riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: HYGGE

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and Hygge celebration
when: The month of December.
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

hygge

In the days leading up to December 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: Hygge. This holiday is one of Riverview Quarantine's four yearly celebrations of love, this one focused on familial love and found family. The traditions associated with Hygge involve coziness and warmth with loved ones, as snow begins to blanket the Quarantine. Meals comprised of family favorites are shared together most nights of the month of December, and families both biological and found gather together by outdoor fires to drink hot cocoa and other warm drinks, roast marshmallows, and enjoy the beauty of the short-lived winter season on the moon, especially at night, when both the stars and almost unreal aurora borealis light the night sky.

a celebration of familial love and found family

Winter comes to the moon very quickly every year, as the orbit of the Capitol World crosses between its moon and the sun - the temperature drops to just below freezing in the span of only a couple of days, and the trees often don't even change from green to orange. During this short winter, the celebration of Hygge keeps all the residents warm. The main traditions involve comfort and warmth with those people you think of as family - platonic or romantic, though preferably mixed between the two - groups of people gather together to share meals and exchange gifts. The city sets up a series of cabins, each fronted with a fire pit, along the banks of the river, which has been lined with floating logs to interrupt the rushing water and allow the surface to freeze solid and form a series of skating rinks for the public to enjoy. Throughout the month, anyone can head down to the riverbank to make taffy candy in troughs of cold snow and share the various flavors with other families, or toboggan along winding, circuitous courses that range from easygoing to high-speed for the adrenaline junkies. The Town Square has a large, intricate ice sculpture set up, this year in the theme of a castle, that once entered proves to be a maze with a prize at the center for anyone who happens to make it through.

i. beach treats

The cabins that are set up all along both banks of the river are small and cozy, big enough to provide a comfortable lounging area with piles of pillows in front of a small fireplace where gift exchanges can happen, a kitchen to cook in, and a table for groups of people to share a meal at. Much like hotel rooms but without a fee, they're intended to be claimed at the start of the day and used for a while before being tidied and reset for the next group. Each cabin has a fire pit out front where a fire can be set up so groups of people can cook marshmallows for their hot chocolate and share stories or play music together.

Another major feature on the beach are the candy making areas, each big enough to accommodate a couple groups of people, featuring a bank of burners that keep various flavors of thick sugary syrup hot and ready. Once the syrup is at the right temperature, it can be drizzled into the snow packed in troughs to chill, and then rolled onto popsicle sticks to be eaten as a sweet chewy treat. Many families have their own particular flavor combos that are the go-to every year, and new families gather every year to start their own tradition.

ii. winter activities

After all that sugar, everyone's sure to be pepped up for a little activity! Every year, just before the big freeze, crews set up a grid of floating logs to calm the surface of the river along the banks, and when the temperature drops, those areas freeze into a thick layer of ice. As soon as they're safe to be skated on, booths pop up to fit residents with skates so they can skate around with loved ones, participate in ice dances, and play the ice skating version of almost any sport you can think of.

But skating isn't the only type of activity available! The sloping banks of the river have been set up with a variety of tobogganing courses, where people can share various types of sleds to slide down various set winding paths ranging from slow sloped ones to steeper, higher-speed ones that almost resemble bobsled courses.

Finally, for the more competitive, there is a less-gender-divided variation on a Lumberjack Competition, with various physical events that residents can compete in like sawing massive logs, logrolling, speed climbs, and boom runs.

iii. skygazing

After all that sugar and activity, lots of groups of family will settle down around fires either at the cabin or along the beach to enjoy a cup of spiked hot chocolate, coffee, or tea, and look up at the sky. Throughout the cold snap season in December, the sky is almost unnaturally clear and both the stars and the Capitol World are easy to see. Besides that, large swaths of the sky are bathed in beautiful aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, that paint large swaths of bright, beautiful color across the night sky. Curl up with a lover, a friend, a family member, or all of the above to keep warm and enjoy nature's fireworks show.

iv: ice maze

In the city center, residents can find a large, beautiful, intricately carved castle-themed ice sculpture. From the outside, it looks only about as big as a small house, but once residents enter they will find that the inside doesn't quite match the outside - courtesy of some of Gramarye Magic Research's top magic-users, the inside is massive, at least the size of a stadium. While cheery music plays, residents can traverse the complicated ice maze, each wall intricately carved and decorated with greenery, lights, and translucent watercolor paints. The walls are almost opaque, and the maze generally takes a couple of hours to get through for most residents.

Once they reach the center, they will find wrapped gifts arranged on a series of beautifully decorated tables, along with treats and warm drinks. The gifts are tailored to each individual in the maze, having been magically selected from a stockpile of items that have come through the portal, and consist of one small item from each character's home dimension (or, for CRAUs, from their previous game), similar to the "items from home" bonus reward, but without needing to spend points. The item should be small enough to fit in a shoebox, sentimental, and cannot be something intended for another person's character. Alternately, if there are no special items from home that a particular character would want or be attached to, an item of similar size and value that would make the character happy will be inside the box.

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 Hygge, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: Ryan Woodhouse; image ii: Hjalmar Wåhlin; image iii: David Fortin; image iv: Tzuyu Kao

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[that. That is a baby. Which definitely catches Chibita's attention right away, and he's wandering over closer, just in time to catch that last comment.] S'pretty nice. [he grins a bit, not yet inviting himself fully into Ivar's space, but hovering just a bit, reaching out to scratch his own cheek as he huffs a laugh] I've never seen this kinda thing, back home. I mean, it's there...but I've never been able t'see it b'fore.

It happens in Norway a lot during winter. Granted, winter tends to last six months, so we get quite the show for that time. One of the only good parts of the whole season.

[Ivar isn't all that fond of the season. Too much cold to feel comfortable and too much snow to wade through. Winter looks over at this new person, waving around one hand as she tries to catch another snowflake. Ivar proudly introduces her.]

This is my daughter Winter. Winter Istrid Regis Ivarsdottir.

[A long and slightly pretentious name, but at least her father liked it, and that's what was important.]

Six months? [Chibita glances at Ivar at that] That's a long winter.

[but hey he's being introduced to a child, so that's definitely going to take his attention. He grins, then] Yeah? S'nice name. [he'll consider that an invitation to come closer, then, and invite himself a little more into their space] One 'a the longer names I've heard! [he doesn't mean it as a criticism; far from it, in fact. His smile widens a bit as he watches Winter reach for another snowflake] How old is she?

Try moving through snow drifts taller than your head using nothing with your arms. Then it seems endless.

[He smiles as Winter turns to stare at Chibita. She seems to be focusing on his shiny bald head. She's pale, snow-white skin and hair that mark her as an albino.] Four months. And she gets cuter every day. [Winter reaches out a hand towards Chibita, but Ivar subtly shifts her to his other knee, so that she can't touch him. It's nothing to do with the oden salesman, he's just wary of Winter accidentally uses her powers. She's been a little bit ornery lately and he can never tell her moods.]

Ehhh? I dunno if I'd be able to get out of that. [Chibita does notice when Winter takes notice of him, and he brightens a bit...except then Ivar shifts her to the other knee. Huh. Chibita blinks, but...doesn't mention it. He doesn't see a reason to yet? Maybe he thinks Chibita doesn't like kids or something. But he dismisses that neatly, not really worried about it---instead more focused on that statement.] Ah...was she born here, then?

Yes. Right towards the beginning of August. [Ivar snugly slides Winter's mittens back onto her hands. It looks like he's just doing it because of the cold, but in truth, Winter's powers don't work through clothing. Much as he hates to admit it, sometimes Letha might have had a point about bundling their daughter up. Chibita will be safe from them now.] Would you like to hold her?

[And honestly, Chibita has zero reason to suspect a thing. But he does brighten considerably at the offer, practically beaming.] Sure--I'd love 'ta! [he takes a step forward, then, moving to sit down next to them, so he can take Winter properly]

[Winter isn't a wriggly baby like some are. She loves to be held, and entranced as she is by the snow, content as long as she can still try to catch the snowflakes. Occasionally, she babbles something softly in baby talk. Ivar looks about as proud a parent as he can be.]

This is her first snow. Kind of puts a little bit of wonder back in the season, even for me.

[omg she's so cute Chibita is utterly charmed by her. He is absolutely going to talk back to her when she babbles, asking things like 'ah, is that so?' and pointing out the snowflakes as they fall or the northern lights in the sky. He obviously really likes kids, and is pretty comfortable with Winter. He can't help but beam at Ivar.]

She seems to really like it! Or at least it's interestin' enough. [he grins, tilting his head down slightly to look at her.] Eh, Winter?

[Ivar is pleased that Chibita seems to get along so well with his child. A lot of people here aren't really hep to spending time with kids, especial small babies. He doesn't mind too much, but it makes it all the better when he finds someone who can appreciate Winter the same way he does.

For her part, Winter seems to babble in the affirmative when Chibita asks the question, making a small 'um-hmmm' sound.]

Stands to reason she'd like the season she was named after.

[Chibita laughs; a cackling 'keh, keh, keh!' when she responds to his inquiry.] I'd say it suits her perfectly! All'a that pretty snow n' celebration n' all that. [he bounces her on his knee just a little]

Though I gotta say that I get it, any special reason why ya picked winter?

[Winter seems to be a very content child right now, happy with all the attention and stimulation she's receiving. Ivar explains her name to Chibita.]

When I first saw her, I told her mother that she was as white as the winter snows of Kattegat, my home. The name just sort of stuck after that.

introductory mingle: HYGGE

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