riverviewlogs | monthly mingle: FLOWER FESTIVAL

Entry tags:

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

navigation

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( A. Picnic )

[ Stan is uncertain about the picnic idea first. It's a social event, a family event even it feels to him and he hadn't wanted to try and invite himself to anyone else's. So, he does come and he purchases a prepacked lunch once he's there. You might find him eating under a tree by himself. He's acquired a pudgy pidgey in the last month and has it out and it will certainly be begging for food from Stan and anyone that comes to close but Stan will do his best from deterring the pudgy bird from getting any more food. It's on a diet.

He spends just as much time wandering around and he'll stop and say hi to any of his friends and acquaintances that he sees. His bike is nearby and throughout the day you might see him riding around on it as well. He's open to conversation and he's been trying more than his fair share of pastries. ]

( B. Flower Exchange )

[ Where the flower exchange is, Stan finds himself a bit too shy to go up and ask to share with anyone. He's also not completely sure that he believes in their effects. So, he'll settle for studying others that might take advantage of the opportunity with a clear interest in the goings on and if there are any real and tangible results. ]

( C. Wildcard )

[ I'll match tenses and styles! Feel free to hit me with your best shot or hit me up via PM or on plurk at

poetanarchy if you want to plot something or want a specific starter. ]

[inviting yourself along on someone else's picnic isn't so hard. here, let minsu show you how it's done.

he'd spotted the boy eating alone under a tree, and though minsu had just finished his own lunch (probably his second, truth be told), he leaves just long enough to buy another one before coming over to join him. minsu sits down beside him, unpacking his food before pausing to glance at the bird.]

Ah... [minsu glances down at his lunchbox, which includes chicken.] Sorry.

[ Stan looks up at Minsu when the other sits down near him and he smiles a bit in greeting. ]

What are you sorry for? [ He questions and then looks at the other's lunch and then Pidgey. ]

He'd probably try to eat it himself. [ Said somewhat judgmentally of his own bird. ]

I thought I might be offending him.

[it's the sort of thing that minsu's tried very hard to learn and understand - boundaries, manners, consideration. the fox can be a little self-centered, but minsu tries not to be. so when he's told that, he takes a bite out to offer the bird.]

Here. There's enough, and there's plenty more. This place is great when it comes to food.

Edited 2018-04-14 17:43 (UTC)

[ Stan manages not to tell the other not to feed the bird, even though he really should but he was worried about being a 'stick in the mud' with someone that doesn't know him well enough and therefore wouldn't want to talk to him again if he were too serious and responsible about things. ]

I've never seen him fly, you know? I think he might not be able to.

[ And then he takes a few bites of his own food, studying the Pidgey that he hasn't given an alternative name as of yet. ]

[minsu likes to feed everyone and everything. he's sort of like a grandmother that way. just wait until he learns how to bake cookies.]

Then he's extra lucky to have you. He's pretty vulnerable if he can't fly. [he shoves an alarmingly large bite into his mouth before asking:] Where did you find him?

A friend took me out in the wild to catch him. [ Stan says, studying his little bird thoughtfully for a few moments.

Maybe he's a bit lucky to have it too. ]

[ Normally, Ben's about 15 years older and over half a foot taller than he is right now. Luckily, he has no recollection of ever having been (a murderer, a Dark Side warrior, a champion of the First Order) an adult, which means that for all intents and purposes, he's just a carefree teenager messing around in the park.

The chubby bird catches his attention, though. Well, more like demands his attention as he passes by, chirping imploringly. Ben stops and looks down at it. ]

I don't have anything.

[ SORRY, BIRD. But now Ben's attention shifts to the boy sitting under a nearby tree, eating by himself. Keeping apart from the crowd. That's familiar. He doesn't know if the kid's alone because he wants to be, or because he doesn't have any alternatives, but either way... No harm in approaching, right?

So that's what Ben does, plopping down on the grass beside the other boy. ]

What've you got? [ Don't mind him, he's just going to peer down at your lunch. ] They give you any of that weird... pink fluff, with the green stuff in it? [ The ambrosia salad, he means. ]

Edited 2018-04-05 03:16 (UTC)

[ Stan is relieved when he hears the other boy telling his Pidgey that he doesn't have anything. Even for Stan, it gets a bit tiring policing his gluttonous Pokemon's intake. Some people, really don't help it at all.

He doesn't mind when Ben settles down beside him and rather welcomes the company even if he wouldn't ever admit that out loud or anything. ]

Just normal stuff. [ He'd managed to get a lunch that is mostly kosher, he thinks. Sometimes the food here doesn't really fall into line with what's from home after all. His dad probably wouldn't have been too disappointed, though. ] That pink stuff doesn't seem normal... but there's some here...

[ He scrunches his nose which shows how much intention he has of actually trying it. ]

[Ivar comes limping up in his leg braces, eating his second flower ice cream cone of the day. What can he say? He's an adult and clearly making good choices. He notices the pudgy Pidgey that he'd helped Stan capture. Honestly, he'd been all for getting the kid something a little cooler, but if he wanted a bird Pokemon that looked like it wore too much eyeliner, so be it.

The bird comes hopping up to Ivar, trilling, and looks as winsome as possible. Ivar looks over at Stan and then back down at the bird. Before Stan can protest, he's broken off a small piece of his cone, and put it on the ground for the bird to peck at.]

I see you and the bird are getting along fine. Have you thought about a name for it?

[ The Pidgeys had been the closest to normal that Stan had seen and Ivar had been a bit insistent. It also helped that Stan's favorite animal was birds and in any case, he thought it was nice enough. It was just a bit of a pig for a bird and that worried Stan a bit. He doesn't really know if these things can have health problems but a diet shouldn't hurt it at least.

He frowns at ivar when the other feeds the bird, crossing his arms as he looks at him like he wants to scold him for doing that. ]

You're ruining its diet. [ He settles on, not quite the scolding he wanted to do, though! ]

No... nothing seems right. [ He's never really had a pet of his own to name or anything like that before. ]

Just make him walk an extra lap to burn it off.

[He doesn't know if the fat bird can even make its way off the ground, so it might have to settle for waddling around to work off some of that pudge. The bird happily scarfs the bit of cone given to it before hopping back over to Stan.]

I named my horses Hrimfaxi and Skinfaxi because those are the great steeds that pull the chariots that bring day and night. Maybe you could name him after something similar?

Maybe... [ Stan says in reaction to the other explaining where he had picked his names from. He doesn't really think he knows of any such stories that would bring good ideas for the name of a fat bird. ]

I don't know there's really man story about great birds.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

monthly mingle: FLOWER FESTIVAL

Stan Uris

( A. Picnic )

( B. Flower Exchange )

( C. Wildcard )

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a. picnic

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