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

[frozenfractalsallaround]

"Of course I wouldn't!" She was starting to sound a little more confident, now that they were talking about this. "I would never do this to anyone... no one deserves having to go through any of this."

[googledox]

"You have reason to be proud then, don't you. To not feel as if you're some small, scared thing, the way they want you to. If given the choice, you would choose to love. You would choose to be kind. You would choose to be fair and just. Those are admirable things and I say that even as someone who might make less worthy choices than you."

He inhaled deeply and let it out.

"This place may take away your choice, it may guide you into actions you find reprehensible, or situations you find horrific, but it can't take away who you are. Let all of those positive qualities and emotions live among the fear, let them fill the cracks when your enemies try to break everything within you to make you crumble. That's where control comes from, acknowledgement of the negative by filling the void with things that are better than fear and anger and doubt."

He looked sidelong at her.

"After all, self-control isn't the absence of emotion, it's the balance of it, and courage isn't the absence of fear, it's mastery over it. It's resistance to it. To create resistance, there must be something else in its way."

He inclined her head towards her. "You can change your internal world without it hurting anyone as long as your actions remain careful. They can't see inside your head, after all, and this all takes place up here."

He tapped his temple, the smallest of smiles tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Fear had to be fought with other things. Love, pride in oneself, a sense of justice, kindness, internal defiance, genuine righteousness.

As long as she wasn't screaming about rebelling at the top of her lungs, it would cause no harm to her sister, either. In fact, composure was a good thing to have - those who freaked out about the games and the horrors in them might be killed if they couldn't play the role of the smiling Tribute, happy to serve the Capitol, honored by their chance at glory.

"Do you understand now?"

[frozenfractalsallaround]

As Elsa listened to him, she honestly can't deny that he makes a lot of good points. But while she agreed with him, a part of her couldn't stop wondering something. What were his motivations for helping her? So many people were determined to do so, but he was going through a lot of effort with his pep talk. She couldn't imagine it would be easy to do this, with how stubborn she was. What could he have to gain from helping her? Someone weak and afraid was less of a threat than someone who had confidence. He and anyone else could pick her off easily next arena if they simply allowed her to wallow her in her misery.

She fell quiet for a moment after his question, her eyebrows furrowed just a little as she thought it through. "I... yes," she said with a nod after a little while. "I do. But... I have one question."

Elsa tried to sound as casual as possible, though she couldn't help sounding at least a little suspicious. "Why does it matter so much to you? I mean... I'm grateful, I want you to know that, at least. But you don't have to do this. You could have just left me here. Pretended not to notice me. But you've gone out of your way to help me. Why?"

Try as she might, she couldn't fathom what use it could be to him. But her words were true- she was grateful for his help. It had given her new perspectives to consider things. While she still wasn't prepared to jump forth into trying to control her powers, nor was she even looking forward to the arena at all, she felt... somehow better, if only a little. Like she'd regained a little more of her composure. She felt almost like a queen again, for as much as it even mattered in the Capitol.

[googledox]

He tried to think of a way to explain without having to admit he was as sympathetic as he was. He couldn't very well admit he'd do it for anyone and everyone if he could. He couldn't explain to her that he wanted to lift them all out of despair and send them safely home or to the places of their choosing.

So he tried to mix sincerity with discretion as best as he could.

"I may be a supervillain," he said, "but criminality and a small measure of morality are not mutually exclusive. My aim is to survive, it is to serve only myself and my team-mates, the ones closes to me, and in that aim, I can assure you, I would gladly betray you if doing so would ensure the safety of myself and my team-mate. I won't lie and say otherwise."

He wanted to seem an honest villain, at least.

"But as long as someone isn't standing directly in my way, if there's some small way to occasionally alleviate their suffering that won't risk undermining my goals or self-preservation...then why not?"

He shrugged at her.

"I know humans have an expression to admit to a sort of - vulnerability or state of commonality - they say that they're 'only human.' In that same sense, I'm only Coluan."

He admitted, "And I saw the arena footage. You begged for death as if you thought you were a monster and -" His eyes as he looked to her were more warm and open than they'd likely ever been in the arena footage of him. "I know how that feels."

Being selfish and ignoring one's sense of empathy didn't necessarily mean someone didn't have one at all. He was hoping that was something she'd buy.

[frozenfractalsallaround]

This was one of those situations where someone told you the truth, and it was so outrageous that you didn't even believe them. In this case, it was the supervillain thing. Elsa didn't believe that he could be a villain in any sense of the word. He was far too sympathetic and helpful. Sure, he might've had an abrasive way of helping but that didn't mean he was a villain.

Harley had called herself a villain, too, and Elsa honestly couldn't understand why they thought so poorly of themselves. Maybe it was the same reason she did? Maybe they did things they couldn't control. Maybe she should ask them about it, one of these days. Now didn't seem like a good time, though. Not when he was clearly trying to be helpful. So she would let that slide, and maybe bring it up in the future when things weren't so heavy.

Anything she might've had to say died slowly at the last bit he said, and she couldn't help but look away. Memories of that day in the arena still cut to her core and left her shaken, even if it was months ago. "I- I still feel like a monster," she confessed after a moment, trying to keep her voice steady. "I'm not sure that's ever something that will go away."

She thought about trying to comfort him in turn. To tell him that he wasn't a monsters. But she knew that being told rarely helped- it was something you had to believe on your own. Having someone else tell you wouldn't ever be enough to make it go away. So she didn't even bother. "I wish you didn't feel that way about yourself... I wish neither of us had to."

cw: verbal child abuse

[googledox]

"I don't see myself as a monster now." A pause. "For the most part."

She'd bought it - and that was probably because of the truth laced into it. He had been a monster in the eyes of Colu, marked from birth by a mind that left the rest of theirs in the dust. He still remembered being a few months old, happily taking apart his carebots to see how they worked and having one Councilman Zan wrench him up by his onesie. ("What are we going to do with this little freak?" "All we can do. Keep innocent Coluans away from him.")

Those memories were so easily jogged by the sterility and rigid control of this place.

"Or if I am one, it's the monster I choose to be." Choice was paramount. Choice was what made the name "Brainiac" mean something other than terror. A thousand years of negative associations had been wiped out in the mind of the public, because he'd chosen to use his own mind for good, despite being treated his whole childhood as if it had made him a monster.

He'd saved countless lives. He'd had children dressing themselves up in green face paint on Legion Day. After he'd failed to save his universe, he'd helped save others that still lived.

"The reason I tell people that I'm villain is because it's a conscious choice, or at least a series of choices that make my life easier even if they make other peoples' lives miserable, and it does a disservice to the truly righteous and kind and brave to pretend what I do isn't self-serving, selfish, and cowardly. If I won't be good, at the very least I should be honest about what I choose to be."

He added, "Power is simply an attribute. What you choose to do with that power - not what happens because of a lack of control - but what you consciously choose is what makes you who you are. Being lost is not the same as being a bad person."

He smirked ever so slightly. "As a bad person, I feel I'm uniquely qualified to attest to that."

[frozenfractalsallaround]

Elsa still had a hard time believing that he could be a villain. Even with an explanation that she hadn't asked for, she had a hard time seeing him as one. Yes, he was abrasive and yes, he rubbed her the wrong way a little bit. But still...

Still, she nodded at his last few words. "I... get what you mean," she said. "But I have to say, I don't think you're a villain. Selfish and cowardly people aren't inherently villains. You wouldn't be doing this if you truly were a villain." Unless there were ulterior motives that she couldn't see. "But if you really wish to call yourself one, I can't stop you, can I?"

[googledox]

"Villainy is more of a...profession in my universe than a way to denote someone spends their days kicking every adorable baby animal in sight."

He pressed his lips together and said slightly more coldly, "Still, just as a point of advice, don't ever get in my way. I can be civil the rest of the time - even kind if the mood takes me, but there are lines."

He hoped that would strike a balance between maintaining the hard edges without driving her away completely.

The fact she was trying so hard to convince him he wasn't a bad person...tugged on something, tucked away and almost forgotten.

[frozenfractalsallaround]

A profession? Elsa would be lying if she said she wasn't at least a little confused by that. He had professed himself a villain, but to actively pursue a career in it? Well... That was a little odd. He still seemed too helpful to be a true villain, so it was hard to wrap her head around.

Still, the warning was apparent and that much she could take. It motivated her to make her own warning, at any rate. "Likewise, if... you ever hurt my sister Anna, that's my line." For the first time that night, she sounded truly confident. "As long as you don't, I think we can get along fine, villain or not."

She was still skeptical on that front, but she had a respect for him despite that.

[googledox]

Good. There was yet more of that spine he kept seeing glimpses of.

"Noted," he said simply and hands clasped behind his back, he started to walk away, briefly turning to look at her for a moment before he did. "Not everyone here finds my company quite as tolerable as you seem to. It makes finding partners for chess and other strategy games occasionally difficult. Would you perhaps be interested in joining me for a game on occasion?"

[frozenfractalsallaround]

Elsa had been about to turn around, when he decided to speak again. The offer came as a small surprise, but she smiled. "That would be lovely- as long as you don't mind teaching me."

[googledox]

"I don't mind teaching those actually willing to learn," he said, as he walked away.

She had promise. So many of the people here did. It was risky trying to engage someone in a positive friendship but really, with out of control powers and accidentally killing her sister, there were some in the Capitol that probably styled her as a villain, too.

And more than anything, he wanted to try to inspire hope. Risks had to be taken sometimes to do that.