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

[trainwrecking]

Huh?

[He takes the cue and leans in, trying to stifle his annoyed reaction once he hears.]

Rigged... That would explain it. So you're skilled and lucky?

[bondsofsuffering]

Not that lucky.

[He waves a hand quickly.]

--But there are ways to get around it. Since a lot of festival games can be like this, it's a good way to learn how to think creatively.

[trainwrecking]

Yeah, I know it's a common thing for people to think about festival games, but I've never looked into it myself.

[He shakes his head.]

So just skilled and creative, ah? [Otonashi might have to tease you, Hizumi. It might be about that time.]

[bondsofsuffering]

[So of course Hizumi rolls with it. When it comes to his natural talent, he's not that modest.]

Aaah, you got me! But you have to admit, it makes festival games a lot more interesting!

[trainwrecking]

"Aaah, you found out! I'm so talented I can't stand it, haha!"

[Otonashi can't just tease Hinata all the time.]

[bondsofsuffering]

What can I say? Sometimes I'm just so good at everything, it's almost boring.

[You wanna sparkle because he can totally sparkle right back.]

[trainwrecking]

[Perfect.]

Yeah, yeah, how tragic that must be... [And he's totally snickering about this now. It's not quite the same as Hinata's violent reactions, but it's still fun.]

[bondsofsuffering]

Well, some people do say the purpose of humans is to grow and learn, so... I suppose, in a sense, skipping the "learning" and going straight to "knowing" and "doing" could be very tragic indeed.

[...Is he... being serious or not...?]

[trainwrecking]

Um, hey, I--I wasn't serious... I didn't mean to bring anything up.

[Now he just feels bad. Could it be "too much of a good thing?"]

I can make it up to you, if you think it sounded like I was bullying.

[bondsofsuffering]

[...Pfffffffffthahahahaha.]

You're taking this way too seriously, you know that?

1/2

[trainwrecking]

Eh? How am I--

[Give him a moment.]

[trainwrecking]

[... No. No, he didn't walk right into that, thank you very much.]

Did you really just...? [Of course he did. Of course he just owned you again, Otonashi.]

[bondsofsuffering]

Thanks for the concern, but I'm not so emotionally fragile that you have to watch your words so carefully.

[trainwrecking]

You did that on purpose! I thought it was some awful memory, but I just fell into something stupid again...

[bondsofsuffering]

[Ahahahaha man this never gets old.]

You're so busy worrying about every little thing, you leave yourself wide open.

[Is he chiding again? Maybe just a little.]

But anyway-- Now that you know the truth about this game, do you still feel like you're up to the challenge of tackling it?

[trainwrecking]

[Very funny, Hizumi.]

I was trying not to hurt anyone, you don't have to take advantage of that...

[But what's done is done, so he sighs and lets it go.]

Well, I can't do much worse than before. So... yeah, I'll take your challenge!

[bondsofsuffering]

You're on!

[And with a grin, he pockets his figurine and pays for his shots. Hmm, what prize to go for...?]

[trainwrecking]

[Otonashi hands the vendor payment for a round and looks over the prizes.]

I, uh, I don't really want any of the over-sized prizes... It doesn't matter how big the winning is for this challenge, right? [Bigger ones are technically harder to win, but... he doesn't really want a giant monkey in a T-shirt or a... thing... to deal with later.]

What is that one even supposed to be...

[bondsofsuffering]

Alright!

[With a small mutter to himself, he picks out his next target - yet another Featherman figurine, but of a different color this time. All of the characters are readily available at this stall; is he just trying to collect each of them?

But then he does something strange. Instead of keeping the rifle close in order to utilize the sight, he simply holds it out with one arm and then fires, the cork hitting the figurine with plenty enough force to knock it clear off the stand. Even though the stall owner claps obligingly, it's clear from his expression that he's not exactly pleased about Hizumi's "technique", either.

Not that Hizumi seems to notice, or if he does, care.]

Got it!