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

[buildsomething]

[He'd been gearing up for at least a quick explanation before Tony just. Stops.

There's a long pause while he tries to figure out how to respond to that. Part of him wants to be affronted on principle and the rest wants to know what the hell the guy is talking about.

Cosplay?]

First off, no. Second, how do you even cosplay an atom?

[franciscoramon]

[ Okay... 'no' isn't really the kind of answer Cisco was hoping for when he was asking for details about how this guy had made the gauntlet, but he is persistent and stubborn when he wants to be. And he's too wrapped up in being amused by Tony's confusion over his cosplay question to worry too much about the rest of it yet. ]

Not an atom, the A.T.O.M. He's a superhero! Y'know, flies around in a fancy-ass high-tech dwarf-star alloy suit shooting lasers, taking down bad guys, saving the world, being total rad?

[ In other words, a guy who has a schtick that is, if not identical to Tony's, similar enough to maybe be a little bit uncomfortable. There is more that Cisco could say about him, but all of it falls under the territory of secret identity stuff. Even if Ray is gone at his point in the timeline, that doesn't mean he will never show up here, because the quarantine is just kooky like that. ]

Guess he doesn't exist where you're from, huh?

[buildsomething]

[Tony's eyebrows steadily rise throughout the description. As if running into literal duplicates of himself wasn't weird enough.]

Doesn't sound familiar, no. [Well it does, just probably not in the way the kid is thinking.]

No dwarf-star alloy, whatever that means, sorry to disappoint. Gold-titanium alloy, mostly. A few other things mixed in.

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco shrugs; he's not all that surprised. He's getting used to his points of reference - whether pop culture or superheroes - going over people's heads in this place. He can work around it. ]

Well it is suh-weet.

[ He's managed to keep his hands to himself ('cause the guy is actually wearing the thing and Cisco doesn't want to be weird about it), but he goes back to gawking at the gauntlet. ]

So you're an engineer, right? [ It's more of a statement than a question. ] I mean, no way could an amateur build this, the range of movement is way too good.

[buildsomething]

I am an engineer. [The agreement is a little dry, but well. It's probably one of the truest things about him.] Amongst other things.

And before you ask, it's a flight stabilizer. [Technically.]

[franciscoramon]

What other things?

[ How could Cisco not be curious? This guy is being cryptic as hell. As first it was just about his tech, which didn't really surprise Cisco; people get cagey about their inventions and creations, and considering how frequently scientists steal from one another, that is understandable. But now he is being cryptic about himself, which is considerably more intriguing. ]

So there is more to it?

[ What would be the point in having only one stabilizer? It's only logical that he would want two. Cisco wonders if that would be a more efficient system than Ray had, to put the stabilizer in the center of the palm rather than along the wrist. Hard to say which would work better - not like Cisco had ever actually taken a spin in the A.T.O.M. suit. Only helped to tweak a few things.

He holds out his hand for Tony to shake, grinning from ear to ear. ]

I'm Cisco by the way. Also an engineer. Case you didn't figure that out already.

[buildsomething]

Tony. [He turns a little to shake with his un-armored hand. And yeah, there were a few clues.

[But well. He does tend to do better with other engineers than he does with most people when he's not actively working on being charming. And he can't fault the guy's enthusiasm.

Calling the rest of the armor would probably be overdoing it. He's still slightly tempted.]

It's a full suit. Called Iron Man.

[So not cosplay. He might still be a little miffed about that.]

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco isn't really sure whether there was any intended shade in that little comment about there being some clues, but either way, he doesn't really mind. He knows exactly how he comes across, and he's more than willing to take a little teasing about it. He'd tried when he was younger to suppress his excitement and enthusiasm, but it hadn't made anyone like him any more, it had just made him a duller, less happy person. So screw that; he was gonna nerd out when he wanted and anyone who didn't like it could deal. ]

Iron Man?

[ He repeats the name, beaming. It's a good nickname - simple, descriptive, memorable. Honestly it's way better than The A.T.O.M., not that Cisco would ever let Ray hear him say that. And well, the pieces are starting to come together. Full suit, with flight capabilities? A badass nickname? Cisco knows this routine... ]

So what you're saying is you're not dressed up like a superhero, you just. Are a superhero?

[buildsomething]

[Tony finds himself smiling slightly in return, as much at the enthusiasm as at the conversation topic. Maybe it's the cynic in him, but he never really expects this level of interest from anyone but the kids. Maybe it's just that the entire concept has gotten so damn complicated.

But that's back home. Not here. Here, he shrugs a little but can't help looking pleased.]

Pretty much.

[franciscoramon]

[ If there's one thing that Cisco has boundless enthusiasm and affection for besides cool tech, it's superheroes. He's not used to them just admitting it outright like this, and it's kind of a pleasant change, all things told. ]

I work with a superhero back home. Guy named the Flash?

[ Cisco looks at Tony, eyebrows raised, waiting to see if he recognizes the name. It's not impossible that Tony comes from a version of the world without Ray but with Barry; that's the thing about the multiverse. No way to predict just how much is different and how much is the same. Clearly he's from somewhere with tech that's about equally advanced to the stuff in Cisco's world, and clearly the concept of superheroes is one he's familiar with. ]

Look, do you want to- were you in a hurry, or do you wanna maybe get a drink and have a seat somewhere and talk? My treat!

[ Seems only fair to offer, if he's going to keep grilling Tony with a bunch of questions. ]

[buildsomething]

Doesn't ring any bells, sorry.

[Not that Tony wasn't already pretty damn sure they weren't from the same place. The benefits to being an incredibly public figure was that even if people weren't sure how, they knew you. The fact that for the most part, people don't recognize him here is...interesting. Honestly he can't find himself minding all that much.

Like Cisco here. Who has no idea who he is, but clearly wants to talk shop anyway. That, Tony can definitely get behind.]

I could go for a drink.

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco shrugs; worth a try, anyway. Of course, there's a possibility that Tony is lying, but Cisco can't imagine why he would. For now, he's got no reason to doubt him, and in a way it makes things easier, knowing they are probably from worlds that are entirely separate. ]

Probably never heard of S.T.A.R. Labs then, either?

[ It's more of a statement than a question, and Cisco asks it as he and Tony make their way towards a little cluster of benches not far off. Cisco excuses himself for a moment to get two drinks from a nearby cart: just a couple beers, not really anything that fancy. He hands one to Tony before sitting down, clearly eager to continue the conversation. ]

So do superheroes not to the secret identity thing in your world, or did you just figure it wasn't worth keeping it up now that you're here?

[buildsomething]

Also no. [Tony says it as soon as Cisco's settled down and salutes him with the bottle in thanks. And assuming these labs are connected to whatever Cisco had originally mistaken him for, Tony's pretty dam sure that if they existed, he'd know about them.

The other question makes him shrug a little as he takes a drink.]

Never bothered. Seemed like too much trouble.

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco just blinks. He doesn't even know what to do with that answer, for a moment. He'd been expecting a story, or at the very least some justifications that had to do with the specific circumstances why secret identities aren't possible or needed. But, no. Just... too much trouble. ]

Isn't not having a secret identity... more trouble, though?

[ In Oliver's case, for instance, he needed his secret identity because otherwise he would be arrested, pretty much immediately. Things aren't like that for Barry, sure, since he hadn't gone through a whole murdery phase like Oliver did. But there's still the question of his job, the safety of his family, etc.

Which means that, most likely, none of those things are really issues, for Tony. ]

So I'm assuming you were into tech before you were into superhero-ing?

[buildsomething]

[Well okay, it is slightly more complicated than that. One of Tony's eyebrows arches slightly, but he lets out a breath and sets the bottle down.]

I'm already a public figure. Very public. And since yes, I did the tech thing beforehand, I'm pretty much the only person in the world who could have built it, so that's already a target on me. This day and age, someone would have worked it out, and then that's a mess. So yeah, it would have been more trouble than it's worth.

[There's more to it than that, the drive to make his second chance at life as visible as his first one. But that's not the kind of thing he's really willing to talk about with a new acquaintance.]

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco purses his lips, nodding a little as he thinks. Yeah, he can see how that would change the situation. There'd been no point in pretending that the accelerator explosion wasn't related to the creation of metahumans; there are some things that nobody is going to believe are a coincidence no matter how much PR you try to spin. And if Tony were that famous, and that much above and beyond everyone else in tech skills and/or resources. ]

Gotcha. Yeah, okay, I get that. You're already in the spotlight, you might as well just own it.

[ And if he's a public figure he probably already had a security team and his family and loved ones would be used to the extra strain that comes with the life. ]

So are superheroes really common? See, they're kind of a new thing, in my world. Didn't really have any running around until a couple of years ago.

[buildsomething]

[One side of Tony's mouth tips into a wry smile.]

Increasingly. Won't get into a correlation vs causation argument, but they do seem to be showing up more often.

[It's probably a good thing. He hopes it's a good thing. The world's changed so much since he took his original little desert field trip, he can't imagine trying to navigate it as the man he was.

He cuts himself off with a sharp shake of his head before his mind kind wander down any darker roads.]

So you've got an armored guy, apparently. What else?

[franciscoramon]

[ It's kind of an odd response - much more ambivalent than Cisco would have expected, and it seems like maybe there was more Tony wanted to say but stopped himself. Maybe he's got mixed feelings about the number of superheroes increasing. Territorial? Maybe. Or perhaps the reason there are more superheroes is there are more threats. Or maybe they were showing up from other worlds, kind of like how both Tony and Cisco showed up here.

There's a lot of possibilities, but he doesn't press for details. He's already done most of the interrogating, so when Tony turns things around and asks about Cisco's world, he's eager to answer and even things out a little bit. Doesn't want to seem like he's not willing to quid for his pro quo. Plus, he loves talking about heroes in his world. ]

Well, technically, the A.T.O.M. is kind of on a sabbatical. Everybody thinks he died, we found out he'd actually just shrank himself down to the size of a cockroach on accident and got stuck. He's normal size again now but he hasn't done his big comeback just yet.

[ None of which are things he would share with anyone back home, but he figures that spilling a few of Ray Palmer's woes can't hurt in this place. Besides, in hindsight it's a pretty funny story. Just how many guys is Cisco gonna mourn, only to have them show up again later on? It'd happened with Ronnie, with Eddie, and with Ray. Getting to be a pattern. ]

Anyway, there's the Green Arrow and his team. None of them have got superpowers, just mad archery skills and ninja moves. Plus, the Black Canary, who uses these awesome modulated sound waves to knock guys out. She took over from the White Canary, same M.O. There's, um. There was Firestorm, which was two guys who could merge together and then manipulate fission and fusion, but one of them died so. No more of that.

[ Cisco's bright enthusiasm dims for just a moment, his grin shrinking and becoming a little wan. Luckily, he'd saved the best for last. ]

But the one most people know best is the Flash. You got speedsters, in your world?

[buildsomething]

[One of Tony's eyebrows has climbed steadily higher at the recitation, but at the question he finally gives a wry snort.]

I'm going to assume you don't mean cars.

[So that's probably a no.

But something about the way Cisco has laid all of it out makes Tony think that he's either a serious fanboy or he's involved with it all somehow. Maybe like a SHIELD thing, maybe his world has something else entirely. Who knows. But it does give him some pretty interesting insight, so hey.]

These people with powers, they just showed up one day?

time to copy paste some fake science

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco huffs a small laugh and shakes his head: ] Not cars, no. I mean people who can run fast. I mean, really, really, really fast. I'm talking sonic booms fast. Accidental time travel fast.

[ Maybe he ought to be a little more discreet about that last one, but Cisco can't really pass up an opportunity to brag about his BFF and his awesome ever-so-slightly-reality-breaking powers. All the Ronnie sadness is swept away, as he knew it would be, and Cisco is all bright energy once again. ]

The Flash takes care of pretty much all the superheroing for Central City. Everybody loves him.

[ Statistically, probably not entirely true, but it is very clear that at the very least, Cisco sure does. ]

Not exactly. See, there was an accident. [ Which Cisco now knows was not an accident, but as happy as he is to share details of his world, he is not going to get into any of the Eobard stuff. Too nice a day to ruin by talking about that asshole. ] The new particle accelerator at S.T.A.R. Labs, when we turned it on, the containment system went haywire and basically it blew up and sort of... tore the dimensional barrier for a moment and all kinds of dark energy and antimatter and exotic elements got released into the city, which ended up giving about 1% of the population superpowers. Which is great when it comes to guys like the Flash, and not so great when it comes to all the people who decided to use their new abilities to do crime and wreak havoc.

[buildsomething]

I can...bet. [It's said slowly as Tony processes it all. Okay, everything hitting at once like that, he can see how that would cause an epic mess. Is it better or worse than surprise alien artifacts? Who can tell.]

Yeah ours wasn't that sudden. Mostly. There have been enhanced folks for a bit, but that was mostly science experiments. What you're talking about, people breaking the speed barrier and all, that's a lot more recent.

[And yeah, they'd had one of those. Not something Tony feels comfortable talking about, though.]

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco had been wondering if there were metas, or some equivalent to them, in Tony's world. Seems like maybe that's the case. But... and it's possible Cisco is wrong about this, but he thinks that Tony isn't talking about powered people as if he is one of them. Maybe that's just Cisco conflating him with Ray, thinking he's probably a relatively ordinary smart guy in a flying suit. It's just, well, a vibe. ]

How'd it happen for you guys? I'm assuming not a particle accelerator.

[ That would just be too freaky of a coincidence, and besides, it would be sudden, and Tony said that it wasn't. He's always curious, finding out how people got their powers in other worlds. He's talked to people from places where everyone has access to magical powers, and people from worlds where powers are genetic and the people with them call themselves mutants. It never ceases to interest Cisco, all that variety. ]

Also, maybe none of my business but I hope those enhanced folks who were science experiments had a say in the matter.

[buildsomething]

No particle accelerators. [That gets a flash of a wry smile.]

Honestly? No one big catalyst, as far as I'm aware. A lot of alien influence, though. [Tony knows how that sounds. But they're already talking superhumans, so maybe it isn't that weird in context.] Magic stones. Go figure.

But all the experiments I know of were voluntary, so there's that.

[Even the ones that probably shouldn't have been. And he's really hoping there weren't ones he doesn't know about, but Tony's a cynic at heart. He won't lay bets on it.]

[franciscoramon]

[ There was a time when Cisco's reaction to a phrase like "alien influence" being delivered in all sincerity would've been a whole lot different. But he's been in this place a while. He's met aliens. He's friends with a few aliens. If Tony says aliens were making people into metas somehow in his world, Cisco's got no reason to question that. And besides, it's not really all that much more bonkers than what had happened in Central City. ]

So you've got people with superpowers from science and from magic, huh? Wow. Kind of a double-whammy, there.

[ Some of the science gets really, really strange, but as far as Cisco knows, there's never been any real, actual magic in his world. Which he hadn't realized he should be grateful for, until he'd come here. ]

So your suit, is it modeled off alien tech at all, or is it 100% Earth-grown goodness?

[buildsomething]

Hah. No, that's all me.

[He might look just a bit smug about it. The suit is his baby, he's allowed.]

And that was before the aliens showed up in force. Mostly. But magic is... [he trails off and waves a hand back and forth] It's kind of a Clarke's Third Law thing, you know? There's a lot out there we don't know yet. Who knows what this stuff really is.