riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: RIVER FESTIVAL

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introductory mingle: RIVER FESTIVAL

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

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*That is not a new line, that line is old, old and tired. Tired, well used, and really any girl should just see right through it. Lola, however, would take any form of praise and appreciation she got so of course she's smiling and batting her eyes a little. She's only human, after all.*

It is nice to meet you, Marco.

*She wipes her hand off with a dishtowel before taking his, she has been working around the kitchen so she's at that perfect stage of 'messy enough to seem human' but still cuter than puppies.*

I think so, my bed has all the pink blankets and comforters. Really hard to miss.

[It is a very old and tired line, but in his 19 years of life Marco has never once successfully pulled it off, so when she smiles at him and flutters her lashes in that irresistible way girls have, he can't help beaming.]

Nice to meet you too.

[Leaning his hip against the counter, he surveys the whole nacho scene for a moment before dark eyes (with fabulous lashes) flick back up to her face. She's cute, and for once she's a few inches shorter than him and, hey, he's gotten used to girls being taller than him, but it's kinda nice to hang around one who isn't. When she mentions the pink blankets and comforters, he laughs easily.]

Yep, I've definitely seen that one. Mine's the one with the lame college dorm generic comforter because I haven't been shopping yet. Is that cheese glowing?

*Confidence is good, it helps sell the line even after Lola has already totally taken it in.*

You should probably work on that, those comforters look bad and aren't super comfortable.

*She slides a plate over to him with a smile.*

Oh, don't worry about that, it isn't Earth cheese and it's suppose to glow a little after being properly melted. I think...

*Lola's a self-described idiot, but she's actually pretty good at learning about food and ingredients to be sure that she uses them right. So she's like 99% sure this stuff won't kill anyone or make them change colors. Still she takes the first bite.*

And it tastes right... but it needs a little more salt, the chip isn't quite right flavor wise. One second.

[When she tells him he should work on that, his brow raises, and he crosses his arms, but he's grinning, a sly, pleased little thing.]

Yeah, I was planning to. You know any good malls around here?

[When she pushes the plate over, Marco waits politely for her to take the first chip, then pops a chip into his mouth, loaded with glowy cheese and weird alien nacho toppings. It's not that he trusts someone he only just met, but honestly, weird alien food isn't so weird when you've been hanging out with aliens and living on an alien ship for the past half-year so he doesn't exactly hesitate.]

You're right. Salt's easy to add though. Man, this is really good.

*This look, this is the look of a well pampered teenage girl who was just asked if she knows where any good malls are. She's not even going to verbally respond to such an impossible question.*

Salt is also one of the handful of things that just... is. I guess because science or something.

*Of course all that side-eyeing vanishes at the compliments to her cooking. And she's back to smiling and enjoying the company.*

I do what I can. And I keep learning more stuff I can cook just to keep it interesting.

[Something about that look just screams Rachel and for a moment, Marco is completely overwhelmed with a feeling somewhere between nostalgia and anxiety about that revelation.

A pause, while she adds the salt and then says that she wants to keep learning stuff to cook to keep things interesting. Nodding, Marco puts another nacho in his mouth and makes a low groaning noise of pleasure at the taste of it.]

Well, you're a good cook, so I bet you can make whatever you want. Anyway, about a mall, you look like you're probably a bit ahead of the game when it comes to fashion. Wanna catch a guy up?

I try to take requests, I could just make what I want, but that's rude with so many people on the floor and my love of reheatable leftovers.

*She considers a moment, eyeing Marco with that studious gaze that only comes about when food or fashion is involved.*

Well, I know where the best stores are, which places to avoid. But the Quarantine has a very different style to it than Earth. Sorta because it's all sorts of places mashed together, so I can't really help you with what's fashionable here.

See, what your leftovers are and whether you're willing to share totally makes or breaks the whole rude thing.

[Grinning a bit, Marco steals another chip and pops it in his mouth, raising his brows as she gives him the once-over. He's a little surprised by her answer, and his grin goes a little crooked as he strikes a little pose for her perusal.]

Alright alright. I mean, I'll definitely take store recs and stuff, I'm just trying to figure out where I stand on you know, standard human fashion. I'm kinda getting the feeling that Earth left me behind somehow.

Edited 2017-08-25 01:44 (UTC)

I know, I'm basically a saint.

*Lola's so good at being subtle about how good she is. She's so humble. So bashful. You'd expect someone with such hair to be loud and outspoken.*

Um... fine, your hair isn't too bad, and it isn't in an ugly bun. Like... you could probably do fine with adding more color and flair to your wardrobe. But nothing's really wrong.

[That attitude is familiar - not off-putting even a little. Marco talks about himself that way all the time.

When she assesses his clothes, Marco looks down at himself with his brows up. More colour is not something anyone has ever complained about, but it seems like he went lighter on the bright blue and purple than usual today. Nodding a bit, he plucks at the front of his T-shirt.]

You don't have to tell me that one twice. I've been trying to tone it down lately what with the changing in trends back where I'm from, but if colours are in, I'm all over that.

Colors are always in, as far as I'm concerned.

*To accent this she draws a finger over her bangs a few times. Each strip turning bright pink under her touch. She's basically cotton candy right now.*

And I can appreciate anyone that sees the same.

Same. I'm glad to see we see eye to eye.

[Smirking, he gestures between his eyeline and hers, a brow raised slightly.]

We should go shopping sometime.

Yeah, way better for my neck.

*She's short. But enough on that she's visible very much in for shopping. Like, if you could harness the amount of excitement she produced in those few seconds it could keep Las Vegas lit up for a few hours. Which doesn't seem like much but then you remember Vegas is like all lights.*

Oh! Definitely! Most people don't go shopping with me unless I make them because they keep getting stuff on their clothes.

[Marco laughs at that because, wow, it's really nice to have someone else making the short jokes about themselves for once.]

Seriously. The last girl I got on with this well was like six feet tall or something. Total model mode, I came up to like her belly button.

[It's exaggerating, but Marco doesn't really want to get too emotional around the topic of Rachel right now.]

That sounds like a really specific scenario. Tell me more?

My girlfriends are a little taller than me, so we can't really share clothes. Which is good cause my clothes are way better than theirs, and it'd be awkward since Shay's bustier than me and I have a better butt than either of them. But the last two guys I had things for were super tall, we had to get creative.

*She knows how it feels when everyone towers over you. She gets it.*

Well, my friend Yael gets all weird about shopping, and one time a can of soda sprayed her outfit and she just refused to understand you can't just pat it down with paper towels. I had to drag her to the store for a new blouse. I even found a frumpy ungirly type she liked.

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introductory mingle: RIVER FESTIVAL

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