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

[blitzkriegzwei]

Hm? Ah, Atsuro. Yes, I suppose you could say that.

[He fidgets with his sheet of wishing paper a bit.]

It's difficult to decide what to wish for, though. Given what happened last time I dealt with anything luck- or fortune-related, I ought to be careful.

[otakuro]

Ah...

You mean that time at the shrine, right?

[Atsuro recalls what had happened with a mixture of melancholy and regret.]

I'm not sure if they'll be so eager to do something like that twice in a row. We should probably be safe...

[blitzkriegzwei]

Yes, that's right. I ended up receiving a lot of food from home. It was an... interesting experience.

You never know, with this place. Anything could happen.

[otakuro]

Maybe you should be as specific with your wishes as possible. So no one can misinterpret it or anything.

[blitzkriegzwei]

That only makes it more difficult. While I'm generally good at being specific, wish-granting forces are known to be very picky.

[otakuro]

So you think they won't grant your wish if you're too specific? ...Maybe you're overthinking this.

[blitzkriegzwei]

Heh, I might be. Maybe I should just give the wish-making a rest till I think of something clear enough.

[otakuro]

Better not to get anything at all than to get something you don't want!

Also, there's no rule about only putting up one of these, so you don't have to try and be too ambitious with a single slip, either.

[blitzkriegzwei]

Yes, especially when wish-granters tend to be such tricksters anyway.

Oh? Is that so? I thought you could only make one wish. In that case, perhaps I could make several wishes, carefully broken up... [Yep, overthinking again.]

[otakuro]

...

You know, maybe they get so confused by your wishes they're not even sure what you want anymore...

[blitzkriegzwei]

You know what? I'm not even sure what I want.

[Siiiiiiiigh.]

I give up.

[otakuro]

Oh --

[Atsuro grins mischievously as he steps back.]

What if you wish that you know what to wish for?

[blitzkriegzwei]

That just sounds like a waste of a wish to me. But if we can make more than one wish at a time... maybe I'll go for that.

[otakuro]

You might need to wait for next year's Tanabata to come around, but at least you'll be prepared then.

[blitzkriegzwei]

I don't need another year! Maybe just a few more minutes. Half an hour, tops. [Who knows if he's joking or not...]

[otakuro]

Well, who knows how long it will take for Altair and Vega to grant your wish? I mean, it will take them a while to even see it, right?

[blitzkriegzwei]

But that just makes it sound like there's no time to waste. If it'll take them a while, the sooner I hang my wish, the sooner they'll see it. I think I'm starting to get an idea...

[otakuro]

We could calculate the distance in light years if you want, but that would be pretty tedious.

[Atsuro is fairly obviously teasing at this point; he steps away from the bamboo grass.]

[blitzkriegzwei]

Yes, let's not.

[Germany never really responded well to teasing anyway. He begins to write on his wish paper: "I wish that everyone will be safe during out future adventures."]

I've got my wish, anyway. Now, where to hang it...

[otakuro]

[Atsuro figures that this dilemma should be solvable for even the most undecisive of people. He backs away a few steps.]

I'm going to check out the rest of the festival now. Whatever your wish was, I hope it comes true.

[blitzkriegzwei]

[After a few more moments, Germany hangs up his wishing paper slightly to the right.]

Thanks. Have fun.