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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[The concept of letting go of certain thoughts or feelings wasn't new to Billy. He wouldn't call himself an avid Buddhist, but he remembered the teachings he heard back in Korea. Latching onto to certain feelings would only cause suffering, because your mood is constantly changing. Nothing is permanent. One had to accept the impermanence of all existence, or else they would only suffer more.

Easier said than done. With the lifestyle he had, Billy figured there was a high chance he'd die before reaching old age yet he was still turning over the memory of his own death in his head--over and over.

Now, the word "DEATH" was written on Billy's slip of paper, which he thumbs gingerly. He was still staring at it when he felt something light hit his head. With a quizzical look on his face, Billy picks up the paper ball, but doesn't open it (it was likely something private), and looks around for the owner.]

Edited (forgot the header) 2017-11-20 03:51 (UTC)

[ Welp.

That'll teach Peter to look before he throws.

He winces as he watches the wad of paper's progress, hoping beyond hope it'll narrowly miss the dude and land in the bonfire. No such luck, though, and when it bounces off the dude's head, when the guy picks it up and starts looking around Peter gives a bit of a wave, offering an apologetic smile. ]

Sorry about that, bro.

[Billy was about to say that it was nothing to worry about, but then he did a double take once he really got a look at the other man's face, eyes growing wide and body drawing up tight as though he just saw a ghost.

Faraday's name is on the tip of his tongue, but he swallows it back down. Everything is so much like him--the face, the hair, even the voice. Something's not right, though. Billy just has this feeling that if this was the Faraday he knew, the other man would be all up in his face by now, asking him twenty questions within a minute.

Billy bites the inside of his cheek and goes through with what he was originally going to say.]

It's all right. Give it another shot.

[He offers up the wad, because Billy doubts it would have the same healing effect if he threw it in for the other man. He pockets ]

[ Even by the flickering light of the fire, Peter sees the way the guy tenses, sees that flash of recognition that lances across his face, and Peter's back straightens, startled.

(It wouldn't be the first time someone's recognized him while he didn't recognize them. When that happened, things tended to come to blows.)

But the guy seems to let whatever he has to say pass, and Peter watches him warily, carefully plucking the crumpled paper from him. This time, at least, Peter looks both ways before he tosses the paper into the fire.

Lessons learned, apparently.

He glances over at the guy again, giving him a once over. It's hardly subtle. ]

... You okay?

[That first wary glance doesn't escape Billy, but he says nothing and slips his own piece of paper back into his pocket, just so no one else can see what's written on it. Then he feels the other man's eyes on him again, prompting him to return eye contact.]

Sorry, you just look very similar to someone I know. I thought you were him for a moment.

[This wasn't Faraday suffering from amnesia, right? Billy hopes not.]

[ Peter doesn't look entirely convinced, but he's not usually the type to probe for information from strangers.

(Unless a profit was on the line, obviously.)

So he shrugs, leaning back on a hand in the sand. ]

Sounds like he must be handsome.

[ let it never be said that Peter lacks for confidence. ]

[That actually gets a snort out of Billy, because that's exactly how Faraday would like to think of himself.]

He'd agree with you.

[Billy looks down as he drags his finger through the sand idly, drawing a swirling pattern with no meaning, but his gaze soon returns to Peter. He does his best trying not to look at him too hard, like he was some kind of puzzle that was proving difficult to solve.]

What's your name?

[ At the very least, Peter doesn’t seem to notice the way Billy stares – or doesn’t stare, as the case may be – and inclines his head slightly. ]

Peter Quill. Folks call me Star-Lord.

[ No, they don’t; in fact, it’s only recently that a few folks have started to humor him by using the call sign, which apparently has only encouraged him to keep trying to make “Star-Lord” happen. ]

You?

[Peter Quill definitely doesn't sound like anything similar to Joshua Faraday, and Billy doesn't think Faraday would call himself "Star-Lord." It would have been something more ridiculous or extravagant, and maybe something to do with gambling. The boy already called himself "the world's greatest lover."

Billy hasn't forgotten his manners, though. He tips his hat at Peter.]

Billy Rocks.

[But he just has to ask:]

But why "Star-Lord"?

[ Peter looks the guy over, noticing the outfit. The dude looks like he just stepped out of a western movie, though the array of (probably too many) knives is a new one on him. And when the dude – Billy, apparently – introduces himself with a tip of his hat, Peter feels himself smile.

He's about to ask if "Billy Rocks" is a statement or a name, but Billy beats him to the punch. ]

It's just a name I picked up. A sort of call sign. It just sort of stuck.

[ And, since turnabout is fair play, ]

Is "Billy Rocks" your real name or an outlaw name?

[ Because "Star-Lord" definitely started out as an outlaw name, a throwback to such greats as The Sundance Kid or Deacon Jim. ]

Were you into astronomy?

[In Billy's time, the idea of putting people among the stars sounds more like something you'd find in a novel rather than an actual scientific endeavor. Although he's seen a flying machine in one of Rey's memories, that's not the first thing to come to mind when he hears the word "stars." He thinks of someone staring up at the night sky from their place on the ground.

To the questioning of his name:]

I suppose you could say it's both. Most people knew me from the quick draw rings.

[Or as the "manservant" of Goodnight Robicheaux. It was so easy to fool people using their own ignorance against them.]

[ The question makes Peter smile a little, the corner of his mouth twitch upward, and he shrugs again. ]

Yeah, I was.

[ Astronomy and almost any piece of science fiction media he could get his hands on. Mom never seemed particularly surprised when Peter took to the "space stuff" as quickly as a duck to water; it's only recently that he discovered why. ]

That explains the gun, I guess.

[ This, with a nod to the revolver holstered at Billy's hip. ]

Dunno if I've ever seen a cowboy packin' as many knives as that, though.

[Billy glances down at his knives and then back to Peter.]

I never saw anyone else with as many knives as me neither.

[But that only helped Billy keep an element of surprise over his foes. Most people in the West hardly ever expected a man wielding a knife in each hand.]

People have a tendency to think that a knife will always lose in a gunfight, but in the right hands it can come out on top. Knives aren't just for slashing and stabbing, they can be thrown, too--right between the ribs and into the heart if you know where to aim.

[Billy runs a hand over one of the sheathed knives.]

It's not easy, though. I didn't get as good as I did without years of practice.

[ Peter lets out a quiet hum – a mild sort of agreement, considering some of his best friends were terrifying with knives. ]

You should meet a friend of mine. Gamora. She's scary as hell with knives and swords, too.

[ She's scary with anything, really. Guns, knives, a writing utensil.

It's just that sharp, bladed objects were more her realm of expertise. ]

Maybe you guys can discuss, like, techniques, or whatever.

You know, I actually wouldn't mind that. Most people didn't care much for knives where I'm from.

[When compared to guns, knives were considered obsolete, primitive event. Maybe it's because of the way knife-fighting tends to put you in close quarters with your enemy, but to Billy that was part of the adrenaline rush.]

I tried teaching some men how to use knives, but they all walked out on me without even trying. [He shakes his head with a wry chuckle.] Guess I shouldn't have expected too much from farmers in the first place.

[But even that isn't much of an excuse. Billy had started out as runaway manservant who perfected his skill with knives to survive. So why couldn't a couple of farmers defending their town do the same?]

[ Peter glances over at that. ]

Yeah? [ And there's a touch of amusement in his voice. ] I mean, I can't blame them. I'm pretty sure I'd be more worried about slicing open my own throat in the middle of a fight than my enemy's.

[ Which is going to be one hell of a mental hurdle to overcome, considering Peter does have a knife tucked away, and he was planning on asking Gamora for a lesson or two. ]

I can't imagine farmers having much need for that kind of skill.

[That gets a laugh out of Billy this time.]

Think of it as part of the learning process. I never slashed my throat wide open, but I did give myself some nasty cuts on my arms and legs when I first started.

[Mostly on his fingers due to the knife slipping in his grip from both his own sweaty hands and the blood of the unfortunate bastard on the other end of his blade, the former being the reason why Billy began wearing gloves.]

They normally don't, but they had special circumstances.

[ Yeah, that doesn't do much to make Peter feel much better, and he winces in sympathy. ]

You must be doing something right, then, considering you still have all ten fingers.

[ As for that second part, Peter looks thoughtful for a second. Then, with a feigned sort of understanding, ]

The cows were starting to fight back, huh?

There is the saying, "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."

[Billy just couldn't overcome the Gatling gun, though, it had put too many holes in him... He almost thinks he can hear the chiming of the church bell that had been hanging above him until Peter's voice ends the phantom sound. What he says keeps Billy's mind on his own death rather than move away from it, but he tries not to show it and fixes his hat.]

The cows weren't the problem, it was a rich man up in Sacramento and his mercenaries.

[ Peter notices the way the guy grows distant – lost in thought, maybe, or caught in a memory – and there's a shift in his demeanor that makes Peter frown.

This is dangerous territory, he decides. He's barely known the guy for, like, five minutes, and the last thing Peter needs is to say something supremely shitty and upset the dude.

Peter's quiet for a second or two, then, ]

How'd you learn? The knives, I mean. [ A slight shift in topics seems safest. ] Did you just slash the crap out of wooden posts, or—?

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introductory mingle: HARVEST FESTIVAL

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