destinystrings | Tanabata - [Open City Post]

▼ 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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Oh? Really?" Sasha didn't really consider herself the kind to disappear and reappear suddenly, but since blending in was a way to observe people, perhaps that sort of habit had just sort of attached itself to her. "Should I make my presence clearer next time I show up, then? Maybe call to you a bit sooner? I don't want to shock you."

He couldn't resist a bit more of a fuller laugh. "Nah, nah, it's cool. Besides, I'm probably over-exaggerating, eheh..."

Usually people told him to shut up by now, so this was awkward.

For better or for worse, Sasha is often completely oblivious to when awkwardness happens. "That's alright. A little exaggeration makes for a more epic tale, anyway... even if I prefer to report the truth."

It sure sounded like for the better to him, that was for sure! At least when the moment passed, he was back to being a bit more mellow again.

"I guess so-- I never as a really good storyteller. And I don't know much about the news either." He chuckled a bit at his own self-deprecation.

"Uh, anyway-- you having a good time, at least? You're not-- on the job or anything, are you?"

Was she a reporter for this city he actually had no idea but it as a 50/50 chance.

"Yeah! I love festivals. There's so many people having a good time." She paused before answering the next question. "Technically, I'm not on the job. Since no one knew I was coming here, they couldn't make it an official mission to gather information. I'm basically just gathering information on what happens here because I can. Even if I'm not getting paid for it, I'm sure the people I work for will be happy to hear about it."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense." Guess it was kind of hard for jobs to be actual jobs when everything ends up being on accident.... sort of. Then again he'd accidentally gotten involved with a government agency, so maybe this line of thought was going nowhere.

"They're cool, right? The Tanabata celebrations are always my favorites-- nothing better than good food and fireworks in the middle of summer!"

"Indeed! Good food puts people in good moods. Do these kinds of celebrations happen regularly in your world?" Sasha Fyer: never one to pass up an opportunity to ask someone about their world.

"Sure! Well, not to this scale, really-- Tanabata only happens once a year every summer." He paused for a moment and thought. "Uh, that's how it is back home at least, and I'm pretty sure it's the same thing here...

"But there are other festival holidays too. I used to live in a big city, so there was usually something cool going on all year round."

"How similar to your home is Hinoto-Ri, if the two cities share festivals?" Sasha said. "Ah, so you're a city boy, huh... my hometown is a bit more suburban. Sometimes interesting things happen in the nearby cities, but life at home is kind of... dull."

"Mmmm, well I'm pretty sure this place is Japan... Or, was Japan." Post-apocalypses? He really had no idea how this history worked anymore, he barely grasped it in school.

"And I'm from my version of Japan back home, so I guess our realities were pretty similar culture wise! Sorta." The city though-- he can talk about that way more easily. "Yeah! I grew up right new Shibuya in Tokyo; one of the busiest and brightest parts of the city. My parents were kinda dull too, but it wasn't so bad."

He sure missed them.

"So this place might be related to your home? How intriguing!" Sasha nodded and began to write down the possibility of a link between the two cities. "Wow, so right in the heart of the city? You must be really urbanized. Do you even flinch at noise and crowds and funny city smells?" Sasha paused for a moment before continuing. "I've had my experiences with some cities. I live not too far from a big university town. I'm used to crowds, but sometimes noise is annoying."

Tanabata - [Open City Post]

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