etcircenses: (Default)
Panem Events ([personal profile] etcircenses) wrote in [community profile] thecapitol2013-12-15 06:36 am

The Crowning of Enjolras

WHO| All Tributes and Victor, plus a few Capitol guests
WHAT| The Crowning of Enjolras
WHERE| The Tribute Center
WHEN| A few weeks after the end of the Arena
WARNINGS| Forced medical experimentation, needles.

The atmosphere surrounding the Crowning is both tense and secretive. The style teams flutter around listlessly, having received no information from which to draft their designs. Newspapers take bets on when it will be announced where the Crowning is being held, descending into grousing when no press release is given. Peacekeepers pour in and out of the Tribute Center, accompanied by scientists who occasionally pull Tributes aside and look at the veins in their elbows. Even the Avoxes seem jumpier than usual.

Aside from the Tribute Center's new giant marble statute of a nude Enjolras, posed like the famed David, one could almost forget the party is supposed to be celebratory.

When the day arrives, the Escorts and their assistants don't lead the Tributes to their style teams to be gussied instead. Instead, they hush the Tributes and bring them to their bedrooms, where a Peacekeeper, a white-coated citizen and several Avoxes await them. The Escorts instruct the Tributes to lay down in their bed and close their eyes, and a needle is inserted into their arms that the Escorts insist will 'take them to the party'. It's soon followed by a series of sensors taped to the forehead.

Just relax, the Escorts say, and they do their very best to make sure their Tributes feel minimal anxiety. If the Tributes resist too much, more Peacekeepers are called in, and the Tributes are forced into submission.

The first effect is a sort of paralysis - not the terrifying inability to move, but a signal to the brain that says why move? Moving is so much effort. It's quickly followed by drowsiness, and then a chill that radiates from the needle into the body, and finally, unconsciousness.

And that is when the party begins. The Tributes, now dressed in luxurious 1830's French clothing of a quality beyond even what their Stylists could manage, wake up in the front row of a large stone theater setting reminiscent of, simultaneously, Greek and French architecture. The floor of the theater is filled with buffets of every imaginable sort of food. Rose petals fall from the sky, which displays a sunset worthy of award-winning photography.

For his part, Enjolras sits in a throne made of books on the ring of the amphitheater, flanked by Marius, Cosette, Eponine, and bizarrely enough Venus Dee Milo and Ellie, seated on lush pillows and carpets made of dinosaur skin (with the heads comically attached and eyes lolling).

"Welcome, welcome, our Tributes and Mentors, to the first ever somnofestival, sponsored by Hypnogogia!" Caesar Flickerman, noted talkshow host and Games presenter, appears in a fabulous sequined toga in the center of the amphitheater. He doesn't need a microphone; the acoustics here are flawless. "And congratulations to our Victor! Let us hear it for Enjolras!"

He awaits applause.

"As you may have noticed, you're inside a shared dream, due to the just fantastic technology from the Capitol and certain, ah, biological contributions from our dear favorite Aunamee." He holds a hand out and gestures to Aunamee, anticipating wild applause. "We thought that for our most philosophical Victor yet, we should celebrate in a way that's a little bit…cerebral."

Caesar laughs and gestures at all the food, then puts a cheeky finger to his lips. "By all means, enjoy yourselves. Even the most indulgent desserts here won't show up on your hips tomorrow. The party only last three hours, so you might as well get started!"

He vanishes into thin air, leaving the Tributes to celebrate. Occasionally, the Tributes will hear voices in their heads - chatter from the Peacekeeper and scientist and Escort still in their room, in the waking world. Otherwise, this is a party like any other, if somewhat surreal in nature.

-/-

The party begins the same way for all the Tributes. For an unlucky few, however, it soon diverges as they come under an unfortunate glitch in the system.

They'll look around and find only a handful of their fellow Tributes around them. The sky, rather than being a magnificent splay of color, is now blank white, and yet the lighting in the theater seems dim. A sense of panic, detached from any conscious thoughts, surges forth in them like the tide.

For them, this isn't a shared dream. This is a shared nightmare.
iselldrugstothecommunity: (Sad - Oh Noes)

[personal profile] iselldrugstothecommunity 2013-12-27 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
"What do we do?" Howard can start dimly making out syllables over the ringing in his ears. Syllables, and the snarls of the monsters not far beyond the minefield.

The dream, sparing no gory expense, has spattered the grass with the blood and bone of the exploded beast.
hit_girl_mindy: (Amused (Mindy))

[personal profile] hit_girl_mindy 2013-12-27 06:25 am (UTC)(link)
Mindy didn't like being read by a sadist: it made her all too aware that they were like minded. Being one step away from that was not at all a comforting thought.

"No, I'm annoyed that happened. Who wouldn't be? Sure, you're fearing for your life the first few days, but after that you adjust. The starving hardens your stomach, you're dirty, and then? All you can think about is outlasting. Two weeks of having little to nothing, only to have a trap get me was bullshit."

Here, Mindy smiled. "I'd love to know the reason you think that."
acroodawakening: (120)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2013-12-27 06:52 am (UTC)(link)
He caught that. Just the edge of it.

"I don't know! If we try to leave here, we might blow up and then they might eat us but if we don't leave, they're going to make those things blow up again, possibly close enough to hurt us!"

It would help if he knew what those things were.

"What are those things?! The thing in the ground?"
wronglychosen: ≫ manga (you trust me huh?)

[personal profile] wronglychosen 2013-12-27 06:58 am (UTC)(link)
"Capital city of the country," he answered, slightly distracted by the feeling of being suspended in the air. His stomach dropped when he caught a flutter of orange out of the corner of his eye, but when he turned to look, there was nothing there. Closing his eyes, Zelos chided himself slightly for being so stupid. It was a dream, in the end, of course there would be weird crap. Didn't mean any of it was real.

He turned his attention back to Venus, as the song sped up its pace, and gave her a smile. "Your turn to tell me something about yourself."
gamemakers: (Default)

Re: Julian Bashir

[personal profile] gamemakers 2013-12-27 07:11 am (UTC)(link)
A voice is audible inside Julian's head.

"Shit, how long is this supposed to be? Three hours?"

"What are you so impatient for?"

"I got another shift after this. Revival mechanism for the off-world Tributes."

"Yeah? Didn't something just happen with that?"

"They tripled the security defending it. State secret. It's insane."

"Wow. Did someone try to break in?"

"We don't know. Just an order for increased security. That's it."
wronglychosen: ≫ manga (fancy meeting you here)

[personal profile] wronglychosen 2013-12-27 07:24 am (UTC)(link)
Zelos raised both eyebrows. "Wow, if it's that easy to look over someone disappearing, I'd hate to know what counts as an emergency around here."
gamemakers: (Default)

Re: Terezi Pyrope | OTA

[personal profile] gamemakers 2013-12-27 07:32 am (UTC)(link)
At some point, Terezi should overhear this conversation:

"What's that?"

"Oh, it's just my pager. There's some - well, I'm not supposed to tell."

"Oh, come on."

"Yeah, just us Peacekeepers."

"You heard about the 'playing with fire' graffiti all over the science labs and Peacekeeper Headquarters?"

"No..."

"Good, then we're doing our job. It's a big deal at HQ. Hsiang is taking it very seriously."

"Everything to worry about, and she flips her shit over graffiti?"
shambler: (105)

[personal profile] shambler 2013-12-27 08:39 am (UTC)(link)
R sits through it rapt, held captive by the words spinning into a story before him. Guy's good. Like, really, really good at this. His face transforms, lights up, something in his voice shifts. Even R, his brain withered by death and decayed by the cycle of murdering and shuffling, can picture the words coming alive. It occurs to him that Guy's a lot better at storytelling than he is at killing people.

The good news is R's a (scary) good listener: unlike others, he doesn't do much fidgeting, he doesn't interrupt with questions or throat-clearing or coughs. He stares. Studies the way Guy moves, the way the corner of his mouth twitches as he speaks. The pulse threading its way through his neck.

What he gets from Guy's story is a few things: Guy's a survivor, through and through. He knows death doesn't sleep, that it can kill you with a small bite or rip you limb from limb. Somehow he still has in it him to ask why instead of who cares. It's amazing. Maybe even M would wait, listen for a change instead of chewing first. Guy just has that force of presence.

"Sometimes...it's easy to forget," R says quietly. He pauses again to collect his thoughts, first from necessity and now from habit, and continues.

He seems to curl in on himself despite towering over Guy, an inward slouch as if he's tired of the murdering, the mechanical up-and-down of his mouth when he feeds and feeds. How he couldn't - can't - seem to stop. What it feels like to exist without knowing why. The lives he stole, the looks on their faces when it sank in what was coming next. R's finger drums on his thigh as he thinks about what he wants to say next. If there had been more Guys in his world, maybe things would've been different. Wouldn't have spiraled.

R looks up, fixing a stare on Guy. "I'm...sorry. About your parents. And that you had to be constantly looking...over your shoulder."
acroodawakening: (048)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2013-12-27 09:12 am (UTC)(link)
"It was my older sister, too," he said, not because he was seeking extra sympathy but because every time he spoke about them, it was a memorial. Memory was memorial in a world without gravestones and statues and photographs and she needed to be acknowledged.

Sometimes it was the missing his parents that hit him harder, sometimes it was wondering why he had that chance to go on when she didn't. He remembered her face, scared and desperate as she saw him standing there on steady ground, almost hungry for it.

But he also remembered her shouting at him to go when he hesitated, when he tried to stay. She'd been too young to die but old enough to be unselfish, to want him to have what she was never going to.

"But thank you." R got another ghost of a shrug. Guy apparently did that a lot when he wasn't sure what body language was appropriate to communicate what he was feeling. It was a very noncommittal gesture, wasn't it? "I'm at peace with it. Even the looking over my shoulder. I've had a lot that was beautiful. A lot of...moments. And I'm sure if I lose it all, if I don't get to hold my daughter again, for instance, I'll grieve. Naturally."

He had to take a moment to not let too much feeling burst out of him with his next words.

"But that I still got to hold her at all..." He went on, "There's a lot of peace in those kinds of things."

That was the trick. People. Hands splayed out in the direction of the sun and then clasped together like banyo roots. Paintings of dreams on rock walls. Sunrises and sunsets. Music. Holding a little girl in his arms and watching as she laughed for the first time. Making those little moments R saw every time he ate a brain.

"I could help remind you, if you want."

It came out of nowhere, but the words had been stewing ever since R said it was easy to forget.

Guy's expression grew furtive, like he wasn't sure if it was an offer that was socially inappropriate somehow. He liked people but you didn't learn the proper ways to make friends with them if you didn't run into them for years at a time. Guy was kidnapped into his current family and he was still figuring out how it worked the other way around. And he didn't know how the rules worked in other worlds.

"You - you said it's easy to forget. I like making new friends. I like helping people see beautiful things. It's just something I like to do."

Connection to other people was a beautiful thing and the humans of Guy's world were all about the social ties. Offering out a line for someone else to grab was as natural as breathing even if Guy wasn't sure of the right way to do it.

Well, at least as natural as breathing was to Guy.
gardienne: (jealous reply)

Re: Mindy's Nightmare. Warning: This is a little graphic.

[personal profile] gardienne 2013-12-27 09:48 am (UTC)(link)
"Now these, these are the fashion where I am from - but so expensive." She closed her eyes. "Did you see the dress I had when I was on the stand, Mademoiselle? It was pink... well, that is a dress I have been dreaming of for years and years, since we moved to Paris. I never thought I would have it. At least I did for a few minutes."

She daydreamed (nightmare-dreamed?) for a couple of minutes, remembering how tight the corset had squeezed her and and the feel of the silk - oh, it was glorious. She zoned out a a little whilst Mindy talked about Guy, absorbed by her own selfish memories. Her question, though, made her blink and focus.

"Oh. It was called La Prison des Madelonnettes. It was truly the worst place I have lived. Even the bridge was better, for at least I was free to come and go as I pleased." More or less. "But yes, there was a priest. He would stand at the cell door on a Sunday and tell us we were all going to hell or to be like Mary Magdalene. And then always he threw holy water on us through the bars. Some women liked it, but me? No. I know I am for hell. I do not want him to tell me too, It is a stupid religion when you have to be rich before God will notice you. If you do not have shoes then you are not allowed in. Pa sends me in his sometimes, to deliver his letters. I don't like them though. They're so big for me and I have no padding, and the soles rub and squelch because there are so many holes in them. They are worse than bare feet indeed."
knifewithnoname: (thinking)

[personal profile] knifewithnoname 2013-12-27 09:57 am (UTC)(link)
"Hide and seek?" She wrinkled her nose, "What do that be being?"

She was pretty sure that this playing thing would be harder than this man was making it out to be.
knifewithnoname: (oh I see)

I feel like I need to apologise for her again

[personal profile] knifewithnoname 2013-12-27 10:06 am (UTC)(link)
Pruna wrinkled her nose, not understanding. Fuck was a curse work but it made no sense in this context. "You did be cursing?"
acroodawakening: (134)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2013-12-27 10:12 am (UTC)(link)
"One person is the finder. The finder counts to a high number to give them all time, and then all the other people playing have to go find somewhere nearby to hide as best as they can. When the finder is finished counting they go and try to hunt for them. If they find them all, the first person they found becomes the new finder. If they don't find them all and give up, then they have to be the finder again and a new round starts."

His gaze went a little distant and wistful as he remembered the times he'd played it when he was young. Nowadays, it was just him and Eep. That was fun, too, though their games sometimes ended in a very different way than they had when he was young.

"It's fun. It's like practice hunting and people have to try to be creative about where they hide. Sometimes they'll do it in funny places right under the finder's nose."
saisamour: (it is more than thought could exist)

[personal profile] saisamour 2013-12-27 10:28 am (UTC)(link)
During the course of the party—minutes or hours, he did not know, as time in this dream-world moved in circles and arcs instead of a straight line—Marius had managed to control the glowing butterflies that had initially kept appearing around him at random intervals.

Instead, what replaced them was the abrupt appearance of dark-green grass and tiny weed-flowers beneath his feet, trailing him from behind whenever he attempted to escape them before they sank into the ground.

Eventually, he had stopped beside the buffet table, simply having given up and accepting it as part of the dream that seemed intent to mold him into an illusionist. It so happened that a hand then jutted out from the shadows under the table, causing him to yelp in a mildly undignified manner. He stared wide-eyed until the hand snaked away, then gulped and slowly, uncertainly, bent down to peer under the table in an attempt to find the person the limb was attached to.

"Hello?"
splendid_roman: (Laughing with Barbara in The Romans)

Re: Orc

[personal profile] splendid_roman 2013-12-27 10:36 am (UTC)(link)
"Pretty much, yes." He chuckled. "It sounds simple when you put it like that."
acroodawakening: (037)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2013-12-27 10:54 am (UTC)(link)
That limb was attached to a short man who was currently hiding furtively under the table and gnawing on a hard-boiled egg. For some strange reason, he was shirtless, his jacket, shirt, and cravat long since abandoned, though he was still wearing pants and shoes.

Tattoos of some kind were visible on his body, though they seemed stained on rather than permanent. They were stripes that were clearly modeled off of some kind of animal. Between that, the bone bracelet on his wrist - present even in the dream - and his unkempt hair, he had a bit of air of wildness to him.

"Uh," he said awkwardly. "Hi."
saisamour: (darkness darkness everywhere)

[personal profile] saisamour 2013-12-27 11:21 am (UTC)(link)
Perhaps, aside from the patterns on the man's skin, the most startling and downright atrocious about his appearance was the lack of a decent shirt. What if Cosette, with her beautiful, blue eyes that had never been acquainted with such a scandalous sight, found this person in that state? Marius's brows furrowed and his lips curled downwards into a frown.

"Monsieur, it appears that your attire is decidedly incomplete!"

Fuelled with righteous indignation, he immediately straightened up—which went as well as anyone whose head was half under the table would. A pained cry escaped him as his hand drew towards the back of his head, and his face contorted in discomfort.
acroodawakening: (032)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2013-12-27 11:31 am (UTC)(link)
Guy just mouthed 'ow' at that, in sympathy. These poor tall people hitting their heads on low-hanging things. Guy was glad he was at a size convenient for not hitting his head on things and hiding in small spaces. Especially since the latter was what he wanted to do every time something in this place freaked him out.

Then he decided to respond to the other bit, after taking another bite of egg and swallowing.

"Uh, yeah. I took some of it off because it was like being trapped in carnivines."

Gotta watch out for them carnivorous plants in his world, donchaknow.

"This is closer to how I dress back home. These clothes in this place are freakishly constricting. There are too many layers. We're human beings, not plant bulbs."
saisamour: (like a chandelier)

[personal profile] saisamour 2013-12-27 11:40 am (UTC)(link)
"I agree." He still wears a dreamy and distant expression, and the rest of Enjolras's words arrive late into the section of his mind that processes understanding. When it finally does—which takes a beat too long—his eyes slowly widen in realization, for the implications of what he had just said are rather crude and unfortunate.

So he hurriedly adds, in a fit of panic, "I-I mean to say: I agree to Cosette's loveliness. What I wish to speak to you about was..."

His mind turns up blank then, so he has to pause for a moment to shake himself awake—as much "awake" as he can be in a lucid dream, at least—and a mildly sheepish look spreads on his face when he finally finds the means to continue. "If perhaps, if you have no opposition to it, you would wish to be my best man?" His voice rises a pitch at the end, as if a sudden uncertainty had overcome him.
Edited 2013-12-27 11:40 (UTC)
saisamour: (if you say that's the most that i'll get)

[personal profile] saisamour 2013-12-27 11:59 am (UTC)(link)
The thought that Marius's dandy friend Courfeyrac might want to retort to that crosses his mind, which naturally leads to him remembering Courfeyrac and noting his absence in the Capitol, and for a half-second a look of sadness and guilt flickers in his expression. He squeezes his eyes shut for a second to smother his selfish thoughts away before responding.

"'Carnivines'?" It was less of a question as to the meaning of the word and more of an incredulity that he had just compared the clothing of his Paris to, allegedly, flesh-eating vines. He gives his head a rapid shake before continuing. "Regardless of your comfort, your lack of proper attire gravely offends the sensibilities of those in this room!"
Edited 2013-12-27 12:00 (UTC)
acroodawakening: (082)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2013-12-27 12:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Guy really wasn't sure if he was supposed to laugh. Was someone having a joke at his expense? Was this some kind of future thing where someone was having a joke at the cave guy's expense? No one was really that uptight over a lack of shirt, right?

"Did Hawkeye put you up to this?"

He peeked out from under the table just to see if Hawkeye was hiding nearby, laughing himself silly over having sent someone to pretend being shirtless was that insanely scandalous. He had trouble believing other people's folkways were that ridiculous.

"I don't see him so you must be serious. Okay." He scooted back under the table. "You know I think I have noticed all the offended sensibilities? Of all the people here under the table with me."

Which was no one.

"And of all the people out there who can't see me under the table."

Which was everybody.

He flashed Marius a little smile. One that was a bit more toothy than he was possibly used to seeing as Guy had slightly more pronounced canines than the average human.
saisamour: (never you mind)

[personal profile] saisamour 2013-12-27 12:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Marius responded to the man's too-toothy smile with another disapproving, mildly confused frown. "I do not know any person by the name of 'Hawkeye,' nor do I see his importance pertaining to our discussion."

But, loathe as he was to admit, the man under the table had made a point, albeit a somewhat questionable one given that eating underneath a buffet table was still something he considered boorish. He pulled at the edge of his coat—puzzled for a brief while as to why it had suddenly turned into one fit for a bridegroom—before saying with much stubbornness, "If you must insist on your refusal to wear appropriate clothing, at least be mindful enough not to startle dainty ladies of curious nature, for they might find you scandalous in your current state of undress."
acroodawakening: (083)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2013-12-27 12:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Now Guy just started laughing, the sort of delirious giggle that came of being completely unable to take someone seriously.

"Okay, this has to be a joke. He's trying to get me to believe that future people would be this uptight when it's absolutely ridiculous."

He peeked out again, leaning over to see if Hawkeye was hiding under another table somewhere.

"I have to give you credit," he said, jabbing a finger in Marius' direction, "you are really committed to this."
president_evil: (weskerSmile)

[personal profile] president_evil 2013-12-27 12:58 pm (UTC)(link)
"Perhaps."

A cold, flat admittance. (Wesker did not run from the truth. He did not cower in the dark. He faced it. Twisted it. Forced it to suit his needs.)

He straightened, a ripple worming up his spine, bones cracking softly, slipping back in place. His shoulders rolled, his neck popped.

A settling, back into his skin. Back into control.

Just a dream. A dream of the Capitol's design, but still just a dream.

"But I'm not dead yet."

And then, without any other preamble, he whistled. A surprisingly sweet, musical sound. Decidedly out of place, as he tested just how far this new technology of the Capitol's could be stretched.

From them a gentle, rhythmic sound took up. A tick-tick-tick, that grew louder as it drew closer.

Claws against the pavement. Eight paws, four each for the pair of Dobermans that melted out of the alleyways, out the shadows themselves. Horribly mutated, their furry hides hanging in bloody strips, bone flashing as white as their teeth in the red, dripping muscle of their flanks.

Project Alice wasn't the only one with friends.

"And I've still got my pets."
saisamour: (YOU BELONG TO ME)

[personal profile] saisamour 2013-12-27 01:13 pm (UTC)(link)
At first, all Marius could do was stare in bewilderment at the strange man's reaction. It certainly was not a joke, although there sprung the beginnings of mild resentment towards the man named 'Hawkeye' and what he had said to this man to make him believe that Marius was not being serious. And so, he involuntarily followed the man's glance, but failed to spot whoever it was that his eyes searched for.

He then jerked slightly back and blinked at the finger-point, and the few seconds of silence that passed shortly after was enough time for the irritation to crawl underneath Marius's skin.

With a huff and a slight tremble to his words, he exclaimed, "I am committed to preserving my wife-to-be's innocent eyes, if that is what you pertain to!"