Gooseberry Mods (
goosemods) wrote in
gooseberryhigh2017-02-24 09:36 am
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Entry tags:
- ! ic/ooc,
- ariadne flint,
- clementine decourt,
- ennis harper,
- estella morales-tran,
- henrietta gray,
- irene lovelace,
- ivy templeton,
- jacob wood,
- jefferson key,
- jonathan wilde,
- laurel templeton,
- levi kramer,
- magdalen gillis,
- micah st. clair,
- nathaniel bird,
- philippa nightingale,
- ravinder dhaliwal,
- reece downing,
- riley stamper,
- robin youngblood,
- sun-mi choi,
- sylvester stoker,
- todd skynner,
- ursula de luca,
- wilhelmina tran,
- zoey valentine
MASQUERADE

MASQUERADE
Classes are not cancelled this afternoon, which leaves Event Committee scrambling after 3 PM to get everything in order in the Atrium. Students having dinner are given only 30 minutes before they’re ushered out past the privacy curtains again, since EC claims they need the cafeteria for a “special surprise.” At 7 PM sharp, the Atrium opens, and the Anonymity Charm activates.
Mardi Gras is the theme of the night, and the Atrium has been decorated all over in purple, green and yellow. Floor-to-ceiling backdrops are arranged along the walls, depicting a festive city street, and painted figures of masked performers tumble, juggle, swallow swords and perform magic tricks for the students. The ceiling is decorated with glimmering, stylized stars and a smiling silver moon, and multicoloured confetti falls continuously, vanishing just above everyone’s heads. Purple, green and yellow balloons are strewn across the dance floor, but will magically skitter out of the way so no one accidentally steps on one.
The refreshments table is the real star of the night, with a chocolate fountain surrounded by plates of various fresh fruits, marshmallows, caramels, cream puffs and cakes. A long table features treats styled after the theme, with mask-shaped cookies, cupcakes with edible beads, macarons in purple, green and yellow; glittery cake pops, and sprinkles on literally everything. (A few special treats have been set aside for vegan students, and Prospero will point to them.) At the far end of the table is an open bar adorned with feathers and colourful silk, where students can order mocktails from a menu. Isabelle Sargent, Ursula de Luca and Todd Skynner all volunteer to take shifts behind the bar for an hour (or two), and make conversation with their anonymous classmates while serving up drinks. A masked house-elf will always be present behind the bar, if no one wants to play bartender.
Step through the doors into the cafeteria and you’ll discover a stage has been set up with anonymous karaoke. Have you been too afraid to sing in front of your classmates? Now, if you perform badly, no one will know who you are, so get up there! This room is also popular for the MVSC photobooth in the corner, which automatically spits out a strip of four animated photographs for the low, low price of a half-dragot.
If you want a quiet moment, then the balcony is the place to go. The decorations out here are just as bright and glittery, but the little benches have comfortable purple, green and yellow cushions, and there’s bluebell flame lamps providing warmth and light on this chilly but romantic February night.
Staff is present and also wearing masks, but they aren’t using the Anonymity Charm, to make it easier for students to get help if there’s any trouble. Anyone who’s using anonymity to harass others will be given only one warning before they’re ejected from the dance. Observant partygoers will spot Dr. O’Hare on the arm of Mrs. O’Hare (appropriately, they’re wearing matching rabbit masks), but his partner, Agent Larke, is nowhere to be seen…
Just before midnight, Mr. Oakes presents an awe-inspiring fireworks show right above the lake. You can walk outside for the full view, but the backdrops will be taken down so you also watch from the tall windows of the Atrium. The last fireworks light up the sky at the stroke of midnight, when the Anonymity Charm ends.
» Setting Up: In the afternoon, Event Committee works on getting the Atrium looking its best. Event Committee has thrown up magically impenetrable curtains around the Atrium, so even students exiting dinner at 6:30 PM won't be able to see what they're working on.
» Before the Dance: Dress to impress! Do you let your friends see your mask, or are you hiding it until you get to the dance? The trails have been swept by Mr. Covington, to make it easy as possible for students get to the lodge. (He recommends wearing your boots, and changing footwear once you reach the lodge.) Doors open at 7 PM.
» Beginning of the Dance: Students are allowed into the Atrium and get to admire the decorations and everyone's masks. The music aims to get everyone dancing with a playlist that’s heavy on the jazz, ragtime and brass band. (~7:00 PM)
» Refreshments Table & Open Bar: Food and drinks are available all night, and there’s little tables, decked in colourful tablecloths, if you want somewhere to sit. Head to the bar if you want someone to mix a drink for you—all non-alcoholic, of course. (~8:00-11:00 PM)
» Anonymous Karaoke: Through the doors to the cafeteria is a stage with a karaoke setup. Can you guess which one of your classmates is performing? (~8:00-11:00 PM)
» Photobooth: In the corner of the cafeteria, you can take instant mementos of your night. Just insert a half-dragot coin, and strike a pose! Note that the Anonymity Charm does not work in photographs, so your pictures might give away your identity... (~8:00-11:00 PM)
» Balcony: The balcony overlooks the lake, and some students mingle out here to chat or appreciate the scenery. (~8:00-11:00 PM)
» End of the Night: The music winds down with some slower, romantic songs. Just before midnight, there’s a fireworks show. The charm immediately ends at the stroke of midnight, Cinderella. So either leave the dance by then, or stand around with everyone else to unmask and see who you’ve been talking to! (~11:00 PM-12:00 AM)
» OOC - Questions, comments, concerns!
Mardi Gras is the theme of the night, and the Atrium has been decorated all over in purple, green and yellow. Floor-to-ceiling backdrops are arranged along the walls, depicting a festive city street, and painted figures of masked performers tumble, juggle, swallow swords and perform magic tricks for the students. The ceiling is decorated with glimmering, stylized stars and a smiling silver moon, and multicoloured confetti falls continuously, vanishing just above everyone’s heads. Purple, green and yellow balloons are strewn across the dance floor, but will magically skitter out of the way so no one accidentally steps on one.
The refreshments table is the real star of the night, with a chocolate fountain surrounded by plates of various fresh fruits, marshmallows, caramels, cream puffs and cakes. A long table features treats styled after the theme, with mask-shaped cookies, cupcakes with edible beads, macarons in purple, green and yellow; glittery cake pops, and sprinkles on literally everything. (A few special treats have been set aside for vegan students, and Prospero will point to them.) At the far end of the table is an open bar adorned with feathers and colourful silk, where students can order mocktails from a menu. Isabelle Sargent, Ursula de Luca and Todd Skynner all volunteer to take shifts behind the bar for an hour (or two), and make conversation with their anonymous classmates while serving up drinks. A masked house-elf will always be present behind the bar, if no one wants to play bartender.
Step through the doors into the cafeteria and you’ll discover a stage has been set up with anonymous karaoke. Have you been too afraid to sing in front of your classmates? Now, if you perform badly, no one will know who you are, so get up there! This room is also popular for the MVSC photobooth in the corner, which automatically spits out a strip of four animated photographs for the low, low price of a half-dragot.
If you want a quiet moment, then the balcony is the place to go. The decorations out here are just as bright and glittery, but the little benches have comfortable purple, green and yellow cushions, and there’s bluebell flame lamps providing warmth and light on this chilly but romantic February night.
Staff is present and also wearing masks, but they aren’t using the Anonymity Charm, to make it easier for students to get help if there’s any trouble. Anyone who’s using anonymity to harass others will be given only one warning before they’re ejected from the dance. Observant partygoers will spot Dr. O’Hare on the arm of Mrs. O’Hare (appropriately, they’re wearing matching rabbit masks), but his partner, Agent Larke, is nowhere to be seen…
Just before midnight, Mr. Oakes presents an awe-inspiring fireworks show right above the lake. You can walk outside for the full view, but the backdrops will be taken down so you also watch from the tall windows of the Atrium. The last fireworks light up the sky at the stroke of midnight, when the Anonymity Charm ends.
HOW THIS WORKS
- Decorating the Atrium begins around 3:15 PM, and the cafeteria is cleared at 6:30 PM.
- Cocktail dress code. That’s party dresses and suits, but you won’t be dinged for getting too fancy or dressing slightly more casually. No jeans or t-shirts, though!
- The dance starts at 7:00 PM, and runs until around 12:00 AM. These are also the hours of the Anonymity Charm: the charm activates just as the clock strikes 7:00 PM, and only within the confines of the lodge and the immediate surrounding area, and permanently deactivates at midnight. If students don’t have a charmed mask of their own, a simple domino will be issued to them at the door.
- Anyone wearing a charmed mask becomes unrecognizable to those looking at them. You might have known a person by their voice, height, hair, skin, or lips, but now suddenly… you aren’t certain. This could be anyone.
- This effectively means that you can’t guess the identity of an individual by their physical traits. However, you might recognize them either from their speech patterns, or something they tell you.
- It’s easier to recognize people by their masks, but if you want your character to struggle with this as well, you may. (The same applies to clothing.) This means you might be at risk of losing track of your date if you come as a couple. This is up to individual players.
- Mr. Calderon-Boot has the power to take the charm away, though, so if you act in a truly horrendous manner or break a rule, you could still get caught. Not to mention that a lot of people will remember if the guy in the blue domino mask was being a total dick all night, and someone might later see it amongst your possessions.
- If you leave the dance, the charm deactivates until you return. If you remove your mask, the charm deactivates, but will reactivate once you put your mask back on.
» Setting Up: In the afternoon, Event Committee works on getting the Atrium looking its best. Event Committee has thrown up magically impenetrable curtains around the Atrium, so even students exiting dinner at 6:30 PM won't be able to see what they're working on.
» Before the Dance: Dress to impress! Do you let your friends see your mask, or are you hiding it until you get to the dance? The trails have been swept by Mr. Covington, to make it easy as possible for students get to the lodge. (He recommends wearing your boots, and changing footwear once you reach the lodge.) Doors open at 7 PM.
» Beginning of the Dance: Students are allowed into the Atrium and get to admire the decorations and everyone's masks. The music aims to get everyone dancing with a playlist that’s heavy on the jazz, ragtime and brass band. (~7:00 PM)
» Refreshments Table & Open Bar: Food and drinks are available all night, and there’s little tables, decked in colourful tablecloths, if you want somewhere to sit. Head to the bar if you want someone to mix a drink for you—all non-alcoholic, of course. (~8:00-11:00 PM)
» Anonymous Karaoke: Through the doors to the cafeteria is a stage with a karaoke setup. Can you guess which one of your classmates is performing? (~8:00-11:00 PM)
» Photobooth: In the corner of the cafeteria, you can take instant mementos of your night. Just insert a half-dragot coin, and strike a pose! Note that the Anonymity Charm does not work in photographs, so your pictures might give away your identity... (~8:00-11:00 PM)
» Balcony: The balcony overlooks the lake, and some students mingle out here to chat or appreciate the scenery. (~8:00-11:00 PM)
» End of the Night: The music winds down with some slower, romantic songs. Just before midnight, there’s a fireworks show. The charm immediately ends at the stroke of midnight, Cinderella. So either leave the dance by then, or stand around with everyone else to unmask and see who you’ve been talking to! (~11:00 PM-12:00 AM)
» OOC - Questions, comments, concerns!
Wilde & Saira
Wilde is still looking at this person as if he could tell who they were. Maybe he can? He wonders how familiar he seems, and reaches up to brush his hair out of his eyes.
"I mean, teetotaler billionaires who really like cupcakes." Except he's been avoiding the refreshment table, and he still has that touch of tipsy that won't go away no matter how much he dances with Robin.
"Are you in Astronomy?" He asks, after a moment.
Re: Wilde & Saira
The question makes her chuckle and shake her head. "Ah, ah, ah. If we're going to play twenty questions, this all becomes rather dull. Doesn't it?"
For her part, she has no idea who she's speaking to. It's strangely exciting.
Wilde & Saira
"I was going to say -- if you do happen to be in Astrology, the sky's perfect tonight." Canis Major and Minor, Taurus the bull. "Clear."
The way this person talks makes him feel kind of nervous, but in a good way. Actually, kind of a really familiar way.
Re: Wilde & Saira
Anonymity is oddly seductive as an opportunity.
"It certainly is a lovely night for stargazing," she concedes. "Is that what I've interrupted you doing?"
Wilde & Saira
Wilde is saying more than he usually would. Apparently, too, he is far more honest with his words when his face isn't attached to them.
"And... I needed the air. I guess." He waves a hand at the entrance back to the party. Voices and music drift through. "There's a lot going on in there. You could, um... Wanna join me?"
Re: Wilde & Saira
"I do, " she says, almost impulsively. That's a new feeling. She very, very rarely does impulsive. She did it during bonding and felt off and guilty about it for days. Though not too guilty. The Library is far more useful than bonding anyway. "Where else will I learn medieval nicknames for the stars? Unless I am in Astrology after all."
Wilde & Saira
Wilde moves over, implying that the girl should come and stand near him by the railing. Now I have to think of more interesting sky stuff. Or maybe he could just make things up and see if she corrects him? It might be harder to pull something like that off on a couple shots of whiskey, but it's not like she'd know who to make fun of for it after tonight.
He points up at Aldebaran -- "so, Taurus' eye" -- then moves it to indicate Orion's belt. "Everyone knows Orion's belt, even if they aren't in Astronomy. Here's the rest of him, vaguely..." A hand gesture. "Anyway, turns out Orion was kind of a dick? He was the son of Poseidon, which is cool, and he does some other stuff that's interesting, but eventually he ends up on this crazy hunt with Artemis and threatens to kill every animal in the world, and he's so good at killing things that Mother Earth literally sends a scorpion to assassinate him instead of taking the chance."
Re: Wilde & Saira
Wilde & Saira
But does he actually want to know who they are? There's a question he hasn't asked himself yet. It's been kind of fun, though, just sort of letting this be whatever it is instead of warping it with his performative bullshit. There's a tiny voice in the back of his head that wishes this was what he was always like -- that he always felt so soft and just okay -- but that kind of thinking will absolutely not do right now, so he suppresses it. He looks at the girl and the silvery glint of her mask. Is she smirking at him? It's hard to tell where the line of her mouth points, exactly.
"It's kind of bullshit that it's sort of the hero but Orion is the constellation people care about, right? The gods are jerks."
"If you were up there," he nods at the sky again, conveniently swinging the hair out of his eyes, "what would you be? What's your legend?"
Re: Wilde & Saira
She glances back to the boy, head tilting in curiosity. "Go on. You clearly have your own thoughts on the matter."
Wilde & Saira
Hippocrates was no legend.
"There are enough dicks and animals up there," he jokes. "I'm not a classic. I'm just a kid who thinks he knows what he's talking about. Maybe one of those embarrassing retellings in a modern short story collection."
"But," Wilde continues, leaning slightly into the girl as he points into the stars again, "I'm also an Aries." The constellation doesn't look so much like a ram as just a solitary spine. "I always liked the story in Ovid, about Mars? Flora touches Juno on the belly with a flower, and then he just appears in there. The God of war and he has like the gentlest origins."
Re: Wilde & Saira
Wilde & Saira
"Constant stars (http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/14.html)," he quotes, "in them I read such art."
An easy smile. "... In context the line's about looking in someone's eyes, but yours are a little hard to make out."
Re: Wilde & Saira
Wilde & Saira
Wilde looks at her a little more closely, though it never exactly helps. My mask isn't terribly concealing, she says. He still couldn't tell the precise color of her hair to save his life. ... Black? Blue? ...
Anyway.
"Only the ones I like."
Re: Wilde & Saira
Wilde & Saira
"Nah. Zero for one, actually. Swing and a miss. I'll take those points, though."
He adjusts his mask, pushing the hair out of his eyes again. Maybe he should have slicked it back or something? Ought to remember to get this shit cut, finally. "Maybe. I bet it's easier than it might seem. Just disrupt the ability to make connections, like simulated face blindness. Then pair that with concealing charms and miscellaneous spellwork. Up the disorientation."
For the record, this girl's voice doesn't ring any bells -- but the way she forms phrases, maybe. Her head shake.
Re: Wilde & Saira
She's quiet for a few moments, thoughtful. "Magical face blindess," she echoes, visibly intrigued whether the face showing that interest is recognizable or not. "No, that sounds easier to do with a potion that a charm on the area. It could be done, obviously, but I doubt it's easier than it sounds." It's clear that she loves talking about this sort of thing: another giveaway.
Wilde & Saira
"You think so? I mean -- obviously it'd be easier for a bodily transformation -- but for a simple illusion? Not that it'sactually simple... You're right." It's a messy network of things, that much is clear. "Either way, I bet we could make an ethical claim for knowledge of the method. I suppose we implicitly agreed to be subject to it by even coming here, but it's not like we signed anything."
Wilde speaks with the confidence of a person with no second thoughts. This is probably because it's easy to feel extra confident when you have no idea who you're talking to, but he hopes it makes him seem very self-assured.
"... Now that I'm thinking about it, though, it's easy to assume the masks are central to the illusion, but I think they're more like receivers. Maybe the enchantment is on the general space, and the masks are charmed to bounce and amplify it."
Re: Wilde & Saira