🎉 TANABATA FESTIVAL 🎊

[eyescar]

WHO: Everyone in Neo Tokyo
WHAT: Tanabata festival! 🎉
WHERE: In the centre of the park
WHEN: 17/07 onwards
WARNINGS: N/A

NEO TOKYO TANABATA

aka operation festival funtime

As the middle of July opens, the streets outside of Neo Tokyo seem to get decorated almost overnight. Colourful origami banners hang from the trees, a mixture of tanzaku, kamigoromo, orizuru and toami.

For anyone who has been to the Sendai region in the midst of the Summer months, the decorations will look almost endearingly familiar; it's time for tanabata!

▶ 001. OPERATION: FESTIVAL FUNTIME.

The savvier of people might notice a particularly bright shock of pink hair running around in the early hours of the morning, taking part in setting up the decorations and putting together a basic layout of tables with tablecloths and various goods and prizes. Each decoration is hand made, and if you look closely you might see little golden traces throughout, giving a clue to who helped made these ones. There's something infectious about his enthusiasm and the delight, even as he gets a little more tired as the day goes on - there's nothing stopping him. Eventually, his section of the festival is set up; there are various stands, some for making decorations (bamboo branches with ornaments, more paper ornaments, origami, and various other cute and traditional arts and crafts), some space for you to take a break and have a fruity and always non-alcoholic drink and an area with a handsome backdrop for the taking of photos.

He's not alone, though!

Raidou's looking livelier than he has than in the last few weeks. He's helping the festival in an organizational capacity, while Yuji handles most other things. He sets up the stands, moves and directs supplies to the right place, picks out spots for decorations, and makes sure both vendors and visitors have everything they need. If you stop to ask him a question or ask for direction, you get a quick, polite answer before he flits off to the next task.

Once things are running smoothly, you'll find him working at one of the food booths, where he's frying up takoyaki and taiyaki. Raidou couldn't be more in his element - serving up fresh food and treats to the Outsiders and the community. You might even get your food handed to you from him with a smile.

At night, the festival is lit up with fireworks and sparklers throughout, lighting up the sky with explosions of little joy and happiness.

Throughout the festival, you can also get a free bento, delivered to you by a cute looking rabbit. The bentos come in many designs, cute, adorable or precious!

▶ 002. A DREAM IS A WISH.

One of the most exciting aspects of tanabata remains the wish-making. In the set-up for the festival, there are little posters left around near one particular booth (manned by local cryptid Choso) to explain the story of the festival and the meaning that it holds. Alongside it are an almost ridiculous amount of paper strips in various colours, left with some pens and calligraphy brushes for people to pick up and use. A big sign next to it declares the following:

Make a wish! If it's a good one, it might come true!
The directions are clear: write your wish on a strip of paper and hang it on one of the bamboo decorations. The harder you wish, the more likely it is to come true - and there are some prompts for the kind of wishes people could make, just in case you're strapped for ideas:

Academic or work successes

Prosperity or good health

Care and love for family and friends

Success in love or platonic relationships

Fulfilment of a personal goal or ambition

You might notice Yuji watching as you're tying your wishes up... Don't worry about that!

If you require further assistance in your wish-making (or even if you don't at all) Choso seems more than happy to lend a helping hand. When he isn't cutting up paper strips and sorting them out into strangely-organized piles (paper thickness instead of size or colour), he's preparing the calligraphy ink via manual inkstone grinding or offering an absurdly wide variety of coloured (and scented) markers for your convenience.

The strips of wishes can be as decorative or simple as you like, so don't stress about your artistic genius!

( ooc note: If you would like Yuji to take a shot at making your wish come true, please respond to this comment! There will be some RNG "granted wishes" that you can use in your top level and keep as a fond memory, but please note there is only one "granted wish" per character. )

▶ 003. AS THE POETS SAY.

In the centre of the festival, in the midst of a park with vibrant flowers, is a table where Yuji sits for a few hours at a time between breaks. He seems to be practically vibrating out of his seat, and when approached he launches into an explanation of this particular game:

THE SOULMATE GAME!

The aim of the game is simple: you are given a ribbon at random with a number on it. Your mission? Find the person with the matching ribbon within a time limit of an hour and win a special prize. Don't worry though... If you lose, there's a prize for not quite making it within the limit. The festival is meant to be a celebration, after all, and Yuji doesn't want anyone to miss out.

Here's the problem: Yuji isn't making it easy for people to find their soulmate. He's not left a boundary for how far you can go (in case you were tempted to hide...) nor has he done anything to make the festival less distracting. This area is set up with your traditional festival games, such as (fake) goldfish scooping, ring toss and some chairs and tables set out for food and conversation.

To make it worse? Sometimes, Yuji might pop up and give you a hint to go in a particular direction, only for it to be a total red herring. This is definitely fun, isn't it? Who doesn't love a good chase? The problem is...

Will you find your soulmate in time...?

( ooc note: If you would like to win (or lose) at the soulmate game, please respond to this comment! Go ahead and OOCly decide who your character gets paired with and whether or not you win or lose - there are different prizes for each. You can play the soulmate game as many times as you want ICly, but you will only get one prize roll per character! )

▶ 004. TINY FRAGMENTS THAT REMAIN.

NOTE: THIS PROMPT WILL REFER TO THINGS THAT ARE SPOILERS FOR JUJUTSU KAISEN CHAPTER 264 ( refering to Yuji's powers and how he uses them in a fight ).
Here's the thing: Yuji wants everyone to have fun. His dream is that people are able to find some joy and peace in the midst of the darkness of the last few weeks, and so he sinks into something that is familiar to him - cursed energy, and his domain expansion. In the early hours of the second day of his festival, you might catch him making a hand sign before a ripple of powers hits, collecting around the area of the festival like a literal bubble. Anyone on the edge of the bubble will see it like a flickering, semi-transparent void, but there's nothing to worry about... Right?

The power of Yuji's domain expansion is simple enough, in theory: it transports into the memories, digs into the heart of what people want to show. His intention is to share the tanabata of his childhood with the people of Neo Tokyo and spark some joy for the Outsiders who have been through so much. He wants to show them something sweet and nostalgic, but he doesn't quite anticipate the side effect.

Outsiders who end up stepping into Yuji's domain will find themselves able to come face-to-face with their childhood selves, and enjoy the festival together. If they're together with another Outsider, those childhood versions of themselves (shaped in the way they remember themselves rather than how they actually looked!) are visible and shared, like an extension of their thoughts come to life.

It's still tanabata, but this particular part of the festival is influenced by what Yuji remembers from his youth, and Outsiders can find themselves seeing and being able to take part in various activities:

Crayfish catching (try and get the biggest or rarest one!)

Archery (can you beat your friends and get the bullseye?)

Horse riding (and you might hear Yuji commenting on how big their faces are)

Parades (are you going to join in?)

And anything else you can dream up! It's your character's childhood too, right...?

As soon as Yuji realises his mistake (at the end of the day, lost in his own memories) he brings down the domain, but it might be too late for some Outsiders who have come face to face with their more adorable versions. Whoops.

EVENT BREAKDOWN (CLICK TO EXPAND)

1. OPERATION: FESTIVAL FUNTIME: The festival is being set up by Yuji and Raidou, with support from other Outsiders to make decorations. Food and other entertainment is on offer for anyone who attends, but all drinks are non-alcoholic.

2. A DREAM IS A WISH: Outsiders are given the chance to take part in the tanabata tradition of wish making. They can decorate paper with their wish and hang it up in the hope it will come true. Yuji will be granting one wish per outsider.

3. AS THE POETS SAY: The "Soulmate Game" has characters being randomly assigned numbers and tasked with finding their matching pair to win a prize. They have an hour to find their partner and, win or lose, there is a prize for taking part.

4. TINY FRAGMENTS THAT REMAIN: Yuji uses his domain expansion to bring Sendai tanabata to life, that has the accidental side effect of allowing Outsiders to meet and see their childhood selves. It also allows them to visit Sendai itself and take part in some other minigames that are not tanabata related if they want.

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geto suguru ( jujutsu kaisen / brimstone )

[gorb]

oo1. festival funtime

( Perhaps it is a sign of progress that Geto Suguru is here. He's dressed far more casually than most people have ever seen him, a tank top and basketball shorts, flipflops, hair tied up in his customary half bun, and sunglasses perched on top of his skull to keep his bangs out of his eyes. Even his fingernails and toenails have been painted to match, a deep shimmering purple that sparkles a little in the light. It's very slouchy, it's very fun. He's making some ways in the new route.

That doesn't mean he's getting better at dealing with humanity. Most of the food stalls he avoids still, though he does crouch down to accept a box from one of the familiar looking rabbits, patting it carefully between the ears before it hops away. That he keeps tucked under his arm, though at one point someone might catch him peeking at it, a singular twitching smile on his face. Cute. If he does see someone looking he only shrugs, a grin in his voice. )

I like the delivery service.

oo2. a dream is a wish

( He makes a wish. He can't help it, he's always been a sentimental fool. That part is not surprising. The friendship bracelets are though, and he stands to one side to run a painted fingernail over the little dog charms. Is it overkill to give one of the pair to someone? Probably. Definitely, considering Gojo Satoru is running around with a matching keychain attached to his glasses. So instead he slips the pair on one wrist, wonders if he's suddenly feeling all right with the swell of fondness that fills him up.

It's been a while since he let himself enjoy things, is all. He's often been so nihilistic. This is better. )

Are you here to make a wish? ( To whoever else is hovering, a hum flickering to life from the back of his throat. ) I think you should. It's clearly had some effort put into it.

( And he's proud of that. He's seen Yuji zipping around. It's good that he is. )

oo3. as the poets say

( It's quite possible he's running a scam on the ringtoss vendor. Or possibly he's just that good. At his feet are a pile of plushies, Geto swinging a ring around one extended finger as his new nemesis eyes him up warily from behind the stall. )

I could do it with my eyes closed, would that help?

( One hand lifts, covers his eyes with an amused aura radiating. The he tosses the ring. It hits directly where he wants it to go, another prize won. Geto takes this one, a little worm on a string, and casts his gaze about, landing on a fellow Outsider. ) Want it?

oo4. wildcard.

( Please feel free to hit me up at qingya or sadgaydna on discord if you want to check anything but I'm down to clown. )

oo2.

[eyescar]

I already made all my wishes.

[ But look how happy he seems, despite the strange aura of tension hanging around his shoulders. His nose is a little sunburned, and in his hands is a huge, doggy plushie, won from one of the vendors, which he holds out to Geto without any hesitation. It even has a collar on it that says 'for Geto-san'. ]

Do you want to go for a walk?

[gorb]

( He takes the plushie, his mouth quirking into a pleased little smile. It's his second of the day, Gojo's terrible chicken now peeking out of a canvas bag Geto's acquired somewhere, bug eyes judgemental. The dog is far cuter. )

Ah, I'm very lucky today.

( He'll hold it in his arms for now, fond gaze focused on Yuji. It's not that he doesn't notice the boy's tension, but the festival is something complicated, and he imagines it's a lot of pressure. That he wants to spend time with Geto is touching, and so. )

All right, I'd like that. How are you, Yuji-kun? You must be tired.

[eyescar]

[ Ah. Lucky, huh... Yuji shifts awkwardly.

There has to be a better time, he thinks, but Megumi was right, and the guilt has been eating at him. He has to try and be more honest, and that means ripping off the bandaid, telling Geto the truth because lying about it is worse. It has to be worse, doesn't it...? ]

I'm a little bit tired, but it's not that bad. I'm just glad everyone is having fun.

[gorb]

You did very well, it's been nice.

( That much is clear. Geto's shoulders are loose, relaxed. He's had a good day, fondness sunk into his bones. )

I met your younger self, by the way. He was very cute. Chubby little cheeks. ( Pinchable. How he resisted is anyone's guess. ) As earnest as you are now. I was tempted to steal him away from Muramasa-san.

[eyescar]

Ah, that was...

[ He looks painfully sheepish. ]

I forgot how earnest a kid I was... I would've been so easy to kidnap.

[gorb]

So easy.

( And Geto has form with spiriting away children, so. )

It was sweet. You were cute. You looked happy. What was it like, growing up for you? Were you a happy child?

[eyescar]

I think so. It was just me and grandpa, and I was happy enough with that.

[ A little shrug of his shoulders. ]

I didn't need anyone else.

[gorb]

I'm glad. Children deserve a happy life. Especially adorable pink haired ones.

( Surprise, he's just going to ruffle said hair. )

Are you doing better now that Fushiguro-san is here? The younger one, I mean. ( Obviously. ) He seems a very serious boy.

[eyescar]

Yeah, I'm happier. It means I can take care of him, make sure he's doing okay... That's what matters to me.

[ But he blinks up at Geto, biting his lip. ]

We've talked about a lot of stuff, you know?

[gorb]

( He's just going to assume that it's to do with the little radar that went pinging off in his brain when Megumi spoke of Yuji, that's fine. )

Did you? That's good. Did it help?

[eyescar]

Yeah. We... We made a promise to be honest with each other, and that's good.

[ This is awkward, and it sucks, but - he ha to do it, right? He has to. It's haunting him. ]

Which... There's something I have to talk to you about.

[gorb]

( He pauses, turning to look at Yuji. There's something in the boy's tone of voice that worries him a little, and so Geto hums, points to a nearby shaded area, a tree a little further out. )

Shall we sit? It sounds serious.

( And he's determined to be there for him. )

closed to rikugan

[gorb]

( He returns back to base in the middle of the night, wordlessly making his way not to his room but the one next door knowing that it will open for him now. It's easy enough to convince Gojo they have to leave, and while Geto does not mention the violence sloshing around inside of him perhaps his old friend is able to sense its presence. Or maybe, he too, is merely looking for an excuse. Either way they grab whatever they need, silently making their way out and away, no excuse or reason given.

( Would it have been this easy before, too? Would things had been different had he simply asked? )

The wide empty sands of Las Vegas are perfect for this kind of thing either way. No humans nearby, temptation bright, not much noise beyond the cries of the kaiju, nothing but sand, and sand, and more sand. The sun rises as they pick off their opponents, Geto choosing to ignore his technique in favour of his hands, his body, the sharp edge of a blade. Above their heads rainbow dragon soars, temperamental like her master, but that means very little. She's not here to fleck her muzzle with blood, just to point them in the right direction.

A body cools nearby, Geto wipes his new sword's edge off on his shirt as he keeps his back to Gojo. There's more blood on the rest of him, along his exposed forearms, against his neck. None of it is his, and he wonders if that's a disappointment or not. They've been here for hours now. His voice sounds hoarse when he talks. )

Did you know?

( Rainbow dragon writhes in the sky, Geto watches the way she goes. )

Did you know my girls were dead, Satoru?

[rikugan]

[ as geto predicted, gojo doesn't question the sudden request to travel away from base.

there is only one reason why suguru would want to teleport all the way to vegas and it's got nothing to do with the casinos or flashy night scene there. he could just ask him what's wrong, but knowing him, gojo doubts that he will get a straight answer until geto is ready to talk — or if he even wants to talk at all.

so, they spend several hours hunting and killing kaiju.

it isn't particularly exciting, like crushing ants with the pads of his fingers, but if it's what suguru needs, then satoru will humor him for however long he needs to vent whatever emotions has clouded his face and darkened his gaze.

when geto finally speaks, his eyes travel over to him from behind his black blindfold, the sole of his boot crunching down on the giant skull of a now lifeless lizard. his body seems to still for a stretched out moment, as he allows his words to sink in — did you know my girls were dead? so, that's what this is about. ]

So, Yuji told you. [ he slips a hand into his pants' pocket as he regards him. ] Yea, I knew.

[gorb]

( He knew.

There is a violent, almost full bodied twitch at the answer. For a moment Geto feels blind with it, the rage that rises and falls in the wake of Yuji's news reaching a new height here. It's tunnel vision, sight black at the edges, the stink of death on hot sand drifting. He knew. Gojo knew. Geto didn't. And so his fingertips tighten on his weapon, but they've been numb for hours now and he doesn't quite feel it. Nor does he lift it, which might be something.

It might be nothing. )

Don't you think - ( Dead to the ear but quickening with every word. ) - that I deserved to know?

( His throat clicks when he swallows hard against the lump in it. )

Don't you think that that's something someone should have told me?

[rikugan]

No. I didn't think you needed to know.

[ yuji shouldn't have told geto.

he doesn't know why he suddenly decided to reveal it, but that no longer matters. the truth is out. ]

We're already dead, Suguru. We aren't going to be able to turn back the clock and avenge all of those who've died at the hands of Sukuna, so I didn't see a point in telling you what happened to the girls. It would have just been unnecessarily cruel.

[ it is unnecessarily cruel. ]

[gorb]

He was here.

( The dead ends to his voice go a little too tight, a little too frantic. ) He was here, I could have -.

( The word wavers. Geto does not know what to do with the weight of his emotion. Usually he would retreat from it, that is what he's always done. He would disappear behind a mask so that nothing and no one could touch him. Hadn't it been how this had gone before, his mildness, his pleasantness, all a defence on a busy street? And yet he'd come for Gojo, and now a part of him is unravelling in plain sight and he does not know what to do with it.

His breath whistles between his teeth. )

What have I been doing? ( Anger creeps in, though at who is hard to say, ) What have I been doing, pretending, and playing nice, and living if I failed them? They were everything I had. I loved them.

[rikugan]

[ he wouldn't have been able to do anything to sukuna even if he was still here. they both know that, so gojo doesn't need to point it out.

this was what he wanted to avoid though — a cruel truth that would serve no purpose other than to hurt and unravel suguru once more. geto isn't like him. he is too empathetic, too emotional, too fragile at his core. gojo can live through the loss and seeming hopelessness the life of a jujutsu sorcerer leads. he knows it because he killed his best friend with his own hands and he was still able to continue moving forward, wasn't he? his hands stained with his blood and his eyes bound by the grief he left him with, he continued to move forward because it was what he had to do, what he was born to do.

gojo satoru was and is the strongest jujutsu sorcerer alive and, as the strongest, he cannot waver. that is his own cruel truth.

and it's what puts him at a loss when it comes to geto suguru. what can he say in this moment? what can he do? to ease his pain. to help him in a way that he never managed to do all those years ago? to give him the right answers to questions that he has no real answers to.

on a surface level, he knows what he can say — empty words of condolence and comfort that he has observed and learned and that he can easily echo to fool others into believing that he understands and that he sympathizes. but suguru can't be fooled, can he? he was his moral conscience, he was his heart and, even after all these years, he is the one person who wouldn't be deceived by the mask of normality he puts on for everyone else.

so, no words of solace or reassurance comes forth as he parts his lips to speak, to ask: ]

What do you want to do then, Suguru?

tw: vague suicidal ideation and genocidal stuff that will hereby persist throughout the thread

[gorb]

( It feels like Riko, tenfold.

Grief, and Gojo's quiet questioning.

Geto lifts his gaze, his own expression flayed open. He's not sure what it's showing, he's not even sure what it is he's feeling. There's an unreality to it that he can't shake, like the world has shuddered and paused since the moment Yuji told him. His girls are dead, and there should be something more. An open wound, maybe. Some place he could focus on the pain. There's nothing, there's not even an ache from fighting here. He can feel nothing. )

Do you know I had to leave the festival because I wanted to kill everyone there? ( The end of his blade shakes, his white knuckled grip too tight on the handle. ) I was so close to it. I still am. Why does the rest of the world get to keep on going, Satoru? Why do I?

( He'd died. He'd left them. He is directly responsible. But he cannot tear his own throat out with his own teeth and so what else is he supposed to do? )

[rikugan]

[ but he didn't do it. he didn't kill anyone at the festival.

instead, suguru came to him. so maybe—... maybe it means something. at least that's what he would like to think, what he is supposed to think. but he has been having a difficult time accepting his own reality in this world for months now, and he hasn't managed to find a reason to quell his innate discontent and aimlessness.

maybe he wasn't the right person to come to, after all. maybe he never was.

should we do it then? kill everyone. — he can feel the words threatening to leave his mouth, yet it gets caught in his throat.

you are the strongest, so you cannot waver. ]

It wasn't our choice to come here. You know that. [ LILITH made that decision for them, pulling their consciousness from the clutches of death itself to serve their cause and fight their battles. ] It isn't fair. But this isn't the world that took away the girls. Even if it was, it wasn't the world that killed them. It was Sukuna. [ so, don't misplace the blame. don't let it cloud your judgment once again. ]

But does any of it even matter anymore, Suguru? We're dead. We don't get to speculate on how the world should work or predict the futures of the people we've left behind. Everyone lives and dies. Some young, some old. That's always been the way of the world, hasn't it? Is there any meaning to torturing yourself over something that you couldn't control?

[gorb]

Was it? Sukuna? ( Wasn't it him, instead? Abandoning them to a fate he made no certainties for, because he could not face up to his own reckless suicide? Because he pinned all his hopes on one impossible task? Because he was weak after all? ) Didn't I know how it would happen, Satoru?

( He laughs, and it's sharply hollow. )

You're wrong anyway. This isn't death. Death would not feel like this. It would be a relief. ( It presses against his throat, that certainty. What had he said to Gojo before? That he couldn't wear a heartfelt smile in the world? And yet he'd gone with one on his face either way. Because it had felt right. It had been an ending. Dying by this man's hand after all those years of cruelty, potential festered. Dying for a purpose.

With meaning.

Logically he knows that he does not get that here. LILITH is capable of stopping it from happening. A failsafe for fights amongst volatile people. But Gojo Satoru has never cared for logic when he can bend the world to his will. The light catches the glassy edge of his eyes when his chin tips upwards. ) What would you do if I told you I didn't care? A world is a world, and I am a violent man. I'm filled to the brim with it.

( A cup, overrun. Was that always his fate? )

I have to put it somewhere. Why not them?

[rikugan]

You couldn't have predicted it. [ none of them could have. if they were able to foresee the future, then the amount of chaos and devastation that sukuna had wrought would have never come to pass. gojo wouldn't have let him. ] It was my fault, if you need someone to blame. I took you away from them. I failed to stop Sukuna and, as a result of my mistake, thousands died. Not just your girls, but other sorcerers and countless civilians.

[ he can't allow suguru to fall back into his old pattern — not out of some greater sense of morality or responsibility, but simply out of sheer selfishness. what does geto think would happen if he started killing innocent people here? does he think that LILITH would turn a blind eye to it? that they won't just make him disappear like they've done with so many others? he can't let that happen. he won't. not when he has already lost him once. ]

So if you need to take it out on someone, then take it out on me. Put it all on me.

[gorb]

( Despite everything, some part of him still revolts. There will always be a singular strand in the makeup that makes him that is fervently in defence of Gojo Satoru. No matter what had happened between them, no matter how far the distance, and how fraught their perceived hatred of each other had been, his first and foremost instinct is some terrible protection. Muscle memory of the soul, maybe. Or something to do with how desperately he's been trying to claw them back these last few months. He scoffs at the idea of blaming Gojo the same way he scoffs at the rest of it.

Hadn't the point been to spare him? Isn't that why he left? Why he fought so viciously so that there would be no more weight placed on too strong shoulders? Too many people asked too many things. Geto would not be one of them. )

Do you want to fight, Satoru? ( Sharp and mean, his thoughts spiralling. There is no way to control the situation, he does not know what to do. ) You're not a glutton for punishment. And you know I'm serious.

[rikugan]

You'd lose.

[ if they actually fought, geto suguru would lose. even with his powers suppressed, gojo would still beat him. it wouldn't be the satisfactory outcome either of them wants. ]

But you're right, [ he lets out a breath. ] I'm not a glutton for punishment. [ a wiry smile. ] I know I should care more about everything I'd just said. Lives were lost. A city was leveled. All on my watch. Just 'cause I'd fuckin' hesitated for a split second. [ it still pisses him off to think about. the fact that he never got to put that goddamn brain in its place— ] But [ he grits his teeth, his jaw growing taut, before his expression neutralizes and his tone turns cold. ] I don't. I couldn't give a crap about all the people who've died. The only thing I care about is the fact that I couldn't win against him.

[ that LILITH didn't let him get the chance to rectify that loss. ]

Aren't I the perfect target for you to release your anger on? [ heartless, immoral and a monster by design. ] I won't fight you because you'd lose. So, just do whatever you want to me, Suguru. Whatever that will make all of this more tolerable for you.

[ because that's ultimately what they're doing here now, aren't they? tolerating an involuntary extension of a life that should have long been laid to rest. ]