thecapitol | Vandalism 101

Entry tags:

Vandalism 101

Who| Elsa + Dave + Signless
What| Dave teaches how to be a proper vandal
Where| Various places
When| During the plot
Warnings/Notes| Dumb graffiti

Elsa had been a little nervous at first. When it had all went down, she'd had a long moment of having to think it through and figure out what she wanted to do. For a while now, she's had the urge to get involved in the rebellion- ever since her little speech on the network had backfired a bit. Elsa doesn't want to just sit around anymore, but she hasn't known how to do it the right way and a lot has been holding her back. But after everything that's happened, she's finally reached the point where she can't hide from consequences so much anymore. If she wants to make a difference, then she's got to try. So she'd approached Dave to get started, since it's now or never.

This isn't quite what she'd had in mind when it came to rebelling, but she supposes it's something. They've done a few things, but Dave had gotten the bright idea to try and destroy a chandelier. He's the expert, of course- or rather, she's willing herself to believe that. But in practice this doesn't seem quite as good of an idea as it may have in theory.

"Are you sure about this?" she asks, and the skepticism is clear in her voice. "I mean, I know you've told me you know what you're doing, but..."

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"On closer inspection, I might not be so sure. I mean, the concept of the idea is solid? Right? Everyone thinks Kevin is fucking freaky, nobody was happy to see him win, everyone hated that crowning. It'd be fucking awesome if we could knock that shit to the ground." He peers upward, the dark making it difficult to really see where it's attached.

"You know what? It's dark. If that shit crashes to the ground it might take some fuckers out with it when it goes." He spans his torch around the lobby, casting it over the back of a stranger who has now become complicit in his excuse making. "Like that guy. Look at him. If a chandelier fell on him he'd be a pancake and we'd have to bury the body before all the lights turned on."

He's joking of course, but now he's curious, stepping a little closer to the mystery man of the hour. He sees the nubby horns and he half expects Karkat, but he knows he would have been yelled at long ago if it were him. Bury those feels for the moment, Dave. Clearly this guy is someone else. "Yo, Vantas Electric Boogaloo, what are you doing?"

Vantas Electric Boogaloo freezes and slowly turns. He'd been hoping he could sneak out unbothered, but apparently not. His arms are full of paint stolen from the training center, as much red as he could find.

"I was going to write on the walls." It doesn't sound quite as good when he says it out loud as it did in his head when he first decided he was going to do it. He has to do something, though, and this is the best thing he could think of that didn't require actively hurting anyone.

He's just so... angry. He's so angry and he doesn't have a moirail to tell him this is stupid and they've taken most everyone they could possibly hurt on his account, so what does he have to lose? Words are all he has left and he isn't going to let those be taken from him too.

Elsa won't lie, she's extremely relieved when Dave begins to change his mind about the whole chandelier thing. Of course she sees his view and it would really prove a point- whatever point vandalism makes, she thinks. But it's also a pretty dangerous thing to do, and she thinks they could accomplish more with safer things.

When he points out the person who seems to be attempting to sneak by them, she turns her attention to Vantas Electric Boogaloo curiously. "Oh, see? You're right, hurting bystanders is not a good rebellion tactic," she says with a nod. And honestly she would really hate to see anyone turn into a pancake, because that would probably not be a very pretty mental image.

Once Dave calls attention to him and he replies, Elsa can't help as she brings up a hand to cover her lips and she lets out a quiet snort. It's just the whole way he says that he'd been about to write on walls and like he's been caught red handed. It's funny to her, alright? "Sorry, sorry," she says, holding up her hands and shaking her head. "I don't mean to laugh, it's just..." Elsa lets out another laugh. "We're all so serious about doing these silly little things, you know?"

Of course she gets why it's a thing, to an extent, but it still amuses her a great deal.

Okay. So it's older Vantas, interesting. He met Kankri in the arena, so now he's about to claim bingo in this regard. The look he gives him is almost appraising, though it's hard to tell with the shades.

"Shit, somebody call the cops because we don't give a fuck. Oh wait, the cops are useless, just like the real world." He shrugs almost dramatically, perhaps posturing his rebellious flippancy a little bit more to balance out Elsa's dainty laughing.

"Hey- hey. Don't laugh. This is good. We have ground to cover and it's never been more serious." He even lowers his voice dramatically, as if he's narrating wrestling and not elaborate wall drawings. "Eva wanted shit to be wrecked, so if we're all writing crap while other people are probably off doing god's work, it'll make a statement. A real deep one. A nice, big, resounding fuck you that'll echo through their thick frigging diamante studded skulls."

Signless nods, missing any sarcasm or over-dramatics completely. He doesn't think this is silly at all. Every little action has consequences and here the consequences are often disproportionately severe. Therefore every little action has to count. Every possible way of fighting back and speaking out should be taken full advantage of, especially the smaller ones. Small things pile up quickly.

"That's exactly what I thought. They use violence and fear to keep us complacent but that's no reason to fight back through the same methods. Brute force works once; words stick and fester and spread."

There are sometimes Dave says things that are lost on her, simply because of the fact the two of them are from different times. This is one of them. Elsa has no idea what a cop is or why they're useless in the 'real world', which she assumes is him referring to his world, but in a way she gets the general gist of it. Authority, she assumes? She doesn't know, she won't ask, but only because she feels silly for not knowing.

Both of them are only proving her point, but she'll try not to say as much. She gets it, but it still seems a little silly that they, adults- well, two adults and one teenager- are doing something like painting on walls to rebel. Clearly this is why she needs them, to teach her that yes, this is how you do it.

"Well, if you're both so sure," she says, letting out a small sigh, though she still has a vaguely amused air. "And as long as we aren't destroying chandeliers and making anyone into pancakes." Elsa shrugs, shaking her head. "Anyway-" She turns to the troll. "Mr. Boogaloo, would you like to join us?" she asks, her voice turning sincere. "With everything going on, I can't help but feel like there might be safety in numbers."

Truthfully, Dave is only being a little sarcastic. What Eva had said about doing nothing is as good as being implicit in the oppression of everyone here really got to him. When he needs to look like he wants to do something without seeming so vulnerable as to genuinely care, it's easier to put on a big, overblown show with sarcasm.

"Basically." He jerks a thumb at Vandaltas. "I'm sure some big hitters want to go shank peacekeepers. Whatever. Let them. We're gonna make this lobby an expression of disinterest." That was oddly inspiring, he thinks, too bad they didn't put it in his biography. A snort escapes him when Elsa calls the guy Mr.Boogaloo, he disguises it as a cough and brings a fist to his mouth as if he's only being polite in covering his mouth.

Of course, he has no intention of correcting her. "Like they say. Sticks and stones break bones and words hurt forever. Let's get hateful in this bitch." He tucks his torch under his arm to start shaking up the can of spray paint he'd stockpiled long ago.

Edited 2014-09-20 06:09 (UTC)

Being called Mr. Boogaloo wouldn't quite be so funny if it wasn't for the honest sincerity with which she says it. He probably ought to correct her, but there are far more important things at stake here. They have a limited amount of time to get things done that they really can't waste.

"And we shouldn't stop here," he adds, setting down his paints. They're nothing so elegant as a can of spray paint, having just been stolen from the training center, so he'll have to use his hands to write. Somehow that seems fitting. More personal.

"There are plenty of open walls all over the Capitol. We could paint a good chunk of the city if we worked quickly."

Elsa has no idea at all that Dave's comment from before had been some sort of reference and that it is not in fact the troll's name. When she finds out the truth, she's going to be pretty embarrassed, especially given the fact that neither of them are correcting her. But as it is, she's blissfully ignorant and is going to take a can of her own spray paint- green, as she'd been gently talked out of using something as recognizable as blue- and give it a shake like Dave is doing.

When it's put the way they phrase it, she starts feeling a bit like painting is a lot more important than she'd originally thought because they make it sound important. It also helps that she isn't particularly ready to take on peacekepers or shank anyone. Maybe one day, but she isn't a fighter. This is making her realize a few things though, and that's that soon enough, she needs to learn. It's been in the back of her mind, but events of late have really cemented that realization in.

"Alright, well. Let's get to it!" she says, and she'll be the first to start spraying, starting to spell out neatly one of the phrases she and Dave had talked about earlier. "Mr. Boogaloo is right, when we finish with the lobby I'm sure we can cover a lot of ground," she says over her shoulder. She's actually really starting to feel it, there's something great about defacing this wall that she can't really describe and she sticks her tongue out in concentration.

Several moments later, she's finished the first letter.

For a moment, Dave stares between the two of them. This guy doesn't correct her, she doesn't pick up on the fact that it's weird and he.. isn't about to spoil the magic. So he shrugs and lets that moment pass to be forever encapsulated in his memory until the end of time.

"You got that right, Boogaloo." He idly considers proper introductions, but instead he feels like they might as well leave them for later. He scrutinizes Elsa for a long moment before he shakes his head and steps toward her to a spare part of wall.

"We aren't in a calligraphy class, your highness. Make your point quickly, coherency is an added bonus." He shakes up his can and to his word very speedily sprays out THE DEAD DO TALK, working his way across the wall as he does before turning to look at both of them. "Get it? Because they keep killing us? It's funny." He waves them off before they can even judge it and looks more specifically at Signless. "How about you? Any bright ideas?"

Actual introductions are probably a bad idea anyway. If they are caught and the Capitol chooses to make this into a big deal, and it very well might seeing as from what he can tell it's on a short fuse right now, it will be better if they can't give out names. Gotta be practical.

By the time Dave turns to talk to him he's already started writing. It is nothing so concise or witty as Dave's slogan, either, though the amount of words he's managed to write (all in small clear all-caps) while Dave's back was turned is truly inspiring.

"I...ah. I thought I would just write and see where it went." He has a lot of righteous anger to get out and he's a lot more used to fighting the system via verbal discourse where he can be a lot more detailed in his arguments. What that's resulted in is a rambling diatribe in which the words HOW DARE YOU are visible in at least five different places.

Sorry, Dave, you're stuck with remedial students.

"Wait, what?"

It takes Elsa a moment to realize what Dave means, looking between Dave and her own letter. When she does realize that he's meaning she took too long with it, she feels a little silly. "Oh..." But of course that isn't going to stop her from giving it her all, so she takes in a deep breath and shakes her head. "Of course." With that, she finishes off her sentence, trying to ignore the urge to make it fancy and neat looking.

For the time being, she only barely hears the two of them speak as she focuses, and after a moment she has a few things written on the wall. One of which is a >:( kind of face, which she feels illustrates her feelings on the matter without giving herself away. This is vandalism, of course, it can't all be eloquent phrases like the two of them seem to be making.

When she's finished, she takes a step back and surveys both her work, and both of theirs. "Ooh, I like that one!" she says, pointing to Dave's. "It's... very clever," she says, before turning towards Mr. Boogaloo's. There's some hesitation, before she says, "Yours is too!" And then have a smile. "But Dave said it's supposed to be quick, and- well, that's very long, isn't it?" As she says that, she can't help but feeling a little bad. "...We aren't particularly good at this, are we?" she asks, casting a glance at Dave, her tone vaguely apologetic. "In my defense, I was a queen before this." Well, a queen who decided to give up the crown, but that's changed a lot since she first arrived here, so she feels comfortable saying as much.

"Right.." The fact that Dave is baffled by both of them is abundantly clear. He can't waste time here, but he just needs to stop and stare at both of them for a long moment before his shoulders slump and he lets out a sound of exasperation.

"We were all a lot of things before this." His tone is pretty pointed right now, but he doesn't sound terribly disappointed. This is his calling, it is his god given duty to take these eloquent motherfuckers and make them witty artists in an evening.

"See, I see your point there with that uh... the things you're saying. But I think what you wanna do is make your statement a little more bold, y'know? You want people to look at it and think good god that's going to be stuck in my brain all day like a shitty but pointedly thematic song. Feel me?" He glances over at the face Elsa makes on the wall and shakes his head. "That's a good start, but it's gotta be more. Something like, y'know. Ah, fuck it. Come here, Boogaloo." He's going to put his can down and stride over to Signless, grabbing his hand and guiding it upward so they can mutually draw a dick. That is, if Signless doesn't fight him on it. "When in doubt, freak 'em out."

He doesn't fight Dave's guiding hand -- it's clear he needs some level of instruction here and Dave knows quite a bit more than him. He's willing to step back and allow someone who's in their element show him how rebelling this way is done.

As the dick takes shape, though, his eyebrows draw down in confusion. He has only ever seen a Real Live Dick close up once and this looks kind of like that but he is unfamiliar enough with human symbolism that it might very well be something else. Should he ask? Will it offend Dave if this is actually some important symbol with a long and interesting history behind it?

Fuck it, he's going to ask.

"I wouldn't presume to know better than someone who's been doing this far longer than I have, but... is that a prick and if so, why?"

'Prick' of course is a byproduct of getting most of his education on human sexual practices from Cuthbert Allgood, a boy with his own unique vocabulary.

Dave's pointed remark burns just a little, even if because it just means that she can't use it as an excuse. And maybe- yeah, that's the problem. She shouldn't be trying to use it as an excuse, she shouldn't be looking for crutches now, of all times. If she's going to do this, then she's going to have to give it her all and stop relying on petty excuses like that. It burns, but it burns in a way that spurs her to keep going.

With a sigh, she moves on from her face and looks at the things Dave's painted, trying to get a better sense of what counts as good. He's using such witty statements, but they're so hard to emulate. Biting her bottom lip, she tries to think of something just as witty.

In the end, she ends up going for something a bit ice related.

One day you will SHATTER

You know, like ice. She feels like it's better than faces, at any rate. When she's finished, she turns and looks over at the two of them- just in time to catch the last finishing touch of such vulgar artwork. She gasps, just as Boogaloo is finished asking about it, a hand coming up to cover her mouth, her eyes narrowed in the most scandalized expression she's ever worn.

"Dave- you- you can't force people to draw genitalia, it's rude!" she squawks out from behind her hands, her voice a few pitches higher than normal.

There is nothing more beautiful than self induced deja-vu. Damn. That is a respectable looking dick. Dave clicks his tongue in approval as he swoops the troll's hands into the elegant curves required to make his vision a reality. He steps back and places his hands on his hips, nodding in complete satisfaction at what they've achieved.

"Prick?" He gives Signless a long look. "I didn't know trolls came in British flavours." Is that even a thing? Apparently it is. "Yeah it's a wang. A dick. A massive wall cock for your pleasure." He's about to answer the second question when Elsa interjects with her high pitched squawking. Now. Yes. Now is the time to make a stand.

"That's why." He says with conviction, pointing at Elsa dramatically. "This sort of reaction. This is what we want. We want to make them question everything, but we also want them to be deeply confused and maybe a little bit uncomfortable. We want them to look deep inside themselves and think woah..." He looks between Elsa and Signless, nodding slowly. "That's rude." He's hamming up the dramatics a bit, but he's enjoying himself clearly.

It makes a lot of sense when put like that, for all that it's still bizarre. It's a way to induce exactly the right kind of emotions in the people they're fighting against without doing anything overtly threatening that they might be punished for later. He can't imagine drawing human genitalia on a wall would get him more than a beating if the Capitol was feeling particularly short-tempered. A beating is something he can deal with by now.

"I think I understand." He paints another, slightly smaller, dick next to the first one to make sure he has the shape down right. It's really not that difficult, just a few swooping curves.

"We want to put them on-edge in every way we possibly can. I don't think that's unreasonable. They don't respect any aspect of our lives, even those that are most private and personal -- why should we mark anything of theirs as off-limits?"

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Vandalism 101

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