riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: HYGGE

Entry tags:

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

navigation

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[As was expected, Ciel isn't allowed out an about without being warmly bundled up. So bundled up he is for the celebration and curiosity grabs hold of him at the ice castle and he heads inside...

Only to get hopelessly lost. It's hard enough having only one eye but he's also short and easily chilled, even while dressed warm, but it's still a maze. So it's only natural that the fourteen year old ends up turned around, wandering more than exploring, and not caring if he finds the exit or the center of it first anymore.]

[In his wanderings, he hasn't really cared where he ends up in this place, as cold as it is. With a thought, he could be right back outside of the castle and in the relative warmth of the city, or at least in a warmer environment than this. One turn more and he finds himself glad that he waited around.]

Well, look who it is.

[By the time Undertaker finds him, Ciel it holding his coat tight around himself and trying not to shiver, sticking to one wall in the hopes of finding the right path.]

Undertaker?

[Why is he not surprised to see him in the maze?]

[He sees those hands holding that coat tightly against Ciel's thin form and steps closer without invitation, slipping an arm around the Earl's shoulders.]

My lord. You're trembling. Isn't it cold in here?

[He welcomes the embrace, stepping just a little closer to Undertaker. There's no guarantee he'll be warmer but that's something Ciel is willing to risk.]

It's a b-bit cold. I was curious though. [Isn't that how he and his brother got into most of their trouble though?]

[Trembling and stuttering. That's not good. He hopes the boy remembered to bring his inhaler with him. He doesn't wait for Ciel's protests but removes his coat from about his shoulders and places it around the boy's, using it to draw him closer.]

It's ice, milord. Should I cheat and get you to the center of this place before you catch your death of cold?

[He never leaves it. A lecture from Undertaker, his father, and Beverly- that's the last thing he wants. And, oh, he's sure he'd get one from each of them.]

I wore a coat... [But it's colder than he could have prepared for. It's a harsh reminder of how carefully sheltered he'd been.] That wouldn't b-be fair to everyone else though.

[Good for him. He'd better not either or there will be fussing the like of which he has not seen.]

I know. Even I can see that, and even I can see you are still cold. Fair to them or not, they were not born with your constitution and I do worry about you. Besides, I've already walked the maze to the center and was just on my way back.

[The threat of those lectures and the fear of another asthma attack ensures he won't.]

We can leave if you want. [He has no objections and he's trying to keep his voice steady.] I don't mind either way, I've g-gotten so turned around.

[This is not an experience he plans on repeating. Not an ice maze, anyway.]

[Oh, those weren't threats. Those were guarantees.]

[He can hear the tremble in the boy as much as he can feel it. Poor git. Why'd he wander into a place like this anyway without dressing himself in no less than three comforters?]

There's a gift waiting for you in the center of the maze. I've been there once already and I can take you there right away if you'd like, then have you out safely. It's a bit warmer in the center of the room while you're there, but not much. Really though, I'm glad I found you and I'll be taking you out if you so much as look like you're going to be ill on me.

[Definitely not something he wants to test then.

Three comforters seemed excessive. And he hadn't expected the maze to be so difficult that he'd get lost and risk freezing.]

I suppose... so long as no one else will mind. [They might but Ciel, and Undertaker as well he assumes, won't actually care.]

I won't get sick. [There's a stubborn little huff. It's not that easy. Anymore... Usually.]

[Look at him be so concerned. He just grins and puts both arms around the boy.] Oh, stop with that, milord.

[He steps back and takes Ciel with him, and in that movement, they're no longer in halls of the maze, but off to the side in the center of it all.] Much as I would like to admire this place with you, I've a feeling your father will be quite cross with me if I allow you to fall ill again to it.

[Another stubborn little huff but then they're in the center of it. It's still a little disorienting to teleport but he'll get used to it.]

You told him I've been sick? [Betrayaaaaaaaaal!]

[He steps back, still watching Ciel, more than used to his own abilities by now, though he's concerned his companion may not be.]

Of course I told him. He needs to know of this world's medicines as much as you did at the time. If he needs it, he should have access to it, especially where you're concerned.

[It's not all about the asthma, he knows. So he quiets his tone ever so softly.] He knows your name, milord.

[He stays steady, and he doesn't look too bothered. It's still just a little odd for him.]

He'll worry more if he knows I've already been sick.

[It's hard to hold back a frown.] ... Of course he does. So do you but... nobody has called me it yet.

[They should practice. It can be a little disorienting at first. Goodness knows it was for him.]

It wasn't quite so bad for him when he learned how fast you had been cured of it. [And then that frown. Of course.] No, and why would those of us who know? You've made a name for yourself. We're not in a place where it matters so much, but you'd been so bothered by the thought that anyone here would know your real name isn't the one you gave them, I don't think I should change that.

[He wouldn't really complain.]

I don't want to be looked at differently because I lied about who I am, even if they don't know who Ciel is. [Even if, in the back of his mind, he knows it's silly to worry about it now.]

You do know I appreciate it though, I hope. Keeping my secret.

Really now, when did you ever want to be seen as anything other than what you want to be? [He puts a hand around the boy's shoulders and guides him over to the table where their gifts had been set out. There's bound to be one here for Ciel somewhere.]

It's all the same to me. I know you and that's what matters.

[He never cared before the attack. Afterwards though, he had to create a specific appearance for himself.

Ciel stays close to Undertaker's side where it's warmest, slowly moving out to the gifts to find one marked for him.]

You do know me. I'm glad.

[He did, indeed, and it would stay that way.]

Are you glad that I know you who you want to be, or you who you truly are?

A little of both, honestly.

[He doesn't have to pretend around Undertaker]

I can just... be me now, whoever that is. A little mix of who I was and who I am now.

[He hums and leans against a palm on the table.]

Sad, that it took separating you to a whole other world to accomplish that. You wear so many masks, you forget who you actually are underneath it all.

[Undertaker holds nothing back. Ciel doesn't flinch but he down frown a little, poking through the boxes on the table until he finds one marked for him.]

I have to though, don't I? Or, I did. Bit hard to take them all off now.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

introductory mingle: HYGGE

ice maaaaaaaaaze

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