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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"I don't remember getting anything back." He makes a point of looking serious at that statement, but he's still teasing as he shrugs. "You'll just have to practice more. There has to be something worth the motivation to stop yourself." Maybe not any time soon, but some day.

"Everyone has the potential to be a ninja, but not everyone has the interest, the dedication, the skill, the physical ability-" He could go on, counting off on his fingers as if that made his point. "It's not like that, the military doesn't control it. It's just that actually being skilled enough to warrant a place in the military is special. Not just anyone can pass the exam, and they only accept one or two alchemists a year, so you know they only take the best." He's not gloating, he's not even considering his own role in that statement, "Considering that-" That being that the military has an active interest in alchemists at all, "It's safe to say that it's a special skill not everyone has. Some people are just more naturally talented than other's, some people just study harder- I guess it depends on how much of a priority it is too, I've met people that dabbled for a bit and decided it wasn't for them."

Edited 2017-08-07 05:10 (UTC)

"Do you really want it back now?" Yuffie stuck out her tongue with a grin. She had stolen his meaty skewer but she's also stolen a lot of his time. They were two things that she really couldn't give back to him though she didn't look particularly remorseful about it.

Yuffie carefully considered his words before leaning back on her free hand. She looked back up at the sky with a wistful smile playing across her lips. "That sounds interesting." She wanted to imagine a world like that and it made her wonder how different other worlds really were, even so, there wasn't anywhere like Wutai and it would always be Yuffie's favorite place in any world.

"Ninja's are better." It was important enough for her to say it once.

"I asked Al to teach me how to do it." She looked back over at Ed with a grin. "I tried to turn chips into a potato. It didn't work." Yuffie then proceeded to freeze the pile of chips using an Ice Spell. She'd been kind of annoyed that it hadn't worked. "Al keeps telling me to study more." So far, Yuffie hasn't listened.

He's just going to make a face at that question, because ew Yuffie. It was food, you ate it. Honestly, he wasn't even factoring in the time, but if she could give that back he didn't want to know anything about it, after the last spell she cast on him. "You'll just have to replace it..." He mused as if entirely intent on holding her to giving something back in return, "and no, I'm not going to the effort of stealing it from you, so forget it."

Ed is taking note of her movements, the way she's listening as she looked back to the sky. He'd gotten used to reading people more on other worlds and although he didn't always bother if the situation was quiet enough it became habit. "Ninjas are better." He reassured with a laugh, placating if nothing else.

At the last part though he paused, as if clearly surprised that Al had even bothered. "I'm not sure he can, in other places I've been it wasn't possible to learn what wasn't native to your world..." Still, it was an interesting thought, and that made him curious. After a moment he returned the grin, shrugging faintly, "Besides, you probably would have had better luck turning a potato into chips than the other way around."

Yuffie looked up towards the sky in a motion that equated to half of an eye roll. She might pay him back sometime but it was unlikely. She didn't keep score of things like that. If she did, she'd be in most of her friends debt. Yuffie could be frustrating on her best days but she was loyal and would be honest with those she counted as friends.

It was a strange trade off.

She hummed softly and then pinched a bit of cotton candy to pop into her mouth. Ever notice how food taste different when you eat something sweet but think of something salty? That's what Yuffie was experiencing now. "Bleh." She shivered before eating another bite of cotton candy. That bite tasted better than the last. "That would be easier." She said finally done with her cotton candy related taste experiments. "I like potato chips more and I think I can focus on those." She'd have to keep trying, who knows, maybe she'll even study.

Except that Yuffie hated books because reading was boring.

"And for the record. I can do anything because I am awesome." So there.

Her eyes stayed on the fireworks. She knew that they'd eventually end. Fireworks were one of those things that you waited to start and then you wondered when they would end. She didn't want them to stop but she found herself thinking about what would happen when that moment came.

He had to laugh at the eye roll, knowing that wasn't bound to take him seriously. Still, he wouldn't be Ed if he didn't point it out when the opportunity arose. As long as they felt the other owed them something, it was as if they had an excuse to stick together - not the first time Ed's had a similar dynamic, but if asked he wouldn't recall off the top of his head. Yuffie was just so much different than him, the debt banter made the whole thing feel more natural in its own way.

An eyebrow quirked at that reaction, not entirely putting two and two together regarding the reason that bit of cotton candy might have tasted funny. After all, Ed was neither eating it or thinking too hard about chips. "It takes time, no one gets it on their first try." That was a lie, Ed and Al had, but the reaction of everyone in the room had proven that it was entirely unrealistic to expect from new alchemists. Especially ones so young as the brothers had been that day.

There was a pause before Ed spoke again, his attention neither fully on the fireworks or Yuffie as he watched both curiously. "It's ... kind of disappointing they're only doing this two nights when the festival lasted a whole week, isn't it?"

Edited 2017-08-10 19:05 (UTC)

Yuffie shook her head while keeping her eyes on the fireworks. "No." The word was softly spoken, with a bit of awe seeping into her tone. "Wutai has a lot of fireworks, or they did. I've heard stories." The war meant a lot less fireworks. The sounds of explosions brought fear instead of excitement to the citizens of Wutai. Yuffie had grown up during the end of the war. Her father hadn't been the best at explaining what happened. Wutai had lost and their once proud country was reduced to something like pets. Thinking about it pissed her off.

She exhaled, forcing herself to relax and turned to Ed with a loose smile. "They mean more if they're special and not all the time." She explained while giving absolutely no specific examples.

Yuffie was having a hard time when it came to keeping her thoughts straight. Her mind was wandering down paths that she had no interest in going down. "What do fireworks make you think of?" At least then she can focus on him and not herself.

Ed nodded in agreement at that, his gaze returning to the sky. "It just would have been interesting... A small build up every night of the festival- leading up to some great finale. One week out of the year still isn't all the time."

Maybe he was just trying to distract himself, after all fireworks had never been special for him. If anything they were a nuisance in his memory. A nuisance and a tie to days he'd rather forget.

His expression changed at the question, whole body shifting as if to close in on himself. He didn't like to think about it, and he'd been spending the whole time trying to ignore his own memories. Which might have been why he was so interested in Yuffie's stories. After a moment he drew his legs up, as if to hide behind his knees before speaking again, softly. There was no warning, no soft lead into what came next, just straight forward, blunt and to the point.

"The first time I killed someone."

"I guess so." Yuffie was gazing back up at the fireworks, watching them as they exploded like fire flowers in the sky. Maybe something like that would be nice but Yuffie would have to see it to be able to say so for sure. She was a bit to impatient to imagine it.

Her attention was pulled back to Ed. An idiot could tell that he was upset but Yuffie was really bad at comforting people. She nudged his shoulder with her own and tried to meet his gaze.

"That's why we make new memories of fireworks."

Yuffie leaned forward and kissed his cheek softly. Probably not what he wanted but it was the best that Yuffie could offer. She didn't know what to say because death was just a part of her life and she knew that wasn't the case for everyone.

He did glance up when she nudged him, smiling faintly at her words. Maybe that's why a whole week of fireworks appealed to him, a whole week of new memories. Memories here instead of back in that town with the festival and missing girls.

"Yeah..."

Ed blinked at the kiss, blushing faintly and averting his gaze once more - although he seemed more embarrassed than anything as he hid half his face behind his knees once more. He wasn't unfamiliar with death, he'd killed more than just Majhal back home. Greed, Sloth, he was prepared to kill Scar to if it came to it - or so he had said - in Purg he'd killed his own brother. The first time was different though, it was different because it was the first time and it certainly hadn't been intentional.

It was different because he suppressed the memory for five years and pretended that it never happen until it became time to prepare to kill again. The others he openly admitted to, had accepted right away, but the first time it had barely even registered and at eleven, he'd repressed it before it could.

"I'm glad we can here."

"Me too."

Yuffie didn't want the fireworks to come to an end but like everything they did. Startling silence filled the night as those around them began to clamor to leave the beach or go back to the other parts of the festival. Even with the buzz of the people around them, it was very quiet compared to the echo of the fireworks.

"Hey Ed." Her voice was softer but light. "It's okay." She turned back to him, lacing her fingers behind her back. The cotton candy paper had been left on the ground while her fan poked out from her back.

"We can't forgive ourselves for everything but if we keep going and keep trying our best, it'll all be okay." She didn't know the details of him killing someone and she wasn't going to ask. A mixture of not being interested and not wanting to dive into Ed's past. She didn't feel right prying... maybe because Vincent was here. "Hey. Let's walk to the water and then head back. The ocean is really pretty at night."

Ed didn't move right away, even when the fireworks ended. As if sitting there longer would make the bad vibe go away, or bring on more fireworks from sheer will alone. He got up as the crowd started to move as one, not really paying attention to what - or who - may be underfoot.

"Yeah." He smiled faintly at her words, blinking for a moment before nodding. "It will be." Even if it wasn't now, even if it didn't feel like it ever would, there was only one choice in life and that was to keep moving forward. What she said only reminded him of one thing, it wasn't Majhal he'd been unable to forgive himself for, it was Al. It wasn't even something he could explain because it hadn't happened at home, which meant that in a sense it was as if it never happened at all. One day the memory would be gone from his mind, the same as Al - the Al here - had never even experienced it.

He brushed himself off from sitting in the sand before flashing her another quick smile. "Sure, let's go."

Yuffie took his hand and gently lead him towards the water. Dark waves rolled up the beach while the bight disk of the moon shined like a beacon over head. Slowly the crowd thinned until it was just the two of them and the waves. A few people could be seen further down on either sides of the beach but they had relative privacy as people moved on.

"My home is near a beach. It's a really short walk away." She remembered going there at times as a child. It had always been a lot of fun. Back then, she hadn't realized everything that was going on in Wutai.

Her attention turned back towards Ed. "What about you? Beach, no beach?"

By now Ed's gotten used to Yuffie's manner of leading him around, not even batting an eye as she takes his hand. He was watching the water quietly when she spoke, causing is attention to turn back to her curiously.

After a pause he smiles ruefully, a mix of nostalgia and bitterness. "Al and I don't ... really have a home. We started traveling when we were kids and never stopped - at least, before I was taken from our world." A shrug as golden eyes turn back to the water.

"When we were little though... We lived near a river not too different from this one. It was big, probably not safe to swim in even if we did. There wasn't really a beach, though. Not anything like these, anyway."

"That's silly." Yuffie replied in her usual carefree tone. "Your home is where the other is. Just because it's home doesn't mean it has to be a place." Her home was Wutai and no matter how far she was from it, it'd always be the place where her heart belong. If home was where your heart was, then it was really simple.

"A river goes through Wutai. Catching fish in it was hard." Of course, Yuffie had been trying to use her daggers instead of a fishing rod or net. She liked to make things overly complicated for no apparent reason.

Her arms stretched up above her head. "Okay, I'm done. Let's head back."

Ed had to smile at that, it had been how he felt but... He knew Al wanted to go back to their world - a world that wasn't even in their future - and that conflicted with Ed's own opinion of the situation. He was fine staying here, even happy to do it if it meant being here with Alphonse. The fact that Al didn't agree was difficult for him but he didn't voice it, especially around his brother. "I wouldn't mind staying here," He'd settled in Purg after awhile this was nothing compared to that, better in a lot of ways. "Al wants to go back... I always thought our home was with each other, but if that's what he wants..." He doesn't say that his brother obviously didn't agree, exhaling slowly before finishing, "I'm going to find a way to make it happen."

At the next thing she said Ed quirked a brow, not responding right away. Which gave her time to decide she was done and ready to go home. "We used to fish in the river as kids," He turned from the water as he spoke, "We also spent a month on an island and had to catch our own food to survive." A grin at that memory, it was terrible at the time but looking back was always amusing. "No alchemy and plenty of time to learn how to fish with just a stick."

Yuffie smiled back at Ed. "Hey, don't worry about Al okay? He's young. He'll find out that being with you is more important than being home. It just takes some people longer than others to realize it." It had taken Yuffie a long time to learn that it didn't matter where she was. Though, she hadn't really had friends until meeting Cloud and stealing all their stuff. It didn't start as friendship but it somehow turned into that along the way. It had only been then that Yuffie realized how important that was. Ed and Al, from what Yuffie could tell, always had each other. That was fine but the world was so much bigger than that and she looked forward to the day that Al saw that, the way Ed does now.

Hopefully not due to similar experiences…

"That sounds like a fun memory." Made Yuffie wish that she had siblings. "I remember falling in the river a few times." That hadn't been while fishing though and at times it had been an intentional fall into the river.

Yuffie looked back at Ed as she made her way back to the communal housing. She was going to walk with him unless he decided to stay. It was one of those things with living with people; you always had that awkward goodbye if you happened to be heading in the same direction.

His head tilted at that response, not looking even remotely reassured. "That's the thing... When we were young it was the one truth we lived by. Something's changed if he doesn't feel that way anymore." Ed doesn't realize that he does, he's put more on Al's desire to go home than Alphonse intended but Edward was used to being left behind so maybe his perception was the one that was off. The part that Ed found most naive was that Al intended to go home, to a world that was no longer their home, and to take Edward with him. Even though they weren't even from the same time.

Ed laughed at that as they headed toward the communal building. "It's something we learned to laugh at later, as kids we really thought we were going to die out there." They had no idea they were being watched as part of their test after all. That last part struck him as weird though, "How'd you fall in?"

Yuffie looked over at Ed with a half smirk. "I used to sneak in to steal food before dinner. I was almost always caught." It was very hard to steal from trained soldiers and at the time, everyone in Wutai was a soldier. "When I couldn't get away I'd pretend that they shot me and I'd fall into the river. The first time really scared them. After the first time... not so much." She rolled her shoulders in a shrug.

Turns out, Yuffie's always been a brat.

"Anyway. I hope things work themselves out. I think they will. The best things are the things that you fight for." Which has always been the case in Yuffie's life.

He made a face at that explanation that was half disturbed and half amused before grinning softly. "That's awful." Giving them a heart attack like that.

"I'm sure they will." He hopes so anyway, there was always something about this Al that he couldn't quite put his finger on, he was different somehow but Ed hadn't figured it out yet. "I guess you're right. They always have been for us, too." He assumes if she's suggesting as much that she must also be able to relate.

"So, what do you think the chances are that they'll top this festival next month?" In Ed's opinion the river festival was far better than the Carnivale had been.

Yuffie laughed, running her fingers through her hair. "Another one? Damn, I'm honestly good with a break for a bit. Can't we just have a restaurant week and have fun foods featured but with no crowds?" She liked food and fun but Yuffie's life had been significantly different before this. It felt too much like a long vacation that could end at any moment. It was a very unsettling feeling.

"What do you think they'll do? We cleaned up the beach. Maybe it'll be a garden festival and we'll have to weed and fight back the forest." She was just teasing, Yuffie really hoped that they didn't have to do that.

It sounded like a way to attract monsters.

"It seems to be a monthly thing here." He's not entirely sure, he'd only been around a few months, but it was looking that way from his perspective. At Yuffie's suggestion Ed just laughed, "I like that idea, I wonder if we can submit it to some official somewhere." He's not entirely serious, but it did make him wonder who was in charge of these things and how they got organized.

"I'm not so sure anyone would like having to go beyond the wall." He sounded amused though, as if that was just the kind of bad idea this place would come up with. "That might be voted worst festival yet." On a more serious note though, "The beach needed cleaning. That acid rain did a lot of damage. I really hope we don't have to do something like that again."

"Who knows." Yuffie rolled her shoulders in a shrug. "Maybe these festivals are just to make sure that we don't act out or cause trouble." Not that it stops Yuffie. She wondered if it was really okay. This place, whatever it used to be was gone. It was filled with people, who didn't belong here, like tourist. It reminded her a bit of home and made her wonder, what was it that they were trying to cover up. It could be just as they said, repopulation after the people who lived here tried to conquer worlds but Yuffie found that things were rarely as simple as they seemed.

Whatever it was, it wasn't her problem.

"Oh!" Yuffie turned back to Ed with a grin. "A friend from home showed up. So if you see someone who kinda looks like he's going to stab someone who's standing in a dark corner with a red cape…" Best description Yuffie. "Say hi. Vinnie is a good guy but he needs friends. He's a little broken." She paused and looked around them. "I guess the same way that everyone here is."

Her arms stretched over her head and she yawned. Working was hard work… "I think I am due a nap." So much for swimming.

He's still clearly amused at that suggestion, shrugging himself. "If it is, it's not working. They underestimate a lot of us if they think we can't have fun one week and turn this place upside down the next."

Ed grins when Yuffie starts talking about Vincent. Not that he's going to run up and introduce himself to a complete stranger that looks like murder, but it was good to know at least. At the last part he responds somberly, "Everyone really is, aren't they? You should bring him by sometime, you know everyone on the floor loves meeting new people." Well, most of them, he can't speak for everyone there.

The grin comes back just easily at her words, shrugging again. "That's not a bad idea, actually."

Yuffie snickered. "Guess so." She stretched, reaching her arms behind her head as she looked over at Ed. She noted his expression before looking back at the path in front of her.

Yup, definitely nap time.

"Like he'd follow me." She rolled her eyes at the idea. "That and there is enough broody on our floor without me adding Vincent to the mix. It'd be such a dark cloud that no one will be able to find their way outside." Yuffie sighed. It was easy for her to imagine and it kinda sucked.

"I'm sure I'll make friends." Somehow.

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introductory mingle: RIVER FESTIVAL

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