introductory mingle: MEMORIA

[riverviewmod]

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and Memoria Commemoration
when: May 1st - May 8th
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

memoria

In the days leading up to May 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: Memoria. A more solemn celebration than Sampremi or the Flower Festival, Memoria is a week-long time of remembrance for those lost in the Great War and the epidemic that decimated Riverview Quarantine's population 10 years ago. Memoria traditions include lighting lanterns for the dead, telling stories about lost loved ones or lost homes, eating meals with loved ones, and a special gathering to send floating lanterns down the river in honor of those lost.

a solemn commemoration of those lost

While the main city-wide event associated with Memoria is the floating of lanterns down the river on the evening of May 8th, the holiday is generally seen as a time of reflection on and appreciation of things that have been lost - people, homes, cultures, and planets. It is also a celebration of the things that remain. Many locally-owned shops will host displays of culturally-significant food, and will hand out informational flyers sharing the unique customs of their own homeworlds. There is a heavy emphasis on sharing time with family, friends, and lovers, and anyone who is able to will cook meals or treats for loved ones, or at least purchase them something good to eat.

i. hanging lanterns

Throughout the entire week of Memoria, residents will be hanging lanterns around the city. Lanterns are generally placed in greater number in places of passage - streets, bridges, and all alongside the train lines are particularly well-decorated, as are any trees alongside paths, and most homes and businesses have a profusion of lanterns around their doors and windows. This tradition is twofold; some people believe that the lanterns are hung in these places in order to guide the spirits of the dead back to those who still love them, other people believe that the lanterns are to give light for living loved ones to find their doors in times of darkness...many people believe both.

No matter what your character might believe, you can be sure they will find themselves offered a lantern for free from various businesses or friendly citizens passing by, and invited to hang it before the sun sets, or they may be handed a bundle of lanterns and asked to help share them with others.

ii. sharing life

Throughout the city, characters will find groups of people gathering to share hot drinks and talk about their loved ones lost, their homes and planets, or their experiences during the Great War and the epidemic. Anyone who has lost someone, who has fought to survive, who is feeling cut off and homesick, is welcome to sit and share their story. If your character chooses to sit and to share their story, they will find that people will gather to listen, will generally be respectful of the telling, and may share their own similar experiences in return. This is an excellent time to air grief in an environment where most people understand and respect grief, and a good time to deepen the connections to others around you, to understand them better.

There is also a very large focus on cooking or purchasing meals or treats for loved ones during Memoria, with many people taking meals with everyone they care about during the week of the holiday. Some go the extra mile and will hand out baked goods (usually chocolate or cinnamon), packets of candy, or other little treats to acquaintances, especially if they would like to form a closer bond with them. This is a great time for characters to reach out to someone they would like to get to know better with a surprise treat!

iii. floating of the lanterns

On the evening of May 8th, just before sundown, many of the city's residents will head toward the banks of the river, where they will light lanterns in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, in honor of their dead loved ones. The types of lanterns vary wildly, based on personality (either of the person floating it or the person they are honoring), culture, and many other factors. Some lanterns are very simple, others are incredibly complex, but the one common feature they all have is that people write on the shades of them - they write about their feelings for their loved ones, their wishes for their relationships and friendships, a memory from childhood or home, or even just lines of poetry or lyrics from songs that express something they miss, or something that hurts them.

Once those emotions are written on the lanterns, the lanterns are set free, floating down the river in the darkening evening, in a cathartic gesture shared by most residents of the city. Waves of lantern floating will start around 7 pm and continue until the sun rises on the morning of May 9th.

iv. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to set up headers for a communal floor, or threads open to roommates for the purpose of getting to know each other. Or if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during Memoria, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: glowconcepts, image ii: by trenchmaker, image iv: cherryorange; image iii: found uncredited on Pinterest - please let the mod know if you find credit!

navigation

Comments

[goldcuffed]

[The questions are a slight surprise, and he bites his lip for a moment in thought. What would he want his father to say? He knows what he would want to hear, that Theomedes is proud of his son, but realistically speaking...]

I suppose that he is proud of me. But I don't know if he would be. I'm marrying a Veretian. Akielos will join with Vere. I'm... doing a lot of things that he would not approve of.

I think, I do not want to be the sort of King he wanted me to be, the sort of King he was, and I don't know how to feel about that.

[Turns out, it isn't very hard to draw Damen out of his shell. He barely has one. He's an open book, honest and thoughtful, if naive. Trusting.]

[naz]

[ Caitlin's heart sinks a little, admittedly, when he shares the sentiment with which Caitlin is intimately familiar. All she could ever want in life is for her mother to tell her she's proud of her. It's a bad feeling, she knows. It sounds to her like his father has passed, as well, which would only compound that upsetting feeling, she suspects.

With a sympathetic look, Caitlin reaches like she's going to give his arm a reassuring squeeze like she does with Cisco sometimes, only to let her hand fall away before touching him. He's a stranger to her; for all she knows, he could be especially uncomfortable with that sort of tactile consolation, however innocently intended. ]

It's difficult to wrestle with the uncertainty of whether your parents would approve of your choices when all you want is not to disappoint them.

[ She's agreeing like she knows how it feels because she does. ]

Maybe he would be proud of the fact that you're being your own man, even if he wouldn't have agreed with your values or some of your choices?

[goldcuffed]

[His smile is a little rueful. Damen doesn't flinch away from the almost-touch, indicating that it would have been welcomed - he's never been shy about friendly touch. He's never been shy about much at all, outside of a sexual context.] It sounds as if you have experience with this sort of inner turmoil? [It's a common enough thing, he guesses, not wanting to disappoint your parents.]

He wouldn't agree with much of anything I intend to do with my rule. He... my father was a warmonger king. [Damen admits this with a sort of hollow realization, as if the thought has been there, lurking, but he's never given it voice.]

[naz]

[ Caitlin hums a soft agreement and nods with an empathetic look. Several others in the circle do, as well, which only surprises her because no one has said as much aloud. It is, however, a common stressor, she supposes, so it doesn't surprise her too much. ]

I like to tell myself that...even if my mother doesn't agree with my decisions, if she really thought about it, she'd be proud of the fact that I've grown up to have my own opinions and to stand up to myself, if nothing else. Maybe your father could appreciate the strength of character that comes with having to make your own choices, and the fact that you have, even if the choices themselves aren't agreeable, though, you know? Or maybe not, I don't know. It's just how I try to make myself feel better, in any case.

[ She pauses. He's...well. It isn't like Caitlin comes from a place where royalty is a big deal; in her world, it is, but not in her country. All the same, it seems a bit like trying to slip the POTUS a piece of gentle advice: it isn't necessarily her place and perhaps she ought to leave it at that and go back to listening. ]

I'm sorry, I don't even...know if we're supposed to—I just identified with that feeling too much to keep my mouth shut, I guess. I'm sorry, that was maybe rude of me.

[goldcuffed]

[He leans forward just a little, on his elbows, listening sympathetically. Damen is a big man, even a little hunched over like this. Whatever concerns he has for status and propriety, he doesn't have them here - he is just another man in Riverview, just Damen, not Damianos. He would rather engage with people on the same level.] No, no, it wasn't rude at all. It's- it's very good advice. I will never, at this point, know what he would actually think of me, so... Maybe you're right. Maybe I should try to think of it that way.

It's hard, trying to go your own way, against expectations. Why does your mother disagree with you?

[naz]

[ Admittedly, Caitlin feels exponentially better when he insists that she hasn't been rude. The last thing she wants to do is disrespect someone she's only just met. That seems like a terrible idea for so many reasons, not the least of which is that it just isn't Caitlin's style. She's the friendly one of Team Flash, most willing to trust and befriend people, for better or worse. In Julian's case, for example, it had been for the better. In Jay's...? Well. Needless to say, she makes mistakes now and again, but Caitlin isn't the type of person to shy away from trying. ]

It could be worth a try, in any case? Worst case scenario, your mind wanders back to where you started and you lose the focus on the attempt. So, you really haven't anything to lose, right?

[ She offers him a small smile and nods, taking a deep breath which she lets out in a soft huff. ]

Honestly? I have no idea. I really, truly don't know. I've just never been good enough for her, I think. Sometimes I wonder if she even cares that she has a daughter at all.

[ With that, Caitlin shrugs, her eyes shifting away from his and anyone else's gaze, and her brow creasing. This circle isn't about her and her issues with her very much living mother. It's to share stories of life about those who no longer are here to share the stories themselves and she doesn't want to monopolize the circle with off-topic chatter. ]

You know...she never even knew that I was married until almost a year after my husband died. I could've really used the support when I was grieving, especially since my dad died and she knows what it's like, but...it is what it is. So I just...try to imagine that, in spite of the fact that I never really feel like it, maybe she is proud of me and just doesn't know how to express that to me. That's all.

[goldcuffed]

[Damen's easygoing nature hardly lets him feel offended by anything that isn't a blatant insult. He doesn't expect to be treated the same here as he would be at home, and Caitlin has been quite kind. He manages a small smile, relaxing slightly into the truth of that statement] You're right, of course. I don't have anything to lose when it comes to family.

I'm sorry about your mother. It must be terrible, to have cause to feel that way. I can't imagine- [He frowns down at his hands. To not even know that your daughter is married... None of his family will be able to go to his wedding, but not because they wouldn't.] You seem like a kind person, you deserve much better than that. I hope that she is proud of you, deep down, because she certainly should be.