PRIDE WEEK! 2020

[Pharlen]

Welcome to PRIDE WEEK! Here's the list of events scheduled for the week!

June 12 starts with the Rainbow Roads, crews including Ed, Goshen, Roni, Mist, Amaris, and the Old Temple West Crew will be painting rainbows down the roads again. They will meet at the Governor’s Office and will be met by a birthday party for Ed. Sheet cake and punch, and Governor Pharlen, who has been crocheting too much, will gift Ed with a rainbow silk mesh crocheted pullover!

Later in the day, the grill will open with Cane as the Sacred Pit Master. A big dance floor will be laid out and djs and local bands taking the stage to perform. There will be balloons, face and body painting, hair braiding and coloring. There will also be booths featuring all the foods found around RhyDin, including the new Orc Vegan restaurant “GRUB”.

We ask that all the ally Moms, Dads, Grandparents and cute aunts and etc please pick up a ‘Free Mom/Dad Hugs’ T-shirt - they’re gratis! And spread around some much needed love!

June 13: Rainbow Daze! SOMEHOW, all the water’s gone rainbow around here. It tastes like and cleans like and works like water, it’s just a little more colorful. Opening in the Marketplace Park, there will be FOAM SLIDES! Tons of fluffy suds will be hosed over the commons for everyone to slip and slide down. There will be vats of cornstarch and water to dance on and sink into! Kiddy pools and Jumpy castles galore!

June 14: Pride Parade! Everyone is welcome to walk along the parade route, or to watch and cheer everyone on! It will begin outside the Red Dragon Inn, and end in the market place square after meandering around town for a while. Starts at Noon, and ends… when it ends! There will be food trucks and snacks and all sorts of good things waiting at the park for lovely picnics and field games.

June 15: Talent Night! Tranquility Ballroom will be hosting the biggest, most glamorous talent night ever. Bring your Divas and your Cheerleaders and your torch acts and hula hoops, we’re all waiting to see you shine! Sign ups will begin on Friday, so get your act together… literally! Regina will be hostess with the mostess for the evening's entertainment!

June 16: Circus Day! Courtesy of the Rhydin Center for Performing Arts, there will be an open air performance of the aerialists and acrobats, free of charge! Later, the performers will set up low wires, Russian swings, trapezes, and other gear to teach the brave about the thrills of the circus acts!

June 17: Movie Night at the Thunder Road Drive in! You know the drill, bring your picnics, your grills, and enough to share around, we’ll have movies all night! Free popcorn and soda. On Screen 1, ‘The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’ and ‘To Wong Fu: Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar’. On Screen 2: Brave and Toy Story. And Screen 3: Howl’s Moving Castle and Cowboy Bebop. (You can bring your littles over to Pixar Screen Two, there will be professional supervision and plenty of beanbags, pillows, blankets, and folding chairs. Kids will be tagged to their parents.).

June 18: True Colors! Battlefield Park will be the nexus of an epic game of Capture the Flag! Water balloons and squirt guns will be provided -- The water is not only still rainbow colors, but the colors will remain where they splatter for several hours! Probably. Your results may vary. Anyhow, wear old clothes and swimsuits! The flags will be located throughout the park, from the Rainbow to Ace, and forts will be large plastic play houses around the perimeter. New flags will ‘spawn’ every hour, so get out there and steal ‘em!

June 19: Drag Races! Bring your classics, epics, survivors, supers, homemades and one of a kinds on down to the Old Temple Racing Circuit Center! Participate in quarter mile sprints, uncork for a decibel contest, spin your tires, or just show off your beauty to the crowds.

Bonus! At five o’clock, clear out the racecourse, grab a seat in the stands and enjoy the BiFurious BiKers as they perform for your enjoyment!

Afterwards, the infield will be foamed for a no holds barred Demolition Derby! Sign up early for the derby, only forty of the most insane drivers will be accepted! (NO tanks/military vehicles. Forklifts -- okay, but only up to two tons, only TWO allowed on the field.) (Healers will be on site.)

And for the rest of the month, let there be all sorts of fun and love and acceptance events! The city hall is always happy to support these gigs, so don’t be shy, step up and create new memories!

((Whew! Okay! Remember, totally groovy with me if you want to do live events! Post here your character's experiences and outfits and anything you'd like to add in - there's the talent show and cars and rainbow water and and and... Well, just have fun!))

[Ed]

Presenting...



Edgar Greensmith
The man who pretty much started it all,
with a little help from his friends.

On the morning of Friday, June 12th, the hunter green 1932 Ford Model B pickup arrived with the Greensmith family! Driven by none other than Ed himself, dear old Ethel was decorated in flags and ribbons aplenty, and her bed was filled with paint cans, brushes, and rollers, ready to kick off the week just as they had done last year. Banners advertising the recently opened family business, Greensmith Restorations, were also planted strategically along the vehicle's front, back, and sides for all to see.

Ed emerged with his exceptionally stunning husband Goshen and their two children, 2-year-old Polly and 5-month-old baby Paxton. Ed was of course dressed to impress, with his nails painted in rainbows and his clothes sporting every hue as well. Goshen had dressed a lot more subdued in basic whites and let his husband shine in the spotlight as per usual. The children, however, were decked out in full support.



Carrying on tradition, when it was time, he piled back into Ethel with his family and friends (Mist, Roni, and Amaris) to lead the charge painting the streets, just like they had done much more secretly last year. This time they were more public about it, obviously, with the Governor's blessing, and invited anyone else with a car or a truck or an urge to paint to come along and deck the city in rainbows!

Ed was full of laughter and smiles, ready to shake hands and give hugs, engage in photo opportunities, and of course to indulge in having "Happy Birthday" sang to him while sharing that massive cake! He was more than willing to share stories about the history of this rather new to Rhydin annual event, and talk about its roots in an Earth far, far away, for anyone who might ask. He was fully aware of why many Rhydin natives didn't understand the point of the parades, and as an immigrant could happily explain.

While Ed himself stayed the entire time and was ready to party until he dropped, at some point the children were given off to a babysitter to head home for nap time. This was only the first day! Of course he was involved in much of the rest of the week's festivities too. Stay tuned!

[Abby]

A more mellow addition to the Old Temple West representatives, Abby Jones was present for the kick-off event of painting the town and celebrating Ed's birthday. It looked as if the only thing she was wearing was an over-sized black t-shirt with the word pride printed on backwards so that the D looked like a B and with it the I stood out in bold colors. This single article of clothing was long enough on her to be worn as a dress, keeping her decently covered. She was barefoot the entire time and wore her hair down.



Abby rode along in Ethel's bed along with Mist, Roni, and Amaris for the painting ceremony.

She also joined Ed in his truck during the Pride Parade on the 14th. Throughout the week she could be seen wandering the other events at just about any given time, and joined the family for movie night at the drive-in. It's quite possible that she wore the same shirt all week long. Either that or she had a collection of identical copies, because she wasn't seen wearing anything else.

[Mist Gul]

Mist rode along with the street painting crew, humorously casting sprays of color as they went along, usually doing as Amaris asked, giving color to everywhere that needed color. Color and flower petals and glitter followed Ethyl in bright clouds along their routes.

Wearing a bright, tie-dyed t-shirt and floral board shorts along with flip-flops, Mist looked more like a beach bum than an elf nurse practitioner. Sometime during the day, he'd have his hair braided and colored into all sorts of shades of blue and pink.

After all the cake, Mist spent the afternoon dancing and entertaining others with illusions and small cantrips, sending bubbles and balloon animals bounding around the parkland. He was also happy to hit the Bar-B-Que pits as the meat was cooked up. So much fun, and it was just the first day!

[Jameson]

Much like Abby, Jameson was seen wearing the same shirt all week long. What started off as a pristine, white t-shirt wound up being spattered with colorful paints and grease stains as the week went by. He loaned his black cargo van out for the purposes of driving around and streaking the streets with ribbons of painted on rainbow flags, and even decorated it to take through the parade. He was there for support, including bodyguard duty where necessary, and was happy to hand out cigarettes, cigars, and bottles of moonshine to anyone who asked.

[BardGallant]

Rhydin's finest former governor (or 4th best according to Harris) made an appearance bright and early Friday morning! In honor of the festivities, he closed his workshop for the day and came on out with his boyfriend to join in the birthday celebrations. They also indulged in a bit of the street painting, especially out in front of their respective businesses. The cream-colored Irish wolfhound, Gussie, was of course in their company as well.



Dris was ready to greet anyone and everyone with a friendly handshake or hug, and posed for numerous selfies with adoring fans left and right. He made a point to check in on Cane at the grill later in the day, and certainly dragged Rhys out onto the dance floor and into the crowds to enjoy the local bands. The bard was even spotted sampling some of the local foods, but not from the new vegan place!

[Mallory]

Mallory spent much of the first day of Pride Week floating up and down the streets of RhyDin on her Stygian oar, passing out spray paint and paint cans to anyone decorating the roads with rainbows (and quietly encouraging "coloring outside the lines" to at least a few people). She was dressed in her favorite racerback, a studded leather jacket that got colorfully ruined by paint, threadbare jeans she cared less about ruining, and purple high-tops with pink and blue laces.

Once she'd seen at least one alley wall adorned with a shiny new mural (and distracted a few Dragon's Gate Watch officers who might otherwise have dissuaded it), she made her way to the Red Dragon Inn to throw axes with Penny, making sure to give out the last of her paint cans before she arrived!

[Pharlen]

(Don't worry if you had the Special at Grub! They hadn't collected enough vegans to start serving them yet. :3 And yes, there IS a nasty old crow laughing at poor Pharl!)

[Pharlen]

Whew! Now that the situation at 'Grub' has been cleared up...

It's Rainbow Daze! The local parks are filled with foam and fun!





And don't forget the oobleck pools to dance on and sink into!

[Betty Liski]

((Belatedly, Betty's Outfit for Rainbow Roads))

[Dillon T Jones]

Si vis pacem, para bellum

Now that it was Pride Week and Dillon had been called up to provide security, he did so in a way that could be described as his own path. The delicate balance between being secure and having fun wasn't even walked on, as no one wanted armed guards on every corner of every street while there was celebration going on. To this end, Dillon created the 'Triangle of power' (and was later sued by Nintendo.) The Three sides of this triangle were simple, 'Active Defense', 'Passive defense', and the hardest one of all, 'Being a nice dude'.

Active defense was actually the smallest one provided, as active defenses had to be seen and noticed to do their jobs well. In the military, active defense was a term where soldiers would leave their protections and strike first at foes. Thus an 'active' defense. To Dillon, this meant bringing in a 40 kilometer long space craft in direct geosynchronous orbit above the city. Allowing the Mad AI inside of the ship to look over the city and really, the entire planet with an uncountable amount of sensors. In the belly of this beast teemed armies of weapons, ready to drop to the planet on a moment's notice if need be. The only real issue was the rude wake up call all of the Rhydin space forces received when this Titan of a ship took up position. And while Dillon would mess with them all a bit, he would reveal who was behind it, much to the annoyance of those who defended space.

And that was the only active, present defense. Unless one counted the numerous "conversations' that Dillon had with certain groups of interest that might do something foolish during the week. There were no deaths there, not even any blood or ichor spilled. Just the man having quiet conversations with beasts and monsters that understood very well. If they broke the peace... Dill would break them.

But the passive defenses were where the man's insanity really shined.

Why not come on down to Grub! Where the finest in Vegan Cuisine was being served. And if you have heard the rumors that, actual, Vegans are being served up as well... Well, they are! The rumor floated around the city, mostly laughed at, but it still drew a crowd. Mostly of people looking for cruelty free food, but, the rumor would draw in some monsters as well. And if they were just there for a good meal of people, with no real ill intent... well, that is what they got, Vegans. Though, it was actually a plant based fake human meat that all of them thought was outstanding. And if a monster came with a seemingly ill intent, perhaps getting an appetizer of flesh before going out to get more from the crowd? They were never heard from again.

The traps expanded from here. Some people would see a small child in random places, that had apparently slipped and fallen, holding a scraped knee. If people went up to the child with concern, the crying stopped and the child just ran off without a word, to appear someplace else in the city. If something went up to the child with something much more evil than concern? They were never heard from again.

And let's not talk about the random puddles of water that most would step through without issue, even Demons and monsters would stride through it without noticing. But again, if intent was ill... the puddle of water was a bottomless hole that sucked up nightmares. Or the alleyways through the city that everyone would walk through, until something evil and looking to do wrong would pass through them and find them without an exit, trapped for all time in that single alley way... or until Dillon came around. Or piles of fake souls that most wouldn't even see, but had a sign nearby with an arrow that said 'Free souls!'. Sadly, no monster was dumb to fall for that. Entire parts of the city were shifted and changed, reality was even bent in some areas, hopefully without anyone being the wiser. Defenses that no one could see, so their Pride Week would be worry free from all angles.

Also, there were a scattering of older women dressed in black with veils over their faces that would roam the crowds in random places. They always had a kind, matronly word for children, and even handed out candy from time to time. A few might pick up the scent of what they were. Spider Demons. Demons who ate only other demons. Dillon and them had always been friendly, most likely because both the man and them appreciated the same cuisine. A good payment in Demon flesh had secured their services for the week, and while Dillon did not watch them as hard as others... he still watched. Old habits died hard. But they would provide no problems and only help. They were smart and knew being fed by the man was much better than being fed on, by the man.

As for the last of the three sides of the triangle? Well, this was done by Dillon himself of course, with the help of Coydog and Betty. The man would be out and about, every hour of the week as long as there were even the smallest crowds. Dressed in a pure white suit with gold trim and decorated with rainbows, the man would do his best to spread cheer through doing stupid things or telling jokes. As well as tossing out candy which were knock offs of every popular brand imaginable, even from other planets and realities. Made with a sugar that would provide all of the fun, but none of the drawbacks. Kids could eat as much as they wanted without fear of tooth decay or a high rise in blood sugar. Even diabetics could eat to their hearts content. This was tossed out from buckets and bags that seemed -endless-, but it's okay, the wrappers would biodegrade a day or so after they were unwrapped. Along with the candy, impressive toy wands were handed out to young and old alike. With a flick of a wrist, they would send out a beam of rainbow light that would dye whatever it hit, for a little while.

This would be the man for the bulk of the week, a direct opposite of the monster who had a ship in orbit that was prepared to destroy entire planets of monsters if they showed up. A man who was spreading cheer along with his two friends. In addition there would of course be medical stations set up, for those that had minor injuries or perhaps, a bit too much celebration. And even in the medical tents, free therapy was provided for any who wished it, with the promise that therapy would be provided free of charge for whomever wanted it even after the week had ended. These 'people' who were running the med tents, providing water and free food, and free therapy were of course... not at all people. They were fake creations of the Mad Deep Mind Artificial Intelligence that was in the ship orbiting the planet. So real, it would take a very high perception to notice that they were not at all, flesh and blood beings. They even offered free hugs to whomever wanted it. And there was no hug like a hug from an artificially created being. They were really quite nice.

With all that, the week should hopefully go pretty well. As there had been one change from Dillon hunting, to Dillon protecting. Other peoples lives were much, much more valuable than his own. So he pulled out no stops when it came to their protection. Anything looking to cause any larger problems would have to face down with an insane man with seemingly the power to bend reality, a courier that could perhaps put a bullet through a flea's butt from 70 yards away, and Betty, which was probably the worst of the trio because well, she could tear you down with her words far better than the other two could. With all of this, Dill was pretty sure, everyone would have a fun and uneventful (when it came to dangerous eldritch beings from beyond that fed off of happiness) Pride Week!

[Betty Liski]

Betty's Outfit for Rainbow Daze:



There was more than a good chance that she left a sticky cloud of Rainbow by the end of the day, until somebody hosed her off.

[Coydog]

Having been conscripted by Dillon to help hand out candy, wands that belched rainbows, and provide a hand with his security operations, Coydog was happy to allow Betty to, for the most part, pick out her clothing for the events (with the promise that she would not grouse too much about her friend's choices.)

[Regina Wellston]

PRIDE WEEK TALENT SHOW

For the night of June 15th Monday!!

There was a flurry of activity at the ballroom. Everything looked simply drenched in rainbow colors. From the lobby swathed in material that made it look like one was walking through a rainbow tunnel that lead to the doors of the ballroom proper, to the lighting along the ballroom walls, to the stage shimmering in rainbow streamers along with silver and glittery streamers.

There was a low lying fog along the floor, thanks to the dry ice machines the musician had rented for the occasion. The place looked like one was walking among the clouds and rainbows. She had chosen pristine white table cloths for all of the table, along with mirrored table decorations so that when the rainbow lights above shone, they would be reflected in a shimmering sparkle over the guests seating there.

The musician had taken the week to heart and it seemed her employees did as well. The ball room was ready and on the stage stood the musician, nervous and anxious as she had taken the roll of announcer very seriously. The gown she wore shimmered in pastel rainbow sequins, stopping at her thighs and cinched just a bit at her waist. She had firey curls claimed by a rainbow headband that had streamers of the colors of her dress dangling and twirling among the curls of her hair.

She looked out over the gathered crowd and searched for Morgan. The smile she gave him was one of pride, befitting the event and the reasoning behind it. She was so damned proud of everything he had done for her, no for this place! With a nod and a lifting of her hands, the stage behind her lit up in dazzling lights and the music started to indicate to the people filling the room that the Pride Week Talent Show was about to begin!

[Mairead Harker]

Maggie and several of the students from Dragon's Gate Sword School were outside the Red Dragon for the start of the parade. They were joined by faculty and students of Harker's Academy. A hay wagon, decorated by rainbow windsocks and garlands, carried students that were younger or might have difficulty walking the full route. They tossed out treats along the way.

They kept the dress code simple, a t-shirt and jeans.


Some students with longer hair, including Maggie and her sister, Catie, opted to wear ribbons in their hair that were woven into a rainbow pattern.


Voices raised to sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow could be heard coming from the hay wagon and walkers. Judy Garland sang it in a film many years before the young ones had even been glimmers in their parents' eyes. Since that time, it had become a song of hope for many.

((T-shirt found at https://www.wish.com/product/5d70b0bd1f ... ?share=web
Tutorial for ribbon ponytail found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAT4MHadWh0 ))