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

[yeeeeeeah]

[ Woah, June.

Ah, a better topic. And the guy- kid? Hard to tell... Is smiling! So that's the most important thing at the moment. ]

Thank God!

[ One day Mic will figure out that his random ass English doesn't matter when you have a global translator. One day. ]

They have decent cake here? [ He shifts his weight to cock his hip and look him up and down inquisitively, "fingergun" on his chin. ] Or maybe you aren't a sweets type!

[alchemyfreak]

[He might figure it out, but that'd make him one of the few in Ed's experience. At the question about cake Ed blinks, mostly because of how specific it was. Cake was generally a thing for parties and aside from festivals and all those city run events there weren't really that many parties Ed had attended. Not the type that would have cake, anyway.]

Well. I haven't exactly been to many birthdays... Can't complaint though, there's a lot here, I'm sure you'll find decent cake somewhere.

[Not even going to comment on being a 'sweets type.' Ed was more or less an everything type, but that was another matter all together.]

Sweets were kind of a luxury item where I was before, I guess I'm not used to thinking about it.

[yeeeeeeah]

[ Woah, there's the next surprise. Yeah, sweets were a treat, but even a basic cake being a luxury! That's something else. ]

Doesn't sound like that was the best place to be...

[alchemyfreak]

[His expression falters some as if trying to figure out exactly what he'd said to warrant that response before offering a quick grin to smooth things over.]

It's certainly nothing like this place, resources were a lot more limited.

[Sweets being a luxury were hardly his biggest concern, but he wasn't about to dump that drama on a perfect stranger.]

[yeeeeeeah]

Aaah, I see, I see.

[ So war torn or something like that? Not exactly the point of the conversation here, Hizashi! He shrugs and looks back to the fire. ]

In any case! You never did say what you liked best about this place.

[alchemyfreak]

[Ah, right. Shit. He takes a minute to think about it, because honestly he's not entirely sure. When the answer hits him though, it's so obvious and yet so depressing he doesn't really want to dump it on a complete stranger who is clearly looking for something positive. Have an awkward smile.]

I guess that it's not any of the other places I was before.

[He's so sorry you're talking to him.]

What about you, anything so far?

[Ed figures from the way the conversation started he must be relatively new.]

[yeeeeeeah]

[ Yeesh. That's a weighted answer if he ever heard one... Poor guy! ]

I'm sorry you had it so rough...

[ What else can you say? He doesn't want to force the guy to relive some terrible trauma! But then again he was always listening. ]

Hm! [ He looks a little more cheerful as he looks up at the night sky. ] Well, my best friend is here and the tea is pretty good. There's lots to do. That's all I can ask for, y'know?

[alchemyfreak]

[It sure is! But don't worry, become friends with Edward Elric and you're sure to hear all about manipulative gods and controlling military governments. You wanted that, right?]

Oh, it's-

[Clearly nothing for this guy to be sorry about, wow this is awkward.]

All behind me now, so that's my favorite thing about this place.

[That is the most awful way to try to turn a positive spin on this, Ed. Why. He does light up at those words though, grinning more sincerely again.]

Oh, really? My best friend is here too, from one of the worlds I was on, anyway. Plus my brother's here, I get the whole that's all you can ask for thing. There's plenty to do here, and the technology is amazing.

[Now he's just dating himself, and also not commenting on the tea. There's another long story he'd care to avoid.]