lostcarnival | ⇨ THE MASQUERADE

Who: Everyone! Attendance is mandatory.
When: Late Day 65
Where: The Celebration
What: The Masquerade arrives, and so does the carnival's enemies. For more info, check out the Draculas 101.
Warnings: Further party hell. Also, vampire violence, mind control, etc.

THE HOST & THE HORDE↴

The time of the Masquerade arrives. You've been given free reign of the place up till now, but a few hours before the party commences the Host will inform you that your presence will be required, and will assist you (forcibly, if need be) to sort out any last minute costuming concerns you might have if you've left it until now. When masks and outfits are sorted, you'll be left to your own devices until you are summoned on the evening of Day 65.

The Masquerade will start off normally - relative to everything else in this place, at least. Everyone in the Celebration will be called in for this event, centered in a grand hall with side rooms offered to those that need them for whatever reasons might come up. The food and drink is especially ambrosia-esque this evening, and the music will stir your soul, even if you're not usually a music person. Enjoy it if you can - the peace won't last.

► MASKS: Though the masks seemed only mundane before, once within the Masquerade atmosphere, they will magically begin obscuring people's identities beyond what a normal mask should be able to do. When a person is wearing one, it would be supernaturally difficult to figure out who they are - maybe you forget what their voice should sound like, or maybe the other details escape you. Of course, it's possible to figure out if you look for it, based on general shapes and personality traits, but unless you know someone well it could be a challenge. Of course, you can just take your mask off and remove the enchantment entirely - though the Host will hassle you if they notice you going without. Stop ruining the party!

► TEMPTATION: Though it's felt easy to be whisked away by the draw of pleasure and luxury during the rest of the week, that feeling will seem to come to a head at the actual party. If you are aware of what needs to be resisted then it's possible to fight back and ignore it, but more than ever it feels all too easy to just dance your life away. Nobody seems to be dying from it, at least, or 'burning out' any faster as a result - it's mostly just extremely distracting from other concerns. Like vampires, for instance.

VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE↴
It's during the latter half of the party that things will start to go bad. Though it will go unseen by the carnival, the Masquerade has gained an additional set of guests - the vampire's of the demon lord that has been chasing them for the last several months. The Host doesn't discriminate, and anyone is welcome to attend the Celebration, provided they don't start a fight.

Right. About that.

► THE KINDRED: The vampires don't like to play fair, which means that they are going to be attacking with stealth and trickery - taking advantage of the way that the party has dulled the alertness of many of the carnival's workers. They'll be using that lack of inhibition to lure individuals into places they can be attacked or turned in private - their primary goals are to capture the Supervisors and to turn as many of the Ringmaster's workers as possible before escaping back to their dimension. Some of their targets will be gone before anyone has a chance to notice.

Remembering that they will be avoiding big public confrontations, so if anyone starts one of those it will probably by the carnival members striking back. This is going to wear on the Host's patience extremely quickly.

► COLD IRON: Oh, right, and they are definitely bringing iron weapons - as pure as they could get. They'll have things like iron collars or shackles to try to trap people with, as well as iron daggers and guns with iron bullets. They'll have to be on the down low with, but they are going to exploit that weakeness as much as possible. Those that have only been in the carnival a few months will mostly just feel discomfort at the touch of it - as if they are touching something that is slightly too hot or too cold. Veterans that have been around for years will find its touch to be burningly cold - the type of temperature that would threaten to destroy flesh after prolonged contact. Those that have been here for up to three years will take it the worst. See the Transformations page for more details!

► TURNING THE TABLES: Being turned is a mixture of pleasure and pain, and is often hard for mortals to mentally reconcile as it happens to them. Being drained by these vampires is simultaneously impossibly satisfying and extremely terrifying - once they've started in on your, the way it overwhelms your mind and body can make it nearly impossible to stop them without help. Once you are dead or dying, they will feed you their blood - at which point your body will go through a painful transformation as the demon spirit takes its place inside of you and your dead body is violently resurrected.

As soon as you wake up, freshly changed, the bloodlust will set it - it will be extremely hard to control, and at first all you will think about is wanting to sate that hunger. Combined with your sire having direct control if your mind through your blood connection, new vampires will be mostly incapable of doing anything but following the whims of the rest of the vampire pack and seeking nourishment. This blood lust will begin to fade after they've fed. Killing isn't necessary to feed, but it can be hard to stop yourself, as a neonate vampire.

► CLOSING TIME: Before the party is officially over, the Host will have had enough. Before you can pursue all of the vampires or take back the people they've stolen, the lot of them will have escaped back to their dimension, and the Host will have kicked the entire carnival out for participating in so much violence. If you want to make any final moves before you go, this is the time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Yeah. But it's weird not being able to find anyone."

He's been distracting himself pretty good with the food, though. And dancing is fun too, even if he doesn't know the people dancing around him. Normally he'd be a bit apprehensive in a crowd full of people he doesn't know, but something about this place has driven all nervousness out of him.

"This place is great! You think the Ringmaster will let us stay here awhile?"

Maybe even forever.

Ah. And there it is, that uneasy feeling again. Joker comes back to himself a little bit, the high of the party wearing off. Right, right- he has to stay on top of things. For Snake. If no one else, for Snake.

"Ah... Well, who knows. We do gotta get back ta work sometimes, y'know."

"...Do we?"

Tamaki tilts his head, as though he's thinking that idea over. Normally, he wouldn't be that contrary about work, but something about the Celebration has pushed any will for it out of his mind. His old laziness is coming back; a desire to do the bare minimum, or less.

"I don't want to, though."

Ah. This is exactly what he was worried about, and Joker uses that concern to drag himself away from the urge to just get lost in all the fun and pleasure of the place. It involves taking in a deep breath, eyes screwed shut, but he manages.

"Ya have ta," he says, a bit more firmly, before an idea hits him. "Ya gotta work ta see yer sister. Remember?"

At first, Tamaki just looks confused and slightly annoyed by Joker's words. He "has to"? What for? Tamaki's never felt like he had to do anything.

But then Joker mentions his sister, and Tamaki's brow creases, and then-

It's like the moment he comes up out of the water after diving under. Everything is suddenly clear and in focus, and he can hear more than muted stirrings of those around him. That's right - he has a goal. Someone to get back to.

His eyes widen in shock, and then he hunches in on himself a little, closing his eyes tight and reaching to grip the front of his shirt with frustrated hand movements.

"I... I forgot. How could I forget..."

That brief second where he's waiting for Tamaki is the worst second, he swears to whatever God might be listening. If this doesn't get through to him, after all, then he doesn't know what will.

So, even if it's a little horrible to feel relieved at someone else's quiet frustrated horror, well, he is, and Joker lets out a breath as the tension in his shoulders eases out. So there's that, at least. He doesn't have to worry about this.

Well, no, he'll still worry, but it's not as bad as it could be.

"A little too much fun does a lot ta someone's mind," he says, which isn't even the half of it, but he's more concerned with guiding Tamaki along off of the dancefloor. It'll be impossible to find somewhere really quiet at a party, but this is a start. "How do ya feel?"

In something of a blind daze, Tamaki follows Joker wherever he's being led. He doesn't have any real interest in continuing to party now, after the sobering reminder of what he would be leaving behind if he stayed here. He was so close to finding his sister back home - how could he ever consider abandoning the search now?

"Bad," is his flat answer to Joker's question. Bad is a bit of an understatement, really. Aya deserves a better brother than one who forgets about her because of some good food and a little dancing.

"I'm not a very good brother."

Oh hell- finding a more dining suited area, with tables and everything, he ushers Tamaki down into a chair. “Hey now, you hush,” he says gently, leaning close and putting his hand on his shoulder. “It ain’t yer fault. Sometimes places we visit- they’re strange. I would bet solid gold that yer not the first one who’s gone a bit loopy, alright?”

Tamaki doesn't find Joker's words too reassuring - that only means there are lots of people who wouldn't make good big siblings, doesn't it?

He doesn't look up into Joker's face. He doesn't want to disappoint him, just like he didn't want to disappoint Aya, or the other idols back home. He's tired of never doing the right thing. But he's scared he's falling back into old ways. It's too easy to be lazy, far too easy to be selfish.

Maybe it's this place making him this way, or maybe he really is good for nothing.

"You said Snake was your little brother... and you didn't forget him." He clenches his fist. "I forgot, because I'm weak. I want to be that strong... for Aya."

Actually, Joker wants to say, he didn't forget because he's been obsessing over him suddenly coming into his life instead of just being able to put thoughts of his family on the backburner as he works for them...

...But he doesn't say that. He's not sure if it's any reassurance, frankly. Instead, taking a deep breath, he tries something else.

"Then we'll figure out how ta make ya better. That's all there is ta it."

Tamaki blinks in surprise, glancing up at Joker's face for only a moment before looking back at his hands. Maybe that's just what he needs - people to let him know when he's on the right track, or tell him when he's straying off it. He realized before that he was starting to get that back home, so it's not really a stretch to think he could get that here too, right?

He sighs. "Does that mean you're going to scold me a lot?" he grouses. But maybe he's not really upset about it.

Joker puts on a reassuring smile, patting Tamaki's shoulder. "I'll give ya the first one off- seems like you'll be scoldin' yerself enough anyway." Nothing does it like your own self hatred, after all. Not that Joker would know, or anything.

"Ya just have ta make sure that nothing like that happens again while we're stuck in this world, okay? It's been long enough, I imagine we won't be here for much longer, and ya can take a breath."

Tamaki would argue that it's not just about this world, but he doesn't really feel like getting into it. For now, he just nods along. Admittedly, he prefers not getting scolded, so maybe he shouldn't push his luck.

"Mm. And I have a bunch of pudding to take back..." Tamaki trails off, looking back toward the rest of the crowd. Something seems to be happening - someone, wearing a mask, suddenly started fighting with someone else. Normally, scuffling in a huge crowd wouldn't be so unusual, but everyone here has been pretty non-confrontational, so it catches Tamaki's eye.

"A fight?" he asks, pointing it out.

A bunch of pudding.... Joker smiles, a little fondly. Well, it's by far not the worst vice in here, and maybe it'll help keep Tamaki from beating himself up too much. He's about to offer to help, because anything is better than getting lost in the energy again, but then Tamaki is looking elsewhere and.... He blinks, following his gaze. A fight...?

He watches, brow furrowed, and he could almost swear he sees a flash of fang that's all too familiar, that makes him uneasy-

Gently, he pats Tamaki's shoulder to try and nudge him up. "Guess so," he says with a frown. "Hey, why don't ya go find the Ringmaster? Ask her about bringin' yer puddin' back with ya and.... tell her about that fight, alright?" His eyes don't leave it, not for a second.

⇨ THE MASQUERADE

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end this thread soon with "and then vampires"?

"and then vampires" is how every thread should- wait no