riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: MEMORIA

Entry tags:

introductory mingle: MEMORIA

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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Well... if you wanna give Dodger a heart attack, that's a sure-fire way to do it. Although he might do some casual terrifying of his own, given that he looks, acts and sounds like a back-alley gangster.]

Fuck are you doing up there? [He... may or may not be casually positioning himself to catch the kid if he falls.] Are your parents letting you pull crap like this on your own?

I'm hanging the lanterns!

[ He gives a cheeky grin. ]

I'll be okay, mister.

You're risking a concussion is what you're doing. [He raises a brow, just a tad.] I'm serious about the parents thing, where the hell are they?

[ Jon scowls. Sure he nearly had a concussion once but he's more durable than that. He can hear his parents' heartbeats nearby and Miss Jones was on speed dial. Jon was getting a little tired of not being able to go anywhere without people fretting. He neatly leaps from the ledge, landing on his feet.

( though the cement might have cracked. a little. ) ]

There. All good.

[He's not about to get out of Dodger's fretting. He's the paranoid type, especially when it comes to kids getting hurt. Although... his attention shifts a bit, seeing how easily the kid makes it down.]

Don't gimme that look - last thing I want is someone flipping their shit because you got yourself hurt with a guy like me around. [And he's crouching down, in that kind of patronizing way you're totally not supposed to do with kids above six.] That's a neat trick you just did, though. You into sports or something?

[ Jon pointedly rolls his eyes. ]

It's not like I'd go tell on you if I got hurt. I wouldn't lie about that.

And it wasn't a trick, I'm just . . . really athletic?

[That gets a chuckle out of him.] Sure. Let's go with that.

[He pauses to pull out a cigarette, snapping his fingers and lighting it off the small flame that appears on them, before offering his hand to shake. Freshly flameless.]

Name's Dodger. Need any help with those lights? [Because his parental instincts won't let Jon back up there on his watch.]

[ Jon eyes him at first, not sure what to make of that offer before shrugging and shaking his hand. With a grip that's oddly sturdy. ]

I'm Jon Kent. And yeah, I guess I could use someone handing them to me? The climbing's stuff easy.

What, like Clark Kent?

[It's a joke, he's not expecting a serious answer. And he's still a lot more preoccupied with chiding him than anything.]

...You've just got no sense of danger, huh. Got any way to prove to me you won't get hurt?

[ He blinks. ]

You know my dad?

[ Adjusting his glasses, Jon purses is lips. ] I don't. But I've done this a lot and I've never hurt myself badly. And I've fallen from bigger heights.

[....]

Wait.

[He narrows his eyes a bit.]

Are you pulling little kid bullshit on me or are you seriously trying to tell me your dad's Superman.

[Because... he's seen enough weird shit here that he's willing to accept it. With a grain of salt.]

[ Jon freezes, before stepping back and narrowing his eyes. ]

How did you know that? Do you actually know Superman?

[ There's a flicker of red light in his eyes. Jon wouldn't attack, not without good reason, but keeping the secret is his life and here's someone who just knows who Superman is. ]

[He opens his mouth to just sort of rattle off some snarky answer, but... the kid seems genuinely upset about it. Maybe he's serious after all.]

Sure. In my world there's comics about him. He's what, a... journalist or something? Runs into a phone booth, turns into Superman, saves Lois Lane. I'm not big on superhero comics.

[Partly because... in a world where mutants are pretty common, and most of them become criminals, the Superman comics are a little bit like reading a story about a man with a nice day job where everyone likes him.]

[ Comics. Come to think of it, Mr. Mxyzptlk had said something about that, hadn't he? Connected through all the realities. Had this been his fault? No, Mxyzptlk was gone for now . . .

He runs a hand through his hair. What should he do? What would his dad do? He didn't break his promise, but Jon can't help feeling this is his fault. ]

He doesn't need a phone booth for that. And he really is my dad. You won't . . . tell anyone, will you? It's supposed to be a secret.

I hope not, 'cause there ain't that many of them around anymore.

[He's pretty sure that joke sucked, and he's just going to leave it. And while secrets are a dangerous thing to let him in on... he's not about to hold any sort of ransom over a kid. Especially one that could probably kick his ass, because. Yeah. He's gonna take this whole Superman thing seriously.]

I'll keep my mouth shut. [He tips his head to the side after a moment of consideration.] Your dad's not around in the quarantine, is he?

[ Jon eyes him again as if he can gauge good intention from childish gaze alone. Finally he answers honestly. ]

Kinda. It's a different version of my dad.

And is that version... also Superman?

[He has no idea how the different realities work but... if he has to worry about Superman cracking down on him when he breaks the law he'll definitely be more careful about it.]

[ He nods. ]

Of course. Being Superman is who he is.

Makes sense.

[He'll have to take some time on that to decide if passing the information along to Reaper is worth pissing the kid off. For now, he's standing up and grabbing one of the lanterns Jon had been planning to string up.]

Alright, interrogation's over. Where were you planning to put these up next?

I wanna get them high up. See that balcony?

[ Jon points it out. There are a few ledges that he can get to with ease. ]

I thought I'd just loop the strings around the pillar-thingies. That way, they'll look good.

[He raises a brow as he looks up.]

Seriously, what did I just say about heights... alright, c'mere.

[He gathers up several more of the lanterns, and grasps Jon's shoulder to teleport them up. Which, since Jon now gets to see it from the teleporter's perspective, is a lot like watching the entire world blow up in sparks around them and then reassert itself. And once it does, Dodger has gotten them up safely onto the balcony.]

Safer than climbing up the wall, yeah?

Woah.

What was that?

[ Jon's never done any kind of teleporting before. Going through portals, sure. But nothing like that. ]

Is that your super power?

[He nods.]

Sure - that and a couple other things, but I'm done blowing your mind for now.

[And he likes to stay secretive about what he's capable of.]

[ Jon frowns. ]

My mind was not blown.

[ But he takes the lanterns and starts tying them down. Once he's satisfied, Jon takes a step back, grinning as they sway gently in the wind. ]

Sure it wasn't.

[He leans over the edge of the balcony to watch the lanterns, and maybe there's some warmer version of a smirk on his face. Maybe.]

Ready to head back down, then?

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