monthly mingle: THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHT

[riverviewmod]

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: monthly mingle: the festival of light
when: The month of January.
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

festival of light

In the days leading up to January 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: The Festival of Light. This holiday is in celebration of the end of the Quarantine's short-lived winter and serves to welcome the new year. The traditions associated with The Festival of Light involve fireworks every weekend of the month, a days-long formal ball that with an open invitation to everyone in the city, and lighting magical candles and incense with loved ones and new friends alike.

a celebration of the end of winter and the new year

As the Capitol World stops blocking the path between the sun and its moon, the snow melts and the rains of early spring begin to fall and the residents of the Quarantine gather together to celebrate the new year. New beginnings are honored as the sky is lit with fireworks to banish the cold and dark of winter, and residents share the light and warmth of the new year with each other by sharing candles and incense with fellow residents. These traditions are steeped in magic, like many other things in Riverview, and have certain magical emotional effects on participants. Additionally, over the weekend of January 5th - 8th, the Government will be hosting a formal ball to welcome the New Year, which is open to all residents and offers food, drink, dancing, and other activities, as well as places to stay the night and relax or 'relax' with friends.

i. fireworks

One of the main traditions of the Festival of Light is to brighten the sky to welcome the new year, and as always, the Government of Riverview and various other city entities including businesses and various organizations and clubs, have gone all out to light up the sky. Each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of the month of January, residents can gather outside on the beaches or park, or indoors at various observation lounges set up on city rooftops for the occasion, to watch elaborate, beautiful fireworks displays.

Outdoor observation is facilitated by use of rented forced-air umbrellas that make viewing the fireworks without having to squint into the rain or peer out from under a traditional umbrellas easy. Curl up with a friend or lover under an umbrella to watch the fireworks displays. Temporary indoor observation lounges have also been set up on most of the rooftops of buildings in the city, if the outdoors isn't your thing. The lounges can range from simple transparent-roofed spaces with rustic benches and hot cocoa to elaborate, fancy bars or restaurants with food service, music, and dancing. Some of the lounges may even have themes, whether they're 18+ adult or just quirky. Let your imagination run wild - if you can think of it, someone in the city's probably set one up.

ii. lighting up

Throughout the city, residents will find booths and special sections in their favorite stores set up with stands displaying magical incense and candles in a wide variety of colors. These are traditional trappings of the Festival of Light, the original and ancient tradition that's built up into the modern celebration as residents know it. Most prolific are the candles - ranging from tiny tea lights to large pillar candles, they are inscribed with the word 'glow' in a variety of different alien languages, including some that residents might recognize. The incense comes in small variety of dusky, earthen colors, each with a different scent and effect, all clearly labeled.

Candles are meant to be lit with one or more other people, and when this tradition is observed properly with a candle inscribed 'glow' - the wick lit by two or more people at the same time, and held together between them for a minimum of 30 seconds - every participant will feel and see certain magical effects. As the candle is held between the participants, they will start to see each other's skin glow, seemingly lit from inside, and as the glow increases, all participants will start to feel an emotional lightness. Stress and despair will slowly dissipate, giving the participants a temporary feeling of absolute contentment, warm and happy. The effects last from 5 minutes to a full 24 hours, depending on the number of people who participate and the length of time the candle is held between participants (more participants or longer timespans will increase the length of the effect), and effects are cumulative - lighting a large number of candles with different people will cause the effect to draw out for longer.

Incense is something usually lit in private, at home or a small gathering at a friend's house, and in recent years as the celebration has become a bit more modernized and commercialized, at the Glow Ball. There are a few varieties of incense with different psychological effects, all of which are pleasant and take strongest effect when the incense is lit with one or more other people, and enjoyed long enough for the whole stick to burn down. Orange and yellow incense will increase feelings of affection and openness, sienna red incense will do the same but also induce arousal; blue-grey incense will make it easier to share and ease grief and sadness, while grey-purple will lull participants into an easy sleep with pleasant dreams.

iii. glow ball

Every year during the Festival of Light, the Government of Riverview hosts a formal ball called the Glow Ball on the first weekend of the month - this year, it spans from nightfall on Friday January 5th until dawn on Monday January 8th. The ball is a relatively new custom, but has quickly skyrocketed to one of the most anticipated events of many residents' year. Similar to the castle-themed maze during Hygge, the Glow Ball is hosted inside a beautiful golden palace erected in the City Center that is much larger on the inside than it appears to be on the outside. While there is no specific theme to the ball, many residents take it as an opportunity to really glow in a wide variety of ways, all up to each person's imagination.

The palace is magically-augmented to be lavish, comfortable, and fully-stocked at all times, and features a banquet hall with ample and frequently-replenished food, a bar and lounge area for attendees to get a drink and sit for a while, a beautiful grand ballroom as well as several smaller ballrooms with different styles of music, a swimming pool with hot tubs, a garden, and smaller private vestibules that feature a pillow lounge, incense selection, and a small bedroom where residents can rest or enjoy each others' company in private.

NOTE: New characters are welcome to join in with the party, even if they haven't had time to prepare. Any new arrivals who come to the party in the clothing they arrived in will be whisked up by a fussy light golem or attendant who will fit them with a nice set of clothing for the evening so they can enjoy the festivities.

dinner and dancing

The banquet hall is ringed with tables that offer a buffet food catered to the time of day - breakfast in the morning, light food in the afternoon, lavish dinners in the evening, and desserts, coffee, tea, or hot chocolate, and snacks available all night. With ample seating at group tables, residents can share a meal with friends new and old. The bar and lounge has several large free bars staffed by glowing, ethereal light golems that never tire and never get an order wrong, and offers seating at tables and in cozy dimly-lit booths. Riverview's drinking age is 14 years old.

The grand ballroom is themed golden this year, with the walls tiled in gold and featuring a dance floor of white marble veined with gold. The grand ballroom has classical, traditional dance music playing for those who want a classy formal dance. There are four wing ballrooms that feature different genres of music for residents who enjoy alternate types of dancing, with the genres consistently rotating - whether you like punk, country, rock, pop, or any other type of music from any planet or country, it's likely to be playing in a wing ballroom at some point. Schedules are posted outside of each door and there are four genres per wing ballroom per day.

swimming and gardens

Another feature of the Glow Ball is the beautiful swimming pool - warm enough to be comfortable but cool enough to be refreshing, the outdoor pool has both flower petals and the season's glow candles floating on it, a champagne service offered by light golems, and tables to sit and enjoy a drink and conversation while drying off. There are also small hot tubs ringing the swimming pool where residents can soak away the aches and pains of the day. The pool offers change rooms where speaking a magical incantation (helpfully posted on the door) will change the occupant's formal clothing into an equivalent swimsuit, and will change it back (and dry the occupant) after the dip has been taken.

The gardens are also available for any attendees who want to get a bit of fresh air. With beautiful flower-lined winding paths under a perpetually starry sky and ample candles hanging from the trees and edging the paths for visibility, the gardens are a scenic and relaxing place to take some time away from the light and get some air.

privacy

For residents who want a little private time or want to spend more than just an evening at the ball, there are small private vestibules scattered throughout the palace. Featuring a lounge area with pillows and lap tables for eating, and a comfortable queen-size bed, each room also has a vanity whose drawers hold both suitable pajamas for sleeping in and (in 18+ rooms only) supplies for intimacy ranging from massage oils to packaged toys. And most importantly, each room is fully stocked with a selection of the season's incenses for use in private.

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 Festival of Light, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: Jakub Grygier; image ii: Shutterstock; image iii & iv: credit unknown

navigation

Comments

Shiro | OTA

[lionunchained]

Fireworks

[It had been the longest time since Shiro had seen fireworks. In a way, it was rather pleasant. They were a sign of celebration, of more peaceful times. e hadn't seen that for a long time so he wanted to spend as much time as possible watching them.

The beach was the perfect place to stand and watch the fireworks. He was bundled up in his coat, a nice woolen one, and a dark purple scarf wrapped around him neck as he stood, his eyes cast to the sky]

Glow Ball
[Parties were still relatively new thing in his mind for someone who had never considered that he would do this again or that he wouldn't have to stand guard for such an event to make sure everything was well.

For the most part each day he went, he spent most of the time in grand ballroom. The four separate ballrooms weren't quite his speed, but the beautifully appointed ballroom. He also found himself wandering through the banquet room to sample the foods that were available or the gardens. No swimming this time.

On one night, he wasn't alone, having the Black Lion with him at the Glow Ball, the night that he had a date. Black might have been outside the building another night, but he was not in the ballroom. Even when at the party, the Black Lion was keeping enough of a wide berth to not be obtrusive]

Closed to Hana
[Well now came the night that Shiro had planned to go out with Hana. He had dressed up for the occasion, making sure his suit was impeccable. He had agree to meet her at her apartment so that's where he was going to meet her.

Black had practically insisted on coming with him so Shiro had agreed if Black helped with transportation tonight. If Hana was wearing heels, those were harder to walk in so it would be nice - if a bit chilly because Black would have to fly.

When the pair reached Hana's apartment building, Shiro left Black outside and headed up to her apartment, knocking on the door

Glow Ball | Did someone say Black Lion

[timmers]

[Tim's taken to wandering the Glow Ball, trying to see if there's anything to glean from guests or venue. The last thing he expects, however, is to run into a robotic lion while he's skulking in the shadows. He stops, looking it over carefully. It doesn't look anything like the golems or any of the technology he's seen thus far- especially how stylized it is. Maybe it's one of the dimensional refugees?] Hey, uh, nice party?

Yep!

[lionunchained]

[Black was calmly exploring the party on his own. He didn't have to be within eye sight of Shiro to know how things were going. It was the problem that the poor paladins had, having their lion in their head the entire time. Black would be able to track him practically through the party.

But then someone was walking up to Black, this person having been staying further back from the party as well. Well, Black could handle himself, hence why he wasn't following Shiro so closely on an important night.

Black sat down, watching as he came over, giving kind of a rumble in response to the question. Yes, nice party]


[ooc: let me know if you want Shiro to come over or we can keep going with Tim trying to figure out Black for a while]

[timmers]

[Okay, so a lion probably doesn't speak human. That makes sense, considering. He approaches and very carefully reaches out, palm up, to touch the lion's head, ready to pull back if he didn't appreciate it.] Never seen a lion robot before. You're kind of showy.

[A sentinel program, maybe? But with only one in place, it didn't seem to be part of the government systems.]

[lionunchained]

[Well... maybe an unofficial sentinel. That followed around one specific person. Well, follow Shiro around and you will probably be safe.

Black didn't mind the hand on his head. He'd gotten used to organics being more... tactile. They wanted to touch things. Not like they could do much to one of the lions of Voltron.

Black gave another rumbling reply at that. Of course Tim didn't know what he was saying, but it was clear that the lion was responding to his comments]

[sonofab]

His name is Black. [Damian drawls, when he finds the lion and Drake getting his grubby hands all over the perfection of lion meeting machine.]

He is alien tech but also alive and you are getting fingerprints all over him.

[Because only he is allowed to do that so Damian as usual does not looking pleased and walks over to greet Black. Also to clean Drake’s fingerprints off Black’s head with his sleeve. The lion was tall and comes up to Damian’s chest, so this was fairly easy for him.]

Lost your Paladin so your hanging around this rift raft? [He says to lion, shooting Drake a look.]


((Ooc: *sneak in here, lmk if this okay?))

WHAT WAS THAT, MIDGET? I cant hear you from down there.

[timmers]

[Tim hadn’t seen Damian since the cabin. In hindsight, he always did show up in the most unexpected places.]

You know...him? [Black is clearly a good boy, though. He wont hold knowing Damian against him.] Paladin, like a white knight? [That’s not typically a pet master class, if video games are anything to go by.] He’s fine, not lost at all, are you, boy?

[lionunchained]

[Black could probably vouch for Damian just appearing. That's what had happened before after all when they first met. He had just been watching them.

But Black definitely is a good lion and rumbled an affirmative that yes, he knew Damian, even as the other was "wiping fingerprints off". No, not white knight, black paladin.

Speaking of black paladin, Damian and Tim would definitely notice as Black looked over at Shiro across the room, who was watching them, clearly having seen the crowd around Black. No, paladin, he did not need help. With Black's confirmation that everything alright, Shiro turned back to his date and Black looked back at the two around him.

Nope, he was not lost]

[sonofab]

More like space guards. [Damian said because, well that's what he got from Shiro's story.]

Sh, you don't have to listen to him. [He mutters to the lion and places his hand over the little point robot ears.]

closed to this gal

[bunnyhopped]

​[ Honestly?

Hana felt a little dumb. This was just another one of her 'adventures' with Shiro, and absolutely nothing to fret over. But at the same time... it was a formal party - a ball, even - and Shiro had specifically mentioned that he'd wanted it to just be the two of them. Which sounded suspiciously date-like... That confusion was going to be in the back of her mind, but she wasn't going to let it show if she could help it.

Still, she had always liked dressing up and she wanted to get glamorous for herself - so when the door opened in front of Shiro and Hana emerged, ​she was wearing quite the dress, and woven into her carefully braided hair were flowers that were already giving a faint glow in the natural evening light in their apartment. The signature pink marks on her cheek were also more fluorescent in appearance than normal, and her eyes and cheeks were done up in sparkling, glittering colors. Her lips, meanwhile, were a pinkish rouge. She was careful not to go overboard on the makeup but still keep with the 'glowing' theme of the party, and she was pretty happy with the results (even if she had to redo her makeup a few times). The flowers in her hair, however, were Genji's doing entirely, and the same flowers could be found in pots throughout the apartment and their balcony.

Her eyes found his first before they traveled down to take in his ensemble for the evening - and she couldn't help but smile after doing so. He looked good. ]

... Hey! You're a little early, as usual.

[ She already knew he would be, of course, so she was pretty much ready to go ahead of time. With one last glance into the apartment she stepped out, her heels clicking against the floor, and then she closed the door behind her. ]

Okay. Let's go!

[lionunchained]

[Yeah, it was suspiciously date like and Shiro was trying to not make it seem like it was but he also kind of wanted it to be because he had an idea for later tonight. But he wasn't going to worry about that until then. First they had to get to the party.

When she opened the door, he couldn't help the smile on his face. Recently he had started noticing more and more how pretty she was. That outfit though... it was amazing. Quite a statement to make there and showed off how beautiful she was. He had definitely noticed the glowing, but it wasn't too overdone. Just enough. He hadn't done enough stand out. But then again he didn't necessarily want the kind of spot light doing something odd get him or so he thought when he didn't have teens dragging him into it.

But he would stand out. He was going to be with Hana. What was better than that?]

Yeah, it's a habit. I'm usually early.

[But as she steps outside and closes the door he still can't help it]

Wow... you look amazing. Just... wow.

[You made him speechless. For Shiro, that's impressive]

Yeah, let's go. Our ride is waiting for us.

[And as they headed outside, she'd see Black standing outside with what must have been a large black cape draped over his back. Metal robot would be cold so that would be better]

[bunnyhopped]

[ Hana had to bite down on her lip to keep her grinning from getting too stupid. She was used to compliments, but hearing them come from Shiro, seeing that she'd left him speechless... that felt even better, somehow. She only offered a shrug of her shoulder in response, still doing her best to act nonchalant about all this, and she followed him dutifully to their 'ride.' She was pretty sure that was going to be the Black Lion.

When they step out, though, she stops, eyes wide. She expected the Black Lion, but she didn't expect a dressed up Black Lion. She clapped a hand over her mouth, in fact, and a muffled 'awwwww!' came out. ]

Oh my gosh, Black!

[ She walked over and gave the Lion a pat on his head. ]

You're all dressed up too, huh? You look good.

[ She looked over her shoulder at Shiro. ]

And you're looking pretty good, yourself, Takashi. Don't think I didn't notice!

[lionunchained]

[She was right though. The ride was Black - not that it was a big shocker that it was. But no, the sight of Black dressed for the occasion was probably not one she would have expected and her reaction brought a smile to Shiro's face as she walked over to Black, the lion taking a few steps forward to meet her.

He rumbled out a reply when she said that]

Black says thank you and that you look nice too. And thank you as well. I tried to find something that would work for tonight.

[For someone wore t-shirts and stuff while just hanging out, he cleaned up really well when he had to]

Thought the cape would make it easier for riding on Black. At least...

[And he was taking off his outer coat and putting it over her shoulders since she didn't have a coat]

It's not going to be a long ride.

[bunnyhopped]

[ She chuckled to herself when Black had apparently returned her compliment, and she couldn't seem to stop smiling... for whatever reason... In any case, she was leaning down a little bit, inspecting the black cape on the lion's back, feelings the texture of the fabric on her fingertips when she suddenly felt something warm enveloping her shoulders and back. Looking down, she realized - it was Shiro's coat. She blinked a few times before she turned and looked back at him; she couldn't help the way she noticed the broad shoulders of his that that had been hidden beneath the coat, either.

She swallowed thickly. ]

Guess we don't live too far from the city center, yeah?

[ Carefully she moved her arm so that she could hold the jacket closed around her shoulders. Given her rather diminutive form versus his physique - the coat practically swallowed her. But it was certainly warm, and for that she gave him another smile. ]

Well, let's get going!

[ She would follow Shiro's lead and sit behind him like she usually would - although this time, given her dress, she would have to sit with her legs over one side of Black. With her other arm, too, she bunched up the longer train of her dress at the back so that it wouldn't get caught on anything when they would fly. ]

[lionunchained]

[Well, that was the best that Shiro was able to pick up from Black and the lion didn't seem to object to what he had said so as far as he could tell, yes, Black had complimented Hana.

He smiled, helping adjust the coat so that she would stay warm. It was giant on her, but that would help to keep her warm. He wanted to make sure that she wouldn't freeze and she was wearing far less than him in the name of fashion]

Yes, let's go.

[Shiro sat down on Black as per usual because it was easier for her to get on once he was there. He did glance back as she was adjusting to sit properly on the lion and keep her train up and away. He smiled as she got it adjusted and waited for her to hold on to him even slightly]

Okay, Black. Let's go. Carefully.

[Since Hana's riding side saddle on Black and can't hold as easily.

Black turned away from the apartment and made a job forward. It was shorter than normal before Black took off. Shiro could tell it was shorter than Black wanted, but the lion was trying to make it easier for Hana. Aside from that the ascent and descent were slower than normal. Pretty much by the time Black got to a higher point, he was coming back down.

As they reached the entrance to the castle, Black landed carefully almost right outside the door]

I think we're here.

[bunnyhopped]

[ Hana tried her best to make sure she held on to Shiro without letting his coat get loose, lest she lose it in transit, and to make sure the train of her dress stayed intact, too. All in all a challenge, but nothing she wasn't up for. It helped, of course, that Black was gracious enough as to hold back - and she knew what the Lion could do without holding back. When they set down, Hana took a quick look around, seeing the golden castle, everyone filtering in, varying degrees of glowing, but all dressed to the nines.

It almost felt like something out of a fairy tale. ]

Yeah, we're definitely at the right place.

[ Carefully, she began to get up. Now, she had to make sure she didn't accidentally step on her dress or drop Shiro's coat or any of that, but again - nothing she couldn't handle. As soon as she was up on her feet she was already pulling his coat off and holding it out at him, ready to rock her look in all its glory. Sure enough, she was already turning a few heads from people walking by to get into the ball. ]

Here you go!

[lionunchained]

[Shiro was also holding onto Black with one hand and offering an arm for Hana to hold onto as well if she felt that she needed to grab it. It was another bit of leverage. Luckily Black's large wings helped too. Black seemed to speed up just a touch when they were landing. Maybe he was trying to make sure he didn't land on her dress?

Of course its a fairy tale. Arriving at a golden castle in a fancy dress, riding on the back of a noble steed... and a Shiro]

I'd be a little worried if this was the wrong place.

[Shiro didn't move, letting Hana slide down off the lion and get herself settled. After that he got up and smiled, taking his coat back when she handed it to him. It was only appropriate now. She was at the party and should show off. His coat hid that on her]

Thanks. Let's go.

[With his coat draped over one arm, he gestured with his free hand so they could go inside. Black quickly fell into line behind them.

There was an attendant waiting inside who took Shiro's coat so that he wasn't carrying it around the whole time. Black didn't even stop to give them a chance to take his cape. Nope, its his cape]

Shall we?

[Shiro asked as he offered her his hand]

[somakemelaugh]

[Maybe he should have dressed for the occasion, but he hadn't had the want for it. It wasn't high on his to do list, but he was in need of a distraction. So when he saw a familiar face across the way, he headed in that direction and would have tipped his hat, had he been wearing one.]

Evening.

[lionunchained]

[Shiro was out wandering the garden. He had his suit on, since it was a formal party, but he didn't really have a reason to be concerned what others were wearing. He caught sight of the other out of the corner of his eye in the garden. Then he was coming over]

Good evening. How are you doing?

[somakemelaugh]

[How, indeed. Still, his smile stayed pleasant and he avoided the worst of his mood.]

Soaking in the atmosphere. There's a bit of a chill in the air, but it's pleasant. And you?

[lionunchained]

[Shiro was kind of doing the same thing. Not that he was in particularly bad mood, but he was confused. The events of the night before had left him questioning if he had done the right thing]

That same. They do through a lot of these parties, but its nice to get out and talk to people.

[somakemelaugh]

[He lifted a shoulder in a half shrug.]

Once a month, if I recall. Always something to celebrate around here, even if they're struggling to figure out how to chase us all off back to our homes. Even the nobility of England didn't party this often.

[lionunchained]

Yeah, I noticed that. They spend a lot of time on these parties rather than helping us get home. The Garrison threw some parties, but never something like this. It was mainly to promote something they were doing. Did nobility throw a lot of parties?

[somakemelaugh]

Maybe to give us something to distract us with while they work on that solution of theirs, if they intend to get us back at all. Ah, I find I don't care either way. [He tilts his head back, not really to look up, but to think, though there's not much thinking needed to be done on that question.] All the time. It was much like this, if you can believe. More so, in fact. The wealthy and popular threw parties to meet others like themselves, find new business partners, meet mistresses and marry their children off.

[lionunchained]

You don't care if they send us back? I'm just curious. I've heard some people say this before. Why is that?

Huh... I guess in someways they still use parties like that where I'm from. The Galaxy Garrison used to use parties to attract sponsors. If I wasn't on assignment, I always had to be there.