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

[hititwithacrowbar]

[ Jason chuckled a little hearing that. ]

Mischief kind of comes with the package, or so I would assume.

[ he added the last bit, like he didn't know, but a twinkle of amusement kind of gave him away.]

If I recall correctly he was knighted in October of 1902. But, I might have that wrong. I was really into his Sherlock Holmes novels back when I was younger. This is a trip for me, you knew the man? What was he like?

[ Jason no longer cared about the party or the food, the young boy had his full undivided attention.]

[sweetlies]

Ah, still thirteen years away then. [It makes him grin, faintly, though to think of Arthur being knighted. All of his confusion at being invited to the manor for a party would be nothing compared to a knighthood. He wants to laugh a little.]

Oh yes, I was holding a bit of a party for a relation of the queens, so I invited Doctor Arthur. He was... [Hm.]

He was quiet, a bit shy really, but quite intelligent. A bit lacking in confidence though, he kept insisting he was 'just an ophthalmologist' and was quite surprised to hear I had read his work.

[hititwithacrowbar]

How old will you be when he gets knighted?

[ He figured it was a clever way to ask the kid his age. Even if he didn't like the idea of a kid being on their own, as a former street kid, he knew he couldn't stop it. He made his offer and he'd leave it at that.]

I wonder if he would be surprised to know in my time everyone knows the name Sherlock Holmes. He was quiet the author, hell I can honestly say I've had my hands on a first edition once. That nearly blew my mind to hold one of the books that shaped him.

[ He didn't explain who him was, but he had a bittersweet look for a second, thinking of the old first edition Bruce had let him read long long ago before getting him his own copy. ]

[sweetlies]

[He's clever enough, even at this age, to see just what he's getting at but he'll make no comment on it.]

October, you said? I'll be twenty-six then. [Providing he's still alive then. The Watchdogs don't have the longest lives and him, probably shorter.]

That is a good question. [He thinks about Arthur for a moment and then chuckles softly.] I think he would be. He really had no confidence in his work, he could barely believe I'd read his story let alone anyone else. So the idea could give him quite a start!

[hititwithacrowbar]

You'll be older than me by then.

[ He doubted he'd make it that much longer himself, him and death had been in an intimate dance with death for years now. Still, even if he knew nothing of the kid he spoke to in that regard he hoped he hoped the kid had better luck.]

I cant even imagine it. I guess from growing up with the books I assumed him to be like his characters in a way.

[sweetlies]

By merit of being born in the eighteen-hundreds, I'm sure.

[In all honesty, Ciel has very little confidence he'll make it that long. He does the small situation of his butler and their contract. Never mind that he's purposely trying to get his families murderers to come after him.]

Perhaps he gained more confidence with the publication of his books? Although he did comment that his books and the subjects were outside of his area of expertise. He really must have done his research.

[hititwithacrowbar]

[ Jason shouldn't have laughed, but he did. He liked this kid, keeping it real earned him points with Jay.]

Well, yeah point. You guys had some shit health care, on the bright side medicine gets better over the next hundred years. People are supposed to live to nearly a hundred.

[ He spoke with a wave of a hand.]

Who knows, or maybe he met someone like that? I mean the man is credited with creating forensic sciences, which is a huge deal in my time. Just by writing his books he changed how crimes were solved. Also, I'm not keeping you from having fun am I?

[sweetlies]

I can hardly imagine living so long. [The queen has a good chance of it but he hasn't, and never will, inquire as to Her Majesty's age.]

Perhaps. There is still a good length of time between me and his knighting, perhaps even the release of his next book. I hope I'll have a chance to read them. [The question make him laugh, briefly, and he waves a hand.]

In all honesty, I find this far more interesting than this festival.