goosemods: (Outside - Lake.)
Gooseberry Mods ([personal profile] goosemods) wrote in [community profile] gooseberryhigh2017-12-17 09:45 am

WINTER MASQUERADE



WINTER MASQUERADE

The privacy curtains are erected in the Atrium as soon as lunch ends, and it's all hands on deck as Event Committee get ready to transform the Atrium. Students having dinner are given only 30 minutes before they're ushered out past the privacy curtains again, so the cafeteria can be claimed for a "special surprise." At 7 PM sharp, the Atrium opens, and the Anonymity Charm activates.

House-elves will take cloaks and coats when students arrive, and usher them past festive red curtains into a light-filled carnival. Yards of colourful fabric drape out from the center of the ceiling and fall all the way down to the floor, creating the illusion of a circus big top. Blinking holiday lights cover the walls, twisted into familiar designs: candy canes, evergreens, dreidels, green and red candles, etc. At different corners stand four tall trees decorated in honour of the four houses: one in plum and gold with fuzzy bear decorations, one in olive and copper with glass trout, one in azure and white with feathery jays, and one in orange and black with felt foxes. A mystery gift exchange is taking place by the trees, so come claim your present!

The dance floor is outlined with twinkling lights that magically strobe along with the music. Cheer captain Madison Ives has organized a dance spectacle opener with the help of the other cheer captains, and student band The Heretics are set to perform tonight!

The refreshments tables lining one wall features fair foods such as bagged popcorn (mixed with green and red M&M's), hot pretzels, candy apples, funnel cakes, corn dogs, french fries, cotton candy, and endless varieties of fizzy soda. (A few special treats have been set aside for vegan students. Prospero recommends the falafel on a stick.) Communal tables and chairs have been adorned with red-and-white-striped fabric, to give them a candy cane circus feel.

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 carousel-themed photo op, where you and a masked stranger can pose in front of seasonally appropriate mounts in the shape of a reindeer, a polar bear, a two-seat swan with holly and red ribbon around its neck, and a plastic Santa Claus inviting you to sit in his lap. Only once you've stepped up to the carousel mounts will you see the sprig of mistletoe hanging overhead. Event Committee volunteer photographers will take your picture, to be publicly posted later so you can guess who was posing with you!

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 red and green cushions, and there's bluebell flame lamps providing warmth and light on this chilly December night. From here, you can see the sleigh rides running just outside the lodge, within the sphere of the Anonymity Charm. These romantic magical sleighs seat up to three, and circle the lodge on a set track that takes you past trees also decorated with brilliant lights.

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 (1) warning before they're ejected from the dance. The same applies to a handful of MACUSA agents, in identical black masks and black robes, but they appear more interested in patrolling the dance than talking to anyone.

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.

CLICK HERE FOR ANONYMITY CHARM RULES

  • 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. Also, the charm also doesn't affect your sense of touch, smell or taste. (But please don't lick anyone to figure out their identity.)

  • 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. The effective area of the charm is the lodge and the area immediately surrounding the lodge, enough to cover the sleigh rides.

» Setting Up » Before the Dance » Beginning of the Dance » Refreshments » Mystery Gift Exchange » Anonymous Karaoke » Carousel Photos » Balcony » Sleigh Rides » End of the Night » OOC - Questions, comments, concerns!
beansontoast: (Default)

A catlike boy and a pink girl

[personal profile] beansontoast 2017-12-18 03:24 pm (UTC)(link)
London grins back at the invitation. Why not? She makes her way over, then hops up onto the railing without a second thought. She's not quite as perfectly balanced as her feline companion, but she doesn't pay a second thought to the possibility of falling. "I love the anonymous dance," she says, with excitement buzzing under her voice, barely contained, like she might squeal with delight over the least little thing.
bitterlysweet: (14)

A catlike boy and a pink girl

[personal profile] bitterlysweet 2017-12-18 06:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Spencer grins at the girl, dripping in pink, having the time of her life. It's infectious. Not that Spencer's been having a bad time. Far from it. Some people are just getting way more out of the whole thing than he is. Micah's earlier weirdness left a bad taste in his mouth, though. So far no not-so-mysterious strangers have found him to make good on Spencer's heavy handed flirtations, either.

"What do you love so much?" he asks, happy to let himself get caught up in whatever she has to say.
beansontoast: (Default)

Re: A catlike boy and a pink girl

[personal profile] beansontoast 2017-12-18 06:33 pm (UTC)(link)

"It's just like being Cinderella for the night, except we all get to be Cinderella!" she says. "I guess that's like, I don't know, childish or naive or whatever, but I don't care. It's romantic!" She kicks her feet, tapping the backs of her high heels against the banister. "It's just, like, a great night to find new love. Because you don't know who's who, and you don't have any of the stuff you thought you knew about them getting in the way, you know? You could be my best friend, or my worst enemy! I wouldn't even know!"

bitterlysweet: (105)

A catlike boy and a pink girl

[personal profile] bitterlysweet 2017-12-18 09:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Spencer nods along. It is kind of romantic. There are probably people out there getting their fairy tale reveals and falling into one another's arms. People who'd ordinarily never talk but found they had a spark. "So has anyone romanced you yet? Or visa versa?"
beansontoast: (Default)

Re: A catlike boy and a pink girl

[personal profile] beansontoast 2017-12-19 02:38 pm (UTC)(link)

She lets out a length sigh, a totally forlorn sound. "No. Not for lack of trying on my part!" she says. "I've been flirting all night! Good things come to those who bait, but no one's taking the bait! I mean, I'm not super surprised, though, the cards did say that tonight wasn't going to be very lucky for me. So, I figured I could help play cupid for other people." She turns to bat her eyelashes at him. "What about you?" she asks, totally prepared to aggressively flirt or aggressively matchmake, and excited for either outcome.

bitterlysweet: (88)

A catlike boy and a pink girl

[personal profile] bitterlysweet 2017-12-19 08:00 pm (UTC)(link)
"I've done my share of flirting, but y'know, it's all hit and miss. And I don't know who I'm flirting with, so if they're into me, how'm I going to find them again? They really are going to have to go all Prince or Princess Charming and hunt me down." Spencer shrugs. "Eh. Oh well. But hey!"

Suddenly he perks up again and offers the pink girl his arm. "No reason to spend your night on the sidelines just because love's not in the cards. Come dance with me."
beansontoast: (Default)

A catlike boy and a pink girl

[personal profile] beansontoast 2017-12-20 04:19 pm (UTC)(link)
London nods understandingly when he says 'hit or miss'. "Well, if you found anyone, you could rely on fate! Or, you could just take a picture with them." Her face brightens, even beneath the mask, when he asks her to dance. "Of course, Señor Gato!" she replies, taking his arm as she hops down from the railing they're seated on.