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

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ It was definitely a nice moment, but—

That's big. Huge. ]

What you just said.

[ The "I love you" part. ]

Did you mean to say that?

[ gamora you’re being weird

why are you...... being weird................. ]

... Yeah?

[ And he says it slowly, anxiously, like he’s expecting a trick. ]

I’m pretty sure at this point, I’m incapable of saying anything I don’t mean.

[ He's right, and Gamora knows that, but "I love you" still feels so daunting to her. But he's not giving her any expectant looks, and he doesn't seem like he's just waiting for her to return the sentiment (even if she thinks that putting words to what she feels might come dangerously close to "love").

But— ]

You said "I love you."

[ Like. He said that. With his mouth. ]

[ He takes a breath to speak.

And then he— doesn’t.

Because he’s in the middle of having a small, silent, internal crisis. ]

I—

[ And that small sound comes out strangled, hoarse, and he has a sudden urge to pitch himself off the balcony. The quality of his voice doesn’t improve when he tries again. ]

I didn’t— I meant to say— [ “I like you.” ] —I love you.

[ ... wait.

“I like you.” ]

I love you.

[ WAIT.

“That’s not what I wanted to say.” ]

I’ve been wanting to say it for months, but I couldn’t figure out how, and I didn’t want to freak you out, because I don’t know how soon is too soon, or how late is too late, but I think I’ve felt this way since we left Xandar and I’ve only gotten more and more sure about it since then—

[ It’s far too late for it now, but he clamps both hands over his mouth.

And even with half his face hidden, he looks horrified. ]

[ Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

That's so much all at once, but even after he covers his mouth in a desperate attempt to shut himself up, she can see how huge his eyes are, how mortified he is, and Gamora—

She didn't know he felt that way. She didn't know he'd felt that way for so long, and he'd been sitting on it since then. It took them months after Xandar to even reach the point of acknowledging so much as a thing between them, and months in the Quarantine before they even started truly doing something about that thing, and—

He's loved her that entire time?

She doesn't know what to say. She's far less inclined to be the one to say things anyway, given to the unspokenness of what they have, but—

She's not upset or alarmed or... "freaked out."

Quietly, she reaches for the hands he has over his mouth, giving a gentle tug to coax them away. ]

[ In a better moment, he’d notice the way Gamora looks more taken aback than anything – not petrified or repulsed or even oh, so carefully impassive, which probably would’ve been the worst.

But it’s not a better moment. It’s now. And heat floods his face and panic twists his gut and he does absolutely nothing to conceal the way his eyes dart around to determine the most expedient escape route.

(That balcony is still looking really inviting.)

Her hands take hold of his, and stubbornly, he keeps them firmly in place over his mouth. It’s childish, he knows. The damage has been done, and there’s no taking it back, now, but maybe – maybe – he can save what few shreds of pride he has left by keeping his traitorous mouth shut.

He shakes his head sharply and lets out a muffled noise of protest.

“Uh-uh.” ]

[ oh right he's five

She doesn't let go of his hands, but she smoothes her thumbs over his knuckles, slow and steady. ]

Peter.

[ Another gentle tug, though she's trying to catch his eyes, because she sees him readying himself to bolt. ]

Stop trying to escape and look at me.

[ It’s a good thing she doesn’t say that aloud, because he would surely respond with something mature, like, “I know you are, but what am I?”

For now, though, he takes a shuddering breath before forcing himself to meet her gaze. He still looks completely mortified, and the tense way he holds himself signals a strong possibility that he still might run for the hills the first chance he gets, but—

She has his attention, at least. For now.

But he’s keeping his hands exactly where they are, and he’s biting down on his lips as an added security measure. ]

[ She’s definitely convinced that if she lets go of him, he’s going to make a run for it. Admittedly, if he needs to do that, she’ll let him, but given what he’s said (and what she hasn’t), that probably isn’t for the best.

She meets his eyes, moving one hand from his fingers, up to his hair to push it away from his face. ]

Breathe.

[ She leans up, high enough to press her lips to the swell of his cheekbone, another at his temple. ]

[ He doesn’t relax – not entirely – but slowly, some of the tension ebbs away. He does as she tells him to, until finally his panicked breathing slowly evens out; still slightly ragged, but he’s not in danger of knocking himself out from hyperventilating, at least.

Those little, affectionate gestures seem to help, too, until he finally stops looking like he’s staring down the business end of a loaded cannon, like the walls were closing in. He ducks his head, and his shoulders drop with a long, loud exhale. A pronounced flush still darkens his face, though, and he still looks humiliated, but that’s probably better than looking like he might actually chuck himself out of a window. ]

[ ... At least he's breathing comparably steady. Baby steps. ]

Lower your hands. I won't ask any questions.

[ Another light tug at his wrist, while she keeps carding her fingers through his hair.

She remembers a similar look when Mantis had spouted off Peter's feelings, when Drax had laughed at him for it. Gamora hadn't found it amusing then, and there's nothing funny about it now. Back then, they hadn't been this close; they didn't have this kind of relationship, but here, now, she wants Peter to know that he hasn't left himself dangerously exposed.

... Gamora hasn't returned the sentiment, but she also isn't recoiling or acting like nothing happened. ]

[ He takes a rallying breath, then another, then a third, and at a near glacial pace, he lets Gamora pull his hands away from his mouth. Apparently it's one or the other, because once he lets his hands drop, his gaze darts off to some point to the side.

God, this is— the worst. The nightmare scenario.

(The only thing worse than this, he thinks, is if she asked him what really happened after she left Ego's palace, if she asked him to spell out in excruciating detail every word that passed between them.)

And, okay, maybe he has been trying to figure out a good way to tell her. Maybe he's been trying to come up with an appropriate plan of attack. Maybe he's been wondering if a romantic dinner and a walk through their favorite spot in the gardens would be the best way to do it. Maybe he's been wondering if it should come up spontaneously, when they laid together in the early hours of the morning, unwilling to start the day. Maybe he's been wondering if he should say it during one of their many movie nights, while she curled against his side or while he flopped out across the couch, with his head in her lap.

Whatever the case, he knows he didn't want to do it like this.

And considering that practically every time he's spoken in the past, like, fifteen minutes had him revealing way too many truths, Peter opts to bite down on his lower lip and let Gamora speak first. ]

[ His hands move, but she doesn't blame him for keeping his eyes trained on some distant point that isn't her. She knows that, if she was in his position, she'd be just as mortified; in fact, she probably would have walked right out of the apartment before Peter had a chance to even react. But he's still standing here, and that's something.

She laces their fingers gently when his hand finally drops, her other settling on his cheek. ]

I'm not upset.

[ If hearing that helps. ]

And it didn't... "freak me out."

[ She's choosing her words carefully now, just slightly more wary. ]

... But if I say something like that to you, I don't want it to seem that I've said it only because you did.

[ If (when) she says it, she wants him to know it's because she means every part of it. Those words are so massive and overwhelming and— part of her has feared that she doesn't even know what it means to feel like that now, but Peter deserves a relationship with someone who loves him.

(And she does, doesn't she?)

But right now, it's so much and so foreign and she doesn't know how to deal with it yet.

(She's trying, but she's still lost.) ]

[ "I'm not upset" isn't the strongest way to start this particular conversation, Peter thinks. "I'm not upset" sounds like the start to a lecture.

That's something a guy would hear after he's, like, broken a vase, or got caught stealing from someone's wallet, or was quietly returning the keys to someone's car after going out for a joy ride.

And worse than that, it sounds like she's about to let him down gently.

Which he's expected, of course. Like, he's been 95% sure he'd be the one to say it first, and probably too soon, and that she'd just freeze up on him and be like, "Uhhh," and just slowly ice him out because it's too much, too soon, and—

—And then she says if, not when. "If" she says it.

His teeth dig into his lower lip so he doesn't give away how much of a death knell that sounds like.

But that's always been a possibility at the back of his head, too – that she might not feel the same way, or that she might never say it aloud. And that's— complicated. That's a whole different conversation that Peter isn't prepared to have just yet.

So instead, he just— nods to signal, "I get it." He doesn't trust himself to actually say anything else. ]

[ She's terrible at this. Really terrible, and she has no experience dealing with this situation or these feelings, and—

She's probably doing it wrong.

(Or more accurately, definitely doing it wrong.)

She sees him biting his lip, sees the look on his face, and she doesn't entirely know how to interpret it or where she's misstepped. ]

What, Peter?

[ Her tone is still gentle, if prying, even if she did say she wouldn't ask questions; she just has no idea what to do with this, especially if he doesn't say anything. Gamora may be given to unspoken communication, considering she's usually much more likely to keep her tells quiet, but Peter wears so much on his face.

And now, this is unsteady ground, and she's uncertain how to proceed. ]

[ A brief look flashes across his face in that millisecond after she asks that question.

It's a look that screams, "You big, fat liar." ]

I keep thinking about how much this has fucked things up and how this is definitely gonna scare you away, now, and it's gonna be this stupid thing we both can't help thinking about and it's gonna be hanging over our heads like this weird shadow.

And you said you wouldn't ask questions.

[ And that last bit comes out a little accusingly, as he tries to pull back, lifting his free hand to cover his mouth again. ]

[ She moves her hand from his face to catch his before he can make it to his mouth – though without too much force. ]

If you're that concerned, I want to discuss this.

[ Because if he thinks this ruined their relationship, that worries her, and letting him walk around convinced of it won't help either of them. ]

[ His jaw clenches, and he glares at her for a second or two.

But he relents soon enough, screwing his eyes shut and sighing loudly. When he looks at her again, it's a little resigned, a little wary. ]

I'm warning you now, if you ask me something totally unfair, I'm leaving.

[ That earns him a flat look, but she nods, easing her grip on his hands and finally releasing them. ]

That's fine.

[ But first...

She gestures to his pocket. ]

Give your Zune to Groot so he can listen to something.

[ The little sapling is still standing on the counter, looking between the both of them and wringing his hands nervously. Gamora feels a twinge of guilt for it, and she goes to gently pick him up, letting him wrap himself around her palm. ]

Why don't you sit in our room for a little while?

[ Peter's gaze snaps over to Groot once Gamora mentions him, and his shoulders hunch up a little, almost guiltily. His lips part to say, "Sorry we're fighting," but—

Is this a fight? It feels like it might be a fight, or at least it might be leading up to one. And how many times are they going to argue in front of this little guy, anyway?

It's not the first time they've had arguments in front of the kid – it's not the first time any of the Guardians have argued in front of Groot – but Peter wasn't feeling the weight of responsibility in those days. Dutifully, he takes the Zune out of his pocket, the cord of its headphones wrapped around the device. The music player is only a little smaller than Groot is, but the kid's carted around heavier.

Peter holds it out, and Groot hesitantly takes it from him. ]

We'll come get you for dinner.

[ Once Groot has the Zune in hand, Gamora carries him into the bedroom, leaving him in the little nest of blankets that serves as his bed on the otherwise unused mattress that used to be Gamora's. He snuggles down into the covers, blinking big eyes up at her. She offers him a reassuring smile, rubbing her thumb over his tiny cheek before she turns to leave him in the room.

Door closed, she looks back to Peter. ]

Do you want to sit?

[ Peter only follows Gamora as far as the living room, and once she steps into the bedroom, he just sort of... hovers. Fidgets. Wonders when the hell this stupid flower crap is going to wear the hell off.

The door clicks shut as Gamora enters the space again, and for a second, he has the look of a man standing in front of a firing squad before he schools his expression into something more neutral. ]

Yeah. Fine.

[ Peter hesitates a second, but he takes a seat on the couch nevertheless. (The blanket from the Hygge festival still has a place of honor on the couch, folded up and resting atop the arm.)

Another hesitation, and he finally blurts out, ]

... I don't want this to have made things weird.

[ She waits until Peter starts to move to the couch, and she joins him, her leg folded under her as she turns to watch him closely.

At least she doesn't have to wait long before he speaks. ]

Neither do I.

[ And that's perfectly honest. ]

I don't think that it has.

[ She doesn't feel weird about it; the same might not be able to be said about Peter. ]

It doesn't change how I feel about you, and it doesn't make me... uncomfortable.

[ He looks slightly skeptical with that bit of information, wondering if she's just saying that to make him feel better.

But Gamora doesn't really lie. She might pull her punches if she knows something's really going to hurt, but she doesn't avoid it entirely just to spare his feelings.

Still, habit has him asking, ]

Are you sure?

[ She reaches across the space between them to take his hand, link their fingers. ]

Yes, Peter.

[ She doesn't avoid his gaze or hesitate as she speaks. It's earnest, if firm, because she wants him to know that she means it. ]

I don't think differently of you because of anything you said tonight.

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