imaginist: (⚛️ mask)
dr. enoch waldinger ([personal profile] imaginist) wrote in [community profile] enodia_ic2023-10-27 02:50 pm

Halloween Masquerade

HALLOWEEN MASQUERADE
After more than a week of tight-lipped workers going in and out of the Rec Centre, Hall A finally opens its doors for the Halloween Masquerade. Everyone is permitted to attend as long as they're wearing a mask and following the dress code, and attendees all step into a lush shadowy space seemingly lit only by candlelight.

Black velvet-flocked damask wallpaper covers the walls, with heavy crimson silk draperies and candlelit wall sconces interspersed every few feet to bring a gothic warmth to the proceedings. (The Waldingers promise to restore everything back to normal later.) Gold-edged antique mirrors are hung at random, reflecting the unrecognizable faces and fantastical costumes. Candelabras and vases full of dark red roses adorn every table. As promised, there's food, an open bar, music and dancing. Enjoy yourselves.
PLAYLIST
MENU
SPECIALTY DRINKS
BLACK WIDOW MARTINI - Dark rum, dry vermouth and lime, rimmed with sugar and garnished with blackberries. An elegant choice.
EYEBALL SANGRIA - Red wine, brandy and pomegranate juice, with eyeballs made of lychee and frozen blueberries. Fun!
THE BLOOD BANK - A half-dozen plastic syringes filled with Bloody Mary, served on ice. Are you injecting these shots yourself, or will you share with a friend?
THE MINTY PAYNE - Sparkling rosé wine, blackcurrant liqueur and rose syrup, garnished with roses. Every time you order this, you must loudly wish Minty a happy birthday first.
FOOD
Silver trays of hors d'oeuvres are arranged on the buffet table, featuring a variety of tea sandwiches, canapés, crudités and desserts. Seasonally appropriate offerings include: pumpkin & brie crostini with candied nuts, ghostly apple blackberry hand pies, monstrous fried chicken sliders, and spider-webbed deviled eggs.
VOLUNTEERS
[Volunteer A] gets turned away at the door and is forced to rethink their entire costume, and also maybe their life. They're allowed back in the second time, even if they did nothing to change their outfit. Are the bouncers just rejecting people for fun?

[Volunteer B] thinks they see Director Riddle in a particularly scandalous getup, but it’s really [Volunteer C]. Too bad [Volunteer B] already told all their friends that their employer was definitely dressed as a [insert costume here].

Every time Linus Lowe looks into one of the party's many mirrors, they see a glowing entity lingering in the background—but no one's ever there.

The illusion emitter in [Volunteer E]'s mask starts malfunctioning, and they sidle up to [Volunteer F] without realizing that their identity is no longer obscured. Oops! Someone eventually comes by to give them a replacement mask, and an apology voucher for a free drink at the bar. (Wait, isn't it an open bar anyway?)

[Volunteer G] chugs their Eyeball Sangria too fast, and chokes on a lychee eyeball. Help! Luckily, [Volunteer H] steps in and performs the Heimlich maneuver to save them. Do they reveal their identity, or slip back into the party as an anonymous Good Samaritan?

Vidalia LaRoux accidentally knocks a candelabra off a table, right onto Maximilian Hart. Their clothing catches on fire, but only for about a minute. Turns out all those flames were illusions, and their clothes are totally unsinged. Whew!

[Volunteer K] swears that someone dressed up as a creepy Victorian child ghost keeps following them around the party. They point the semi-translucent ghost out to [Volunteer L], who says they don't see anyone. Wait, what? The ghost flees any attempt to approach them.

Okay, these illusions are excessive. Knowing that Enoch Waldinger's illusions disappear if you refuse to believe in them, Rufus Kearney concentrates hard on being a huge killjoy. For an instant, they see all of the illusions flicker out of existence, but the illusory costumes quickly reassert themselves once they're no longer concentrating.

[Volunteer N] and [Volunteer O] run into each other a record five times in the half hour they’re stuck in the hedge maze, like they’re old classmates at a grocery store. They decide to just embrace it, team up, and actually find their way out!
CLAIM A SPOT
mxpotatohead: (🛠️ 094)

An amorous jellyfish & a lost boy

[personal profile] mxpotatohead 2023-10-28 05:02 am (UTC)(link)
"As long as you ain't a hallucination—unless." Vidalia steps away from the hedge wall, distracted from their attempts at cheating a way out of this maze. "Do jellyfish got an innate sense of direction? 'Cause that'd be a bigger help."
emceed: MC Flores (025)

An amorous jellyfish & a lost boy

[personal profile] emceed 2023-10-28 05:10 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh, I gave up trying to get out of here ages ago." It was minutes ago, at most, but those Black Widow Martinis were not for the faint of heart or sober of mind. "And I'm pretty sure jellyfish just literally go where the currents take them. Why are you in such a rush to leave?"
mxpotatohead: (🛠️ 138)

An amorous jellyfish & a lost boy

[personal profile] mxpotatohead 2023-10-28 05:40 am (UTC)(link)
"Ain't that what we're supposed to be doing?" Because if not, then things are about to get super silly in here.
emceed: MC Flores (075)

An amorous jellyfish & a lost boy

[personal profile] emceed 2023-10-28 05:44 am (UTC)(link)
"Who cares about what we're 'supposed' to be doing?" MC asks, resting her umbrella between her ear and shoulder as she gives exaggerated finger quotes.
mxpotatohead: (🛠️ 091)

An amorous jellyfish & a lost boy

[personal profile] mxpotatohead 2023-10-28 05:53 am (UTC)(link)
This is a good point. Vidalia had not previously considered this point, and they put their hands on their hips to very seriously do so.

"What're you doin' instead then?" they ask after a beat.
Edited 2023-10-28 05:54 (UTC)
emceed: MC Flores (066)

An amorous jellyfish & a lost boy

[personal profile] emceed 2023-10-28 06:18 am (UTC)(link)
"Well, I'm definitely not lost and trying to pretend it's my choice to be here," MC says. She spins the umbrella handle back and forth and lets the glowing tentacles dance around her. "Honestly, I was hoping somebody would find me and sweep me off my feet."
mxpotatohead: (🛠️ 109)

An amorous jellyfish & a lost boy

[personal profile] mxpotatohead 2023-10-28 06:48 am (UTC)(link)
"How literal we talkin'?" Vidalia draws themself up to their full 5'3", squaring their shoulders and flexing their arms in a way that seems very dashing and handsome. "'Cause I am, like, super strong."
emceed: MC Flores (042)

An amorous jellyfish & a lost boy

[personal profile] emceed 2023-10-28 02:31 pm (UTC)(link)
It's still taller than MC's 5'2", and she looks 'up' admiringly. Did she mean literally? No, of course, but the idea of being carried out of the maze like a rescued princess is a fun one. "My hero," she teases. And then, more directly: "Wouldn't it be fun to make out in a spooky maze?"
mxpotatohead: (🛠️ 157)

An amorous jellyfish & a lost boy

[personal profile] mxpotatohead 2023-10-29 01:15 am (UTC)(link)
Vidalia has complete and total confidence in their strength, and they're pretty sure it's the way to impress this jellyfish. Which they kind of want to do right now?? "Okay that does sound like some fun." They pause. "Can I still pick you up?"
emceed: MC Flores (038)

An amorous jellyfish & a lost boy

[personal profile] emceed 2023-10-29 01:26 am (UTC)(link)
MC giggles tipsily, because this is sounding better and better. "Absolutely," she says, slipping closer and smoothing her dress to—try and make the pick-up a little easier, she supposes. (They'll have to contend with the umbrella and the tentacles, but MC doesn't seem to remember those kinds of silly logistics.)
mxpotatohead: (🛠️ 086)

An amorous jellyfish & a lost boy

[personal profile] mxpotatohead 2023-10-29 05:31 am (UTC)(link)
Heroically, Vidalia scoops up the other person without a problem, their mechanical arms handling them perfectly fine. It's their (still organic) legs and inner ear that take a second too long to calibrate, and they stumble backward, slamming into the bush wall behind the two of them.

But they're still standing!!! Just... at an angle now.

"Toldja I was super strong."
emceed: MC Flores (087)

An amorous jellyfish & a lost boy

[personal profile] emceed 2023-10-30 12:46 am (UTC)(link)
MC's delighted gasp morphs into a startled yelp as the pair stumble. She does not know how to ask this delicately, but neither does she want to be dropped or fall into some hedges. "Are you ... okay?"