riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: carnivale

Entry tags:

introductory mingle: carnivale

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

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That’s how it had been for Illya, too. He’d seen the information, barely even glanced at it. But he’s just a curious man (by nature and also out of necessity because of his job), so really he was doomed from the start to end up paying the place at least a visit. If only for curiosity’s sake.

He should have probably given a little more thought at people meeting him in this place, but it’s not like he’s… exactly ashamed. He tends to change the subject when it comes to sex, and he sees it as something to enjoy in private, but if they see him here is because they are here themselves so it’s not like anyone is going to judge.

So when he spots Re-L, he doesn’t try to hide from her or pretend not to know her. He actually walks over to her, because he enjoyed their last conversation.

“Re-L.” He says with a nod as a greeting. “I see you’re trying things out.”

She's already recited her list of excuses if anyone asks why she's here or why she has a bag - she's in for someone too young to be in, etcetera etcetera, or quite simply - none of anyone's business. Perhaps if she weren't so jealous of her own privacy things wouldn't be so zealously protected, and there wouldn't be a need for excuse making, but... it was what it was, really. She's twenty years old, and there's no harm in seeing things she'd never have seen in her life back in the Dome, even if it might mean trying to explain away to people who may have.. not expected to see her there. What, with the typically covered outfit and severe outer demeanor.

Thankfully he doesn't come with questions, though what he does say is met with an iffy motion of hands, unsure about what she's actually settled on trying.

Of course, the woman strapping her in only seems to have praises for how small she's gotten her, though... Re-L's expression doesn't seem convinced. "Well, I thought it would be the least revealing thing I could try on the floor, for one. Not that there's much to hide, just.. that's not particularly my style. Now that I'm in it, I'm beginning to regret having a large lunch, for one, and for two... " She tips her head at herself in the mirror, seemingly very critical of the reflection in it, and then looks to him again.

"Don't you think it's a little... mmn.. too small of a waist? I feel like I could snap in half if someone bumped in to me."

Illya is definitely not going to ask unless he has no other option. For once this is completely her business- she may look young, but if she was allowed entrance then she’s obviously old enough so she’s free to do whatever she wishes. Who is he to judge, when he’s visiting the exact same expo? He may be stubborn and kind of a jerk sometimes but he’d rather not be known as a hypocrite.

And if he asks her she may ask him back, and he honestly has no good answer other than ‘I was just curious’, so he would rather avoid that conversation altogether.

“It’s still… fairly revealing.” Says Illya, who’d been doing his best to keep on looking at Re-L’s eyes while talking. Coming from the past as he does he’s extremely old school at times, so he’s had to adapt to women revealing as much as they want but he’s still not exactly comfortable with it. Still she’s right in saying that for all the things she could have been wearing, this is some of the least revealing.

“I agree with you, though. It looks far too small.” He glances at the saleswoman. “Can she even breathe?”

"Really? Compared to some of the other things walking around here?" Though nudity hadn't been something worth note in her home world - the way in which people achieved it here was still.. interesting. Ropes, leather.. things she'd never even necessarily entertained in her life. Everything she'd ever had a chance to see had been artistic or scientific - not put on display for the simple bid of just doing it. It makes Riverview at least slightly interesting, even if it wasn't really her style to traipse around half (or completely) naked for no other reason than to show off.

She admires that kind of freedom, but it's not appealing enough to try. No matter how many times she's ever heard how perfectly she'd been made.

"Well, pulling in the waist is part of the point. It's just that I'm already so small.." The saleswoman makes a quick explanation that she'd have to adjust her breathing, of course, though.. the explanation doesn't really seem to sit well with Re-L. It's restricting, and she has no idea how anyone accomplishes anything in these things. Experimentally she tries to take a deep breath and fails spectacularly, immediately a bit grim faced about it.

"How is this even entertaining to wear for fun if you can't breathe?"

Illya gives her a hint of a smile. It’s not often he’s amused by anyone but apparently Re-L’s sudden indignation at not being able to properly breathe does it for him.

“As far as I know none of this is about being comfortable, though I figure there will be some people who are specifically into that. It’s about looking appealing to yourself and your partner.” He motions at a nearby mirror, for Re-L to look at herself.

“And I guess some people find an even tinier waist appealing. Do you like how it looks?”

"Then maybe that's my problem - I want to be able to take a full breath." Granted, someone could take her out of this thing, but with all the fuss involved in getting it on in the first place? Possibly not worth it for a few moments show before she was asking someone to unlace her before she died of lack of oxygen. There's really no certain person for her to have in mind to please, either, this entire venture a thing of curiosity, but...

The look on her face doesn't get any better once she sees herself in the mirror, either.

"Honestly? I think I look like you could snap me in half if you put me over your knee." She means like breaking fire wood or something, but... well. Read in as you please Illya. Plus, the whole not being able to breathe thing is getting more than annoying, and she signals for the saleswoman to begin taking her out.

"I can't take this thing anymore."

The phrasing does make him raise an eyebrow and he glances at her, but after spending enough time with Taako he knows he himself has a tendency to make innuendo without meaning to. And it’s clear to him she didn’t mean to, so he lets it go without commenting on it, just a slight blush on his neck.

“Again, I’m sure some people would be into that.” Illya wouldn’t really be into being able ot break her. Putting her over his knee, however… it wouldn’t be the first time he teases a woman about that.

He looks away when the saleswoman begins getting her out of the waist cincher, giving her some modicum of privacy (which may be a little silly, considering where they are). He continues talking to her, even while looking elsewhere.

“What are you looking for? Something to incite someone, specifically?”

"Well I'm sure considering some of the things I've seen around here ..." none of which she'd ever really seen before if she's totally honest. Such was the way of living a very sheltered life in a very sheltered dome, living a life in the lap of luxury even if it was suffocating. Still, bending someone over the knee seems tame compared to some of the light bondage and everything else she'd given a passing glance to. She couldn't help herself - she wanted to pay no attention to it but it's a little difficult.

She appreciates any movements to preserve her privacy, even if they're not really showing anything entirely embarrassing and.. well, she's not ashamed of herself if she's at all honest. It's fine, either way, and soon enough she's back to her normal waist size and able to breathe normally as well, giving a sigh of relief.

Illya's question, however, is met with a little chuckle and a shake of her head "no" - making sure she has all of her things before taking a place beside him.

"No, no one in particular. Just sort of... wanted to see what was out here."

Illya simply nods. He hasn’t been here long enough to see what she’s talking about, she’s only seen a few stands but he’s seen enough… ‘offers’, and enough nearly-naked people to guess what she’s talking about. He doesn’t think he’s going to spend much time in this place, he’s never been all that comfortable with sex being discussed openly because to him it should be a pretty private thing. But he’s going to gather as much information as he’s able to while he’s here.

Plus he admits sometimes he does enjoy the views.

“Same as me, there.” He motions at the clincher. “I figure that was a failed experiment, then. But-” He hesitates. Since he’s been here he’s learned that women sometimes don’t take kindly to what he sees as protective behaviour because it’s actually fairly condescending. He’s working on it. So he doesn’t know how to say that a woman wandering this kind of place alone may not be completely safe. So he says the next best thing.

“Would you like some company, while we both look?”

She'd be flattered by some of the offers she's gotten if half of them weren't a little too direct for her liking. Not many people around here mince words with what they want and like, and while that may typically be a trait that Re-L appreciates in other people, it's not quite the same when it's worded more like "well you wouldn't be a two hander, with long fingers like that" and etcetera. Too much all at once only serves to drive away any interest she may have had.

"It was, yes. But I went in thinking that it may be, so no disappointment here." She's long and small enough - no help needed - particularly not if it's going to restrict breathing. It's all kind of important, in the end. Air most of all, ability to move second. Re-L's head tips slightly to the side as he trails off, a brow arching sharply as he moves on without elaboration.

Typically people censor themselves for one reason or another, but, she's too damn curious -

"But what?" Nope, not getting away with that one, this time. She takes a sweeping look around after his offer, as if scaling the room, the people -

"Why not. Though don't think my presence will stop anyone from offering you any number of things."

Illya shrugs. When he’s on high alert he is very careful with his words and how he phrases things, especially when he’s using a language that isn’t his own. But right now he’s just having what is meant to be a friendly conversation with someone he’s getting to know, so he’s not surprised she nudges him when she notices him trailing off.

“I know how to let people know I’m not interested.” By glaring at them, mostly. “But I was just wondering- you’re pretty. And a woman. Just wondering if it’s safe for someone like you to wander this places alone- what if someone doesn’t take no for an answer?”

"I thought I did, but some are very insistent." Well, really, it's not typically hard for a darkly dressed, tall girl with very sharp eye shadow and honed glares to make her way through any crowd without incident. She's grown used to it, over time, how easy it is to part a crowd with a look and an intention, but she's also too used to the people of Romdeau who were all too happy to make room for anyone just because. At times the challenge is a little eye opening, but mostly... annoying as all hell.

His concerns seems to confuse her, slightly, though, head tipping to the side and brows knitting slightly in a way that suggests she's never considered it in that way. One of the few bonuses of living in a society where emotions and all things sexual had been deemed unnecessary a long time ago - she's not really versed in any cultural associations to woman in particular. "For one, I'm can assure you that even a pretty woman like myself knows how to take care of anyone in my space when I don't want them to be."

She pauses, lingering a gaze on someone lingering in her space (her 'bubble' tends to be somewhat large, by the by) before turning blue eyes back to him. "For two, it helps when you're permitted to carry a gun."

Illya raises a surprised eyebrow, but simply nods. He isn’t sure why he’s surprised at this point, most people who don’t have any kind of power seem to carry around a weapon with them, so of course Re-L would as well. And of course bringing them into a place like this, where people make sexual advances to others should be second nature. He hasn’t seen anyone be forceful and he doubts he will, they seem to care about consent a lot in this place, but it never hurts to be careful. He is, however, surprised that she would be as paranoid as he is.

“I believe you’re able to handle it.” There were female KGB agents, after all. It’s not his preference to put women in danger, but he knows that’s different now in the... future. “But you will get less advances if I am with you.”

A long pause, as he looks around. A woman is definitely waiting for him to be done talking to Re-L to approach him already.

“And so will I. I’m here to learn things, and the constant offers...” He shakes his head. They make him want to retreat back into himself.

"Are you really so sure?" She gives him on of those sizing looks, as if asking why anyone would have to worry about him giving them hell, or something to that effect, even if she does't verbally say it. Of course, she doesn't know him from anyone else - he could be like Vincent with a few surprises up his sleeve. Who knew. She should know by now not to underestimate anyone quiet and unassuming - she's seen first hand that it may not be entirely true when push came to shove quite a few times by now. He might surprise her.

Either way she's ready to move, gesturing for him to take the lead, if that's what he wants. Her eyes linger on the woman who's clearly waiting, raising a brow at her as if asking why she isn't over here already if she rally wants to be, but amused by it all the same. She's not one to mince words, at least, gesturing for Illya toward her. "Oh, look, I've already got a certain effect on your chances."

She doesn't mind a little teasing when it comes down to it, honestly - especially not where there's already a little flustering happening. "You act like you're here on a mission. Is there someone you're looking to impress?"

Illya shakes his head. He’s never been particularly romantic (though romance does sneak up on him at times). And while he does have interest in sex or he wouldn’t be here it’s never on the forefront of his mind. So no, he doesn’t have anyone specific he’s trying to impress.

“My mission would be to learn as much as I can, I suppose.” He shrugs one shoulder, pretending very intensely that he doesn’t notice the girl who seems… slightly disappointed, but not enough to force an introduction when Illya is very clearly not interested. She will find someone else to make offers to, Illya’s sure so he’s not particularly worried about it.

“And yes, I am sure. It’s just statistics. I am tall and I can come across as intimidating. Especially if I actually want to intimidate them. So if you’d like to walk with me we could both walk without being bothered.”

"Mission, hm?" A mission seems a bit serious for a place like this, but then again, it wasn't all that long ago that Re-L was the exact same way. Without a mission, or progress on a mission, she'd nearly driven herself to the brink in the Rabbit... for just about nothing. Life was funny, that way. She'd learned a bit of patience through irritating herself thoroughly, Vincent and an autoreiv. Daedalus would've laughed at her for it, too.

"That sounds like bent odds, if I'm being honest." Re-L, as always, just sort of likes to question things. Even better if it might sort of challenge Illya in the slightest, since he seems so convicted in the idea that he would deter people. Not that she doubted him, just, you know. No proof until proven.

"Either way, I don't mind. We'll see if you're a deterrent after all, hm?"

That’s the way Illya sees life, really. Everything is a mission, everything has a purpose and he has to have a reason for every single little thing he does. That’s how he grew up, basically how he has raised and it’s going to be really hard for him to change.

“It sounds like my own experience, but you’re welcome to take notes as prove me wrong.” He says, with the tone people get when they aren’t afraid of being challenged. He knows he may not intimidate literally everyone, especially not in this place where there are things like aliens and superpowers and robots. But he knows he’s objectively intimidating to most people so he has no doubts he’s going to keep a lot of people away from Re-L if she doesn’t want them around. Though she doesn’t seem particularly worried. He doesn’t know much from her past, but he does know it was pretty unconventional so he shouldn’t be surprised she seems unbothered by all this.

“What would you like to check? I was interested in the books, personally.”

"We'll have to see how it goes." Naturally, she's not going to take notes if she ends up being wrong. Just, somehow, she thinks that there may be a few men and women here who are the bolder type. Maybe the proposition them together or.. well.. just that they don't care and want to make the offer even if it gets them in to a little bit of a row with someone else. There were, always, people who were bold enough for that, after all. It was just the way of the world.

She's also got a hell of a poker face, Illya. That's a part of it, too. Some of what she's seen brings back a rather visceral reaction deep down, most not at all sexual or sexy. Absolutely all of it, however, is new : there's no need for things like this when emotions and sexuality aren't an acknowledged thing, really. That makes about enough sense, right?

"Looking for something for the coffee table?" She knows that's more than likely a no, but... couldn't resist the opportunity.

"I didn't have anything particular in mind. I was sort of wandering aimlessly until I was sucked in to the whole trying to shrink my waist even further bit.. I wouldn't mind doing the same and seeing what there is to see."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

introductory mingle: carnivale

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