HOMECOMING DANCE 2019!!

[peckishmods]

homecoming dance

what's up?

It’s raining tonight, which would make an outdoor dance inconvenient if this weren’t a school for wizards. The Central Green is the site of tonight’s Homecoming Dance, and Student Council and Homecoming Committee made extra sure everything above was watertight. Any loitering students are kicked out of the area by mid-morning today so dance setup can begin. While decorative malfunctions and diva meltdowns from freshmen slightly complicate things, it all comes together in the end and things are ready to go with plenty of time left before the dance is set to start.

Cardboard walls painted with magical sci fi murals ⁠— animated scenes of aliens, robots, giant radioactive ants and other cosmic horrors ⁠— have been stuck up at all park entrances, filtering students in through Central Classrooms. Overhead, rain drops splatter against magic shielding. The cloudy sky is supplemented by black cloth canopies painted with glittering galaxies. CDs and other swag bag goodies float in the air just beneath, made to look like planets and comets against a starry sky. Throughout the Green there are robots and aliens crafted from cardboard and covered in googly eyes. The existing flagstone patios have been expanded with temporary wooden platforms for attendees to dance and mingle without getting their shoes dirty.

visuals!

volunteer slots!

An extremely brave little Muscheron asks Armani for a dance. You'll probably have to hold them in the palm of your hand, Armani.

In honor of the newest interstellar visitor, Mr. Hobgood is dressed as a comet tonight. It's a great look but the tail is quite cumbersome, and [CHARACTER B] trips over it on the dance floor.

Willow Quackenbush discovers the pod people pods are big enough to climb into and crawls inside one intent on spooking any canoodling couples. Their plan goes awry though when they get stuck and need to be rescued by Lionel Lovelace.

how this works!

⬥ The dance starts at 7PM and goes until 10PM.

⬥ There's an RNG game — test your shooting skills and accuracy in a Men in Black style shooting gallery. We will roll up to three times.

⬥ Here is a playlist to dance and get abducted to for your listening pleasure.

locations!

⬦ BEFORE THE DANCE: The Central Green has been blocked off since this morning, and the first attendees aren’t allowed in until 7PM. What did you get up to before the dance? Were you helping to set up or perfecting your costume make up? Student Council and Homecoming Committee members definitely had a bit of a panic this afternoon trying to make sure everything was water tight. This is a great spot for dorm or house/year prep threads. Tell us what you were doing!


⬦ ENTRANCE: CRASHING STARSHIP: With the Central Green blocked off for the dance tonight, the only convenient way to get in is through Central Classrooms. The lobby of Peckenpaugh’s main academic building has been transformed. Students enter into a narrow starship hallway, gunmetal gray and lines with pipes and knobs, blinking buttons and flashing lights. Upon closer inspection, the whole thing is crafted from cardboard, CDs and office supplies painted or charmed to look like spaceship parts. Streams of foggy mist shoot from the pipes intermittently. Periodically, the walls shudder and a series of pre-recorded sound clips play: clanging sounds, explosions, faint screams, animalistic roaring, and every two minutes a freshman voice fills the narrow path to announce: “DECOMPRESSION IMMINENT. PLEASE PROCEED TO EVACUATION PODS.” There are three ways to go: left or right take you to the restrooms, straight leads you out into the Central Green and the dance proper. Right at the sliding door entrance, there are bins of bubble guns that look like ray guns.

⬦ RNG GAME: ALIEN SHOOTING GALLERY: Veer down the left hall once you enter central classrooms and the starship hall will lead you straight to one of the first floor club rooms, which has been made into a dark room shooting gallery made up to look like a harried city street in the midst of an alien invasion. Toy laser guns will track your score as you fight off Alien Overlord Doug Bobson and his minions (and try to avoid hitting civilians!).

⬦ DANCE FLOOR: ABDUCTION CENTRAL: Looking to dance? A large low wooden patio has been set up, painted green with crop circle-like patterns across the width of it. Fog spills out over the floor and an eclectic selection of danceable tunes thrum from all around. The dance floor is bathed in green lights, bordered by street signs warning of UFO ACTIVITY, E.T. CROSSING and ABDUCTION ZONEs. Overhead, little UFOs made from frisbees fly around. Some of them have tiny toy cows made from stress balls floating beneath them as though being abducted. All of them shine beams of light down on dancers.

⬦ SNACK BAR: ALIEN GARDEN: One side of the large flagstone patio near the Central Classrooms entrance has been made up to look like an elaborate alien garden complete with a bubbling stream of green punch that gathers into a basin on the table’s far side. Nab extraterrestrial themed sweets and finger foods from bowls and plates made to look like strange plants, flowers, rocks and hatched alien eggs. Opposite the snack bar there are a few sleek metal tables seating two to four easily.


⬦ THE SURLY STUMP: CLASSIFIED UFO CRASH SITE: The Surly Stump has been given a wide enclosure tonight to protect it from rambunctious teens, the space is made up to look like a cordoned off government investigation site. It gives the Muscheron a bit of a platform to observe the festivities, and they’ve gotten in on it, firing off occasional clouds of colorful pollen and spores. Not far off, most of a large UFO crash landing site has been built from paper mache and repurposed balloon letter frames. It’s great for a photo op, or just fooling around on.

⬦ THE PARK: ALIEN HATCHERY: If you're looking for a secluded spot, a short wander off the path will bring you through dense fog to a clearing filled with rows and rows of lightly glowing alien eggs and the occasional person-sized pod person pod. A few benches dot this eerily beautiful spot. A great place to give your date the creeps.

⬦ END OF THE NIGHT: The dance wraps up around 10PM and students can head back to their dorms for the night. After tear down of the dance, Ms. Gunzenhauser invites any interested Student Council or Homecoming Committee members to get a late night snack at Dez's, her treat.

⬦ OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

Comments

DANCE FLOOR: ABDUCTION CENTRAL

[peckishmods]

Trudy & OPEN

[themurderbird]

It's entirely possible that Trudy already owned a Howie coat completely independent of Halloween, and threw it on as a costume when she had decided to go to the dance after all. Of course, she isn't here to dance — she's here for revenge. It shouldn't be hard to find Tony, considering he's impossibly tall, but it's catching him when he isn't completely surrounded by people that's proving to be the trouble. She wants there to be no witnesses to her mischief. 

Trudy & Tony

[fratsquatch]

Unfortunately for Tony, his Predator mask does absolutely nothing to inspire a killer instinct in him. He's woefully oblivious to Trudy's plans for revenge. In fact, he's completely unaware that Trudy is even remotely annoyed with him. When he spots her out on the dance floor, he has no qualms about approaching her. He shuffles over, approximating something similar to a lindy hop, and puts out his hand. "Woah, I didn't expect to see you here. Dance?"

Trudy & Tony

[themurderbird]

Trudy may be small, but her small stature doesn't limit her capacity for mayhem and rage. Surprisingly, however, despite their difference in stature and the fact that Trudy has been looking for him specifically, Tony does manage to catch Trudy off guard. "Uhh?" is her only answer for a moment before she blurts, "I don't dance."

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & Open++

[teratophilia]

Armani spends some time joyfully dancing and twirling with the little Muscheron held cupped in his hands and is very happy to dance with anyone else who asks!

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & Open++

[quodpotted]

"Armani, you don't gotta dance by yours—" Wyatt stops and tilts his head. "Is that... a Muscheron?"

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & Lil Muscheron & Wyatt

[teratophilia]

Armani turns toward Wyatt, still swaying to the music, and flattens out his palms to better reveal his tiny dance partner. "Wanna dance with us?"

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & his DATE-date

[notpoison]

Laszlo hesitates to interrupt, but eventually he must. He's keenly aware of the eyes that might be (but probably aren't) him, analyzing the veracity of this date with Armani. There's a lull in the music, and Laszlo clears his throat, right behind Armani's shoulder.

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & his DATE-date

[teratophilia]

This time, Armani is just dancing with himself. He glances over his shoulder and then spins around with unnecessary flourish to face Laszlo. "Oh, there you are!" he gushes and then reaches to take both his hands into his own as he continues swaying to the music. (Is anyone watching?? Do they see how desirable they both are??)

"I've been waiting all night to dance with you!"

Jupiter Probably Gets Ejected, but First... (open++)

[gasgiant]

When Jupiter's opening comes finally, she runs for it, leaping up off the dance floor and grabbing one of the cow-toting UFO frisbees. It carries her a frankly impressive distance before she and her ride crash into a pile at another dancer's feet.

She pulls her face out of her knee and grins up, looking like that had been intentional. "Sup?"

Jupiter Probably Gets Ejected, but First an Audrey

[andpoke]

Oh. That's an Entrance with one appropriate response. And one only. Audrey gasps lightly at the pile of Jup she has somehow acquired, and drops the plastic dino she's been toting around in favor of golf clapping into her friend's face. It's only after several seconds of this that she stops to extend a hand down, to help her up.

"9.96 out of ten. Excellent execution. Moves the Games hasn't seen in decades." She decides.

Jupiter Probably Gets Ejected, but First an Audrey

[gasgiant]

Jupiter takes the offered assistance with a wide and wolfish grin, rising to her feet and then clapping her hands against her white Team Rocket trousers as though they're dirty. "Shoulda got a perfect score. Judges just not ready for groundbreaking new techniques." The grin tips back up toward Audrey, and this time it's Jupiter who offers her hand. "While I'm here, Pokeydoke, wanna dance?"

DANCE FLOOR: Pax & Lydia

[wildchild]

Pax likes to watch things and people, and what better place to watch things and people than by the dance floor? Especially since the dance floor at the first dance of the year is likely to be filled with lots of awkward and/or heartwarming displays of affection. Mostly awkward. It's more fun than it should be.

What makes it even more fun, now that she's lost Felicity somewhere, is spotting Lydia. She excitedly waves her over, the bucket on her head that's meant to be a tardigrade mouth and the extra soft arms sewn onto her sweatshirt all bobbing in some strange dance as she does so.

"Come watch all the potential train wrecks!"

DANCE FLOOR: Pax & Lydia

[filigreed]

There's very little about the current social temperature that's heartwarming. It's maybe warm in the sense that there are several people grouped together in a semi-confined space, but no one's heart is getting warmed just yet. The year's too fresh. Everyone's still circling around each other like sharks that aren't exactly hungry enough at this point to take an actual bite, but are definitely hungry enough to be scoping out the proverbial buffet.

But there's definitely entertainment in that. So Lydia takes a moment to blink at Pax's accessories - tilts her head in clear assessment before her lips twitch themselves upward - before slotting her finger's into the bend of the other girl's elbow.

"Seems mean," she replies. It doesn't sound judgemental. At all.

DANCE FLOOR: Pax & Lydia

[wildchild]

"I don't want it to be a train wreck, but like, it might be. I'm cheering them on. Is that nice enough?" Where Lydia doesn't sound judgmental, Pax doesn't sound defensive, just amused. She leans into her friend, probably poking her with her extra arms, as she gazes out onto the dance floor again.

"People take high school so seriously."

Holland & Val

[sugarnspite]

A hand darts out for Holland's elbow, and soon she's pulled right up close to Val's face. Their perfumes intermingle, and Val beams as brightly as the scent of flowers surrounding them.

"Elijah?" she needles, excited but tense. Val's grip is tight and insistent. Elijah is Holland's ideal date, and somehow, it happened for her. There's some jealousy, sure, but it's hard to parse out, and even harder justify. Val's not unhappy with her date, after all. She just thinks she ought to be. Elijah taking Holland is like if Harrison had taken Val: perfect but so, so unlikely.

Holland & Val

[gold_digger]

Holland is startled by the hand on her elbow, but that surprise mostly manifests as a flush and slightly wider eyes, luckily. She's beaming as soon as she realizes it's Val, and settles in close to the other girl naturally.

"Yes, I don't know how? I mean, I think I know how. I think Imogen asked him to. But still, can you believe it?" She definitely sounds disbelieving herself. This is exactly what she'd been wanting, but that's what had made it seem even less obtainable. It's left her feeling a little dizzy since they'd arrived.

"How are things with Lionel? I hope you're having fun with him."

Holland & Val

[sugarnspite]

"He's super cute," Val offers the second Holland is done speaking. If there's anything else hidden behind her smile, it's unclear. "You're behind that, I bet."

She spins Holland onto the dance floor. It's a good excuse to talk, and no one's able to pay much attention when they have their own dates to fawn over. "You must be having such a romantic evening. Think you'll get a goodnight kiss?"

Dance-Off: Felicity and Open++

[bratsquatch]

Felicity circles up her classmates and then moves into the middle, head bobbing to the music. Feeling it. Letting the music possess her. Her whole body pulses once to the beat. Twice. Three times. Then on the fourth beat, she rolls a wave of electricity from the tip of one hand, up her arm, through one shoulder then over the other, down her other arm, and out her finger tips. She masterfully moonwalks three steps, spins, and thrusts her crotch at the unlucky person across from her.

Your move, biatch.

Dance-Off: Felicity and Kermie (and MORE??)

[maledictorian]

Kermit tips his head at Felicity, a certain stiffness in his movements. Kind of like a robot. Or the second-most sensual android after Commander Data. He lifts his right elbow, letting his forearm dangle loosely for a moment. Kermit really takes a second to make sure everyone knows we're about to do some robo-boogying before he unleashes thirty seconds of popping, locking, and then drops down to do the worm.

Kermit lives in 2002, and he's happy there.

Dance-Off: Felicity and Kermie (and MORE??)

[bratsquatch]

Felicity fucking loves it. "Go Kermie! Go Kermie! Go Kermie!"

Once he starts doing the worm, Felicity decides she has to do an animal dance of her own. Even if it's entirely made up. The Bull. She gives herself a set of horns with her index fingers and rhythmically pulls one foot back behind her, then the other. Over and over again. She sways side to side as he does, slowly gearing up to charge. When the beat finally drops, Felicity launches herself up in the air, lands, and begins to mosh.

And that's how you Bull.

Dance-Off: Felicity and Zadie

[zadielovelace]

Zadie knew that venturing onto the dance floor was a bad idea. She has no idea what's happening and when Felicity thrusts in her direction, her eyes go comically large as she points to herself. She glances back and forth quickly, then completely interrupts the flow of whatever this is by stammering, "You want me to...? Do you want to dance with me?"

Dear, good friend Felicity, please save her from this hell you've created.

Dance-Off: Felicity and Zadie

[bratsquatch]

"If you wanna leave the circle," Felicity gyrates, "then you gotta dance your way out of the circle."

Sorry, Zadie. Those are the rules. (The rules she's making up as she goes.)

Dance-Off: Felicity and Adrian (before he was technically alive)

[numerologest]

That pelvis packs a punch if Adrian's reaction is any indication. He leaps backward, arms thrown up in the air like he's caught in the shockwave of an explosion, then buckles, one knee bent, dipping hard to the floor. That is quite a fall there—but he's back on his feet pretty quick, and after a bit of gyrating, thrusts right back.

Is that an invitation?

Dance-Off: Felicity and Adrian (before he was technically alive)

[bratsquatch]

Something short circuits in Felicity when Adrian dead drops onto the floor and her dance moves reflect it. Watery awe and delight have been poured directly onto her motherboard and she's a malfunctioning mess.

"FUCK YEAH, ADRIAN!" she yells -- finally coming to -- and seamlessly punctuates her twitching by hitting the woah.