riverviewlogs | monthly mingle: CARNIVALE

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: monthly mingle: carnivale
when: the month of july
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 two large parades on July 8th and July 9th.

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 two massive party parades, 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.

So jump in and stomp around in a mosh pit or just dance around in the streets, let yourself get lost in the music and the summer heat!

Any 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 and children's parade

The other main attraction of Carnivale week comes on the weekend of July 8th and 9th, which are paid holiday days for everyone in the city. There are two parades, the Carnivale Parade on July 8th, and the Children's Parade on July 9th.

Both parades will start out by City Hall and wind through downtown in a lazy pattern so everyone in the city has a chance to see them. There will be all sorts of floats, dancers, marching bands, with all sorts of clubs, businesses, and other organizations represented. 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.

The Carnivale Parade on Saturday has a more adult tone to it, and party favors thrown may be toys or gag gifts of a more adult nature suitable for older teens and grown-ups. The floats are more risqué and the people in the parade show more skin, dance more provocatively, and there are wet T-shirts, occasional flashing, and other things that might not be suitable for children. The theme is theatrical, big and showy, bright and colorful, sparkly and shiny, with loud music and lots of glitz and glamour.

Geared toward children and younger teens, the Children's Parade is on Sunday and generally more low-key, with more of a cartoony than glitzy theme. The Children's Parade will have more conservative floats, with bright colors, juggling and dancing, and mascot costumes. Party favors will lean more toward candy and temporary tattoos, rainbow pinwheels, and small toys. Keep an eye out for floats with pop performers and for popular cartoons in the city!

And make sure you wear your waterproof mascara - Carnivale and Children's Parade 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

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).

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 during Carnivale, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: Roger Patterson Jr.; image ii: Jie He; image iii: Aaron Walker; image iv: Lewis Monson

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Okay, Alex loves random food. She can't help it, she loves it so she's taking all of these food carts to be some sort of sign from heaven. Balancing a cardboard container of fried oreos covered in powdered sugar with a couple of forks sticking out of it, Alex just stopped at Breq's question and gives her a broad grin.]

Sure, I'd be glad too. Let's call it a split. Have you tried the fried oreos?

[Lifting up the cardboard by way of gesture to it, she just asked:]

What did they force on you?

I have not.

[She doesn't even know what an oreo is, though a quick glance over at the cardboard in Alex's hand gives her some hint that it's at least not too far beyond the kinds of food she's used to.

She holds up a little bundle of bamboo leaves tied with string, opened slightly to show the innards.]

Rice with some sort of filling.

They're like a fried sandwich cookie!

[Alex explains quickly before she looks at the rice and smiles.]

I think rice with a filling always tends to work out pretty well, no matter what culture it's from. It's kind of universally good on earth.

A split, then.

[Breq's expression doesn't change from its neutral set, but she hesitates ever so slightly before taking one of the cookies and biting off a piece. Another half second of hesitation, then she observes,]

They are extremely sweet.

Yeah they are. They are definitely a 'sometimes when things are really terrible or you're at a fair' food. I can't imagine eating them more than that.

[Of course she's going to feel terrible in a few days when it hits her system how many of them she's had during the festival, but that, as they say is a problem for future Alex and not her.

Taking a bite of the cookie, Alex just closed her eyes for a moment and smiled.]

I swear, crazy and stoned people invented these, but I do love them.

They seem to me like the sort of thing a child would delight to live off of. These are the sort of thing you're familiar with from your own world?

[Her experience with children may be limited, but even Breq knows that sweets are the perfect bribe for a recalcitrant child.

She finishes off her own cookie, and finds herself glad that she's saved the bamboo-wrapped rice bundle for second.]

Well, I suppose they could try to live off them, but if you eat too many of them you'll definitely want to curl into a ball and die.

[Not... that she's done it or anything no.]

But yeah, it's definitely a fun time carnival sort of food and not an every day thing. God, the kids would just have heart attacks from it.

[That doesn't at all sound like the voice of experience talking. At least Breq doesn't look judgemental about it!]

Where I'm from, festivals are often an excuse to buy fresh fruit.

Yeah? Any kinds of fresh fruit or do you have things that go with specific times of year and seasons or whatever?

[Alex is a white girl hipster. Her thought has definitely gone to pumpkin spice lattes. It's a problem.]

The season, the planet, the ship or station's horticultural facilities, if there are any. Dredgefruit are a common choice the Radch over, in climates that will support them.

[Sorry, Alex, no pumpkin spice here. Think more like pears.]

Dredgefruit?

[You'll need to forgive the face Alex makes, Breq. It is an unfortunate name for a fruit.]

What does it taste like?

[It is, but not one that Breq's ever given much thought to. Lots of things that humans have named are a bit weird.]

Sweet, and very juicy. The flesh is white, with a slightly grainy texture.

[Well, that definitely sounds familiar!]

Oh! Kind of like a pear. Have you had pears here yet? We definitely should get you one, because they sound a lot alike.

Perhaps. Some of the stalls aren't especially good about labeling their wares.

[Breq looks down at the plate that is the remnants of the shared oreos.]

If they're not fried, like everything else.

Nah, I've definitely seen them not fried! I promise I don't normally eat like a five year old gone amuck.

[Just went she's working a lot and lives off of coffee and pastries and things of that nature.]

They're normally green or brown and are bottom heavy?

I can't imagine the taste if they were, but the vendors don't seem to have compunctions about what they do.

[She nods, and holds out a hand, using her thumb and index finger to indicate a size.] About that large.

Hmm. Oh!

[Alex just pulls out her device and looks up pears, and then shows the picture to Breq.]

They look like this!

[Breq looks it over, then nods, with a little sound of understanding.]

Something like, yes. With thicker, browner skin when they're ripe.

[She pulls out her own device to search for a little while, before coming up with an image of something a bit closer to a Bosc Pear to show Alex.]

Oh! Yeah, we definitely have those I think.

[And Alex is going to google Bosc pears, and show Breq the similarities excitedly.

Look, if someone could give her actual Seattle coffee, she'd die a happy gal. So, she's pleased that she can help with something close to something from home.]

monthly mingle: CARNIVALE

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