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

navigation

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

i. Street Parties
Dave is only in his element if a party is twenty or less people that he knows intimately. He's celebrated a lot over the past few years, the role of Creator of the Universe comes with a little bit of honor and gratitude. Plus, everyone is having fucking birthdays all the time. Every. Damn. Year.

He's not really sure what to do at a party this big, of this scale. He's in that state of being where he just doesn't know what he wants to do with his hands (in the pockets, out of the pockets, fiddling with the beads of his necklace). The closest he gets to dancing is the White Boy Bop, which consists of a little head-bobbing and some uncomfortable shoulder shimmies. It's only when he's really feeling a jam that he grants it the honor of this timeless dance.

Once he's had his fill of pretending to know how to be a human, he tucks himself away in a visible but inconspicuous nook with a sketch-pad and pencils. He has a lot of work to do, given his new role of writer/story-boarder for the local cartoon network. His brow is furrowed when he sketches, as if it's the next Mona Lisa here. If anyone gets close enough to look, they'll see it's a poorly drawn version of the Sistine Chapel's famous works, mostly consisting of people who look like this.

iv. sexhibition
Dave turned twenty a few months ago, but he has yet to truly embrace the "adult" life. At least, in his opinion, his life has been pretty tepid thus far. He wills himself to wander into the exhibit like he belongs there, trying not to look visibly perplexed by some of the shit he comes across. He's no stranger to kinky shit, he's friends with weird aliens and he grew up on the internet and with a guardian who never tried to hide his puppet pornography business from him. Some shit, though..

He takes a moment to glance at furry pamphlets and paraphernalia, aching for Jade to be here to enjoy it with him (so he can make fun of her, that's the only reason). Eventually he moves onto the leather looks, and feels offended that there are things he would casually wear among articles of hot garbage.

He pulls out a particular outfit from the rack, to raise his brows and get a better look and comment on it. "Just a little something I slipped on to pick up the kids." He holds it against himself, momentarily, before he grows concerned that someone might mistake sarcasm for sincerity and slips it back.

iv. lounges
Once again, the bravado of believing he belongs here is what leads Dave to a club. Sure. The legal drinking age in America is 21, but America is a festering crater in the remains of earth now. He starts with a drink that sounds manly, doesn't enjoy it, abandons it and winds up with "whatever has apple in it" which is an appletini. As if he needs a big I'm not straight beacon pointed upon him.

Not that it should matter. He knows that. He just feels like he looks like his mother.

He's just buzzed enough to join in if he's asked to dance, but it's the Return of the White Boy Bop with a Little More Knee Movement. The buzz wears off when he realises he dances like a baby giraffe, and he retires himself to one of the lounges to try look sophisticated and not like he just tapped himself of the court.

Edited 2017-07-06 10:55 (UTC)

Kaneki certainly doesn't look or feel comfortable with the festivities at all. Not only he's surrounded by food, but he is surrounded by people as well and Kaneki is not used to people or crowds or being surrounded. He comes to these things because as awkward and antisocial as he is, he sort of hopes to see a familiar face among the new arrivals, and these places are also great for that.

He certainly doesn't dance and he certain doesn't pretend he knows how to human, and prefers to stay away from the confusion as much as possible, ending up close to Dave. He notices the other sketching, and finally noticing what he is drawing, Kaneki comments softly "That's an interesting style."

Naturally, Dave doesn't notice he's being watched. Why would he? He's blending perfectly into the scenery of this big, sweaty festival by sitting off to the side doing the opposite of what almost everyone else is doing.

When Kaneki comments, softly as it is, Dave straightens upward in surprise and quickly tries to recover by looking casual. He peers upward at Kaneki over his aviators.

"Wow, didn't think I'd find another fan of neo-traditonal-avant-garde-cartoon works here." He's talking out his ass a little. "Are you into art?"

Neo-traditional what..............?

Kaneki definitively looks awkward when he hears that because he has no idea what it means, but Dave mentioned cartoons, so it's probably a bit about art? He wants to believe that. But the next question, kaneki gets.

He smiles and shakes his head a bit. "I'm not a very good artist." ~~it's actually a lie~~ "I just sketch here and there when I'm not reading."

To Kaneki's credit, Dave is just using random words to make up a style. None of it relates to the weird shit he's drawing right now. Not really, anyway.

"Yeah, can't relate. I'm an amazing artist." He says that very dryly. "Are you enjoying the party? I feel like you aren't enjoying the party."

Kaneki will never ask because Kaneki just assumes it's something from Dave's world. Sure, it must be. Also the art-style - it's weird, but can he really judge?

"Hm- well, I'm not really used to crowds. Or loud music. Or parties in general" introvert is the word. "I came because I was trying to find people from my world among the newcomers. "

"Yeah, same." He doesn't soften the harshness of his tone, but he totally understands how Kaneki feels and he sympathises.

"I'm not really into parties either, but I just gpt here so it felt like social suicide to turn down the opportunity." He shrugs. Kaneki will find he does that a lot. "I haven't found anyone from my world either. Maybe we should exchange identifying traits so we can hit each other up if we meet someone."

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anthropophagite - 2017-07-17 16:07 (UTC) - Expand

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chumpelstiltskin - 2017-07-19 02:25 (UTC) - Expand

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anthropophagite - 2017-07-19 14:04 (UTC) - Expand

Kate didn't know what to think of this place or it's party. She wants to say that it's better than being dead but Kate really doesn't know that for sure. When she'd first woken up here she thought that she'd been in heaven. After that her thoughts darkened until she realized that she'd been in the hospital.

They released her with a clean bill of heath but she couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable in her own body. It felt like it belonged to someone else. With her thoughts heavily weighed she wandered through the party, pausing only when she saw a glimpse of the sketchpad and the little doodled characters.

When she realized that she'd been staring she blinks and looks up at the boy drawing them. "Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to stare. Are you tired of the party already?" She certainly was. She never liked big gatherings and she liked them less after her adventure at Twisters. To many people in one place was usually unpleasant.

Oblivious to the world around him, Dave has absolutely no idea he's being watched. Alright, maybe he has an inkling. In the way anyone does when they feel they're being watched without being fully aware.

He glances upward, over his aviators, when he realises he's being spoken to. All of a sudden, he feels like he's sticking out like a sore thumb here, but he tries not to act like he cares too much.

"Man, I was tired of it when I got here." He says, with a shrug. "You know when you haven't done something in a while? Like. I dunno, when you think you might like brussel sprouts because hating them was just the done thing when you're a kid. So you go buy this big bag of brussel sprouts and you cook them and you lift that fork up to your lips, like it's the god damn moment of truth, and you realise- shit. Brussel sprouts do suck. It's not conditioning, they're just lame." He shifts around, so he's properly facing her and not hunched over his sketchpad. "That's how I feel about parties."

Not that he's gone to a party that hasn't been a small thing with close friends for years now. He doesn't even consider those parties.

His comparison brought a smile to Kate's lips. "I actually like brussel sprouts." She laughed softly, trying to hide her smile with her the palm of her hand. She had never been very picky about her food. She considered what she had been given a blessing and usually ate without complaint. "But I get what you mean. I'm not a fan of big parties either." Though probably for a different reason. "It's hard to get around the streets with everything going on."

She glanced to their left and right before facing Dave.

"I didn't interrupt did I?" She didn't want to make him stop drawing if that's what he was enjoying. Kate was having trouble keeping herself focused and aware of everything going on. She had a lot on her mind.

"Right, well that throws the metaphor way out." Is metaphor the right word? Suddenly he's full of doubt. He moves on easily enough when she laughs and smiles, because evidently something there landed.

"Yeah, it's kind of a weird introduction. I pretty much just got here, just got a job and started working and suddenly everyone is kicking off early and dancing and day drinking. Kind of blew my expectations out of the water, that's for sure." Dave shuts the book when she asks if she's interrupting, so she doesn't get the wrong impression.

"This? Nah. It's just garbage I'm working on for the hell of it." He shrugs. "I'm Dave, by the way."

Kate didn't mind the comparison. It was a cute and fun way to describe things. That, and she was pretty sure that she was the exception, not the rule, when it came to liking brussel sprouts. Her brother had hated them and would go through great lengths not to eat them.

"What job did they give you?" She didn't have a job. The welcoming committee had asked her if she'd like to be placed in one but Kate felt too out of sorts to think of a place where she'd belong. She hadn't considered having a normal job and now... she didn't know what she wanted to do. Before she had wanted to go to college but even then she didn't know what she wanted to study.

She had opted to take the time to find a job herself. There was a whole city for her to get to know.

"Kate." She introduced herself with another warm smile. "Do you draw a lot?"

"I'm Dave." His smile isn't warm and it's barely there, but he's not not smiling. It's been an experience, muddling his way through a conversation with someone he hasn't met before for the first time in a long time.

"They gave me a job in a cartoon network, so I guess now I'm contractually obligated to draw a lot. That's just about the only qualification for the job I have too." He's feeling a little overwhelmed by everything, if it isn't obvious.

"Where are you from, by the way? Feels weird to ask, but- Earth?"

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littlemisskate - 2017-07-19 15:52 (UTC) - Expand

Yuuri wasn't the one who technically asked the guy to dance. But he was on the dance floor, swaying his hips in decidedly far more graceful movements than White Boy Bop when he glanced over and saw that train wreck of a dance move. Sober Yuuri probably wouldn't go out clubbing like this much, but comfortably drunk Yuuri was happy to dance out in public. More than that, he was happy to offer wise words of wisdom.

By now, he was only wearing his black boxer briefs, but like, that was just how things went sometimes. At least he still had his socks on at this point and that was something worth crediting him for. Not everyone knew how to keep their socks on, okay.

He wound up shimmying over to Dave, smiling at him drunkenly just the slightest bit.

"Do you need help? You sort of look like you could use help." He gestured vaguely over all of Dave's uh- everything.

Dave has observed many people in various states of undress throughout the evening, but this is probably the closest he's gotten to the least dressed person so far.

Somehow, it makes his dancing more awkward. He tries to smile back, politely, but it mostly looks like he's pulling a weird face at Yuuri.

"Why, do I look like I'm having a stroke?" Dave adds a little more flail, then promptly stops because why the fuck did he just do that?

"There's no helping me. Save yourself."

That was fairly impressive, actually, but not surprising. At least Yuuri wasn't naked yet. That would probably happen further on in the evening. Truthfully, he was barely even aware that he'd already lost most of his clothes. Oops?

The beauty of drunk people was that Yuuri was oblivious to how awkward Dave actually was. His polite smile only warranted Yuuri smiling bigger back at him.

Then he kind of laughs, bright, and shrugs. "Not really but you look like you slept wrong. Just."

Yuuri stiffens up his own body and kind of jerks it back and forth in a pretty decent mock of what Dave was doing. Then he loosened up.

"No, no. I can- trust me. If anyone can help, it's me. I'm a professional," he explains but of course, coming from a drunken source, this sounded like total bullshit.

"Woah, woah, you're telling me there's a right way to sleep?" Dave does the back up gestures with his hands, in jest. Then he does a little half-smile. He's not great at the whole grinning and laughing thing.

"You're a professional dancer?" Dave says, with a raised brow. He then leans down, his voice low but still loud enough to be heard over the music. "Are you a stripper? You can tell me if you're a stripper." The realisation hits him, he just called some guy he just met a stripper. He's not sure if it's even insulting, maybe some people think it is, he's not sure how to progress now.

"Supposedly?" he offers weakly, his own awkwardness sliding through for a fraction of a second. It isn't long lived. Tequila smothered all. Maybe not great at grinning, no, but it has Yuuri smiling wider because he feels personally like he achieved something? Sort of?

The specific question has Yuuri blinking owlishly at Dave, his mouth hanging open for a second. He's pretty drunk but not drunk enough that he doesn't blush at that question the slightest bit. "Um. Well. Technically I'm a professional figure skater but I've always been a little better at dancing?"

He's rambling a bit and some part of him wonders why a complete stranger would even care. His hands fidget through the air and finally he just sort of laughs.

"And I mean. I do know how to pole dance pretty well. It's a form of dancing too, after all." It wasn't even really insulting. If anything it was a little flattering that he seemed like he could be a stripper in the first place

"OH. Shit. Figure skating, are you an Olympian or something?" For someone who doesn't particularly care about sports, he's suddenly extremely impressed.

"See, that's not fair. I came to this dancefloor with no dance experience. Not even jigging." He shakes his head, faux somber about his lack of experience. "Why don't you show me some sick moves, and I'll pretend to put effort into copying them."

[ All the festivities have been a little overwhelming, particularly the parts for adults. Some participants were a little too aggressive for his taste and eventually he ducked out entirely, escaping for some quiet(er) corner he could tuck himself into, slip his headphones on and tune out. But before he can even turn on his music, he hears a beat thumping. It's confusing at first, and for a moment he thinks his headphones weren't working properly until he pulls them down to hang around his neck.

Led by the sound, he enters one of the lounges. The mood is still pretty over the top for him, with couples and groups enjoying each others company in varying degrees of familiar to uncomfortably intimate and Aoba tries his best to just ignore the latter as best he can, keeping his eyes glued to the floor as he makes his way inside. He picks a spot with plenty of lighting and where it's calmer away from the dance floor and settles down on the couch. It's weird being in a place like this alone, but the music is good and...

And there's a man wearing sunglasses indoors, dancing like he's enjoying himself. Somehow, watching him puts him at ease, like there's no way he could possibly feel self-conscious being around someone who dances like he doesn't care who sees him.

So Aoba decides to make conversation. ]

I think I've discovered your secret. The sunglasses... it makes it hard to see indoors right?

Is that what helps you cut loose like that?

[Dave's facade of confidence is like a delicate bubble, just waiting to be popped by literally anything. Yet, thus far, he's managed to continue on steadily. That is until someone points out his admirable, care-free attitude and he goes right back to feeling like a huge dork.

This guy genuinely believes he's like this all the time, though. Somewhere in Dave's brain is the phrase fake it until you make it and it seems like now is as good a time as any to pretend he isn't crippled socially.]

If you're looking to put yourself into a judgement free zone, I have one word for you buddy. [He cups his hands around his mouth, like he's telling a secret.]

Alcohol. Or it's magic shades. I dunno. I don't think anyone else here cares too much, but they're passing around party drugs like they're skittles. [Not that he's going to try them.]

[ Aoba leans in slightly to listen to the secret and then pulls back with a laugh. Liquid courage? Makes sense. And here he'd thought it was some trick like 'imagining everyone around you in their underwear' or something similarly ridiculous. ]

Maybe for you. Alcohol just makes me feel giddy and tired.

[ Aoba is a scrawny guy with very little tolerance for alcohol. He can't hold his liquor worth at all. ]

My best friend always says I'm a total lightweight. [ The blue haired boy smiles happily but it fades a little as he thinks of Koujaku. Ah, it's sad he'll probably never see him again... so Aoba glances away to lift his soda, taking a small sip from the straw. He has no idea what a 'skittle' is, but he's a little dubious about fooling around with substances he knows nothing about, ]

Mm, I noticed that too. I hope not that weird Lampyr stuff.

Bummer. [Dave replies. He hasn't got much of a tolerance himself, largely because he doesn't drink often, he's just lucky that he manages to get a good buzz out of it before he needs a nap.]

Maybe you need practice. [Dave ponders, but really he's just the worst person for advice on this subject. He's barely aware of why he's able to act confident even now.]

Lamp stuff? Lamp drugs?

Are you suggesting I build up a tolerance?

[ Aoba laughs as he asks the question, drawing his knees up briefly as he grips the edge of the lounge he sits on and rocks forward and then back - almost like he's considering it - then shakes his head 'no'. It's a shy expression overall, one that seems grateful to talk about something else. ]

M-mh. [ No again. ] Lampyr, I think. Did you see that creepy commercial on the network?

[ A glance over at Dave and he just assumes he hasn't and pushes his hand into his pocket, pulling out his comm device and swiping the screen. After a moment, he unhooks the large pink headphones from around his neck and scoots a little closer, swiveling the ear pieces to face out so that they can listen at the same time. Here, watch this. ]

You've gotta see it, at least to be aware.

Continued here..!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

introductory mingle: carnivale

Dave Strider | Homestuck

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