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

[song_of_ice]

Happiness is hard to find, no matter what you were born as. I don't know very many who have lasting happiness.

Your parents were lucky.

[It was easy to imagine why Elizabeth would begrudge her mother that. It had been the same for Jon with Robb. While he never hated his brother, it had been frustrating to see his brother achieve what he wanted so easily.]

Life never goes the way it's planned. You might find something your parents didn't expect for you.

[He didn't know what to say to that. Lady Stark had been blessed to have three boys in near rapid succession. There was never any question about inheritance for him, but he could at least understand the feeling of not being wanted.]

I never knew my mother. I don't know if she wanted me or is dead. My father never spoke of her.

[yorkist]

The plight of humanity as a whole, I suppose. A sad thing, if I may say so. The Church says one must suffer in this life to enter Heaven. But if God is at all merciful, I wonder at that very much.

Indeed, they were.

( She does not, could never hate her mother. Nor bear her any ill-will. Elizabeth envies her, and is hurt that she matters less to her than the boys, and less still than the throne and what power it entails. )

Well, I suppose my simply being in this place is such a thing, is it not? No one back home would ever believe it.

( His next words cause her to wince, and her expression softens enough to form a sad little frown. )

As a woman, I cannot imagine any woman not wanting a babe she has borne. Perhaps it was too sorrowful a thing for him to speak of.

Though I can imagine you will always wonder as a result. I am so sorry.

[song_of_ice]

I don't wish to serve any gods that say suffering is the price we pay. [He has no love for the Red God or the practices the Red Woman followed.] Believe in the god that brings you comfort.

[None gave him that, but he wouldn't begrudge anyone who found comfort in faith.

He can't say anything in response to that. While he wants to believe the beautiful words, the truth might not be so sweet. How could he know? The only man that could tell him the truth was dead...and there was a part of him that didn't want to know.

If she didn't want him, better that he never learn of it and suffer because of it.]

I don't know if it's better to know or not know anymore. There is no way to change it.

[yorkist]

In truth, neither do I. There is no way I could say such things at home. ( Here, however? She is far-removed enough from the Church to state as much. ) In that case, there is none.

( Features softening now, Elizabeth reaches out to once again grasp his hand. Her grasp is tentative, gentle; uncertain.

But her intent is obvious: to give comfort if she might. )

Fair enough, though it is clear to me that it continues to haunt you. It is only natural to wonder, and to hope that she loved you as all mothers should feel toward their child.

[song_of_ice]

No god will bring you comfort? [He suspects that Sansa would say the same and, quite frankly, he would as well.] We're far removed from the gods of our worlds here as it.

[He flinches at the initial contact, but relaxes soon afterwards. These sorts of gestures had only existed with his family and close friends. He sensed though that Elizabeth was in need of comfort and looked to give it as well.]

The only opportunity to learn is lost to me, even if I wanted it. My father was the one person who knew her and he died.

[yorkist]

No; and have not for several years now. ( Would that it were otherwise. But naught at all has brought her any measure of comfort, save for one thing: ) It is precisely that which does soothe me.

( It has ever been the same for her; yet her mother is not here to control her, nor her father to frown in disapproval. Or punish him for a gesture she has made. It does comfort her, and she exhales deeply, frowning in gentle concern. )

I am so very sorry. ( Her hand squeezes his gingerly. ) Would you rather speak of somewhat else?

[song_of_ice]

[He wishes he could find something to take comfort in now. Leaving Winterfell so soon after reclaiming it, losing the only family he had left to him? He didn't realize until now how lonely he felt.

Elizabeth was kind and that was no small thing, not after a world full of ice and cruelty.

It was a bit overwhelming, the world and the feelings this memorial brought out in him. He needed to rest and absorb it all. He places his hand over hers, giving it a squeeze in return.]

I think I am going to return to my room. [A pause.] We'll speak again soon, I promise.