riverviewlogs | 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

[Dodger really needs to do something about the little sound his teleporting makes; Taako missed the entire start of this confrontation, but he's walking near the alley when he hears that telltale pop that sends a shudder through him.

His first instinct is to teleport himself away, but... who knows what the fuck Dodger is up to, and he can't risk just letting him wander around unchecked. So he turns on his heel and jogs the short distance to where he heard the pop, rounding a corner to see someone on the ground (he doesn't quite recognize Eichi just yet) and Dodger tossing something to the side.]

We really gotta stop meeting like this, sweetheart.

[There's almost a smile in his voice, something sharp edged, as he adjusts his grip on the umbra staff.]

[There's hands on him and before he can duck or tug away, reality shifts in a way he can't properly process. There are sparks, a horrible nauseous feeling (entirely due to his own sickly body, he's sure), and then the hard feeling of the ground beneath him. He stares wide-eyed as his phone is tossed aside. He didn't think he could break it like that.

They're in this alley, though, and it's darker and less noisy and while his body is still recovering from that, he also starts to panic. He definitely doesn't want to share anything with this person, but he can't lose use of his arm. A trauma that bad could kill someone pathetic like him so easily. He can't die, he's not ready yet, but he can't gather any words to say in this condition—

He's coughing pretty badly just at the time Taako arrives, his only motion being to try and cover his mouth as he does. It's more an attempt to calm it down than any politeness, right now. But that voice sounded really familiar, and after a few seconds of continued panic, he recognizes it.]

Taako-kun! [help, he's pretty sure the damage his phone just received isn't covered under warranty]

[He lets out a huff of annoyance when he hears Taako's voice... he didn't even get the time to play around with his latest prey before someone intervened. There are drops of blood dripping from the palm of his hand, speckling Eichi's clothing, from the glass of the phone... but if he cares at all, it doesn't show at all.]

I really figured this would be none of your damn business, sir.

[It's said with a sarcastic tone this time... sure, he knows he's in trouble if Taako stops to help the kid. But if he has to fight him, he'll just have to be sure not to let him far enough away to land his hits.]

Move along.

[Maybe, just maybe, if it had been a complete stranger that Dodger had cornered, Taako might have let it go. But he likes Eichi, the kid is sweet, and he's not about to leave him here, not when Taako knows how weak Eichi is.]

Sure, sure, but I'm taking Eichi with me, and we can all forget this happened. Blood is such a bitch to get outta sequins, you know?

[He's been careful, since last time, and he still has his level 7 spell free, so worst case scenario he can just teleport he and Eichi away. Because despite his vague threat, he'd rather not engage in a fight with Dodger when there's someone so vulnerable nearby]

[Eichi, meanwhile, as vulnerable as he is, still can't get himself under control. His heart is too weak to be going through this much stress. The attempt at running, the teleportation (or whatever it was), and now this? He's a coughing mess, unable to do more than lie still and hope Dodger gets away from him.]

[His eyes narrow, and he takes a moment to consider Taako. He'd hate to back down from a fight, but that fight was the first time since getting here he'd actually not managed to get back to Shigeru afterward... he knows how to best Taako's fighting style, but no doubt Taako has also come up with a battle plan.]

Save your energy.

[He lands a hard kick to Eichi's side, partly to try and shut up that internal coughing and partly to shove him closer to Taako. This will get back to Reaper. There's no way it won't. But Taako has a point in his own way; spilling blood is just going to make more problems for everyone, especially Dodger himself.]

Just make sure you're ready for the next time your boyfriend runs into me.

[The last thing he wants to do is take his eyes off Dodger, but he knows how much that kick must have hurt, so he quickly closes the distance between himself and Eichi, lifting the poor kid to his feet, umbra staff pointed towards Dodger even if Taako's not directly watching him.]

Pretty fucking sure I made it clear what will happen if you put a hand on him.

[But he's not here to trade threats, he doesn't feel the need. He drops his voice instead, speaking to Eichi.]

Trust me for a sec, pumpkin, don't fight this.

[This is Taako quickly casting teleport, but Eichi needs to be willing, and he's relieved when he feels the spell working.

It's nothing like Dodger's teleportation; they're just in the alley one moment, and the next they're in Taako's bedroom. He doesn't know what the range is on Dodger's own teleportation, or if he can follow people, so this is the safest place for now, with it's wards.

He needs to get Eichi healed, and quickly.]

introductory mingle: carnivale

shitty wizard to the rescue

bless taako

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