Tanabata in Kabuki Street July 6!

[Eri Maeda]

Kabuki Street is honored to welcome guests back to its favorite summer festival, the Tanabata Matsuri to be celebrated Saturday July 6th. The party planning committee and the various businesses of the neighborhood have been busy decorating and preparing for the past week. Tanabata celebrates the legend of the yearly meeting of Orihime and Hikoboshi in the heavens, lovers who for the rest of the year are separated by the river of stars.



Regardless if the stars that the festival honors can be seen, sukeban Eri Maeda has hired the same popular Swiss pyrotechnics experts that put on last year's festival show to ensure a spectacle in the night sky over the harbor in Dockside.



Zama Shrine has promised the finest parade yet in the history of the festival!



The block surrounding the shrine will host the usual favorite game booths and food stalls serving all the festival favorites will be plentiful throughout the neighborhood.




ooc note: ((Live event in #city-square on Saturday the 6th at 9 pm ET! Feel free to use this thread to post outfits and your character’s participation in the festival!))

[Mallory]

Tanabata Facts!



While not required, many people enjoy dressing up for festivals like Tanabata. The yukata is the preferred garment for summer festivals, and every year Kabuki Street turns into a sea of people in brightly colored and patterned fabric, moving along on wooden sandals. Yukata can be bought many places in RhyDin, but they can be reliably found on Kabuki Street -- especially right before a festival this big!



Takoyaki is a delicious street food popular on Kabuki Street, especially during Tanabata! Battered balls of minced octopus are covered in the signature takoyaki sauce and served in a boat. Other popular foods include yakitori chicken skewers, okonomiyaki savory pancakes, and yakisoba stir-fry --



-- as well as left over watermelon from suikawari! Competitors are given a stick and blindfolded, spun around three times, and sent (ideally!) in the direction of a ripened watermelon laid out on a piece of cardboard. Other, less messy games include goldfish and toy scooping, water gun shooting, and ring toss.



Last but not least, Kabuki Street itself, the site of festival and territory of its eponymous rengou-kai, or delinquent gang! Located in the northeast part of the Dockside district, Kabuki Street is known for being a busy thoroughfare that is brightly and garishly lit -- and that goes double on Tanabata! Streamers and other paper decorations dangle over the nine blocks of Kabuki Street itself, adding to the bright and colorful atmosphere.

[Eden Parker]

Eden is excited to attend the Tanabata Matsuri in Kabuki Street. Although she saw many beautiful yukata in Kabuki Street the days leading up to the festival, she wasn't eager to destroy the elegant fabrics by working a panel in for her wings. So instead, she selected a dress featuring koi fish, a motif she had admired in many of the yukata patterns, with her wings easily fitted over the low back.

With her outfit all lined up, Eden is getting down to the business of coordinating a little challenge-settling-action at the festival!

[Mallory]

After a nudge from a few girls in the rengou-kai not to drag her feet like last year, Mallory had gone out nearly a month ago to find a fitting yukata. Last year’s boutique was carrying styles that were all too conservative for the witch, and after comments from the owner about “drawing the eye away from those horns” and “covering up those tattoos,” she set out to find someone different.

Using that specific word led her to Bungee Maximum, ex punk guitarist and up and coming Tokyo fashion designer — that is, until she’d fatally run over her boss with a Vespa. The outlaw designer found something to go with Mal’s sense of style, an otherwise traditional yukata with a bold pattern that complemented her horns and ink.

[Eri Maeda]

Eri took some time to decide, but finally made up her mind when she saw a yukata that emphasized the summery theme she wanted.

[Claire Gallows]

It wasn't quite traditional but Claire figured that could be forgiven considering the Dockside challenge later that evening.


The shoes came off for the fight though. Nobody wants a broken ankle.

[Bailey Raptis]

Bailey's Saturday was not a day of rest and relaxation. It started with a morning spent putting the finishing touches on a wedding dress for a scarlet-skinned tiefling while trying to both soothe her frazzled nerves and unruffle her feathers about everything else that had gone wrong with the wedding planning. After that, Bailey rushed over to Black Magic Burger to work a rare afternoon shift. Between those hours and a wedding reception with Mason's catering company later that night, Bailey only had an hour or so to spend at Tanabata. And even that wasn't entirely a break. He spent much of his time wandering through the Kabuki Street neighborhood, scouting out various commercial districts and staring rather intently at empty store fronts with "For Lease" signs in the windows. Still, he dressed up in appropriate attire for the celebration, and even grabbed some takoyaki to fuel his long, long day.

[JewellRavenlock]

Jewell and Ishmerai made an appearance together at the festival. He ate enough takoyaki to make a normal person sick because it reminded him of something they used to eat at home. She preferred yakitori and the okonomiyaki. At some point during the evening, he won her goldfish, which she proudly showed off to everyone before releasing into the harbor so "it [could] live a better life."

They got a plate of yakisoba and found someplace to watch the fireworks together.





She also had him carry around a cat they found until the owner could be located!

[Sapphire Ravenlock]

No way was Sapphire going to miss one of her favorite holidays with the crew from Kabuki!

She skipped the traditional yukata, but she took part in several others traditions including writing wishes on tanzaku paper and pinning it to a piece of bamboo and eating lots of yummy street food!

The blue-haired wonder also kept an eye out for anyone who maybe wanted to recreate the yearly meeting of Orihime and Hikoboshi with her.

[Hana Sasaki]

Hana kept about the Zama Shrine throughout the night. Fortune telling, along with fun and games, were something she had to help oversee. Of course, this didn't mean she'd go without eating.. Because there's lots, and lots of food to be had during the festivities. So whenever she had a free moment she could be seen sipping back beer from a vending machine or eating one of the many varieties of festival foods.

[Riho Matsuda]

Riho was watchful of any sign of invasion or trouble, but mainly enjoyed Suza's company and the food. She was especially keen on the left over watermelon from the suikawari contests. She persistently tried until she won goldfish for Suza.

[Runt]

Mallory had spent the past few weeks preparing Runt for "TAN-BATA". She explained the festival to him, how there would be lots of people but also lots of food and meat. The witch also took measurements so she could surprise him with new clothing for the festival.

At first, he was confused. "RUNT 'AVE ROBES FROM 'UN-JARL. WHY NEED MORE ROBES?"

“Yeah, I know. But this is a big Clan Kabuki day, and these are Clan Kabuki robes. Now hold this tape under your arm and hold still.”

Then he became intrigued. "WHAT DOES DIS DAY CELEBRATE? GREAT 'UNT?"

When she told him the legend of the yearly meeting of Orihime and Hikoboshi in the heavens he listened with rapt attention. "IS GOOD, DIS LEGEND OF CLAN KABOOKI." He wondered if it was honored in the stars such as the stories from his clan.

Mallory also made sure to warn Runt about the fireworks. He was intrigued about this technology that boomed like thunder and shone like lightning. What she spent the most time explaining was the shrine. She made it very clear that he didn't have to go, but if he does, it is the goddess Tsukuyomi’s house, and he would need to show respect. "Enter to one side of the gate, rinse your hands in the trough, clap twice and bow your head before the shrine, offer a few coins."

"DOES MAAL-REE CLAN WORSHIP SOK-YO-MI?"

“Yes. I have a lot to be grateful to her for, so I honor her when I can, and keep a shrine in my house.”

"WHAT IF RUNT NOT 'AVE COIN?" He wasn't getting paid right now, he was working off a debt from his two no-shows to the cage fights. Something that never occurred to him to tell Mallory.

Mal sighed, then dug out twenty silver for him to keep in his kinchaku pouch. “Two are for Tsukuyomi. The rest are for food, games, whatever you want.”

The day of the festival Mallory surprised him with a black yukata. Although she pointed out the waves, Runt insisted they were clouds like the ones at the top of the KVIT FJELLS. The wooden geta took some practice, and Mallory had to hide more than one snicker as Runt wore footwear for the first time in his life. Getting him dressed in the yukata and geta was perhaps one of the most entertaining (for her) and embarrassing (for him) moments of their growing friendship.





((Thanks to Mallory's player for their contributions!))

[Ebon Ilnaren]

In keeping with his usual dress sense, Ebon wore a yukata of black with white highlights, as a sash (not shown) of white around his waist.

[Suzaku]

Wearing a yukata had been a first for her, but Riho was adamant on having her join the festivities of the night in full style. At the end of the night, once the fireworks were over, the goldfish Riho had won her would have to make due with a jar as its home until she's able to shop for a small fishbowl.

[Reiko Souma]

One of the few who was clueless about any festival happening tonight, this one in particular, was Reiko. Need a yukata? No problem! She was able to find a shop that wasn't completely sold out of yukata; this white one with pink and black flowers adorning it, along with a pink obi sash which matched her bubblegum pink hair, caught her eye quickly. The geta? They were the traditional design with a black strap.

Now Reiko was ready.

*Image in link as "this."