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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[Her smile at that is small, a little unsure, but there.]

We're not queens, but we'll try to do right.

[She doesn't quite understand what "dope" means, but based on the tone of his voice and context clues she's assuming it's a good thing.

Her gaze flicks to the stones, and she nods, seeming to accept his reasoning, because she picks up one of the cups and starts towards the water, working on the assumption that he'll do the same.]

Cisco. [She repeats it back to make sure she's got it right, and because it's not a name she's ever heard before.] I'm called the Dag.

We?

[ Cisco can't really tell if she's making a joke using the royal plural, or if she is talking about herself and him, or if she means herself and someone else, as well. He follows her, picking up the other cup and catching up to her as she heads for the water. ]

Yep. Short for Francisco, but nobody calls me that. [ His eyebrows raise a little when she says her name, but she doesn't laugh or say 'just kidding', so he asks: ] So's it always 'the Dag' or just 'Dag' if I was talking to you? Like, would I say "hey, the Dag, let's fill that moat" or "hey, Dag, let's fill that moat"?

[ He'd gotten enough grief from people messing up his name pretty much his whole life that he's a little more careful than most to make sure he gets it right.

Before they quite get to the water, Cisco happens to glance down at his feet in time to narrowly avoid stepping on a crab that has half-burrowed itself into the sand. Why it hasn't scampered away with all these people around, Cisco doesn't know. He does, however, let out a small surprised yelp and pull his foot back at the last moment, stepping back a ways. ]

The Many Mothers, and us. My sisters. Furiosa.

[There are not many of the Vuvalini left, but she has to hope that the ones that remain will stay to help rebuild the Citadel into something better, something kinder. They led their own society for a long time, unlike the wives and Furiosa, who only followed.

At his question about her name, she shrugs. Honestly, the other wives never really bothered with it, they could talk to each other and immediately know how was being addressed without using names.]

Dag is fine.

[She's noticed most people here just have... names, without titles or additions, and the whole convention of it seems different. She might just start introducing herself without the, to save time.

She'll also save Cisco from the crab; she doesn't startle when he does, her gaze just snaps to him, reading the situation quickly before she reaches down to pick up the crab, careful of the claws.]

I won't hurt you. [The crab seems to be pretty amendable with this situation, since it doesn't try to nip her, and after a second of watching it she looks back at Cisco.] Where does it live?

[She isn't sure if she should put it in the ocean or somewhere else.]

So, wait, you're like... actually one of the rulers, in your world? And they're... the other people ruling with you?

[ Had he just joked about being a queen to someone who is actually some kind of head honcho where she comes from? Are there etiquettes and things he ought to be following right now? Hopefully she would at least tell him if there were. He loves learning about other worlds and cultures but sometimes the fear of putting his foot in his mouth can be pretty intense. ]

Dag. Got it.

[ It's kind of impressive the way that she scoops up the crab without any hesitation; maybe not that much, considering it doesn't even try to pinch her, but Cisco knows he would be a lot more wary of doing the same. When she asks where it lives, he thinks for a moment, then gestures towards the water. ]

Water's probably safest. They go between water and land, but at least in the water it won't get stepped on.

[First things first is the crab, because even if her experience with animals is minimal, so far she likes them a fair bit more than she likes people, since no animals have ever hurt her.

She walks the rest of the way to the water, until it's up to her shins, and then places the crab down on the sand below, watching it scuttle off. It moves very weirdly.

Now she'll answer his questions.]

The Immortan controlled the Citadel and we belonged to him. But you can't own people. [She's been sort of vague and soft, a little like she's off with the fairies, but there's an edge to her tone now.] He and his war boys are dead. We're going to make it a good place, there will be no more warlords.

[Power changing hands doesn't happen peacefully, but it can happen. She doesn't know exactly how things will pan out, in the future, but she has faith in the Vuvalini and Furiosa.]

Oh.

[ Cisco isn't sure quite what he'd been expecting, but that definitely wasn't it. He listens quietly, the faint resting smile that had been on his face slipping away, leaving him looking solemn and quiet. The story isn't exactly detailed, but the salient details seem to be there the same. Slavery, warlords... sounds like a pretty damn bad time. ]

No. You can't own people.

[ He doesn't really know what to say apart from that - any sort of apology or expression of how terrible that sounds would seem like a trespass. Cisco keeps glancing over at the Dag, now, though he is trying his hardest not to stare. ]

I'm very, uh. Anti-warlord, too. Not that I've ever come across one, but I mean. If I did.

[ Cisco knows he's talking nonsense, but he can't seem to stop himself. He bends down and scoops up some water from the river, holding it between his hands and waiting for the Dag to do the same before they head back towards the castle. ]

[She wouldn't know what to do with any kind of sympathy; she's never received it from an outside source, even the Vuvalini didn't really bother with that sort of thing, they just offered silent understanding and hope for safety.

Still, it's reassuring to hear his confirmation that people can't be owned, so she gives him a little nod, then bends down to fill the cup with water before following Cisco back to the castle.]

If you do, kill them quick. They're cowards without battle fodder.

[They saw Joe at his most vulnerable, and knew he was just a pathetic human, not some half god.]

[ This conversation has just escalated so fast in such a completely wild direction, that even Cisco's reflexive sense of humor can't keep up. Because unless this lady is the deadpan comedian of the century, she's definitely being absolutely serious. And part of Cisco wants to laugh and joke about how murder isn't really his style, but what if this girl had murdered some horrible warlord who had been keeping her as property? That's not something he wants to laugh at, or cast judgement on. That's a pretty damn justified act of violence if ever he's heard of one.

Failing any other thing to say, he manages a slightly jerky. ]

I'll- keep that in mind.

[ No matter how long he is in this place, it seems there is always some new experience waiting to surprise him. Still, for all the awkwardness and intensity, he doesn't want to stop talking to the Dag. As they come up and start to pour their water into the moat, Cisco asks: ]

You, uh- been here very long?

[She can tell she's said something wrong, or done something to upset him in some way and she wants to know what, to avoid doing it again. This place is good, so far, and she's aware that her experience seems to fall far outside the norm.

She's going to have to adapt if she wants to live well.]

A week. [Not long, really, and then she follows it up with:] What's wrong?

Oh, wow, seriously? You're brand new.

[ It's kind of strange, when he stops to think about how long he's been here. The first few weeks after he'd arrived had seemed to last forever, had been full of loneliness and confusion and homesickness. But after a month, after he'd made some new friends and settled in, things had started to go a bit more quickly, and now, somehow, he's become used to living here.

Her follow-up question catches him off guard, and he looks up sharply from the sand castle. ]

What? Nothing! Nothing's wrong.

[ Cisco... you are a terrible liar. Why do you even try.

He rubs a hand across the back of his neck, trying to think of the right thing to say to dispel the awkwardness, rather than just increase it. In the end he settles on: ]

Just, um... sounds like the worlds we're from are super duper different.

[He's a very bad liar, which is a new sort of experience for her, because Furiosa is very good at it, and she thinks Max was, too.

(She wonders, if Angharad really went under the wheels, or if Max just made the choice to keep them moving).]

There were no water wars.

[In his world, in most worlds. She's noticed because people look different, nothing that can be specifically pinpointed, it's not about being healthy and well fed, it's just... there's something in the eyes. Or maybe it's something missing.

She wonders if people can see it in her.]

It's better, if your world was kinder.

[She wouldn't wish the wasteland on anyone.]

No. Not any wars, very recently. Where I'm from at least.

[ And of course, there was still violence in Central City - crime, murder, little pockets of horror here and there for certain people, but nothing systemic and warlord-y, the way the Dag is talking about. The name 'water wars' is evocative enough, but Cisco wants to be careful of assumptions. He asks, with some hesitation: ]

Is... water scarce? Or is there too much of it - flooding and covering the land and everything?

[ Certainly, some kind of environmental-based stressor leading to the conflict, from the name. ]

Yeah. I... I don't know if it's okay to say, but I wish your world had been, too.

[ He starts to head towards the water again with her, now that they've emptied their cups; it's going to take a few trips, to fill the thing up. Cisco looks over at the Dag again, torn between the the impulse to comfort and the fear that he will overstep. ]

This is a good place. Like, there's danger every now and then from some of the animals that live outside the walls, but people here are pretty peaceful, and it's safe. As safe as any place can be, I think.

Scarce.

[The idea of a place flooding isn't something she can wrap her head around, what it would look like or how it would happen. All she can think of is the bog and the crows, the way the water seeped up through the earth and tried to pull everything down into it.

And then she's quiet as she follows him back to the water and refills her cup; he hasn't overstepped, really, she's just not sure how to deal with this particular brand of kindness, so she's taking her time to figure out how to respond. Or how to feel about it in general. She's only really met two men that weren't awful to her, and Cisco is like neither of them, so she hasn't got a great frame of reference for this.

She also doesn't have a frame of reference for safe. Sure, they weren't going to get hurt by any outside forces, in the vault, but that doesn't mean they were ever safe.]

I've never-- [This is weird and hard and she stares at the water for a second, like maybe it has an answers for her.] There are so many people.

[Maybe that covers it. There are so many people here, all of them up close and personal. It's different from watching the wretched from a distance, or from being chased by war boys. She's still getting used to the idea that she can just walk out the front door of her apartment and see dozens of people, going about their lives, and that they're peaceful and safe and not a single one gives a shit about her (in a good way).]

This must be a real trip, then.

[ And he gestures at the river, the big glittering blue expanse of it, snaking its way all through the city. He had never thought of that before - how strange a river would look to someone from a place without them. Cisco had gotten used to assuming that the people he meets here probably won't recognize his cultural references, and might not be familiar with things like cell phones or robots, but to meet someone for whom a body of water is something surprising... that's not something he'd expected.

He doesn't rush her as she searches for the words, just holding his cup of water in two hands, waiting. When she gives her answer, he doesn't understand, not really. But he tries to. ]

You're probably over in the communal housing, right? Most of the new people go there... I guess it is a bit crowded. Especially if you're not used to close quarters.

[She nods at that; it's a trip and a half, bodies of water and rain aren't anything she's experienced before, and although the acid rain kind of took the excitement out of her first rain fall, she's still pretty excited about the river.

But... it's not about close quarters. That's something she knows, even if it's different when it's a stranger (who seems nice enough) rather than the four other girls she was raised with.]

Before we escaped... [It had been barely three days since they did, and it's still strange to think about. It feels like she's lived an entire life in those few days.] We were not allowed out, only a few were allowed in.

[ The more the Dag says, the more Cisco's heart sinks. Somehow, her story manages to just keep getting more and more awful. His voice is quiet as he guesses: ]

You were prisoners. You and... your mothers and sisters?

[ When she'd answered him before, explaining who she meant by 'we', she had mentioned something about mothers and sisters. That had been before Cisco knew there was a horrible escaped enslaved person deal, but it would make sense, that her family would be in the same situation. That was often how such things were done.

Of course, if some evil warlord were keeping them as property, obviously none of them would have been free, but apparently it had been more than that - confinement, isolation from the world, and strangers. And probably a whole host of other horrible things, because human beings are terrible and Cisco is suddenly feeling intensely disgusted that he is one, which is rare, for him. ]

This must all be super overwhelming.

[ He starts back towards that sand castle, water in hand. He wonders how long it's gonna be now before he looks at water in the same entirely careless way again. ]

You guys escaped, though? That's like, super brave.

Only my sisters, we escaped to Furiosa's people. The Vuvalini, the Many Mothers.

[She curls her free hand to her heart as she says it, remembering how many of them were lost, remembering the gesture they made to honour the dead. The look on Furiosa's face is something that she thinks will stay with her for life, the sudden peace she found only for it to be torn away.

But, yeah, it's pretty overwhelming. She doesn't feel the need to confirm that, just watches Cisco for a second before following after him.]

We didn't want our babies to be warlords.

[They got desperate, and in the end, most of them made it.

She hopes there are gods and heaven, because Angharad deserves to go somewhere kind.]

[ Furiosa - that had been the other name she had mentioned. If the conversation were a degree less serious, he would definitely make a comment about how totally badass a name that is, but even Cisco knows that now is not the time or place for that.

Her comment about not wanting her and her sisters (who knows, if she means biological sisters, or if a bunch of them had bonded so closely in their captivity that they'd become like a family and just referred to each other as such) to give birth to babies who would become warlords pretty much confirms Cisco's suspicions, about why they were kept locked up and away from people. And that feeling of nausea over what humans are capable of only gets worse. Cisco's not entirely unfamiliar with the idea that human beings can treat one another with inventive and breathtaking cruelty, but he's not used to encountering it so up close and personal, on a sunny beach while he's making a sandcastle.

For a moment or two, he doesn't even know what he could possibly say to that. But he has to say something. ]

I- wouldn't want that, either.

[ It feels so impossibly inadequate, particularly when he had never been in a situation where that was even a remote possibility. Cisco looks at the Dag for a moment, chewing absently at his lower lip, face quiet with sadness. It's moments like this that make him glad he comes from a world with heroes. A lot of bad things still happened, sure. But bad things happened everywhere - and at least where he's from, people had someone they could latch their hope to, who they could believe in. ]

I'm... I'm really glad you escaped. And that you won, and you're all going to be in charge, now. I'm sure you'll make things better than they were.

[No one's ever really looked at her like that, with so much sadness, and she doesn't know how to deal with it, not when so much of this is just how the world works. There's very little kindness to be found, any instance of softness is burned out of people, and she knows that she could count herself amongst them. She's not cruel, none of them were, but she knows there's a hardness in her heart that Cheedo doesn't have, and will hopefully never have to learn.]

There was always enough food and water for everyone, but he wanted it all for himself. We won't be so greedy.

[ Cisco laughs, then; there's no amusement in it, really. Just a short little huff of air, followed by a small shake of his head. ]

People who have everything never want to share even the tiniest bit. It's like that in my world, too.

[ The degrees might be different, but the principle still applies. Cisco has absolutely no love lost for that sort of person. People like Hartley, who'd been brought up with everything he could ever possibly want handed to him. Sure, that had all ended when his parents disowned him, but it had shaped Hartley fundamentally in his formative years, stripped him of pretty much all traces of empathy and morality. Cisco might almost feel sorry for him, if he wasn't such an entitled insufferable tool. ]

It must be hard. Being away from your sisters, in a place that's so different. Have you made any friends, here?

[She wants to hope that it doesn't make them greedy, suddenly having access to all those resources without the restriction of Joe's control, but she has faith, at least in Toast and Capable and Cheedo. They won't forget what they've been through.]

People have been nice.

[Which is a "no", but that's mostly because she's very new and a little reluctant to really trust people.]

Yeah, that really freaked me out when I first showed up. How nice everybody was. Thought there had to be some kind of hidden agenda.

[ He doesn't know if the Dag's mind would operate in a similar way, but just in case it does, he thinks it might be important to mention that not everybody is happy and comfortable the second they show up in this place. Even if, compared to their world, it seems utopian. ]

Haven't seen any trace of that, though. I've been here about five months, now. Stopped worrying about it after a bit

[ Cisco can't declare with 100% certainty everything is above-board, in this place. He can only tell her he's seen no signs to the contrary, during his time. ]

Listen. I'm not some super macho badass or anything, but... if anybody is ever not nice, and you need some help... lemme know, and I'll do my best.

[ He knows that it is an offer coming from a complete stranger, that she is probably ten times as capable of taking care of herself than he is. But just in case no one has said something like that... he just wants to put it out there. ]

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introductory mingle: RIVER FESTIVAL

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