Emerson felt both beautiful and..overwhelmed. The dress she was wearing was gorgeous, the likes of which she’d never worn. Her hair half pinned up, away from her face. For once she almost felt like she fit in. But still…the feeling of being out of place won out, of feeling like she was pretending and feeling like everyone knew who she was and what her brother had done. So when she saw someone with a tray of champagne, despite not being much of a drinker Emerson reached for one--only for her hand to knock into someone else’s. “Oh! I’m sorry! Please–go ahead. I’ll wait to find another.”
Safe to say Celeste felt wholly out of place as she walked into the hall and was hit in the face with ball gowns and tuxes and flowers that looked more expensive than some of the clothes she owned. She’d never even seen things like this outside of movies or her own imagination- some of the dresses looking like they’d stepped right out of Bridgerton or something. It was as crazy as it was overwhelming. One thing that at least still looked the same (and admittedly looked safe) was the bar, so Celeste beelined over to it, biting her lip as she wove her way through the crowd and made her way over.
She wasn’t even totally sure why she’d decided to come tonight. Curiosity, maybe? And definitely a bit of longing to be...normal? To not be the poor, odd girl out who was always on the outskirts? Either way, she was here, and she was going to try and stick it out for as long as she could before she ultimately ran off back to the safety and familiarity of her home.
The bar was crowded though and she huffed out a breath, kind of hating that she’d chosen heels instead of her docs and she bit her lip, trying to worm her way through to the front and already getting annoyed “I’ll literally buy you your drink if you shift over a bit.”
EVENT 002 {FEB 5th-21st} VALENTINE'S MARKET AND THE LOVE BALL
Every year City Hall works in tandem with multiple shops in town to host a Valentine's Day Market!
The Market will be open for the next two weeks up until Valentine's Day, with multiple shops having pop-up stalls all along the boardwalk like Sweet Nothings Bakery and Driftwood Coffee Shop. The Market will be all decked out with pink and red hearts, beautiful floral arrangements, and of course plenty of chocolates and pastries for you and the ones you love! With plenty of child-friendly stops along the way as well like handwritten Valentine's and face painting, it's sure to be a great way for families in Aurora Bay to celebrate together! Also don't forget to tell that special someone how you feel with secret admirer messages and treats!
And given that this year is the 80th anniversary of the town being open, Flora and Fauna Florist has decided to make it extra special and this year the festivities will culminate in a Love Is In The Air Ball!
Starting at 8pm on Valentine's Day, couples and singles alike are all invited. And unlike the other dances and parties in town, this will be one grand and lavish event that will be a black tie affair! That's right- everyone is invited, but everyone must follow the dress code. From ballgowns to suits, we expect everyone to dress their best for a night of roses, dancing, and endless amounts of champagne.
OOC INFO UNDER THE CUT
Here's our next event and it's one we've been excited for! So much so that it'll be in two parts!
PART ONE: The Markets
Starting Sunday the 5th until Monday the 13th, the boardwalk (as well as the town in general) will have decorations everywhere (everywhere) and various booths and stalls will be all decked out for Valentine's. Places like the bakery and the coffee shop will have stalls as well as specialty items for sale the next two weeks (heart-shaped donuts and pink lattes, anyone?)
Secret Admirer Messages can also be sent out! We are asking anyone who wants to participate to please turn their anon on and for the messages to, of course, be sent anonymously (or not)! There will also be couriers out and about all week, dropping off flowers and chocolates and all sorts of treats (anonymously delivered of course!) so if your character has a crush on another but doesn't know how to say so, this can be a great way to let someone know they're wanted liked!
There will be various booths for food and photos and ones for families with kids as well. Palm reading, secret admirer deliveries, feel free to use your imagination! If unsure, please ask us as well.
Attending the markets is entirely optional! and as such non-event threads can continue throughout the week without needing to be tagged.
PART TWO: The Ball
Starting Tuesday the 14th until Monday the 21st, the dash will be closed to non-event posts (unless tagged pre-event).
Held in the banquet hall in the Seascape hotel, everyone is invited but is expected to dress up. The ball itself will be quite lavish, and as it's hosted by Flora and Fauna, expect there to be beautiful flower arrangements around every corner.
Please feel free to post outfit posts as well and to have your characters dress as extravagant as possible (we're talking gowns and tuxes and being totally dressed to the nines. All gowns must be that- gowns (any colors are okay but floor length required, so no tight lil minis pls.) And also feel free to suspend reality with how expensive these outfits can be. We want everyone to pick the outfits they love!)
Please tag all outfit and event posts with aurorabay.event and auroraball.ball and please be sure to tag the starter and aesthetic blogs as well.
We will allow three ball starters to be posted off the bat, after that please reply to those before making your own!
And again, participation in game is totally optional! We don’t expect every character to want to go to the ball, so again, feel free to continue pre-event threads to keep up activity during the weekend as long as they're tagged as such!
It was curiosity more than anything that brought her here--well, that, and the free food and booze. So if buying some stupid fancy dress and actually putting in effort into her appearance was how she got all that, then so be it. So here Celeste was, feeling wholly out of place and quickly onto her third glass of champagne when some guy quite forcefully smacked right into her and she let out a little yelp, her drink sloshing over herself and someone else- along with the domino affect of stumbling into the same poor victim.
“Fuck, I’m sorry. Are you alright?” God she hoped she wasn’t about to get yelled at or threatened to be sued or something equally as ridiculous (but right up the alley for these rich douches) just because of a bump and a potentially-ruined dress.
Liza admittedly did feel pretty overdressed in the gown her sister had put her into, but she also had to admit that she did feel quite beautiful in it. Even if it was still a bit over the top as far as she was concerned. Liza always preferred blending into the background, but this was far from blending in. Oh well. Alcohol helped at least with any lingering anxieties she felt over it all, which is why when she saw a waiter walking by she beelined to them, planning on snagging a champagne flute in the hopes that the bubbly would take the edge off a bit.
She’d been so laser-focused on it though that she hadn’t realized someone else was right in her path until she’d smacked right into them. “Oof..” she huffed, stumbling a bit before she blinked, an apology already rolling off her tongue until she realized just who she’d bumped into and the apology ended in a laugh as she felt herself smiling, “I guess fate decided I could use a reprieve and a friendly face.”
