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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[Ivar listens to her talk without interrupting Letha. This is the most he's ever heard her talk about her home in length. He stops moving his wheelchair for a moment, reaching out hesitantly to take her hand in his.]

Here is so different from my home that I wouldn't even know where to start. Everything where I'm from is hard and difficult. I've had to fight for everything I wanted my entire life. Nothing ever came easy to me. A cripple among Vikings is less than nothing. To prove myself as someone just as good as everyone else is all I ever wanted.

[It's why Ivar held his anger so close to the surface. Even here, where he could have potentially taken it easy, he couldn't let go of what had defined him for so long. It's what gave him his intensity and drive. Without his anger, he'd be nothing.]

[She accepts his hand readily, running her thumb over the back of it in an affectionate gesture. It's the small touches like this that really make her feel like... she belongs here, with him.]

Everything's much easier for both of us here... but that's what makes it so hard to adjust, isn't it?

[Back home, the monotony of life sent her into spirals of rage and depression, or motivated her into trickery and mischief. Anything that would make it easier to tell one day from another. In the quarantine she's been so busy being exhilarated and amazed by everything new that she finds, she'd almost forgotten the feeling of boredom-based anxiety.]

Exactly. I keep waiting for something to happen.

[Something always did. Life had never given much to the young Viking. It was always much more interested in taking things away from him. For every good thing that happened, there was always something much worse waiting just around the corner.

It made him wonder how long he could keep what he had with Letha. Would she eventually tire of him? Or would her feelings of love eventually turn into something to where they could barely stand each other, the way it had with his own parents?]

[She nods in some form of understanding... her problem is the opposite, that each day is so new and different that she almost feels swept away by the current, but she still can understand feeling out of one's depth.]

I'm starting to think it's no longer a good idea for me to spar... [as if it was in the first place] ...But perhaps we should use Walter to train instead. Then we can keep your skills sharp, in case something does happen.

I would say so. Do I keep having to remind you that you have a daughter to watch out for?

[Sometimes, he feels like Letha lives to do stupid, impulsive things. At least she's thinking more clearly now.]

Good. I've been getting plenty of time in with the monsters that keep trying to break through the fence, but it never hurts to have an actual opponent to face against.

Well... she wasn't affecting my weight before. [Her hands move to her belly, which has really been throwing off her balance of late. And making her dizzy a lot more often than she feels it strictly should.] And anyway she's quickened and her soul's detached from mine, and the doctors said she can hear us speak, so I think it's time I started taking her a bit more seriously.

[Not that Letha... really knows how to take motherhood seriously. Aside from maybe not flirting with death as often.]

Perhaps we can invite Morgan along as well... if you don't mind a bit of jealousy, he does like to flirt. [Which she finds more entertaining and flattering than anything.] From what I understand he's skilled in unarmed combat, and I'm curious to see how you two would fair against each other.

It'll just be a few more months now till she joins us. [He lays a hand on Letha's stomach in a gentle manner. He's always been ambivalent towards the idea of children. It was just something else he'd never have in his life. Now everything is different. She's carrying her husband's child, and while that should infuriate Ivar, instead he feels more of a need to protect them. He's never had anyone who needed him that way before. It's a feeling he could grow to like.]

I might not like that. [Letha should remember that Ivar tends to kill people for far less than the bitter feelings of jealousy. He scowls at the thought.] But I'll take on any opponent.

[Her face turns a bit red as he touches her; it makes her nervous to be carrying another man's child while she's with Ivar, but he hasn't voiced any complaints. It's almost enough to quell the anxious thoughts about it. It isn't as if it's within her control.]

Relax, I only have eyes for you. [She leans down to kiss him warmly, running her hands affectionately over his cheeks.] I only thought you should know so it doesn't surprise you.

[Ivar will always take any bits of affection Letha is willing to give him. And he does need the reassurance. He's always afraid that one day Letha will realize she can find someone so much better than him.

He's about to say something else when he feels Winter kick lightly beneath the hand he's got placed on her stomach. A surprised smile crosses his face.]

That's the first time she's ever done that.

[A small wince crosses Letha's face as Winter kicks, but the look of joy and intrigue on Ivar's face almost makes her forget about the discomfort. He can be so gentle and childlike... it makes her wish more people saw him the way she does.]

You can talk to her, if you like. [Her fingers run through his hair lightly.] I've heard she'll like you better if she knows your voice.

[He doesn't really know what to say. Despite what Letha says, he wonders if Winter can really hear him. What does he say to the child of the woman he cares about?]

Hello there. My mother always said her greatest joy in life was when her sons were born. Your mother is going to feel the same way. And me, I'll be here to watch over both of you and keep you safe.

My parents liked to say my brothers and I were the best things that happened to them. [She offers him a somber smile.] I'm sure I'll feel that way about her... and I'm sure she'll care for you as much as I do.

[It had taken months for her to admit to Aristeo that she cared if he lived or died, but every day she becomes more comfortable with giving casual affection to Ivar. At this rate... well, at this rate they might end up as one of those loving happy couples she's always been jealous of. Her daughter might even grow up not knowing how cold and distant couples could be in their home world.]

Just love her and you'll do fine.

[It's what has defined Ivar's entire life. The love from his mother, Floki, and most of his brothers growing up. The lack of it from his father's absence. The pointed opposite he felt when Sigurd would torment him. He dares to hope that he might even find some form of happiness with Letha. But he's scared of it too. Happiness so rarely comes for the Viking that he never expects it will last. Something will always snatch it away from him and leave him feeling worse than he did at the start.]

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introductory mingle: MEMORIA

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