riverviewlogs | monthly mingle: FLOWER FESTIVAL

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: monthly mingle: flower festival
when: The month of April.
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

flower festival

In the days leading up to April 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: The Flower Festival. Celebrating springtime, beauty, joy, and togetherness, the festival heavily features floral themes and dancing. The advertising mentions that on April 9th, a paid holiday, there will be a Blossom Picnic, as well as lists of various public dances at clubs or other open venues, the River Spirit Procession, and Flower Exchange.

a celebration of spring

The Flower Festival's main event is the Blossom Picnic on April 9th, 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 9th. 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 and dances

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)!

As for the Flower Festival dances, they're pretty straightforward - 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.

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!

iii. flower exchange

During this year, there's been an influx of people from a dying reality consisting mostly of living plant people, and they've really taken the Flower Festival as a great opportunity to introduce one of their most honored traditions to the people of their new adopted world. The tradition involves sharing various types of flowers with strangers, with each type of flower having a different meaning and effect on both the giver and receiver - the bond of the exchange can spark emotion as well as physical responses that function in a unique way that affects almost everyone that participates, whether animal, plant, or even android.

Any characters exchanging the flowers with other characters, whether friends or strangers, will experience emotional/psychological effects, physical effects, or both once the exchange is complete. Effects can last for as short or long a time as the players involved want, and are as follows:

● Baby Blue Eyes - Trust/Healing the Inner Child
Emotional Effect: Either an inexplicable trust in the person the flower was exchanged with, or a generalized paranoia.
Physical Effect: De-aging. Characters can become a younger version of themselves, physically, mentally, or both. Whether or not their normal selves are of age, de-aged characters may not participate in adult prompts unless they're de-aged to something above 18.

● Chamomile - Peace & Harmony/Animal Support
Emotional Effect: A desire to make peace with one's enemies, or an inexplicable urge to push away loved ones.
Physical Effect: Both participants in the exchange will wake up the next morning with an animal companion that represents their soul/personality. Whether the companion can speak is up to player discretion.
NOTE: Animal companions from this event can be kept for a total of 300 Points. If you wish to keep them, just submit a request under your name on the Activity Bonus Rewards Page. For new players ONLY (players apping/reapping their first character in April) who wish to keep the animal companion but do not yet have points, feel free to submit and I will credit 300 points to be submitted once you have them.

● Rose - Friendship/Beauty
Emotional Effect: Openness and a desire to make new friends, or excessive competitiveness.
Physical Effect: A temporary glamor that makes both participants in the exchange appear as the most beautiful possible version of themselves, and improves their charisma.

● Crepe Myrtle: - Inspiration/Enduring Partnerships
Emotional Effect: New and creative ideas to solve life issues, or finding oneself averse to change.
Physical Effect: As soon as the exchange is complete, the two characters involved will be bound by an invisible tether that keeps them within three feet of each other. The tether won't affect anyone but the characters involved (no, you can't clothesline your enemies with it).

● Valerian: - Relaxation/Heart-Opening
Emotional Effect: A near-complete erasure of anxiety and stress, or a dramatic inexplicable increase in it.
Physical Effect: Forced honesty. Both affected characters become incapable of lying. Whether they're compelled to blurt the truth or if they can keep their mouths shut or talk around the truth is up to player discretion.

[Flower meanings used in this prompt come from this site.]

iv. river spirit procession

The River Spirit Procession is a yearly tradition in the Quarantine where a (usually small) contingent of people walk along the edges of the river carrying candles and dressed as river spirits, and offer sweets and blossoms or petals by tossing them into the river. The offerings are intended to appease the river spirits and guarantee safety from flooding, storms, and to ensure a good growing season. With the flooding that's still affecting the river, the turn out this year is much greater than usual, with a large number of residents entering the processions that happen throughout the month, usually on weekends.

During the processions, residents dress as river spirits, which is a relatively broad description and can be taken in a wide variety of ways and leaves a lot up to interpretation. They enter the procession at the place where the river enters the walls and follow the banks of it carrying candles, and often whispering or quietly speaking their gratitude for the river's plenty and their wishes for the year to come. Many residents also bring baskets of young blossoms or petals from flowers, and small sweets such as candy or tiny pastries and throw them into the river to appease the spirits. They carry along the river for as long as they wish to.

ACTION PROMPT: This year, with the flooding, the monsters, and the heavy turnout, the river spirit procession is a little more dangerous an undertaking than usual. After the first procession on April 1st resulted in several residents being swept away in the rising flood waters, and several others being attacked by a loose crocodile, the trouble becomes painfully evident. The Perimeter Guard will be sending out extra detachments and calling in reserve members to help keep the processions safe, and any extra hands to protect those who choose to participate will be more than welcome.

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 the mod-posted prompt to create a Communal Housing floor mingle. Or, if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during the Flower Festival, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: unknown, found on pinterest; image ii: Steven Kent Lomtong; iii: Ryan Talbot; iv: Toru Nishimura

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Noctis no. Aeacinos isn't exactly...going to brush people off. But he does give Noctis a tilt of his head as he eyes the flowers. He'll shrug as he decides on which one to take. ]

I do not care which, but I will take this one I suppose. [ He'll reach out with a clawed hand to take a few chamomile flowers. He really has no use for flowers but he'll entertain the other since he's a rather good fighter and Aeacinos has a newfound respect for the young man. He too was given some flowers to hand out but he...doesn't really know if Noctis would want any. Still he'll offer up his own. ]

A trade?

(You were singled out, Aeacinos, take the flower. The burden of friendship is helping him unload these.)

Yeah...I guess that seems fair.

(Without waiting to be offered any specific species, Noctis reaches for Baby Blue; it reminds him a lot of Eos.)

I wonder how long it'll last now that it's plucked.

[ Ugh he doesn't wanna?! But fine he will because he knows Noctis at least. ]

Who knows with place. Things are not always what they seem here, hm? I do wonder if there are any...strange happenings linked with these flowers. It seems that after everything it is hard not to be skeptical that they are just flowers.

(Take one for the team.)

They're only flowers, what can they do?

(Famous last words, but Noctis' experiences have been tame here, and he doesn't yet realize the full possibilities of what could be happening.)

If something happens, you can just toss it.

Knowing this place? Many things if we are being honest about it.

[ Still he doesn't feel the affects of it yet if there were any to be had at all. He'll twirl the flower in his claws as he eyes it for a moment or two before his attention returns back to Noctis. ]

I suppose. Have you any other plans for this, aside from handing out flowers?

Really? Aside from people disappearing, I haven't seen a lot.

(That's his own fault. Noctis hasn't accepted this place as he should, not yet.)

I didn't plan on really giving out the flowers. (How did that even happen?) But I'm going to check out the booths. You hungry?

I do not mind having something to eat, no. [ not that he needs to but no one needs to know that. He'll look around with his arms crossed and tail flicking curiously behind him. ]

Do you have an preference?

(Isn't that a question for Aeacinos? Does he enjoy the same kind of foods? The need for a different diet wasn't mentioned so he can only assume no special dishes are required. So, Noctis begins to think of his own preference. He enjoys meat and rice but hates vegetables. Sweet things are okay, but anything overly sweet isn't appealing.

It's a festival, a time to indulge.)

Let's check out the desserts. Since it's the season, maybe they have something with berries.

Desserts, hm? [ Aeacinos isn't particular with food given that he hardly has to eat at all and simply enjoys the luxury of it. So desserts are something he does like, sweet and savory ones. ]

What is your favorite dish from back home? [ It's idly chatter as they make their way through the hustle and bustle of the busy streets. ]

Usually meat with as few vegetables as pos...

(His words cut off as a small girl runs along their path and collides with Aeacinos tail. Before she can say anything, she looks a bit frightened, something akin to the look the man in the market had given Aeacinos, but twisted through a child's eyes. Before Noctis can ask if she's alright, a small grasp escapes her lips and she's running away.)

Hey! (She keeps running, which means she isn't too hurt, he supposes.) ...That was weird.

I can't say I mind that line of thought...

[ He's smirking...until all that happens. His expression remains rather unreadable until Noctis speaks again. ]

It is not so strange. [ His expression is somewhat annoyed as he growls a little at the people staring at him now. ]

I am used to such things happening here by now.

(It's not so strange because Noctis had the same reaction when they met, though he had a childhood trauma which encouraged the fear. Still, the idea bothers him for reasons he can't pinpoint. It takes him several seconds to realize other people are staring.

Walking forward, he lays a heavy hand on Aeacinos shoulder as if to say 'look, he's safe, he isn't eating me' and points toward a booth.)

Noodles. I used to live on them in high school. They go pretty good with everything.

monthly mingle: FLOWER FESTIVAL

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