SWORD DANCING MEME

[tachizuru]

SWORD DANCING MEME a festival meme

It’s a special time of year and the sword army is invited to come down from their citadels and celebrate. What? A summer festival, an offering to the gods, or perhaps a special ceremony of sorts. The normally quiet, rural village at the foot of the mountains will transform for the night with lanterns, fireworks, and music all around but first! Some preparations need to be done. Did you really think you would be invited down here without having to do some work? Prepare to dance, prepare to sing, prepare for a night of fun.

1. CEREMONY PRACTICE At the citadel, a new chore has been added to the list: ceremonial practice! The swords selected to perform at the festival will have to practice their song and dance or else they'll risk embarrassment in front of the crowds. Or maybe this entire thing is embarrassing... either way, this is your duty! Saniwa's orders! Where and when is up to you but you better be ready. 2. PREPARING THE OFFERINGS Those who aren’t practicing have been going on a lot of expeditions lately, haven’t they? Some of the materials brought back from missions has been set aside to take to the festival and offer later. The same can be said for the crops in the field, the alcohol that is suddenly off limits, and ah… do you smell that food from the kitchen? Yeah, that isn’t for you either. These are offerings to the gods though so don’t you dare try to get greedy! Are you listening?! 3. SPECIAL CLOTHES You can’t wear those same old clothes. They’re all torn and worn or just not appropriate at all for the type of festival you’re going to. The organization has all of your measurements and has sent special robes for the spirits and saniwa to wear. It even comes complete with accessories! What’s taking you so long? We should have left twenty minutes ago. Do you need help? Or are you trying to perfect your appearances for your big debut? 4. PERFORMANCE Everyone is dancing and everyone is singing. Are you one of the performers? Or are they dancing to you? What kind of songs are you hearing? What dances are you watching? Did you see the ceremonial sword dance? Or maybe you were invited to dance in a special performance with your saniwa! When the performance is over, make sure to congratulate the performers on a job well done… or tease your friend. 5. PAY RESPECTS After the festive ceremonies, a more somber moment takes place. Remember, we are fighting a war and it’s important to remember those that have fallen. The swords that were broken and damaged beyond repair are gathered up and taken to a sacred fire so that their spirits can be purified and reborn. Later, all of those offerings you have been saving are offered up to the gods for their blessings. One by one, you can come up to the shrine or fire and say your prayers. 6. SPECIAL SUMMONING What better day to summon a sword spirit on the day you’ve made offerings to the gods and have prayed for good fortune? Maybe it’s a first-time saniwa summoning their first spirit or a veteran saniwa trying their luck. Maybe a saniwa has tried to purify a particularly corrupt sword tonight... Either way, a special spirit is going to be born tonight. Are you the spirit? Happy summoning day to you all. 7. FESTIVITIES The ceremonies are finally over! Wow, that sure took up a lot of time, huh? There are still a couple of more hours left in the night so enjoy the festivities. Try the food, play the shooting games, win a couple of prizes. How many goldfish can you catch? Or maybe the important question is: How are you going to take care of this goldfish? At the end of the night, you can catch the fireworks before the night ends. 8. WILDCARD Pick your own adventure.

This is a meme inspired by this plurk. What if the saniwa had to perform other duties besides just summoning swords to fight? What if they had to take part in special ceremonies? What if they had to invite their swords to perform with them? Feel free to get as creative as you want with this prompt as far as things like: Why are they celebrating? How often do they get to leave the citadel? Etc.

Comments

[folklorist]

8: Wildcard

[ Helios has heard about this festival quite a few times, but the school was always so busy that he never had the chance to attend. Regardless he's definitely here now and he is so excited?! Please pay no heed to the adult that looks like a kid in a candy shop. Cultural festivals happen to be his jam though so the man looks about with some eager happiness.

You can run into him anywhere just chowing down on some food or even joining in the festivities. At some point he'll be letting loose some colorful, iridescent, animals made of light and his own magic. Dragons, fish, birds and whatever else you can think of. They're all galloping, swimming, and frolicking through the air silent but majestic as they do so. Some of them might even come across your character and dance around them as if wanting to play. Think of it as an added little bonus to the festivities and you don't even need to pay! ]

[occasion]

[HOLD UP. WHAT IS THAT.

WHAT IS THAT.]

Whoa, niichan! [Niichan?] What's all that? That's so cool!

[folklorist]

[ Niichan?! But Helios just smiles and looks up at his own creations with some amusement. ]

Oh! Ah, well, they're a special something I conjured up for the festival! It's a little bit of light magic, nothing to terribly amazing I'm afraid. But I'm glad you think it's, ah, cool.

[occasion]

[NIICHAN. Because he does what he wants so Helios might get an odd name later too.]

Light magic?! Whoa? We don't got magic! [Apart from saniwa magic, but different story.] Is this like fireworks but not really?!

[folklorist]

Ah, yes, actually. [ How does he even explain it?! ]

I can at least control them and manipulate them into various forms. Fireworks definitely can't do that.