clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here i am | open

[criminallysane]

WHO: Everyone! But especially you.
WHERE: Sprawling out from the backyard of De Chima #004
WHEN: Backdated to Saturday, July 13th, from noon until late in the night
WHAT: BLOCK PARTY!!!
WARNINGS: Contains peanuts.




It’s a hot, humid summer day, and just as promised, the Joker and Harley Quinn are throwing a block party in De Chima.

They’ve set up the bulk of their festivities on the lawn behind De Chima #004, but a party of this size can hardly be contained to just one backyard! The grill’s fired up, classic summery hits are playing from who-the-hell-even-knows-where, and people are enjoying yard games like cornhole and horseshoes as they munch on cookout chow. It all looks like a lot of fun—if you’re into that sort of thing—but not all of the attractions are as harmless as they seem.


Here To Get Lei’d?

When you first arrive, you’ll notice Harley slipping colorful leis around people’s necks. If you wander near her table and let her put one on you, she’ll offer you a few words of warning with it: “It’ll blow up if you try to take it off before the party’s over. Don’t worry, they’ll defuse once we say you can go. No, I’m being serious. I wouldn’t test it.”

She means it, too: Once that lei’s around your neck, you’re stuck at this party until the last firework booms. Try to leave any earlier, and you’ll get a truly explosive surprise!

(( Note: The leis are rigged with very small powder charges. They won’t seriously hurt your character if you activate them, but they will make quite a bang, and they'll cause burns if the charge happens to be against your character's skin when it blows. If you’d rather not deal with this, best skip Harley’s table while she's handing them out! ))


Eat, Drink, And Be Wary

Joker’s wearing an apron that says “Kiss the Cook!”, but fortunately for you, no one here has actually let him do any of the meal prepping. There’s a long table piled high with all the classic cookout favorites: hot dogs, burgers, and brats; baked beans and coleslaw; chips/crisps; fruit salad; desserts of all kinds; you name it.

Thor’s working the grill, and there are plenty of coolers full of drinks. If you brought anything to share, Joker will happily take it and add it to the spread.

Why not make a plate, grab a seat at one of the many picnic tables (borrowed from a 100% authentic park!), and get to know your hosts and/or the other guests? They’re not all bad—honest!


What’s Your Game?

Once you’ve filled up on chow, it’s time to impress onlookers with your mad skillz! Try your hand at horseshoes, cornhole, giant tic-tac-toe, or the rubber-chicken-based Flickin’ Chicken.

If all that soda you just chugged has you bouncing off the walls, jump into the enormous clown castle bounce house and go to town! Or see how long you can stay atop Billy Boy, the goofy-faced mechanical bull.


Lucy Goosey

And for those purists out there, for whom some fakey mechanical animal just won’t cut it, there’s the star attraction of the day. Come one, come all, for a ride aboard Miss Lucy the Elephant, with her sequined purple circus elephant gear and her charmingly surly disposition.

You may hear some people whispering that she looks an awful lot like that poor elephant who got swiped from the zoo last night, but surely that’s all nonsense. What kind of party do you think this is, after all? Your hosts sure seem like nice folks…


I’d Go To Bat(s) For You

As the evening wears on, Joker brings out a special surprise for kiddos of all ages (that means you): an enormous piñata, shaped like—of course!—Batman. When it’s your turn to swing, either Joker or Harley will tie a blindfold around you, spin you around until anything you ate earlier seems like it might make an encore performance, and then put a well-loved baseball bat into your hands and tell you to “let the bastard have it.”

When the piñata finally breaks, you’ll find a nice assortment of candies spilling out…including a significant number of green-and-purple jawbreakers. These have been coated with just a tiny bit of very mild Joker Venom…just enough to get your smile twitching and make everything seem a little funnier. You won’t suddenly fall off the cliffs of madness or anything, but you may find yourself snickering at inappropriate moments and saying things your mental filter would normally tell you to keep to yourself.


How’s That For a Short Fuse?

Once the sun goes down, it’s time for fireworks! Harley hands out sparklers to anyone who wants one, while Joker gets to work putting on the main show. He’s made a few modifications to the fireworks he and Harley pinched earlier, so get ready for lots of purples, greens, and sorta-kinda-looks-like-a-Joker-smileys, all set to a bouncy calliope score. Shockingly, not a single one of the explosives is in any way intended to be dangerous… Though what you do with those sparklers after you’ve had a couple jawbreakers, that’s another thing entirely!

After the last boom's died out and everything smells fabulously like gunsmoke, Harley will make an announcement: Anyone with a lei is now free to leave, but the party’s far from officially over!


The Afterparty

Joker and Harls will keep the music going and the drinks flowing until either you get sick enough of them to leave, or some joykill heroes show up to shut the party down. If you want to test out the various other uses of a bounce house, or sneak off into the oh-so-glam suburbs of De Chima with a special someone who needs a good mugging, your hosts certainly won’t be stopping you.

Enjoy!

Comments

Finn Onaru (the Dragonborn) | OTA

[fireandhoney]

Finn mainly shows up to this party to keep an eye out so a certain somebodies don't cause too much trouble. And make sure his friends and acquaintances are okay. Ruby probably would have invited him anyway. He gets his lei, looking at the flowers and figuring he might as well stick with them, and take them off when he goes home. "Okay, time to party."

And do his Dragonborn thing, if need be.

The bounce house is filled with the sound of Finn occasionally going "whee!" as he jumps around. One is free to come in and join him. Or run across him when he exits, putting his hi-tops back on.

He doesn't ride the elephant, but he does stand back and just kinda look at her. "I still think elephants look weird. Like a hairless mammoth."

During the afterparty, Finn sits on the curb, not intending to leave until the party dies down and he's sure no more trouble is going to happen.

[ooc: Feel free to write your own prompt or request one on my plurk arwingyoshi]

Elephant

[by_candlelight]

Ruby, who and just come up in time to hear him, looked in his direction with a surprised expression. "Mammoths are still alive in your time?"

[fireandhoney]

"That they are." Which still seems weird to him. "They're maybe a little bigger than this lady here, have much more fur, and four tusks instead of two. They're typically kept and herded by giants."

Kurt | OTA

[youarespecial]

Of course Kurt decided to show up. He lives on this block, plus there's free food, and when there's free food, there's Kurt. He quickly puts on his human skin suit before going out to join the party, accepting the leis.

At the BBQ, Kurt gets himself a hot dog, some chips, and fruit salad. He sits down with his food, digging in to the chips first. "How do humans come up with this stuff?"

When the pinata comes out, Kurt's right there. No doubt he could destroy the thing easily, what with the enhanced strength that comes with being a Reptilian. When the candy comes out, Kurt goes for them, popping a couple pieces into his mouth. He then sees someone accidentally squirt ketchup on himself, and he starts giggling, finding that incredibly funny all of a sudden.

After dark, Kurt watches the fireworks, utterly mesmerized. "It's so beautiful."

BBQ

[by_candlelight]

Kurt's comment gets a laugh. "If there's anything humans are partial to, it's making food out of just about anything. We look at plants that have evolved to be actively harmful to mammals and go 'I bet if I cook that it'll be great!' and we're usually right." She grins at him, her own plate in front of her.

[youarespecial]

"You're serious? How is it that humans are the dominant species on Earth?" Not that he's complaining about the food, as he pops a few more chips into his mouth. He's so glad that humans and Reptilians can eat the same foods.

damian wayne | dc's injustice

[batricide]

AFTERPARTY

[ a clown ruined his life.

well, his father ruined his life. but the clown was the catalyst. the clown was the thing that bruce wayne mourned more than the eleven million people he'd killed. the clown was the thing he'd chosen over his city, his friends, his family.

and he's not about to let it happen again.

so he says what he means on the network, for anyone to see, because he'll do it and stand by it because in his eyes there's no excuse for it not to be done. there's the sound of bone cracking as he snaps off one of his bone blades and whips it at the bounce house, not caring if it hits but rather wanting to make the statement that he's here and shit is about to go down. he wastes no time in trying to hunt down the hosts and play a fun game of pin the murder weapon in the clown.

someone... should probably stop him. ]

WILDCARD.

[ he's arriving late to not interrupt anybody's fun time BUT do you want to get him with joker candies and watch him laugh uncomfortably? show him how fun a bounce house can be? maybe grab hold of him so he doesn't try to murder a pair of harmless jesters very violently and publicly? ]

:)

[mildmanneredwriter]

[Clark had wandered down to the block party because hey, why not—it's Saturday, he doesn't have much else to do, and he likes elephants. He hangs back at first, smiling and watching people enjoy themselves. It's a nice day.

And then he spots an obviously angry man throwing something sharp at the bounce house.]

HEY!

[Well...he didn't expect to do anything resembling heroic acts today, but he moves without a thought, sprinting over to tackle him from behind.]

Are you out of your mind? There are kids in there!

[batricide]

[ It's like being run over by a train. He takes the hit and staggers - not knocked over, but off balance and dangerously close to tipping over. His elbow comes up and drives back, hard as he can, into the stranger's gut. ]

Get the hell off of me!

Wildcard!

[purestwave]

[So here she is, her first party. Naminé's not counting the Swear-In cause it kinda didn't feel like a party to her...and she may have missed it. But this time, when someone asked her to come over, even a random individual on the network, she's gonna do her best and try!

Even if they look really freaky to her.

Seeing all this stuff around her is pretty overwhelming, so she's gonna back up until she accidentally hits the person behind her.]

Oops, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-

[Naminé turns around and sees a handsome and yet angry individual. And now she's blushing and feeling flustered for embarrassing herself in front of him.]

[batricide]

[ This is probably the worst possible time to bump into him. Evil murderous clowns? In his neighborhood? He pivots with a nasty expression, hand raised -

but it's just a kid. He lowers it, scowl deepening on his face. ]

Get out of here. Now. It isn't safe.

Thor Odinson | MCU | OTA

[thepowerofthor]

Here To Get Lei’d?

Thor liked parties, okay, a lot. So he was there, early, and with presents of wine, and of very good meats. After all, who showed up to a party empty handed? Wandering in he smiled as he saw Harley, recognizing her from the video.

"Hail, Harley! Here." And he handed her the wine, took the lei, and smiled at her warning.

"Sounds like a tickle! And a sneaky little trick. Well-played!"

He is very much in good spirits, despite not indulging in any before the party. He will gladly talk to anyone about the lei or about the very loud Hawaiian shirt that someone convinced him was good party attire.

***

Eat, Drink, And Be Wary

Joker, as he looks to be the chef, gets the large package of suspiciously fresh, but honestly very good meats. He smiled as he spotted the barbecue, and nodded. "I cooked for our parties back home. Its fun!"

And he has a clap on the shoulder for the Joker, as well as a smile of warmth and welcome!

And he wanders to the grill, and starts working it right away, soon there is much more cooking going on, and things being flung high into the air as he cooks them. He eats using a pair of tongs separate from what he is cooking with. One must not be rude, after all!

He will gladly speak with anyone as he cooks.

***

Mixing

He can be found throughout the night taking a break from cooking and playing games of all sorts, visiting the bouncy house, the bull, and talking to, or riding, Miss Lucy. An elephant, after all, is a mount worthy of a god. Finally.

He gladly enjoys the conversation with the animal and with anyone else who comes close enough. If a car gets accidentally shoved over, he will apologize.

***

How’s That For a Short Fuse?

When the fireworks go off, there was more food being made, and Thor may set off his lei just because, so his Hawaiian shirt was now goners, leaving him shirtless as he cooked or wandered.

And maybe there might be a little thunder and lightning to add to the special explosions.

***

The Afterparty/Wildcard

When the party is over, and others are asleep or passed out, Thor will finally go home. But likely not until then, unless enticed away by someone. But he will wander, and cook, and sing, and drink, and party with all!

Find him anywhere in the evening!

[harvesthoney]

[Lacey giggles when she sees the shirtless man. It's a very different sight than the men she knew back in Dog River.]

My goodness.  Look at you!   Talking to you over video did not do justice to you.   You are very muscle-y..muscley?  Muscular.

[She giggles again.  Everything seems so funny since she tried the jawbreakers.]

How are you enjoying the party?

[thepowerofthor]

[ Mind you, he was also overweight, and long haired, but since he had arrived, even that little amount of time, he had begun to shed the weight, and his hair was now styled, and clean. And even at his worst, there had been muscles under and around the extra weight. And now, after a war,m and the beginnings of his retraining, they were only growing.

His cheeks still flush at her words, but in pleasure, not embarrassment. Standing seven feet tall, he has gotten used to being stared at. ]

My thanks! And i am enjoying it. I like cooking and talking to beautiful people such as yourself!

Harley Quinn | dc comics | ota

[heymisterj]

Here To Get Lei’d?
Harley's smile is bright and welcoming -- almost like the lei she's holding is completely normal. Nothing to see here!

It’s not, of course, because there’s nothing that adds some spice to a party like telling people that if they try to leave it’ll blow up in their faces (literally).

She has a number of leis draped over one arm as she turns to the new arrival to the block party. Dressed in a tank and shorts, on traditional black-and-red harlequin colors, and without her face painted up, she likely appears utterly harmless. Here to have a good time and meet new neighbors.

“Heya! Harley Quinn. Brand new resident and hostess with the mostest!”


Lucy Goosey
Harley’s feeding Lucy a handful of shelled peanuts. Sure, people might think this was a poor, unfortunate, stolen elephant. People might even be concerned about the elephant’s welfare. Which is silly, because Ms. Lucy is possibly the snappiest-dressed, most well-fed, and often snuggled thieved zoo animal anywhere in the vicinity. If nothing else, Harley had spent days (and a large number of crystals) on Lucy’s outfit while watching Wheel of Fortune.

A Bedazzler is a wonderful and dangerous thing.

“Who’s my best girl? It’s my Lucy, isn’t it? Lucy’s my best girl.” It’s pretty clear that she adores the elephant already — which is somewhat problematic since they can’t really keep it. It less clear that the elephant adores her when Lucy stops taking peanuts and uses her trunk to whack Harley in the backs of her legs, throwing the clown off her feet and flat on her back.

“Oooph.” Peanuts go flying everywhere and Harley would swear that she sees flying pink elephants swirling around her from whacking her head on the ground.

“If you didn’t like the hat you could have said so.”


The Afterparty
Whoever thought it was a good idea to give Harley a kazoo is anyone’s guess, because she’s making plenty of noise with it as the party reaches its end. She thinks it’s been a roaring success, given how laced up some people seem. Though the ones who had gotten into the laced candy are definitely more on the fun side.

She’s handing out goody bags as people leave, some glaring at her as they take off their leis. Harley’s she waving at the cheerfully, taking a break from the kazoo to say, “Thanks for coming. Total blast! Don’t be strangers!”


Wildcard
[ ooc: I’m up for really anything at the party if you have an idea for something that isn’t here! And since she's in some of the prompts, if you want to write anything with her based on that stuff, I'm completely open to that too. ]

Asexual Splodeyboy needs to get Lei'd.

[stlg13bomber]

Carter's already been through the lei line once. For everyone else the explosive leis had been a threat; for Carter it had been a temptation. He'd tried to be good and not toy with the thing, but he'd really wanted to see how they'd made the explosives trigger, and exactly how big of a pop it would make, and if anyone's wondering what that loud bang a few minutes ago was, he's the culprit. Fortunately he wasn't standing next to anyone who didn't have explosion resistance as a superpower when the lei went off.

"Um. Sorry, ma'am, excuse me?" he says awkwardly as he approaches her. The faint scent of explosives hangs around him and there's some faint burn marks around his neck. Oddly, his actual skin isn't burned at all, just a little sooty. "Could I have another one of those necklaces? I set mine off by accident."

Sort of accident. Mostly accident. He did provoke it, after all.

[heymisterj]

Harley expects that someone is going to test the limits of the leis. She's just also expected that, after they realized that the thing hadn't blown off their head, they'd take off screaming. Not come back for another.

She already likes this guy with the barely-there burn marks around his neck. He smells like explosives and fun.

Making a mental note to mention him to Mister J later -- after all, they're down a clown gang and someone who's willing to mess with an exploding lei is typically the kind of person that gets recruited for such a group -- she offers Carter a wide smile.

"By accident, huh?" She wasn't buying that; it wasn't exactly easy to accidentally remove something from around your neck. But it does raise a series of interesting questions. Namely why he'd chance tampering with it to begin with.

And why he'd ask for another one.

Pulling a lei with bright yellow flowers on from the bunch on her arm, she moved to drape it around his neck. "There we go, right as rain, sweetcheeks. Is this one going to come off 'by accident' too?"

Lucy Goosey

[mildmanneredwriter]

Clark can't deny it—he really, really like elephants. Something about how gentle and smart they are compared to how large and intimidating they...also are. He's mostly here for the chance to say hello and socialize with some of his fellow imPorts, but he drifts toward the elephant, only to see a young woman go flying.

"Whoa!" He wants to catch her, but he also doesn't want to reveal his super-speed, and honestly, he was distracted by Lucy. Still, he quickly moves over to her side, offering her a hand up. "Are you okay? If you hit your head, maybe you should lie still."

[heymisterj]

Reaching up to her face, Harley lowered her sunglasses down her nose to get a better look at whoever was behind the hand being offered to her. Well, hello, Mr. Kent.

Granted she didn't recognize him either as the Clark Kent of her own world or Supes, never mind that he might be a different version of the guy. But if she had (particularly if she realized she was talking to some alternate universe Superman) she'd be running off to report that turn of events.

Instead, she's taking Clark's hand for leverage to get back up with a groan. "Nah. Can't rest. Hosting a party. Lucy's a diva. She likes the honey roasted peanuts."

Lucy was probably just irritated about being forcibly removed from the zoo in Harley's superpowered coin purse, but that was a story for another time.

Andrew Carter | Hogan's Heroes

[stlg13bomber]

Lei table.
Carter wants to be Proper, so of course his first stop is the table with the pretty woman handing out the flower necklaces. She mentioned the explosives, so of course he's fiddling with it as he walks around the party, trying to get a good look at the mechanism. Eventually there's a loud bang as the entire thing just goes off in his face while he's waiting his turn for cornhole. The look on his face is first of surprise and then...disappointment? Such a small explosion. There's got to be a better way to do it.

The Wrong Kind of Warheads
Carter winds up faceplanting into a tree when it's his turn for pinata, much to the laughter of all around him. It's nice, in a weird way - he's used to being laughed at, but these clown-faced people seem to laugh at everything, so it doesn't feel personal. When the pinata finally falls he pockets a horde of the little jawbreakers. A few tiny giggles erupt from his lips as he carries on through the party, sucking on them between hot dogs and sips of beer.

Badaboom
By the time that the fireworks come out, Carter's good and giggly from sucking on the jawbreakers. The first few fireworks get actual boos from him, followed by clumsy apologies that he hadn't really meant to be rude but there's a better way to do that, look, just let him at it, he can give it a try and--

And before he's really sure if this is a good idea he's stumbling out into the fireworks area, fizzing sparkler still in hand, to try and 'help' with setting the fireworks off in a more spectacular fashion. Should someone stop him? Or should he be left to his business?

Badaboom, Indeed!

[criminallysane]

Joker heard those boos, thanks. Normally, a crummy audience might get him feeling homicidal, but the thing is, this time, the boo-er is absolutely right. These are kind of tame.

Partially, of course, that's because Joker meant for them to be: he wanted a disarmingly safe, family-friendly show, and, well, that's exactly what he's got. He's trying very, very hard to keep this party as non-lethal as he can (because of reasons), but non-lethal stuff isn't exactly where he shines. These fireworks are adequate--they explode, they make colors, yay rah--but since when has "adequate" ever been where a true artist sets the bar? This show ought to be raining toxins down on the guests, or covering up the booms of other explosions, or at the very least have one firework that's aimed into the crowd. A fireworks display that doesn't kill anyone, Christ! What's the world coming to?

Joker keeps lighting fuses, continuing the show as planned, but it's getting harder and harder to tell himself that this whole temporary self-restraint thing is worth it. Even the cigarette he decides to enjoy while he works doesn't quite squelch his sense that this is all sort of a let-down.

So when some nincompoop rando comes stumbling over with a sparkler and trying to get involved, Joker sees this new development for what it is: one hell of a glorious opportunity. If things go horrifically wrong at this point--which seems very possible, judging from the way the stranger's moving--that's clearly not Joker's fault! Why not let this guy have his fun and see what happens?

He draws himself up, takes the cigarette out of his mouth, and grins. "Well, if it isn't my assistant! You're late, Skippy."

let me handwave knowing how fireworks actually work

[stlg13bomber]

Carter laughs the laugh of someone for whom most things are currently much funnier than they ought to be. "Aw, I"m not your assistant. Skippy must be out somewhere getting lost. But I can sub in, if you need one. This is my specialty. I mean, not this exactly, but stuff like this!" He picks up a firework and waves it about.

"These are kinda small by themselves, but if you tie a couple of 'em together and then do something like this here they'll be more impressive--here, you might wanna back up, haha, you got a real nice coat, you know?" Don't want to ruin the real nice coat. Carter's got a grin on his face that approaches manic as he starts tweaking the fireworks display. It's not the jawbreakers doing it either, there's real fire and passion behind that smile.

The sparkler in his hand has been absently dropped in the grass, a little closer than it should be to one of the boxes of fireworks. Next to it, he's dropped a half-eaten plate of food with some scattered grapes and chips.

Tohru Adachi | The Buzzkill Here to Stop the Party

[sleight_of_hand]

Adachi was dead on his feet. Hella dead on his feet, mostly because he was stupid o' clock and he had been nice and settled into dream land when the call came in. "Please, Mr. Adachi, can you help us with this noise complaint? We've got no one to spare at the moment!" The only reason he agreed was because they were nice enough to say please, even if they referred to him as "Mr.".

Just, why did people have to do these things in the middle of the night? Couldn't they be obnoxiously loud during the day?

He was in the middle of a yawn as he approached the party, Riza on his heels as always, reaching up to rub the sleep from his eyes before he held up his private investigator badge.

"Hey, guys," he half mumbled, shaking his head before going at it more awake. "Tohru Adachi, Private Investigation, on behalf of the De Chima department. Who's in charge of this mess?"

[criminallysane]

Talk about an insult! Here Joker's thrown a big raucous party that's obviously up to no good--he's even got a stolen elephant in the center ring here, for Chrissake--and not only does he not get Batman to show up, he can't even get legit fuzz!

Private Investigation, please. As if the naughtiest thing anyone might find here was some cheating spouse in the bounce house. It's a slap in the face, that's what this is. Like the universe is straight-up mocking him.

Joker pushes through the handful of people standing between himself and Sam Spade, drawing himself up to his considerable full height as he approaches. The chin goes up defiantly, and the smile drops at the corners, making him look not unlike a condescending barracuda. "I am."

He's wearing a Hawaiian shirt and shorts. Purple gloves. And a classic six-shot revolver, which was supposed to be for Bats, and which is holstered discreetly beneath the loose shirt. Would shooting one P.I. even register on Bats's radar, he wonders? Probably not. No, this one he might have to do just for the hell of it.

But all in good time.

"I assume you're here about the missing child?"

There is, of course, no missing kiddo. (Not that Joker's aware of, anyway--no telling what those little shits get up to on their own time.) But he's willing to bet it'll throw a wrench into whatever sad, insulting, pre-packaged nonsense this Tohru Adachi, Private Investigation, was about to spew at him.

[sleight_of_hand]

Adachi stared for a long moment, trying to register the everything that was the person in front of him. Was he... literally entirely covered in clown paint, or was he naturally white? And that was seriously a loud clothing combination; no one had any right to complain about Adachi's own lack of fashion ever again with this guy wandering around. He rubbed a hand over his eyes after a moment, becoming aware of the fact that Riza was letting out a low growl, her fur standing on end. He muttered a soothing noises, before focusing on the... person in front of him.

"A what now?" he asked, before shaking his head. "I'm here because is ass-o'-clock at night, and you guys are still partying like it's noon. Can you guys call it? You're clogging up the police lines with noise complaints."