riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: FLOWER FESTIVAL

Entry tags:

introductory mingle: FLOWER FESTIVAL

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!

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ What can he say? He may be total rubbish with stuff like healing magic unlike some other monsters, but laughter makes good medicine. And nobody expects too much of a slob who's only good for really bad jokes.

Well, except the guys in charge around here, they were pretty quick to land him with a job.

Can't complain, though, saved him the trouble of job-hunting, and he's gotta pay rent eventually. Sans slouches back against the railing, letting that prop him up, canting his skull indolently to keep watching Terra as they converse. If he looked any more comfortable, he might be asleep. ]

Eh... I was still too surprised to pay much attention. Seein' the sky for the first time is a pretty big deal. [ He shuts an eye socket at him. ] I'm a simple guy. Even the revelation that we weren't too far off on the many-worlds interpretation kinda paled in comparison.

What'd they tell you?

They told me I needed a new home.

[Terra answers absently, fixing Sans with a stare, distracted by the words that just rumbled out of him.]

"Many-worlds interpretation"...? And you'd never seen the sky before? How is that possible?

[If the 'many-worlds' comment means what he thinks it might, that's troubling news (more troubling news), but the notion of never seeing the sky... unfathomable, personally appalling. You poor skeleton.]

[ Interesting. In Sans's case, he hadn't heard it posed to him like that, which leads him to suspect that maybe the explanation upon arrival is tailored a little to the individuals coming through the portal. Which... makes sense, and it isn't enough to think there's some grand conspiracy going on. The 'greeters' seemed like, uh, pretty decent people? Cautiously sympathetic, that's probably the term he's looking for.

After all, they're quarantined here to make sure they're not a danger to each other.

That expression Terra's wearing, though... looks to Sans uncomfortably close to pity. ]

Spare me the pity, pal-- [ He chuckles, waving that off. ] --me and my kind have been living underground my whole life, is all. Anyway, many-worlds interpretation? Fuhgeddaboudit, just a, y'know, sci-fi thing.

[ Can't tell if he's too lazy to explain or just unwilling to get into it. ]

[Terra glances away with a slight nod, taking Sans' comment seriously and obliging him by pointing his 'pitying' (sympathetic, he might have argued... ah but that thin line between the two) look elsewhere.

Living underground... Like in a cave or... Yeah, probably a cave. A cave full of skeleton people?

No real surprise Sans won't elaborate on the worlds remark, either. A secret, maybe, and he didn't mean to mention it? Those three words are enough for him, anyway. Another world out there is close to realizing the truth. What happens when the World Order breaks down completely? For years, his teacher emphasized the importance of keeping people in the dark about the existence of other worlds... But he can't recall the Master ever explaining exactly what the consequences would be, if people started to catch on, either due to someone in the know slipping up or their just figuring it out on their own.

A blank tiredness reinstates itself over his face.

He spots the barbecue grill at the edge of his vision and, reluctantly turning his back on Sans, wanders off in that direction to check it out.]

Have you gotten a good look at it? [He speaks over his shoulder. Half-heartedly prodding the grill here.] Watched the sun rise and set?

[Still hung up on the sky thing.]

[ Close enough, stranger. It might be hard for someone who has always lived under an open sky to imagine living without it.

Apparently too lazy to bother moving from his spot by the railing, Sans watches Terra go to investigate the communal grill.

Trusting guy. But then, Sans himself isn't exactly the most threatening in appearance, he likes it that way. People don't typically go picking fights when they feel completely unthreatened. ]

Yeah, both. Won't be just the same as it is back home, but... eh. Close enough.

That really gets to you, huh?

[Terra's head turns a fraction, acknowledgement he's been asked a question in return.

Really gets to him? He supposes it does... Being trapped somewhere deep and dark, never being able to see the sky, the stars...

He makes a little noncommittal noise, mm, and that's the full extent of his answer.]

What you really need to see is a meteor shower. Those can be kind of rare, though.

[His hands return to his sides as his inspection of the grill concludes.]

Are you planning on staying, Sans?

[Abruptly changes subjects, why not.]

Rare, huh. Here, too?

[ Tough to place whether Sans is disappointed or excited, he's either being careful about sounding as neutral on the subject as possible, or he's too lazy to bother getting worked up about it.

But the truth is, Sans intends on investigating just how likely it might be to witness something like a meteor shower. He's read about them, in what few books about space managed to survive the journey to the subterranean, watery junkyard. ]

Jury's still out on that one. I mean, it's nice. But, uh, seems a little convenient, don't it?

[ Seems he's a little suspicious of their generosity. Is it REALLY about... repopulating their world with people who no longer feel at home in their own? ]

What about you?

[Here, too? Oh, right. Different world, different stars (different other worlds), different incandescent chunks of rock and metal (and eventually some sort of gummi material, and also sometimes whole people) streaming across the sky.]

I only know about where I'm from.

[He shrugs. No, there's really no telling how often this place gets shooting stars. He hasn't seen any yet, but he's only just arrived and it's not like he's had his eyes glued to the sky these past few nights. Meteor showers could very well be a more common event here.

Terra shuffles back to the railing and folds his hands over the top of it, gripping the bar tight. To go home or not to go home. He'd half-hoped Sans had made up his mind and had some strong opinion to impart, one way or another. Not that it matters... Not that it can matter. He knows what he needs to do.]

I have to go back. [A few days into his stay and the lines already have a rehearsed quality to them.] My friends are in trouble. [Possibly more than 'in trouble'. No comment on whether it's a little convenient or not, all this new home business.]

[ Of course the guy would only know about where he'd come from. But it's a good reminder that he might wanna ask somebody about it, or maybe even pick up a book sometime.

Would they even have books about it? Seems like they're pretty high tech. Well, ain't like he's gotta know this second. Leaning on the railing, he watches Terra through his answer.

He still grins. Maybe his face is stuck that way. ]

Sounds like a pretty good reason to me.

Heard a guy say the portal takes a while to recalibrate for a specific part of the, I dunno, multiverse. Could be years before you see 'em again. You alright with that?

[Terra's fingers dig against the railing, his knuckles flashing white. Yes, he heard that, too. That maybe it'd be a matter of months or maybe it'd be years.

And maybe he does all the work required and they finally get the portal set up right and he goes back to nothing. The old man's heart and nothing. Maybe the reason he's here and his friends aren't, the reason he's been given this... convenient new home, this second chance he doesn't deserve, when his much more worthy friends haven't, is because they were already... gone when the portal opened, already...

Stop. None of that matters, either. He's going back. He's going back and setting everything right, no matter how very wrong things turn out to be.]

If I have to work and fight for years to get them back, so be it. I'll do whatever it takes to bring the three of us back together.

[That's the problem with the 'unbreakable connection' friendship deal. Sure, faced with the perceived loss of their closest friends and family, some of these young people might find it in themselves to move on... but others are just going to bodily throw themselves off the deep end.

Terra reaches his right hand out, summoning his Keyblade and unceremoniously pitching it into the open air beyond the balcony. Rather than plummet down ten floors and take out a random passerby or plunk into the river, though, the giant key spins out a ways, briefly disappears in a flash of light, and then returns in a completely different form and hovers next to the railing. Oooh, ahhh, magic and a weird-looking aircraft thing.

Terra hauls himself up onto the railing and steps over to his Glider. He settles on its seat and leans forward to grab the hand grips.]

If I see any shooting stars, I'll contact you through the smart... machine right away. [He looks over at his actual skeleton roommate, meeting that unwavering smile with an expression that's just as serious as can be.] They gave you one of those, right?

[ 'If I have to work and fight for years to get them back'...

Whew. It's hard not to get a little taken in by the resolve with which Terra swears to reunite with people who clearly mean so much to him; Sans is a person who lacks ambition and motivation, but he appreciates integrity when he sees it. And he thinks maybe he sees that in Terra now, as he talks about the three of them. ]

...Huh. Hope you make it back soon, then.

[ He falls silent. Just watches him stretch out a hand, watches that strange... weapon? Materialize just like that, and then transform -- transform! -- into some kind of vehicle.

Sans might have straightened up a little. Just a little. ]

Yup. [ Considering the way his -- now slightly brighter -- eye lights are fixed on that craft, it's pretty clear Sans is interested, but he doesn't actually go through the trouble of asking, since it looks like... ]

You takin' off for the night? Be careful. Don't go and bike off more than you can chew.

[Terra raises back up a bit at that, staring at Sans with a wrinkle in his brow. A hint of an uncertain smile gets through the sober mood that's come over him.

Did he just say bike off more than he can chew...? No, he probably misheard him, what with the low pulsing sound of his Glider's engine filling his ears...]

Yeah... [He looks ahead, ignoring the twinge of guilt he feels about leaving so abruptly. There's no helping it now.]

I've got to get some work done. [At a little past 3AM.] I'll see you later.

[With a tip of his head, he pushes the Glider into motion and jets off into the darkness. Enjoy those last couple hours of stargazing, Sans.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

introductory mingle: FLOWER FESTIVAL

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I RETURN FINALLY sorry I had to. Graduate...

well heck! congrats!

Thank you!

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