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

[bythehand]

What?

[ Finn winds up looking back and forth between Lucretia and the plate he's holding a couple of times, listening to her explanation, before he totally catches up and pays attention and remembers why he even stopped to stare at this plate in particular.

Right.

The carefully-penned Fuckwit. One of, perhaps, the most different and unusual things he's found since he woke up here, which is saying something. ]

Oh.

[ He like. Immediately puts the plate back down, holding his hands up as if to say "no harm done". ]

It's fine. Sorry, I wasn't-- you don't need to apologize. [ Trying to summarize the self-contained experience he was having sounds Bad. He'd rather cut that for time and just leave the real point in there: to his knowledge, she hasn't done anything that merits an apology. ] You made that?

[scholiast]

(Oh, it's not really about the plate is it. Lucretia's seen this lost, uncertain look on new residents before; had most certainly worn it herself not six months ago. He's probably dealing with a lot right now without a stranger questioning him endlessly, so she doesn't ask after it any further.)

Not the plate, just the, uh... the word. (It had seemed funny at the time, but now she's just embarrassed it accidentally made it into her box. There are children here!) Just a bit of messing around. I hadn't painted on ceramic before.

(And then, because it seems strange that he knows she likes to joke paint curse words on floral plates but not her name, she adds:) I'm Lucretia.

[bythehand]

[ What a hobby. He's never personally had time for hobbies, but he already feels like this is a weird one. Painting curse words onto plates. Not so much the painting or the painting of plates.

Just... just the curse words, really. Finn can't help a flicker of a smile, for the absurdity alone. ]

I'm Finn. Might have believed you if you said it's just how things are here. I don't do a lot of plate shopping.

[scholiast]

(Well, when you have so much extra time to uh, 'hone your craft' if you will, you may as well get creative with it right? It's fun. Lucretia smiles hesitantly in return, mirroring Finn's brief smile.)

Hail and well met, Finn. I uh- you must have come from an interesting place before this to be so readily accepting of such vulgar tableware.

[bythehand]

[ That's a good term for it. Nice and safe. ]

Pretty interesting. There are a lot of planets out there. You never know what you could find. [ He tips his head a little. ] I also just know a lot of soldiers. Never know what you're gonna hear.

[scholiast]

(Lucretia taps her nose, and smiles briefly.)

Say no more. I'm assuming you aren't from Earth, then. ('There are a lot of planets out there'. Lucretia's found that those who are don't speak in the same vein.)

Always good to meet somebody else from far away.

[bythehand]

It seems like a lot of people qualify for far away. At least we're not alone. And I've definitely never heard of Earth.

[ What kind of a name... is that for a world. That's just another word for dirt, right. He's positive. But he can't just say that without a little forethought, so-- ]

Is that where you're from?

[scholiast]

A lot of people here are from Earth. I've never visited.

(Which seems strange, because it is a very popular place, and wouldn't the Hunger really dig a place like that? She can't pretend to understand its intentions; if she did, none of this shit would be happening.)

I- uh, no, I'm from... space. (It's complicated. She doesn't want to get into the whole 'no home to return to' debacle.)

You?

[bythehand]

[ Oh man, Lucretia. Relatable.

That's as cagey about an origin as he's ever been about his own. Everyone's got their complicated thing. ]

Same here. [ If he had a home once, he's never heard a thing about it. Explaining what he did come up from is an awful lot to get into. ] I still don't put much stock into the "feeling displaced" excuse for turning up in this quarantine, though.

[scholiast]

No... I know what you mean.

(It's hard, to think back to how she had felt when she first arrived here, so much younger than she is now. That was more than seventy years ago, in a way. A strange thought.)

I wasn't exactly displaced? I died. (She says it casually enough, shrugging a shoulder.) Though I suppose that could count as a more literal sort of displacement, if you don't mind the morbidity of that idea.

[bythehand]

[ UM??? ]

Wait, you died?

[ Okay look he barely knows you but you've been really nice in the past couple of minutes, so that's kind of a Concern. It's easy for Finn to throw in with people that way. ]

[scholiast]

(oops)

Oh, I– yes, but it's fine, I'm fine. I've been stuck in a... regenerative cycle, of sorts, that brings me back to life at the start of every new loop if I die.

(Or she was in it, but she doesn't need to get into that.)

No harm no foul.

[bythehand]

That's... good?

[ It sounds better than it did. ]

I mean, it doesn't make sense and it doesn't sound possible. Don't get me wrong. But-- if it's true, I'm glad it's true. So good.

[ God he's nailing real person conversations all over the place. ]

[scholiast]

No, I know. It's completely bizarre; we weren't expecting it either.

(She's totally weirding him out. Lucretia hastens to steer the conversation back into more familiar grounds.)

Point being is I don't... really subscribe to the feeling displaced theory. I don't think I was feeling that way when I came here. You?

[bythehand]

[ One day he'll be used to being weirded out. Weirded out will be the new normal. Probably not this day in particular. ]

I definitely wasn't. Apparently I was busy being almost dead, but-- [ Vague hand gesture?? ] I was where I needed to be.

[scholiast]

Almost, huh. (It's better than being completely dead. Lucretia nods, as if she understands exactly what he means by this.)

I was where I needed to be too. (The only place she could be. Semantics.) I don't understand it either.

[bythehand]

[ She feels him. ]

If I ever turn out a government-level conspiracy explaining it, I'll make sure I let you know.

[ It's a joke. Sort of. If he actually did find out about a government conspiracy re: all these non-displaced people, he'd definitely share it. Sometimes you need that solidarity in life. ]

[scholiast]

(Lucretia snorts with laughter.)

If you need any help writing up that conspiracy before turning it out, call me immediately. I can help make it extra dramatic.

[bythehand]

[ That's the important spirit. He grins back. ]

If there's one thing I know, it's that drama sells. I'll keep you in mind for the propaganda. [ He doesn't get to joke about this stuff like ever. It's. Nice to be able to? Lucretia's kind of made this day a lot less horrible than it was a few minutes ago. Thusly: ]

Thanks for your help.

[scholiast]

A consistent reader base has to be established with something.

(Lucretia shrugs a shoulder, but her smile is wry.)

Of course. I've been here long enough to have a handle on... uh, most of this place, so if you need a hand with anything I'd be happy to help out.

[bythehand]

Sure. Yeah. I'll keep you in mind.

[ PACT SEALED. And it's gonna be nice bc next time he meets her she's still gonna be hella funny and interesting, and he's going to be less of a flagrant emotional wreck. More like a contained one. ]