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

Day

[trainwrecking]

[Otonashi is generally pretty good at disappearing into crowds and not drawing attention to himself, so he doesn't think to seek out any familiar faces here. In the game area, sure! But here? He's too busy quietly writing his own wish (and getting bumped by excited festival goers.) He won't notice that Hinata is close.]

S-sorry, am I in the way? I just finished, I'm going--

[frequent_flyer]

[Hinata, being an excited festival goer himself, would be on his way back from filling out his wish paper, not paying any attention when he smacked into the redhead...]

[...dropping his wish. He panicked, dropping down to pick it up and berate the person who had gotten in the way... only to realize who it was.] O-otonashi-kun!

[trainwrecking]

Sorry, I didn't-- [He leans down to collect his wish and the (thankfully unopened) can of coffee.]

I-I should've been out of the way. Are you okay..?

[frequent_flyer]

[He picks up the other wish on the ground, not looking at it immediately.]

It's alright..! I wasn't paying attention, haha... [He seemed slightly nervous, taking a quick glance down at his wish...]

[...only to realize it wasn't his.] I-I think I got yours! [He brandishes the wish at his friend, hoping to make a quick exchange. He doesn't need Otonashi reading his terrible attempt at a poem: All I want to know / Is if my mother was proud / Of her useless son]

[trainwrecking]

[Otonashi looks down at the paper, immediately realizing that the handwriting is not his own. He holds it out, worried, but maintaining silence.

I ask for nothing / But I hope that I can still find a reason to live again.]

H-here, I'm sorry. [He hesitates for a moment, taking his wish back.] ... Uh, Hinata?

[frequent_flyer]

[Damn it... He'd hoped that he could avoid anyone seeing this, taking his wish back with lightly trembling fingers. He tried so hard to appear flippant about his life, but there his insecurities were, on display.] Y-yes..?

[trainwrecking]

[There's a moment of hesitation where his face becomes nothing but softened lines, laden with concern. He could come up with no shortage of things to say, some questioning and some attempting to be motivational, but leaves each one unspoken.

Instead, he shuffles closer and points over to the tree.]

We should take care of these soon. We have all these games to play, and... ah, we're not doing it.

[For good measure, he rests his arm over the other teen's shoulders, dragging Hinata into a weak hug. They're in a bustling crowd, after all, and the meaning is no less poignant despite how brief it is. In the end, he decides to reveal nothing at all of what he saw.

Not here.]

I hope it comes true.

[frequent_flyer]

[He's perfectly content to just leave it at that and walk away to play games, but then Otonashi is hugging him and saying things like that... He notably hesitates, his back going stiff.]

[I can't deal with this right now...]

[He quietly reaches to return the hug, loosely, as if afraid that giving a genuine one will reveal more emotion than he's comfortable showing in public.]

Y-yeah, you too. [He quickly pulls away, turning away from the redhead and trying to discreetly wipe his eyes.] I-i'm going to go hang this..! Are you coming? [The recovery isn't exactly smooth, but he's gotten so used to bottling everything up, it's all he knows how to do.]

[trainwrecking]

Eh--of course I'm coming.

[It's soft, understanding, as it always is when it needs to be. Once his wish is tied on, dangling with all the others, he returns to Hinata's side.]

Ahhh... You know, they have this, um, really tacky inflatable baseball bat prize over at the ring toss...