riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: HARVEST FESTIVAL

Entry tags:

introductory mingle: HARVEST FESTIVAL

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)

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[ Hey, she got the main part right – for the most part – and he hums out an agreeing sound. ]

The Beatles. Yeah. They’re good. They were huge for a while back on Earth.

[ Then, because prompting her worked so well last time, ]

Blackbird singing in the dead of night...

[ Paul McCartney, Peter is not. But he gets the basic melody across. ]

[ Gamora's lips twitch up softly, and she smooths her thumb over his temple. She doesn't pick up on tune immediately, letting Peter's voice trail off first. ]

Close your eyes.

[ The closer he gets to falling asleep, the better (and it would be a lie to say she wasn't vaguely self-conscious about being watched as she sings). ]

[ He pouts at that, looking up at her with all the petulance of a six-year-old. ]

Why? ‘M not tired.

That is a lie.

[ He looks like he might fall asleep at any moment, so she clearly doesn't believe him. ]

You should be sleeping this off.

[ He scowls before clumsily moving to sit up – likely in a misguided attempt to look more alert. ]

‘M good. I can stay up all night, if I wanted.

[ And judging by how unruly he’s being, he apparently does want to. ]

Peter.

[ Now he's just being ridiculous. ]

You don't need to stay up all night.

[ She sets a hand on his shoulder, firmly, to discourage him from sitting up. ]

[ There’s a song he could probably quote at her right now – something by Lionel Richie about partying forever &dnash; but apparently the hand on his shoulder is enough to deflate him. He slumps back down onto the bed, moody again, and he frowns up at her. ]

Fine.

[ Look at this actual child, moping. ]

I close my eyes, you sing again?

[ he’s just trying to figure out the terms of this agreement, is all. Not stalling for time. ]

[ Actual child. Why does she like him again? ]

Yes. You close your eyes, I sing.

[ Her fingers return to his hair, like that will soothe away his sulking. If he was less drunk, she wouldn't have the patience for his attitude, but it helps that he's clearly very intoxicated at this point. ]

And then you sleep.

[ He looks up at her mulishly for a few breaths, as if weighing the pros and cons of continuing to ignore the command.

But either because he's soothed by her touch, or because he wants to hear her sing (and not because he's actually sleepy, obviously), he huffs out a disgruntled sigh. ]

Fine.

[ And he shuts his eyes.

... but he may be inclined to peek. ]

[ At least he's listening to her; that's an improvement.

She lets her fingers stay in his hair, running her nails lightly over his scalp as she waits a moment to make sure his eyes stay closed, and then— ]

Blackbird singing in the dead of night...

[ This, she sings a little more slowly than the original itself. There's an odd sort of significance that tugs at her whenever she listens to it, and quiet though she may be, it's reflected in the sound of her singing.

It might be one of her favorites, she realizes, maintaining that soft touch, the soothing movement of her fingers, all the way until she trails off on the end of the song. ]

[ ... okay, well, he was going to peek, but with the way her fingers card through her hair, with the softness of her voice.

And he feels heavy but in a nice way, some combination of the alcohol and the late hour dragging him down and down and down. By the time she finishes the song, he's drifting, not quite awake but not quite asleep – and he keeps his fingers wrapped around Gamora's hand. ]

Your voice is pretty.

[ And his own is thick, the words mumbled into his pillow. ]

[ When she glances over to look at him, she can tell he's fading. A faint smile finds its way to her face, and she rubs her thumb over the back of his hand, fingers still in his hair. ]

And you are the only one who's going to know.

[ Because Gamora is certainly not singing in front of anyone else. It's a miracle she did for Peter, but— for some reason, she didn't mind it, not as much as she could have. Maybe because he was the only one around to hear her, or maybe because he's the one who's shared all of this with her in the first place.

Peter let her dance, and now, he's let her sing. ]

Rest, Peter.

[ This time, it's harder to ignore that little command, and rather than continue to argue, he gives tiny little nod, settling further into bed.

(He's going to have an awful hangover tomorrow.)

But for now, he squeezes her hand, sighing softly (because he's comfortable, and this is nice, and he could stand to fall asleep like this more often). He murmurs, ]

Don't go anywhere. Please.

[ but the words are indistinct, rolling into one another; with as quietly as he casts them, anyone else might have trouble picking out what he said – but probably not Gamora. ]

[ Of course she hears him. Of course she pieces together what his mumbling tries to be, and that smile is somehow gentler. ]

All night?

[ She pulls her fingers out of his hair, reaching for his mess of blankets to shake one out, pull it lightly over him without taking her other hand out of his. ]

[ Apparently his sense of humor is still in tact, even as he's being dragged further and further into sleep, because he breathes out a barely-there laugh.

And apparently he's pretty far gone, too – much more drunk than he realizes – because he answers her with a mumbled, ]

Forever.

[ Despite how drowsy he is, how much she knows he's had to drink, the answer still startles Gamora. For a moment, she says nothing, her hand still in Peter's, and then she carefully leans over to brush the softest of kisses against his temple. ]

I'd like that.

[ Because where else would Gamora want to be? So much of her wants to cling to what she has with Peter, with the Guardians – wherever they are right now – and if this little family of theirs can hold together forever...?

What more could she possibly want? ]

[ For a brief second, he peers up at her, smiling contentedly. ]

Good. Me too.

[ The team means a lot to him. Gamora means a lot to him. And with how much he’s lost lately? The idea of any of them parting ways makes something twist in his throat, makes something cold roll and flip in his stomach. (He hasn’t talked much about Mantis leaving; they didn’t know her very well, in the end, even if Peter thinks the two of them were getting somewhere, finding common ground. Two lost kids, just trying to get by.

He felt responsible for her, in a lot of ways.

He misses her. He hopes she’s doing alright.)

And after that he turns his head back toward the pillows, settling more heavily into the mattress. With one long exhale, his eyes slip shut, and he murmurs, ]

Night, ‘Mora.

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introductory mingle: HARVEST FESTIVAL

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