(no subject)

[nolitangere]

annie's engagement party

and jack is here too!

setup

Welcome to Jack's twisted mind... Of fun!

As they planned, Jack will be asking ANNIE SONG to marry him. But not as they planned, he's throwing her a surprise engagement party, because he loves complicated little schemes. Bonus points if he can increase the likelihood of the situation blowing up spectacularly in his face. Please handwave Jack inviting your character to this—assume he just liberally tossed out open invites for a general start of the summer party today. Nobody knows this will be Annie's engagement party but him, CRYSTA WALDINGER, EVAN FINCH, and RAINE RILEY (bet you weren't expecting those three names together, huh?).

Party hours: Noon to six in the evening.

Party venue: Jack reserved a room (with a little bit of outdoor patio space) at the Rec Center. After studying the ancient texts (many Pinterest boards), Jack learned the art of decorating an area moderately nicely for cheap. He's very lucky he's living in a moment where people find wooden clothespins and twine charming. There are lots of yellow flowers (mostly peonies!) everywhere, both real and made of paper (shoutout to EVAN who helped Jack make the paper flowers), because that's pretty much the only visual motif Jack could easily pull from One Hundred Years of Solitude, Annie's favorite book. Yes, this is a themed engagement party. Yes, Jack has decided to be corny. Yes, you may debate him on whether the color yellow signifies good things or bad things in One Hundred Years of Solitude, just not now. Anyway, the vibes are nice, because he tried really hard and things that look clumsily made we call "rustic" these days.

Food: Somewhat themed. vanilla & chocolate ice cream (for the white wash and dirt Rebeca ate in the novel), canillitas de leche (for Ursula's milk candy), bruschetta-style asparagus (for Dr. Juvenal Urbino's obsession with asparagus), baba ganoush (for Fermina's hatred of eggplants), and then Jack gave up on themed food and got fruit and chips and fancy little cookies at the commissary, idk man.

Drinks: Beer, wine, canned cocktails, soft drinks, good ol' H₂O. Jack gave up on the theme two sentences ago.

party

Games:

Ring Toss With No Limits: bog standard ring toss (ring, get it?) with some of Jack's special rules, such as tossing while blindfolded, tossing while doing a handstand (with or without handstand assistance), and tossing with both hands tied behind your back (really throw that neck). His special rules are written on pieces of paper in a bowl by the ring toss—use them or not, he's not a cop. Also feel free to make up ridiculous rules.

Ask Me Anything: because Annie loves talking games. In this game, participants sit in a circle. Everyone takes a turn being "it." While you're it, everyone else in the circle is allowed to ask you ANY QUESTION. You may skip a question, but the penalty is taking a drink.

Find the Guest: with the help of the wonderful CRYSTA, Jack has obtained #facts about people attending. When you arrive, you will get a random, context-free fact about someone else at the party. Your mission is to find out who you've been matched with. The prize? Nine Hundred Quatruple Quatrople Dollars. Just kidding. The prize is a Thinking Monkey Statue Jack found at a garage sale in Colchester. Possibly cursed. **NOTE** If your character did not or was not able to supply a #fact but you'd like for them to participate, please Dropbox me a fact and we'll handwave it.

The Proposal: At 1:00, Jack will ask Annie if he can talk to her in a corner, and then pop the question. He's rigged things so Johnny Clegg's Dela will play as this happens. Why? Because: 1) Jack is trying to make all this look as real as possible; 2) he would actually like Annie to enjoy this to the extent she can; 3) he loves dying on the cross of committing to the bit. But also please don't look at him. And he thinks there's a 13% chance Annie will say "NO! AND NOW YOU'RE UNDER ARREST, BOZO! BOOK THIS CLOWN." and federal agents will rappel in and blast him.

After that's all done, the party will resume on as normal.

volunteer slots

TABY MCLEOD gets really into Ring Toss With No Limits and flings a ring in such a way that it catches perfectly on the drink VOLUNTEER 2 is holding. What is this, some kind of meetcute?

OPHELIA CARDENAL ROY decides they really, really like the asparagus bruschetta and starts to hoard it. VOLUNTEER 4 also really likes the asparagus bruschetta and is determined to get to the bottom of why it's disappearing faster than any of the other party foods—culminating in a The Departed-style showdown on the back patio.

VOLUNTEER 5 doesn't know what One Hundred Years of Solitude is about and decides to Google it. What the hell? Who'd throw a themed engagement party about this????

ZIRA BAILEY is hanging out on the back patio minding their own business, enjoying life, when they're beset by a fly. They try to swat the fly, but end up swatting the ice cream right out of VOLUNTEER 7's hands. Excuse you...

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Comments

AT THE PARTY

[nolitangere]

GAMES: RING TOSS

[nolitangere]

RING TOSS: EDEN

[littlehurry]

Eden is 100% confident she can handstand ring toss. 100%!!!! Attention, please.

GAMES: ASK ME ANYTHING

[nolitangere]

ASK ME ANYTHING: Minty

[exacutus]

Because talking games went so well for her last time <3

ASK ME ANYTHING: Lenz

[lenzpolzin]

Lenz is ready to drink and ready to shoot the shit with his fellow residents. There's really no downside to this game. Let's go.

ASK ME ANYTHING: Rory

[coulee]

He's more animated and talkative than normal, which can only be a good sign. ... Right?

ASK ME ANYTHING: Lou

[loudon]

He's there to support Rory but is (as always) awkward as hell.

ASK ME ANYTHING: Raine

[rainbowfish]

Oh cool, his personal hell.

Re: GAMES: ASK ME ANYTHING

[rafflesian]

Eureka wants to learn more about their co-workers but also might lie for fun. 🥰

ASK ME ANYTHING: Eden

[littlehurry]

"I'm drunk and I love wine!" Eden declares, practically falling into the circle.

ASK ME ANYTHING: Crysta

[beautyfull]

Okayyy so maybe to keep collecting facts she is gonna have to participate this time. Let’s talk.

ASK ME ANYTHING: Linus

[crawlwaller]

"AMA, baby!"

ASK ME ANYTHING: Dorin

[dorinlee]

Let's try this again! Dorin is a little nervous, but...this probably won't go as badly as last time, right? It was probably just those cards or a bit of bad luck, right?

ASK ME ANYTHING: Evan & Scrap

[hulled]

You're welcome to try asking her questions, but you're better off asking Scrap! Depending on if he likes your question (or your hair lol), you might get an acorn or piece of ribbon or who knows what else he's got hiding in her pockets.

ASK ME ANYTHING: Noah

[bubble_boy]

Noah doesn't normally play these sorts of games, but he's feeling like being a little weird tonight, much like this party.

ASK ME ANYTHING: Cole

[counterfake]

He figures they have some catching up to do, so. HERE HE IS.

GAMES: FIND THE GUEST

[nolitangere]

AT THE PARTY: Noah & Minty

[bubble_boy]

Though Noah had initially planned to not drink anything at this party, the proposal is just a little too much for his snarky little brain to handle without a bit of something in him. Only minutes after the proposal he's gotten himself his one allowed drink of the event (a watermelon White Claw) and now hovers around one of the tables, wondering if they're really going to stretch this party out until 6pm. His sips are sparing, and his expression is a little scrunched up, almost like he doesn't like his drink.

AT THE PARTY: Rory @ Researchers (OPEN++)

[coulee]

he's got his mission and he's tipsy enough to try and talk to people. it's been a weird week, let him live.

he's going up to everyone he can identify as a Researcher Who Doesn't Suck (so... any PC researcher) to ask:

"so like. what's the deal with pi?"

AT THE PARTY: Raine, preparing to bail (Open)

[rainbowfish]

Raine can't quite tell if he's imagining the shift in energy at the party or if everyone is a little manic and confused now, but either way, he can't stand it. He already didn't really want to be at a party today, and even though he knows that politeness demands he stay for another hour at least, he's seriously considering leaving. He's already been awkwardly lingering by the door for fifteen minutes, trying to decide if he should say goodbye to people or just dip, but he finds himself meandering over to the refreshments table. He'll have another drink and fancy little cookie, and then if the prospect of remaining at the party is still too much for him, he'll leave.

AT THE PARTY: Noah & Annie

[bubble_boy]

It's slowly starting to get later in the afternoon, and Noah isn't totally sure why he hasn't left yet. Maybe it's the snacks, maybe it's just the energy of the party, maybe it's because, begrudgingly, he kind of likes the decor. Regardless, he's still here, munching on cookies when he spots Annie. Stupid, stupid Annie.

"Hey!" he calls out instead of walking over to her.

AT THE PARTY, TELLING LIES (Open++)

[rafflesian]

"Ohh, I'm so excited Jack finally popped the question," gushes a drunk Eureka, who by now has convinced themself that Annie is getting married with Ulterior Motives and needs their help legitimizing this union in case the feds come knocking.

"They've known each other forever. In California, where we lay our scene."

Crysta+An Age Old Question (Open++)!

[beautyfull]

Confession: for someone who's lived in LA for most of her life, Crysta is not good at eating her veggies. Her mother touts smoothies and salads, and has since she was old enough to say fiber, but also Crysta has rebelled against that for just as long. So she really doesn't know the answer to Annie's very interesting question because she doesn't remember, quite, when the last time she ate asparagus was. So she's standing now in front of a plate full of green-laden toasties, fascinated. "...How much asparagus would it take to smell up some pee." She demands out loud, prepared to shuffle an unholy amount on to her plate and then into her mouth for science reasons. That's who she is now. Just an experimenter.

AT THE PARTY: Jack asks a question

[nolitangere]

At 1:00, Jack searches for Annie in the crowd.

When he spots her, she looks happy where she is, in animated conversation with a friend or someone she’s friendly with. He’s reluctant to disturb her like that—he’s reluctant to disturb the party at all. The thought occurs to him that he could slip out the door, get his cats, and leave everyone exactly as they are, with Annie smiling over her glass of white wine by the back patio.

But that would be wrong. Jack worries that Annie believes, out of the two of them, he’s the only one that needs protecting. Maybe because she thinks he’s the one that did it, he doesn’t know. But he doesn’t care about what happens to him. He cares about co-conspirator liability, the blueprints, the schedules, the maps, the things only she knew that she then shared with him.

And so it falls to him not to get caught—not for his own sake, but hers—and if he does, then it falls to him to keep her secrets. The bluntest, most effective way to do that is with the ring in his pocket. So Jack can’t leave, even if Annie looks happy exactly as she is.

He comes up behind her and moves as if to tap her on the shoulder, though he leaves a breath of space between, creating only the appearance of touch. “Sorry to interrupt,” he says. “Can I talk to you for a second, Annie?”