[OPEN] Leave that old record spinning~

[robintohood]

Who: Jason Todd robintohood and you!
What: Grand Opening Week of Descendant Karaoke Bar and Lounge
When: Week of November 28th
Where: Central City
Content Warnings: N/A for now. Will edit if needed.

[Throughout November, you may have seen posts across all the major social media platforms about a new Central City karaoke bar opening up. They even include some nice professional photos of the interior taken by Mark Bryant. Or maybe you’ve heard vague rumors in the criminal underworld about a new safe haven for discussing and doing some illicit business.

Meanwhile in Central City, the renovations of a two-storied building with a basement and an attic were being done swifter than any legally permitted construction project. The owner made sure it was good work done too.

And now at the tail end of the month, there’s a newly opened karaoke bar and lounge known as Descendant. Everyone is welcomed, regardless of their meta status or if they’re part of any guild.


Descendant’s entrance door is relatively innocuous. As soon as you step into the building though, you’re in the security check area and met with bouncers holding metal detector wands. No one’s allowed further in until they get checked. Once you check your weapons, you’ll receive a key labeled with the number of the locker your weapon(s) are in.

In a nod to Ascendant, the previous bar that attracted some of Central’s criminals, much of Descendant’s interior basic layout is similar but now with a speakeasy-esque decor. Once you walk through weapons check, you’re greeted with the first floor being an open space for mingling, drinking, and eating. The walls are visibly brick and the tables and chairs aren’t too fancy. The first floor is also where the bar is.


Further towards the back of the first floor are private rooms for guests to enjoy if they reserve ahead of time and pay extra. The cheapest karaoke rooms are simple and while the most expensive are more luxurious.


One room that makes Descendant unique is the reading room everyone is welcome to use. You're free to drink and enjoy some quiet reading time. Take a book for keeps or donate a book! Quiet conversation is welcome, but overly noisy patrons will be kicked out.


On the second floor are a couple of arcade machines, pool tables, and a stage for live performances. There are plush lounges for people to sit and enjoy the shows, or to take a break between rounds of pool.

With the exception of the reading room and the employee-only areas, you’ll hear music throughout most of the building. It’s either coming from the karaoke machines or from a separate playlist.

Whatever you decide to do, the owner and other attentive employees hope you enjoy your time at their establishment.]

((OOC: Mingle post! Enjoy yourselves. More information about Descendant is here and here, including an opt-in form for the BatFamily to spy on your character.))

Comments

Doreen Green | ota!

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

[ Okay, yes, Doreen isn't technically old enough to drink, but what the heck. It's opening night, Descendent serves non-alcoholic drinks, and she's gonna design their website, this visit practically counts as research!

She can be found all over the building, exploring each room and exclaiming "dude!" with greater and greater enthusiasm every time she makes a cool new discovery ("Karaoke rooms?! Dude!"). The arcade games are a big hit with her, and she's happy to take on anyone in a round of Street Fighter or Pac-Man. Likewise, the reading room is excellent, and she spends a little while admiring the selection before moving on.

Eventually Doreen settles down at a corner table on the first floor, nursing a Shirley Temple and some onion rings while she people-watches from the sidelines. It's a good night! ]

[atypical_echo]

[Timing had kept Mark from running into her earlier in the night. He'd had time at the bar, talked for a while with a new Meta, and then gone toward the reading room, unknowingly after Doreen had left it.

But now that he'd finished his hot chocolate he came back out to the main bar area, turned in the cup, and looked around. Probably time to go. Except... Well, he catches sight of a familiar face and waves at her across the bar. He doesn't want to interrupt if he wasn't welcomed after all.]

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

[ Doreen sees that tentative wave and returns it with a big wave and an even bigger grin. Come hang out with her, buddy! ]

Mark! They've got onion rings!

[atypical_echo]

[Well that's a big wave. He laughs and makes his way over to her.]

Is that an invitation for me to get my onion-breath on?

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

I'm recruiting you to help me with these things, the servings are way bigger than I thought they'd be.

[ She holds an onion ring up to demonstrate! ]

[atypical_echo]

[He laughs and takes a seat with her.]

That is pretty big. And I'm not turning you down at all. Should I guess your presence has something to do with the website?

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

Yeah, I totally got hired! Thanks again for the rec, by the way. I wanted to scope the place out before I started working on anything. You were right, there's definitely gonna be a photo gallery, this place is swank.

[ Aw yeah, onion rings are meant to be shared! ]

[atypical_echo]

Well, hopefully Jason will provide you with access to all of the photos I did, but if you want the raw files for any reason, you be sure to let me know.

[He took his first onion ring and bit in. Yeah, that was good.]

I should order another soda if I'm going to be eating these.

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

Oh, good call. I'll email you, maybe we can set up a dropbox or something.

[ She swirls her own drink around before taking another sip. ]

I went for the Shirley Temple. Never had one before, but I think it's mostly ginger ale and grenadine? A soda would probably pair better with the onion rings, not gonna lie.

[atypical_echo]

Absolutely a dropbox. So much easier. I also pre-paid a year when I got here for expanded boxes, so that should last for the job.

[He nods along and grabs the menu on the table.]

Maybe a ginger beer, for that extra punch. But hey, how's the place treating you? Liking it so far?

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

Oh, no beer for me, I'm not quite old enough to... yyyouuuuu meant the non-alcoholic kind, nevermind, totally misinterpreted that.

[ She fills the awkward silence by just going to town on some onion rings, as one does. ]

It's great! I love that there's a reading room, just to get away from it all for a little while.

[atypical_echo]

[He definitely meant the non-alcoholic, but he raises his eyebrow in shock. Somehow he'd expected her to be older.]

It's really okay. And yeah, I don't drink, so don't think I'll care too much if you don't. And yeah, the reading room is pretty peaceful.

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

[ OH GOD, WHAT IF HE THINKS SHE'S A TEEN. DAMAGE CONTROL, DAMAGE CONTROL! ]

Twenty! I'm twenty. But yeah! It's very cool that there's space for people who just want to chill with soda and onion rings, and maybe some good books and arcade machines. Or karaoke, if that's your jam.

[atypical_echo]

[Not like he doesn't have teen friends because he didn't sign up for them but it had happened anyway.]

Is it wrong that I'm sitting here like 'what do Squirrels consider age of majority'?

[The question was more to calm her down, because clearly that's a stressful assertion of age.]

I like certain karaoke. Damien used to tease me for my singing though. He was a bit of a music snob.

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

It's a tricky question with them, they usually reach maturity within nine months, but they know that lifespans work differently for humans. When I was ten, they could tell I was still a kid, even though I would've been like a hundred in squirrel years.

[ This is said with complete earnestness; Doreen is a fountain of Squirrel Knowledge. Mostly she's just worried about being taken seriously; people underestimate her enough already, and she's a bit anxious about hired by a bar when she isn't old enough to drink yet! ]

I've never done karaoke before, but I feel like being a music snob is counterintuitive to the spirit of karaoke, so take that, Damien!

[atypical_echo]

Well, it was more like car sing-a-longs during a road trip with him.

[Not that Mark had been really been happily involved in the road trip. He took another onion ring to get some time to think.]

Karaoke your thing?

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

Not sure, never done it before. I think I'd be into it, though?

[ Problem is, most of her friends are squirrels who have trouble holding microphones! ]

[atypical_echo]

Then you should try it. Ask Jason to let you use one of the private rooms, get together some friends. Say you need it to get a vibe for the place to properly make the website. Just one night on a slower evening or afternoon probably wouldn't hurt?

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

[ Now for the real question: how many squirrels can Doreen smuggle into the building, and is she willing to take that risk for a good karaoke session? ]

I'll think about it, but in the meantime, I'll see if Jason has a guestbook or something set up. There could be a section for customer reviews.

[atypical_echo]

Provided you have some sort of filter that just takes out reviews that are only bitching about other people's singing. If you can't handle the karaoke, don't come to the bar and all that.

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

Oh, I was thinking like a physical guestbook at the front. I figure people might be less likely to leave rotten notes if they have to do it in person. Just grab a couple of nice reviews - with permission - and put 'em up as quotes.

[atypical_echo]

Ah, issue: people drinking, people with greasy fingers, all that stuff. People taking pens. Then manual processing and input. That's a lot to expect, both for you with initial work, and for later upkeep if they don't have a social media manager, right?

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

... Shoot, those are all really good points. I hadn't thought of that. God, they probably are gonna have to get a social media person, aren't they?

[codicies]

[ As she's playing Street Fighter, Dylan comes up behind her, watching her play. ]

Oh, cool! Vintage games!

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

Right? I haven't seen one of these things in years!

[ Doreen's an early 2000's kid, so these things were retro even when she was a kiddo! ]

Want to go a round? My treat, I've got some extra quarters.