riverviewlogs | 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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Isn't the Fabulous Amazing Lola a title?

[Yuffie teases with a grin, her fingers continuing to move through her blades as she spoke. She's almost done and methodically begins to put away each of her blades. She still needs to get out her armor and clean that up some but she'll do it later. Lola requires a little bit more attention.]

W.O.W. [Her lips form each letter as if sounding out the word.] Definitely like. Best color of purple. You also match my shirt.

[Yuffie grins and tugs at the thin strip of fabric around her torso.] You're like... the Chameleon. Best Title Ever!

I... guess.

*Lola stop thinking about using that as a serious title! Of course all the attention on her hair is just making Lola a little blushy and a lot pleased. She likes being fawned over.*

I mean, my initial color was to match my outfit. Matching your shirt is only good if I'm wearing it.

*Yuffie don't invite Lola to check out your chest. She'll totally do it. And then realize what she's up to, and try to casually stop looking. Super smooth. Totally not awkward.*

I dunno if Fabulous Amazing Chameleon is a really flattering title, I mean chameleons are cute. Anyway, you owe me a date. Or two dates, I think?

Two? [Yuffie has to think back to remember.] Isn't it that you owe me one date and I owe you one date? [She doesn't think that dates cancel each other out.]

What did you want to do?

[She pauses and thinks about it for a moment before flashing Lola a smile. If Yuffie notices Lola staring at her chest she doesn't say anything. Truthfully, she doesn't think her chest is anything special. It's very average and when compared to Tifa's it's very small.]

Want to know what it feels like to be a princess? [Yuffie claims that it sucks but it'd be fun.]

Well, one of them is definitely hanging out and swimming because you wouldn't go swimming at the ball. I dunno about the other, I wanted to know what you wanted to do with that.

*Honestly she wanted to just hang out with everyone all the time doing whatever but that wasn't really a thing Lola could say right here. Also she isn't exactly sporting a lot of cup either, so she does not mind at all what she was looking at.*

That would definitely be fun! Can we!?

*Lola's clearly down for that idea, not only did she lean forward and get really close to Yuffie. Hands landing on Yuffie's knees for balance cause everything else is sharp objects. Lola's hair grew just a bit shinier and more metallic as she did this. Mood ring hair, for those who have no subtlety.*

[Yuffie laughs.] Yeah sure. Is that at the beach or are we finding a pool somewhere? I do own a bathing suite. [It's somewhere. She's planning to wear it to the beach during the clean up and festival.]

I don't see why we can't. I need to see about getting us the right clothes though. [She considers it thoughtfully.] Ever wear a Kimono before? [This is a very important question.]

You know... for princess-y things.

[Yuffie watches Lola get closer and becomes very very still. She isn't sure what to do and if she moves her knees she worries that Lola will fall, into a bed of knifes, LITERALLY!]

I love the beach, less chemicals to worry about, sand is nicer than most decks, and people can see how cute we are!

*Look, being as cute as she is takes a lot of work and she enjoys it being appreciated. She can appreciate it herself, but when others do it, feels good.*

A kimono? Umm... no, I've never worn one before.

*Lola guessed that made sense, Yuffie wasn't white, and when Lola thinks about it why would a ninja princess wear western clothes. That could be fun. Kinda weird, but fun. ... Lola is now realizing she isn't entirely sure how to get back to sitting up the way she is right now. She's taking stock of everything and thinks for a moment.*

Maybe we should plan more after there are less knives around.

*Fortunately Lola has an idea of where to go, and she's athletic enough this will be easy. Not graceful, but totally won't cut herself, she bends her elbows, pushes off Yuffie, and throws herself to the floor. She lands without any grace or style on her butt and grins.*

That is all very true statements.

[Yuffie laughs softly as Lola manages to push herself back and onto the ground. That's a creative escape plan, Yuffie approves.]

Might be best. I can clean up but it'll still take some time to put everything away. [At least Lola knows where to find her.]

*Lola isn't otherwise bothered by what she had to do to get down, and is smiling as she dusts herself off and stands back up.*

I'll leave you to put everything away, then.

I mean, once you're done there are cookies. So you have that to look forward to when you put your toys away.

[Yuffie pauses.]

Can't I have a cookie while I put them away.

[She flashes Lola a grin.]

You can feed me!

*Lola rolled her eyes. And wandered off.*

*Only to come back with the basket of cookies. Lola's an utter pushover.*

[When Lola returns Yuffie has about half of her blades cleaned up. She's fairly good at getting things done quickly, more so when food is an incentive. She slides to the end of the bed so her feet kick over the edge before leaning forward and swiping a few cookies.]

Awesome! Thanks Lol~

[She bites into one and then chews it a little bit like a chipmunk while she finishes putting away her knifes.]

introductory mingle: RIVER FESTIVAL

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