinary is happening.

Peridot seems to have that effect on traitor Gems. "And why would she do that if NOT for the ability to live as that- Er, to live that way?"

Ugh, she looks horrible. And perhaps Peridot is a little afraid of Yellow Diamond as well. She visibly recoils from it. "Take that thing off!"

"The same reason that everyone else joined the Crystal Gems."

Rose rolls her eyes behind the mask, and takes it back off. "Right. Well, you know. I think I've taught you enough about human culture for today, so..." Rose tugs Peridot a bit further, and starts tying her leash to a lamp-post. "There. Try learning a bit from the other people here, alright? I'll be back a bit later."

Mostly, Rose just... really needs a little break from Peridot right about now.

"Doesn't it get a little lonely out here, by yourself?"

Greg's smiling as he approaches, candy apples in hand. Master of her magic or no, it's easy to feel safe when he knows Rose is keeping an eye out. Still, she keeps trying to do it on her own. Old habits die hard.

Rose quickly turns at the sound of his voice, smiling at the sight of him. "Hehe... Compared to being with Peridot, a little loneliness is a welcome change. Not quite as welcome as your company though, Mr. Universe!"

She chuckles a bit as she walks over towards him, looking curiously at the snacks in his hands. "So, what are those? Some kind of fruit... apples, right? They look kinda different, though. Mind if I try one?"

"At least she should be well preoccupied now." He sure hopes he's distracted her enough to keep from slipping out of her leash. "Everyone gets to spend time with who they like best."

Greg purses his lips, considering. "Well, I was planning to eat them both by myself." He's joking. Probably. "You asked so nicely, though." He hands off the treat, glad he's caught her interest. "These babies are a specialty, you can only find 'em at festivals like this!"

"Guess that's why you're here, huh?" She shoots him a playful little wink, giggling a bit as she takes the candy apple and gives it a taste.

"Hmmm... It's... well. It tastes kinda like... Sweet? Sweet, right?" She takes another bite. "Well, however it tastes, I like it, even if I've never been good at describing food." It's just not something gems normally need to worry about, after all. "Anyway, have you been enjoying the festival?"

Greg just grins at her description, simple and straightforward. He's never been wholly sure if Rose actually liked the food he served her, or if she was just humoring him, but it's always interesting to see her try something. With how long she's lived, Greg figures anything new he can give her is a success.

"It's been interesting." He takes a bite of his own apple, glancing back to where the lights and celebration are thicker. "There was another one kinda like this in the summer. They really like their shindigs, here. Can't fault them for that."

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