New Orleans Mardi Gras party post!

[mogget_cat]

The bar room of Milliways is always full of sound - the clatter of dishes and clink of glasses, chairs being scooted back or further in, footsteps upon the floor, rats squeaking, the background murmur of conversations overlapping one another.

But tonight the main door to the bar opens to the mouth of a teeming city street, to a cacophony of noise and music, full of seething crowds and colorful parade floats, jazz music from every direction, the myriad smells of food and sweat and smoke and beer and those colorful fruity drinks sold in yard-long plastic glasses with umbrellas in them. Mardi Gras is in full swing and New Orleans has outdone itself this time.

Yrael enters, trailing laughter from a section of the crowd on the other side. He has a sparkly black top-hat perched on his white hair, a plume of green and gold feathers sprouting from the hat-band. Dark face paint sculpts a stark skull from his pale skin, making his bright green eyes seem even brighter and his white teeth even whiter from the contrast. Or perhaps that's just his fiercely joyous mood showing through. Over his white shirt this evening he wears a waistcoat of purple, gold, green, and black sequins, sparkling in the light where not hidden by the prestigious amount of Mardi Gras beads looped loosely around his neck.

"Fat Tuesday is upon us again, Milliways!" he calls, grinning toothily from the open doorway. "Welcome to Mardi Gras! Come, dance, explore! Laissez les bons temps rouler!"

Yrael will make sure the door stays open for any party-goer who would like to partake in the joie de vivre of New Orleans, and the Bar can certainly provide a fitting change of costume...



(Content Warning for references to sexual harassment in the Hannibal-Sinric thread.)

Comments

At the door

[mogget_cat]

Yrael is at the door, grinning a very toothy grin and welcoming all who pass through to the massive, many-day party that is Mardi Gras. If there is any 'mundane' city in the world which could accept without question the wide variety of clientele Milliways caters to, it would be New Orleans.

Re: At the door

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric has finally recovered from the flu hangover but still feels... off. He needs something. Something to make him feel more like himself.

When he sees the door open, he dashes down and kisses Yrael on the cheek. "Thank you! This is perfect."

He runs back up and grabs his costume from last year, dressing in a hurry and coming back, grinning brightly.

Re: At the door

[mogget_cat]

Yrael returns the peck to Sinric's cheek, grinning. "Nothing like a good time to make everyone feel like themselves again. Enjoy."

Re: At the door

[visible_sariel]

"Yrael!" That's almost a squeak, but not quite, from the woman in the thoroughly sparkly skirt and blouse in shades of leaf green, bright canary yellow, and lavender. The voice should be familiar if the mask isn't; that's all feathers, painted rather than real and just as shimmery as the rest, matching the overall costume's color scheme except for the sudden, surprisingly not jarring switch to a pattern of black-white-blue-yellow feathering around the eyes. Blame Bar, or perhaps the fact that you can take a Castries city girl away from her home island's festivities, but...

"{I didn't even realize it was carnival in here, let alone your world!}"

Re: At the door

[mogget_cat]

Yrael beams at the brightly-costumed Sariel, holding out a pale hand in welcome. "New Orleans has been celebrating for weeks now, nearly non-stop. But today is Mardi Gras, the last day, the last night, and the celebratory fervor is all the stronger for the knowledge that it must eventually end."

Parades

[mogget_cat]

Down the middle of the main street through the French Quarter, now lined with crowds shouting and waving, come the parades. The towering floats of the Mardi Gras celebration are huge works of color and creativity, fantastical faces and leering, phantasmagorical creatures. People in outlandish costumes perched upon them throw beads and candy into the waiting crowds. The candy can be caught freely, of course, but the beads might come at a price...

Re: Parades

[childofrebellion]

Cassian's wary of new cities where he doesn't know but he's curious. Bar lets him keep his black jacket but changes his shirt to a black silk one with a pattern on it. At least its not too loud and he stays in the shadows to watch the parade and look for faces that he might know.

Re: Parades

[visible_sariel]

Whoops! The woman in the crowd in the sparkly bird-themed costume doesn't quite fumble the catch when the piece of--hmm, some kind of toffee? not bad. candy comes flying her way. The second odd, brightly-wrapped sweet nearly lands in her hair, and it's making sure the candy stays out of her curls that causes her to miss a third attempt. Oh well, someone much smaller and younger snags it a half-second after it hits the ground, wrapper first.

As for those beads... Yeah right to the usual method of earning strings, but maybe someone will feel like flinging some her way anyway?

If not, there's still quite the parade to enjoy.

Music and Dancing

[mogget_cat]

Even in its quietest seasons, the French Quarter is full of music. Mardi Gras is bursting at the seams with jazz and live performances to suit any taste. Don't like the music? Wait a few minutes and something else will be along shortly. And if dancing in the street with the common crowd is not your style, the veritable surplus of night clubs in the area will be absolutely happy to accommodate.

Re: Music and Dancing

[alec_swamp]

Alec stands listening to one of the street performers, looking to all the world like someone with an incredibly elaborate costume. He always liked Mardi Gras, even before it provided him with a place to hide in plain sight for a few days every year. The music takes him back to when he came with Linda shortly after they met. And to the one time he managed to bring Abby in between darker moments of their complicated and tragic lives. The melody is bittersweet but he's fine with that.

Re: Music and Dancing

[cook_the_rude]

Dr. Hannibal Lecter, wearing 18th century clothes, is drifting through the streets and stopping here and there, for the music and something to drink.

Re: Music and Dancing

[mogget_cat]

Among the dancing crowds is a figure with a face painted like a stark skull, a black top-hat perched upon their white hair, with long, green and gold feathers arching from its band. He is laughing at something someone has said to him, teeth flashing white from the painted black mouth.

New Orleans has been alive with celebrations and parades for weeks now, each growing more frenetic in anticipation; but tonight is Mardi Gras, the last and greatest shout against civilized conformity before the carnival season ends. Like Life itself, blossoming in a riot of color and vitality in spite of the surety of death, the fiercest and most vehement joy is brought forth by the reminder that all celebrations end.

The skull-painted Yrael eventually makes his way through the seethe of the crowd, and ends up near Dr. Lecter's side, grinning. "Welcome, my friend! Enjoying yourself, I hope."

Food and Drink

[mogget_cat]

New Orleans is known for its music, its parties, and most certainly its food and drink. Superlative selections of local and regional beers, tall unlikely-looking fruity concoctions with skewers loaded with fresh fruit and maybe even tiny umbrellas in them, classier cocktails, coffee, king cake, beignets, pastries, jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice, and - oddly enough - pancakes, can be found at any number of food trucks and street vendors found in the midst of the crowds, while the numerous restaurants in the area are seeking to outdo each other in providing the best of Creole and Cajun cuisine to one and all.

And if one is looking for more exotic and possibly illegal things to purchase, one is sure intrepid visitors could find the right seller if they look in the right places. This is New Orleans, after all.

Re: Food and Drink

[quick_clean_pure]

Graverobber is still feeling kind of -- off, he guesses. Not hungover, just kind of weird. His headache's subsided, at least, but he's still left with sort of dazed from, you know, spending several days convinced that he was the king of hell and insulting most of the people he interacted with.

So he loads up on food but doesn't take as much alcohol as he would have normally, walking around with a stacked plate but only half-sipping a beer.

Re: Food and Drink

[mogget_cat]

A figure emerges from the seething crowd as though appearing from thin air, moving as though one with the crowd, like an unconscious dance.

"If you've never had beignets before, you're in for a treat," offers the grinning skull-faced young man who had been at the doorway from Milliways, giving a nod towards one of the many things upon the Graverobber's plate. "You'll not find better."

Exploring the French Quarter

[mogget_cat]

Even apart from the main party there is much to see and do and explore in the maze that is New Orleans' French Quarter. Would you dare to enter the shadowy little voodoo shop tucked in between the touristy, brightly lit souvenir stores? Perhaps you would prefer wandering through the airy art gallery on the corner, or be lost of the many rooms of curios and artifacts of questionable provenance offered by one of the city's antiques and collectibles shops? One might sit and rest in the warm sea-scented air at Cafe du Monde and enjoy the sweet beignets and deliciously strong coffee. Perhaps you prefer to stick to the main streets? Or perhaps you would dare to explore the many alleyways. New Orleans is an old city, for the New World, and it has many secrets to uncover if you dare. You never know what you might find, or what might find you.

Re: Exploring the French Quarter

[exiled_heir_of_the_eighth]

Sahaal isn't a party person, and someone of his size, complexion and attire tends to attract attention he doesn't really want. But, on the other hand, he does like seeing new places.

So, he pushes through the crowds, gets out of the way of the main event, and heads down one of the side streets. He doesn't know what he's going to find, but he's sure it'll be interesting.

Re: Exploring the French Quarter

[mogget_cat]

There are many possibilities. Away from the main thoroughfares, the shops become smaller and darker, their signs unlit and made of rougher stuff, the shops' particular purposes not so clear to the casual glance of tourists looking for easy fun in the Big Easy. The less-crowded restaurants are dives or holes in the wall, with miss-matched chairs and plastic-lined table-cloths, if they even have table-cloths. What customers there are, locals, look up as Sahaal passes. Some dismiss him out-of-hand as a reveler with odd tastes in costumes, others make clear signs of distaste to align with their assumptions, but none rise to impede him.

The alleyways verge upon labyrinthine, narrow roofless corridors of forgotten grime once one is past the lights and revelry of the broader streets. Unlabeled dark doors sometime show along their walls.

Re: Exploring the French Quarter

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric comes tottering out of an alleyway, giggling. His make-up is smudged and his costume ruffled. He waves over his shoulder and heads toward a cafe in search of coffee.

Re: Exploring the French Quarter

[cook_the_rude]

In the café, Hannibal Lecter is sitting in 18th century clothes and sipping an Irish coffee.

Re: Exploring the French Quarter

[soldier_blade]

Since the reports of flu going around, Sonya had been avoiding the bar like the proverbial plague going around. She couldn't afford to get sick no matter what the timeline rules in this place were.

On the other hand, a day in New Orleans couldn't be passed up. She only stayed long enough to change from her military gear into some civies before rushing through the door. The cafe before her seemed like a siren song, promising real coffee that didn't taste stale or a day old and food that was certainly not nutritionally sound. She made her way over, taking a detour to get herself some beads to blend in, before selecting a table.

Even in costume, it would've been difficult not to notice Sinric. Sonya felt herself smile and waved him over.

Re: Exploring the French Quarter

[i_am_your_host]

After dancing with several bands as they made their way in the parade, after indulging in sweets and fruity (and very rummy) drinks in the streets, after making out with every man, woman, in-between, and neither who sought a kiss from him and paid him in beaded necklaces, Emcee takes a slight detour from the festivities. As he idly hums the tune of "Mack the Knife," he finds himself at the mouth of an alley, leaning against the wall and watching the crowds go by.

His lips are as red as his suit jacket, his bare chest starkly pale against the crimson. His trousers are tight black leather, his platform boots a glittery silver.

Lighting a fragrant little cigarette in the shadows, he exhales smoke on a half-sigh, half-chuckle.

Re: Exploring the French Quarter

[mogget_cat]

Cats walking like they own the place do so with indifference. Like the place is beneath them. Likewise anyone else who might be sharing the place with them at the moment.

But in that respect, Yrael is thoroughly uncatlike.

Oh, he moves through the seething crowds like he owns the place, yes, but in a way that shows how much of himself he has invested in it, its people and its welfare. He dances with the people in the street, shimmying with one, twirling another, a grinning skull-faced figure moving gracefully against the general flow of the crowd. He gets catcalled from above and calls back to the figures up on the balconies, laughing, and gets a stand of mask-shaped beads chucked at him for his troubles, which he cheerfully adds to the ever-changing collection of beads jangling about his neck. Someone comes to him seeking beads, he gladly bestows them.

New Orleans is a ever-moving cacophony of noise and smells and colors. So full of life.

But Mardi Gras' fervor, like life's, is borne from the knowledge that the party eventually ends. Amid the sparkling sequins of green and gold and purple, there is the reminder of the end.

At some point the skull-faced figure steps free of the revelling crowds. Upon seeing Emcee at the entrance to a nearby alley, Yrael give him a grin and elaborate bow, flourishing his top hat with its green and gold feathers.

Re: Exploring the French Quarter

[thewidewideworld]

A flapper in a pretty blue and green dress comes giggling out of the alleyway. "Hello you." He bounces over to steal Emcee's cigarette, taking a puff.

Re: Exploring the French Quarter

[visible_sariel]

Sariel, still in full costume and still with a slight dusting of powdered sugar on her fingers - chocolate beignets are delightful - does eventually drift toward one of the smaller curio shops. She... well, this isn't Gene's Louisiana, but it is *a* Louisiana, and she... She doesn't owe it to him to look around someone else's world, but ask her, if you know her, and she might just tell you that it wouldn't feel right *not* to explore, a little. Even if it *is* Yrael's world rather than Roe's. Or, to be fair, her own.

Does the shop door have an attached bell, one wonders? And does the proprietor mind well-behaved revelers stepping in?