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Save Our Earth Mods ([personal profile] ourearth) wrote in [community profile] saveourearth2019-08-02 09:35 am

More colours than you can shake a stick at, don't even try [Mingle]

Date: Friday, the 2nd of August - officially Saturday, the 10th (and unofficially Sunday, the 11th)
Characters: Open to all!


It is Mossgate's fifth season, and the the first signs come when the flag above the town hall showing the town coat of arms is removed and replaced with the bright and beautiful pride flag. Anticipation is high in the LGBT+ areas of town, and the traditional pride pre-parties take place in the LGBT+ venues on Friday and Saturday nights. Bunting starts to go up along the main streets of town, and volunteers are gathered for meetings and rehearsals. Any latecomers who still wish to volunteer are invited to turn up and make themselves known at this point (especially anyone with a valid first aid certificate!)

Pride officially opens on Sunday, with special free walking tours of the notable LGBT+ venues and sights around town twice a day, as well as open lectures at the universities featuring such topics as “What is a definition anyway: LGBT identities throughout the times” and “50 years and going strong: An overview of the situation of Pride parades worldwide”. Interested parties can sign up online using the local theatre's website, where they will also be able to browse the special LGBT+ program for the week (which, unfortunately, is not free, but those volunteering at any point over the week will be provided with two free tickets as one of their perks – either to be used alone for two events, or with a companion for one). The twice monthly LGBT+ book club is holding a special taster event on Wednesday evening, and the comic store is also holding special events each evening, focusing on a different LGBT+ character or author each night. Some of the religious institutions in the town are holding special LGBT affirmative services, and some are also holding drop in sessions. The RSPCA holds a pride themed dog show. Certain beauty stores, hair salons and barbers are holding trans-friendly sessions and workshops, some outside of normal working hours (although some are only accessible by signing up in advance). During the evening, there will be LGBT+ pub quizzes and special LGBT+ events up and down the high street. And, of course, plenty of other stores will also be taking advantage of the pink pound and the locals will notice the sudden influx of rainbow products, especially in the touristy shops along the beach front.

Something else starts showing up on Sunday and will be found around town the entire week of Pride: Parcels of various shapes, sizes and colours, some packaged like a present, some like regular postal items, some in entirely different ways. They just sit around in places where curious fingers might prod them, annoyed people might move them, or people might pick them up with the rest of the delivery unthinkigly. Essentially, they can be found anywhere, inside and out. They only have one thing in common: When touched, they explode into a cloud of glitter. And the glitter gets everywhere within a fifty metre radius if nothing (like a wall) stops it. The glitter bombs sitting around and waiting to explode seem to get neither less nor more. Those who can recognize Mr Neutral's scent will find it on the packages.

The other thing starts slowly and almost imperceptibly. All around town, things that break the light like thick glass, mirrors, sprayed water, and so on, will grow more likely to show a rainbow. Short rain showers will almost invariably leave one. All of this is still very natural until Thursday, when the strong, lingering, beautiful rainbow left after a rain shower portrays the colours light blue - baby pink - white - baby pink - light blue. By the time the main event rolls around, there is a ridiculous number of rainbows of all Pride flag colours everywhere, and the sky carries multiple rainbows of various identities' colours at the same time.

The main event, of course, being the pride parade, held from 11AM on Saturday the 10th. It starts at the town hall, progresses along the main beach front road and ends up at the Green from around 2PM. It's a massive event, equal to Brighton or Manchester, with plenty of floats and sponsors. All along the parade route, flags, bunting and ribbons float in the sea breeze and barriers have been placed to keep the audience from getting under the feet of the walkers, dancers, prancers and stompers that will make up a part of the parade's diverse make-up. The parade itself is made up of an interesting mix of local businesses and big name sponsors; the local walking society walking behind Absolut vodka, the WI walking ahead of Skittles, and the local scouts being proceeded by Stonewall and followed by the Conservative Party.

The Green has once again been set up with stalls for sponsors and local businesses, including charities like the RSPCA and the Samaritans. Those out for freebies won't be disappointed, with stickers, badges and sweets being handed out left, right and centre, especially by the representations of political parties who are doing their best to build some trust back up with the population. Because every Tory representative called out for increasingly ridiculous reasons, Mary Saunders had to take the Tory stand into her own hands and is brightly chatting with people about everything that is not national politics. The local reproductive health centre also has a stand, handing out condoms, dental dams, and advice.

A dance area and a DJ have been set up around the bandstand, and with several bars having build temporary extensions, the party will go on well into the night, although the parade officially ends at nightfall, when there is a fireworks display. After the fireworks, the Green is temporary cleared, and after it reopens, only those with ID proving themselves to be 18 are allowed back inside. There is, however, an alternative, alcohol free party held in the town hall for any ages.

Pride officially concludes on Sunday evening with the Kings and Queens ball, an extension by tradition that is held in the Hive. With the bar cleared out to make a second dance floor, there is a flamboyant tie dress code, (as long as it's smart and fabulous, you'll be welcomed), and while tickets generally sell out months in advance, Alexander keeps a few to one side for late comers, and volunteers are (again) provided with two as part of their package. When the bell finally tolls at 2AM, and the last partygoers are sent home, Mossgate will return to it's usual, quiet self (but the glitter will take some time to clean up completely).


[ooc: Everyone who comes in contact with the glitter can, but doesn't have to get a plot echo out of it.]
dreamtamer: (Default)

[personal profile] dreamtamer 2019-08-04 10:56 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't know. What if trying to trigger an echo brings up something really scary? Gizmo was really scared by the last one.
iamnotgod: Shade Over Face (What Did You Do To Me?)

[personal profile] iamnotgod 2019-08-04 11:37 pm (UTC)(link)
That's why I'm hesitant to pursue that route.

[A follow-up response is formed in milliseconds, but Walter waits a bit longer than that to send it:]

Speaking from experience, having more than one package go off on you won't trigger another Echo, so don't worry about that.

[It hadn't been set off by him, but he'd been in range.]
dreamtamer: (smile!)

[personal profile] dreamtamer 2019-08-04 11:48 pm (UTC)(link)
That's good news, then! I thought it was kind of fun, apart from the echo. Gizmo got glitter everywhere!
iamnotgod: A man, sitting and possibly smiling. (Awkward Smile)

[personal profile] iamnotgod 2019-08-05 12:15 am (UTC)(link)
The glitter's not as much fun to clean up, I can assure you.

[Still, he appreciates Thom's enthusiasm.]
spaghettimonster: (HUMAN: SWEAT)

[personal profile] spaghettimonster 2019-08-05 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
If it weren't for the barmaid, Walter not taking an interest might not deter her - the main reason she'd flirt with a sibling's friend is to bother that sibling. Thankfully, they're freed from the possibility of her deliberately waggling eyebrows at Russell.

"I don't know if they'd mind, but I want to hear this... Let's try."

He has something of a vested interest in the notion of suspicious tunnels and caves, given the fragments of memory he's picked up. So Russell takes a fortifying sip of his drink, then steps up and out to circle around to the other table. He waits for a pause in their words, then ventures speaking up.

"Uh. Reverend Marsh?"
spaghettimonster: (HUMAN: EYEROLL)

Sunday texting

[personal profile] spaghettimonster 2019-08-05 01:55 am (UTC)(link)
Memories or no memories, Russell's checked in on the news a few times to hear what's going on in Mossgate. The area hasn't exploded in his absence, or whatever other disasters they've been living in fear of, but this message from Walter is downright enigmatic.

Was this addressed to you, or did you walk too close to it

It's strange how he remembers only vague overviews of so much of the last year or so, probably thanks to his own changes - and the proximity of Walter's - flooding through so much of his experience...

But he does have a note to himself warning that Walter's not as good at respecting privacy lately. It's easy to assume something.
dragoonrouge: (Sadie Concern)

2: Rainbows

[personal profile] dragoonrouge 2019-08-05 12:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Sadie glances up from her phone, a frown settling onto her face as something shifts. The sense of something almost like static tingles across the back of her neck and builds, becoming more intense. Sadie lifts her hand to her neck, feeling the way the hair has raised before her eyes catch a flash of silver and blue moving past her, except it's not moving blue and silver, it's Walter. Sadie shakes her head, the blue and silver fading slightly as Walter dashes off, the static feeling dying down as he does so.

"Walter!" Sadie calls out after him as she shoves her phone into the pocket of her shorts and starts to head after him, "Walter, are you alright?!"
iamnotgod: A man, hands up at chest level, staring left and down (In The Dark)

[personal profile] iamnotgod 2019-08-05 02:18 pm (UTC)(link)
For the most part, Walter's willing to let Russell take the lead - casually reviewing all that has been made public about the cave systems thus far. If what the two women are discussing is a new system, versus an extension of what they'd already known...

Just how big is Mr. Evil's base, anyway? The thought-question almost seems irrelevant, and yet-

"Shouldn't there be a way to double-check such claims? Ground-Penetrating Radar and the like?"
iamnotgod: A man staring up and off to the right. (And He Asks Why.)

Re: Sunday texting

[personal profile] iamnotgod 2019-08-05 02:20 pm (UTC)(link)
The latter.

You can tell your sister we've got glitter bombs in Mossgate, now.


Russell, at least, might think he's safe - but Walter's not so certain Russell's sister would see the glitter as something to avoid.
iamnotgod: A man, hands up at chest level, staring left and down (In The Dark)

Re: 2: Rainbows

[personal profile] iamnotgod 2019-08-05 02:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Sadie would have to put some serious footwork into her chase - at least until Walter skids into a conveniently unpopulated alley to calm down.

Sinking down with his back against the wall, he brings his focus back onto breathing: something calm, something continuous. Lights flicker in and out of existence in webspace, but it's not the same-

"Hn?"

Once Sadie's caught up to him, he turns his head to look at her. Shoulders slumping, he sighs.

"Sorry. I haven't felt that paranoid in... a long time."

It probably hadn't been all that long - no, it wasn't that long, checking back on his memories automatically - but the sense that he had been suddenly and horrifically seen had been very real.
dreamtamer: (pic#8207378)

[personal profile] dreamtamer 2019-08-05 11:01 pm (UTC)(link)
I guess there was an awful lot of it.
iamnotgod: A man, staring down and left, looking unimpressed and/or concentrating. (Oh)

[personal profile] iamnotgod 2019-08-05 11:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Just don't eat it. Okay?

[Basic health concerns, here.]
spaghettimonster: (HUMAN: PUZZLING)

[personal profile] spaghettimonster 2019-08-06 06:38 am (UTC)(link)
That doesn't rule out the question of whether Walter was opening someone else's mail, but he doesn't really feel like pursuing the question to scold anyone right now.

Does
Does the glitter do something
Is this a code word?


'Echoes', he thinks he understands. Someone else's memories, copied over - but somewhat distantly and incompletely. But what would glitter bombs stand for, besides the obvious? Why would his sister know about it??
iamnotgod: A man staring slightly off-center, looking serious. (Let Me Explain You A Thing)

[personal profile] iamnotgod 2019-08-06 01:13 pm (UTC)(link)
No.

There are actual packages loaded with glitter, all around the Mossgate area. They're set to go off when anything touches them.

If I had to qualify this stunt, it would be either as 'well-meant but disastrous' or simply 'chaotic'.


[Meaning not quite on Mr. Evil's level, but Walter can spell that one out more adeptly once Russell's back inside the Boundary.]

And so, if your sister's feeling like a glitter bath, she's welcome to it.
iamnotgod: Black and white picture of a man looking up and off to the right. (What Even Is This?)

Tuesday

[personal profile] iamnotgod 2019-08-06 01:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Walter's been keeping an eye out for packages - and not taking his bike out, since he'd rather not have to clean that overly much, thanks for asking - but unfortunately people won't stop touching the things.

"What are you doing-?" the man shouts, spotting someone several feet behind Jimmy where the teen's simply walking, attempting to wield a crowbar long-distance to open another package.

The mess is expected, though that shout is all the warning Jimmy's going to get.
saveournpcs: (Pat Marsh)

[personal profile] saveournpcs 2019-08-07 06:53 am (UTC)(link)
The women look up when Russell addresses them, and frown when Walter does. And then Pat Marsh laughs.

"Sounds like you overheard us talking, huh? Well, sit down, sit down. ...Or get your drinks first, it'd be sad to let them go to waste," she gestures, "there's space here, after all."

Mary Saunders waits until they're back with their drinks before asking: "So, you're from Moss Manor?"
channingchanningchanning: (pomeranian: angry)

[personal profile] channingchanningchanning 2019-08-07 06:55 am (UTC)(link)
He barks, not actually able to answer in human language right now.

He's been given a bath. And another one. But he just keeps being too close by when a glitter bomb explodes, or alternatively accidentally explodes them himself when investigating.
saveournpcs: (other)

[personal profile] saveournpcs 2019-08-07 08:04 am (UTC)(link)
"Nanny Ogg?" She tilts her head and peers up at him curiously through her sunglasses, her voice the kind of puzzled that expresses 'it rings a bell, but I can't identify which corner in the house of my memory that bell is being rung in'.

"And," she taps her till one last time and waits for the receipt to release, "well yes, models are very essential. Artists that work without any just will produce no good results."
iamnotgod: A man staring slightly off-center, looking serious. (Let Me Explain You A Thing)

[personal profile] iamnotgod 2019-08-07 01:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Walter rolls his eyes.

Right, of course; even though Chad can understand him, they're not mutually intelligible while Chad is a dog - and there's no convenient surface upon which to input a Number in public.

"I should at least make sure you get back home."

iamnotgod: A man staring up and off to the right. (And He Asks Why.)

[personal profile] iamnotgod 2019-08-07 01:41 pm (UTC)(link)
"Her given name was 'Gytha,' but she likes the nickname enough to insist on it," Walter clarifies.

"She's from Folkton."

That receipt is taking an awful long time, by Walter's count - but then, the conversation really is more important here.

"They wouldn't stay with you all the time though, would they? Assuming they're not fully domesticated, of course."

Walter is, admittedly, no mouse expert.
spaghettimonster: (HUMAN: COLLEGE)

[personal profile] spaghettimonster 2019-08-07 04:53 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yes, ma'am." Russell smiles crookedly. He doesn't expect her to recognize him - he's only one of a fair few to go through the church doors, and that only rarely.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop... I just have an interest in those tunnels, and couldn't help it."
iamnotgod: A man, sitting and possibly smiling. (Awkward Smile)

[personal profile] iamnotgod 2019-08-07 07:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Walter, meanwhile, shakes his head.

"I'm just the flatmate; he's the one who's been down in the tunnels on the tour before, not me. We share the interest, however."
lovedramamoron: (pic#12879341)

Re: Tuesday

[personal profile] lovedramamoron 2019-08-07 11:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Right on cue, Jimmy disappears into a cloud of glitter. A moment later he comes stumbling out as the glitter falls the ground. He sputters and tries to wipes the glitter away from his face.
dreamtamer: (are you sure about that?)

[personal profile] dreamtamer 2019-08-07 11:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Why would I eat it? It doesn't look like it would taste very good.
iamnotgod: A man, holding a folder in one hand and gesturing with the other, looking off to the right. (And WHAT Is This?)

Re: Tuesday

[personal profile] iamnotgod 2019-08-08 01:10 am (UTC)(link)
The stranger wastes no time in retreating in a surprisingly apologetic panic.

Walter's shoulders slump in despair as he turns to take in the mess.

To leave this to the street cleaners, or save them the pain?

Whichever the case, though, his attention redirects back to Jimmy quickly.

"I'd offer you a napkin, but-" Walter breaks off as he makes his way to the teen, only to gesture at himself.

"I'm hardly better off. You didn't swallow any, did you?" he asks, concern resurfacing in earnest.

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