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

[Bucky has been drawn by the beauty of the Northern Lights. It's not the first time he's seen them, but they never get old. He's skirting around the edges of the people watching, he's not here with anyone and he doesn't intend to interact with anyone... not until he sees a familiar profile.

For a second he thinks he must be hallucinating, but the vision of Steve doesn't disappear even when he keeps staring. He's torn between whether to be angry, relieved, or wary; in the end, he settles on feeling a mix of all three.]

You're back.

[Quiet words from behind Steve, Bucky keeping more than arm's length distance in case this goes south.]

[He's startled by the words, and then surprised by his own preoccupation that had allowed someone to slip behind him without notice. His body tenses, but only for the moment it takes to recognize the voice, and then he relaxes again. Turning, his eyes sweep up and down the other man, as if seeing him for the first time.

He's immediately glad for the information Sam had given him. It kept him from moving forward and enveloping Bucky into a hug. He's not sure that this Bucky, from a time behind his, would be ready for that. It also makes the words he speaks understandable. This will be the first of many awkward conversations in his future, probably.]

So I've heard. I don't remember being here before. [If anyone can understand the awkward position this puts him in, it would be Bucky.] Anything I should know?

[He's not the first person that Bucky has come across that's gone, come back, and forgotten everything. He's honestly not sure if that's a boon or a problem, maybe it just means he gets a second chance to do things right.]

Pretty sure there are others here who can fill you in better than I can. Last you were here, we didn't talk much.

[Once or twice, mainly after Bucky got himself ridiculously injured.]

[He's not surprised to hear that they hadn't spoken much the last time he was here, but that doesn't stop the knowledge from aching just a little. Bucky had been the one person he could talk to about anything, tell him anything. Relying on someone else for that feels wrong somehow. But he nods.]

Sam has brought me up to speed about some things. He said you'd been taken from a little before our time. A couple of months after D.C.?

[He wants so badly to ask him what he's remembered, if anything. But now isn't the right time.]

Edited 2017-12-12 21:02 (UTC)

Yeah.

[So this is the same Steve, same point in time, just no memories. It's at least less of a shock now that he's had time to absorb it a little bit.]

You've got a year or two on me, or so I hear. Some of your friends have told me what happens, and I don't want to hear any more. But we do have some stuff I need to talk to you about.

[It's a bit hard to swallow, wanting to know how much Bucky has been told, but knowing that the man clearly does not want to have that conversation. Steve isn't sure he'd know where to start anyways.]

Okay. [He nods. There's so much they need to talk about that he's curious which things exactly Bucky means.] You want to do this here?

No.

[He can take Steve to one of his bolt holes. If everything goes wrong, he can always abandon it and find a new one.]

You can follow me to where I'm staying at the moment.

[He nods again. Somehow he doesn't think wherever they're going is going to be one of the communal houses or other type of housing offered to new arrivals. That wouldn't be Bucky's style. He tosses his cup of hot chocolate away in whatever trash disposal is nearby.]

After you.

[Steve would be right.

Bucky leads him out past the guard towers where the perimeter guard keep watch over the city, and out beyond into the abandoned houses where monsters are more likely to crop up. It's not safe to stay out here, and there's no amenities, but he feels less trapped if he does.

Eventually he comes to a stop at a half ruined building. There's a sleeping bag in one corner, a gramophone, two records, and a backpack that's full, but closed off so that nobody can see what's inside.]

Wipe your feet.

[It's the barest hint of dry humour as he heads in and takes a seat on the floor.]

[The expression in his face is something akin to pain as he takes in the ruined building and the way Bucky's meager possessions are set aside. It's clearly the closest thing to settled in that the man will allow for himself.

He stays standing over the threshold just long enough to make the pause uncomfortable before following Bucky completely inside and taking a seat across from him on the ground.

He swallows.]

Ah...nice place you've got here.

[He snorts, a hollow huff of amusement, and raises an eyebrow.]

No, it's not. It's a ruined building, Steve, even you can't be polite enough to think this is a nice place. But it's secure, it's good enough.

[This is so surreal, sitting opposite him like this.]

I'm not sure how to start this.

It could use a few touch-ups. [Or to be ripped down completely and re-started. He already doesn't like the fact that Bucky is living on the outskirts, where he loses the protection of the guard, but he knows that's not a fight he can win. But making some suggestions about making the place more livable...maybe.]

Just say whatever it is you need to say.

[Bucky's hesitation is making him a little nervous but he keeps his expression carefully blank.]

[Easier said than done. He just sits in silence for a few moments, before deciding that he's not going to magically find the right words, so he might as well say the wrong ones and hope his point comes across anyway.]

I didn't speak to you much last time you were here. I still don't remember a lot of what you want me to, and it's harder to figure things out when you're about. But I know you're important-- to me, in general-- I regretted it when you were gone. Not talking to you more. So-- I want to try that this time.

[It's not really a surprise to hear that Bucky had been avoiding him the last time he was here. He'd had to hunt him down and proceed to chase him through an apartment building for a conversation not too long ago. And by then Bucky had had a substantial amount more of his memories presumably.

He nods slowly.]

I'm glad to hear it. I know it might seem like a lot to deal with, having me around, but I'm willing to take what I can get until you figure it all out. I just want to help you, however I can.

[He swallows.] Maybe you can tell me what would be too much for you at this point? Should I steer clear of mentioning anything about the past? Are there things you'd rather I avoid? [The whole Accords and Bucky Manhunt seem like topics to avoid if his response to them earlier is anything to judge by.]

[He ought to have expected Steve to be as understanding as this, but it still makes him want to shake the other man a little bit.]

The past is fine, just not the future.

[He's heard enough about what he can expect from his future if he goes back through the portals, and it's something he's pretty conflicted about.]

I don't know, Steve, I'm kinda flying blind here.

Done.

[There's not much to say about the future that he probably hasn't already heard. They had just started finding their way to a good place when Bucky had to undergo cryo-sleep again. Steve doesn't want to think about that.]

Okay. We can just take it a day at a time. If anything comes up that you'd rather avoid, just let me know and it'll be off the table. On the other hand, if there's anything you want to know, any questions you want answered, I'll tell you whatever I can.

I can't give you the same, Steve.

[There's a lot of questions that he just can't answer if he's asked them, or he won't answer because he's sure that it'll hurt more to know than to not know.]

But-- thanks.

[It does make it easier.]

I'm guessing you've seen the others here already?

[To be honest, he's not sure he would ask even if Bucky could answer. He has experience now that answers only lead to more pain. Just as he can't bring himself to think about Howard.]

I know that. And...it's okay.

A few of them. Sam, Tony, Loki. I've been told there are more of us here and I assume I'll run into them eventually.

Stark might tell you that we've run into each other a few times.

[More than he has with any of the others, at least, even if that seems like an odd point of contact for him.]

He's fixed my arm up.

[His eyebrows raise in surprise.]

He's mentioned you've spoken. But he didn't mention that.

[He doesn't want to think how hard that must have been for Tony. But he can't help but feel glad. Relieved.]

I like him.

[Steve probably isn't expecting him to say that, so baldly and bluntly.]

He's a good man.

[He's definitely not expecting that.]

He is.

[Which is what makes the strain on their relationship now so painful. If Tony was actually the man he had first thought he was then this wouldn't be so hard.]

I'm glad you two can...talk.

You mean because of what I did to his folks?

[No need to tiptoe around the elephant in the room, Steve.]

[He looks away, barely able to conceal a wince. He doesn't blame Bucky for that. For any of it. But that doesn't mean he doesn't blame himself for the way Tony had to find out.]

...Yeah. [His voice is rough, like he has to force the words out.]

He was ready to kill you the last time you were both in a room together.

So I've heard.

[He's not proud of what he did, and he knows Stark has every right to hate him, but it's been oddly nice getting to know the man.]

Seems like he's got past that.

introductory mingle: HYGGE

iii

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

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)