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!

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Comments

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. ]

[burntbridges]

[She was hoping for a story, but she did say she wouldn't push. So she just nods quietly.]

It took us a bit, but... yes. We've been together for about a week. Which... I'm not sure would have happened, without your support.

[And she tries to be somber, but there's a smile on her face and a warm glow about her.
She has little use for mourning at the moment, when her new life in Riverview is so much better than her old life in Thornwell.]

[ikols]

Not sure how I'm responsible in any way, but thank you for the credit. You're very sweet, Letha, I can see what Ivar appreciates in you.

[ As well as, you know, her obvious beauty. That's a given. ]

[burntbridges]

Well, I think you gave me the push I needed. I might not have gotten anywhere with him if I'd waited for him to make the first move.

[Her smile wavers a bit.]

On the other hand... it's only fair for me to mention that I haven't managed to reach any afterlife except that of this world, since I got here. I can't visit the Netherworld, or Valhalla, or... I think you called it Hel, right? So... I can't repay you with anything.

[ikols]

Valhalla is a bit separate to Hel, but yes. Why would you need to repay me? I'm not responsible for Ivar loving you.

[ That's all her. ]

Enjoy what you have.

[burntbridges]

Well... if you insist, I won't push it.

[She still feels like Loki was helpful and deserves thanks. Just kind of... for existing, and enabling her. She needed it.]

Gossip aside, I really do want to extend an offer of friendship to you - if that's alright. If you need anything done for you that doesn't involve speaking to the dead, consider this.. a general offer to fulfill it. [She just kind of wants to feel helpful.]