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

[supersweet]

[ Jon grins, holding his hand out. ]

I'm Jon Kent. Nice to meet you!

[carrotkeeper]

Nice to meet you too, Jon.

[What a cute kid. Of course Iris is going to shake his hand and right after that, she manages to pull a handful of candy out of her purse. She plops it on the ground between them.]

Alright, eat up!

[There's a pause as she picks out her first piece.]

But not too much, I guess. Don't wanna send you home sick.

[supersweet]

Aww.

[ But he's careful about how many pieces he takes. ]

Are you new here? I don't think I've seen you around.

[carrotkeeper]

[She's gonna let him take the leftovers home anyway.]

Pretty new. I arrived right before the festival started. What about you?

[supersweet]

About a month. It's been pretty okay so far.

[ No major incidents or killer robots or aliens or . . . the list goes on. ]

[carrotkeeper]

Pretty okay is all?

[That makes her laugh. Get whisked to an alternate world and it's just 'pretty okay'.]

[supersweet]

[ Jon doesn't get it, blinking quizzically. ]

What's so funny?

[carrotkeeper]

The way you said it, that's all.

[She picks up another piece of candy and pops it in her mouth.]

But you're not wrong. It's peaceful here and that's okay with me.

[supersweet]

Is it not peaceful at home?

[ Jon's idea of peaceful is different from most. His life has always busy (to some extent) busy and at times, world-ending. ]

[carrotkeeper]

It's-

[That makes her pause. There's a constant fear of death, war and the starscourge to worry about, but that's not something she needs to bring up with anyone, let alone a child. She doesn't know what he's gone through and erring on the side of caution, decides to make light of it.]

Not always. The birds are really loud outside my room in the morning.

[Another pause and she pushes a piece of candy from the pile towards him.]

There's this funny cat too! Whenever you go outside, all it does is meow.

[supersweet]

[ Jon grabs it without thinking, though her words makes him fumble with the wrapper. ]

We don't see that many birds near our farm. Mostly cows. Dogs. It's usually quiet. Though Deadman's Swamp has more animals.

[ Animals Jon may have accidentally killed. He tries not to think about it too much. ]

[carrotkeeper]

[Her eyes light up at the word farm. Before arriving in Riverview, she had attempted to turn a small plot of land in her backyard into something useful for the guys. While her intent was a farm, it ended up as a glorified carrot garden.]

Must be a big place to have cows. Did you help out a lot on the farm? Bet it was fun.

[supersweet]

I dunno if it's what you'd call fun. It's different? We have to feed all the animals and take care of the fields, pull up any of the weeds . . . there's a lot of work involved.

[ Well. Less so for the Kents with superspeed and their other abilities. ]

[carrotkeeper]

You know, work can be fun too.

[In its own way. The first batch of carrots that sprouted in her backyard was fun to watch, especially after all the care they put into them.]

But it sounds like you were a big help. Wish we had someone like you back home to show us the ropes.

[supersweet]

Dunno. Depends on the work?

[ He'll never be a big fan of milking cows. Driving a tractor is okay. ]

I'm not that good at it. But I guess I'm not too bad either.

[carrotkeeper]

[Being an average worker is okay too little guy.]

What was your favorite part?

[supersweet]

My favourite? Using the tractor. That part was awesome.

[carrotkeeper]

That does sound fun. But wasn't it hard for you to reach the pedals?

[Her knowledge of a tractor's internal workings is pretty small, but she thinks that's a thing they have.]

[supersweet]

I'm pretty tall for my age!

[ Taller than Damian, at least and Damian's three years older. ]