[open mingle: the sunlight at midnight gala]

[badfeyth]

WHO: Anyone attending the Sunlight at Midnight gala!
WHAT: KISS PEOPLE AND DANCE IDK
WHERE: The freshly-renovated Planetarium in District 4!
WHEN: Saturday, December 2
WARNINGS: None for the log itself; please warn responsibly in individual top-levels!

THE VENUE

Upon entry to the newly-renovated venue space that was once a planetarium, guests will quickly notice that the space has been transformed into a three-layered affair, ranging from the very well-lit upper level down to the more romantic ambiance of the dance floor and performance space, with a comfortable tier of seating and standing tables in the middle.


Not intended by Ghost (badfeyth) and Kaveh (fussiest), yet still mysteriously appearing at random places throughout the venue, are sprigs of magical kissing mistletoe!

The mistletoe will cause characters to at least pause underneath it, and will give them a mild compulsion to kiss whoever they're with, but the compulsion will not be unavoidable and characters can easily break free of the "hold" the mistletoe has on them. Even so, partygoers will quickly learn to be mindful of what's overhead — or not!

UPPER TIER

On the well-lit upper tier, guests will find plenty of generalized mingle room, including two patios with casual seating on either side of the space. Throughout the center are a variety of stations and attractions, as well as some helpful resources for the discerning partygoer.

For the fashionably un-forward, you may wish to visit (or find yourselves forcibly dragged into) Lestat's on-site fashion consulting lair, which boasts a small and curtained-off space where partygoers in need can receive last-minute fashion advice, do wardrobe finishing touches, and address any other aesthetic concerns under the discerning eye of LESTAT DE LIONCOURT (perfectdevil). This is also where a selection of basic cosmetics and beauty supplies can be found, in case of a need for an emergency touch-up, safety pin, or spot removal!

Continuing onward, guests will find four individual food stations, each with their own set of color-coded disposable dishware! Perhaps they'd like to take a sampling of:

• STATION #1 — TSURUNO (fanstheflames): Fried rice in the shape of Christmas trees, dumplings with carrot reindeer antlers and red pepper noses, and fortune cookies that tell you to go dance with somebody already!
• STATION #2 — ROLAND (gradenine): Hotpot with mild and spicy soup bases plus a variety of vegetables and meats, and KBBQ with chicken, pork, and beef cuts, plus sides!
• STATION #3 — RENO (astraphilia): Whipped goat cheese figs, brie and prosciutto stuffed dates, and sprouting cauliflower with brown butter and lemon — paired with a couple of simple cocktails (a negroni and a Bombay mule)!
• STATION #4 — WANDERER (featheradrift): Samosas, panipuri, Japanese-style sandwiches, and a lot of sweets and desserts like chocolate truffles, pâte de fruit, candied nuts, madeleines, and custards!

Champagne (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) is also circulating around the venue under the watchful eye of KANEKI (anthropophagite), and a small selection of coffee is available at a nearby station as well!

Finally, at the far end of the upper concourse, one can find a partitioned-off space for photo opportunities featuring a black-and-gold backdrop, an arch aglow with fairy lights, and a few idle props like chairs and small movable tables that partygoers can use to coordinate their souvenir photos. PROMPTO (burstmodes) will be around to do formal event photography, but there'll also be a Polaroid available so that people can take their own photos and develop them instantly!

VISUALS: AESTHETICS & ETC.

         

MIDDLE TIER

On the mid-tier halfway down the stairs that flank the venue on either side, partygoers will find a landing with an assortment of standing tables covered in black tablecloths and tied with gold bows, where guests can enjoy their refreshments, engage in conversation, and people-watch the goings-on taking place below them on the dance floor! To prevent any mischief or accidental spilling of food onto hapless dancers below, each landing is lined with a courtesy railing, and immediately below the railing is an arrangement of tasteful decor.

Between the two landings, guests can find the remnants of the planetarium seating — fold-down auditorium chairs with comfortable cushions arranged in gently circular rows, giving the people relaxing there a perfect view of the dance floor and the spectacle of lights taking place below it.

VISUALS: AESTHETICS & ETC.

    

LOWER TIER

The lowest level of the venue, at the very bottom of the stairs, is the most dimly-lit of the three levels and is mostly comprised of the dance floor. Along the back wall and parts of the sides runs a slightly-raised platform stage upon which are arranged a piano, an electric guitar, a stereo system, and a few microphones for the convenience of any vocalists in the house. The stage is wide enough for one or two people to walk around comfortably, but generally is fairly modest to leave the majority of the room for the dance floor.

It's on the dance floor that the real "sunlight at midnight" theme takes its shape, as this is where the bulk of Kaveh's artificial lighting technology has been put into play. Along with standard party enhancements like a few spotlights and an overhead disco ball, the perimeter is also dotted with round arrays of stained glass with light fixtures behind them, causing panels of colored light to cast onto the hardwood of the dance floor. These arrays can also be rotated like kaleidoscopes, allowing for the patterns of light to change throughout the course of the evening — adding an element of renewable interest in the continuing aesthetic.

VISUALS: AESTHETICS & ETC.

    

ENTERTAINMENT

Throughout the course of the evening, music will be provided by a rotating set list of performers, interspersed with prearranged playlists courtesy of the new media store. Entertainers will be informed of their set lengths, obligations, and timeslots well in advance of the venue by Ghost, and any necessary instruments or microphone hookups will be ready and available at the time of the performance.

Performers on deck include:

• HYTHLODAEUS (nomoresharks) and EMET-SELCH (recreator): Jazz piano bops along with some ragtime arrangements.
• EDDIE (thefreak): A mix of slow rock ballads and hard rock dance numbers, on electric guitar!

In addition to the live performances, the venue will also be treated to some traditional mid-2000s party favorites such as:

• BLORBOLICIOUS, by Gurgi (feat. Bill.i.was)
• HIPS SOMETIMES LIE, by The Kira
• SANDSQUALL, by DaNice
• MAYBE GONNA GIVE YOU UP, by Rickard Dastley
• MAMBO NO. 4 AND A HALF, by Stu Vega
• THE CHA-CHA HUSTLE, by DJ FriendlyGhost
• VIRUS, by Boo Boo Dolls

VISUALS: AESTHETICS & ETC.

    

LIVEBLOG

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credit.

Comments

[abstractart]

[oh, he's serious about not stopping easily-- netzach murmurs a satisfied, eager little sound into his mouth, arms settling comfortably around his shoulders as he settles into yesod's lap.

yesod has been opening up by degrees; he loves it every time, seeing him take further steps than netzach had anticipated. surprising him.]

[nomoresharks]

[He laughs]

You'd hardly be the first. I cannot even begin to imagine how many of my schoolmates ended up leaving their instruments behind the moment they left those halls.

You mentioned you were a biologist, didn't you?

[reflexio]

[ Were the other man not in such high spirits, Yi Sang would feel a little like a cornered prey animal. It's the manner in which the stranger circles him, gaze closely studying his physical appearance. But he sees the wonder, the satisfaction in the other man's eyes, and it's those two things that offer Yi Sang reassurance.

He shifts a bit, avoiding the other man's bright eyes. He's never gotten used to having others' attention on him, and he doesn't think he'd make for a very good painting subject. ]

An architect?

[ Yi Sang doesn't notice Kaveh holding out his hand. Instead, he pales as his gaze snaps back to Kaveh's face. ]

...I see.

[ He at least manages to reach for the other's hand, not wanting to be impolite when Kaveh's shown him nothing but kindness. He gives it a stiff shake. ]

Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Yi Sang. ...my apologies, I did not anticipate meeting another architect.

[ Only after he'd spoken does he realize his slip of tongue. "Another," he'd said, perhaps laying the foundation for Kaveh to realize he wasn't the only architect in this two-person conversation. ]

[fauned]

( the laugh is fond, soft. )

You owe me more than the one. I didn't forget. I'll be collecting those later.

( then carefully, she turns her hand in his grip, letting her thumb brush along his lower lip before letting it come to rest by her side. )

But I'm glad I could help make it fun for you, too, even if you don't really like these things.

[abstractart]

We'll be fiiine.... you worry too much about it, man. Chesed's been sleeping outside, I don't think he'd be bothered.

[abstractart]

As long as I don't have to lead the whole time.

[it's the laziness in him.

that flush to midnight's face feels like a little victory, though, a tiny flutter of warmth sparked in turn as netzach leads him to an unoccupied space on the dance floor. he's not particularly skilled, but he knows the basics; it's enough to manage, enough to experiment just a little bit, to do what they feel like doing.]

[fussiest]

[ lestat approaches. kaveh listens to the cadence of his footfalls. you can tell a lot about a person from the way they walk, though kaveh suspects he's not quite as good at documenting it as alhaitham is. it's the way he walks toe to heel, the spry clip of which speaks to the nature of a man used to walking on a thin knife's edge and coming out of it none the worse for it. it is also the light-quick steps of a man curious to find out what's at the end of a hanging ledge. kaveh looks up, surprise like a little scintillating spark as lestat first sits down, and then lies down with him. oh, kaveh thinks, he's going to ruin his outfit - that glorious, sleek thing. but the terrible has already happened by the time kaveh's registered it, and there's only the resolution of what comes next: kaveh will have to make it up to him.

still, lestat is here, and kaveh is here, and the two of them are pantomiming what it must be like to look up at the stars if the were any. but there's only the hovering contraption and the knowledge that kaveh turned off the stars for the sun. kaveh holds up his hands. he laces his fingers together, and stretches them for a long, narrow beat. his shoulders burn. then, he extricates one hand so he can properly point. ]

Those are the shutters. [ kaveh says, and smiles, ] The wood is rather low quality, so around thirty planks of them split sometime during the treatment process. They were sourced from the shelves of several office-buildings; I really hope nobody needs those later, by the way, they won't come back. Terribly dull when I got them, I wouldn't have used them as cutting boards, let alone fixtures, but Netzach and I did what the Liyuens did with paints to give them a matted finish so that not only will they add texture to the windows, but also they'll reflect the minimum amount of the light they are blocking.

The string holding them together were sourced from crafts stores, triple-braided and dyed pearl so they wouldn't be as stark. The rivets were stripped from all the office windows that could open and close, soldered in with nuts from office door hinges that miraculous fit into each other with nary a difference in thickness. All of them are controlled with a central, mechanical crank on a timer that you see up there, [ kaveh's finger sweeps across to the top, ] but the ones installed in homes will be manual, with an unobtrusive, sliding lever that feels butter-smooth to push.

[ kaveh finally peers over, terribly droll: ] Well? Shall I continue to be immodest? Or would you rather some modesty after I've stripped the magic from it all. I haven't even gotten to the stained glass soldering techniques that we had to bastardise in order to make the deadline.

[yyds]

[ that makes sense, hong lu thinks. people with similar personalities often become friends. though hong lu has seen opposites get along surprisingly well. heathcliff and ishmael come to mind easily. it's that sort of thing. ]

You didn't say you liked them, though. So you're also doing something you don't particularly like.

[yyds]

I think both winners and losers should be allowed to eat, though? So maybe whoever wins gets to choose what the other person eats!

[yyds]

To play. [ hong lu smiles. ] I've been to galas before; this one's smaller, and it seems like it's geared for the common people, but it's been more fun.

I wonder if Sinclair will take on the maracas again. Maybe when there's a proper song for it?

[limbical]

[A curious thing, how Hong Lu is something of a mix of naivete while also being utterly observant. It's also extremely annoying when Daan isn't keen to talk about something.]

...They're fine if I'm bartending. But no, I don't usually like fancy gatherings like this.

[reflexio]

[ Yi Sang has never thought of himself as someone who is able to consistently surprise another person. He does not know that Hong Lu could never have imagined what it might be like to hear his content sounds.

What he does know is that he would like to pull Hong Lu in closer, fingers curling more securely in the other's jacket when he feels Hong Lu leaning in. The experimental lick against his bottom lip has Yi Sang returning the gesture in response, his own tongue in search of Hong Lu's.

But suddenly he stops, body tensing as his breath catches in his throat. A terrifying thought crosses his mind. All these years, he'd stood slantwise and allowed the wind to simply bend him in any direction that it pleased. Now, he realizes with gravity, he finds himself wanting, and it's not necessarily clear whether it's for the pure pursuit of exploration. He wants; he desires.

Should he decide against pursuing this current path, he will never know what lies at the end of it. And thus, mind made up, Yi Sang reaches up with his other hand as well, resting his palm against the pulse in Hong Lu's neck. ]

[fussiest]

Oh, I know, I've met him. Excellent taste in coffee, concerning tastes in where he's sleeping for the night. That's why I think all of you ought to move in as quickly as possible.

Besides, he's sleeping in the graveyard. You know this, right?

[fussiest]

Why would I? It seems to awe him enough, and the most important thing about Tighnari is that if he says something, you ought to listen. I love that man like a brother, but he terrifies me more than any threat.

[ says kaveh, with the kind of love in his voice that you'd normally attribute to certain death. ]

Actually, now I'd like for the two of you to meet. Perhaps he'll put the fear of something into you, too, for once. Godless as you are.

[fussiest]

Aren't I used to that already? You stepped on my feet the very first bout I had with you, and I still maintain that you did it on purpose -

[ kaveh's sentence is truncated at the source. he's pulled forward. kaveh frowns. ] Hey. [ but it's instinct to fall into the follower's pattern, even as he scowls. ] Who died and let you take lead? Name them, and I'll show you life.

[fussiest]

[ oh, kaveh thinks. his hands ache at it, the description. or was it a memory? for a moment, kaveh simply sits there in the chair. he pulls his leg up so that he can rest his chin on it.

it comes, in blurred motion: soldering the stained glass, the scent of the burning copper beneath the fume hood. three am and the strings that won't quite connect. the endless rivets. ]

Oh. [ kaveh says, slowly, through the haze. ] That was... me? [ ... and then, based on some unnamed instinct: ] Hey, don't call me that.

[wordchain]

[ Yesod remembers the visit to the smART exhibit as an interesting introduction to experiencing a double date — he was grateful for the chance, less because of the building's interior itself on the whole and more because of the memories created that day. This city, while odd and at times distressing in ways too close to the past, has been a place of such possibilities again and again by now. Before that, he remembers Kaveh at his workshop, their conversation then.

And this is another facet of the man's light, he thinks. No doubt Kaveh has had next to no rest in some time, but he makes more time to illuminate this night for others further. Yesod, aware that Netzach has also willingly worked late into the night for days on end at Kaveh's side, is grateful once again to know that Kaveh has opened the door to an entirely new world for Netzach, somewhere to truly live. On the other side, there is a kaleidoscope of still more possibilities, much like the patterns of color cast across the floor through the arrays of stained glass. ]

Yes.

[ Yesod corrects his pace to match Kaveh's. ]

While I assumed that Netzach would prefer that I take the lead, if he wanted to dance, it seemed best to familiarize myself with both perspectives.

[ Though like waiting to visit an art gallery together, these preparations must be strange, too. There is no expectation that Netzach would dance only with him, either. ]

[yyds]

[ hong lu's head tilts. the dark sable of his hair cascades like a waterfall... over his juit. ]

Then, why are you here, Doctor Daan?

[fullgauntlet]

[Izuku feels his heart skip a beat. There's just something about that. It makes it sound like a challenge but something a little more.

It makes Izuku think about how things have shifted between them lately. All the little moments where they didn't dare explore farther. That time Izuku held onto Katsuki so hard on that roof...

He swallows a lump in his throat. He'll be extra careful now. Because he wants... that reward. Very badly.]

Okay, Kacchan.

[astraphilia]

[ probably the most endearing part of that entire ten-second interval is that Reno doesn't even have to say anything—he just lifts his eyebrows, watching her go through her journey of self-discovery before arriving right back at the point she started from.

despite not having been a teenager in quite a while, Reno remembers that knee-jerk defensiveness. he hides his grin in his drink, and once he's schooled his face into a more acceptable expression, he emerges to nod sagely at her final proclamation. ]

Okay, you're dancing. [ easy agreement from him, who is he to tell her that the awkward teenager shuffle doesn't really count? it's not like Reno's out on the dance floor either. ] As long as you're havin' a good time, hey?

[ he reaches out to clink the side of his glass against hers. ]

Are you? Having a good time.

[yyds]

[ yi sang's breath catches in his throat. his throat, hong lu thinks - his own throat. it's fascinating, the realisation that because they are pressed lip to lip, a breath that began in yi sang's chest now ends somewhere in hong lu's. the little stutter there is like a shift in the universe, the switching of colours in the mechanism above, the passing of day into night. yi sang does things to hong lu's world. he shifts it from frame to frame, allowing its trajectory to become visible, a trick of refracted light so that hong lu will always have the illumination of where to go.

then, yi sang's hand slips against hong lu's neck, and hong lu thinks -

there is conscious thought, and there is something that is less so, the thrum of a body and its intrinsic desires. hong lu's pulse has picked up. hong lu doesn't remember where or when this occurred, only that it has. it is only through yi sang's hand does hong lu realise that he is being seen.

hong lu has never been desired, is the thing. he hadn't thought yi sang would reach for him. he has now been reached for, and for the first time in a very long time, hong lu smiles. it's a true smile, one that starts along the corners of his lips, the kind dipped in sorrow and longing and yearning and the expectation of rejection. but it's true, and it belongs to hong lu, and he presses it against yi sang's lips.

by the time they part, both of hong lu's hands wend their way through the short strands of yi sang's hair. they did not make their way to yi sang's neck, where that matching pulse is. hong lu hadn't had the courage, after all. ]

Yi Sang. [ hong lu says, and then laughs. yi sang's lips are kiss-bruised, and hong lu is hungry. he swallows down that yearning, and tries to feel full. ] Did that help?

[justscribing]

Don't sound so surprised. [Alhaitham reaches to adjust the pins in Kaveh's hair, sweeping it back into form. He lets out a breath that's a touch fond.] Of course it was you. Who else in this city would know Sumeru's stained glass techniques that well? You've done some impressive work under your limitations.

[immortalpoet]

The common people.

[Yeah, see, that does leave a bad taste in his mouth, but Nesters be Nesting, he supposes.]

...You'll have to ask him. I wouldn't care for it, either way.

[abstractart]

I know. That's where I was sleeping when I first showed up, too, so it's not that surprising...

[justscribing]

[He didn't step on Rosella's feet once, but he's never going to confess to anything. He is, however, annoyingly good at avoiding it this time.]

Since when was leading in a dance some authority to be bestowed like an inherited title? [The hand at Kaveh's waist slides around to his back, which he cradles with the same weight as Kaveh's hand.] You wanted to be impressed.

[His arm lifts in fluid motion to twist Kaveh into a twirl, one kept close enough that his hand upon Kaveh's back ghosts over the fabric of his shirt as he moves.]