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

[spellslots]

[It sucked, a lot, but he doesn't really want any sympathy for it, because nothing can undo it, he's not even sure if resetting with the Starblaster would fix it all. His body would go back to normal, he'd get his looks back, but if what they took of his life force was from his soul, that doesn't reset.

And at the end of the day, he knows that what he got was so much less than what Merle and Magnus gave up; Taako doesn't think he could've surrendered an eye, the way Merle did. Or lost the memories that Magnus lost.]

They're super fucking dead, yeah. That's... uh, you saw the mannequin, didn't you? They did that to Magnus.

[Which is an unfortunate fucking pickle, although he thinks Barry may have a solution, since he can regrow his own damn body, apparently.]

[franciscoramon]

Good.

[ Maybe that's not the kind of thing Cisco ought to be glad for, but, well, he is. Evil magic ghosts that feed on suffering really don't deserve a second chance, do they? And it sounds like Taako and Magnus and Merle were definitely not their first victims, so, fuck them anyway.

It takes a moment to understand what Taako means. He'd seen a wooden mannequin in that vision he got from Taako's future, but... that had been Magnus? Taako's friend? They'd changed him into a giant wooden doll, like some kind of reverse Pinnochio horrorshow? ]

Jesus.

[ Cisco pauses a moment to take a long drink from his beer; conversations about Taako's world always seem to go like this. Cisco spends about half the time marveling about how awesome it is (cloaks that let you breathe underwater!) and about half the time thinking it sounds like the last place in the multiverse he would ever want to be. Sure didn't do things by halves, there.

He is tempted to ask if there's magic that could restore his life force, his looks, the things he'd lost, but he stops himself before he does. As if Taako wouldn't have thought of that, himself. If he hasn't found a way to do it, there probably isn't one, and asking would just be insulting. Cisco nods, hating that something so messed up had happened to his friend, but accepting it. After all, there is something he can do to help. ]

Well... well if you've got a little less life force than before, pretty damn important to get you a suit. How 'bout you come by my workshop sometime next week and I can take your measurements and we can talk design and what kinda safety stuff is gonna be most important.

[spellslots]

[There's a long explanation behind the mannequin thing, but it's a lot to tell and not exactly the most fun story to dive into, so when Cisco just veers back to the topic of suits, Taako is more than happy to lay the whole discussion of Wonderland to bed. It was important that they went, to retrieve the bell, to finally realize Barry's on their side, but it isn't something he particularly wants to dwell on.]

Real talk, how do you feel about sequins?

[He looks absolutely serious, but that could just mean he's trying Extra Hard in order to mess with Cisco.]

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco lays a hand against his chest, mouth dropping open in overblown mock surprise. Both of them share this instinct - to recover from talking about something very serious and messed up by injecting some humor into the conversation. Cisco knows that that is exactly what Taako is doing, and he's game to play along. ]

Whaaat? You're saying you, Taako, don't want to go for a maximum camouflage, blend in the shadows type look?!

[ The sarcasm in those words is heavy but it is also, unmistakably, fond. The truth is, Cisco likes Taako's flashiness and flamboyance. He would never want to suppress any of that, even when designing a suit whose main purpose is to help keep him alive. He is not opposed to some gaudiness ]

Sequins aren't the priority, but I think I could be persuaded to work a modest amount of them in, as accents.

[ There's something to be said, too, for the effect that a very vibrant suit has on an enemy. If it's the right type of person, they get distracted, start underestimating the person underneath. Which can make all the difference. ]

[spellslots]

[Taako tosses a handful of harmless sparks at Cisco, in lieu of having anything physical to throw at him.]

I'll camouflage myself when I'm dead.

[Even that probably isn't true, he probably has some arrangements in place with Lup about how Extra his funeral better be if he dies for real.]

I mean, let's be honest with ourselves, I can always just put 'em on later.

[ :D ]

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco laughs loudly at the gesture, ducking back to get out of the way of the sparks, wrinkling his nose rather cutely in irritation. ]

Alright, alright. Up to half of it can be sequins, the first time through, but listen. I'm not gonna be sewing them back on every time you knock any of them off. That's gonna be on you.

[ He doesn't actually know how much action Taako will see in his suit, but Cisco has just learned to anticipate constant and tricky repairs, thanks to Barry's way of treating his super suits. He takes up his beer again and says: ]

I'm assuming anonymity isn't a concern, either? I mean, if you super needed to be incognito you could just do a spell to change how you look.

[spellslots]

I'm magic, pumpkin, I can totally handle some sequin repairs.

[Taako doesn't even know the mending cantrip, but that doesn't mean he can't find creative solutions to problems like losing sequins. Or he'll just sew them back on by hand like some kind of animal.]

And hell no, why would I ever consider covering up all this? That's gotta be some kinda crime.

[With a gesture at his face, assuming by anonymity, Cisco means mask.]

[franciscoramon]

Perfect. I leave it in your capable hands.

[ Cisco just smiles and shakes his head fondly at Taako's very particular brand of boastful vanity. That was what he had figured on, and it actually makes his life somewhat easier. He'll still want to include some kind of protection for Taako's neck, but not needing a cowl or a mask is nice for a change. ]

The timing's good, too, I bet there's a booth somewhere around here that's got leather for cheaper than the usual price. I'll stock up.

[ With that, and a tiny little wag of his eyebrows, Cisco finishes the rest of his beer. ]