hotsteamynights | YEAR OF THE TIGERDRAGON

No matter what language you speak, no matter what country or universe you reside in, a mysterious letter has found its way to you. Those who can read it will recognize it as an ornately scripted Japanese new year's invitation; those who don't might not even know these elaborate squiggles mean anything at all. Either way, when you look up from the neatly folded paper, you're probably nowhere near home anymore.

Where is this?! When is this?! Welcome to Japan as it was ~~kinda, sorta,~~ just shy of the year 1600, esteemed guests! If it somehow feels like it isn't even the right month anymore, that's because local time and date is still on the lunar system. It's fine. New Year's parties are New Year's parties.

And those parties mean alcohol! Music! Dancing! Feasting! Don't be shy! There are a number of attendants in colourful livery nearby, eagerly expecting an influx of new guests. They're all friendly enough, but they don't seem to bear the crest of any particular clan and sharp-eyed visitors may catch the briefest glimpse of a striped fluffy tail or a foxy grin... or is it a trick of the light? If you want nothing to do with any of this, they might pout a little but will send you home without any problem. But if you choose to follow them beyond the gates, get ready for one hell of a night. The only kind of explanation you get for what's going on is that the Takeda and Date clans have set aside their rivalries for a night of PEACE AND PARTY and everyone's invited. What does that mean? Go find out for yourself.

Of course folks from all over have been invited to this thing, but outnumbering the other guests by far are a bunch of rowdy samurai types, some in their armour, many in more formal robes, several proudly bearing banners of red or blue. Nobody appears to have any weapons on them, but if any guest takes that as an opportunity to start some shit they're going to be swarmed in like two seconds, so... maybe don't do that. However! There is plenty of space outside to spar in, if that's your thing! Or you can stay inside and drink, eat, enjoy the music, exchange raunchy stories, be an awkward wallflower, drink some more, witness some weird and kind of horrific family bonding, watch the unique display of gun- and canonfire alongside the fireworks, explore the scenic countryside outside of the compound, listen to some smug asshole in an eyepatch and some kid in red scream really loud at eachother, get playfully bullied into taking part in a ceremony you know nothing about, drain a bottle or two, flirt with famous historical figures, or... whatever you want!

All fandoms, all mediums, AUs, doubles, OCs, etc are all fair play here! Invite your friends! Invite your dog! Go nuts! Just slap a warning up if any threads take a particularly violent or sexy turn. Or both. I ain't judging.

LET'S PARTY!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[....Whoa, holy crap. This guy was serious. He was banging on those drums all shirtless like that? With six sticks? She smiled a little. She thought about the Lanes; they'd be all over this performance and remarking it all along the way with her. Maybe that was what she liked about it, it was just crazy enough of a spectacle to be fascinating. Like a rock band, exactly like a rock band.

Take in the moment right? Jane would say that, a lot of her friends she made would say that.

Daria weaseled closer to the front to fully see, clapping along the way.]

[Hell yeah. Shirtless dragon brings all the girls to the yard. And all the boys. Living in the age of casual bisexuality and all. And Masamune himself is thriving on all the attention.

BUT SUDDENLY

HE HAS SPOTTED A VERY OBVIOUSLY OUT-OF-PLACE FOREIGNER

and now that's where his attention is going, as an avid fan of all things flashy and unique. He shakes his head to clear the hair away from his eye (obviously it doesn't bother him by hanging over the other side of his face instead) and points at her.]

You! Come give this a whirl!

[Yeah, some bullshit jamjar spirit magic is translating inside peoples' minds anyway, but Masamune is very plainly addressing her in English.]

Uh-

[Absolutely not. But before she could object, there was a force of will trailing behind her. What looked like a temporary shy nervousness on the verge of plainly rejecting the wild offer, to the girl who was Not Wild, was now a demand of participation. A few party people saw this opportunity and pushed her to the stage with the dragon.

All with some hoots and hollers from the party people themselves. Encouraging her to go on with it. The girl who was NEVER on stage was now on stage, looking right at the Shirtless Dragon himself. She was a bit bewildered, and not exactly in a negative way.]

[YOU'RE IN FOR IT NOW DARIA.

Masamune may be grinning like a huge piece of shit as he offers up some drumsticks (only two thank god) but he's not mocking her. Of course he understands a foreigner probably isn't going to know a damn thing about taiko, and her reluctance only confirms that suspicion. He's always happy for the chance for a little cultural exchange.]

Here, take these! You must have come a long way just to be here tonight, so you may as well get the full experience... You need a run-down, or do you prefer to pick it up as you go?

[Daria was about to offer an array of rejections to this. A whole ton of them to just signify just how much she didn't want to do this. She bit her cheek, prepping the paragraph. Only then to hear the chunk of the local crowd throw their arms up and cheer for her to play. GO, GO, GO!

She stood for a moment, hating the attention...at first. Being in the public wasn't her strong suit, doing an act in front of public was even less of one. But then, she got a fever. Or so it felt. Her face became pink, and she found herself reaching for the drumsticks. She sighed, knowing she signed her death match.]

Fine, what do I do?

That's the spirit.

[HAH. No, he can feel that reluctance hanging thick in the air. That just makes him even more eager to goad her into this, honestly. He laughs and waves a hand at the audience to get them to chill with the chanting for a second so Daria can actually hear him.

He takes two more from his little hoard to demonstrate as he speaks:]

Here, hold them like this. You're going to want a more relaxed grip than with a sword, but tight enough so they don't go flying when you swing your arms. [Might as well take the opportunity to mime the movements while he's on the subject.] Shoulders nice and loose, feet apart, like this. Don't try to strike through the drum... you want it to bounce back nice and quick so you don't mess up your tempo. Watch. Ha!

[He drums out a very quick little beat before tossing the sticks into the air and catching them a few times. Nah, it's not part of the lesson, he's just showing off. For her, for the audience, for himself, whatever.]

Even a song from your homeland should be simple enough on these babies. So.

Are you ready?

[So this guy is THE boss. That didn't mean anything, but it was noted anyway. She listened to his words anyway, watching the dudes that so served him demonstrate.

Also swirling through her head was the sheer defeat of this situation. The moment she was booted on the stage was when she was stuck to doing this no matter how much she didn't want to. Walking off the stage in front of THE BOSS meant hell probably for the rest of the night. No, she didn't want that. That scene though afterwords, woof.]

Party rock star type, aren't you?

[She knew it was for show, but...hey, better do it and do it right.]

Well, so, better give it the college try.

[The boss according to half the people here, at least. The other half are more likely to press their face into their hands and mutter something about General Sanada being too generous with the invitations, or something.

The party rock star thing would be unanimously agreed on, though. Masamune looks so proud of himself at the assessment.]

C'mon! Show us what you got!

[And the crowd starts up their chant of DOOO IT DOOO IT DOOO IT with partyboy here right at the head of it all, pumping a fist in the air.]

Alright, alright.

[God, it was almost like this atmosphere was making her feel more trapped, defeated, and nervous. So she had to build up resistance to feel at ease in her element in the slightest.

Okay.

Okay.

Time to shut these goons out of her space, and for that to happen, she just made a loud bang on the drum with both of her sticks. It made a resounding PWANG noise, as if to get people to leave her head and just let her get into the zone of her own atmosphere as she tried to do this. Pretend it's just you here. Just do it, Morgendorffer.]

Edited 2019-01-06 06:13 (UTC)

[Just think of a song, he said. Any song. What freaking song did she know that could be easily done with just these drums? Come on, think. Think. Think it over, do it. Just, do it.

Do it, Daria. Do it, Daria. Just like that, the voices of the people reached her head again. The resounding voices that she tried to block out to solidify her own reluctance reappeared, and her heart started to race.

DOOOO IT, DOOOO IT, DOOOOOO IT!!!

Then she realized that, they were joining her. The voices in the crowd kept egging her on to play just as much as she was. The heart of hers began to race even more, so she took a deep breath. She inhaled through her nose.

Then she played one song she knew that seemed to fit. She banged the drums at each note, like it were each of her anxious heartbeats.]

YEAR OF THE TIGERDRAGON

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

2/2 SAFARI ZONE