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

[ Ice skating wasn't exactly a common pastime out in space. On some planets, the inhabitants didn't even know what ice was, much less snow. And on those uncommon occurrences when Peter happened to look longingly at whatever passed for an ice skating rink, Yondu or another of the Ravagers would sneer, remind him that they were on a job, and would yank him away by the scruff of his neck.

After that, Peter didn't really seek it out. It never really occurred to him, really.

But here he is now, apparently having wandered off at some point, only to appear beside Gamora with a pair of borrowed skates slung over his shoulder. He doesn't bother sneaking up on her; he's pretty sure his boots crunching in the snow were more than enough to alert her to his presence. ]

You know, you might have more fun doing it than watching it.

[ Of course Gamora hears him; he's not especially quiet. She doesn't turn from the ice, however, giving a noncommittal sound. ]

I've never learned.

[ So, obviously, that means she's not going to risk looking ridiculous on the ice. Finally, she glances over at Peter, then frowns when she notices the skates he has with him. ]

... What are you doing with those?

[ He hums in return – that sort of makes sense, really, that she didn't know how to ice skate. He can't imagine a skill like that being particularly useful to her, except in cases where she ended up in some sort of high speed foot chase on a frozen Hoth-like planet.

Which, admittedly, couldn't have happened very often.

At her question, he glances over at her, shrugging.

Simply, ]

I stole 'em.

[ He's also lying. ]

[ And yet, Gamora doesn't look like she's about to question that. ]

Do you plan to keep them as souvenirs?

[ Because clearly he doesn't intend to use them. ]

[ He puts on a thoughtful sort of look for a second, then, ]

That seems like a waste, doesn't it?

[ There's a log on the bank of the frozen lake, likely set up there as a makeshift bench, and Peter takes a step or two towards it. ]

I was thinking I'd give that— [ And he nods toward the lake, where folks are skating. ] —a shot.

[ Gamora watches him intently, her eyes narrowing as she looks between the log and the ice. ]

Have you done it before?

Once, a long time ago.

[ And to clarify— ]

Back home, I mean. I was young, and my aunt wanted to make a family outing of it. Go to some indoor rink and laugh at each other when we fell on our asses.

[ He shrugs lightly, trying to pass off the weight of that statement like it's some easy thing. ]

It was fun. I bruised the hell out of my elbows from all the falling. [ Even with the extra cushioning of his puffy jacket. ]

[ The fact that Peter is actually elaborating on this, a piece of his time on Earth, has Gamora paying much more attention.

(It's going to be another little thing that she commits to memory.) ]

What is fun about the falling?

[ Because that's the part that holds her up. ]

[ He huffs out a laugh. ]

Nothing, really? It's embarrassing for, like, a minute, but then who cares? Folks fall all the time.

[ And as if on cue, someone on the frozen lake falls face-first onto the ice, sliding a bit and laughing while someone offers them a hand up.

Peter, predictably, grins with amusement once he realizes what's happened. ]

See?

[ Gamora doesn't look entirely convinced, even with the ridiculous display. Her lips press into a thin line, something like consideration and disapproval on her face. ]

You are actually going out there?

[ Because, well... if Peter is... ]

[ He lifts a shoulder to point out the ice skates again. ]

Wouldn't've grabbed these if I wasn't.

[ Duh.

He gestures to a sort of pop-up stand nearby, where someone seems to be loaning out pairs of ice skates. (And thus Peter's secret is revealed: he didn't steal these skates so much as actually borrow, for once.) ]

What about you? Wanna give it a shot?

[ She should say no. She should just stand back and watch and enjoy Peter flailing around like a fool.

... But, apparently, she's going to go and get herself some skates. ]

... Stay here.

[ And without a definitive answer one way or another, she wanders off to the stand to borrow a pair of skates in her size. She returns with them in hand, then goes to plop down on the log to start trading her boots for blades. ]

You could slit someone's throat with these things.

[ Apparently, she's taking a moment to assess the skates themselves. ]

[ Peter grins smugly as she heads off to the stand, taking a seat on the log to switch his boots for the skates. He's ready to go once she returns with her own pair, and as she assesses the blades, he snorts in amusement.

The mental image of Gamora kicking someone's head off out on the ice is a pretty good one, apparently, and he's pretty sure she could do it, if she were inclined to do so. ]

Yeah, probably.

But let's not kill anyone unless they deserve it.

How often do I kill people who don't deserve it?

[ These days.

She starts undoing her boots, carefully doing one foot at a time to avoid setting her socks in the snow. ]

Not often.

[ Though he pauses and adds meaningfully, ]

That I know of.

[ Who knows what Gamora gets up to in their time apart? ]

[ Apparently, she's not even going to indulge that absurdity, because she just continues putting on her skates.

She laces them up entirely, then carefully pushes herself to her feet. On first impression, she's realizing that it's not too difficult to balance in the snow with the blade, but she knows that will be different once she's on the ice. ]

You can go first.

[ Yeah, he figured she was gonna make him go first – and it was only fair, considering he’s the one who actively wanted to do this. So he gets to his feet, too, faring reasonably well on the balance front. He stands at the edge of the frozen lake, glancing around to gauge his timing. He waits until there’s a bit of space, then he steps out onto the space, successfully sliding a few feet.

Then, predictably, he falls on his ass.

Smooth, Quill.

But he doesn’t seem bothered, and he’s laughing at himself as he maneuvers himself to his knees. ]

I’m fine!

[ To preempt the inevitable “what the hell, are you okay, you klutz?” ]

[ Gamora watches with her arms crossed over her chest, expectant, and—

As anticipated, Peter topples fairly quickly.

She doesn't laugh or look too concerned, mostly because she's seen Peter take far worse hits than this, and he's come out of it just fine; landing on his ass on some ice won't kill him.

She takes that as her cue to give it a shot, and she steps carefully from the snow to the ice. She doesn't fall, though there's a moment of wobbling before she rebalances.

Careful, testing, she shifts her feet forward, which sends her gently skirting across the surface. It's tentative, but—

She drifts past Peter, glancing over her shoulder at him still on his knees. ]

—How do I stop?

[ As she drifts past, he answers her question with an uncertain, ] Very carefully?

[ Helpful, Quill.

He manages to get to his feet with a little difficulty, wet splotches on his knees from the fall. Skating far more carefully than his earlier showing, he manages to catch up to her, flashing her a winning smile. ]

See? Easy, right?

[ says the asshole who wiped out within thirty seconds of starting. ]

[ Peter is spared an intensely unamused look because Gamora feels the need to keep looking forward so she doesn't fall. ]

"Easy."

[ She glances over at Peter when he pulls up next to her, equally unimpressed as she takes a few more tentative steps to continue skating forward.

At least she hasn't fallen yet.

"Yet" being the keyword, because when she attempts a stop, she flails, grabbing onto the nearest available handhold – which happens to be Peter's arm. ]

[ Well, considering Peter had only just sort of got the hang of the whole balance thing, the absolutely most predictable thing happens.

Behold: Your Guardians of the Galaxy, collapsing to the ice.

Peter has mind enough to twist as they fall, though, apparently trying to put himself between Gamora and the ice. Gentlemanly of him, at least. ]

[ Graceful.

Plus side: Gamora doesn't hit the ice. Downside: she ends up completely sprawled on top of Peter with her hair tumbling into his face. ]

—Oof!

[ She makes an aggravated noise in the back of her throat, pushing herself up onto her hands and flipping her hair out of Peter's face to look down at him. ]

So much for easy.

[ For a second, he looks totally shocked, eyes wide as both hands instinctively wrapped around Gamora's arms. A few other skaters snicker a little at them, but they move on soon enough – not that Peter seems to notice, because he's still staring up at Gamora.

Her hands are pressed against him, and she's sprawled atop him, and her curls fall over her shoulder in a way that strikes him as familiar, and—

He splutters with laughter. ]

Your face—

[ Sorry, Gamora. ]

[ Is he—

He's definitely laughing at her.

She immediately frowns at him, her nose wrinkling in disapproval as her eyes narrow. ]

What about my face?

[ She's a deadly warrior; her face shouldn't be funny! ]

You're so pissed—

[ Maybe earlier on in their acquaintanceship, seeing that look on her face would have frozen his blood and made his lungs shrivel in his chest.

Now, though, with the benefit of having known her for moths, and given the reason why she's so mad, Peter just—

Well, considering he's still laughing, he apparently finds it hilarious. ]

Sorry, sorry.

[ Panted out between breaths. He doesn't sound super apologetic, but he recognizes it's the thing to say. ]

YO WHAT UP I'M AN ASSHOLE AND I'M BACK FOR MORE

MERRY FUCKIN CHRISTMAS BLESS UR GODDAMN HEART

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