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

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

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ It takes a moment for Gray to realize that Rin is on the scene, but she does, she joins the citizens of Highstorm in staring at her, transfixed as one might watch an actor on a stage.

And yet Gray is surprised to feel Rin's arm wrapping around her waist. While Rin delivers her mandate, Gray barely hears the details. It's only natural that she'd be distracted. The last time they saw each other was during the Oracle.

As most of the crowd disperses, Gray breathes again, only to face a different kind of trial. Maybe she's the only one who feels odd... Mages are great at ignoring the unnecessary, after all. ]

... Thank you.

[ She says quietly, giving the lingering remnants of the crowd a glance before slowly turning her head to look at Rin around the edge of her hood. Even with her face partially blocked, she exudes a gloomy expression. ]

I can leave. I don't want to damage your relationship with the people here.

[Tohsaka is incredibly determined to pretend that Certain Things did Not Happen. Her arm falls loose and uncurls from around Gray's waist.]

Don't be ridiculous. I already made a scene, so why not make use of it? Wouldn't it be more insulting to do nothing with the opportunities you're deliberately provided?

[Rin raises a hand and pats Gray on the back heavily. Straight between the shoulders. For encouragement.]

[ Gray's small frame rocks forward briefly from the "encouraging" smack. If nothing else, it's getting her blood flowing (to her back).

More importantly, why did Rin feel the need to stick her neck out for Gray in the first place?? Rin can talk about logical action all she wants, but she started this off with an action detrimental to herself.

Gray sighs and resigns herself to taking advantage of Rin's kindness. Her eyes move to the distance, in the general direction of her and Rin's neighboring garden plots. ]

I was just hoping to check on my flower patch.

[ It isn't an urgent need, which is why the trouble seems even more unnecessary. ]

As things get more heated you might have to give it up. Have you considered that?

[There is no hesitation. Now that Rin knows where Gray wants to go, she's ushering the other young woman along and escorting her deeper into the gardens.]

Either that, or you should decide between disguising yourself and learning presence concealment.

[ imagine an assassin-class servant in another timeline knowing presence concealment, rin is asking for too much ]

... I know.

[ Gray is pragmatic enough. She knows some things aren't practical enough to push for, whatever the sentimental value. She allows herself to get shepherded forward, a wary haze laid over her consciousness. For some reason, it seems like the ghosts are out in force today... Her gaze wanders as she feels them flitting in and out of the area. ]

Magic... or magecraft. They aren't really my strength. And I don't know how well I'd be able to disguise myself.

[At least Rin is here fairly often to tend to her own plot, so any other regular is bound to know her as well. She sticks close, and looks a little surprised at Gray's statement.]

Not even as one of the Harmonized magics?

[Perhaps she shouldn't be encouraging an enemy to learn how to hide themselves, but.. Gray isn't an enemy today. She's a friend.]

[ In a way, it's a good thing they're seeing each other after such a commotion. Easier to focus on that than what they got up to the last time they saw each other. ]

I only know a couple spells, and I'm better at one over the other. Maybe it has to do with affinity.

[ Add, unprompted, manages to be both obnoxious and quiet as he pipes in from under Gray's cloak, trying to avoid scrutiny by the Highstorm citizens around them. ]

That's what she says, but she really just gives up too easy!

Giving up when you know you're not capable of something is just common sense. However if there's a chance you can do something you should at least try. Maybe he's right?

[She does give up too early. With the exception of when the Harbinger Oracle influenced them both. Which she's totally not thinking about now. Nope. Not at all.

Though she does flick the little wiggling menace through Gray's cloak.]

[ Add rattles his cage a little with a surprised hop. ]

What gives?!

[ Agreeing with him, only to harass him...

Gray ignores the commotion, still glancing back and forth like a dog hearing loud noises in the distance. ]

Maybe...

[ They are right and she knows it. It's just hard for her to carve out that time and effort for something she's convinced herself she'll fail at.

She pauses in monitoring ghosts so that she can sneak a peek at Rin beside her. Things feel... normal? Like nothing at all happened in the labyrinth? That's ideal, really. There would be no use in thinking or acting like any of it had meaning, which it didn't. Just the Oracle forcing their hands, putting them in a situation they'd otherwise never be in...

As if siphoning her thoughts, Add shifts gears and mutters at Rin, a grin in his voice. ]

Psst. You hear about those bingo cards?

[Tohsaka practically screeches to a halt at the mention of bingo cards. Comically stopping in place so quickly that she has yet to even put her foot fully down into the next step.]

[Until she leans in toward Gray. Judgmentally. Conspiratorially.]

If you picked up a card for your little cube I will throw him at your skull.

[ Gray retreates a little into her hood. Turtle-like. ]

No, not... for him.

[ It's her. Hi. She offers no more details, just in case she lives in a timeline where Rin wouldn't have follow-up questions. ]

Yourself? Really?

[Tohsaka laughs as this brightens her mood considerably. Her hand comes down on Gray's back again — this time patting her more than once.]

Have you gotten any yet?

[ Gray endures the patting, peeking carefully out of her hood again to look at Rin as she laughs. She expected Rin to tease her, but that doesn't make it less embarrassing. ]

... A couple. I'm still working on it.

[ It's a miracle she's even gotten a couple!! ]

So you do know about it.

Oh my, more than one? I'm so proud!

[She really is! Her little Gray being so bold as to kiss more than one person?! Maybe she corrupted her...]

And yeah, I got a card for myself. But I'm not sure I can fill mine out properly.

[ God forbid Rin ever find out exactly why Gray felt at all motivated to do this in the first place. On the other end of things, Gray isn't at all surprised that Rin is participating. She seems to have the kissing thing well in hand. ]

Oh... why is that?

A-ah... haha... there are a few people on my card that would make me rather die than kiss them. That is all.

[Yeah, she'd rather climb through the soil and muck. She'd rather burst from a tree pod covered in viscous fluid like some kind of homunculus baby tearing out from its test-tube glass and becoming whole. All those things rather than kiss some of the people on her card.]

[ Oh. And here she thought Rin was a cold kissing machine... Gray can't help being curious. Who does Rin despise that much?

Riding a rare shared brainwave, Add speaks up for them both. ]

Hey, don't be stingy. Dish! Who ya got?

[While Tohsaka is sure she left the card at home, she actually searches her coat pockets and finds it. Crumbled and looking worse for wear. She pulls it open a little and hands it to Gray. The names in red are crossed out.]

[ As Gray takes the card and looks over it, this is the closest she's come to being openly nosy. She eats the names with her eyes. Eustace and Mordred at the very beginning — my. There are plenty of names she recognizes; D pops right out, of course, on account of the font size. ]

Ahh—!

[ A short, muted exclamation passes her lips as she spots one name in particular. ]

I'm here...

[ Obviously. ]

—Ah. Yeah, you are. I figured you wouldn't want to.

[After like. The... you know, the Oracle. She doesn't want to continue to impose herself, and her desires, on Gray. Who may be struggling considering the fact that they're on opposite sides. And that Rin took advantage of her.]

I... I wouldn't mind it.

[ They've kissed plenty already, what's one more time? And this might help Gray figure something out for herself too. She can rationalize it that way in her head, even if her heart doesn't feel very rational about how it's hammering her chest.

Shy about even that much of an admission, she busies herself with tidying her hood on her head rather than looking at Rin. ]

I mean. If you won't mind.

I... suppose if you actually want it, sure. Am I on yours?

[Tohsaka almost replies, "if I'm not then you shouldn't bother." However she's not sure she actually wants Gray to retreat from this. It's true that Rin hasn't put much effort into her own card. Always the kind of person to see an insurmountable obstacle and decide it's just not worth it.]

[ Gray shakes her head, hood swaying gently. If she stopped to think about Rin's reaction, she might consider that Rin doesn't care all that much about her bingo card -- and if she did, she probably would have asked Gray for a contribution before this. So pushing for a kiss doesn't make the strictest sense...

Still.

Since she isn't looking at Rin, Gray takes the time to glance around them. Greenwood Yards is busier now with the hot springs opened up, and she has to consider what it would look like to the Highstorm public if she kissed Rin here. They've made it to the tabloids already; reporters don't need more fuel to cause misunderstandings. ]

Should we go somewhere quieter?

O-oh! Yes, of course. That would probably be best. Perhaps my place?

[—RECORD SCRATCH. Now she's internally screaming at the implications of taking Gray back to "her place". Her shop. Shutting the doors and pulling down the blinds, and...!]

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