[EVENT] 'Tis the Spooky Season...

[vrdr_mods]

Autumn is drawing on in the Velvet Room and its environs. The days are colder, the nights are crisper, leaves are a riot of colour ready to fall from the trees. And (besides all the pumpkin spice popping up for some reason) that means only one thing: Hallowe'en!

As the season approaches, you may undergo a mysterious transformation. Perhaps you wake up with wings, or hooves, or gills! Or perhaps your transformation will change more, go deeper... perhaps to your very soul. Who can tell? You might wake up as an animal, or a mythological creature. Or as anything at all.

Transformations will reverse on the morning of November 1st. Probably.

In the meantime, Destinyland is celebrating the holiday. Cheerful Jack-o'-Lantern Shadows have set up on street corners, handing out flyers advertising the park's seasonal festivities. In the days leading up to the 31st, Destinyland will host all the usual fun: Hallowe'en games, Trick or Treat for the babies (and the not-so-babey), the Gorb fortune teller, Shadow-run food stalls serving spooky meals and treats, and, of course, the haunted house with its array of friendly, candy-giving Shadows. Or maybe they're not so friendly.

On the night of Hallowe'en itself, there will be a parade at the park and a grand party out in the main square with food, music, and plenty of space, though characters are not obliged to attend. However, if you wish to show off your new form, see what transformations have been wrought on your fellow guests, or simply take the chance to celebrate, it may be a good opportunity...

Who knows? Perhaps you'll even see some special guests.

[ooc: Welcome to our second Halloween event! This post will serve as a mingle for the duration of the event. Feel free to invite friends to play as guest characters, too! There will be a toplevel, and guest characters are simply whisked into the setting to engage in festivities, with a slight ghostly aura. For an example, see the thread here from last year!]

Comments

[seekerofjustice]

Dove stares at Raven for a quiet several seconds, processing what he's heard. At first, it almost seems like he didn't even hear him... but the look in his eyes change as it sets in, his eyes growing strangely distant as the air surrounding the duo grows eerily colder...

"...Is that so...? That I might be..."

He doesn't get a headache this time. After all, there is no body to feel the pain. Instead, his ghostly form starts flickering a bit as though he's losing his grounding to the living plane. His sense of focus is all but gone as he's stuck on this.

He feels like something wants to return to him, he really does, and yet... He can't... His memory is...

...Is he really alive, then? What if he's supposed to be dead?

He can't help but think back to the idea of being a cognition rather than a real person. If he died... If Goro Akechi died... What does that make him? False memories, revived from the dead, acting different than the real version ever did...

...Can he even say that he's Goro Akechi at all? Can he truly?

But instead of lingering on this, he puts on a smile again. That fake smile that makes him feel so wrong and fake, and yet it feels so natural and seamless. The smile that always blurs the line between the truth and acting for him.

He finally speaks up again after those several, silent seconds.

"...Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself. After all, there is simply no conclusive evidence on it regarding my case. I'll keep the issue in mind for the future though. Thank you, Raven-kun. Knowing that certainly does put this transformation into perspective."

[lilcomputer]

She blinked, processing, before closing her eyes, forgetting that she had two ears and a tail that now shared her emotional state. Her ears were pinned back, and her tail that had been wagging nonstop before was still for the first time today. She had always tried so hard not to show when she was feeling down or worried about the three of them.

"Maybe you should make sure there's no decaf in hell, not like anyone needs to watch out for their heart." She joked.

[seekerofjustice]

I appreciate the thought. Thank you very much, Drake.

I hadn't thought of it in such terms, but I suppose that is the best way to describe it. To become a cellphone is quite an experience. I'm not certain it's one I would recommend though, given my inability to do anything except the phone's usual functions.

I could most likely scour the internet if I desired, but I'm somewhat concerned about what would happened if I found a virus or malware... or perhaps found myself traveling through the internet itself by accident. Of course, the internet here isn't the same as the internet at home, but that only makes me more wary in regards to where I may end up.

[seekerofjustice]

"In that case, I'll be sure to let him know the next time I find him. Hopefully he won't be too bothered by the prospect."

He seems rather self-reliant, and Dove doesn't want to step on his toes too much. That said, he clearly does need some sort of help if he's been turned into some sort of hound...

Dove's smile grows a bit larger when Hannei suggests that they hang out together.

"That's an excellent idea. I'd very much enjoy wandering the park with you, Hannei-san."

Just a nice time hanging out with a friend! Even if they can't ride the rides, they can still enjoy the sights, Hannei might be able to eat some of the Halloween-themed food around (So long if it doesn't have chocolate, honestly Dove's worried about the idea of taking the chance), and if they're lucky they'll find a few rides that they can manage to ride.

"Is there anywhere you'd like to go first? We can take turns visiting attractions."

[gorobo]

Falcon can't help but chuckle at that.

"Isn't that the Phantom Thieves' whole thing? Rebelling against adults who ruin lives without consequence?"

He can't fault them for that; never has, not really. It's just, the way they go about it... it leaves an uncomfortable crackle in his wires, something like what he imagines human nausea to be. His hand twitches against Raven's furry ears momentarily, though he quickly smooths out the disturbed fur.

Hm.

He leans back against the bench, closing his eyes with a soft whirr of his fans.

[mirrorgirl]

Hannei’s tail ends up wagging even faster somehow. Well clearly she’s happy with this plan.
“Yes!” And in what I can only call a moment of pure puppy joy she jumps up and does excited little tippy taps.
It’s gotta be the wolf dog thing that’s making her more excitable I don’t think even she would act this hyper.
She does a spin and faces Dove again.
“Ok! Um so I was looking around and there’s a few games and stuff we could try. I think I can still play a few with paws, and all else fails there is food” and honestly she isn’t above just cheating a game by stealing a prize and running. She can be excused, she’s a dog right now lol!

[seekerofjustice]

Dove goes still, deadly still. His hands are still up in the air, and his expression betrays a hint of worry as he sees Kira become so emotional, so terrified. He doesn't know exactly what's going on, but clearly there's something Dove that's triggering this sort of reaction.

As awful as Dove feels about it, he knows that he needs to focus on calming him down before he can truly leave. Sudden movements will only distress him further...

He waits for Kira to finish, staying still, trying his best to remain calm and collected under the pressure... and then he speaks again. Calmly and carefully.

"I apologize for frightening you. I'm not here to kill you. I don't want to hurt you. I approached you out of curiosity, and it seems that I wasn't as careful as I needed to be."

Dove tries to take a breath, but there are no lungs with which to draw the air into. Instead, he merely mimics the action, much to his own frustration.

"...I also apologize for my current state. It's no excuse, but it seems Igor has found it amusing to make me a spirit for the Halloween season. I can't blame you if you don't know me, or don't recognize me as a result. If it provides any comfort, my codename is Dove."

It's a little hard to tell who is whom with all of the transformative chaos going on, so he wants to be clear about his identity, having this in mind.

"If you would still like me to leave, then I will gladly do so. I don't want to cause you more distress."

He's tense as he says all this, but he's trying his best not to give Kira any other reason to stress out.

[linkclickakira]

"No..." he draws out and he almost sounds like something stepped on his foot- judging from the way his expression falls into a frown. "You guys got a talking cat as well...?" A cat who can talk. A cat who can turn into a helicopter. He thinks Igor has finally brought him to hell itself- showing him worlds far better than his own. Of course he still loves his own cat and he would never trade him for anything in the world but...the thought of having someone to talk to while being attached to the hip (like his Morgana was) would have been healing. "My Morgana can fart in my face but you know what? He's cool like the rest." He splays out his hands- convincing himself more than the other.

Squinting down at the Sweeney Todd, his head jerks back as he watches the fire sparkle in his palm. His eyes widen. "That is...I was fully ready to just burn my hand on the stove, dude," He leans down to carefully stare at the flame. "Oh-!" He stares down at it and brings his hand closer- pulling at the sleeve of his hoodie so that it doesn't get singed by the burning wick.

He feels the warmth but when he brings his fingers further into the flame, his hands remain undisturbed. "Huh."

Focusing on the flame, he pinches his fingers together and observes as the fire follows his trail before breaking off from its main source- now hovering over as he lets it go and watches as the fire floats over his hand. Unlike the candle-sized flame though, this one was a ball. A tiny sun in the clasp of his hand which was now slowly growing in size.

Oh, its grown into a football size! Totally not something to be worried about.

[vessel_ken_amada]

What was going on??? Ken panicked.

"Are- are- are you all right? Are you even coherent? Can you speak like this? If you can't but still understand me, err... tap three times your right paw in my hand!"

TW: suicidal thoughts

[linkclickakira]

Every inch within him feels like its going to drag its nails down within the walls of his own body. Ants crawling all over his skin, leaving him stinging as his eyes remain hauntingly frozen on that visage of Goro Akechi floating within him.

"Curiosity."

His voice is even- veins bulging around the corners of his otherwise emotionless eyes as he watches the now stranger standing before him with his hands up eventhough he doesn't even need to; he can take all the bullets he can throw at him probably. Yet. Akira leans forward as his hands clasp down into the ground- preparing to run away if he really has to or...do something. He doesn't know what. His hands twitch as they dig into the dirt- nail with grime in a single line as he releases a shaky sigh. The mention of Igor and the Halloween season makes him parts his lips in shock as he realizes that...oh. "A Goro Akechi...dressed up as a spirit."

Akira wants to shoot himself and go after Igor in the Velvet room again.

The laugh grows. A ghost as it falls into tremours, not sure if he is laughing at the impressive prank or he just witnessed the massacre of his Goro again- blood dripping from his stomach with mouth open in a wrangled scream.

Its then that he hears the word Dove and he just-

He just can't live with-

Distress.

Akira's chest shakes as he folds his arms over his chest again- lips pulling together before the laugh is crashing in waves. It was a laugh that was shallow, heavy in shadows like the dark Halloween night and loud like the sounds of scratching glass; he falls back- now lying on the ground as his legs unfold and he's laughing like he can't believe him. His voice rings through the forest but there's not a single bit of joy in it- more along the lines of each note cracked and frayed.

"Oh- you- you got me good, Dove."

[fledglingcrow]

He opened his mouth but what came out what a "murr" type of sound. So he tapped his paw as he tried to figure out how to talk again.

[willowandoak]

"What, with your beak? Did you peck people too?"

[willowandoak]

there are a couple other ppl
theres a kid i talked to once who was pissed off abt igor and i know hes ppwerful
probably others?
some ppl are weirdly chill abt it all but not everyone

Option 1

[thedevilinyourdetails]

Of course the gate is made out of iron.

Akira, with pointy ears and a set of mossy antlers, stands outside the Destinyland border, running the taste of last Halloween's incident over his tongue. He had a party but no costume then; he has a costume but no party now, it appears.

Something else appears through the gate, though, that snaps him out of his thoughts.

"Hey, Dove!"

Somehow the notification for this tag got lost. Damn Gmail.

[vampirethief]

Ren shrugs. It did explain things, but he's still not happy with what happened. But he's willing to let it go.

He does grin as he tips his hat slightly. "Oh I am that vampire Ren, but there was no way in hell I was gonna dress up like Dracula. I refuse to be streotypical like that."

The thumbs up does help to release tension in his shoulders. "Thanks. It's just my costume though. I picked it 'cause of a book I recently finished, and it's pretty good."

[vessel_ken_amada]

"Okay so you can still think and understand me. That's good."

No no no that wasn't good what was Igor thinking?????

But he had to keep his cool in front of Jay. If he visibly panicked that'd only make things worse for his friend who had to face the worst of it.

[seekerofjustice]

It isn't long before Dove sees Akira, quickly making his way over to him with a smile.

"Akira! It's nice to see you here, though I wouldn't have expected it under these circumstances."

He can't do much to emphasize it, unfortunately, gives his own state, but at the very least his is glad to see his friend here.

"How are you faring? I know some people have been handling their transformations better than others. I hope it hasn't been too much trouble for you."

[gorobo]

Falcon takes note of Futaba's worried body language, his face twitching momentarily with concern... before he takes a moment to ruffle her hair.

"I'm sure the great leader of Nautilus," he says, a playful lilt to his voice, "wouldn't succumb so easily, even without his nasty morning coffee."

He shoots Phoenix and Renée a look. Better not worry her more than you need to.

[fledglingcrow]

He looked up at him, a chittering sound. What were they going to do? Could he turn back? It would be nice to turn back. He'd rather be big and human and not this.

Ken was obviously rattled too, trying to keep calm for his sake, which was kind of him, but he didn't blame him, he'd be kind of freaked out if his best friend turned into a fox too.

[vessel_ken_amada]

Ken took a big breath.

"...let's just go straight to Igor and ask him about what's going on. Is that fine with you?"

[fledglingcrow]

He nodded. Yeah that's a good idea. The source of everything might have a few answers. Maybe. Igor spoke in riddles, but it was better than nothing.

[vessel_ken_amada]

Ken led the way, while checking that Jay had no trouble to follow him in his new form. Thankfully, the Velvet Room was neither far nor hard to access.

Unsurprisingly, Igor was at his desk, as he always was.

Ken tried to hold in the urge to scream at him.

"Hello, Igor," he instead settled on. "Is this your idea of a joke? Because if so, it isn't very funny."

[fledglingcrow]

Jay well, his legs were small. But he could bounce, and it wasn't too hard to keep up. The velvet room was just as he remembered it, but it didn't make that any less creepy.

Ken was angry, he could tell that much. So he stood up on his hind legs and placed his paws on him for support. I'm here. It's okay.

"This is all in an effort to further bonds." Igor replied.

[vessel_ken_amada]

He tried to stay calm, he really did, but it was hard. So he chose to channel his anger into sarcasm instead.

"Sure, because everyone knows robbing people of their ability to communicate does wonder to improve their relationships."

[fledglingcrow]

"He is not unable to communicate." Igor responds plainly, that smile stuck on his face as he gestures to Jay.

Jay tilted his head in turn. Riddles. Like he thought.