riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: MEMORIA

Entry tags:

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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Good enough for me. I'll take a look at strange, just- not really an armor kind of guy.

[Look at him, he's a pencil in a mall goth costume. He'd hardly be able to move in armor.

But-] We're, uh, not going anywhere.

[Just going to hang out here and get his hair pulled and re-styled by this tiny tot, anyway. Is he getting paid for taking over babysitting, here...]

[He's getting paid in gratitude and EXP.

Also, Terra's friends are pencils and they do just fine in armor. Then again, magic armor. Probably magically light.

Terra returns carrying a package and a roll of something. Ignoring all the people staring, he holds the two items out to Noctis.

It's not armor like his. It's not armor like any others'. It's not armor, period.

It's bubble wrap and duct tape.]

[Noctis does real well in t-shirts, he'll stick to those. Just like he supposes he'll stick to entertaining this little girl with his hair, until Terra comes back amid curious stares from strangers, and...

And what the hell, is he being pranked? Can his eyebrows raise any higher??]

Seriously? Gonna mail me away from the bugs?

[See, because... mail- no, no, never mind. Much more amused than dear, confused Noctis, the little girl reaches for the bubble wrap to pop whatever her tiny hands can squeeze hard enough. This day keeps getting better.]

[Maybe he is being pranked. Maybe, under the helmet, Terra's grinning and stifling a laugh.]

Mail...? [Or maybe not. He sounds awfully confused, too.] This was what the man was wearing. And it seemed to be doing the trick.

[Sure, it looked... kind of... goofy, but if it works... if it can protect one's heart, or protect one from one's heart, that's what really matters.

He gets the feeling Noctis doesn't share his opinion on this, though. Mail him away from the bugs...

At least the little girl appreciates the bubble wrap. Terra lets her have it and keeps the tape, as well. Strong tape might come in handy someday.]

What about bug spray, then? They have that here, too.

[No one appreciates a good pun. Noctis shakes his head a little like no, never mind, keeping his disbelief that a guy in full armor doesn't appreciate his mail pun... It's fine, it's fine.

Somebody else is going to pay for this bubble wrap, though. Noctis leans his head away from where it's now being popped in his ear. Ah.]

Bug spray I can get behind. If there's any left, that is.

[There's an actual skeleton person in the Quarantine that might be able to fulfill Noctis' pun appreciation needs, but alas, this guy's not one for wordplay. Or jokes or pranks or humor in general. Humor who has time for humor he has so much work to do...]

This way.

[Part-time peacekeeper and monster fighter, part-time teacher's assistant, part-time unofficial RiverMart employee.

Terra leads Noctis over to the sports and outdoors section. There's a bug spray display with plenty of Firefly-Away cans left. It's almost impossible to miss the display as they've set it up right out in the open, in front of the fishing equipment aisle.]

[Everybody but maybe that guy is a critic. Woe. Noctis will lament his joke another time, following Terra once more without question. The armor kinda gives him authority? It feels that way.

So, bug spray. He looks at it, half-heartedly picks up a single can, and continues right past it to look at fishing stuff. Within moments he's holding up different lures to show the little girl, who's getting a very detailed surprise lesson in what kind of fish they must catch.]

—Hey, hold this for a second. [That's the bug spray, for Terra. If Noctis is holding the kid, it's only fair that, uh, Terra stand there and listen to Fishing Talk and hold his bug spray. For a while.]

[What? Where is he going? What's he holding up?

Terra stands there helplessly, bug spray in one hand and duct tape in the other. He eventually trudges over, staring down at Noctis and the little girl and the... fancy fishing things? Trinkets? ... No, lures. Lures?

What, you mean people don't just use worms for bait?]

Is this what you do...? [He's catching bits and pieces of the lesson (that the girl only seems to be interested in because some of those lures are super shiny).] You're a... fisherman?

[Don't really... have the look... of a fisherman... Or what he imagines a fisherman would look like.]

[Lures, Terra!! Look at how many there are and how colorful they are! And how many he has to gently take away from the girl before there are real mistakes made with hooks here.

But ah, a great question from the audience. Is he a fisherman, well—]

Yeah, totally. Back home I'm kind of a legend.

[Should he get a floppy hat? Would that help with the Look?]

[He sees them, Noctis. There sure are a lot of them. Why? Why are there so many of them? What's wrong with worms? Is it... for style? Fancy fake fish just look better than worms?

Good job preventing real mistakes with hooks, though. Terra could have healed any physical wounds with his Cure spells, but there still would have been tears and trauma and maybe a lifelong fear of fishing...]

A legend. [One of his friends back home probably would be impressed by that... Him, though...] At fishing.

[Okay, he's a little curious. A dubious kind of curious.]

Did you catch a really big fish or...?

[Go the distance: a floppy hat and a vest completely covered in pockets.]

[Let him explain in detail. Every lure has a purpose.]

A legend at fishing, yeah. [He'll say it again just in case it were not abundantly clear that he is completely serious. And—]

I've got a picture on my phone, but my hands are kinda full.

[The choice is yours, Terra: lures, or child??]

[Terra takes his sweet time considering his options here, the silence drawing out for several seconds.

Slowly, he holds up the duct tape and bug spray, effectively weighing them against the little girl. Yeah, he supposes it's easier to just put the tape and can down for a minute. There's no telling what trouble the girl might get into, left to her own devices in an aisle full of things featuring sharp, pointy bits...

And speaking of things featuring sharp, pointy bits...

After he sets the two items aside, light pierces through the edges of his armor and flares to cover the entire suit. When the bright flash dissipates, the armor's gone and there's a guy in a compression shirt and hakama standing there.

Terra's expression is 100% no-nonsense as he reaches for the girl and helps her get her 40-some-odd pounds situated on his back. There, piggyback ride for her and his hands are more or less free. Or can be free at a moment's notice, anyway. Keeping his arms hooked under her knees for now.]

Show me.

[Says Big Pleated Pants Man to Fishing Legend Man with a nod.]

[There's a guy in a perfectly normal shirt and a what-the-hell-are-those, more like. Noctis doesn't even blink at the flashy armor dismissal, but what are those pants...

Well, there's the girl, anyway. That frees up his hands to get out his phone and swipe through his pictures, hang on, hang on.]

Sure, it's right... here. Take a look. [He's so proud of himself, holding up his phone to show what looks like a roughly 6ft long fish laying on a dock. It's visibly roughly 6ft even in this picture because one of his loser friends is laying down next to it to compare, don't mind him.]

Cool, huh?

[Excuse you, they were his late Master-Father's pants and they're very breezy.

Terra (and the little girl peeking over his shoulder) eyeball the fish picture on his phone. Indeed, that is a huge fish. Looks like it might have been as long as he is tall.]

I guess it is... pretty cool. [He tries to put some pep into his comment because obviously Noctis is pleased with his elite monster fish catching skills and who is he to rain on the legendary fisherman parade, but it's apparent that: 'cool' is not a word he uses often, unless it's to describe the weather, and b) it's just a fish, though?]

That a friend of yours or did you catch him, too?

[He points a finger at the fellow hanging out with the fish.]

[What a lukewarm response... He looks down admiringly at his own fish picture, like he's not a little disappointed, because he is. Ouch, man? That's his legend.]

Oh- that's Prompto, my best friend. He's around here somewhere, probably behind a camera.

[You know, in case anyone shows up wanting to take a picture of those weird pants.]

He's here? In this world?

[He'd better be careful with that camera. These magical keys are just as good at breaking things, accidentally or otherwise, as they are at unlocking doors.]

[Please don't break his camera, he's delicate.]

Yeah. All my friends are. [oh,] Uh, I guess that's not normal...

[Noted.]

All your friends? [Up go the eyebrows. He is way more interested in this subject than he was in the fish one.]

How many friends do you have? Did you all show up together?

[Ah, his huge and plentiful group of friends—]

Four? One of 'em's my one friend's kid sister. [She still counts, though.] We showed up all at once except for one.

I see... [He looks away, giving that some serious thought. Probably more thought than the subject really warrants. This guy's four friends are here with him and most of them arrived together, fascinating.

With a small shake of his head, he turns his attention back to the wall of fishing stuff.]

... Well, were you going to get one of these things?

[The squad's all here to give each other shit 24/7. Very lucky.]

Oh—yeah. [He's going to get, like, five of these lures, so sit tight for a minute while he picks them out. After that he busies himself poking at them like he's still making up his mind, since just asking people about how alone they are in this world is awkward... but now he's curious,] So... you got friends here?

[Terra has to wonder what the reasoning behind each lure selection is. Color, shape, size, feathers or no feathers? Price? Maybe it's random or maybe he's just going for fake fish he doesn't already have. Like a collect them all kind of deal.

Fishing, such a mystery.]

No.

[No, he spends every waking moment working or training alone and his friends back home might be dea- gone. You know, met their ends, had their lights extinguished, got erased from existence. Apply your favorite euphemism here.

He doesn't appear to be too bothered about it, though. Maybe he's just putting on a brave face with the kid around. Or maybe he's convinced himself it's okay because all he needs to do is get back to the world he was in before, either by 'contributing' enough to return through the portal or by acquiring enough power to force his way out of the Quarantine, then destroy the people responsible for taking his friends from him and find a way to reverse 'erasure'. (Maybe more power is the solution to that problem, too.) After all that's done, he and his friends will live happily ever after. No problem, everything's fine.

Not giving Noctis much time to hem and haw over his lures, Terra collects the bug spray and tape and starts back the way they came.]

I have roommates now, though. [Talking about how alone you are is awkward. How 'bout them roommates.] One's a skeleton.

[Let him live his fishing life. Or at least wait for him, come on— He almost protests, but in the end decides just to grab a handful of the Nicest Lures and follow after Terra, still poking through the ones he's selected.] Huh.

[Lesson learned: don't talk about the squad from home, it's privileged. Welp.]

You live with a skeleton and you haven't tried to, I dunno, smash it? [In his defense, skeletons are well within literal demon territory where he comes from, so this seems like a reasonable question.] My roommate just twirls around a lot.

... Why would I do that?

[Why would he attack some innocent skeleton? Also, this might be his first time having roommates but he's pretty sure trying to kill one would be considered bad manners...

He heads for the checkout lines.]

And what do you mean by 'twirls'? Like a dancer?

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introductory mingle: MEMORIA

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