🎉 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.

code

Comments

Fujino Asagami | Kara no Kyoukai | Brimstone

[asagami]

1 - A Dream is a Wish

[Tap. Tap. Tap.

Wishes, huh…Fujino is no stranger to this tradition. She’s put the slip of paper on the tree every year, though she never once thought about the kind of wish she truly wanted. Always, always, it only ever was a mere copy of what she thinks would make for a “good wish”- usually care, health, and prosperity for the family. That’s what other people are supposed to normally hope for, right??

But, without her condition holding back here? She can only stand here and stare at the sea of paper in unease, the gentle taps of pen against paper in hand her only movement for now.]

…what if this wish is too selfish…?

2 - Tiny Fragments

1) [On another day, Fujino can be found hanging around some of the stalls, trying out some of the food, playing some of the games, amongst other festival stuff she’s doing…along with another purple-haired girl– yellow dress with frills and puffy white sleeves, and way much shorter then her older counterpart.

She’ll greet any Outsider passing by or approaching them, though she’ll position herself to keep close to her younger counterpart as close as possible. Does it seem like she’s being rather protective? Hmm….]

2) - [Or in other moments where Fujino’s a little too busy, baby!Fujino can be spotted just about at any of these places:]
A - [Down at the goldfish stand, struggling very hard to keep even one of them on the paper net. And somehow? She doesn’t seem to want to stop.]

B - [Crayfishing! She’s managed to catch a couple of them so far, but her third try nets her a very feisty bugger flailing about; without thinking, she reaches for it, only to have a finger pinched. Ouch- and yet, despite the strong grip, she seems a little too relaxed trying to take it off.]

C - [Here, there, and anywhere? Listen, those delivery bunnies are cute, she can’t help but follow them somewhere!!]

3 - Wildcard

[Hit me up with anything else! Feel free to discuss via PM, Plurk (on request), or ping me on the discord!]

[mace_pray_love]

With this kind of thing, I don't think any wish is too selfish. Go wild!

[This fellow Outsider girl seems nervous. That's ok, Jessica will have confidence enough for both of you.]

[asagami]

Go wild...?

[fluster fluster; honestly, a part of her thinks it's a nice idea. Heck, for a brief moment, she thinks of another wish! And y e t-]

I don't know. Aren't there also limits to this, usually?

[mace_pray_love]

A limit on wishes? I don't think so.

[It's not like they're guaranteed to come true or anything, and you can make more than one.]

What kind of thing are you thinking?

[asagami]

Mm, it's like...greed? Not financial greed, but more in a personal sense?

[Eugh wait, that can't be right. Definitely shaking her head and sighing.]

Sorry, I don't know how else to describe it, other than I think it would be impossible.

[mace_pray_love]

[This girl may be even less uncertain of herself than Jess's friend Mia. It just won't do!

Jessica digs a scrap of paper that she balled up earlier out of her pocket. 'A reliable boyfriend' it reads. She smooths it out and hangs it up.]

See, nothing wrong with an impossible wish. If you can't be a little greedy in what you want to achieve, you're just gonna keep standing still.

[She reaches for another strip of paper and winks at the girl.]

What else should I wish for? Delicious food served on silver platters at the cafeteria? Ooh, I could be Queen of Neo Toyko!

[Compared to that, whatever her new friend is wishing for has gotten seem way less greedy, right?]

[asagami]

[Her mouth opens partway in surprise, looking over at that first wish, and then to Jessica. Those still sound like normal, compared to her own. Heck, even a small part in the back of her mind is mired in a bit of cynicism.

And yet...an indescribable, warm and light-hearted feeling begins to bloom in Fujino as her mouth curves into a small smile and she chuckles softly.]

If you go with Neo Tokyo, it'd simply be too small. [And just as well, she also reaches for a second strip.] How about "Queen of the Stars"?

2-2A

[soft_shelled]

[Little Fujino is going to find someone else nearby when she's making her goldfish catching attempts, although the young turtle in an oversized hoodie with the hood up has been watching while trying to not draw attention to himself but... Watching this girl try and fail makes him have to speak up.]

M'pretty sure it's rigged so you can't win.

[asagami]

[She looks up in surprise- or well, the barest hints of it. Which really isn't much, so she only comes off looking pretty blank.]

Huh? But, I've seen others get them...

[Very few, but still!]

You really think they're cheating?

[soft_shelled]

I mean, that's how it works with games like this back home?

[Talking like an expert, when this is his first time ever being at something like this. His knowledge is from TV shows, at best.]

And they gotta let some folks win sometimes, or else they can get in trouble.

[asagami]

So, they're both cheating and not cheating.

[Despite her nonchalant hum, she does take it to consideration. What with her staring at the tank, then to Little Donnie, back to the fish, and then turning her gaze to him again.]

What about games that don't cheat? Have you seen any here?

[soft_shelled]

[He's got his hood up, to hide his turtleness, and his hands in the hoodie pocket but also like. Not wearing pants, but turtle so why would he need them? So his green legs and two toed feet are visible. He tilts his head at her question.]

Dunno, they're too crowded for me.

01.

[eyescar]

There's no such thing!

[ Yuji, the master of it all, says so, therefore he must be right! ]

A wish is a wish, and they're for ourselves, aren't they? So they can be as selfish as you want them to be.

[asagami]

[Her shoulders jolt. Woah, where'd he come from?!]

Yes, but- [She fidgets, her fingers creasing and twisting the corners of the paper just a tad.] It's my first time doing so, for myself...

[eyescar]

[ He is like magic. ]

Then why not give it your all, especially for the first time? You could wish for a million KRYPTOS!

[asagami]

[Cracks a small smile...the thought sounds too ridiculous, she can't help but chuckle softly.]

Hmm. In that case, I'll wish for a billion KRYPTOS.

[jk jk, what kind of person would even want that much money? It's too much!]

[eyescar]

Sure, go ahead!

[ Toji. Toji would wish for that. ]

1

[lostdestiny]

[ Another teenager at the wishing station, tapping a pen on the nearest flat surface instead of getting around to wishing and looking like he's dredging how this works up from another life. ]

Doesn't matter. It's not like just wishing will make it happen.

[ Said matter-of-factly, not disparagingly -- actually, it's even a little upbeat, because putting work into a wish can make it happen. Probably. Maybe? Well, maybe with enough work.... ]

[asagami]

[She doesn't full turn her gaze towards him. Not just yet, though she does nod her head and sigh in agreement.]

True. Technically, it might be done with effort and hard work too...

[Some of it, at least.]

Then again, what if it's basically impossible?

[lostdestiny]

Then do "effort and hard work" anyway until it works.

[ He's still upbeat and confident, but he squints and frowns as the word impossible snags on his attention, and he adds, a bit tentatively, like he's not sure how seriously to take this part-- ]

Or find an old man who goes around saying that he "makes the impossible possible."

[asagami]

[Is he trying to make a joke? Kinda sounds like it, to her.]

I see. So in other words- an all powerful magical vampire overlord.

[So very unserious! But, she may as well roll along with the punches.]

[lostdestiny]

More like he doesn't die when --

[ Wait. Shinn's face screws up in a moment of concern and confusion. If someone is repeatedly in situations where they should have died, but somehow always survives, does that make them a vampire? A year ago, Shinn would have called the prospect of vampires at home bullshit, but then Compass got jumped by a gang of shitty teenage space psychics. And although he's pretty sure that vampires and light generally don't mix, he feels compelled to ask, just to be completely sure: ]

What happens if a vampire gets hit with a laser?

[ This is serious concern. ]

Delivery bunnies!

[21towin]

[Look, Archer was not expecting to suddenly be approached by a cute rabbit baring a bento lunch. And, in truth, he's a little suspicious of the adorable rodent and its gift. Where did it come from? Why is it giving him that food?

Is there something going on here that he's missing?

The servant is all smiles, of course, but he can't hide the small amount of suspicion in his eyes.]

Hm? Well, what do we got here?

[asagami]

[She's been following this one for a while, so it takes her a bit for her to realize the bunny has actually stopped somewhere when she hears that question; the rush of her footsteps come to a halt, just short of almost crashing right into it.

With a slow glance, she peers up at Billy. Her face is blank, but there's the bare hint of an apologetic look through the stiffness.]

Sorry, I just wanted to pet it...

[21towin]

[Oh! There's another, tiny small now! The servants attention turns from the rabbit to the girl.]

Ain't no need for ya to apologize!

[He's still all smiles, though just a little softer now, as he quickly picks the bunny up before it can scurry away after its delivery.]

This one yours?