Tana-baa-ta

[survivaltricks]

WHO: everyone!
WHERE: the pasture
WHEN: day 22, all day

[the morning of day 22 begins with a light drizzle, as has been typical for the past few days. but despite the damp weather, a playlist of music also echoes across the pasture, luring you towards the center!]

[there, you will find that someone has planted a large bamboo tree, which is surrounded by wooden tables that are covered with colorful slips of paper and pens. a colorful sign, decorated with random doodles of stars, clouds, suns, and other fun shapes, contains a set of instructions:]

WELCOME TO TANABATA!

WRITE A WISH ON A PIECE OF PAPER AND TIE IT TO THE BAMBOO TREE.

HAVE FUN!

[the music and the bamboo wishing tree are a great start to the festival, but other people have been hard at work to make this a day to remember, right?]

[it's time to celebrate Tana-baa-ta!]

((FEEL FREE TO MAKE YOUR OWN TOP LEVELS IN THIS POST AS WELL! I made a few to get things going, but you should all run wild and free and thread to your heart's content ♥))

Comments

[wants_the_phd]

[her? LOL? LMAO, EVEN! Laughing internally at the thought (but not externally, unlike SOME people)]

And what could I do, even if I were? I have no magic powers, no weapons, no combat experience, no height or strength to speak of; I'm surrounded by monsters who can explode people with their minds or turn people to sand. And even if I did arrest someone, then what? What laws could I enforce? What authority could I appeal to? What facility could I contain them in? And how could I protect myself from retaliation after that, when I don't even have food security or a safe place to sleep?!

[did I say laughing, i meant despairing hysterically]

[featherduster]

[ holy SHIT dude ]

Oh, uh.

You're bottling up a lot right now, I see.

[ . . . ]

Y'want a drink?

[wants_the_phd]

[oh right they're still at tanabaata.]

Is there anything good?

[featherduster]

Blueberry wine?

[wants_the_phd]

Never tried it.

[featherduster]

First time for everything! Follow me.

[ TO BLUEBELL.

WE'RE GOING TO DRINK AND UNPACK SO MUCH OF THAT ]

[wants_the_phd]

[??]

[oh. okay. she follows, why not]

[featherduster]

[ The drawbridge lowers when they approach, letting them into Bluebell. There's a deeply disturbing couch but otherwise seems pretty normal.

He goes to bottle up some of the blueberry wine, handing her a glass. ]

Cheers.

[wants_the_phd]

Thanks.

[She takes the glass, sniffing the air to try to tell what's in it. She can smell the berries, and the fermentation thereof. ...She's not sure about this, though.]

[She holds the glass politely, but does not drink]

[featherduster]

[ Suit urself buddy. He's chugging HIS glass though. ]

[wants_the_phd]

...




[She has... a tiny sip]

[featherduster]

[ IT TASTES LIKE................. blueberry wine

He flops onto the cursed couch, casual ]

They're not monsters, y'know. The people here.

Most of 'em have been unfailingly kind, actually.

[wants_the_phd]

[Baby's first alcohol. Maybe just one sip is enough for now.]

...Yeah?

How so?

[featherduster]

Well, as an example . . .

Our first week here, my entire flock died. [*]

[ * Committed ritual suicide to bargain with Death ]

Lily rushed to come rescue us, entering death's domain to drag us out, even if it meant risking themselves. Aside from myself and a friend from home, none of us knew each other much at all. But . . . they still did it.

A lot of people here are like that. If they can help, they will.

[wants_the_phd]

Yeah, I've heard how helpful it can be to have friends from home here.

Apparently my entire flock died in a ritual specifically because nobody had any friends on our team, so they were expendable.

[featherduster]

The stupid demon decided that via coin flip, actually.


Not that it doesn't suck.

[wants_the_phd]

I saw a memory of that event in the fountain. Best Boobs did his best to throw Rose under the bus because he didn't like the shepherd at the time or whatever. But now I guess someone's friend from home is on our team now so it's less likely to happen. ...Or something.

Guess we'll find out, huh?

[featherduster]

. . . Who's Best Boobs . . .



Wait. It's Tart, isn't it.

[wants_the_phd]

If Tart is the Daffodil shepherd then yes.

[featherduster]

Yeah, he and Madam President had some kind of thing going on. I dunno. I thought they were both insane at the time.

I wanna believe we're all better than that now.

[wants_the_phd]

What do you think changed since then?

[featherduster]

Understanding.

We're not adversaries just because we sleep in separate barns.

[wants_the_phd]

[man, it's not the people in the OTHER barns she's most afraid of.]

So what you're saying is that I shouldn't worry about how dangerous anyone may or may not be, because none of them have any reason to want to do me any harm.

[featherduster]

[ ROSE ARE YOU OKAY???? ]

Something like that. Only one I can think of who would've hurt people for no reason isn't around anymore.

[wants_the_phd]

[I don't know about the rest of rose, but azdaja is rose, and azdaja is not okay, so therefore,]

Is that the guy who lit some kid on fire?