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

[franciscoramon]

That's the best kind of hindsight, baby.

[ Cisco has been through similar moments - remembering times when Dr. Wells had been annoyed at him, realizing in hindsight that half of them sprung from Cisco getting in the way of him doing something secret and manipulative and evil. Back then he'd been so desperate for Dr. Wells's approval that any hint he'd let him down would shatter Cisco's ego for weeks. Now, defiantly, he's proud of all those moments.

Also, add that to the list of 'reasons Dorian's father sounds like a piece of shit'. ]

I get the feeling 'steal you away' has got a different connotation where you're from.

[ Someday, probably, Cisco will explain The Bachelor to Dorian, but it is not this day. He nods in the direction of the aviary, hands in his pockets as the two of them begin to stroll in that direction.

(If Cisco thought Dorian were at all serious in his faux-flirting, his reaction would be radically different, but he can tell by now that that is just how Dorian speaks, and so he can tease back, easy and happy): ]

Anyway, in your dreams, mister. I've got a strict no-mustache policy.

[tevinteraltus]

Yes, I suppose it is. [He pinches the bridge of his nose, frowning suddenly.] He's dead, you know. Assassinated, most like. [And he shakes his head.] And after everything, he kept me as his heir. I still don't know how to feel about it. I hadn't really thought on it, after coming here. I'd only learned that morning, you see.

[And then he makes a flippant gesture with his hand.]

This entire day has made me all too reminiscent. [Which leads him to smirk at Cisco's reference.] That thoroughly depends on the setting, Cisco. Here? [He raises a hand for emphasis.] I speak from a position of innocence, you have my word.

[He chuckles.]

Though it's now clear you've never encountered a man capable of proper grooming. A shame, really.

[franciscoramon]

[ Well f u c k. He definitely would not have kept on joking about dads if he'd realized that Dorian's was murdered the day he'd come through the portal (or shortly before - that was when he said he heard about it, but Cisco isn't sure how fast the news reached him). Cisco wouldn't have been so flippant if he'd known, even if Dorian's dad sounds like he was a pretty bad person. ]

I mean, not thinking about all the bullshit back home is one of the benefits of being here, right?

[ Cisco thinks about suggesting... maybe Dorian ought to think about it, and maybe talk about it, a little bit. But he holds that comment back, for now. He's not going to make suggestions or criticize when Dorian seems to be doing okay with it. And honestly, maybe that's the healthiest option for him right now. ]

Little reminiscence now and then doesn't hurt.

[ The aviary isn't all that far from the town center; close enough that it's not worth getting a cab or catching any method of public transport. Besides, it's nice to talk while they are walking and the city is passing them by. ]

Grooming has got nothing to do with it. It's- you know I think that's just one of those cultural things I couldn't explain without talking for a whole hour.

[ Cisco could get into it, and there might be something interesting there, comparing the connotations of different kinds of facial hair on their respective worlds. But instead, Cisco rubs at his chin idly and says: ]

I've been thinkin' I might let mine grow out a bit, actually. Not, like, a full beard or whatever, but just get some stubble and then see what happens.

[ Then, even though he hadn't been planning on doing it, he admits: ]

I actually kinda had a vibe of myself in the future and I had a kinda short beard and it looked good and made me want to try it, but does that mean I wouldn't have tried it if I hadn't had that vibe? I can't wrap my head around this seeing the future shit. It trips me out every time.

[tevinteraltus]

Yes, I suppose it is, in a manner of speaking.

[That being said, of course, there were many things tying Dorian to this place, yes, but also many more tying him to his own world, not least of all his love of his homeland. Certainly, there were things that needed to be changed, practices that should be abolished, but he believed his homeland was beyond the saving, he wouldn't miss it so much. He did find himself chuckling at Cisco's commentary.]

Oh, I beg to differ. A little reminiscence now and again can be quite painful.

[Most days, Dorian preferred to walk the Quarantine rather than travel. The cars, some days, played hell with his stomach, not that anyone needed to discuss that little issue of his. In fact, the fewer people who knew of it the better. Instead, he continued listening to Cisco and his explanation, or non-explanation as it were.]

The cultural connotations of facial hair, but unrelated to the grooming? You really will need to explain, you know.

[But he takes a step away from Cisco as he explains, looking thoughtful before nodding.]

Groomed properly, I think it would be rather fetching. Go for it.

[He chuckles, though.]

Oh, come now, Cisco. It isn't all that terrible. Have I mentioned I've traveled to the future?

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco knows it's a bit silly, but he is delighted at Dorian's approval. He'd half been expecting a gently sarcastic comment about how he really couldn't pull off facial hair, that it would make him look ridiculous. Considering how fastidious and opinionated Dorian is about facial hair, his approval means more than Cisco had expected.

He's glad, though, to hide his happiness and slight embarrassment by changing the subject. Dorian had mentioned, briefly, that he had traveled in time before, but the conversation at the time had been urgent enough and about something else that Cisco hadn't asked any follow-up questions. And he had, he realizes now, completely forgotten about it. ]

You did, but you didn't really get into the hows and whens and whys and all of that.

[ It's an invitation to say more, but stops short of any prying questions. The curiosity is obvious, though, in Cisco's expression as he glances over. ]

[tevinteraltus]

[ Dorian isn't completely unaccustomed to people looking for his opinion on matters, especially when they're on the topic of physical appearance.

That being said, he smiles proudly when Cisco continues with the topic of time travel as well. ]

Magic, as vague as that is. I'd gladly, of course, go into more detail, if you're of a mind. It involves folding time upon itself and is a theory I helped to hone.