( open ) off to the races

[thatwasme]

Who| OPEN.
What| The First Annual Panem Motorcycle Races and Festival kick off.
Where| The Capitol.
When| Friday - Sunday.
Warnings/Notes| For more information, check out the original post, or see the results and winnings post.

Starting Friday, the Capitol has pushed out onto the chill streets with hopes for entertainment and the thrill of races most of them have no personal stakes in. The races are spread out over the first few days, with whispers of a surprise happening on Sunday. Everyone's theorizing what it could be. It's the nature of crowds to indulge in curiosity on a massive, gossipy level, and the Citizens of the Capitol are no exception.

Aside from the races, people stopped by the ice skating rink sponsored by one of the museums from the last Arena, with a Mindy themed focus. There are ride-alongs: Capitolites make a donation to the Gamemaker's Foundation (or something, idk) in order to get a chance to ride along on a short loop track with a racer. They can make this donation and then dictate anyone be the tag-along, from themselves, to their children, to another Tribute/Mentor. Why? Because Shippers.

Set indoors, there's Bumpercycle Jousting. Minimal injury, maximum ridiculous.

And back on the street, there's festival foods, with businesses opening doors and inviting chilled citizens in to enjoy special foods and drink and merchandise suited to the season and post-Games festivities.

Each night finishes with a round of fireworks in the sky.

Comments

THE BEGINNER RACE

[thatwasme]

This race is sponsored by Creative Playtime Corp. and the Academy of the Fashion Arts.

All Novice Racers will be testing out a new child and teen safe bumper-motorcycle, creatively called the Bumpercycle. Bumpercycles run on magnetized courses with large, shock absorbing bumpers lining the sides of the track. Each Bumpercycle has a built in safety system that causes it to auto-stabilize when it comes into contact with the bumperwalls, or other bumpercycles. They come in a variety of bright, eye-catching colors, and have various objects they can toss at other Bumpercyclists.

Think stuffed turtle shells, rock candy, smoke bombs, scent bombs, and slow-down fast-dissolving GOOP. (Gelatinous Organic Obstruction Paste.)

When in danger of crashing or wipe-outs, the Bumpercyles activate their bubble defense - releasing a giant, colorful bubble of foam that encases Bumpercycle and rider. Free-flowing oxygen within the bubble keeps the rider well oxygenated, and a secondary release of GOOP slows down the foam-bubble and starts dissolving it after the bubble comes to a rest.

The Tributes (and any participating Mentors or Capitol citizens) are the second stage of live test subjects for these ready-for-market Bumpercycles, expected to be all the rage in Panem this summer.

Re: THE BEGINNER RACE

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy had to admit, with this bike rumbling under her she could actually forget about everything for a moment.

None of it mattered right now. All of the pain and trouble of this world was about to rocket away from her as soon as the race began.

3.

2.

1.

The lights turned green and before Sandy knew it she had leaned on the throttle and shot forward with everyone else. weaving through the racers gave her a good start and she was shocked to find herself in front.

But this was just the beginning. There was alot of race left. With a rare grin she leaned into the bike and hugged the first curve of the track.

Re: THE BEGINNER RACE

[dragoon_pride]

Kain was strongly pushed into doing this- someone out there must have thought this would be 'entertaining' somehow to add him to the mix, so here he was. Though he was at first rather annoyed at leaving behind important training time, it wasn't as if he'd be standing around idle.

The race began, and off he went, zooming along to a decent start.

If this was more like an airship, he'd at least know sort of what he was doing. Despite that, he wasn't doing too bad. He may have lacked for experience with a motorcycle or anything like it, but the very basic level of this whole thing alleviated that problem. Plus, he had good reflexes on his side and a pretty reckless attitude overall. He was used to rapid speeds while airborne, so he was all for cranking up the speed in this race. He probably needed something like this.

And he wasn't afraid to toss out a random bomb here and there when he saw someone getting too close. He always did have a rivalrous streak waiting to come out...

[onlyimmune]

Ellie couldn't help laughing as she revved up her engine.

"Oh god, this is going to be awesome," She grinned, looking back to the stands to see if she could see anyone watching. She couldn't, but she waved anyway as the timer began to count down.

She licked her lips, leaning down into the bike like she'd watched in the videos -

And then as soon as the signal sounded, she was off like a shot.

[titansnack]

Clearly this is the best introduction someone could have to a motorcycle.

Balancing on the bike is the easiest thing, but nothing about the Bumpercycle itself is particularly complicated. It's technology he's never encountered before, but it's surprisingly for something the Capitol has made. (He's finally figured out how to bathe without smelling overwhelmingly like flowers he's never even heard of.)

Eren glances around as his competitors, feeling like he's almost at a disadvantage. At least they all seem equally as equipped for sabotage, and Eren's snort is impressively loud as he snatches one of the shells from his Bumpercycle before the race has even started. It's never too early to prepare, and he glances around again to get an even better look at who, exactly, he'll be competing against.

for Karkat

[nunpunching]

Punchy, of course, has already won in his mind. He's already standing atop a pedestal, a woman draped on his arm like a mink stole in a bikini, the prize (he's already forgotten what it is) clenched in his upraised fist while rose petals fall from the sky onto him. So engaging is this fantasy that Punchy totally misses the start of the race, and misses any chance at a head start.

Well, then. Time to play aggressive. Punchy slams on the gas and his Bumpercycle lurches forward, and to add a little pizzazz, Punchy leans back with his head on his arms and both feet far, far away from the brakes.

He cuts Karkat right off and flips him a gang sign. Suck on that...sucka!

THE INTERMEDIATE RACE

[thatwasme]

This race is sponsored by ApolloTech Inc and the Academy of the Fashion Arts.

The Intermediate level takes the racing out to the streets. The course is a series of cleared streets using ApolloTech Inc.'s various heating technologies currently on market or about to come out on market.

For these races, riders have the option of using snow tires and/or snow chains, though by and large the streets will be clean and clear of most snow and ice. (With an exception, to be noted later.)

This is all about speed, and avoiding crashing into snowbanks, sliding out on the large stretch of black ice that wasn't quite thawed out, avoiding snowballs tossed by cheeky Capitol children, and the mimes. Indeed, a portion of this race is by giant moving billboards of mimes miming racing and waving as the Tributes go by.

(What even, Capitol?)

This will be a blind race, in that participants will not be named, only given numbers, and not allowed to show their faces or have any hair outside of their helmet. They're also not allowed to speak until this race is over.

Up and coming stylists have been invited in to create the racing suits and gear, so that each racer will find there is one theme they've been given by their relative unknowns - appropriate or not to who that racer is wearing the outfit.

This is one of the big betting races! Expect it to generate positive and negative interest for all participants in the aftermath. Winning isn't the only way of garnering attention - being good at maneuvering, being stylish, having a certain flair with racing, or having a costume or driving style that captures someone's attention will pay off in upcoming Arenas.

Warning: not all costumes are as effective as they wish they were.

Re: THE INTERMEDIATE RACE

[burnedbrighter]

There was something oddly comforting in anonymity.

Of course having a state of the air helmet that didn't feel claustrophobic helped. The cool lightly scented mind air being piped in through her filters was a pleasant and soothing sensation.

And she had to admit the molded dark blue leather of her jump suit was an interesting feeling as well. Like a form of armor, thick gloves and boots, lines of red along her arms and legs added a pop of contrast to draw the eye to the bike itself which was a fine specimen of capitol engineering.

The roar of the engine, the purr between her powerful thighs. Was it any wonder Azula enjoyed motorcycle riding?

She allowed herself to take her position in the middle of the pack for now, eager to see who would pull ahead fast and need to be chased.

She always did work better when she had a goal that involved crushing someone else.

[deafscythe]

Black leather was not at all the direction Justin's stylists took with his outfit. It's gold, a lightweight metal that catches and scatters the light in all directions, overlapping scales coating his entire form from head to foot, gloves and boots attached seamlessly. The helmet is shaped like a snake's skull with open mouth, again in gold, with glowing red eyes.

The motorcycle is also red, just as glittering as the costume, all angles and sharp lines like a cut ruby. They've even altered the sound of the engine, enhanced it, made it more animal and deadly.

It's a very dramatic effect, and (just as the stylists had hoped) it makes him stand out from the dark-clad pack of racers.

Justin hasn't ridden a motorcycle much before (he prefers things with four wheels and a good sound system), but he has the general idea, was able to practice, and has no intention of losing.

[casaerotica13]

Hell yeah, he signed up for a race. The mentor people or whoever were probably going to anyway, but that's not why he did. How often could he do something this crazy here?

Of course, it was after he signed up that they told him that he couldn't show who he was. That was a tad bit annoying, but it didn't mean he still couldn't do some showboating. It was one of his favorite things after all and doing so on a motorcycle was even more fun. Gosh, it had been so long. Not as long as it could have been, but twenty- thirty years, at least. And this place had some fancy wheels. Oh, what fun.

So, even if Gabriel's wonderful face couldn't be shown, he still managed to show off on appearance alone. His black leather jumpsuit with the gold trim and black bike might have been pretty swanky, but even he could argue that the embroidered wings on his back might have been a little much. Ah, well. Too late now.

He made a show of burning out and popping a wheelie at the starting line, but quickly became a tad bit more serious about the race. But only by a little. Watch out, everyone. The Trickster's coming through.

THE ADVANCED RACE

[thatwasme]

This race is sponsored by Panem PharmiCal Industries.

The Advanced Course is a three person relay race by motorcycle, requiring two motorcyclists and a third person acting as the "baton." Held on a course of streets that lines the lake and circles back around to the start, the streets themselves are largely clear of dangerous ice and snow.

The objective is to have one rider start out with their "baton" on their bike with them. One third of the way through the course, they meet up with their second rider, and "pass the baton." This means transferring the passenger from the first bike to the second.

The how of this transfer is up to players, but the expectation is this exchange is meant to happen at full speed.

The second exchange happens at the 2/3rds mark of the race. The first rider will have to cut through the streets inbetween the ones being officially used for the race to shave time off and be in place, or else take their chances staying on track and sticking with the second riders and their "batons."

For each racing group that fails to complete a second handing off of the "baton," a ten second penalty will be awarded to their finishing time.

Characters are not required to be excellent motorcyclists, and the "baton" doesn't need to be able to drive at all. They'll be making most of the frightening moves, not once, but twice over the course of this track.

[polyturtle]

Don wasn't the motorcycle guy back home - that was Raph. But even so, he was no slouch in navigating difficult roads, himself. So when he signed up, he signed himself up for the advanced race. However, he didn't know who his partners were going to be, and he stood by the race track, waiting for his partners.

Who knew? Maybe he and his team would somehow end up winning!

Elliot, Harley, and Rat

[saveswithsong]

"Take care not to drop me," Rat said as he climbed onto the back of the motorcycle. Shion wasn't happy with him participating, but he had some inroads to make with Capitolites, and putting on a good show was all a part of it. He had his old boots on, black leather pants, and a shining grey leather jacket that matched his eyes. Around his neck was tied a red scarf. His hair was twisted up and tied around itself as he was used to.

"When it comes time to pass me, just try not to crash. I can take care of the rest."

Jack, Starkiller, and Kevin

[fire_punk]

Kevin holds on tight as he waits for the light to turn. This race won't be like the first one. He can't fall while changing bikes. There's no foam on these. But it's worth the risk. If he can get some of everyone's attention on him instead of Blaine, maybe they'll leave him alone. Besides, this should be fun. As long as he doesn't get hurt too bad.

Cindy, Max, and De

[designatedfreak]

She had spent one day observing those around her learn to ride their motorcycles before attempting to ride one for herself. The machine that was given to her was small, but still cumbersome; she would never be able to handle this type of vehicle if she didn't grow a bit more and that was highly unlikely to happen in the next few days. That didn't mean she didn't like riding at full speed. No, like was possibly too light of a word. Love. Max loved it. The speed, the freedom, and the danger. It was everything Manticore offered, but it was her choice on how far to push herself. With the proper equipment she could really find herself occupying her time flying through the streets of the Capitol.

The day of the race she found herself paired with a familiar face and a not so familiar face. These women had more mass and could handle the bikes more efficiently than Max could at her small size. What she could handle was the inherent danger that was playing "baton." Even with her abilities diminished to nothing, she still had a lifetime of training and honing her reflexes and instincts. What was jumping from bike to bike at full racing speed compared to hunting down combatant soldiers or undergoing one of Lydecker's training exercises?

She held onto the back of the bike, behind the woman named De, and waited for the signal for the race to start.

THE ENDURANCE RACE

[thatwasme]

This fourth race, unannounced to the competitors, is also sponsored by Panem PharmiCal Industries.

Unlike the other three races, this race is not announced ahead of time, or listed in any of the pamphlets. All participants in this race will be Capitol-selected as "well behaved." Why? Because this is a distance race that starts in front of the President's estate and tours out into the mountains surrounding the Capitol.

It will be an uncontrolled look at the greater area surrounding the Capitol. Hovercraft will be in the air to report back live sections of the race, but aside from their coverage, and the coverage provided at the gas stations along the way, racers will be unsupervised and unattended.

This is the most dangerous race, with hazardous road conditions, inclement weather, blind curves, cliffside roads, and black ice a-plenty. The reward should be pretty hefty in comparison, should racers actually manage to complete their course.

Play your cards right, and you might gain a little freedom of movement past the Capitol's borders.

BEFORE THE RACE

[youbarium]

Carlos, still in a lab coat, looks around at the other competitors.

"Did anyone else know about this? I didn't find out that I was signed up for this until yesterday."

aah ignore this I forgot to tag this aaages ago to establish a thing I asked the mods permission for

[googledox]

Brainiac 5 found steering a motorcycle to be not altogether that different from steering a hover-cycle, and while his times riding had been very, very infrequent (usually during leave days when the others roped him into social activities) he was a fast learner.

A very, very fast learner.

In fact, he did incredibly well for most of the race, and almost took the lead several times.

Skidding off the trail at a particularly sharp corner was what doomed his chances at first place. Not only did he skid down into the underbrush, completely off the road, he was thrown off his cycle into a fast moving stream. For a moment, the cameras saw him struggling to get his boots free of the mud and branches that covered the bottom, forcing him to tug on one of them with his hand to free it, but then he quickly climbed out, pushed his cycle back up through the underbrush, and rejoined the race.

Sadly, any chance at something other than second place in the race head was now beyond him.

But it was a small price to pay for what he'd left behind.

He'd left a very small, glittering surprise at the bottom of the stream, a metallic sphere the size of a gumball, pulled discreetly out of his boot and left in the mud. After he left, after the cameras had long since gone, it sparked to life, rising out of the water and shooting up into the sky to start the task it had been programmed to do...

ICESKATING

[thatwasme]

Nets of lights have been strung up overhead, making the whole of the outdoor rink look starry when the sun finally sets in the skies. Skates are provided as both snap ons to normal shoes, and as separate shoes entirely.

[knifewithnoname]

Pruna stood at the side of the ice rink looking out suspiciously. She had been convinced to leave Duck at home for the day, which was good because she needed her hands to hold onto the side.

She had never seen ice like this before and she definitely did not trust it not to break under the weight of people moving on it. She tried not to look scared, because she wasn't. She wasn't a baby. It was just... different.

RIDE ALONGS

[thatwasme]

Capitolites make a donation to the Gamemaker's Foundation (or something, idk) in order to get a chance to ride along on a short loop track with a racer. They can make this donation and then dictate anyone be the tag-along, from themselves, to their children, to another Tribute/Mentor. Why? Because Shippers.

Anyone can qualify to be the driver or the one being driven. It's a free for all for fun, if one so desires.

OTA!

[aintyourdad]

They told him all participants would have to do things "with the fans". Joel supposed that riding along with someone around a track once wasn't such a big deal, in the grand scheme of things. As long as they didn't try to kill him while he was driving, which he didn't think anyone would.

Though he was worried all the leather would start chafing, after a while.

Re: RIDE ALONGS

[hit_girl_mindy]

She had to do this, apparently. People wanted it, and well, she WAS a victor in the last games, why wouldn't they be clamoring over her here too? She thought it was pointless, but apparently some kids REALLY wanted it to, so...there you go.

"OK, fine. Who's next?"

BUMPERCYCLE JOUSTING

[thatwasme]

Minimal injury, maximum ridiculous. If you didn't get enough out of racing along and lobbing banana peels and stuffed turtle shells at each other, maybe racing at each other with giant pool noodles will cure your itch!

Re: BUMPERCYCLE JOUSTING - open to anyone who wants to joust with Ian C

[splendid_roman]

Ian had always quite fancied trying jousting. This wouldn't be quite the same, but at least he wouldn't have to worry too much about controlling a horse or anyone getting injured. He clutched the pool noodle firmly under his arm and set his sights on the person at the other end of the jousting area.

STREET FAIR FESTIVAL

[thatwasme]

With businesses opening doors and inviting chilled citizens in to enjoy special foods and drink and merchandise suited to the season and post-Games festivities, there are all sorts of carnival style games and foods to enjoy for the first (or another) time.

Delectables themed after Tributes are not uncommon, though perhaps one doesn't want to be commemorated for the means of their aggression or demise in the Arenas of the past.

Re: STREET FAIR FESTIVAL

[paidinbeer]

Orc couldn't help but wonder why of all the things for the Capitol to cheap out on, the ice cream bar with his face on it was where they cut corners.

The color scheme was all wrong. The vendor said it was because no one wanted to eat gray sherbert.

Lowering the ice cream bar to his faithful rainbow colored sheep he amused himself by watching the beast lick and nibble at the ice cream until the gumball eyes came off and it was pre-occupied chewing the gum. Orc finished the ice cream bar on his own and shuffled to the next booth.

"Deep fried Jello?
" He wondered baffled.

The woman running the stand just smiled and provided him with a serving of them and a napkin. Food was food and while he couldn't feel things as strongly as once before, he sure could taste things just fine.

FAYZ kids never took food for granted.

As he lumbered away to collect more goodies he did not notice that apparently his sheep had learned how to blow bubbles with the bubblegum it had eaten.