monthly mingle: PRIJATA

[riverviewmod]

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: monthly mingle: prijata
when: the month of june
where: anywhere around the city
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

prijata

In the days leading up to June 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: Prijata. Riverview Quarantine has a strong culture of love, and they celebrate all types - Prijata is a special celebration of platonic love and building community through friendship. Prijata traditions include gift exchanges between friends, sharing meals cooked together by friend groups, and a variety of events and services aimed at making friends.

a celebration of platonic love

Prijata is a relatively relaxed holiday, focused mainly on friendship and platonic love - dedicated to appreciating the friends already in one's life, and opening oneself up to making new friends. Besides the private giving of gifts between friends, there is also a city-wide government-sponsored gift fountain that is open throughout the entire month. Included in the wide variety of events catered to finding new friends, are 'speed friending' and a large open exhibition where all the specialized clubs in Riverview can recruit for new members - and residents new or old can create a club and recruit.

i. gift fountain

While Prijata gift exchanges between friends are generally a quiet affair, done at friend-group dinners or parties, the element of gift giving does extend outward - community-wide, in fact. Throughout the course of the month, anyone living in Riverview Quarantine can drop by the huge fountain in the City Center, in front of the City Hall. They will find that the fountain is chock full of floating gift boxes in a wide variety of colors, patterns, and different shapes - though none larger than a shoe box. There are signs put up around the fountain stating that the boxes are magic and will only seek and open for their rightful owners. Characters will find that, upon touching the water, a box will float over to them, and when they pick it up, the top will unfurl like flower petals, displaying the gift inside. Sometimes, the box won't appear on the first try, since there's only so much space in the fountain at any given time, but if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Every person in the city (including new arrivals) will receive one gift by the end of the month.

Gift fountain boxes will contain 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. If you can't think of an item like this that would work for your character, something of similar size and quality to what's described above that would make the character very happy can be substituted.

This prompt can also be used for gift exchanges and for characters to receive the Government-given gifts that were suggested in the Prijata Pregaming post on the meme community. Any newly apped character is welcome to post on the meme entry as soon as they're accepted, and will be linked to it in this month's acceptance notification, so to all you pre-existing players please keep looking at the Prijata Pregame meme throughout app week and afterward to help give new arrivals a warm friendly welcome!

ii. speed-friending

This is pretty much what it says on the tin! Much like speed-dating setups, many bars, coffee shops, and other places that people might gather are holding speed-friending! It's your standard setup - characters enter and fill out a quick questionnaire about themselves, and flit from table to table looking for someone with great friend chemistry. Not all of them are general and open to anyone who walks in, though, with many being specialized to people who are invested in certain hobbies, occupations, or with specific sets of interests. With specialized speed-friending setups ranging from horror movie buffs to members of the Perimeter Guard to fashionistas to sports or martial arts to video games, no matter what your character is into, they're likely to be able to sign up for a special event where they can go looking for a friend who's into the same things they are!

For this prompt, you can put up a list of hobbies or interests your character has, and compatible characters can hit them up for a speed-friending thread, like the IC equivalent of the CR meme!

iii. club exhibition

Speed-friending is all well and good, but not everyone is outgoing or open enough to know if they have friend chemistry in only a few minutes. For anyone looking to find groups of like-minded individuals they can spend more than a few minutes with before committing to something as daunting as a friendship, there is a month-long club exhibition happening in the Town Square in the City Center. Table after table and booth after booth are occupied by existing clubs in the city, with an incredibly broad scope of focus interests and hobbies - enough that any character should be able to find a club with their niche interest represented.

And if it isn't? Characters are welcome to start their own clubs - much like a business, a character-run club can have space set aside in the city for meetings and event mingles that are eligible for Activity Point Bonuses for the organizer.

iv. amusement park & waterfight

Remember the Amusement Park that citizens of the city were working together to clean up and power up a couple of months ago? Well, the endeavor has proven to be a success, and after a lot of hard work and technical expertise, the amusement park is up and running! For the first two weeks of June, admission will be free to honor those who helped make the park usable.

Sporting just about any amusement park ride you can think of, from kiddie rides, merry-go-rounds, and ferris wheels to high-speed roller coasters and more extreme rides for the thrill-seekers, the park takes it a step further by adding in a lot of different high-tech attractions not available at conventional amusement parks. It has banks and banks of VR simulators that allow park-goers to enjoy a variety of adventures and scenarios, or join shared mutual worlds with other users to explore or take out their aggression with a VR first-person shooter. There are also rows and rows of typical carnival games, some heavily rigged and some not, with prizes ranging from dollar store trinkets to stuffed animals to bits of advanced tech.

For the month of grand opening, though, the amusement park is offering a couple interesting events - a naming contest for the park, and a park-wide water fight.

The water fight is opt-in, with participants signing up and being given a purple or orange flag, tank top, or cap to wear marking them as to which team they're part of. There are buckets of water balloons around the park that are constantly being refilled by staff, and water fighters can participate in special target practice games to win the use of a watergun for the duration of the day - how big your watergun is depends on how well you do in the game! Ultimately, there aren't any real winners or losers, because the point is to get wet in the brand new summer heat, but it's always more fun to cool off with a bit of competition involved, right?

The naming contest is another story. Anyone who visits the park is welcome to think up a name for the park, and all entries will be listed on a large LED board. Every customer who enters the park is invited to vote for their favorite name, and the name with the most votes wins! To submit either an in-character suggestion or a suggestion from yourself as a player, hit up the thread below with a new top-level; whether or not you have a neat idea, place a vote for your favorite! Votes are one per player; suggestions are one per character.

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to set up headers for a communal floor, or threads open to roommates for the purpose of getting to know each other. Or if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during Prijata, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: Odysseas Stamoglou; image ii: Dave Arredondo; image iii: spainforpleasure.com; image iv: mit19237

navigation

Comments

[wiccant]

I get it. I felt pretty tough back when I was first recruited to join the Young Avengers. Like nothing could hurt us.

( they were powerful and strong, determined to do what was right and show the world they could do it. until everything went wrong and people died and nobody was happy with it anymore. )

I was a little older than you. Sixteen. We had--uh, a few people younger. We all fought hard, tried to take down Doom, but not all of us made it out of that battle alive. Cassie was only fifteen when she died. Jonas wasn't even a year old.

[madeupnames]

[He just stares for a long moment, because. Like.]

... Dude.

[Holy shit? Holy shit. That's a bomb composed entirely of misery, right there on his head. It makes him feel a little guilty — he had been so eager before, to take on the big guys; it took a building being dropped on him, an airplane crash, and the fear that he watched someone die — it made him realize how unprepared he was, to be an Avenger. To do the things no one else can. He looks down, expression softening.]

I'm sorry, man.

[He almost makes it sound like it's his fault, but that's just the usual Parker flare.]

[wiccant]

It's not your fault, there's no need to apologize for it.

( but he gets the sentiment. peter's fifteen, young and maybe not running around in tights, billy doesn't know. his world could be entirely different, he could be a normal nerdy kid running around in an iron man mask as far as billy knows. the whole bit about the drones just proves he has the aptitude for it. doesn't mean he's using it yet. )

Guess it just kind of served as a reminder that none of us are invincible. That being a hero isn't about taking on the biggest bad, it's--painful and gets bad sometimes but. Someone has to be there.

[madeupnames]

[He nods slowly, his mind still reeling back to the warehouse. To how terrified he was. He hadn't told anybody about that; it was... his own thing. But sometimes when he walks into big buildings, he gets that weird vertigo, that kind that shoots off danger warnings. He hadn't felt it before Toomes dropped a ceiling on him, and he's having a heck of a time telling if it's a normal human reaction to that, or if it's his powers being... weird.

He wants to admit he gets it, that he knows it can be painful and that nobody's invincible, he totally understands now — he's been knocked down a few pegs — but he's not sure if he should. Should he? It feels rude, to hear all this and not give anything back, but...]

Yeah. Yeah, everyone needs someone who can handle the things they can't.

That's why heroes are around, right? With great power, great responsibility?

[Ben knew, because Ben was a hero in his own right.

He saved a little orphaned kid from a life of never belonging, didn't he?]

[wiccant]

( see it's funny because he's quoted that same line to others and now peter is saying it to him as if billy totally didn't hear that from spiderman first. he can force a smile, even if it's a small one. great power, great responsibility, handling watching everyone they love die around them and get dissected in front of them and all of that horrible, horrible stuff that goes along with it.

being a hero's not all he thought it'd be. he tried to quit. more than once, even.

sometimes a lifestyle just chooses you instead of you choosing it. )

Yeah. Great power, great responsibility. All that.

( but -- )

How are you doing? With being here and all.

[madeupnames]

[No worries, Billy. You can be sad about all that, and Peter will just beam good energies and over-abundances of determination and hopefulness — he's been pretty good at being the wide-eyed newbie, and with it comes a sense of... something not so miserable. Until the future totally throws Peter for a jaded and miserable loop, anyway, but that's hopefully... not any time soon.

He looks a little surprised that Billy's asking about him; he's totally awesome! Never been better.]

Oh, you know. Been getting used to things. Coming in at the end of the school year sucks, but at least they kinda make it workable since there are always so many refugees coming and going... Still working on the — the re-socializing thing.

... I'm actually kind of an introvert, most of the time.

[Turning into a beefier kid with powers kind of helped him come out of his shell.

Let out the inner punny sass-machine, if you will.]

[wiccant]

Same. I didn't really get along much with the normal school crowds. ( generally speaking being a scrawny, gay jewish kid didn't really lend to making friends. he's fine with who he is, didn't mind being loud about it nearly as much as everyone else around him did. billy's always been witty. definitely not good at handling himself around people bigger and stronger than him who were Out To Get Him.

not that they're here to exchange their sad superhero backstories. )

I played a lot of games, read a lot of books. . watched movies, those're more my speed.

[madeupnames]

[Peter looks thoughtful for a moment. Yeah, he knows what it's like to be picked on and outcast and all that. Thank god he found Ned when he did, really, because that butthead did wonders for his self-esteem and not letting things bother him. And it helped him meet other people, too, like Michelle and the Decathalon team. Getting bit by a radioactive spider also helped a lot.

But sometimes it just takes getting out there and — um. Trying your damn best? That's not very motivational. Trying your best is hard. But he resolves to try his best here, then, and be decent company, even if words sometimes stick to the back of his throat.]

Movies, huh? Then — let's go see one? They've got movie places here, and they've got this movie about space dwarves that sounds like the coolest thing ever, honestly.

— I mean, if you're not busy.

If you want.

[Okay, half-confident. But still a perky effort to keep things light.]

I'll buy the gummy bears.

[wiccant]

( things william kaplan never thought would happen: getting invited to the movies by one (1) peter parker. who offers to cover the cost of gummy bears, what the heck. there's maybe a moment's pause before he's getting up off of the fountain's ledge, offering another smile as he pulls out his phone and swipes through to find the theater's app. )

I've got it. I--uh, have a job, but I don't have to pay rent or anything so I have a decent amount saved up.

And space dwarves definitely sounds like the coolest thing I've ever heard of.

( who doesn't like space dwarves? doom, that's who. )

[madeupnames]

[Oh this is gonna be great. He was wanting to see this movie for a week now, but he really didn't wanna seem lame, going by himself... Still, he looks a little worried by the offer of Billy paying for the whole thing.]

Are — are you sure? I mean, they give me an allowance for a little bit, and it's totally more than I'm used to anyways, so...

[The Parkers are not the kind of people who accept free things well. Even the Spider Suit, as far as Peter was concerned, was earned by his 'employment' by Tony Stark, you know? May and Ben, they never liked the idea of owing anyone money, and Peter's already trying to devise a way to pay for something in the not so distant future to make up for this.]

[wiccant]

Yeah, it's no problem. I've been here a while, have a job, and I don't--pay rent or anything.

( shoulders lift in an idle shrug as he finds the movie peter was talking about, purchases two tickets through the app and reaches a hand back to offer it to him, throwing a grin over his shoulder. )

I'll teleport us there, it's faster. Next showing is in ten minutes.

( gives him a chance to show off a little, too. who doesn't like doing that? )

[madeupnames]

[Oh, shoot, well — !

He reaches and grabs Billy's hand, as if the guy will totally leave him in five seconds if he doesn't. It's a good way to shut him up about paying for the tickets, anyway, eyes slightly rounded in uncertainty.

Peter seriously hopes this isn't like that really old movie The Fly with Jeff Goldblum, because he doesn't wanna come out turning into a gross fly monster.

... He also holds his breath like he's jumping into a pool. Not sure why, it's just, like. Instinctive.]

[wiccant]

( billy raises his other hand after peter's grabbed hold of him, blue embers of magic appearing around fingertips and covering his eyes as he murmurs a soft movies under his breath, pulls that hand in close once more as a bubble of soft blue encompasses them both.

it's a bit like going underwater, pressure-wise--but the instant they blink away from the fountain to the theaters itself doesn't hinder breathing any. might be a little disconcerting for someone who hasn't teleported before but. their feet just--move from being settled on the pavement of one zone to an entirely different one, leaving them both standing right in front of the line for the theaters.

and billy's releasing his hand fast enough, raising up the scan bar on the theater app. )

Not too bad, right?

1/2

[madeupnames]

[MY SPIDER SENSES ARE TINGLING, DANGER, DANGER TIM ROBINSON-]

[madeupnames]

[Whoa, that was weird. He stands there a little wobbly, the hairs on his arms sticking straight up like they've been awakened from a deep cold slumber (what was that feeling, that was weird, it was like electricity and he's pretty sure it wasn't Billy's doing) — but then he straightens up and PHEWS loudly.

And yes, he pats himself down to make sure he's not turning into a fly.]

That was so cool. How'd you do that?

[Stupid question, but still, he has to ask.]

[wiccant]

( nope, no fly bits!! look teleporting may not be the safest method of travel but billy's got a pretty good hand on this by now. blue sparks slowly dissipate as billy makes his way up to the desk, offers them the phone screen to scan for their tickets. )

I'm a witch, remember? Er, I warp reality around me to suit what I want. It only works if I want it though, so. ( nobody manipulates billy's magic except billy. ) I wanted to go to the movies, now we're at the movies. It's pretty handy.

[madeupnames]

Nifty.

[That's such a simple way of putting it, Pete, but you do you. He follows along, trailing Billy after they receive their tickets.]

It's cool that you're honest with it. I mean, you didn't just warp into the movies, or whatever. I know way too many people who'd use it for nefarious teen stuff.

[wiccant]

There's enough stigma against mutants without me abusing my magic.

( lifting his shoulders in an idle shrug and taking both tickets into his hand, offering the second out to peter. )

And it wouldn't be very hero-like either.

[madeupnames]

Yeah, yeah, you're right — you're right, sorry. Kind of stupid I didn't consider that.

[He ducks a little, apologetic; he wasn't exactly born with his powers. So it's a little different for someone like him anyway. He's sure people are dicks about it enough...]

You're definitely a hero to movie ushers. And me, for covering this. [He's already rushing a bit to grab two boxes of candies and putting them on the counter before Billy can try to pay for anything else.] So I'm gonna definitely buy the candy, okay?

[wiccant]

( billy wasn't born casting spells and throwing lightning, either. he would have been maybe a bit better off if he was, considering all the bullshit he dealt with in high school up until he was able to throw around lightning bolts like it was nothing. )

It's not like a movie costs much. . ( but fine, whatever! he's not going to fight peter if he's intent on covering the cost of snacks or anything. that's going a bit further than just trying to show some hospitality. ) Aside from space dwarves, what's your favorite movie?

( and excuse him while he grabs onto some bottle of the most hipstery drink they have. )

[madeupnames]

Oh, I love older stuff for sure, like Blade Runner and Labyrinth and - like, old action movies. But I mostly like Star Wars and stuff with big settings like that. A kinda story you go on a really long heroic journey with?

[He shrugs, hands behind his back as the cashier rings everything up.]

Anything with a sappy ending, after a long way to get there. I'm a sucker for those.

[wiccant]

Lord of the Rings? ( if he's into long heroic journeys and all. ) You've got good tastes, though. Definitely.

( can peter be his new favorite because peter is getting pretty close to being his new favorite. he's drama free so that's pretty much a dozen extra points right there, thank you peter. )

We'll have to go to the movies more often.

[madeupnames]

Yeah! Like Lord of the Rings. I loved watching those, especially when they'd marathon on cable; I usually rooted for the hobbits most of all.

I mean, how can you not? They're the best part.

[Sure, Aragorn and Legolas are cool, but you've got these little non-combatants who are so peaceful and kind in nature, out there being brave and doing such intense work? Like, hell yeah, Peter Parker is rooting for the little guy.

Man, you're not the first youth who mentioned Lord of the Rings, either. Some dude named Teddy's ex back totally loves that series. What a small woooorld.]

Space dwarves just means we're combining our favorite film franchises into one.

I can work with that.