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

[paged]

[ Karen laughs at that, almost losing footing herself in the process. She steadies herself in time, though. ]

See? You're better at this than you realize.

[volitaunt]

[ He makes a noise that could be a sound of MAYBE and could be a sound of HAHA OK.

Still, he manages. Not quickly, not well, and he almost goes down once (and almost takes Karen down with him), but he manages. He manages for a whole twenty minutes of wobbling and gliding. ]

Okay. Have I proved myself? Can I stop now?

[paged]

[ She grins again, nodding, ]

Yeah. Except--one more thing.

[ She grips both his hands, ]

Do you trust me?

[volitaunt]

...Not at the moment, but in general, yes.

[ He's not running or skating for his life though?? ]

[paged]

[ She grins wide, starting to laugh, ]

Well. You're half right.

[ And she sends them into a spin, keeping hold of him as she does so, which hurls them both into a snow bank at the edge of the ice. ]

[volitaunt]

[ Poe yelps, though it's more in surprise than displeasure. Because after the initial shock of it, the sharp spin and snow-bound crash gives him a little kick of adrenaline that he's been sorely missing the past month or so.

No sooner have they hit the powder than Poe is picking up a handful of it to wad into a snowball. ] Okay, I know for a fact that was on purpose.

[paged]

[ Karen is beside him in the snow, laughing breathlessly. ]

Maybe. Maybe not.

[ No, it definitely was. Just like she uses a hand to fling some powder into his face when she sees that almost-snowball. Karen does not play fair in snow. Poe get's to learn this lesson first hand. ]

[volitaunt]

[ BLARGPLE. Suddenly Poe knows how Finn felt when Poe shoved snow down the back of his jacket. He drops his snowball and starts working on the laces of his skates, determined to free himself and get in a better snow-battle position. ]

You're going to pay for that. Both of... that.

[paged]

[ She's laughing as she rolls away from him and then starts crawling up to her knees as he's busy with his skates. He'll have to do it fast because she's already got a snowball of her own and smack it goes on his shoulder, exploding into white powder easily. ]

Talk is cheap, Dameron!

[volitaunt]

[ Off comes one skate. He drops it next to the ice, then scoops up a quick wad of snow to make a snowball and chuck it at her chest. ]

I never make a promise I can't keep!

[paged]

[ She tries to dodge it but gets hit anyway. She's still laughing as she's getting another ball ready, ]

But you're still unfamiliar with my snow skills. For I am perfectly at home in this terrain. Can you say the same?

[ CAN YOU, JUNGLE BOY??? ]

[volitaunt]

[ HA FREEDOM FROM ICE SKATES. He's now in his stocking feet in the snow. Victory?? ]

I'm adaptable. [ He's just gonna get a big scoop of snow and chuck it at her like it's water and they're in a pool. ]

[paged]

[ There's a mixture of a yelp and squeal at the snow tossed at her but she holds an arm up to block most of it from her face before tossing her new ball, aimed for his chest this time. ]

So am I.

[ Breathless again from laughing so much. ]

How are your feet?

[volitaunt]

[ It hits him square in the chest. ]

Cold, for some reason.

[ A thought strikes him. He grins slowly. ] Take your skates off.

[paged]

[ She laughs again, both at his response and then the request. She shakes her head, ]

No way.

[ But, because she is who she is, pauses enough to squint at him a little, ]

Why?

[volitaunt]

Not telling unless you do it.

[ He's already prancing from foot to foot. COME ON KAREN DON'T MAKE HIM FREEZE HIS FEETS FOREVER. ]

[paged]

[ WELL WHEN HE'S DOING THAT-!!! She rolls her eyes but is still grinning as she finally flops back on her bum and starts undoing one skate and then another. It's only a few moments and she's in her socks now, doing the same kind of dance Poe is. ]

Now what?

[ Her feet feel like ice already. ]

[volitaunt]

[ Poe points to a tree near the edge of the beach. ] Race you.

[ AND HE'S OFF. ]

[paged]

[ She follows his finger to the tree and then back to him, stunned for a moment, her mouth falling open as he starts running. But the grin is quick to return and she's following after him with a yell, ]

Yeah, you better run! You're gonna eat snow, flyboy!

[ Her feet are still freezing but her legs pump easily like they use to when she was younger and for the briefest moment, she feels like she's back in Vermont. ]

[volitaunt]

Don't think I won't tackle you.

[ He slips, takes the opportunity to grab a handful of snow, and slings it at her as she closes the distance between them. HE'S STILL RUNNING it's just sort of slidey tractionless running. ]

[paged]

[ She keeps running, giving another yell as she meets the snow, swinging an arm at it as if to bat it away. ]

Don't think I won't jump on you!

[ Yeah, cuz u short. #tinymandameron ]

[volitaunt]

[ Wow don't call out his shortness??

Still his short tiny man legs might be no match for Karen's gazelle-like speed and grace and why is he thinking about that, also he doesn't even know what a gazelle is. ]

Eat snow, Page!

[paged]

[ She will call it out whenever it benefits her cause tyvm.

Which it does when they round the tree and she uses a burst of speed to do exactly as she threatened. Arms go around his shoulders and she throws her weight on him and sends them both into the snow.

But she's rolling away and crawling her way up into a run as she hollers out in victory at being a dirty dirty (taller) cheater. ]

[volitaunt]

[ For a second Poe just lays there, watching her run with an odd, light feeling in his chest.

Then he remembers he's supposed to be competing. He scrambles to his feet, running flat out, but the fuzzy-feeling pause has cost him too much distance. ]

[paged]

[ She makes it all the way back to where they started out with a breathless laugh, panting as she throws up her arms, crowing out, ]

Now who's eating snow!