riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: PRIJATA

Entry tags:

introductory mingle: PRIJATA

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and Prijata Celebration
when: June 1st - June 8th
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

prijata

In the days leading up to June 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: Prijata. Riverview Quarantine has a strong culture of love, and they celebrate all types - Prijata is a special celebration of platonic love and building community through friendship. Prijata traditions include gift exchanges between friends, sharing meals cooked together by friend groups, and a variety of events and services aimed at making friends.

a celebration of platonic love

Prijata is a relatively relaxed holiday, focused mainly on friendship and platonic love - dedicated to appreciating the friends already in one's life, and opening oneself up to making new friends. Besides the private giving of gifts between friends, there is also a city-wide government-sponsored gift fountain that is open throughout the entire week. Included in the wide variety of events catered to finding new friends, are 'speed friending' and a large open exhibition where all the specialized clubs in Riverview can recruit for new members - and residents new or old can create a club and recruit.

i. gift fountain

While Prijata gift exchanges between friends are generally a quiet affair, done at friend-group dinners or parties, the element of gift giving does extend outward - community-wide, in fact. Throughout the course of the week, anyone living in Riverview Quarantine can drop by the huge fountain in the City Center, in front of the City Hall. They will find that the fountain is chock full of floating gift boxes in a wide variety of colors, patterns, and different shapes - though none larger than a shoe box. There are signs put up around the fountain stating that the boxes are magic and will only seek and open for their rightful owners. Characters will find that, upon touching the water, a box will float over to them, and when they pick it up, the top will unfurl like flower petals, displaying the gift inside. Sometimes, the box won't appear on the first try, since there's only so much space in the fountain at any given time, but if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Every person in the city (including new arrivals) will receive one gift by the end of the week.

Gift fountain boxes will contain one small item from each character's home dimension (or, for CRAUs, from their previous game), similar to the "items from home" bonus reward, but without needing to spend points. The item should be small enough to fit in a shoebox, sentimental, and cannot be something intended for another person's character. ETA: If you can't think of an item like this that would work for your character, something of similar size and quality to what's described above that would make the character very happy can be substituted.

This prompt can also be used for gift exchanges and for characters to receive the Government-given gifts that were suggested in the Prijata Pregaming posts on the OOC community and the TDM.

ii. speed-friending

This is pretty much what it says on the tin! Much like speed-dating setups, many bars, coffee shops, and other places that people might gather are holding speed-friending! It's your standard setup - characters enter and fill out a quick questionnaire about themselves, and flit from table to table looking for someone with great friend chemistry. Not all of them are general and open to anyone who walks in, though, with many being specialized to people who are invested in certain hobbies, occupations, or with specific sets of interests. With specialized speed-friending setups ranging from horror movie buffs to members of the Perimeter Guard to fashionistas to sports or martial arts to video games, no matter what your character is into, they're likely to be able to sign up for a special event where they can go looking for a friend who's into the same things they are!

For this prompt, you can put up a list of hobbies or interests your character has, and compatible characters can hit them up for a speed-friending thread, like the IC equivalent of the CR meme!

iii. club exhibition

Speed-friending is all well and good, but not everyone is outgoing or open enough to know if they have friend chemistry in only a few minutes. For anyone looking to find groups of like-minded individuals they can spend more than a few minutes with before committing to something as daunting as a friendship, there is a week-long club exhibition happening in the Town Square in the City Center. Table after table and booth after booth are occupied by existing clubs in the city, with an incredibly broad scope of focus interests and hobbies - enough that any character should be able to find a club with their niche interest represented.

And if it isn't? Characters are welcome to start their own clubs - much like a business, a character-run club can have space set aside in the city for meetings and event mingles that are eligible for Activity Point Bonuses for the organizer.

iv. unveiling the new friendr

Prijata this year is marked by something special - the unveiling of a code rebuild of the ubiquitous Friendr app! Anyone with the app installed already will receive a prompt to update the app, and if anyone hasn't yet downloaded it, they'll receive a quick, easily-dismissed pop-up ad on their device when they next access the network, asking if they want to. No one is obligated, and the ad is a one-time instance, intended to make sure any character who hasn't heard of the app gets a chance.

The Friendr app is a swipe-left-or-right style friend matching and/or dating app that is very common in Riverview, both for PCs and NPCs, and it has received an upgrade with a new appearance, a new interests line for more accurate matching, and a wide variety of themes so that the colors can be customized!

Please see the updated appearance below, with the 'default' color scheme. Players are free to change the colors or appearance of the code but please do not remove the credit line showing where the base code came from, out of respect for the code creator.

Friendr

» Age: your character's age
» Seeking: friendship/romantic/anything
» Preferences: sexual preference or n/a
» Interests: three interests
» Bio: 30 words or less

base code by photosynthesis

Character Name

« ✘

✔ »

<center><table style="width:300px;"><tr style="border-bottom:1px dashed #528887;"><td></td> <td style="padding:20px; padding-bottom:0; width:300px; font:38px Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; text-transform:uppercase; color:#c4c4c4; text-align:center; letter-spacing:2px; background-color:#2a2a2a; border-top-right-radius:50px; border-top-left-radius:50px;">Friendr</td> <td></td></tr>
<tr><td style="font-size:70px; vertical-align:middle; text-align:right; padding:0; color:#528887;">«</td> <td style="background-color:#2a2a2a; padding:20px; padding-top:10px; padding-bottom:0; width:308px;"><img src="IMAGE URL - 300px WIDE OR LESS" style="border-radius:20px;"> </td> <td style="font-size:70px; vertical-align:middle; padding:0; color:#528887;">»</td></tr>
<tr><td></td> <td style="background-color:#2a2a2a; font:12px arial; text-align:left; padding:10px;">» Age: your character's age
» Seeking: friendship/romantic/anything
» Preferences: sexual preference or n/a
» Interests: three interests
» Bio: 30 words or less
</td></tr>
<tr><td></td> <td style="text-align:right; font-size:10px; background-color:#2a2a2a;">base code by <a href="http://photosynthesis.dreamwidth.org/" style="color:#528887;">photosynthesis</td></tr>
<raw-code><tr style="border-bottom:1px dashed #528887;"><td></td> <td style="background-color:#2a2a2a;font:20px Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; color:#c4c4c4; text-align:center;">Character Name</td> <td><td></tr><tr><td></td> <td style="border-bottom-right-radius:50px; border-bottom-left-radius:50px; background-color:#2a2a2a; text-align:center;"><table style="width:100%; font:30px Verdana;"><tr><td style="text-align:left;"> « 
 ✘</td>
<td style="text-align:right;">✔ 
 »</td></tr>
</table></td> <td></td></table></raw-code></center>

base code found here.

For this prompt, you can either post your character's new, fancy Friendr app profile in the comments, or provide a link to their updated code in an entry on their journal. Whatever floats your boat!

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to set up headers for a communal floor, or threads open to roommates for the purpose of getting to know each other. Or if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during Prijata, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: Odysseas Stamoglou; image ii: 5ofnovember; image iii: Sina Pakzad Kasra; image iv: mit19237

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The quiet regard of this stranger admittedly throws her off guard. Perhaps makes her feel even a little uncomfortable and exposed, but she can tell it's meant with kindness. Chloe's lips quirk up in a polite smile of her own as she nods.]

Thanks. If I have anything to say about it, it won't be for long.

[She's heard all the info about 'portals' and there not being enough resources to send them all back. She's not so sure she entirely believes and trusts these people yet, but she can work with what she has for now. And even she can admit that, for kidnappers, they've been pretty generous.

She glances back over at the woman, hesitating before she speaks, her voice tentative.]

Are your parents...? [A beat.] Sorry. It's none of my business.

[ Anderson shakes her head briefly, doesn't contest her assertion that she won't be here for long. ] Dead, for a long time. It's fine. Just something sentimental.

[ Honestly she wonders what else this mysterious fountain could've given her. Every other physical item of value to her already came with her on her person. ]

I'm pretty sure these are supposed to cheer us up, [ she muses, trying to steer the tone to something lighter. ]

[It works well enough; a smile rises to Chloe's lips, and she glances back down at the locket in what might've been slight embarrassment.]

Yeah. I think it just caught me off-guard.

[She sets the box down and starts to undo the clasp of the chain, moving to put it around her neck as was intended. As she does so, she glances back at all the other strange presents floating towards their owners.] Is this place always like this? Holding friendship holidays?

No idea, [ Anderson admits. ] I just got here. It's... different.

[ Calling it a tone shift for her would be a laughable understatement. She had to do a cursory check of the minds around her on an almost constant basis for the first few hours she was here, and she still does it sometimes. Nothing invasive, but just a solid sense of grounding, a confirmation that it's real.

Something like this... should be a dream. And she doesn't know what it would mean if she never woke up.

Something of that uncertainty, that wistfulness, slips through, however reserved she is. ]

Yeah. You're telling me.

[She picks up on that, if only the surface of it. She can relate, really, and she's not sure what she prefers; having it be a dream or lapse in sanity, or having it be real. One preserved her mind, while the other shielded her from coming to terms with something she might not be ready for yet.]

I'm Chloe. Chloe Decker.

Anderson. [ It doesn't even occur to her to give out her first name along with it. Someone is definitely not very far into her adjustment process yet. People at home just don't use it, even if she does get friendly with a coworker. ]

If I had to get kidnapped somewhere... so far it's not so bad. Everyone looks happy today. [ She can feel it, too, of course, a subtle slide along her skin of buzzing excitement. It's hard for Anderson to hold onto feeling melancholy or out of sorts in light of that. She's never felt such unreserved happiness from such a wide group of people all at once before. In Mega-City One, festivals are a chance for crime.

It's not that there's no crime here, she's sure-- but it's... less. ]

Mm. Considering what the alternative could be, it's not the worst thing in the world.

[She allows that much, at least. While she could appreciate the peoples' celebration and easy joy, it was difficult for her to share too much of that sentiment, but she was fine, all things considered. Not hurt or trapped or threatened in any way, which almost made this stranger. Everyone here was so kind that it almost felt wrong.

She glances over at Anderson, noticing the woman's fixation on the crowd.]

Not used to big parties?

Big crowds, yes. Parties... no.

[ She sounds rueful, readily admitting her limitations. She's made peace with her weaknesses a long time ago, these are just new ones. Things Anderson had considered her strengths before are now qualities that make her sorely out of place.

Maybe this will just sound like she doesn't get invited anywhere. That's true enough. ]

That obvious? [ She knows she's not the most emotionally controlled Judge out there. ]

I wouldn't put it that way, but people have their tells.

[It was in her nature to be observant, anyway. One couldn't be a detective otherwise. Or a good one, anyway.]

You just seemed really interested in the crowd, is all. I'm not one to talk, though. This isn't exactly my bag either.

[ People do have tells, and Anderson would never imagine she was an exception. ]

We don't have festivals like this where I'm from, [ she offers. There's festivals, yes. Like this, no. ] It's... nice. Celebrating people being kind to each other. [ She shrugs slightly. ] We could use more of that.

[Chloe smiles softly at that, getting a sense that this woman's got a lot of kindness in her. First impressions, and all. And it has her calming down, despite herself, that hard suspicion and anxiety lessening just a little.]

This isn't the kind of thing we have back home, either. We have holidays, and festivals, but it's not quite as pervasive as this. Then again, this place looks a lot smaller than LA. [A pause.] Where, ah, where are you from?

[ She wishes she could be kind more often. It's a useless impulse when she can't act on it. All it serves to do is make her feel deeply conflicted and unhappy. The simplicity of Prijata, something without complications, speaks to her and resonates. ]

Mega-City One. [ A short pause as she thinks. ] LA... Los Angeles? That's part of Mega-City Two, now. I'm from 2132.

[Her brows slowly quirk up higher and higher the more Anderson speaks. 'Mega-City One'? 2132?]

I'm afraid I'm not familiar with... well, either of those.

I don't think anyone is around here.

Mega-City One is a megalopolis spanning most of the eastern seaboard of North America. Mega-City Two is the west coast.

I see. So you're from, what, the future?

[Anderson will have to excuse her, because she's letting out a shaky, almost incredulous laugh as she runs a hand through her hair.]

This... just keeps getting better and better.

[ She gives a dour smile back, humorless. ]

Yeah. Not just that... an alternate future. Must be. [ Based on the conversations she's had with other people, and the explanations given by the locals. Anderson would be right there with her on the incredulous laughter, but she's too well-trained in crisis response to openly emote about it. ]

[Chloe settles down quickly enough; she's usually not one for such displays of emotion either, especially in difficult situations. But in her defense, this is also completely outside the usual realm of homicide and crime scenes.]

Apparently. So the east and west coast are just two large cities where you come from, then? How'd that come about?

Nuclear fallout in the middle, [ she answers succinctly. That really does explain it all.

This is definitely outside of Anderson's comfort zone, and no joke. But if she reacted to one thing, she'd have to start reacting to everything, and she just psychologically can't handle that. She has years of precedence behind her of coping by not reacting. She isn't about to alter such a solid coping habit now. ]

[Well, that certainly wasn't an answer she suspected. Instantly, her expression is one of regret. Bringing up painful memories was the last thing she wanted to do, though there is part of her that is curious to know more. But it's not her place to pry.]

Ah. I'm sorry. That's... I couldn't even imagine having to deal with something like that.

[ Anderson shrugs vaguely, denying the apology. ]

That was before my time. It's just a wasteland now. I grew up on the edge of the city walls, where the Cursed Earth begins, but I never went out into it.

[ She was lucky that way. The majority of mutants got tossed out on their ears. Her parents had been clever, and cared greatly for her, to keep her safe. ]

Cursed Earth?

[She's curious, that's for sure. Intrigued, even, though she knows she has to tread carefully, as Anderson's business was her own. Still, it's hard not to wonder more. About this other world that sounds like it came right out of a sci-fi movie, but this woman apparently lived through.]

The barren wasteland that swallowed the middle of the continent. Parts of it are still irradiated.

[ Although this topic is personal to her, it's also something that's absolutely common knowledge back home, as obvious as the sun, so Anderson doesn't hesitate or even react as she explains it. ]

And you and so many other people were able to survive? With that much radiation around?

[ She glances at her more directly. ]

It's why the population on the coasts blew up. And... not everyone did. Mutations happen.

Mutations? You mean, like, radiation poisoning, or actual limb growth...?

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