Halloween Party, Creepy But Nowhere Near Abandoned Mansion, Tuesday Night

[deathsmajesty]

After basically being dared to do it by Tony Stark (and putting in six weeks of renovations, bless Hannibal for the contractor), Liliana, dressed as an empress, hair pulled back in a profusion of curls by her angelic headpiece, was ready to throw her first Fandom party. Sure, it was for a holiday she didn't really understand, but she'd heard enough about it to make due: there was supposed to be candy and people were supposed to be in costume. Done. Everything else was just the same as a regular party, right?

Granted, the last party she'd hosted had actually been for a bunch of vampires and that had been seventy years ago on a completely different plane, but bah, details. You had food to eat, music to dance to, dark corners to sneak off to, and either enough witty people or enough alcohol to keep the conversation flowing. Liliana was hoping that there would be plenty of the former showing up, but just in case, she'd made sure to stock plenty of the latter.

Though her newly refurbished ballroom was actually very light and airy, she had done her best to recreate some of the spookiest elements she'd seen in her travels. The dancefloor was covered in about a foot of heavy fog that swirled and eddied with every movement. While most of the chandeliers were shrouded in fabric and false webbing, she personally found the main chandelier was decorated in something she much more unnerving. Black and red candles flickered about the room held by ghostly hands, dripping skulls, and the occasional elegant standing candelabra. One of the few concessions to magic she'd used tonight was to have the candles lit with tongues of false fire, which provided light but no heat. And they glowed blues and greens and purples, which was a nice effect. Red roses were placed upside down in vases, while more questionable arrangements sat in decorative vases. Out of deference to her guests' squeamishness sensibilities, all creepy critters, skeletons, and dead bodies were all cunningly crafted fakes, not a single real bone or drop of blood in the place.

Other than, of course, what her guests brought in with them. And should they leave with fewer of either than they'd come in with, well, that was hardly her fault. Probably.

Arrive and Mingle / Photos / Dark Corners [NFB] / Refreshments / Dance / Gardens / OOC

[Please hold for OCD up! Do the thing!]

Comments

(Eventually) Arrive and Mingle

[deathsmajesty]

For those who hadn't been to her home yet, she hadn't had to do much with the exterior to make it fit the theme. The gate was set right before the bend in Phoenix Way, making it look like a desolate stretch to continue through. Sooner than one might expect (especially if one takes a rickshaw, there were several explicitly hired by Liliana to provide transportation for folks who might not have realized the distance), the front of the house could be seen, but the trail of flickering lanterns lead around the side instead, taking the guests into the overgrown gardens, lit up for your safety.

The double doors to the ballroom are opened up wide to the night, spilling out music and candlelight, and bidding you come inside.

Welcome! Arrive and mingle as is the tradition!

Photos

[deathsmajesty]

Please wait for our lovely photographer, flamesburned, to ping in to get pictures of you in your excellent costumes!

Dark Corners - NFB!

[deathsmajesty]

There are plenty of shadowy corners, especially on the second floor of the ballroom. There are plenty of small alcoves ringing the area, as well as a much larger one overlooking the garden. A good place to skulk and people-watch, as well as have conversations you'd rather weren't overheard.

[Anything that happens here in this thread is NFB, but please take anything not-okay-for-public-spaces back to your own journal as per usual, please!]

Food and Drink

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana had broken with tradition and had food catered in and bartending services hired. What? She wanted her guests to be guests! But not to worry, there was still plenty to eat and drink.

Food:
Pumpkin and Pesto Crostini (made without cheese to be vegan)
Abracadabra Purple Fruit Crudite Plate
Poison Apples (Vegan)
Eyeball Rosettes
Bloody Good Chocolate Fountain (with a selection of things to dip, all kept carefully separate)
Assorted Cupcakes, sweets, candies, and snacks
Rosemary Pimpkin Seed Brittle, made vegan with butter substitute.

Drinks
Smoking Bishop Punch
Bloody Eyeball Sangria
Shrunken Head Sparkling Apple Cider (non-alcoholic)
Mulled Pomegranate Cherry Juice (both alcoholic and non options available)

Plus an open bar with moddable bartenders. They're even alive, you guys. Liliana spared no expense.

Re: (Eventually) Arrive and Mingle

[chef_chocobro]

While Ignis' costume that evening* was clearly meant to be a mirror to the theme of Liliana's, it was hardly as lush or luxuriant as hers, which was absolutely fine. After all, it would be quite rude to try and upstage the party's hostess. He was mostly just here to judge the catering, enjoy Liliana's noted excellent taste for wine, and, well....never mind the rest. No need to mince details, really.

___________________________
*Actual costumes should be considered much fancier and finer than they appear.

Dance

[deathsmajesty]

There's some music and a whole ballroom to dance in!

[Halloween playlist to be completed later, look, I forgot.]

Re: (Eventually) Arrive and Mingle

[deathsmajesty]

"Hello, my darling," Liliana said, voice cool and collected as ever. And even though she had been present when the costume was ordered and had been instrumental in helping choose most of the details, she still had to pause to admire him in it. "You do cut a fine--" A pause as she leaned in to examine the costume more closely, one of the small alterations he'd done himself once he'd received it at home. "Who did these alter--" Another pause as she sorted through several options and the pieces all fell into place.

"I'd ask you to pass along my compliments to your tailor once again," she said, timbre of her voice now warm and approving, "but unless I miss my guess, they wouldn't have to go very far, would they?"

Unless it turned out Gladio was as deft a hand with a needle as he was a sword.

Re: (Eventually) Arrive and Mingle

[chef_chocobro]

That faint smirk that now seemed to linger in the corner of Ignis' mouth in Liliana's presence these days had surfaced well before she even spoke; to say that, even among the flurry of activity around him that often left him a bit distracted from the overload of sensory details, he was focused on a few particular details would be....an understatement. His brow arched at the pause, at the incomplete assessment of exactly what he had cut so fine, and that faint smirk grew slightly more at the revelation of what had distracted her so.

"Not very far at all," he confirmed, "and, rest assured, your compliments will be duly noted."

There was a pause, then, and perhaps a slight bit of tensing on his part, with a moment of uncertainty over how, exactly, to best conduct himself in this situation. They'd hardly let their increasing closeness over the past...handful of weeks (truly, only that much?)...be a well-kept secret, but an occasion such as her own party felt a bit...different, and to reach for her now in the way he wanted to felt a bit....well, presumptuous. After all, one of the things he adored about Liliana was her dedication to a certain style, and the last thing he'd want to do was cramp it.

"The party," he observed, "seems to be quite the success. All that hard work, finally paid off."

Re: (Eventually) Arrive and Mingle

[sword_chocobro]

Gladio's usual requirements for a costume to something like this were pretty simple, and revolved around finding something that would allow him to be shirtless, but he was clearly willing to compromise. It might not have really fit some of the fancier costumes he expected to see tonight, but he was pretty pleased with being a cowboy tonight.

No hat to be seen on him, though; that had gone to a special little lady already when she said she didn't know what to dress up as.

Re: (Eventually) Arrive and Mingle

[somethingwithturquoise]

When all was said and done, Summer finally decided to lean into going to this party as a sexy arrow shooty lady because she really wanted to show off the results of all that working out she'd been doing, it was an easy match to have Stark come with as a sexy arrow shooty guy, and there was no way in hell she was ever doing that episode, so it worked out perfectly for a costume! Liliana's place was so swanky, though, that she started to wonder if she should have gone with something a little more glam, but just look at her abs in this thing! Look at her legs!

No, no. She's definitely made the right choice, she looked cute as fuck, dammit!

Re: (Eventually) Arrive and Mingle

[special_rabbit]

One of the things Amaya had been working on heavily these last few days now that she had the forge back was her costume for this party. Sure, she didn't know the host, but a party was a party and a party where she could show off her own work was even better! It all started with a black bodysuit, normally something a bit too tight and constrictive for Amaya, but it was to serve a purpose to highlight all the pieces of metal bones set into cleverly crafted metal pieces to fit over her limbs, her tosro, her back, and even her hands and feet into the form of a skeleton. All topped off with a skull-like mask, and she was all set and pretty proud of herself for being able to whip this up.

Re: (Eventually) Arrive and Mingle

[died8yearsago]

As in grand party tradition, Rosa was just here for the free booze and to judge people, but she was ready to throw down if anyone had any shit to say about her Selena costume.

Re: (Eventually) Arrive and Mingle

[beautiful_boc]

If anyone just so happened to be wondering where Boc had been lately (he couldn't imagine anyone would even notice, much less wonder), they would probably not be surprised to learn that he had, once again, found himself conveniently in the predicament of being a tree. If it wasn't so lovely, being a tree and having very little cares in the world, he might not have minded so much, actually, although it did get rather boring sometime, and roosting birds were an absolute menace. But, as it were, it just so happened that Boc found himself Boc-shaped again today, and he found he'd turned into a tree somewhere near the mansion instead of the preserve this time. Naturally, all the commotion snagged his attention, and his curiosity got the better of his nervousness as he edged toward the garden to have a look at what was going on. Nothing for him, no doubt, but he was curious, and he planned to scamper off back to his shop after having a peek, but then there were costumes, some of them of excellent quality, some of them quite unfortunate, in his opinion, and he became a little too fascinated with observing them to remember to run off and avoid the place like he probably should.

Re: (Eventually) Arrive and Mingle

[begmetwice]

Halloween, if you asked Irene, was for camp. (And cleavage, but that was most days for her.) And while she had toyed with the idea of leaning further into camp and just outright silliness, she'd ultimately gone with something that toed the line nicely.

A long, slinky red dress was selected from Irene's closet (don't check the label; it was way too spendy to be repurposed as a Halloween costume), along with a few liberal (ahem) enhancements to her bust and hips for extra effect. Some carefully-applied makeup, a red wig, some gloves that probably wouldn't last the whole night if she had enough drinks to find them an annoyance, and a lot of dress tape later, and Irene found herself wandering into a house she hadn't been in in years dressed as a cartoon lounge singer.

Complete with a cigarette holder that she, politely, would not light indoors.

Re: Photos

[flamesburned]

Liz had a few different cameras set up to take photos as she waited for people who might like their photos taken.

Re: (Eventually) Arrive and Mingle

[mylandmyrules]

Plus it showed off his marvelous chest to great advantage.

Nell was in her usual long skirts and tunic top with the addition of said cowboy hat.

"This is amazing" she whispered to Gladio, a bit awed by just how fancy it all was.

Re: (Eventually) Arrive and Mingle

[mylandmyrules]

Nell wasn't exactly in a costume, wearing her usual skirts and tunic top, but she was wearing a cowboy hat to go with a certain someone's cowboy outfit. She was a bit overawed by everything Liliana had put together here and found herself whispering every time she spoke.

Re: (Eventually) Arrive and Mingle

[hasaknightjob]

Steven was, pardon the expression, still not quite feeling like himself. But he did still want to show support to Liliana as she threw her first party.

And so, after convincing Llewellyn that it would be all right and promising he would speak up if he felt overwhelmed, Steven and Llewellyn made their arrival.

Their outfits were very nice suits that others had perhaps seen both men wear at other events. But this time they included masks. Specifically Llewellyn had on a cat mask (though in grey instead of black, in honor of Raphael) and Steven wore an adorable raven mask which had, perhaps, elicited a long suffering sigh from a divine being which Steven had promptly ignored.

As such, when combined with their festive clothes, it meant that they had dressed up as - wait for it - party animals.

Yes, Steven was very proud.

Steven looked around to see who was there while making sure he could always see Llewellyn modded with permission who would ping himself in in case he needed him.

Re: (Eventually) Arrive and Mingle

[begmetwice]

You know, it was sort of funny, and she'd never admit it -- but it took Irene a moment to place that this was, in fact, Amaya. (She would also not be admitting that tracing that familiar curved outline of the bodysuit with her eye yielded the immediate recognition, followed then by, 'Ah, yes, she's covered in metalwork, good job Detective Adler.')

"Aren't you spooky," Irene commented, not doing the slightest to hide how pleased she was with the effect of Amaya's costume when she sashayed over with a drink. (And while Irene tended to sway her hips and vamp in her gestures in her day to day life -- today she was, quite clearly, intentionally exaggerating that effect.)

Re: Photos

[hasaknightjob]

Photos or not, Steven did want to see Liz. So at some point in the evening he made his way over to her. Though his manner was more subdued than it usually was at parties, he still looked pleased to see her.

"Liz, hello! Are you busy working? I don't mean to interrupt."

Re: (Eventually) Arrive and Mingle

[pocketpretzels]

Yeah, Watts- in his dark grey suit with the pinstripes- was quite frankly never that far from Steven’s side. Not quite hovering, but close.

“Fancy,” he commented, looking around.

Re: (Eventually) Arrive and Mingle

[hasaknightjob]

Steven didn't mind the close to hovering. He wasn't as bad as he'd been during the worst of Sunday but his feet weren't fully under him yet either. Having Llewellyn there to anchor himself with helped immensely.

"She did go all out on the decorations," Steven said, having no idea if this sort of goth aesthetic might be how Liliana normally decorated regardless of whether a party was involved.

Re: Food and Drink

[hasaknightjob]

Steven appreciated the thoughtfulness of the multiple vegan options and made sure to at least try a nibble of each. He avoided the alcohol though. It seemed lovely but he didn't want to risk anything that might cloud his thoughts.

Re: (Eventually) Arrive and Mingle

[begmetwice]

"Nell, darling, do you know -- I very nearly had the same costume idea," Irene greeted her with a wide smile.

It was true! Irene had toyed with the idea of being a cowgirl, mostly because it would amuse her to play American and tip her hat all night -- but ultimately, Jessica here had won out.

(And it went without saying, of course, that her variation on 'cowgirl' probably would have been a skosh different from Nell's. Just a skosh, though.)

Re: (Eventually) Arrive and Mingle

[stykera]

Summer looked amazing, of course, and Stark was there in his leather pants, a pair of leather arm braces and not much else. There was a leather jerkin somewhere but he'd been convinced to at least try not wearing it.

At least his hesitation at being here in Liliana's home was warring with his hesitation at being shirtless so he wasn't overwhelmingly nervous about either.