OPEN MINGLE

[parodeity]

WHO: EVERYONE...
WHERE: the garden area generally!
WHEN: all month but particularly evenings
WHAT: pumpkin carving & trick or treat. also the skeletons are like There i guess
WARNINGS: probably badly carved pumpkins

Welcome to the garden! It looks pretty much as usual, except with more...spooky designs? There are a bunch of pumpkins gathered onto a table Dave dragged in, and he's hung up some truly shitty artwork of ghosts and various Halloween monsters. There's also a vague attempt at some paper chain decorations, which may be improved upon by people more capable of doing that.

He's also supplied carving tools (finally, a fucking use for his Pile Of Knives, thank you harpy quest) and some paint so people can trace out what they want to carve or like...just Go For It. Or paint the pumpkins. The world is your oyster.

It seems like the entire garden area (which takes up maybe two plots of land at this point) has been surrounded with a crude and somewhat shoddy fence, but it seems to be capable of keeping the skeletons out of the garden. It does look like the shambling skeleton horde sort of walked all over the strawberry patch before Dave put up skeleton defenses, though. Bummer.

The trick or treat trail has an actual trail with places for treat givers to hand out treats, with little signs posted in the various areas. There's the Strawberry Kingdom (with sadly trampled strawberries), the Onion Grove, and so on and so forth. People can even pick up really shitty maps for the trick or treat trail, even though you can literally see the entire thing just by glancing. The map sells the experience.

You can:
1) Carve pumpkins! There even seems to be some sort of pumpkin carving contest going on? The prize is a pet rock, though, so like. Maybe don't get too excited.
2) Paint pumpkins, if you're a loser who doesn't want to carve them.
3) Hand out treats!
4) Accept treats!
5) Pull tricks if you are so inclined?
6) Shore up the garden defenses if a shambling skeleton manages to finally knock over some fence. Please protect the plants, we eat those.
7) Just like, gaze at the shambling skeleton army outside the fences. It's a very nice view, maybe.
8) Do whatever you want, basically.

Comments

[asano_san]

"As long as you can fit your hand in the hole, it's fine." Keigo's circle is better but still not really a circle.

"See them over there?" Keigo gives credit to his cheat sheet by waving towards the person scraping a few last strands out of their pumpkin. "You have to reach in to pull out the insides." What do you call it? Pumpkin meat?

It dawns on him, "That's how you put the candle in if you're going to light it up, too."

[youwillbeunequaled]

"Ah, that's right, you did say a light goes inside."

Finally getting his (rough) circle done, he pauses for a beat before just yanking on the stem. Of course that's the next step, as they're trying to get inside the thing. He peers into the opening curiously.

"Ohh! It is so hollow inside!" So weird. There's hardly any pumpkin flesh in these pumpkins. "These must not be for eating."

Next, he tries to put his hand inside to clean out the pumpkin.

And his hand doesn't fit. Ah, well! No problem, he'll just cut the hole bigger.

[asano_san]

"Someone must eat them. I've heard of pumpkin pie before."

Keigo has better luck with his hole, and has already moved on to the cleaning out stage. While the inside of a pumpkin is surprisingly hollow for Tonbokiri, it's surprisingly slimy for Keigo. He holds out a clump of seeds and stringy flesh and it almost oozes from his hand.

"I don't think I want to eat something made with this part."

[youwillbeunequaled]

At last able to also get his hand on the inside, his eyebrows arch in surprise. "Hahaha, it is rather unimaginable, isn't it! ... OH!" He taps his clean fist on his forehead, as if jogging his mind.

"On the forum, Kent-dono said something about pie as well! Ahh, can pie really be made from something like this?" He holds up a seedy, stringy mess. "And he said it would be 'spicy', too." He's thinking hot-spices, so it sounds a bit risky, taste-wise. But he'll try to keep an open mind...

"He invited me over after this, so I can report to you what it's like, if you want."

[asano_san]

Keigo is also unsure of this spiciness. "Like a pumpkin curry in a pie? Yeah, tell me all about it!" So he knows whether to avoid it at all costs or not.

"After we get it cleaned out," Is there any end to these seeds? "Then we can cut a face in the pumpkin. Triangles are good for the eyes and nose."

[youwillbeunequaled]

The way the seeds slip around and get stuck everywhere also slows Tonbokiri down. He tries turning his pumpkin upside down and shaking it violently to dislodge the seeds, but it doesn't work. (sigh.) Back to scraping.

"That's right, you did say a face was going to be the design. Mm, triangles will be easy to cut, at least." Given how this is going so far, it's a bit of a relief. "Should the expression be happy?"

[asano_san]

Keigo peers inside once again. His pumpkin isn't pristine, but sometimes you just have to call something good enough. He'll call it realistic gore if anyone asks.

"It can be anything. I've seen ones with big smiles that look cheerful and happy, but Halloween is all about being scary, too."

Then, with no regard for pre-planning, Keigo stabs his knife in the general eye region.

[youwillbeunequaled]

"Scary... Haha, I don't know if I'll be able to successfully do that on my first attempt, but I'll do my best."

The inside of his pumpkin is scraped clean now - scraped with so much power that the walls of the pumpkin got rather thin in places. (Oops.)

Taking up a knife Tonbokiri again gives cutting the pumpkin his complete, focused attention. Unfortunately this has the side effect of making the conversation die out, but by imitating Asano he's making good progress on the eyes.

[asano_san]

Maybe he should have had Tonbokiri scrape out his pumpkin for him. Stupid strength making everything easier, even pumpkin carving!

He doesn't hold it against him, though; it's just a moment of internal bitterness. His hand would have never fit inside the hole Keigo cut, anyway.

Keigo's eyes come together nicely, and it looks like Tonbokiri is doing just as well.

"You're a natural at this!" He thinks he may be, too, but the supposed expert keeps that to himself.

[youwillbeunequaled]

Tonbokiri carefully stops cutting before looking up to reply, "You think so?"

His cheeks feel warm- the compliment about his carving, even if it's a pumpkin and not wood, touches him more deeply than he thought it would.

"Thank you. My former master enjoyed wood carving later in life. Perhaps I was able to carry that part of him with me."

Focusing on the positive, there... but that is fine. There is no need to dwell on anything else right now.

[asano_san]

"I do! They're a good size and lined up with each other." That seems like the best anyone can hope for from pumpkin eyes.

"I'll bet you'd be even better with wood! When you cut off a piece of wood, it doesn't try to take the rest of the stick with it." He had a nervous moment when the inside of his second eye didn't want to come out and almost pulled the pumpkin forehead along with it.

Keigo starts in on the nose, making a similar triangle to the eyes.

[youwillbeunequaled]

It doesn't stick? "Ah... That's right, it doesn't." He thinks he gets what Asano-dono means.

"... I don't know that I will carve wood. But thank you. If I do, I shall show it to you."

He gives Asano a small smile before returning to carving his pumpkin. Should the nose be smaller than the eyes...?

[asano_san]

"Sure! I'd like to see it."

They continue their nose carving in companionable silence, and it's right as Keigo looks up at Tonbokiri again to give some suggestions about adding the mouth, when he sees it. The skeleton army!

Okay, it's two skeletons, but more than one is a group and a group is practically an army!

He screams and throws his pumpkin aside to point at the invaders.

[youwillbeunequaled]

[The timbre of that scream sets Tonbokiri on alert at an almost subconscious level. In a blink of the eye his spear is in his hand and he's standing, pumpkin forgotten. (But hopefully not damaged, either one of them!)]

Get back, Asano-dono!

[Not that he needs to tell the boy that, but he says it as he strides forward to meet the... slowly lumbering attackers. They have weapons but...]

...What is this?

[As he unsheathes his spear he pauses for a beat, watching the skeletons carefully for signs of aggression.]

[asano_san]

Keigo is more than happy to stay back and let Tonbokiri take care of this. He isn't thinking about how harmless these skeletons appear. It's enough that the army is here. It's good to have a sword spirit around.

Why is he asking what it is, though? Isn't it obvious?

"It's the skeleton army! Like the quest said! What are you waiting for? Fend them off!"

Also like the quest said.

[youwillbeunequaled]

It's two. Slowly lumbering skeletons. "This is hardly an army... But you're right. There may be more coming."

So best to dispatch these now. He strides forward and with quick strokes of his spear cuts the skeletons to pieces.

Tonbokiri remains in his battle stance for only a moment more before blinking down at the remains, bewildered.

"That was... nothing. They offered no resistance - they didn't even defend."

[asano_san]

Even in his over-excited state, Keigo can't help but feel the same way. They just stood there while Tonbokiri destroyed them. They didn't even try to move back when he approached with the spear. Keigo edges a little closer to the pile of bones.

"I think I could have fought them off." It's not like he's going to go out looking for skeletons to fight now, but it looked like a solid push could have done them in.

[youwillbeunequaled]

"I agree. Ah, and it appears you will have a chance to try for yourself."

For while he had been fending off the two, it seems they'd caught the attention of a third, which is now lumbering up behind Asano.
The thing is still armed, so Tonbokiri is ready to jump in at a moment's notice, but he wants to see if Asano-dono can take down one of these skeleton 'invaders'.

[asano_san]

There's thinking about how you could have fought off now-defeated skeletons and then there's seeing one coming right for you.

"Ah!" Keigo flails out with another yell. It's pure reaction, and not an attempt to go on the attack. Nevertheless, the swing of his arm neatly decapitates the skeleton and it crumples to the ground like its army-mates.

"I did it?"

[youwillbeunequaled]

That may not be the funniest thing he's ever seen, but it's definitely up there, and it shows in his laugh as he sheathes his spear again and comes over to clap Asano on the back.

"You did it! Well done, you also repelled the skeleton army!"

[asano_san]

After another look around to make sure there aren't any more skeletons ready to (slowly) sneak up on them, Keigo relaxes.

He really did do it! He doesn't care how it happened, the important thing is he defeated a skeleton.

"Two quests in one day! Not bad." If they get back to the pumpkin carving. Where did his pumpkin go?

[youwillbeunequaled]

"Haha, not bad at all!"

He joins Asano in retrieving the pumpkins and... Tonbokiri lets out a sound of dismay as he picks up his.

"Asano-dono, the side smashed in when I dropped it..." (The walls of the pumpkin got scraped way too thin, after all.)
He holds up the pumpkin for the boy to inspect. Although it's not an out-right hole, it is clearly broken and one of the eyes is damaged ... It looks like such a mess, Tonbokiri is rather downcast over it.

[asano_san]

Keigo's pumpkin fared better, but there's still a definite break in the middle of the eyes. High off skeleton defeating, he doesn't want to give up, even if it's not looking good for either of them. He just has to think.

"I'm making a cyclops pumpkin!" He stares intently at Tonbokiri's bashed in side. "Maybe you can push the side back out on yours, and we'll find something to make an eye patch with to cover up the messed up eye and make it a pirate!"

[youwillbeunequaled]

"Oh?" Cyclops?
"Ohhh! That's the professional Asano-dono for you! With your guidance, we shall not only finish, but it shall be even better."

At least, he has a vague idea about the pirate thanks to the town's books, so he has equal confidence about the Cyclops.

[asano_san]

Keigo carves out the rest of flesh between the two eyes and tries to round out the outside edges. It's a very wide eye, so it really is more of a Cyclops pumpkin, if jamjar living had seen fit to introduce him to the X-Men.

"Eye patch, eye patch, eye patch... How about some paint on a leaf?"