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

adult rave

[causational]

The rave is a big place, but Eddie's run into the girl a few times on the dance floor and around the place. She's pretty, looks slightly out of place, and like she's barely old enough to be in this place, so she sticks in his memory - an instinctive thing, picked up from years of being a cop. So when he sees her again as he's getting a bottled water from the bar, stumbling into one of the little dark hidey-holes tucked around, he immediately turns back to the bartender, holding up two fingers to indicate he wants another.

Taking the bottles, he heads over to where she's sitting, dressed in a pair of tight, torn-up jeans and a floral-print tank top, a couple of glowsticks wound around one wrist like bracelets. Leaning down to try to catch her eyes, he offers her a gentle smile, and holds out one of the water bottles, still sealed so she'll feel safe drinking it.

"Mind if I join you?"

[burntbridges]

She's spooked by the noise, but just enough to look up with a startled expression before taking the bottle offered and hanging her head in quiet defeat. This was such a poor choice, and she feels just a little bit worse now that someone's here to bear witness.

"Can't see why not."

She quickly tries to dry her eyes, still dizzy and sluggish as her body tries to cope with the rollercoaster of substances she's introduced to it tonight. Taako did his best to alert the bartenders not to serve her, but she managed to sneak a drink or two and neither of them were expecting the sugar and caffeine from soda to affect her as much as they did. Add that to the purple and blue handprints on her arms, from accidentally bumping into taggers, and the fact that she's already been dizzy from what she can only assume is her unborn baby throwing a tantrum in her belly... she's a mess. And there's absolutely no hiding it.

"...You're not going to ask me to participate, are you?"

[causational]

The moment he gets close enough to see her in the faint light from the glowsticks on his wrist, he can tell that she's been crying, her eyes wet and a little red. When she takes the bottle from him and says he can sit, he does so, sliding into the little space with her, close by but not crowding her.

Eddie himself is mostly sober - he has a few bright splashes of colour on his skin from playing tag, but it's long since inactive, just colour and no drug, and it's mostly worn off him now. This is how he manages nights like this, going hard for a bit and then letting himself cool down for a while, sober up before deciding if he wants to jump back in.

"You don't really look like you're in the mood to participate. You okay?"

Turning toward her a little, he lifts his own water bottle and presses it against his forehead, cooling his face down.

[burntbridges]

She hesitates, before uncapping the bottle and drinking it in tiny sips. Her stomach's been in a knot for a while, and the last thing she wants to do is complete the horror by losing her lunch.

"I've never been to an... event like this." She's speaking just loud enough to be heard over the music, muffled as it is by the private nature of the nook they're in. "I... have to admit I bit off more than I could chew."

And she hates to admit mistakes like this, but it's pretty obvious. There's no way that a pregnant teenager in a white floral circle dress fits into the mood here. And hell, she's still mortified that she's caught sight of people's privates while trying to find a private space that was actually unoccupied.

Having someone to talk to is very helpful, though. It almost makes the club seem survivable. "How does one get used to all this... noise? And the lights?"

[causational]

It is pretty obvious to Eddie that the girl has bitten off more than she can chew, but he's not so cruel as to call more attention to it, especially when she already looks more than a little embarrassed about the whole thing.

"Hey, it happens to everyone." he says, after a moment, his voice kind and encouraging, and he leans down to catch her eyes again, smiling at her warmly, "Believe me. One time when I was 19 years old, I got into a club with a fake ID. I had one drink before the bouncer realized the ID was fake and came after me. They caught me trying to climb out a window I didn't fit through in the club bathroom. Super embarrassing, especially because I was training to be a cop at the time."

Eddie smiles through the whole story, and shrugs, opens his bottle of water with a crack of the seal, and takes a long drink from it, glancing out at the dance floor and watching the lights dance against the powder floating in the air.

"Do you come from somewhere that doesn't have lights and music like this?"

[burntbridges]

She shakes her head lightly, "My world has yet to discover lightbulbs. We had chandeliers full of candles, oil lanterns and such. Our dances consisted of patterned walks, and we had violins and fortepianos for music, and..." Her voice drops a bit more, "I've never seen a man naked aside from my husband."

It feels so embarrassing to admit it, only partly because of the lingering knowledge of how many ranks she'd lose if anyone back home knew she had any more experience than was absolutely, strictly necessary. And that included sight.

"I died back home. This... feels a bit like that. Embarrassing, and sickening, and..." She hugs her knees a bit closer. "...Every day I lost a little bit more of myself, and I stopped understanding my surroundings. Everything became confusing, and strange, and I forgot my husband's face, and even what humans were meant to look like... And it all came back when I was out there. I suppose I just got. Caught up in the fear."

She's such a mistake. She couldn't even die properly. That's what she's been thinking since the moment she realized this night wasn't going well.

[causational]

"Oh, wow."

For a moment, he's speechless, trying to imagine what it would be like coming from a world that sounds like it comes from a period drama to a place like this.

"It's no wonder you're overwhelmed, then, if you're coming from somewhere like that to a place like this. I mean, this can get a little overwhelming for me too, and I'm used to neon lights and electricity."

The part about dying catches him off-guard, though, and his smile falters, for a moment he really wants to put his arm around her and give her a hug. Instead, he lifts his hand, hovers behind her for a moment, and asks, "May I?" quietly. If she agrees, his hand settles gently between her shoulderblades, and rubs in a circle there - if not, he just drops his hand.

After a moment, he speaks, quietly, "I died too, at home. Right before I got here. I don't remember the whole...being dead part. Just waking up here. But I know...how stressful and awful it is to die, and if this reminds you of that, I don't think you have any reason to be embarrassed about how you feel right now."

[burntbridges]

She hesitates before responding to the offer, but after a moment she nods quietly and moves a bit closer so she can lean against him. It's nice... even if it feels a little bit like being consoled by her father or her brothers, and that makes her feel like a little kid. She still is one, at heart. A weird little rich kid who's just trying to be involved.

"You're the one I spoke to on the network, aren't you." She speaks after a pause. "The one who wanted to know about dying. I never caught your name."

She relaxes a bit, after putting that together. At least he's not a complete stranger, even if she still has no idea who he is objectively speaking.

"...I don't know how to explain this in a way that makes sense, but my death was more than just a death. My soul..." she wrinkles her nose in concentration, "...wasn't inside my body when my body died. My body burned to ashes but my soul stayed alive... and the afterlife isn't meant to harbor the living for too long. In my world at least the dead remain in the afterlife for as long as there is someone to remember them, but the souls of the living cannot survive there. I started to... rot. By the time I made it here, there was almost nothing left of me. I don't know what I looked like to others, but all I ever saw were bright lights and shapes I couldn't understand. When someone spoke I only heard garbled noise. It really was... exactly like this."

She hasn't admitted this to anyone, not even her closest friends here. It's too embarrassing. But she had to speak about it eventually, or she felt she might burst. Having let it out... she feels a bit like crying some more. Yeah, she's going to cry.

[causational]

It's a bit of a relief when she does nod and move closer, lean against him a bit, lets him keep rubbing her back in a soothing, mindless circle. Eddie has always felt his best, his most useful, his most worthwhile when he is taking care of someone else, it pulls him out of his own head, makes him focus on something outside himself. Gives him something to distract him from his own problems, while also giving him something to feel worthwhile about.

When she mentions the network, he furrows his brows, remembering the conversations he'd had on there, and then puts together her explanation about death and the conversation they'd had.

"Oh! Necro...necromantica, right?" he says, raising a brow, "You had that skeleton, too, didn't you? I...I'm going to admit I took one look at that video and immediately closed it. I've seen a lot of stuff in my line of work, but a talking skeleton still creeped me out."

It's a little wry, he says it as if the failing is on his part, not hers, mostly because he figures he should be used to weird, gross things after being a homicide detective and working with The Flash for as long as he has.

"I'm Eddie Thawne. I didn't get your...name...either..."

By the time he's halfway through the sentence, she's crying again, and he shifts, turns toward her, gently pulls strands of her hair away from her wet cheeks, and makes soft noises of comfort as he keeps rubbing her back. Doesn't interrupt, just lets her get it out, staying present and steady and waiting for when she can speak again.

"You're not dead right now. I promise. You're here, and you're alive, you're warm and solid and you're even safe. You're not alone."

[burntbridges]

She can't even describe how comforting this is. Having someone there to hug her and tell her everything's alright... that was the sign of ultimate compassion in Thornwell, She's only just starting to get used to the fact that many people take it for granted in Riverview.

She nods along to his mumbling - she's not surprised he avoided the skeleton video, it wasn't her brightest moment - and tries her best to get her crying under control, opening her water bottle again to drink from it until she feels like she can speak. When she does, though, her voice is still watery and wavering.

"Letha... Letha Regis." She wipes at her eyes again.. it's lucky she hasn't discovered eye makeup yet, or she'd really look like a mess. "I'm sorry. I'm a mess. I shouldn't... weigh you down with things you can't fix. I shouldn't even be here with a child on the way, so.. there's no reason to give me so much sympathy."

[causational]

It's something Eddie excels at - he's awkward, sometimes, has a hard time making friends and connecting with people in casual settings, but when something like this happens, it's easy to step outside of himself and focus on the other person. And for all her protests, this girl seems like the kind of person who probably needs some support, some comfort. She's so young, alone, pregnant, and dealing with the fallout of having died while also dealing with a strange and unfamiliar world.

"Well, I'm glad I got to meet you, Letha. And don't worry about it, seriously. Everyone is a mess sometimes, and you're in a completely foreign world with a lot of stuff you probably don't fully understand. I'm a police officer, so believe me when I say I've seen people who've done things way worse than this. Way worse."

Leaning down, he looks at her sort of sideways, still rubbing her back, and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, "Do you want me to walk you home, when you're ready to walk?"

[burntbridges]

"I... thank you. Really. But I'll be fine once I spend some time away from here." Her face is red, because wow, what miracle did she trigger to get someone so understanding to find her in her moment of absolute need?

She finishes drinking her water, and makes an attempt to stand. She stumbles, and she's still feeling dizzy, but she manages well enough and he'll be hard-pressed to get her to sit back down once she's committed to standing.

"I can walk." She nods quietly, glancing around with pretty obvious unease, "But I'm not.. sure how well I'll handle going back through there."

[causational]

As Letha starts to stand up, Eddie does too, reaches out to gently place a hand at the small of her back to help support her weight when it looks like she's shaky on her feet. When she stumbles, Eddie steps in closer beside her, looping an arm around her waist and smiling down at her, warm and encouraging.

"Well, you won't have to go through it alone. I'll be with you the whole time, and we can get a cab home together. A car, you know? Do you live in the communal housing?"

Tilting his head, he keeps the slight smile on his face, holds eye contact to help distract her from the flurry of noise and light.

[burntbridges]

She's seen cars around, but has never been in them... still, they can't be too different from carriages so she just nods quietly along to what he's saying.

"Floor 1." She mumbles, trying her best to concentrate on him rather than the buzz of noise and lights and terror.

It helps to have a human face to focus on. And before she knows it they've moved past the door and they're outside in the fresh air, with the rave's music muffled inside. She takes a moment to catch her breath, and pulls a fan from her bag to fan herself feverishly. "Thank you... I feel like I was stuck in there a lifetime."

[causational]

As they move through the press of the crowd, all strange faces and loud music and bright lights, he leans in close to her, his hand lifting behind her back without touching her, to make sure no one else can. He can feel his forearm deflecting other people, and he keeps his eyes on her face, a slight smile on his own.

Once they're out and she pulls a fan out, he drops his arm and offers her an easy smile. Pulling out his phone while she catches her breath, he calls for a taxi and is hanging up by the time she's speaking again.

"It's okay, seriously. Like I said, I'm a cop, so I can't just ignore someone in trouble. Not in my nature. Besides, I need to get back to Community Housing too. I live on the second floor, with a roommate."

[burntbridges]

"You have a roommate?" She laughs softly, more of a huff than proper laughter, "I have eight. Though I don't have much of a problem with it, I like the company."

It's nicer than having an entire house to herself that's meant to house seven people. Even if she doesn't know her roommates well, it's nice to see them around.

Once she feels able to concentrate again, she slowly returns the fan to her bag and straightens her hair a bit, "I'll be honest, I'd never met a police officer before I came to this world. In Thornwell... we were all expected to take care of ourselves, unless something demanded the attention of the Elders. Should I... treat you in any particular way?"

[causational]

"Yeah, just one. It's a little strange how some of the floors have rooms with two beds, and other ones are just one big room with so many beds. I've only been to the Communal floors a couple of times, to visit a friend. My roommate is nice, though."

Nice might not be the word he'd normally use to describe Yuri, but he definitely doesn't want to give the impression he dislikes his roommate, not when he's only really talking about it to make smalltalk, to keep her distracted and give her something else to think about while they wait for the car.

When she asks if she should treat him in a certain way, his brows raise, and then he laughs, shaking his head, "No, not at all. I'm just here to make sure no one hurts anyone else, does anything dangerous, damages property, that kind of thing. It's kind of a position of authority, but it's not really like you have to show any special kind of respect, you know? Besides, I'm off-duty. Right now, I'm just Eddie Thawne. I only really mentioned it so you knew that I'm pretty used to offering help to strangers."

A pause, and a little smile as the car pulls up. Stepping forward, he opens the door and gestures for her to get inside.

"And we're not strangers anymore, I hope."