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

[erbe]

[The fact that BOTH HER ADVOCATES HAD CRUDE THIRD WHEELERS... don't make me think about a Left Hand and Add echo chamber...]

Are you the type of person who punishes themselves for everything? Shouldn't this be the other way around?

[Rin is so torn between, "yes be a doormat for me, I love it" and "oh my god stop being such a doormat, you're driving me insane". Because honestly? While she'd love to just take advantage of them... deep down she feels bad for how much they just invite people to do just that.]

[damnpire]

[HELP HER OUTWARDLY STOIC, SAD ADVOCATES WITH THIRD WHEELS.

He wants to say it's on him because he could have hurt her, but this will become a circular no, me; no, me maybe. Unnecessary.

He raises the only hand he has left (the right one), offering it to her. To shake, YET HE DOESN'T SAY THIS LIKE AN IDIOT.]

We can agree the room caused us to act out of character and leave it at that.

[erbe]

[She wants to reject that offer something fierce. If only because it burns her to know that she started it all and he's removing any responsibility she had in the act. Rin has an odd sense of obligation, so it doesn't sit right with her that she is being convinced not to make amends.

In the end, though, this seems like what he wants. So she accepts. Her small hand takes his, and she gives him a firm and hearty shake.]

You're being too generous on my behalf. As a Harbinger most of my actions were simply amplified representations of my true self.

[damnpire]

[He returns the shake, firm and not delicate, but politely without a painful grip. He isn't trying to break her hand.]

So does that mean you had already been interested?

[He delivers this so seriously.......... but it's almost like a joke?]

[erbe]

[A part of her would really like to shrink him down and rattle him about in a cocktail shaker as repentance for his... everything.]

Don't let your ego inflate too much, big guy. I can't say I was interested before because I didn't know you, but it's not as if I find you detestable.

["You were cute," and "I think it'd be fun to tease you," are sentiments that are left unsaid as she stares up at him. Lord, why are all the men in Kenos so tall? It's as if they were all born with the sacred right to reach the top shelf without assistance.]

What's the name of your quiet girl? Maybe I know her and can help you pick out something more personalized.

[damnpire]

[He is surprised by the amount of people here who do not find him detestable when so many back home did. Because he was too perfect, and they knew that meant he was a stupid half vampire.

He glances from her to all of her wares around the store again. He isn't sure if the quiet girl would even want a gift, so maybe he shouldn't bother. But he'd like to get her something, at least.

Since they are so similar, and he understands she would ask for nothing.]

Her name is Gray.

[He very suddenly drops this right on top of Rin.]

[erbe]

[Tohsaka stumbles and nearly knocks over her product on a nearby sample table.

GRAY!? WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE GRAY? Are they dating? Is that what this is? DID RIN SLEEP WITH BOTH HALVES OF A COUPLE DURING THE ORACLE? Good god how are b—]

A-ah. I know Gray. We, ah... came from the same world.

[Should she have said she, "knows Gray intimately"? NO! Even if that would have been... more accurate. Give her time. Rin is having an internal meltdown please have patience. ]

[damnpire]

[She reacted so wildly to that, hm. He doesn't know if it is a good or bad thing, but thinks maybe there is some kind of misunderstanding.

Maybe they are rivals...? Friends...? She did not seem to be angry, at least...]

You are both on different sides for two of the same world. [Interesting.] She helped me when we first met.

[This sounds so sweet, and yet, Gray had helped by guzzling down a bowl of Dokja chicken soup special to keep him from having to eat it.]

I have been looking for a way to thank her.

[erbe]

[Tohsaka sighs heavily. Gray is much to generous to a world that was cruel to her. Rin is fueled by righteous fury against a world that was cruel to her sister. It's complicated. Slowly she recovers from the shock of such a revelation, and starts returning everything back the way it should be — to perfection. Anything less would be unacceptable.

While Rin may keep her own things an absolute disaster, anything made by her to be seen by others must not fail in quality.]

Gray is a practical girl who is resistant to receiving attention, even in the form of a gift. If you give her something with a use I think it will be met with a greater reception. Salves and ointments perhaps. I also can create custom items imbued with magecraft.

[damnpire]

[Wow. It sounds like Rin is talking to him about himself. Yikes.

This is definitely why Dokja tried his damnedest to get him and Gray to meet. No doubt about that now.]

Will you explain the magecraft to me?

[If magecraft is involved in the gift, he'd like to at least know what to ask for, or what he is even asking for. This also makes it too obvious that he and Gray are the same person because they have not spoken about magecraft really, being the quiet, unintrusive people they are. It's fine.

They talked about ghosts... and Add, and Left Hand (RIP), and all the household animals instead.]

buddy you just activated her trap card

[erbe]

Magecraft is the reenactment of Mystery. Ah, but I should explain Mystery first: it is a sliver of power that imitates, but could never reach the same level of, True Magic. True Magic is basically the "impossible" or "miracles" like manipulating time or resurrecting the truly dead. Mystery is below True Magic in that it is an "achievable phenomena" that is brought about through what one might call "supernatural means". For example, if you use magecraft to heal a wound you must clean any cuts or properly set any bones before casting a spell to heal. This is because magecraft simply enhances and speeds up the body's natural healing process. If you like you can consider magecraft and science in the same family, but most mages would be appalled if you considered them to "share the same bed".

[She says this as-a-matter-of-factly. As if he'd totally just understand the entirety of it in one go.]

she really said i'm glad you asked

[damnpire]

[Surprising, it makes more sense to him than expected, even if he doesn't understand all of the nuances of her world or it's magic system.

This is only because he's from a world where vampires function with somewhat similar skills. Advanced abilities which could essentially be a form of magic without it being the traditional, pure magic recounted in fantasy storybooks.]

I understand. What would you want in return for a gift with magecraft? Money?

[erbe]

Money is acceptable, but bartering and favors also work well in a place like this. Your offer should match the request.

[Rin would like to think herself the type to accept offers that outweigh the commission, and normally she wouldn't be off the mark, but with D? After she wanted to tear into him like a steak dinner in the maze? She'd feel guilty.]

i got sick help me but now i'm back

[damnpire]

[Hm. Typically, he always worked in money as per his profession; however, there were a few times he worked in favors or barters. He watches her without saying anything for a moment, debating. He had never particularly worked in these sort of favors.]

I will help you fill out your card in return.

[He may not have a card of his own, but he does know now what these cards are! She can have a (squints) nice diagonal Bingo line, depending on her tastes.]

OH NO I HOPE YOU'RE FEELING BETTER

[erbe]

Pay me with a kiss? Does that mean you'd hate to do so otherwise?

[Unfortunately for Rin, poor Eustace doesn't want to be seen face-to-face after the Exalt Oracle. She's probably not going to make Bingo or anything even close.

It's not like she'd blame D if he'd only agree to kiss her as payment. He already had to endure her enough in the maze.]

I'd rather have the money if that's the case.

ty, i am!!

[damnpire]

[EUSTACE. Just show up at their house and corner him, it's fine.]

...

[It dawns on him that so many Zenith teenagers give him a hard fucking time all the time. She really took his "I love apples" and asked him if he hated oranges then.]

You said the payment should match the service. You were helping me with a gift, so in exchange, I was offering to help you. I don't mind giving you the money.

[His arm begins moving beneath the long cape.]

How much do you want for it?

[erbe]

[Would she expire on the spot knowing they all live together? Maybe.]

Whoa there, buddy. Back up a little — you haven't even told me what gift you want to get her. A quick-healing ointment? A mystic code that sweeps all the floors for her? A hairband that makes her resistant to magical types of persuasion, like hypnotism? The type of gift you choose and how versatile it is will change the price. That's why I cannot accept a kiss to exchange for a gift that hasn't been determined just yet.

[damnpire]

[It would be very funny and a hard ping-pong of feelings between, like, three of them in the house because they are stupidly connected somehow.

D pauses, though it's less in giving up on the money and more he now has to think about Gray. If he gets her healing, he knows she will use it on someone else. He knows because they are very similar people, and that is what he would do. She would stubbornly and humbly rather do her own chores, too... since again, so would he, and they are the same person.

He wonders if it's an insult to get her a protection against his kind of hypnotism if he gets bloodthirsty. That seems rude. Selfish? He needs something she would have to use on herself, but also something beneficial.]

A hair brush.

[He says this with such decision. Something simple. Her hair is different now, and he doesn't know if anyone has told her it's fine that way too. Some people put a lot of attachment on a woman's longer hair. Anyhow, he has to pause to think again about the magecraft.]

One that makes hair soft and shiny when used, if you can.

[erbe]

...Hm. That actually sounds nice. No need for a wooden comb for more even distribution of the hair oils since it's so short now. Perhaps a boar-bristle brush with a spell engraved on the paddle? Yes, that should be simple and easy enough.

[Tohsaka squeezes by him to march back toward the sectioned off area that looks like the "check out" spot. After pushing aside the Bingo card, she begins pulling out some tools. A set of vials, cleaning supplies for sterilization, and a few ingredients. A dried bundle of rosemary, a few sets of oils...]

This should do it. I'll need to buy a brush, but otherwise I think I have everything—

[Tunnel Vision Mode: Activated.]

[damnpire]

[Carefully, he takes half a step back to allow her through on her hyperfocused start to the request. And he really just stands there for a while as she tunnels through the motions of the process.]

I will pay you for the brush.

[He'd offer to simply buy it for her, but makes the assumption she wants to do it on her own since he does not know anything about the workings of magecraft. Maybe she needs a certain brush?

His eyes watch her set up with a strangely hungry sort of studious desire.]

May I watch you work?

[He figures he will be polite rather than do the usual and stand unmoving.]

[erbe]

Actually, if you want a discount you'll do more than that.

[Tohsaka latches onto that curiosity of his as he draws in toward her work. She's always been a bit of a teacher. For Shirou, for Atsumu... she can't help it! She likes flaunting her knowledge, but also to see people grow and gain experience. She likes watching people try hard, and get rewarded for it.

Rin presents him with a mortar and pestle before pushing a bunch of ingredients his way.]

I will leave you with instructions while I go procure a brush. Do you think you can handle a little hard labor?

[Hardly labor - unless you count the meticulous grind of herbs into a fine powder.]

[damnpire]

[He watches the ingredients and mortar and pestle come his way. It doesn't appear to bother him, the idea of having to work to help.

In fact, even work like this he doesn't turn his nose up at. It's work.]

Sure.

[He only has one hand, but he doesn't make any kind of excuse or complaint for it.

Reaching up, he removes his hat to put it out of the way, and then he steps up to the mortar.]

I'm ready.

[erbe]

[It seems that despite his handicap she doesn't seem all that worried about his capabilities to complete the work. Instead the main take away is that her mood has markedly improved.]

You'll want to grind the rosemary into a fine powder so it can be combined with the argan and tea tree oils. I'll consult you about about a scent mix when I return. The Edelstein will be locked up while I'm gone so no one bothers you while I'm out.

[She wouldn't want a someone wandering in and chasing off her little Meridian porcelain doll — actually, come to think of it, he looks a lot like those ethereal resin ball-joint dolls. Doesn't he?

Anyway, Rin scribbles down a list of instructions stating what the consistency of the powder should be like, the measurements of the oils, and how to add the ingredients bit-by-bit so they don't clump or separate. Very casually she'll pat him on the shoulder before leaving and locking the door (magically!) It will take her roughly 20 minutes to run off and come back with a very well crafted looking paddle brush with boar(?) bristles. If D is diligent he should be doing the final stir-mixing of the ingredients as she comes back in.]

[damnpire]

Alright.

[After so long of facing immense prejudice on the Frontier, he still finds it a bit baffling she would even think to allow him in this store much less allow him the freedom to stay here inside unattended.

Not that he has any nefarious intensions whatsoever. And aside from looking around again, he now has a task.

Patiently, he stands there quietly and waits for her to finish the instruction. For as much as he is a vampire hunter, he is also a chemist. He doesn't dismiss her teachings even if what they mean make more sense to him than he lets on. He may be a chemist, but he isn't a mage of any sort.

She leaves, and he is left with the mortar, and pestle, and one arm. Then he gets to work. The good thing, if anything, about D is he is quick and efficient.

By the time she returns, he is indeed finishing what he had been given. Immaculately, too; little mess for a man who is now down an arm. He might not say anything about having an affinity for this sort of thing, but perhaps the work speaks for itself. Or maybe Rin just gives good instructions!

He is... right where she left him? It doesn't look like he moved smat all (he didn't).]

Welcome back.

[erbe]

[It is Rin's own assumptions about Meridian Men (soft hearted, sentimental) and Advocates (subdued, pushovers) that make it so she feels confident leaving him alone in there. If he is so much like Gray, then there is no issue with him.

As it is, it didn't really matter if he did well. It was simply something to keep him busy while she was out. When she comes to find him... unmoved, she's a little unsettled. However that is outweighed by the fact he is looming statue in her own shop. For a moment it almost feels like he belongs there.]

Already finished? Perhaps I should have given you something more difficult to do.

[Tohsaka puts the brush down on the table — the wooden paddle facing upward, and the bristles on the tabletop. Once she's behind the counter, set across from him, she reaches under to procure an emerald green gem. It looks small, like something that would be inlayed on a vase or something similar.]

There might be a burning wood smell shortly.

[After pressing the gem to the back of the brush, its tip begins to scorch a pattern onto it. Rin encourages the magical energy she had stored in the gem to flow outward and inscribe a magic circle onto the brush. When the circle is complete the gem shatters. Almost into nothingness.

An expensive hobby, to be sure.]

Pour the mixture into the scorched depression.