riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: RIVER FESTIVAL

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introductory mingle: RIVER FESTIVAL

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and River Festival
when: The month of August; the bulk of celebration will be in week 1, but there is a party and fireworks display on August 14th.
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

river festival

In the days leading up to August 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: The River Festival. This holiday is in celebration of the river and the life that it gives to the city, as well as the heat of summer and forming bonds with friends, family, and romantic partners. The celebrations are marked by a community-wide cleanup of the docks and beaches along the river - particularly important considering the recent acid rain - as well as beachfront cookouts and parties (both private and city sponsored) and beach sports tournaments happening on either open stretches of beach or in special clothing-optional beaches, all capped off with fireworks displays on the evenings of August 7th and 14th.

a celebration of the river and togetherness

Following the hedonism of Carnivale, it's time for something a little more low-key and relaxing. The River Festival happens every year in August, and is geared toward community building through cleaning up the beaches and docks along the river and then using all that freshly cleaned beach to gather on. During the first week of August, there are various lightly-themed government-sponsored beach cookouts and parties geared toward family, romantic dates, or casual all-ages get-togethers for meeting new friends; there are also a few more racy parties at clothing-optional beaches around the city. Many private residents also take this time to gather together friends and family, and have cookouts on the beach with all the typical trappings of the beach barbecue. There are also various casual sports tournaments sponsored by community centers, gyms, and sports teams in the city, featuring prizes ranging from notoriety to sports equipment to big bucks. Finally, there are two fireworks displays, one on August 7th and one on August 14th, with free food, and various live performers beforehand.

i. cleaning up

The holiday starts off on a note that is just a bit more sombre than the rest of the season, with the cleanup efforts following late July's strange fog and acid rain blending into the usual tradition of cleaning up beaches and docks along the river. The cleanup is a group effort, with every citizen who is physically able pitching in to comb the beaches, where they pick up fallen tree limbs, garbage, and anything else that's accumulated during the winter and spring, and then raking the beaches to make them clean and ready to use. The cleanup of the docks is similar, with residents sweeping and hosing them down where necessary. This year, there are a lot of repairs to be made to beachfront structures that might've been damaged by the acid rain, so if anyone has some carpentry or building skills, those would definitely come in handy.

This is meant to be a community building effort, so many businesses in the area, more well-to-do private citizens, and the government have pitched in funding to provide lunches, cold drinks, coffee or tea, and snacks to anyone who's helping out with the cleanup efforts. All in all, the cleanup has a very friendly, welcoming vibe.

ii. cookouts and parties

The main traditions of the River Festival involve cookouts and beach parties. On August 7th and August 14th, the government as well as various corporations and businesses in the city, will be providing funds for large beach gatherings. On these days, there will be booths set up offering wares and freebies from various businesses around the city that have helped fund the party, large swaths of cleared beach where residents can don a swimsuit and catch some rays or swim in the river, massive barbecue setups to provide partygoers with all the standard barbecue fare, beach sports tournaments, dancing and musical performances, and fireworks displays (see prompts below).

The holiday isn't just about these big parties, though - many residents arrange their own barbecues, cookouts, beach camping trips, beach bonfires, and other riverside gatherings and outings. Many riverfront businesses offer discounts on services such as canoe or kayak rentals to go out paddling on the river, jetski or motorboat rentals for tubing, wakeboarding, or waterskiing, or mounts to take romantic rides in the surf. Additionally, there is an adults-only section of the beach where any of these activities can be done in the nude in a clothing-optional setting, including the big city-sponsored parties.

iii. sportsball tournaments

Is your character good at playing a particular sport that could, conceivably, be played on a beach? Chances are that during the month of August, a tournament will be set up for them to participate in. The tournaments are pretty standard, generally sponsored by community centers, sports clubs and teams, gyms, and other organizations and businesses in the city, with various levels of specialization, and levels of skill or competitiveness. The prizes also vary, with everything from plain old bragging rights to sports equipment or passes to gyms and community centers, to large lump sums of cash money. Definitely worth it, for characters with a love for sport.

Oh, and a lot of these tournaments are happening on the adults-only clothing-optional beaches, for those grown-up sports fans who like a bit of an extra challenge.

iv. performances and fireworks

On August 7th and August 14th at the end of the large city-sponsored beach parties, there will be evening performances all along the beach. Not as extensive as the musical performances during Carnivale, there are two large-name performers per night, with various lesser-known groups performing at random off and on throughout the day and night. Areas of the beach are cleared for residents to watch and dance to the music, both on the regular and adults-only clothing-optional beaches (acts will switch off between the two areas so both areas get both performances).

Player-characters who are musical artists, DJs, or otherwise perform are free to set up shop around this party and panhandle or put on free performances for publicity.

After the sun goes down, boats will head out into the water carrying a variety of fireworks, and there will be a beautiful display of exploding color in the sky for residents to watch and enjoy. The fireworks are highly advanced, incorporating old-fashioned gunpowder as well as modern technology that result in really beautiful displays that can take the breath away!

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 one of the mod-posted prompts for each Communal Floor. Or if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during the River Festival, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: credit unknown; image ii: Albert Ramon Puig; image iii: Claudio Pilia; image iv: Alan Philips

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[ Cisco launches himself into the clean-up efforts after the storm with an unusual degree of gusto. Normally, this kind of tedious physical labor thing is really not his speed, but he has a whole lot that he's trying to keep his mind off right now. This gets him out of the house, out of his workshop, and keeps him from driving himself nuts by thinking too much.

It's about halfway through the first day of cleaning when he sees a familiar figure a little ways up the beach, wrestling with a branch that's almost as big as she is. He speeds up, sets down his own container of debris and garbage and saying: ]

Heya, Kate. Need a hand?

[It's suddenly become an epic war of Kate versus the branch. She pushes at one branch trying to break it off when another comes up and hits her in the shoulder leaving a thin red line in it's wake. She stubbornly sticks with it though she's happy when Cisco offers to help.

She looks up at him, already knowing the owner of the voice who spoke, and flashes him a smile. He's one of the few people that Kate considers a friend here, though she admittedly, hasn't met that many people.] Yes. Maybe 6 or 7 hands just to be safe. [She bends one of the twigs and it slowly begins to snap though given the force that Kate has to put on it the left over momentum will land her on her ass if Cisco doesn't stop her.]

Yeeeaaahhh, see, I only got the two available at the- whoa!

[ CIsco doesn't quite get through his sentence, because the branch that Kate had been bending snapped suddenly and set her off-balance, and Cisco is grabbing at her by pure reflex, trying to keep her from falling. It's not exactly graceful, but he gets a hand around her upper arm and keeps her from toppling over. He manages to stub his toe on the branch as he does it, hissing a little in surprised pain, but neither of them falls, at least. ]

You good?

[ Once he is sure she's steady on her feet, Cisco lets go, pushing his hair back out of his face. ]

Damn, these things are really fighting back.

[Kate is silently happy for Cisco's help. She wobbles a bit and then cringes when she sees the stick retaliate by snapping Cisco's toe. That… has to hurt.]

Are you okay? I'm Sorry. [A worried frown tugs at her lips as they manage to get the large stick under control. This might have been easier if she had something to cut the smaller branches off and then break it down systematically but Kate had been relying on brute strength, which she doesn't have very much of.]

I'm good. Just… [She exhales a tired breath.] Losing against a stick.

[It sounds more depressing when she says it out loud.]

How about you hold it still and I'll try and take off these smaller branches over here. Then we switch sides until it's smaller?

[ Cisco waves off her concern, even though his foot does sting a bit. He's going to end up with some scrapes and bruises by the end of the day, but it's nothing he can't handle. When Kate suggests a plan of attack, Cisco is quick to adopt it, nodding and doing what she asks without hesitation. He anchors the big branch so that Kate can break off the smaller pieces, get it down to a more manageable size. Cisco might not look like a very muscle-y guy, but he isn't a weakling. He braces it in place securely, and lets Kate take care of the rest.

While he is holding it in place, he asks: ]

How you been? Hope you didn't get stuck out in the storm. Or stuck anywhere totally boring. Not actually sure which would be worse.

[Kate doesn't think they have the muscles to defeat the branch but they have the mind too. She uses torque to her advantage as well as her weight, also know as gravity. After they started she noticed the branch breaking easier with very few sudden jerks or twists of branches.

Another snap and Kate has a nice size pile of reasonably sized sticks at her side and half of the branch has been broken down.]

Thanks this seems to be working.

[She exhales a little breathlessly and pauses to answer him.]

Pretty good. I started to look at classes and I got a job. [Kate likes to think that she's settling in well.] How are you? And has living with your friends gone okay? [She remembers that he'd been nervous.]

That's awesome, where're you working?

[ Once they've finished wrangling the giant branch into manageable pieces, Cisco picks up the bag he's using for the trash he picks up, and starts helping Kate to deal with the bits of branch that are left. Once they've gotten them all put away, it only makes sense for them to keep walking together, to pick up debris in tandem and continue their conversation. Bound to make the work go faster, and Cisco is eager to hear more about how her life is going.

Her question about his living situation shouldn't be entirely unexpected, but the timing is... well. Not the best. Cisco laughs, a hint of nervousness in it, but things are complicated for reasons that he is definitely not going to share with a mostly-stranger. Especially not one who is a teenage girl. Cisco isn't exactly proud of the whole "drunken inadvisable hook-up with his roommate and subsequent awkwardness" thing. He does his best to give a positive and bland answer, but he's never been the world's best liar. ]

I'm good. The new place has been good. One of our cats has developed some sort of weird obsession with licking window blinds, but other than that, stuff's... good.

[ Yeah, he's not even a mediocre liar, actually. Whoops. ]

What classes are you thinking about, you have any more of an idea?

Edited 2017-08-10 15:56 (UTC)

Lux. It's a bar.

[It's an interesting situation considering the silver cross that Kate always wears arond her neck. The bar is run by Lucifer, the Lucifer but he's considerate of both the law and of Kate's comfort. He's also teaching her things she might not have learned had she worked somewhere else. It doesn't seem to matter that she has absolutely no working experience.]

I like it so far. I'm learning to mix drinks. [She isn't a big drinker but chemistry is fun.

Kate continues along the beach with Cisco, picking up pieces here and there. It goes faster and it's nice to have someone to talk to. She can tell that something is wrong though Kate wasn't sure if it is the sort of issue that she needs to press or not.] I'm here if you need to talk about something that's bothering you. [She's the sort of person who will never judge another's actions.]

Yeah, I'm thinking math and history. Basic courses to start and then a mechanics course that has a lab. Just trying a few things to see what I like.

Awesome.

[ Sure she's a bit young to be a bartender, but then he doesn't even know if there's a legal drinking age in this place. Besides, a job is a job, and she'd needed one. He'd worked plenty of jobs that he was probably, legally speaking, technically not supposed to, as a teen. As long as she likes it, Cisco's not about to question it. ]

I'ma come in and order the fanciest, sweetest cocktail you got on the menu one of these days. Something with, like, a curly straw and fruit in it.

[ Cisco has absolutely no reservations about so-called girly drinks: he's secure enough in his masculinity to just order whatever seems like it would taste most like candy, and have a great time doing it. ]

That's great. I told you I'm a mechanical engineer, right? So, like. You ever need help studying for that mechanics course, I am totally your dude.

[ And when Kate sees through his lie (god, he really is the worst at that, how has he survived this long?), Cisco hesitates, chewing at his bottom lip. It's been eating away at him, the whole situation. He couldn't talk to Eddie about it, because... well. It was about him. And he can't talk to Taako about it, because he's Eddie's ex and that would be horrible for everyone involved.

Maybe, if he leaves out the sordid details. ]

I... things are good. Seriously. That wasn't a lie. It's just- honestly, it's so stupid, but. My friend I moved in with? I kind of... have. Feelings. For him.

[ God, it sounds so excruciatingly high school. ]

[Thanks to some research Kate had found that the legal age in Quarantine is fourteen. That, to her, was far to young but it put her firmly above the legal bracket. Lux had it's own rules were it would only cater to those nineteen or older. Thanks to a birthday, Kate met that age and was able to secure a job there. It was a nice place, even if it was run by the devil.

She laughs at his choice in drink.] That would be perfect if you want to spend the evening being hit on by guys. [She's only teasing though she really doesn't know Cisco's preference between girls and boys. It isn't the sort of thing that's really important to Kate. You don't always choose who you fall in love with.]

I'll keep that in mind. I looked through the beginners textbooks I found and it looks like it's mostly math and gear ratios. [Which is something that comes easily to Kate.] I'm excited for the practical side.

[When Cisco begins to explain Kate listens attentively. It does sound very high school.] Is that really a bad thing? [She smiles softly at Cisco.] Maybe they have feelings for you?

Oh, is that true? I trust your bartender's intuition. Here and all this time I just thought they were into the hair.

[ And he flips his hair back out of his face with a little toss of his head, which is pretty ineffective at keeping it out of his face, but hopefully is at least a little funny. He grins and laughs at his own joke. ]

Yeah, the practical stuff is way more fun. I bet you're gonna love it.

[ This is actually managing to make Cisco a little bit nostalgic for his own days in college, which he had actually thought was impossible. Not that they were awful, or anything - certainly not compared to high school or anything earlier. He had been finally out of his parents's house, away from his brother, around people who didn't despise him for being curious and smart and enthusiastic. But he's just not really a nostalgia sort of person in general.

Kate's coaxing question makes the smile drop from his face, though. He puts it back, or at least tries to, but it comes out a bit lopsided and rueful. More like he is trying to smile than actually doing it. ]

Yeah... he doesn't.

[ There's a decisiveness, in that short response, that makes it seem as if Cisco is not just speculating. ]

It's not the end of the world or anything. I'll get over it. I just... kinda wish there was an off switch, you know? Be a whole lot easier.

Yeah, I know.

[She knows what it's like to want to stop caring about people. Even after all this time, having her life torn away from her, her father killed and then being shot in the back; she continues to love Seth and Richie... Kate can't explain it. She finds herself drawn to them in a way that's uncomfortable but also in a way that you can't avoid. She's always tried to be there for them and for Scott but in the end... she couldn't do anything.]

Sorry Cisco. I can't help with that feeling but you aren't alone okay.

[Kate smiles and then gently reaches for his hand to give it an affectionate squeeze.] You have a friend. At least one that I know of.

[Her voice is a little lighter when she drops his hand. Kate knows that he probably isn't feeling any better but she likes to be there for her friends.]

Thanks. It means a lot.

[ He smiles - it's small, but genuine - and squeezes her hand back, just for a moment. And he feels... better. Not entirely, of course. But a little better. It helps just to be able to talk about it, even if only briefly. ]

What about you? I mean, I know you've only been here a little while but have you met any interesting... guys? Girls? Miscellaneous?

[ He doesn't know who Kate might be into - if she's into anything at all, that is - and he doesn't want to pre-judge. Hell, she's young enough that even she might not really know what's what in the attraction department just yet. Cisco had figured his shit out young, but he knows many more people for whom it had taken a lot longer.

But right now, he wants to be a little bit nosy and ask, because he'd rather not think about the dismal state of his own love life, and a good way to do that is to pry about Kate's. ]

[Kate laughs softly.] I don't know about that. I haven't had a lot of time to think about guys. [That had been before, now she has all the time in the world, she just ask to take it. For a few seconds, Kate looks thoughtful before shaking her head.] I have met a few people. I'm not interested in girls like that but there was this one guy. I don't know a lot about him but he was interesting.

[He'd preferred to stick to the shadows through their whole conversation but Kate had been able to talk to him about home and her death some. It'd been nice.]

Oh, I went on one of those Auction Dates. I don't know if you know Jason Todd but I took him rollerblading. I think he had a lot of fun. [Kate doesn't consider it a romantic date since she'd bought it but it'd been nice.]

I don't know. I'm not really good at dating.

[She hasn't gotten further than making out with anyone and her preferences seem to turn towards older men nowadays…]

Well, now you got me all interested. Tell me more about this one guy?

[ Cisco's voice is friendly and coaxing - he hasn't had a good old gossip in a while, and he can't think of any better way to pass the time as the two of them keep on with the rather dull manual labor of cleaning up after the storm. Besides, Kate doesn't sound like she minds talking about it, all that much. ]

Naw, never met him. Name sounds familiar, though. Is he a cop, or like, in the guard? And did you have a lot of fun?

[ Cisco's job means that by necessity there are a lot of people who he is vaguely aware of, even if he's never spoken to them before. People whose measurements he's seen on a spreadsheet, as he works on uniforms and armor, or someone who maybe got pointed out to him as he was delivering some piece of tech.

When Kate says she's not good at dating, Cisco laughs easily, shrugging and saying: ]

I mean, me neither. You don't even wanna know how long it's been since I went on a proper date...

[Kate laughs softly and shakes her head.] It's nothing like that. Jason is interested in a lot of people but he is a good friend of mine. He might be on the guard. I hadn't thought to ask. It was fun. [She has no illusions about Jason or the sort of person that he is.]

I'd offer to take you on a date but it wouldn't be very romantic. [Who says that friends can't go on a date?] I took Jason rollerblading. I found a place in the city that has it.

Maybe I'll take someone to minigolf next time. I'm not good at rollerblading. [Kate smiles at Cisco with a nervous grin.]

Mhhhmmm.

[ Cisco puts plenty of sassiness and uncertainty into that sound, like he doesn't quite believe Kate about her and Jason being just friends, but it's mostly only teasing. The truth is, she seems like a sweet girl, and while he doesn't know much about this Jason, he's known plenty of people who claimed to be 'just good friends' and that there was no interest at all, who ended up an item soon enough.

Her crack about roller blading has Cisco smiling, too. ]

Yeah... I think rollerblading might be a date idea that's best left for people who have a lot of practice, or are just super duper coordinated. Which I am definitely not.

[ Her offer to take him on a platonic date is a kind one, and it is what makes it so he can smile a little (though it's a touch sad around the edges) as he says: ]

Honestly, I think I'm just gonna swear off romance for a while. Shit's not in the stars for me. Even before this stuff with Eddie, the last time I thought someone was into me, she was criminal who literally took me hostage, so... [ He shrugs. If that's not cursed luck, he doesn't know what is. ]

I was lucky. Jason has a lot more coordination and managed to keep us both standing. [Kate doesn't think she can fall in love with someone. Not after everything that has happened. As far as she knows, she's still dead. Maybe not while she's here but who says that she'll be alive when she returns home.]

I think I'll join you there though I don't know what happened to my last romance. It's… been awhile.

[Last time she returned home she'd been looking for her brother. She hadn't heard about her ex. Knowing everything that's happened she had a sinking feeling that he was dead.

Kate has noticed her attraction to all the wrong sorts of people: Richie and then Seth. She doubts her choice in men is going to get much better.]

[ Cisco smiles just a little; he knows by now that Kate's life is far more complex and genuinely dramatic than the average person her age, but it still does make him smile, hearing her talk about it having been "a while" since her last romance, with that kind of world-weariness he associates with people who are much older than both of them.

But there's no way to say that, or express it in any way, without seeming pretty condescending, probably. So Cisco just gives a little shrug, and offers: ]

We can start a perpetually single club. Get matching t-shirts, eat cupcakes, heckle some romantic comedies. Sounds pretty rad to me.

[ And he is genuinely glad, then, that he had run into Kate, had told her what was going on, even if it was only the vaguest details. If this has taught him anything, it's that he doesn't do well, bottling stuff up. He has to stop assuming that every other person has a perfect life and their ducks all in a row - romantically or otherwise - and start assuming that just about everyone is as lost and uncertain as he is. It makes for better friendships, for sure.

So there is a little less weight on his shoulders as Cisco goes on, telling various stories he'd heard about the acid rain, and how people reacted to it, and where had been damaged and where hadn't - nothing earth-shattering, just talking to fill the silence, to help the time pass quicker for him and for his friend. ]

[She sounds like one of those old people who sit on their front porch with a shot gun in her lap, yelling at kids and dogs to stay away from her lawn. Kate wonders when she got so old, or perhaps it is the change in her perception.]

Sounds good. [She laughs softly, feeling oddly more comfortable about her situation since talking to Cisco. It's nice to have a friend.] Though I think that you'll find someone before me. [She does like cupcakes.]

Would we watch Pride and Prejudice? [So maybe Kate has a weakness for old styled romantic comidies.]

Wanna bet?

[ There's just a touch of ruefulness in the way he says that - to Cisco, it seems only too obvious that someone like Kate would have plenty of worthwhile, eligible guys into her. She's cute, friendly, and he can already tell, the kind of person who just radiates goodness. More than any other quality - physical, intellectual - that rare aura of goodness is sure to make people want to spend time with her, both friends and potential boyfriends.

And if he hears about any non-sketchy guys who are looking to take someone out on a date, he is absolutely prepared to play matchmaker. ]

Oh, yeah. The 2005 version, obvs. And have you ever seen North & South? That one's a miniseries, but trust me, it's totally worth the hours you waste watching it...

[ And he lists a few more such period dramas, that are light on the tuberculosis and misery and heavy on the romance and violin-filled soundtracks. He might be a stereotypical nerd in a lot of ways, loving everything to do with space ships and dragons and the rest of it, but that doesn't mean he doesn't also love some corsets and sappy wish fulfillment, too. ]

[Kate isn't sure if there is a thing as non-sketchy guys anymore but she'd be interested who Cisco thought was a good match for her.]

I've never been good at gambling. [She'd rather know her odds or maybe that's something that she's picked up from Richie and Seth. Not that it ever seems like those two know what they're going to get into.]

I've never heard of North & South but if it's here we clearly have to watch it. [Having a movie night feels so mundane. Kate can't remember the last time she did something so simple and fun with friends.] We'd have to watch it at your house. I don't think my roommate will like it. [Kate doesn't know a whole lot about the girl she's living with. They miss each other most of the time.

It's nice to focus on simple things. It's easy and for a few moments, all of her troubles feel less troubling.]

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introductory mingle: RIVER FESTIVAL

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