introductory mingle: RIVER FESTIVAL

[riverviewmod]

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and River Festival
when: The month of August; the bulk of celebration will be in week 1, but there is a party and fireworks display on August 14th.
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 acid rain - 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 on the evenings of August 7th and 14th.

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 first week 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. Finally, there are two fireworks displays, one on August 7th and one on August 14th, with free food, and various live performers beforehand.

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 late July's strange fog and acid rain 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 the acid rain, 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. cookouts and parties

The main traditions of the River Festival involve cookouts and beach parties. On August 7th and August 14th, 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.

iii. sportsball tournaments

Is your character 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.

iv. performances and fireworks

On August 7th and August 14th at the end of the large city-sponsored beach parties, there will be evening performances all along the beach. Not as extensive as the musical performances during Carnivale, there are two large-name performers per night, with various lesser-known groups performing at random off and on throughout the day and night. Areas of the beach are cleared for residents to watch and dance to the music, both on the regular and adults-only clothing-optional beaches (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!

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

Comments

o4.

[brightline]

[Considering everything Marco's seen in his 19 years of life, this whole alternate dimension, portal-hopping, sci-fi moon adventure is really not all that much of a stretch. The aliens, the holotech, the spaceships he can see taking off and landing, all of that seems perfectly natural at this point, after months on the Rachel.

But it's still taken a bit of getting used to. Maybe not the whole 'being in a sci-fi novel' thing, but the 'normal life' thing. Marco hasn't had a normal life in 6 years, not since he walked through that abandoned construction site with the rest of the Animorphs, and it's frankly really weird living in communal housing with a bunch of other people and not getting shot by the paparazzi every time he so much as glances out a window. But he's adjusting.

The party seems a bit more natural, and he's dressed in a pair of striped swim trunks that he could definitely morph in, and he spends most of the day wandering around, checking things out, and maybe basking just a little in no one knowing him immediately. It's not something he wants on a permanent basis, but it's been a long time since he was anonymous, just some kid who was secretly saving the world. The fireworks are a total blast, at least, and when he runs across a guy lying on his back, staring up at the fireworks, Marco pauses.]

Hey, mind if I park it here? This is the first free space I've seen yet.

[deathkid]

[ it's not very often that a cute stranger offers to sit next to him. in fact, most of the time he's seen fireworks, he's been by himself. he'd been content to stay that way, but when he notes the stranger, nico finds himself nodding vaguely.

the guy is good looking for sure. and for a moment nico wonders why the guy isn't sitting with someone else, free space or not. but if he wants to sit with him, nico figures there's nothing wrong with it. maybe, for once, he'll meet someone.

not that he's hoping or anything. since arriving, he's put the notion of romance out of his mind simply because it seemed like a bad idea. that, and who would want to date him anyway? already he's had people claim him to be creepy, to be weird, to avoid him because he's so different. it's not like camp halfblood after the war when more people accepted him because of how he'd helped. as far as people know, he's not a hero here. he's just the creepy kid that lurks around housing.

so the stranger wants to sit with him. looking up, nico nods again and offers a hand. ]

Sure. I'm Nico. You must be new.

[brightline]

[Marco's definition of weird and creepy is a little different than most people's at this point. So when Nico offers a hand and nods, Marco takes it and plops down next to him with his arms crossed, leans back on his hands, narrow shoulders hunching a little as he looks up at the sky. The first fireworks are shooting off, and Marco's face breaks into a smile that's significantly less smirky than his usual smile.

When Nico says his name and that Marco must be new, he nods, glancing over at him.]

I'm Marco, and yeah. Only been here a couple of days. These guys really know how to throw a welcome party, though, huh?

[Tilting his head back up, his grin widens when he sees a type of firework he's never seen before.]

Whoa, never seen that kind.

[A beat, and then-]

How long have you been here?

[deathkid]

[ nico doesn't try to hide the way he watches the strange boy ( marco, apparently ) relax into the sand, his eyes following the length of his body. gone are the days when he was ashamed for being gay, and his only desire is to hopefully not drive the cute guy off by being weird. but as marco settles in, it appears nico has yet to weird the guy out, which is good news to him, and one that prompts a small smile. ]

I've been here like... four or five months? A while, basically. This is the first time they've done fireworks though.

[brightline]

[If Nico is looking at him, Marco doesn't really take any special kind of note of it - it isn't that he's oblivious or anything, it's just that he's so used to people looking at him like that, after the length of time he's been in the public eye that he barely notices it. Oddly, it doesn't particularly strike him as weird that it's coming from a guy, because he's too absorbed with the fireworks.

He only notices it when he glances back over at Nico and comes face to face with the expression on his face, the small smile and the crazy-dark eyes. Blinking a bit, Marco flashes him a little grin.]

Really? Man, that must be why they're going all out. Do they have parties like this all the time?

[And whether or not he seems at ease, joking a bit, Marco is still Marco, and Marco needs information in order to make plans. So after a moment he continues-]

Four or five months, huh? Do you want to go home?

[deathkid]

[ that little grin makes something flutter in nico's stomach, like skeletal butterflies and he grins back. it's been a while since nico's felt like this ( not since percy or will, but neither are here ) and nico wonders vaguely what it means. he hardly knows the guy after all and the last thing he wants is another unrequited crush.

still, the boy is cute and this might be a chance in a lifetime. ]

There's not much for me at home, actually. And it's not much different from here, in some ways. I guess I'm content until they figure out a way to fix the portal.

[brightline]

[So Nico does know how to smile. It's nice to see, and nice to know, especially because Marco's always enjoyed making people smile or laugh. Leaning back a little, Marco waits for a moment or two while Nico gathers his thoughts and then replies. He's listening more closely than he probably looks like he is, and when Nico says that he's fine here until they figure out a way to fix the portal, Marco makes a hum in his throat.]

Man, I don't know if I want to go back or not. I was in the middle of something, but I don't think it was going to end well, you know?

[Shaking his head, he sighs softly and looks back up at the sky.]

So you come from a place like this?

[deathkid]

A bad end?

[ that makes nico look more closely at marco. he seems like an average teenager, maybe a little older than nico, but otherwise seems no different from other teenagers he's met. normal ones, at least. and not that nico's met many normal teenagers that weren't also demigods. he makes a thoughtful noise in the back of his throat, much like marco and then shrugs. ]

A camp for people like me. To train and stay safe. It's hard to explain to most mort- er, people.

[brightline]

Real bad end.

[Marco shrugs his narrow shoulders, eyes still locked on the sky as the fireworks pop and explode in the air above them. It's nice, relaxing, the explosions are far away, he's not in danger and he's not bored. It's a good combination.

Nico's little slip of the tongue catches his attention, though, and he turns his head, one dark brow raising over an equally dark eye.]

Mort....?

[deathkid]

That sucks.

[ wincing at the slip of his tongue, he gives a sigh. he's been up front about what he is for a while now and even though he's worried about scaring off a cute guy, he figures it's better to be frank. ]

Sorry, I meant mortals. Regular humans.