monthly mingle: FAJRO & LUNAR NEW YEAR

[riverviewmod]

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

navigation

Comments

[smokedout]

With all of the distractions and minor processes going on in his head, Brink has forgotten to act like a dog... there's an uncanny mechanic quality to the way he turns his head to look at Link, just a little too smooth and even for a dog. Especially since he doesn't seem startled at all.

"I am collecting groceries for my master." He responds, slightly muffled by the plastic bag held in his mouth. His voice is friendly and generally humanoid, but has a definite robotic tinniness to it. "If you require anything, please make your request short. I have many errands left to finish before the holiday ends."

[bluechampion]

Link remains perfectly still as the dog speaks to him, though his expression clearly shows the surprise of hearing actual words come from the beast's mouth. It takes a moment for him to process what just happened.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Would you like some help?" If he hadn't already made friends with a twelve-foot tall metal man during the previous festival, he would have felt a bit more uncomfortable having a conversation with a dog. Oh, the wonders of the different worlds the portal pulled from!

[smokedout]

"I am much stronger than I look. Please do not be worried."

Belatedly, he wags his tail a little bit as if that will make him less weird and awkward. He's turning now to continue on his route.. into the apartment building that smells like something died in it. What is this dog up to.

[bluechampion]

"I'm not worried about your strength," Link assured him. He was a dog after all. They had their own ways of protecting themselves. "No offense, but I thought maybe someone with thumbs might help you out with some things you might have trouble with."

And it certainly seemed like there was some kind of trouble. Link might not have the same power of smell that any dog would, but the stench coming from the apartment building was certainly detectable. It smelled of rot, like the trash piles around monster dwellings back in Hyrule. He scrunched up his nose. "Your master isn't a moblin, is he?" Only monsters would want to live in a place that smelled so foul.

[smokedout]

"Understood. I am not offended." To the question though, he pauses briefly as he looks up a definition on Riverview's internet and decides no, Dodger is not a moblin. "He is a mutant."

Brink won't mind Link following him into the building, which has an open front door anyway. The source of the smell is immediately clear, upon entry... the apartment that Brink is headed into has the middle of its door just missing, and while most of it is spotless (if a little dusty) the kitchen has a set of three bags like the one Brink has just set down, in various states of decay. It seems he's been picking up groceries for someone who isn't even there to receive them.

Oh, and the walls are plastered with photos and notes on most of the people on the city, with tacks and yarn stringing them together like a serial killer might keep... and there are rainbow-colored fireflies occasionally crawling along the floor or walls. You know, a normal place to be.

[bluechampion]

"A mutant?" Another word which he didn't understand in the context he was given. He had gotten used to asking for clarification when he was in Hyrule. One hundred years in a deep sleep on top of losing any memories before said deep sleep warranted such a thing.

Unsure if the dog's response was an invitation, Link followed behind, assuming he would be told off if he wasn't wanted. He felt a cloud of unease hit him when he saw the state of the door, and the pictures scattered along the walls only made him feel worse. He had expected the apartment itself to be in disarray and was surprised to see how tidy it was considering the smell. And then they entered the kitchen. Source discovered.

"Maybe we should get rid of this," he said, moving towards the spoiled food on the table. He might not come from a world where 'cross contamination' was a common phrase, but he knew well enough to keep fresh food away from rotting mess. He swatted the insects that gathered around it and picked up the bags. They'd have to go straight out into the trash bins. "You might want to keep what you've got off the table before we get this cleaned up."

[smokedout]

Unfortunately, Brink doesn't understand it as a request for information, and doesn't answer. It also takes him a while to reason out what the issue is with the food... common sense is a falling point for him, when it comes to following Dodger's instructions. There's a fair whirring noise while Link picks up the bags, before Brink moves to sit out of Link's way. Dogs are notoriously unhelpful for cleaning, so he's done what he can already.

"Understood. Cleaning supplies are under the sink. The closet in the hallway has more."

And again, it's... very odd, how many cleaning supplies there are, all having been used a fair amount. This is a place where cleanliness is common, making the rotting food even more out of place.

[bluechampion]

Link is less concerned about finding out what a 'mutant' is than the state of the kitchen. He looks under the sink as suggested and finds some trash bags to put the rot on the table into and places it on the floor next to the door to be taken out when he leaves. He grabs some bottles of chemicals and looks closely at the labels. He doesn't have a clue as to what he's dealing with. He never stayed in the commons very much and didn't contribute to much mess or cleaning. Thankfully, there were clear directions on how to use the various solutions, though he had to admit that the warning about getting this stuff in your eyes or mouth were concerning. He heard the strange noise come from the dog and glanced over, taking a moment to give him a good look, but nothing seemed amiss.

Link sprayed the table and wiped it down. Thankfully, he had become familiar with refrigerators and had a good idea about what to keep in them during his last visit, so he went through the groceries and placed everything that needed to go in to stay fresh inside while leaving the nonperishable stuff on the table for whoever lived here to sort as they wished.

"Is your master missing? I could help you look for them," Link offered. He was a part of the Perimeter Guard after all, and he knew he could file a report and go out to look himself.