riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: HARVEST FESTIVAL

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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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The blast of music is enough to make any animal turn their head, or a skittish one suddenly run in the opposite direction. Rey though is one of the people who look towards the source of the sound and moves towards it. She can whoever was attempting to use was not enjoying it whatsoever. The music, if it could even be called that from the wailing and jarring notes, was annoying and needed to be turned off, be it by finding the 'off' switch or breaking it. Rey would prefer the former than the latter.

"Hold on!" she says loudly, unsure of what the device is herself, but her eyes scan over the different knobs and printed letters on it and manages to turn back to knobs all the way until there's a faint 'click.' The music stops much to everyone's relief. Strange odd box, it reminded her of other comm devices, or smaller computers, but...still odd.

"Better?"

She must needs set the device down in order to cover her ears, so she only barely makes out what Rey is attempting to say before the music actually comes to an end. To watch the other woman work, she mentally notes which knob or button she'd turned or pressed or pushed in order to achieve the silence. The machine is potentially useful, per se; she's never seen the like, but the tune had been jarring and loud. Silence is officially golden as she turns to her now, expression curious and relieved both.

"Much." The relief bleeds into her voice, and she sighs. "Thank you. Do you know just what that box is?"

What it does and how are now plain, at least.

"You're welcome." Interesting how a small box could cause so many problems, and yet with a simple turn of a knob, everything was fixed again. She looked over the other woman, noting that she hasn't seen her before and how..striking she was. Or maybe it was the color of her hair? It could possibly be just that.

"No, I don't. But..." she picks up the box, examining it a little. There are letter on it, and some indentation on the top like she was supposed to tap or touch it.

"It plays weird sounds. Could be a small, very basic computer...." But there was no screen, no instruction and upon touching that little indentation, something opens up to reveal a disk.

"...A holodisk?" She's more or less talking to herself, trying to figure out what this thing actually does, the device is very interesting but maybe it was best if she didn't touch it any further, just to be on the safe side.

"It's nothing something from my world, but it is very basic. You might have better luck with asking one of the locals here."

"Computer? Holodisk?" Dany tips her head sideways, eyes narrowed in thought. Unfamiliar words, which coupled with this woman's notion of them being basic infers that where she comes from is much, much different from that with which Dany herself is familiar.

Her eyes watch the other woman with a careful, guarded manner of curiosity, and she steps forward to run her fingertips across the cool material the machine is fashioned of.

"I'll seek out further assistance, but later." Right now, her interest is firmly engaged with this stranger. "I'd hear more of what there is in your world, if you would."

Rey couldn't help but look at the other woman with faint interest and a raised eyebrow. It hasn't happened before that someone would out right ask her what her world was like. Either there was very little technology from where this woman was from, or there was no technology at all. In thinking that, Ivar's face popped into Rey's mind. He came from a world where technology wasn't even a thing yet.

"There's a lot, I don't know if there would be enough time to name it all," she says calmly, looking over the other woman again.

"I take it you're new?" It would explain why Rey hasn't seen her before. Then again, Rey wasn't one to go out and actually socialize with others. She had a habit of keeping to herself.

Rey does have the right of it, though Dany has no idea. For all the maesters' studying in Oldtown and the foul experiments of Cersei Lannister's Hand, there is in fact very little in the way of technology in her world as it stands. Once, it had been somewhat different. The Valyrians had infused sorcery into everything they did, and did it better than anyone else. Knowledge which is now all lost, thanks to the Doom.

"Not necessarily at the moment," she concedes, smiling wryly. "But over time, perhaps."

And then she nods her head. "I suppose by now that fact is rather obvious. What of you?"

A faint, amused smile comes across Rey's lips. A very clever reply, certainly better than the ones she's heard.

"Over time, it could be possible." If people discovered the basics of flight, then they should be able to discover how to navigate within their own world, and then it wouldn't be too long until they were able to travel to the stars and beyond.

"Not too obvious. I don't know too many people around here.." But judging by the way the other was acting, she could kind of guess she was new. Or at least new with technology.

"I've been here for about two months. It's...been interesting to say the least." From sharing memories to to different things...yeah, interesting was a good way to put it. Rey adjusted the strap on her shoulder that carried her staff, making sure it didn't interfere with the small bag she had on her back.

"But what exactly do you want to know? The technology from my world or what my world is like in general?"

Dany finds a similarly small smile gracing her lips, letting it settle there, warming her features a little.

"I never received a formal education by the standard of my own world, so it follows that taking time might be best." As much as she wishes to rectify that, to learn, to know — it can't all be accomplished at once. A small amount at a time, building toward a greater understanding of not simply her world, but others, too.

"Well, there, we have something in common." And her features soften almost imperceptibly. This woman seems clever and kind enough, and thus far, she's decided to like her.

"In what manner of fashion — good or bad?" Likely both, though she waits before making assumptions. In the meantime, she glances briefly down at the metal box the brunette has silenced, and then back up into her eyes. "The former may allow me to understand the latter better when we come to it; so if we might begin with what your world is like in general?"

Rey wouldn't judge someone on their lack of education. She barely had one herself. It wasn't like there was a school on Jakku for her to go to. No, she had to learn how to read on her own, and learned different languages to make herself more useful. Better to acquire as many skills as possible to one able to perform more duties. More skills meant a better chance of survival.

"I wouldn't know what's considered a formal education in my world. I don't think there is one on Jakku--the planet I'm from." Yes, planet. As in a whole other world with the notion that there were other worlds, or planets with them.

Little by little, they were finding out they had more in common than initially thought. Both of them knowing very few people on this rock, and lacking a formal education. And unknowingly, both of them having and understanding of what hardship truly meant.

"Little of both. There are things that happen here that are frustrating, and things that are good. An almost-counter balance to the bad." Rey moved to set the box down back to where it initially came from, and silently thought about how best to go about that subject.

"It's a desert, but there are other planets that have different climates, but Jakku is a desert planet. More like a junkyard, really. Old star ships that aren't in use, or waiting for the right price to be sold. A place of people trying to do what they can to get by." Best to start with ships and then slowly ease into computers.

Dany had only been taught the bare minimum before; counting, reading, writing; Valyrian. And whatever bits of her country's history Viserys had decided to colour with his own opinion to regale her with. What she'd learned from the time she'd married into the Dothraki onward had been of her own accord, and thanks in part to tomes she'd been gifted for her wedding. She's already recognizing that she'll need to learn more if she's to survive here; she could depend on Jon's skills alone, but that would hardly be fair to him.

Or to her, really. "Planet — ah, another word for 'world.' I see." Yes, it seems as though they truly do have things in common; more than simply their situation in being stuck here.

"I knew a desert too, once. The heat was unrelenting, unbearable. The nights, beyond freezing." She doesn't make a face to speak of it, but she holds herself straight, holds herself together. the other woman is taller than she is, and she must needs tip her face upward to catch her gaze. "That was all you knew from childhood, then — this midden heap of old ships which sailed the stars?" The very notion of a ship doing that is surreal to her.

And lovely. The view must be breathtaking.

There was a nod of her head. Yes, a different planet. Some people have reacted surprised by that discovery and so far the shorter woman wasn’t too surprised by it. Perhaps she had something similar back in her own world. A different way of traveling that didn’t involve high tech or basic tech.

“Yes, there are thousands of places you could visit. A lot of different star systems.” Flying, going through space and seeing nothing but the stars along the horizon. A thrilling experience, albeit a short lived one.

“Something like that. I was a scavenger—someone who looked for parts from broken ships, see if they could fixed or be reused. “ working all day long in the desert, in that hot sun and freezing nights.

“Did your desert have sandstorms too?” Hers did, and it sometimes took days for it to clear up.

Dany has intentionally restrained the better part of her surprise, as she tends to with particularly strong emotions in general when she's out in public. But it's there, that wonder, that awe. To rise above the clouds, to sail among the stars; she doesn't think even her dragons might accomplish that without some manner of sorcery involved.

"Star... systems?" What are those, exactly? The lack of recognition and veiled undercurrent of curiosity continue, sparking in her eyes as the conversation continues.

Ah. Her lips purse together, the lines around her eyes softening. "A harsh life, then. And your family?" It may well be a sore topic, as hers can certainly be. But she'd like to believe that any parents would work the harder to spare their daughter arduous labour beneath the unforgiving desert sun. I would have, for Rhaego. The thought comes unbidden, and then slips away.

"The Red Waste? I'm not sure. We never experienced one during our crossing, my people and I. But there are no sources of water; only rocky hills, sand and ruins. The broken shells of ancient cities are littered across its expanse."

"Star systems...." Rey began, trying to figure out the best way to explain what those were.

"Each planet is part of a system--a group if you will. Star systems are basically what you would call those clusters of planets. Considering space is so vast, there would be different star systems." Hopefully that made sense. It would make sense for there to be star systems, a way for people to gauge just where they were.

As for her family..that was a sensitive topic. A few weeks ago there was the event where others could share memories, or have other unintentionally view memories or have dreams of memories. Some got to see what her life on Jakku was like, and learn that her family for whatever reason, left her on Jakku. She didn't want to get into the details of it.

"You learn to adapt in a harsh environment, especially at a young age." A glimpse into her life, one she had to endure as a child and not bringing up her family should show she wasn't in the mood to talk about them.

"Your people?" she asked, a bit curious as to what the other woman meant. Her 'people'? Did she have abilities or was she part of a clan?

"On Jakku the sandstorms could last for a night or for days. It's not something I'd wish on anyone."

"And there are—" Dany's brows knit together, as she has to expend more effort upon restraining her awe and wonder. Looking up at Rey now, her confusion and curiosity both are apparent. "Thousands of them?"

Clusters of stars, clusters of worlds. Her lack of a formal education doesn't mean that she cannot approximate roughly how many worlds that would mean exist out there. The one she comes from may be one of millions. It's a thing which should be humbling, but for the moment, she's internally awestruck.

She notes the other woman's silence regarding her family, and merely accepts it. "You do," she agrees coolly, inferring that her own life hasn't been an easy one; there's empathy laced through her tone.

"The Dothraki; my husband's people. Those who remained with me became my responsibility following his death."

Releasing a soft breath, she rolls her shoulders in an elegant shrug. "What is your name, lady? I am Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, Queen of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros."

“Possibly? I’m not sure, I only know of a few of them, but there are hundreds of worlds.” So many different places with their own language, culture and differences. It would be amazing to explore all of them, but not now. Not with her being stuck here and the First Order trying to bring the galaxy to its knees.

Both of them have another thing in common: hardships and a hard life. At least now they seem to be in better standing. It was interesting to know of the other’s background but the title and everything left Rey taken aback. Well, her introduction would be very brief.

“I’m Rey from Jakku.” No surname or family name to speak of. No need to tell about her past or current profession. Nor to mention the Jedi and what she’s tryung to do. Funny, she never met royalty before, and she didn’t think she ever would. Not that she cared, she was more interested in flying and exploring worlds.

“But I’m no lady, I’m just me.” No one important, or at least that’s what she wanted to say but it wasn’t true.

"The ones you do know — I would hear if their people are free." The latter half of the statement is flat, her gaze entirely resolute, determined to emphasize her meaning: if slavery exists anywhere, she intends to stamp its wretched presence out. Though exploration, an inclination toward wanderlust, toward her eternal, fruitless search to find somewhere to call home might tug at her elsewise, she must first and always be concerned with the plight of others.

Or she risks becoming a monstrosity like her father.

"A pleasure, Rey." Her head tilts, and a shadow of a smile forms upon her face. "You have the proud bearing of a lady all the same."

There's no need to mention anything else; what they speak of now is fascinating business as it is.

It was a bit surprising to hear how strongly the other felt about the state of a people in realms she's never traveled to, or would travel to. Rey didn't back down or avert her gaze, only knitted her eyebrows together as she thought of the different planets that still had slaves. She thought back to the talks and whispers she heard from various traders that landed on Jakku to do business with Plutt. Or the pirates and other unsavory characters that visited...

"It's hard to say, I haven't been to many planets as I mentioned. But the ones I know of, their people are free." Minus Tatooine. The planets in the outer rim were the ones that have or have had slavery. But then Rey would've had to go into what constitutes a an Outer Rim planet, and then Mid and then Inner. That was something else to discuss another day.

A faint chuckle left her lips, not sure if she would ever call herself a lady, or what would constitute the 'proud' bearing of a lady, aside from her own gender.

"Thank you?" She wasn't sure what else she could say about that, really. She supposes anyone else would've been happy being given a compliment from royalty, but to Rey it was...nothing. Just flattery and some kindness.

"But it is nice to meet you too."

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introductory mingle: HARVEST FESTIVAL

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