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

[ All the festivities have been a little overwhelming, particularly the parts for adults. Some participants were a little too aggressive for his taste and eventually he ducked out entirely, escaping for some quiet(er) corner he could tuck himself into, slip his headphones on and tune out. But before he can even turn on his music, he hears a beat thumping. It's confusing at first, and for a moment he thinks his headphones weren't working properly until he pulls them down to hang around his neck.

Led by the sound, he enters one of the lounges. The mood is still pretty over the top for him, with couples and groups enjoying each others company in varying degrees of familiar to uncomfortably intimate and Aoba tries his best to just ignore the latter as best he can, keeping his eyes glued to the floor as he makes his way inside. He picks a spot with plenty of lighting and where it's calmer away from the dance floor and settles down on the couch. It's weird being in a place like this alone, but the music is good and...

And there's a man wearing sunglasses indoors, dancing like he's enjoying himself. Somehow, watching him puts him at ease, like there's no way he could possibly feel self-conscious being around someone who dances like he doesn't care who sees him.

So Aoba decides to make conversation. ]

I think I've discovered your secret. The sunglasses... it makes it hard to see indoors right?

Is that what helps you cut loose like that?

[Dave's facade of confidence is like a delicate bubble, just waiting to be popped by literally anything. Yet, thus far, he's managed to continue on steadily. That is until someone points out his admirable, care-free attitude and he goes right back to feeling like a huge dork.

This guy genuinely believes he's like this all the time, though. Somewhere in Dave's brain is the phrase fake it until you make it and it seems like now is as good a time as any to pretend he isn't crippled socially.]

If you're looking to put yourself into a judgement free zone, I have one word for you buddy. [He cups his hands around his mouth, like he's telling a secret.]

Alcohol. Or it's magic shades. I dunno. I don't think anyone else here cares too much, but they're passing around party drugs like they're skittles. [Not that he's going to try them.]

[ Aoba leans in slightly to listen to the secret and then pulls back with a laugh. Liquid courage? Makes sense. And here he'd thought it was some trick like 'imagining everyone around you in their underwear' or something similarly ridiculous. ]

Maybe for you. Alcohol just makes me feel giddy and tired.

[ Aoba is a scrawny guy with very little tolerance for alcohol. He can't hold his liquor worth at all. ]

My best friend always says I'm a total lightweight. [ The blue haired boy smiles happily but it fades a little as he thinks of Koujaku. Ah, it's sad he'll probably never see him again... so Aoba glances away to lift his soda, taking a small sip from the straw. He has no idea what a 'skittle' is, but he's a little dubious about fooling around with substances he knows nothing about, ]

Mm, I noticed that too. I hope not that weird Lampyr stuff.

Bummer. [Dave replies. He hasn't got much of a tolerance himself, largely because he doesn't drink often, he's just lucky that he manages to get a good buzz out of it before he needs a nap.]

Maybe you need practice. [Dave ponders, but really he's just the worst person for advice on this subject. He's barely aware of why he's able to act confident even now.]

Lamp stuff? Lamp drugs?

Are you suggesting I build up a tolerance?

[ Aoba laughs as he asks the question, drawing his knees up briefly as he grips the edge of the lounge he sits on and rocks forward and then back - almost like he's considering it - then shakes his head 'no'. It's a shy expression overall, one that seems grateful to talk about something else. ]

M-mh. [ No again. ] Lampyr, I think. Did you see that creepy commercial on the network?

[ A glance over at Dave and he just assumes he hasn't and pushes his hand into his pocket, pulling out his comm device and swiping the screen. After a moment, he unhooks the large pink headphones from around his neck and scoots a little closer, swiveling the ear pieces to face out so that they can listen at the same time. Here, watch this. ]

You've gotta see it, at least to be aware.

Continued here..!

introductory mingle: carnivale

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