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

throws a shadowbb at

[deathkid]

[ nico's not typically the type to participate in events like this. in truth, he'd rather stick to the shadows, maybe even skulk around a bit. but it seems that today, he can't really hide away when everything is bright and colorful. he certainly sticks out a bit in his all black clothing and the fearsome sword at his hip. plus, he's a bit hungry, and as he wanders, a figure catches his attention, making him do a bit of a double-take.

dark hair, green eyes... but no, it's not percy jackson. frowning to himself, nico tentatively approaches, peering down at the spread. it's not exactly mcdonalds, but it does look a bit appetizing.

there are petals in his hair, much like the stranger, and he makes an effort to shake them free, but it's not as effective as he'd like. and as he shakes his head, he notes something. the other man is definitely not human. there's an aura to him that nico faintly recognizes. it makes him squint a little as he stands over loki's sitting form. ]

You're a god, aren't you.

catches!!

[ikols]

I'm also a brunette, Sagittarius, and elite hi-score holder on Galaga. Hi.

[ Reading the magical resonance of the young man before him, Loki tips his head in consideration of the oddness and had to rake black bangs out of his eyes. The spring breeze rippling through the boughs above dapple the godling's face as he peers up, reclined on his blanket. ]

What's up with you?

[deathkid]

Galaga, really? Even in Vegas?

[ somewhat distantly, distractedly before he regains focus. his brows furrow as he reaches out with his senses again. the god's aura is decidedly weird. like it's mirrored or something. despite this, he holds out his hand in greeting. ]

Demigod. Which pantheon?

[ikols]

Vegas?

[ This is a moon, Mister Teenager, what are you talking about. ]

Norse flavour, God of Mischief. [ Taking the handshake, he tugs on it to get the boy to sit down; stop looming!! ] You're not my otherverse kid, are you? That could be awkward. I don't even own a goldfish.

[deathkid]

[ he's thinking about the arcade game. but he waves all that aside as he focuses more on the godling's nature. ]

You're Loki, then. And no, my father is Hades.

[ makes a slight face as he's tugged down, but goes along with it. once settled, he'll just snag some food and begin tucking in. his sword is also set to the side because sitting on it isn't very comfortable. ]

[ikols]

[ Every inch a teen as he tucks into the goodies, the Hades-kid gets an amused look from the godling who lets him. ]

I am, who are you with that awesome splinter at your side?

[deathkid]

[ with his mouth full. ]

Nico di Angelo. And you probably shouldn't touch it. It's Stygian Iron.

[ikols]

That means nothing to me, we don't have it in Asgardia. What does it do?

[ Picking a daisy to poke it with. ]

[deathkid]

[ the daisy promptly shrivels up and dies. nico manages a bit of a smirk. ]

It sucks out the soul of my enemies and sends them to Tartarus.

[ikols]

[ sHIT dropping that like it's hot, farewell daisy. ]

I just sent a flower to Hel. [ He is such a shitheel. ] Can't you bring the little fella back?

[deathkid]

I'm afraid not. I'm more versed in raising the dead. Bringing back flowers is more my step-mom's area of expertise.

[ but he will lean over and press his palm to the earth, calling forth the bones of a few mice. they knit together and begin dancing around. one even grabs a fallen flower petal and puts it on its skull. ]

[ikols]

Ah, yes. Maybe she'll take care of it.

[ An uneasy expression transforms into pure delight when the little mice skeletons pop out of the ground. Loki quickly gets on his belly, scooting closer to tickle their skulls. ]

Hah! Are you controlling them?

[deathkid]

[ nico's eyes are on loki as the mice continue to dance, one even pausing to nose against the godling's fingers. ]

Basically, yes. This kind of thing doesn't take much effort.

[ he snaps his fingers and one does a backflip. ]

[ikols]

That's a little sad. Can't you give them sentience and set them free?

[ Black-nailed fingers brush gently over the mice from nose to tail. ]

[deathkid]

[ and now he's frowning a little, even looking a bit morose and sad. he scratches at the dirt with his own black-polished fingers. ]

I cannot restore or create life. I don't have that ability. Not even my father can do that.

[ikols]

Sucks.

[ Cupping his hands around the mice he concentrates and whispers in Asgardian Norse, a spell that once went unspoken when Sylvie Lushton was created but now requires a little more effort as Loki warps reality to lace old bones with new life; blossoms fuse to spines, loaning each one the energy that lingers in the off-cut of the tree, and tiny empty eye-sockets glow green. As long as the wings stay attached, the little creatures can survive ... after a sort.

It's an un-life, not the best but better than collapsing back into the dirt. And now they get to flutter around, too. ]

... That's cuter than I thought it would be.

[deathkid]

[ nico doesn't bother hiding his gasp as he watches the godling all but breathes life into the shell of a creature he'd pulled from the earth. it's beautiful, in its own way, with the gentle flowers and glow. almost instinctively, he reaches out to hold up an finger (the one with his skullring on it) and watches as one flutters down to land. ]

That's amazing. Far better than my trick.

[ and he glances at loki, holding the godling's gaze for a few seconds. ]

[ikols]

They can be as real as they want, now.

[ The pleased warmth he gets from seeing the excited mice is compounded when he meets Nico's eyes, a twinkle of mischief in Loki's that matches the tease of life in the creatures. Are they alive or dead? A bit of both. ]

You ought to name your new friends. Any ideas?

[deathkid]

[ they certainly have the aura of something caught between life and death. it's astounding and almost makes nico feel giddy when his senses reach out to brush against his and loki's creations.

focusing on the one on his finger, he leans forward, a small smile threatening to form at the corner of his lips. ]

I'll name this one Bianca.

[ the way he says it implies the name means a lot to him and it's spoken with a hint of an italian accent. ]

[ikols]

Pretty. [ Interesting choice, seemingly not a random one as Loki observes the fond play of emotion in Nico. ] May I suggest one for her partner?

[deathkid]

[ looking back up at loki--it's easy to get caught in his eyes; green but so different from the sea-green he's familiar with. ]

I don't see why not.

[ikols]

[ A warm green to match the spring-time surroundings, less so the sharp gleam that lingers when in fouler moods. ]

Bjorn, small as a thimble but fearsome as a bear! Protector of Bianca.

[deathkid]

[ nico's ears tint a little red in response to the gaze and he drops his own to the flutter-mouse on his finger. his lower lip snags in his teeth as he watches it flutter off to land next to the other. ]

I like it. Bianca... needs to be protected.

[ikols]

[ A soft-hearted son of Death, how poetic. ]

She was beloved by you, the person you named this little one after?

[deathkid]

[ ducking his head so his eyes are hidden by shaggy, grecian curls, he nods. ]

Being a demigod is dangerous. There's no knowing when we can get killed or eaten by monsters. And, my sister...

[ he trails off and the air around him seems to go a bit cold. ]

I'd rather not talk about it, if it's okay. So is this kind of thing all they do around here? Flower festivals and stuff like that?