lasthumanvoice: (in the minds of those kids)
Cecil Gershwin Palmer ([personal profile] lasthumanvoice) wrote in [community profile] ph_logs2024-10-13 02:12 pm

[OPEN, Mingle] Yamsgiving

Who: Cecil and EVERYONE
What: Another Harvest Celebration
When: Beginning of Pumpkinfest
Where: Center of town
Warning(s): Discussion of the Gala and its attendant CWs may come up

1. Yes, we're happy as fish [Food Prep, Oak and Iron kitchen]
Cecil's made a point of seeking out the best known chefs in town to help him put everything together for this meal. While sweet potato dishes are the star, at least one available with every course, he's hoping to hit a broad variety so everyone can find something they like. He, of course, is peeling and chopping his eternal sweet potato to make sure there's enough to go around.

(Of course you don't need to worry about him with a knife! He's fine! Don't you know he was once a boy scout?)

If someone needs an extra hand for their dishes, though, he's happy to lend one. There's an attitude of camaraderie and cheer in the room, with Cecil even breaking out singing at one or two points in the evening.


2. And gorgeous as geese [The Meal; Festival Green]
Everyone's invited to the feast. That is, in fact, the whole point. Cecil's always been pointedly neutral in the town's tensions, working as the most unbiased media monkey he can. He's the Voice of Pumpkin Hollow, and that means not taking sides between Dahlia and Neil and the Temple and whoever else. But after the gala, he's made a choice to act, to try to foster goodwill and warm feelings. This isn't the stone stew he offered during January's famine, this is a Redwall-style feast.

So, between glasses of mead from Kasprak Farm and dandelion wine, everyone is invited to fill their plate with candied yams and zucchini bread, roast chicken and venison donated by one of the Enforcers. There's a homemade cranberry sauce with citrus wedges and dandelion-leaf salad with an apple cider vinaigrette and toasted acorns for garnish. There's pasta with a homemade pesto sauce and cheese. Desserts, too, are plentiful, some even flavored with...chocolate. But many are not, and feature sweet potatoes. Muffins, pies, etc.

Find a table with a friend or a stranger, and indulge. This is a warm-fuzzy type thing--feel free to use it as a mingle.


3. And wonderfully clean in the morning [Cleanup; Also Festival Green]
Cecil is, quite honestly, expecting to be the only person to stay and clean up. He's been up since about five in the morning and he's dragging a bit at this point. Oh, he did take the time to eat, so he's not starving, but like. He could use help putting the Green back to rights.


4. We've got everything, we're growing everything [Cecil Wildcards]
[You know how to find me to plot.]
theydrewfirstblood: (quiet{ o rly?)

John Rambo | 1 for Cecil & OTA elsewhere

[personal profile] theydrewfirstblood 2024-10-13 09:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, we’re happy as fish (Cecil)

John is around the Oak & Iron more often thanks to dating one of the cooks—and his deliveries for the menu promotion—so he hears about Cecil’s plans. He hasn’t seen him much since the famine last year, but remembers him fondly…

…and brings some game for the meal. He also hangs around long enough during prep to worry about Cecil and that knife.

Cue John gently laying a hand on his wrist to restrain him when one enthusiastic cut of the sweet potato gets too close to the tip of his thumb for John’s liking.

“Hey, uh…you want some help?” He asks with a smile and a raised eyebrow.

The Meal

John’s side of choice for the meal is a big basket of fry bread and a couple bottles of dandelion wine. He reaches out to Laios and Siebren to see if they want to come—and on impulse even calls Dr. Coldwood to encourage him to come.

Whether or not John can manage to actually eat anything is a crap shoot—but he’s here to socialize for sure.

Wildcard

[Choose Your Own John!]
theydrewfirstblood: (headtilt{ ...um what?)

[personal profile] theydrewfirstblood 2024-10-13 10:34 pm (UTC)(link)
“The same…”

John blinks, tips his head in confusion—then dismisses the remark. He knows better than to question a statement like that…

“I brought some thicker cuts for a roast.” John replies instead, settling for reaching around him, shifting Cecil’s grip on the sweet potato so he can keep his fingers out of the way while he cuts—at least further out of the way.

“Haven’t caught any turkeys out there, so I figured it would be a nice alternative, y’know?”
theydrewfirstblood: (grin{ happy)

[personal profile] theydrewfirstblood 2024-10-14 12:51 am (UTC)(link)
“Yeah? What’s that?” John asks, endeared by that smile. Cecil is…a strange dude, but he’s hard to not like. You can’t hate him, dislike him, or even have a neutral opinion. He’s too goddamn…genuine.

“Or you mean the anniversary of coming through the famine?” John asks, frowning thoughtfully as he picks up the wax paper wrapped package of meat he’d set on the counter. “Was that around this time? I still got three years and a couple continents between me and that.”
theydrewfirstblood: (quiet{ o rly?)

[personal profile] theydrewfirstblood 2024-10-14 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
John does take note—and the mention of Celestine makes him smile.

“Yeah?” He replies, reaching up to tug the leather cord from under his shirt to reveal Serranai’s talisman: a green glass bead encasing a flower, now accompanied by a leaf carved from wood hanging beside it.

“I serve Serranai.” He explains, his smile turning thoughtful. “So you do this for Celestine, huh? That’s a great idea. Maybe I should do something in the spring for her…”
theydrewfirstblood: (eye candy{ waiting for a miracle)

[personal profile] theydrewfirstblood 2024-10-14 03:08 am (UTC)(link)
“Hey, why not?” John asks, setting to work doing some trimming of the roast—which isn’t much. “I mean, I get the personal side…I still don’t know what Serranai sees in me, but…”

He trails off, thinking about how to explain his own way of seeing it.

“Y’know I’m Catholic. Still am, even though I serve her…but my relationship with her is different than the one I have with God. I put my faith in him first, but I…love her. And if God is love, and I put my faith in him first, then loving her—he would respect that. Not forgive it or allow it, but welcome it as long as I don’t abandon him for her. Does that make sense?”
theydrewfirstblood: (smile{ just a little one)

[personal profile] theydrewfirstblood 2024-10-14 05:01 pm (UTC)(link)
So he's Jewish--that makes John smile, not merely because they do share a bit of a spiritual connection there, but also because the mention of Lev and Anzu...

"Celestine is a scholar, isn't she? So, she's probably really proud of how much you wanna learn about your faith. And...I dunno much about Judaism, but I've heard there's a lot of study involved. Your faith encourages you to think and question and educate yourself, mine not so much. So...wouldn't learning more about other faiths kinda inform your own better? Give you new insights--maybe even bring you closer to your own God? I'm not trying to spin anything, just...I get needing community. I struggled with finding my own growing up, one my dad wasn't fond of but helped me a lot. But I'm saying if you just wanna know Celestine better, not convert or commit? I don't think anyone, her or your community, would judge you or have a problem. Especially Lev 'n Anzu...I know 'em, too, and they've been nothing but good to this good little Catholic boy."
batteryacid: from the Matlock episode "The Star" (B)

Eddie Kaspbrak

[personal profile] batteryacid 2024-10-15 02:51 am (UTC)(link)
Food Prep [for anyone helping with setup]
Eddie spent the evening before preparing another quiche -- it was a hit at one of the potlucks, but it's also similar to a baked custard and requires some focus to cook properly. He brings it along in addition to egg delivery to the Oak and Iron.

"Does anyone need an extra pair of hands to assist?" Eddie asks, wiggling both sets of fingers as he makes the offer, "Mine are up for grabs."

Everybody say grace... / "GRACE!!" [the meal itself - OTA]
Eddie picks out a centrally located table to sit at, but he's not always there -- he's making an effort to be more social, so he's walking amongst the tables to say hello to people in between courses.

"How have you been lately?" is a common question from Eddie, and he's all smiles as he asks it.

Cleanup [Cecil-specific]
Eddie seems to have a habit of defying expectations, because he's right here to help. Moving tables and chairs back into place? Sweeping up? Here to follow your commands, Voice of Pumpkin Hollow, sir.
batteryacid: (D)

[personal profile] batteryacid 2024-10-15 04:43 am (UTC)(link)
"I know," Eddie says simply, continuing to move chairs away from the tables into a group. It allows freer movement around said tables for picking up trash from the tabletops and sweeping the ground. And he'll move onto a new task when that's done, with a comment of,

"Let me know if you need me for anything specific, okay?"
batteryacid: (F)

[personal profile] batteryacid 2024-10-15 05:03 am (UTC)(link)
"Can do!" Eddie replies cheerfully. "Should I split things off into servings, like, build up a few plates, or do you think Degas will handle that part afterward?"
batteryacid: from the Matlock episode "The Star" (I)

[personal profile] batteryacid 2024-10-15 11:39 pm (UTC)(link)
...

Eddie gives Cecil a look, confusion warring with annoyance, and asks, "Was that sarcasm or something when you said 'boyfriend'?"

Listen, Eddie has never heard verbal sparkles before. Richie had the Voices he would put on as a kid, but they weren't that good, except the once.
batteryacid: (Default)

[personal profile] batteryacid 2024-10-16 12:06 am (UTC)(link)
Eddie shrugs. "I don't know. Your tone was unfamiliar. I guess I misread it... was thinking maybe you clashed with Angel or something."

Given some of the townsfolk and the reason why Angel lives on the farm and doesn't work for the fire brigade... but that's a paranoid sort of thought, and Eddie shouldn't think like that about his friend. Cecil is a friend.

"I'm sorry. Been a long day, I guess," Eddie apologizes, before going over to the pack up the food as Cecil suggested.
imjustaman: (happysmile)

Sephiroth | OTA

[personal profile] imjustaman 2024-10-16 12:46 am (UTC)(link)
The Meal

Sephiroth wasn't even at the gala, but he's more than fed-up with all the animosity he's encountered since then as people talk about what happened there. Being a cynical sort, he's not sure everyone will be willing to gather for a peaceful meal. But he hopes for the best and shows up to support Cecil's efforts. He settles in to eat and listen to the conversations, not really planning to join in. He's often seen as an aloof sort, but he will smile in a fairly congenial way if someone looks to him or wants to sit by him. If someone wants to start talking with him, he'll oblige. Zack the Umbreon, sitting by his chair, wags his tail and greets everyone.

Clean-Up

Sephiroth lingers at the end to help with the clean-up. He moves quietly, gathering plates and silverware and glasses. He isn't the type to start conversations, but he definitely finds a moment to thank Cecil for all of his hard work putting this together. And again, he's willing to talk to you if you seek him out.
batteryacid: (E)

[personal profile] batteryacid 2024-10-16 01:05 am (UTC)(link)
Eddie snorts at the mental image of Cecil in full swing, talking a mile a minute while Angel placidly stares at him and 'mm-hms' at intervals.

"He's quiet," Eddie affirms, "and still. Moving, talking... it comes easy to us, but it takes effort for him. I think he's just... willing to let others take the lead in conversation, most times."

Eddie gives Cecil a small smile, and says firmly, "I'd know. And I think it's all fine between you two, on his side."

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