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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[ he knows her so well. jessica catches a glimpse of the flowers before glancing back up to him, her expression perplexed. ]

Why?

[ He raises a brow at her, ]

Pretty sure you're the one that carried me home when I was wasted off my ass.

[ Guess who has a photographic memory, Jess? This asshole. ]

[ fuck her life. ]

You're full of shit, Strange.

[ to emphasize her point, jess reaches out, grabbing the valerian before crushing it within her fist. the broken pieces crumble, falling out of her grasp to decorate the ground. ]

And so am I.

[ wait — what the hell did she just say? ]

[ He sighs sharply through his nose at what she does to the flower, frowning, having expected that kind of reaction even if he had been hoping for maybe something different.

Until she says that last part. He blinks at her, surprised. But he can't stop himself from responding with: ]

I know. That's why I keep trying.

[ she looks mortified, huffing a sharp breath after a pointed pause. what's going on — her gaze drifts down to the crushed flowers, as the realization abruptly hits her. ]

Goddammit.

[ this crazy place is at it again. she needs to get out of here, before she confesses something that's even more incriminating. standing up, jess doesn't look back as she attempts to leave. ]

[ His gaze follows hers and it clicks in his head at the same time. He looks around at the flowers and blossoms around them - really looks at them - and can feel his stomach flop. Are all of them doing this or is it just this one? Do other flowers do different things?

But his racing mind hits the brakes when he sees Jessica getting up and walking away. Again.

He's going after her. Again. ]

Why do you always do this?! In person, on the phone. You always walk away! Are you just that repulsed by me or is it just because you're afraid?

[ No damn filter and maybe, for once, it's a good thing. Because he wants to fucking know. ]

[ she wants to shut him down with a scathing, sardonic remark. she wants to escape and drink her irritation away. however, neither one is an option anymore. once stephen stops her, jess halts reluctantly, and before she can reconsider, the words pour out of her mouth. ]

Jesus! Wanna know the truth, dumbass? I'm terrified.

[ Well.

Shit.

But considering the state they are in - compulsive truth-telling is a state now? - and his desire to always know more, he can't leave it at that. Quieter, ]

Why?

[ she can't stop talking, and the hesitant acceptance of her situation settles in. her brow furrows, and jess steps back, trying to regain some semblance of composure. her vision drifts to the floor. ]

This scares me. You scare me.

[ she's tempted to flee, yet again, but she knows that stephen will follow. he always does. ]

I don't know how to feel around you.

[ He lets that sink in for a long moment, finally feeling some sense of satisfaction at at least getting an answer that isn't just her blowing him off.

And yet-- ]

...do you feel anything for me?

[ she presses her lips together, in a futile attempt to keep quiet. jessica tries to combat the compulsion, to take her time to form a response. it doesn't work. the truth still slips out. ]

Yeah.

[ her shoulders slump down, finally confronting the depth of her emotions. not only to stephen, but also to herself. ]

[ He moves in closer, eventually risking raising a hand to her cheek, ]

You drive me crazy, you know. You act like some... untouchable asshole and I know your not.

[ A pause, ]

You're an asshole, yeah, but there's more there, okay. Because I tried to do the same thing and all it did was make sure I would be alone. You deserve better than that, Jessica.

[ jessica's heart tightens, a painful ache resonating within her chest, as soon as he touches her. she swallows hard, shaking her head. ]

You don't know what I deserve.

[ he doesn't understand. she's a goddamn wrecking ball — an unstoppable force destroying everything in her path, no matter how much she wishes otherwise. the cruel truth is that her very existence has caused unimaginable suffering. her family died because of a petty argument she started with her brother. kilgrave targeted hope and countless others to devastate her. how can she not feel responsible?

even here, her havoc spreads like a pestilence. matthew murdock sacrificed himself to save new york, and as insufferable as he was at times, he's gone now. she'll never see him again, even if they return home. yet another person she's failed in some way. ]

Everybody I care about dies. Or leaves. I'm an infection.

I know you deserve better than what you give yourself.

[ Said easily and without hesitation. He knows from experience that anyone wrapping themselves up in so much self-loathing and anger is trying to hide in it.

His thumb rubs along her cheekbone, ]

And I'm still here. I've been here.

[ he's right, of course. regardless of how often jess has tried to isolate herself, stephen strange is so damn stubborn. his touch brings her both anxiety and comfort, all at once. she stiffens, though doesn't pull away. ]

You should go. [ she doesn't want to destroy his life too. in spite of his reassurance, she knows how this will ultimately end. ] You have Christine.

[ she remembers that glimpse inside his mind, as well as the watch she found back at his apartment — how much he cares for the other woman is no secret. stephen would be much better off with someone like her, someone who isn't as callous and complicated as jessica is. ]

[ He flinches back at that, not expecting that name to come up at all. But she had seen that memory... He doesn't know she saw the watch, however.

His hand drops but he doesn't move away. ]

I don't have Christine. I never will. And even when I did, I was too busy being an asshole to treat her better. Treat her the way she should've been treated...

[ And he still regrets that. He probably always will. ]

[ once his palm drifts away from her cheek, jess also moves, stepping back from him. ]

Maybe you were an asshole, but you can fix it.

[ he can use magic, for christ's sake. however, even without his abilities, stephen is a good man. she's no stranger to screwing up relationships, but he's not like her. he's grown from his mistakes. ]

[ He can't really hide the hurt in his expression at that. Maybe it's because of the flowers that he doesn't even try to. ]

...is that what you want?

[ out of frustration, she exhales, then takes another step back. ]

I want you to be safe, Strange. And happy.

[ goddammit, this compulsion bullshit is overwhelming her now. turning her head, she can't manage to maintain eye contact. ]

I gotta go.

[ Nope. Not going to be that easy. She should know that with him by this point. He reaches out to grab her by the elbow, ]

"Safe"? I haven't been safe since I had my accident. I have taken more risks and chances than I ever did before I lost my hands.

And you know what I found out: those chances I took were absolutely worth it. And I think the same thing can happen here. If you just--just give yourself a chance, Jessica.

[ His voice cracks a little because how many times has he thought this exact sentiment? ]

[ months ago, jessica would have torn her arm from his grip, throwing a punch against his face for good measure. but now, she can't imagine hurting him. not after everything they've endured together.

plus, considering their present predicament, she's prevented from brushing him off. at least verbally. ]

I don't know how.

[ it's an admission that jess has yet to acknowledge to herself. she's never truly learned how to live — how to embrace happiness, not when she's been denied the opportunity for as long as she can recall. ]

[ His grip on her arm loosens but his hand remains, his chest feeling distressingly tight. There's a lump in his throat as he can feel his mind scramble. The only thing he can think to say in the face of that kind of admission is: ]

So you're just going to give up?

[ she remembers what trish told her, after she crossed paths with luke at home — "You'd push him away like everybody else." she was right, as usual, and it didn't stop with luke cage. ]

I'm shit at this, anyway. Always have been.

[ jess offers him a rueful smile, as she gently pulls her arm away. ]

You'll thank me later.

[ He lets her pull her arm away, the pain in his chest spreading and he loathes it. His arm falls back to his side, his hand starting to shake as he balls it into a fist (or tries to). ]

No. I won't.

[ she huffs a low, tired breath, discontent with the anguish on his expression. jessica isn't enjoying this any more than he is, but it's far better to break it off now before it's too late. she truly believes that.

her gaze falls to his fist, before returning to his face. ]

I'm sorry.

[ biting down on her bottom lip, she turns around with another small sigh, then finally departs. ]

(no subject)

potentialed - 2018-04-30 01:23 (UTC) - Expand

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