( open ) I'll wear your colors til you come back home to me

[dothelokimotion]

Who: Everyone!
What: Masquerade Ball
When: 17th of October
Where: The Opherium
Content Warnings: N/A

[ Much like Loki's last party-venture, this is set up very much in the same vein. a large ballroom for dancing needs. Tables and waiters passing around hors d'oeuvres and drinks. At the entrance of the ball room, there’s a fancy mask waiting for you if you don’t have one already. There’s a strict dress code for the event this time and Loki expects everyone to dress accordingly.

The masks also have a spell attached to them. They’ll afford you complete privacy. No one will recognize you under the mask. Unless, of course, you take it off and let them know. Perfect for the party guest who may want to indulge without causing a fuss. Hit up a partner and see where the evening takes you.

This event wouldn’t be complete without candy, of course. There are candies arranged on the tables in all types and colors. In front of them is a small description regarding each kind of candy. Be sure to read them carefully, as Loki has added a little . . . extra to the sweets, to give them a little . . . zing. ]

🍫 White Chocolate: For those who needs a little honesty ( truth effect )

🍷 Alcoholic Chocolate: For those who need to loosen up ( slight aphro effects, please mark headers accordingly and communicate! )

🍬 Sour Candy: For those who are tired of being nice ( shorter tempers )

🍓 Fruit Candy: For those who need to open up ( increased generosity )

If you have a question or comment to direct at the host, Loki is by the entrance dressed in red and gold with a mask to boot. he’s instantly recognizable, compared to the masked attendees. ]

Welcome.

Comments

[doctopoda]

Oh, yes, hats off to that.

[OTTO THIS IS THE REAL REASON YOU CAN'T MAINTAIN A SECRET IDENTITY]

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

[ LOOK, HE'S TALKING TO THE ONE PERSON IN CENTRAL CITY WHO IS 100% COMPLETELY FOOLED BY FLIMSY DOMINO MASKS, it'll probably take another dad joke or two to raise suspicions! ]

Now we just have to make sure that giant chandeliers don't catch on too, that could be problematic.

[doctopoda]

Loki's got a few of those in his theatre, too. I tried to warn him!

[Which didn't go great because he didn't get the reference, but HEY this person does!]

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

Honestly, knowing Loki - the Medium-Sized version at least, I'm not super familiar with the older, fancy one who owns the theatre, and I'm pretty sure the little one hasn't seen Phantom - he probably enjoys the potential for drama.

[ Note to self: if Phantom of the Opera is somehow a multiversal constant, pester Medium Loki into taking Little Loki to the show! ]

[doctopoda]

I don't know any of them well...but that does sound right.

[LET'S DO PHANTOM, OTTO'D GO! and probably be really emotional about it for dead wife reasons but you know, that's really neither here nor there]

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

I'm pretty sure Lokis having a flair for the dramatic is a universal constant. Dude would one hundred percent be into Phantom, the one from my universe probably has a whole Broadway subscription set up.

... Man, I haven't seen Phantom since I was like ten, does he start throwing fireballs at one point? Was that a thing?

[ if you're on vacation in NY for the first time, and your parents take you to a fancy broadway show, you're either gonna see Phantom or CATS, it's practically law! ]

[doctopoda]

Oh, yes, that happens. There's a fair amount of fire. Must be why it's such a hot ticket.

[we're on a ROLL]

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

... Waitaminute.

[ THE DAD JOKES HAVE REACHED CRITICAL MASS!! Doreen squints up at him, and then flicks her mask up. ]

Who am I talking to?

[doctopoda]

[...hold the fuck ON! Otto's eyes widen behind his mask (and his glasses which I've only just realized he must also be wearing awkwardly over the mask or something, don't worry about it).]

That is remarkable! [How did he not see her whole entire tail before? Did he see it and simply not consciously register it? The actuators didn't, either, and that has some very interesting implications! He glances around - no one is really looking their way.] Here, look at this.

[It will, he assumes, be a similar effect for her as he lifts his own mask, a claw nimbly removing and replacing his glasses. Giant tentacles phase into being!]

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

Oh dang!!

[ Man, these things work insanely well! How did she not notice the squad?! ]

... Okay, yeah, we have to either bribe Loki or figure out a way to reverse-engineer these things, holy crap.

[doctopoda]

[Otto laughs, slipping his mask back on. It doesn't re-disguise him from Doreen, now that she knows, but at the least it puts the glamour back on for everyone else.]

I only came for the opportunity to try it out for the night - I never thought it would work this well! You know, a friend of mine has been working on something similar for me. I'll let you know when he finishes it.

[They're in similar straits, so a similar approach ought to help them both, right?]

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

[ Doreen cranes her neck to look at the actuators... or at least, where the actuators were a second or two ago! ]

Has anyone bumped into the Squad? It's one thing to make them invisible, but it's another to have people unconsciously walk around them!

[ She examines her own mask for another moment or two before popping it back on. Once again, she's back in incognito-mode! ]

Oh yeah? Is your friend doing a tech-based thing, or a magic thing like this?

[doctopoda]

Not yet, but we've been careful.

[In theory, the actuators are fairly good at ducking and weaving! That's fine for one night - but it's also liable to throw Otto off-balance if it happens too suddenly, and he finds that having them on high alert for long periods is sort of mentally taxing for him. It's not sustainable.]

Maybe I should test it...that's most of what Balthier and I have been working on, recently, getting people to walk around them like that. He uses magic, too.

[Though they at least test it on David, instead of Otto just sticking his invisible arms in front of random people at a party.]

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

[ Doreen has it easier in that respect; if anyone gets close enough to accidentally bump into her tail, then they're already inside her personal bubble, whereas Otto's bubble is much bigger and more volatile! ]

Dude, take notes on tonight! See if anyone notices them, it's not exactly a controlled environment, but it's the closest you're gonna get to a random sampling of people!

[ she is 100% in favour of sticking them in front of random people in a party, as long as he doesn't trip up a conga line or something. For science! ]

How's your friend's thing been working out so far? Any luck?

[doctopoda]

It's been going fairly well! We're testing that part, actually, the subconscious awareness. Not in public, not quite yet...

[Though it's certainly a testing stage they'll have to proceed to at some point! Otto eyes a few nearby people, considering, then jokes:]

You're not gonna turn me in for tripping people at a fancy party?

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

Naaah. Besides, it's a Loki party, if he's anything like the others, I think he'd consider those kinds of invisible shenanigans a bonus.

[ He would probably be sitting in the rafters somewhere, eating popcorn and watching the chaos unfold! ]

I hope your dude's thing works out, it'd make things a heck of a lot easier.

[doctopoda]

It really would. Especially in Excelsior - though we're actually thinking about moving to Central.

[Idly reaching out in an attempt to get someone to walk into his arm...]

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

Oh, snap, really? Has Excelsior gotten worse? More to the point, do you guys need any help moving? Seriously, I can carry a ton of stuff.

[ Super strength comes in handy with moving furniture! Her eyes follow the actuator as it goes; you can practically hear the Jaws theme! ]

[doctopoda]

Oh, yes. If it were only me, I might just put up with it - [he can't say it wasn't sort of earned] - but the kids shouldn't have to deal with that kind of thing.

["The kids"? Otto takes a second to process what the hell he just said. And then just decides not to unpack it!]

I'll let you know. I'm not too shabby at moving myself, you know.

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

[ "The kids!" Nevermind the fact that Doreen's pretty sure Otto considers everyone under 25 a kid, she's met the Peters (or 'Pete and Pete' as she's mentally labeled them, Doreen was big into Nickelodeon reruns as a kid), so she's pretty sure she knows who he's talking about, and omg that is adorable, she can't hide a grin. ]

Yeah, you and the squad are practically a one-man moving crew, but it never hurts to have extra people, especially if you're moving a whole household's worth of stuff.

[doctopoda]

[Otto ignores the grin! We are not discussing it!]

True. Especially with everything from the workspace... [Ugh. He considers that for a moment before waving a hand.] Of course, I'll let you know. We're not going into Guild-associated housing again, so it should be alright for you to help.

[The Peters have been fine living in their current place while unaffiliated, but they also don't make a habit of showing off their superpowers in public areas of the building!]

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

[ heehee hoohoo! ]

Oh yeah, I can go stealth! Last time I moved I labeled our boxes so that it looked like they were packed full of really light stuff. That way I could carry a bunch of 'em at once without anyone getting weirded out or suspicious.

[ It... mostly worked, largely because New York is already so damn weird that seeing someone carrying several large cardboard boxes labeled 'helium balloons' and 'single napkins' barely draws attention, but Doreen is about as good at hiding her powers (minus the tail) as she is at hiding her secret identity. ]

[doctopoda]

Ah! Clever.

[Yeah you know he doesn't know what he expected!]

I've got a few places I'd like us to go and tour in the next week or two. Hopefully the timing doesn't run up against any new disasters.

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

[ She beams! Yes, it was a clever ruse, thank you for noticing! ]

The really wild stuff tends to happen around the beginning and end of each month, you're probably fine if you aim for the middle somewhere. Oh, and holidays! You should probably avoid the holidays, someone is definitely gonna try to mess things up around Halloween and Christmas. Maybe even Thanksgiving, although if there's a turkey-themed bad guy out there, frankly I would love to meet them.

[doctopoda]

Mmmm. [He grumbles a little, not particularly enthused at the reminder of the encroaching holidays.] You're probably right. Always happened like that back home too, now I think of it.

[Not that either of them did it intentionally, but wasn't the whole Green Goblin thing around the same time of year as Otto's own breakdown?]