[OPEN] it's graduation time!!

[covenantal]

WHO: All the graduating students of Recollé High, their friends and family, teachers, chaperones, volunteers... anyone who got a ticket is allowed to be here! (And it wasn't hard to get a ticket.)
WHERE: Mostly taking place at Recollé High, and then moving elsewhere to party.
WHEN: Midday June 9th, late into the evening.
WHAT: Graduation day has finally arrived! Check out the OOC post for details.
WARNINGS: Probably none yet aside from shenanigans and bad music choices, but I'll add any if they become relevant!

farewell, class of 2017! You've made it, seniors of Recollé High! Graduation day is here. You're decked out in your finest duds underneath that graduation gown, you've got your cap on, finals are done, and college acceptances are out. Surely nothing can go wrong with this day! 1) PRE-GRADUATION JITTERS. The day is finally here...! The day you've been waiting all year for, if you're a senior. If you're not a senior, you probably don't care as much (or maybe you do? are you a proud teacher or guardian needing a shoulder to cry on?), but the seniors are probably feeling pretty emotional. How're you doing, champ? Excited to get out of this school? Nostalgic over the peaceful high school life you led? Well, either way, graduation starts in about half an hour, so you don't have much time left to get things in order! Hey, wait. Where's your gown?! Why aren't you dressed?! The ceremony is starting soon! You better go find that. What about your cap? That's ready to go, isn't it? ... it's not? What kind of self-respecting senior doesn't decorate their graduation cap?! Better go see if your friends have some glitter glue. Or maybe you've noticed a senior with an undecorated cap, and you decide to be a good samaritan and help them out. How nice of you! Most of the rooms in the school are open, so if you want to go raid the art classroom for some last minute supplies, now's your chance. Okay, okay. Everything seems calm now. Everyone's ready to go... right? Teachers and students alike, since everyone's going to have a part in this event. Wouldn't want to deal with any last minute technical issues before the ceremony starts. Hey, are your shoes untied? 2) WALK THE WALK, TALK THE TALK. With some of the dry, boring official pomp and circumstance out of the way, it's time for speeches! Karkat Vantas and Yu Narukami are your valedictorian and salutatorian this year, and Dave Strider will be... wait, he wasn't the one who was supposed to give the school pride speech! The older man who announces his name looks very puzzled when he reads off that name, and there are some whisperings from the teachers. Well, that's comforting. Everything's probably fine, right? Well, nothing else can go wrong! Especially not the most important part of graduation for any student: the walk across stage to receive your diploma! Except the person working the sound system seems to be a little off today... I mean, who plays music like this for a graduation walk?! The murmurs in the crowd grow much louder at all this commotion. Are you walking across the stage trying to deal with this nonsense? Are you in the crowd, heckling your friends as they give speeches or walk as your own special way of cheering them on? Are you simply offering commentary on what a disaster this is turning out to be? Either way, maybe you'll commiserate with friends and victims in the crowd once they get off stage about their (and your) harrowing experience. Or maybe you'll go check out what's going on with the sound guy... is he even awake? Oh well. At least the seniors have their diplomas now. ... right? ... wait, whose name is that?! That's not right. Better ask around and see if this happened to anyone else... 3) A PLEASANT RECEPTION. You made it! The graduation ceremony, such as it was, is over, and now you're enjoying the outdoor reception Recollé High School has prepared. There's tables scattered about with cute little party favors saying things like "CONGRATULATIONS" and "CLASS of 2017". Maybe you want to pick up a pair of novelty graduation glasses? Of course you do, they're very fashionable. There's also necklaces in all colors of the rainbow, a variety of differenly colored wristbands, and ... what is this? It says "confetti canon" on the side...? Oh no. Who put these out here? All seems to be going well when, rather abruptly, the sprinklers go off. Hey, what gives?! Didn't anyone remember graduation was today?! Well, it doesn't seem that way. The grass is going to get watered no matter what anyone wants, and if you don't run, you're going to get soaking wet! You're wearing nice clothes under that graduation robe, and you don't want them to get ruined. Do you take cover, help out a soaking wet friend, or bolt, since it's every man for himself? 4) TOSS THAT CAP. Well, you're soaking wet now - or maybe you escaped? Either way, the final moment of celebration has come before graduation finally ends. The cap toss! You still have your graduation cap, right? Well, better join in with all the seniors in a big excited (somewhat damp) group to toss those in the air before you miss out! Gee, it's windy today, isn't it? Maybe this whole cap toss thing wasn't such a good idea. The wind will yank everybody's caps every which way. It turns out the one you just caught from the air isn't yours! You better go find the person who caught it. Or is that it on the grass over there? You better hunt it down, since people are mingling now, some getting ready to leave, some simply standing in the sun and drying out. If you weren't paying attention, a graduation cap might've just smacked you right in the face. Bad luck, huh? If you're a bystander, maybe you're generous enough to help out all these confused, cap-less students ... or maybe you want to mess with them. By the way, remember to smile for the official graduation photographer! These great photos are going up on the school's website. You look fine, right? You're definitely not a mess, or getting unfortunately photo bombed... or both. Seniors, now is the time to kiss your family and mess with your friends, because there isn't much time left before the grand finale... wait, what else could there possibly be? 5) PARTY TIME. It's a party bus! Wait, who's paying for these things?! Well, who cares. There's a handful of them here ready to ship the seniors off to celebrate their graduation! It's not mandatory, but come on, you're not going to miss out on an awesome party, are you? Still, don't plan on getting too wild - all the drinks on the party buses are non-alcoholic, you scamps. Chaperones might be coming along too just to keep an eye on all of you. If you hop on the party bus, it'll take you to Dan & Bluster's, where you still won't get any alcohol, but there'll be a section of the eating area reserved for the graduates of Recollé High, and tons of free games to play! (Seriously, who's paying for all this?) Time to party all night with your friends, eating food and chugging soda, playing the latest zombie shooter or dancing your heart out to Dance Dance Revolutionary, or maybe just chilling at a table and talking. However you spend your time at Dan & Bluster's, the party buses will be back to drop you all off back at the school around 2 AM. Hopefully you have a ride home! Congratulations, class of 2017!

Comments

[alienates]

2.

[ so, karkat is valedictorian. some people may be surprised, because he doesn't seem like the studious type! but others might not be; karkat has made it clear that he wanted good grades in order to earn scholarships to not have to pay for college. he's cheap, so sue him.

but there's also another reason why he did his best to earn this spot. you will all find out shortly, because he's now at the podium to give his speech. ahem. ]

Graduating class of 2017... and everyone else who is less important. I am honored to be here in front of you for a variety of reasons. I should tell you that I am proud of all the work we have done the last four years, and that I cannot wait to see how you all grow in the future. I would be lying, because I'm probably never going to talk to most of you ever again. I have never seen a room filled with so many obvious side characters in my goddamn life, and-- are you shushing me? No, sit back down, I did not get this bullshit GPA for you to just shush me while I am talking.

Any-fucking-way. As I was saying, I could lie and talk about how great everyone is, but instead I decided to air out some grievances I have in the only venue where all of the staff will have no choice but to listen. First of all, your lunch menu is goddamn atrocious. I don't know if someone isn't kissing the school board's ass well enough, or if the chefs are just incapable of telling the difference between a hamburger and a turd. I assure you, contrary to the popular belief that resides in that kitchen, there is a goddamn difference. Secondly, why are the bathrooms like that? You know what I mean. Just... shit, I don't know. Put "mops" on next year's budget list. C-- I mean, three. Third? Whatever. Mr. Thomas, who taught me ninth grade English? You didn't give me an A on the final paper because you said that writing an essay on why The Pearl is a shitty book wasn't the assignment. But the assignment was to discuss the moral of the novel, and the moral was that it's a fucking shitty book and I will never get that time back. The only way I would have enjoyed it is if I got shot at the end of it too because, holy shit, I'm sorry that you have bad taste! STOP SHUSHING ME.

Oh my god. Okay, fine, I'll move on. Happy? This is me, removing myself from this particular line of thinking and entering a more school approved one. So we're graduating. Some of us are going to college, while others don't want to sign their lives away to debt. But no matter what we all decide to do, we will still be connected over the fact that we are one step closer to realizing none of us know how the fuck taxes work. Actually, hold on, fourth of all, why the hell did none of you teach us about taxes except for five seconds in an economy class that wasn't even mandatory to take. We are going to die because no one knows how to budget. Just put on my tombstone right now, "Karkat Vantas, dead because knowing what an imaginary number is didn't somehow prepare him for the harsh realities of adult life."

But yeah, congratulations to all of you for graduating. I hope that if you walk away with this room with one thing, it's with the knowledge that I beat all of you. Eat my dick, Mr. Thomas, I bet you weren't valedictorian you insufferable douchenozzle--

[ and with that, a few of the teachers go on stage to gently escort karkat off. there is a brief struggle, where everyone can probably hear some muffled... creative... language. they win the fight, buthe goes to mic drop... but the mic is attached to its stand, so there is just awkward fumbling and the very harsh sound of something hitting the microphone repeatedly. after a few awkward seconds, karkat is just going to return to his seat to the relief of all the teachers. ]

3.

[ karkat can be found all over the place during the reception part. you want to drag him into pictures? sure. you want to give him necklaces? okay. you want to hear him shrieking as he runs away from the sprinklers? that's fine too. look i'm lazy after writing paragraphs worth of ranting let me live and do lazy prompts now. ]

5.

[ ANYWAY you can find karkat on the party bus. he probably got dragged onto it by his friends tbh. he's mostly going through his phone, wearing one pf the party glasses because sure why not.

at dan & buster's, you can find him all over the place. eating and playing games or whatever. go bug him or something. ]

2

[youraffection]

[ He's a little surprised, yes, that Karkat is Valedictorian. Not that he ever thought the guy wasn't smart, but...scholastically motivated is another issue entirely. Ah well, Yosuke is certainly in no place to judge--

--until he listens to that.

Holy shit.

Is Karkat even allowed to say that? He's not so sure, but he'll blame his shock on the fact that his hand totally slips and unceremoniously plays a suspicious vintage reggae version of that one Shrek song to follow up his act.

Sorry, Karkat. ]

3

[true_noir]

[Someone was here to see a friend off who wasn't going to be going to RU next semester. But, while she was here, there were a few other graduates from the class that came after hers that Chloe wanted to congratulate. Admittedly, that little speech of his was ... something else. She wasn't even sure if she should say anything about it.

Probably best not to. Either way, when she caught sight of him shrieking as he fled the sprinklers, she made her way over to where he was and chuckled.]

Someone needs to punch the groundskeeper, yes? you would think better timing.

2

[covenantal]

[ Yu is so tired and so mentally not present and by the time Karkat finishes his speech Yu is shaking with laughter. He's so tired. He doesn't care. That speech was amazing. By the time Karkat sits down - they have seats together because they both have speeches to give, of course - he feels like he's lost his mind. He'll just rest his head on Karkat's shoulder, still shaking with laughter even though he'll have to get up on stage soon. ]

I'm proud of you, [ he whispers, choked up with laughter. ]

3

[parodeity]

[ shrieking while running away from sprinklers works. dave jumped the fuck out of the way immediately and doesn't seem to have gotten wet at all. ]

You're always so fuckin' loud. [ and yet it is Quieter than he remembers and that's weird, but whatever. ]

2 & 3 & 4 sorta???????????

[livingdeadgirl]

[There are a few reasons why Ami attended the high school graduation ceremony, but at least two of those reasons are Karkat. First, because she considers him a friend, and of course she should be here to support and cheer on her friends! But second because she recalls a certain graduating-class tradition involving mortarboards and throwing them in the air (despite the program explicitly saying "please don't"), and she wants to see them horns.

Like a lot of people, she's a little surprised about the whole valedictorian thing, but Karkat's speech singlehandedly makes it worth having showed up. The mixed reactions of the families seated within her earshot are almost just as good - a dad joins the awkward laughter until he's sharply elbowed by his wife, a mom tries to cover the ears of two babies at once (unsuccessfully), a couple of grade-schoolers who just learned some exciting new words, and a tiny grandma who (a little too loudly) agrees that The Pearl is goddamn garbage.

For her own part, Ami finds the speech hilarious, particularly cracking up at the failed mic drop. This guy... this guy is a born orator, tell you what. He should do stand-up, only nobody tell him he's doing stand-up.


.... anyway, she'll go and find him after the conclusion of the ceremony.]

Karkat! Hey, Karkat! Congratulations!

[parodeity]

i. what the fuck is school spirit

[ dave's slouched in his chair and sort of half not paying attention because. school speeches! who cares. when, you know, his name is called. once. and then twice, and then there's an elbow to his side and he says: ]

What. [ who in their right minds would pick him for this sort of thing, and wasn't one of the sportsball people supposed to give it? however, sheer self-preservation about not getting, like, elbowed again or dragged on stage (uncool) has him up and walking to, you know, get up on the stage even though this was not in the plan at all? his poker face doesn't falter as far as most people can tell but his internal dialogue is something like: fuck???

he lets himself be shooed onto the stage and then. has to readjust the mic so he doesn't hunch over - yeah no he just leans in to speak to it lmao whatever. ]

I have no school spirit? [ or school pride??? shit is that what he's talking about. WHAT THE FUCK IS HE TALKING ABOUT, let him sit down. dave speaks fairly quickly, his voice an even monotonous flow of texan accent, although there's wry dips and raises that can be caught, sometimes. ] I mean, no offense, go wildcats, definitely totally aesthetically pleasin' with the gray and white if the goal here is to like, destroy every iota of hope and - you know, shit, the school colors totally do work? I would bitch about them but no, this totally exemplifies pretty perfectly what high school should feel like. Or life in general maybe? Is that depressin'. Maybe that's too depressin', but I dunno, I kinda appreciate the fact the reality now matches the, you know, Reality. That was a capital letter R for the record since you can't really hear that when I say it I guess, this would work way better if I were writin' shit down. Did someone put my name in for this?? I thought this wasn't like a voting thing but uh I'm not sure why I am here except. Ok teachers are glarin' I guess I should say more spiritual stuff.

Not like actually spiritual, but school spiritual. Although man, you absolutely could make a religion out of high school. Isn't that basically what Hollywood has done? Except it's never like high school which is kind of a bummer because I feel like maybe if it were more like a movie people would care more, but also, we'd never get any schoolwork done? Not like everyone did that. But yeah it's like basically already a religion so I guess this can get school spiritual? Like I don't even know if I've ever seen a single high school movie I felt any serious emotional connection to. Like. I dunno, I'm probably watchin' the wrong ones, although if Back To The Future counts maybe that one, because who can't relate to a dude who goes back in time and does stupid shit? But like it's always this whole, I dunno, these people don't like those people and fuck that and it's like, does it really matter? Even when I can't fuckin' stand someone there's never enough shit to make an entire movie out of it. Just move on, you gotta learn to go with the flow way the fuck away from whoever the hell, and you always gotta learn to let people go, since that's a thing life is about? Except I guess the people who do not -

Ok, it is unfair I keep gettin' glared at here, you totally had a chance to not make me come up on stage??? Uh. School spirit...

Go team??? What teams do we have anyway. There's that one with the like...the net. The sportsball team with the net. Wait do all of them have nets? I mean not...baseball? Baseball doesn't have a net I don't think anywhere. I can't be sure, I feel like they like to sneak nets in there in random places and if I say "hell yeah no net in baseball" one of y'all is gonna go "well actually" and then I will have to sit through an explanation I straight up don't give a fuck about so let's, like, just keep it to "go team". All the teams. Didn't the chess team win a tournament or somethin'? Good job, nerds. Man, you know what we should have had? A human chess team. Just like, knock someone the fuck out when you take their place, why not. Or like...I dunno, I didn't even really join any clubs officially, I guess???

But, you know, good job those of you who did? And the teams, with the balls, since I don't think there are any teams without those. Even the swim team has those like water floaty ball doohickeys whose name escapes me, the ones that like, divide the lanes?? Oh wait no there's that one with the puck, HOCKEY, there we go, hockey doesn't have a ball. Unless we count a puck as a ball? I am inclined to do so. It's like...basically a ball? Just flat ball. But still a ball. It fulfills the same functions? People want it, and then other people with sticks or whatever go fuck you, you can't have it, and proceed to try to beat the shit out of the people who want the ball.

Sports are kinda like capitalism I guess?

I'm still gettin' glared at. You know, you can drag me off the stage, I am okay with that??? But uh...okay, I don't have any huge "grievances" like the valedictorian, great job not callin' that bein' a thing btw, although I would like to correct a matter of fact in that some of us actually do know how taxes work, though I can't say I learned any of that shit here so there is that. I learned how to make orange julius in home ec? But like, who the fuck needs to know that and slash or cannot just look up how to make it online and follow step by step instructions. Oh, once I made a lamp in shop class. Someone knocked into it when it was in the class and it broke though. I did not care much at all. It was kind of an ugly lamp anyway since I tried zero percent and probably the asshole who broke it was actually secretly a hero and doin' the world and slash or my mother a favor.

[ this is a speech. a speech should have a point. right. um. ]

It didn't suck. I mean, the lamp sucked, I fully acknowledge that as true, but goin' to school here for four years did not completely suck. The tail end was kind of "wow, kill me now, I wouldn't mind and it'd probably be more painless" but like. I don't actually hate y'all and can't work up into a frothin' rage or anything, even if I'm not sure what the fuck to say about school pride or spirit since mostly I don't have that? Like. Sure, I'm proud of people, individually, and I'd cheer you on whenever, but like, I do not actually give a single fuck if the wildcats win or lose or whatnot. I think the more important part about all that was just...havin' a time, be it good or bad or somewhere inbetween.

But it didn't suck, because I do have friends who are pretty cool, and a lot of them I did meet in high school, even if a lot of them I met before that. It didn't suck because for a very brief fraction of time I got to fulfill middle school dreams in like, freshman year, before those were dashed again but I knew they would be so like, whatever? It didn't suck because even though the school food is crap it was familiar crap and we all had to suck it up together and I learned about the lunch box bartering economy which was hella fun to try to fuckin' crash, although I guess technically I learned that shit in kindergarten, so. It didn't suck because it was boring sometimes and frustrating at others and tiring at even more but like, in the most mundane and ordinary kinda way that feels secure and sort of calm. And between all those times some of you told jokes that made me laugh, or let me borrow notes from classes I had to miss, or for some godforsaken reason wanted to borrow mine and thanked me for them? Sometimes I ran out of pens and someone'd lend me one, so thanks, or like, I'd lend out a zillion and half of you still owe me some of those, so pay up?

And like...congrats on the graduation shit, guys. We fuckin' get to go do, like, whatever I guess? I am sure the world will end or somethin' before any of us snags college degrees, but hey: at least on our gravestones we can put "totally graduated high school" which is absolutely an accomplishment even if I'm not sure how proud or not we should be of it. But like. Huzzah. A lot of you are pretty cool and that's kind of better than bein' able to remember any of the scores for any of the games we presumably had, right?

Is this speech length yet?? Can I go sit down? Ok I'm being like pointed to my seat so I think I'm good.

Good luck doin' what the fuck ever, everyone, and like, continue to not totally suck, and wait, shit, I think you need to put a quote in a speech to make it totally legit. Okay. "In my dream...I am the star. It's me." There, boom, speech secured.

[ well he sure did say words so. whatever. ]

ii. reception

[ after that dave ditches his gown (he's in nice dress slacks and a red dress shirt, with a black tie? and a vest?) and cap and proceeds to try to collect as much shitty graduation shit in red as he can. he's got his sleeves rolled up and is up to like ten wristbands on either arm, has at least four pairs of shades clipped to his vest, and has like five necklaces.

he is currently trying to fit more wristbands on, because this is a great use of his time. ]

iii. no?

[ he shows no inclination to board the party buses, apparently having decided he's not going, but dave does raise his eyebrows and ask aloud: ]

Who the fuck is payin' for all this? I thought the party committee was like tapped out post prom, shit.

[ it's not a complaint so much as "damn there's a mystery that will probably never be solved". ]

i

[voideity]

[ the other 4/6ths of the striders are no doubt in the family section, here for the baby twin set of the family. dad strider is probably fumbling for the camera since none of them expected to need it for a while since?? s for strider? but now it's s for spirit and roxy will take the camera from pops just to be that insanely obnoxious person who like. is standing and moving, trying to get The Perfect View of the stage.

this is going on youtube dave strider is a gift god bless america

when he's done with his speech there's probably only screaming and cheering from people who love dave but that's okay because those people are Very Loud. ]

ii

[true_noir]

[Well, she'd seen who she had come to see, but why not pester Dave? After all, that was basically a full-time job if anyone wanted it. He was kind of hard to miss under the circumstances, because red dress shirts... on graduation? They definitely made you stick out like a sore thumb.

Slipping up behind him, Chloe grinned and waved.]

Congratulations are in order? If that ... uh... speech was any indication, it is just good it is over, yes? [Here, dude, have another bracelet. Why not?]

iii

[feistytrader]

They don't know how to budget, Dave. This is clearly a better investment than edible school lunches.

[There's nothing that says graduation like shitty zingers, it seems.]

FINALLY GRADUATION PRESENT

[splinten]

[Dirk cannot give this present until they get home because it isn't very portable. What it is is a bunch of empty frames, like rounded tub-like things? Weird. And ... a can? a large can? several large cans?

The cans are casting resin in various shades: clear, a yellow amber, and a few odd colours just for fun. The frames, Dave may realize, are for putting dead things in, so that the resin can be poured in.

Alongside both of these is a rewritten book. It is the Spy Kids script, but it has been pasted over and edited to tell the epic adventures of two spy brothers engaged in increasingly stupid shenanigans. You know, Dirk's usual idiotic style of pastiche. It comes with a flash drive that contains the Sky Striders movie, which is a ridiculous editing of the film and various home videos of the brothers, often with hilarious auto-tuned dubbing or sudden silent-film-style speech cards in order to convey the plot.]

ii.

[livingdeadgirl]

[Graduation shit in red, you say? Because a certain someone (also a fan of red) has discovered the confetti cannons and also a burning need to add some points to her Prankster's Gambit. Doing her best to blend in with the crowd, she quietly sneaks up behind him... and fires a party cannon at his back!]

[feistytrader]

2

[So Silver likes pink. This isn't particularly a secret; a few of his admittedly small number of clothes contain pink, but it's not usually, you know, excessive. Well, the days of subtlety are over; without any school policies to worry about, he's gone ahead and dyed his hair bright pink, a brand new look on him just in time for graduation. ...For the sake of a brick joke, he's also wearing fuzzy pink crocs, which goes to show exactly how much of a fuck he gives about this graduation. Really, he considered not showing up at all, but... Something about the past month or so and all the weird shit he's remembered has him content with showing up at a normal milestone of his life.

Of course, he's not exactly expecting gangam style to be playing as he takes his diploma; he takes it silently, pauses for a moment... And scoots off in the only fashion he can imagine.

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: Graduation]

3

[Silver... Is keeping his gown on, at least for now. He actually seems to be shuffling around? If someone's observant enough, they can definitely notice Totodile's feet poking out from under his gown, but who the hell is going to look there at graduation, right?

Either way, other than a pair of sweet shades, he doesn't pick up any 2017 loot... But he does pick up the confetti cannons; he'll nail anyone in his vicinity with no remorse. Maybe he's even scooting over to hit you! ...Or maybe, while you're busy focusing on him, Totodile will nail you with a shot of confetti instead. Teamwork, man.]

2; this is all you get cam

[toushiro]

[ there's a loud snap that echoes throughout the arena.

that is toushiro slapping his forehead. ]

3

[covenantal]

[ Look, Yu doesn't even care. He's dead on his feet. The speeches were a disaster, the walks were a disaster, everything about this graduation is a disaster and he's past caring.

He'll barely even register it when he gets blasted with a confetti canon. He just kind of tilts his head away from the blast, stopping in place and just kind of ...... stands there .... for a moment .... spacing out .....

before staring at Silver

and giving him an encouraging double thumbs up. ]

How do I look?

[ like he's absolutely soaked in red confetti, probably. ]

[wiselys]

[ ftr annabeth's cap is decorated in silver, with an outline of a cityscape along the back corner and then in glitter letters it just says HAVE AMBITION. fucking take yourselves places, people. this was an important sidenote. ]

two.

[ annabeth is so glad to be graduating cause so many of you suck. who let VANTAS and STRIDER make speeches. who. who!! she notably looks dead inside during both of these.

she walks straight-backed and serious, her heels clicking very seriously, and smiling very seriously, despite the horrible musical selection. after the whole ordeal, she looks at her diploma and ]

Oh for the love of-- Does anyone have a diploma saying Annabeth Castellan? [ stage-whispered around her. ]

three.

[ she's taking one wristband and one necklace (she already has... two other necklaces on now she has THREE) and that is it. ... except for a confetti cannon that will specifically be saved for luke.

she's contemplating taking a couple more (still just to use on luke) when sprinkler armageddon begins. ] Are you kidding me?

[ for a girl in heels she's still moving pretty fast. move bitch get out the way. ]

four

[ now somewhat dampened, her gown over one arm (at least her gray ONCE BLUE dress still looks nice), she is not throwing her damn cap. it's obviously windy?? she makes the throwing motion but the cap stays firmly in her hand. she worked hard on this thing she's not losing it to you savages.

that does not save her from getting hit smack in the face by someone else's cap, though. ]

3

[youraffection]

[ Yosuke is decidedly not graduating until next year, but he's still around because he wants to support his classmates! (And he was, erm, responsible for the musical snafus, but he's not going to admit to it unless he's accused.) So he's just wandering around trying to offer congratulations to the people he recognizes when the sprinklers go off.

And subsequently put him in a really unfortunate position to be in when people are trying to make a run for it. Namely, hers. ]

Ack!

[ He doesn't want to be wet either, but, geez! Yosuke tries to jump to the side to get out of her way... ]

[covenantal]

[ i. ]

[ So Yu turns up at graduation ... sort of out of sorts. His hair is kind of mussed and he looks like he hasn't slept? Weird. What's up with that. You can find him trying to pull himself together, though if you startle him, he'll probably actually jump. ]

S-Sorry. I'm just ... [ uh. ] Nervous?

[ ii. ]

[ He made salutatorian. That's satisfactory enough, even if he wishes he didn't have to give a speech of any kind. He spent a few days mulling it over once he found out he'd received the honor, typing up varying speech notes and inevitably trashing them all. By the time graduation day rolls around, he isn't his usual prepared self. In fact, he has no speech prepared at all, though he has a lot of thoughts about what he'd like to say.

Still, disoriented and tired as he is, when he gets up to the podium after Karkat's .... amazing speech, he looks kind of dazed. Like, how do you follow that up? There's probably an awkwardly long period of silence before he gives his head a little shake and focuses on the crowd. ]

I don't know if I can say it better than our valedictorian... [ A gentle jab at his friend, said with a barely there smile. ] But it seems it's my job to do what I can to properly send off the class of 2017.

[ A pause. ]

I've only been here a few months. My brother and I moved to Recolle just this past December, and at the time, we knew basically no one. I didn't know what to expect from the experience. After years of moving around, spending only a few months of our senior year in one place felt surreal. If I'm honest, I didn't expect to make lasting bonds.

[ There's a glint in his eye, passion and conviction making his shoulders straight and his words strong. ]

... I couldn't have been more wrong. Recollé High didn't just teach me about myself. It taught me about others, about what makes each and every one of you an incredible person I admire. Since Retrospec came into our lives, nothing's been normal, and we've all been experiencing hardship. From hair and eye color changes to strange new powers, we've all had to struggle. But none of us have struggled alone. None of us have had to. We're all in this together, supporting each other no matter how difficult things get. And we'll make it through, all of us, because we already have the most powerful weapon any of us need: each other.

[ Yu pauses suddenly, as if only now realizing he kind of got carried away. He blinks a few times, kind of nonplussed, staring out at the crowd again. ]

After this, we go on to the rest of our lives. Whatever that means. College, jobs, and undoubtedly more strange and unexplainable things. But if anyone can handle this, it's us.

[ A pause, and he goes kind of distant again, yawning. ]

In closing, if I had one suggestion for Recollé High in coming years, it would be to allow cats to attend as full-time students, because my cat should have been able to be here with me today. Thank you.

[ And you thought that his speech might actually be normal. But no. None of these speeches could be normal. Yu will just kind of remove himself from the stage, the only one not getting actively shushed, even if some of the teachers are staring at him like he's got three heads. He'll give a casual thumbs up as he steps off the stage. ]

[ iii. ]

[ Anyway he's definitely wearing a pair of bright red graduation glasses with a totally neutral expression. He doesn't seem fazed by much now, in contrast to his nervous demeanor from before the ceremony. He still seems extremely tired, though. Maybe that has something to do with it...?

Anywayx2, he's also got a confetti canon and is just kind of looking at you. ]

Want to help me do the honors?

[ v. ]

[ By the time they all climb on the party bus, Yu seems .... suddenly strangely energized. Happy. Like he's lit up from within. He'll be kind of restless, his hands in almost constant movement, even if those movements are small. But for those who know him it's a surefire sign that something's up with him.

When they get to Dan & Bluster's he'll bypass the food and drinks despite looking like a walking corpse and head for the games. ]

Think you can beat me? [ nodding his head at Dance Dance Revolutionary.

he looks like he's dying maybe someone should stop him from having a dance off even if he looks like he's in good spirits ]

iii-wildcardish

[youraffection]

[ So that was a very long and very sleepless and mostly awkward night. And that's not even counting the graduation ceremony! Yosuke was 100% off of his game and damn, he didn't even he realize had some of those songs set up to even be played. How embarrassing...

(Where did you come from, Cotton Eye Joe?)

Either way, Yosuke is able to shake off some of his shame or hide in the (most) anonymity of his job as impromptu graduation DJ. Through the throngs of friends, family, and graduates, Yosuke is able to pick out someone he really needs to talk to.

So he walks towards Yu, half-tempted to turn around, then just says "fuck it" and goes right up to him. He clears his throat, a little too nervous to sling an arm around his shoulder or give him a pat on the back like he might normally. ]

Hey...

iii

[true_noir]

[She was here to see someone else, but catching sight of Yu, she slipped over to smile at him and look down at ... of course he had the confetti cannon. No, why should she have expected anything less from him? Seriously, the fact that he got through almost the entire speech without being silly was impressive.

She gave him a bit of a long-suffering sigh and shook her head.] I would, but you realize I am just here to congratulate, not to be congratulated, yes?

[Which did not make her immune to confetti and she knew it.]

II

[strawberrypunch]

[Sometime in the general mingling before they're actually herded to the reception, Tatsuma approaches, clapping quietly. He'd clapped before at the speech itself, but it deserves a second round.]

Good job up there.

[burningblossoms]

III

[This is great. Just the absolute best. She's done with classes, no need to worry about grades for a summer, and she has all the free time in the world to get caught up on stuff. Not that she has much to catch up on, but still, it's the principal of the thing.

The only hitch is that some of these people? She's not going to see again. That's a sobering thought, honestly, and one that would have her more somber and thoughtful on any other night. Tonight though? Nah. She's totally grabbed a pair of those novelty glasses, weirdly with a mustache and nose for some reason, and is going around greeting people.]

Isn't this great!?! These glasses are amazing!


IV

[Caps thrown, photos taken with and without the glasses, Yukiko is rather excitedly milling about the crowd and waving to friends. She's ecstatic, really, and if she knows you even a little bit, expect at least a hug and a smile.]

And that's that! Hard to believe we're finally through.


V

[And of course, Yukiko is aboard the bus, ready to get a move on. She wouldn't miss this for the world, even if she isn't terribly interested in video games and such. It's food and a night out with people, her way of saying goodbye to some, after all. So maybe grab a seat with her on the bus? Or move over so she can take that spot.]

Goodness, isn't this exciting? I've never been here before!

3

[covenantal]

[ Yu, out of his mind with exhaustion at this point, is just kinda... rolling with... everything. Everything there ever was or will be.

So Yukiko will get a straight-faced double thumbs up because what is life anymore? ]

They suit you.

III

[youraffection]

[ He's happy for her. Really, Yukiko--she's been Yosuke's senpai pretty much from the start, which is why he shouldn't be too surprised that she's so amused by the glasses. But...he--well, he's not expecting them when he goes up to congratulate her. ]

Hey--gah!

[ Yeah, she definitely caught him off guard. ]

What the heck? Seriously?

[notyourutopian]

1 - [Eleanor was finally past the nervous jitters, really. Probably. Well, she'd spent way too long decorating her cap (it had kind of an ocean wave thing going on except with a lot of sparkles?) and that had been a decent distraction. And now she was wandering around handing out copies of the very last issue of the school newspaper she would ever make. And it was complete fluff and for some reason she'd loved the hell out of it. Maybe journalism really was dead.]

[Every senior (and other people too slow to get out of the way) gets a copy. It's full of interviews with students about what they want to do next (feel free to say you're in there), yearbook pictures, articles about things that happened over the last four years (most of which are a bit vague?) and just other various overly-saccarine nonsense that goes into what was essentially a twenty-something page memento of their time in high school. There's even a section for a website set up so everyone could trade email addresses or phone numbers if they wanted to. It was currently mostly empty...]

[Feel free to toss the paper, just...wait until she's not looking huh?]

3 - [The ceremony had been...well. She had to track down Dave and Karkat at some point and congratulate them on their speeches. And it had taken her forever to track down who had gotten her diploma? But aside from that it had been...fine...? At least it was over.]

[Eleanor had a pair of the ridiculous glasses on, out of which she could maybe half see, and an almost goofy grin on her face. She'd graduated! She was free? Tomorrow there'd be new terrors but today, freedom!]

[And then the sprinklers went off. It actually took her several seconds to realize it, and she stopped to listen to the weird pitter-patter of water on her graduation cap. Well. Huh. She held out a hand, feeling the water hit it, and then just laughed.]

I suppose it's nice to know the weirdness doesn't stop just because we're graduating...

[She commented to whomever was nearby.]

5A - [A party bus. A neon party bus. Eleanor's eyes were wide as she climbed on, just looking around at everything. Just. Wow. Wow.]

This might be the tackiest thing I have ever seen.

[She declared, before clapping her hands together.]

I love it.

5b - [Eleanor's streak of being terrible at video games continued, judging from the fact that she died to the zombie shooter game fifteen seconds in. It wasn't her fault video games were stupid, was it? Of course not.]

Anyone seen any skeeball games? I can win those..

[Maybe anyway...]

iii

[true_noir]

[Damnit, the groundskeeper needed to get decked for this, or fired. Had this happened last year? She vaguely recalled something disastrous had, but it was so long ago anymore that it felt a lifetime away. Chloe ducked away from a sprinkler after dislodging herself from the friend she'd gotten a ticket off of and was in the process of running to the side when she saw Eleanor.

Pause. Should she... and then she got sprinkler right in the face and was running in the direction of her friend just to get away from the stupid thing. Sputtering and muttering something, she motioned away from the water.]

Perhaps best not to catch your death of a cold from getting wet on graduation, yes?