#auvalentines

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As the week has progressed, tourists from all over the country have flocked to the icy area to enjoy its festivities. Chocolate sales rose through the roof as friends and family bought more for their loved ones, exchanging them with smiles on their faces as they navigated through the festival. Sadly, all festivities must come to an end. 

Vendors must return to their businesses, entertainers must move on to other gigs, and the weather has not been proper to continue an ice festival. As the sun shines brightly overhead, the festival organizer and volunteers scramble to keep their melting ice sculptures in piece. Unfortunately, the weather was not in their favor. Winter may still be in session, but the unforgiving, frigid cold has passed. 

Soon, admission to the festival was closed. The trains were slowly taking the rest of the festival goers home, tents were being taken down, and all sorts of equipment were being loaded into trucks and vans. Any leftover foods not fit to be sold the following day was divided to hand out to volunteers or donated to local shelters and families in the area. 

As the festival organizer looks over the crowd, she smiles and thanks everyone for making the event as fun as it could be. 

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That's it, folks! With this post, AURP's Valentine's Day event is over! Remember, no new starters can be made, but any threads that were started before this post can continue. In addition, if you posted a starter that was never replied to, it can no longer be made into a thread past this point. We hope you all enjoyed this event and thank you to everyone who participated! See you for the next event, turtleducks! 

Another month, another festival it seemed. Ran had never heard of anything like a 'Valentine's festival' before, but she had to say, she was really enjoying it so far! Alright, so really it was a winter festival, but it couldn't be a coincidence that it had started on Valentine's Day, right?

Taking the train from Bunkyo that morning, Ran had spent the day at Lake Hinuma, just soaking in the atmosphere. Families with little kids enjoying the games and stall on display, couples who'd come to bond and flirt under the Valentine's atmosphere. Wandering around the lake, Ran watched the various activities, getting a great amount of amusement out of the ice-skating competitions and the many accidents that ensued from them. (Even if she felt bad for laughing afterwards.)

It was a great place to be, but Ran couldn't help but feel lonely. Claire hadn't been able to come with her, and she hadn't been able to call upon anyone to accompany her. Well, there was one person...but Ran had barely seen him since the disastrous winter retreat. Besides, Shinichi was dating Kazu...so he had no reason to come to Lake Hinuma with her. Shivering with the cold, Ran pulled her jacket a little tighter to her, getting lost in her thought.

To tell the truth, Ran was too embarrassed to talk to Shinichi after he'd rescued her from the blizzard near Mount Kita. It had been her jealousy that had propelled her into that storm and almost to her death, had it not been for her childhood friend. She could barely think of speaking to him, not after her stupidity had caused to much worry and distress.

Sighing, Ran shook her head, trying to get the depressing thoughts out of her head. No point dwelling on  the past after all. It couldn't be changed... Not watching where she was going, Ran let out shriek as her foot slid on a patch of ice, causing her to land on her behind. Painfully. "Ow~" she whined, getting up carefully and rubbing her butt gently, making a face. Typical, just typical. Wrapping her arms around herself, Ran shivered a little. The fall just made her feel even colder than before. "Mou~ why is it so cold?"

Valentine's has come to Japan in full swing! Over the last few days, chocolate sales have boosted at an astounding rate! Not only that, but winter has come to Japan. To celebrate both the coming of snow and the love in the air, Lake Hinuma has decided to go big! With the winter chill, residents have sprayed the surrounding area to have a bit of fun. Additional ice has been formed to create snowy structures of interest. From the popular television characters to legendary figures, ice sculptures now line the banks of Lake Hinuma. In addition, locals have set up a festival utilizing the intrigue from the lake to attract tourists from all over. 

Bunkyo, inspired by the whimsical merriment of the lake, has made a temporary partnership with the local train station. In exchange for a cut of the profits, Hinuma Train Station would supply more trains leading in and out of Tokyo to the lake. 

The festival at Lake Hinuma is a mixture of Valentine's and ice. Sculptures of all kinds depict various figures, from cartoon characters in a relationship to even Cupid himself! In the center of the festival residents have even made a large heart sculpture for everyone to enjoy. Many food booths have also been set up, along with games of all kinds and small contests held throughout the day. 

「Roleplaying Rules 」

First and foremost, be sure to tag your posts correctly. In order to distinguish threads from normal roleplays going on, tag any and all threads for this event as ‘AUValentines’.

The event will run from February 14th to February 21st. 

Once the time is up you are allowed to continue threads from the event but you are not allowed to make new starters set during the event.

This is not a mandatory event and participation is optional. 

Lastly, have fun! 

「Safety and Etiquette Rules 」

Be mindful of the time for each train's departure! The last train chartered to each station leaves at 9 PM each night. Trains going in and out of Tokyo do not run 24-hours! 

Bring money! A round trip ticket between the two stations is 2500 yen. This does not include the price for food, souvenirs, and additional fees for games!

Bundle up and keep warm! With all of the snow, it would be best to avoid cases of hypothermia. 

Celebrate with a loved one or those close to you. Friends, family, anyone of the sort! 

Watch your step when walking on the ice! It's very slippery. 

「Activities 」

Since the lake has completely frozen over, ice skating is most definitely an option. Grab a friend, loved one, or anyone really, and get to skating! 

All sorts of food tents and booths have been set up around the lake. Want a nice, hot cup of cocoa? There's a stand right there. Some baked yams? Bam, tent next to the lake. 

Several contests are held each day to entertain everyone: 

Two ice skating competitions are held - Singles and Doubles. Skate by yourself or with a partner to win some prizes!

There is a single ice sculpture competition held each day. Sign ups prior to the start of the contest are required to allot each participant enough space for their sculpture. 

Unlike the ice sculpture competition, there are hourly snowman building contests held for the enjoyment of everyone from all ages. Everyone is a winner, with participants being given vouchers for a free round of any game or one food item at no additional cost. 

Inside a special, waterproof tent is a karaoke machine for everyone to singalong with and enjoy. However, the primary songs playing are pop songs or love songs. Choose wisely!

Some games set up around the festival include "Pin the arrow onto Cupid" where players are blindfolded and given a paper arrow to stick onto Cupid's bow, "Cupids Archery Range" where players test their archery skills and hit as many cardboard people as possible, and "Heart Stacker" where players are given thirty seconds to stack as many hearts on top of each other as possible.

Inside a large, heated tent locals have set up a few tables littered with coloring pages, paper hearts, and paper snowflakes for the children to decorate, color, or hand out to their loved ones. 

Several photo booths have been set up for everyone to take snapshots of the fun at the festival. A framer has also set up his own tent close to the entrance.