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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[Her smile is fond, a little bit amused, and reassuring, all at once.] There’s nothing to apologise for, I promise. It’s far from the worst response I’ve gotten for being an elf.

[That would be back home, consisting mostly of a combination of being mistaken for a servant, condescended to, and hearing back-handed compliments or offensive assumptions all the bloody time...]

The Orlesians are a human nation back home. Known for their extravagance, unusual taste in fashion and a fondness for masks. [She indicates the dish with a tilt of her head and a smirk.] And that looks as though it’d be right at home at one of their banquets.

Is that what you're called? An elf?

[While elves certainly aren't unheard of in Billy's time period, he's never heard stories of them himself. Her good reaction, though, helps him to look at her again, only this time he's able to look at her like anyone else (but not without a trace of awe still left behind).]

It almost sounds like Mardi Gras in my world. It's not a nation, but a celebration where people wear extravagant costumes and masks. I don't know if it was because of all the drinking or not, but they even let someone like me join in the revelry the one time I attended with a friend.

[He remembers Goodnight telling him a few years ago (1875, he thinks) about how his home state of Lousiana had recently declared Mardi Gras a legal state holiday. Having not been to Mardi Gras since the start of the war and since Billy had never been to one at all, Goody decided they would make the trip to New Orleans to go see it. Billy was half-amazed and... half-traumatized. It was great how he was allowed to participate, then the food and drink had been good, but some of the costumes on the other people had been boldly revealing. He had to shake off a half naked man and a half naked woman (both wearing masks) at two different times during the night. Both had tried very hard to proposition him, finding his appearance "exotic."]

Even the name of the humans you mentioned, "Orlesians," sounds similar to the name of the city we were in at the time. It's called New Orleans.

Edited 2018-02-16 10:09 (UTC)

[She nods, smiling.] An elf is what I am, yes. My people are called the Dalish.

[He has sparked her curiosity. A LOT. This is the first time anyone she’s met has mentioned something of her world reminding them of something in theirs. To be fair this is the first time she’s mentioned things quite so openly. So there is that. But still. She finds she would like to know more.

Perhaps there’s other things that share the same sort of similarity.]

That does sound remarkably like Orlais... [But something he’s said has drawn her attention, reminds her of certain things in her own world and she has to ask.] Forgive me if this is rude, but what do you mean... ‘someone like you’? They would prevent you from participating in this Mardi Gras simply because of who you are?

[That strikes very close to home, for Iona, and she doesn’t hide it well.] That definitely sounds like Orlais.

[Billy simply crosses his arms and shrugs. While he hasn't really discussed his former servitude openly, he can talk about the other prejudices he faced.]

The country that New Orleans is a part of, America, is not usually friendly to people who look different from their main population. They expect someone like me to be working in some area of hard labor or servitude, so when I don't meet those expectations it tends to upset them. Not everyone is that prejudiced, but those people are hard to come by.

[Goodnight was not the first American to treat him like a normal human being, but he was the one who stuck with Billy the longest.]

This is the first time I've heard of something being similar in a world different from mine. I wonder if this is one of those "parallels" I've heard about.

[Iona sighs softly. Maybe she’d hoped that perhaps other worlds would be different. That they wouldn’t suffer such problems. But it looks like some things are universal. Sadly.]

It sounds like our worlds are similar in more ways than one. And in not very pleasant ones. Those are the sort of things I’ve heard before, towards my own people. Elves are... expected to be nothing more than servants. Assumed to be. Treated as less than people, mostly by humans. But, as you said, it’s not everyone.

But it’s enough. Too many.

[She nods, giving him a soft smile.] Likewise. It’s not something I expected. But it has me curious.

So it would seem. Guess it shows that prejudice knows no borders.

[But he's seen enough good to know that kindness is the same way. Were it not for the generous few he met and then Goody, he might have traveled down a different, darker path. And Billy knew it, too. He'd seen it happen to a few others belonging to the minorities.]

I gotta say, though... [He also puts up a small smile.] I've never seen an elf before, let alone heard of them. Whether that means they exist or not in my world, I can't say since I've only seen parts of it.

[He uncrosses his arms.]

Same here. Is it hot and humid in the Orlesians' homeland, too? When my friend and I went to Mardi Gras, that's how it was, but according to my friend, New Orleans is always hot and humid. The worst is during the summer months, he said. [Billy can't help but chuckle and shake his head gently.] I tried telling him it didn't feel as bad as Korea during the summer.

I guess it does at that.

[No, kindness is absolutely the same way. And she’s seen it, in the way people have rallied together in the Inquisition, who have rallied behind her. No matter that she’s an elf (in fact, they didn’t seem to even notice, despite her pointing it out a time or two, when they dubbed her their Herald). Whether or not she even deserves it.

She laughs softly.] Elves do seem to be a bit... rarer, in other worlds. I’ve seen a few since my arrival here but we’re few and far between, it seems. And all a little bit different.

[She thinks for a moment.] It has its moments, although I’d spent a considerable amount of time in the mountains where it’s cooler before my visit there so I might have just gotten used to the cold. It’s warmer farther north, though.

Warmer in the north, you say? That's opposite in America. There, the farther north you go, the colder it gets, but the southern parts tend to be warmer. They say it's because of the North Pole, where there's nothing but giant blocks of ice floating around in the water.

[It sounds awful. Billy's seen some pretty brutal winters throughout his lifetime, but at least there was always the knowledge that spring would come some day, or there was someplace warmer he could travel to.]

I'm Billy, by the way. Billy Rocks. [He holds out a hand. There's a deep bark that comes from near his legs, making him chuckle.] And this is Jina.

[He jerks his head down at the Great Dane sitting on the ground beside him, wagging her tail while looking up at Iona with something akin to a smiling face. There's an ornate red shawl with gold lines wrapped around her neck for the festivities.]

[Iona can’t help the slight shudder at the description of the North Pole, although her expression is mostly amused.] That sounds horrible. I have had enough of snow and ice for several lifetimes, I think. [Nearly dying in an avalanche and snowstorm did that to a person.

She takes his offered hand with a grin.] Iona Lavellan.

[And then, because she’s spent enough time around Fereldens, she can’t help but say hello to Jina as well, offering a hand to make sure the Great Dane approves of her before making any movement to pet her.] Hello, Jina.

[The dog sniffs at Iona's hand curiously before giving it a lick and making a happy bark. Billy's about to say something until the vendor selling the mysterious blue jello apologizes for interrupting them and asks if he's going to buy anything. He shrugs.]

I'm here, so I might as well. [He sends Iona a curious glance.] Did you want one, too, or no?

[The moment approval is given by Jina, Iona proceeds with the petting. She looks up as Billy asks her about the strange blue jello and she shrugs, laughing slightly.] I might as well. I have been doing my best to try new things.

And that... is certainly something.

[Billy also smiles and turns to the vendor.] Two it is then.

[They are handed two plates of the jello, along with two plastic spoons, and Billy simply pays for them both. The new year is supposed to be a time of generosity, after all.

He gives the jello a tentative tap with his spoon to watch it jiggle before shrugging his shoulders.]

No turning back now.

[He takes some into his mouth and chews slowly, trying to decipher the taste. At first, it's flavorless, but then he gets something that tastes like coconut meat with a pinch of salt. The lightness of the coconut flavor with the slight saltiness is not bad at all... Until the aftertaste strikes, at least. It tastes like ham, but in jello form, and in Billy's opinion, meat shouldn't feel like that. He furrows his brows, but manages to keep himself from spitting it out.]

It's... not that bad, but I think this one is enough for me.

[Because his taste buds don't find the blue jello very good either, but he didn't want to say that right in front of the vendor. On the bright side, it isn't the worst thing he's ever tasted.]

[Iona takes the other plate with a smile, before studying the jello for a long moment. She prods it with a finger, watching it wiggle for a moment. ]

No, I suppose there isn’t...

[And then she’s taking a bite. She probably should have waited, watched the expression on Billy’s face, but she didn’t. At first... it’s not horrible. She almost likes it... until she reaches the aftertaste and her face goes very still for a moment, as she tries very, very hard to not visibly react to the abomination that is in her mouth.

It’s so wrong.

She swallows, takes a moment, breathes, and then looks up at Billy with a wry almost-smile.]

I think I agree.

[Just as Billy opens his mouth to say something, a new female voice floats through the air, calling his name, and it couldn't have been from the vendor since he didn't see her mouth move.]

Billy.

[There it was again, and it came from below, near his legs--which was were Jina was sitting. Startled, he looks down at the dog and sure enough, rather than hearing a bark when Jina opens her mouth, he hears his name instead. His eyes flicked to the vendor.]

What's in this?

[The vendor just smiles and calmly explains that it's just a little something that makes those who eat it able to understand dogs, made in honor of this year's zodiac animal. That is why most people were buying the strange jello for its "magical side effect" than for its taste, so the vendor wasn't offended by their reactions at all. As interesting as it all sounds, though, Billy's relieved when he's told the effect wasn't permanent. He releases a breathless chuckle as he turns his head back to Iona.]

Good. It would have been too weird for me if Jina could respond back with human language all the time. [Even though he's grown to love her since he took her in.]

[Once Iona realises that she’s understanding Jina, rather than hearing voices (although that wouldn’t be the strangest thing that’s happened to her), she can’t help but laugh.]

Oh, my Ferelden friends would love this.

[Billy has no idea what a Ferelden is, but he smiles anyway.]

Do they really love animals?

[She grins.]

Fereldens are well known for their love of dogs. Particularly mabari war hounds. Enough so that some throw the term 'dog lord' at them as an insult.

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monthly mingle: FAJRO & LUNAR NEW YEAR

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