Consort Jing, Lin Xinyao [林訢瑤] (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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acatalepsy_logs2018-07-07 09:37 pm
tranquilforest) wrote in acatalepsy_logs2018-07-07 09:37 pm
Entry tags:
- atla: katara,
- baccano!: firo prochainezo,
- bang dream: aya maruyama,
- detroit: become human: connor,
- ensemble stars: leo tsukinaga,
- final fantasy xiv: alphinaud leveilleur,
- final fantasy xiv: arenvald lentinus,
- final fantasy xv: ignis scientia,
- fire emblem: robin,
- fullmetal alchemist: alphonse elric,
- fullmetal alchemist: maes hughes,
- homestuck: dave strider,
- jinba: konoha,
- log horizon: soujirou seta,
- marvel 616: lorna dane,
- mcu: steve rogers,
- nirvana in fire: consort jing,
- nirvana in fire: mu nihuang,
- original character: daylight vis lornlit,
- original character: eliza aberdeen,
- original character: geir,
- original character: vern,
- overwatch: angela ziegler,
- persona 3: minako arisato,
- persona 5: akira kurusu,
- persona 5: ann takamaki,
- supergirl: winn schott,
- tales of zestiria: mikleo,
- tokyo xanadu: kou tokisaka,
- tokyo xanadu: rion kugayama,
- voltron: keith kogane,
- voltron: takashi "shiro" shirogane,
- wooden overcoats: antigone funn
SUMMER FESTIVAL: TEMPLE OF BEGINNINGS
It’s something like summer here at the Temple of Beginnings, or close enough to it. The weather’s been rainy and hazy for the past little while, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find some way to enjoy ourselves, right?
The day dawns cloudy and drizzly, but people seem determined to carry on anyway. The space slowly takes recognizable shape as a festival, even if a small one. There are tents set up outside, some of which are transformed into game opportunities, complete with prizes (some of an...interesting nature), surprisingly sophisticated target shooting games, ring toss, and other activities of skill and chance. A few more become stations for the food and drink that had been prepared, and the rest consist of chairs under canopies for people to sit and talk in case the rain continues.
Luckily, as the day goes on, the rain stops and the clouds move on, until the blue of the sky is visible once again. By early afternoon, there are only a few scattered clouds still remaining, and it seems likely that the weather will hold true for the evening. Strings of paper lanterns and other decorations are brought out and hung between the different stalls, around the makeshift stage, and placed at the tables. Some pots of bamboo are brought out and set in two clusters at either end of the line of tents. Each cluster has a corresponding table with strips of colorful paper and pens laid out carefully on a table and weighted down with rocks to prevent them from flying off.
A handful of figures come out and inspect the set-up, focusing especially on a shallow ditch that had been dug earlier, now drained and lined with weighted down tarp and rocks, running parallel to the tents and curving to end abruptly just beyond the fire pit and the stage at both ends. After some discussion between them, there is a flash of flame, as though something were burning, and then the strangest thing happens. The ditch fills with fresh, clear water. Even after a few hours, the water doesn't drain away or grow stagnant, still flowing somehow despite having nowhere to come from or go to.
The sunset that day is a brilliant, auspicious red, and evening sets in with a cooling breeze refreshing everyone outside. As the first stars appear, the lanterns are set alight, the music starts, and the first performer steps out onto the stage, surrounded by floating light.
SUMMER FESTIVAL
Welcome to the summer(ish) festival for Astoria’s Circle! We hope you have a wonderful time.
Layout
Even from the buildings that are actually being lived in, the lights of the festival are visible. If you strain your ears just a bit, you may even hear some music being played in the distance, muffled by the stone walls. Why don’t you come join in?
Once arriving at the festival itself, you may be struck first by how bright it is. Light seems to be a theme, from the bonfire set up in one of the firepits closest to the rest of the complex, the lanterns strung up between the tents and stalls that are set up in a line leading from the other buildings towards the gated sparring area that you may already have availed yourself of. Just in front of that area is a makeshift stage, little more than a raised platform of wood and stone, also lit up well by additional lanterns.
Opposite the tents is the river.
It might not seem that exciting at first. It’s hardly a river, really, just a shallow trench of water about seven feet wide and one foot deep, lined with rocks along the bank closest to the tents, stretching in a not quite parallel path opposite the stalls and tents that have been set up, beginning at the stage and ending near the bonfire. The water is crystal clear and clean, and murmurs as if it is flowing from some unseen source, but it’s not clear where it is coming from at all. As the night goes on, and more people take the opportunity to make floating paper lanterns at the station located close by, the little stream itself lights up, the water reflecting the lights, and just beyond, the stars in the sky.
Sign-in
While definitely not mandatory, in the direct path from the living quarters to the festival itself, there’s a table set up with sheets of paper and writing utensils where you can sign-in. Let us know (ICly!) who you are. Maybe add a fun fact about yourself. Or draw doodles all over the pages. Whatever floats your boat.
Wishes
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As is traditional in the home countries of some members of the Circle, there are some bamboo trees in pots set up on either side of the little river, and tables close by with colored strips on loops of string and pens. Write down a wish, or anything you’d like, really, and hang it from the bamboo. Or, browse the bamboo yourself and see if you find anything interesting. Later on after midnight, they’ll be burned for luck!
Games
You’ll find the usual games in the various stalls, some with a decidedly cobbled together look, using what materials were available at the temple, and some with a little more sophistication, thanks to the particular gifts of those within the Circle. Try your hand at shooting a target, a game of chance, or take over a stall yourself and introduce your fellow Circle members to something you used to play at home. There may or may not be prizes involved, depending on which stall you find yourself at.
Food
You’ll find your usual fair fare, though with a decidedly cosmopolitan flair. The foods themselves are somewhat limited by what was easily obtainable within the Temple itself (or improvised), and some Circle members may have contributed decidedly experimental dishes. It really is a potluck, so take a look and see what interests you! Strike up a conversation with your fellow diners as you pick up your food and then find a table to sit at, but keep in mind that most of these are home made by others here, so the cook may be close by, listening…
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What’s a festival without any entertainment? In addition to the music being played on speakers in the background by our very capable DJ, there is also a stage where you can show off your gifts. In addition to singing or other traditional performances, this is an opportunity to demonstrate any interesting abilities or gifts you might have, including new ones you may have gained upon arriving at the Temple! There is an additional sign-up sheet near the stage, so write your name down and what you plan to perform, and we look forward to seeing what you can do.
Bonfire
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It’s a really big fire. Enough said (hopefully). Sit and relax, or chat with those around you. If you’re lucky, there may even be some additional entertainment. At a little after midnight, the bamboo bearing the wishes will be burned here and the festival closed for the night.
Lanterns
If you’d like to give it a try, there’s a small station set up where you can make your own lantern out of paper! You can choose from one that floats in the air or on the water (or both, no one’s policing this). Make your own design, and let it fly aloft or float on the water with the other lanterns, chat with others who are working, or just settle down by the water and watch the lanterns and the stars.
**If your character (even if you were just accepted!) would like to participate in the set-up for the impromptu festival at any point, or just wander around and ask what’s going on, please feel free! All the set-up would have been occurring in the space between the TDM and this post. If your character would like to handwave having helped set up, this post is also an option!
(( Set Up: Outdoors ✧ Set Up: Indoors ✧ Sign-In ✧ Bamboo Wishes ✧ Games ✧ Food ✧ Tables ✧ Performances ✧ Bonfire ✧ Lanterns ✧ Clean-Up ✧ or your own!))
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Enjoying the peace and quiet?
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[He stretches a little, eyes on the people wandering the festival in various states of excited (or not).]
... It's peaceful. And it's good to see everyone having a good time, even the new suckers who got dragged into this mess.
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. . . they have no idea what waits ahead of them, do they?
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[Oh... oh well?]
It's one thing for us to tell them they've gonna end up in a new world soon, and another for them to experience it, you know?
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[they'll learn]
Yeah.
[it's one thing to be told you're going to visit a new world, and something else entirely to get caught up in said world's political strife]
We'll walk them through it, though.
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[Did they learn things? Sure. Will they be useful in the next world...? Very, very hard to say.]
We'll do our best, I guess.
[He still feels a little down in the dumps about El Minha, though--even now, he can't say what they did was right, or that it was fair that they left when they did.]
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You don't sound so sure about that.
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Can you tell me you're 100% okay with how we left things there? Knowing that that was peoples' home, and their lives that we were messing with?
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What would you have done differently?
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[Kou admits that easily, frowning.]
That's why... I don't feel like I've learned enough from the experience. I don't know what I would've done better, if I could try again.
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We left the city in the hands of its rightful king. A king who cares about his people, and who wants to make up for his old man's mistakes.
It wasn't perfect. But I don't know what else we could have done. [. . .] And maybe it was the best we could do.
[it's just, sometimes your best solution isn't a perfect solution]
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[He can't deny that. They did... better than they could've. They didn't totally destroy the place, and it was already in dire straits when they stepped in.
But.
But.]
But I'm not really satisfied with "the best we can do" when we're going as far as meddling in other peoples' lives from out of nowhere.
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[Akira's mouth curves upwards]
That's not a bad thing.
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[He can't say that he's that surprised about that, either... honestly...
It's very protag of them both.]
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[always strive for more than just a mediocre ending, right?]
And I agree that we don't exactly have the right to storm into other worlds and assume that we know what's best for them, too.
. . . but no matter what, I'm going to help where I can, however I can.
[and it's as simple as that]
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You make it sound so simple, but... I guess it could be as easy as that.
[If they don't overcomplicate it...]
Well. [He shrugs, and stretches a little.]
As long as I'm here, I'm gonna do my best too. Just sitting back and doing nothing wouldn't feel right either, after all. So... I'm with you on that one.
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The good thing about it is that helping doesn't always mean involving ourselves in complicated political pissing contests.
[aha]
Sometimes, all you have to do is extend a hand and help a single person back onto their feet.
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You're right about that.
[He'll always help whoever he can in that way... it's a curse.]
Maybe someone who's new here will have some sweeping ideas for how to organize things, and I can stick to the basics, like helping people with their minor issues and errands.
[He's (probably) joking.]
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. . . lazy. . .
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[QUITE FRANKLY.
He's.
Well, he just ends up diving in anyway no matter what he says, but he'd like to pretend he's not interested.]
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[yeah, Akira's got your number, Kou. he knows how you are!1 HE'S SEEN IT]
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[Sans for the fact that he's constantly pretending that he's tired when he's helping people, but that's just because he's a little tsun in his own way.]
I think I can be honest with myself.
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[doubt.png]
I think most of your complaining is just for show.
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Oi.
Don't start pretending like I'm some sort of sentimental bleeding heart.
[Because that's exactly what he is.]
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[do you have an image to maintain, Kou]
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