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

( 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?

[deathkid]

[ glances down at the white lantern he's got with him, worrying his lower lip for a few seconds. ]

I think it's more that words couldn't fully express what I'd like to say.

[ikols]

Then write everything and you'll miss nothing.

[ Which seems to be Loki's theory, judging by his current lantern. ]

[deathkid]

[ considering this too, nico pulls a felt marker from his pocket and begins scribbling along the side of his lantern. it's all in italian, the language of his mother, as she is who the lantern is for. after a few seconds, he glances back over at loki, regarding the lantern covered with copious amounts of runes. ]

Can I... ask? About that one?

[ikols]

[ Having anticipated Nico's curiosity, Loki is already okay with the idea of opening up to him a little. ]

This is for a dead little boy. His soul was obliterated in the Void so he can't even receive it in Valhalla, but he deserves a lantern more than most. [ Loki toys with it in careful hands, pensive. ] He would have sat down and read it thoroughly.

[deathkid]

[ ah... hearing that makes nico's shoulders slump and his gaze shifts away. being so attuned to death and the souls of the lost, he can nearly feel the pain of the soul that was shattered and nico wonders what loki has to do with something so tragic.

reaching out, he sets a hand on the crook of loki's elbow and looks up at him in understanding. ]

You honor him by telling his story.

[ikols]

Not really.

[ I'm the reason it ended. Shrugging to displace the gentle touch he doesn't deserve, he hitches up a smile and nods to Nico's lantern. ]

Do I get to ask who that's for?

[deathkid]

[ frowning at loki and the way his touch is shrugged off, he licks his lips and sighs. he wants to argue, but he gets the feeling that this isn't the right time to push the subject. so he holds up his lantern and looks it over. ]

My mother. She... she died a long time ago.

[ikols]

Ah. I hope the lantern sends her my best regards.

[ What else can he say to that. Yikes. ]

We're making for quite the depressing pair, you and I.

[deathkid]

[ shrugs a bit before leaning over and letting the lantern drift away in the stream. ]

Death isn't exactly a happy topic and remembering those lost is pretty much practice in thinking depressing thoughts.

[ikols]

If only you'd had a sunnier god for your dad, hm?

[ Watching Nico's lantern float away, he hugs his own. ]

[deathkid]

I'd rather leave the sunshiny-ness to Will and Apollo.

[ shifts his gaze back to the lantern loki is holding. ]

You're not going to send it off?

[ikols]

In a bit. It feels ... nice to hold it before I set it on fire.

[ Because Asgardian traditions are what inspired the Vikings and Loki isn't just going to let his lanterns get soggy. ]

[deathkid]

Like a shroud...

[ quietly said as he shifts closer to loki, peering even more at the lantern. ]

When someone dies at camp, we burn a shroud in their honor.

[ikols]

How many have you burned?

[deathkid]

[ quietly as he reflects on the past two wars. ]

Too many.

[ikols]

Maybe you could write to them, too.

[ It's not as if the city lacks for spare lanterns. ]

I'm going nowhere for a while.

[deathkid]

You'll stay with me?

[ possibly a loaded question, but nico finds loki's presence surprisingly comforting. ]

[ikols]

[ He spreads his hands to showcase the half-finished collection. Then, as if thinking of something, he snaps his fingers and two chilli dogs pop! out of the air to land in between them (somewhere down the bank of the river a voice yelps, Did you eat both of those?! and a quarrel begins). Loki dusts grass off his snack and takes a bite, drawing a leg underneath him to sit with the lantern more squarely in his lap. ]

[deathkid]

[ stifling a small laugh as the sounds of the argument drift upstream, he gives loki a slight grin and starts working on his next lantern. in ancient greek, he begins listing all those lost between the two wars. it's rather cathartic. after a moment, he speaks again. ]

Loki? How long have you lived for?

[ikols]

[ With his bitten chilli dog resting next to Nico's and both demigod and godling working away, he hums distractedly. ]

Um, four or five years. Generally speaking, over a thousand or so. I can't remember.

[deathkid]

[ paaaaause as he stares at loki. intellectually, he knows it's possible. he's both 86ish and 16, so maybe something like that happened to loki. still.... it's a bit confusing. ]

How does that work?