introductory mingle: MEMORIA

[riverviewmod]

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and Memoria Commemoration
when: May 1st - May 8th
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

memoria

In the days leading up to May 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: Memoria. A more solemn celebration than Sampremi or the Flower Festival, Memoria is a week-long time of remembrance for those lost in the Great War and the epidemic that decimated Riverview Quarantine's population 10 years ago. Memoria traditions include lighting lanterns for the dead, telling stories about lost loved ones or lost homes, eating meals with loved ones, and a special gathering to send floating lanterns down the river in honor of those lost.

a solemn commemoration of those lost

While the main city-wide event associated with Memoria is the floating of lanterns down the river on the evening of May 8th, the holiday is generally seen as a time of reflection on and appreciation of things that have been lost - people, homes, cultures, and planets. It is also a celebration of the things that remain. Many locally-owned shops will host displays of culturally-significant food, and will hand out informational flyers sharing the unique customs of their own homeworlds. There is a heavy emphasis on sharing time with family, friends, and lovers, and anyone who is able to will cook meals or treats for loved ones, or at least purchase them something good to eat.

i. hanging lanterns

Throughout the entire week of Memoria, residents will be hanging lanterns around the city. Lanterns are generally placed in greater number in places of passage - streets, bridges, and all alongside the train lines are particularly well-decorated, as are any trees alongside paths, and most homes and businesses have a profusion of lanterns around their doors and windows. This tradition is twofold; some people believe that the lanterns are hung in these places in order to guide the spirits of the dead back to those who still love them, other people believe that the lanterns are to give light for living loved ones to find their doors in times of darkness...many people believe both.

No matter what your character might believe, you can be sure they will find themselves offered a lantern for free from various businesses or friendly citizens passing by, and invited to hang it before the sun sets, or they may be handed a bundle of lanterns and asked to help share them with others.

ii. sharing life

Throughout the city, characters will find groups of people gathering to share hot drinks and talk about their loved ones lost, their homes and planets, or their experiences during the Great War and the epidemic. Anyone who has lost someone, who has fought to survive, who is feeling cut off and homesick, is welcome to sit and share their story. If your character chooses to sit and to share their story, they will find that people will gather to listen, will generally be respectful of the telling, and may share their own similar experiences in return. This is an excellent time to air grief in an environment where most people understand and respect grief, and a good time to deepen the connections to others around you, to understand them better.

There is also a very large focus on cooking or purchasing meals or treats for loved ones during Memoria, with many people taking meals with everyone they care about during the week of the holiday. Some go the extra mile and will hand out baked goods (usually chocolate or cinnamon), packets of candy, or other little treats to acquaintances, especially if they would like to form a closer bond with them. This is a great time for characters to reach out to someone they would like to get to know better with a surprise treat!

iii. floating of the lanterns

On the evening of May 8th, just before sundown, many of the city's residents will head toward the banks of the river, where they will light lanterns in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, in honor of their dead loved ones. The types of lanterns vary wildly, based on personality (either of the person floating it or the person they are honoring), culture, and many other factors. Some lanterns are very simple, others are incredibly complex, but the one common feature they all have is that people write on the shades of them - they write about their feelings for their loved ones, their wishes for their relationships and friendships, a memory from childhood or home, or even just lines of poetry or lyrics from songs that express something they miss, or something that hurts them.

Once those emotions are written on the lanterns, the lanterns are set free, floating down the river in the darkening evening, in a cathartic gesture shared by most residents of the city. Waves of lantern floating will start around 7 pm and continue until the sun rises on the morning of May 9th.

iv. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to set up headers for a communal floor, or threads open to roommates for the purpose of getting to know each other. Or if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during Memoria, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: glowconcepts, image ii: by trenchmaker, image iv: cherryorange; image iii: found uncredited on Pinterest - please let the mod know if you find credit!

navigation

Comments

loki laufeyson, marvel-616 (ota)

[ikols]

2. storytime.

[ Loki isn't one to offer up a story without distancing himself from the subject matter a little, telling none of the crowd that he too is one of the gods of which he speaks. He tells of Old Asgard and how it fell, then how Thor raised it anew on Midgard and sought out the souls of those who died during a Ragnarok to repopulate it, how Balder moved the realm to Latveria where the cold mountains were more to the liking of his people ...

Mostly he talks of Thor. He who defeated Harokin the barbarian chieftain; in Nastrond where the Thunder God fought Fafnir the dragon; how a god butcher attempted to kill every god in existence but was foiled by the son of Odin.

Sometimes he throws in this or that about the Avengers and their hammer-wielding leader. ]



3. all the lanterns.

[ Embracing the sentimental rituals of the realm is a good way to kickstart any truth to the magic in them. He can't resist the opportunity when it comes to mending a variety of topics in his life, so Loki has thrown himself headfirst into lantern-making and sits on the bank of the river with a good half-dozen around him, finishing his writings. Mostly in Asgardian runes for privacy's sake but the differences are sometimes stark anyway.

A white lantern scribbled with a small novel and decorated with a scribbled magpie (the Boy). Red with golden lightning strikes and a simple short message on one side (Odinson). A golden pair, ornate and beautiful as they glint with starshine and a short apology (Odin and Freyja). One lantern looks like a tie-dye in pinks, purples, and reds, the only one written in English that goes on about a clever and beautiful seer of truth (Verity). A pretty silver lantern (Thor, the unknown woman). Lastly, he paints an orange and gold lantern, drawing wings all over it (Angela).

Catch him during his intense decorating or as he sets them afloat down the river. Either way he'll be there a while, sitting on his butt in jeans and a green hoodie, legs stretched out like a child intent on their artwork at school. ]



4. housemates &/or YOUR STARTER.

( Toss something else here!! )

[ i ]

[supersweet]

[ Jon tries to follow the story as well as he can. Stories about superheroes and epics are his favourite, but the twists and turns of Asgard's twilight has him lost far too many times. ]

All these names are hard to pronounce.

[ikols]

[ Chinning a hand, he points to the young boy and can't hold back a smile. ]

If you can pronounce the next three on your first try, I'll get you an ice cream. You up to the challenge? There are sprinkles included.

[supersweet]

[ It's like everyone sees right through him. Or know Jon is easily bribed by ice-cream. ]

Okay, uhh. Thor, Odin . . . . Fieffffner?

[ikols]

Nice try, but I didn't even tell you the names yet. You don't get to pick. This is ice cream we're talking about! Serious business.

[ Raising a finger!! Here's the first and you can bet it's in the thickest Asgardian accent he can muster. ]

Okay, so: Jormungand.

3

[burntbridges]

[Letha makes a quiet approach, not wanting to bother someone in such an intimate moment. But she's been wanting to thank Loki for a while, and she guesses it wouldn't hurt to give him a shoulder to lean on if he's open to it. She sits neatly beside him, and is silent for a good minute before speaking.]

Do you miss the other gods from your world?

[ikols]

[ A minute is a long time to sit in silence and he starts to wonder if she plans on keeping schtum the whole while she's there, with Loki content to see what Letha is up to. ]

Not especially. One or two, the rest are really quite unobtrusive in memory.

[burntbridges]

I know nothing of the gods, and barely anything about you... I'd like to hear about them, but I'll understand if you'd rather not share.

[She pauses again, just briefly this time.]

And I want to thank you for your advice the last time we spoke. I know this isn't really the time, but... I wanted to know that I'm grateful.

[ikols]

You and Ivar got together, then?

[ That's a way easier subject for him to discuss than gods. Any gods, really, are tiring subject matter. ]

( 3 )

[deathkid]

[ eventually, out of the shadows will step a certain demigod, keen on discovering a bit about the goings on of the festival. when he finds loki, he peers over the godling's shoulder, dark eyes take in the way loki decorates each of his lanterns, noting the way great care is put into each. the one that interests him the most is the white lantern, apparently given the most focus with all the asguardian scribbling. nico is tempted to reach out and touch, but instead, folds himself on the ground at loki's side and picks up a lantern of his own to decorate.

he doesn't say much, just sitting there with his own lantern and providing loki with company. ]

[ikols]

[ Writing on the white lantern, he finishes his sentence while Nico settles nearby before glancing over with a welcoming nod. ]

Would it be in poor taste to have the words 'You've got mail!' boom over the river when everyone issues forth their lanterns? I'm tempted.

[deathkid]

[ pauses for a second, clearly considering this as his eyes roam over the novel loki's written on his lantern. he's curious about it but figures if loki wanted people to know the story behind it, he wouldn't have written in asguardian runes. ]

Hm... Probably? But I've got the feeling you're going to do it anyway. Should I have brought popcorn?

[ikols]

I can provide that. Maybe I won't make it too loud ...

[ Scribbling another bird on his lantern, he nods to Nico's. ]

Not much to say?

(3)

[fingerstripes]

[ He's been keeping an eye out for the other Loki. Not looking for her (as if she's someone he couldn't just call and speak to) so much as watching for patterns. Tells for her habits. Analyzing in the near unconscious way he pursues things (people) that fascinate him.

But this is the Loki he finds, intent on his lanterns by the side of the river. Dick stops where he at once, staring before he means to.

And that's- actually that's more than alright. However they're connected, he wants to know them. He wants to know both of them.

He figures Loki won't be shy in telling him to get lost if he'd rather have the moment alone. Still, he's conscious of where he treads as he approaches. The last thing he wants to do is impose on an important, private ritual. ]

Hey. [ He lifts his hand in a small, friendly wave. ]

[ikols]

[ Engrossed in daubing birds on the white lantern, ink over his fingers, Loki looks up in blank distraction; and a wide smile breaks out across his face, lifting his expression with genuine pleasure. ]

Officer Grayson! [ Wishing he didn't look such a mess surrounded by his half-made lanterns, Loki moves a couple to make room. ] Did you want to sit? I've no breakfast meats for you today, sadly, although I saw a vendor selling bacon rolls not far from here ...

[ Half-joking, because mentioning food makes the squirming snakes in his stomach suddenly starving. ]

[fingerstripes]

It is you. [ And real delight lights up his face. In retrospect he probably shouldn't be so surprised. ]

You sure? [ Though he's already taking that offered seat, cross-legged beside him. ]

We can chat later, if you need time.

2

[livingsymbol]

[Lurking at the fringe of the group that has gathered around Loki is a familiar soldier. He doesn't say anything during the various exaggerated and slightly inaccurate tales, but he listens politely with his arms crossed, taking in the words as much as anyone else. After Loki finishes on story, Steve moves closer, speaking privately to him.]

I haven't heard that version before.

[ikols]

[ As someone else takes up the mantle of Storyteller (that's not entirely his niche, next Loki) he folds his arms and replies to Steve demurely so as not to interrupt the current tales up ahead. ]

Perhaps your perspective was skewered. Afternoon, Rogers.

[livingsymbol]

[Steve speaks back in a low voice, being respectful to the others in the group so they can listen to the new story.]

Maybe the narrator missed a few details himself.

[And there's a little bit of amusement in Steve's answer.]

That was generous of you.

2

[antietam]

[ Adam listens intently to the stories, quiet enough that his presence is hardly noticeable.

He understands the idea of different worlds, but the tales seem too far-fetched for him to really believe. Those figures are mythological for him, after all. This guy seems interesting enough that Adam approaches him after, though. ]

About your stories—where you're from, people believe in all that?

[ikols]

It's all true, [ mostly, ] so they look more the fool if they don't. Midgard owns the vast majority of doubters. [ He looks the newcomer over, a smile quirking into place. ] Hello, by the way.

[antietam]

Oh, hello. [ He seems to remember his manners enough to look embarrassed. ] Sorry, my name is Adam. I've just never heard anything like your stories before except, well, in myths.

[ Not that he's in a place to suggest myths aren't true, but he sort of draws the line at gods. ] How do you know it's true?

3

[winscenario]

[ Jim has gotten a lot of lanterns handed to him over the past few weeks, much like everyone else, but in the end, he sticks to just the one. The rest he gave away or hanged them around the city at random. There's no point— he has too many lost lives he holds himself accountable for to be sending that many lanterns down the stream.

The sentiment is what counts, he figures. He's not really planning on writing anything there, either. But he does spot Loki, immersed in his decorating endeavors, and he makes his way over, stopping a couple of feet away and watching him for a few seconds before he speaks up. ]

That's a lot of lanterns.

[ikols]

Very observant, Captain Obvious.

[ Humming as he finishes up a wing on Angela's lantern, he unfolds a leg and pats the grass with his heel. An invitation for Jim to sit down. ]

None of your own?

[winscenario]

One of my many impressive talents.

[ Saying that in a light, humorous tone, he sits down next to Loki, holding out his own lantern. A small one but sort of cute, built on a base that looks like a boat, with a tiny fisherman sitting near the edge. ]

Just the one.