thecapitol | The Crowning Of Tom Cassidy

The Crowning Of Tom Cassidy

Who| Everyone who's anyone. (Tributes, Staff, Capitolites, and anyone else in Capitol.)
What| The Crowning of Black Tom Cassidy.
Where| The New Cassidy Keep of the Capitol!
When| From noon to the late evening, Friday.
Notes| This event is mandatory for all Tributes to attend. Even if you do not tag in, your character will attend this party. Peacekeepers will be on high alert, so no funny business.
WARNINGS| Blatent irish stereotyping. Remember to put any relevant warnings in headers!

The dress code for this crowning is certainly a strange one. Greenery, burlap sacks, and "Irish" themed outfits which many a confused Capitolites has take as to simply be the color green. Among them can be found the sorts of ridiculous bright costumes as could be found in a 1970's comic book-- not that the 1970's are even a real time period. Spandex, V-necks, and popped collars are going to be a common sight tonight.

Guests are brought out to the stunning blue-green bay. There's a new feature there, a great big replica of Cassidy Keep. And it's been built upon a rock. How it stays up is a mystery, but it's no doubt a stunning site as guests are brought in on boats to a grand staircase that leads to even bigger doors.

Guests enter into a beautiful castle and garden both. Trees grow through the stones, vines climb over the stair railings, flowers bloom on the walls, and in some place the castle gives way purely to nature with small ponds set in. Like an internal rainforest (though the temperature is comfortable and cool) there's greenery everywhere soaking up the light that shines through the high windows. Statues stand tall of Black Tom Cassidy, Molotov Cocktease, and Arya Stark, sometimes all of them together. Then are more of an imposing man named Unstoppable Thuggernaut, a young girl named Theresa, the same girl older with the plaque deeming her to be "Siren", and statues of the the three of them together, both as a family and posing to fight. And of course, one can't forget that grand paintings of infamous arena scenes featuring Black Tom. Paths are set around to help guide guests, the main path leading into the biggest room of the keep.

Sponsored by Below Timberline, a temporary dining area has been set up within the castle-- high above the ground! All along the treetops that shoot up to the ceiling are the vine and wood woven nests for guests to be seated in. Waiters, waitresses, and Avoxes make their way along thick branches and rope bridges. But despite appearances, there's no chance of falling! Forcefields have been put up around the whole area to prevent such a tragedy from occurring to guests, waiters, and waitresses.

There are Avox operated lifts to help guests up to the tree tops, and though this might be an eyesore for some, they've all been dressed pleasant green, some with little hats. All the better to match the theme and blend into it!

That's not all that's gained the Irish theme. The menu consists all of foods that would be found in this mysterious off-world residence. Corned beef and cabbage, Irish stew, colcannon, black pudding, crubeens, shepherd's pie, champ, boxty, shelfish, Blaa, Goody, and Barmbrack despite it being out of season. There is even a cereal dish of what may very well be Lucky Charms. Drinks include "Irish" Whiskey, ales, porter, coffee and cream, and cider both alcoholic and not (for the kids). There is significantly more whiskey with Tom's face upon it than not and much of the drinks are served in large mug glasses.

Down below the dining area are two clear spaces for dancing, one for the professionals giving performance, and one for those seeking to try on their own. The show isn't just an entertaining watch, it's dancers bring more to the music as well, tapping out a beat. Mixed in to shake up the river dancing, Irish-styled folk songs play, generally regaling tales of Black Tom Cassidy and his exploits, but occasionally playing a song or two about other Tributes.

In between floors is a stand where cotton candy makers craft giant colorful flowers. On the far end of the room, set up high, sits Tom's throne. Torches crown the top of the wooden throne, vines woven over the arm rests, a strange metal meant to visually mirror that of vibranium, shines in elegant swirling detail over and around the whole chair. A soft black material is stretched over the back and seat of the throne, marked in red on the back with Tom's symbol. Tom's crown features flowers and shining rubies set in the wood.

Set up in another room is a shillelagh game of shooting water out of the staff at the targets and winning a prize. Prizes include real "authentic" Shillelaghs, and ones that light up and show fire at the end thanks to an internal projection mechanism. And it's perfectly harmless!

Another room winds and twists through a dark torch lit tunnel in a guided tour through a replica portion of Cassidy keep that's been filled with amazing info about Panem's new Victor! Pictures of his life, his youth, his loves, and his adventures. There are replica vibranium pieces, models featuring Tom's many outfits, a pretend prison for guests to have their picture taken inside of, and on-wall descriptions of his villainous escapades. Both those and the tour guide tend to loop back to how he's found redemption here in Panem, now a model citizen.

A third room has been cleared for allowing a giant game of cops and robbers, which Tom has exemplified in present and past respectively. Those brought in to play are dressed in villain's outfits for the "robbers" and all Peacekeeper white for the "cops".

One door leads out to a bridge, connecting the island to the chasm edge across from it. There's a section of rolling hills there where guests are encouraged to seek out four leaf clovers and have them exchanged for engraved gold and bronze rings, flower bouquets, a free meal courtesy of Below Timberline, or even Limited Edition Black Tom Cassidy memorabilia. The white bridge across is lit underneath like that of the ha'penny bridge in the exotic offworld Ireland, but unlike ha'penny, the bridge's lights form beautiful moving pictures of various arena scenes, particularly the finale.

Saddened these scenes are out of sight? Fear not! The wide bridge has a second function: bungee jumping! Overseen by an attendant, with the proper equipment fitting, you too can take a dive into a chasm. Like Black Tom did, only on purpose and absolutely injury-free! The bungee is perfectly secure and safe with more attendants waiting below to pick up those... at the end of their rope. Boats waiting along the far edges pick up the guests again to bring them back around to the Cassidy Keep party. And what a party it is.

But it's not all fun and games at this crowning. Come evening, the dance floor is cleared and a stage and podium are swiftly set up. All the guests are sat. Tributes are sat up front, Capitolites and other guests in the back. Peacekeepers line in rows on the back and sides of the stage. Those still on duty situate between the Tributes and guests. Dead-center, with the rows of Tributes on either side, are two Peacekeepers that some might recognize as being one of the more heavily afflicted Peacekeepers on the day of the Medieval Games-watching Party. Though the offworld "sickness" vanished shortly after the first arrest was made, these two still don't look so hot, one nursing what might be a headache, and the other just plain looking ill.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's a simple shake, something Phillip offered though he can understand if Linden refuses it. There are certain things that offworlders and native Panemians are strictly forbidden to do, even if the Capitolites fantasies celebrated them. He simply shrugged at the silent refusal and took it back without giving it much thought.

"You'll be out of there in no time, I know you will," Gray assured him, "And I'll bring you a victory, sir."

It's the only thing he can offer Linden, to show him that even now, he wanted to fight for him and District 6 but also keep the promise to be a kind man. He knows that Black Tom took great pleasure in dragging everyone who didn't play the game as he did to the ground.

Linden tries to smile, though it's clear that he lacks the energy to even pretend that a victory is what he wants most from Phillip, or anyone in his District for that matter.

"One step at a time," he responds softly, the words sounding appropriate even though they ultimately don't mean anything. "But you're right... I will be out of the hospital faster than most Districters recover from the common cold, so definitely before the next Arena. I'll be there to help you whether you're meant to win or not."

Phil gives Linden one assurance, "I do intend to be a good man if that settles your mind. Things tend to work out in the end and comeuppance is always something to enjoy." Whether Gray was referring to the things he saw back home, to the new Victor who relished in the spoils of killing almost for sport, or a power that ruled over their very lives is hard to tell.

"Ready to head back to the tower? You need your rest, even if you hop on out of the hospital," he asked without acknowledging the victory or not. "It's for the good of everyone."

"It doesn't," Linden replies with a slight smile. "It would, if I ever had any doubt on that front, but... I haven't."

It's a gentle, earnest reminder that Linden thinks highly of Phillip, and it distracts, at least momentarily, from the newest Victor, one who might actually be evil.

"Yes, I'm ready. I'm so tired," he admits. "Even knowing what's happening tomorrow, I think I could fall asleep in seconds if I had a place to rest my head."

With the admittance, Phil nodded and as he led the way out, he had to ask, "Don't suppose you know how to hail a cab from a reef rock keep, huh?" Let Phil have his bad jokes and he'll be happy for the ride. In any other Crowning, like Signless', Gray would partake in more, let the night roll on. But ever since that sudden arena reaping, plus Cassidy's and Molotov's attitude towards it all, it was best to leave on a positive note.

If someone here gets that joke, it's not the Panem-born Mentor, who tilts his head and looks briefly baffled by what sounds like a string of nonsense-words to his ears. "...I know how to hail a cab, yes," he answers.

He's quick to turn and murmur a word to a passing non-Avox servant, who nods briskly and hurries off to make arrangements. Shortly after, he returns to alert them that it's arrived... and people are already side-eyeing the hell out of themas they prepare to leave together.

"It's...forget it, just a dumb attempt at a joke." Phil merely lets it slide and the embarrassment settle down. Let the guests give them the side-eye, the tribute lets Linden into the cab first and away from the Crowning. Gossip fodder or not, this was a gesture of good faith and health.

"You're gonna be okay, sir," Gray whispered, leaning towards the window and looking out towards the night sky, letting the beautiful lights take over the tranquil sky. Even after all this time, Phil still thought of this as worth fighting and dying in the Arena for.

"All things considered, this is one hell of a sight, once in a lifetime."

Linden's attempted worse jokes; even if his sense of humor doesn't quite mesh all the time with offworlders, he's an odd duck in Panem, too. He climbs into the cab ahead of Phillip, glancing back and noting the other man's watchful patience, and gets himself situated.

The reassurance actually stings, but it's not an unpleasant pain, and he peers out over Phillip's shoulder so he can see the same view the Phone Guy seems to find so enthralling.

"Thank you for pointing it out," he says quietly as the cab starts to move. "I don't remember the last time I looked at the stars. I'm glad for the reminder to do it at least one more time."

"I didn't think I'd see them again...I thought I was back where I came from," Phil's mind wandered, his hand hovering over where Wednesday's noose yanked and snapped his neck. He couldn't call that world home, not when everything burned down. There's nothing to go back to now, at least for Phone Guy.

"They look the same as they did back there, the stars I mean. And for the record," he shot a look at Linden, "You're not going to die."

Linden's eyes turn toward Phil's neck and his hand half-covering an area not so far from where a faded scar slashes his own. He has brought his own fingers to that spot enough times to guess what it means well enough, and he averts his gaze after a long few moments, peering out his own window at the stars from the other side.

"For the record, everybody dies," he says, staring at the spheres of white-hot, burning gas lightyears away from their lonely little space rock that bears the scars of a horrific war. "That's not what I'm afraid of, anymore."

"I'm aware," Phil responded, letting his breath settle from the painful memory before he asked, "If I may ask, what does scare you?" He doesn't want to pry but a man like Linden has seen it all, what could be so terrifying for a Victor?

As the stars were taken over with the Capitol's light, Gray couldn't help to think that, just like the colossal giants exploded in their old age, so too would this luxurious world. Even a man as simple and blue-collar as Phil could see that this was not a perpetual engine. The question then became: will the transition be gradual or a violent explosion?

Linden's shoulders stiffen for a second; it's actually not something he's ever been asked, certainly not with the expectation of receiving an answer.

"You may," he decides after a lengthy pause. "It's something everyone should be forced to think about. I guess... I'm scared of monsters. The kinds of people who become them, and the realization that no one's really safe from that possibility. In a way, maybe it's a fear of a long life instead of a short one..."

He pauses again.

"And you, I suppose you're afraid of caring about something enough to wish you feel nothing when you lose it."

Edited 2015-08-19 20:20 (UTC)

What use would it be to deny something so transparent? They were both being honest in this cab.

"Does it count as being afraid if it's already happened? That I lost someone I cared so much that I can't-" to talk about it, Phil had to do it as frank as possible, "I can't see myself with them? Or to have seen everything I enjoyed burned to the ground? A-At least I heeded your advice...I let her know the truth."

But he'd be hardpressed to say that he couldn't just move on.

Maybe it's not as transparent as Linden is perceptive, but either way, it seems like the night before a major operation on a Mentor who's been on shaky ground for quite awhile isn't the time to lie to one another. It's fatalistic to think so, maybe, but chances are higher tonight that it's the last time they'll ever speak to each other.

"It counts," he confirms. "Just because it's happened doesn't mean it still can't scare you. So you let her know? What was her reaction to the truth? Not what you wanted to hear, I suppose, since if it was you'd be in a cab with her instead..."

"She hasn't come back." Four words that Phillip tried to deny in his mind but there was no way around it. "We kissed and she died in the first week. I haven't seen her since." Bit on the nose, but again, better to let it all out. And he knows his luck is THAT rotten. The Tower seemed a lot more imposing now that some of the lights seem to dim.

Linden looks at Phillip, then sighs, turning back to look at the stars.

"It goes like that more often than it feels like it should, doesn't it?" he asks. "I hope she comes back, and if she doesn't you have my sincere regrets. It sounds like she reciprocated meaningfully, which is the worst thing to have when you have to let go of it after the fact."

Gray sighed out, "I'm used to it, to this feeling," he's used to loss that much, "I-I think I'll manage." But he does have a positive note,

"Even if she's alive and if she finds her old love, I want her to be happy and safe." Because he knows that Venus was more than her superhero image, that she was a bright star among the skies. They were complex reactions given shape, and that's what Milo was for Phil, someone so beautiful but incomprehensive at first glance.

"No, don't say you're used to it, it's like saying you're OK with it," Linden says in a small voice. "And you shouldn't be, not with that kind of loss. Humans aren't meant to feel that to the point where it makes them numb."

And it's unsettling when Offworlders sound so much like Districters.

"Love should be about putting someone else first but you're allowed to be a little selfish, too."

Gray looked at Linden with an expression that was both accepting and resigned, "How about 'I'll manage it'?" He's a people pleaser after all. "I never said I was numb, I just know that stuff happens and there's no real way to stop them. They still hurt and I don't think I'll move on from that so easily. She was dying when we kissed, she went at peace with herself. That moment is ours, and the Capitol can only look at it...they can never have it."

As the cab slowed down, "I can't tell her to remember me...but I can't bear the thought of her forgetting me. I guess that's my way of being selfish."

"Better," Linden decides after a measured pause. "It's the way of things and it's good to make your peace with it. You're on the right track and you've thought about this more maturely than most Tributes. Then again... it's only very recently that Tributes have been adults, so maybe that makes sense. How old are you? Thirty, around there?"

"Thirty one, thank you, and-" since they were away from the crowning, "I don't think being an adult equals actual emotional maturity. I think we all got a good sense out of that in our party and I can't wait to be out of this spandex."

The taxi driver may take that as they may but right now, "And you need to rest. I-I don't want to think that you'd have complications." He tried to hide his nerves in all that talk but he truly hopes Linden comes out all right...and maybe be able to thank his donor somehow.

Anyone who's done the math, knowing that Linden was 15 at the time of his Games, knows that he's around 28. Not that he looks or acts like it; the drugs and experiences have aged him, even if he probably seems surpised that Phillip is the older of the two of them.

The driver definitely gives them a wide-eyed glance at the comment about getting out of the spandex, especially when Linden emphatically agrees. Anyone who shares a suite with him knows that after parties, and especially crownings, he tends to start shedding clothes the second he's in the door, leaving a trail of layers on his way back to his room where he'll often remain for up to several days after.

"At this point, it might or might not matter," he says softly. "That being said, it's far more likely to help than hurt, isn't it? Even if I would rather make the best of tonight and stay up talking to you, I guess I'll defer to your judgment and try to get some sleep."

Edited 2015-08-24 13:38 (UTC)

"I thought you'd tire of me talking your ear into an early deafness," Phil admitted with a sigh as he paid the taxi driver with some of his credit and offered his shoulder to lean on, "Like I said, I didn't know I was dead until I got here."

Listening to them, people would assume that Linden is the older one, just on how somber the Mentor was compared to the optimistic and sometimes immature Phone Guy. Maybe that's why they assumed they made a good couple. "But I want you to be safe, sir. No offense meant."

"Tire? Never," Linden says, with surprising earnestness, especially considering the exaggerated humor of Phillip's statement. He gamely accepts the shoulder to lean on; on another night, he probably would have foregone it no matter how he felt, but tonight, he's going to do everything he's supposed to. Hydration, no drugs or alcohol, taking it easy and not exerting himself.

"None taken," he replies softly. "Contrary to what some people think, I want that, too... and not just for my Tributes. I want it for me, as well, but... the truth is, there are times when I feel that I'm better on all of the things that killed my liver. You probably know just what I'm talking about."

"Yeah I do, and trust me, right now, I wish I was drunk off my ass. But if you can't get blasted, I won't either," Phil laughed at his own frankness, but it's true. If his friends can't get drunk on this night, it's due respect and solidarity to follow the example.

"I'll try to be there for you, sir, I'd rather you be safe and cared for than...well, having another pickled liver." With the imposing Tower watching over the two men, it was up to chance or the Capitol to make that wish happen.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The Crowning Of Tom Cassidy

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

cw: death

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject