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

Elizabeth Bennet : ota

[wit_and_sword]

Lunar new year
Hound town

For being on the moon, Elizabeth was pleasantly surprised to to witness a familiar holiday. The years she and her sisters trained in Shaolin, their master always allowed them to take the day off to celebrate the start of the New year; such a celebration was observed by even the monks, however not on this scale. In England, they did no such thing of course, but that only made the memories all the more precious.

The year of the dog was precious, even she had to admit, seeing everyone with their dogs, the prizes and toys given. If she were younger, she would certainly appreciate the game for what it was. Instead, she only strolled through the stalls, admiring those showing off their pets.

street games and food

The games of chance and skill were a good distraction. The entire evening, Elizabeth tried to not think how much her sisters would enjoy the festivities (they certainly would), for doing so would only solidify how alone she felt here.

She had tried her hand at a few games, winning two small, stuffed dogs as well as a red and gold fan (the dogs she gave to a little girl). Childish though the games were, she could appreciate the random skill in them, just to try them out.

Moving from games, she went to one of the booths and bought herself a few small oranges, peeling at one as she observed the crowd around her.

wildcard
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street games

[tanker]

John could have participated in a few of the games, but as it was, he was quite content to watch people play. The kind of skills they required - accuracy, speed, excellent eye-tracking - were the kind of skills John felt like he had an unfair advantage with.

But, apparently, he wasn't the only one. He caught on a young woman winning game after game, precise and quick, and he couldn't help but walk over after she left the stand, impressed.

"That was good. Where did you train?"

Re: street games

[wit_and_sword]

Inspite of the cool weather, Elizabeth gently moved the fan in a gentle motion. The paper fan was just that, a cheap sort of prize, but given the source and holiday, that was all the point.

She was observing the others at the games when she noticed the man and he addressed her. The question was an interesting one; she never made her training a secret, but that he observed some sort of form led her to be curious about how he even came to that conclusion.

"The shaolin temple in Hunan province." She answered. "But I fail to see how you could surmise training of any sort simply because someone wins a few fair games."

[tanker]

His eyebrows shoot up at her answer - polite, curt, but mainly, mentioning a Shaolin Temple. Talk about unconventional. Talk about fascinating.

She throws a question back at him, though, veiled in disbelief, and he smiles earnestly.

"I was a Marine. I can see when someone's had accuracy training. it's all in the speed, the steadiness of the hand, the way your breathe. If you know what to look for, it becomes obvious."

He bows his head. "But I'm sorry if that was offensive."

[wit_and_sword]

While they conversed, Lizzie found herself thinking she had seen the man before. When he referenced that he was military, she felt herself smile just a little.

"Hardly offensive." He had yet to actually mock the origin of her training. "Just, admittedly impressive for someone to remark on it."

He must've been in the marines a long time to develop such an eye. "You are on the perimeter guard, right?" She now recalled where she had recognized him. "I think I recall seeing you around the training areas."

[tanker]

"It's sort of my job to notice extraordinary things, actually."

Finding Mutants on the run, on the loose, or needing help, training them, keeping them safe. It had left him with a good eye for noticing what was just under the surface.

He nodded, tucking his hair back behind his hair when it slipped out, smiling.

"Yeah, I am. Are you as well? Would make sense."

[wit_and_sword]

She nodded. "The regular guard," Not one of the specialty groups, but she couldn't think that mattered; they all had a role in protecting the city after all. "They thought my skills would make me a perfect fit for it."

For all she tried to keep a dignified air about it, but given the expectations back home, she could not help the grin that threatened to creep up.

"Your job? Were you an officer?" She could see how an officer would have to be skilled in such matters.

[tanker]

"Can't blame them for that," he replied, smiling. "Although, pardon me for asking but, is it what you want to do, long-term? To be a soldier?"

He used to think it was a vocation, before he was pushed into a world where everyone, even kids, had to fight for survival. It wasn't meant for everyone and not everyone should have to do it. But he didn't know where she came from, what kind of world she lived in. She might not have had a choice.

"In a sense. After I left the service, I became the leader of an underground group, fighting prejudice against our kind. One of my things was to find recruits."

[wit_and_sword]

"A soldier?" She actually felt herself blush a little, feeling flattered inspite of herself. "I am not, however I have volunteered during times when the military was stationed near town. Women are not allowed to join the military, not officially atleast."

His observations had her assuming that he was from a world that actually accepted women into the military; she couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy. Atleast here, she was part of the defense.

The rest, she decided not to go into. Her own time had such groups that it was difficult to really form an opinion.

[tanker]

So she was from a world, or a time, where women were obviously not accepted into the military. Combined with the way she spoke, the way she held herself, he could only guess that she was from someplace sometime that was very removed from what John knew.

"That's... well, obviously it's stupid, considering you have the skills. Is this the way in other things as well, where you're from?"

[wit_and_sword]

"It is just how things are." There was little point in arguing; they clearly both agreed it was foolish. "I think they would fear lack of discipline-men and women serving together."

Which, she was pained to admit, wasn't entirely unfounded. For certain, she, Jane and Mary would not falter in rank or form, but who could say about Lydia and Kitty.

"Other ways?"

[tanker]

He had to laugh at that. "Fraternization is definitely a thing," he admitted. Not that he'd seen so much of it while in the Marines, but in the Underground... that was another story entirely. Even he had his moments, after all, even if he tried to focus on the cause. It was easier to pretend he didn't have any feelings before he met Clarice, but now... Everything was different.

"It's not necessarily a bad thing, though. I used to think so, myself - focus on the work and the fight, do not stray from it. But, turns out, having something - someone - to fight for? It helps."

He's seen it. He's seen how it pushed the Struckers, Marcos and Lorna, hell, even Esme and her sisters. How it pushed him.

"I just mean - are women not allowed to work in any other field?"

[wit_and_sword]

She shook her head, the lingering anger at her situation back home only returning. "No, the only way a woman may enter employment is if her family owns a business or she puts herself in the service of a family."

Only discipline and not wishing to make a scene kept her from reaching for the dagger at her ankle, if only to give herself something as a distraction. "It is assumed that if a woman gains employment, she is either too plain and too dull to land a husband and start a family."

street games

[jolting]

Victor was working on some of the games himself. When he spotted the lady at the other stall giving her prize away, he couldn't help smiling a little.

"Seems we had the same idea. I'm trying to win some toys for a little girl, too."

Re: street games

[wit_and_sword]

She looked up when the man spoke. With so many people around, her eye was more on looking out for pickpockets and danger than anyone actually coming to speak with her.

"Oh, I had no real intention of keeping them, anyway." Not entirely so; the paper fan was worth keeping, if only for some color. "Little stuffed toys are too young for me, but the children might appreciate them."

All she cared about was trying her hand at the games, the prizes themselves were mere afterthoughts.

[jolting]

"You're more in it for the challenge then, huh?" He smiled a little. "I can appreciate that. These games are notorious for being rigged." Even Storybrooke was not immune to rigged games, and Victor always took it as a personal challenge to try beating them anyway.

[wit_and_sword]

"Really?" She looked back to the game stalls. Rigging them seemed completely unfair, especially since they were made for the general public and not just those trained for them. "That seems unfair, especially since it is only those prizes and not money."

[jolting]

"So rigging it would be fair if it was for money?" Victor asked her with a little smile touching his lips. Hopefully she would get that he was just teasing her.

[wit_and_sword]

"Of course not," She never mentioned fairness, but then she supposed he might think that. "But I could understand why they would rig them if that were the case."

That would be their own money on the line. Fair or not, she would understand why the games would be rigged.

[jolting]

He smiled, waving her off. "I was just kidding. Rigged or not, you have to have skills in order to win at some of these games."

[wit_and_sword]

"We agree there." She admitted.

She stopped by one of the games, the goal being to simply throw a dart at a moving target. "Have you tried your luck with this one, yet?"

He was right, the games were hardly a challenge in of themselves, but she was keen to see his own skills.

[jolting]

"I'm not much of a marskman, but I'll give it a shot." Victor's lip quirked up. "No pun intended." This was the sort of game that Mary Margaret or Robin Hood would be good at. But the prize was a cute toy dog that Lucy would love, so Victor would try.

He took a moment to watch the target's movements, measuring distance in his mind. When he was ready, he threw the dart. It managed to stick to the edge of the target. Good enough to win the prize.

"Hopefully the girl I'm looking after likes dogs, or I won't know what to do with all these," he remarked wryly.

[wit_and_sword]

She smiled and watched him aim. To her eye, he was right, and the remark of him not being a marskman was no false modesty, but he still got the target.

"If she does not, you could just leave them for other children to find, or perhaps you may take them to the clinic. I have seen some of the nurses give toys to the children patients." Which she could understand; being sick or infirm was not enjoyable for anyone, but children especially had little patience for it.

[jolting]

"Not a bad idea," Victor mused. "I wouldn't have thought of that back in Storybrooke." If he ever got back, and if he remembered this conversation, he might have to bring it up at the next staff meeting.

"I don't think I introduced myself. My name is Victor." He left out his last name. Though he used it at the hospital, he didn't like defaulting to "Doctor Whale" all the time.

[wit_and_sword]

"Elizabeth Bennet." She wondered why he omitted his last name, but for the time being she decided against inquiring; between all else it wasn't a priority.

"Would you mind walking with me?" There was no reason for it, but she did prefer to walk. "I think we should let others try their attempt."