(no subject)

[69problems]

Who| Signless, Gary, and anyone who needs a distraction!
What| Signless and Gary do what they do best: draw a crowd, so that nobody notices the actual important things going down.
Where| A Capitol park
When| Backdated to the day of the break-in
Warnings/Notes| Nothing in particular; will add if something comes up.

In one of the largest available Capitol parks a stage has been set up. It's festooned with colorful fabric, riddled with microphones and wires and lights, and surrounded on either side by stalls with food and drink (there are, of course, funnel cakes). Most of that was Gary's doing, but Signless deferred to him on the logic that Gary knew better how to do one of these things in public than he did. All of his experience was in keeping these things quiet and secret, which is the exact opposite of what they need to be doing.

Guests are invited to take a seat on the grass before the stage. First on the program is an 'authentic' troll sermon much like one of the ones the Signless would have given back on Alternia. It's billed as a way for those not familiar to participate in a piece of troll culture and history, though the subject is less radical rebellious philosophy (for very obvious reasons) and much more Capitol-appropriate and safe. He speaks for a good while, often inviting his listeners to contribute to the discussion, and after the sermon proper is finished there is a short question and answer session. True to his word it really does follow the same format one of his talks might have back on his native planet.

Of course not everyone is here to listen to a troll ramble in a park. For them there is the debut concert of Gary Epps which takes place after a short intermission so everyone can grab a funnel cake or a corn dog or two. The grass in front of the stage is now a makeshift dance floor and the guests are encouraged to let loose and enjoy the very, very loud and very, very upbeat music. It may be bubblegum for the ears but it's fun and the beat is good -- perfect for drowning out thoughts of why there are so very many parties all going on on this day in particular.

[This is going to be much like a crowning: a party-style post where you can put up top levels and tag around to others at any point during the festivities. Go ahead and mingle, and have some fun before everything crashes and burns! I'll be putting up a transcription of Signless's sermon shortly for characters to react to amongst themselves, and Gary will also of course be joining in!]

Comments

[atouchofka]

Alain is blissfully unaware of the rebel mechanations. After all, he only arrived yesterday. But, having resigned himself to not being able to escape, at least immediately, he's seeking distraction as much as anything else - not to mention knowledge of the place he's found himself in. Some of what he needed to know, he found out from Roland last night, but he's curious to learn more for himself, and this seems like the place to do it.

So it is that he finds himself in the park, listening curiously to the troll sermon. He's less shocked than he might have been, having met Karkat already; he can grant that, in a place so foreign, it isn't so bizarre to find utterly foreign beings. The sermon itself fascinates him, as much for its delivery as its context. He doesn't join in the questions and answers, preferring to listen and piece together what he can about both askers and answerer. But when he sees the grey-skinned preacher through the crowd later, he heads over there, having little interest in the music now playing.

"Thankee," he says, with a little nod and a half-smile. "That was very interesting."

[69problems]

It was also a good bit of pro-Capitol drivel, but he tried to keep some of his signature style in there all the same. 'Interesting', he'll take.

"I admit it wasn't my usual fare, but the kind of talks my home needed aren't the kind needed here." Which is to say, the ones he used to give back home would get him shot in the face if he tried to repeat them so publicly in Panem.

The 'thankee' catches his ear, though, and it twitches thoughtfully as he tries to place it. Cuthbert, his brain supplies. Cuthbert and his dialect that was ever as colorful as the thickest of lowblood troll slang.

"I apologize if this seems like a strange question, but did you ever know a boy named Cuthbert Allgood?"

[atouchofka]

Alain blinks, then leans forward a little, his brow wrinkling into a frown. "Aye. More than know. We are..." An-tet tangles on his tongue, and his frown deepens. He hates this, hates how he's unable to make the right words for what he needs to say. "We've fought side by side since we were children. You know him?"

That makes his heart twist in his chest. Cuthbert cannot be here now, he is certain - Roland would have mentioned that, for sure - but there is still a certain awkward grief at being the last to come here. Worse, he has been trying not to think of Cuthbert, who may even now be being gunned down by Farson's forces. Because of him. Because he couldn't get the message through.

He swallows, trying and failing to hide the concern in his expression. He never was a good liar. At last, he settles for the shallow bow and brisk throat-tap of a polite salute, clearing his throat and offering his hand. "Alain Johns. Son of Christopher. He might have mentioned me?"

[69problems]

Signless's hands are no longer callused as they might have once been before he became a Victor and the stylists really worked him over, but his grip is still firm and warm. His expression, however, is a little sheepish.

"If he did, I don't recall. He... left, some time ago. But I did know him, and I would consider us friends." More or less. There were some parts of Cuthbert he didn't much like, but those could be put down to the stupidity of youth.

"... Roland did mention you once, though." Briefly, and he'd cut himself off before he could get into explaining, but the name itself he knows he's heard. "That you were part of his together-group."

Which is a horrendous butchering of the actual term, he's sure, but it's what tet often comes out to be when Roland tries to force the High Speech.

[atouchofka]

Alain nods, with a slightly strained little smile. "He would have, I guess. Though I fear I was never quite so close to him as Bert." There is a part of him that wonders, rather worriedly, why Roland would only have mentioned him once. Did his failure hurt so badly, is he unforgiven? But he reminds himself that Roland seemed genuinely glad to see him. There are years uncounted between them. Maybe it's not so surprising if he was far from Roland's mind.

"And you? You must have been here no short time yourself, I'd guess."

CONCERT

[a_minute_younger]

Gary wasn't sure what to do at first when the Signless approached him to help set up his park-side sermon. Make it loud, make it obtrusive--on an instinctive level Gary knows how to pull those off, but planning it all out? That isn't exactly his forte. So as he usually did, Gary went with what first came to his mind, and since it was right before lunch, it had been food. Food would attract a lot of people. Fair food would attract the most people.

His first executive decision had been to get a stand for funnel cakes. Some asking around and hunting later brought Gary to the particularly excitable Capitolite that had sponsored him at the beginning of the last Arena. He presented the idea, they talked about stage equipment, then really loud stage equipment, and then things rapidly fell into place from there.

The stage was already set for him when Signless gave his sermon; there's only a brief period after he wraps things up where Gary's sponsor hurries up on-stage to fiddle with a few wires and prepare the mix of songs he'd built. Then Gary appears. It's amazing how well he moves in so much tight leather, all black except for splashes of eye-searing glow-in-the-dark yellow, with a subtle, unintentional nod to the Initiate in the skeleton print of his shirt.

His sponsor has prepared a mix of current popular hits, ones that Gary has listened to enough times on the radio to have the lyrics memorized. He opens with a well-known classic to get people energized, then moves on to more immediately relevant or otherwise appropriate material, dancing enthusiastically the entire time as colored lights timed to the music swivel over the crowd and into the sky like concentrated beams of hyperactive energy. The soundtrack is unfortunately prerecorded, but there are various electronic instruments plugged in and scattered around the edges of the stage is anyone is feeling brave enough to join in.

There are, perhaps thankfully, brief periods of rest between sets of songs, punctuated by tranquil background music to let people wind down. Gary uses this time to mingle with the crowd and scarf down whatever food he can get his hands on before his sponsor cues him for the next set. And so on, and so forth, well into the early hours of morning or until the Peacekeepers get annoyed, the concert continues.

((OOC: Consider this a mingle! Responses can be for Gary or just general top-level business. Have fun!))

Open to all!

[talltaleteller]

There was so much to do, so much to do, picking up supplies for Uncle Torin's party and dropping off supplies for that other thing... she's been off on little errands all day, because their family isn't made of money and you've got to cut corners where you can to offer a superior Capitolite-pleasing party experience. It's an honor, though, to be involved. To be involved in all of it. Even the stuff that no one really ought to know that she's involved in.

It's with a big load of bags full of tablecloths and tableware and pieces of centerpieces that she comes across the ruckus in the park. And such a ruckus it is, that she has to shirk her duties for a few moments and see just what's going on. Into the crowds she goes, and she makes it in sight of the stage just as Gary is letting loose about lords and lady preachers.

"AAAAAAH!!!" The audience now has at least one more screaming fangirl. A screaming fangirl that can't quite believe her luck to have come across this in person and not after the fact, not on the network, not by second-hand information. Without even thinking about it she drops her bags, fishes her camera out of her over-the-shoulder-tote of a purse, and starts to snap pictures. The moment needs to be captured.

i hope a late tag-in is ok!

[theflyingone]

Altaïr could not fail to notice the unusual amount of activity today, despite there being no official holiday or festival. He had set out into the city to see all the ruckus for himself, and heard the concert before he saw it. The sound was artificially amplified, he could tell, though he wasn't sure how exactly. It was loud enough to shake his very bones, bass reverberating against his rib cage.

He slipped easily into the crowd, hood pulled up out of habit. The crowd was screaming and dancing with a Dionysian frenzy. The singer's music wasn't even that good, in Altaïr's opinion, but his opinion was also several centuries old.

A girl next to him screamed louder than the others. Alarmed, he whirled to look out of habit. But all she was doing was setting down her bags and... pulling out a strange metal device?

"What are you doing?" he yelled above the noise.

as long as you're alright with a late tag-back!

[talltaleteller]

Felicity has another delighted scream of teenaged glee queued up and ready to go when she's interupted, and so it comes out as a squawk that cuts off in a really, really surprised sound. "Whaaaaa?!" She spins partway about just as her finger comes down on the camera's shutter button, and off goes the flash.

"Oh!" She immediately realizes what she has done, which is probably blind the poor guy that was just asking questions. "Oh, oh, oh, oh! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

This is probably only serving to make things even more confusing.

[theflyingone]

He jumped as far back as he was able, smacking into the person behind him. Fire! Fire, fire! Spots dancing in his eyes, he looked for more dangerous sparks, but that flash had been it. If she hadn't immediately apologized, he would have suspected she was trying to attack him and tackled her accordingly.

"You are using a fire starter in a crowd??"

Now he was as livid as the fire he imagined, feathers definitely ruffled.

Break in the singing okay?

[a_minute_younger]

This is roughly the third round of songs Gary's gone through, and by this point he's started to not notice everything going on around him. Is it really the third round, or fourth? Who are all these people yelling at him? Is that a new camera flash or the same photographer from twenty minutes ago?

In any case, Felicity has the fortune (misfortune?) of arriving just before the next period of downtime. The chipper elevator music comes on and immediately Gary turns off his headset and hops off the stage, directly into the crowd. He has precisely ten minutes to get something to drink, which is his main priority right now. Well, until he starts recognizing people.

"Felicity!" Gary grins and holds his arms out wide, perhaps inviting a hug, perhaps just out of pure enthusiasm. He sounds kind of hoarse and looks particularly sweaty off-stage, though, so maybe some discretion is in order here. "What a surprise! Look at you!"

It's fantastic!

[talltaleteller]

Though it would have been nice to get at least one more song, and Felicity does let out a loud "Awwwww!" when the intermission music comes up and break time starts, it is probably for the best. There are places that she needs to be and things she need to do. Yelling her lungs out at a silly guy, even if she sort of knows him, is not one of them. Sadly.

"...Gary? GARY!" Wait, wait, he knows her! And remembers! And recognizes her outside of her troll costume and makeup! She claps her hands together, just sort of vibrates in place with overwhelmed glee, and rushes on in at him since that energy has to go somewhere. He is almost hugged, but she stops herself short because wait he does look super sticky and also maybe that is too forward and oh no there is all this momentum built up....

"Woo!" She turns all that momentum into a spin and a half, finally coming to a breathless stop in front of him. "I, I, I didn't know you could sing! That's amazing! You're amazing!"

[a_minute_younger]

"Look who's talkin'!" Gary's extended hands go to his hips. If he was expecting a hug, he's apparently not too put-out at not receiving one. "Those moves! That smile! You could be on-stage with me as a backup dancer and everyone would assume my sponsor hired you for the job!"

Gary is, once again, laying it on a bit thick. This time he's kind of stuck in the mode of 'enthusiastic entertainer' and Felicity's excitement is only exacerbating things. He assumes she doesn't mind.

"What brings a pretty lady like you to a place like this, eh?"

OTA - catch him at any point in all this

[ka_sera_sera]

Roland arrives early - the same time as Signless, surprise surprise - so he's got a lot of time to kill even before this whole thing starts. A large part of him, the part that's been waiting for this day and is very aware of what certain other tributes are going to be facing - has gone still and cold in that way he recognizes very well. This is how he feels when the shooting is about to begin.

No shooting here, though. Not unless things go very badly indeed. No battle. Not an obvious one, anyway.

Mostly he's watching Signless. Hasn't seen him do anything like this before, and despite the excess energy Roland knows he won't be able to burn off, the sight is fascinating.

He eyes some of the less outlandish food stands, and lingers by one for funnel cake for a moment, but he can't eat during a battle. Even one he isn't going to be fighting, because his body is definitely convinced he's about to fight in it. So instead he watches Capitolites run around making last minute preparations, watches the crowd once those preparations are done. Moves into it, gauging the mood of the Capitolites. Despite everything, Signless' question and answer session actually makes him snort, maybe even grin a little - not laugh, but it does come close a couple times. Only about a fourth of the questions are on topic. The rest are predictable. One or two are directed to him, even though he isn't on stage. He'll try to direct those back toward Signless, but if one catches his interest - who knows?

And of course, there's- well. Roland's keeping his head down, as he's been asked to do. He is. One little incident of setting a particularly tall, elaborate hairstyle aflame - that'll hardly make the news in a city like this, will it? Of course, the sound it makes when it goes up, and gods, the smell, that might catch some attention. To be fair, Roland's does mean to get to the fire before it eats up too much of that one food stand, the one with all the whiskey and vodka and all sorts of fruity flammable things in glass bottles.

It'd seemed like a good idea at the time, okay?

[biiowiired]

Psii took a "break" from watching the digital front to look in on Signless. He wanted to make sure he didn't say anything stupid and incriminating in his sermon, and also that no one in the crowd took this opportunity to attempt public assassination. Stress and emotions were running high, and Psii was worried that in all this rebel plotting, someone on either side of the secret conflict might try something stupid.

Psii was ensconced in the crowd. He would return to his codes after Signless's question-and-answer session ended. Meanwhile, there was no better way to show his support than some good old-fashioned heckling.

"TAKE OFF YOUR SHIRT!!"

It was then that he noticed the smell of burning hair.

"....Human Roland?"

[ka_sera_sera]

That particular form of address is so odd that Roland actually pauses in what he's doing to sit up and look around - then he grimaces, detaches the Capitolite's hand from his thigh, and goes back to using a scarf to beat the embers out of the smoking, drooping mass that once might have passed for hair. Human Roland has heard you, Psii. Human Roland is a little distracted.

"Put that out," he says, since the Psiionic has been kind enough to volunteer to help by bringing himself to Roland's attention. "Before it spreads to something dangerous. Neht!" The translator chip in Roland's head does not stop him saying that last word, because it is not a word. It is a noise, instinctive as the one you'd make at a dog who'd jumped up onto the table and started eating your dinner. Or at a Capitolite who is enjoying themselves far too much to want to report Roland to the peacekeepers with the claim he'd meant to set their hair on fire. Which Roland is very much glad of. But it isn't exactly helping.

[biiowiired]

Psii tended to put 'human' in front of things and people he didn't know well. Human slumber pad, human card games, Human Roland. Roland had a stoic aloofness that reminded Psii of the image he himself projected to Signless's followers, to make sure they didn't do anything violent at his sermons. Psii was never sure if he was jealous of his coolness or just impressed.

Psii had not planned to volunteer, but here he was, volunteering by taking off his jacket and beating the dying embers with it. The Capitolite shrieked, by with undisguised glee rather than fear.

"Oh my God, both of you, at the same time! Are you here together? How scandalous...."

Psii dropped his jacket on the ground to pass a hand over his face, pressing his palm into his eyeballs. Even without rebel plots, this was certainly some night. He engaged grumpy mode.

"Wow, I would tho rather be yelling obthene thingth at SS rather than thmell burning follicleth. Go away and take your hair with you. Human Roland, back me up."

closed to Signless

[biiowiired]

Psii checked and re-checked his codes before dashing off to find Signless. If anyone was going to have a terrible reaction to Initiate's network post, it would be Initiate's moirail. Whether Psii needed to hold him back or just hold him, he had to hurry. He knew Signless's pale/pailmate/thing Roland could do the same, but he didn't strike Psii as the technology type. He wouldn't know what happened until later. If Signless saw it first and Roland wasn't close by....

He spotted Signless near the public ablution blocks. Psii had procured a blanket, pretending he had used it to sit in the grass the whole time, instead of having disappeared during the concert to one of his hacking stations. Without preamble, he wrapped it and his arms around Signless's head and shoulders. He leaned into the private pocket of darkness the blanket provided. To a camera, it would simply appear to be an intimate moment whilst surrounded by people, not unheard of at crowded events.

"I have thome bad newth. Initiate left a methage on the network. Thingth don't look tho good. There might be cathualtieth."

He was slowly edging towards telling Signless that Initiate might be one of those casualties. All the signs pointed in that direction. Usually so blunt and efficient with delivering terrible portents, he hesitated.

[69problems]

At Psii's words, Signless's face went carefully, stonily blank. The only thing that betrayed exactly how hard his stomach had just dropped into his feet was that way his jaw tensed.

'Might be casualties'. He knew what that meant even if Psii wasn't going to come out and say it immediately. In a way he was glad for the softening of the blow, even if he knew it had to come eventually.

"We knew there might be. How many? Was it a complete failure, or...?"

If the mission itself was successful then at least anyone who died would have died for a reason. That would make it in some small way better.

[biiowiired]

The curt, careful way Signless looked and spoke mirrored how Psii remained firm in dire situations. Sometimes Psii was blindsided by how his friend had changed in his time here. Psii might berate others for not being as intelligent or careful, but truly the last thing Psii ever wanted was for someone to become more like his own sorry self.

"I don't have a proper report, only what I thaw pothted on the network—Don't bother looking now, it'th been erathed. The human Steve Rogerth wath talking about giving up hith life before hith methage wath cut off. And.... Initiate thaid the thame."

Psii didn't usually use Initiate's title, preferring "clown" or "douchebag." Psii tightened his hold on Signless, as much to give him strength as to restrain him from doing anything reckless. Never before had he dreaded giving bad news so much.

"Look at me, Kankri. Do you remember our contingienthy planth? We could be thuthpected of being in on it. I need you to be ready. We'll know if it wath a failure if no one returnth at all."

[69problems]

And there it was. Signless took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then let it out again in a shaky sigh. He'd known this might happen. He'd known, just as he'd known there was always a chance he might be culled on Alternia for his own acts of rebellion. It hurt, but it was not a surprise -- he'd been mentally preparing himself for it since the anonymous network post. He had no trouble meeting Psii's eyes.

"I can handle it. I've done nothing they can use to incriminate me and if they decide to haul me in for questioning anyway... it isn't as though I haven't see the inside of a Capitol jail cell before. You're the one with physical evidence linking you to this. How quickly can you destroy everything?"

closed to Signless

[fintastic]

For Feferi, listening to Signless speak is quite literally something out of a storybook-- the kind of contraband story book you might get culled for. Adults like him were just legends, rumors, and make believe in her time, and modern adults were scary but unremarkable beyond that. But he's kind, and warm (literally and figuratively) and a good speaker, so Feferi listens with rapt attention.

If only this weren't the Capitol, she thinks, how much better it might be. She wonders, at points, how much of this pro-Capitol sentiment he really believes, but in any case, she likes listening to his voice, so she doesn't dwell on it too much.

Once he's finished, she waits around for her turn to talk to him, fins all perked up and looking far more comfortable than the last time she had the chance to listen to him speak. Crownings were never comfortable. Shifting from side to side, she gives everyone else trying to talk to him antsy looks, gently willing them to go away, because clearly she is way more important and has far more intelligent things to say.

[69problems]

As it turns out, he doesn't believe much of it. Likening the caste system to Panem's districts is certainly an apt comparison, but saying that segregating people by their usefulness to the central government and reducing them to the way they can be used as tools (each in its proper place) is not something he really endorses any more than he'd endorse confining all yellowbloods to lives of servitude or saying all indigos are suited only to the church.

He notices her standing there and looking oh-so-excited to talk to him, so he gently disengages with the Capitolite who's already managed to get him to sign their fake horns (curly, in shades of green) and makes his way over to her.

"Hello, Feferi. Did you have a question?" Not that she's broadcasting clear impatience or anything.

[fintastic]

Feferi is just on the verge of vibrating as he approaches, but she manages to keep herself in check and prevents herself from going critical mass. She has to fold her hands behinds her back to manage it, rocking forward on the balls of her feet before settling back.

"No! I just really enjoyed it, and I thought you should know." And that he looked like he might need a break from the usual Capitolite procession. Feferi to the rescue it is! "Do you just make it up as you go, or do you write it out beforehand?"

Yes, that is a question, but one shouldn't question excited fish troll logic. In her defense, she wasn't planning on asking it. It just kind of comes out. The topic discussed of course is hogwash, but she can still appreciate the art of speaking.

[69problems]

"A little of both," he says, honestly pleased for a question that's actually thoughtful instead of a request for him to remove his shirt (thanks, Psii). It's nice to see that someone enjoyed hearing him speak who wasn't also predisposed to eat up all the ridiculous things he was saying.

"I have an outline in mind and key points I want to address, and fill in the points in between as I go. That way if something occurs to me in the middle I can add it in without too much trouble."