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 sighs deeply, before looking up in surprise at being addressed. Shizuo is a lot taller, and a bit...intimidating looking, to be honest here, so she doesn't know what to do at first when the goldfish are offered to her.]

Um.

[She looks at the bag and then to him.] For me? But-- Why? [She quickly shakes her head] Not that I mind, I'm grateful if you're offering it, but... [Why??]

[bartenderizing]

[ The sad thing is that, even without his height, the man has a face where he often looks like he's upset or trying to threaten someone. Resting Anger Face is a tough syndrome to work against. ]

Cuz you were... trying to catch them for a while.

[ It was the easiest and most polite way to say that he saw that show. Which is why he wasn't stressing that this was also because it looked like she was going to cry.

Because she still looked about to, and the guy didn't want to be the cause of that.

Please. Don't cry. ]

[onerous]

[Considering Yuri has Resting Crying Face apparently, she can sympathize.

She can't help but wonder how strange this would look to an outsider: Some foreign-looking man towering over her with such a severe look, holding out goldfish.]

I was-- [She starts to echo him in confusion before realizing that he must've seen her at the goldfish stand earlier. Her blush begins at the tips of her ears and then creeps down her face before she hesitantly reaches out and closes her fingers around the throat of the bag to take it.] ...Thank you.

[She looks down at them, a little smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, before she sends him another mildly confused look] Did you win these just for me, or did you just happen to have some anyhow?

[bartenderizing]

[ Joke was on them. He just happened to be tall and enough of a punk to always dye his hair. If Shizuo were the type, he'd definitely be blushing as well. Because this is awkward and embarrassing- he was well aware of it. It's just that he also felt like an asshole for not doing anything earlier.

Let's just say that, while it didn't show, there was a part of the guy that relaxed when Yuri accepted the gift. ]

Well, I felt like a jackass for not doing anything about it before... It probably sounds dumb, but I guess that's just the kinda person I've been.

[ Dumb and acting based off of what seemed right. He wasn't thinking deeply on how he was, but it was simple to accept that this came from somewhere and just leave it at that. ]

[onerous]

I... guess I made a bit of a show, since I was there for so long...

[She runs her free hand through her hair, embarrassed] But, that's not a bad thing-- Being that sort of person, I mean. It shows your a good person, right?

[but that's an interest choice of phrasing he used there. Yuri eyes him a moment, contemplating, before she asks:] Are you a shinki?

[bartenderizing]

I dunno if I'd say good. It seems like if I was, I'd've helped out back then.

[ It was doing this that seemed to make up for it. Making it right meant he didn't have to feel as guilty for going about with what he was doing before. ]

Ah, yeah. I showed up on the day of the field trips. My name's Shizuo.

[onerous]

If you weren't a good person, you wouldn't have tried to make things right now.

[It's just that simple, or something.] Pleased to meet you. That was the day of the fire too, wasn't it...? [She winces slightly.] I suppose there are worse times to come in...

Ah, and my name is Yuri. I'm a goddess-- Ixtab. [She decides against saying outright what she's the goddess of, unless he asks. It's always a bit of a touchy subject]

[bartenderizing]

Worst times like what happened earlier today?

[ Maybe not everyone knew about the shinki bodies, but it really bothered Shizuo. That could happen to more shinki, and it might escalate into targeting gods. As if the fire wasn't dangerous enough, this way this group kept making louder statements is why Shizuo felt like he always had to be on guard somewhat.

Luckily for Yuri, he doesn't seem to instantly recognize the goddess name. Even better, he's not about to press and question what the specific duties were supposed to be. ]

Nice meeting ya Yuri. Ah... How long have you been put here as a goddess?

[ Clearly at least as long as he has ]

[onerous]

[Yuri winces sightly but nods] Or worse than that. There were ayakashi causing a rash of suicides not too long ago. That took up a lot of time to sort out.

[She has to actually pause to think about it because sometimes it feels like forever.]

A little over four months now, I think. It feels like a lot's happened since then, though... [Four months. Jesus. She runs a hand through her hair and sighs] Time flies, I guess, but we're still not much closer to any answers...

[bartenderizing]

Wait... I didn't know about that. That was also part of this rebellion thing going on?

[ Honestly, Shizuo didn't know if this was some sort of rebellion or not. It was just the easiest way to describe death messages, fires and posters to bring Amaterasu down. ]

Sorry you had to be around for all that shit. Just a few months too.

[ Damn, it was rougher here than he thought. ]

[onerous]

Hmm, I wonder... [What does that even mean, Yuri. But she shakes her head] I'm told it wasn't, but I'm not sure I entirely believe it. It'd make sense if the people behind it were connected, but maybe that's also just wishful thinking, that everything's connected and that, somehow, taking care of one problem will take care of everything else.

[She shrugs and runs a hand through her hair]

It's... Not fine, I suppose, I can't really say that but. I'm taking it one step at a time. It's the most you can do, sometimes.