thecapitol | Party Time! (Oblivious Valeria is Oblivious): Open

WHO| Open to anyone who can find the place
WHAT| Val is rejoining society
WHEN| Sometime in the fourth week of the Games (a bit before the acid rain begins)
WHERE| The roof of the building where her workshop is located, in the Stylist part of town?
WARNING/NOTES| Party post, tag as you like!

[The video turns on, showing an old-fashioned vanity and a thick curtain with electrical lights flashing in a fetching pattern wired through as a backdrop. Valeria is sitting at the vanity, artfully posed. She smiles at the camera and waves when she realizes it’s on.]

Hello, my darlings!

[She blows a kiss]

As I’m sure you’ve realized, this is Valeria Rushlit, Stylist for District 3 and absolutely smashing party host. Which is the reason that I’m making this post!

I have been absolutely swamped working on, oh, this and that, and I just know you have all missed my sparkling presence. This must be rectified!

I could, of course, simply drop in on one of the many wonderful get-togethers popping up to share in the fun of the Games. But why should you do all the work? It’s only fair that if I’ve been depriving you of my lovely self I should be the one to fix it! And fix I shall, my darling dears.

Tonight if you show up on the rooftop of the building where I keep my workshop—[She leans in, winking at the camera and speaking in a loud whisper.] and if you’re a friend or a fan you’ll know exactly where that is, and who else would I want at my party?—you’ll find yourself at the party to be at this evening. The party that’s all. About. Me!

[She throws her hands in glee, smiling wide, and the camera switches off in response to a preprogrammed cue.]

Valeria looked over the room with a satisfied smile. She'd definitely been working too hard, been too focused on showing up Cinna and the rest of the Stylists when these Games ended. She'd been so cooped up in her workshop she'd failed to keep up with even the barest minimum of Games activity, though since she would have been alerted had any of her own Tributes been kicked out of the Arena she didn't berate herself too much for this.

No, what was far more important was how much she had missed in the Capitol. For the Citizens she was used to this was a downright subdued crowd, though this might be less due to some event Valeria had missed and more because the Games had become stagnant of late, she judged, glancing at one of the many screens posted around the rooftop.

This was a genuine Rushlit bash, as anyone could guess from her favorite decoration, a fountain that shot off miniature fireworks at random intervals. Everything else had more of an electrical theme, in deference to her position and ongoing Games, which was also the reason she'd included the screens. Subdued was never a word to be applied to a Rushlit party. Valeria straightened her pink and white party dress, adjusted her hair, teased into a tower over a foot tall, and prepared to mingle her ass off. Truly there was no person better suited to spreading joy than Valeria Rushlit.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Oh, I know! It is just ridiculous!"

It wasn't a secret Peeta and Katniss were missing, and Effie was doing her best to gossip about it to anyone who would listen.

"They have taken both Peeta and Katniss for training...is that even something you do? I for one have never heard of it."

Valeria blinked. It may not have been a secret, but she was even further behind in her politics than she was in her gossip. Katniss and Peeta being taken was news to her.

"They did? But they've already won, haven't they? What do they need to be trained in?" she asked, distracted from her information digging.

Effie's distress at being out of the loop on her own tributes was tempered by Valeria being even farther out of the loop. And her annoyance and the whole situation, and desperation for some sort of information had her throwing caution slightly to the wind.

"Isn't Holly Sheer missing as well?"

Valeria blinked. Out of the loop was perhaps too kind to describe her awareness of the situation. "Is she?" she asked, genuinely surprised. Once their tours were over most of her Victors tended to dress themselves for everything but the most important Games-related events, so she tended to lose touch with them, choosing to focus on her new canvases.

Well, yes, I believe so."

Effie shrugged. Gossip was gold around here and it was nice to finally know something someone else didn't. It felt like the first time in weeks, really.

"Huh," said Valeria after a moment's thought. "I guess it has been a while since I've seen her...been a while since I've seen anyone." She looked up, not sure what to make of this news. "They're missing, or they're being moved for training?" She groaned suddenly, a thought striking her. "Oh, no, you don't think they're changing things again, do you? I'm just finally getting into the new swing of things."

"I, personally, have no idea. I wish they'd just...let things settle."

And bring everyone home. Because she was not letting herself believe they weren't going to come home safe.

"Exactly," agreed Valeria, all thoughts of espionage or politics slipping from her mind in favor of the time-old tradition of complaining about the boss. "The Stylists have been hit especially hard you know. Nobody will even tell me if we're still doing the parades! Which I would miss dearly, of course, but even I would become exhausted trying to create a parade-worthy outfit every other month."

"Oh, I know! You just...with out all the anticipation of the Games, it's so much harder to do our jobs. And the Mentors, they just don't understand."

Then again, Haymitch didn't ever seem to appreciate what she did for him and District 12.

Valeria rolled her eyes. "Oh, Mentors. They only have to work one time out of the year-or, well, they did of course. We have to keep them and the Tributes all dressed up and...and--escorted all year round! Even before the new Games. And yet the Mentors, or for that matter the Tributes, never truly appreciate our work, you know?" She sniffed, patting her hair in an absent check-up. "I mean, would your double Tribute win have even been possible without Cinna's influence and your...whatever you did?"

Oy. Yes, she could agree with that. She doubted Haymitch even knew what she did, none the less appreciated. Realized the complicated social strategies and the mountains of paper work.

"Of course not. Cinna is just simply amazing. What he did was...well, it was practically magic."

Valeria froze halfway through her nod of agreement. With a force of effort she smiled, or bared her teeth at least. "Ah, right. It was certainly a...clever idea. Of course, it's been rather blown out of proportion, same as all fads, as you know."

"He's just getting his moment in the sun." She said, and her grin was perhaps a bit smug. She wasn't going to let Val undermine what Cinna had done. he deserved everything he was getting for it.

"Oh yes, exactly," she said carefully. "His fifteen minutes and all that. And he's even luckier considering it came during the first double-win and the last of the original Games. All sorts of factors in play."

"Oh, of course, it was just wonderful for us."

She was refusing to let Valeria paint this as anything negative. Cinna was, after all, akin to a Saint in Effie's eyes.

"It certainly was," agreed Valeria, wincing at praising Cinna at all, but unable to disagree with the importance of Stylists. "And it certainly...made waves." Tidal waves that changed the way the Games were run after 75 years of essentially the same process.

"Oh yes!" Effie, who still hadn't quite realized the waves they started maybe weren't the best waves to have started, beamed again. Not only a win, finally, but a double win. A change in the whole system. After years of watching tribute pass through and knowing there was...nothing. Suddenly, there was everything.

"It's all very, very exciting." Although her face fell a little. Of all the 'maybes' she had imagine after last years games...this wasn't one of them.

"Exciting isn't even the word for it," declared Valeria. "It's all so very, very--" exhausting. "--innovative."

"Oh yes. I can only imagine it's hard for you all, trying to find ways to...slide in a good impression here and there." She shook her head, sighing. "It's...crazy, figuring out all this...the sponsors are excited but also just a tiny bit lost."

"I can imagine," Valeria agreed a little mournfully. "It must be just overwhelming, so many new Tributes, and they just keep coming!"

"It's going to take a lot to get use to."

She sighed, and then shrugged.

Nothing to focus on now.

((OOC-you wanna let this one trail off and focus on the drinking log?))

Party Time! (Oblivious Valeria is Oblivious): Open

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omg that icon.

i just love nicki's face guys

it is pretty awesome

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