The Cultural Fair

[wise_maiden]

Who: Everyone! Or as close to that as possible, please. \o/
What: The Cultural Fair
When: April 25th-26th, though the earlier set-up days (22nd, 23rd, and keeping everything dry on the 24th) are also encouraged to help get a feel for it
Where: All around the town square
Summary: Also here.
Rating: ... is this a thing?

Note: Booths can be labeled as separate comments! Just put [booth name] or something in the subject line so people can find top level comments easier. Work was probably started for it on the 22nd-23rd for labor purposes, sheltering things from the weather on the 24th, and the actual Fair is on the 25th-26th, so using any of those dates and figuring out where your characters are helping would be good. CHARACTERS ARE WELCOME TO TAG THE LOG FOR INTERACTING WITH OTHERS, NOT JUST BOOTHS, SO FEEL FREE TO TAG IN! Also a character who might not know what's going on is welcome to walk by and question it! And so forth.

I'll leave the descriptions up to you all as there probably isn't much that is too uniform about the displays, as everyone is encouraged to be creative about it. Think of it as something on a much smaller scale than the festival from a year ago, definitely, but how hard the characters worked isn't something I could define for each of you. That said there are plenty of unique sights, so enjoy browsing! Thank you!

(Also, please add your name tags!)

Comments

The World of Avatar... booth thing

[markofthebrave]

House Avatar has been preparing hard for this day, and there are several displays to take in. First and foremost is the stage (somewhat smaller than this >>) raised by earthbending, flat and square, with steps carved into the side, it will be used at various points during the day to demonstrate different types of bending and other forms of combat (stay tuned for individual threads on that score).

But there is also a tent done up specifically in Southern Water Tribe style, with skins and other hunting trophies hanging from cords on the side.

Next to the tent and in front of the booth is a table where they will be serving traditional foods! Come try stewed sea prunes, flaming fire flakes, imitation tiger-seal jerky, they managed to find some leechi nuts, Katara makes kickass lemonade, they've conned Zuko into making tea, and there is, of course, fried dough. Because unfried dough is just disgusting.

Of course, Momo and Hawky are around and about too, proud representatives of a world with somewhat... distinct animals. Careful, they might be hungry - you weren't really going to eat that, were you?

The Booth!

[markofthebrave]

[You've chosen to step right up to the booth with all the strange looking food! Any one of the Avatar kids could be here to help you out.]

[generalflirt]

[Regardless of who's there, on the first day... Masaomi owes these people one thing. Or well, rather, apart from what he owes them, he's wanted to try- the sea prunes. To see what they are, smell them, and eat them to see if they are unsettling or not]

[truthin_bones]

[It's too the booth she's wandered towards first, though the tent does attract more than a few curious looks. But the smell of tea was a little more distracting.]

This is a fascinating display of food. [She points to the only item she recognizes.] I was not aware you could obtain lychees here.

[tailasoldastime]

[Ever since the talk with Robert previously about strange food, Beast has been a little more hesitant with that kind of thing, but the jerky and tea sure look appealing to him even if he just had some tea a few booths back. Maybe someone can convince him to try the other food, but for now his gaze is mostly on those two things.]

The Water Tribe Tent!

[markofthebrave]

[Hope you're not a vegetarian! (Sorry, Aang.)

Sokka and/or Katara will probably be handling this one.]

could... be placeholdery

[generalflirt]

[And one the second day, which is a week from when they had talked on the 19th, Masaomi's actually here with his poem. Which is... in written form, but. He has it? Rolled up under his arm as, with some small wonder, he makes his way into the tent]

Waterbending Demo

[markofthebrave]

[So at some point during the day, Katara, wearing her traditional Water Tribe tunic, will ascend to the stage. Two large jars of water rest at the base of the stage, and Katara - nervous to actually be performing bending, and looking it - draws about a forth of the water from each jar and begins.

She adds more and more water from the jars below until she's drained nearly half from each, and the routine is at its midway point when Aang joins in. He airbends on to the stage and moves smoothly into waterbending, also drawing from those jars. Though most of the tension left Katara when she started bending, when Aang begins to mirror her movements, that's when she starts to relax, that's when she starts to smile.]

[wise_maiden]

[As one who isn't particularly a fan of water in large bodies, she can appreciate the way Katara, and later Aang, handle the routine. It's also easy to pick up on Katara's change in mood once she's no longer the solo performer.

When all the demos are finished, she'll come back over to see how the young woman is doing.]

That was quite the routine.

[so_shik]

[Hey Katara heyy. Shiki happened to wander off from her own booth for a little bit to visit the South Pole kids when she manages to catch the demonstration.]

...so that's waterbending? That's...really, really cool.

Waterbending Demo

[savedtheworld]

[Once they finish the demonstration, Aang bows at Katara with a proud smile on his face. He then air-jumps to the audience and joins them in applause. The recent weirdness is buried in the back of his head for the time being; today, it's like old times again.]

Weapons

[markofthewise]

[Outside the tent, Sokka has his collection of weapons. Rather than be inside the tent, he's chosen to keep them outside since not all of them are Water Tribe. His weapons include his boomerang (which he will be happy to demonstrate), his club, machete, bone club, and jaw blade. Some other weapons he's collected include a Whale's tooth scimitar and spear. Sokka in particular is dressed in his Wolf Armor.

Complimenting is Suki with her Kyoshi Warrior weapons. Among these items are her fans, a collapsible shield, and katana. Suki is in her full Kyoshi Warrior uniform as well.]

[markofthebrave]

Haven't seen that armor in a while.

Weapons

[savedtheworld]

[Aang pokes idly at some of the weapons with his staff.]

Do you even use any of these anymore? With all your fancy new weapons?

Airbending Demo

[savedtheworld]

[Aang eventually makes his way up to the stage for Airbending. Although it was something that came to him like breathing, he felt somewhat nervous and exhilarated to perform it in front of people from all those different worlds. Gyatso would be proud. Aang has left his staff behind and instead carries a sack in one hand. As the demonstration begins, he uses airbending to push the open sack high into the air; from the bag, a cloud of leaves begins slowly drifting down to the stage.

He stands calm for a moment, with his eyes closed and his hands clasped as if bowing, then he transitions into beginning a series of circular movements around the stage. As he moves, he releases bursts of air to keep each of the individual leaves in the air as they fall. He moves with a calm intent and flow. After several minutes, the presentation changes. He briefly uses some Earthbending to make some rocks jut up around the stage. He then catches the bag in one hand with another he forms a sphere of air - the air scooter - which he proceeds to ride around the stage, dodging the rock obstacles as he catches all the leaves within the bag. Time to be the leaf. After the last one is collected, he puts on a more daredevil smile and speeds up towards one of the rocks. At the last moment, he uses a burst of air to jump over the rock and then cushions his landing on his feet. Quickly returning the stage to normal, he takes a bow. Not too bad as a back-up for not having any air gates.]

[markofthebrave]

[...now this was something she'd been looking forward to seeing, but she hadn't expected the leaves. Or the rocks. She'll wait until he gets down and talks with whomever, but--]

That was amazing, Aang.

[thebellthatbinds]

[As soon as Sabriel heard about the airbending demo she hurried over to the stage to take a look. Only having her own experience of summoning the wind to reference, Aang's airbending makes her magic seem brutish and clumsy in comparison. There was just so much control in what he did and the way he moved, she'd never heard of any Charter spells that would even come close to mimicking it.

By the time he's taking his bow she's applauding with an impressed smile, waving up to the boy and vaguely wondering if he remembers her from their conversation.]

That was incredible! So that's how you airbend?

[folklorist]

[ Helios taking a break from his own booth will be walking around viewing what other people have put together. There's a little dragon at his side as he watches Aang's airbending demo with amazement and wonder. He'll clap when it's done. ] That was fantastic.

[generalflirt]

[...Okay so he has/will watch all the other demos. But while the Waterbending one had him in awe as Katara's work always does (and confirmed something in the pit of his stomach when Aang went in), the Earthbending one will have him nostalgic (and slightly weirded out because Dat Outfit), and the Firebending one is very cool (hah, cool) in its own right, it's actually this one which against all his expectations, impresses him the most. Which is way once Aang's bowed, there's some pretty pronounced applause from the peanut gallery back here]

Earthbending Demo

[savedtheworld]

[And the time eventually came for Aang to represent his forbear; with no Toph, he was the only Earthbender around. He stepped up to the stage in full Kyoshi gear, which Suki lent him from Sokka's wardrobe (a detail he is sure to remember), complete with a pair of fans. He felt a bit nervous, as Earthbending had been the hardest to learn due to it being the opposite of air, and it didn't help that it had been ages since he was tutored by Toph. Still, he swallowed his nerves and rooted his feet to the ground.

Aang's first move was to raise both arms in the air, and with them he raised two rocky walls on the stage, one on each side of him. These would act as barriers to prevent any boulders from flying off the stage. He then began his movements. He moved and his arms and legs carefully, and with a rigid precision. Each stomp lifted a rock from the ground, and then he would strike forward with the fan to propel the rock against one of the walls. He moved like this for several minutes, while maintaining a neutral jing. Aang then lifted his arms again; this time he moved the ground beneath his feet upward as a pillar, a pillar which only went up to just below the level of the earth walls. This way, he was still able to raise and toss more rocks against the walls. Aang ended his presentation by leaping into the air and stomping down on the pillar, forcing it back down to the ground. With the stage quickly bent back into shape, Aang proceeded to pose with his fans.]

[markofthebrave]

[Despite the impressive performance, Katara can't help but have a thread of 'I really should have talked him out of wearing that costume' running through her mind.]

Firebending Demo!

[burningdownfate]

[Zuko wasn't actually sure he wanted to do this, but... Well, he'd never hear the end of it if he didn't. So he takes the stage with a sort of dubious confidence. He knows what he's doing, but he's not so sure about demonstrating firebending to whoever might be watching.

He settles into his stance, takes a deep breath, and begins.

He's very careful to not put too much power behind the movements; fire is power, after all, and he has no intention to burn anything down. But fire is also decisive and fire is control. Fire isn't rage, as he thought it was for so long; fire is about knowing oneself and knowing one's decisions are right and true. His movements reflect this: determined, strong, and willful. Firebending has become, for him, an outward expression of inner strength.

That's how it's supposed to be.

He's only up there for a couple minutes, but he never stops moving. The fire is tightly controlled, dissipating before it leaves the stage. It takes a good amount of control to move as though he's about to burn the whole place down, but keep the fire mild.

Still. He's fairly sure it's worked fairly well. He stands still at the end of the demonstration and just... takes a breath.]

[markofthebrave]

[Katara's waiting for him when he comes back down.

Waiting for him with gentle teasing.]

Firebending is almost pretty when it's not trying to take my head off.

[markofthewise]

[Slow clap.]

And you didn't even burn anything down!

The Dancing Dragon

[savedtheworld]

[Some time after the Firebending demonstration, Aang and Zuko both step up to the stage from opposite sides and face each other with a bow. They then move so that they are back-to-back and begin the "dance". They each start with a type of crane stance and both move symmetrically in different directions, performing various stances that are similar to a Northern Shaolin fighting style. The moves include low kicks, high open-palmed strikes and double-fisted punches. And with each movement, they unleash a dazzling burst of fire, remembering the time they first danced for the dragons.

All this time, I thought Firebending was destruction. Since I hurt Katara, I've been too afraid and hesitant. But now I know what it really is... it's energy, and life.

As the dance nears its end, Aang and Zuko's movements approach each other. When they are close enough, they end by both extending their fists forward so that they come short of touching, like so. This is not a Fusion Dance. They then assume their regular postures, Zuko being somewhat self-conscious as he does so. And Aang tosses in a little jig.]