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.
casaerotica13: (sure buddy)

[personal profile] casaerotica13 2014-01-18 04:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Too weird for this crowd. Gabriel barked a laugh. These guys were absolutely nuts, but he did spare a glance to the table again.

"I'm not sure Table Guy would get a lot of sponsors, huh?" It was a great cover for his real identity. Gabriel, aka. Table Guy, aka. Messenger of God.
undercoverprincess: (Default)

[personal profile] undercoverprincess 2014-01-25 08:10 am (UTC)(link)
Nothing could be too weird for this crowd, and Cindy laughed with him. She had no idea what would be too weird for them. Maybe some vive la revolution crap? That could do it.

"Hm. Maybe not Table Guy." Cindy leaned back, looking him over with a critical eye. "Try and find something that you would be comfortable dealing with. Like Futon Guy. Bed Dude. Chair-a-Rare."
casaerotica13: (sup bro)

[personal profile] casaerotica13 2014-01-26 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
"I could be Bed Dude, but I'd rather be known for something other than eating it."

Sorry, he's flirting now. Pretty lady said the word bed. "Then again, Chair-a-Rare has a much better ring to it."
undercoverprincess: (this is my story)

[personal profile] undercoverprincess 2014-02-05 05:09 am (UTC)(link)
She loved whenever she got the chance to think to herself that she's still got it. Was that in any doubt, though?

"I like Chair-a-Rare better, because you're right. It does have a pretty snappy ring to it. Personally, I have a fondness for chairs." Cindy smirked. "You know, if the options were to sit on a bed or a chair, I might prefer the chair."
casaerotica13: (plz i cri)

[personal profile] casaerotica13 2014-02-05 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, he likes her. "I didn't say chairs were bad or anything. Far from it, actually. I think I can be coerced into liking chairs over beds any day."
undercoverprincess: (who're you voting for?)

[personal profile] undercoverprincess 2014-02-10 05:38 am (UTC)(link)
"Maybe when we get back into the slightly more real world, we should meet up somewhere." Giving him a sultry look, she pushed back a lock of hair. "I'd say at a JC Penny equivalent, but there are probably more, and better, chairs and beds to check out in the tribute tower."