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

[evasives]

[is that.... a droid? he and jyn are out getting lunch, jyn inside the nearby cafe ordering some sandwiches, when cassian sees the round robot arguing away with a... pigeon.]

[it's not a model he's ever seen before, but the way it chirps makes him think of binary. he steals a quick glance into the cafe to see jyn still waiting impatiently on line, then walks easily down the street towards the droid.]

[volitaunt]

[ The pigeon takes off and lands on BB-8's dome, which leads to an explosion of alarmed binary chatter and several attempts to swivel his dome out from underneath the pigeon. Its tail is in front of his photoreceptor. He can't see. ]

[evasives]

[he reaches the droid fairly quickly, stealing a quick glance back towards the cafe to make sure jyn hasn't come out yet. when he looks back over the droid is panicking, unable to see. he doesn't speak very good binary, but the tone of the trill is recognizable.]

[cassian leans in and swats idly at the bird, chasing the pigeon away.] Better?

[volitaunt]

[ A surprised pause. BB-8 tilts his head some back to watch the vanishing bird (next time, motherfucker), before swiveling to give Cassian a proper once-over. He whistles a thank you and an introduction, ending on a note that’s undoubtedly a question. In this case “who are you.” ]

[evasives]

[cassian does not speak binary well. he had k2 for that, a thought that makes him push down all other thoughts of his droid because he doesn't want to think about it. it's a very healthy coping mechanism that has served him well since arriving in the quarantine!]

[he doesn't speak it, but he's been around enough droids to at least get a sense of what he's asking, especially with the inflection of the beeps.]

Cassian. I am afraid I do not speak binary very fluently, and you are the first droid I have seen here.

[volitaunt]

[ A disappointed whistle. It's frustrating not to be able to talk to people!! Okay he's still going to talk to people but being understood would be nice.

BB-8 rolls closer to Cassian and bumps against his leg lightly, whistling about the lack of droids. It's weird, that's for sure, and BB-8 Does Not Like It.

Also you're part of his posse now Cassian. ]

[evasives]

[is...is that affection? from a droid?? cassian doesn't know how to deal with affection as a general concept. k2so is his default when it comes to droid behavior, which it really shouldn't be because k2 runs on grumpy oil. it almost feels like he should be leaning down to pat the round ball's head, or maybe like he was just adopted by a droid.]

There may be a way to correctly translate what you are saying. [tons of tech in this place and all that.] And a woman who speaks binary.

[volitaunt]

[ BB-8 practically mowed Finn down to get to Poe that one time, and there was that other time he set the pilot and the flight technician up on a date, and--

Look, the concept of 'attachment' might be programmed into most if not all droids, but Poe wasn't too off the mark when he wondered if BB-8 had a sense of imagination. If love in humans is partially driven by biochemicals, love in BB-8 is an adaptive subroutine responding to stimuli in a way his designers couldn't have predicted. It's not unique to the droid, not at all, but his response model was Poe Dameron. Who, y'know, is not the most reserved person in the galaxy.

When Cassian suggests that there's not only the possibility of direct translation, but also someone on the moon who speaks binary, BB-8 does a quick, excited circuit around the man, making a long, excited trill that ends in a boop. A noise boop, that is, not a leg boop this time. ]

[realists]

Cassian. [ there is a pause that would hold a "dear" or a "darling" if jyn were the type, and there she stands outside the shop with their sandwiches in hand, blandly watching the little droid circle cassian excitedly. ]

Why are you talking to a salad spinner?

[ jyn knows full well the droid is a droid but. maybe it's also a salad spinner. ]

[evasives]

[he looks over at the sound of her voice, filling in the pause with an internal, sarcastic, darling even though she's never once said the word, and he huffs out a sigh at her.]

[dryly:] I am asking how it became sentient.

[it's a DROID, jyn! of course he's going to try and talk to it!]

[volitaunt]

[ BB-8 gives a loud whistle of protest. He is not a salad spinner. He doesn't even know what a salad spinner is!

He stays (hiding) behind Cassian, leaning around the man's leg to chirrup accusingly at Jyn. ]

[realists]

Aww, it's afraid of me. [ jyn strides forward purposefully, stopping in front of cassian and passing him his sandwich before looking down at the droid. ]

He won't protect you, he likes me the most.

[ not more, the most. ]

[evasives]

[cassian doesn't even think about taking the sandwich; he just does as soon as she offers it. he also pauses for a second, blinking twice, because oh. yeah. he probably does like her the most, doesn't he? out of everyone here, for sure. he glances down at the droid literally hiding behind his legs.]

She is not going to do anything to you.

[volitaunt]

[ Another accusing chirrup. You say that, Cassian, but will she abide by it???

Fine whatever he has a taser.

BB-8 rolls half-way out from behind Cassian's leg and repeats the series of noises that mean a request for her designation. ]

[realists]

[ with a raise of her eyebrows, ] I don't speak droid.

[evasives]

[she won't do it if cassian asks her not to!]

[he frowns a little, but moreso out of thoughtful confusion than unhappiness.]

I think he is asking who you are.

[volitaunt]

[ BB-8 makes a noise that sounds too much like “yep!” to be anything else.

Poe, meanwhile, has been looking through the grocery shop across the street aisle by aisle trying to find his droid. He hits the front of the shop and spots BB-8 talking to strangers and comes charging out like a panicked dad with his arms full of groceries. BB-8 gives a welcoming trill as Poe dodges traffic, rolling over to the curb and the pilot while tootling about Cassian’s rescue from the pigeon. ]

Buddy, you can’t do that here. This isn’t the base.

[realists]

[ when the little salad spinner rolls away, jyn steps up beside cassian, watching the interaction with thinly veiled curiosity. ]

He's called 'Buddy'?

[ boy pls. ]

[evasives]

[there is no way cassian would miss the man frantically running from the shop, but it's such an obvious sprint that he's not sure most people would miss it.]

[he takes one step towards jyn too on instinct, looking carefully between the droid and its apparent owner. another person from their galaxy, but given rey and obi wan both, there's no telling from when. no questions of his own yet tho, just waiting.]

[volitaunt]

He's called BB-8.

[ Poe adjusts his grip on the grocery bag, looking the two of them over curiously. There's something familiar about the way the guy moves to flank the woman, something between protocol and protectiveness. ]

Hope he wasn't bothering you.

[ BB-8 trills a protest and says he was not. Then he peeps out Cassian's name, and Poe looks down at him in sharp surprise. ] Cassian?

[ He looks back up at the two of them. A man named Cassian, with a young woman. There could be more than one Cassian on this moon. There definitely could be. But if these two are who Poe thinks they are, he's looking at heroes. Dead heroes. People without whom the Empire might not have been brought down.

Two dead heroes who are younger than he is. ] No way.

[realists]

[ and this is why jyn doesn't tell people her name. (it's not, she just lacks the ability to care about social niceties until they suit her which is never.)

she looks over at cassian, eyebrows raised in spirit only but it's a familiar enough expression. is it time... for jyn to beat someone up. please say yes, she misses it so. ]

You told the salad spinner your name.

[ WHAT IF IT WAS AN IMPERIAL SALAD SPINNER. she knows it's not, not with that paint job. ]

[evasives]

[the look he gives her in return is a no, she cannot beat anyone up right now.] If I recall, you told him it as well.

[what if he hadn't introduced himself to the droid? she said his name too!]

[he looks back to the droid's owner, uncomfortable with the vague recognition but not about to show it. he's pretty stiff and still.] He has not bothered us so far, though apparently he likes to chat.

[spilling the beans on his name!!]

[volitaunt]

He does like to talk. [ Poe’s glance down at BB-8 is nothing but affectionate. He adjusts the groceries enough to offer his hand, if either of them wants to take it. ] Poe Dameron. You’re Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso, right? Rey mentioned you were here.

[realists]

[ u know what cassian. ]

Is that name supposed to mean something? [ everyone spilling the name beans today, jyn watches poe dameron with some wariness. last time someone opened with her name like that it was draven badgering her and she isn't interested in dealing with that nonsense again, ignoring his hand.

but he knows rey and jyn trusts rey enough to invite her into her (cassian's) home so. ]

[evasives]

[he vaguely recognizes dameron, maybe in a list of potential recruits for the pathfinders. their ranks need refilling anyway, don't they?]

[cassian knows jyn is not going to shake his hand, but he doesn't want to make this awkward, so he reaches out and grips poe's, very very briefly. besides, he namedropped rey. he likes rey.]

I suppose that means you are from Rey's time.

[which explains why they didn't recognize the droid model.]