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

Gyda Ragnarsdottir | OTA

[like_quicksilver]

ooc: can switch to 'action' if preferred

Fireworks
There had been fireworks before in Riverview before, but she'd been too sick to enjoy them, confined to bed rest. These though, these she noticed. The sounds were loud enough even when she was inside, leaving her thinking there was an attack of the gods or other creatures.

There was no such thing, but to look at the fireworks, Gyda couldn't believe they had nothing to do with the gods. Once she got used to the noise, she could only stare in wonder at the brightness and color. Not even the winter lights or lightening from Thor's hammer could create such brilliance.

"How are they created?" She asked outloud, her eyes still drawn towards the sky.

Glow Ball; dinner and dancing

She had no idea why this was called a ball, even when it was described to her. Yet, all of what she was told couldn't prepare her for what she saw before her. Weeks living in Riverview, she thought she was used to what the city had to offer-but she was clearly wrong.

The day before, she'd used her money to buy a dress and set of boots. Perhaps she could've worn her gown from Yul, but she didn't wish to give the impression that she couldn't afford more than one gown, not when they were so readily available.

She was glad she did. Looking around, she thought for a moment this wasn't of the realm of man but of gods. Everything was so splendid that for a good five minutes, she could only walk around in awe, admiring everything and everyone she saw.

The rooms with music caught her attention most of all. There was no such dancing back home. People didn't really dance with eachother in pairs, only groups. Some of the more energetic dances resembled something from home, but others, the dances where people danced in pairs, just confused her. The slower songs especially, it didn't look like dancing but just walking in circles.

Some points of the evening, she did find herself hungry, actually going to the tables and picking at this food or that. Most of it looked too nice to eat, but she wasn't about to let it stop her.

ooc: if you want a different starter or a specific plot, message me at rschwartz501

Ball

[storradr]

Ragnar had avoided doing any actual preparation for the Ball, so it served him right that he'd been whisked away and decked out in a modern suit. He'd already ditched the jacket and tie and popped the top couple of buttons on his dress shirt by the time he found Gyda again. She was trying to reach a small pyramid of amazing looking fresh fruit tarts at the center of one of the tables when he spotted her.

Naturally, he reached over her and stole the one she'd been reaching for just as she was about to get it. He grinned at her once she realized it was him, putting the tart on her plate.

"So much food would keep all of Kattegat full and fat for a whole year," He mused, taking one of the tarts for himself, "Have you seen the pools of water yet? They are inside and warm, for swimming."

Re: Ball

[like_quicksilver]

She had to give her father a double take when he came in with modern clothes. Of course, there were shops that costumed to their taste, but perhaps this sort of dress was required for these festivals. That still didn't mean seeing him in those clothes wasn't funny.

His taking the tart she was aiming for would've earned him a nudge had he not set it on her plate. "It's the duty of any host to provide a feast for his guests." He'd know that as surely as she did.

"I have. There's one behind Marco's home, but it's outside and too cold to swim in." Just another way of her figuring the man had wealth, to afford such a thing.

[storradr]

"You are right. But that does not mean I cannot be impressed," He teased, giving her a quick wink.

He took a bite of the tart, which was beyond amazing, like most of the food he'd tried after his arrival to Riverview.

"I do not mean out there," Though it was impressive that Marco had one of these pools, "Here. At the feast. There is a large pool of water and several smaller, hotter pools, all for swimming in."

[like_quicksilver]

"I'm surprised your eyes are still in your head by now." She teased back. Of course, she couldn't fault him for that. Once she had her energy back, it took nearly two weeks for her to feel accustomed to things.

"I haven't seen those, not yet." She'd been too focused on everything else in the palace, from the interior, the clothes people wore, the food and music. "But, if the owners of this place could afford it, I don't see why they shouldn't have pools."

Really, this was her first time attending a feast like this-how was she to know what was considered 'normal' or not.

[fiercestwarrior]

Sif knew well enough that she was hardly fit to explain the mechanics of fireworks to anyone who did not already understand them, and a child less so. Still, no one else seemed to be paying attention to the girl, and if there was one thing Sif would never stand for it was for girls to be shoved aside and not heard.

"If you add certain things to a fire, it will have different effects. Like loud bangs, or bursts of colour."

[like_quicksilver]

She frowned. Though they had a blacksmith on the farm and in kattegat, she couldn't recall the fire changing color from metal. "What sort of things?"

She lifted the umbrella she was holding so as to speak better with the woman.

[fiercestwarrior]

"Certain metals and salts, for example. It can be done via sorcery as well, but I do not think that is the case here."

She could probably name a few chemicals, but she didn't think that would be very helpful to Gyda since it probably wouldn't really mean anything to her.

"The firework needs fuel to make it burn and fly, and then these other things to create the sparkling effects you see."

[like_quicksilver]

Inwardly, Gyda hoped that wasn't the case either. Sorcery was all well and good in stories, but how was she to know if magic couldn't be turned on them; she'd rather it be performed by someone she trusted.

"I'd liked to learn how they are made." They seemed beautiful, and were clearly dangerous to include fire.

Ball

[stantheman]

Stan liked watching the dancing and he had been some time before he caught sight of Gyda. He'd been wanting to dance but it felt awkward to do so alone but he hadn't seen any girls close to his age to ask.

It's doubly lucky, he thinks, that Gyda is finally the girl he sees his age. He goes over to her while she's looking at the dance floor.

"Would you like to dance?"

Re: Ball

[like_quicksilver]

She couldn't really pick the instruments from the music in this room. Sure, Gyda knew by now of songs being 'electronically played', but even so she could pick up bits of familiarity in them (or perhaps that was just listening to her brother's music). This music, well, she could appreciate the beats and how 'fun' the music sounded, but that was it.

Seeing Stan, there was some relief in seeing a familiar face, especially a person her age.

"That is dancing?" She looked once more to the 'dancers', but to all intents and purposes, it just looked like going around in circles to her.

[stantheman]

Stan glanced towards the people who were having a good time on the dancefloor and then back at Gyda, nodding. "Yeah. It's fun," he added. He's not a great dancer by any means but this isn't exactly a competition.

"It's not that hard either."

[like_quicksilver]

Not competition, and besides, she was really not one to judge either way. She'd certainly have to take his word for it.

"So long as you don't make me look foolish." She gave him a slight smile before walking over.

[worldsaway]

Thor is not far away from Gyda when the fireworks begin. He doesn't really look much like any depiction of Thor the God of Thunder. His hair is short and he's wearing a a suit.

His arms are folded over his chest and he watches the display with interest, peeling his eyes away when he hears someone ask a question. He smiles warmly at Gyda, charmed by the fact that she's never seen such a thing before.

He opens his mouth to answer, then realises he has absolutely no idea how fireworks actually work here.]

How do you think they work? [He asks, maybe that will help.]

[like_quicksilver]

She afforded the man a glance (not an easy feat considering his height), before turning to look up at the sky through the clear umbrella she was hold. Even then, she had to think on his answer; she knew the stories of how lightening was created, but she couldn't imagine how these were created.

"Perhaps.." She tried to think. Most of the books on science were above her reading level, but she could still listen. "Something is being burned and thrown up into the sky, but..I don't know what forms those colors."

[worldsaway]

"I think you might be onto something- but I don't know either." Thor admits, he's not really self-conscious about the gaps in his knowledge. He's not omnipotent, after all.

"When I first saw them, I assumed they were made from magic." He shrugs. He's sure it's science, somehow. "Are you new here?"

fireworks

[winscenario]

It wasn't an unusual question, especially coming from a kid. Jim wasn't out here purposefully to watch the fireworks, but he had taken the opportunity to stop and watch one of the displays, and now he was glancing down from the colors in the sky to his current company.

"It's really simple, actually," he said, turning to her. He was no scientist, but he knew enough to explain how fireworks worked. "You need three things to make fireworks: a shell, an explosive and a fuse. The explosive is gunpowder, and that's what's inside the shell. You place the shell inside the mortar, and you light up the fuse. That lights the gunpowder, and sends the shell up into the air. Once it's high enough, the rest of the gunpowder explodes into a show of light."

Re: fireworks

[like_quicksilver]

She frowned at the explanation; something she had to get used to really quick was just how much everyone knew of things 'from her future', and how much she had to grasp.

"I know what guns are, from the television." She answered, thinking carefully. "So, gun powder is what's used to make them fire at people?" Well, that and the metal bits called bullets. "The rest..." She frowned. "I'm from before things like gun powder and mortars."

She wondered if everyone (save for her family) was from a much later time than herself.

[winscenario]

"Some of them, yes. In my time we don't really use those sorts of weapons anymore, but the first guns to be invented did use gunpowder." Jim's explanation was a little simplistic, but she was just a kid and he didn't want to make it overly complicated, particularly when she told him she was from a time before those sorts of weapons.

"Well, gunpowder is an explosive. And a mortar is like this tube used to launch certain objects. It's not the same as a gun— it shoots things at slower speeds than bullets. With fireworks, it's a tube, and you have the gunpowder in this little casing and a fuse, which is a thread, attached to it. You stick the casing inside the tube, and when you light it up, that's how it's shot up in the air."

He looked around, then offered. "I can try to get one and show you, if you want." There were people lighting up fireworks all over the Quarantine, so it shouldn't be too hard.

Ball

[ragnarsson]

Gyda had likely still been at home when Marco and Nico forced him into a suit for him to go to the event. With hair and wheelchair both fixed up, he's hanging around the outskirts of the event. He watches Gyda's reaction to everything around her with amusement. He'd done the exact same thing when he'd first come here.

He wheels over to his sister as she's sampling some various foods from the tables. "Try the grey stuff. It's good." It's a type of cream whipped into the shape of a flower.

Re: Ball

[like_quicksilver]

Indeed, she had been there when the two all but forced Ivar into a suit, and she wondered just how much the two men knew of their value to him if he didn't retaliate for it (protesting wasn't the same). She couldn't say on if the suit they picked was equal to what someone his rank would wear (such lines were especially blurred here), but even she could see that he looked good in it, and the color of the fabric suited him more than if he were to have been forced into the usual black suits most of the men wore here.

She took a bite of the flower with her spoon, pleasantly surprised with the taste. "It tastes...almost between blueberries and violets."

Strange, but still enjoyable.

[ragnarsson]

Ivar certainly had been giving his friends a lot of leeway. They never would have gotten him into fancy clothes and out of the house otherwise. Especially at an event like this, where he felt out of place, and a little antsy without his armor on.

He had a small pile of cream puffs on his own plate, eating each one slowly. He was going to have such a sugar rush later on in the night. He takes one off his plate and plunks it down on Gyda's so she can try one next. "The food of this city is definitely one of the biggest advantages of living here. What else have you found here that you're enjoying?"

fireworks

[waffler]

Eleven was drawn in toward Gyda because they looked to be the same age. That's enough for a lonely girl who feels pressed to try and make more friends. She missed Mike and his friends, but her social worker had drilled it in her head she had to try and make a life for herself here now. Part of that meant talking to people. So El tried approaching, but quickly realized she had no idea what to say. So she just stood there and flinched each and every time the fireworks went off, only glancing away from the other girl occasionally. When she was finally spoken to, that too earned a little flinch, followed up by a wide eyed stare.

Was she meant to answer that?

There didn't seem to be anyone else around, so it must be a question for her. "Magic, maybe."

Not that magic was real, but she hadn't ever seen or heard of fireworks before and wasn't sure what could make them. Mike and his friends believed in magic. Maybe they were right and it was real.

Re: fireworks

[like_quicksilver]

She wasn't entirely talking with anyone, atleast, not in a way she expected anyone to answer. So when she heard another girl answer, she found her focused turned there instead. Of course, there were other children here, but they more or less ignored her, probably because of where and when she was from and didn't yet go to school.

"I heard it's called science, but.." She frowned. "I..I can't read the books yet that explain them."

[waffler]

"Science," Eleven repeated, nodding slowly. She had heard that word many times, usually used by Papa or the lab techs. Hearing another child say it sounded less confusing and intimidating. "What kind of science?"

Maybe she would know the name, even if she couldn't read books about them yet. Eleven may not know a lot about the outside world still, but she knew that there were different kinds.