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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Incredulously, ] In what world is that normal?

[ Like, definitely not this one. And definitely not on Earth. Like. This is not a normal thing. ]

What kinda accident has coughing up blood as a side effect, dude?

[ what kind of quack have you been seeing ]

[He sags a little, sheepish. But he tries not to sulk about the past.

(It's always a golden challenge, that...!)]

... A pretty bad one. Multiple surgeries and taking things out kind of bad.

[He makes a fist, determined.]

I've continued on so far; I don't see why one terrible event should slow me down anymore than it has! Push through the pain, keep striving forward -- as they say, plus ultra!

[ what is a plus ultra. That sounds important, but the phrase is lost on Peter, given the blank look on his face in response to it. ]

I mean, that’s a nice sentiment and all, but, like. You’re literally coughing up blood.

[ Not to put too fine a point on it. ]

I'd prefer to cough up justice and rainbows, but it's not particularly up to me.

[He rubs the back of his neck -- with a dash of shame in his expression. Because really, if he'd been strong enough... focused enough... If he hadn't let his emotions hamper his ability, he perhaps could have faced All for One without getting this terrible, nearly fatal injury. As his regular form, right now, in this moment...? He is a walking symbol of his defeat. An embarrassing weakness, in the shape of a man who clearly is too frail for it to be remotely healthy.

His sunken gaze follows a pillbug on the ground. More seriously:]

I'm going on six years now -- and I'm still pulling myself up from rock bottom, I suppose. But I'm still clawing on. [A firm nod, a concentrated brow.] So don't you waste a moment concerned over it.

[He huffs. Alright, alright, no more serious health junk!]

You should be more focused on enjoying yourself.

Have you been to the ice maze yet?

[ Peter’s about to point out – rather reasonably, he thinks – that coughing up anything is probably a poor plan, but with the way the guy’s expression darkens, Peter wisely keeps his mouth shut.

... Yeah, okay, there’s more to this than he thinks, and maybe someone else might pry, might try to dig that story out of him, but Peter’s learned well enough from living with the Ravagers, from living with his current team, to know that some baggage is filled with landmines, and one poorly placed step might end disastrously.

So when Yagi changes the subject, Peter wastes one more second to cast him a concerned look before he lets out a breath. ]

Not yet. I mean, I kind of have a low tolerance as it is for getting lost. Been trying to mentally prep myself before I enter into it willingly, you know?

Oh, yes. I'd go in there with survival gear!

... Just in case.

[omfg Toshinori don't make it sound so terrible]

That is, it's heavily imbued with magic, I believe.

Even if you look over the wall, you can't see where the correct paths are.

... Survival gear.

[ And he repeats it back with skepticism, if not a little amusement.

He doubts it's that serious. Like, it's probably just one of those corn mazes that he remembers as a kid. They probably don't want a Shining situation, with a body frozen somewhere within the labyrinth.

It probably wouldn't go over very well. ]

You've gone already, then?

Survival gear.

[Is he teasing, or being serious? We'll never know.]

And I have! I was rewarded at the end, too; turns out, there are personalized things for whoever gets it to the end. It sure makes it all worthwhile, don't you think?

[ That makes him frown, actually. ]

So— does that mean they know who’s gonna go through the maze in advance?

[ Because how else would they have personalized gifts?

that is... a little creepy... ]

Aaaaa, that is a little concerning, isn't it...

I'd figured it had something to do with the whole place being composed of magic...

You don't think there's something sinister behind it, do you?

[ He pauses for a second, thoughtful, then, ]

... Probably not?

[ It's weird, he thinks, but— yeah. This place is, like, filthy with magic. So maybe it shouldn't be too surprising that some clairvoyant person at their magic college or whatever decided to use their abilities for gift-giving.

And all things considered, that was a pretty mild way to use a power like that. "Hey, you made it through our maze. Here's a commemorative t-shirt." ]

What'd you get?

[He makes a strong fist, as if he's about to tell Peter something truly inspiring that he'd received--]

A cool superhero apron!

[--yep, that's the cool thing. Yep.]

[ He waits! This is gonna be good.

— oh. Did I say good? I meant. Really disappointing. ]

... An apron.

[ Echoed back flatly.

... is that... all........ . . . ]

Yes!! A really nice one!

I use it when I make my boxed lunches.

[He seems super stoked about this. What an old dadmom.]

[ ... that would be cute, Peter guesses, except it's.

Still an apron. ]

Does it have, like, a cool logo on it?

Oh, of course it does! At least, I think so.

I mean, it's more -- they're my favorite colors!

[See, that's honest; his superhero colors are all ones he picked from his own heart!]

Besides, sometimes the most seemingly mundane things to others are what we cherish most.

[ ... That stops him up short.

There's an old, well-loved Walkman clipped to his belt, at the moment, and his hand unconsciously goes to it, though it's hidden beneath his coat. It had been destroyed, a while ago, completely unrecoverable.

And then it turned up, completely out of the blue. Spat out by the weird portal that had drawn everyone else here, along with an old, familiar box, wrapped in polka-dotted paper.) ]

Yeah.

[ And the delivery is softer, far less skeptical. ]

I get that.

[After a moment, a grin draws across his lithe face.]

Does that mean you're going to try your hand at the maze?

I bet it has something for you in there you'd like.

[ You know, that grin that Yagi's wearing looks a little too smug for Peter's tastes, and just for that, Peter levels an unimpressed look his way. ]

I guess I'm considering it, sure. Doesn't mean I'll do it, but...

Oh, come on! Where's your sense of adventure?

[He huffs a laugh, good-natured and bold for someone who certainly doesn't fit the role of adventurer.]

I'll join you in your quest if you're apprehensive, Star Lord!

[ Peter can't help but huff out a laugh, casting Yagi a skeptical sort of look. ]

Shouldn't you be heading inside to warm up or something?

[He wrinkles his nose at that.]

Let me guess - I look like I have one foot in a grave as it is and I'd probably freeze into snow jerky?

[ There’s a long, telling pause as Peter looks over at Yagi. His expression, at least, is carefully impassive.

Then, he breathes out a disbelieving sort of laugh. ]

... Noooo. No one’s saying that. Who’s saying that? I’m not.

[ But he’s thinking it, definitely. ]

[He can't help but laugh aloud, hand curling over his side. Really, it's not funny in the grand scheme of things -- the slow dissolve of his career, the miserable medical issues that followed, the anxious or rude stares -- but also... it can be a little funny. Like right now.]

Don't worry, Star Lord, people usually make it abundantly clear no matter what universe I'm standing in. But...! I'm more durable than I look, I assure you. [He rubs a hand through his hair.] The last five years has been wholly devoted to relearning my limits.

[Whether or not he abides by the limits all the time... is a different story.

The symbol of peace doesn't rest because of some awful injury.

... Sure Peter doesn't know any of that but whatever.]

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject