The starlight festival

[stringmods]

Who: Anyone
Where: The entire city
When: July 7th
Summary: The Star Festival. Possibly one of the last time your heroes will be able to relax, so enjoy it!
Warnings: That depends who is there. Remember to mark your titles clearly if any warnings need to be issued!

A TALE OF TWO LOVERS...
The bamboo leaves rustle,
shaking away in the eaves.
The stars twinkle
on the gold and silver grains of sand.
The five-colour paper strips
I have already written.
The stars twinkle,
they watch us from heaven.

It is perhaps the most classical love story that most of the Hinoto-Ri natives knew about; the story of Orihime, the weaving goddess, and Hikoboshi. Instantly falling in love, the two gods would often forget about their duties to the point of negligence in order to be together, so much so that the other gods forcibly separated them. Crying for each other's comfort, they were allowed to visit each other on the 7th day of the 7th month...as long as it didn't rain.

Today, the sun is high in the air, a small wind making the overall experience not too unpleasant. Clearly it's a time for celebration so the lovers may meet again.

In the Capricorn ward, at the edge of the Central Park of Hinoto-Ri, numerous booths have seemingly sprung up overnight. Colorful banners decorate every single tree, and you can spot the faeries fluttering about, the very same ones who caused the Visitors so much trouble for the last few years, helping out by adding their own personal touches to the festival, be that a good thing or a bad thing. Most of the leaves are filled with perfect droplets of dew, reflecting the sun and giving everything a jewel-like appearance.

Even with the harsh life, Hinoto-Ri knew how to make each celebration special, especially after what happened last month. The celebration is somewhat bittersweet: with the city hall still destroyed, there os much to be rebuilt, but the starlight festival is important. The booths themselves had everything one could hope in such a festival, from mountains of star candy to spinning top toys to booths selling small bambo and basil plants decorated for the occasion. Booth food, as always, was delicious and fresh, and you could attempt to catch goldfish or even turtles if you had money to spare.

Walk around in the more traditional outfits or in your normal clothing, no one is going to complain in this mixture of demonic heritage and human initiative.

Giant streamers were attached to the largest tree trunks and many large bamboo trees had been brought in, covered in paper cranes and wishing paper, blank sheets nearby so you could add your own. In fact, it is encouraged! What wish did you want to write down today?

At night, entire rows of the city are covered in bright lights and laterns, the festival lasting until early morning, despite the 13th hour. Just be careful where you're going, they set up parameters for this, but it just wouldn't be a star festival without viewing them up in the sky, right?

The giant telescope at the astrology center is made public for all those who wish to see the heavenly lights. Just don't linger too long, as others want to get a glimpse too! With the sky cracked there is much more to see.

During the day and through the night, you can hear sounds of the Taiko drums in the various public squares. There are a few groups, each with their own set giving you a listening experience unlike any other.

[Feel free to start your own threads! The festival is open to everyone, day and night and you can do anything at zombocom at the festival. If you want to get a better understanding of what your characters might see and do, these videos will help.]

Comments

[empiricalpride]

While the events of the day weren't much to draw Even's eye, the offer of the telescope? After what's happened? Well, he can hardly resist that. So, there may just be a scientist quite blatantly hogging it tonight and trying to see just what he can see from here. Can he match constellations with anything he knows from home? What heavenly bodies can he make out?
Feel free to kick him off, or he'll get way too carried away.

[dontrunawayfromliving]

"Hey."

Tonight, Sarah's wearing a red dress with a plunging neckline and what looks like a pair of shoes with three-inch heels. Her balance on them is perfect, and there isn't the slightest hint of noise as she walks over to Even.

"How've you been doing?"

[empiricalpride]

Unfortunately, the more down-to-earth view is somewhat lost on him: he does give her a nod, though.

"As well as can be expected. And yourself?"

[dontrunawayfromliving]

"I've been kind of busy; a building from my world was dropped in the Sagittarius Ward and I've been working overtime to get the production facilities up and running."

Slight pause as she regards the night sky.

"...it's strange how quickly you can get used to changes in the stars, isn't it?"

[empiricalpride]

Changes in the stars... something like that meant something so much different here. He gives what might just about be a slight, soft smile - or at least something like it, coming from him.

"Indeed. I'm still learning these new constellations."

[dontrunawayfromliving]

Sarah nods absently, the earrings hidden behind her hair chiming softly.

"...a couple of years ago, a friend cast off her old body and flew into the sky to become one with the moon. It was...disconcerting, at first, to look up at the sky and see the white moon of the past."

[empiricalpride]

That earns a raised eyebrow. Not something he'd ever quite encountered, but something he could imagine someone he knew pulling...

"I can certainly see how that would ... take some adjusting to."

[stitchedfromsteel]

Now this is a bit bigger than the festivals back home, to say the least... While the food stalls might be a bust as far as Kanji's concerned, he's certainly getting caught up in the moment. Everything's so pretty, dammit!
So here's a dork who's rather overdressed for the weather as usual, wandering, acquiring a small pile of bits and pieces and souvenirs as he goes.

At one point, he stops by the tree, pondering. He should leave a wish, he knows. But what for?

[unbroken_chain]

Kotoha is also pondering the Wishing Tree, although for a rather different reason. Spying Kanji, she brightens up and sidles a little closer to address him.

"Say, uh...do you know what this is for?"

[stitchedfromsteel]

The question catches Kanji by surprise - "Huh? You ain't seen one'a these before?" he asks. "It's a wishing tree. Ya write a wish for the future on one'f these bits of paper and hang it on the branches."

Kind of weird being the one explaining what's going on around here, really.

[unbroken_chain]

Kotoha smiles a little.

"Well, you know. I'm only one-quarter Japanese on Mom's side; I'm not really clear on stuff like this."

Pause to consider the tree.

"Any idea what you want to wish for?"

[stitchedfromsteel]

Just shaking his head, here -

"Still thinkin' about it." He's got some ideas, perhaps, but what's worth it?

[unbroken_chain]

Kotoha spends a few moments thinking very deliberately.

"Well, I basically have everything I could want out of life...so I think I'll wish for material possessions!"

She takes off her customary visor and poses with her hands behind her head.

"You think maybe a hair ribbon would suit me?"

[stitchedfromsteel]

He's ... not entirely sure that's in the spirit of things, but he can't exactly see why not, so...

"...Could look good, I guess?" he responds, trying to puzzle it out.

[tyrantball]

Desco, wearing her yukata that is patterned with either cherry blossoms or blood spatters, is ridiculously happy for this festival. Currently, she's got fish skewers clutched between each of her fingers like tiny claws, and she's delicately nibbling away at them as she bobs merrily through the air towards a booth selling toy tops.

[reliving_days]

PARTIES.

One thing that Link regretted later after leaving Termina was that he took off before the carnival of time started. He had never been to a festival before and wondered what they were like. This was... way more elaborate than the preparations in Clock Town had been. He wandered through the crowd staring wide-eyed at the lights and streamers, finally getting distracted by the booth selling star candy in every flavor and color by the mound.

[tyrantball]

At least one of those mounds of candy has been paid for and claimed by a tiny floating demon girl, who is eying Link in a mildly suspicious manner.

"Don't think you can get any of Desco's candy!"

[reliving_days]

Link eyes the tiny girl incredulously. "This isn't all yours, is it?"

[tyrantball]

"...Sis doesn't let Desco buy that much candy all at one time anymore."

So that's probably a 'no'.

[reliving_days]

"Huh." He assumed that meant 'no', at least. "Soooo... you won't mind if I get some of these, right?"

He pointed to a bin of light-blue colored candies. But then something dawned on him.

"Wait, anymore? You've had this much candy before?" That. Is amazing if true.

[tyrantball]

"Desco filled an inflatable pool with chocolate and whipped cream once!"

[reliving_days]

Link was entranced. Even if he had no idea what an inflatable pool was. "I didn't think there was that much candy in the world."

[press_start]

Nanami curiously regards the various food booths, especially where the candies are, and she thinks of her classmate Hinata. She wonders if he'd be able to name all the other candies she doesn't recognize, or if he knows about this festival too (she certainly doesn't.) Since no one is bothering her right now Nanami lets herself indulge in the wondering, and she also wonders how he'd feel that she's finally at a festival in one of these traditional things.

Okay, she knows the name of this one, it's a yukata that she's wearing. Between patterns of pastel squares (Nanami likes to imagine them as pixels) the curves and forks of branches run across the fabric like dark veins; it's a pretty piece of clothing that she had perhaps insensibly splurged on but hadn't gotten around to regretting it yet. The Festival was still in full swing, after all. She fit right in wearing this, even if she now had no money for anything.

Would Hinata Hajime have the spare cash in this scenario? How about her richer classmates- Kuzuryuu-kun, Sonia-san?

Wow. Even if Hinata's voice from that enjoyable day at the supermarket still plays clearly in her mind- Hinamatsuri? Oh, it takes place on the third of March, and it’s also called the Peach Festival- it's been a while. It's been a while since she last saw her classmates.

.... .......

[[ooc: SDR2 endgame-ish spoilers may be touched upon when you converse with Nanami here so let me know if you're okay with that or if you'd rather not be spoilered at all!]]

[thirdarrow]

Takakage has come straight to the festival grounds after work, pausing only to change. His usual clothing is elaborate enough, but wearing the same outfit for a special occasion feels a little strange. Unlike most of the other festival-goers, his yukata is surprisingly plain - but it fits him quite well. Not to mention that its colour palette helped hide the lingering traces of exhaustion in his features.

He spots Nanami lingering near one of the food stalls, and joins her after a while. He hasn't bought anything yet either, but it is instead due to the fact that he has not yet decided on what to spend on.

"Ah, good evening, Nanami. Are you enjoying the festival?"

[thirdarrow]

Takakage is at the festival too, dressed in a yukata that is surprisingly plain compared to his usual clothing. It fits him quite well, and helps to disguise some of his still-pale complexion.

The festival is different in modern times, but its essence still remains the same. He finds it intriguing how customs have evolved over the centuries - but that is not going to stop him from at least having a little fun. After wandering around the booths, he hasn't found anything that piques his interest. Instead, he heads to the wishing tree.

A few minutes' searching in his bag produces a slip of paper and a pen. But he is at a loss as to what exactly to wish for...