Tanabata - [Open City Post]

[stringmods]

▼ Evening of the 7th

 

Who: Anyone
Where: The entire city
When: July 7th
Summary: The Star Festival
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.

▼ A festival for a growing city

 

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 up to just a few days prior, 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. 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! It's important to share...

...Especially when the fireworks go off later at night! Not only are they absolutely stunning to watch, but there's an evident bit of magic involved in them, as they take on figures and animals, telling the mythological tale of the two lovers, now found.

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

Open!

[halberdaxe]

[Noda was a man. And as a man, he needed to be competitive! So he was hounding down at all the mini games to attempt winning the biggest prizes for each booth.

Feel free to compete against him for the prizes!]

[bondsofsuffering]

[And then Hizumi steps up to the plate! ...Metaphorically speaking, anyway, what with it being a booth and all. It's one of those cork gun games, and Hizumi cheerfully puts up the money before picking up a rifle.]

I wonder which one to aim for...?

[Why yes he is nonchalantly mentioning this right next to Noda. Consider it a passive aggressive challenge.]

[halberdaxe]

[He remembers you, you devil. Noda shoots a glare at Hizumi as he hears the other's voice. The look that pretty much said, "I'm going to beat you up" After shooting a glare he quickly goes back to aiming at the biggest stuffed animal, though.]

Hmph, aim whatever you want. [CHALLENGE ACCEPTED though, he's going to beat you by getting that stuffed animal!]

[bondsofsuffering]

Heeh, going for that one?

Well, I guess if you can't aim too well, it's probably better to hedge your bets with the biggest target...

[Meanwhile he stuffs the cork into the end before he reaches out with the rifle in one hand, nonchalantly lining it up with an especially small prize - one of those Featherman figurines that are so popular around Hinoto-Ri.

The cork finds its target, and the figurine topples.]

[halberdaxe]

[Noda's ears twitch at Hizumi's words. Was that a challenge for accuracy?]

My aim is not to be underestimated!

[And he goes to aim at the furthest, smallest thing to successfully knockf off the shelf. HA, see that kid?!]

[bondsofsuffering]

...Oi, you... What are you planning to do with a lighter? [Rather than impressed, he just looks like he's heavily judging Noda...] You aren't an arsonist too, are you?

[And without even a slight pause, he lifts the freshly corked gun and takes down another one of the figurines. Seems he's aiming to get the whole set!]

[halberdaxe]

Hmph, the purpose is to win. I do not require a lighter to do damage. [After all, he had his halberd, not to mention his persona, to cause damage.

He does notice that Hizumi's aiming at certain figurines from the prizes, though.]

Why are you aiming for those useless things?

[bondsofsuffering]

If you get arrested for setting something on fire, I had nothing to do with it.

[Putting in another cork...]

Ah? Well, they're fun to look at, aren't they?

[Duh. Just as quickly as before, he holds up the gun and fires, taking down the pink one this time.]

Yeah! Just three more-♫

[halberdaxe]

Why would you even be associated with whatever I do? [Noda gives a look at Hizumi before stopping himself from aiming for another prize. He gives some thought before aiming for his next target, and knocks out one of the Featherman figurines that Hizumi may have been aiming for next.]

Hmph.

[bondsofsuffering]

Horrendous luck.

[Which is a serious issue here in Hinoto-Ri, he's found. But the flat expression quickly turns to one of absolute horror as the figurine topples.]

B-BLACK CONDOR!!

[halberdaxe]

[Noda gives a grin in response to Hizumi's yell.]

Now you cannot complete your set! Ha ha!

[Noda you're a dick.]

[bondsofsuffering]

Y-you...

You bastard! Why'd you have to get Black Condor?!! He's the coolest one-!

[HIZUMI IS SO UPSET BY THIS TURN OF EVENTS YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW well okay it was kind of predictable considering who this is but STILL.]

[halberdaxe]

[Noda gives a blank look at Hizumi's reaction. It was true he wasn't expecting him to be that upset...]

Deal with it.

[trainwrecking]

You don't have to always go for the biggest ones, you know...

[He scoots in, peering over the selection.]

A-aha, I kinda want to try...

[halberdaxe]

[He gives a scoff at Otonashi's comment. It's because you're a wuss that you don't try to aim for the biggest ones.]

Go and aim for a puny prize then. [He is totally implying you're not man enough to go for a bigger one!!!]

[trainwrecking]

It's not like the prizes are a measure of self-worth...

[But he is interested in a few of the prizes. Maybe he could give away a stuffed animal or two, and maybe he could get a goldfish to keep?]

All right, I'm going to try for a fish.

[halberdaxe]

Where's the challenge then? Hmph, don't tell me you're too much of a wuss to go for a difficult prize.

[trainwrecking]

The challenge is in playing the game! Why does that make me a wuss?! You're probably such a sore loser too, guh...

[He crosses his arms and looks at the larger prizes. What would you even do with some of these?]

[halberdaxe]

Why not aim for the prize hardest to get then?

[Give them to Yurippe that's what he's going to do.]

[trainwrecking]

I don't want something that bi--

[He cuts himself off, feeling like one of his eyes should be twitching right now. Noda, you're impossible.]

... Fine!

[halberdaxe]

Heh, that's the spirit! [The usual grin spreads across Noda's face as he pays for a round.]

You better give it your all. [Or else Amarok's going to come out.]

[trainwrecking]

Or what, you'll shame me?! [He rolls his eyes.]

Which game did you pay for?

[halberdaxe]

Or I will summon my persona to chase you down the street again. [And he looks dead serious about that.]

I will let you choose a game for our match. [So it will be more worthwhile to beat you up!!!]

[trainwrecking]

Tch! You'd cause a mess like that at a crowded festival?! You'd be ambushed by other people and stopped for sure.

[And any punishment would be well deserved. He sounds so confident on this one.]

Fine, we'll play the ring toss. I don't trust you even with a cork gun...

[halberdaxe]

[He looks over at Otonashi in silence, giving a look as if he was saying "I don't care". He gives a scoff at Otonashi's selection of the game but complies to it, moving to the booth to receive a few rings for a round.]