I saw Mommy kissing Samba-Claus (KISS BINGO EDITION) 💋🌿

[beleos]

QIASU (HIGHSTORM)

On December 15th, the marker of the latter half of Takiltu, Kenos comes together to celebrate unity and togetherness, to come together with friends and family, to be kind to others and share in one’s wealth - whether that comes in the form of knowledge, monetary gains, or the exchange of gifts and one’s time. This celebration is an amalgamation of many worlds’ winter festivals, and as such, is known in the two cities as the Year’s End Festival, or Qiasu as Highstorm calls it.

This part of Takiltu is when Highstorm truly starts to hit winter. Snow is a frequent occurrence, but it’s one that the city welcomes, since with the snow comes a few of the most beloved traditions of the city. By far the most popular is heading to Greenwood Yards. The gardens themselves may be either dormant or showing their simpler winter gardens, but you may have noticed an area by the bathhouses left in surprising amount of disrepair… This is because during the winter months, this area fills up with a natural outdoor hot spring! Take a swim under the moonlight, and even explore some of those ruined old manors, now with their first floors warmly flooded. It’s a tradition to bring in your favorite drinks and spend an evening sipping it in a parlor with friends, and to make new ones by sharing your drinks. Of course, do watch out for the ghosts. They’re mischievous more than malicious, but this is their favorite time of the year too!

You can also head to the Great Tree, which is decorated for the season with glittering glass orbs and is the current roost for the pale Moonbugs of Highstorm. Write a wish on a slip of paper and hold out your hands, and one of the Moonbugs will come sit within them. Whisper the wish to the Moonbug and it’ll take the paper and fly away to find someone to fulfill it. Of course, this also means that a Moonbug is likely to come find you! Besides it being good karma to fulfill the wish, you’ll be given a brief vision of the person whose wish you fulfilled and be blessed by the tree for the duration of the month depending upon your Aspect:

• Advocate: People are more likely to buy you meals/rounds and every recipe you make turns out perfectly.
• Exalt: Animals seem to think more kindly of you, and you'll find them much easier to befriend.
• Harbinger: You're given a more silver tongue as your arguments seem to be better at persuading people.
• Iconoclast: You won't be effected by cold weather in any way.
• Savant: You heal much more rapidly from any injury and are generally the very picture of health.
• Stargazer: Your indulgences (whatever they may be) are both easier to find and are of higher quality.

And of course, there’s one more well-known practice in Highstorm, though it’s more of a tradition of Kowloon’s… The Gävle family is a well-known family who has lived in Highstorm for a long time, and they brought a tradition of building a festive Yule goat made straw in the square outside of their businesses. However, it also happens to be outside of Yura Szczepanski’s home. He’ll never do it himself, of course, but if you manage to burn it down? He’ll reward you, obviously. It doesn’t make it any more legal, so those that try generally spend some time in a Highstorm jail, but it’s an enshrined enough practice at this point that not only has it burned down more often than it’s survived, but there’s even a betting pool in Kowloon for whether it survives or not.

Of course, if these traditions aren’t quite your vibe, you’ll also find the city just generally set up for a metropolitan winter. The Antiques & Baubles Market is rearranged to make room for a large ice-skating rink, Tasseography (the coffeeshop by the Tomes) has a seasonal special for a hot chocolate that will fortify you from the cold for a few hours (and make you fire resistant? Weird,), and the city also hosts a full-size gingerbread house that you can indeed take a bite from, to name a few things. Generally speaking, if it’s something you could do in a snowy city at home, you’ll probably find an equivalent somewhere in the city of moonlight.

Be warned, however, if you are visiting from out of town. Highstorm's reception seems just a touch bit chiller than the weather!

YEAR'S END FESTIVAL (SPRINGSTAR)

Springstar will never turn down a chance to celebrate, but eternally Highstorm’s opposite, this is the warmest time of year. With the sun always shining, some days can get near sweltering, but that just means you have a different set of traditions to have fun with it!

The ivy-like vines that decorated the city in the beginning of the month (November) are now in full bloom, and you’re now likely to learn why the Meri consider them sacred. Wherever the flowers bloom, they encourage feelings of warmth and slightly higher inclination for physical contact within those that encounter their magical pollen*. Holding hands with someone by the flowers will give you feelings of liveliness and happiness, and for a few hours, the positive traits of the person you’re holding hands with become more prominent in you and vice versa. These effects do linger a bit longer, since for a month, you’ll also find that being around this person also gives you both a little boost in energy. It’s very sweet! This also comes with a bit of a further game, if you’re at all a frequenter of Psychagogía...

Madame Dee’s hosts a very popular competition simply called Kiss Bingo. Approach the booth set-up outside the brothel and touch your Shard to a special card, and names will appear upon it. From there, the rules are simple. Just give that person a kiss! It can be on their hand, their lips, their [redacted], all of it counts, and once you do, a little kiss mark will mark their name out. Get a bingo, and you can pick from a variety of prizes such as a ticket for a week’s worth of visits at a local buffet, a shopping spree at a nearby store, or a box seat for a day at the Coliseum. Of course, if you’re really an overachiever, fill out the whole card to get multiple prizes. Madame Dee might just give you a job!

With the promise of home that the Meri deeply believe in, they have their own gifting tradition. The Shard-Bearers know best that it’s possible to receive gifts from the Timestream, and for Year’s End, it’s tradition for the Tribune to pull out all the stops. For a week of the Festival, the Tribune works just outside of Heliopolis, and with the help of priests from the Church of Helios, reaches into the Timestream to produce a gift for anyone that comes to ask. This year, however, he's asked Quetzalcoatl and Samba's elves to deliver gifts, but you might not get anything you asked for (or maybe you did!) but they're all gifts the timestream spit out!

On rainy days (or simply the unbearably hot ones), you can also go to Starlight Park, which offers a reprieve from the weather. Inside the dome, you’ll find a idyllic, snowy valley where you can partake in all the natural joys of winter. There’s (highly) competitive snowball fights, sledding, and skiing to partake in, though you might be cautioned away from one slope. Head down that course and about halfway down, you’ll be chased by… a yeti? Luckily it doesn’t seem to be able to harm you, but it’s still shockingly fast and will catch you no matter how quickly you ski. You can also spend a bit of money to rent a yurt along the river for a relaxing and exceptionally cozy glamping experience. Some Yurts are even adorned with the sacred vines. You know, for no reason.

You’ll also find the Meri heading away from the city of Springstar a bit to head down to some of the beaches that surround Springstar. Being an island within an Island (capital ‘I’ meaning the Kenos kind of island), Takiltu is the traditional start of Springstar’s summer season and all the fun that comes with that. The beaches are bustling, but the cool and crystal-clear waters of the ocean surrounding the city make it worthwhile. Surfing, diving, and sailing are popular activities, but just make sure to stay within sight of the shore. It doesn’t take too long to hit the end of the Island and sailing outside the magical barrier that keeps Springstar floating in Kenos’s starscape generally isn’t survivable.

Just be mindful, if you're trying to escape Highstorm's chill for some summer fun, as attitudes are shifting toward bearers in general, and it might not be as easy as it once was.

NOTES

Weather summary for the second 30 days of Takiltu (NOV & DEC):

• Highstorm is out of fall and into winter. While there are some milder days, snow (and heavy snow at that!) is getting more common.
• Springstar is hot and humid, and it's not uncommon for brief thunderstorms to roll through in the afternoon.

Notable city changes:

• Both cities have experienced changing attitudes toward shard-bearers. You will need to be mindful if you want to travel to a city that doesn't house your faction, as things might not be as easy when it comes to getting around.
• Springstar has had an increase in attacks toward it's citizens, and they are often fatal and destructive. Rumors travel among Springstar's seedier types that these are escaping from Ryad, and they aren't being reigned in. That always comes with a flicker of worry.

CODING

Comments

[gravings]

[ Gray will just pick out one of the popular flavors at the cafe, then. Nice and easy. ]

Alright. I can make one soon.

[ .............. ]

Um. So does that mean I can...?

[ Kiss you? The words alone sound too forward for her to say aloud. ]

[furibund]

Do not rush on my account.

[ From the too severe way she speaks, it could almost be a "don't waste my time". Hopefully, Gray has spoken to Nebula a fair amount of times now to know she means that directly - Whenever is fine. ]

[ ...And she almost forgot about the secondary clause here. Or maybe she didn't since she half-awkwardly looks away uncomfortable with any form of intimacy as she answers more stiffly than usual: ]

Yes.

[ But don't expect her to move Gray!!! ]

[gravings]

[ Gray really is learning that Nebula just speaks that way -- like having a naturally angry resting expression (which Nebula also has), but extended to her way of speaking. Hayame is a bit like that too...

Some people can't bring themselves to speak honestly, instead impulsively hiding even their best intentions behind a veneer of playfulness or condescension. Meanwhile, people like Nebula speak with all honesty, but have difficulty presenting it as truth. People really are complicated.

Now that Nebula has granted permission, Gray turns her attention to the basic logistics of the task. Nbeula, like many Shard-Bearers, is noticeably taller than Gray. She's learned already that the height difference can make things a lot more awkward. Her solution previously was to hop up like a salmon, but in hindsight it was a less than dignified showing.

It's a bit embarrassing to have to ask at all, but it's for the best; before anything, Gray asks: ]

Um, would you mind... getting a bit lower?

[furibund]

[ You know, getting down to Gray's level really should have been an obvious thing. In the backwards sort of way it was an obvious thing - something Nebula immediately berates herself for not realizing. ]

Right. Of course.

[ The words weren't coughed out exactly, but there's a huff that's more of a caw than it is a laugh of a cough and she rolls her eyes at herself. It's ridiculous. She says an entire internal dialogue of further berating as she does in fact kneel on one knee for Gray. It's probably shorter than she needs, but look, anything else felt too awkward. ]

[gravings]

[ Why is kissing such a struggle... Even though Gray already has more practice than she thought she'd get in this lifetime, it feels like she'll never be completely comfortable with it.

Her intention going into this bingo journey was to kiss as many people as possible on the lips — to prove something to both Add and herself, however nebulously. But as she looks at Nebula kneeling there with a gruff air, she suddenly gets the sense that it might be a disservice to impose that on Nebula.

Instead, Gray touches her fingertips to one side of Nebula's jaw, just enough to tilt her head a bit up and to the side, and bends lightly to deliver a careful kiss to the seam of Nebula's cheek. At the same time, the warm fabric of Gray's hood "kisses" the top of Nebula's head. The split of sensations on Gray's lips, one side like skin and the other more like metal, is peculiar but not unpleasant.

She lets go and steps back, a bit pink with self-consciousness. She remembers to pull her hood back into order as she looks a bit nervously at Nebula, gauging how disagreeable the woman might have found the experience. ]

... Thank you.

[furibund]

[ Nebula is quiet, stewing. Gray is a quiet, shy girl. Even she can tell that - the fact she would go out of her comfort zone isn't something Nebula looks down upon. It's brave in the girl's own way, so maybe that's why she wanted to along with this whole facade... Even if she feels stupid and childish to do so. ]

[ Even if it feels like a whole lot of effort to steel herself for even something so simple as a cheek kiss - which, fairly, she didn't know what the other wanted for. She doesn't move until the girl steps back, as steel as the machinery in her, but she's quick to get up and not quite look at Gray as she does. Mouth turned downward before she addresses: ]

It must be something you really want.

[ The prize... ]

[gravings]

[ Nebula seems more pensive than displeased, frown aside, so that's probably a good thing? Gray is so awash in a wave of relief that the deed has been done that it takes her a moment to recognize what Nebula is referring to. ]

Well... it would be nice to have a prize. They were offering shopping sprees, spa days, vacations, attraction tickets.... things like that.

[ If she'd want anything, it would be the shopping spree, and only if it applied to groceries. Gray pulls her hands back into her cloak, finding comfort in the feeling of cover as she makes a small confession. ]

To be honest, I was given a card last year too, but I couldn't manage to tick a single box. Other people made it seem so easy, I ended up feeling silly for making it so hard for myself.

[ Bingo Card 2: Revenge of the Gray ]

[furibund]

[ She looks... Skeptical. Probably because those kind of things are relatively foreign to her. Posasibly because she's trying to think about how shopping could be fun or figuring out what a "spa day" is. Either way, it doesn't concern her and she lacks interest in it. ]

[ Gray continues and she breathes out, it could be called a sound of exhaustion that it's met with: ]

Don't get caught up in not being able to do such a stupid thing. Everyone has different strengths.

[ ... Frankly, she doesn't think kissing is a strength but that is neither here nor there.
]

[gravings]

[ It's fair advice. Gray doesn't think anyone should feel pressured into jumping on bandwagons. ]

I think you're right... but there's a difference between "not wanting" to do something and "not being able" to do something. If I want to become someone who's "able," then I can't be scared of something as harmless as kissing someone.

[ Well, she can be scared, but she shouldn't let it hold her hostage. Once this bingo card business is over, she'll be happy to go back to not kissing anyone anymore. ]

[furibund]

[ Nebula scowls. It's like a prickling at the back of the neck - an annoyance, an argument. She asks: ]

Who says it's harmless?

[ Kissing is so much about vulnerability, isn't it? Opening yourself to another? There's a reason so many people can fall for it and lose everything. ]

[gravings]

[ Misa, for one, but Nebula wasn't around when Misa was present and notorious. Gray thinks she understands where Nebula is coming from, though. ]

Well... I like to think my kisses are harmless.

[ She isn't out here getting emotionally heavy in the name of kiss bingo... but maybe she should've thought more about what damage she may be unintentionally wreaking? Admittedly, selfishly, she was more focused on her own feelings. Still, she can't imagine anyone thinking all that seriously about kisses given out by little old her. ]

[furibund]

[ Her attention turns properly to Gray once more - mouth curled low. She's probably right, a part of her thinks. This girl is timid. Made of more soft curves than hard edges. If someone died before her, she probably couldn't look away. ]

[ Even so, she thinks she sees something in her. Resolve. A part of her understanding intimately what it means to be changed against your will. ]

[ And unfortunately, Nebula takes everything too seriously. ]

They might be.

[ She does not disagree; She thinks Gray is earnest - thinks how the universe could use that and crumple her to dust if it wanted. (She won't let that happen). Even so, ] No one is completely harmless. Anyone who does not take you seriously deserves what they get.

[ Nebula??? This was about kissing??? But at least in her own way, it's a compliment. It's seeing Gray as capable and not weak, more capable than she's made herself out to be. ]

[gravings]

[ Gray often doubts her own influence, but the intensity of Nebula's answer forces her to consider. She can accept, maybe, that even if her kisses shouldn't hurt anyone, maybe someone will still find them hurtful. ]

I'll be more careful.

[ She says solemnly with a deep dip of her hood. It's probably a good thing that she no longer finds the idea of kissing impossible, but indeed, with great power comes great responsibility. ]

I hope I didn't cause you any affliction.

[ With the kiss she just gave Nebula, she means. Even if a pie is being gained from it, Gray would hope that Nebula didn't find it unpleasant. ]

end?

[furibund]

[ With great power comes great responsibility, SPray Parker. ]

[ Nebula does not know the girl enough to see how far she's come in such matters. Perhaps, if she had, she'd be proud of it — Instead, Gray still appears somewhat timid. Like a child being scolded and for a moment she feels guilty, like she phrased it wrong. She quickly kicks that feeling to the curb. ]

[ In reality, Nebula didn't take anything away from that exchange; Only that it helped the girl and rather she disliked it or not that had been satisfactory. Anything more wouldn't come out of it, even if Gray has left her with more things to chew on (literally). ]

[ Back at full height, she gives a jerk of her head 'no'. ]

You have not. [ She clears her throat. ]

You should go. Finish your... tasks.







[ A beat. ] And I will remember our exchange.