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

[smokedout]

[He raises a brow at the name, but in his experience guys with names like that tend to earn them. And with the sort of presence the man has, there's no denying he's not someone Dodger wants to fuck with.]

Sure, I got some tricks. [He shrugs, pulling a cigarette pack from his pocket and lighting one with the snap of his fingers. It's not even really showing off, it's just a force of habit at this point.] But I like keeping a few surprises up my sleeve. They tend to come in handy more that way. Want a smoke?

[hellshot]

[At least someone knows some form of respect. There have been far too many people in this place who treat him like some sort of side-show cosplayer. Every one of them lucky that he hasn't pulled a weapon on them yet.

He watches the others' clever trick of lighting his smoke with his hands, but doesn't really comment on it.]

Don't blame you. Some tricks are worth hiding from the General Public.

[And instead of accepting the smoke, however, he tips his head to the side... releasing a mouthful of dark, ashy smoke from under his mask. It curls and lifts in the air with a slight smell like ozone, or something that's been burning for a long time.]

...Pass. I wouldn't touch the stuff. [What a terrible joke.]

[smokedout]

[Now that is interesting. Dodger makes a few mental notes, filing away the smell and look of the smoke for when he has more information. Now he knows for a fact that whatever's under that fancy Scream mask is something he wants to see. All the more reason to stick around the guy.]

Looks like you got some neat tricks of your own. [And he's laughing quietly at the fact that he got a joke out of him.] What were you before you got here, some kinda supervillain?

[hellshot]

[Of all things, Reaper shouldn't be amused at the others' comment. Walking far enough away from the party grounds that the music has started to ebb into a quieter lull, Dodger might actually hear the man laugh.

It's a low, echoing sound--nearly like a cough, but recognisable laugh.]

'Supervillain' is a bit much. [Though there might be people who would call him that. He turns his head to look back at him again.]

I was a mercenary. Last going off, the highest bidder for my help was the world's most notorious terrorist group.

[Supervillian. Ha.]

[smokedout]

[Dodger gives him a serious nod, pausing to take a drag from his cigarette and let that information sink in.]

I was an information broker back home. Off-and-on, anyway... whenever I had free time. [He cocks his head to the side.] Main job was just running errands for this guy that had control over New York. Usually just boring crap - kill this, grab that, get paid.

[Things are weirdly slow in Riverview, compared to the erratic schedules and weekend bar fights he's used to. He's gotten in a few fights already - Reaper might notice the traces of an old black eye, now that they're properly regarding each other - but he's back to feeling out of place and being in charge of himself, both things he dislikes equally.]

Why bother with shitty security jobs? You seem like you could cause some real havoc if you set your mind to it.

[hellshot]

[It's more than likely that he's noticed, along with the plethora of other scars and marred skin that Dodger has. But he's not the conversational nosy type, and unless Dodger gives him a reason, he feels no reason to ask. Probably got mouthy with someone and got punched, stole from the wrong person and instigated a fight--that's his thought process on it.

He would agree that Riverview was a touch too calm from the way he's used to things. It gives him too much time to think. Too much time to reflect on what could be or what never will be; it gives him too much time to sit idly as his body burns and heals and he actually has to think about that pain. With no real outlets...

Here he is, as the day nears night when one should be settling down for the evening, partying or going to bed--heading out to the parimeter wall to see if there's anything to shoot at without concequences. Perfectly Normal.]

Don't hate information brokers. But do know that they're only as good as their information. So either you're a smart one, or a careful one. Don't tell me which, I don't really care. [Friendly. He turns to give the other a look. Dodger might not be able to see his eyes, but there's something slightly unnatural, glowing under the black hollows of his mask.]

Oh, sure. I could cause havoc. Easily. All I'd have to do is fly around the housing quarters and I'd cause mass panic.

I'm not interested in terrorising civilians.

[smokedout]

[Reaper may not be friendly by most people's definition, but he's definitely more at Dodger's speed. Most people that he's met have treated him with disgust for his attitude, before they even learn anything off-putting about his actual lifestyle. He's pretty happy to have found someone who isn't particularly bothered by him. Better still, someone who might appreciate his usefulness.

He silently makes a mental note that Reaper can apparently fly. That seems important to know.]

Terrorizing civilians 's kind of the way of the world, isn't it? [He shrugs.] Everyone who can't protect themselves gets caught up in the collateral damage anyway. And half the shit here runs on an honor system... we could probably take over the damn quarantine without too many people stopping us.

[Of course... Dodger hasn't been here long enough to notice the sheer number of superheroes running around, but.]

[hellshot]

[Oh, he can do more than fly. But as Dodger said, secrets. He's never interested in letting people know the whole story on the first meeting, even if it's obvious by looking at him that something's not right.

He doesn't look at Dodger when he speaks this time, and it's not hard to admit that he's right. He'd spent 30 years of his damn life trying to keep those who couldn't protect themselves out of harm's way. By any means necessary. And even if those 'means' weren't looked at with approval from the world... well.]

'Honor system'. [He almost chuckles, but he keeps the sound down, sinking into his throat as his teeth spread in an odd smile under his mask.] You're not wrong, but do you really want to create a civil war in a place like this?

[He stops walking, and he turns to look at Dodger, full-on.]

You also have to take into account the number of very powerful people here. I know a man who is entirely made up of water, and can drown you with your own stomach bile.

[He leans in, the odd red glow from under his mask almost visible as his face leans in inches from Dodger's own.]

You have to take account of everyone and everything before becoming too ambitious with plans like that, Dodger.

[smokedout]

[Dodger is used to men who are taller and stronger than him looking down on him, and he doesn't flinch when Reaper leans down to his level. If anything, it gives him the opportunity to catch sight of what he assumes is Reaper's eyes - and a sense of cautious fascination moves through him as he straightens up in an attempt to not look intimidated.]

Didn't say you're not interested. [He tips his head, keeping eye contact as he pulls a new cigarette out and lights it.] And I never said I was going in without a plan.

[He's spent nearly his entire life around ambitious men set on changing the world the way they see fit. Being in the middle of the wars they start keeps him busy, with his head foggy and his hands bloody just like he likes it. And he can't lie - he just likes being at the right hand of a powerful man.]

[hellshot]

[He watches the other as he easily lights another cigarette, fixating on the hollowed-out holes of the Reaper's mask to examine the unnatural light his eyes cast from under there.

After a moment, he pulls away from him with a low, snide-sounding scoff. No, he didn't say he wasn't interested. He hated feeling like he wasn't in control, and while he had no problem listening to orders himself, it was usually only when it benefited him.
Here, the only benefit to living in housing inside quarantine was that he could walk around freely wherever he wanted.]

Keep your nose clean for now. Figure out what everyone here is capable of, and which ones are the ones looking out for.

And then you make a plan. [Tch.]

[smokedout]

[A smirk breaks over his face. That sounds a whole lot like orders, and Dodger's been searching for someone to give him orders worth following since he got here.

And the thought of Reaper in charge of the city... is not a bad one at all.]

You got it.

[He figures they both know he can't stay completely clean - he's got no skills in acting like a decent human being, and his impulse control isn't the best. Hell, it's uncommonly conscious of him to stop himself from calling Reaper 'boss'. He figures that can wait, at least for now.

For now, his focus will shift to gathering any intel that might be useful.]