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

[alchemyfreak]

Sure-

[but before he can say more she's shouting from the sand in her eyes.]

Just stay still, okay?

[The last thing he needed was her flailing around while he tried to pull this off.]

I'm going to need you to trust me- I'll have to grab your arm.

[Especially if she can't see. He claps his hands together, but before reaching for her he's going to warn her so that she doesn't get startled. One hand rested on her forearm arm and he pressed the other to her shoulder. It was a basic enough alchemy, he'd used it to get off of himself in the past, the sand would just fall back into place where it belong once the electric blue light of the transmutation died down.]

That should do it.

[He's just going to take a step back, now.]

[thegreatninja]

[Yuffie has no idea what to expect but the words 'you need to trust me' make her freeze in place. After Ed steps back, she slowly opens her eyes; dark purple orbs peer up at Ed in confusion as she takes in her sand-less state.]

What did you do?

[She ducks her head around her to find that all the sand is gone, except for what's plastered to the sole of her boot but that's thanks to gravity.]

I thought Alchemy just made things?

[alchemyfreak]

Basic transmutation.

[He's watching her in amusement as she tries to figure out what happened, shrugging a shoulder.]

Alchemy is the deconstruction and reconstruction of matter, it can do a lot of things. I got arrested for using it to clean mud off my clothes, once....

[That was an amusing story so the tone of the delivery doesn't even occur to him.]

[thegreatninja]

So you stopped at the deconstruction part.

[Why the fuck would you get arrested for cleaning mud off your clothes? Yuffie just stares at him, the question she hadn't asked painted like a neon sign on her features. His world sounds very weird, unless this is another world…

A shiver twists up Yuffie's spine despite the warm kiss from the sun. His life sounds like it always sucks. It sounds exhausting though the same is true for her life too.]

So, what next? Want to go for a swim?

[She's still not mentioning that she'd been helping clean up.]

[alchemyfreak]

[He notes the look and has to laugh, shaking his head some.]

Al and I stopped by a tourist attraction as kids, they saw the alchemy and arrested me immediately without question. Turned out there was an alchemist running around causing all sorts of trouble for them... As soon as they found out I was in the military their tone changed, though. All of a sudden they needed my help to catch the criminal.

[Funny story, really. Not at all serious or disturbing like the rest of his life. Which was definitely as exhausting as she imagined it must be.

At the question though, Ed's expression falters. Suddenly serious, but still smiling as if to ward off any negative thoughts he shrugs a shoulder.]

I can't really swim... but you go ahead, don't let me keep you.

[thegreatninja]

[Yuffie's lips tug into a frown.]

I know you got metal bits but why can't you swim? Are you really that heavy?

[She walks in a circle around him before carefully lifting his metal arm. Okay, that's heavy. Before he can get angry at her she steps away from him with her hands up and her palms out defensively.]

How about we go play in the shallow end, no swimming. We just get walled on by waves.

[alchemyfreak]

[Sorry Yuffie, they literally drag him to the floor. Ed's watching her curiously as she circles around him, a brow lifted when she checked as if to determine whether his arm could seriously be that heavy. Considering the upgrades in Purg, it wasn't as heavy as it used to be but.... The leg was another matter. It hadn't changed much in five years.

Ed's just going to look at her like he's not so sure that's a good idea but he shrugs and starts toward the water.]

I don't know that my mechanic would be too thrilled with my first repair being "I got sand in places it shouldn't be".