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

C

[revolutionfalcon]

[The sound of something hitting the ground catches Shun's attention, and his attention snaps to that direction as if he's expecting some kind of threat. When he sees the yellow helmet, though, his gaze moves to the figure behind it...and the immediately obvious lack of a head. Though he draws back slightly in surprise, it doesn't last long - he's met weirder here already - and as soon as he notices there's humans who seem to have seen the impact, he heads over, grabbing the helmet on his way past.

Clapping his hands sharply to draw the attention of the crowd and then shooting a glare that sends several of them scurrying off, Shun shoves the helmet at the woman before putting himself between her and what remains of the onlookers. He's not exactly pushing her away from them, but there's definitely an urgency about his manner that says he's trying to hasten her on from the people who actually saw what happened.]

Put that thing back on before anyone else notices. They'll forget about it in a few minutes anyway, but in a place this crowded, the less attention you draw, the better.

Re: C

[lookingforhead]

[If it wasn't for the press of the crowd Celty would have made more effort to get her helmet back herself. As it was, it quickly got pushed away from her by the shuffling feet of those around her, so she's very grateful when Shun recovers it.

As soon as he hands it back she puts it back in its place, resisting the urge to run away from the pressure of his glare herself. She moves with him, clearly understanding the situation, not in any mood to cause a panic either.

There's a tap on his shoulder and then a hand being held across it, the glowing screen of her phone tilted slightly towards him so he can see the text without blinding him.]

Thank you.

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun twitches slightly at the tap on the shoulder, a reflexive reaction to the contact, but the fact that they're in a crowd means he was at least prepared for the possibility of getting bumped, so his usual more violent reactive insticts are capped for the moment. He glances at the phone briefly to scan over the message, raising a brow, but it's hardly a surprise that she'd need some other method of communication than speech when she doesn't have a head, so the reaction doesn't last long.

It takes him a moment to decide what to make of the words, since he tends to consider thanks a bit of a waste, but he merely sighs quietly and gives a short nod to at least indicate he understands.

Once they clear the press of people into an area a little quieter, Shun turns towards her, looking her over a bit more thoroughly, as is his usual habit with new people.]

I assume you're new, so I don't know if you know yet, but it's hard for us to get the attention of Near Shore people unless we go out of our way - if you'd taken off the helmet rather than dropping it, I'm not sure anyone would have noticed. And they'll forget about it not long after you leave, so if it happens again, just getting out of the crowd would probably make things easiest for you. [His tone is neutral and straightforward, and he doesn't seem at all bothered by her circumstances after that initial moment of surprise at seeing her lack of a head.] It makes things annoying trying to deal with them for business or whatever else, but it's useful for situations like this.

[lookingforhead]

[She straightens up briefly at his comment about attracting attention and what could have been. While the prospect of being able to openly walk without covering up is interesting, she's more pushed in the direction of being a little put off. It's not like she WANTED to lose her helmet in that collision.

But she keeps her temper and listens, despite the fact that she feels like he's talking down to her even in spite of his tone. Her helmet shifts left and right, looking over the people who are walking by and not even sparing them a glance.]

So I really am dead? Or whatever this is? What am I supposed to do now? [She was ushered off with a brief explanation and the assurance that someone else would fill her in. It wasn't really the best handled organization here. Plus she still wasn't sure how it was possible for her to die in the first place.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[As Shun reads the questions, a faintly understanding expression crosses his face, but not without some irritation. It's not directed at her, at least, as will probably be made obvious with the first thing he says.]

They never give shinki enough information about this sort of thing. It's ridiculous. [With that moment of frustration aside, though, his tone returns to something more straightforward.] You're dead, yes, and this is the afterlife...or at least an afterlife in some other world, however it is we're pulled here. There should be a god who'd be looking for you right now, but unless the messengers who talked to you when you got here gave you a name to look out for, you might be stuck waiting for them to find you.

[lookingforhead]

I think they did. I'm sorry, everything was so confusing I can't remember it.

[She remembers being talked to about it, and she's sure she'd remember if she heard it again, but for now everything is just a confusing jumble. Mostly it just seemed to be excited chatter about the festival.]

But like you said, they said someone would be looking for me. And that's a good thing

right?

[revolutionfalcon]

[Though Shun doesn't outright look sympathetic, he does nod in a very familiar manner, like he's heard that many times before and experienced it himself.]

I don't think anyone comes here without being confused by some aspect of it. I've never believed in gods, so I'm sure you can imagine how I reacted to being told I was supposed to be one now.

[Even now, there's a faintly disbelieving note to his tone at that, particularly at the issue of him specifically being one. Right now, he still doesn't consider himself any more than standing in for whoever was supposed to have this position, and doing the job because their followers don't deserve to suffer in the interim.

As he reads her comment that turns into a question, he lets out a heavy breath before answering, his tone a little more grave.]

It depends on what kind of god they are. Most of them are decent, but there's definitely some bastards in the mix. There are gods willing to help if you end up in that kind of situation, though.

[lookingforhead]

[The phrase 'used to' gets snared and filed away into her memory for later thoughts, considering she can't remember anything herself, but it's filed away in the back where it won't bother anyone. Gods remember their pasts. Shinki don't. And this thought is being taken care of by top men. Top Men.]

I see. That's good to know at least. So what are you the god of then?

[revolutionfalcon]

I'm standing in for Nekhbet, who's basically a funerary god represented by vultures. So people mostly pray to Nekhbet if they're having issues putting someone to rest, or being able to properly grieve for someone.

[His voice is a careful neutral, in the manner of someone who's not overwhelmingly emotional on this subject, but certainly has enough feelings on it that he'd rather not let them show through. At the very least, he considers it better that the Heavens gave that role to someone used to loss.]

[lookingforhead]

So we're both related to death mythology then.

[And yet she's a shinki. And he didn't seem to be her god. Did that mean that her god might not be related to her nature?

But she watches him for a moment, her visor impassive but her stance is a bit more open. If there's something he wants to talk about with his role she's willing to listen.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[[Continued to the overflow.]]