When the spooks have a midnight jamboree

[foolishjustice]

Who: Open to everyone!
What: A costume party for Halloween.
When: October 31st (OOCly November 29th), around dinner time onward.
Where: Common room
Warnings: Spoops, some links go to pictures of fake mice or food designed to look like snakes or eyeballs. The late evening prompt might include alcohol use and/or suggestive images.

[Over the course of October, the station gradually acquires more and more decorations, including cotton cobwebs and numerous Jack-o-lanterns...some bright yellow, courtesy of Muon. They vary across multiple Halloween themes, but notably, none resemble realistic blood or gore. About a week before the end of the month, a message goes out on the network inviting everyone to a Halloween party. Costumes are encouraged, but not mandatory...particularly as most would likely have to be handmade.

On the night of Halloween, the common room has been rearranged to accommodate several tables laden with food, ranging from basic caramel apples and pumpkin pie, to more spooky fare...along with something that maybe didn't turn out quite right. There is, overall, a slightly ludicrous amount of food by normal standards, most of it absolutely delicious...though some of it, clearly marked, might be more suitable for a Troll palete. The tables are draped with tattered, black cloths that nearly reach the floor. Mist spreads out from underneath the tables, covering the floor and diffusing the light from Jack-o-lanterns scattered along the walls and tucked into corners.

Much of the lighting in the room is provided by candles on the tables, wax layered so that they seem to ooze purple, green, or a red a bit too vibrant for blood. The overhead lights have been dimmed, largely replaced by electric candles hung from the ceiling on thisn cords that almost disappear in the low lighting. In the earlier hours, a corvid of some sort can even occasionally be heard cawing behind the music...]

(For ease of keeping track of what's when, please keep all threads to the appropriate toplevels.)

Comments

Before 10

[foolishjustice]

[For the earlier hours of the party, Goro has requested that costumes be tame enough to wear around a middle school and that all alcohol be left stowed either in inventories or in locked containers. The music, likewise, is kept PG-13, and everyone is welcome, regardless of age.]

Temp Effect: Bitty Akira

[beguiledcard]

[ Today marks Day Three since Akira Kurusu was suddenly turned just five years old. (Look! He can even hold up his entire hand to show you how old he is!)

He can typically be found in this costume and hiding behind the leg of one of the following: Shido, Goro, Kurama, Minato, Femkira, or Robin... because familiar faces that have been taking care of him/playing with him! They're really nice! He likes them a lot!!!

Buuuuut every now and then he will be sneaking away to get into something. Usually the food - usually. There are times when he's exploring areas where there are things that can be broken. Which is why there's a chance he will wind up shattering a plate or glass... or worse, breaking an electronic of some sort?

One thing will be the same, regardless of what happens: he will actually have a kneejerk reaction of tensing up, looking around, and then hurriedly trying to... fix whatever he broke. ]

[nojohnyouare]

[Well, at least he didn't break this electronic. Bear-san, without his knitted bear suit so he's very obviously a little robot wearing rabbit ears and a tail, makes a metallic roar at the noise and starts tottering over curiously to see what happened. Mai follows, hanging back a little.]

...Do you need help.

[foolishjustice]

[Well, that...crashing noise is ominous. Goro comes hustling over to try to pick Akira up and away from the broken glass.]

Be careful, you could cut yourself on that.

[nojohnyouare]

[Mai spends the early part of the party in an adorable rabbit costume. Bear-san is wearing a little set of ears and a cotton ball tail instead of his usual bear suit, and hey, he hasn't managed to remove them yet. If you see inside the hood, her neck seems weirdly discoloured, a few shades lighter than the rest of her and smeared; anyone who knows makeup will recognize it as a clueless amateur's attempt to cover up the claw scars.

She comes in with some kind of tomato spice cake decorated to look like a pumpkin, which she sets down on a table, and looks around.]

The decorations... Good.

[foolishjustice]

[Goro's outfit for the evening is a feathered corset over black leggings and a sleeveless, white shirt. Heels and a mask complement the costume, along with black crow wings, painted nails that are much longer than they were yesterday, and various bits of shiny, silver jewelry. Her hair has gone black to match, she's wearing dark purple lipstick, and her eyes even seem somewhat redder than they normally are.

Even after setting up the party, her energy is visible at a glance. She almost constantly has a plate of food or something to drink as she wanders around the room, particularly keeping an eye out for anyone who looks lonely. Anyone, however, might find the host walking up to them to ask how they're enjoying the party so far.]

[have_hat_will_travel]

[Pidonus Marasia's costume of choice for the first part of the party is a Samurai-inspired, slightly armored number that is almost assuredly out of her normal proficiencies... And that'd be without the fact that the katana is literally a paper prop.

Still, she can move pretty much freely, and she's going from place to place all over. She is likely sampling many of the foods... Except the marked ones.]

Mmm... A nice setup, for sure, I think.

[Maybe join her?]

[ninjabanish]

[Alice arrives at the party, mostly because she's confused by what all this is. But she's not one to turn down free food, and she's quite fond of festivals she's seen in the world...

But, well. On one hand, someone didn't get the memo for costumes. So Alice is here in her daily wear. Fortunately, her daily wear is costume enough, though she at least has foregone the mask.]

... What is being celebrated here...?

[she's looking lost. help.]

[hairpincurves]

[The female Akira has, quite possibly, been vibrating throughout the station for the past week and it's only intensified as the party's gotten closer. There's a bounce in her step as she helps set up for the party, certainly looking the part for setting up in a butler suit, with her hair tied back with a red ribbon.

(Most notably, there's a small section of food at one table, labeled with a sign that says "HIGH SPICE TOLERANCE ADVISED"...)

When the party itself is in full swing, she'll be bouncing around to chat with guests, usually with a plate of food in hand.]

[wearmyface]

Seems some aesthetics are universal. Just as too much food is.

[She's honestly impressed- save for the unrealistic blood and gore. That part earns more than it's fair share of disgusted looks, as if she's just been personally insulted. Though she keeps quiet about it- She did say she'd try and keep the peace. Complaining about the decor would probably go against that.

Costume-wise, Vos's shown up in this with boots and arm-warmers formed from her armour and is willing enough to stick around and try the food. Which ends up being mostly pumpkin pie and caramel apples- and more than a few spider hotdogs.

At some point before 10pm, she can be found leaning against a wall with a cup of black tea, far away look in her eyes as she plays with her dogtags and the gold Decepticon symbols attached.]

[blessedprotector_rising]

[Clair is absolutely in her element and it shows in how relaxed and open she is. She's not so much wearing a costume as she is her wetsuit/Gym outfit (completely with cape), though her pokeballs are very much absent. Anyone with a keen eye might notice the orb at her throat is very real and not fake.] It's nice to see all the work pay off.

[She's also going around with her station upgraded pokegear taking pictures- and very much asking before any snaps are taken.] Care for a picture or two?

[coagmentatio]

[ He's not wearing the average kind of costume, possibly. He doesn't know much about Halloween, beyond what Goro and a few others have told him - that it was originally intended to scare...

And it was that train of thought that is probably to blame for the kind of costume he came up with: A large black shirt with something hand-painted onto it. He's wearing a thin, black hoodie underneath the shirt, the hood pulled up to conceal most of his face. His pants and boots are even black, making it so he'd blend in pretty well in the dark.

... That chart was actually painted very well, though, which surprised him a little, given how little time he spent on it. But, with how much practice he's had lately, maybe his long-term efforts are finally paying off!

For those who are curious as to what the hell he even is, he will tell them... ]

Element of Surprise.

[fistsofchange]

[Lin was able to hunt down a fairly standard magician costume for herself, complete with the fake beard. She wasn't really familiar with Halloween, but she had gathered that the concept was to dress up as something that you found a little spooky, and...magic, man. Fuckin' magic.

There doesn't seem to be any kind of main event so far, so she's mainly just focusing on snacking, chatting, and occasionally threatening to curse your destiny.]

[tomatowizard]

[Samata had eventually hunted down a mermaid costume, though for some reason she had seen fit to include devil horns and a pitchfork with the costume. She had a glass of fruit juice, much to her disappointment but apparently people here held Views about excessive alcohol, and was honestly kind of wallflowering.

It wasn't that she didn't like parties, but she still felt like she didn't have a lot of friends here, and there wasn't a dance floor or some other obvious main activity. At least the costumes were interesting.]

[whitemoontiger]

[ At some point, Atsushi does wander into the party wide-eyed as he stares at the decorations. He'd thrown together some vague attempt at a costume. The sleeves are ripped at the elbows and at the knees to make the pants look more like shorts, but the most notable are the pair of fluffy white tiger ears atop his head, along with a matching tail and the fact that his limbs past his elbows and knees definitively weren't very human right now.

Considering he's never dressed up for Halloween before, it's not the worst attempt ever. He'd only decided to use his ability this time to add effect for the costume itself more than anything.

He can be seen soon enough with a plate bearing some pumpkin pie, though having some issues using his - for now - much larger hand to hold a tiny fork so he can eat. All while his tail sways back and forth absently, expression set into concentration as he focuses on trying to handle things so he can try this.

After all. It's his first time getting to eat any, after all. ]

[daughterofthemark]

[Arianna has heard that witch costumes are traditional for Halloween, and she's come up with something that might have been the result of a tagging coincidence.

She's oddly... absent? Even setting aside the portion of the party where she's actually absent, she's much quieter than usual and seems to spend a lot of time absently picking at her food. Not to the point that it interferes with cheerfully greeting everyone she sees or anything, but it is noticeable if you've been here for a while.]

[dubiouslychthonic]

[She'd feel silly showing up without even trying to dress up, if that's what kind of event this is, but... it's been a long time since Jetshard's had reason to wear a costume - unless you count "convincingly passing for olive or teal," which isn't really the same thing, she doesn't think. She's not really sure what kind of thing is appropriate for this sort of event - or for that matter what kind of thing is appropriate around middle schoolers. That'd be... what, five-sweep-olds?

In the end, she goes with grey paper fins taped to the sides of her face, along with something on the more formal end of her usual practical apparel and a pair of purple-lensed sunglasses she'd picked up in the city. Not the world's most convincing seadweller, but it's not like she's actually trying to fool anyone. Actually, she feels a little safer not trying to fool anyone with this particular disguise, as much as she knows no one here would actually take offence at her dressing up so up-spectrum.

She can't help chuckling a little at the spread of refreshments - some of the human recipes wouldn't look entirely out of place on a troll smorgasbord. And she's certainly not shy about helping herself to the actual troll food. The stuffed grubs might be a little clumsily executed, but they're recognizable and appreciated.]

[byanyother_name]

[Kurama is actually missing for part of the earlier hours of the party, but not anywhere near all of it. His costume only makes the brilliant red of his hair stand out even more against all the black. He keeps half an eye on the food and decorations, just to make sure nothing goes wrong, but mostly he is enjoying himself and wandering the room.]

[bestburied]

[Tired as she's been lately, there's next to no chance that Kurumi would miss this party. Throw in that she's been feeling good enough to stand for limited periods over the last few days, and yeah, she's there.

Unfortunately, she's not exactly capable of throwing together a last minute costume in her condition - you'll all just have to deal with sweat pants and a hoodie. She has, however, pinned one of the bat decorations up near her collar, so she's at least a little festive. There's another hooked to the handle of the shovel slung over her back.

As for what she's doing?

... She's mostly eating up that delicious food, especially the sweets and anything with real and not-stuffed-with-preservatives fruit, vegetables, and meat. Can't stop the apocalypse survivor from her noms.

Later in the evening, as she grows more tired, she eventually retreats back to her wheelchair, and leaves a good while before the adultier side of the party gets going.]

[founderinglight]

[It's, perhaps, not exactly a costume, but Izunia's about in his full regalia - a sight recent arrivals have no doubt not seen before, because he is, after all, retired. Tonight, however, the Founder King in all his extremely goth finery is out and about, black from head to toe save a blue cravat in place of his usual scarf. All the detailing, however, is in gold - and there's quite a lot of it, appropriately royal even with the lack of a crown.

It's easy enough to take the whole ensemble for some sort of pirate or musketeer, however, with the coat, boots, and especially the feathered hat that tops it all off. In addition to the huge black chocobo plume, there's the skull of some kind of bird - a crow, in fact, if you're familiar enough with birds - attached to the hat.

For the most part, he just drifts through the party, keeping an eye out for shenanigans - he's here for peacekeeping as much as to enjoy himself, and will be here well into the night. Still, there's not much that isn't eye-catching about a Lucis Caelum striding about in the full royal black, is there?]

[theosophomoric]

[Halloween is a popular holiday in Fallen London, and though many of the Hallowmass celebrations Sonja loves most are unique to the city - the darker fetes, the collection and exchange of confessions - she's not exactly disappointed by the festivities here, either.

To be perfectly honest, she's repeated her costume theme from the year before, but it's not like anyone here is aware of that, or aware that the hair-pin mounted rat ears and drawn-on whiskers are a less ambitious version than the ornate rat mask she'd worn last October in the Neath. There's no need for the kind of identity-concealing masks she used back in London here, anyway, and her manner is bright and friendly, offering a cheerful smile to friends, acquaintances, and strangers alike.]

After 10

[foolishjustice]

[After 10PM, everyone under sixteen is shooed out of the party. From that point on, alcohol is allowed on a BYOB basis (with a note that anyone found outright drunk will be asked to leave), and more intimidating or risque costumes or music are allowed. They are, however, still expected to fall short of outright explicit.]

Re: After 10

[have_hat_will_travel]

[Not long after the younger guests are shooed out, Pidonus slips off herself...

Only to reappear, on top of a table, clad in a playboy bunny outfit with a guitar in hand. Unlike the image, it's actually an acoustic guitar, which she promptly begins to noodle on with a smile on her face... And, to the surprise of few who had heard her play, amazing skill. She does not, however, choose to sing - not yet, at least.]

[wearmyface]

[Vos eventually wanders back in dressed in white halter with an underbust slit (and several smaller side slits, and - yea. She's made her armour into a bikini bottom that's edging on the more risque side. She does tug at the top sometimes with a look of displeasure, but it fits and it's the best she could do on short notice.

While she has a (small) bottle of energon with her, she's not above trying some of the alcohol, assuming she can get her hands on a glass.]

Closed to Goro

[blessedprotector_rising]

[While she'd left the party a little before ten, she does make a re-appearance at some point. But it's not for fun.

No, she makes a bee-line right for Goro.] Akechi-san? May I ask something?