introductory mingle: carnivale

[riverviewmod]

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and Carnivale Celebration
when: July 1st - July 9th
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

carnivale

In the days leading up to July 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: Carnivale. This holiday is in celebration of music, and the onset of summer and warmer weather. The celebrations are marked by street parties, an extensive program of live musical performances, with a large parade (and paid holiday!) capping it off on July 8th.

celebrating music, and summer

After a couple of months of low-key or even solemn celebrations, it's time for Riverview Quarantine to throw a good, old-fashioned party. Carnivale is a city-wide festival that pretty much everyone gets into, and many residents take the entire week off so they can enjoy all the festivities. With events ranging from impromptu street parties, free live musical performances, food stands, themed club nights, adult lounges with kink shows, and topped off with a massive party parade, the holiday has a lot to offer for anyone who likes to sing, dance, and show some skin!

i. street parties and food

One of the staples of the Carnivale festival is the spontaneous street parties and food trucks and carts. It's not unusual during the holiday to turn a corner and run into a group of people dressed in bright colors and sequins having an impromptu party with a few drinks, and then be invited to join right in! Carnivale is a celebration of music as well as summer, so most shops and stalls will be blasting danceable music into the streets to facilitate these little street parties - it's considered a sign of good luck for the owner of a business if an impromptu Carnivale celebration starts up in front of their door.

Considering the proliferation of street parties and people out and about to celebrate the warmer weather, local business owners also take to the streets. Food carts, stands, and trucks pop up on almost every street corner offering a wide variety of food from savory treats to sweet desserts. Many of the carts are offering one free item to anyone dressed up for Carnivale - anything shimmery, shiny, or brightly colored will do!

ii. live musical performances

One of the major roads in the city center has been completely roped off for the entire week, and all along this street, various temporary stages have been set up, each with a nice hefty sound system. Volunteers hand out printed flyers, and digital boards are set up here and there with schedules of various performances that are all free to attend, ranging from well-known popular music artists to new up-and-comers or independent artists who are looking to make a name for themselves. This event is very widely advertised around the city, and is accepting entries until the very last minute.

At couple of the acts might be familiar faces to some of the residents.

Eichi Tenshouin has signed up himself and his friend Tsumugi Aoba into the music festival as a first-time appearing idol unit called "Higanbana." Dressed in all white with splashes of color (blue, largely, with only their headsets being a red spider lily), they carry a very commanding and angelic image together. They'll have a routine that emphasizes their great harmony with each other, taking turns doing solo lines and joining together to show off each of their talents. Singing and dancing, they interact heavily with the audience and will encourage a lot of involvement with speaking between songs and gestures, winks, and so on. Basically, they intend to make this Riverview's very first prominent "idol performance".

For his performance, Otabek Altin will start with rock remixes of a few popular pop songs. He wants to make sure that it starts off with recognizable pieces for some people, and he certainly thinks it is something that could get people excited even if they don't know it. Then, it shifts into a few original songs. They are upbeat, rock songs that he put together with the intention to make people dance and move, since he is a DJ. He'll end his set with a slower piece he put together that is also an original. Through the entire performance, he's focused and quiet, though he may occasionally try and excite the crowd with a few words.

Any other player-characters who are musically inclined are more than welcome to assume their character was fit in for a performance, and can post up a top-level with a rundown of their performance to get bonus Activity Points for posting a mingle!

iii. carnivale parade

The other main attraction of Carnivale week comes on July 8th, which is a paid holiday for everyone in the city. The Carnivale Parade will be starting out by City Hall and winding through downtown in a lazy pattern so everyone in the city has a chance to see it. There will be all sorts of floats, dancers, marching bands, with all sorts of clubs, businesses, and other organizations represented. The theme is theatrical, big and showy, bright and colorful, sparkly and shiny, with loud music and lots of glitz and glamour. Observers can expect great music, excellent dancing and marching shows, neat vehicles provided by classic car clubs, the fire, police, and Perimeter Guard. They can also expect a lot of party favors, whether it's a sparkly plastic beaded necklace, a fan to take the edge off the heat, candy, popsicles, a temporary tattoo, or any number of other little treats or toys to be tossed into the crowd - some of them fit for kids and teens, others of a more 'adult' nature handed out a bit more discreetly to anyone who looks the part.

And make sure you wear your waterproof mascara - Carnivale floats have a tendency of spraying or spritzing water, both in an unspoken competition to see who can make the biggest water-refraction rainbow in the air, and to keep observers cool in the new summer heat.

iv. adult: lounges and kink exhibition

Thanks to the Carnivale tradition of showing as much skin as possible, some event organizers' minds have turned to topics of a more adult nature. In the evenings, residents may see clubs doing "lounge nights"; these adults-only events have bouncers IDing everyone at the door to ensure they're 18+. The themes may vary, from very specific niche themes like 'golden age superheroes' to broad themes like 'rainbows,' and each event is clearly marked as what it is - all-nude or clothing-optional, and can host events ranging from amateur to professional exotic dancing, food served off of nude bodies, anonymous masked hookups, or just provide a comfortable space where casual sex is encouraged with whoever happens to be around. Various legal substances can be found at these lounges, but nothing that would cause violation of consent, and every substance would be clearly labeled and have warnings to ensure that no one partakes unless they choose to. Please be sure to warn in the subject line for sexual content or drug use (since some mild party drugs are legal in Riverview).

For the weekend from July 7th-9th, there will be a kink exhibition in one of the large exhibition centers downtown, limited to characters 18+. The exhibition is a sexy adult informational convention featuring various kinks and fetishes. Whether you're into leather, latex, lace, or anything else, you'll be able to find the clothes, toys, guides, books, erotica, fiction, and a wide variety of other interesting stuff to explore. While the atmosphere is sex-positive and there are private and public (for the voyeurs and exhibitionists in the room) venues for having sex, it's definitely focused on exploration and information about different stuff to try.

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to meet new roommates, for the purpose of getting to know each other, or hit up one of the mod-posted prompts for each Communal Floor. Or if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during Carnivale, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: Roger Patterson Jr.; image ii: Syd Mead; image iii: screencap from the movie Paprika; image iv: siamon89

navigation

Comments

gamora | mcu | ota

[godslay]

i. street food shenanigans

[ Everything in the streets is loud – from the clothes to the music to the people. While it’s ridiculous and bordering dangerously close to obnoxious, Gamora is still taking the opportunity to wander the festivities and see what Carnivale happens to offer.

She hasn’t outright dressed for the event (because shimmery and shiny is not her forte by any means), her hair happens to draw the attention of a few vendors, considering the overtly vibrant magenta they seem to assume she’s done for the sake of the celebration.

Despite trying to insist that it’s purely natural and coincidental at this point, she still finds herself with a small armful of treats and wrapped desserts that she just stares at, clearly at a loss for what to do with the unfamiliar food. ]

What is all of this?

[ She decidedly doesn’t recognize a single thing she’s holding. ]

iii. who thought water was a good idea

[ She’s seen plenty of the festivities throughout the week, and though she ended up tired of it after about the third day, she does upfind herself back in the streets for the parade.

However, she’s regretting that as soon as she steps up to watch the floats go by. The fact that she finds beads tossed at her face isn’t the most annoying part about it, because just as she reaches up to catch the silly necklace, she's suddenly drenched by a spray of water before she can duck entirely out of its line of fire.

She absolutely should have stayed inside. ]

v. wildcard

ooc: i’m on plurk @poprocks, so feel free to hit me up there and we can hash out something different!

i - hey girl

[jettisons]

[Bellamy catches a glimpse of Gamora's confused expression and can't help but be a bit amused, so he wanders on over.]

It's food. You should try it.

well fancy meeting u here wink wonk

[godslay]

[ Gamora glances up to get a look at Bellamy, that completely unimpressed expression in place. ]

Yes, I can see that it's food. But I have never seen any of this specific food before.

[ Alien food is alien, okay. ]

[jettisons]

[It's Bellamy, so the unimpressed expression is endearing for him. He plucks something off the top of her food pile, some sort of disgustingly sugary fried thing.]

Me neither.

[He breaks the thing in half and hands one piece back to her.]

Try it.

[godslay]

[ She eyes the sweet like she's not entirely sure if it's poison or not, and after a few seconds of hesitation, she reaches out for the other half to examine it more closely. ]

... You try it first.

[ And then report back, obviously. ]

[jettisons]

[This close, Bellamy realizes her skin isn't painted like he first assumed, but actually green. It doesn't throw him as much as it might, considering he's met Rin, but still. Not something he's used to.

He does as she asks, though, popping his half into his mouth. After a second of thoughtful chewing, he shrugs.]

Too sweet.

[He grew up on rations and protein paste. Pretty much everything is too sweet for him.]

iii

[spellslots]

[Taako has literally no qualms about being soaked to the bone, but when he catches someone get drenched just to the side of him, the look on her face makes it pretty clear she's not pleased about this turn of events. And while normally he might've laughed and moved on, he's intrigued by the fact she's green. He's been making a point to approach any non-humans he runs into, just for the sake of a little variety, so he shimmies his way past a random stranger, and gets close enough to approach Gamora directly.]

You want a hand with that, bubbale? I can dry you off if ya want.

[Magic is helpful.]

[godslay]

[ Gamora has no idea what he just called her, but as with her usual mistrust of strangers, she just eyes Taako appraisingly. She notices his ears first, and considering she hasn't seen many (read: any) humans who have such distinct features, she finds herself slightly more curious.

So instead of disregarding the offer with a look and a potential scoff, she's willing to actually speak to him. ]

... How exactly do you intend to do that?

[ Because this is the important matter here, since it seems very few people have towels packed along for this parade. ]

[spellslots]

[He knows that look, everyone here is so paranoid (which he is, too, he just wears it differently).]

Magic, duh!

[He snaps his fingers, casting prestidigitation as he does, so that a little shower of sparks accompanies the gesture. Taako is, if nothing else, a show off.]

[godslay]

[ Gamora opens her mouth to offer all the delightful skepticism she can muster, but—

Oh, okay, that's definitely something conjured out of thin air. ]

A neat trick.

[ She's also seen more than her fair share of "tricks" lately thanks to a certain Celestial, so that doesn't do much to soothe her mistrust. ]

Your "magic" looks far more like it will catch me on fire before it dries out my clothes.

[ Sparks, after all. ]

[spellslots]

Oh, these aren't real fire, that's more my sister's wheelhouse.

[He casts it again, this time with his palm flat so the sparks fall harmlessly into his hand, not doing anything to the skin.]

It's called prestidigitation, it's kind of like the first spell magic users learn when they start out? Easy to cast, doesn't take a lot of energy, makes for a good demo spell. But I'm a transmutation wizard; water into wine, that sorta deal. Or water into air, since that'd help you more than wine.

i;

[nostalgiabomb]

[ They more or less started out wandering the loose network of parties together, sure, but at some point – given the press of people, the controlled chaos of it all, and Peter's natural inclination to wander off without telling anyone (not unlike a kid in a candy store, really) – they get separated.

Which, you know. No big deal. Communicators exist for a reason.

It's purely by happenstance that Peter's path crosses with Gamora again, and when he spots that familiar flash of green in the crowd, he smiles to himself, maneuvering through the throng. (He keeps a close eye on his pockets, of course; he knows all too well how easily a wallet can be lost in events like these.) ]

Gamora, hey—

[ Once he finally reaches her, he notices all the food she's carrying, and he nearly laughs at how— lost she looks. He surveys it all for a second, then he blinks. ]

—what the hell.

[ Then he points. ]

Where'd you get a churro?

[godslay]

[ Considering the relative controlled chaos of the streets, Gamora isn't too concerned when she loses Peter in the crowd. (Really, she half expects he was distracted by something shiny that wouldn't necessarily have caught her interest, anyway.)

The downside, however, is that means she's had plenty of time to end up with this small mound of food that she probably won't even dare to test for herself.

She opens her mouth to offer her own greeting, a brief "where did you even go?" or some kind of mild interrogation, but then she just looks down to the food in her arms and the weird... tube thing Peter is pointing at. ]

A what?

[ She has obviously never seen a churro before in her entire life, and if that's what this thing is called, she's going to take Peter's word for it.

But also: what the hell is it? ]

[nostalgiabomb]

A churro.

[ With another gesture toward the item in question.

And a split-second later, he realizes that churros are obviously not a thing for Gamora, and he explains, ]

It's, uh. Like a sweet kinda fried bread? And they coat it in sugar and cinnamon.

[ ... which, again, might mean nothing to Gamora, which is why he hastens to add, ]

They're good. Like, really good. I promise. Try it.

[godslay]

[ Gamora lifts the churro by the small paper wrap it sits inside, reluctant to touch the sprinkling of sugar and spice that's clinging to the dough (because it looks messy).

And then instead, she offers it to Peter. ]

If you already enjoy them, you try it.

[ She knows how long it's been since he's had Terran food regularly, and while it's been more accessible in Quarantine, she's still offering it as something of a gesture.

... She's trying to be nice, okay? ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Okay, well. If that's the case, Peter will gladly take it from her. But, you know, slowly, so it doesn't seem like he was just waiting for her to hand it over.

(Even though he kind of was. At least a little.) ]

You're missing out, man.

[ And he immediately bites off a piece, letting out a sigh. ]

Oh my god— [ Around the mouthful. Apparently a Ravager upbringing means he has shitty table manners. Who knew? ] —I loved these things as a kid.

[ Apparently he still loves them, considering he's biting off another piece. He gives the food in her arms another glance. ]

So what's all that about?

i.

[striketwice]

[ There's all sorts of people running around, but a literal green lady is kind of eye catching, especially when she looks so out of her depth. ]

What, they don't have food where you're from?

[godslay]

[ Gamora is probably going to try to find someone to pawn all of this food off onto, but for the moment, she's distracted by Alex and his delightful sarcasm. ]

Because clearly food looks the same everywhere in the universe.

[ Or "universes," as the case may be. ]

[striketwice]

Doesn’t it? That’s what I learned from TV.

[ That’s a load of bullshit, but Alec will never turn down the opportunity to screw with someone. ]

[godslay]

Your world must be very small.

[ Her tone is bland, flat, but she lifts up some weird round thing with the tips of her fingers, some of the powdered sugar dusting off onto the ground. ]

All of this is so messy.

[striketwice]

In my defense, I thought there was only one world until I got here.

[ But that’s neither here nor there, really. ]

If you don’t want it, give it away. Just be all “free snacks” and pawn it off on people. It’ll get eaten.

V

[greatflame]

[As an avid bookworm, it's less than a day before Max gets his hands on a book after he's arrived. He's picked out a book of fairy tales like his favorite book back home; this one isn't the exact same one, but it's got at least most of his favorite stories and it's enough of a retelling of them that it's keeping him interested.

He's outside on the shared balcony with his nose stuck in his book, his siblings doing something or another, when a lady walks out that... has green skin. Not used to seeing someone with green skin, Max stares at her with wide eyes.]

[godslay]

[ Gamora likes the relative privacy of her apartment with Peter. There's something refreshing about the space itself; while it isn't large, it offers a reprieve from practically living on top of each other as the team had done on board the Milano. And if she focuses on that, it's easier for her to think less about how much she misses the rest of the Guardians.

It is, however, nice not to be alone.

The balcony also offers more than she might have expected, and the view is pleasant, quiet and usually fairly unoccupied, with a few of the Carnivale festivities off in the distance. She's not used to wandering out while someone else already occupies the space, though, and Max draws her attention almost immediately – which means she catches him staring. ]

Has no one told you it's rude to stare at people?

[ ... But, because he's a kid, her tone lacks the edge of annoyance she might have had otherwise. She seems more bemused than anything. ]

[greatflame]

Sorry. [Max apologies immediately, averting his eyes for a moment and ducking his head almost sheepishly back into his book, but then he looks back up at her again in curiosity.] I've just never seen someone who looks like you before.

[godslay]

You are not the first to be surprised by it.

[ She doesn't blame him, really. It seems a lot of the people in Quarantine have never seen species with such wildly different skintones. ]