Action | Thursday 8/4

[singlelogbridge]

[On Thursday August fourth, anyone who wanders into the mess hall will find a large platter filled with thin deep fried pastries on one of the tables. The pastries consist of oil, flour, sugar and honey, and have been carefully molded into very simplified flower shapes. There are several dozen stacked on the large platter and they’re accompanied by a handwritten note with the following:]

Once a very long time ago, there was a boy named Niulang, a simple mortal cowherd, and a weaver girl named Zhinhu who was the daughter of a powerful immortal goddess. Uncaring of their differences, Zhinhu and Niulang fell in love. Zhinhu and Niulang married and had children together, and they lived happily until Zhinhu’s goddess mother found out that her daughter had married a mere mortal.

When Zhinhu’s mother found out, she took Zhinhu back to the heavens with her and cast a river of stars into the sky to separate the heavens and earth to keep the lovers apart. Unknown to Zhinhu’s mother though, the magpies had seen the love between Zhinhu and Niulang and they took pity on the lovers, using their own bodies to form a bridge across the river to allow them to cross.

After seeing what the magpies had done for them, even Zhinhu’s mother was moved by their love, and so Zhinhu and Niulang were allowed to meet on that bridge. Since that day, the lovers have met on that magpie bridge once every year on this day.

It’s said that eating qiaoguo brings luck to the couple and helps them to reunite, so please enjoy these and think of Zhinhu and Niulang.

[The note is not signed, but the contents of the message can certainly only be from a handful of people. Anyone who had spent any amount of time in the kitchen the day before will have seen Wei Wuxian, Itachi, and Gwen in there for hours, mixing dough, carefully pushing it into various shapes, and pulling things in and out of the oven. A select few might even recognize the traditional Qixi pastry and know what it’s all about without being told. Anyone is welcome to help themselves!

Wei Wuxian will be coming and going from the mess hall all day, peeking in to see if people are enjoying the pastries, but also feel free to threadjack or mingle over pastries!]

Comments

hoshimatsuri;

[blackfire]

TANZAKU

（ there is a mysterious addendum in the sunlight room — a bamboo tree now grows in the middle of a small island, with a beautiful wooden footpath from shore to shore for ease of access.

beside the bamboo tree, there is a small table with various items set out. coloured strips of paper (red, blue, yellow, white and black, each representing an element and particular type of wish) with a hole punched through one end and pieces of string elegantly tied. a series of pens and pencils are likewise there stored neatly on a little tray. there are instructions written in a precise, elegant script as follows — ）

This is a wish tree.

Please write a wish on a strip of paper and tie it to a branch. You may sign it or leave it anonymous. This is for the Star Festival known to Japan. If you are curious to acquaint yourself with a cultural variant, there is an additional celebratory tradition in the kitchens for Qixi.

The wishes will be burnt the night of August 4^th. The smoke carries the wish to the stars.

（ ooc: reply to this comment with the colour chosen in your header, and the wish in the main comment! remember to specify if it's signed or anonymous. you never know who might be reading them... perhaps some wishes can even be filled by the other members of the crew! feel free to write it as a mingle top-level or a stand-alone wish! ）

RED

[construing]

I wish my dad is safe and recovering.

〈 and a second, tied elsewhere and written in the same hand: 〉

Peter Parker—
Loving you was red.

〈 both are unsigned. 〉

YELLOW

[construing]

That we Three Stooges have many adventures together yet.

〈 it goes unsigned as well. the ones who know, know. 〉

YELLOW

[homeostatic]

I hope you made it home safe.

( Tied elsewhere, two more in the same neat script, all left unsigned: )

Please let their heart heal.

That we may enjoy the time we have left together.

BLACK

[homeostatic]

Let me find the answers I'm searching for, if I'm meant to have them.

( Tied with it is another, also unsigned. )

Give me the wisdom to know when to give up.

YELLOW

[attackbrows]

Oh, cursed fate.
Rose the dear object of my relate.

Light and radiance are the sunbeam,
A half smile put in a dream.

[ it's left tied and unsigned. ]

BLUE (yea yea i know) + YELLOW

[firstroar]

I wish to carry all I have been given with me
To wherever it is I am to go next


I wish not to be forgotten when I am gone

[unsigned]

WHITE + BLUE + YELLOW(x4)

[hatejakku]

I wish for my home to finally know peace.

[ And a blue one next to it: ]

Allow me to be better, to know the answers, to not fail.

[ And a few yellows around that: ]

So that we all know better lives with happiness and no regret.

For him to know he's never alone.
Let him find him again.

Give him strength to continue and knowledge of the strength he already has.

[ And one more yellow tucked into the back, like it was put there first but almost hidden, private: ]

Please, let him have a happy life. Let him always be safe and loved.

[ All unsigned. ]

WHITE + YELLOW

[aurable]

WHITE

Let me keep the clinic running. Even though you're gone, the lights will remain on for those who need them.

YELLOW

Thank you for staying with me that night. I wish you the courage to face whatever you're running from.

[ anonymous save for the signature 'D' ]

red

[callada]

I wish I could say I'm sorry.

I hope you'll find room in your heart to forgive me.

(unsigned, but hung fairly high)

BLUE + WHITE

[cruelyethuman]

Let this end soon

[And a second piece of paper, tied to a different branch. Different handwriting, but the same knot tying it to the tree]

Let this last until the end of all things. let this hurt forever.

[Both unsigned]

whites & yellows

[coordination]

[ All short and unsigned, hung in various places. ]

To succeed in this.

For us to succeed.

That I can save them.

To remember this.

To create the path I envision.

That this works.

Rosinante | OTA

[callada]

mess hall

[What's all this? Rosinante is passing through to get a cup of coffee when he spots the pastries and note. He pauses to read, then smiles a little and then debates with himself whether he wants to eat one. The sentiment is cute, but he's not really one for baked goods, normally, though these are probably less offensive than, say, bread.]

Kinda cute. I wondered what they were all working on. Have you had one yet?

sunlight room

[And another mysterious cultural tradition appears. Making wishes and hanging them from branches isn't new to him though, he's seen variants like this before. It's sweet.

When he goes to grab a pen, though, he somehow knocks the whole container over, and dozens of them go rolling off into the grass, with one or two even escaping into the creek. Whoops.]

Sorry, didn't mean to bother you. Did you need one?

[He asks while crouched down, picking them up, and holds one out.]

mess hall

[legalcy]

No.

[The robot sadly considers the organic baked goods.]

I can't taste it as a holomatter avatar, either. It...well, it's unfortunate that I have to wait to be transformed into an organic creature to appreciate your kind of food. [He wants to say "it sucks", to quote his late friend Verity, but that sort of crass language does not belong in a party.] But it's alright - I can cook something small for the Cybertronians.

[callada]

[That is... a whole lot of words he has no context for. Now, Rosinante has seen these giant robots around for a while, because who hasn't? They're not exactly subtle. But, busy with other things, he hadn't really been able to talk to any of them personally just yet. It's a crime, really. But after a brief second or two of looking pretty baffled by the explanation, he brightens.]

I'd wondered. I don't really know enough about robots, I'll admit. You guys are robots, right?

[It's the word he knows, but there was also another word floating around for a while with some of the earlier residents. Droid. He never quite got the distinction.]

[legalcy]

Cybertronians. "Robot"...can come off as an insult to the more sensitive of our kind. [Humans just use that as a catchall term for mechanical beings that move on their own, sentient or not. Minimus now knows they do not mean to be species-ist.] We do eat food in the form of fuel and metal.

[He hasn't met this man yet, so introductions are necessary.]

Minimus Ambus.

Sunlight room

[singlelogbridge]

[He'd seen Rosinante the moment he'd walked in so he doesn't startle at the sudden crash, but he does bend to help him gather up the pens, kicking off his boots and easily wading into the creek to chase after those that have rolled that way.]

Don't worry about it! And I don't need one, I've already done mine. [He shoots him a friendly smile. In truth, he hasn't put one up yet because every time he tries to fill one out, his heart seizes in his chest and he can't bring himself to get past the guilt, but he has a few slips of paper tucked into his robes that he's debating filling out and bringing back later.]

It's beautiful, isn't it? Is the practice at all familiar to you?

[callada]

[That's a relief, then. He manages to pick himself up once the pens are settled back in their container, and then rubs a little at a sore knee.]

Sort of. I've seen similar things on some islands, people hanging wishes or thanks on trees. Or handmade decorations. I like this version, though. It feels meaningful.

[singlelogbridge]

It's new to me, but I can see why it's popular. Where I'm from, we sometimes wish on lanterns that we release into the sky. [He grins at the memory and chuckles as he takes in the Sunlight Room.]

Unfortunately, I don't think something like that would work here, and even if we could release them out into the darkness around the ship, what lantern could compare to the light of the stars?

[He laughs again and shakes his head.] It's strange don't you think, that despite being from different worlds, some of our celebrations overlap? The Star festival for some, but it's Qixi where I'm from.

( ota ) — ;

[attackbrows]

[ Besides the usual bustling around the mess hall, the Doctor paid little mind to who was crafting what. It wasn’t until later that day that he makes his round back inside to find the pastries resting on top.

The shapes of the pastries ring familiar to him. The thing about living within a multi-universal station is that sometimes you risk jumbling your holidays with the others. He picks up the note to read.

Ah, there it is…

He takes a moment to observe the pastry delicately between his fingers. Almost as if he were holding onto a precious piece of art. ]

[construing]

Hey.

〈 gwen snags a pastry for herself. did she spent all day yesterday test-tasting (eating) these? yes. is she still eating them? of course.

noting the particular attention the doctor is giving his pastry, her mouth quirks in a little smile. 〉

Thinking of anyone?

[attackbrows]

When am I not?

[ He replies. The cadence in his tone ripples in sincerity, with his lips pulling into a tiny smirk of his own. ]

When you get to be my age, your memories linger much further, like an everlasting merry-go-round.

[construing]

I don't know. You ever take trauma memories for a spin? Less merry-go-round, more "out of control tilt-a-whirl with no exit plan."

〈 the day she stops cracking jokes is the day she dies. nor does she linger. 〉

Have you seen this festival before?

[singlelogbridge]

[When it comes to baking, Wei Wuxian has a much higher success rate than cooking, namely because he had never been left on his own, always joining Shijie and even occasionally Jiang Cheng out of the sheer fun of baking traditional foods together. Still, given what he'd wanted to do here he'd thought it best to enlist help, and having Gwen and Itachi along to make sure everything was edible was the right choice. Not just because he enjoyed their company, but also because it means that as he does stop by through the day to check on the table, it's always a pleasant experience to see people enjoying the qiaoguo.

He's seen the man at the table before, though they've never properly met, and he feels his cheeks warm with joy as he watches him admire the qiaoguo in appreciation.]

You look like a man who isn't eating their first qiaoguo. [He says affably, wondering how familiar the man is with Qixi. Perhaps like Itachi, he's familiar with something adjacent.]

[attackbrows]

[ There is nothing quite like food made with tender care. And this qiaoguo in particular gave the Doctor a rush of wonderful nostalgia. Back when he was a hopeless romantic and appreciated a simple tale of two star-crossed lovers. ]

No — [ He replies as he looks up at Wei Wuxian. ] Traveled a few times to celebrate Qixi with an old friend. Always had a fresh batch of qiaoguo waiting at the table to be noshed on.