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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Now that both of the dogs were leashed, Shiro got up as well, setting the dog that had been in his lap down. He danced around at Shiro's feet for a moment before watching his friend start to play tug of war with the leash. Shiro could almost see the gears turning. Luckily, it didn't seem like he'd processed that he was able to do the same thing with his own leash.

"No, it shouldn't have. Not to anyone. But at least I had Black worrying about me... even if he did break the banister." Those memories had hurt very badly and remembered clearly in the back of his mind that feeling of just wanting to sit there and literally do nothing. But he wasn't going to.

"At least they are over now... and with something much better to focus on."

The dogs at this moment.

Marinette was kind of regretting she couldn't adopt this furry ball of energy - he caused a lot of trouble for her, but he was cute! On the plus side, with that kind of personality he'd find a home in no time. "Maybe we should get them back to the shelter, before anything else happens." Also if Shiro was going to adopt his own charge.

"Is the banister going to be a lot of trouble to fix?"

"Yeah, let's take them to the shelter. They'll be happier once they are feed and get a bath." He'd still debating about his charge. There were large lions back at the house. Even if they didn't need to eat, they were intimidating.

"No, Ed came over and he was able to help with that. Took almost no time at all."

Good point - the pupper might think the lions will eat HIM. And then the possibility of if the lions react the way regular felines raised among dogs do, and they end up chasing each other around. It'll be a lot more than the banister at risk.

"Ed - Oh! Yeah, I met him at Keith's birthday party. He's nice." Quiet, but nice. And she had to admit, his way of cleaning up was way more efficient than hers.

Yeah, he was going to have to try and introduction to see how it worked between everyone before an official adoption was made... if Shiro decided to go that path.

"He is. I was trying to get some help with setting up for Keith's party and when I mentioned the banister, he volunteered to help. So we got it and the stairs fixed before the party."

For the most part, Marinette's attention was divided between chatting with Shiro and keeping the puppy from chewing on the leash, or trying to get Shiro's charge to play with him too.

"That's pretty lucky - the last thing you'd want to deal with is house repairs when you guys have only recently moved in, after all." She let out a 'eek' when the puppy suddenly bounded forward to try and chase a squirrel. "No nononnono~ stay stay stay!" Dig those heels in Mari!

"Yeah, that was kind of frustrating, but it wasn't Black's fault. He was just trying to help."

Oh no. Shiro's dog had seen the squirrel too and tried to run after it. Shiro had a little more weight to put into it and could easily stop the dog, he practically flailed at the end of the leash, trying to get closer to the squirrel.

"Pups, you need to stop." Like that was really going to work.

But SHIRO, SQUIRREL. In their little puppy minds that squirrel is throwing acorns and insulting their moms. Revenge must be had!

Fortunately Marinette managed to keep from getting hauled forward more, though the puppy was straining against that leash, barking excitedly until Marinette manages to pull him in some. "You know-- I feel like I'm going to sleep REALLY well when I get home today." She joked over to Shiro.

Vengeance must be swift and sweet! Hence why the humans needed to hold onto the leashes tightly.

Shiro laughed at that. "I have a feeling you will. You've been chasing these two for quite a while and that little guy is very determined to get away."

His dog had stopped pulling and was barking at the squirrel, which seemed unimpressed.

Marinette laughed, "Yeah - but the pup you have looks to be a lot more well behaved." Hers was probably younger. Still she had to turn herself in a circle a few times because her little charge kept running around her in an attempt to get to the squirrel even after they managed to move past the tree.

Once the tree was out of sight, the pupper continued to whine for a few minutes more, then remembered the leash he'd been playing with and went right back to trying to play tug of war. "He's like a perpetual source of energy, yeesh!"

Shiro watched as her dog attempted several times to tie her up in order to get to the squirrel in question. His dog finally got bored with barking, first looking over at his friend before finally noticing the leash. At this point, he lunged for it, grabbing it and chewing on it as they walked.

"Yeah, he is. Too bad there is no way to harness that energy. We might be able to power a building for a day."

Marinette laughed, watching Shiro's dog, deciding it was less dizzying to just unwind the leash manually rather than turn around in circles when her own dog was excitably running around her. "Only a day? I think he's got enough energy to power the city for at least that long. Maybe more - isn't that right, fella?" She glanced down, which apparently was all he needed to get excited. ATTENTION! YAY! "On second thought, maybe HE's going to sleep better than me."

Shiro couldn't help but laugh as well. "Well, yeah now that you mention it, I think he could probably power the city. He just has to run otherwise the energy is going overwhelm him." Boy that dog was excitable. Even if his friend was looking at him like he was crazy. Granted he did this while still holding his own leash in his mouth. It was an odd look.

"Yeah I think that he's going to crash and burn at some point. At least we're almost at the shelter. He'll have a warm place to fall asleep tonight."

He was certainly full of energy and happy, trotting with his tail wagging hard enough to thump against Marinette's leg. She was currently thanking her gods and everything that Shiro's pup was more calm than hers. She couldn't chase after two lunatic puppies. "Yeah, and it's getting pretty cold at night. I hope everyone else was able to find a lot of strays to bring in." She murmured worriedly - "Oh, that's it up ahead, right?" she motioned with a free hand towards said shelter building.

"Hopefully. It would be a shame for anything to happen to these guys." He was kind of getting attached to them. He didn't want to think about them getting hurt. Maybe that was a sign that he was falling for this dog. But he still couldn't convince himself just yet that he was taking the dog home with him. He had to think about it, especially with the Black Lion. "Yeah, it looks like it is just up ahead there. Bet you guys will want some food, huh? Especially you, with all your running around." This he said to Marinette's dog.

"Yeah, so would I." Marinette was a soft touch, she'd feel horrible if she couldn't find or catch the puppers before it got dark. Fortunately it was just getting near dark now. The puppy Marinette led glanced up at Shiro when it seemed like the older man was talking to him, and his tail wagged happily.

"Haha, I think he knows that term." Marinette grinned. One they neared the shelter, her puppy balked a little, but mostly because he had to sniff. EVERYTHING. "Oh come ONNN.." It was getting cold and they were almost there! "Look, nice warm bath, food, blankets to sleep on - it's got to be more enticing than grass, right?"

Nope, must sniff EVERY SINGLE BLADE OF GRASS.

"Yeah, I think he knows that word now."

Shiro's dog seemed be doing pretty well... until he hit the same area that Marinette's dog had found and then all of the sudden that was much more interesting, also searching and sniffing everything. Shiro couldn't help a laugh.

"Well, I guess not. Maybe its one last look for posterity before they wait for their owner?"

Marinette chuckled as well, "Yeah, that could be. And I guess a lot of cats and dogs have passed through this area before us by now." What with the comedy of errors that these dogs led Marinette through before Shiro helped out. Speaking of. "Thanks for helping me, by the way."

"That is also true. This must be an exciting area for them. All these animals they've never met having come through here, not to mention the people who have brought them here. Everything is new." He gave her a smile in response. "You're welcome. Happy to help. Glad we got them here."

Marinette grinned, "Me too." And of course, since the shelter was recognizable to the pups now, even hers wasn't as reluctant to go back inside. Inside is warmth, food, and water~! "Um - if you want, I can take that one in with me. You've already gone out of your way coming all the way here with him."

"That's fine. I think they've calmed down enough that he shouldn't be a problem anymore." He offered her the leash for the dog he was holding, but she will notice that he's still looking at the dog, almost as if he's already missing the dog or he's memorizing what the dog looks like.

Marinette chuckled, reaching over to take the leash from the Shiro and nodding. She's definitely noticed the way he's studying the pupper, and thinks it's cute. If the puppy gets a new home as a result of this, so much the better. "Then I'll go ahead and bring them in before they get a second wind. Say hi to Keith for me!" Assuming she doesn't call him up to say hi herself later. Better to cover all her bases.

"Sounds good. Definitely before they get excited again." And before he decides too rashly to adopt a fuzzy friend. "Yeah, I'll tell Keith you said. Get a good meal yourself after that."

And if she took the dogs inside, he's going to head back towards the house.

Marinette laughed, nodding agreement. "I will, thanks!" Well, technically she'll probably go take a shower first, THEN get something to eat. But she does go on inside after that, thus releasing Shiro of puppy duty with another cheery wave!

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introductory mingle: HARVEST FESTIVAL

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