riverviewlogs | monthly mingle: FAJRO & LUNAR NEW YEAR

monthly mingle: FAJRO & LUNAR NEW YEAR

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: monthly mingle: fajro & lunar new year
when: The month of February.
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

fajro & lunar new year

In the days leading up to February 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: Fajro and the Lunar New Year. This is a combination of various traditions from several different universes, all of which involve cleaning house, physically and metaphorically, in preparation for the upcoming spring and summer months. The traditions associated with these celebrations involve getting rid of clutter and unnecessary junk that is then burned in large bonfires along the beaches, clearing the air of lingering resentments and old wounds with magical penalties for those who choose not to share, and a broad sampling of Lunar New Year traditions from a variety of cultures.

an opportunity to shed negative energy

There's nothing that's more detrimental to the forming of a good, solid community than lingering resentment and anger - this is something that most residents of the Quarantine tend to agree on. In recognition of that fact, Fajro is geared toward cleaning out the negativity, getting rid of clutter and trash in the home, body, and mind. Residents do spring cleaning in their homes and businesses and either give away or burn the things that they don't need and that are only serving to add an extra burden. Likewise, residents are encouraged to clear the air with friends, family, coworkers, and anyone else interacted with on a frequent basis. The second half of the month is taken up with the Lunar New Year, which is an almost universal tradition in this reality, and focuses on letting go of negative energy and welcoming positive energy into life going into the new year.

i.cleaning house

The first thing that most residents do during the month of Fajro is cleaning house. This means going through all the junk in the house, all the little things that clutter up a place, and clearing them out. A commonly-heard saying in the Quarantine during Fajro cleanup is "does this bring me joy?", a proverb that encapsulates the meaning of the tradition - to shed the parts of the past that bring pain or add to a person's burden, and keep only what brings joy into each person's life. The rest is either thrown away and burned, or donated to bring joy to someone else's life.

After the cleaning is complete, residents carry what they no longer want or need to the beaches of the river, where bonfires are set up each night for two weeks, in order to burn the excess and let the ash float down the river, a symbolic city-wide purging of bad memories, pain, and burdens.

ii. clearing the air

Another tradition in the Quarantine during Fajro is to clear the air with friends, family, acquaintances, coworkers, teammates, or anyone else that takes up space in a person's life. Every relationship comes with some amount of resentment, and the residents of the Quarantine take pride in being able to shed that resentment every year, to start fresh on relationships, building them into something newer and healthier. However, with every wave of new people that arrive during a year, there's a common pattern - those who haven't yet fully come to accept this particular tradition may avoid airing their grievances. Whether it's because they don't care to understand what they're feeling, don't acknowledge the resentment, want to appear strong and unaffected, or just because they don't like confrontation, there are any number of reasons people might choose to keep their hurts and resentments to themselves.

Of course, that doesn't really lend itself to clearing the air, so several of the higher-ups at Gramarye Magic Research came to a quick and easy solution in the form of a magically-infused mist that falls over the city on the morning of February 1st, which will burn off by the evening of February 3rd. Anyone who inhales the mist or absorbs it through their skin by going outdoors or being close to doors, windows, or air vents, during the first few days of February will find themselves thinking more often of the things that have hurt them, the resentments they've built up, and the desire to talk about them, to excise them. Starting on February 15th, any character who has been exposed to the mist and who has still kept their grievances bottled up will find themselves...afflicted with something very uncomfortable to remind them of how unhealthy it is to keep things to oneself and let them fester.

Afflictions can vary in scope depending on how thoroughly the character was exposed to the mist, how intense their feelings of resentment lie, and most of all, player preference. They are primarily physical effects that can range from mildly embarrassing to extremely uncomfortable. Whether it's the addition of a tail or horns, skin that changes color depending on the character's mood, loss of a sense, or any other physical effect, the sky's the limit. Afflictions should be something the character finds uncomfortable, and will last until February 28th or until the character clears the air, whichever comes first. Talking to a third party about their feelings of resentment will provide a temporary relief from the symptoms of the affliction, but the only way to permanently remove it is to talk directly to the source of the problems. If a character carries feelings of resentment toward someone who is not in the game, having a deep conversation with someone in the Quarantine will permanently clear or preempt the affliction.

iii. lunar new year

Originally, Fajro was celebrated all on its own in the Quarantine, but over the years, the traditions have evolved - the major change that's happened in the past decade or so is the addition of an entire other set of traditions surrounding the Lunar New Year, the celebration of which has proved to be a pretty universal constant across many different planets and in many different universes. Lunar New Year is celebrated with special food, activities, and street markets that pop up across the Quarantine throughout the month of February.

This year, the patron animal of the Lunar New Year is the dog, so residents are encouraged to bring their canines out with them to be spoiled, dressed up, and primped.

Thank you to Mari and Anna for suggesting the celebration and submitting the activities and images for this prompt!

hound town

Anyone wandering the city will find it beautifully decorated with beautiful red lanterns, and paper or cloth dog effigies. There are lots of stalls selling adorable themed dog clothing. At night, the red lanterns light up the streets, bathing them in a warm orange-red glow each night.

The entire city looks festive, and residents can be seen wearing red and gold or dog-themed clothing, strolling through the night markets with their pet dogs, sharing drinks of warm alcohol or other warm beverages. Booths selling a small toy called a jegi can be found very commonly, along with instructions on how to play the traditional Lunar New Year game, jegichagi (video), which involves kicking the jegi to keep it from falling to the ground, with the winner being the one to keep it up for the longest number of kicks.

Other booths are selling a wide variety of dog-themed items, red lanterns for residents to carry around on sticks, and giving away some very special red lanterns that the sellers will advise residents to hang onto for later in the season...

wish lanterns

Toward the end of the festival, the special red lanterns that residents received will start to glow, displaying a set of instructions outlined in magical light on the shade - residents are encouraged to take the lanterns down to the beaches by the Fajro bonfires on the last night of the celebration, and whisper to them a wish. Once the wish has been whispered to the lantern, it will lift into the air, hanging there for a few moments with all the other lanterns. For a few moments, the night sky will be alight with bobbing lanterns.

And then they will all pop into an explosion of colorful confetti, showering the crowd below. Anyone standing in the crowd who gets showered with confetti will feel a glowing wave of positive energy sweep through them.

street food and games

Street food is very popular in Riverview, and special food for the Lunar New Year is no exception, and considering how many different cultures and alternate realities have some version of a celebration for the Lunar New Year, there are a ton of seasonal snacks that are being sold from carts and featured in restaurants throughout the city. While you can find just about anything that's ever been associated with the Lunar New Year, some of the most popular dishes are sliced rice cake soup, savory pancakes, a cooked vegetarian salad, stuffed sticky rice cakes, and beautiful candy boxes that are usually given as gifts or brought to Lunar New Year parties. Besides these treats, tiny citrus fruits ranging from mandarin oranges to tangerines to any alien variety of small citrus.

And for people who bring their dogs along, many stalls are giving away complimentary biscuits for them, with the option to buy boxes or gift packs of the biscuits to take home.

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: Roman Ignatowski; image ii: Jan Vavrusa; image iii: Federico Belingheri; image iv: Yuechi Lee

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ii. Clearing the Air
Link had learned about the tradition of 'clearing the air' through the Perimeter Guard. While stepping in to see what jobs needed to be done, he had overheard a conversation about it and asked for some clarification. He had been thinking about it on his way back to the commons, and come to the realization that the only person he really resented or had any problems with was himself. Even though he still didn't know what had happened then, he knew he had failed to prevent Calamity Ganon from wreaking havoc and he took responsibility for that, not to mention that due to his failure Princess Zelda had been trapped fighting that thing for a century.

He saw no point in sharing this, despite his sudden urge to do so. This was his problem and he could deal with it on his own. Making others worry would only make him feel worse anyway. As the days went on though, his thoughts lingered more and more on these problems, though he didn't know why. Despite the nagging in the back of his head, he remained silent like he always did.

One morning however, he felt...off. He couldn't place it, but it was if the air around him became dark and heavy. During his normal routine in the commons, he glanced at the mirror and screamed in surprise and horror. His skin was black. As black as a deep, empty void. His hair had turned white, and his eyes. The glowed a brilliant, terrible red. It was as if he had turned into a monster.

Link wasn't one to sit and mope over something he didn't like, but he wasn't so sure how others would react to his appearance either. He decided to leave the commons to avoid confrontation with his roommates and camp outdoors and trying to keep his activities limited to after dark. Still, it was a big city. It was impossible to stay hidden from everyone...

iii. Lunar New Year
Before Link's transformation on the 15th, he can been seen walking around town looking at the charming decor and sampling the seasonal foods. He didn't have a dog of his own, but it was fun to see everyone out with their pets. Of course, some were friendlier than others, and he got to scratch ears and rub some bellies every now and then. If you have a dog with you, Link might ask if he can pet it.

Jegichagi
Link liked the jegichagi game the moment he tried it. He can be seen here and there at the beginning of the month practicing with it, and might come up and challenge you to a game. At least, he will before the mist transforms him for keeping his problems to himself. If you find him when he's been turned and and challenge him before running away in terror, he might oblige.

Wish Lanterns
Regardless of whether Link is still harboring his resentment or if he learned to share his feelings, he will be getting himself a lantern and making a wish with it at the end of the festival. He gasps as the bobbing lights explode and fills the sky with brilliant color, and he cups his hands to catch some while letting the rest fall where it pleases, whether it's on him, the ground, or whoever might be around him. If there's any resentment left, he can feel a warm, hopeful energy pushing it out of his mind, and he smiles softly.

Street Food
Before his unfortunate transformation, the easiest way to find Link will be to hunt down the food vendors. It is his goal to sample each and every traditional New Years' food, and he's making good progress. He will always welcome someone to chat with while he eats.

No matter how he looks, Link still has to eat, but he's not going by the food vendors until after nightfall to avoid as much trouble as he can. Still, if you're willing to talk with him, he might appreciate a conversation to distract him. Well, if the glowing red eyes don't make you want to turn and run the other direction.

iv. Wildcard
Have your own idea? Feel free to tag me with it!

(One thing Brennan's never had a chance to do is travel much. There are so many cultures represented here in the Quarantine he has to admit, he's a little overwhelmed. He game he stumbles up here is something akin to hackisack, which is a game he actually is familiar with, and he's taken by surprise when someone asks if he wants to join in.

And even more so because he has to constantly remind himself that this guy might actually be an elf, and that's...a thing.)

You want to try me? Dude, I haven't played anything like this since I was a kid.

(Actually, that might make it more fun.)

[Link just gives his potential challenger a shrug.]

That's fine. I've never played a game like this before, so we'll probably be an even match.

[He tosses his jegichagi towards him.]

I'm Link. Who are you?

(Brennan's first instinct is to catch whatever's being thrown at him, and he does, even though he realizes as soon as he does so that the point of this game is to not touch the...whatever the thing was called with your hands.

He nods.)

Sounds fair. (And he offers a hand toward the other man.) Brennan.

Nice to meet you.

[Link shakes Brennan's hand then takes a step back so there's plenty of room for them to play.]

I'm ready when you are.

(Brennan nodded, smirking. This...whatever you would call it, wasn't exactly a hacky sack, but Brennan could work his way around aerodynamics enough to know this wasn't going to rise or fall the same way. Well, the only way through it was to do it, after all. He took a breath and rolled his shoulders to relax. This was a game, sure, but games were contests and Brennan really liked winning...

...even if he was already convinced that was not what was going to happen here. He cleared his throat, tossed the thing in the air, waited for it to fall, got way over confident when it fell faster the second time than he'd anticipated, and missed completely, the innocent item falling to the ground.

Brennan took it in stride, though, and laughed, shaking his head.)

Well, that's harder than it looks. I think it's your turn.

It took me a bit of getting used to.

[Link had been playing with it for quite a while before Brennan had showed up. He couldn't remember any kind of game like this in Hyrule, but he also had rigorous training to hone his coordination and balance.

He took the jegi and tossed it up, easily kicking it up a couple times. He looks over to Brennan, the jegi caught and balanced on the side of his foot.]

Ready?

[He passes it over in a low arc, straight to Brennan.]

(Brennan had some training under his belt, too, but none of it had included anything related to balancing a jegi on his foot, or tossing one around. Still, when Link asked him, flexed his shoulders, nodding, his jaw squared.

He was not going to let this little thing (the jegi, not Link) show him up. It was a toy, after all.)

Yep. Let's do this.

[Link grins and tosses the jegi down, bouncing it a few times before kicking it over to Brennan. He's going to keep count on how many times they can pass it before it drops.]

Here goes!

[Zelda had thought she could bear the strange urge to talk about her buried resentments. It wasn't as though it was a new thing for her. She had hardly ever spoken of her doubts and fears at home, unless something too upsetting to ignore had cracked her resolve. It was fine. But when the 15th comes around, her go-to method for coping was suddenly turned against her. Every time she tried to write in her journal, the words copied themselves onto her hands. And they crawled further up the more she did it. So she had stopped, and covered her wrists, and just grit her teeth against the imposition.

It leaves her restless however, which finds her walking the street in the evening and rubbing absently at her hands. She doesn't notice at first the strangely shadowed man rounding the corner ahead of her. Indeed he blends into the surrounds a bit, this close to the edge of the city. But at the sound of a boot scuff, she looks up-- and can't help a yelp of shock.]

[Link was uncharacteristically less aware of his surroundings than he probably should have been. While on the outskirts of the city, he was still within the wall and wasn't expecting to run into anything other than the occasional rat that skittered along the edge of the buildings.

The cry of shock made him jump and he whipped around, reaching behind him to grab his sword out of instinct and was shocked to see that it was none other than the princess. For once, his face showed the surprise he felt, though it was understandable if Zelda was more distracted by the glaring red eyes gazing at her. Link let his arm fall without drawing a weapon.]

Princess?!

[His voice had changed as well, being distorted by some unknown force and it sounded deeper with a kind of static-like crackle sprinkled through.]

What are you doing here?

[She nearly bolts out of instinct, and the garbled voice doesn't help much. But it's the use of her title that roots her to the spot, hands over her mouth. Princess. There's only one person here who would call her that. And if she looks more closely...]

L... Link? What happened to you?

[Dismay creeps into her voice, her eyes flicking over his shadowy appearance.]

[Link awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. If his physical appearance had changed, his body language hasn't.]

I don't know. I just woke up one day...

[She still hadn't answered his question. Granted, she was the princess of Hyrule and he was a knight. She didn't have to answer it, but Link was still concerned as to why she was out so late.]

Is there something wrong? With you, I mean. [It was pretty obvious there was something wrong with him, but he wasn't one to have other fret over him.] I didn't expect you to be out so late.

[It's a little jarring, to see such familiar gestures coming from Link when he looked so different. But it helps, a bit, and Zelda relaxes faintly. She takes a step forward, peering at the strange red of his eyes.]

Like this? That's-- it can't be normal.

[Obviously. She's at a loss for what to call it, though. Zelda startles a bit at Link's question, and rubs her hands together surreptitiously. Up close like this it's easier to see there are black marks on her fingers.]

I was... restless, I suppose. Things have felt strange lately.

[Link had been avoiding Zelda's gaze, and in looking down noticed her fidgeting hands. Was that ink? Link supposed it wasn't out of place. She kept journals and wrote a lot about whatever she was researching. It seemed odd that she didn't wash it off her hands before she left though.

Zelda's concern was a bigger priority than the mess on her hands though.]

It's not. I'm working on getting it fixed.

[That was only a half-truth. Link had asked some locals about what could be going on, and they all responded that it was probably a result of his pent-up resentment due to something about the holiday this month. Whether that was the case or not, Link was determined to fix it on his own, without having to drag anyone else into his problems.]

You have ink your hands.

How?

[She blurts it out without thinking, because she truly wants to know. Maybe she can help, somehow. At his comment, Zelda glances at her hands again and -- winces.]

I know. It won't come off.

[Which isn't what she meant to admit, but it seems somehow foolish not to.]

[Link frowns. He had managed to ask around by this point, and the apparent solution to this particular problem wasn't one that he liked.]

I think it has to do with this mist.

[He waves his hand in front of him, the mist wasn't too thick, but it was still visible as it swirled when Link disturbed the air. Despite having to put in a lot of effort not to just open up, he still didn't want to do so. It was his problem, not hers. She wasn't supposed to have to tend to the knight who had been appointed to protect her. At the same time, he wasn't about to lie to her either. His response seemed like an acceptable middle-ground.

He raised a brow at her next comment.]

Why?

[At that, Zelda's brow furrows, because she's familiar with the mist as well. How could she not be, working at Gramarye where they had developed the stuff?]

If that's the case, you might need to just wait it out. I don't know that there's a solution otherwise.

[That's not true. She knows what it's for. She just doesn't want to engage in such a thing.]

I don't know. It just keeps doing this every time I try to write in my journal.

[She's desperately glad she wears gloves and long sleeves, otherwise Link would be able to read it. The words scrawling up her arms, her anguish about her father and others. How humiliating that would be.]

[Link relaxes a little. Sitting and waiting something out wasn't usually something he liked to do, but in this case, he'd take it. It was better than the alternative that he had heard.

Now that the pressure was off of him for the moment, his expression turned more thoughtful. It clashed a bit with the intimidating red glow from his eyes. Zelda was being strangely vague. Link couldn't remember any time where she just let something drop at "I don't know." If Zelda didn't know something, she usually had a habit of hypothesizing or trying to work something out to find a solution.]

It's not like you to leave something like that without looking into it.

[Perhaps they both had something to hide from each other. He didn't like that, though he knew that if she were to open up then he wouldn't have a choice but to do so as well.]

[It is a little jarring, and Zelda finds herself looking at Link sidelong, at the expression on his face. Everything seems faintly menacing when he's like this. It's... unfortunate.]

I never said I hadn't looked into it. [A bit too quick a retort there. She hasn't wanted to think about what it means.] I just-- it's not something I want to ask around about.

[Link shifted awkwardly. Both of them were clearly troubled by something, and both seemed equally reluctant to discuss it.]

I see.

[Silence fell over them like a thick fog. It felt suffocating. The urge to just spill everything was getting harder and harder to resist, and the rising tension wasn't helping. Link leaned against the wall of the nearest building, wrestling both with his emotions and how to salvage the situation. He looked back up at her, opened his mouth as if to speak, but closed it without saying anything. His cheeks burned in embarrassment, though the blush was completely masked by the deep empty blackness of his skin.]

[There's a phantom itch in her fingers, and she curls them against her palms against it. Zelda feels like there's a torrent of words waiting to explode out of her. Their slow crawl up her skin is only the beginning, if she lets things continue like this. Her gaze falls to the ground, her jaw clenched with frustration.]

I only wish -- [Damn it, she hadn't meant to speak, but she stumbles onwards.] -- that using my journal had helped at all. It just made this worse.

[Link took a step towards Zelda, but was still far enough away not to invade her space. He kicked some debris away from the base of the nearest wall and dropped his gear from his back before leaning against it. There was room next to him for Zelda to join him if she wanted to. He tried to get a closer look at her hands and thought he could see the shapes of letters, though her gloves and sleeves covered enough that it was difficult to tell.]

You're hands? [He holds his own blackened hand out, inviting her to show him.]

[She casts a look in Link's direction, the ease of his stance still jarring with the pitch black aspect of his skin. If Link looks closely, it's evident that the ink on her fingers isn't just random stains. It's words.]

Everything I wrote ended up... on my skin.

[Pursing her lips, she steps forwards and tugs her glove off, holding her palm up to Link where he can see it. Now it's much clearer that there's writing there: "Even here I can't stop thinking about him and whether he would be proud or ashamed. I wish I could--"]

[Link's face falls, his usual mask fading to show sadness. He remembered Zelda lamenting at the Spring of Power. It was one of the few things he didremember, along with her despair after the Calamity had struck and the denizens of the castle had been killed along with the Champions. Link was sure he knew who "he" was.]

You're still worried about your father? [Link's voice is soft, though the crackling still gives it a strange tone. It's difficult to show sympathy when you look and sound like a monster.

He's a little surprised. Zelda was from a time where Calamity Ganon was just a very bad (albeit recent) memory, yet she hadn't found peace with that part of her past yet?
He couldn't really judge considering his own regrets, but for the time in which he was taken, Ganon was still something he had to deal with.]

monthly mingle: FAJRO & LUNAR NEW YEAR

Link | LoZ: Breath of the Wild | OTA

Lunar New Year | Jegichagi

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