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

[lilys_poise]

That's not it.

[She shakes her head with a slightly sheepish smile.]

There's too many things I want to wish for. I don't know how to choose.

[nibelungvalesti]

[Ah. The Valkyrie is not certain if she should be surprised at that. A shinki has no memories, but that in and of itself could inspire many wishes.]

[She contemplates for a moment how best to answer.]

I am not you. But if I were, I would wish for something I could not achieve on my own. Many of these wishes -- [She gestures to the other strips already hanging from the bamboo.] -- are for things within the power of the wisher to grant themselves.

[lilys_poise]

They are?

[She's surprised and looks back toward the wishes, reading them again. Actually.... good grades, promotions, dates...

A lot of these are things that someone could do for themselves.]

Oh... But why are they wishing for things like that?

[nibelungvalesti]

I believe they wish for certainty. They doubt themselves and desire a greater power to intervene.

[She understands the viewpoint -- even is a little sympathetic to it. But only a little.]

[lilys_poise]

So if they had more confidence they wouldn't need to make wishes...?

[She frowns, working through this idea slowly.]

But maybe it's better this way... If they did everything for themselves would they really need us?

[nibelungvalesti]

Mortals cannot defeat the ayakashi alone.

[She tends to be a little single-minded, doesn't she? But even if humans could do everything else, only the allied power of gods and shinki could rend the evil spirits. So long as they exist, the heavens will always have purpose.]

[lilys_poise]

Oh, right! I forgot about them. But it's still nice to help people with stuff that doesn't involve ayakashi, isn't it?

[Just fighting all the time would be boring. Helping someone with an ill advised wish about their love life sounds like it could be fun.]

[nibelungvalesti]

...Why?

[She is not trying to sound prejudicial or judgmental. Elise clearly has a philosophy here she does not understand, no doubt because she is a mortal girl instead of a goddess.]

[lilys_poise]

Huh?

[The confusion is mirrored in Elise.]

'Cause fighting ayakashi is scary. And if you help people with other things then you can learn stuff about them. It's more fun.

[nibelungvalesti]

I do not fear fighting ayakashi, and in time I hope you will learn not to either. But why would I wish to learn things about people? That is not part of our duties.