xistentia | I see trouble on the way.

Characters: Everyone! Yes, you too!
Summary: Mandy's Masquerade hosts a fantastic Halloween party with a costume contest, some very special cocktails, and a few other surprises.
Date(s): Late in the month of October.
Warnings/Notes: Please mark any threads that need content warnings.

Mandy's is looking a bit festive this evening. Arrayed with spiderwebs, pumpkins, and other ghoulish decorations, the interior resembles a spooky haunted house. Spooky, not scary! Everyone's invited to stop by and celebrate All Hallow's Eve with spirited drinks, excellent company, and a lot of that Magnus flair.

You can loosen up on the dance floor to Monster Mash, Thriller, Dead Man's Party, or maybe something from this list. The spooky sky's the limit! Visit the bar for one of several special drinks you won't soon forget. You can also sample some tasty and holiday-appropriate baked goods, courtesy of the other Mr. Lightwood-Bane. Finally, stop by the table with the MAGIC 8 BALL to learn a little more about your fellow partygoers.

Potions.
drink list

Siren Song
If you're a little tone-deaf, don't fret. This drink will turn you into a master at serenading. It won't actually give you the ability to influence anyone via magical means, but maybe if your song choice is apt, you'll woo someone either way!

Firework!
A drink that comes with a portable fireworks show hovering over its surface. Drinking it will give you the sensation of ingesting liquid pop-rocks.

Blacklight
Does what it says on the tin and makes the drinker glow under a black light. It's also kind of sour.

Frankenstein's Monster
This drink is quite shocking. Not dangerously so, but when you drink it, you'll have the impression of getting a tingling little jolt of electricity down your spine. It's aliiiiive.

To Be or Not To Be (A Daemon)
Drink this and you will find you've been magically swapped with your daemon. It only lasts ten minutes, but hey! You'll get to see how the other half lives. A note: you won't inherit one another's abilities!

Who Wore It Best?
costume contest

Congratulations to our costume contest winners!

In first place for individual costumes...

Rafa wins for his devilish costume and he'll be awarded 2 potions: the first of which will up his luck stat, granting him good fortune in an endeavor (it says "Deal with the Devil" on the bottle) and the second will up his persuasion stat, helping him to be more successful in an argument (it says "The Devil's Advocate" on the bottle).

In second place for individual costumes...

Nico plunders the second place spot and will be given a treasure chest full of chocolates that are rum flavored. Careful, they pack a bit of a punch and when consumed, they'll make whoever eats them feel especially happy. No sad drunks here!

In third place for individual costumes...

Zeke and his amazingly sunny costume are in third and he wins a sunflower plant that will never cease to bloom and seems to have a bit of a glow about it. Plus, perpetual supply of sunflower seeds?

In first place for couples costumes...

Magnus and Alec came first for their portrayal of... each other... and they win a pair of seemingly mundane t-shirts that say "Bennet" and "Darcy" on them. What's that about?

In second place for couples costumes...

Vex and Kenzi delighted with their take on the Addams' family patriarch and matriarch and won second place. As a prize, Kenzi will be given a shampoo and conditioner set that seems pretty innocuous until you check out the writing on the bottles: 'Have YOU ever wanted hair like Cousin Itt? Are you ever in luck!' Just a small amount will make her locks lustrous and smooth. Vex will be given a very lifelike and animated hand in a box.

In third place for couples costumes...

Rose and Kaz were drop dead gorgeous in their mafia-inspired garb. As prizes, they will receive the following: for Rose, a pair of magical die that make music when thrown, and for Kaz, a set of playing cards that are intricately illustrated with astonishing art that seems to move. Watch out for the face cards, they get very opinionated about your playing. They both also receive a chip that can be relinquished to Magnus for a small magical favor.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( alec is definitely more used to functions meant to create connections and foster political influence. first rune celebrations are also occasional, but still rather austere. shadowhunters and parties don't mix, unless they're at a club to lure demons... and even then, they're entirely focused on work.

what alec has discovered he likes about this isn't the loud music, or the lights, or the drinking. )

It's nice to see people relax, I guess. ( he's fond of a lot of the people here, after all. they're family, in a sense, and this is a form of looking out after yourself and your own: taking a break, letting go for an evening. ) And I've learned it's good to have fun, once in a while.

[ he's in good company then for Aymeric has come to the same conclusion. It isn't the drinks (though he has enjoyed a couple of those) nor the music that really appealed to him. Instead, he enjoyed the sense of ease the atmosphere seemed to put everyone at. Even for minor interpersonal squabbles, he noted after seeing Vex having a drink thrown on him, everyone appears to be happy.

Relaxed, as he put it. ]

I couldn't agree more, [ he says, giving an affirming nod. ] It's a lesson I'm still learning myself but Xistentia has been good for teaching it.

( that makes alec's lips quirk into a bit of a fond, crooked smile, looking down at his drink before he looks out toward the people celebrating instead. )

You would have liked the place I was at before this. There was a party like this at least once a month. No war, either.

( if xistentia has taught aymeric to relax, alec wonders what eudio would have taught him. )

The weirdest thing going on was when we all kind of swapped powers.

Eudio, correct? [ He's heard the name more than a few times. Era had as well. Both of them seemed to be of the few who hadn't arrived from the shared world similar to Xistentia in the beginning. But now it seems as if more arriving from all over the multiverse, which-

He's not sure if that means good or bad things to come, honestly. ]

Swapping powers? I imagine that caused quite a bit of havoc.

Yeah, Eudio. ( he nods and then rubs the back of his neck, thinking back to the events that had come with the power swap. ) More for some than others. They assured it was temporary, though, so it wasn't all that bad. We were also there voluntarily, so that... changed things.

( even people prone to lashing out, overreacting or not respecting laws behaved as best they could in eudio. there's no guarantee of that here. )

[ Ah. That's actually the first he's heard mention of it being voluntary, of it being a choice. He'd just... assumed that it was in a similar vein as Xistentia where there was no other real choice besides death. ]

I imagine people were a lot more amicable, yes. So far here most people have been rather friendly as well. I suppose only time will tell how well that holds up.

Hopefully well and for a while. ( alec does not look forward to things getting messier. he's been getting on someone's case on the network for requesting drugs, has made mental notes of who he thinks might be more of a liability than any help at all if an attack was to occur.

he's keeping an eye on things. he hopes they won't start fighting each other, since that might be the ideal time for D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. to choose to attack. ) I think we all want to save our world. And those who don't want to save their own asses, at least.

[ Aymeric too has been keeping tabs on the residents of Xistentia even if his presence is... quieter. He's still uncertain where he stands here, not as a Lord Commander nor anyone of a real sort of authority, and overstepping seems like it might cause more problems than help quell them so. He's content, for now, to watch and see how things unfold. Help where he's able to. ]

Hopefully, [ he echoes. ] Maybe Xistentia can provide a sanctuary for those who don't wish to return to their homeworlds? Or perhaps it'd be possible that they could traverse elsewhere.

( it's a good thought, and he's curious as to why aymeric has had it. maybe he's one of those people, who would rather not return to their world. ) I'm sure that could work out. This place could be nice, without the threat of war. If we defeat D.E.S.T.I.N.Y....

( he trails off, because honestly, it seems unlikely. with how little they know of their enemy's army, it's methods, it's history, alec has little hope they'll be able to defeat it for good any time soon. it might take years and several attacks to learn the way. the prison worlds were one thing, he's sure they have other tactics. )

Guess we'll have to see.

[ Not him, no, but Era has met a couple of people she's made mention of that don't have anywhere to return to. He also agrees that it wouldn't be a bad place to reside - no dangerous than anywhere in Eorzea, at least, even with the war - and can only hope that anyone displaced might have the option. Or that they'll be able to go to someone else's world, possibly... It's all a little much to wrap his head around, honestly, since he'd never even considered the possibility of a 'multiverse' before now. ]

Only time will tell, aye. I'm no stranger to war but I think it's too soon to read how this one will unravel just yet.

[ A pause. ]

Though there's no reason to worry needlessly about that on what should be a joyous occasion.

( alec opens his mouth, and he'd been close to saying that, actually, it's probably not needless and that, actually, attacking during a joyous occasion could be a good move so it's not too bad to have a few people keeping these things in mind.

but instead he closes his mouth and shakes his head. )

No, there's not. The point is to make us stop worrying about that for a little while.

I see trouble on the way.

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