introductory mingle: HARVEST FESTIVAL

[riverviewmod]

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and Harvest Festival celebration
when: The month of November.
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

harvest festival

In the days leading up to November 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: The Harvest Festival. This holiday is in celebration of the harvest season and autumn, as the moon transitions into its winter period, and is characterized by indulging in the plenty that comes with the harvest season with loved ones, cleaning house figuratively and literally, and making sure that those in need don't suffer during the winter. Celebrations tend to focus around food and charity, with citizens enjoying and sharing cultural meals and sharing stories, or participating in any of the wide range of charity projects and events going on during this season.

a celebration of sharing

The biggest traditions of the Harvest Festival are centered around giving and sharing. Charity is central, and the each year the city sets up a large open tent with warm places to rest for anyone who might be homeless and a table capable of sitting over 50 people at any given time, with a round-the-clock catered feast for anyone who wants to sit and have a meal with anyone else who's dropped by. Besides this, there are a wide variety of events benefiting charities in the city, including a karaoke concert, stray animal round up, and the annual "stuff swap" where residents clean their homes and donate anything they don't need to those who might be lacking. There is also a tradition of writing down repressed or bottled up thoughts, feelings, regrets, sins, and other troubles and tossing them into a bonfire to go into winter with a clean soul.

i. harvest feast & stuff swap

For the first few days of November, anyone dropping by the city center will notice a large tent structure being put into place - by November 3rd, as the last of October's ghosts fade into nonexistence, a veritable banquet hall will have been sent up. For a week following the setup, anyone who drops by the hall and steps inside will see a large table laden with food. Bread, stew, fruits and vegetables, soups, roasted meat, and almost anything else one can think of will be on the table, along with plates, silverware, and cups. Anyone is free to take a plate, settle down at the table, and help themselves to a meal.

The Feast is staffed entirely by volunteers, who do the cooking, cleaning, and tidy up the dishes and area afterwards, keeping the constant stream of food coming. Whether your character is heading in to sit beside a stranger and strike up a conversation, or volunteering their time, energy, or cooking skills to the hall, they're more than welcome.

One corner of the hall is entirely dedicated to the yearly "stuff swap." There's a long-standing tradition of fall cleaning in Riverview Quarantine, where residents will thoroughly clean their homes and rid themselves of excess in preparation for the winter. The extra things that aren't needed can be dropped off at the city center where the Feast is set up, and anyone who is in need of a particular item that has been donated can take it free of charge. This is an honor system, so please be kind to others! (Or don't.)

ii. charity karaoke

On the weekend of November 10th and 11th, while the Feast will be cleared away, the tent is being repurposed for a new event - a Karaoke Concert for the needy! Set up as a makeshift bar and lounge area, the space will be fronted by a large stage where singles or groups of people can choose a song and karaoke their hearts out to a crowd of spectators. There's a by-donation cover fee, and guests are encouraged to reward the best (or most hilariously bad) renditions of beloved songs from across the multiverse with digital "tips" that are transferred to the karaoke performer's charity of choice.

Whether you're a spectator tipping a performer, or a performer who's singing their heart out on the stage to benefit a variety of charities from the homeless to the animal shelter to children in need (and almost anything else you can think of), the Karaoke Concert is both hilarious and heartwarming.

iii. stray animal roundup

One of the main charity events that seems to happen every year is the stray roundup. As the seasons turn and it gets colder and colder at night, many residents who have a soft spot for animals band together to round up as many stray animals as possible and take them to shelters where they can be rehabilitated, given a warm bath, fed, and have a safe place to sleep. Volunteers take to the streets with crates and nets or restraining poles as well as generous bags of treats of food to entice the strays with, and capture them safely to be brought back to the various animal shelters around the Quarantine. Any animal who's caught is put up for adoption, and volunteers are encouraged to take home any strays that they bond particularly well with, or are invited to foster animals in their homes.

Whether your character is a die-hard animal lover, looking for a new pet, or just wants some wacky hijinks trying to chase a wily critter around the streets, they'll be suited up with supplies by other volunteers and released into the fray. The most common animals to be found are cats, dogs, and small domesticated foxes, but feel free to assume that your character is rounding up a reptile, rodent, bird, or a domesticated alien critter. Playing a thread with this prompt is a great opportunity to get a cute alien pet for your character without spending AP.

iv. letting go

On the evening of November 15th, a series of large bonfires will be set up all along the beaches of the river, and as the night falls, people begin migrating to the beaches from all over the city carrying slips of paper in a wide variety of colors with words written on them in a wide variety of languages, and throwing them into the fires. This is a way of psychologically and emotionally cleaning house for the residents of the Quarantine, because the papers they bring contain the stories of their pain, poems written about the feelings they bottle up, a venting of their anger and fear and resentment, all to be eaten up by the flames and washed away by the river with the next rain.

No matter where a person comes from, they carry pain and suffering and hurts that they must hide. This is a welcome opportunity for characters to write out their thoughts and feelings and release them. And if the symbolism of burning them isn't enough, there are always other people around the fires who are willing to listen, to hear all those things that people keep locked up inside. Share a story willingly, listen to someone's story, or just get caught holding your deepest darkest secrets on a really vulnerable piece of paper...it's up to you.

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to meet new roommates, for the purpose of getting to know each other, or hit up the mod-posted prompt to create a Communal Housing floor mingle. Or, if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during the Harvest Festival, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i & iii: Bastien Grivet; image ii & iv: unknown (stock/hobbiton)

navigation

Comments

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He frowns at her, eyes narrowed and the corners of his mouth turned downward, unsure of what she means. Why would it matter where she’d be singing? There was only the one stage, and it’s not like Peter was particularly pick about if she were center, right, or left stage—

No, hang on, wait. Does she mean, like, physical location? Like, not here?

That’s probably what she means, and Peter’s face screws up with the realization the instant it dawns on him. ]

Oh my god, are you serious?

[ A mix of dismayed and exasperated. ]

Gamora.

[godslay]

[ Gamora meets his exasperation with a mild look before setting her empty glass on the bar and waving the bartender over for another – for her and Peter. ]

You like to perform. I don't.

[ The bartender brings Gamora a full glass and a bottle of beer, which she nudges towards Peter, as a sort of... apology. ]

All I promised was to sing a song for you.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Peter keeps pouting at her, even as she gets him a pity drink, and he slumps on the counter, arms folded beneath his chin. ]

You tricked me.

[ Grumbled out, brow furrowed and Behold, your Guardian of the Galaxy. The Legendary Star-Lord.

Throwing a drunken tantrum.

... He still nudges the beer bottle closer to himself, though. ]

[godslay]

You should have been more specific.

[ And also more realistic. He was never going to get Gamora to sing karaoke. ]

Pout less and drink your beer.

[nostalgiabomb]

You shouldn’t take advantage of a dude who’s been drinkin’.

[ he says, as he dutifully lifts himself up enough to take a swig from the bottle. He props his head up with his fist, and once he’s swallowed the mouthful, he points an accusatory finger at her, still with the bottle in hand. ]

You pinky swore.

[ This is an outrage. ]

[godslay]

Yes, I did. And I intend to keep my promise.

[ Which she actually means. There won't be any breaking of pinkie promises. ]

I said I would sing a song for you. Not for these other people.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ The stops him up short, and apparently he has to spend a little while figuring out what that means, exactly.

Then, slowly, ]

So you’re still gonna sing? Just not here?

[ And his tone is uncertain.

Sounds like a lie. ]

[godslay]

Yes.

[ A short, simple answer, even if she sounds a little exasperated that it took him so long to catch onto her meaning. ]

That should satisfy the terms of your pinkie swear.

[ Congrats, Peter, you put Gamora in a situation that made her say "pinkie swear." ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Cut him some slack, Gamora, this asshole is drunk. His brain isn’t firing on all cylinders.

He does, at least, grin when she says “pinky swear,” because he takes his victory where he can. Unfolding himself from the bar, he takes another drink from his beer. ]

Fine. I guess that works.

Just for the record, though? You still tricked me, and that seriously, completely sucks. Like, a lot.

[godslay]

[ She gives him a look over the rim of her glass, raising a brow. ]

If you say I tricked you, does that mean you want to negate the pinky swear altogether?

[ Because that's clearly also an option. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He immediately scowls at that, apparently starting to sink back into sulking. ]

No.

[ glumly, and he takes another swig of his beer, hunching his shoulders up around his ears.

He may be grumbling something about “cheating” into the mouth of his bottle. ]

[godslay]

[ Why is her not-boyfriend a toddler. Why.

She rolls her eyes as she sets her drink down. ]

Will another beer make you stop sulking?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ what she really needs to ask is why she even likes this idiot tbh

But at her question, Peter looks thoughtful for a second, as if weighing whether or not another beer would be enough of a booster for his flagging morale. ]

Maaaaaaaybe.

[ Uncertainly, dragged out while he’s still mulling it over.

After a beat, he turns toward her with a seemingly guileless look on his face – eyes wide and a small, hopeful smile tugging at his lips. ]

You know what’d really make me feel better, though?

[godslay]

[ Gamora looks wholly suspicious of that innocent expression. ]

If it involves me getting on that stage, consider asking for something else.

[ Her tone is flat, but not hostile. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Well, guess who's slumping again?

Because that was exactly what Peter was going to suggest, and he folds himself atop the bar again, cheek mushed up where it rests against his arm.

Mulishly, ]

Never mind, then.

[godslay]

[ How did she possibly guess? It's a complete mystery.

She signals the bartender for another beer, which he sets dutifully in front of her. She slides it over to Peter like the first. ]

I might not sing for you at all if you keep pouting.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Oh, well that sucks, Peter thinks, which is why he makes a concerted effort to straighten – though it's made difficult by how much he's had to drink tonight. He lists a little sideways, leaning into her. ]

I'll be good.

[godslay]

[ Gamora blinks a few times when he sways, and instead, ends up winding her arm around his waist to help keep him in his seat. ]

Are you tired or just drunk?

[ She pushes her mostly-empty glass aside, using her free hand to push somewhat sweaty hair away from his face. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

Neither.

[ And he takes a swing from the new bottle placed in front of him. ]

I have been drinking. [ And he takes pains to enunciate the words properly, making a concerted effort to avoid having them run together. ] But that does not mean I am drunk.

[godslay]

The fact that you can barely sit up straight means you're drunk.

[ She says it blandly, unimpressed by his attempt to insist he's sober. But she also doesn't try to shrug him off or force him to sit up; she is, in fact, even rubbing nonsense little patterns against his side as she lets him continue leaning into her. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

Or maybe all I want is to be next to you—

[ And he sings that next bit – apparently Peter is happily wandering through some of the greatest hits of The Police, tonight.

He slouches enough to tip his head onto her shoulder. ]

Ever think of that?

[godslay]

[ She sighs at him, but gently tilts her head to rest her cheek against his hair. ]

You are still drunk. And maybe you've had enough.

[ This, said as she reaches with her free hand for the newest bottle of beer. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Clumsily, he switches the beer bottle to his other hand in an effort to keep it away from her.

Not that it'll help, if Gamora really had a mind to take it from him. But, hey, it's worth a try. ]

I just got this one, man.

[godslay]

[ For the moment, Gamora lets him keep the beer away from her – but that's probably temporary. ]

And you still think you need more?

[ She's already anticipating carrying him home for the night; one more might be one too many. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

I think I should at least get to finish this one.

[ And he lifts the bottle to his lips, taking a swig. ]

You're the one who got it for me.