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

[When first hearing it, Padmé had wondered after who had come up with that name, as well as wondering if it was made of some canine. They aren't exactly something that Padmé ate at home, as dogs and dog-like creatures were not bred for such things. At least on Naboo. On other planets? She couldn't confirm or deny anything.

A first time for everything, and as long as it isn't as chewy as those tentacles. She gingerly takes a bite, chewing slowly, and no, the texture of the meat isn't rubbery or any such thing.Swallowing, she gives a little shrug.]

Name aside, it's not bad tasting. I can't quite place what it tastes like though... But there are plenty of things here that fall in to that category for me.

Mm, it doesn't quite taste like anything I used to eat at home ... but that's part of the fun of it. Trying new things.

[Zelda dusts her hands off on her skirt, giving the other woman a curious smile.]

How have you been settling in?

It can be... And I suppose you never know unless you try it.

[As Padmé can already cross off several items that she doesn't find particularly pleasing, but there are other food items that she has found enjoyable. A lot of the fruits are items that she likes, especially blended together in to shakes or smoothies.

There is a nod, brushing crumbs from her lips.]

Surprisingly, it is easy enough to settle in to this place. I'm not entirely certain if that is a good thing or not.

[Zelda clasps her hands behind her back and nods, not minding Padmé's doubt. She had felt that way herself for the first couple of months, and still returns to that worrisome emotion every now and then.]

I think they make it as easy as they can. And it makes sense; they know that people are being brought through the portal who may not understand what's happening, or even how a world like this works. It was daunting to me when I arrived. I worried a lot about how to get home.

[That is part of it though. How much is truth, Padmé doesn't know. While she doesn't go around believing that everyone is lying to her, at the same time she just doesn't accept things at face value. They are efficient, that much she can confirm, although whether they know more... If they do, there is neither hide nor hair. For now, she takes things as they are, always on the look out.]

There are other places that would be less inclined to be so kind. Some planets in my galaxy even run on the trading of flesh. In that regard, this place is even more surprising. Accommodations, employment or education.

[It just seems, sometimes, a little too good. Of course the other side of the coin is that no one has had a say in coming here.]

[Zelda is stricken by the very idea of slavery.]

Oh... that's so terrible. Entire worlds do that?

[It isn't as though she's never heard of bound servitude, but on that kind of scale it's almost too much to imagine. She shakes her head, a faint grimace tugging at her lips.]

It's very accommodating, yes. But no society is perfect. There was that mass kidnapping not so long ago, after all.

[Of which Zelda had been a victim.]

Unfortunately.

[It is clear that it is not something that Padmé has any desire to see happen in the universe, but it is not as simple as snapping one's fingers. Were it, Padmé would have done it long ago. The Hutts are, unfortunately, well fortified where they are and not easy to change.]

No, none are, but, I also don't see that as a bad thing. I think we can always aim for better, for higher heights, although it's once we have achieved that, then what? Will we become stagnant, fall back in to old routines?

[She pauses, a sheepish shrug of her shoulders.]

[Zelda looks at Padmé with fresh respect. It's something she's thought about herself, knowing she'll have to rebuild her kingdom from the ground up.]

I wonder. Not all routines are bad, I think, but some are. It's hard to know so in the moment. [She heaves a sigh, gaze growing distant.] In my world, thousands of years ago, there was a very advanced civilisation. They had a lot of technology like what you see here. There's nothing left of it now - we don't even know for sure what happened to them.

[Ganon is the likely answer, but the exact how and why is lost to the sands of time. She shakes her head.]

I used to wonder how a society like that could disappear so completely from the world.

It could be any number of things that happened to them. There are races and civilizations that are all but forgotten where I'm from. Histories are like dust, blown away in the wind.

[Even where humans had come from. It is something that is open for debate. Padmé knows that they didn't originate on Naboo, but they had lived there for years beyond count.]

All things die at the end of the day, even stars. But I like to think it is about making a big impact with a few people- those that you love. At least your memories will be carried for a time and you won't be forgotten.

[It's a beautiful turn of phrase: "like dust, blown away in the wind." There's a poetic note to it that makes things seem less sad. Zelda's seen it time and again, even within her own life. The story of the Calamity had already become blurry after just a hundred years.

She finds herself looking out over the water, lost in thought.]

Memories can fade as well, but some things are never forgotten. That's something I hold close to my heart.

It is a good thing to hold close.

[Of that Padmé can agree. She has had many memories, and she doubts that her journey is done yet. Yet she knows that no matter what, there are some things that will always remain.

Hope. Love. Friendship. Family and friends.

Many things.]

I think so. [Zelda clasps her hands behind herself, musing.] I have a friend at home who lost all of his memories. We had gone through a lot together, and I know he doesn't recall all of it now. Some of it has come back to him - but even if it hadn't, I remember. And he's just as important to me whether he remembers me or not.

Mm. He is lucky, then, to have a friend like you.

[And vice versa, no doubt. Friendship is a two way street, with give and take. Padmé knows that she would stand by any friend, no matter what happened, given what they mean to her. Losing their memories would be hard, but life isn't always about what is easy.]

[She can't help but smile fondly. At least now, a few months on from Link's departure, she's not as despondent as she had been.]

He was here in Quarantine for a while, but he went home. It's a shame I can't introduce you. Is there anyone here from your home, Padmé?

I am sorry to hear that.

[As it is a double edged sword. Having someone you know here would make things a little easier in some cases, but at the same time, Padmé wouldn't wish for anyone she knew to show up if she was given the choice.

A shake of her head though, brushing her fingertips against her clothing to get rid of the bun crumbs.]

No. There is no one that I know, but, surprisingly, there are people that know of me. From the future. It is a little strange, but they all seem like kind people.

[She shakes her head, no matter. She's already moved on from her sadness. There is some recognition in her eyes though as the other woman talks of the future.]

Oh, so they're from your world but not of your time?

I've heard that from a few people and experienced it a little myself. Link was a little further behind me, you see. I realised that I had gone through things he had yet to do. It's ... a strange feeling.

My galaxy.

[Correcting that, as while they might have known about Naboo, they hadn't been born on that planet like Padmé had been. But she nods, because technically speaking, she is correct.]

But yes. They are all from a time after mine.

[Yet Padmé can understand that sentiment.]

It is a very strange feeling, although I suppose I am seeing it from the opposite end compared to you.

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monthly mingle: RIVER FESTIVAL

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