the "p" doesn't stand for pretentious, FYI. [art gallery, may 6th—??? ]

[theearth]

[ Welcome to Locke's very own Taste de Louvre, everyone! Predictably, the unveiling of the new set of statues at the magnificent Hugh P. Thadson Gallery of Fine Art has turned out to be a rather fanciful affair. The upper echelon of snobby society, in their snobby society attire, has come to mingle amongst one another—and is endeavoring to ignore you, fair citizen, as much as possible—and discuss this fantastic addition to our city's fair culture.

The first statue is a touchingly metaphorical piece, the prominent carving of a snake coiled around a human heart that looks so real you can almost hear it beating within your ears. This statue appears to be the most popular; the crowds drawn around its base simply can't stop going on and on and on about how wondrous it is, along with the rest of the works on display tonight.

The second statue also depicts a snake, but has its blush-brushed scales cut dramatically open to display its own wicked black heart. The Thunder Corporation and its latest line of tacky memorabilia is the primary subject of discourse here.

The last statue is strikingly different from the other two, and features a wolf howling at the open sky,* dying in apparent agony with a sword driven through its chest. You get a distinctly unsettling impression from it that the other, ordinary folk don't seem to notice—that perhaps your adventure to meddle in recent affairs is ill-advised. Inscribed below the pained wolf's paw is a link of sorts to a peculiar forum that, when accessed, bears only the topic "Let's Negotiate" with the same message enclosed within. Strange, but since no one else is talking about it, you wonder if you can't have just imagined the whole ordeal... and yet stranger things have happened, right? Perhaps it's worth looking into, in any event.

There's plenty to do with the statues about and the gift shop buzzing, with lots of familiar faces to run into. So what's your agenda for the evening? ]

(( General mingling post for the plot as related to art gallery affairs! There will be base threads for OPEN INTERACTIONS, open to all as implied, CLOSED INTERACTIONS, for planned out one-on-one interactions between player characters, and a general purpose EVERYTHING ELSE, for characters who wish to explore the gift shop, just mull about. Just as a general reminder:

1) Touching one of the snake statues will grant you one (1) Echo, for two (2) Echoes max. However, touching a second statue will definitely arouse suspicion, so be prepared for that. One safe Echo, two potentially risky ones up for grabs here! No Echoes from touching the wolf statue, though, so slither your way towards the snakey-snakeys for those.

2) If you'd rather not touch the statues themselves, hanging around them for awhile -- about an hour or so -- will grant one (1) Echo.

3) Accessing the webforum will not grant an Echo, but posting a reply to it will. It will be possible to get a second during conversation, but as for how it happens... it's a secret to everybody!

4) Little statuettes are available for purchase in the gift shop, but do not grant an Echo themselves in any way.

You may also handwave the mingling NPCs being snobby snobs at you, just for fun. Because why not.

As before, please wait for all base threads to go up before posting. OPEN FOR BUSINESS! In your character's subthreads, please put your character's name, the day, and optionally the time you are visiting in the title so things remain nice and neat. Remember, open to all interactions in the open section and one-on-one time in the closed section. Everything else goes in Everything Else. This post will remain stickied throughout the entirety of the plot duration, for easy finding.

The plot post for this week, detailing about the art gallery and more, can be found here.

*This awesome picture drawn by our very lovely Lucas-mun! Thanks, MC! ]

Comments

The 7th

[professorwolf]

The wolf is the one that keeps Lyall's attention the most. He can't help it: given the memory of being one, and the pain in its expression, it keeps drawing him back. He's actually watching it, half-expecting it to move, when Rei does her bumping into people thing with him. Considering it wipes the unhappy expression off his face, it's probably a good thing.

"Oh, I'm sorry...."

[cursemarked]

She fumbles a moment with her sketch book, her face turning red as she catches it. There'd been a particularly pretty Degas painting across the way; she'd been focusing on that she hadn't thought to look where she was going, and she steps back with an embarrassed look.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention, I don't know what's wrong with me..." She trails off and straightens, expression going from embarrassment to recognition. "Oh, don't I know you? You work at the high school, right?" She helped out there often enough to have an idea of who the teachers were, even if her work was fundamentally with the art teachers.

[professorwolf]

"Oh, yes, I do...." She looks vaguely familiar, but he can't recall off the top of his head just who she is, as art isn't really his subject at all and he hasn't talked with her recently. It'll come to him, though. "Biology and health. Mr. Randall Lyall."

He even tips his hat to her, since he never did take it off.

[cursemarked]

"Rei Kurosawa. I help with the after-school art programs, so I've seen you around, but I don't think we've formally met before." She dips her head lightly in greeting, smiling pleasantly as she adjusts her grip on her book.

"I didn't know you were a man of the arts. I would've tried to drag you into the program more." Her tone is teasing however and she chuckles lightly.

[professorwolf]

"Oh, I'm not, I assure you," Lyall said with a little, slightly awkward smile. "I can pull off a stick figure, but that's really the extent of my drawing ability...."

Okay, enough of that. He pulls himself together the rest f the way to offer a slightly better smile. "Miss Kurosawa, I do think I remember seeing you about, at least. I can certainly guess why you're here."