introductory mingle: FLOWER FESTIVAL

[riverviewmod]

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and Flower Festival Celebration
when: April 2nd - April 15th
where: In several different locations in the downtown area of the Inhabited City.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

flower festival

In the days leading up to April 2nd, residents new and old may notice advertising around the city, everywhere from digital screens to paper flyers pasted on blank walls, all advertising an upcoming holiday: The Flower Festival. Celebrating springtime, beauty, joy, and togetherness, the festival heavily features floral themes and dancing. The advertising mentions that on April 10th, a paid holiday, there will be a Blossom Picnic, as well as lists of various public dances at clubs or other open venues, and adult raves.

a celebration of spring

The Flower Festival's main event is the Blossom Picnic on April 10th, but it also features traditions of sharing food and drink, and dancing that span over the course of the whole two weeks. There are a large variety of events going on throughout the city, from dancing lessons in any wide variety of traditional dances, to old-fashioned sock hops, to adult raves complete with mild party drugs. Feel free to use the prompts below or create your own event at any point during the festival, and if your character creates an event and hosts it in a top-level, you can submit that thread for extra bonus points.

i. blossom picnic

The main event that kicks off the second week of the Flower Festival is the Blossom Picnic on April 10th. A relaxed and low-key event, it draws several thousand people every year to the spacious Riverview Central Park, where there is a generous lawn lined with various blossoming trees, and families, found families, lovers, and groups of friends are encouraged to lay out a picnic blanket and share food. There will be live bands playing (but not loudly enough to distract from conversation and peacefully watching the petals flutter in the wind), a variety of demonstrations of traditional cultural dances from many different realities and planets, and a ton of ice cream vendors. This is an excellent festival not only for celebrating togetherness with the people who are already important, but for mingling and making new friends.

Characters may either pack their own lunches or they can purchase pre-packed Blossom Festival lunches. Stores and street markets are carrying a wide variety of specialty food that is only available at this time of year - predominantly pastries, an assortment of types of candies, and ice cream treats all in various floral flavors, as well as a sort of ambrosia salad based around a sweet rose-flavored cream and a native fruit that is bright green and tastes like a combination of peach and citrus.

ii. dancing lessons

Starting on April 2nd, there will be dancing lessons offered almost everywhere you look! From partner dances to group dances to line dances; sexy and sensual or innocent and childlike - almost any type of dance you can imagine is represented, from any reality or planet that has people in Riverview Quarantine.

Additionally, the Riverview Central Community Center has multiple rooms blocked off so anyone who knows a dance from home can teach it to others in their community - sharing is caring, after all. Characters are welcome to block off one of these rooms and offer lessons in any dance they happen to know from home (and these sorts of thread starters would be eligible for the mingle AC Point bonus)!

iii. flower festival dancing

This is pretty simply what it says on the tin - in almost every club, community center, or other public space, there will be dancing at almost all hours of the day or night, formal and informal. Musicians bring out their instruments and play in the street for demonstrations of cultural dances and music at the same time as clubs are offering VIP cover charges for exclusive dances, and you can find anything in between.

There are also many low-cover-charge raves that allow under-18s so younger characters can stay up all night and dance like crazy. The legal drinking age in Riverview Quarantine is 14, and so anyone over 14 can enter and indulge in a few drinks, dancing, and playing tag with a non-intoxicating version of the colored powder featured at the adult raves. There is copious amounts of security on site to ensure that everyone is safe, as well as nurses and off-duty police officers to offer advice or care for anyone who overindulges out of lack of experience.

Grab a partner, a group of friends, or just cruise and mingle the various dancing events.

Characters may also notice that most of the street markets and clothing shops are offering clothing that features floral patterns, flowers as accessories, and that show a lot of skin - for men, women, and anyone in between!

iv. adult raves

Advertised on flyers and digital screens around the city, made to pop as if they were under blacklight, is a series of adult raves that are happening in various large empty warehouse spaces around the city, including one that is listed as the danger rave and hosted in an abandoned factory outside the inhabited city walls. With bouncers at the door to ensure that anyone entering is 18+, the raves are comfortably adult in nature. Clothing is optional, showing skin is encouraged, and there are a lot of neatly tucked away spaces for attendees to get some time alone with one or more than one person, as well as spaces intended for orgies. The atmosphere is sex-positive and non-judgemental, open to any orientation or preference, with various forms of protection available for free, however, to ensure that everyone plays safe there are sober security teams out en masse at all premises to oversee the events.

(CW: DRUG USE) In each location, there is one specific room where attendees can enter, and dance or play tag with brightly colored powder that contains small amounts of a legal party drug commonly available in Riverview, which is absorbed through the skin. Not much more intoxicating than having a few beers, the effects of the drug are a pleasant low-key buzzing euphoria, positive sensitivity to touch, a heightening of desires for intimacy, and a mild lowering of inhibitions. Once a character has been hit with the powder, the color lingers on the skin so other attendees can know who has partaken, but once the powder makes contact with a surface it deactivates, meaning that partakers can safely dance with non-partakers without sharing the intoxicating effects.

Please be sure to warn in subject lines for any threads involving drug use. And remember, there is always security to intervene and make sure everyone is safe.

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to set up headers for a communal floor, or threads open to roommates for the purpose of getting to know each other. Or if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set at the Flower Festival, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: third image by Steve Goad; other images found on uncredited on Pinterest or Google images - please let the mod know if you find credit!

navigation

Comments

Jonathan Samuel Kent | OTA

[supersweet]

[ a: ice cream ]

[ No parents sucked. Not having his dad and mom around while he wanders the festival aimlessly wasn't as fun as his dad ruffling his hair when he won a prize or his mom scolding him if he overdid it with his superstrength.

There was one benefit though. Ice-cream. His parents didn't treat him often (and it wasn't like Hamilton County had a lot of junk food). So if he went overboard . . . well, it's not like anyone can complain.

So if he's managing the strangest balancing act with ice-cream over four scoops high, he'll do so with pride. ]

[ b: climbing the trees. ]

[ No one seemed to stop him, so climbing the trees was easy. Jonathan got a great view of everything, even if he kept sneezing petals from his face. Swinging his legs, he watched the people go by. Hamilton was tiny, so seeing everyone gathered together was an unusual event for him. It would be even more fun if he had water balloons.

Unfortunately, he swung his legs too hard and the branch snapped. Jon yelped as he toppled to the ground. ]

[ c: wildcard. ] catch him at his housing or elsewhere!

(b)

[signifies]

[ Clark, about to hike to the abandoned city for the weekend, hears a child fall and heads towards him. He calls through the trees. ]

Are you all right?

[supersweet]

[ Jon stands up quickly, brushing the dirt off his jeans. He didn't use any powers, but any kid falling off a tree would bear scrutiny. Don't break your promise, his dad's voice echoes in his mind as he cringes. ]

I'm okay! Really, it wasn't a big fall.

[signifies]

[ He comes out of the tree and approaches, checking the boy over for injuries quickly with his X-ray vision.

He looks very familiar. Almost the spitting image of Clark at that age, in fact. There're a lot of boys who have this combination of hair and eye colour. Clark dismisses it as a coincidence. ]

Are you sure?

[supersweet]

[ Jon stares a little as well before he flashes Clark a sheepish grin, the respectful polite one he maintains with adults. ]

This is my second time. And this time I'm fully conscious, so it's all good!

[ Jon no. ]

[signifies]

[ Er.

Okay then.

Jon has no broken bones or bruises, which Clark is learning isn't unusual for this place. He nods. ]

What's your name?

[ If the boy's going to be spending some time in this part of the forest, Clark feels he should at least listen for him to make sure he's all right. ]

B

[advanced]

[Bucky's mostly keeping himself to himself as he prowls around the outskirts of the festival, but even he can't ignore a small child falling from a tree.

He moves faster than he should be able to as a normal human without enhancements, and throws himself forwards to try and catch the kid before he hits the ground.]

[supersweet]

[ Arms flailing, he accidentally hits Bucky in the face (and it might actually hurt, sorry Bucky). Usually he's caught up in the sky in mid-air, not so close to the ground and his fingers accidentally tighten on Bucky's arms.

His expression is half guilty and sheepish. ]

Whoops?

[advanced]

[Ow.

He's not expecting to get hit so hard in the cheek that he suspects it will bruise, but he puts it down to a lucky shot. Jon might notice that one of the arms holding him, underneath the thick fabric of a hoodie and gloves, seems much more rigid than the other.

Bucky doesn't hold onto him long, immediately trying to set him on his feet.]

You hurt?

[supersweet]

[ Wow, he didn't even flinch, Jon thought, briefly stunned. Even an accidental hit by Jon could send a person flying. Still staring, he finally remembers his manners and straightens his posture. ]

No. I'm all right. Thank you sir.

[ A beat, before adding with wide-eyed curiosity. ]

You're really fast.

[advanced]

[He's still a bit surprised at his own actions, he hadn't even thought before running in. It's nice to know that buried underneath all the violence, some of his better instincts have survived.

He shrugs slightly, brushing off the mention of his speed.]

You have folks here?

c!!

[spellslots]

[Taako tends to drift in and out of the communal housing; it's not that he has anything against it, he just likes to keep busy, and there's nothing really tying him to the room he's in. He's started looking at alternative options, but for now he still sleeps there most nights and has a stash of stuff on and under his bed.

Right now, he's coming back from another fruitless trip to the library, and the last thing he expects to see when he nudges open the door is a ten year old.]

Uh... hi, pumpkin, you lost?

[Please say yes, he doesn't want to feel even remotely responsible for the well being of a child.]

[supersweet]

[ Jon had been sorting out the clothes his case worker had given him before he takes notice of Taako . . . and his ears. Cool. ]

No. This is where I'm supposed t' be.

[spellslots]

Hoo boy.

[Nothing personal, Jon, but the idea of a ten year old being a) pulled here with no family and b) stuck in a room with an idiot wizard, two dumb teenagers, and... whoever the fuck the rest of his roommates are, he doesn't really know them.

But he's not a complete asshole, so he puts on a grin, making an effort to perk up.]

Well you're in luck, little man, 'cause you got stuck with the best cook in Fearun. [He can, at least, make sure this kid doesn't starve.] I'm Taako.

[supersweet]

[ That's legit. Jon eyes him warily before remembering his manners. ]

Nice to meet you, sir. I'm Jonathan Kent.

[ Then manners are gone as he leans in to ask. ]

Are you an elf?

[spellslots]

[Oh god don't call him sir that just makes him miss Angus.

But also: relation to Clark?? Maybe?? Taako isn't gonna be a snitch, but he's making a mental note.]

Just Taako, no need for all that fancy shit. And yeah, a hundred percent elf, from Fearun, not Middle Earth.

[Jon can thank his dad for showing Taako Lord of the Rings.]

a)

[fingerstripes]

[ National holidays mean overtime for police regardless of inter-dimensional origin, and Dick's late for work again, cutting across the festival grounds as he scans a report on his phone. He doesn't spot the kid with the ice cream until it's too late; he's already cut him off, ready to plow straight into him unless the kid takes some initiative first. ]

Whoa. Hey, you alright?

[supersweet]

[ Thankfully Jon's powers seem to work at this crucial juncture, so he manages to stop himself just in time. That neat side-step was always too good to be true and Jon restrains himself from congratulating too hard and upsetting the delicate balance. ]

Yes, sir. I'll be more careful.

[ As well as a ten year old boy on his own would be. He takes another lick of his ice-cream. ]

[fingerstripes]

No, that was my bad. [ And that was a neat save, alright. Dick readjusts his hat, a little chagrined that he hadn't been the one to see it coming. ]

Officer Grayson. You know where you're heading?

[supersweet]

My case worker said I'm allowed to go anywhere as long as I tell her.

[ And his dad is around so. Jon would pity any person who gets in Superman's way. ]

So I'm allowed to be here.

[fingerstripes]

[ The fact that the boy feels a need to specify that at all says something. A new arrival, then. Heart sufficiently tugged, Dick effects some disappointment, shaking his head. ]

Guess I'll have to put my badge away. Caseworkers make the rules.

Don't worry about it, kid. It's my job to check in, that's all.

a

[leaderboards]

[ carolina's not really a kid person. she's pretty sure she doesn't have a maternal bone in her body. but she sees those four scoops as a disaster waiting to happen as she gets her own cone, so once she's got a napkin wrapped around her own for safekeeping, she swipes an extra one and holds it out to the kid as he gets started on his small mountain's worth of frozen goodness. ]

Here. You look like you're going to need this.

[supersweet]

[ Jon blinks before taking it politely, giving her a big grin. ]

Thank you ma'am.

[ He continues to eat his ice-cream with enthusiasm. ]

Are you gonna get ice-cream too? You should get the strawberry.

[leaderboards]

I was thinking about it, yes.

[ she pauses, eyeing the enthusiastic way he's attacking his treat. ]

The strawberry's good, is it? I don't eat ice cream a whole lot and I never quite trust it to live up to expectations on foreign worlds.

[supersweet]

[ He nods. Her last remark piques his interest though. Jon is a child born from an alternate reality and he's visited plenty. But he knows he's unusual in that respect. ]

Have you been to a lot of worlds?