citylogs | [open mingle: the sunlight at midnight gala]

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[open mingle: the sunlight at midnight gala]

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

Looking to add some network spam to your gala experience? Check out our dedicated IC NETWORK POST!

credit.

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[Help. The golem doesn't know what to do with someone who isn't immediately aggressive and/or a threat. Kaveh is registering as much too pathetic for it to try to even take a swing at him.

Altria slows to a trot, and then stops at the sight, staring.

Has her golem been tamed, or is this just a stopgap measure? And even more importantly....... is Kaveh okay?

She comes closer, patting the golem on the arm first and then crouching next to Kaveh to reach out to gently touch his shoulder.]

Um... Kaveh?

Have you been drinking?

[ kaveh, who truly is so pathetic that there is likely entire battalions who'd turn their gazes his way and then quietly avert them because the sight of their enemy on the ground in a puddle of his own tears would shame them for thinking of kicking him while he's that down, mere looks up. he brightens. of course he does. it's altria, after all. but kaveh brightening through a veil of tears is rather more like light being refracted into a thousand little bits, so the brightening part is a little blurry and there may be a small rainbow forming.

still, kaveh nods morosely. ]

It was just one drink... and then suddenly I was thinking of the cufflinks...! And just the thought of them overwhelmed me. Oh, cufflinks. [ kaveh reaches out with a hand that's covered in cookie crumbs, ] Altria, you have cufflinks, don't you? You understand gala etiquette and also you love yourself enough to have them, right?

[Oh... cufflinks...

Altria considers this, and takes that cookie-crumbed hand to hold in her own two. It just feels right somehow. Like leaving him like this in a puddle of his own tears with only the golem to comfort him is much too sad.

But also, she doesn't know what a cufflink is. She's wearing a cute dress thanks to Wanderer, but she is still wearing her travel boots, which absolutely do not match. This is the worst possible person for Kaveh to pour his fancy-party-related-woes out to.

She decides that telling him she has never heard of cufflinks before would be an unfair blow to his heart.

(She can't help but think that his word choice is rather telling here--and wonders how many people he's tried to wrangle into loving themselves more.)]

... [Anyway,] You've seen how much fun everyone is having, right? I've never seen so many people so sparkling and dazzlingly dressed up and having so much fun!

It's so beautiful in here, Kaveh!

[ altria allows her hand to be held in his. kaveh thinks - her hands are small. dainty, really. she is a faerie, he reminds himself. a creature of light and who is light, and oh no, that was a pun, wasn't it? cyno's face surfaces out of the jumble of kaveh's memories, and kaveh nearly wants to cry, because he couldn't handle another pun on top of whatever that's happening with this cookie golem, he's just so large, so sweet, such a robust treat, and so replete with cufflinks...

altria's words echo through. they ring home. kaveh's eyes widen. and then, of course, he actually begins to cry. ]

Isn't it? Ghost did such a wonderful job. I hope everyone knows... I hope everyone went to thank her for it. She doesn't believe herself to be the protagonist of her own story, you know? Even though she's the Raverobber to a Ravekeeper and is there anything already more romantic than that? [ kaveh can barely breathe. he gives altria's hand a squeeze. ] Truly, ought to be telling her that! Yes! And oh, that's right. That's true. You wouldn't have cufflinks because you don't have cuffs...

[ A Sigh. ] Altria, dear, I should get you a jacket of somekind. Have those cufflinks. Are you having fun, though? Are you also sparkling and dazzling?

[Not Kaveh drunkenly imagining Cyno's face... not this,,,]

[He actually begins to cry then, and she feels a little badly about that, even though she thinks it's not a bad cry. Sometimes, there is just an overwhelming amount of emotion, and then--well, crying is catharsis and release, right?

She doesn't really know entirely what he's talking about ("Raverobber"? "Ravekeeper"? And those cufflinks, again, always the cufflinks), but she's happy to listen, enjoying even just the rise and fall of his intonation despite how breathless he is.

Is she having fun? Is she sparkling and dazzling? She laughs a little, and responds honestly:]

Yes! I am! [More than someone like her really deserves to, but isn't it okay right now? This place is like a fleeting dream. When she wakes up, she'll be the Faerie of Paradise again, the Child of Prophecy. But right now, she's just Altria, someone wearing a dress prettier than she could ever imagine even touching.

It's truly so much fun.]

I don't need a jacket, silly Kaveh! But if you want me to make sure everyone's wearing cufflinks, I can do that! [She still does not know what they are, but that's fine.]

Are you having fun? [Perhaps it's a silly question to ask someone lying here, tears still on his face, but she thinks it's a valid one nonetheless.]

[ HE'S DOING HIS BEST... HELP...

oh, kaveh thinks. altria beams, and kaveh looks. she is having fun. that's a smile, kaveh realises, that he hasn't seen on her face before. not like this, not in this kind of context, not with that sort of joy seen only unbidden in the first bloom of a flower at daybreak. the world is a beautiful place, he thinks. it can elicit joy.

it can also ensure everyone has cufflinks, apparently, which is a thought that causes kaveh to beam. the still-trailing salt-tracks along his cheeks is rubbed at with a cookie-crumbled sleeve as he sits up properly for the first time in thirty minutes. ]

Yes. [ kaveh says, breathless, ] I am. This has all been splendid. I haven't seen so many smiles here in such a long time, Altria. I couldnt' be happier that this has made so many people happy.

And they enjoy the shutters as well! We'll adorn every window in the city, oh, I just know it.

[He sits up, and she just flops over from where she'd been crouching, so she can sit cross-legged instead. Is it proper for her to sit cross-legged on the floor in a dress? No, absolutely not. Thankfully it's long enough that it isn't indecent, but still, Altria, please. Manners.

But he's so bright in this moment, even though they're seated on the floor, and she thinks--how wonderful. A world that produces people like Kaveh must be a pretty nice one, even for all of its faults that he's talked about.]

I'm not surprised that it's made so many people happy! I mean, it's so--

[Fun...?

... She trails off as he starts to talk about shutters, blinking.

Shutters? Like the things that go on windows? What do those have to do with anything?]

... Aren't there a lot of windows in the city?

[ kaveh continues to beam. his cheeks hurt, he thinks, from smiling - but isn't that the best sort of thing? ]

Oh, there are. There certainly are. By my last back-of-the-napkin calculation, assuming that the population this city is meant to hold is around 5,000 families based on current square footage, and each family lives in an apartment, we can begin some assumptions. After all, we know that there are two types of apartments - 2-bedroom and 3-bedrooms. In a 2-bedroom, there are three windows, and in a 3-bedroom, there are four windows. On average, we can expect there to be 3.5 windows per family. Since the city was built for a 5,000 family capacity, there follows that there are at least 17,500 residential windows in the city.

[ and then, equally as happily: ] Of course, that doesn't count all the commercial buildings, but those are a second-stage renovation to consider. It's the residential buildings that I'm most concerned about. Ah... that is a lot of shutters. I'll have to work on it for years, hahah.

[... That's, uh. Huh? Her eyes start to glaze over the moment he begins to talk about assumptions about apartment windows, and they remain glazed through all of his calculations.

He seems so happy, but she doesn't really get it, she thinks. But... maybe she doesn't really need to get it for his happiness to be meaningful.]

Years! [Honestly!] Don't you have other projects too?

[Like this gala. Wasn't this already a massive amount of work? She laughs, and just indulges in the beauty of his happiness, his eagerness to work on projects that have meaning to him.]

You're such a hard worker!

[ oh, that's true, kaveh thinks. he has other projects... ghost needs a new table, maybe two. new lights, fixtures... he took issue with the bareness of the wall, so perhaps netzach can paint her something else. something with vision... kaveh's head swims. his hands clutch themselves around the mooring of his golem best friend, and the world comes back to a standstill too. ]

No... not enough. [ kaveh says, suddenly morose again, ] I do have so many other projects... they need time, too. Perhaps someone faster... or better... they'll be able to get it all done... No, I'm hardly a hard worker at all. I hardly work hard! It's all just time. Wouldn't it be nice if I had four or eight hands?

[ kaveh sniffs. ] Altria... Are there any faeries that have eight hands...?

[She laughs again, shaking her head.]

If there are, I've never seen them!

You're being awfully silly, though.

[The golem remains still, letting him cling to it without complaint. Altria reaches out to pat one of Kaveh's hands comfortingly.]

Whether or not it's fast or slow, whether or not there are always other projects to do--none of that changes the fact that you're a hard worker! You should be nicer to yourself.

[ altria pats his hand comfortingly. kaveh smiles through the watery veil of his unshed tears. ]

Altria, you really are too kind. [ kaveh is perking up as he says so, his smile gentling around its edges. ] Far too kind to a person like me. Yes, perhaps I am silly. Quite a bit, actually. But I wasn't alone in making it happen, was I?

You were there too, after all.

["A person like me", he says. It's a phrase Altria has said so many times--a faerie like her, a backwater, country girl who doesn't know anything about the world, who doesn't deserve the kindness given to her.

But he's not the same as her, right? He shouldn't say such things about himself.]

I was! I helped a little bit. [Just a little. Carrying things, barriers, protection spells (a biscuit golem). But even so, she's glad.] And I'm really happy I was a part of it!

You know... I bet a lot of people have never been to a party like this. [Warm, fun, lovely, exciting.] But now they can say that they have. All because you and Ghost made it happen.

Oh, it was all Ghost, really. [ says kaveh, happily, still patting altria's hand. what a warm hand. what a nice hand. a nice hand attached to a nice girl, who ought to be enjoying the party instead of trying to console him!! he has mister golem after all... mister golem will take care of him.

kaveh continues: ] She dreamt it up, this entire thing. Like you, I was just a pair of hands that helped. But even your hands helped more, I think. You made Mister Golem. Oh, he's the bedrock of my existence right now. Everything's spinning but him...

[Mister Golem was a huge mistake, but she has to admit, it's kind of nice to hear that it was useful in some way or another. At least it seems to have acted as a way for Kaveh to remain grounded in the midst of all of this.

It feels nice to create something like that, even if by complete and utter accident.

(Of course he declines his involvement. She's starting to sense a pattern in how this all goes.)]

Then stay here and keep Mister Golem company, okay? It seems pretty happy to stay with you like this.

[It is not sentient. She can make it up, it's fine.]

[ kaveh beams. ]

Ah, is he? I'm happy too, I hope he knows.

[ his hand curls around a single digit of mister golem's biscuit-like hands in something like wonder and reverence. ]

I'll keep him company, Altria. You don't have to worry about us. Neither of us will be lonely.

[Surely, Kaveh has people who will look after him. It would be pretty presumptuous of her to think she's the only one when he's been here so much longer, and when he's such a bright and radiant personality.

Still...

She smiles, nodding.]

Okay! I'll come check back later then, okay? Mister Golem is my responsibility, after all.

[And Kaveh is her friend. She can be presumptuous sometimes for something like that, it's fine.

She pats his hand in hers once more before finally letting so, standing properly. She inspects him quietly for a moment longer, before she just turns on her heel to leave him be. It's okay. Surely, lots of people will check up on him and make sure he's okay.

(And regardless, she'll make sure later too.)]

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[open mingle: the sunlight at midnight gala]

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