riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: FEAST OF THE DYING

Entry tags:

introductory mingle: FEAST OF THE DYING

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and Feast of the Dying
when: Feast of the Dying from October 1st-8th; various other prompts over the whole month of October.
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

feast of the dying

In the days leading up to October 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: the Feast of the Dying. There is an old, widely-known, and widely-believed superstition or proverb in Riverview Quarantine: 'The greater your fear of death, the easier it is for death to find you.' This is a cornerstone belief of a lot of the residents of the Quarantine, most of whom have survived intensely difficult and violent pasts on their own worlds and who are still willing and eager to throw themselves into exploring and settling new worlds, starting their lives fresh. To honor this spirit, the Feast of the Dying is a celebration of the transition between life and death, an opportunity to face death both figuratively and literally, and come out on top.

celebrating the transition from life to death

During the month of October, a particular natural phenomenon on the moon weakens the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead, allowing for the crossover of those dead into the world of the living, with ghosts from the pasts of both the residents and the Quarantine itself to take corporeal form. The festivities during this time feature tests of courage in highly haunted places, escape rooms both virtual and physical with varying levels of danger, and the week-long Feast of the Dying itself, between October 1st and 8th this year.

i. ghosts from the past

During the 10th month of every year on the moon, due to a complex series of chemical, electromagnetic, and magical forces that no one has ever exactly distinguished or completely understands, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead are weakened almost to the point of nonexistence. During this time, residents of the moon are able to see and interact with the dead - ghosts, manifesting in ways that run the gamut from being a strange sense of being watched or being visible or audible all the way to more corporeal spirits that can affect the world around them. The barriers are weaker in some parts of the city than they are in others, with some areas experiencing little to no ghost activity, while others are so populated with these ghosts that residents can barely go a few feet without running into one. The ghosts are generally the unsettled dead, people who died violently, or who were lost, seeking a place to call home, and their behavior is as varied as it was while they were alive. Some ghosts are angry and vengeful, some are simply lonely and lost.

While some people tend to interact with the ghosts only a little and as necessary, others avoid them as completely as possible, and yet others actively seek out souls who are suffering and try to ease that so they can stop coming back year after year. There are other people who have found that ghosts from their home worlds have come through with them, following them through the portal when they arrived, even if they did not die on the moon...

Whether facing death or making peace with those who have died, this is a time to reflect.

A Few OOC Guidelines:
● Characters may see or interact with ghosts from the Quarantine's past. These people will be as varied as the NPCs, from a multitude of different worlds, and characters are welcome to either engage or avoid, as players wish.
● Most Quarantine-based ghosts will have died in either the Great War with the neighboring reality or in the Pandemic that wiped out the population of the Abandoned City years ago.
● Characters may also see or interact with ghosts from their own or other characters' canons, providing the character in question is dead in canon and is not currently being played in the game.
● Canon-based ghosts should not be simply transplanted into the game as they were in canon - they are ghosts, and therefore 'not quite right,' and should not be used as an excuse to NPC a canonmate for a month. These ghosts are there to be used as plot devices to open up new avenues of CR, to create angst, to help a character make peace with their past, or other similar reasons.
● Ghosts should not be complete corporeal physical presences indistinguishable from living people, but barring this, how strongly the ghosts manifest and how much they can interact with the world around them is up to player discretion. Ghosts shouldn't be present the whole month straight, but can disappear and reappear at random times.

● Mod questions and plotting regarding this prompt can be found here.

ii. the feast of the dying

The month's holiday is named after a long-standing tradition in the Quarantine - the Feast of the Dying - that starts at sundown on the first day of the month and continues until sunrise on the ninth day. The Feast of the Dying is a costumed masquerade-style party that is continuously available for the entire week. Set up by volunteers specializing in both magic and science, the Feast of the Dying is hosted in a large conference center that has been decorated and magically altered to provide a very formal, intensely creepy atmosphere. The decor can run the gamut from fancy and classy decorations featuring iconic skeletons or ghosts to incredibly realistic catacombs or any other frightening settings that you can think of. Rooms often become more and more foggy the more people enter them to mingle, and in many rooms the air pressure will be slightly played with to make the atmosphere seem more oppressive and spooky. Costumes and masks are required, and anything from a Halloween-style costume to a formal outfit with mask is acceptable.

Players can feel free to go wild with ideas for decor at the Feast, including linking to inspiration images in their posts - it is, essentially, like having a Masquerade ball inside a disturbingly realistic haunted house.

The venue the Feast is held in includes several large rooms intended for dancing with different themes and decorations that can change off and on throughout the week, two large dining rooms where feasts will be held at mealtimes and snacks or drinks (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) will be promptly served to anyone who sits at one of the tables, and a plethora of rooms meant for mingling and relaxing. Additionally, there are a large number of smaller lockable rooms set up for sleeping or private encounters.

iii. escape rooms

One of the fun and more commercialized aspects of the season are the many Escape Rooms that pop up throughout the Quarantine. Residents are encouraged to test their survival skills by grouping up with friends or strangers to escape difficult and scary situations together by solving a series of puzzles.

Escape Rooms can be either physical, set up inside buildings with realistic decorations, or they can be Virtual Reality, where the players don VR masks and cooperate in a virtual world. While the former can be more challenging and realistic, the latter provides for higher stakes. Physical Escape Rooms are generally set up to avoid any kind of physical harm to participants, but the Virtual Reality Escape Rooms can simulate pain and injury quite handily, and therefore can put participants in more dangerous situations.

While players can make up an Escape Room that uses whatever theme they like, some prompts are below:

● Zombie Attack
● Torture Machines or Traps
● Cannibal Warlock
● Wrongly Convicted: Escape from Prison
● Escape from Sewer Monsters
● Mad Scientist Experiments

iv. tests of courage

As mentioned before, there are certain parts of the city where the ghost activity is much stronger than elsewhere. These are places where terrible things have happened - hospitals that treated the ill during the Pandemic, insane asylums or prisons where inmates were mistreated, homes where terrible murders happened, places exposed to dark magic, and other similar places. Every year during October, these places are shut down or vacated (unless they were already sitting empty) and entrance is allowed to people wishing to partake in a traditional Test of Courage - to enter these deeply haunted and dangerous places, and stay there as long as possible, sometimes even overnight.

In these particularly vulnerable and terrifying places, ghost activity is intense and almost constant. Characters will encounter strange sounds, smells, and visions; will encounter ghosts that are capable of throwing items or people; and most of all, they will experience powerful and realistic hallucinations due to the sheer lack of boundary between the worlds of the living and dead in these areas. Whether the hallucinations are manifestations of their own worst fears, the ghosts retelling their own tortured stories, or any other kind of terrifying vision, they feel very real. While characters will not be injured by the hallucinations, the sensations of pain, pleasure, hunger, thirst, or other sensations will be almost impossible to tell from the real thing until the hallucination subsides at daylight.

While the haunted locations are highly unlikely to kill characters, whether or not they experience serious injury due to physical actions they do while under the influence of a hallucination (eg. falling down a flight of stairs) or attacks from ghosts (eg. an angry ghost throws books at a character) is up to player discretion.

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to meet new roommates, for the purpose of getting to know each other, or hit up the mod-posted prompt to create a Communal Housing floor mingle. Or, if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during the Feast of the Dying, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view; images may contain disturbing themes

Credit: image i: Olivier Le Gall; image ii: John Watkiss; image iii: unknown (wallpapersfan); image iv: signed (pinterest); images v and vi: unknown (pinterest)

navigation

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Heeeeeeeh?

[ Alas, Shigeru is not entirely safe from spectators, particularly not those who like to ramble through parks on their off time. Aoba might be a gamer, but there's always something new to see in quarantine and he's not the type to stay cooped up for long stretches like his roommate.

Hands on his knees, he leans forward at nearly a right angle as he stares in wonder at the delicate and elegant lines of one carved pumpkin, eyes widening into saucers. This really is the last thing he expected to see today! ]

Shigeru-san, did you really make these yourself?

[ It should go without saying, but he has to ask. He's never seen anything this good before! ]

[ Oh! It's Aoba! Shigeru hasn't seen the young man since the fire but he's really glad he's okay and seems to be doing well. There's a bright smile on his face as he nods and motions for Aoba to take one, or even a spare set of tools he has lying around. ]

Yes I did! I read a book about pumpkin carvings a few days ago and I decided to give it a try! Do you want to make one too?

Edited 2017-10-07 01:19 (UTC)

[ Aoba knows by now where to position himself for easy access to Shigeru's comm device, and walks over to plop himself down nearby. When he leans over to read it, he blinks over the device at him in disbelief. ]

A-are you going to teach me, Shigeru-san? Otherwise, I...

I've never carved a real pumpkin before. Only fake ones. Aren't they precious?

[ He's lived most of his life in a slum, he's only carved virtual pumpkins in minigames. He doesn't know the first thing about this! Carving parts for a robot is one thing, but this... you can't just melt down a bit of metal to make up for a mistake on something organic, right? ]

What if I mess up?

I never carved one of these either. We don't have pumpkins in my world. But I can definitely teach you! If you have experience with fake ones then this won't be too different.

[ He gives Aoba a thumbs up. He believes in you!! ]

And if you mess up we can just us it to make pumpkin pies or toast the seeds. I hear both are pretty delicious.

Uwah... Shigeru-san can make something this beautiful on the first try?

[ Ugh, that sounds really, really good. Ah, his stomach just gurgled hungrily as he reads pumpkin pie and toasted seeds, words that conjure up delightful tastes and textures like crunchy and salty and... spiced and sweet and soft pie and... and!! Aoba gives a small, embarrassed laugh as he hands back the device. ]

Then... I'll do my best. I doubt any of mine are going to turn out anything like yours though. ♥

[ He still can't believe he can do all this just on the first try. Incredible. This just means he has to roll up his sleeves and get to it! With a marker first, of course. He can't just start hacking away at the gourd and hope it'll all turn out okay. ]

Mm... I think I have a good idea of where to start. But I wonder...

Just who are you planning on giving these to?

[ Gosh Aoba you're making him blush with that praise. He just sheepishly shrugs his shoulders. ]

I have a really good memory so...I can just see things when I need to and what I'd like the design to be. [ Having an eidetic memory helps. ]

It's okay. I'm sure whoever you give yours to will love it all the same. [ Shigeru smiles warmly back at Aoba before he eyes his own pumpkins. There's one in there carved for a specific cyborg that he hasn't mustered up the courage to give to him yet. Hopefully Genji doesn't stop by any time soon. He's not ready for this!! ]

I don't know. I guess if people wanted to take them they could. I just find it...relaxing and calming to do, really. But I was planning on...giving a few people some of them.

[ Aoba blushes, feeling as if he's been caught. He intends on giving this to Noiz, if it's any good. Already he's got this contented smile on his face as he imagines how such a gift might be received, but he interrupts his own train of thought in favor of issuing well-deserved praise. ]

Eh? Shigeru-san, you could sell them! They're that good!

[ He's not sure how carving up something that, once a cut is made, cannot be undone - this isn't like dealing with digital layers with an undo button, or using an eraser if you're really retro. It's not even like you're working with putty or clay, where you can easily undo whatever mistake you've done by slapping on more of the stuff. This is organic. What's done is done... and that's really intimidating. ]

... [ The blue-haired man stares at them for a long time, not saying anything, but he's definitely combating some internal debate. It's probably got something to do about the carved pumpkins. ]

Are... they... for sale though?

[ Now it's Shigeru's turn to blush. Honestly the two of them just need to stop blushing all the time around each other. It is...embarrassing. But he shakes his head. ]

I don't want to really charge people for them. At least not a lot of money, you know? I really just...hope that people can give them to others and be happy like that.

[ Shigeru's thought process is way too pure sometimes. ]

Is there one that you'd like, Aoba?

They're all so beautiful and cool, do I really have a choose?

[ Shigeru had better get used to this, between the two of them, they'll be lifelong rivals for the fluster king championship. Shigeru is probably taking the lead because of his, ah, diminished capacity to communicate his embarrassment. ]

Maybe I should do that only if I completely screw up... seeing as I can't possibly decide. But you'll have to take money for it! Otherwise I'll feel like a cheapskate!

[ Picking up a pumpkin, Aoba grunts. ]

Eh? It's so much heavier than I thought it'd be. Is it because it's full of seeds?

[ Shigeru smiles sheepishly at the praise. Wah Aoba you're making him blush!! ]

Well if you're sure... [ He doesn't like to take money from friends?! But he also doesn't want Aoba to feel bad either, so he'll do it. ]

If you mess up I can just remake the pumpkin with my powers. So don't worry about that.

But yes seeds and, well, I guess the innards too. Those are what make up most of the weight, really.

[ Okay, so Aoba's in an unusual state this month. For one, he hasn't been getting enough sleep. Ghosts keep cropping up everywhere, and like a good jump scare he finds himself on edge and waiting for the next terrifying encounter. He also remembers how scary Shigeru's nightmarish visage was, back when he was different. Corrupted. ]

I-i-innards?

[ So this is why that particular word sends a shiver up Aoba's spine, making him instantly tense. Suddenly he stares horrified at the sunny orange gourd in his hands. The point of that carving knife had just slid into the top of it, and Aoba half expects red liquid to well up at the cut. He doesn't move. ]

W-wait a minute, I've never heard of this? Do pumpkins have gross organs on the inside in your world?!

[ Shigeru just gets all flustered and holds up his hands in a placating gesture. ]

No! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that! I just meant the...stuff inside the pumpkin itself.

[ Innards wasn't the best wording he supposed. ]

I wasn't exactly sure...what to call it.

S-sorry! I'm just... [ Aoba takes a deep breath and holds it, then lets it out slowly. Okay, he's fine. Now that he feels a little less on high alert, he steadies his hand and starts carving out the top. ]

I'm a little jumpy this month. [ He pulls the knife out and sets it aside, looking a little sheepish. ]

Scary things keep appearing and I haven't been sleeping well.

[ Shigeru will shake his head and type something on his phone. ]

It's really okay! You don't have to apologize. With all those...ghosts around it's really...been a bit hard for me too.

[ He doesn't elaborate the point but he feels you, Aoba. ]

I wish there was some way to keep them away.

You too?

[ He sighs, feeling suddenly gloomy. But this won't do. He grips the stem and gives it a firm twist, then a harder one until it finally crunches somewhere within it's fibrous contents and he's able to loosen the top. He stops there, looking at Shigeru. ]

...Do you think trying to kiss the ghosts will work this time?

[ He's referencing those pesky faerie lights. Then stares at him pointedly. It's meant to be a joke, because a moment later Aoba is giggling to himself, barely able to conceal his own amusement. Laughing at his own joke is pretty much the nerdiest thing you can do, but there you go. ]

Edited 2017-11-05 03:51 (UTC)

[ Shigeru will look at him with a befuddled expression at that question. Kissing ghosts?! He'd never! But he does shake his head and shrug his shoulders at that. ]

I-I don't think so! I don't think this is...the same.

[ He might fiddle with his phone as he looks around the garden now. He was so wrapped up in his pumpkin carvings that he had totally forgotten about the ghosts, honestly. But he does smile sheepishly when Aoba starts to laugh. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

introductory mingle: FEAST OF THE DYING

wildcard (1) pumpkin bonanza

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

stares at the camera, this boy...

he's really sorry?!

bless them both tbh

it's true

no subject

no subject