riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: MEMORIA

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introductory mingle: MEMORIA

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!

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You have my most heartfelt thanks, sir.

( The title has become as a ball and chain to her within the past two years. Any prestige and meaning it had once borne for her are long since gone.

But he is kind, and she has known so little of that that she marks it.

Bowing her head a little, she sighs. )

He was. England knew peace during his lifetime; he was never defeated on the field, and left a surplus in the treasury at the time of his death. Fever, of all things.

Father wanted to surprise us all, by going fishing himself for our supper. He fell in the river and never recovered.

[ Clark shakes his head. ]

Just Kal, please, ma'am.

[ They'd both like to be polite. It would make him smile to himself if she wasn't talking about someone she'd lost. ]

Have you managed to hang a lantern for him? It's the local custom.

Edited 2017-05-10 09:57 (UTC)

( A name she has not heard before. Curious, her smile warms again. )

Very well. We are well-met, Kal. Might I ask whence you come? If that is an improper question, please forgive me.

I have never left England's shores before now.

( They are, and though the subject matter is grim, she manages to continue to smile in any case. )

Not yet, no. What am I to do with these lanterns, simply choose one and hang it?

( She is uncertain as to whether or not there is more to it, and does not wish to offend the locals. )

Well-met, Elizabeth. [ He thinks he should break "I'm an alien" gently. When she's more settled he can offer more details. ] I'm from very far away, although I recognise England. There are a few others in the city from there.

[ When he thinks about it, she reminds him a little of Cecilia. They look the same age. ]

Yes. I can accompany you. [ He hopes that's proper. Clark only has his upbringing to fall back on. ] If that's not too forward.

( The fact that he's adopting her way of speaking a little makes her smile brighten. ) I am sorry that you have been thus displaced, but I hope you have found yourself among kindred spirits here.

So I have seen! I have met one such lady already. Though I am in a poor position indeed to care for them as would be the duty of my family, I will do what I might.

( Elizabeth gracefully rises to her feet, abandoning her cup on the table for the time being. )

Not at all, sir. I would like that very much.

I have. I hope you do too.

[ He offers her his arm. It looks like they'll keep their sirs and ma'ams, which suits Clark. ]

This way, ma'am. [ They're going down a street with many different types of lanterns being handed out. ] Do you see anything that your father might have liked?

You are very kind to say so; it is much appreciated. Thank you, once again.

( For now, in the very least. A habit that ingrained will take some time to break. )

Very well. ( Taking his arm, she offers him a small smile before her attention is taken up entirely by the sheer variety of the lanterns being given out.

There are so many, and at first she cannot see one which reminds her of her father. Further down the way, she spies one vaguely shaped like the Trojan Horse, and she halts mid-step, going entirely still as she nods to it. )

That one. He would read me the history of Troy often when I was a girl.

[ The street is crowded. People are bustling around and carrying their own fragile lanterns to place on bridges or roofs.

He waits for her to point out something she'd like. Clark doesn't know about what her father might really have wanted, or he would have suggested something. ]

We'll have that one, please.

[ It's handed over to Elizabeth immediately with a murmured condolence for her loss. ]

My thanks.

( Gingerly, she takes hold of the delicate lantern in her hands, glancing briefly down at it. Yes—it will suit perfectly, and for more than simply her father.

A small, wistful smile crosses her face. )

When the King of France broke the treaty that would have seen me wed the Dauphin, I was aghast. He sent the men attending him away and held me until I could smile again.

He was not perfect but he was... good.

( There are writing implements on the counter, and the clerk offers her one before she steps away, taking a long moment to write in elegant, neat gothic-looking calligraphy that story and more, quotes of verse and things she had loved most about her father and each of her siblings.

When she is done, she replaces the pen, and meets his gaze again. )

Where am I to hang this, sir?

That's all we can ask for, ma'am.

[ Not to be perfect but good.

Clark looks around. ]

Along the street or over a bridge. [ He scans a corner of the street. ] Over there?

And all I aspire to be, sir.

( Perfection is a fallacy. Naught more, naught less. It is unattainable even for a monarch.

She would rather be good and interesting than perfectly dull, in any event. )

A bridge would suit. My family has close ties with the water. ( And as the clouds darken overhead, one might question just how close. ) Indeed.

( She sets off toward it, not realizing she has been tugging him gently until a moment later. He receives an apologetic look from her, just as they reach the nearest bridge, and she secures the lantern to the rail. )

[ It's better to try to be good and fail than never try at all. He hopes she gets there someday.

Clark looks up curiously at the sky. He's not used to people with elemental powers so he thinks it's a coincidence. ]

it's all right. I'm happy to come with you.

[ He doesn't mind being tugged along at all. If someone should apologise, it's him. Clark doesn't want to intrude on her privacy. ]

( Someone had told her earlier that loss is not something meant to be borne alone. She had thought him correct, then, but now especially, she sees the wisdom in those words.

And though the clouds grow darker and rain begins to fall, she does not seem perturbed at all by it. )

I am much better for the company. I know not what fate awaits my sisters at home now, and it is difficult not to fear the worst.

( Elizabeth shakes her head, at a loss. )

Is it possible for such pain to heal?

[ Clark looks up curiously.

He doesn't think much about the rain because of what she says. Losing a family member is a pain he knows from his own experience. ]

I couldn't tell you. What I do know is that time and distance can help.

Maybe here you'll find some peace.

( Elizabeth is the one who glances up at last, and she makes a wry smile to see the concentration of dark clouds directly above where they're standing. )

I will hope for that; this business of a rain cloud literally following me is entirely absurd.

( She has little to no control over herself when emotional. ) Though ironic, as well. I must apologize, it has a will of its own at the moment.

( Sighing, she turns around to lean back against the rail and face him properly. )

Distance is what I never had. I think you are right there, sir. Do you think those yet living whom we have left behind remain safe?

Oh, that's you?

[ Were the occasion less solemn he'd be curious. Clark looks up and accepts it. He can always ask later. ]

I don't know... time can be strange here. I should hope nothing's wrong back home.

[ Riverview doesn't need a Superman but Clark's Earth has one. He can't take time off for a vacation. ]

Indeed.

( She would never speak of it back home, but here? This place seems more open regarding such things. Of persecution at least, she is unafraid.

And he unknowing reinforces that impression by seeming to accept it as a facet of her. )

As do I. An invader won the day at a great battle; and I cannot help but fear for my sisters. Our mother cares not for them.

( Were she an only child, she would rejoice to be here. But he seems, troubled, and so she reaches out to tentatively rest a hand upon his wrist. )

Belief is a powerful force, sir. I have seen as much. If we hold that conviction close enough, it may very well become reality.

You're right. [ He hasn't seen it happen much. That's the only reason Clark is hesitant to embrace it fully. ] I'm sorry about your family. If there was a way to get a message to them...

It is the way of the world, I suppose. Such as I know it, in any case.

( She breathes out a deep sigh. )

I will find a way. If one should exist. What of you, however?

I do not wish to simply burden you with my troubles, sir. You may speak freely, as well if you wish it.

I'm speaking freely ma'am, don't worry. [ He covers her hand with his, smiling faintly. ] I don't have anyone waiting at home except my mother.

( Her expression shifts, turning sad as she glances up to meet his eyes with a little frown. Elizabeth is still unused to gestures like these, but she does not hesitate to squeeze his hand with hers. )

I am so very sorry. But we should ensure that she is well, too. It might give you some peace of mind.

Do you like it here?

[ She's genuine about her sympathy, instead of merely being polite. Clark appreciates it. He nods. ]

I do. It's a peaceful place.

It is, and beautiful, at that. Though somewhat daunting, too.

( To be a woman alone without family and people both in a strange world. Though perhaps alone is an incorrect term. 'Out of her depth' is better.

Sighing softly, she looks up into his eyes and can see he has known loss. How many has he lost to be left with only his mother? )

I have shared a story with you, sir. Would you do me the honour of hearing one of yours?

[ He nods. It's a daunting place, but she seems like a smart young lady. ]

What would you like to hear about?

[ Even dressed as a Kryptonian, he's been avoiding stories about Krypton. ]

( It has been a difficult day for all, and she would much rather not unwittingly steps on any toes.

She would like to be more socially graceful than to do so. )

Any memory you are willing to share, sir. perhaps one you are particularly fond of?

I believe this day has been sombre enough.

( That phrasing allows him to remain within the realm of comfort while she need not appear to pry. )

(no subject)

signifies - 2017-06-04 01:37 (UTC) - Expand

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