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

[onerous]

[She glances over in time to see that Sharak's watching her and hastily looks away again, as if that'll somehow make the difference here.]

It's not like they need to... [Her fingers curl into her collar and following the line of it down her front, fidgeting. Alright that's a bold-faced lie considering her own stubborn refusal to get rid of Hakkai and cure herself of this blight once and for all.]

I am resting. But unlike a lot of other gods here, I don't have anyone to share duties with. I'm not a god in charge of-- [She tries to think of something that has multiple gods attached to it] Death or something like that, where if I get too many prayers I could probably just foster some off to another god of death, an old one or a new one.

[Yuri's quiet a moment, before musing quietly] They don't need to, but I suppose I'm not doing a good enough job to convince them otherwise if they keep doing it.

[bussounoshima]

[It says something about Yuri that she immediately thinks of death gods, rather than gods of the sun or other popular domains. Still, it's probably more appropriate. Sharak nods.]

If you've decided to take responsibility for that domain, you can't back down, especially if there's no one else in your position. [No one to pick up the slack.] But that's what your shinki are for, you know. To support you.

[But they can't take her place.] ... They probably think worrying is part of their job as well.

[onerous]

[Look. Don't judge her.]

I've got to take something seriously in this new life. [Might as well be her job, or whatever. She looks-- a little embarrassed, but mostly fond, huffing a laugh.]

Well... You're probably not wrong. They both take their jobs a little too seriously sometimes. Or, Neji does, at least. I don't mind, really, but... [It can get a bit tedious.] I'm not as traditionally-minded as he is.

[bussounoshima]

[Only a little judging!]

Someone has to do the job. [Her only complaint is that it should be a god- humans should look after each other, not turn to the skies. But that's for a sermon, not a conversation with a casual acquaintance.]

It can be more difficult for the shinki sometimes, I think. They don't have as much to fall back on, so of course they're more invested in the system here. [Not a hard rule, but in general shinki seem to want to fulfill their role properly.] Well, you need someone to balance out Hakkai, I suppose.

[onerous]

It makes sense, I suppose. I think everyone wants a purpose and a direction, so when there's something in place with strict rules and tells you what you need to do or act... I guess it's easier to slip into that and accept it until you can gt a better understanding of who you really are.

[She's mostly talking out loud, musing through it, rather than Sharak herself. It makes sense to her, anyway, though she pauses a moment when Hakkai's mentioned. Oh, right. They'd be from the same world, right? She's been able to figure that much out through Hakkai's association with Sanzo and her own with Ukoku.

She runs a hand through her hair] Something like that. Though it's not quite a balance so much as... [But Yuri trails off, realizing she doesn't have an appropriate comparison on hand and simply says] There's clashing.

Bishamon has dozens of shinki, I'm not sure how she manages it. [THIS IS EXHAUSTING send help. Why can't her shinki just get along??]

But Hakkai's fine. He's... a good shinki, and a good person. [Not that Sharak needs convincing of that right? Hakkai's a great shinki! Really great! Really. You know, besides the blight thing... But that's fine. Everything's fine.]

[bussounoshima]

Dozens are easier than two. They don't feel the need to compete with each other as much, and it's much less intimate.

[Having your own army of humans and having an army of shinki are two different things, but she can see some similarities. All the same, she's deliberately avoided taking too many on so far. Maybe she should consider the opposite approach and name ten shinki at once... No, that sounds like too much work.

Sharak looks at Yuri out of the corner of her eye, the subtle change in her expression saying more than words ever could.] Hakkai is a good person, mostly.

[Mostly. He hurts people less often than she suspects he'd like to, is kind and loyal to his friends and not overly unkind to strangers. There are worse people, if you ignore certain Incidents.]

[onerous]

[She wishes Neji didn't see it as an apparent competition. She, too, contemplates naming a few shinki just to fill in the house a little more, but dismisses the thought almost as soon as it forms. She likes the intimacy and the relative quiet too much.

At the word 'mostly,' Yuri's gaze flickers over and she frowns. She's not entirely sure how close Sharak is to Hakkai, or was back in their world, but she still feels the kneejerk reaction of wanting to defend him. Even though... Well. Sharak wasn't wrong]

...Mostly. [Yuri agrees, tone reluctant] You might know the real him a little better than I would though, wouldn't you?

[bussounoshima]

["Mostly good" is still a pretty generous description of Hakkai, let's be real.]

Perhaps. [She won't pretend she didn't know him, not to his god. The Sanzo connection is fairly obvious, at this point, and Yuri would only be hurting herself if she used it against him.] But mostly by reputation. I'd only met Genjo a few days before I arrived here.

["Genjo and the others" is implied, but not confirmed. Either way, she'd heard about Hakkai long before she ever met him. She's gotten to know him much better here than she did back in India.]

[onerous]

[Look, Yuri's trying, okay?

She crosses her arms lightly over her chest, smoothing the sleeves of the yukata down absently to give herself some time to think. There are things she wants to ask, and it's not like she can ask Gojyo anymore. The only source she has to learn how Hakkai used to be is this woman who's admitted to not even knowing him that well to begin with.

After a moment she heaves a sigh] Was he always this stubborn? [Asking the important questions first]

[bussounoshima]

[ Sharak can only answer so many questions about Hakkai, and a lot she's not inclined to mention- that would be gossiping. This one seems fairly safe though. She bites her lip for a second to stop herself from laughing.]

... Probably. They were all like that. [Judging by her expression, that's something to be admired. She found the four of them rather charming when she met them, honestly.] It's not a bad thing.

[It kept them alive, depending on which timeline you pay attention to.]

[onerous]

Not always a bad thing. [She corrects Sharak mildly, again making that motion like she's going to touch her neck and thinks better. It's irritating that it's such a tell, too, and she knows it is, which just makes her more irritated.

Yuri sighs, running her hand through her hair instead.] You don't have to be worried about him with me. I suppose that's obvious [Hakkai ,after all, is perfectly capable of taking care of himself and getting out of this situation if it turned bad enough-- Yuri, after all, can't do much in terms of fighting or whatever.] But I wanted to say it anyhow.

...The name wasn't my decision either. [His shinki name branded over his eye like a beacon he's unable to hide. She would've wanted something different herself, but...]

[bussounoshima]

[Continued here]