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

[The vibrator is tossed idly in his bag (maybe Lucretia will think it's cute, although she'd also murder him for giving it to her, which makes it more hilarious) and Taako is happy to trail along beside Cisco, still laughing to himself because he's a horrible person and an even worse friend.

At least he's mostly got himself under control by the time they're finally seated with drinks in hand, although Cisco ruins it again.

On the plus side, Taako is nice enough to give Cisco a comforting little pat on the head.]

You want me to wipe your memory of the last ten minutes?

Oh, yeah, now you're generous.

[ Cisco lifts his head from the table, resting his chin glumly on his wrist and making a face as if he is seriously contemplating saying yes. He isn't, of course, and he'd kind of forgotten that Taako could even do that, but he doesn't think Taako's offer was in earnest. It's just funnier if he pretends to be tempted.

After a couple more moments he shakes his head, sighing and sitting up finally. ]

Probably just vibe it in a day or two and be back where I started.

[ And that's an odd and distracting little thrill, being able to mention his powers in a conversation, bring them up casually, in a funny way. He takes a long drink of his beer, and any minor lingering disgust over the whole thing is now gone, replaced by amusement at his silliness and a feeling of mild happiness over the fact that he'd been able to make Taako laugh so much. ]

Listen, if you hadn't run off so quickly I was gonna offer you a disguise.

[To save Cisco the embarrassment of having to face down the same dude again, after such an intense reaction to the bee thing, because sometimes he can be a little bit nice.

Also because he technically lied, not that he feels all that guilty, but you know.]

Would that work, I mean... totally hypothetically cause I'm not actually gonna fuck with your memories, but would your shit overwrite magic?

[He's curious, now.]

[ Cisco stares, agape, forgetting the beer that is halfway lifted to his mouth. He hadn't even considered that as an option. He had forgotten that magic could do that sort of thing. He might be getting accustomed to the idea that he is friends with a wizard, but in its practical applications, he still has a lot to learn. ]

Oh shit, for real? Damn. Gotta remember that for next time.

[ And he smiles, because obviously, there's never going to be a next time. Not for this particular set of circumstances. But there are probably other fun things they could get up to with a disguise spell - good-hearted pranks and the like.

When Taako asks if Cisco's powers could circumvent a spell particularly intended to wipe away memories, he gives a big shrug, finally taking that sip of his drink. ]

No clue. You know way more about magic than I do. I just figured, you know, if I can remember stuff from entire timelines that have been undone and rewritten, I can probably get around a memory wipe. Could be wrong, though.

[Taako just clicks his tongue in a what a shame sort of way, since it would've been funny to pop a glamor on Cisco and see how he handled the situation, but they'll have to save it for some other time.]

It feels like it'd be a different kinda deal, you know? An alternate timeline still exists in a potential sort of way, right? But if there's something specifically blocking a memory that's gotta be harder to work around.

[He is very much not a scientist, but they hypothesized about what the chalice could do, with regards to creating alternate timelines, so he's not completely talking out of his ass.]

Hmmm, good point.

[ Taako's theory sparks the same sudden rush of anxiety that had surfaced in him the first time Taako mentioned memory-altering spells. If his powers aren't capable of getting around that kind of magic, how would Cisco know if it had been done to him already? Hell, for all he knows, Taako's insistence that he would never mess with Cisco's memories is him protesting too much. Maybe it's a ruse. Maybe Taako's erased whole swaths of-

At which point Cisco gets a handle on that little flare-up of paranoia. Taako is his friend, and not evil (probably), and what's more Cisco can't imagine what benefit he could get from it. Someone as magically powerful as him, and as uninterested in science, would have no need to involve Cisco even if he did have secret, elaborate, horrible plans. Besides, Eddie trusts Taako, and Eddie has good instincts. Far better than Cisco's ever were.

The whole moment of uncertainty passes quickly, and doesn't show almost at all on the surface. Once he's on the other side of it Cisco feels profoundly grateful that, for all that he's magic, Taako isn't a mind-reader. That kind of wild and unpredictable suspiciousness is not really his most flattering trait. He puts it out of mind, shrugging and concluding: ]

Not really any way of testing it, since I'm still at square one when it comes to figuring out how to control that shit.

[ But he has, at least, been working on it, a little. Which is more than he could say a while ago. Cisco grins, setting thoughts of his powers aside; now that he's a safe distance away and he's got a drink in his hand, the whole thing seems much much funnier. ]

Besides, I feel like I oughta remember this, so if I ever start to worry I'm too much of a weirdo, I can just think, at least I'm not a guy who gets a boner for bees.

[Taako really wants to ask about the powers thing, to know if Cisco's been practicing, how it's been going, because a) he's interested and b) he knows that it's kind of a big deal for Cisco, and he's wondering if he's coping okay.

But that's probably a conversation for somewhere else, so he's going to run with the bee thing.]

It's the bee thing that you needed to convince you? Not like... [He grimaces, waving a hand in the general direction of the entire expo.] There's a lot weirder shit than being into bugs. I mean, I'm starting to be fucking grateful that Merle is just into plants. It could be soooo much worse.

[ Taako does have a point; there's a whole lot of bizarre stuff going on here, and Cisco wants to be open-minded about all of it, but some things just really are pushing it too far. He laughs when Taako mentions Merle being into plants, but it reminds him of when that had first come up. The conversation had moved on before Cisco had had a chance to ask a follow-up question, and he's definitely not letting that opportunity pass him by a second time. ]

Okay so you brought that up before about Merle and plants but like how does that even...? I mean... what's the story there?

[ Cisco's got half his beer left and feels like nothing can possibly shock him more today than he's already been shocked. He is ready to Hear Some Shit. ]

You're gonna make me relive some serious trauma, my fella.

[His tone is light, though, and he doesn't look like he's about to die from horror, he just seems sort of amused and resigned to his fate. Which is retelling this story.]

Okay, so like, Merle is a worshipper of Pan and nature shit is their whole deal, you know? So one thing he can do is talk to plants, not that they talk back real often, but most people who use that kinda magic will just, like, nicely ask the plants to do whatever you want them to do. [Most people. Not Merle.] Merle, meanwhile, felt the need to seduce the vines we ran into until they had a fucking plant orgasm. It was gross. I've never wanted to be more dead than I did in that moment.

[ Whatever Cisco had been expecting, this was definitely not it. He'd been thinking, dryads or something like that, some kind of magical creature that was plant-ish but also ambulatory and mostly humanoid. But apparently... no. Just vines. And magic. Cisco opens his mouth as if he's about to say something, closes it again, and a few seconds later he bursts into laughter. ]

I was gonna ask what that even looks like but you know what? I actually really don't wanna know. You say it was a plant orgasm, I believe you. No need to elaborate.

[ He can tell Taako is joking about wanting to be dead and all that, but at the same time, the extremity of his sarcastic suffering does seem a bit extreme to Cisco. He feels like maybe there's something he's not getting, so he prods: ]

Okay, so I can see how that would be pretty awkward to witness, don't get me wrong, but you don't exactly seem like a super prudish guy, so why the degree of disgust? I mean, if he was just talking to them, and it got the job done...?

[ Maybe it's one of those things where you had to be there. ]

[Not asking for details is probably a smart idea, something that's conveyed by the look Taako gives Cisco.

But the other question is easy enough to answer.]

I'm gonna need you to imagine listening to your dad seduce someone, and then think about whether that's a legit question.

[Merle isn't actually his dad, but he definitely kind of slotted into that role in their lives, both on the Starblaster and with the Bureau.

Not that he expects Cisco to know this, but well, he's explaining now.]

[ Cisco's expression changes from one of puzzled curiosity, to dawning realization, to abject horror, to lingering disgust. He'd assumed the dynamic between Taako and his fellow adventurers was more like the camaraderie between himself, and Barry, and Caitlin. That they were friends and equals and of course all cared about each other. But apparently, Merle is more of a father figure, enough to prompt that comparison.

In a way, it's sweet. They're close enough to be like family. Cisco will definitely think that it's really sweet... later, when he's done being completely grossed out. ]

Eugh, right. Got it. Nevermind. Question rescinded, like, forever.

[ Time to ask something, anything, to distract from that horrifying hypothetical. ]

Why'd you guys have to talk your way past some vines, anyhow?

[Womp there it is.]

Oh, someone was under the thrall of the gaia sash and using it to fuck up a bank. We knew she had the sash, so we went in to get her, annnnd promptly had our asses handed to us.

[Thanks Merle, again, for making a way powerful relic.]

[ He can tell by the way Taako tosses out that explanation that he thinks he's making things clearer, rather than raising a whole bunch more questions while not actually answering the one Cisco had just asked. Fortunately, Cisco's found out that Taako usually doesn't mind elaborating, so he doesn't hesitate to interrupt and ask: ]

Okay, I'm gonna need you back up several steps, because I've got no clue what a gaia sash is.

[ Clearly it is a thing, an object that one can have. One which may or may not aid in vandalizing banks? And controlling plants. Possibly both at the same time. ]

Kinda hard to imagine you losing a fight. I mean, I guess I haven't seen you do anything offensive, but your magic is way dope.

[laugh track.mp3

Quite literally, because that's Taako's response to Cisco saying he can't imagine him losing a fight.]

Are you- I mean, you're kidding right? There's a reason Mags got in the habit of carrying healing potions.

[He's dropped to zero hit points so many times.

(The gaia sash thing will be address momentarily)]

[ Cisco hadn't been expecting Taako to laugh, or to give an answer which implies that that ass-kicking was merely one amongst many. It's true, Cisco hasn't met a whole lot of wizards to compare Taako to. And the magic he had seen - Garyl, that awesome room Taako conjured, seeing him turn water into rosé - isn't exactly combat-centric. But he'd somehow just imagined, since everything Taako said about his life just sounded so damn epic (maybe not really the plant thing just now), that he was some overpowered hero who never even got his hair mussed battling off armies of the undead or whatever.

But then... Taako also mentioned that he's died several times, so maybe Cisco should've realized that is several steps past an ass-kicking and put the rest together. ]

Really? Damn.

[ Strangely, that doesn't make Cisco think less of Taako - in fact, quite the opposite. If him and his two buddies get hurt that regularly, the fact that they just stock up on more healing potions and keep going is pretty damn admirable. ]

One time I got fucking suplexed by a bugbear and straight up nearly died then and there.

[To be fair, he deserved it for telling Klarg to jump in front of a laser to save their own asses, but still.]

We're a bunch of idiots and I run around without armor, it's a miracle I'm not dead.

That is... awful. Man, please tell me that a bugbear is not some kind of horrible mix of a cockroach and a grizzly because if it is, I'm definitely having nightmares, and I ain't even seen one.

[ He jokes, in part, because the thought of Taako getting tossed around like that and hurt really badly is actually kind of awful, and Cisco doesn't really want to linger on that too long if he can help it. It was bad enough hearing when Barry got hurt, and he has freaky super healing that can mend a broken bone in an hour or two. ]

Is there a reason you don't wear armor?

[ Maybe it blocks his magic, or something? But he ought to have armor. Armor is important. Cisco knows that; Taako might think superhero gear is mostly for the aesthetics, but in the case of Barry's suit, Cisco had poured hours and hours into finding ways to make it bullet-proof, into threading tiny heat-ribbons through the whole thing so that the next time Captain Cold tried some shit, Cisco could save Barry even from miles away. Taako might not need to be walking around with a built-in defibrillator, but he ought to have something! ]

They're kinda like a bear cross a goblin, real big, super hairy, usually nasty as shit but we've met some nice ones.

[Because Lucas has absolutely zero ethics when it comes to experimenting on creatures, but Taako isn't going to go into that, mostly because he wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to the "Hugbear" situation, not when Merle was getting his arm chopped off and they were being chased by a singing crystal golem.]

And yeah, uh, look at me? [He gestures at himself.] That shit is heavy, and I need to be able to move to cast spells.

[Apparently.]

[ Cisco... doesn't actually know what a goblin looks like. Or, rather, he has too many ideas about what goblins might look like, from too many different comics and movies. But he'd never caught a glimpse of one in a vibe, so he's just going to have to imagine. ]

Right, putting bugbears near the top of the 'do not want to fuck with' list.

[ Even though the imperative was rhetorical, Cisco does look at Taako. He looks him up and down, eyes narrowing with thought. He shakes his head a little from side to side and then declares, decisively: ]

Yeah, okay, that does it, I'm definitely making you a suit. Just 'cause you're too much of a twig for heavy duty plate mail or whatever doesn't mean you should be out there fighting monsters in nothing but a blouse and a skirt, no matter how cute they are. There's a middle ground here, Goldilocks.

Edited 2017-07-12 23:06 (UTC)

[Wait, what?

He kind of wants to focus on the part where Cisco said he looks cute, if only to tease him for it, but I'm making you a suit is way more important.]

Sometimes I wear a robe...

[That's not the point, obviously, but he kind of says it because he needs a second to process that and make sure he's thinking what he thinks he's thinking.]

Are you for real? Like, a superhero suit?

[There it is.

!!!!]

[ Cisco grins and shakes his head in amused exasperation when Taako says sometimes he wears a robe, as if that is somehow any better. Unless he's talking about some kind of magic robe that protects him from all harm (and it certainly doesn't sound like he is), it's just as bad.

Taako's incredulity is unexpected, and a little cute, but then Cisco realizes he doesn't know to what extent he's actually talked about this before. He'd told Taako about redesigning Oliver's suit, but only in passing, and that had hardly been the most memorable part of that conversation. ]

Yeah, like a superhero suit. That's what I do. That's my thing.

[ His contributions aren't limited to designing and creating suits, but it is something he enjoys, something he's good at, and one of the few things that he is proud of without reservations. He isn't above a little bit of boasting. ]

Pretty much all the heroes in my world have got suits I made, at this point. I can design 'em however and equip 'em with all sorts of stuff that'll help keep you safe so you don't have to rely on miracles. Nothing's foolproof, obviously, but generally they get the job done, and I can always add improvements later on.

[He kind of put two and two together, based on what he knows so far, but he didn't realize the extent of Cisco's contribution, or the fact that he's apparently responsible for the suit that every superhero in his universe wears.

It's actually pretty impressive.]

Holy shit. [He's so excited by this idea he genuinely doesn't know where to start. Cool outfits. Not dying. Being able to tease Clark. All very important things.] I should show you my cloak, I wear it if I'm expecting trouble cause it gives me a little bit of coverage. Plus the whole breathing underwater thing.

[If only they'd had an excuse to use it, literally ever.]

[ Cisco beams; he doesn't know why, but he had expected a bit of resistance from Taako on this. He'd been so convinced of the impossibility of him wearing armor, and he's obviously very particular with how he dresses, plus there's the fact that he's been pretty dismissive of science in general when it's come up. But Taako looks not only willing, but excited, and that emotion is highly contagious. If there are two things in the world that Cisco absolutely loves, it's helping out his friends, and designing superhero costumes. This is a perfect combination of the two. Plus, being appreciated never hurts, either. ]

I can make it light enough moving won't be a problem, trust me. Speed is Barry's whole thing, so obviously I couldn't make him something heavy or bulky that was gonna slow him down even a little. And there's a bunch of stuff I can put in that'll help with safety, make it fire-resistant or frost resistant or both, bulletproof, that kind of thing. Wouldn't help all that much against getting suplexed by a giant monster, but against arrows or whatever, sure.

[ That's only the tip of the iceberg, and Cisco's got a dozen more ideas popping into his head already - what sort of protection would be most important for a wizard, what other features he could add in to make it better offensively, and that wasn't even starting in on the actual design...

But he gets promptly distracted from those thoughts. ]

You have a cloak that lets you breathe underwater?!

[ Magic is just... so, so, so cool. ]

[He definitely perks up at bulletproof, because that's a major concern now that he lives in a place where a whole bunch of idiots carry guns around. Not that anyone has shot at him, yet, but it's hard not to be paranoid. Arrows would be useful, too, especially if he can take this thing home with him, once it's time.]

Shit, yeah, it's a pretty cool cloak, except for the fact I haven't had a chance to use it. [They keep going non-watery places.] I've got the frost resistance covered too, FYI. But, fuck, this will help out a lot after Wonderland.

[Wizards in general are easily breakable, but trading away some of his life force did not help.]

introductory mingle: carnivale

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