riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: FLOWER FESTIVAL

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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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[Grudgingly hosted by Ronan Lynch. He'll be in this to approach but if you want to grab someone else and do your own thing unrelated to a "difficult" character, be my (his?) guest. It's for everyone. Just let me know if you want him.]

This year, Buttercup Farm had their own way of celebrating the festival. While they dealt mostly with animals, the owners were very proud of their flowers. To celebrate both, they put up a small petting zoo/flower garden hybrid exhibit. There one could see glorious flowers of all kinds of varieties and species, some familiar to Riverview’s new arrivals and some entirely different. Some native, some clearly exported though from where was still in question. To go along with it, they showcased their rabbit and rabbit-like animals. If it ate plants, especially flowers, it was there. There were floppy, long eared specimens with round and fluffy tails and other with little fuzz on them and ears. But all were cute. Well, according to the owners.

In a cruel twist of fate they made Ronan, who wasn’t overly fond of any of it, man the exhibit. Ronan hadn’t been easy to persuade. Eventually his supervisor said something about letting him take off work to celebrate, and hinting that he could get drunk and not have to come in the next morning with a hangover. It was a win/win. Ronan had days off and still got the money for his vacation and everyone else got a few days vacation from Ronan.

Ronan questioned this decision after some little girl stuck a crown of flowers on his head. She pouted when he rolled his eyes so it stayed on. It stayed on the whole the day, even though he did his best to look as disinterested and cold as one could when surrounded by flowers and mostly fuzzy rodents. His raven Chainsaw, always close to him, wasn't much help in that.

Ronan idly stroked one of the fluffier rabbits. “If you crap on the ground again, I’m renaming you Shithead.”

Why did they think he would be good for marketing?

"You know, you never really struck me as the fairy tale princess sort. I mean, yeah, sure, you have that animal sidekick and all, but beyond that?" Okay, it's true. Jason's beyond amused. There's just something so incongruous about someone like Ronan having a floral crown on his head.

Granted, Jason himself had been dodging all things floral since he'd arrived at the festival. He didn't much care for flowers on his person, and so he wasn't about to put any on. He was fine with that giant red bat emblazoned across his chest, thanks.

"From some angles though, I think it's almost flattering."

Ronan didn't turn his head to Jason. He responded another way. The motion of his arm was fluid and the extension of his middle finger was casual.

"Fuck you, too."

He gave the rabbit lounging next to him a light flick to its tail. It bounded off into the nearby flowers. Instead of reaching up to remove the flower crown, he rested his hand on his lap. Only then did he look at Jason.

"Don't expect any Disney from me, dead guy. There's no Thumper here." His words held no animosity. Actually, he was a great deal more relaxed than their previous encounter, not that that was saying much.

Jason looked from the finger to the flower crown and chuckled. "Believe me man, you're the last person I would expect to get all Disney on anything. Not your style." Granted, with the crow, there was maybe a shade of Maleficent, but Jason by now knew not to needle him with that. Ronan wasn't a bad guy, but Jason suspected he didn't take kindly to too much needling.

Reminded him of someone he used to be once, a long time ago.

"Besides, Thumper was annoying. Give me the chameleon from Tangled any day. Have you had a chance to explore yet, or are you chained up here all day?"

For a moment, Ronan just looked at him. He had no idea what Tangled was and he didn't care to ask.

He also didn't really care about these festivities unless it involved getting drunk. Not like he hadn't anyone to enjoy it with anyway.

"I don't have handcuffs on. There's a thing. It's called a job and I'm not overflowing with cash here."

Oh, if his friends could see him now. Being responsible. Showing up to work. The secret was, he actually enjoyed it. Taking care of a farm was better than sitting in some classroom all day. Though this was not one of the things he enjoyed about it.

"Yeah, yeah, I got one of those too when I got here," Jason said. He was a detective. He'd practically rolled his eyes when he'd gotten the assignment, but all things considered, it had made sense.

"If you're not working tonight, we should hang out. Grab a beer, whatever. I'm not saying let's get in trouble, but let's at least kick back or whatever. My treat," he added quickly. He knew too well what it was like not to be overflowing in cash. That's how he'd met Bruce, after all. While trying to steal the Batmobile's wheels. One burger later, and Jason had a whole new life. He couldn't do the same for Ronan - not that he suspected Ronan would even want that sort of help from anyone - but he could be a decent enough guy.

Besides, the verbal sparring was fun.

Ronan would be surprised if he'd heard that line of thought. It took people a long time to figure out he was halfway decent. Most never got there, not that he could blame them. He made it as hard as possible for anyone to find out.

Actually, he was kind of surprised anyway. The offer wasn't expected. Ronan hadn't gone out of his way to make friends.

He looped one finger around his flower crown and tugged it off. He let it slide down his arm so it hung just below the leather wrist bands he always wore. It didn't cover up the scars any better but they weren't too noticeable anyway. His cutting, blue eyes, sharp features, and the tattoo commanded the most attention.

"My first chance to see a dead guy get drunk. I'm in." Ronan grinned. "You pick the time and place."

Jason understood all about building a hard shell around yourself, not necessarily letting people in. He'd seen Bruce do it. He'd seen Dick do it to an extent. Hell, Jason had done it himself a few times, though people always managed to break through one way or another. Even here, though it was probably in his best interest to play the lone wolf card, he was off making friends again.

"If it helps any, I assure you that I'm not so great at holding my drink. A couple of shots, and I'm already pretty damn tipsy." This, mostly because he tended to either nurse a drink for a good, long while, or he generally opted for ginger ale. Bruce's rules. While as a rebellious teenager, he'd scoffed at them, as an adult who worked as a costumed individual, he understood them all too well.

That grin turned into more of a smirk, one that faded although the look in his eyes remained smug. "Tonight you get to watch and learn."

Even before he turned eighteen, Ronan had developed a stunning and concerning tolerance to alcohol. A psychiatrist might call it a reaction to a traumatic experience. Ronan called it wanting to minimize the chances of bringing back his nightmares. He also called it just enjoying himself.

"Don't count on me to keep you out of trouble."

Those words might have made more of an impact if a rabbit hadn't run smack into his feet and then buried his face in his ankle.

This? This was why he liked crows better.

"I kind of get the feeling that you almost want me to get in trouble so you can broadcast it around. Hey, check-out-this-dope," Jason laughs. It's said without an ounce of seriousness. Most people probably wouldn't be - Jason wasn't during their first meeting - but he was surprisingly comfortable around Ronan.

"Then again, you are mama bear to a crow and a gaggle of Zootopia's finest, so I'm sure if I got into too much trouble, you'd leap right in anyway."

Admit it, Ronan. You're not as bad as you try to make yourself out to be.

Ronan made a noncommital "hm," at the broadcast suggestion. He'd sort of had that happen before, according to Gansey and the record of his texts. Not particularly fun. Yet somehow he took more offense to the mama bear comment, which earned an actual snort.

"You're not looking at a diamond in the rough."

That said, if Jason were in trouble while they were out drunk together... well, the man wasn't wrong. Not that Ronan would admit it.

Nope, instead he grabbed the rabbit trying to burrow into him and held it out to Jason. "Bears are carnivores. He's all yours, Mama Bunny. Teach him to be a cop and how to fuck like a rabbit."

"Didn't think I was," Jason said. "Some people are who they are, and nothing less. But I'm familiar with the worst of the worst, and I'm not too bad at reading people. Whoever you may be, you're not bad. Give yourself a little credit, if you already haven't."

Jason's eyes might lit up a little when Ronan hands the bunny over, despite the fact that he's sure he's not going to be able to keep it. Fact is, until Damian, none of the Robins had ever really had a pet - Jason's life isn't stable enough for one - and there's something about holding the burrowy little thing that makes Jason smile.

"I'll give him a little deerstalker hat and call him Furlock Holmes," he said, his voice still dry. "We'll take some carrots, do a study in orange, and then I'll teach him all about how to attract the lady bunnies. Bugs Bunny will be his role model."

Ronan started to regret agreeing to drinks with this guy. He wiped his hand on his jeans. "Sure. Just give him back before you go."

Ronan looked over at the entrance. Still no one. It was pretty slow this time of the day. That suited him fine. People weren't something he wanted to deal with. He wasn't sold on this indiviual either, given his insistence that Ronan was a good person.

Ha.

"What sort of worst are you talking about?"

"Killer clowns, obsessive dudes with freeze-ray guns, eco-terrorist plant ladies who want to kill humanity and replace the world with sentient plants." Though the subject matter wasn't cutesy, Jason somehow managed to rattle the list off while cooing into the bunny's face. "Like, legitimate nut jobs."

Ronan idly scratched his jaw, freshly shaven that morning and already overdue for another. "Oh, is that all?"

He was sure it was all exciting, dangerous, and terrifying but thinking about these things seriously was not what Ronan was interested in, even if he was capable. Besides, it was hard to take anyone seriously when they were holding a rabbit unless they were butchering it.

Jason raises an eyebrow and looks up over the bunny's head. "We all got our backstories, Ronan," he says, this time dropping the cutesy voice. "Maybe it's not serious for you or whatever, but it's the stuff that shaped me."

"Jesus, man. You're the one talking about killer clowns with all the depth of a kiddie pool. If you want people to take you seriously, act like it. I didn't say shit about your experiences or mine," said the guy who would have and had taken offense at minor things. "Untwist your panties before they cut off the circulation to your balls."

Part of the problem was translation between worlds because in Ronan's the way Jason talked sounded like he was describing some children's show Ronan never watched. The other part was Ronan very rarely let on what was actually going on in his mind like, for example, how he'd known sentient trees as well and had just pictured his friend Blue rising up to make the world a safe place for all her kind. Something like that. It was pretty funny to him anyway.

"Sometimes it's easier if you treat it with a little flippancy. Otherwise, the darkness kind of comes to eat you." He was troubled enough as it was. Yes, Joker was a serious, serious thing. All of Gotham's villains were. Except for maybe White Rabbit. Jason still didn't get her deal.

"And hey, for all you know, I go commando underneath here." Okay, he didn't. But he could. He was certain that there were some heroes who probably did. Some villains, too.

Jason sets the bunny down on the ground, but the bunny hops back onto Jason's lap, burrowing itself until it's comfortable in his lap and looking up at him expectantly. Jason shakes his head and gently pets him between the ears.

"What's your world like," Jason asks. "I imagine it's pretty different from my own?"

"No shit." That was all Ronan had to say about the flippancy. "The rest of us do that too, Sherlock. You want me not to step on your toes, clue me in first." Of course, there was no guarantee he'd listen to it. But Ronan had been upfront with Jason about who he was, as far as he was concerned, Jason had less a right to be upset than the other people he'd pissed off.

Ronan's fingers moved to keep scratching his skin, this time the back of his neck. He stopped once he realized it was probably not from a mosquito or idiopathic trigger but a sunburn forming.

"Well, pictures of clowns on the street pop up every few years and people cry about it. Sentient trees might take over if they had the power to and I bet my friend would help them. I haven't heard of a freeze ray yet. I'll ask the NSA next time I'm back," he said all this flippantly as well, each word falling carelessly from his mouth. That way, people who knew him didn't really believe him.

Not that he'd phrased any of it in a way that would make one thing he was suggesting sentient trees were a thing in his world. And he definitely wasn't going to mention his father might have dreamed of a freeze ray, if he'd ever thought of it. Ronan, was thinking about it now. Too boring, he decided.

"Okay, so in some ways, maybe our worlds are more similar than we thought." That's right, Ronan, Jason was taking what you said more seriously than not. He'd seen enough to believe almost anything. "But if my talking about home is bringing up bad memories for you, I can drop it."

He was still petting the bunny, wishing he had a carrot or something to give to it, when he noticed Ronan scratching himself all over. He looked up at the sky before looking back at Ronan.

"I can get you a ridiculously floral wide-brimmed hat to help protect you, if you need it," Jason said, pointing his chin at where Ronan had been scratching himself. "Sadly, all they have is floral stuff."

"If it bothers you," Ronan said when Jason offered to change subjects. He wasn't about to admit to being upset at something, especially when he wasn't. If Jason wanted the out, he'd have to own up to it.

Ronan swung his flower crown in a circle, pivoting around his index finger. "I noticed. I'm Irish, I'll either die of a melanoma or liver failure anyway."

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introductory mingle: FLOWER FESTIVAL

Mingle: Buttercup Farms Petting Zoo and Flower Garden

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