015 | Sky Full Of Stars

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Tanabata Festival
When: All day July 5
Where: The Near Shore
Summary: The Heavens are throwing a party and you're invited!

Edit: OVERFLOW is here!



With Tanabata drawing close, the Heavens have decided that there is nothing wrong with a little celebration for the annual occasion. So they have invited everyone on the Far Shore as well as a large number of people from the Near Shore to attend a festival for Tanabata. Tanabata festivals are not uncommon in this area, so the Near Shore residents are none the wiser, though some of them are a little uncertain about where this street they've never heard of popped up from...

Tanabata is a festival held to celebrate the one time a year that the lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi can meet across the vast expanse of the Milky Way. Many birds have been working their tail feathers off to create a bridge for the two lovebirds and that bridge - perhaps unsurprisingly - touches down on this street, in the middle of the festival.

The Heavens have prepared entertainment, food stalls, and as many tanzaku as might be needed for everyone to write down wishes, along with plenty of bamboo stalks to hang the wishes from.

New arrivals will find themselves ushered to the festival and offered traditional clothing after their normal briefing at the Meeting Hall.



Stalls

There are festival stalls of every kind present, all run by shinki dressed in white robes and bearing the golden chrysanthemum of Amaterasu. Many of them seem a little bruised still, but they are happy to smile for anyone who comes to the stall they are running. There is food, games, and drinks available of all kinds, so feel free to roam around to your heart's content sampling everything that you can.

Performance

A large stage has been erected at one end of the festival street. The Heavens know that there are many talented gods and shinki present, so they are more than willing to clear spots in the scheduling for those people to perform. Anytime a Far Shore resident isn't on stage, there are plenty of Near Shore acts to go on, ranging the gambit from traditional music and instruments all the way to a rock band that has somehow found themselves here for the celebration.

Wishes

Pieces of paper called tanzaku have been strewn about a number of bamboo shoots all over the festival. There are brightly colored decorations on the bamboo and the papers themselves exist in every color of the rainbow as well. Attendees are encouraged to write down any wishes they may have and hang them from the bamboo, a normal Tanabata tradition. Wishes can range from 'I want a soda' to 'World peace' and anything in between. Obviously, some of these wishes may not be able to be granted during the time of the festival, but gods and shinki alike are encouraged to answer any wishes they can as well.

NOTE: Please report any wishes your characters answers to the first comment on this post along with a link to where the wish is answered. There will be small bonuses awarded for answered wishes.

The Bridge

As stated previously, the bridge that will allow Orihime to meet her lover touches down in the very center of the festival's street. It may be made of tiny pieces, but the bridge itself is sturdy. While it may not be able to take just anyone who sets foot on it across the Milky Way, you are allowed to walk along the bridge yourself, though you will always find yourself turned around after a short time and heading back towards where you stepped on. Lovers in particular are encouraged to walk the bridge together to deepen their bonds, but be cautioned! If you walk onto the bridge with someone, you might start feeling affectionately towards them even if they are your sworn enemy! Such is the power of love on this day.

In Summary:

• Enjoy the festival
• Watch some quality entertainment
• Make and/or answer wishes
• Meet Orihime
• Traverse the bridge
• Have fun~

Comments

A!

[welcome_home]

Shun-oniichan!

[ Have an excited six-year-old in a pink yukata flinging herself at him in a hug when she spots him through the crowd.

She's obviously in very high spirits and may have consumed a little too much sugar as she beams up at him, having missed his pessimistic comment a moment before arriving. ]

You came! Are you having fun? Aren't all the clothes pretty? Did you find something yummy to eat? [ A pause, when she realized she missed a step in there before the flurry of questions. ] Oh. Hi!

[revolutionfalcon]

[Even before Nanako flings herself at Shun, as soon as she calls out to him like that, there's a sharp breath, and he freezes up for a moment. It's been a very long time - years, in fact - since he's been addressed that way, and it takes that moment to force the thoughts of what he's lost, his own little sister who had once spoken like that, out of his mind.

However, it also means that by the time he's pulled himself out of it, he's aware enough that it's Nanako that he doesn't react to the sudden impact of her hugging him but to bend down a little in an attempt to return it.

The rapid-fire questioning makes him hesistate momentarily, but mostly for surprise that Nanako can talk that fast than not comprehending the words. Once he gets past that, he sighs a little.]

I'm trying, I don't know, and not yet. [...Come to think of it, "I don't know" would probably be an accurate answer to the first question as well. His tone softens a bit as he goes on, though.] You sound like you're enjoying yourself.

[welcome_home]

[ She hugs him anyway, even if her sudden launch made it a little tricky for him. Beaming up at him, it's questionable whether she noticed the hesitation in his reaction at all, but either way, she's... still going a million miles a minute, sorry, Shun. ]

Yeah! There's lots of fun things to do and see. And eat! Were you looking for food? [ She peers around him to see which stall had caught his eye. ]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Well, given the amount of sweets at the festival, Shun can't be too surprised she's a bit hyped up. Just because he's been avoiding the sweeter stuff doesn't mean everyone would, especially a kid.

Thankfully, again, he doesn't have much trouble keeping up, and he glances back to the stall behind him. It's a snack stall with more traditional festival food - mostly made up of savoury things, but with a few sweeter options to one side.]

I was looking at food. I recognise some of it, but not enough to remember what's in it.

[welcome_home]

[ Nanako hums thoughtfully as she pulls her gaze back from the food to look up at him. ]

Do you remember what you like to eat? Maybe you can pick from that?

[revolutionfalcon]

No. [That answer comes immediately, because Nanako's already heard the reason he generally tries to sidestep that fact. He doesn't appear in any way ashamed of the admission, though.] It's been a while since I've eaten for anything but necessity. I don't really remember what it's like to eat for other reasons, let alone what I used to enjoy.

[And he hasn't done it here unless prompted to, either, in which case he eats for the sake of not wasting food someone else prepared.]

[welcome_home]

[ She hums at that answer, thinking over it, before giving him a decisive nod and a very determined expression.

...You should probably be worried right about now, Shun. ]

Alright. Then let's try all of them!

[revolutionfalcon]

["Worried" probably isn't the right word, but he is somewhat wary, because he feels like that expression from Nanako could go a lot of places, not all of which are necessarily going to be good for him.

Once she comes to that decision, though, he lets out a quiet sigh.]

I can't eat foods with strong tastes, so trying all of them without considering that is just going to make things harder.

[welcome_home]

[ She just tips her head to the side curiously for a moment. ] Strong tastes? Hmm. Those might be hard to figure out which are which. But if you're not sure, I can try them for you first?

[revolutionfalcon]

[[Continued to the overflow.]]