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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[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.]

Worried? [She bites her lip, not sure if she wants to be indignant or relieved.] It's hard to be worried about someone who's long dead.

[As soon as she says the words she regrets it. They might as well fall like stones to the ground. It's a terrible thing to say, yet there are some terrible feelings winding around her mind and her skin lately. Zelda grips her arms, though it's not particularly cold out.]

But his presence hangs over me much as it ever did.

[Link remembered when they had gone to the Spring of Power for Zelda to pray. He also remembered his time with King Roam right after he had awoken from the Shrine of Resurrection, or rather, he remembered his spirit. After revealing himself and Link's past, he had seemed a little...impersonal about his daughter. Still, it was evident in his eyes how much he was worried for her then.]

I think he'd be very proud of you. Hyrule wouldn't be around at all if it wasn't for you.

[Zelda is silent, fingers squeezing against her arms. She would like to believe that. Truly, she would. But it's difficult to imagine her father being anything but disappointed, or dismissive. If she casts her mind back to her earliest, dimmest memories, she remembers a loving man who was affectionate with her. After her mother passed, though... the distance between them grew deeper and deeper.]

Perhaps. [She heaves a sigh. There had been a feeling, when she left Hyrule Castle. Just for a moment. That someone was watching over her. And despite her misgivings she thinks she knows who it was.] He never had a kind word for me when he was alive though.

[Link turned his gaze down, unsure of what to say. Due to his lost memories, he couldn't tell if Zelda was exaggerating or not, though from the looks of it and from what he knew about her, she wouldn't be.

It was difficult for him to fully grasp what she was going through. Without any memory of his family, he wouldn't know what they thought of him, nor of what had happened to them in the Calamity. It wasn't something he thought about, as he had more important things to take of.

He took a step closer to Zelda and gently touched her arm, opening his arms and inviting her to a hug.]

[The touch startles her, lost in her memories and grievances as she was. Zelda looks up at Link, into the strange red of his eyes. It's easier now though to look past it and see the gesture for what it is.

Biting her lip, she hesitates for a long moment before stepping forward into Link's arms. She hardly knows what she's doing or how it came to this, but she just wants to feel a bit less wretched. Just for a moment.]

[Link wrapped his arms around her, a little unsure as to how tightly he should hold her. He held her close enough that she would be able to feel a bit of a squeeze, but was also gentle enough that she could push him away and step back.]

I'm sorry.

[He felt helpless here, and he hated it. He could protect Zelda from just about anything and would risk his life doing so, but he couldn't do anything to prevent this kind of pain. It fed into the resentment he felt towards himself.]

[She shakes her head, feeling a bit more secure in Link's arms.]

It isn't your fault. It's... I know it's foolish. This was all so long ago.

[Zelda's words didn't provide Link with the comfort she had intended. She was right that he had little to no influence on how she and her father had gotten along, but was he not responsible for the fact that Zelda was never able to find closure with him? While he didn't remember what had happened regarding the Calamity, he did know that he was the Hylian Champion then, so there must have been something he had been able to do, and he had failed.]

It's not foolish.

[He let her go and too a step back, keeping his gaze at the ground.]

Are you so sure it's not my fault?

[Zelda lets Link part from her, only to blink in confusion at his question.]

Why would it be?

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monthly mingle: FAJRO & LUNAR NEW YEAR

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