peckenpaugh | HOMECOMING DANCE 2019!!

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"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."

Lydia's smile widens and she lets her free hand wobble in the air in front of them, fingers all done up in light-catching flippery as if to better highlight their precarious moral high ground.

"They're gonna need all the god damn support you got to offer." There could be a kinder assessment, sure. But, well - it isn't coming from this direction. Though she knocks her shoulder sideways and softens the blow with a empathetic: "Guess it's the only part we're up to. Glass ceiling on our seriousness."

Pax laughs, potentially a little too loudly, at Lydia's initial observation.

"God, I know, poor kiddos. It's a hard knock life out there with all the dating stuff, especially when you're so desperate for it. Who knows though, maybe some twu wuv'll come out of it."

She reaches out to take the other girl's free hand so she can examine her jewelry as they continue to talk.

"I kind of want to take bets, but I know better." She doesn't sound like she actually knows that much better.

"Alien abduction's a good way to spice up a first date." Lydia snorts and the smile on her face widens, going crooked and amused. "Nothing brings people together like probing."

Her fingers still obediently, though her head swivels back to glance out onto the dance floor in open consideration.

"You betting on date success or relationship longevity?"

Hypothetically, of course.

"Totes, shared trauma equals a solid foundation of trust?" Pax ponders out loud as she continues to look at and play with Lydia's jewelry. In real life, logically, she knows it can totally fuck up a relationship, but who cares about that right now?

"Oh, oh, I was going to say the latter, but the former is a good one too. Just easier, probably. Anyone making any goo-goo eyes is going to win. And I bet Uriah kisses at least one person, which is technically a date success the way I'm counting."

Logic has no place in a relationship built upon alien abduction and potential medical experimentation. "Who else is gonna believe you?" Lydia muses, plucking off three of her own rings to re-stack them up Pax's index finger. "You've got to get married now."

Then she lets out a very thoughtful noise, narrowing her eyes and making a show of sweeping over the assembled student body all over again. "If making out's our success criteria, this year's been way more successful than original estimates."

Pax nods sagely as she receives Lydia's rings and her thoughts, after a moment pulling off one of her additional arms and looping it under the other girl's dress strap for a trade. It seems fair. "For sure, it's like, mandated almost. All other relationships are doomed because they think you're bananas."

Her attention finally drifts back to the dance floor. "It's really Smooch Central High here, isn't it? But, ok, before wagers, firm criteria is definitely in order. Are we going to say a kiss is success?"

The additional appendage is accepted with little to no puzzlement. She shifts to better expedite the proceedings and nods at the extra arm with something that isn't exactly thanks, but isn't any level of upset either. It's an arm. These things happen.

"It's Round One." Lydia shrugs, letting out a huff of air as her new arm swings slightly with the motion. "Kiss seems acceptable. You'd just have to up the stakes in the next bout."

Once Lydia is situated with her new adornment, Pax is spinning the rings she'd just received. She grins.

"Agreed. Kiss start. Uhmmm, but now, to pick our horses. Merls and Imogen came together, Eddy and Chanel, Armani and Laszlo... uh. Other people?" She apparently doesn't pay much attention to people who aren't immediately in her orbit.

HOMECOMING DANCE 2019!!

DANCE FLOOR: Pax & Lydia

DANCE FLOOR: Pax & Lydia

DANCE FLOOR: Pax & Lydia

DANCE FLOOR: Pax & Lydia

DANCE FLOOR: Pax & Lydia

DANCE FLOOR: Pax & Lydia

DANCE FLOOR: Pax & Lydia

DANCE FLOOR: Pax & Lydia

DANCE FLOOR: Pax & Lydia