35 - Dolls' Festival

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Visit the mortal world to celebrate Hinamatsuri.
When: March 3
Where: The banks of a Tokyo river
Summary: Join other residents of the Far Shore under the early cherry blossoms and help guide away boats carrying bad-luck dolls.






The Festival

Although most of the riverside is crowded with mortal families, this section of park seems to be mostly empty of the living. Young shinki are running and playing everywhere, and many of the old gods are present as well as the new. Amaterasu's white-robed guards are mingling with the partygoers and standing watch at the edge of the gods' section of the park, alert for any ayakashi or other threats so that the Far Shore residents here can focus on having a good time. (Gods or shinki who wish to help guard the festival grounds may encounter some small ayakashi attracted to the collection of Far Shore denizens, but nothing more serious than that.)

Food and Games

The children dashing around are flying kites, having spinning top battles, playing tag, hide-and-seek, kagome-kagome and a hundred other children's games. They'll gladly recruit any adult who expresses interest, or just stands still long enough to be dragged in. Some festival-style booths have been set up at the edge of the park, offering freshly made snacks like crepes, takoyaki, yakisoba or chocolate-dipped bananas, or festival games like catching goldfish or throwing rings over bottles to win a prize.

For those who would rather relax than play games, there are tables piled high with delicious bento, blankets spread beneath the early blooming cherries, and plenty of plum wine and expensive sake. Even the weather is perfect for a relaxing day in the park.

The Boats

At a bridge just upstream, crowds have gathered to launch model boats carrying simple paper and straw dolls downstream towards the sea, carrying away impurity and misfortune. Unfortunately, the boats seem determined to float back towards the banks. Is it the current? Or something else? They're heavy, slippery from the icy river water, and move with startling speed and force. Gods and shinki alike will have to wade in or ward them away with poles in order to make sure they carry the bad luck out to sea instead of delivering it right back to sender.

The Dolls

Many of the boats are carrying plain dolls: featureless human-shaped twists of straw or paper cutouts with no details. However, many others, as they turn to hurl themselves at the banks, prove to be carrying stranger cargo. Straw dolls are dressed and decorated in styles from all over the world, carefully bedecked with the traditional regalia of gods -- gods whose incarnations have disappeared from the Heavens. Paper dolls are painted with the features of new shinki who have disappeared. All of them are damaged in some way: scorch marks, slashes, rips or worse mar them.

The styles of the dolls will be strangely recognizable to anyone who happened to wander into the dream of a man who was making and placing dolls around a mysterious crystal.

If someone touches a doll, they will find that they can hear the voice of the disappeared person who it represents or see flashes of that person from the corner of their eye (in cases where multiple characters have represented the same god, there will be multiple damaged dolls dressed like that god, so one doll always represents one character.) Anyone who touches the doll will have the same experience, but they won't hear or see the same things; the hallucinations are personal, and will fade slowly, disappearing completely a few hours after their last contact with the doll.

In Summary:

• Attend a Hinamatsuri celebration
• Enjoy food and games
• Try to send the boats out to sea
• Hear the voices of the missing
• Have fun~

Comments

Food

[holygrailed]

[Oh, what a large cat. Irisviel blinks as a large black cat saunters her way as she sits on a blanket. There are a few skewers of yakitori on a plate, fresh from the grill and dripping with sauce.]

Hello there.

[She smiles and reaches out to tentatively pet him.]

[thetopofthefoodchain]

[He already knows Irisviel to be a good person and he is sure she will share. So he allows the petting and nudges her hand with his head in greeting.]

Hello again Irisviel. [That food really smells delicious.]

[holygrailed]

[In missing the network post by Shen Wei, the sudden talking cat is a surprise. Irisviel's hand jerks back and she stares at the cat, the voice vaguely familiar.]

Oh! Have we met before?

[thetopofthefoodchain]

When we first arrived. [Switching forms is as easy as breathing and so he does so, the boy she met by the river crouched in front of her. A moment later he's a cat again, cat form is better for securing snacks after all.] I didn't know I was a cat then.

[holygrailed]

[Oh! Da Qing! She stares as he changes from cat to boy and back into cat. Her surprise fades and she smiles at him.]

That must have been a shock to learn. How did it happen?

[Irisviel picks up one of the skewers and pushes some of the chicken onto the plate.]

Here.

[thetopofthefoodchain]

I just woke like this one morning. [Food! See this is why Iri is the best. He plucked it from the plate delicately.]

Shen Wei wasn't surprised at all. I haven't found anything that shocks him yet, he's just so calm all the time. It's not normal.

[holygrailed]

[Irisviel lightly scratches her hand down his back as he eats. Is it rude petting someone? Or weird? Hmm.]

My god is also very calm, though his name would indicate otherwise. Are you getting along with your god?

[thetopofthefoodchain]

[Da Qing stretched happily when he was petted. Happy enough to allow it.]

His name? I am. He's very kind and has made sure to have dried fish in the temple every day since I arrived.

[holygrailed]

His name is Berserker. [Scratch, scratch, scratch. What a very considerate god. Do you like dried fish the most?

[thetopofthefoodchain]

[Berserker. Indeed that did not sound calm at all. He tilted his head, to direct the scratches to exactly where they were needed.]

I do. It was the first thing Shen Wei gave me. It's like he knew it would be my favourite. [Very suspicious, though Da Qing's mind was not letting him dwell on the why of that very much.] This is pretty good as well though.

[holygrailed]

If I come visit, I'll have to bring you some dried fish then. Is there anything Shen Wei would like?

[One can't visit without the appropriate gift after all. Irisviel pulls away and takes a bite of the skewer herself, a happy hum at the savory sauce and tender chicken. As she chews, she pulls another piece off the skewer for Da Qing.]

This explains how you were able to smell things I couldn't.

[thetopofthefoodchain]

He likes tea and food that is spicy. [Da Qing pulls a small face, cat tongues are more sensitive than humans, spicy food is not enjoyable to him.

He takes the chicken from her fingers. Iri is a very good friend.] He's very studious and collects lollipops though that might because his boyfriend likes them so much.

[holygrailed]

[Tea and spicy food, that's easy enough to remember.]

My, so many people here are in relationships. It's quite nice to hear.

[Irisviel can't help it; she's a romantic at heart.]

[thetopofthefoodchain]

They are? [He didn't know of any outside of Shen Wei and his boyfriend.] I've not met all that many people just yet.

[Much of his exploring so far has been in cat form, so he hasn't spoken to a huge number of people.]

[holygrailed]

I suppose I've only met one other, but there are many shinki so close to their gods. The bond and partnership we share with our god makes it natural, but it's comforting to see so many get along.

[thetopofthefoodchain]

It is. Are you close to your god? [Was Da Qing close to his? He liked Shen Wei and Shen Wei had so far treated him very well indeed. But he didn't know him all that well and Shen Wei was mysterious with his ever changing costumes and his uncanny ability to know almost more about Da Qing than Da Qing did.

He was definitely interesting though, someone Da Qing wanted to know more about.]

[holygrailed]

Hmm... I would not say we are close yet. He is kind and I respect him, but I would not say I know him well. I hope that will change with time.

[They are not close, but she likes Berserker so far. She's in sharp contrast to the temple, but it is her home. Those are important considerations on the path to happiness.]

[thetopofthefoodchain]

It will do. We haven't been here long after all. If he is kind and has your respect, that is a good first step.

[It would not do to be with a god who was cruel or thoughtless. That wasn't a person Da Qing thought he could respect or follow.]