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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[ Luckily Jim always enjoys a good tale, no matter how horrible or inappropriate. And someone who's at least a few thousand years old is bound to have plenty of good stories to tell. ]

Sure. Hit me. [ He taps the guitar settled on his crossed legs. ] Trade you for a song later?

[ Loki shoots him a dubious look. ]

You sing?

Yes. I'm a little rusty with the guitar, though, fair warning.

[ Oh Loki, you should've seen him going wild on that karaoke stage. ]

[ Despite himself, Loki's lips curve upwardly. ]

That will be a sight to remember. Very well, a story for a song.

[ Pursing his lips, he flicks his fingers at the flames. They curl and rise, dancing flames in the night. ]

The fire dancers of Roth.

[ He offers a lopsided smile. Loki can even record it, if he'd like. Jim evidently isn't the kind to be easily embarrassed.

For now he lets the guitar rest on his lap, eyes flickering to the flames. Special effects and everything, huh. He settles in quietly, giving Loki his full attention. ]

The theory of the universe is mixed. On Asgard, we divide what we know into Realms. But realms are not necessarily singular planets, but thousands of galaxies stretched along the roots of Yggdrasil, the great connector.

[ His voice has a velvet cadence to it, a melodic quality. Loki is Silvertongue and story-telling is what he does best. ]

Along the fire plains live the dancers of Roth. Wild, untamed creatures that stoked the fire pits. They could not be touched, could not be held. Fire and Ice of the stars have a way of burning through all things.

They were the opposites of the frost giants.

[ Yggrasil is at least one word Jim recognizes, as little as he knows about Norse mythology. Well, at least compared to a lot of experts out there. He's also come to learn that there's a lot he thought he knew that isn't exactly true. ]

You ever met them? [ Jim's not sure if Loki would rather he stay silent, but he speaks up anyway, eyes still on the flames. ]

Long ago. During the Wild Hunt, their borders are open to others. You are allowed to dance, but never to touch.

[ The flames flicker to show other people twirling around the fire dancers. ]

[ Jim smiles while watching the flames dance. It's pretty, and a delight to see how Loki controls the fire so easily. He falls silent again, waiting for Loki to continue his story. ]

The Fire Dancers stoked the pits of Muspell. They brought fire and heat to the world, making it burn brightly to ward all strangers away. It was said those who stepped on Muspelheim would burst into flames just to be in the vicinity of a Fire Dancer.

But their true purpose was to guard the Eternal Flame. A power that never wanes, never fades. All who know of its existence seek to behold it, to keep it.

[ Jim's eyes are alight with curiosity, watching the fire and Loki both. ]

What's the Eternal Flame? Why does everyone want it?

[ He pauses in his story, his cadence shifting slightly. ]

It is limitless. Beyond all other powers. My sister used it to revive the dead.

Your sister? [ The first name to cross his mind is Angela, but hell if he knows. It's not so unlikely that he has other siblings. ]

Hela. The Goddess of Death.

[ His fingers twist and the flames conjure a tall woman with an imposing horned helmet on her head. The figure twirls her swords before vanishing. ]

Ah. Very... ominous.

[ She certainly looks imposing. Then again Jim feels that may as well be true for most Asgardians. He has no doubt she makes for a very intimidating presence. ]

Didn't know you had a sister. Aside from Angela, that is.

[ A sallow grin flickers on Loki's face. ]

Neither did I. Our father was adept at hiding his dirty secrets.

[ Jim almost says that Loki takes after his father in that aspect. Well, maybe not 'dirty' secrets exactly, but he does strike Jim as a very secretive type. ]

So, no fun family reunion.

Not unless you count murder as fun.

Angela is not my sister of my world.

[ Merely the sister of his heart. ]

It's not at the top of my list of Sunday afternoon activities, no.

[ As if Jim ever has Sundays off, anyway. Please. ]

Well, you never know. If your father's so good at keeping secrets... [ He shrugs. ]

[ He snorts lightly. ]

I think even two unknown siblings might be a stretch.

[ Jim's lips quirk into an amused smile. ]

Really, two unknown siblings? That's where Asgardians draw the line?

It's where I would draw the line, at least. If my father had that many secret offspring, then it's baffling why he adopted me to begin with.

[ Jim's lips curl, and he lets out a faint chuckle. ]

I'm just teasing you, Loki. I get you, it does seem a little too farfetched.

[ Loki fakes a shudder. ]

And yet, it is a scenario that could occur.

[ Jim laughs softly, tipping his head back a little. ]

No wonder there are so many stories about you. [ General you, as in Asgardians. ]

Anyway, is there more to that story, or do I owe you a song now?

I (I'm sorry this is so late, totally fine if you don't want to do anything w/ it!)

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