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

[heavyhead]

[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.

[earthy]

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?

[heavyhead]

[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?

[earthy]

[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.

[heavyhead]

[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.

[earthy]

... 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?