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riverviewlogs2018-02-01 10:29 pm
- !mod post: holiday,
- !mod post: monthly mingle,
- legend of zelda (botw): zelda,
- logan: laura,
- magnificent seven: billy rocks,
- once upon a time: victor frankenstein,
- original: shigeru miyata,
- ppz: elizabeth bennet,
- star trek (aos): james kirk,
- star wars: poe dameron,
- vikings: gyda ragnarsdottir,
- ✖ animorphs: marco,
- ✖ dctv (flash): cisco ramon,
- ✖ legend of zelda (botw): link,
- ✖ miraculous ladybug: marinette (ladybug,
- ✖ mutant x: brennan mulwray,
- ✖ my hero academia: toshinori yagi,
- ✖ original: freya vaughn,
- ✖ original: minsu oh,
- ✖ original: rosalina nurumi,
- ✖ osomatsu-san: osomatsu matsuno,
- ✖ persona 3: makoto yuuki,
- ✖ the finder: willa monday,
- ✖ the raven cycle: blue sargent,
- ✖ the raven cycle: ronan lynch
monthly mingle: FAJRO & LUNAR NEW YEAR
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
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.
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.
Credit: image i: Roman Ignatowski; image ii: Jan Vavrusa; image iii: Federico Belingheri; image iv: Yuechi Lee
no subject
*She followed, sitting down with a bit of space. So relieved to have someone who gets it.*
Between making shields to protect people from monsters and bridges to help transport vehicles over unfriendly terrain they put me on the Search and Rescue unit. Once they safely disarmed Trask's shock collar I showed up in.
They also wanted me to go to school, but that just... felt wrong?
no subject
Is that when you got here? You were still in Trask's labs?
[ He frowns, not unkindly, but definitely concerned. ]
Your mom would want you to keep going to school. Maybe you can do both - work part-time.
no subject
*She's not saying Sonya's death is what caused enough of a reaction she ended up here. But let's be real that was a big part of it.*
I- I thought about it, and I'm sure if mom shows up I can't win that argument. But the idea of going to school, pretending like it'll help when I go home felt like lying to myself? When I'd be better served working on my powers, learning how to fight. You know, to protect everyone back at the Headquarters.
*She gets the frown, she gets what her mom would want of her. But mom wasn't here so she didn't need to worry about that until it came up.*
no subject
[ This was the kind of thing that mattered to people like Caitlin. The big picture, and John was seeing it too, nowadays. If they were to earn their freedom and their rights, they should have lives after it. ]
You need to plan for a life after the fight, too.
no subject
I'll think about it. But for now my powers are pretty useful here.
no subject
I'm sure they are. Don't overdo it, though. We're free, here, so. Make the most of that.
[ Hypocritical coming from him, but he's a do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do kinda guy. ]
no subject
*And tortured with murdering people if she didn't do what people said, and been hunted for specifically to weaponize her special gifts, and you know a lot of stuff she didn't ask for. But she can't complain about that stuff.*
Clean fresh clothes and fast food are amazing though, I missed them. Didn't know how much.
no subject
[ He puts on his most sincere look, a hand clasping her shoulder, squeezing gently. He's trying to think of all the things her parents would rather she'd be doing than be a part of a guard, but he can't begrudge her for wanting to be useful, either. It's a fine line to walk. ]
I think it's going to take me quite a while to stop looking over my shoulder all the time. I forgot what it's like not to have to fight.
no subject
*Having something to do, something she could do. That she was good at, also meant she wasn't dwelling on who wasn't here and worrying. Which was the guard, as being a student just reminded her of her years of being a fraud to everyone that mattered.*
I'm kinda glad to have the peace without the whole lying about myself part. Although that paranoia hasn't really left me yet.
*Three years pretending she was human, and all the not tripping people with barriers when they made fun of mutants that went with that.*
...how different was it, being a mutant before 7/15?
no subject
Tell me about it. The paranoia, and the thought that I need to ration everything - food, clothes, sleep, my attention. It's... an adjustment, to say the least.
[ At her question, he looks down, thinking right back to the rally and the reaction of the human soldiers to having a mutant around. The reaction of the people he spoke to. ]
It was easier, in some ways. It was easier to hide, if you wanted to, live a normal life. There was less fear, but overall the stigma was the same. You were still a Mutant in a Human world, and they were already wary then.
[ He has a lot more to say - how they were sent first in missions during his tours, how many Mutants were sent to their deaths and not counted in casualties reports. But that's the kind of thing he has no interest in telling her. He's not here to traumatize her further. ]
In a lot of ways, 7/15 was just a way for some people to justify their fear and hatred, but they were already there before.
no subject
*There was a lot of bright side to all this. Mostly it was the failing her family, failing the X-Men's legacy, and how she let Sonya die and Sonya wasn't here that was really raining on this parade of fortune.*
Oh... so, still paranoid but less so? I keep wanting to ask people who have worlds that are more okay with powers if they had to go through... well, a time like ours. I've met some interesting folks from worlds kinda like- I guess like when the X-Men were around.
*For lack of a better answer.*
no subject
So you've been making friends - people from the Guard, too?
[ This is what her parents would want. For Lauren to be safe, somewhere where she can be whoever she wants to be. Without fear. ]
I'm sure there must be times of strife for everyone. But there are people here that have managed to get past what we're going through at home, which means there's still hope.
[ John nods. The Quarantine is definitely a very... interesting place. ]
Sometimes I wonder if they'll ever come back.
no subject
Mostly on the guard, I've been trying to keep busy and learn more about this place.
*She was paranoid and wasn't sure who she could trust.*
Hope is good, better than the alternative. I wondered if the X-Men ended up here, but I don't think it works that way.
no subject
Hey, [ dropping a hand to her shoulder again, he looks down at her, serious and gentle. ] Don't lose yourself in the work, okay?
[ Do as I say, not as I do. ]
You're too young for that. I know the last few months have been hard, but if you can... try to enjoy yourself from time to time, yeah?