This was a nice read to come across! I actually found it while looking for stories about Maya, funny enough. Which, I will say, she was written really well here - well, everyone was, actually. Chase's snark and even when he was off-screen, Molly (and Calvin) kind of sussing out another layer to his sour attitude towards the festival; Maya herself being perky and sweet, a little annoying and childish, but not the ridiculous food demon she was in AP - more like a realistically hyper young girl.

And Calvin seems like he'd be hard to nail down, but he felt right here - his intrigue in history, tradition, and culture was mixed together nicely, and he felt really human atop it all. (Especially his slight nerves at the end.) Molly, too - she and Calvin had a cute chemistry that isn't seen a lot in HM romance. It's a refreshing dynamic.

Plus, the atmosphere, setting this in the middle of Castanet's crisis to really drive home that while it's a beautiful festival, there's a sad undertone to it - especially in a place like Castanet, where so many people have lost (the bit with Kathy and Chloe was a nice, subtle nod to that - and I found it sweet that Kathy was the one going to the riverbank with Chloe so they could send off their lanterns together).

All-in-all, a really lovely mix of world-building/lore (especially the part about the festival's metamorphosis) and character-building, especially for a one-shot. I've always loved the Firefly Festival (in its romantic and somber incarnations) and this is a great show of why.

This fic is beyond beautiful. I don't even know where to begin because I am simply awestruck by how wonderfully this flowed from start to finish. And your characters are so spot on and their interactions were so fun to read. I could imagine this whole event playing out in my mind, as if it's a canon occurrence in the game itself. You have a real talent for writing, you know? I would love to see more Calvin/Molly fics from you. Keep up the amazing work, from one Calvin fan to another. :D

omg I have no words for home much I love this

but I'll make some up because you deserve tons and tons of reviews :p

omgggg everything was just so perfect, Chase and Maya and Calvin and everything. Your characterization is so on point and everyone just feels so real

and I absolutely love how you expanded on the Firefly Festival. It's like one of my favourite festivals in the game because of the whole premise of it, and it was really interesting to see how you had Molly and Calvin relate to it even though they've only been living in Castanet for a little while

AND UGH CALVIN YOU SHOULD'VE KISSED HER you have to write them kissing next plz

This was amazing! My Animal Parade has been stuck on Spring 10th for about a year and a half and this fic has convinced me to play it again.

The characters were so vibrant and real which was amazing. I bet if you removed all the descriptions readers would still be able to tell whose dialogue belonged to who. Not that anyone would /want/ to do that because the descriptions were great but, yeah, you get my point!

Not gonna lie... I mostly read this because I saw "Chase" in the description. I don't even care if he's a side character-if you write Chase well, then I love whatever you've written. And you've written him /very/ well. His personality is spot-on and the amount of depth you gave him was great. I also enjoyed seeing his relationships with Molly, Maya, and Calvin, as well as his feelings on the Firefly Festival.

But I realize this isn't a Chase-centric fic! You just did such a good job with him that I was quite impressed. I did appreciate the other characters too. Everyone had a distinct personality that was true to their character. The details in the narrative were wonderful. The plot was sweet and funny. My favorite line is (surprise) Chase saying that he was looking for a chair and a long rope... oh Chase... you and your dark humor...

All in all this was very well-written and I loved it :)