Halloween Party Post 🎃 [OPEN]

[irondad]

WHO: Everyone. Seriously!
WHERE: Tony Stark's place
WHEN: Halloween night, Oct 31st
WHAT: It's a party! On Halloween! Arrive in costume, eat, drink, make new friends & be spooky!
WARNINGS: Bog-standard Halloween imagery & shenanigans (skulls, blood, etc, potential pranks from guests); please add content warnings to subject lines & list/link to preferences (if needed). Feel free to select whatever the heck you like for the question maker & fortune teller!

Welcome to Halloween, Stark-style.

ARRIVAL

If you came by car, valets are on hand to park it for you, so don't forget your ticket! Follow the candle-lit path to the house, have your photo taken against the backdrop in the spiderweb-strewn entryway, and go grab a cocktail at the open bar before hitting up the rest of the party!

MONSTER MASH

You've been to a Halloween party before, right? If not, no fear- there's a buffet of perfectly normal, if on-theme dishes to nibble: try a black-candied apple or the macarons, vegan dips dressed like graves, squid-ink pasta bites, and a wide assortment of other common finger foods. Miss the food? Don't worry, helpful robot Butterfingers is on hand to bring you a plate of hors d'oeuvres- oops! He might have bumped you into someone else instead. Sorry!

Other activities abound, if you feel like risking the appearance of ghosts in a "haunted" photo booth, ”trick-or-treating” with a flight of jello shots (which one’s actually alcoholic?), or having fun with classic Halloween standards, like bobbing for apples, donut on a string, gross-out touch boxes, or horror film trivia.

Head outside to dance to a broad assortment of music, new and old, creepy or just right to boogie to. Got one in mind you’d like to hear? The band takes requests. Or maybe you’d prefer to mingle under the full moon with your fellow ghouls and goblins. Stuck for something to say? Don't worry, a blacklight question might flash across your costume, right in time to save you from any awkward pauses. Or add to it, depending on the question. So what is the weirdest dream you've ever had?

Careful not to get too rowdy, as there will be security around to keep anything too nefarious from happening. But hey, no one says they can't be distracted, right?

HORRORBEACH

Wend your way from the backyard down a lantern-lined path to the beach, where an intimate setting of dark tables and velvety couches await, and the music is subdued and eerie. Among the scattering of tables, there are fortune tellers there to give you a glimpse of your future. Why not, right?

Each character will have the option to have their fortune read (the choice of fortune is yours, but if your character needs a uplift this season, maybe keep it light), and walk away with a small gift, one random card of the Major Arcana. Because this is MoM though, these aren't just any cards, and some will impart a light-hearted, fully optional affect and/or compulsion on your character:

0. The Fool: Disclose a hope or dream to someone (within character's comfort level)
1. The Magician: Glowing sparks dance from their fingertips. Fingerguns get an especially bold burst of flair.
2. The High Priestess: Recipients feel the need to give a stranger a compliment, and get a glowing halo!
3. The Empress: Someone at this party needs a hug (or maybe a rescue from an overbearing npc), you can sense it. Go for it, and gain a cloak of shimmering sparkles.
4. The Emperor: You feel wise beyond your years. Offer someone your well-meaning advice, with an accompanying glowing crown.
5. The Hierophant: This card is all about tradition. So, bend to it a bit and ask someone to dance!
6. The Lovers: A heart appears over your head, "beating" rapidly in the presence of something they like. Could be their secret crush, could be a slice of cake, oops.
7. The Chariot: You feel the inexplicable urge to give someone a piggyback ride. May or may not include the sound of mysterious hoofbeats in your wake...
8. Strength: There's someone you need to tell something important to. Now you've got the nerve to make it happen.
9. The Hermit: Are you normally a wallflower? Now you feel compelled to sing! Go grab a mic and do your best Winifred Sanderson impression before the crowd.
10. Wheel of Fortune: Wildcard option! Choose any two that speak to you.
11. Justice: Have you been holding onto a petty grudge, or did you spill your drink all over Tony's couch and need to unburden your soul? Admit it to a stranger!
12. The Hanged Man: You can now levitate! Just a few feet, and try not to get turned around, like your card's namesake. You might need someone to tow you for a little while...
13. Death: You're compelled to change costumes with someone around you.
14. Temperance: You're now sober, sorry! This really is the worst card...
15. The Devil: Enjoy those horns, and a mildly heightened need to play a prank on someone.
16. The Tower: This is your moment. You're gonna climb that table and dance, baby.
17. The Star: Your eyes now glow with reflected starlight. Go you, Galadriel.
18. The Moon: Your verbal filter is gone. The first thought to pop into your head will be your next conversation starter.
19. The Sun: You now glow like a low-wattage lightbulb. Those in your presence get a temporary positivity boost!
20. Judgement: Solicit someone for their opinion. On your costume, the state of the world; you need to hear it.
21. The World: You're flooded with euphoria and affection for yourself and fellow partygoers, and you need to tell them. What a great way to end the night!

(The duration on these varies, and will generally be up to your player comfort level. If an option will unreasonably upset your character either at the party or longterm, then please don't select that one.)

(DEARLY) DEPARTURE

The party (and after-party) will go on well into the night, but everyone’s got to go home at some point. Heading out? Those with invitations, don't forget to swing by the last table before the valet stand, and claim your gift bag! All bags contain aspirin, a bottle of water, a black satin eye mask, a commemorative t-shirt, swanky new EarPods, and a spa gift card, to better recover from your post-party hangover. Thanks for coming!

Any questions? Feel free to ask here or hit up others for plotting purposes!

Comments

[helpdesk_hero]

"Well yes, there is a lot of math in robotics engineering, both in the machines that make machines, and in the programming of their 'brains' as it were," David agrees, smiling.

Yeah, he's doing his best to explain. He reaches out and touches a tube on Butterfingers.

"This? There is fluid in this. He has a small motor in his body that pressurizes the water. Higher pressure makes it press on actuators that case his claw to close. Lower pressure relieves this and opens the claw. Math must be applied to help the designer figure out how much pressure range to give his grip, and he has to use math to figure out how firmly to grip something without breaking it."

[deadwenwalking]

It's taking all Wen Ning's focus to keep his eyes from glazing over with all the unfamiliar terms. He's worked in medicine and he's seen new buildings being designed. He knows how important mathematics can be in all of these things, but seeing this little mechanical creature being put together this way is something else. It's magic in science.

"Is there... something off with the calculations that was making him function incorrectly?" He wants to reach out and touch it, but he doesn't dare. Knowing him, he could accidentally damage it somehow.

All of the knew knowledge he's gaining here has been making him feel completely out of sync with, well, life in general.

[helpdesk_hero]

"That I don't know. I don't want to pry deep enough into his code to mess with anything," David admits. "It would sorta... violate his being, and if he doesn't ask, I won't do it."

IT would be no better than altering Wen Ning's mind.

[deadwenwalking]

Wen Ning nods. He understands enough of that to get where David is coming from, even if he doesn't get the finer points of it all. For the time being, he's going to consider a robot like a conscious puppet. He knows not all machines have that level of sentience.

"You told me his name is 'Butterfingers'... but I don't think I ever got yours. I'm Wen Qionglin." Introducing himself with both his given name and his surname has been confusing for some people, so he's decided just to go with the one he'd expect a polite individual to use. "The, uh. Surname is first."

[helpdesk_hero]

"Yes, I surmised that. I'm David Alleyne, surname last. But if you are more comfortable referring to me as Alleyne, I will respond to that."

He patted the side of the bot because he wants to address the man directly.

"So, how long have you been here?"

[deadwenwalking]

Calling him 'David' feels too informal still. He'll go with 'Mr. Alleyne' in the future.

"I've been here... almost a month." In this version of the world, at least. Prior to that, he spent about three weeks in the other one. But there's no reason to confused things now by bringing that up.

"Long enough to get somewhat settled in." And hope that he isn't somewhere lese at the start of the next month.

[helpdesk_hero]

And of course David will feel weird being called Mr. Alleyne. But it's a cultural thing he supposes.

"That's newer than I'm expecting. Where do they have you residing?"

[deadwenwalking]

"Oh... They assigned me an apartment, but..." Wen Ning scratches at the back of his head. He can't even recall what the address was. He's sure he has it written somewhere. It might still be under his ownership?

"I've been living with my friends. They... had a house already." A very nice house with a room available for him. Of course it's also in a part of the world seeped in radiation, but he's a puppet and a cultivator. He should be fine.

[helpdesk_hero]

"Well, that's pleasant. I had a friend who bought a place and I live with him now. I get the value."

And of course Tony clearly didn't live in government apartments.

[deadwenwalking]

"I wouldn't have minded the apartment." Wen Ning has lived comfortably in a cave, after all. "But I was fortunate."

He would have been far more lost upon his arrival - both arrivals - if they hadn't been here to help him. He's grateful to whoever brought all of them here for at least bringing them together. "People seem to be brought here from the same places fairly often."

[helpdesk_hero]

"Not... as often as you would think. Sometimes, in small groups, but those groups seem to get broken up, sundered at times. Other times it's just one person, alone and sad."

He's seen both spreads of things. David? He'd been lucky to have Josh and Laurie.

[deadwenwalking]

That's disheartening to hear. Wen Ning went through a rough patch with that whole instance in the other world, but things have worked out well here aside from that. Most of them have stuck together and those that haven't had their own reasons. (It would get crowded, for one thing, and it will be a long time before Jin Zixuan ever feels comfortable living under the same roof with him - if he ever does).

Xue Yang has earned the distance others keep from him.

"Well... then I'd hope they could make new friends here. There's plenty of us."

[helpdesk_hero]

"From my experience, yeah, new friends happen."

There was even a warmth in his smile that said that David had definitely found friends here, perhaps even more than that.

"For instance," he offers out his hand, "consider me one."

[deadwenwalking]

"O-oh." Wen Ning stares at the hand a moment, then cautiously takes it in his own. Handshakes are still new to him, but at least now he knows how they work. He's accidentally been a bit rude in the past.

"I'm glad to have met you, then."

That's another thing he has to get used to - anyone willing to become his friend so easily instead of outright running scared or thinking poorly of him because of what he is.

[helpdesk_hero]

"And I you," David agrees with a grin. See, that works out, right? "If you ever need anything, including advice or help adjusting or learning new things, please let me know."

[deadwenwalking]

He nods.

"I don't know what sort of knowledge I could offer in return. It feels like I'm from a time so far behind this one... But. I will offer what insight I can on... on whatever you might need."

Spiritual energy maybe? Cultivator things? No one generally asks about any of that.

[helpdesk_hero]

"There isn't anything that you need to offer," David insists, frowning. Please, just let him do this.

"I just like helping friends out."

[deadwenwalking]

"...Alright." Wen Ning can't help it. It's in his nature to repay a favor (often with more than he owes), and he enjoys being helpful in general. Sure his friends don't tend to ask any extra of him, but it's been a while since he's made any new ones.

"Then... I greatly appreciate it, Mr. Alleyne."

[helpdesk_hero]

David did know he had a favor coming along the way now. He wouldn't like it at all.

"Please, just Alleyne. The Mister makes me think of my father."

[deadwenwalking]

Everyone is so informal here. Wen Ning isn't sure what to think of it sometimes. Should he consider it a sign of an overall lack of courtesy toward one's fellow man, or should he see it as people moving beyond rank to meet others on equal footing? He'd like to think it's more of the latter, what with how friendly most people have been.

"Sorry. Alleyne, then." He can understand not wanting to feel older than one actually is. Not everyone is capable of slowing their aging through cultivation. His new friend might also have some issues with his father, which is none of the puppet's concern. "I still have some adjusting to do when it comes to names."

[helpdesk_hero]

It was a whole different culture. David was mindful enough of that to not ask the man to address him as David. But that's only so much he can handle.

"Names will be hard. We're in America, and most of the culture here is to use first names."

[deadwenwalking]

"Your 'first' name is your 'given' name, right?" Wen Ning frowns slightly in his confusion. He wants to figure this out properly. Calling him Mr. Alleyne was formal, as one might call him by his surname and an honorific. Using just his surname with nothing else felt odd, but he would go with the young man's wishes. "Is just your given name too informal?"

It would be odd for Wen Ning to be called just 'Ning', but he also has two names to give. Just using his courtesy name would work better. How is it that it seems less confusing for him with two names than it does with one? He must be thinking about it too hard.

[helpdesk_hero]

"Yes, that would be correct, it is our given names. And for us, in America, we don't tend to feel that's too informal. It's more that you apply formality where you are certain someone has power or authority over you, or they are much older. Otherwise, most people accept using a given name rather than surname unless we specifically ask otherwise."

It's the best he can do to explain it.

[deadwenwalking]

That seemed to be the way it was, which is why he was somewhat confused.

"Do you... not want me to call you David, then?" He hopes that doesn't sound rude, quickly backtracking. "U-unless I got it wrong. Or you don't. Which is fine!"

[helpdesk_hero]

"I do prefer David, but I'm trying to choose something that would make you more comfortable. I don't want to ask you to do something that makes you uncomfortable when I'm content to answer to Alleyne."

He had before in his life. So his reactions will be perfectly fine. Making it comfortable for the other man is absolutely more important.