TANABATA ⟶ July Sanctuary Log

[likethelight]

 

Sanctuary - TANABATA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"SEE YOU AGAIN, MOM"

The "star festival", celebrating the one time of the year when star-crossed lovers could cross over a sea of stars to meet again. One based on hopes, wishes, and the fervent desire to see each other again. Following the departure of Amaterasu back to the sea, wolf momgod of all who is responsible for the Guardian Saplings including the one Sanctuary has been founded around, Sanctuary is hosting the best approximation to a Tanabata celebration as the Trench will allow. Why? Because hope keeps the trees alive and strong, and Tanabata is about people having hope -- and would have been happening around the same time.

And because people miss dogmom and she would have liked it.

The festival is taking place at Sanctuary, but all Guardian Saplings can be paid visits. Paper for wishes and decorations have been set up at each/given to the other caretakers.

A Sea of Stars
The main hall has been transformed into a living night sky, with jars of hope from the moonlit butterflies back in April hung with care high up, each repacked with a single orb of hope per small vial with care, creating a river of starlike glowing lights overhead. The windows have been covered to aid with the nighttime effect, in addition to helping to keep out the light of the Beast Moon after dark. The gentle glow, as they are literally the tactile hopes and dreams of people, provides a small purifying, uplifting effect to everyone underneath. The light ebbs and flows calmly. The hall is cool as well, thanks to the pale/cold bloodstone cooling system that glows like moonstone along the walls and keeps the indoor areas regulated.

In the evening, as the sun sets, the new choir bell will ring out as well, cleansing corruption entirely from all who hear it. The lights gently pulse in time with it.

Wishes and the Guardian Sapling
The sapling is no longer in bloom, but despite the sweltering heat in full glory. Paper wishes are hung in its branches, along with origami streamers in colorful paper of cranes and other shapes. A bustle of activity is in the cloisters around it in particular, with most tables set up there to keep the courtyard itself clear. Origami streamers are hung in all the doorways leading out to it as well, creating the effect of string curtains, and there are paper lanterns as well.

A life-size stone statue of a wolf bearing a striking resemblance to Amaterasu has been erected next to the sapling, with her most radiantly happy canine expression she could sometimes get. There is room to place offerings for her, and people are encouraged that she would like "all the foods."

Colorful strips of paper (tanzaku) have been cut and placed out on a table in the cloisters surrounding the courtyard, where one can write their wishes for the next year down on them and hang them on the guardian sapling. They come in the following colors with a helpful, but... somewhat hard to read note with arcane handwritten note:

Red will help with wishes relating to ancestors and family, and giving thanks.
Yellow is the color of friendship and is the best choice for wishes about relationships.
White is the color for determination and responsibility, and for making personal resolutions.
Blue represents tranquility and trust and will aid wishes aimed at self-improvement.
Purple is the color to choose if you want to improve your brainpower and skills.

Food and Activities
Following all of the best creative recreation methods available to them in Trench, the cooks in the kitchens have been trained by Megumi Fushiguro, among others, on how to best serve culturally appropriate dishes. These foods are served free at little vendor booths in the main hall (with people encouraged to help out and help serve!) and include pawprint mochi (the inside is either chocolate or strawberry), pickled sakura mochi, mitarashi and tricolor dango, chilled somen with a yuzu-soy dipping sauce, various types of filled onigiri, and cut watermelon in a variety of shapes including stars, sunbursts, and pawprints. Many have been made with small amounts of the Paleblood jam from June and have mild corruption cleansing effects as well. Various kinds of tea made from the dried or pickled cherry blossoms and/or leaves of the guardian sapling are being served as well, and they have a corruption-cleansing effect and have been noted as tasting "heavenly". Some of the jams have been cut with fruit juice/lemonade and frozen into popsicles as well... you're welcome, CorruptionPops are now a thing.

Various demonstration and activity tables have been set up including origami, with... questionably penned instructions from Palamedes in an arcane style for several shapes including cranes, sunbursts, stars, and wolves. Various Sleepers familiar with the practice have also been encouraged to set up there and help teach people how, and everyone is encouraged to hang their completed crafts in the guardian sapling. Most of the paper is red, white, pink, and gold. Paper lanterns have been made as well and light up various parts of the whole festivities.

A few vendor booths are set up, including one "selling" white yukata, trimmed in red and gold and bearing a distinctive star pattern on the back of it and intricate embroidery. Most Sanctuary members would receive one for free if they expressed interest, and anyone else can receive one for volunteering their time and helping out. People are encouraged to wear them for the celebration if they didn't have their own; these are styled in honor of Amaterasu.

Koz Orphanage has been specially invited as well, and children from it can be found running around during much of the event and given various activities to do or items to play with.

Sparklers are available for individuals as well, also courtesy of Viktor. Perhaps there might even be glowsticks from someone... :)

Fireworks and Closing Celebrations
On the final night, all the wishes will be gathered from the trees and collected in a ceremonial firepit. The wishes are burnt in order to release them to the heavens to be heard—and perhaps by Amaterasu still at sea—and will be ignited by several Sleepers with fire abilities (Shouto Todoroki, Megumi Fushiguro).

As they're burnt a fireworks display will begin overhead, launched from the steeple up high, courtesy of Viktor and anyone else assisting him in the matter. Anyone outside watching them in the courtyard will have the effects of the Beast Moon diminished by the blessing in effect from Moon Presence. The choir bell will toll a final time at the end, to clear the effects of any lingering corruption, and signal an end to the festivities.

WHAT

Sanctuary is about humane beast purification efforts and corruption relief. Renovations began in May 2022 and room clearing and rebuilding is still in progress. Beast patrol efforts and purification started more in earnest in June-July.

All roles are volunteer on an as-you-can basis up to full time, with time reimbursed by food, shelter, care, and community support. And because it's run by people who BLEED SENTIMENTALITY EVERYWHERE in addition to being founded on discovery of a Guardian Sapling, it's hosting a Tanabata celebration in conjunction with honoring the memory of Amaterasu.

WHEN

Starting July 7, ending after a few days in a final celebration and ceremonial burning of the wishes.

THINGS OF NOTE

Tanabata
➢ Please feel free to presume your character could have helped out with setup if they have any ties to Sanctuary or characters here! If they would provide a food, service, or game they are free to have a table set up.

➢ This event is open to the whole of Trench and would have been freely advertised as such, including as a safe place to treat effects from the Beast Moon and corruption.

General / Member Update
➢ Sanctuary has been blessed by Moon Presence for the month of July, thanks to the efforts of Luna and Sansa. All negative effects of July and the Beast Moon are lessened within its walls, and anyone meaning Sanctuary or the people in it will be physically repelled. Lunar flowers have begun growing up the sides of the monastery in earnest like morning glories as a result.

➢ as of June, coordinated efforts to patrol Trench on their own and save Beasts and people both have begun. Members will be on a group chat in order to coordinate with each other and reach out to purification Sleepers when encountering Beasts. Everyone is encouraged to work in teams, especially to partner with someone who can purify Beasts or corruption.

➢ a training facility has opened up, with currently self-defense hand-to-hand combat classes being taught by Jason and others willing to train others encouraged to come forward. Fighters on patrol and wardens will be contacted to let them know about open sparring times so members can coordinate better in fights. There is an indoor room with training dummies (that fight back courtesy of Viktor) that opens up into an outdoor space between two of the long halls that can also be used.

➢ with the hidden archives now unlocked, scholarly members of Sanctuary are encouraged to help study them and uncover other artifacts—and especially the strange new locked door discovered within.

➢ there is a family of batcat kittens old enough to be crawling everywhere throughout the building now. They might still be learning manners and latch onto you in an overexcitement to taste your blood from time to time.

➢ the large communal baths have been cleared out and renovated, thank god. They run on being open to male-identifying characters for one set of hours, female-identifying for another, and the rest of the time operate on "nobody cares". Privacy screens are hung between the tubs though—one side is regularly cooled down with ice for the hot months.

➢ with more people needing safe harbor during the Beast Moon and rising violence from natives during July, more actual rooms have been cleared out and are free to use for anyone who will also help work to maintain the place (chores, grounds keeping, etc.). There are always spare beds in the infirmary wing as well.

➢ members who patrol or purify beasts/fight in some way now have access to various relic items that have been donated for use for when they are actively on patrol. These will eventually be tracked in the member spreadsheet... eventually. Just give them back when you're done.

➢ Viktor and K's efforts have resulted in the lunar generator coming online and bringing lunar lighting and cooling throughout the building via a cold-pale bloodstone network. Rejoice!

➢ There is now a small, hidden stash of coffee bartered from Dabi. Someone might have to pry it from Viktor's jittery fingers.

 

This log is WIDE OPEN for Tanabata festivities and serves as the general log for Sanctuary for the month. Go wild and do whatever you want, have fun with your top levels, etc. :)

Comments

[swellter]

[ A third protest. He looks to the side. Sulks. Normally, he wouldn't ask a second time, but he feels a stubbornness in this one matter in a way he rarely is and resists the urge to capitulate to the pressure. ]

So, it knows you first... like mine.

[likethelight]

[ Oh. That's-- ... was he... sulking?

Allen stares for a moment, more than a little fascinated. But blinks and shakes that off at realizing what his motives actually are, and this time stares for a different reason entirely. You... it was because you wanted it to be the same sort of thing between them, then? Something attuned and belonging to.

That's... incredibly touching, actually. And his expression softens into a gentle smile, warmed. ]

Okay. [ He reaches out to snag Shouto's wrist again lightly, and guides his hand up so he can lean his cheek against it; a gesture meant to apologize as much as reassure. Don't sulk. ]

You can put it on me then.

[swellter]

Thank you.

[ An apology of sorts for his stubbornness, even if he doesn't realize it. He lets Allen maneuver his hand without protest, some of the initial apprehension going away at the comforting gesture. Still, there's a bit of nervous energy in the mindful manner he proceeds.

Gently nudging his hair over his ear, Shouto is attentive and precise, his movements meticulous, as he slips the cuff over his ear, christening the bloodstone to his skin so that it knows him. So that he will know him. ]

Can you... keep it for the rest of the night?

[likethelight]

[ Allen is willing himself not to fidget and keeps himself quite consciously still as Shouto slips it onto his ear, tipping his head slightly to the side to give him better access. The moment it's on his eyes unfocus briefly, his vision feeling briefly tunneled, or like the initial vertigo one gets when putting on a new pair of glasses. But he blinks and it's gone, like the ghost of something almost seen and realized that slips away under his fingers.

Strange.

He touches the starburst design on it absently, gaze flickering back to Shouto quietly. ]

Mm. I will. [ He hesitates at the other boy's expression, the lightly stern set of his mouth and in many ways how he so usually looks, before reaching out to touch the side of his face. Fingers skimming lightly along the edges of his bangs before brushing slowly (thoughtfully) against his cheek. ]

I'll give it to you properly tomorrow, okay?

[swellter]

[ The nerves seem to dim when the cuff is on properly, the design pristine against the backdrop of the light hair, grown long since he first met him. Gently, he brushes the strands forward, letting them settle back into place, and steps back to admire the view. ]

It suits you.

[ Is all he says on the matter, nodding at the response. Truthfully, he only intended to ask him to wear it for a few minutes, but after the initial roadblock, he felt he needed more time so the cuff wouldn't feel unwanted. In that regard, a full night, is far more than he would have asked for and he readily accepts; the offer clearing the rest of the nervous energy that started to dissipate already. ]

Who was the crafter?

[likethelight]

[ It suits you. There it is again, and this time he colors lightly. A faint pink in the pale blue tones from the lights overhead, and he glances aside. Leaning back on his palms as he looks back out over the hall below. ]

I think it'll suit you too. [ It's gentle and genuine as much as it's also the smallest sort of huff. It's still meant for you, you know. He must really suck at giving gifts.

Actually... it's the first actual one Allen's ever given, come to think of it. Putting aside apology and gratitude offerings. ]

It was made by a jeweler I know over in Willful Machine. [ His tone trails off a little then, reminiscent. His feet swing loosely for a moment in the air. ]

I met him when his daughter had become a beast.

[swellter]

[ The reddened skin goes unnoticed, too light to truly make an impact under the artificial stars gleaming from above. The color fails to draw his notice while his eyes are settled on the evening star painted on the cuff as if by design. ]

Maybe my right side.

[ White hair, same as his mother's. Same as Allen's, but there's no piercing there. For some reason, his patron chose his left side to gift him with. He still doesn't know why. ]

Did you save her?

[ He asks, eyes finally slipping from the star to Allen, a curious look in his eyes. He drifts closer, shoulder leaning toward him like being pulled by a calm, invisible force. ]

[likethelight]

[ The other side? He tips his head back slightly to glance over at Shouto, but says nothing. Just notes that thoughtfully, and his expression softens at Shouto's question before he looks out at the sea of artificial stars again. ]

I did. [ He says it gently and soberly as he scoots a little closer in response, until their sides are pressed lightly together. Shored up like that. His demeanor quiet and reflective, peaceable, though he laughs lightly for a moment too at recalling something, looking over at Shouto with a smile and a brighter, amused look in his eye. ]

He said she helped make it too.

[ She's six. ]

[swellter]

[ His eyes grow fond at the answer. He thought as much. Allen was very good at saving people like Deku. He was also good at winning fights like Bakugou. He also knew how to dance like Ashido and cook like Sato. Kizu stirs at the warmth emanating from his heart as he finds so many traits of the people he cares about in a single figure. ]

They both did a good job.

[ He says, a warmth in his eyes as he falls into his orbit. He grows warm, not by much, but noticeable with his left shoulder pressing into his right. With his right hand, still cool from his earlier use of ice, he brushes some of his hair away from his ear to expose the bright star of the ear cuff. ]

Do you like it?

[ He asks a third time, mouth gently curving up, admiring the simple beauty of his bloodstone. ]

[likethelight]

[ He'd say you give him too much credit!! He's a jack of all trades out of necessity so he really considers himself middling at most of those things just enough to get by; the only one he does consider his wheelhouse and what he strives for being saving people. Even fighting, he's known and commented on several people he knew to be better warriors than he. Such is growing up as someone gentle-hearted in a war, though.

He leans a little deeper into the contact at feeling the warmth emanating from Shouto's side though, eyes drifting shut momentarily. It might have been surreal at first, realizing how his actual temperature could shift, but he finds a comfort in the warmth now. Grounding, like Shouto himself is. Especially with realizing the likely reason for it.

He blinks slightly when Shouto brushes the hair from his ear again, the loose strands not quite long enough to tie back into his ponytail. It tickles slightly, but that's not why he gives him a briefly curious look. ]

? [ He keeps asking that. There's a reason for that, if he understands anything it's that Shouto always has a reason for everything, even if it's not obvious. There's something else important there he's not quite getting, he realizes that much. Does he like it...

He blinks, but smiles then. And catches the other boy's hand gently before he withdraws, bringing it back up to his face so he might nuzzle his palm lightly in response. With a quiet sort of reverence. ]

I like it. [ Though not for the reasons Shouto might be asking.

He likes it because it's why he's looking at him like that, with such a gentle and soft sort of expression. A faint smile-- and that makes him happier than anything. ]

[swellter]

[ It's an amalgamation of skills he finds praiseworthy, even more so when they're found in a single individual. Perhaps, he appreciates what he himself lacks. Not in a bad way, like looking inside himself and finding a deficiency, but prizing something of note in another without involving himself. A genuine appraisal.

He'd be pleased to sit with him here through the rest of the night, watching him go through the endless motions of existence. His eyes remain steady on Allen, happy to wait for his response, whether he answers it or not. He finds comfort sitting side by side with him, watching the array of movements of a life unable to lie still. A complete contrast to him, whose endless movements come from within himself. Heat stirs on his left, and his heart distributes it through the rest of him, raising his temperature by a few degrees within moments. His heart has always done the heavy lifting. Always moving, impossible to lie still even when resting. Impossible when Allen takes his hand and lifts it to his cheek.

Outside, he grows still. Inside, the heat starts to propagate. It emanates from his left side first, pressing itself into Allen as a wave of heat before his heart has a chance to mix the two sides of him properly. It takes a minute, but his heart was built for this. Stronger than most to deal with the extremes of his quirk, and after the initial wave of heat, his temperature evens out, a few degrees warmer than before.

All the while, his expression barely shifts. His eyes still on Allen, watching him as if from afar. Then, his simple answer. It causes an external shift. His eyes regain that lost spark, and his fingers gently cup his cheek, holding his face against his palm. Gently, he runs his thumb over his jaw and down his throat before running back up, repeating the motion. ]

I do, too.

It reminds me of you.

[likethelight]

[ You know... it's the moments of realizing there's so much more there to be read between the lines. Not that Shouto is one to say one thing and mean another, in fact he's probably one of the most forthright and plainspoken people Allen's met and it's one of the things he admires and finds himself set at ease by, but that there are so many more nuances there that aren't spoken or expressed obviously. Something that gives him pause to realize. Sensing, even recognizing something there and wanting to know it. Those are the moments that feel important and that he's drawn in by, forgetting the outside world in the process.

Where even if outwardly he reacts so little, Allen can feel the curl of warmth in answer to how he nuzzles his hand and it makes his mouth curve in a faint smile. Content like that, though his expression stills lightly when Shouto's hand traces down. Blinking for a moment, his throat bobbing slightly with nervous energy as the other boy's hand trails down it. Oh.

He breathes out, having almost missed what he said while he had unconsciously held his breath. As it is it takes him a moment to process it before he closes his eyes and turns his face into his palm, his own hand still curled lightly around Shouto's wrist, though not for any need to hold it there. Visibly reassured by words and gesture both. Anchored. ]

That's how I feel about yours. [ True that he did find wonder and marvel in the bloodstone when he first saw it, a bit of awe and dumbstruck that the starburst was the pattern it took, because he saw Crown Clown reflected in it like that. Something that was equal parts reassuring and... something else he wasn't sure of. Some trepidation, while also feeling that was right and how it should be. That it reaffirmed something about himself. But that wasn't the point of it, why it was made, so he brushed it aside.

If you put them side by side, he'd like Shouto's better. Because it meant something more, and so that's also why he'll like his own better when Shouto has it.

Caught up in the moment, he presses a warm and slightly absent kiss against the other boy's cooler palm. ]

I'm glad you like it.

[swellter]

[ How he feels about his bloodstone reflects Allen's thoughts of his own stone. The connection was never there for him, a gift from his patron bestowed on him while under her influence. Madame Generosity was indeed generous, a little too much. When he came into his own thoughts he found the cuff prominently displayed in a manner not quite befitting his nature. He kept it like he kept the clothes his sister picked out for him, wearing it for lack of a reason not to. It was power after all, and Trench tended to test even the most powerful. Whether it was on Allen or himself, the power didn't change, only the meaning. A way to lend him support even if he couldn't be there. With the way Allen tended to go off on his own, it might one day make a difference. Even if he never used it, it was another tool at his disposal.

The press of lips on his palm draws his eyes down to the point of contact, his thoughts turning inward as another spike of heat accompanies the movement. His hand turns hot, the heat impossible to miss. ]

I like you.

[ He says pointedly, expression never changing, gaze steady on him. ]

Why wouldn't I like something that came from you?

[likethelight]

...

[ Sometimes you say the simplest, most obvious things that knock him off kilter, you know? Which is pretty ironic, as that's something Allen often does as well. But he stills a little at that, breath caught, as he looks at Shouto a bit like he's seeing him for the first time. Awe-touched. And he blinks, exhaling a little shakily, and leans further against him as he turns his face back into his hand like being a bit too jittery to maintain eye contact. (He is.)

Ah... sometimes he has no idea what to do in moments like this. With such an overwhelming sort of happiness and contentment (belonging) on a scale entirely alien to him, something he's always been so skittish of because of so very many reasons in every time past about why he he should keep it at arms length. Reasons not to have a normal life. Reasons to keep people at arms length. Reasons to always be apart. Not because he wanted to, because of course those were all things he wanted if he let himself be honest, but because he had to. That was just the nature of his world. But now--

Now... ]

Shouto--

[ His voice sounds a little strange to him, thick from how tight his throat is. It's lightly muffled from how he's hidden his face against his hand, not minding the heat as he's become used to it and taking comfort in what it means. ]

Are you happy?

[swellter]

[ His mouth pulls at the corner of his mouth, finding a contentment in the simple move. He holds Allen's cheek, a willing participant in this - What is this? - waltz, of sorts, they've stumbled into. Running his thumb over his jaw and down his throat, Shouto thinks it's a dance he'd like to learn more about. A thought that's momentarily side-tracked by that question. ]

Happy?

[ His thumb stops moving, brows arching up slightly, caught unawares by the question. ]

... I don't know. [ And then, the inevitable follow-up. ] Why?

[likethelight]

[ Because I think I am... and I don't know if I should be.

But it's distracting when he traces his thumb down the dip of his throat again and his breath comes out a bit shakily, needing to shake it off with a small shiver before he answers. ]

Just wondering. [ He nips softly at his thumb when he pauses, the faintest ineffectual graze of teeth chased by a soft press of lips. ]

[swellter]

[ It's impossible not to notice the shaky breath and small shiver when he's this close to him, holding him. It captures his attention in a way few things do, missing the source entirely. ]

Are you cold?

[ He counteracts the shiver with a bout of heat that emanates from his hand and seeps into his cheek. He jolts lightly when he nips at his thumb and looks at him in a questioning manner before his eyes widen slightly at the show of teeth. He swallows and his pulse picks up beat at the affectionate kiss that follows. ]

... Allen?

[likethelight]

[ A blink. Cold? ]

No? [ He tips his head slightly to give him a slightly curious look, not putting together why he'd ask that seemingly out of the blue. Although he gets such a nervous, sheepish sort of smile when Shouto's eyes widen and oh... oh. He... had reacted naturally without thinking. Um.

His own heartbeat thuds for a moment. Smile twitches. ]

Sorry. Should I have... [ skittish ] not?

[ judging himself!!! so hard!!! ]

[swellter]

[ No? Then why was he shivering? He'd question him if he wasn't currently occupied with other matters. He stares outright, heat still emitting from his palm, the dose fainter than before. ]

The bite or the kiss?

[ Let's just start there and work our way up! ]

[likethelight]

[ asdahsgjfdsa--

Now he's the one who jolts a little. ]

I didn't! It wasn't a bite! [ As if!! Sputtering, just a bit.

There's also a blush. Definitely a blush this time. ]

[swellter]

[ Isn't that considered a bite? Using his teeth like that? Finding himself a little confused - as usual - Shouto presses on. Unaware of his internal turmoil, grey and teal stay steady on him, un]

Then what was it?

[likethelight]

[ ...

how dare. making him quantify the things he subconsciously does. can the ground just swallow him up already before his face bursts on fire. ]

...teeth?

[ He shifts a bit sulkily. It takes so much willpower not to squirm or look crestfallen at his own weak answer, you have no idea. ]

[swellter]

[ Teeth...

Allen... you can be so very confusing at times. ]

Is that... good or bad?

[likethelight]

[ He's new at this, so sue him!!

Except don't, he already has the debt of a small country. ]

That... depends, doesn't it? [ Hesitating, noticeably so. He sits up a little straighter and turns so he can look at Shouto a bit more directly, realizing that something important might have inadvertently come up. Skittish still, nervous energy in how he moves and fidgets lightly with the edge of his sleeve.

If it's good or bad is why he asked you, but... ]

...I didn't mean it in a bad way.

[swellter]

[ And you don't think he isn't? He's as confused as Allen, more so if you take in his inability to read people's intentions outside the battlefield. It's not the bite that bothers him, but the meaning behind it. Unless it's part of someone's quirk, the connotations of biting someone else are usually not good.

When a stray cat didn't want him near them, they usually warned him off by scratching him, and dogs... they didn't scratch, they bit. It's no wonder why he's questioning him, he's wondering if he might have inadvertently set off some kind of flight or fight instinct.

... He didn't mean too. ]

Did you mean it in a good way?