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

[ 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.

[supersweet]

[ Jon scrunches up his nose in concentration. ]

Jor . . . mungand?

[ikols]

[ Aw. ]

... Close enough. [ Not even, but, ] And secondly! Are you ready?! Yggdrasil.

[supersweet]

[ Jon scowls. ]

There's no way I can say that. I don't even know how to spell it!

[ikols]

Come on now, just because it sounds like an aborted sneeze is no reason to give up! [ The best life-lesson he ever gave anyone. ] I'll spell it for you; Y-G-G-D-R-A-S-I-L. Yggdrasil.

[supersweet]

[ Jon can barely pronounce Kryptonian. Not that he's learned much here. ]

Egg — drasil.

[ikols]

That is far less awful than I was expecting. You're almost there! Two scoops of sugary goodness awaits!! All you have to say is ... Hlidskjalf.

[supersweet]

[ Jon narrows his eyes at him. ]

You made that one up.

[ikols]

[ Pulling a face right back!! ]

I totally did not. Hlidskjalf is the mountaintop throne from which the All-Father can look upon all of creation! It's way cool.

[supersweet]

There's no way I can pronounce that. You rigged the game!

[ikols]

You're the one who agreed to play. [ Offering a hand. ] I'm Loki.

[supersweet]

[ Jon eyes the hand before taking it. His grip is a little too strong for a human. ]

I'm Jonathan Kent.

And playing doesn't mean it can't be a fair game. After all, everyone can have fun that way.

[ikols]

[ That feels like an Asgardian child's grip. Hm. ]

Ah, but I never said I wouldn't cheat and, besides, I like to win. [ Poking Jonathan on the nose. Boop. ] It's not what I said, it's what I didn't say. You have to listen for that when making deals with shady grown-ups because they'll think they're being smarter than you. Yeah?

[supersweet]

[ Jon rubs his nose with a pout. But Loki's words make sense so Jon finds himself listening. ]

They always think that. Grown-ups think I can't do anything on my own.

[ikols]

Well, that's because they're morons, obviously. The majority of people are.

[ The weirdest nostalgia creeps up on him, restraining himself from idly delving into his memories as he advises the child. ]

Do you want to know a really useful trick to use on them?

[supersweet]

[ He blinks. ]

. . . I guess it couldn't hurt.

[ikols]

[ Leaning down, ]

You uproot a secret, something they don't want anyone else to know. Then, if they try to make you lose, you let them know you know. It's called leverage.

[supersweet]

[ Jon's face slowly falls and he slumps. ]

I — I can't do that. I can't use someone's secrets like that.

[ Considering how much of his life is governed by secrets, Jon finds that frightening. Using other people's secrets the way people might use his? ]

[ikols]

Not even if they were going to hurt someone you loved? I think it's better to shut down the proud and cruel before they can harm us. Everybody walks away without a single injury, and all it takes is a few words.

[supersweet]

It . . . It wouldn't be right. I have secrets and I have to think about them all the time. And that's scary. I don't want to do that to someone.

There has to be a better way to protect someone without making them feel the same way I do.

[ikols]

Sometimes you have to be the one doing the hurting to make it stop once and for all.

[ WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, KID. Even so, Loki isn't heartless and he gives Jon's shoulder a pat. ]

But you're probably a better person for not wanting to cause trouble at all.

[supersweet]

Maybe.

[ Jon isn't sure. Better or good are definitions that feel like clothes a size too big. He doesn't have the faith like his dad does or the conviction his mother holds. ]

I'll just find another way. Adults can't be that hard to figure out.