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

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[As the days have gotten shorter and the air colder, Dorian has started to, more and more, once again miss his homeland where the humidity never fell, and it rained but never snowed. Before he'd left Tevinter, he'd never even seen snow. Now, after the time he's spent with the Inquisition, he's had to trapse through it and bloody well trying to fight in it. Here, though, here? They believe in things like warm clothing, interior heating. He's quickly begun to embrace a more modern wardrobe, and while he's never been partial to hats as they tend to mess his hair, this one is welcome.

He's also learned that coffee is one of the greatest of the Maker's creations, so as he makes his way, quite carefully, through the slippery snow to a place to watch the big burly men do big burly men things in the snow and somehow tolerate working up a sweat in this weather, he clutches a steaming cup of paper and takes a seat near enough to Cisco for him to notice it's his technology friend, and someone he's been interested in 'talking' with for a while now.]

Ah, Cisco. Happy, ah, Hygge, was it? [And he waves with a leather-gloved hand before returning it to his coffee.] Why is it, do you think, that the natives of the Quarantine enjoy so many holidays out of doors? The summer is well enough, but this? [He sighs and leaves off further comment.] Does the cold not bother them? Truly?

[ Cisco turns automatically to see who has sat near him, assuming it was a stranger, ready to give a pleasant but wordless smile of hello - when he recognizes Dorian, he gives a small start, but the smile that spreads across his face is warm and genuine. He's not seen the man since the blind date with Magnus (and the outrageous restaurant bill that followed it). He's pleased, at least, that Dorian doesn't seem angry with him over that situation. Cisco had been rather worried that that would have been a deal-breaker, in terms of every becoming friends with Dorian. ]

I've got no clue. They must be immune to it or something. I mean I'm all for a winter wonderland, but, like, for an hour, not a month.

[ Cisco's distaste for the cold should be somewhat obvious from how much he has bundled himself up. His solution to the snow and chill is to bury himself in scarves and mittens and blankets and then not move. It's been working well enough thus far. ]

At least the view's nice.

[ And he jerks his head to the side, slightly, indicating the lumberjack games. ]

An hour is pushing it.

[Dorian's lip curls in a smirk, but there's an edge to his gaze that suggests it's more than just a joke. Granted, the Quarantine had nothing on Emprise du Lion, a region of Thedas so cold it made one willing to stand near to tainted lyrium, a deadly poison, just to keep warm. Granted, he'd also seemed like the only person with a problem with that place also, but none of them were here to protest or tease him for his discomfort.

That being said, Cisco had a point and he nodded appreciatively as he turned his gaze out to the field. It was strange, being so open about it. In Tevinter, such relations weren't frowned upon...unless you were the heir apparent and only living son of one of the most powerful houses in the Senate, were expected to marry and breed, and refused to play along and spend your life screaming on the inside. It was an imperfection for such scions, and imperfections were not to be tolerated. Here, it was cold, he was depressingly far from home and the exceedingly few friends he'd made there...but he was free. It was, at times, a small comfort, but a comfort nonetheless.]

It is, at that, though, [And, his smirk returning, Dorian looked back to Cisco slyly.] I'm surprised to find you alone. Did playing matchmaker finally sour on your tongue?

[ Cisco laughs at that, nodding like he can't argue with Dorian on that point. Nice to be around someone who has the same aversion to the cold that he does. He might not know the context (all he'd really picked up about Dorian's world, in their brief chats while Cisco taught him to operate his phone, was that there was magic but not technology). Nice to talk to Dorian in general, though perhaps he should have been expecting it, when he makes a little comment about the whole blind date thing. He reaches up, tucking his hair behind his ears, a characteristic nervous gesture, as he admits: ]

Uh- yeah, I've... been meaning to say sorry, about that. I thought it was a good idea and I got a bit carried away. Probably should've checked with you first and all, and not, um. Tricked you. So... sorry.

[ He offers Dorian a small, but thoroughly apologetic smile. ]

[Dorian does a very good job of smirking while taking a sip from his coffee, enjoying the heat against his lips, the steam against his face, before moving the cup away again, casting his olive eyes in Cisco's direction, an eyebrow raised questioningly.]

Are you apologizing for the deception or forcing me to spend an evening with Magnus?

[He keeps his tone even as he poses the question, not giving anything away about whether or not he'd enjoyed himself, aside from raising quite a tab for Cisco to pay off.]

You know, it's almost novel. In my homeland, such deceptions are typically a lot more deadly. This one was only...momentarily awkward. Do you really pity him so?

[If so, it was almost sweet.

Almost. Ah, well. Magnus hadn't seemed to have minded, and Dorian had rather enjoyed himself. Cisco didn't need to know that straight off, though.] And why would you think we would get on simply because we both come from worlds where magic is the norm?

[He pauses for just a moment.]

It isn't really, not in the way one would assume.

[ Dorian isn't giving much away, but Cisco figures that he must at least have enjoyed himself more than Angela had, by virtue of the fact that he hadn't come barging into the workshop yelling about how Cisco would pay for his crimes. Apart from that, well. Cisco had overstepped enough setting up the date in the first place. He doesn't need to compound that now by being too nosy about it. Or else Dorian really might get angry. ]

The deception. Magnus is awesome, I'd never apologize for him.

[ When Dorian says it's novel, compared to the dangerousness of his homeland, Cisco looks up at him quickly. It's not unusual, that he gets to know people from places that are decidedly more violent and frightening than here. But it's still always a shock, to hear people who speak so casually about how tenuous their lives were back home. Cisco had faced dangers, sure, being a member of Team Flash, but he'd never gotten to the point where he was blasé about it. ]

Damn, for real? That's pretty intense. Bit late for it, but... I promise I'm not, like, a deadly guy. Generally speaking.

[ The question about whether he pities Magnus is a little more complicated to answer; Cisco shakes his head right away, but then takes a moment or two to actually find the right words. ]

I don't pity him. I could just... tell he was lonely, and trying to hide it. I wanted to help.

[ The distinction is a subtle one, but, Cisco thinks, important. Pity implied a kind of condescension, a sense that Magnus was pathetic and helpless and in need of someone to do things for him. It hadn't been like that. ]

That wasn't the only reason. I mean... it was one of 'em, sure. But when I saw showing you how to use your phone, you were nice. Friendly, charming, you know. That sort of thing. I don't know, it was kinda just- just gut instinct, you know?

[ That last part gives Cisco pause, and he asks: ]

Magic's not the norm, you mean?

Well, he and I haven't really been well enough acquainted for me to quantify a judgment, so I'll have to trust you. Mind, I am not the trusting sort.

[That being said, though, Dorian doesn't think much of it, and waves away any sort of doubt Cisco may have.] But yes, I'd much rather be tricked into free dinner than, "Please, sir, right this way. Yes, through the darkened alley. I promise there are no Magekillers waiting on the other side!"

[He chuckles, shaking his head.] I've gathered, Cisco. At this point, if you were of a mind to kill me, I'd have already set you on fire.

[He didn't want to talk about himself. Well, that was a lie. Dorian always loved to talk about himself, so long as the topics were restricted to how attractive, brilliant, charming, witty, and awesome he was. When it came to things like feelings? Feeling left you shuddering, lost in a desert in the the middle of no where with naught, even a light, to guide you.]

And for some reason, you believed I could alleviate his loneliness? You must think quite highly of me.

[And enough of that. He cleared his throat and nodded.] And no, not as one would think. You meet a mage from Tevinter, me for instance, and you can be lead to believe everyone is a mage, capable of tapping into the primal elements of creation...because we've spent hundreds of years carefully breeding to distill the perfect magical traits. Most of the magic-carrying families are in some sort of power, depending on how well one can trace their pedigree.

I the majority of Thedas, mages are a distinct minority. The Chantry teaches "Magic should serve man, never rule over him." In Tevinter you can see we interpret that tenet very differently. The south believes no mage should hold any position of power, that he should be cloistered away to protect both himself and others from his power. [He raises a hand.] Yes, magic is dangerous. Yes it attracts the attention of demons and wanton abandon but-

[And he scoffs, shaking his head at himself.] ...I digress. You weren't interested in theology. Suffice to say that while in my homeland we nurture the bloodlines found to hold magic, but everywhere else, it is intensely avoided, which, by nature, would make us rare.

[ Cisco's not exactly the trusting sort, either - but that paranoia is relatively new to him, and also not something he discusses willingly. It's interesting to him, how openly Dorian talks about the dangers of his home, and how far he's willing to go to protect himself. The way he says Magekiller makes it sound like that's a thing, which is alarming in and of itself.

When Dorian remarks that Cisco must've thought highly of him, to set him up on a date with Magnus, Cisco responds, simply yet truthfully: ]

I do. I mean- I don't know you all that well, obviously, but... I figured it was worth a shot.

[ He hadn't been exaggerating, when he said he had a gut instinct about Dorian. Of course, his intuition has been wrong about people before, but that's beside the point.

Cisco listens quietly while Dorian explains about magic in his world. Most of his knowledge of magic is, after all, specific to the realm that Taako and Lup and Lucretia come from. He is used to the rules that they had explained to him. Rules that, evidently, don't hold true for Dorian's world. His eyes widen slightly when Dorian mentions demons, but he doesn't interrupt, waiting for a natural pause in the flow of conversation before he speaks. ]

So where you come from, magical ability is hereditary, and in your, um, country... or region or whatever, it's a good thing, but elsewhere, mages are kinda outcasts?

[ He's not even gonna bring up the whole 'breeding' bit for now because, as far as Cisco's concerned, that sounds like it could get into some pretty creepy eugenics-y territory, but he doesn't want to say something that'll be offensive to Dorian, if indeed that was the culture he was raised in. ]

[Typically, Dorian is one to make light of situations that bother him. If he's speaking seriously, it's not typically something that's plaguing his mind. He knows the more serious something is the more flippant he comes across. He likes it that way. If someone thinks something doesn't bother you, they can't use it against you in the event you've ever captured.

At Cisco's explanation, Dorian chuckles, shaking his head.] Naturally. I do make quite a good first impression.

Country, and yes, though many of my countrymen also feel as though that gives them power over others, that they should rule because of the power granted them. I...disagree, which of course, makes me a social pariah, but I'd rather be a pariah than a dictator. That is, after all, how the interpret Andraste's words, "Magic was made to serve man, never to rule over him." Mages in the Imperium believe ruling is seeing that magic is serving man. Nevermind those of non-mage blood have no voice. We're helping, you see. [The last was laced with a bit of venom before he shook his head again.] And, well...in other lands, I wouldn't say mages are outcasts so much as...social stigma. Because our powers attract the attention of demon beyond the Veil, we're seen as vulnerable to possession...which we are, but we're also seen as morally weak and incapable of resisting temptation...which some are, but that's really an individual flaw, rather than a weakness of blood, if you follow.

Yeah, not gonna lie, pariah's way better than dictator in my book, too.

[ Cisco chews at his bottom lip, going quiet for a few moments as he thinks about home. He wonders if, someday, things will progress to a point where there are metas who feel the way magic-users do in Dorian's country. Will there be metas who think of themselves as superior, who instead of hiding what they can do, use it to try to rule? What would that mean for the metas who just wanted to live an ordinary life? For all the people without powers in the city? It's a fairly chilling thought; he's glad that he'll probably never know the answer. ]

I get you. It's kinda like that, where I'm from, with metahumans - not the part about demons, obviously, but the stigma bit. Most people have only heard of metas from the news... the ones that are using their powers to kill people and rob banks and stuff, so I think a lot of folks assume, you know, except for the Flash, most metas are criminals, when it's really just those individual people who were bad before and getting powers didn't change anything.

[ It's not a perfect equivalent, but it is the frame of reference that Cisco has, for understanding what Dorian's saying about his own world. Cisco looks over at Dorian curiously - it's clear from his tone that he doesn't agree with his countrymen about mages having some kind of weird obligation to rule (i.e. subjugate, it sounds like) normal people. But it also sounds like he doesn't agree with how mages are treated other places, either. ]

Sounds like there's kinda no good options, if you're a mage...

[ Which, Cisco thinks on reflection, maybe isn't all that surprising. Dorian had ended up here, after all. A lot of people here come from places where they didn't belong. Where they felt displaced or isolated or as if they just wanted to be anywhere else. ]

[Dorian placed a hand over his heart, smiling charmingly if a little self-deprecatingly.]

Precisely. I rather enjoy being an oddity. I think it adds to my charm.

[The term Cisco threw around, this "metahuman" wasn't known to him, but he could puzzle out it's meaning. He'd had experience, since coming here, with the "news", and knew what it was capable of, which was saying a lot. He frowned, looking over at the younger man, his expression actually serious for once.]

You speak as though you've experienced something similar.

[ Cisco laughs, and there is just a touch of nervousness to it; he rubs a hand against the back of his neck. He hadn't thought he was being quite that obvious. Perhaps Dorian is more observant than the average person... ]

I mean... I've been an oddity pretty much my whole life, for a bunch of reasons. It's complicated.

[ Cisco is having a good time chatting to Dorian, as the two of them sip at hot drinks and enjoy watching the lumberjack competition, and he really doesn't want to derail that by attempting some kind of half-hearted explanation of shit like machismo and racism and all the various other heaps of bullshit that had always made him different. And as much as he'd been telling the truth about getting a good vibe off Dorian, he's not going to fess up to being a metahuman. ]

But that's kinda the great thing about this place. There's no, like, consensus. Everybody's so different, and we're all from such different places, that it's just a great big city full of outsiders.

[ It's one of Cisco's smoother redirects; he never actually lies about being a meta, just... steers the conversation a little to the left. ]

[Dorian can tell whatever topic they've nearly breached in a sensitive one, which makes sense. If it's anything like being born a mage in Thedas, it's rather delicate indeed. Even in his homeland, there is a hot debate (on which side his opinion is the distinct minority) as to whether or not mages should be policed lest they run amok (as they so often do). Elsewhere, to be born a mage is to be spat upon by the Maker himself, cursed with weakness, fragility, and corruptibility from which you should be protected and from which others should be protected. You're stripped of your rank, taken from your family. Some are taken at so young an age, the Tower, with its lofty windows and locked doors guarded by steel-clad trained Templars wielding the "Maker's Will" are all they know.

That being said, he also doesn't know Cisco well enough to pry, nor is he one to willingly speak at length on feelings. They're all too complicated, typically painful, and are often altogether unneeded in pleasant conversation, which, to spite the damnedable cold, this was.]

Well, [He began, smiling.] Oddity looks very good on you, Cisco. You wear it well. [He rolls his shoulder in a slight shrug, raising his chin a bit in prideful swagger, sitting or no.] It's only proper. Become a pariah of your own accord, be brilliant, be perfect and none can ever use them against you.

[He gives a look around at those competing below, native and foreign, toward the fires casting smoke clouds into the sky, to the sounds of friends laughing, and nods.] Yes. It does have a certain charm, doesn't it?

[ When Dorian tells him that oddity becomes him, Cisco's first response is to laugh, a touch of surprise in it, ducking his head forward as if to hide his smile. There's a certain bashfulness to it, a genuine disbelief, as if he's not much used to compliments. But then, he sits up a little straighter, chin lifting, eyes bright. ]

Why thank you.

[ What Dorian says about choosing to be a pariah all sounds familiar - he might not have phrased it like that, himself, but that was pretty much what Cisco had decided about his own life. And then he thinks, maybe he can share a little of that, without dragging the conversation down too much. ]

Dude. My thoughts exactly. When I left home for college - for school - I thought, you know. I'd finally be somewhere that I actually fit in, you know? But I was so wrong. I just stood out in a bunch of new ways. So then I decided, like, fuck it. I'm just gonna do what I want, wear what I want, speak how I want, date who I want, not hide who I was, and if nobody accepted me... it didn't really matter, 'cause you can't lose something you never had, anyway.

[ Cisco is aware of how that sounds, that a different listener might go all sympathetic and overbearing, with questions and pitying eyes. But he doesn't think Dorian will. That's not the impression he gets of the guy, at all. ]

[Dorian smiles. He's learned quite a bit of Cisco, and Dorian doesn't often learn from anyone. He's well deserving of a bit of personal pride, but that smile turns bittersweet as Cisco explains. It's almost like speaking to a younger version of himself. He'd been the perfect son, the perfect heir...except he refused to live a lie, to marry a woman he detested and pretend to be something he wasn't for the rest of his life. His father had been so proud, but when Dorian expressed no interest in continuing the family legacy...it was unforgivable. He'd rebelled quietly at first, but had been an inebriated embarrassment, often of purpose, at every turn, had been expelled from three elite academies for conduct, he'd finally run away when his father had decided using forbidden magic to make him...compliant was acceptable. He understood Cisco's reluctance as well. It good bravery to do the things he'd done, to be who you wanted to be rather than what was expected...but it also took sacrifice and a resolve to loneliness. It gave him an understanding of Cisco's distance.]

Bravo. Damn them who treat you poorly for being who you are. It's out of envy, you know. They loathe you for having the courage they lack. You and I, we choose not to live a lie, lest it festers and poisons us. They sneer and spit their venom because it's eating them alive.

[ That surprises a small laugh out of Cisco - one with just a hint of bitterness behind it. He raises his eyebrows, laying a hand against his chest in a gesture of feigned surprise, and jokes: ]

Oh, so you've met my brother, then?

[ It had blown Cisco's mind, when Dante claimed the reason he'd always treated Cisco the way he did was out of jealousy. How could Dante be jealous of him, after all? When all their lives, their parents had poured all their love and attention on him, and used Cisco as the scapegoat for anything and everything that went wrong. No matter how obvious Dante's flaws and mistakes, no matter how remarkable Cisco's achievements, Dante had always been perfect, and Cisco had always been a problem. Cisco had assumed Dante bullying him was just him internalizing all of that, and doing everything he could to make sure their roles never switched.

But now, looking back, Cisco thinks perhaps there was some envy, too, once they were adults. He had gotten free, had carved a life for himself, had succeeded even without help. And Dante had never been brave enough to chase his own dreams, despite all the support he'd been given.

Cisco shakes his head, trying to push away those thoughts and the lingering uncertainty and sadness that inevitably followed them. None of it mattered, anyway. He was never going back. Dante would figure out life on his own, or he wouldn't. It was up to him, at this point. But Cisco doesn't much feel like talking about him to Dorian right now, despite the joke, so he switches the subject, making some appreciative remark about the new guy stepping up to participate in the lumberjack challenge currently underway. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

introductory mingle: HYGGE

ii. winter ativities

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