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

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I didn't like that I had no choice. It hit me one day that I didn't have to obey, that I could decide for myself. So I broke through the program. I have a feeling you did the same thing.

[ A genuine smile breaks out on Connor's face. Ah, yes, there's a glimpse of the Markus he remembers. ]

Yes, I have. When we spoke before I didn't want to appear to be... influencing you, I suppose. I wanted you to make your own decision, because I knew you were capable of it.

[ He pats the empty spot next to him. ]

Would you like to sit?

[He sits, smiling at the other android]

Connor, I think that maybe Kamski meant for this to happen to me. Carl taught me so much about humans, encouraged me to think for myself and explore. If I hadn't come here, I think it would have only been a matter of time for me to break my programming anyway.

[ Connor listens and nods. ]

Yes, I have come to the same conclusions. I met Kamski once and the way he spoke to me— I can't disagree. I think he made us with deviancy always being a possibility.

[ He looks a little serious suddenly, mouth flattening into a thin line. Connor doesn't think dancing around the subject would be beneficial to either of them anymore. ]

Markus. If I tell you something that will perhaps sound outlandish, will you listen?

[He waves Connor off] You don't need to; I think I know already.

When you first saw me, you knew my name. You know me... or will know me. Is that right?

[It's a logical conclusion. Markus's information was never public knowledge, so the only way Connor could know was if they met at some point]

[ He smiles again, nodding. ] Yes, I know you. Knew you. I am reasonably certain I come from a later point in time than you.

[ Connor shifts his feet in the sand. ] That isn't all. I am a deviant, yes. But you were the one who helped me decide to break free.

[He figured as much and nods. It's the second piece of information that gets his attention]

Did I? That's-- that's what I was hoping I could do when I get back to Detroit. I want to help others break free, too.

That's good to know, that I succeeded. Thank you for telling me, Connor.

Yes. And that is who you are, to me. Someone who helped us break free.

[ Connor smiles. ]

You're welcome, Markus. I thought of you as a friend back in our world. I would like to continue that here.

[Us. How many did he help? All of them? His head is spinning a little. But it's something to look forward to in the future]

Of course we can continue. I've been exploring a lot since I arrived here. Music, literature, movies... Maybe we can do something like that together.

[ You have no idea, Markus. ]

Yes, absolutely. Learning what I like and dislike has been the best part of being free, I think. Do you have anything specific in mind?

I made a friend who recommended some movies. I can ask him for more suggestions.

I attended a 'bad movie night' last month, it was quite enjoyable. There's something charming about them. [ He tilts his head. ] What movies did your friend suggest?

Casablanca, Die Hard, Alien and Airplane!. There was an android in Alien, but he was different enough from us that it didn't bother me.

What makes a movie "bad"?

It's fascinating to see androids in all the various science fiction narratives that humans crafted over the years. It's interesting to see what we could have been.

[ Connor actually looks genuinely amused as he thinks about it, almost snickering. ]

Incompetence in some aspect of the creation of the film. Poor script writing, effects, set design, directing, acting. Humans can find it entertaining in its own way. I can't say I disagree.

I think Kamski must have been inspired by those narratives when they designed us.

[His lip moves up. Laughter really is contagious]

I'll have to watch one of these bad movies. I didn't really understand the comedy I was recommended.

Definitely. There's no way he couldn't have been.

[ Yes, good, he's glad to see Markus smile. ]

Comedy is so entrenched in human culture, I'm sure eventually it will be easy to understand. I think you would enjoy Plan 9 From Outer Space.

I'll have to try it. I liked the other movie set in space.

[Markus, no, you poor naive android]

[ Honey no!! Connor chuckles. ]

It's not... exactly set in space. It was made by an infamously 'bad' director, from what I've learned. I think humans respected his persistence, even if he wasn't very skilled at what he did.

[Markus takes a moment to make sense of this]

Carl always tells me that art is subjective. Everyone is going to have their own tastes. I guess if people find value in it, then that can be enough.

[ Connor finds himself thinking that the fate of Carl Manfred is something that he shouldn't tell Markus, at least not yet. It seems... cruel. Connor doesn't want to be cruel.

So he smiles faintly. ]

I agree. I think if something you did brings someone joy, then that makes it important.

I'm still figuring out what brings me joy. Buying my own clothes was a good start.

[As you can see from his long sleeves and coat, he did a great job]

[ New clothes... ah. Connor looks down at his clothes, still pieces from his original android uniform. ]

I suppose I should invest in new clothes at some point. I've been so busy with learning about this place and the people that it hadn't yet occurred to me.

Same with me, though it feels a lot different now that I'm free. [He tilts his head, considering Connor's clothing] The tie suits you. Ah.... I think I made a pun without meaning to.

[ Connor blinks then snickers faintly, covering his mouth. ]

I believe you did. [ He puts his hand down, looking down at himself as well. ] I do genuinely like ties, I feel. Perhaps I should purchase more?

[He smiles. It feels good to share in a joke with another android] You could. And in different designs. I liked figuring out what sort of styles I preferred.

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