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

Making the most of the situation was all anyone could do, at least here they offered to try to help get you back. Where he was before, for four years, that was a prison. There was no hope of going back just because you wanted to - and eventually you learned to accept that not everyone got the luxury of returning home. For Ed, that meant even when he left it was to find himself on a different world.

He never said that, Link. Although he also wouldn't argue with it, either. "It's not really about preference at this point. Finding myself back home means traveling through three portals if the rumors are correct. The chances of that are so slim, it's not worth dwelling on. I'd rather stay here than wind up who knows where else, instead though." At least here he already had friends, and a purpose.

That was a fair statement. From the way Ed phrased it, it didn't seem he had a choice in whether to return to his home world or not.

"Whatever happens, I hope it turns out well for you." Link's tone was solemn, but he had meant what he said. All of a sudden the festival didn't seem as light-hearted as it had before. It was more of a thin distraction from the reality of the situation.

Still, there wasn't much Link could do about it at the present time. "There are definitely worse places we could have ended up in."

"Thanks..." Ed might have also considered the festival a distraction from people being torn from their worlds, except that it hardly compared to where he came from before. The paradise island of Attollo definitely had that market covered, and most people here didn't actually seem to mind finding themselves here.

"Yeah, I've been to a few." He doesn't seem to upset about that though, commenting off hand as if about the weather. No big deal.

Link wasn't sure if he was impressed with Ed's nonchalant attitude or concerned by it. Does one ever get used to being ripped through time and space to end up in a different world? Perhaps this wasn't the best time to think about it much, as a group of children ran pass with one bumping right into Link. He was small enough that Link was barely phased by it.

"S-sorry!" The little boy stammered as he picked himself back up and ran off to rejoin his friends. Link smiled and shook his head. He was kind of glad at the distraction. This conversation was getting depressing.

"There's so much going here. It's hard to decide what to see next!"

That was a reaction he got a lot, so it wouldn't be surprising in the least if Link had voiced it out loud. Chloe had actually called him on being too nonchalant about such things, but realizing that it was startling to other people hadn't been enough to make him stop to think long before he spoke.

Ed glanced in the direction of the running kids as they passed, smirking slightly but trying not to let that little disruption distract him too much. Being moved from one portal to the next? Piece of cake. Being reminded of all the kids he once took care of in one of those places before this one? Now that was enough to stir up emotion in him, and he did his best to hide it but- it hurt. There had been no children in Attollo, the only reminder he had there was Rhode, and she was different, somehow. They always were.

At Link's change of topic though, he only grins. "There's a parade at some point, but... I probably won't be attending that, not really my thing. You might enjoy it, though."

Link had his back turned to Ed to watch the kids run off, so any passing shadow that may have overcome Ed's features were completely missed. When he turned back to look he was greeted with Ed's wide grin.

"A parade, huh?" Link wasn't sure if he'd like it or not. Only one way to find out. "I wouldn't mind seeing that." However, there was still one more thing for Link to do before that...

...there was still all of this new food to try.

"I guess I can keep sampling the food here until the parade starts. Do you wanna come with me?" He would certainly share.

"Yeah, it's the first one I know of so... can't really compare it to much else." He had no idea how to explain it if Link asked, so he wasn't about to try.

Sampling food seemed to be about the most enjoyable part of this whole ordeal to Ed, so he certainly wasn't going to turn that opportunity down. "Sure, there's definitely plenty around to try."

Link grinned and pointed to a rather bright red and yellow colored truck with a large sign that said "TACOS Y NACHOS" with a cartoonish picture of a rotund man in a large hat with a bushy mustache. Link had no idea what it meant, but he was determined to find out.

"What about that one over there," he said, already starting to make his way through the crowd.

introductory mingle: carnivale

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