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

"Yeah!" Wyatt says. Then, worried she'll ask him detailed questions about the ?participation? (is it... punching?), he adds, "Well, in theory. There's not a whole lot to participate in, in Cracker Barrel, Alabama."

For a moment, it looks like Wyatt's been found out. Winter tilts her chin up, looking down her nose at him. "Huh. Yeah, I could see it hard finding productions in a place like that." She itches her wig, and then fusses with trying to right it again after knocking it askew. "Um, th—I've never seen it live. They only do one production in Huntington, on H-Halloween night. And it's e-e-eighteen-and-over."

Winter squints. Talking about herself is too hard. "Do they have a Cracker Barrel in Cracker Barrel?"

"Yeah, I guess it would be," Wyatt says, nodding knowingly. So people definitely punch each other at this event, and that's why minors can't go. "Could get a fake ID, though? My ma would never let me drive to a bigger city for something like that. She'd be sure I was gonna die. 'Course, she always is." He grabs the front of her wig and gives it a little yank to even it out. "Only the frame of it. Never finished it."

"Fake ID, huh? You should—" Winter pauses, blinking as Wyatt helps her with her wig. It takes a moment to get her going again once she's started, words sort of caught in her mouth and not wanting to leave. Or maybe wanting to leave all at once. "Thank you. Should sneak out and see it sometime, anyway. How else are you gonna get a chance to throw toilet paper in a th-theater?" She shrugs, still undecided on whether or not Wyatt has actually seen Rocky Horror.

Put that pot on the backburner for now, because a weirder topic of conversation has appeared. Winter leans against a cardboard tube painted to look like a steel pillar, arms crossed. "Like, just a Cracker Barrel skeleton? How come? Is it haunted or something?"

"I mean, technically, you could throw toilet paper in a theater any time? But you'd probly get kicked out, so I see your meaning," he replies. Okay, this Experience also involves throwing toilet paper? Somehow. He really wants to ask clarifying questions, but he's in too deep now to turn back.

"Well, that's what the muggles think. They blame it on the ghost of James Jesse — not to be confused with Jesse James, that's a different outlaw — but really, ol' double J was just as disappointed the store didn't open up. It really vibes with his whole aesthetic. It was just regular old bad luck, honestly. Tornado, sink hole, trying to build on a wetland, stuff like that."

Her face scrunches up, though whether in suspicion or amusement is hard to say. Perhaps both. "You should take a roll with you the next time you go to the movies," she suggests brightly, then nods along with his explanation. James Jesse, what an unfortunate name if you're trying to establish yourself as a criminal. She squints, thinking, and then decides, "Wyatt, that sounds like a real cursed place."

"If you're alone, you're only gonna get one good toss out of it. You need a partner in crime to toss it back and forth with, like a quod." Crime loves company.

He busts out laughing. "Like, the almost Cracker Barrel, or the whole town? Cause either way, maybe."

"That should be your gauge for who you take to the movies." She pokes a finger forward, an ah-hah moment, then turns her hand and ticks off her points on a second finger. "'Will they sneak in toilet paper with me? Will they sit on opposite ends of the theater? Are they gonna demand the back and make me sit in the front?'" Winter shuts her eyes, nodding sagely and not at all grinning at how funny she thinks she is. "These are r-real important questions, Wy."

Getting a laugh makes her eyes widen—startled, maybe? But pleased. "The whole damn t-town, I think. And Cracker Barrel's Cracker Barrel sounds kinda like where they put the hell portal."

Wyatt ticks off these criteria on his fingers as she lists them. "Real important. Gonna need to make a check list for a getting-kicked-out-the-theater buddy."

That declaration makes him snort. "You know? I think my mama'd agree with you." Of course, his mama sees curses and grims behind every corner. She's always willing to back anyone up on any negative assumption or prediction. "The hell portal," he echoes with a lopsided little grin. "Who knew I'd done so much partying at a hell portal?"

"You set your sights high and don't lower your standards now," Winter tells him with a bent grin, like some sage adviser sending an apprentice on an important quest. "Only the best getting-kicked-out-the-theater buddy for Rocky."

Winter narrows her eyes at Wyatt, amused, and a little like she's sizing him up. Making a judgment call or something. "You seem like the type who might party at a hell portal, either for fun..." Her own grin spreads wide, bright and teasing, "Or 'cuz you don't even know it."

"Oh definitely. I deserve it," he agrees, nodding. "Wonder if I could get Eddy to do it with me."

Wyatt barks out a laugh and he shrugs. He's not sure if she has him figured out or not, but he's not giving it away without a direct accusation. "Yeah, that sounds like me."

"You'd know best, but he seems like the kinda guy who'd revel in getting booted out of a theater," she says, Wyatt's laugh putting a startled smile on her face and jittering over her until she crosses her arms to still herself. A little like an overcautious and easily startled cat, she is.

She wets her lips and presses down on her smile, suspicions raised once again. "I wonder which it is..."

HOMECOMING DANCE 2019!!

Wyatt & Winter

Wyatt & Winter

Re: Wyatt & Winter

Wyatt & Winter

Wyatt & Winter

Wyatt & Winter

Wyatt & Winter

Wyatt & Winter

Re: Wyatt & Winter

Wyatt & Winter

Wyatt & Winter

Wyatt & Winter