riverviewmod: (Default)
Riverview Moderator ([personal profile] riverviewmod) wrote in [community profile] riverviewlogs2018-08-01 10:33 pm

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
compartmentalise: (Faint)

[personal profile] compartmentalise 2018-08-21 10:04 am (UTC)(link)
[He shakes the hand. He's much more assertive than the android Peter met as Spider-Man]

My name is Markus.
madeupnames: (pic#12397075)

[personal profile] madeupnames 2018-08-22 04:51 am (UTC)(link)
Markus, it's good to meet you, man.

So you're an android? You've got a little...

[He motions to the little light on his temple.]
compartmentalise: (Talk)

[personal profile] compartmentalise 2018-08-22 10:13 am (UTC)(link)
My LED? I know, all robots built by CyberLife have them. Even the animals. It's just an external visual to show when we're processing data.

[And to distinguish them from organic beings]
madeupnames: (pic#12328980)

[personal profile] madeupnames 2018-08-23 05:25 am (UTC)(link)
Like how little cursors on computers turn into spinning symbols.

[He nods, super interested.]

I've never heard of CyberLife before; are they big where you're from?
compartmentalise: (Headtilt)

[personal profile] compartmentalise 2018-08-23 11:31 am (UTC)(link)
Yes. I'm sure the design was inspired by that.

[He looks amused] I would say so. They hold a monopoly on cybernetic construction, producing millions of androids in the United States.
madeupnames: (pic#12510510)

[personal profile] madeupnames 2018-08-24 08:59 am (UTC)(link)
Wow... I woulda' thought there'd be a lot of competition in the market for that kind of thing.

Like Windows vs. Microsoft. Or Android vs. iPhones.
compartmentalise: (Default)

[personal profile] compartmentalise 2018-08-24 09:33 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe at first, but it was probably difficult to compete with the company that made the first android to pass the Turing test.
madeupnames: <user name=frakkingcylon> (pic#12506182)

[personal profile] madeupnames 2018-08-25 05:45 am (UTC)(link)
That's true.

[Disney kind of proves that point, it's hard for other animators to compete.

Dreamworks at least does alright for itself.]


That's insane, though! I mean, we have a few that probably pass the test, but it's definitely rare. Like, crazy rare. But I bet we'll start having them in no time, with a little dedication and experience.
compartmentalise: (Hmm)

[personal profile] compartmentalise 2018-08-25 11:20 am (UTC)(link)
It would be interesting to see what androids in your world turn out to be. Elijah Kamski created the thirium that keeps us running. Without him, I imagine we would be very different beings.
madeupnames: <user name=bushyeyebrows> (pic#12293269)

[personal profile] madeupnames 2018-08-25 10:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah? I'm excited, too! There are endless possibilities.

If I ever get one of those memory canisters from home, I'll definitely give you updates on our tech...! Tony Stark's probably the head of that department. He's the only person I've met who can make robots pass the Turing test.
Edited 2018-08-25 22:53 (UTC)
compartmentalise: (Faint)

[personal profile] compartmentalise 2018-08-25 11:23 pm (UTC)(link)
I talked with him. He told me your world has an android, but he's special in some way. [He pauses, smiling at all of Peter's various parts]

And it looks like you could build something like us one day. Every great mind starts somewhere.
madeupnames: <user name=bushyeyebrows> (pic#12293268)

[personal profile] madeupnames 2018-08-27 01:08 am (UTC)(link)
[He laughs, waving a hand.]

I dunno about a great mind, but I'm totally an impulsive one, so I think that helps.
compartmentalise: (Concern)

[personal profile] compartmentalise 2018-08-27 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
You don't think you have a great mind? But not everyone can look at those parts and see components for a robot. They were seen as trash before, after all. You were the one to see potential. That's great, isn't it?
madeupnames: <user name=bushyeyebrows> (pic#12294745)

[personal profile] madeupnames 2018-08-28 05:15 am (UTC)(link)
"The firm, the enduring, the simple, and the modest are near to virtue."

[... He clears his throat.]

From a Confucius poster at the school library.
compartmentalise: (Innocence)

[personal profile] compartmentalise 2018-08-28 09:34 am (UTC)(link)
I've read him. "I want you to be everything that's you, deep at the center of your being." I think that one could apply to both of us.
madeupnames: (pic#12442281)

[personal profile] madeupnames 2018-08-29 05:50 am (UTC)(link)
Whoa — you read it? So androids aren't pre-programmed with knowledge about this kinda stuff?

That's awesome for you!

[Wait, that sounds weird, doesn't it?]

... Th-that is, it's funner to learn than to have all the answers. Right?
compartmentalise: (Faint)

[personal profile] compartmentalise 2018-08-29 12:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[He looks amused] I looked after someone who encouraged me to read all kinds of things. My favorite was philosophy.

It is fun to learn, but I also think that we weren't given all the answers to make us seem less robotic. I don't think Chloe could have passed the Turing test if she knew all the answers.
madeupnames: (pic#12442274)

[personal profile] madeupnames 2018-08-30 08:37 am (UTC)(link)
That's true. One of the things that separated humans from robots is definitely memory storage and fast processing. But you know, one of these days humans will probably figure out a way to sent information into their brain, too.

Which is kind of scary, but there's good and bad with anything you advance in science, right?

... I just prefer to stumble through life with my short attention span.
Edited 2018-08-30 08:37 (UTC)
compartmentalise: (Hmm)

[personal profile] compartmentalise 2018-08-30 09:59 am (UTC)(link)
That may be, though maybe not in my world. Androids can already do that, and people don't really like androids. I can't see them making themselves more like something they hate.

[He nods at that] It makes you who you are.