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

[soundsfishy]

III. Floating the Lanterns

He had seen the lights for some time now, enjoying the way they twinkled in the distance. It had felt a little bit like extra stars, and last night he had laid on the river bank and counted them. At least scrolling through the net on his phone had told him what it was all about, and it gives it more of a bittersweet meaning.

Besides, they were shiny, and how could a mer resist anything shiny?

When the time came for the lanterns to be set into the river to float, it was both even prettier and a bit of a hassle at the same time. Llŷr didn't want to knock any of them over while he swam, so he makes his way to a more shallow place so he can pull himself up on land and sit there and watch instead.

The movement of him getting out of the water still makes one of the lanterns wiggle precariously, and he sheepishly looks at the person that put it in the water. "Sorry!"

[finethanks]

Eichi had just put the pure white lantern into the water, the words on it only reading something as dramatic as "my own life," and so to see something cause it to wiggle has him jerking his hand back in shock. He's even more surprised to see a face pop up after that, bringing his hand to his heart as if to steady it.

"My, how surprising, popping up out of the water like that..." Something is off about this, even if he can't put his finger on it just yet. Or perhaps it's that he won't, stubbornly. "Should you really be swimming at a time like this?"

[soundsfishy]

"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to make anything fall over. That's why I was getting out." The man smiles a little, reaching to steady the lantern with oddly webbed fingers. It's a gentle touch, as careful as possible to make sure it kept floating.

"I'm always swimming, so it's best to get out and look at this show before anything else happens. Llŷr smiles before dragging himself up on the river bank, green tail pushing him the last foot before he's sitting down and brushing back the wet hair from his face.

"Your own life, huh? I'm sorry."

[finethanks]

The slow shift of Eichi's expressions is a real adventure. At first, he's staring at those fingers as if he's mistaken, and then the merman lifts himself out of the water, and Eichi leans back a little more in how he's sitting, full on surprised. A hand covers his mouth as he tries to understand, and then he's rubbing at his eyes.

"Am I imagining things? That's a tail, isn't it? This really isn't the time for cosplay, and that looks far too realistic... It's a tail?" He needs just a moment before he drops his hand from his eyes and gives the guy another once over.

Then, his lantern comes into question, and Eichi frowns, reaching out to push it further into the water and hurry along.

"Oh, that... It's nothing, yet. Nevermind that."

[soundsfishy]

Watching the other man, Llŷr is kind of impressed how much of his surprise easily plays out on his face. Looking down at his tail, the black-eyed merman seems a little bit sheepish before he meets Eichi's eyes again.

"Uh, yeah. I'm a mer. It's definitely not cosplay." He wiggles his tail fin slightly, as if that would help. There were probably a lot of realistic fake mermaid fins out there, but not as real as this.

Seemingly satisfied with his 'explanation', curiosity win over his tact and he has to ask about the lantern again. "What does it mean?"

[finethanks]

He watches that tail wiggle and almost wants to reach out and touch it. But that would probably be rude, and he's all about keeping a polite appearance, so he holds back, fingers curling lightly into his own palms instead.

But it seems this fish man isn't as worried about politeness. "That's a bit much to ask on a first meeting, isn't it? Something like that is supposed to be a secret that's not discussed."

[soundsfishy]

He's probably sorry. Maybe.

"Is it? I was just wondering, seeing people are telling all kinds of stories about lost ones lately. Lost paths are new thing." Llŷr shrugs but seems to back off a little on the question - at least for now. Instead he glances over to the other lanterns with a sigh.

"It's a nice festival, though. Have you celebrated it before?"

[finethanks]

"That's true, isn't it... As it so happens, I haven't celebrated anything quite like this before. I've been to a funeral, of course, but this is beyond anything like that."

He finally seems to relax a little, getting over his shock at least outwardly as he considers. "I preferred the festival before this. There were flowers no matter where you looked."

[soundsfishy]

"It's a little nicer than a funeral, right? I mean, humans usually put people in the ground, don't you?" It had made sense in a nice way. Feed the earth and all that. His own people tended to do the same, only with feeding the body to coral reefs and fish. "This is a lot shinier."

The mention of a flower festival has Llŷr grinning, though, and he gives Eichi a curious look. "Really? That sounds lovely."

[finethanks]

"As far as I can tell, this isn't a replacement for a funeral or anything like that. It's something additional on top of it, a way to bring up memories of that funeral every year and prolong mourning."

That's how he sees it at least. "To be honest, I wasn't sure what the point of the flower festival was, exactly, but there was dancing and music and plenty of snacks. It was much more lighthearted than this."

[soundsfishy]

"So it's kind of a memorial," he says softly, watching some of the lanterns float further away. Whatever the official meaning was, it was pretty. "Both this and the flower one seem like nice things to enjoy while stuck here. I hope there are other ones as well."

Smiling, holds out his webbed hand to Eichi. "I'm Llŷr, by the way."

[finethanks]

Normal handshakes are difficult enough when you're left-handed, but this hand is webbed. Eichi has to pause for a moment to decide what to do, and eventually he moves his right hand out to awkwardly press his palm to Llŷr's, as if that would complete the handshake enough.

"It's nice to meet you, Llŷr-kun. I'm Eichi."

[soundsfishy]

Close enough. He's used to people being a little weirded out.

Thankfully the internet has prepared him for honorifics, even if he does look a little amused to hear his very, very Welsh name combined with -kun.

"It's to have someone to enjoy this pretty light show with." It's damn relaxing, after all, and it seemed like a great time to make some friends.

[hevenly]

Angela has seen many strange creatures in her long life, so the sight of a man with a tail emerging from the water does little to faze her. She merely reaches out to steady her lantern, decorated with the lyrics to Scarborough Fair, and ensure it will continue its journey down the river unimpeded.

[soundsfishy]

Llŷr gently swims past the lantern, black eyes following the little bob of the shiny piece before he looks up at the woman who had placed it in the water. "That's a beautiful song," he says softly, leaning a bit on the river bank so he could talk to her without the river's flow pulling him away.

"What made you put that on it?"

[hevenly]

Angela replies simply, fondness in her voice. "It is a song which my beloved taught me, many years ago."

AKA, it's their song.

[soundsfishy]

That's really sweet. Now he's curious, and Llŷr's curiosity tends to forget about tact.

"What happened?"

[hevenly]

That's fine, Angela herself is tact-light at best.

"She was lost to me, for a time. And now that I have rescued her from Hel, we are separated once more." All trace of fondness has left. In its place is a burning anger at her circumstances.

[soundsfishy]

He leans a bit to the side to watch her, black eyes hard to read but the frown more obvious. That was one of the first legitimate bad things he had heard about this place, to be honest.

"I'm sorry. If you got her back once, I'm sure you'll find her again, though." At least he hopes so.

[hevenly]

"I know exactly where she is." Assuming she has not wandered out of Brooklyn in search of Angela. Hopefully she hasn't. "It is where I am that is the problem. This place is not among the Ten Realms, and we are stuck here."

[soundsfishy]

"Not forever, I'm sure." He's spent some time in a fae realm once, so Llŷr imagines it's similar. Just a matter of time until stuff's fixed.

[hevenly]

"No, not forever." Not if Angela has anything to say about it.

[soundsfishy]

He nods a little, curious about this woman and her...armor? "Are you some kind of warrior?"

[hevenly]

Armor indeed, as well as a big fuck-off sword hanging from her belt. She didn't particularly need to be armed, here, but she felt more comfortable with it. Her ichors she had left in the trunk at her bed in the communal housing complex. But her sword she kept on her person, as well as the ever-present ribbons floating about her.

Is she a warrior? Angela supposes that isn't too difficult a question. "Yes," she answers. "You could call me a warrior."

[soundsfishy]

"Really? What do you fight for?" That really is a big sword, he's impressed.

Pushing himself up a bit more, he curls his tail a bit so that he's completely out of the water. Llŷr was in no way an expert on weapons - he had used a harpoon a couple of times, and that was it.