The Crowning of Mindy McReady

[etcircenses]

Who| Everyone who's anyone.
What| The Crowning.
Where| A warehouse on the edge of town.
When| Starting from early evening till late into the night.
Warnings/Notes| Be sure to check the linked thread for plot purposes, even if you don't tag into it.

The party is brightly colored.

The theme, subtly, is super heroes. Boldly paints city scapes are splattered across the walls, and hallways are made to look like dingy, potentially crime ridden alleys. From the upper walkways of the warehouse, party goers can get hooked into harnesses and swing out over the dance floor. Above them, tributes and VIPS can find themselves on a clear plastic dance floor levitated above everything, looking like they're hanging in air.

Masks are passed out in plenty, and capes are easy to find, while brightly colored drinks themed around super powers are plentiful. None of them actually work, but many of the Capitol people are happy to pretend, mocking super strength or invisibility with each new beverage.

Under the dance floor a catacomb of tunnels and rooms full of obstacles is splashed with black light receptive colors. Party goers are given vests and laser guns, marked green for villains and red for heros, and set loose to hunt each other in the laser tags playground. The screens in the dance floor keep a running tally of which side is winning, displaying the players on the screens around the room, along with clips from the arenas.

About half way through the night, everyone is gathered to the main stage for a special announcement.

Comments

[iflipmyhair]

"I didn't tell...Harley to do those things to you. Not at all." She quietly shook her head. "What she did was unduly cruel to you. But...even so, the arena..."

She took a drink, a bright blue drink, almost effortlessly as the tray went by. It didn't matter much what she drank; she wouldn't get that drunk, anyhow.

"...That...was my fault."

[gardienne]

"I know it was." Eponine couldn't look at Homura. "You wanted me to kill you, no? You made me so angry that I killed you. Did you know that I had never killed before you? Not even a rat, Mademoiselle. And now I am a murderer."

[iflipmyhair]

"I didn't know that." Neither would Homura look at Eponine, though she probably could have. "I didn't see it that way, as murder. In a way...I still don't. But, even so...if I'd known how you would have been affected..."

[gardienne]

"Yeah, well... it was the only good thing of me." Eponine replied flatly. "Everything else i have ever done has been bad in the end. I thought, perhaps, I could change it here. But you've taken that from me. That was all I had. Does that satisfy you?"

[iflipmyhair]

"...No." At this, Homura shook her head. "No, it doesn't. But on the other hand, I don't believe it could have been the only good thing you have ever done. You're still you...you still have a soul."

There was no sound, coming to her ears. For the moment, all she heard was running water, the last faint echoes of her screams and the gunshot, the tinkle of glass plopping beneath the lapping waves.

"So, you can still be saved, no matter what you've done in the past. You can still change those things, as hard as that might be. Even if you don't believe it, or me. Even after killing me...because what I said about me, when I begged for Madoka. That was all true."

[gardienne]

"And you tell me how. I have been told that I am a girl everyone hates - and people like to hate me. That is not a good thing to be told, I tell you now. So you tell me how it is that I am to be 'saved'. I would rather not think of a good life if it is not for me. It makes the real more painful when you remember that you have nothing."

She sighed and leaned properly back against the wall. "I would rather you just left me be. I have had enough of you."

[iflipmyhair]

"You...can't give up." At this, Homura looked down. "It must start with you. You can change your fate, but you can't...you can't keep your eyes off what you're looking for."

She took a breath.

"I want to. But I can't."

[gardienne]

"Go away now. Go. And do not come back to me." Eponine had had enough - enough of people telling her that she could change her fate. Had she not tried? Why could they not understand that it was more painful to dream of a good life than carry on trudging through this one?

"Just... go. We shall not cross our paths again. Now. Go."

[iflipmyhair]

"No." At this, Homura's voice became quiet. "We will always cross paths. Until that fate changes, you can never hope to be rid of me. Or I, of you. The more tightly we try to close that door, the harder it becomes to truly do so."

At this, Homura looked at Eponine.

"The more you hate yourself...the more you fulfill your own stated prophecies. Why can't you see that? What will it take to get you to see that?"

Ignore the icon. She is definitely not even remotely happy in the tag.

[gardienne]

At all of that, Eponine simply rolled her eyes, and pushed herself away from the wall. She wasn't going to listen to any more of this. Without another word, without even glancing back at Homura, she turned her back and walked away.