gooseberryhigh | 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!

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That earned a bright laugh from Gwen. "Jerk," she said, affectionately. "Fine, you've just locked yourself in as a Spanish tutor, because apparently I have to learn enough to be able to properly read poetry." Her fingers closed around his, as he took her hand, and looked towards where the other students thronged on the dance floor. This was fun, more fun than she had expected. Nervousness started to give way to genuine interest. In the end, a good idea that she'd said yes to his question.

"I'd love to dance," she answered, glancing back to him with a cheeky smile. "If it's acceptable, that is. Can't be dancing with some stranger that I don't know."

“I guess we’re not complete strangers anymore.” Webster smiles at the true statement. “But I do want to keep learning about you.”

It’ll have to wait until later, though. He gives Gwen’s hand a squeeze and moves towards the floor, excited to dance with his date.

“I’m glad we decided to go together! At the very least to cross it off our Gooseberry bucket list,” he calls in her direction, unsure if his words reach her ears amid the noise, but happy nevertheless to be with her among the crowd of dancers.

Edited 2017-12-19 15:58 (UTC)

Gwen loved dancing, and it had definitely been too long. It proved a little strange to be dancing among a sea of masked people, and she had to keep reminding herself that they weren't all unknowns, that she was surrounded with her Ribbonfins, and her classmates, her friends. It even felt odd to be dancing with Webster when she couldn't really see him, but among all the others there, right at that moment, he felt more familiar, and it was easier to focus on him and not see anyone else.

"I'm glad, too!" she called back, pitching her voice a little differently to carry through the noise. "What made you want to ask me, though? I couldn't figure that out."

Webster looks at the dancing bee in front of him. She's kind. She's understanding. She would be okay with the truth. Right? That Lilika was the one sent the candy gram from Webster. She would get it. She'd believe Webster when he said he would have done it but Lilika went behind his back and did it before he could. She'd laugh and agree that at the end of the day, they're just happy they're here now dancing.

But instead all that comes out when Webster opens his mouth is: "You couldn't figure it out??"

Webster throws the question back at her, trying to make it sound ridiculous. "Um, you're sweet and thoughtful and beautiful. Also, you're apparently one hell of a dancer! Do you like fishing for compliments? Because I can keep going." He gives her a big, genuine smile.

He just couldn't risk this moment. This really nice, very good, wonderful moment.

"I'm a Ribbonfin, don't we all love fishing?" Gwen answered, with an honest laugh. She'd shaken her head at first, truly mystified at the question, but he followed it with lavish compliments that made her smile. He was definitely exaggerating, but she got the point. What did it really matter, right? They were there and it probably shouldn't factor how that came about.

"But thanks," she added, her smile sheepish underneath the edge of the mask. "I guess I can't believe we never really talked before! You should have come to Gooseberry sooner." On the heels of that thought, she asked, "Do you miss it? Beauxbatons? I hear so many nice things about it."

"Beauxbatons is a great school. Smart people. Driven. Everyone is very polished and put together." Webster raises an arm and twirls Gwen, because it's fun and feels electric to move in sync with one another, but also as if to say, Looky here: a good, fancy Beauxbaton boy.

"But it wasn't right for me."

He spins her back to his body and dips her playfully before breaking back apart. "I mean, I fit in there, but I couldn't really let loose. Or, I couldn't let myself let loose. Gooseberry seems better for that." He laughs at himself, "I mean, you would know better than me. Do you feel like you can be you? Have you found your people here?"

He looks at her and wishes they were done with the masks. "And, it's my fault we didn't talk before. I'll try to be better about it next semester," he says and means it.

Gwen wasn't prepared for the twirl or the dip, and she laughed with a mixture of surprise and delight at both. That was certainly put together. "Now who's one hell of a dancer?" she quipped, as he released her. Perhaps it was just easier to impress a Gooseberry girl, she had to admit, amused. She certainly didn't hold a candle to the Beauxbatons girls she had met.

"I think I have found my people here." It was said a bit softly for the music around them, but she was close enough that she knew he could hear her. "I think I would be me no matter where I went, but here, it's not difficult to be me. The students in Ribbonfin...I trust them so much. They are like family." She'd said as much to all of them before, so this was no revelation. Gwen loved all of them. "My first year here, though....it was really hard. I felt like I didn't belong." Enough time had passed since then that the sting was gone, but she recalled how lost she felt. "And I struggled a lot. I'm glad that's all behind me."

She had to smile at the promise. "Isn't it on me, since I'm the oldtimer here and you're new? I should have been more involved."

"You're so right. This is on you. I should be furious," Webster 'scolds,' as he dances a few inches closer to her.

"I don't like imagining your first year being hard," he says softer. "It's difficult to imagine, too," he adds. He pauses for a moment. "As hard as it is, I'm learning to appreciate those tough times. Because if I haven't experienced lows, how could I appreciate the highs?" He's speaking generally, but the line could certainly apply to this moment.

It's a ~~very~~ silly, cliche thought nevertheless and Webster feels a bit self-conscious. Luckily just then an up-tempo number comes on.

"Oo! This is one of my favorites!" They separate and Webster breaks out his go-to moves and encourages Gwen to go wild, too.

She found it easy to be around him, to laugh at his jokes and strive to come up with a retort as good. This time, he got her, so Gwen had to concede defeat with a mock, "You should."

It would have been simple to protest it's easy now for me to imagine but that was too serious for a first dance, a fun night out. So she forgot about the past, and just enjoyed dancing with him. Turns out, a Ribbonfin could do wild pretty damn well.

Edited (oh god bring out the Elaine) 2017-12-21 02:32 (UTC)

WINTER MASQUERADE

Gwen and Webster

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Gwen and Webster

Gwen and Webster

Gwen and Webster

Gwen and Webster

Gwen and Webster

Gwen and Webster

Gwen and Webster