introductory mingle: HYGGE

[riverviewmod]

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

Comments

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco would have done his best to answer any questions Ragnar might have about what happened in all those centuries, but there's a part of him that is relieved that Ragnar doesn't ask. History is not Cisco's speciality, and he has the feeling that's not the sort of thing where he should approximate. He has his own personal reasons to be very cautious in how he speaks to someone from the past; he remembers the sting of Eobard calling 2014 barbaric times all too well. He wouldn't want to condescend to Ragnar in the same way. ]

No kidding. And hey - I hope this isn't weird or anything since we just met, but if you ever need any help with machines, you can totally come to me. I'm a mechanical engineer, which pretty much means my job is designing machines, building them, and knowing everything about them and how they work. So if something's not making sense... I'm the guy to talk to.

[ Of course, that was only a small aspect of the culture shock Ragnar must be feeling; it's just the one thing that Cisco stands a chance of actually helping with. Whatever existential dread or sadness strikes Ragnar next, that's all pretty far out of Cisco's wheelhouse. He waits for a few moments, to see if Ragnar will say whatever it is he'd almost said, but when the silence stretches to a certain point, Cisco says: ]

In my experience, dead and alive isn't always as straightforward as you'd think. There are some people here who are dead. Who died, back in their worlds, and then appeared here.

[storradr]

[Ragnar would just rather not know. He knew these changes were slow, spread out over lifetimes, and there was nothing he could do to change it or likely nothing he could do. So, why delve into the details?]

You would? And this -[he pulled out his phone]- I can reach you with this, yes? You're already... there to pick?

[He'd been given a basic tour of everything, but had forgotten what most of the appliances were called and, more detrimentally, had forgotten what they were used for. He knew the fridge. That was an important one. He liked it.

He made a face, but nodded in agreement.]

My daughter, Gyda, is here. [He swallows thickly.] She is sure that she died. When I left, she was alive, but I am from, probably, a few months before the time she is.

Does that mean... if I go back, when I die, I will not see her again? Will her mother and brother and I not be reunited with her? Will she still be here?

[He snagged a stick to give the fire a poke and then got up to add a few pieces of wood to bolster the blaze.]

I know you cannot answer these questions. They have just been heavy on my mind.

[franciscoramon]

Yes, you can. Here... lemme show you how?

[ And Cisco holds out his hand for Ragnar to give him his phone; might as well make extra sure that he knows the right way to send a text to someone's inbox, and it will be a little demonstration of how he teaches. That way, Ragnar's got some idea of what it will be like, if he decides to actually show up.

If Ragnar does hand over his phone, Cisco will show him patiently where to go to send messages (and not just expect him to memorize the icons, but explain why it is the little button with the envelope), adding himself into Ragnar's contacts with the label: Cisco (The Machine Guy!). He's taught quite a few people these same steps before, and he's both deft at it and patient with any questions Ragnar might have.

When the conversation turns to much heavier questions, though, Cisco is on far less stable ground. He doesn't have the answers about this place, and it's relationship with any kinds of afterlife that might exist. Generally, he tries not to think about exactly the kind of stuff Ragnar is bringing up. ]

I... don't know. I'm sorry.

[ Cisco stares at the fire, solemn now as well, watching the new logs gradually catching and burning up. ]

I- there's someone very important to me here. We're from the same world, separated by a few months, like you and your daughter. He... died. I saw it happen. But he's alive here. I don't know what's going to happen to him or me, either.

[ He swallows, looking up into the heavens once more, at the beauty of the aurora. Cisco's voice is soft, but hopeful as he says: ]

I hope that you'll be reunited with her, and the rest of your family. I think... without any evidence to the contrary, there's no reason to assume you won't. We all found our way here. Who says our souls won't find our way... wherever?

[storradr]

[Ragnar doesn't hesitate to hand over his phone, though the first thing Cisco will notice is that everything he hovers over with his finger gets read out loud.]

Hm. I was told all I had to do was tell it who I wanted to message. [He leans in a little closer to the phone.] Phone. Send a message to Cisco.

`Message to Cisco.`

'Hello'. [The word hello appeared in the body of the text.] Send message.

`Message sent.` [And away it went.]

It is now on your phone, yes?

[He looks ridiculously proud of himself, certain he's done it correctly.

The conversation moved on and it was obvious that these things weighed on Cisco as well.]

I did not expect answers. [He almost sounded apologetic for bringing it up.] There is the choice to remain in this place? If that is what he chooses. Returning to face his inevitable death would also be a choice. All men must die one day. [The hint of a smile crosses his features suddenly, a brief flicker.]

Souls. You are Christian?

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco is impressed that someone has already set up Ragnar's phone to be accessible for him, beams as he successfully texts Cisco and proves he can get into contact with him whenever. A part of him wonders whether the voice-control is a question of convenience or perhaps a literacy thing? Ragnar doesn't appear to have other visual impairments, so chances are one or the other. ]

Yeah, there's a choice. Some people choose to leave, but it can take them a super long time to find a way to get them back home. And a lotta other people choose to stay. Eddie's staying here. But- he did also die. Back home. I know, because if he hadn't, I wouldn't be here. He sacrificed himself protecting us all.

[ Cisco swallows, gaze dropping suddenly; even though Eddie got a second chance here, it is still horrible, remembering the sound of the gunshot, how pale he'd looked as he was laying on the ground gasping out his last words. ]

So it's like... the two exist, simultaneously. He died there. But he came here, too, and they brought him back from the brink. I can't really explain it. All I know is, he can't leave without probably breaking the world and maybe also dying himself, and- and I'm staying wherever he is.

[ Cisco's reasons for deciding to stay in this place are far more complex than just a choice to stay because Eddie is here, but it had been one of the deciding factors.

The question about him being a Christian is unexpected, though maybe it shouldn't have been. Cisco blinks a few times and says: ]

I was raised one. My parents are, big-time.

[storradr]

[Although the Vikings had runes, writing didn't really take root until the Christians arrived, well after Ragnar's time. Cisco was definitely on the right track with his guess of illiteracy. It certainly wasn't something Ragnar was ashamed of.

He listened intently to Cisco's description of his friend, smiling softly when he mentioned how he'd died. Without any hesitation, he leaned closer to put his hand on Cisco's knee and give it a reassuring squeeze.] Then your friend died a good death. That is nothing to mourn.

[Ragnar straightened again, nodding. He understood making the decision to stay, not just for Eddie, but for Cisco.]

I thought so. My Christian taught me about souls. You are no longer Christian?

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco startles a very small amount at the sudden contact, but he doesn't move away from it. There is conviction in Ragnar's words - enough that Cisco opens his mouth to argue, but then closes it again. He doesn't know if he should tread lightly here, how much is Ragnar's personal opinion and how much religious belief. Cisco only knows a very little about Norse beliefs about the afterlife, but he gets the impression that warrior deaths and all that were seen as semi-sacred.

And he knows, too, that Eddie's death was brave, and honorable, and meaningful. A heroic sacrifice, that had saved many lives, including his own. But he knows, too, it hadn't only been altruism and heroism, that lead Eddie to do it. That at least in part he'd done it because deep down, he didn't believe he mattered. Because Eobard had spent two weeks whispering in his ear that he was nothing, that he would never mean anything, that his life was worth than meaningless. Chipping away at Eddie's sense of self-worth so much that tossing away his life like that had been so easy. Too easy.

But none of that is very easy to explain, so he keeps his tongue. ]

Your Christian?

[ Easier to ask about that odd turn of phrase than it is to answer the question; Cisco tucked his hair back behind his ears, a little discomfited but also a little amused by Ragnar's bluntness. The man really didn't mince words. ]

Uh, I'm gonna go with "it's complicated".

[storradr]

Yes. [He smiled, face lighting up with... fondness?] He is a monk -you know about them?- from England. I brought him back with me, to Kattegat, as my slave. He has told me much about the Christian God. A very strange God. And I have told him about mine. [There's that strange pride and overwhelming fondness still, an odd array of emotions to feel about a slave, but Athelstan wasn't really a slave anymore, he was a trusted friend.]

Complicated? I think it is also 'complicated' for Athelstan, my Christian. That seems to be common for your people.

[franciscoramon]

[ The double-take Cisco does over the whole 'slave' thing is completely obvious, as is the way his eyes widen in surprise, but he doesn't interrupt. It really shouldn't surprise him - from the sound of it Ragnar's an honest to goodness Viking, from Viking times, when that sort of thing was more common. But still... big yikes. ]

I... know about monks, yeah. They're not as common, in my time.

[ At the same time as it's all rather alarming, there's a certain unmistakable affection, in the way Ragnar speaks about Athelstan, which is odd to say the least. Cisco's going to have to do some reading, about customs of that era. It wasn't as if Christian monks in ancient times were exactly blameless, either. ]

I guess so.

[ Strange to think that that might seem like a defining trait of Christians now to Ragnar, but there's no point in lying, either. Cisco thinks about explaining why those feelings are so complicated for him, but that veers into "too personal a conversation for a random stranger" territory. So he gently redirects the conversation, away from himself, and back to Ragnar. ]

So since you arrived, are you still in the communal housing and all that? Did they assign you a job?

[storradr]

You guess so? [It was painfully obvious how curious he was, his eyes searching Cisco's for some clue as to what he meant, hoping to get more of an explanation. He could take a hint though and despite looking vaguely disappointed, he didn't press any further.]

I am. It is... nice. Full of very nice things. I do not know what some are, but the bed is nice and the 'fridge' [he looked a little proud of himself, getting to use his new words], mirrors. It is all very... [wait for it] nice.

I want to find a house, I think. For my daughter and my son and my granddaughter. Where they may live with me. [It was deeply ingrained that being a good father meant providing for your family, which he definitely wasn't doing yet here.]

As for work, I am a Perimeter Guard. Though I am told the farm can always use more workers.

What about you? You have been here for some time. Do you have a house? A job?

[franciscoramon]

Yep.

[ And that's all Ragnar is getting from him on that matter; Cisco wants to be friendly, but he can be stubborn, too, when the mood strikes him. But Ragnar relents, which is welcome, and then the two of them move on to the much more comfortable topic of the Quarantine. Cisco blinks with surprise when Ragnar says it's not just his daughter here, but his son and granddaughter, as well. That had to be some timeline fuckery, right? No way was this guy old enough to be a grandfather. Then again - who could say how young people had children, where he came from. Maybe being a grandfather at... however old he is, is perfectly normal. ]

You've got two kids and a grandkid here? For real?

[ Cisco's met a lot of people, here, and he is fairly confident that having that many members of the same family all come through the portal is definitely an anomaly. Maybe there was a cause, or maybe it was just one of those strange coincidences. Still, it was probably good, to have that many people he knew nearby, considering the vast culture shock he must be going through. ]

Yeah, the whole communal living thing sort of blows if you ask me. Good luck on the house hunting.

[ He isn't surprised to hear that Ragnar works for the Guard - it's a big group, and it also just seems to fit - or that the communal living doesn't seem exactly to his taste. Cisco hadn't liked it much, either. Of course, that had been because he kept having screaming nightmares which was annoying for his roommates and fairly humiliating for him, but no need to get into that. ]

Yeah - an apartment that I share with the guy I told you about. And I do have a job. I build things, for the Guard, and the police and firefighters. Machines, sort of, for armor, and weapons, and communication, to keep them safe, and make their jobs easier.

[ Not the most precise description of his job, but it gets the point across. ]

[storradr]

[He nodded, a little amused by how surprised Cisco sounded. He was a little young to be a grandfather, but only a little. He and Lagertha had been married at seventeen and their first child was born the next year. He was thirty-one now. In a few years, he hoped his first son would be getting married and having children.]

Gyda, my daughter. Ivar, my son who is not yet born where I am from. In fact, I have not even met Ivar's mother yet. And Ivar's adopted daughter, Winter.

[It was obvious that he was ridiculously proud of his family.

He smirked a little at Cisco's strange choice of words regarding the communal house. He's never heard 'blows' used that way, but it was clear that it meant he hadn't liked it.]

What is different? The communal building and where you live now, what is different about them? Just less people? [He really didn't mind the people. After all, he was used to being stuck for a month or two with the same thirty to forty people in an open air viking long boat. If you wanted to get over the feeling of ever being embarrassed about anything, just do that once.]

Like a blacksmith? Sort of. Will you show me? Not now, but sometime. I would like to see the weapons and armor you build. I am sure they are very different, like our worlds.

[franciscoramon]

You're Ivar's dad?!

[ All of a sudden it clicks, where he'd heard Ragnar's name before. Ragnarsson. He should've figured it out way sooner. And they have those same blue eyes, they're both vikings... really, how had he missed it? It's just that he's not used to this, running into people's parents. And to Cisco's credit, he doesn't know Ivar all that well - they'd only met once, and the rest he's heard second-hand, from Eddie and from Ronan.

He's still weirded out enough by that strange coincidence that he has trouble focusing on the question about the communal housing. ]

Yeah, you know, privacy, peace and quiet, not being surrounded by strangers, all of that.

[ It's strange, thinking of himself as a kind of blacksmith, but upon reflection, Cisco nods: ]

Something like that, I guess, yeah. I'd be happy to. My workshop's near the river, by a little park - I can send you the address. Might not be as exciting as you think, but you're welcome to drop by any time.

[ After all, a lot of the work Cisco does is probably going to go over Ragnar's head, and there's not a big anvil or forge or anything. But some of it - the sewing, the stress tests, even the schematics and sketches - will probably translate just fine. ]

[storradr]

His father. [He nodded.] Though he has told me he is the youngest of four children I will someday have with my second wife, whom I have yet to meet where I am from.

[It had been very strange, but also wonderful, to learn that the Seer had been right, that he would have four more sons. Finding out one of them would be crippled and knowing that he had been either unable or unwilling to kill the boy as an infant hadn't been quite as welcome, but it was what it was.

Ragnar knew very little about blacksmithing. He could recognize a forge and anvil, but beyond that, he had no real knowledge of the craft. Still, he was interested in checking out the sorts of things Cisco made, maybe he'd even find a few new toys.]

Near the river by... what is a 'park'? [He thought for a moment and then looked a little more confused.] The address?

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco just shakes his head at that. He'd learned some things about his future, from people he had met in this place and from visions of his own. He knows he will someday have the ability to open breaches between worlds, that he and Eddie will be together at least a few more years. But those had been tiny glimpses; not inconsequential, but not quite as huge has finding out he would have four children with someone he'd not even met yet!

And if Ivar was the youngest of four not yet born, Ragnar must be at least twenty or so years younger than Ivar would be used to. That had to be a bit of a head trip, too. ]

The location... actually, if you just hand me your phone again I can make it easy.

[ It takes only a few seconds, to pin a location into the map function of Ragnar's phone, to set it up so it will give directions. Cisco hands the phone back, saying: ]

Now all you have to do is ask it 'take me to Cisco's workshop' and it will talk to you and tell you which way to go, to get there. I figure you'll only need it the first couple times, but...