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

[evasives]

[he could probably talk about that sort of thing all day, but he'd rather not. he'd rather just go upstairs and keep comparing rooms and stupid pillows.]

[he slips out before her, waiting for her to close it, then moves towards the elevator.] They share them. More pillows for the masses.

[realists]

I want five of my own.

[ five pillows just for her, five pillows she will not share with anyone else. just for jyn. maybe she'll share a pillow with cassian.

maybe. ]

[evasives]

Only five?

[he presses the button, and it dings barely a few seconds later, opening the elevator doors.]

I would have thought you'd go for at least eight.

[realists]

[ jyn was distracted by pillows that she barely noticed that cassian stopped by the elevator but when it dings open, she shakes her head, apprehension and lingering fear welling in her chest again. ]

I'll meet you up there. What floor?

[evasives]

[he knows immediately why she isn't following him and he frowns, because he doesn't want to separate from her already, even if she said she'd meet him -]

Are you sure? [a beat, where he almost reaches out to brush her arm.] It's the 11th. I can't - I don't know if I can walk up that many stairs.

[having to force himself into elevators kind of tempered the reluctance on his end.]

[realists]

It's fine, [ jyn assures him quickly, already backing away from the elevator toward the door for the stairs. ] I'll see you up there.

[ it's maybe fleeing, what she's doing, escaping, but she's not about to apologize for it. she throws herself up the stairs, not so much racing the elevator (she will lose), but racing her own thoughts.

she loses there too, but eventually pushes open the door to the eleventh floor, chest tight with exertion now instead of memories tugging at her. ]

[evasives]

[he spends the whole ride up deliberating whether or not he should have attempted the stairs, because he's done well so far about differentiating between scarif's elevator and this one, but jyn planted it very fresh in his mind and then left.]

[it's odd to miss her already for such a short amount of time, but he reaches the eleventh floor first and lingers near the stairwell while he waits. if he thinks about jyn he doesn't need to think about scarif!]

[he looks to her immediately when she finally shows and exhales a breath he didn't know he was holding.] Much easier to go down them all. [a beat, as he digs in his pockets for a key.] My room is right over here.

[realists]

It's not so bad going up. [ she refuses to admit that it's exhausting, that her legs and chest hurt, that pushing up seven flights of stairs is a kind of exertion she is unused to enough that it makes her dizzy the last two flights.

nah, it's not so bad.

she eyes his leg anyway, absently, like she doesn't realize she's doing it until she looks up. she then abruptly starts walking in the direction he'd indicated. ]

[evasives]

[he gives her a look like he doesn't quite believe her, but he doesn't say anything to dispute it. she can have her pride and he'll just get her a glass of water inside for how out of breath she is.]

[he unlocks the door and lets her in first, closing and locking it behind them. apparently locking doors is his thing. just like ignoring the way she looks at his leg is a thing.]

[it's not a very big apartment and there are zero signs of personalization so far; everything else is just as shared as he described it, and his bed is tucked in the corner, neatly made.]

Hopefully it remains only mine. [no roommates please.]

[realists]

[ she'll get used to taking the stairs and then she'll be fine, she just has to get used to the incline.

she takes in the apartment with careful consideration, noting the important things: fridge, bathroom, bed... no fluffy rug. her rug is far superior, it's unfortunate that cassian doesn't have his own wampa skin rug. ]

Four of my rooms could fit in here. Maybe five. [ it's so open and large, he has room for a sitting area, for a kitchen and dining area. all the things tucked into the common area outside jyn's room, cassian has all to himself. ]

[evasives]

[he doesn't know why he's waiting for her analysis, because in the end it ultimately probably doesn't matter (or does it??), but he shakes his head with a vague amusement.]

At least you know you will always have a space to yourself. From the look of it, I could end up with another person here at any time.

[sometimes he wishes it were a little smaller, if only because he doesn't know what to do with that much space.]

[realists]

[ jyn is sure she could convince his roommates to leave if ever he was to get one. she knows how to be a terrible roommate.]

A very small space to myself, yes.

[ she needs room to breathe, or at least pace to her heart's content. ]

[evasives]

[if he ever needs a roommate removed, he knows who to call. zero anticipation of jyn's place in his apartment.]

It's better than no space to yourself.

[cassian hesitates for a moment, suddenly feeling like the room is even bigger than it is, but no matter how small the space is, having jyn with him again is welcome. it's not necessarily just because she's a familiar face, but lmao shoves that thought process away for later.]

Jyn... [LEVEL UP MAN JUST DO IT.] I just - I'm glad you're here.

[so there.]

[realists]

[ without thinking, jyn smiles at him, open and wide. it stutters after a moment, like she's realized what she is doing, fading but not disappearing completely. ]

Yeah. [ her head jerks in a nod. she doesn't want to think about who else is missing, who else she would want to be here, but cassian is on the top of the list. ] I'm glad you're here, too.

[ it's too much though, so she veers for the fridge. ] Got anything good?

[evasives]

[cassian nearly does a double take, feeling kinda starstruck by her smile. it's bright and honest, and it's because of him. he smiles back. it's less wide, but it vastly softens his features.]

[she's glad too. he ducks his head for a moment, letting it wash over him while she scuttles for the fridge. there is clearly absolutely no point in addressing any of this.]

Depends on your definition of good.

[realists]

Edible.

[ it's a loose definition that jyn has, but in any case, she's going to raid cassian's fridge for whatever is inside of it and plop down at his kitchen table to eat like all of this is completely normal. when he joins her, jyn doesn't think about how it's the first time they've shared a meal together because they've only known each other for a handful of days but she's glad for the company.

glad she's not alone in all of this. glad she has a friend. ]