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

[spellslots]

[Porque no los dos?]

My dude, if I wasn't intimidated by the actual grim reaper tryna kill me, some spooky science fuck up isn't gonna scare me.

[His grin doesn't fade at all, sorry Gabe, he just can't take the edgelord act seriously.]

[hellshot]

[So many people don't take the act seriously, it turns out. Were Taako part of a small number, he'd probably lash out to 'make the other regret his words', but...


...He's too old and too tired, Taako. Why can't you just conform to an ordinary person's thoughts when faced with a 'spooky science fuck up.'

He turns to shoot the other a glare from under his mask, eyes glowing a little to be seen from underneath the dark hollows of his mask.]

...What is it with you people from other dimensions and your carefree attitudes.

It's becoming extremely irritating.

[spellslots]

[The glare barely even registers; Repear isn't trying to actively hurt him, he's just some dude that's a little grim, so he doesn't see any reason to be scared.]

Is it really that big a deal? Who gives a shit if people aren't scared of you?

[He prefers being underestimated, to be honest.]

[hellshot]

I give a shit.

Because it gives them the idea that I'm interesting enough to talk to.

Which I'd rather avoid.

[Catch his drift?]

[spellslots]

[He catches it, he's just going to ignore it.]

You've got a sweet coat, a cool mask, you do that dramatic smoke shit and you don't want people to find you interesting?

[The trick to being unassuming is to actually look unassuming.]

[hellshot]

[He's not sure if he should feel annoyed or not here. Because despite how annoying Taako pointing out the obvious is, he has a point.]

As I said.
It's aim is to deter people. And usually, it works. [Back home, people avoided him at all cost back at Talon's base--the rumors about him helped.]

[spellslots]

Must not be a lot of scary shit where you're from, huh?

[If people find Repaer intimidating.

:) ]

[hellshot]

...

You're asking for trouble at this point, Taako.

I'd not dig yourself deeper.

[His voice is terribly low in that dangerous rasp, fixing a gaze at the other, still as stone.]

[spellslots]

[His grin only widens.]

What are you gonna do, make my clothes smell like smoke? I mean, I'd be kinda pissed, but I think I could live with it.

[hellshot]

[Yeah, no.

That's enough of that. He turns, and with a fluid movement and an audible click, there's the barrel of a shotgun to worry about as Taako will get to examine what the end where bullets come out of quite closely.]

You've got about three minutes to beat feet out of here.

[spellslots]

[The gun is different than any he's seen so far, but familiar enough that he recognizes what it is and what it's likely capable of, so he does decide to take this seriously. Not that his expression shows that.

Taako casts fire shield and thin, wispy flames cover his body, brightening the area around them. In his left hand, the grip on the umbra staff tightens.]

You sure you wanna do this, my dude?

[Are they gonna have to roll initiative]

[bone_idle]

[ Crunch. ]

Pretty sure he is.

[ A few kernels of popcorn tumble down over a shirt with a few faded condiment stains, and into the tufts of pink fluff that make up his slippers. With another crinkle of a greasy paper bag, bony phalanges shove another handful against his perpetually grinning teeth, causing many to fall through the spaces between those fingers.

He isn't even opening his jaw to eat, so maybe he's... doing this for effect?

Also, that's a walking, talking skeleton, what the heck. ]

And I wouldn't wanna be in the splash radius if he does. [ The stranger adds, eyeing off the masked Reaper as his hand dives back into the paper bag. ] Friendly fire ain't nearly as humerus as you'd think.

[ His eye lights swivel up to the sky. ]

Man, the lack of text is a real drag. Betcha these are goin' right over your heads.

[ Shrug. ]

Eh.

[hellshot]

[He's completely on the idea train of 'rolling initiative' to have a very messed up magic-vs-the future sort of battle mashup with Taako.

He's never had to face magic like that before, however, and even he's trying to think up strategies to avoid having to face something he doesn't understand--

But that's when a third voice joins the fray.

He's not quite sure how to even handle being Punned at by a walking, talking skeleton, but...

In a word, he's distracted enough from firing the first rounds of his shotgun off at Taako. Maybe half because of the confusing sight, and half because of the mention of splash damage.

Right.

Even back home, there's a strict rule of not getting civilians involved.]

...Fine.

You get off easy this time. Only because I don't feel like dealing with causing chaos in a public area.

[How can a skeleton talk.]

[spellslots]

[Taako casts the very briefest of glances at Sans; the skeleton thing doesn't bother him, and he's not looking away from that gun for more than a second. He does laugh a little at the puns, though, and then laughs again when Reaper says he got off easy.]

Whatever makes you feel better.

[He's not going to make a move, but that doesn't mean he's going to stop antagonizing Reaper.]

[bone_idle]

The heck is this, a contender for worst Meet Cute? Get outta here.

[ Without extracting more popcorn to munch on, Sans wipes his phalanges on the front of his t-shirt, leaving an assuredly salty residue that will remain for however long it takes for that sorry piece of clothing to see the inside of a washing machine.

It might be weeks. ]

I didn't say that so you could keep takin' pot-shots while Tall Dark and Edgy's havin' responsible second thoughts, pal.

Not exactly makin' my job any easier.

[hellshot]

[He doesn't much like being called 'Tall Dark and Edgy,' and neither does he like being continually egged on. He doesn't at all mind the idea of having an all-out fight with Taako.

He looks between the two again with a low, irritated rumble in his chest.]

You're going to get yourself into trouble you won't be able to get yourself out of one day. [A pointed look at Taako, as he tightens his grip on his shotgun. Another moment passes, and it disappears back into the folds of his coat.

He looks down at the Skeleton, almost annoyed--but he didn't need any trouble today.]