(no subject)

[gamemakers]

WHO| Everyone
WHAT| Ariadne's crowning does not go as expected
WHEN| After the arena
WHERE| The Banquet hall in the bottom of the Victor's complex
WARNING/NOTES| The black out lasts about 10-15 minutes. Feel free to start a thread during any part of the proceedings, just clarify in the subject bar.

The celebration this time was private. Of course it was broadcast live to all of Panem, but the victors, the tributes, and a collection of those working closely with them were the only ones in the extravagant banquet hall. Behind them was a carefully selected audience-those known to not cause trouble.

And Peacekeepers. Many, many Peacekeepers.

Snow stood before them, giving a speech geared towards Ariadne’s winning. A mellow girl, a bright girl who found her place in the Games and bloomed.

“Not all of those who come here, unfortunately, choose to be welcomed into our circle.”

Lifting his hand, he gestured for Tate to be brought in from back stage.

“This is bullshit!-” Tate doesn’t remain quiet like he probably should. “You people can just bring people back from the dead in the arena- what’s it matter if anyone else gets hurt? Huh?” His eyes are glaring at every face that looks at him.

He struggles with his hands bound behind his back, two Peacekeepers holding his chicken-winged arms as they bring him onto the stage.

Tate is forced to stand facing the crowd. He doesn’t care how they see him, what they think of him and this shows in the disgust on his face. “So what-”

Before he can say another word the zip sound is heard by those within a few feet of him and he collapses. The small hole on his forehead, bleeding, the only sign of what happened.

“Those who do not appreciate what we do for them...will not be tolerated. If we offer you our gracious hospitality, and you attack those who help you...” He pauses as the crowds shocked silence descends into rabble, waiting for silence again.

However, when the silence came, it wasn't due to anyone waiting for him. The televisions flanking the stage and all across Panem suddenly flickered, before turning to static.

There was a moment, before the screen turned black. And then another before a voice started speaking. It was clearly computer generated, a soothing female tone with no inflections, no Capitol accent. Immediately, across the city, those in control of the Panem broadcast began to scramble, rushing to shut things off.

“This bloodshed proves nothing, this is all just a new game for the Capitol, this is all an attempt to draw your eye away from the power you have, this is-”

And then the power cut out entirely, sending the whole city into Darkness.

In the darkness, Snow was rushed out under protection. The peacekeepers rushed in, trying to hold down peace and order.

Comments

[knottherapy]

The public execution shocks even Finnick. Sure it had been a 'private' event, but all of Panem saw it. This is certainly a turn of unexpected events if the President is willing to kill tributes and put it on display like he is being made an example of. No, that was the point. To make an example of anyone who crossed the Capitol even if in the smallest of ways.

The darkness seems to have everyone in a panic, although once his eyes adjust he is only focused on one thing- making sure Annie is safe.

Right when the blackout starts

[polyturtle]

Well. He wasn't expecting that. Well, either thing, actually. He couldn't bring himself to feel too sorry for Tate was he dead for real, though?, but when the lights went out, Donatello slipped into ninja mode easily, ready to find his allies.

This must have been the reason so many Peacekeepers had suddenly cropped up. It was an act of terrorism, or at least sabotage. Still, whoever was responsible, Donatello had to give them credit. This was something he'd have done in their shoes. Well, whoever "they" were. He had his suspicions. He could analyze it later.

For now, he looked for his comrades. Well, maybe not literally "looked". It was what his master called "ninja sense", but what science called "blindsight" - the ability to neurologically process sight perception even when one's ability to use their ocular cortex to see was done away with.

In that sense, Donatello could see perfectly fine. It was everyone else that was too busy panicking to allow their senses to adjust to the blackness. So he bobbed and weaved his way around, looking for those like Ariadne (she was getting ready to stand up from the table) or Lottie (she was getting ready to get under the table).

[fire_punk]

Kevin froze in his seat, his hand going to his neck. No... No, he'd been brought back after the Arena. And before that Jonathan had been supposed to take him somewhere safe. He'd thought he was at least safe here while he was out of the Arena. "Jonathan?!" he called, knowing that the Djinn wouldn't come but instinctively calling for the one person he could trust to protect him.

OTA - shortly after blackout

[hartless_cowboy]

Lindsey, seated with some of the other Tributes, strangers, had watched the proceedings with adept attention. No signs of either approval or disapproval displayed on his face as none of the people meant anything to him yet. Even the public execution didn't draw a reaction from him besides giving a sense of familiarity and understanding to the sort of world Panem was.

The black out and the hacker message though, that was considerably more interesting.

"Trouble in the seeming paradise," Lindsey commented in the darkness and waited to see if anything else would happen.

[buildingreality]

She still couldn't believe that she had won. That she wouldn't have to go back into the Arenas and try to kill her way out of things. She all but ignored most of Snow's speech.

Something was going on here, Ariadne knew that much - she could tell by the security detail, intended probably to not keep them safe, but to keep them sober, secure, and less likely to riot. Or whatever else there was to do at the Crowning Ceremony with so few of them there. She wouldn't be surprised if something happened, not after the last few ceremonies.

And then Tate was shot.

It wasn't like she liked him any, but it was still unexpected. Her eyes went wide, and she began to rise from the table, everything in seeming slow motion as the new broadcast interrupted Snow; she was frozen in place, her heart pounding in her ears. But she needed to move, she needed to do something, get out of there, get everyone else out of there. Who knew what might happen under the cover of darkness, with those Peacekeepers trying to 'keep the peace'. Or whatever it was they called it nowadays.

[mudbloodhater]

So far, Draco had liked the parties that had he had attended. Granted, so far, those parties hadn't involved public execution.

He didn't do well with this sort of thing at the best of times, and right then, he didn't trust anyone not to try and stab him in the back while they could. Opting to get the hell out of dodge while he could, while he was still all but completely defenceless, the blond was off like a shot, shoving people aside as he ran for where he thought he remembered the doors to be. He didn't have much respect for anyone there, and it clearly showed.

During the blackout

[tailforbrains]

Being part demon, Neeshka actually hasd pretty good night vision. It helped when actually casting "darkness"-- the one spell she knew and had the ability to work-- and for the whole sneaking around to backstab people thing. So when the lights went out, she adjusted quickly, and ducked out of her chair.

The shot had rattled her, she had to admit. Would they bring that Tribute back? Could they, in the non-magical (as she assumed it) non-arena space? But there was nothing to help rattled nerves than the familiar, so she sidled away from the Tributes' tables and back to the guests' tables, a piece of fried mozzarella sticking out of her mouth in the darkness.

She was sneaking through the panic lifting the purses of those compliant and now terrified guests.

[gruesome]

The darkness is a relief to Some, and he was on top of a table in an instant, standing to his full height as he looked for trouble beyond the sudden panic. His vision clearer than ever, he watched the peacekeepers warily, ready to intercede if he saw any of them moving against a fellow tribute.

[cowardfacinghappiness]

Momoko couldn't help but flinch as Tate was dragged onstage, just the sight of him inspiring terrible memories. It made their living arrangements rather uncomfortable. Which might not be a problem any longer, she thought absently, watching Tate fall to the floor with an odd detached feeling. She'd watched so many people die, including Tate though only on film in his case, she didn't eve register it as odd until she remembered they weren't in the Arena.

Before she had time to process this, to decide if she believed Tate was going to stay dead, to even decided if she would be relieved or horrified or disappointed at not pulling the trigger herself, the message started.

"How stupid," she whispered just before the lights went out, a knee-jerk reaction to what she considered a ridiculous display that only brought unneeded attention, and then she was letting Arena instincts take over, slipping under the table to hide until the panic was over.

[electriccandlelight]

Valeria was paying little attention to the speeches. She'd been hearing them all her life and recently nearly every other month or so and she'd long lost interest. She was therefore even more shocked at the execution than she might have been had she been tracking what was being said and she didn't have time to truly process what it could mean before the screens flickered and the power soon after went out.

She was a longtime follower of the 'do before you think' way of life so she was moving before she realized it, shoving her way to the wall as best she could remember it. She took a moment to huddle in a nice, relatively safe corner, the darkness overwhelming her, until she suddenly remembered something.

Her dress was laced with lights. She'd been saving turning them on for later in the evening, when things were slower and it would be better appreciated, but this was an even better time and without even thinking of possible repercussions she flicked them on, becoming a tiny, faint beacon in the darkness. Now let's hope the batteries lasted until she found a way out.

Pre-Ceremony/Blackout

[the_marshal]

It was officially Wyatt's first crowning. Yes, there had been a winner last time 'round, but there hadn't been all... this. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to be doing, or even what he was supposed to be feeling.

No, he didn't have any particular ill will toward Ariadne despite their history, and he was glad to see a decent sort get out..., but he was still going back.

But that wasn't her fault. And wasn't it better it was him, rather than her?

It left him all wrong-footed. All guilt, and confusion, frustration, and an impotent anger as he stood by himself, nursing a drink and eyeing the distant stage like he didn't trust it.