riverviewlogs | monthly mingle: RIVER FESTIVAL

monthly mingle: RIVER FESTIVAL

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

river festival

In the days leading up to August 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: The River Festival. This holiday is in celebration of the river and the life that it gives to the city, as well as the heat of summer and forming bonds with friends, family, and romantic partners. The celebrations are marked by a community-wide cleanup of the docks and beaches along the river - particularly important considering the recent flooding that's left the banks of the river littered with debris - as well as beachfront cookouts and parties (both private and city sponsored) and beach sports tournaments happening on either open stretches of beach or in special clothing-optional beaches, all capped off with fireworks displays each weekend in August.

a celebration of the river and togetherness

Following the hedonism of Carnivale, it's time for something a little more low-key and relaxing. The River Festival happens every year in August, and is geared toward community building through cleaning up the beaches and docks along the river and then using all that freshly cleaned beach to gather on. During the month of August, there are various lightly-themed government-sponsored beach cookouts and parties geared toward family, romantic dates, or casual all-ages get-togethers for meeting new friends; there are also a few more racy parties at clothing-optional beaches around the city. Many private residents also take this time to gather together friends and family, and have cookouts on the beach with all the typical trappings of the beach barbecue. There are also various casual sports tournaments sponsored by community centers, gyms, and sports teams in the city, featuring prizes ranging from notoriety to sports equipment to big bucks. Every weekend, there are beautiful fireworks displays and free concerts. This year, the River Festival has been chosen for the unveiling of a new water park in the City, with free or heavily discounted tickets during August!

i. cleaning up

The holiday starts off on a note that is just a bit more sombre than the rest of the season, with the cleanup efforts following the recent flooding blending into the usual tradition of cleaning up beaches and docks along the river. The cleanup is a group effort, with every citizen who is physically able pitching in to comb the beaches, where they pick up fallen tree limbs, garbage, and anything else that's accumulated during the winter and spring, and then raking the beaches to make them clean and ready to use. The cleanup of the docks is similar, with residents sweeping and hosing them down where necessary. This year, there are a lot of repairs to be made to beachfront structures that might've been damaged by flooding and the traffic along the riverbanks from the heroes that participated in the rescue of cult hostages, so if anyone has some carpentry or building skills, those would definitely come in handy.

This is meant to be a community building effort, so many businesses in the area, more well-to-do private citizens, and the government have pitched in funding to provide lunches, cold drinks, coffee or tea, and snacks to anyone who's helping out with the cleanup efforts. All in all, the cleanup has a very friendly, welcoming vibe.

ii. beach activities

The main traditions of the River Festival involve cookouts and beach parties. Each weekend in August, the government as well as various corporations and businesses in the city, will be providing funds for large beach gatherings. On these days, there will be booths set up offering wares and freebies from various businesses around the city that have helped fund the party, large swaths of cleared beach where residents can don a swimsuit and catch some rays or swim in the river, massive barbecue setups to provide partygoers with all the standard barbecue fare, beach sports tournaments, dancing and musical performances, and fireworks displays (see prompts below).

The holiday isn't just about these big parties, though - many residents arrange their own barbecues, cookouts, beach camping trips, beach bonfires, and other riverside gatherings and outings. Many riverfront businesses offer discounts on services such as canoe or kayak rentals to go out paddling on the river, jetski or motorboat rentals for tubing, wakeboarding, or waterskiing, or mounts to take romantic rides in the surf. Additionally, there is an adults-only section of the beach where any of these activities can be done in the nude in a clothing-optional setting, including the big city-sponsored parties.

If your character is good at playing a particular sport that could, conceivably, be played on a beach, chances are that during the month of August, a tournament will be set up for them to participate in. The tournaments are pretty standard, generally sponsored by community centers, sports clubs and teams, gyms, and other organizations and businesses in the city, with various levels of specialization, and levels of skill or competitiveness. The prizes also vary, with everything from plain old bragging rights to sports equipment or passes to gyms and community centers, to large lump sums of cash money. Definitely worth it, for characters with a love for sport. Oh, and a lot of these tournaments are happening on the adults-only clothing-optional beaches, for those grown-up sports fans who like a bit of an extra challenge.

iii. fireworks and music

Each weekend throughout the month of August, there will be evening performances all along the beach. Not as extensive as the musical performances during Carnivale, the performances are geared more toward dancing than true concerts, with areas roped off on both on the regular and adults-only clothing-optional beaches for dancing and mingling (acts will switch off between the two areas so both areas get both performances).

Player-characters who are musical artists, DJs, or otherwise perform are free to set up shop around this party and panhandle or put on free performances for publicity.

After the sun goes down, boats will head out into the water carrying a variety of fireworks, and there will be a beautiful display of exploding color in the sky for residents to watch and enjoy. The fireworks are highly advanced, incorporating old-fashioned gunpowder as well as modern technology that result in really beautiful displays that can take the breath away!

iv. waterpark

This year, there's an extra little bit of fun being thrown into the River Festival - the grand opening of a new waterpark! It's quite the park, set near the river with a scenic view, and featuring all sorts of amazing rides, from waterslides that are catered to all ages and levels of thrill seeking, tube rides that are almost like a rollercoaster on water, a pool where customers can faux-surf, funnel rides, side-by-side racing slides, a lazy river, and almost anything else you can imagine. Besides the rides, there are also a wide variety of swimming pools for kids and adults - wave pools, lap pools, splash pools - and an equally wide variety of hot tubs featuring various minerals (and some aromatherapy) for relaxing, invigoration, and other effects.

Some of the hot tubs are in a clothing-optional adult area, where there are some normal pools and some clearly-labelled pools contain elements that increase arousal or desire, or simply affection to encourage some closer bonding!

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 one of the mod-posted prompts for each Communal Floor. Or if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during the River Festival, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: credit unknown; image ii: Albert Ramon Puig; image iii: Claudio Pilia; image iv: Alan Philips

navigation

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Cleaning Up

[Teddy will definitely lend a hand cleaning up without even hesitating. He helps to gather trash, lifts up whatever fallen trees he can -- which is probably a show of strength he shouldn't use in public, but it's a lot easier than playing like he can't ad he does try to do it when no one is really watching. He's also probably not the handiest guy around, but he can hit a nail with a hammer, so if anyone wants him to help rebuild anything he'll be there for that.

Eventually, after a hard day's work, he'll wander over to grab some snacks or water and take a breather.]

Beah Activities

[It's time to don possibly his first swimsuit of the season and head to the beach! He'll check out the booths set up along the way, check out the barbecues...

And oh, definitely join in the sports. Volleyball especially, or anything else anyone invites him to do. He's also not above checking out the jetski or waterskiing.

Although he will probably steer clear of any nude beaches unless he's dragged there. He isn't bashful, but he's also not too keen on losing his trunks in front of strangers.

Teddy will also definitely be doing his own barbecue and inviting anyone who wants to stop by to come and grab a hot dog or burger. He might not be an expert cook, but he can probably handle a grill just fine.]

Fireworks

[There's no way he'll miss the fireworks either. He'll find a quiet spot to settle in and just watch, a little mesmerized. He won't mind some company there, though.

He might actually check out the adults-only events for some dancing and harmless mingling at some point though. The concerts are fun, but he does like the chance to mingle along side people.

Waterpark

[Teddy is for sure going to the waterpark. The tube rides draw him in, as do the racing slides. He'll also float around on the lazy river and just-- mostly have his fun swimming around. The hot tubs are definitely getting checked out too, at the end of the day when he feels like relaxing some.]

Wildcard

[Would you like something not on the above list? Or something a little more customized? Hit me up here or on plurk @

noassgardian. PMs work as well!]

[ Annnnd there's specifically one (1) terrible bean guy who is especially fond of shoving himself into any tube ride and propel himself like a fucking human bullet out of them, no matter how much of a bad idea it is when there are people soaking at the bottom and he might accidentally slam into one of them.

Teddy will have to deal with one specific brush with death as Jyushimatsu blows past him at crazy speed, yelling a stream of "WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE" before gravity takes the job of plunging him into the water. When he emerges he's all laughs and no awareness that he nearly struck his friend, before he takes notice of the other's presence. ]

Hi Teddy, didn't see you here!

[You know who was relaxing and totally not expecting to be run into? Yeah, that'd be Teddy. Teddy flails a bit when he's slammed into, flipping off into the water with a gasp...

He's sputtering and trying to get back on his tube when Jyushimatsu finally notices him. Wow. Good thing Teddy's a mostly good sport and just offers a quick wave before he goes to push his hair out of his eyes.]

I totally noticed. Hey... enjoying the park, I see?

[ He lifts two thumbs up, flashing a toothy grin. ]

Enjoying is an understatement, Teddy! I'd get on every ride here a thousand times if I could!

[ And he actually can, granted that he doesn't slam into non-superpowered people on his way and accidentally hurt/kill them. ]

I guess you really love the waterparks... You might want to slow it down though.

[He gives a grin.]

Or maybe check out the hot tubs eventually. They're sort of close to hot springs, right? [Vaguely.]

[ Slow down? Jyushimatsu? What the heck is that? Does such a thing exist? ]

Right, they've got those! Not as great as the hot springs but we can make a trip there when I'm tired!

[ WHEN DOES HE EVEN GET TIRED... ]

[... True. That would never happen.]

Sounds good to me. [He shakes his head in amusement.] Although I might have to get you back for flipping me over, you know.

Haaa? When did I flip you over? Whatever happened was an accident!

[ ACTING INNOCENT, while drifting a little away from Teddy. He didn't aim at you earlier, nope, pinky swear! (He did) ]

Uh-huh.

[Lies. Totally lying.He's on to you, Jyuushimatsu!]

I'm sure it was a total coincidence, that's all.

Right? Life is full of coincidences! Everything can be done on accident! Don't think too much about it!

[ He sweats, making a bit of distance between them. He doesn't even know what he's talking about. ]

Right, right... Hey, dude, why do you keep moving away from me?

[He's moving a little bit closer, you know. He can totally give chase if he really has to...

He's not plotting anything. Look at his perfectly innocent face.]

Because it'd be weird if we were too close?

[ He's all excuses while he drifts further away. Don't underestimate his speed! ]

Why are you grinning like that?

Nah, it wouldn't. We're in a pool, right?

[Don't underestimate his ability to shift and stretch if he needs to!]

No reason. I'm a happy guy... nothing wrong with that, right?

Teddy Altman | ota

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