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

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."

"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?"

"He's very darling," Holland says by way of agreement, though she waves off the later comment with a smile that gives away her involvement. "Oh, maybe, maybe not." She'll take more concrete credit if it really does go well.

Just as she fell in close to Val easily, Holland falls in easy to dancing, only laughing a little at the spin as she lets the other girl take the lead. It gives her time to collect her thoughts. Honestly, she wouldn't call her evening so far romantic - she's still trying to figure it out, really - but it sounds disappointing to say that.

"Oh, it's been perfect so far. And... I don't know. Maybe? Hopefully. I don't want to expect anything, you know? Are you interested in getting a kiss?"

Val bursts into laughter. It's not mean laughter, or embarrassed laughter. It's just there to diffuse the situation and smother any chances of a serious conversation. "Do you think he's going to be that brave?" she asks, eyes twinkling.

Though startled by the laughter, Holland quickly recovers into a little giggle and a smile of her own. If Val thinks something is funny then sure, it's funny! She can go along with that.

"Poor sweet Lionel? Probably not. Though honestly, probably not Elijah either," she murmurs with a sigh. "Not that that's such a bad thing. It's sweet."

"Shy boys are cute," Val insists, although now that she thinks about it, neither Lionel nor Elijah are shy. Lionel's nervous, and Elijah is oblivious, but that's not the reason they aren't throwing themselves at a couple of pretty girls for a kiss. "I'm just getting to know Lionel anyway."

"Oh, very cute," Holland agrees, even though she doesn't really agree. She wants the boy to do the work, so shyness gets in the way of that. Still, she's smiling, and leans her head gently on Val's shoulder for a moment, lightly enough that she doesn't mess up her hair. "Good. That makes me really happy! Obviously you have to go through all the first steps before any of the more intense stuff. Or you should, anyway."

Val sways them with the music, and catches a whiff of Holland's perfume or shampoo. For the moment, she's distracted from all the boy talk. "Your hair smells so good," she whispers delightedly. "And it's so shiny, but like, I can tell that from a distance."

"Ohhh, you're too sweet. I do spend a lot of time on it but it's nothing, really," Holland chirps, excited to receive a compliment but knowing she should be at least a little humble. Indeed, boy talk is momentarily forgotten.

"I wish I was blonde like you, though."

Val runs a hand through a bit of Holland's hair, then affectionately tucks it behind her ear. Holland really is cute. "Why? Your hair's gorgeous! Classic chestnut brown is so dreamy," she sighs wistfully. "And blondes don't actually have more fun, you know."

Holland sighs, her lower lip jutting out the tiniest bit in a pout. This is a genuine concern of hers, so it's not just fishing for compliments and hair pets, though both are nice.

"I don't know, you seem to have a lot of fun," she jokes, before adding, "It's just no exciting at all. It doesn't stand out."

Val huffs, as though she, too, is offended. She tucks her head into Holland's hair, like a good, normal friend. "I could spot you across any room. Don't even try to tell me you don't stand out."

The brunette makes a soft sound that's hard to read, lost in her head for a moment. But, Holland quickly reminds herself that this is an unacceptable way to be - she shouldn't be wallowing, especially when she has a friend to attend to. It's just sad. She straightens up a bit, slowly so as not to knock Val, and shakes her head.

"You're too sweet to me. But, this isn't anything fun to talk about. How was Lionel when he asked you? Nervous?"

"Super nervous," Val confirms with a smug little smile, then stops and looks thoughtful. "But I think that was actually because Willow was there for the whole thing. You know how scared he is of the little ducklings."

"Cuuuute," Holland coos, though there's no missing the slight strain in her expression at the mention of Willow. She has some similar aversions as Lionel, but hides it better (she hopes, at least).

"Oh, well, it is hard to ask in front of someone if you're like Lionel, I'm sure."

HOMECOMING DANCE 2019!!

Holland & Val

Holland & Val

Holland & Val

Holland & Val

Holland & Val

Holland & Val

Holland & Val

Holland & Val

Holland & Val

Holland & Val

Holland & Val

Holland & Val

Holland & Val

Holland & Val

Holland & Val