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

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah-- we'll figure it out, I'm sure. Somebody'll be looking for it... or know whose it is.

[He gives a bit of a smile.] How about you-- are you a tech guy?

[He sounds like he might be, that's all.]

Nothing too useful, no. I've been stacking it in a pile over there. I think the drone's the first really exciting thing though.

Not— really. I'm a starship captain, though, so we have to know a little about pretty much everything.

[ Getting back to his feet, he offers a hand out to the guy. ] James T. Kirk. Jim's fine.

[ Please don't call him by his full name, it makes him feel kinda old. ]

We can go through your pile of junk, then. See what we can salvage or repurpose for something else.

Oh--

[Oh.

The Captain James T. Kirk? Billy told him about a younger version hanging around, but-- wow. He didn't think he'd bump into him-- or that he'd be really cute either.

But right, no reason to stand there gaping like an idiot. He reaches out to shake his hand.]

It's nice to meet you. [Is that a weird thing to say? But it's true. It's totally nice to meet him.]

But sure. Um, follow me. There's a bunch of scrap metal and stuff...

[ He recognizes that look all too well— that little ‘oh’ also kinda gives him away. Jim just miles, though, sparing the guy any potential embarrassment related to that awkward pause. ]

Likewise. [ His smile turns a little crooked. ] If only I knew your name...

[ May or may not be teasing him a little about that.

Adjusting the weight of the drone in his arms, he nods ahead. ] Lead the way.

Sorry... Teddy Altman. It's nice to meet you.

[He returns that grin, trying to hide any embarrassment as he heads toward his pile of rubble.]

You're welcome to whatever you want, I guess.

Teddy, [ He looks over his shoulder, tipping his head. ] You know Loki and Billy, right?

[ Jim may not be totally aware of the connection between them but he does know they know each other. ]

Oh-- yeah. I do.

[He flashes a grin.]

Billy's-- kinda told me about you. So, sorry if I was weird for a minute there.

[Yeah, that was totally it. Definitely.]

He said you stayed at the Sanctum once or something?

[ Jim throws a knowing smile Teddy's way, eyebrow raising. ]

You don't have to explain, I know how you know me. Loki's a walking spoiler.

[ Though in Loki's defense he wasn't that obvious; Jim's just smart and perceptive and he put two and two together. ]

Yeah— just a few days. I was going through a rough patch. Loki's been a good friend since... well, since I got here.

Oh-- I bet that was weird, huh?

[Learning you're like, a famous guy in a sci-fi series would weird him out a little bit. Maybe.

It'd also be really cool.]

Yeah? How long have you been here?

A little. [ He purses his lips. ] But I'm used to weird, so it didn't bother me much.

[ And he is used to being relatively famous, even in his own world, so. ]

A year and four months now. I arrived with someone else, but... [ His smile wanes briefly. ] He's gone now.

I mean, I guess it does sort of come with your job, huh?

[Exploring different planets, meeting other sorts of aliens...]

Sorry... I guess that's one of the downsides of this place, right? Watching people go. On top of just being away from your own home for so long.

Yeah, you could say that. Being here has helped with that, too.

[ Then there's the circumstances of his birth, but he won't get into that right now. Point is, he almost expects weird at this point. ]

It's fine. It was tough at the time, and I felt very lonely, but... I met someone special soon after. So I guess I didn't feel lonely for very long.

[ But he still misses Bones dearly, even if heart may have moved on. ]

Is it someone from your world or--? It always feels... complicated. Getting close to people in a place like this, I guess. Especially if you come from different world, or one of you can't go back for very serious reasons.

[He gives a wry smile.]

Sorry, that's kind of a downer thing. I'm glad you found someone else... I found a lot more than I expected when I came here too. It's something I definitely wouldn't trade...

No, actually. Dr. Leonard McCoy was the one who arrived with me, if you know about me then you probably know about him too. We were together for... God, I think nine or ten months.

[ That is a long time, to Jim. Serious relationships were a foreign concept to him before then. ]

Victor's not from my world, although... he's pretty well-known, too. Probably more than me. Victor Frankenstein? [ Hell, even Jim knows the novel, and the movies. ]

Don't worry about it. I think it's nice, you know... this place gives us all unique opportunities, if only we know how to seize them.

Victor Frankenstein... really? [He definitely knows the book and the movies, yeah. He gives a shake of his head, grinning a bit.

You really never knew who you'd run into here, right?]

He isn't trying to like, animate the dead, right?

[Sorry, he kinda had to ask.]

But you're right. I've definitely managed to do a lot here that I probably wouldn't have had to otherwise...

[ Jim nods. The surprise is pretty much what he was expecting, since he's seen it in other people. He's also been asked that question a lot, though he still smiles a little, shrugging. ]

He tells me he doesn't do that anymore, but you never know. [ Sorry, just being a bit of an ass there. ] He focuses his efforts on healing the living, these days. You don't have to worry.

[ No violent Creatures running around spreading panic. Well, at least not ones raised by Victor. ]

Funny thing, isn't it? Considering how small this place is. I'd have thought my options would feel a little limited, by comparison.

That's good... I mean, we don't want angry townsfolk running around with pitchforks and torches.

[Or you know, worse.]

It doesn't feel as tiny when you're in the brunt of day to day life, does it? Before we arrived-- I'd been traveling the multiverse with my boyfriend. I think there's been similar amounts of excitement and exploration going on here... and I've definitely met people I never thought I would.

[He makes a motion with his hand.]

Yourself included.

He's been here for almost a year, so I don't think anyone's got anything to worry about. If he was going to raise the dead, he'd have done so already.

[ Everybody can put away their pitchforks, it's fine. ]

We do have the rest of the moon, it's true. But the city itself isn't very big. Granted, it's still bigger than the Enterprise, but it doesn't compare to San Francisco.

[ It was still a change, coming here. Much less limiting than being on a starship, as much as Jim misses it.

The last remark gets a smile from him, and he tips his head a little. ] Thank you. I'm glad to hear.

Yeah... maybe he's learned his lesson in that case. Better to focus on the living.

[At least you can actually save those people a little easier.]

Have you gone out exploring much? I've joined up on a couple teams, gone out myself...

[ Jim smiles a little at the question. If Teddy knows anything about him, then he should know the answer to that question. ]

Frequently. I've been on a number of missions, either as a team member or actually leading them. And I've done a lot of exploring on my own, too. You could say I'm pretty familiar with a pretty wide area beyond the walls.

It is interesting out there... even with all the weird creatures.

[Although Teddy doesn't generally have to worry -- he heals fast and he's generally strong enough to withstand most attacks.]

Especially with all the weird creatures, I think. [ Quite possibly, Victor has been rubbing off on him over the months. ]

You just have to know when to keep your distance, and be a little more careful. But even the few times I was directly attacked, I'm glad I got to see those animals. They're very... unique.

Yeah... [He huffs out a laugh.] I saw something that looked like a vampire bunny once. Like-- it was oddly kind of cute, for a ferocious little monster.

[ Jim laughs at that description, shaking his head. ]

Yeah, you're telling me. I once saw a giant pink lizard with feathers. Ran away from a massive thing that looked like a rhino but with three huge horns. And that's even without mentioning the four-legged creature with a shark head that jumped out of the river and attacked me once.

[ Man, fun times. ]

At least none of them are giant bugs. I really hate those.

... wait. Wait. A shark with legs basically? See, that's just unfair. Land sharks are cheating.

[He makes a face.]

Don't jinx us... we'll see giant spiders next. Only they'll probably have wings or a stinger just to mess with us.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

monthly mingle: RIVER FESTIVAL

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