riverviewlogs | monthly mingle: THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHT

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monthly mingle: THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHT

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

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[ playing security in this sort of setting is always a bit of a bore and a bit of a challenge. there's too much alcohol, too much ground to cover. mind you, peggy carter doesn't quite look like a police-woman doing her job. not in her red nail lacquer and lipstick, not in her gown and her trademark victory curls.

she's touring the gardens at the moment. she takes to catalog the coming and going of individuals, even if she doesn't know them. old habits. she knows men like him, had seen dozens of them. her armor is on, at once; men of power has always had something to say to women like her. ]

waiting for someone?

[ neutral, proper, polite. ]

[He expected that there would be guards moving through the crowd of the halls and beyond; there was seemingly an air of ordered respect to many people. He had met a few of the guards and certainly he had looked into the public list of names of those who vowed to serve and protect. If he hadn't quite been as old as he was, he might have even set himself into such activities as well, if only to have a more legitimate reason to people watch.

Alexander paused in regarding a patch of native flowers the likes of which he had never seen before. They were an interesting species with fragrant maroon flowers that seemed to catch the moon light. He turned his head at the question, spotting a very, very familiar woman.

His expression softened immediately as he recognized the great Margaret Carter, the Iron Lady of SHIELD. He lifted his right hand to settle over his heart, and he bowed his head to her in a show of respect that he showed a handful of women. He had respected her so much, he had ignored the idea of offering her with an overdose of medication as her mind fled her. Of course, being a family spies, he wasn't certain it was worth the over risk anyway.]

Be still my heart. What a pleasure to see you and in such finery! As always, you make me regret being a happily married man. [He held a hand out for her to shake, as if they were equals, as if this were another meeting.]

As always.

[ she quotes, looks at his hand before reaching out to shake it. her own is bare of jewelry. the only things she has on are her earrings and a pendent she wears at all times. a gift, perhaps? or a family heirloom? hard to know. peggy hides more things than she tells, that's the rule. ]

We've met one another, then. Another modern piece thrown into the mix?

[ there are many. some of them call themselves the avengers, of all things. it all involves so much buzz and cheer and showing off. she finds the it foolish, she finds it dangerous. ]

21st century, yes?

[He had no doubt that Margaret had no idea who he was; they had, after all, met some time after this current physical appearance. She had been one of the few women to allow her age to come naturally and without the necessity to alter herself in an attempt to recapture a youthful appearance. Aging with grace was a matter he appreciated, and she had done so splendidly.

He drank in her appearance, but it didn't surprise him in the least that her radiance was of self, not because of the weight of sparkly jewels. She was a pure individual; at times, what one saw was what one received.]

So it would seem. You and I once had long discussions of diplomacy and SHIELD. The only thing sharper than your mind is that tongue of yours.

[He smiled, clearly charmed with her on a professional level. He was strictly respectful of her. For now.]

21st century. I suppose since time has pushed us so far apart, new introductions are in order. Alexander Pierce, former diplomat with the State Department.

[ a politician, then. Diplomacy and politics went hand in hand, after all. one was a bit more polite than the other but the base code was the same. peggy carter can attest that she's not quite good at either, not at this point of time anyway. above all else, she's a spy. it's odd to hear of people who know her as something but. a woman who can carry conversations of diplomacy, a head of an intelligence agency. ]

I heard of SHIELD, one of many things I cannot take credit for.

[ she's hardly there, yet. she's an agent with the SSR, one that occasionally go rouge for the sake of a friend but that is all. ]

I find it hard to believe the State Department was overly fond of something like SHIELD.

[ but that's a guess based on 40s politics. ]

[The fact that SHIELD had not formed under her was not entirely surprising, which made him recall what he knew of her history and thought she might have been during or post War. He wondered how fresh the loss of Captain Rogers had been for her when she had been brought to this place, but it was neither to time nor the subject to actually consider with her. It would be best they stand on the right foot.]

It was quite an accomplishment, and it will be yours in time. What is it you've been doing in the time you are from?

[Information was valuable, and he was well aware she knew that as well. He kept his steps careful, even if he knew for a fact that any hearsay about in him future would likely sway her. Captain Rogers had that effect.]

Times have changed, but also, I switched careers a few times. Diplomat is just the easiest title to lead with.

Fetching coffee and lunch orders.

[ it's what she has done since the war. of course, things are shaping to be different now. saving the world from a ring of Russian spies and clearing howard's stark name has given her acknowledgment she had no interest in. she left that sort of business to the likes of jack thompson. the kind who could smile and shake hands and make jokes, the one who thought a climb upwards demanded all those things.

this one, here, is much more subtle. ]

Nothing exciting, I fear.

[ it's true enough. and it's said just as a test of a sort. most would lower their armor, most would think her vulnerable. but then again, he might not be most people.

the next question ought to be, what's the most difficult one? but that's too easy and too predictable. it almost justify the lie that she is sure will follow.

instead: ]

another switch is in order, I imagine. Have they assigned a role for you here, already?

Ah. [Now he had placed where he was in the timeline.] Such a demeaning place for any woman, least of all one of your skill and astuteness.

[Later in life, she might even joke about it, after she had proven to the world at large that the work of men was no more valuable than that of a woman. He had grown up in that time, but his family had been rather progressive in their thinking (except his grandparents of course), and his mother was one of the strongest people he had known. She could run a household with the same iron fist as she could run a business, and there was no room for anything but respect or one would get an earful.

He hardly doubted that she was doing nothing, though it might not be exciting. This was an interesting place after all.]

I suppose that you've been here in this place long enough to enter into a routine then. It seems, in my short time here, that this place is designed to urge people to settle rather than rebel.

[He reached up and adjusted his monocle.]

Yes, I've been put in charge of the Prometheus Labs, and there is a special place in my heart for R-and-D. What role do you play here, Margaret, if I may be so bold as to ask?

[ he has very certain of those skills of her. some would see it as an advantage. peggy, private as she is, finds the idea of a world that knows exactly what she's capable of - well. worrying, to say the least. she deals espionage, it's not a field in which one wants to be known.

and here she is, having to swallow down the idea this is exactly what she'll be one day. ]

Peggy.

[ she corrects, almost as if she wants some distinction between she is and the woman she'll one day be. ]

I split my time between the city's police force and the perimeter guard, as it happens. you would have heard of both, I trust.

[Alexander didn't expect her to give up anything to him; they had sparred with words on occasion when it came to policy and information, but that was many years from her current time. Despite her current age, in his mind, she would always be many years his senior, one to be respected.

His smile widened at her insistence of name. Ah, the memories.]

You'll forgive me again, Miss Carter, but as I said when we were first introduced many years from now, I simply couldn't call you Peggy for my grandmother would roll over in her grave and haunt me into my own. If you would feel more comfortable, I will refrain from Margaret out of my deep respect for you.

[Also, he was curious to see what she would make of the explanation and relent or hold her ground on the matter. He did so enjoy when she set a man in his place after all. If only she hadn't been so firm in her belief and never swayed... what a HYDRA agent she would have made.]

I am familiar with both agencies, yes. I've met a few members of the Perimeter Guard at other festivities, and I am pleased to know we are all so protected. I haven't been given the impression we are in much danger in the city.

Far be it for me to stand in the way of a man and his grandmother, God rest her soul.

[ she was rather close to her own nanna but that's neither here nor there. ]

Miss Carter will have to do. No one calls me Margaret.

[ save for her parents but again, that's rather beside the subject isn't it? it's either peggy or miss carter, then. she's ever so casual again. she never knows what to do with all the credit she's given. she doesn't deserve any of it, not yet and so she lays claim to none of it. ]

The dangers are well beyond the fence, as it happens. If one goes out to map the terrain, one would meet two dozen of them by the end of the day.

She was quite the force to be taught by. May she still be at peace.

[Pierce could play at being a Catholic, but he had long ago stopped pretending. God was an entity for those in desperate need of hope, and he had seen how often that had failed over the years, especially during the wars.

He smiled again, accepting that she wouldn't allow him the honour of Margaret. That simply gave him opportunity to work at her in future, to potentially earn that name.]

Why is that, if I may ask?

[Curiosity coloured his voice, as if he had never asked, as if he didn't know he reasons. That she now freely offered some information on their situation wasn't anything he didn't expect; the safety of people was likely one of her goals here.]

Them?

Beasts of all kinds. some call them monsters but that's a bit too dramatic.

[ one of her missions in the city included cleaning the sewers of man-sized lizards; she had seen plenty of other creatures since she joined the guard and started venturing beyond the fence. ]

the terrain can be unstable. quicksand, poisons plants, all that can be expected from area most wouldn't want to cover. the city is safe enough.

[ safe enough to celebrate once a month, anyway. ]

[That she ignored his question regarding her preference didn't go beyond his notice, but neither did he consider it worthwhile enough to pursue either. Personal choice, he decided to go with at this time.]

As in dangerous natural flora and fauna of this place where we are currently inhabiting?

[That clearly would make exploration all the more exciting. He glanced to the gardens that they happened to be standing in, noting that many of the species here he had never seen the likes of before.]

No doubt for the expansion of the city, pushing back against nature is necessary.

Most of the animals and plants in the city haven't tried to kill us yet.

[ yet, she says; like a woman expecting an attack any day now. it's not entirely unheard of, after all. ]

when I only just arrived, we had to clean the sewers of the city. it was all infested by rather large lizards. they were eating away at the foundations of electricity. going down there, we've learned some of them were as big as us. after that, the beasts stayed beyond the Fence. These days most people are busy in celebrations such as this one.

Yet is likely the most accurate.

[This might have been much like a world he had thought to create, though with far more assurances that people were actually safe. Maybe those that would question could be utilized, but so far, he had been impressed more with how so many people gave into what was easy rather than question what they should.

Human nature at its finest.]

Yes, I have volunteered to help repair damages to the fence now and again. It's a worthwhile project, but sometimes I have to wonder if the fence is not designed to keep us in rather then the world beyond out.

Not one to trust our gracious hosts, I see.

[ she almost smiles. she was just as suspicious, still is. it's in her nature and it seems it's in his as well. those who fight wars, who do politics and diplomacy are all realists. she finds they all lack optimism and a naive sort of hope.

god, she misses steve. she's been avoiding the man like a plague but his steadfast idealism always sent her heart soaring. ]

You may always step beyond it but I would not advise going alone. the abandoned city and the terrain around it are tricky to explore.

Nothing in any life is given for free, I've found. This place seems too good to be true.

[That meant that whoever was providing all of the service, the housing, the parties were doing so with a set agenda in mind and that it was up to the rest of them to figure out what that might be to either arm themselves with knowledge or fight back where necessary. He certainly would use his position to find out what he could as well.

It would be a poor state of things if they accepting the fact they were little more than currency being exchanged somehow.]

You advice is well-heeded, but I'm spry for my age. The ruins likely have answers I may wish to seek in future.

Don't we all.

[ wish to seek for exactly that, answers. but he is not wrong, the place seems too good to be true but it does come with its own tricks. ]

the Guard is the natural place to start. they have just enough manpower to give advice to anyone who wishes to brave the world beyond the fence.

[ those brave or foolish souls. it really depends on the person, she has found. ]

[Everything seemed to lead back to the Perimeter Guard, and he was beginning to become quite interested in their structure of command and their resources. City Hall and the Library didn't always have the answers he sought, so perhaps that organization was the next to dig more deeply into.]

I appreciate your advisement. I will take it to heart.

[That didn't mean he wouldn't venture where he wanted all the same. There was advantages to an impression of helplessness.]

It's not quite the best welcome.

[ but then again, she's not the welcoming sort. years from now, she doesn't expect it to change and so, this can't come as a surprise to her present company. she's beginning to wonder what will. ]

but I hope it's an efficient one nonetheless.

I would expect no less from you, Agent Carter.

[She had never been a warm and fuzzy woman, and he would have been disappointed if she were anything but in a place like this as well. Of course, this wasn't entirely a second chance for her. Likely, she was someone who would have wanted to return to where she was better utilized.]

Our interactions have been nothing if not exciting.

[ there's a twitch to her lips that suggests an almost smile. it's been a while since anyone called her agent. he's not wrong, she would have felt more comfortable at her own job, especially now when she is finally allowed to do it. ]

I fear I may not be up to my usual standards, then.

[ this here is well-mannered enough but hardly exciting. ]

[That was as close to a smile as he had hoped to earn, and he was going to take it. It was the small victories at least, even if it might be for the smallest of details.]

I would never hold you to usual standards. That's what makes meeting you here so pleasant.

[They weren't debating, but that might come with time.]

Because we cannot quite meet in your own timeline.

[ she guesses, she assumes. it's something she likes to get out of the way, if possible. and as quickly as that, like ripping off a band-aid. ]

I'm aware of my own death, Mr. Pierce. Have been for quite some time.

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peacemongering - 2018-01-13 18:58 (UTC) - Expand

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