riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: carnivale

Entry tags:

introductory mingle: carnivale

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and Carnivale Celebration
when: July 1st - July 9th
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

carnivale

In the days leading up to July 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: Carnivale. This holiday is in celebration of music, and the onset of summer and warmer weather. The celebrations are marked by street parties, an extensive program of live musical performances, with a large parade (and paid holiday!) capping it off on July 8th.

celebrating music, and summer

After a couple of months of low-key or even solemn celebrations, it's time for Riverview Quarantine to throw a good, old-fashioned party. Carnivale is a city-wide festival that pretty much everyone gets into, and many residents take the entire week off so they can enjoy all the festivities. With events ranging from impromptu street parties, free live musical performances, food stands, themed club nights, adult lounges with kink shows, and topped off with a massive party parade, the holiday has a lot to offer for anyone who likes to sing, dance, and show some skin!

i. street parties and food

One of the staples of the Carnivale festival is the spontaneous street parties and food trucks and carts. It's not unusual during the holiday to turn a corner and run into a group of people dressed in bright colors and sequins having an impromptu party with a few drinks, and then be invited to join right in! Carnivale is a celebration of music as well as summer, so most shops and stalls will be blasting danceable music into the streets to facilitate these little street parties - it's considered a sign of good luck for the owner of a business if an impromptu Carnivale celebration starts up in front of their door.

Considering the proliferation of street parties and people out and about to celebrate the warmer weather, local business owners also take to the streets. Food carts, stands, and trucks pop up on almost every street corner offering a wide variety of food from savory treats to sweet desserts. Many of the carts are offering one free item to anyone dressed up for Carnivale - anything shimmery, shiny, or brightly colored will do!

ii. live musical performances

One of the major roads in the city center has been completely roped off for the entire week, and all along this street, various temporary stages have been set up, each with a nice hefty sound system. Volunteers hand out printed flyers, and digital boards are set up here and there with schedules of various performances that are all free to attend, ranging from well-known popular music artists to new up-and-comers or independent artists who are looking to make a name for themselves. This event is very widely advertised around the city, and is accepting entries until the very last minute.

At couple of the acts might be familiar faces to some of the residents.

Eichi Tenshouin has signed up himself and his friend Tsumugi Aoba into the music festival as a first-time appearing idol unit called "Higanbana." Dressed in all white with splashes of color (blue, largely, with only their headsets being a red spider lily), they carry a very commanding and angelic image together. They'll have a routine that emphasizes their great harmony with each other, taking turns doing solo lines and joining together to show off each of their talents. Singing and dancing, they interact heavily with the audience and will encourage a lot of involvement with speaking between songs and gestures, winks, and so on. Basically, they intend to make this Riverview's very first prominent "idol performance".

For his performance, Otabek Altin will start with rock remixes of a few popular pop songs. He wants to make sure that it starts off with recognizable pieces for some people, and he certainly thinks it is something that could get people excited even if they don't know it. Then, it shifts into a few original songs. They are upbeat, rock songs that he put together with the intention to make people dance and move, since he is a DJ. He'll end his set with a slower piece he put together that is also an original. Through the entire performance, he's focused and quiet, though he may occasionally try and excite the crowd with a few words.

Any other player-characters who are musically inclined are more than welcome to assume their character was fit in for a performance, and can post up a top-level with a rundown of their performance to get bonus Activity Points for posting a mingle!

iii. carnivale parade

The other main attraction of Carnivale week comes on July 8th, which is a paid holiday for everyone in the city. The Carnivale Parade will be starting out by City Hall and winding through downtown in a lazy pattern so everyone in the city has a chance to see it. There will be all sorts of floats, dancers, marching bands, with all sorts of clubs, businesses, and other organizations represented. The theme is theatrical, big and showy, bright and colorful, sparkly and shiny, with loud music and lots of glitz and glamour. Observers can expect great music, excellent dancing and marching shows, neat vehicles provided by classic car clubs, the fire, police, and Perimeter Guard. They can also expect a lot of party favors, whether it's a sparkly plastic beaded necklace, a fan to take the edge off the heat, candy, popsicles, a temporary tattoo, or any number of other little treats or toys to be tossed into the crowd - some of them fit for kids and teens, others of a more 'adult' nature handed out a bit more discreetly to anyone who looks the part.

And make sure you wear your waterproof mascara - Carnivale floats have a tendency of spraying or spritzing water, both in an unspoken competition to see who can make the biggest water-refraction rainbow in the air, and to keep observers cool in the new summer heat.

iv. adult: lounges and kink exhibition

Thanks to the Carnivale tradition of showing as much skin as possible, some event organizers' minds have turned to topics of a more adult nature. In the evenings, residents may see clubs doing "lounge nights"; these adults-only events have bouncers IDing everyone at the door to ensure they're 18+. The themes may vary, from very specific niche themes like 'golden age superheroes' to broad themes like 'rainbows,' and each event is clearly marked as what it is - all-nude or clothing-optional, and can host events ranging from amateur to professional exotic dancing, food served off of nude bodies, anonymous masked hookups, or just provide a comfortable space where casual sex is encouraged with whoever happens to be around. Various legal substances can be found at these lounges, but nothing that would cause violation of consent, and every substance would be clearly labeled and have warnings to ensure that no one partakes unless they choose to. Please be sure to warn in the subject line for sexual content or drug use (since some mild party drugs are legal in Riverview).

For the weekend from July 7th-9th, there will be a kink exhibition in one of the large exhibition centers downtown, limited to characters 18+. The exhibition is a sexy adult informational convention featuring various kinks and fetishes. Whether you're into leather, latex, lace, or anything else, you'll be able to find the clothes, toys, guides, books, erotica, fiction, and a wide variety of other interesting stuff to explore. While the atmosphere is sex-positive and there are private and public (for the voyeurs and exhibitionists in the room) venues for having sex, it's definitely focused on exploration and information about different stuff to try.

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to meet new roommates, for the purpose of getting to know each other, or hit up one of the mod-posted prompts for each Communal Floor. Or if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during Carnivale, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: Roger Patterson Jr.; image ii: Syd Mead; image iii: screencap from the movie Paprika; image iv: siamon89

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[ He holds perfectly still for that touch which does not come, does not lean into it or complete it himself, as respectful of boundaries as he'd said he would be. When Will does not touch him after all, he leaves it be, despite feeling that sexual energy, the attraction that he always expects to feel. Some would call it ego, and maybe it is, a little, but for Jean-Claude it has become fact.

He heaves a sigh at this answer, and steps back himself, the noise the wistfulness of disappointment like falling leaves. ]

Very well, if that is your wish. [ Respectful of boundaries, yes; easily dissuaded, no. And so... ] The game, then, the game is ended, but may I ask you directly? I see in you a taste for danger, perhaps for blood itself, that I would be blind not to recognize.

And as you may now expect, I will not feed on those who do not desire it. Perhaps we may slake each other's thirsts? With no lasting harm, no collateral damage, no clash. I swear.

[ Only Jean-Claude turns a rejection around into a proposition, but he is quite sincere, and in this case truthful. Other vampires would use one bite as a chance to enslave someone's mind, but he has no interest in it, and as the only one from his world here, sees no reason to mention that theoretical risk and sully this offer further when he is already unsure of its reception. He is damnably unused to being this hard up and quite disgruntled by it, although as he speaks, he is nothing but dark-eyed and serious, even serene. ]

[ The control Jean-Claude exerts is impressive and despite the disappointment he feels to be giving up on what could have proven a lovely diversion, Will appreciates the respect for boundaries. It really will mean less complications for both of them in the long run.

But then the man goes and turns the situation slightly on its head and Will is left arching an eyebrow. First in confusion, then -as his brain caught up with the vampire's meaning- curiosity. ]

Are you asking me to be a ... snack?

A snack, hardly. What an insulting, diminutive term for what you would be.

[ A darker thread weaves through his voice, as inviting and mysterious as the endless night, which it seems one could sink into and never rise from. But he purposefully maintains honesty, having had proof that Will is observant enough to at least guess the difference no matter how practiced at lying Jean-Claude is. ]

It is difficult to explain. From one of my line, it is much more than merely a bite. I am accustomed to those I feed from being cherished companions, close in a way that cannot be replicated elsewhere. It is as far from adversarial as you could be. [ And now for the pitch tailored to Will specifically: ] I offer you a taste of what you saw in me earlier, a taste of violence and baser instinct, but a safe one.

[ The irony of the offer, an irony that only Will could understand, tore through him and a harsh laugh was driven out of him. It was a sound that directed towards the self, not at Jean-Claude and Will stepped back, moving restlessly as he stroked his hand through his hair. ]

Wow. [ He said, simply, when he could find his voice. For a moment he stood there with his back to Jean-Claude, before he shook his head and looked over his shoulder towards the vampire. ] You have no way of knowing, or understanding the pure irony of you asking such a thing of me.

And no, we're not going into it just now. [ Going to cut that line of conversation off before it could even be considered.

He should reject the idea straight up. The fact that the words HELL NO hadn't yet left his lips was disturbing. He could picture Hannibal's expression of pure pique were the older man to learn that Will had willingly placed himself on someone else's menu. The level of annoyance would be ... delicious and it would be a curious thing indeed, to see how the older man might react to such a thing.

And in more immediate concerns, Jean-Claude wasn't wrong in his assertions that Will felt the pinch of his own more base instinct for blood and violence.

Turning back around, Will drummed his long fingers against his lips in a pensive manner, before asking a genuine question. ]

What exactly would be involved?

[ His brow furrows faintly at the harsh laughter, actual concern, but he respects this boundary, too, that Will has set up, that he not ask about what the irony is. He can see a fresh hurt there, and simply nods in acknowledgment.

He does not feel anyone he has just met is entitled to knowing his hurts, either.

It is heartening that he is at least considering it, and he speaks carefully, all voice tricks dropped for now. It leaves his voice almost, oddly, lovelier for it: Jean-Claude is naturally beautiful, especially the quality and timber of his voice, something his vampiric powers had merely enhanced. It is never so obvious as when he ceases to use them. ]

Beyond the obvious, that I would bite and feed from you, it is variable to your preference, both location and sensation. It is within my power to make it immensely pleasurable, a high some chase for on its own, or it may be as painful as any bite would be, or anywhere in between. I am old enough that it is not remotely dangerous for you, in truth.

Aside from the practicalities, anyone who provides for me regularly becomes... someone I feel some obligation to. It is not a one-way transaction.

I don't want to be anyone's obligation. [ Will said, his tone fierce and firm. ] If I agree to this, believe me, it's for my own reasons and those are enough.

[ More than enough and the reasons were not all together altruistic. ]

I don't need immense pleasure, either. This would be an arrangement that, as you say, sates a hunger in both of us.

[ A landmine there, apparently, about obligation. One he will remember. Will will just have to find out for himself that obligation or not, Jean-Claude quickly grows to care for those who give to him, including blood, and that is not something he can stop with protestations.

They appear to have transitioned to the negotiation phase, one Jean-Claude is delighted to enter, and he allows some of that through, some element of anticipation. ] But you must allow me to instill some. It would bring me no satisfaction to cause you pain, unless you were to enjoy that aspect in particular. As well...

[ He has confirmed that his attentions are not unwanted, and he judges it the right time to introduce something more than words. Jean-Claude takes that step forward again, regaining the distance, lifting one hand slowly enough that Will can easily evade it. Lace drips over his fingers as one outstretches to trail along his jaw in a single, brief moment, a spark of warmth somehow flowing from Jean-Claude's cold flesh. In a soft murmur, ] I specialize in pleasure. Should we not enjoy our darker passions? You may embrace it, with me.

[ And he will look after it and make sure nothing goes too far. It is truly Jean-Claude's favorite part of being Master, getting to safeguard things to his own preferences. ]

I'm not afraid of pain. [ Will said, his tone losing some of it's knee-jerk defensiveness from a moment earlier. ] Pleasure can blur the lines.

[ Besides, pleasure was too close a reminder to Molly. The sweetness and unconditional acceptance she had brought into his life, only to have him turn around and infuse her own with pain, terror and grief.

He didn't deserve pleasure, not in it's pure form. He deserved the dark horror that he and Hannibal visited upon each other. The pain seen from the outside, but the inexplicable beauty they each found within that pain.

Lost to his thoughts, he didn't recognize Jean-Claude's movement until those cool fingers were brushing across his scruffy jaw. It was too late to knock the hand away, and Will wasn't so twitchy any more that he needed to be physically sharp all the time. ]

You don't want my darker passions. Too many monsters lie in those shadows. [ He said in a quiet tone. ] I have no qualms about giving you what you need, Jean-Claude, and I have no intention of trying to compel you beyond your boundaries. But I must ask that you respect my own in this matter.

You may have control of your monster, but mine are not so easily quieted.

[ Good, he sounds less defensive, although Jean-Claude is doing his own analysis of these answers. Pleasure can blur the lines, is that it? Someone who muddles actions and feelings? Even someone who may loathe himself. That is not a problem Jean-Claude has ever had, so it is one he has difficulty empathizing with, but can understand. He has seen it often enough before.

As amusing as it is to have a human tell him that too many monsters lie in his shadows to bring to light, Jean-Claude treats this confession with the seriousness that Will's quiet words demand. ]

Again, if that is your wish, I will respect it. But with time, you will see there is no 'demon' you could drag out of the darkness that would dismay me, or that I could not contain. I have seen it all before. [ And in particular, has kept them in check, a whole city's worth of vampires and some werewolves to boot. Jean-Claude is not intimidated by one mortal.

He holds out his slender hand, palm up. ] Come, that is enough discussion. A demonstration is in order. [ He smiles, fangs showing. ] I am hungry, and you may come to your senses if I leave you too long.

[ Is that Jean-Claude offering walk down the street holding a man's hand? Of course. It is embarrassing to have nowhere to lead him but his tiny assigned room, so it is a good thing he has booked a hotel in advance for this occasion. Jean-Claude had intended to find someone to feed from tonight, even if he had to lower his standards to do it. He is pleased that he has not had to. He may feed on lust alone, but it is no real replacement, the equivalent of foreswearing one treat to gorge on another. ]

[ Jean-Claude was aligning his thinking too closely to normative human behaviors. Will had no issue separating physical pleasure from emotional intimacy, it was one area where even his broken psyche was on proper course.

No. The line that had become blurred was the one between pain and affection. The line where Hannibal's knife across his abdomen, combined with the way the older man had held him, cradled him, cherished him even as he bled out. To later, where Will's own affections, his forgiveness had taken the guide of a harpy knife, poised and ready to plunge into Hannibal's heart.

All culminating to an embrace, as passionate as any sexual encounter, on a cliff and a purposeful plunge to what had to be certain death. It was safe to say that at this point Will's wiring was all backwards. Hannibal had gotten into his head and re-routed so many impulses.

However, as good as he was at observation, Will was no psychic and so both he and Jean-Claude were spared that awkward conversation.

He did look at the offered hand and then gave the vampire a long suffering stare before very purposefully shoving his hands into his trouser pockets. ]

Lead on, MacDuff.

[ He had made his commitment to this and he would see it through. He didn't really know what to expect, momentarily flashing to his own shared living space -something he really did need to change soon- and he wondered if it was the same for the vampire.

For all he knew, Jean-Claude was going to simply find them a convenient doorway to execute the exchange; it would be perfectly practical, if not particularly comfortable. ]

[ Indeed, that would be nowhere near Jean-Claude's first guess. He has encountered those that confuse violence and affection-- it is a supremely preternatural association to form-- but not in a human so unattached to the supernatural. In a human servant or a lycanthrope, yes, many times, but it does not occur to him here. He will learn.

The standoffish response does not bother him at all, and it combined with the quote makes him think so strongly of Anita for a moment that there is a hollow pang in his chest. She has not yet agreed to be with him, but Jean-Claude can feel how close he is to securing her, and he misses her regardless. Will is much like her. It is not an association he is prepared to share, for it would make him incredibly vulnerable.

Instead he leads on amiably enough, lowering his hand, answering with a silken, ] And damn'd be him that first cries, 'Hold, enough!'

[ It's just too apt a line not to finish.

Rather than dwell on that pleasant thought, Jean-Claude follows up with a question as they walk, strides long and confident, old-fashioned heels clacking softly. ] Tell me of yourself. We should be acquainted. What is it you have done or endured to give you such a close connection with the monsters? [ Because it is not nothing, and it is not typical. ]

[ The question earned Jean-Claude a small, aggrieved huff. Honestly the vampire was as impossibly invasive as Hannibal, always with the questions and always with questions that lead the conversation into mental minefields.

And like Jean-Claude, the similarities left him grieving for the monster he'd left behind. Can't live with him, can't live without him. He could picture Hannibal's self satisfied smirk in his mind's eye and even as he wanted to punch that smugness through the floor, he ached to see that damn face.

God but he was fucked up.

Reaching up, Will rubbed his fingers over his eyes and struggled against the urge to be curish and snap that he they didn't need to be exchanging life stories. He recognized it as curish and that Jean-Claude had truly not done anything to deserve the edge of his prickly temper. Not that Will always needed a reason to be prickly; hell half the time Zeller was a target simply for breathing.

Lowering his hand, he looked back up and towards the street as they walked along. ]

Officially, I'm an instructor with the FBI. I teach courses on behavioral science, specifically of serial killers.

I also act as a special investigator for the BAU unit. When they have the really bad ones, they bring me in because I have a way of profiling the evidence. [ Which all sounded very nice and academic. ]

I have a very vivid imagination, the psychiatrists like to call it pure empathy. I can assume the view point of anyone I come into contact with, put their skin on if you will and see through their eyes. It helps make the profiles incredibly detailed and leads to arrests but I don't always get out of the dark places without something coming with me.

[ There is clearly something else going on with Will, but as he's noted himself, they barely know each other and Jean-Claude does not feel entitled to that information yet, if ever.

Still, he cannot help a soft laugh at this revelation, intentionally trying to lighten the mood. It is a shimmer of crisp bells, distracting and pleasant across the skin like light rain. He wants Will to enjoy himself, to feel better afterward, not worse, no matter what he thinks his goals are in approaching this. ]

I should have known. You have reminded me so strongly of a woman I have great respect for. She works with the police on the preternatural cases, although I would not term her empathetic. [ Still, Jean-Claude deliberately shows his genuine affection for Anita in a trace laced through his voice, knowing Will will pick up on it. ] It is a job that is difficult to leave behind, but it is part of her, part of you.

[ That is too depressing a line of conversation when he is trying to relax him, so he continues with a wickedly teasing, ] And you both have the same body language when you refuse my hand. It is most charming.

[ Inwardly, Will genuinely hoped that Anita did not have the same issues he did in leaving the job behind. But as he shifted the pieces around, what he knew from Jean-Claude of his world, he suspected it wasn't any easier for her, to let go of the monsters, than it was for him. ]

Is she the person you're in love with? [ He inquired as they continued to walk along.

It wasn't a difficult jump to make. While Jean-Claude was capable of that preternaturally perfect mask, of arranging his features in a way that made him both transparent and unreadable at the same time; he did seem to say so much with the tone of his voice.

Or in other words ... yep, he jumped on that hint like a hound on a fresh scent. ]

[ He smiles, easily conceding this point as he had intended him to notice it. He wants to humanize himself to Will, be seen as more than a convenient instrument of his desires. Jean-Claude might be unwilling to describe how much he misses her, but admitting he is in love with her is no secret to anyone. ]

Oui, she is ma petite, although she has as yet not returned my affections. [ He seems unperturbed by this. Jean-Claude is in truth rather hideously jealous of Richard, but he has won his chance from Anita and he is confident she cannot resist him forever. He will wait her out, with sheer persistence if nothing else. ]

Edited 2017-07-12 20:47 (UTC)

Well. You are a little intense. [ Will offered the commentary in a dry tone, but there was a brief gleam of mischief in his blue eyes, before he looked away.

After a few more steps, he continued. ]

I know ... knew, someone like that. It's not always easy to trust the truth beneath the intensity.

[ Intense, that he cannot argue with. Jean-Claude does not mind it, besides. It is no bad thing to be, both a good reputation for enemies and heartening to hear from allies and loved ones, that they do not doubt his intensity of caring.

And here, here is the reciprocity he had been attempting to provoke earlier, more playfully. He is not sure what has prompted the shift to cooperation, maybe his agreement to not play games anymore. Whatever it is, he is glad for it. ]

I understand. It is not easy to trust, at all. [ He is grave but serene, accepting this highly depressing fact of life as just the way it is. ] And those of us with, how should I put it, fewer limits? We can be frightening, for you and for ma petite, because you see too clearly, I think. I value that clarity, so I am patient.

[ Sometimes he thinks that if Anita can love him, there is something left in him after all. But that is not a sentiment to be shared. ]

Yeah. [ Will began and this time a dry little chuckle escaped him. ] You two have some similar ... tastes.

[ The last word rolled off Will's tongue with an edge of deep irony wrapped around the word. Definitely there was more to the meaning of that statement than perhaps would normally be warranted.

But it wasn't something he was going to leave dangling; suggesting he wanted to discuss it. Instead, he followed up with what was possibly the more interesting conversational morsel. ]

If this woman and I truly are anything alike, then the fear is probably of ourselves, more than you.

[ Given how little Will knows of him so far, there can be few things this refers to, and Jean-Claude already knows that there is nothing supernatural in his world that he is acquainted with.

He hitches an elegant black eyebrow at this statement, but does not challenge it, sensing that pressing will get him nowhere. Instead he makes an equally targeted return. ] Not that you will be made a monster by association, but that you already are one, and it becomes obvious in proximity? [ Anita's fears are transparent to Jean-Claude, and based on what Will had said earlier... ]

[ For a few feet, Will was silent as they walked along. He was placing them along their route, recognizing that they did not appear to be heading back to the buildings that held the shared quarters many of them enjoyed.

Somewhere else then. Inwardly, Will had to chuckle. It would be just his luck that he'd agreed to walk off with a monster who would end up murdering him.

All the possibilities flashed through the profiler's active imagination, though he did little more than continue to keep pace with Jean-Claude; eventually responding to his question. ]

Is it an unreasonable fear?

[ Jean-Claude would think him foolish and naive if he weren't considering how easily Jean-Claude could kill him. There is no substitute for time in gaining trust.

As he'd said, he is a patient man, and waits through this silence as they walk, no sounds of breathing or movement coming from him at all. ] Non. You have both withdrawn yourselves from humanity, to some extent. You must, to have agreed to this. [ Normal people who understand the risks do not agree to this. ] But that you wonder at all, that it worries you, is a breath of air to me.

Your serial killers, they are usually solitary creatures, I understand. Vampires rarely are. A whole culture, a society of ones you would consider the worst of criminals, the most grotesque.

Most live in a different world from this. Ma petite, she visits mine, she is changed by it, but still she wonders, as you wonder. It is something I hope she never loses, or you. That it remain a fear.

Actually, the one I know quite intimately, is very social. [ The words leave him before he has a chance to swallow them back. It is not his intention to give away Hannibal's secrets, but it's difficult not to talk about the man.

At least he did stop the rest of that statement; 'He does love his dinner parties'. ]

Your world changes her, she changes you. That all sounds vaguely familiar.

[ He laughs, the same smooth, lovely sound as ever, leading him down a turn and toward, of course, a rather posh hotel. ]

Social, yes, but not with others of his kind, am I wrong? And-- [ His smile widens. ] How intimately is it that you know one another?

[ Will reached up and rubbed his hand over his face, nudging his glasses up and off his face briefly, before letting them drop back over his eyes and onto his nose.

He'd opened this can of worms. ]

That would depend upon your definition of intimate. As for his relationship with his own kind, that's ... complicated.

Both very complicated subjects, I see. My definition of intimacy is quite-- broad.

[ A deliberate non-answer to hopefully prod Will into revealing a little more. Jean-Claude, by contrast, looks as unaffected as ever, even breezy. He is curious, but not concerned, not overly invested. It is a look he specializes in. ]

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