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

[ikols]

[ Mentally noting that drawing and the Latin. ]

Little intimate, isn't it? You'd have to see me every morning and night, could you handle it?

[ Waggling his brows. ]

[fingerstripes]

[ That actually prompts a real smile. ]

You can seriously drop in again.

And the station keeps me up nights, so I honestly don't really care about the timeframe. You probably aren't gonna wake me.

[ He'd have to actually sleep for that.

Most of the bat stuff is hidden away in the lair. If Loki had ever intended to harm him, he's had about a thousand chances by now.

It's a risk, but it doesn't feel like an untenable one. Dick wants to think they're friends. That they could be better friends.

Loki is a friend who clearly needs something. ]

[ikols]

[ It's tempting as he considers the invitation, biting his lip in thought. Getting away from the Avengers would be beneficial (it goes without saying, really) and it might help him be a better friend to Billy if he isn't accepting every open invitation to snuggle with Teddy's fiance. The only person he would miss is, surprisingly, the only one stimulating his mind: Tony. It could be a good idea to get away purely because of that. Loki isn't sure how he feels about the easy companionship Tony offers, always a step ahead of where Loki's thoughts seem to go or at least meeting him there at the same moment, and with the loss of Verity it's been companionship that comes without scorn that Loki craves.

But here is Dick, too. A new option. ]

I'll cook for you, then. [ A favour! Oh, ah, although Dick is mortal with ensuing concerns ... ] Unless you'd prefer monetary rent?

[fingerstripes]

Spoil me that much and I'm not gonna want you to leave.

[ But his grin is still easy as he flicks his gaze back up to Loki. He likes him, and maybe it should feel more dangerous than it does.

The Titans are next. He writes the names of the dead in spiraling circles, united by a common cause. A family. Raven gets a small flower. Joey two lines of a love poem. Danny a matchbox car. Kole. Vic. There are so many he's running out of space. Loki's lanterns are so beautiful. Individual. Dick's is a chaotic mess of emotion. He stops drawing, brow a little furrowed. ]

Wait, did they actually give you a job on day one?

[ Somehow he'd pictured Loki having important... god... things to do that would preclude mortal concerns like money.

Then again, there's probably not much about Loki that could surprise him at this point. It's something in him that he's drawn to. ]

[ikols]

[ The waggle of his eyebrows hints that maybe that's Loki's nefarious plan, to lure in Dick with delicious home-baked treats. He laughs when a curious look is thrown his way, though, and tries not to appear as interested in Dick's lantern as he is. ]

Ah, no ... I don't think I've met another person who wasn't given a job, actually. Perhaps I'm special!

[ More like it was less hassle to let him do as he pleased. ]

[fingerstripes]

I thought that went without saying. [ With a crooked little smile. He sees what you did there, Loki.

Finally an incentive to actually clean out all the old takeout out of his fridge. And having real company around a little more often is more appealing than he wishes it was.

The mission here is different. The rules here are different. Doesn't it make sense to hold a hand out to someone with a grasp on a different side of it than he has?

Dick sets the lantern down at last and leans back on his palms. For all that no side stands empty now, it still feels inadequate. A poor marker for lives lost. The people he'd let down as leader. Brother. Friend.

After a moment: ]

I think I'm starting to get why you went for the combo option.

[ He should have taken point and made a bunch. Ten. At least. ]

[ikols]

All that smooth talk is going to slip you up one day, Grayson.

[ When Dick seems dissatisfied in some way with his lantern, Loki sets his own aside and turns to sit facing the one scrawled in multiple messages, heartfelt scraps of tales he doubts he will hear if he never asks about. And he won't, Dick's stories are his own to dole out as he sees fit ... but he does raise both hands to set the lantern aglow with magic and put a trick on it; the messages separate and run around the circumference, one after the other like a rotating lamp so that each can be enjoyed in motion.

He drops his hands to his lap and sends a smile to Dick, hoping he hasn't ruined the thing. ]

Is that better?

[ The air smells a little like ozone in the wake of the spell, clean and fresh like rainfall. ]

[fingerstripes]

I- wow, that’s… [ He's visibly startled, but the looks fades out at once as Loki's purpose registers.

He lifts it as if he expects it to shatter at his touch, and when it doesn't he turns it slowly, touching every image. Loki has distilled it somehow. Made the memories more real. More his than they were before. His breath is stolen for a moment. ]
 
It’s... actually a lot better. [ Which is an understatement. It's perfect now. And suddenly he can't find the right words for what the means to him. His eyes look for Loki's at last. ]

...How did you know?
 
[ What it was supposed to look like. ]

[ikols]

[ Feeling oddly shy under so much positive attention he picks at the grass between his legs in idle restlessness, pinned by Dick's stare. ]

It's just rotating what you wrote, that's all. It seemed the logical solution to your cramped messages.

[fingerstripes]

Yeah, but... [ It's so much more. ] -you still didn't have to do that.

[ His reaction to being thanked at all is kind of unexpected too. A small smile tugs at the side of his mouth. ]

You should take the credit.

[ikols]

I do, it's simply nothing. I'd do it for anyone.

[ Or not, not at all, but Loki tries to move on the topic by going back to nibbling on his pork bun. ]

[fingerstripes]

[ Dick... nods at that. And he's careful to keep any real shade of doubts out of his expression. Loki's entitled to his reasons, whatever they are.

Still, he's quiet for a moment. Gears turning. ]

How's this been, for you? [ His eyes stay on him. Thoughtful, concerned. ]

Do people ever ask?

[ikols]

[ Dick is annoyingly (endearingly) perceptive, so Loki dusts off his hands once his snack is through and starts decorating Verity's lantern with magic from the tip of his finger (as if to prove Dick isn't the only one who gets the fancy treatment) which glows a variety of reds and purples and pinks as he draws her. He keeps his attention on her, not wanting to give Dick a window into his thoughts beyond an off-hand shrug. ]

Which part of 'this' do you mean? Coming through the Portal or the festival?

[fingerstripes]

[ It would be all too easy to wonder. To be fascinated by that lovely drawing in all it's detail. But with Loki seemingly retreating beneath the scrutiny he turns his attention back to his own lantern. There's something fragile between them that he doesn't want to step on. ]

...Well, either one.

[ Or both. ]

[ikols]

Never.

[ Not that it seems to bother him, outwardly at least. A laugh makes sure to crinkle his eyes as he glances up and over to Dick. ]

You may be the very first! [ He shakes his head, going back to drawing (now in intricate detail) to bring alive Verity's eyes. Considering the gentle ambivalence in his tone, any force behind the topic commits through the intensity in his art. ] I'm very capable, you know? No one is being thoughtless or cruel, which it must sound like to you. I'm simply that good at survival.

[fingerstripes]

Not really a lot to ask. [ His tone is unjudging, though his brow definitely furrows a bit. Never.

He leans a little on his crossed knees, eyes lingering on the face Loki's rendering with such intensity. There's a shade to her eyes that reminds him a little of Babs, and the thought of her being gone from Loki twists his heart a little. ]

One of those nice-to-have's, every now and then. [ No matter how good at surviving you happen to be. ]

[ikols]

It is ... yes. [ The way he pauses in his sketching and looks at Dick directly hopefully conveys his sincerity; thank YOU for asking. ]

And yourself?

[fingerstripes]

[ It shows in his eyes that the question takes him by surprise. But he has a sense of fair play. It’d be easy enough to dodge, but that’s also not really the precedent he’s trying to set here. He can’t exactly pry at Loki and then refuse to pony up when the scrutiny is turned back on him. ]

...Been better, actually. [ It’s the honest answer, and he runs a hand along the back of his neck, a little embarrassed. He's quick to drop it at once, quick to replace it with a sheepish little grin. ]

Believe it or not, I don’t really get that question too often either.

[ And truly it doesn't bother him. He's far more comfortable giving than he is asking, even from friends. ]

[ikols]

I'll try to remember to ask in the future, then you'll know I've been thinking of you.

[ Because he does do that, even if it isn't apparent. That gives him an idea, snapping his fingers to make a blank lantern appear in his hands (someone seems awfully surprised to have lost theirs further up the bank). Loki offers Dick a blue marker and picks up a green for himself, scooting a half-seat closer on the grass. ]

... But I may forget. Shall we make one of these together so that somewhere out there is proof we wish the best for each other?

[fingerstripes]

I- yeah. I'd love that.

[ A little blush crosses his face, but he's smiling again, inordinately pleased. Loki's process is fascinating. It feels like a gift in itself to be invited inside it. He accepts the blue pen (of course it has to be blue). ]

You're gonna tell me if I'm wrecking the flow, right?

[ He can sketch well enough to capture a face in a line-up, but the art in his soul is movement. Touch. It's nothing like Loki's. ]

[ikols]

[ That blush is encouraging, to say the least. ]

I will, but ... [ In order to stop Dick wrecking the lantern, Loki does it first by doodling a smiley face of Dick with floppy hair and a heart at the side, cheerful and impulsive. Nothing like his sketch of Verity. ] I suspect you'll do just fine.

[ To keep up the theme, he starts decorating with more doodles: burgers, ice creams, milkshakes ... ]

[fingerstripes]

Show off. [ As he catches himself staring. It's beautiful work, even doodled out that way.

He draws Loki in the blue, exactly as he sees him, pulling from memory for the neat little smirk. Then he carries the theme on down, starting with a plate of eggs. Cereal. Cookies. Rather than stay on his side he blends the lines a little, letting them intertwine. Complement, rather than overpower. This is a friendship lantern, after all. ]

[ikols]

Always. I like your eggs, by the way.

[ Mixed into the drawings is one of Loki crying a river of tears, 'Don't put me in the clink, Officer!!!', while a cartoon Dick sniffs over him in a cocky police-cap, 'I have to uphold EVERY LAW and you are TOO HOT TO TROT!' The next speech-bubble coming from Loki says, 'It's a FAIR COP'. ]

[fingerstripes]

[ He laughs at that, delighted. ] Well, what can I say? Wouldn’t exactly be fair if I made exceptions.

[ And his grin is all mischief as he draws Loki, wearing a heroic "L" prominently on his chest, making a dramatic detective comics #38 style entrance, carrying two heaping plates of breakfast food as an adoring approximation of Officer Grayson clings to his neck. "My hero!!" says the speech bubble. ]

[ikols]

But I'm special.

[ His laughter bubbles to a height when he draws a little hammer in Dick's cartoon hand exclaiming, 'A WORTHY DICK!!' Loki cracks himself up and flops back on the grassy bank beside the river, hands covering his face as his snickering turns into giggles. ]