HAYDANCE MASKDANCE

[mansionstaff]

Who: YOU
What: Haydance Maskdance
Where: barn just north of the main building
When: October 31st
Warnings: spooky body swapping shenanigans
Info: here

So you've seen the flyers all over the school and have prepared for the big dance, and now here it is!

Thanks to the valiant efforts of student and staff alike, the suddenly appearing barn just north of the main building has been well decorated and is ready for a super spooky Halloween party the likes of which have never been seen before. Various masks will be offered at the door, or you can bring your own. Shamelessly copied from the plotting post, the interior of the barn has cozy rural decor; with haystack chairs, wooden tables, and the heavy scent of crushed autumn leaves that collect near the wooden entrance floor. At night, small lanterns and lights will be strung all over and make the barn look entirely inviting.

Free food and drink is a plenty, not to mention candy and succulent sweets. Enjoy yourselves, the night is young!

- NOTE: after thorough discussion we felt the event set up as it was before with the mask hunting and clues would be too confusing and impractical in practice. We've tweaked the event so it will be a simpler chain bodyswap.
- It will be up to you to decide what kind of spooky cursed magic masks your character is (or isn't!) wearing.
- A list of the body swaps will be posted tomorrow, HANG TIGHT.
- Until then mingle and have fun you crazy kids.

---

Thanks for waiting! The body swap list is below, in one giant chain. (i.e., Hajime's spirit will be inside of Bowser's body; Bowser's spirit will be in Henry's body; Henry's spirit will be in Melia's body; and so on and so forth. A special note: Kumatora's spirit will be inside of Hajime's body.)

Hajime Tanaka
Bowser Koopa XIV
Henry
Melia
Jock (Arcanine)
Vinnie
Pit
Bulba
Pulse
Watt
Max Powers
Ema Skye
Randall
Mondo
Madotsuki
Vivan
Ike
Wheatley
Ian
Kiyotaka
Sable
Eikichi Mishina
Blue
Kumatora

Hagakure Yasuhiro is the lucky duck who's getting Warren's mask. Have fun with that.

Comments

[inspirethefire]

Costumes weren't really Hajime's thing, but he needed to make an exception. For past school events and dances, he had attended for the sake of solidarity among his peers, and beyond that, helping deal with bizarre and fantastical problems was his duty. If he knew something was about to go down, he was going to be there.

And let's be real: a school dance was already sign enough, but the mysterious appearing building guaranteed something would go horribly wrong.

That didn't change how costumes weren't really his thing, though. It had taken a fair amount of last-minute brainstorming to come up with his slapdash, DIY'd sentai ranger costume. It was a little disappointing his goggles and scarf combo didn't qualify well enough for the mask requirement, but a far better suited ranger mask just so happened to be in the lot. Between the mask and how he'd occasionally strike a dramatic pose for emphasis (followed by an awkward shuffle and cough... why did it feel any different from in cheer squad, though?), people could probably figure out what the homemade mess was meant to be.

[flamejock]

An enthusiastic boy in an orange sweater came up. The facial hair is pretty much a giveaway as to who it is.

"Wow, what are you? A scarf man?" He's getting really, really close up to see what it is that you are.

Warren

[nyamask]

The moment Warren heard this was going to be a mask party he decided this was an opportunity he simply couldn't miss. The undead Pokemon took his time picking out a lavish costume and matching mask. Being separated from his mask was making him a smidgeon uncomfortable but he knew right where it was, and it wasn't far.

And whoever put it on was going to regret it sorely. Until then he was going to strut his stuff and enjoy being Pharaoh for an evening.

AND AIIIIEEEEIIIIII WILL ALWAYS LOOOOVE YOUUUU OOOOHHHHHH OOOOOOO

[liberatedempath]

Something didn't seem right. Well, to be fair, many things had not seemed particularly right and Voile had done her best to ignore them. If she could help it, anyway, and sometimes she couldn't. It didn't change the truth of the matter, however. For days and weeks and months, something had seemed off and had left Voile uneasy.

Stepping into the barn in all of its glory had not made the feeling disappear. In fact, it had really only made the feeling grow. She just couldn't figure out why. At least not immediately, and very rarely could she pointedly figure out what left her so uncomfortable. Although she was dressed to the nines in comparison to what she normally felt, she had to admit that hiding behind a mask hardly made her feel any safer.

In fact, she almost felt more vulnerable. Almost. She'd spent plenty of time peering around the various people who'd chosen to attend, taking more thought than usual to try feeling people out. She didn't like having to do it, but if she could at least find the source of what she thought was animosity, then she could figure out how to avoid it. The Pharaoh caught her, and she couldn't quite figure out why, but behind her mask, red eyes stared at him from the back and soon enough she was weaving around people in an attempt to be inconspicuous.

But the problem had always been that no matter how sly Voile tried to be, it never quite worked out like that. She wasn't as clever as she wanted to think she was.

Olivia

[stopstaring]

There was something to be said about breaking out of the mold, but when it came down to Olivia's costume and mask pairing, in hindsight, she didn't feel that different. Just like a dancer of a different sort, though at the end of the day, she supposed dancing was dancing. In one way or another, it was meant to be something akin to moral boosting. But again, it made her feel a little off.

She'd promised at least a dance to Hayato, but not to glue herself to his side, for he probably had his own things to attend to, and if she was honest, there were people she wanted to see as well. It left her restless, however, near constantly wringing her hands together, like she couldn't do anything better with them. She wasn't one hundred percent comfortable, and she wanted to be, but didn't know how to be.

Which probably meant sneaking over to one of the snack tables was in order. Good food always managed to make a poor night into a good one.

Pre-bodyswap

[tank_rockarms]

So Olivia. Standing next to the snack table, shoving all of the roast beef off of a roast beef sandwich into his mouth is a mostly naked guy who looks like he was born in the weight room and only left to put his costume on and come over here. He's dressed up in some sort of strange amalgamation of Classical Greek and leather-fetish costume. You may remember the look as being from Popular Numerical Movie, if you saw that when it came out a few years ago. He nods to you as you come up to get the thing that you want to get, whatever it may be.

Pulse

[voltecpower]

Pulse, normally not one to attend large and crowded gatherings, was basically here at the request of his girlfriend, who had coded a patch for a finely-detailed Zekrom costume for him to wear. Well, all except for the mask, which he switched off in favor of accepting one of the masks being offered at the door, afraid to offend the craftsmanship that went into the little hand-painted item. Thankfully, it was shaped in such a way that it fit over the front of his helmet, resembling the face and beak of some sort of crested bird he didn't recognize.

[[ As mentioned in the rules, here's what mostly comes with having Pulse's body, in the unfortunate event you find yourself swapped into it.

- Pulse stands at exactly 5 feet and weighs around 99 pounds. This may result in some change in perspective.

- Pulse is able to generate electricity by running. It can build to a level where it arcs visibly around the outside of his body, and can interfere with nearby electronics. He has had to train himself how to focus it into his arms and fire it off through his hands as a form of attack, but if your character feels motivated enough (read: freaks out and flails their arms around) they may be able to achieve some similar effect. Besides this, the only other likely way they will be able to discharge themselves is by touching water.

- If your character is able to focus while in a charged state, they may be able to perform Pulse's Volteccer move, where he becomes a deadly grapefruit-sized ball of energy that flies about at lightning speed, bounding off nonconductive surfaces (ex. wood, concrete, etc.) and destroying most anything he collides with that is electronic or code-based in nature. If he ends up touching any sort of wiring while in this form, however, he will become stuck to it and will follow it to where it terminates. However, he can easily pop out of this form any time he wants. He will also change back automatically if he goes for too long without coming in contact with anything. If he changes back, he will no longer be in a charged state.

- Pulse can enter and exit cyberspace through the transmission of light via screens and monitors of devices connected to the network. The screen acts more like an opening through which he can stick his head, limbs, or body through; once he is completely inside the computer, he can proceed to enter the digital world from there. Unless your character deliberately attempted to come in contact with a screen (ex. used a smartphone with a touch screen), or knew about Pulse or this particular ability, there would probably be a low chance of them discovering it by accident.

- He has fairly strong electromagnetic sensitivity, meaning that EM/radio/wifi waves can be sensed and felt on the same levels as temperature and sound; he has lived with this all his life and is able to block it out mostly, but to anyone else it may be similar to hearing unintelligible voices in the background, everywhere, all the time (except when inside cyberspace, which kinda explains why he's usually there instead of the real world). He mainly senses this through the spike on the front of his helmet, which has nerves that lead straight down into his brain, and which if someone were to grab hold of it, would be rather painful to him.

- Besides this, he is also a bit hyperaware, especially if he has a charge built up; colors would be more vivid, sounds would be louder, lights would be brighter, tactile sensations would be more intense.

- Although he is half-human, his human half isn't 100% developed, meaning his digestive system isn't complete. Any attempt to eat or drink will ultimately (usually quickly) result in nausea, followed by regurgitation of whatever was eaten or drunk. He has a self-trained aversion to food, but then his brain's not going to be here to stop you, and if your character is feeling terribly peckish at this party, they're most likely going to have a rough night.

If you have any questions, feel free to throw me a PM.]]

Post Body-swap

[voltecpower]

[[ Will be adding more details to this later, but considering the nature of what Pulse just turned into, it might take him a bit longer than most to notice something amiss. ]]

[tank_rockarms]

And so, dear reader, in the doorway of the barn appeared a man who had made about 70% of his own costume, and who considered the fact that the helmet he was wearing obscured about 50% of face was pretty good, so he only grabbed the world's smallest black Boy-Wonder-style mask to don underneath it.

This man had seen a really homoerotic very manly movie and decided that he was going to go as the army leader from that moviefilm. And so, his costume consisted of bracers, helmet, spear, and greaves, all hand made, and a red cape, leather, uh... midsection... and leather sandals which he had purchased. And possibly body oil. Probably body oil.

Who could this be. Who. Who in the world could this possibly be. This mystery guest. This totally unguessable mystery guest. This 100% unknowably disguised and totally unguessable mystery guest. This 6'8", 340lbs-wall-of-muscle mystery guest.

((If you are Max, you have absurd strength and also some tank-based superpowers, and also you have the innate ability to not be able to walk through doorways without being really careful.))

[flamejock]

A youthful man wearing an orange sweater, and khaki pants entered the room, and put on an orange domino mask. Man, this guy sure does like the color orange. He looks expectantly around the room, as if looking for someone in particular. But, amidst the Halowe'em decorations and the pageantry of those assembled, who knows how long it will take to find this one person?

((If you are Jock you can breathe fire, and turn into a giant tiger-dog who can breathe fire way better and run absurdly fast. Even as a human, you're also good at running fast, and you've got a heightened sense of smell, and you're pretty strong. Not to the point that you could pick up a washing machine all by yourself, but to the point that you could bench 275 a few times. Also, you have a lot of body hair.))

[travelingbelle]

There was a cup perched on a bale of hay.

What was that. On the cup.



Oh man.

[ihateplumbers]

So, in walks the weirdest cat you've ever seen because it has a shell and spikes and is also like 8 feet tall. Because, you know, that's a thing. But also there's orange and black striped fur. And white and red fur. And leather spiked straps. And a really big and adorable bell on a spiked leather collar. Listen, I'm just as confused as you are.

"Your scaliness!" a miserable and aged voice croaked, a flume of cobwebs and dust accompanying the hideous intonations. "You have to wear a mask; it's required!"

"Can it, you bag of old sausages, and stop following me around," ordered the giant cat. "I'm here incognito. Nobody will see through this costume."

"Of course not, your burliness," responded the voice made out of bone meal and molded parchment paper. "But if you wear a mask, you'll be even more incognito."

The giant cat thought about this for a moment. "Huh. You're right. Get me a mask."

The wizened sack of ancient preserved meats creaked over to a box and proffered one of the many masks inside.

"That's awful, what's wrong with you?" asked the mystery cat. "That's like a nightmare made love to your mother, no," he said. "I want one with gold and diamonds and, and, and winged tigers."

"But, Your Chunkiness, there aren't any masks here like that."

"USE YOUR MAGIC, YOU CHUMP."

"Ah, yes, of course." The chump-shaped satchel of ground and spiced meats pulled a wand out and zapped the hideous mask and turned it into something more regal. He handed it over to the giant catman. "Here you are, Your Surliness."

The giant cat affixed the mask to his face. "Much better. Now scram. I don't want to see you for the rest of the night."

The knapsack of geriatric wieners floated off and out into the night, not to return.

((If you are Bowser, you are complicated. You can breathe fire and you have some level of super strength. You have claws and horns and spikes. Also, at the moment, you have all the powers of being a giant cat, including wall climbing. Also also you have a lot of minions who will do whatever you tell them to. Also also also you're like 8 feel tall so get used to that. Also also also also you're pretty slow on two feet but, because of cat, if you were to go on all four feet you'd be pretty fast. Also also technically you could teleport but that's probably complicated to figure out?? Also, you could run a chain of hotels. Entire hotel chain, all yours.))

LATER ON

[ihateplumbers]

Also, after a certain point in the night, he turns into this guy:


Bowser knows the basics of using magical artifacts and occasional absurd plot-point magical powers. So, being in a body full of magical powers is... going to be fun in its own way.

Gordon

[trustycrowbar]

Gordon had originally decided NOT to attend the halloween maskdance. But three things in triangulation had changed his mind:

One, that he had a duty to chaperone at school events.
Two, that Ziio had a duty to chaperone as well.
And three, that Ziio would probably go in costume, and Ziio had this way about costumes, that he never wanted to miss.

Therefore, some eleventh-hour scrounging led to the physics teacher ambling towards the Mysterious Red Barn in costume with matching mask. The hat was taking some getting used to, and he'd already smacked his share of doorways and colleagues with the brim by the time he made it to the party, but at least it provided a convenient holster for his crowbar...

[nottheproblem]

Gordon was right.

Chaperoning was definitely a thing. Ziio hadn't wanted to go, but being a part of the academy meant playing her part as staff. All the same, she was perfectly content to not dance and not get too heavily invested in things. Where kids were involved, inevitably trouble would follow. And if she was honest about it, Ziio knew things with Connor were getting to her and having kept quiet about them, she wasn't sure how to approach the situation.

Well. That was to say Connor knew. And she'd wanted Gordon's advice, but how to ask him for it... He'd probably tell her to stay out of things and let her not-four-year-old son grow up on his own, and make his own mistakes, and own up to said mistakes.

In a costume and mask akin to his setup, she stayed beside him. Arms folded over her chest, her hand fiddled with the elaborate fan that came with her garb. "Anything we need to step in and be adults about yet?" she asked the physics professor with some slight interest.

Sonic

[mach_n_roll]

Sonic had said to Sable: his costume would be something no one ever expected.

And he was probably right. Shirt, glasses, bowtie, pocket protector, the whole nine yards. Sonic the Dorkhog had the advantage of wearing those absurdly large glasses, which may as well have been a mask, so he was able to waltz right in!

He mingles easily, making jokes about everyone's costume including his own. Especially his own.

Post-bodyswap

[ihateplumbers]

So, Sonic. Your bowtie squirms a bit.

Because now it's an octopus.

From across the room, a tiny man with purple hair watches to see your reaction.

EVERYTHING IS BALLS

[crystal_ballin]

A man with entirely too much hair, pulled back, at least, so that it doesn't look awful, enters into the room, wearing a dark suit, dark pants, and a tie. Oh, what a normal outfit this is. What a strangely wholesome costume this is. Also: lazy. It's just like he's going to homecoming.

Wait, if you look closer, there's something pinned to his chest. There's... an ID tag pinned there.

Oh. Of course.

He grabbed a mask at random out of the box and stuck it on his face. THE WARREN. Perfect.

((Hagakure is a perfectly normal human being except for the fact that he can see into alternate realities, and the problem with alternate realities is that sometimes they're close enough to our own world that he can legitimately see the future, but other times he sees realities that differ enough that his predictions are wrong. He's right 30% of the time. This means that you're usually wrong. Seeing the future can happen through fortunetelling methods such as palmistry, tarot cards, or crystal ball gazing, or can be more like being struck by sudden visions just by being near or touching an object. Also, you have a lot of really hard-to-manage hair. Also he's absolu-fn'-lutely terrified of ghosts.))

catballs u mean

[nyamask]

Absolu-fn'-lutely terrified of ghosts, you say. Funny, that, then when Hagakure felt inclined to put on his mask he would feel an unearthly rush of dread before his perfectly normal human being body stopped working the way he wanted it to. Limbs froze. Muscles froze. Even talking was no longer something he could do of his own volition.

Then there was the voice of another, resonating from somewhere deep inside that mass of hair that was his head.

Ah, do forgive me. I'm a little new at this.

There might also be the vague sensation of something squirming around inside him and a 30% chance it should not be there.

Lucca

[tempus_fixit]

Lucca arrived kind of late, but she was putting some finishing touches on her own costume (Including finding some boots without a heel because GOOD GODS she couldn't even walk in those!)

With a matching mask, she wormed her way into the party. Self-consciousness is apparently a feature of the latest model of robots, because she's also fidgeting with her skirt the whole time, and clutching a hammered metal handbag that was suspiciously large enough to hold her favorite books in. So if anyone wants to communicate with Geekbot 5000, she'll be over on the hay bales reading...

[forgetbeam]

"Ah! Another warrior of justice!"

For all the time Kiyotaka spent around robots - Vivian and Zero in particular, lately - he sure didn't seem to realize what their iconic look was supposed to be. But seriously, how did he get super sentai out of that? Granted, right now, his own outfit could be taken for a robot in weird clothes...

[cruelcurse]

1.) Non-bodyswapped flavor!

Henry arrived to the dance on a whim, but he had the foresight to dress up for the occassion. From his studies for his class, Henry learned about a world with a class of black mages and decided to wear their simple blue robes and pointy hat. His mask, picked up at the table at the entrance, was a black and minimally decorated one.

The sorcerer could be found flitting from place to place. He's usually there whenever you do or don't want him to be, and is very good at appearing and disappearing, making him either a reoccuring annoyance or evasive company.

[BODYSWAPS FOR BOWSER: Hello and welcome. Henry looks like this and is 5'6". Being in his body is sure to be a fun time with all of that dark magic hanging about, but you'll probably be fine. His magical affinity feels like a weird and constant pressure. Henry's body has a lot of magical potential, making it possible to use awesome magic if you at least know where to start. (Being in Henry's body doesn't grant you the ability to perform or dispel curses. You have to know how to do these things. If you do, then you are in luck: his body is primed for that sort of activity. Go nuts?)

Physically speaking, he's weak, flimsy, and a bit unhealthy. If you injure yourself, chances are that you won't feel it all too well to begin with: he's missing a good chunk of his nerve sensation, but he can feel some things. His body is covered in scars wherever you might look, in case you do.]

2.) Bodyswapped flavor!

Henry bodyswapped with Melia! If you're looking to talk with her, you might be in for a surprise: she won't be acting like herself at all. Henry has no interest in pretending to be somebody he's not, so he'll keep behaving the exact same way he might normally behave. Otherwise, he seems to be taking his "misfortune" well, and particularly loves the wings on her head, if... him touching them constantly is any indicator.

Uhhhhhhh. 1......?

[stopstaring]

Henry had been at the forefront of Olivia's mind. Mostly because she spent a good deal of time thinking about what the Olivia he knew was like. It was hard to start digging for information on someone she would become because she understood that to a degree, it could affect the future. Perhaps not in good ways. But at the same time, it was hard to continue down a pathway that she thought she could better herself at a more rapid pace.

Who knew how many years had passed between the Olivia he knew from his homeworld and the one he was stuck with at the academy.

It didn't make her want to see him any less, though. How else could she get to know him without being in his company? Tracking him down at the gala involved some observation, which she was good at, and listening for his trademark laugh that she couldn't have forgotten, even worlds away. When he had a free moment, or when she thought he had one, she found herself at his side, patient and wholly curious.

"Hello! If I hadn't heard you, I wouldn't have known it was you. You're all covered up and everything." Because it was far nicer to be the greeter than to be the greeted sometimes.

[welikeike]

1.) Non-bodyswapped flavor

Coming to the dance was a last minute choice on Ike's part. With his various practice and training sessions out of the way and school work (mostly) taken care of, Ike was burnt out and needed to do something else. He had two choices: do nothing at all for the rest of the evening, or go to that dance being advertised by fliers. (Admittedly, the former called out to him first. But the dance was a one night thing, so...)

Being that it was a last-minute decision to attend, Ike searched the school for something that could suffice as a costume because why the hell not? He emerged with a pair of plain bunny ears, and not the kind that make you move super fast. That would work for him. At the door, he picked up the least elaborate mask they had currently available, making for a hilarious combination. (Ike thought it looked silly. And he kept it.)

Usually, he could be found at the food table or somewhere around it. If not that, he's looking for somebody to talk to or anything else, really- he's just not the type to be found dancing.

[BODYSWAPS FOR VIVIAN: Hi Vivian, and welcome to being Ike. Ike looks like this and is 5'9". He's stronger than average (depending on how strong you were before) and is of good health. He's a normal human and has very little magical ability, if magic's your thing. You also have a cool sword with you. It's a generic Fire Emblem steel sword. No holy blades for you.]

2.) Bodyswapped flavor

Ike bodyswapped with Wheatley, who left him as a core with a one-legged chassis. And a crutch to make up for the missing limb.

Needless to say, this is an alarming development for Ike. He's having a lot of difficulty with this arrangement.

If he's moving at all, he's usually hobbling around searching frantically for his own body, as though finding it will provide him with answers. If not, he's trying to stay out of people's way lest he messes something up with this mechanical body. He has no idea who this person is, and he also has no idea how he should be handling this battered body. If you're looking for Wheatley, you might be surprised to find that this is definitely not the same guy. Somehow.

1.

[mach_n_roll]

"Heeeey, nice costume Ike!"

Have an obnoxious nerdy hedgehog, Ike.

"So is it, like, the Easter Bunny, except he leaves donuts everywhere? Sounds like an improvement to his normal schtick to me. Eggs are kinda boring."

[blueburnshotter]

Perhaps he was dressed a little too elaborately for some shindig being held in a barn of all places, but Hayato didn't mind if he stood out. That was the kind of thing he lived for, quite frankly. And though it turned out that there was a fair number of exquisite costumes around after all, he did not regret his decision one bit.

This really was quite the place, to hold such events for the students. Maybe it was a little strange that it would run so late, but these kids were old enough to make their own life choices. Those who wouldn't leave until a ridiculous hour would only have found some other excuse to stay out late anyway, and at least this way there was teacher supervision. Or something like that. It all checked out.

Although really, he wasn't sure how long he'd be out himself. He did need his beauty sleep...

But the night was young, and that was another concern for another hour. For now he strode confidently through the gathering, fully prepared to offer lovely ladies for a dance - he had one set aside just for Olivia already - and enjoy the festivities. He was bold enough on an average day, but there was something thrilling and empowering about wearing a mask, even if that luxurious blond hair of his ruined any anonymity.

When not out in the middle of things he could, like most people, be found staking out the snack table.

[stopstaring]

Truth be told, Olivia was pretty certain she paled in comparison when standing next to Hayato. He always looked handsome, though. And while she knew she wasn't plain, there was an eloquent nature to him that she seemed to lack. In fact, the only time she didn't was when she was too preoccupied with a performance and despite her garb, she had absolutely no plans to be dancing anywhere, other than with anyone who was going to potentially ask it of her.

And the dance she had promised to Hayato. He was her 'date,' after all, a pleasant surprise at the end of everything. But he was good to her and he was flattering and while his compliments were flustering at the very least, it was nice to hear sweet things said in her direction. Other than the ones about her dancing, anyway.

"H-hello!" And she wished almost immediately that she could redo her greeting. There was nothing charming about tripping over her words. "I'm sure I've said it already, but you look really nice. I mean, your clothes suit you."

Of course they suit him. He knows that. Why am I saying that? I sound so stupid.

"But you knew that," she interjected herself with a subtle frown. "But it's still true. Are you enjoying yourself so far?"

[zombnambulist]

The little witch outfit hardly looks out of place in any party. Heck, something like it could easily be bought at any store. The cheap mask she picked out definitely made the whole thing look fairly childish and low budget, but it was cute, and she liked it, so maybe shut up.

She's neither sticking to the walls nor having fun on the dance floor, but sort of just wandering through the space, staring at people, knocking people around with her little toy broom, and occasionally elbowing right through peoples' conversations without heed.

[[Congrats, big winner, you have dream powers. Madotsuki's effects include, but are not limited to: weather control, mild hypnotism, turning invisible, teleportation, all types of transformation, having poop hair, and riding a bike. Her standard appearance is a fairly short, thin little girl, and pretty frail. Make sure not to pinch yourself, or you'll wake up as an even thinner and frailer version of her, back in her dorm. That version is malnourished, tired easily, and prone to panic attacks. ]]

[blueburnshotter]

You know, some people weren't big on getting smacked in the leg with a broom. There was a very loud throat clearing behind her. Accidents happen, sure, but at least apologize. Jeez.

[forgetbeam]

Hajime wasn't the only one in a last minute, hastily thrown together... uh... thing... Wait, it was a sentai costume? Oh, yeah, of course, it was so obvious by the, uh. Heroic-looking tattered red scarf. Probably. Those nerds actually went as a matching set. Incredible... At least he managed to find a suitable mask for what he was going for, sort of.

Yes. While Kiyotaka was originally planning to skip the event all together and stay in and study, some certain last minute circumstances helped change his mind. Besides, a mysteriously appearing barn with a dance that nobody had particularly organized probably meant there was going to be trouble afoot. Heck, even the last dance event that was organized by the Headmasters ended up being crashed by a huge monster. That was why he had brought along a beam sword from the stadium, to make sure he could at least try to be useful when disaster struck. Useful with his whole one lesson.

Hey, at least it made a sweet prop when not activated.

He kept to the walls, wondering just how long this thing was supposed to last, anyway. There was no school tomorrow, so probably... too damn long. Maybe the most trouble he'd have tonight was nagging people to go back to the dorms and go to sleep.

For now, he was content to spend his time reviewing a couple of notes he'd snuck in. He wasn't going to go the whole evening without studying a bit.

AFTER MIDNIGHT... Surely there would be a lot of panic and confusion with the mass bodyswapping going on. What's one more in the shape of a frightened bipedal hedgehog? A safety hazard, that's what. Someone clumsily adjusting to walking around in a new body that happens to be covered in spines that go up when stressed... Yeah.

Yeah.

Have fun with that one.

[BODYSWAPS. He's actually pretty average, 5'9" and maybe more ripped than anyone would ever expect, but otherwise no special abilities. Anyone inhabiting his body may find themselves with an innate knack for finding a particular rule in even the most convoluted of guides and may also find that reading for extended periods of time is a little taxing, since he left his reading glasses back at the dorm.]

Pre Body Swap

[bloodycrow]

The downside to costumes and masks was that it was yet another year where Caim couldn't identify anyone. It was both, obnoxious and slightly frustrating as a member of the staff. In the event that someone did something they weren't supposed to and that was almost always expected in these kinds of gatherings. The worst part of it was that even if Caim was carrying a weapon on him, it would have been nothing short of fake.

While some years prior he'd donned a pirate costume, memories of that evening—like his run-in with Aran—prevented him from doing a repeat. No buttwings to be seen, he was hidden in an entirely too swanky suit and accompanying mask. It didn't match him at all, and truth be told Caim thought that was perfect. No one who knew him before would even associate him with such and that was for the best.

If no one could link him to the past, then there was nothing to lie about and nothing to hide. Frankly, trying to hide things was tiring and exhaustive. And at least this year he could finally talk.

Kiyotaka was just one of the people that he kept an eye on, watchful and waiting, following, eavesdropping, maybe closer than he meant to be, but not close enough to be right up against the young man. But Caim had a feeling he could be troublesome if he got out of hand. And since that was inevitable (in Caim's opinion), he was ready to lay down the smack down once Kiyotaka got out of hand.

[rivalsolarbeam]

PRE-SWAPPED: For mingling-
To be honest, when Bulba wasn't thinking about it in terms of Nyx's birth(?)day, Halloween had sort of developed into one of those kinds of holidays like Valentine's Day where it was probably just best for him to be somewhere else not thinking about what holiday it was. Preferably with someone else that would also rather forget what came with the holiday. Definitely probably someone who really didn't dig spooky scaries unless they were the video game sort that he could shoot.

Unfortunately, his job kind of meant that he was looped into chaperoning stuff so here he was. The spirit of dressing up was still alive and well in his heart despite the previous paragraph, and this year had led to the comfiest costume ever. He was going to drown in this sweater.

POST-SWAPPED: For static charges-
WHO WAS THIS WHO WAS HE WHAT WAS THAT BUZZING SOUND OH MY GOD. There stands Zekrom the Short in his birdy mask, stock still at the edge of the dance like a statue that was too afraid to move.


[DEAR PIT: Welcome to Bulba's body. The first thing you will probably notice is the sudden and constant buzzing, murmuring background noise. You are now a Venusaur and you can now hear ALL OF THE PLANTS. Don't think about it too much and it should turn into white noise. You are 5'10", fairly muscular, and drowning in a sweater far too large for any human. (But it is so comfy.) Your hair is full of chalk. You smell really good. You can smell other people that smell really good pretty good, and your hearing is pretty great. Your ears twitch sometimes tho. If you try to reach for something too hastily, you might grab it with a vine instead of your hand. Feel free to indulge in any snacks, but you'll feel contently full after a snack-sized plate. If you think about being smellier, you will become smellier and that can at times comfort and relax other people. Wow look at those rings on his fingers were they always there.]

post-swap

[welikeike]

Oh god. Here was Ike, in Wheatley's body that was way too robot for him, hobbling on a crutch while trying to find himself, his body. He had no idea what was going on: the world looked like a weird trip and he was made of metal, he was sure. Was this what it was like to be a robot?

With few brilliant ideas, Ike scanned the crowd for somebody he could recognize until his sights landed on Pulseman - that is, the person he thought was Pulse. He was a robot, right? He looked it, at least. Maybe he could help figure out what was going on with him. With that in mind, Ike-in-Wheatley's-body stumbled to Bulba's side.

"Pulse?" His voice was different and just, wow. Wheatley's accent was absent, however. "Uh, I think I need help. I don't know what's happening, and..."

He was too frantic in the moment to be more specific than that, unfortunately.

[travelingbelle]

PRE-SWAPPED: For mingling also-
Gosh who could this striking blue canine even be. It was truly a complete and utter mystery that was not at all on the nose. There was a bit of time where she was hiding from her orange sweatshirted friend to complete the mood, but the rest of the time before destiny struck was spent mingling happily because Halloween was still a pretty good time for her. YEAH.

DANCE WITH THE DOG.

POST-SWAPPED: WILL COME LATER YEAH

[DEAR EIKICHI: Welcome to Blue's body. It's boring. You're 5'2". You're a girl. Your only defining features at the moment are the fact that you are still dressed from head to toe in the color blue, despite not being in your own body. Somewhere in hammer space you are carrying five (5) pokeballs. You have been working out but you are not a fighter, except for when it comes to punching men directly in the balls. Someone is undoubtedly going to run up to you screaming MOM but you don't know that.]

[birdlady]

Blue. BLUE. Come get your dog. Quick, before he sets everything on fire.

[birdlady]

Halloween! Melia doesn't know how to Halloween. Some research taught her that costumes are involved, so she made sure to obtain one before the important night. Just for fun, she was also carrying her staff, as it seemed to match her outfit well, and had summoned a few water elementals to hover around her. The strange man at the door seemed far too excited about masks, but it would have been rude not to accept! For the first half of the evening, she can be found wandering about the barn, studying the quaint decor with delight.

POST SWAP: Melia went from being a petite featherhead to a giant firedogman. Oh god what. Help. She is not used to being a giant firedogman and she's knocking stuff over. At some point she may accidentally turn into a straight-up fire dog. Please someone keep her from burning the barn down.

[HELLO HENRY you are an anime princess now now. An anime princess with wings growing out of her head. She also has magic powers! A list of her element summons and what they do is here. HAVE FUN ;D]

post-swap

[cruelcurse]

Being an anime princess sure is a fun time. When Melia next catches a glimpse of her body, strangely across the room from herself, it's smiling contentedly with bright eyes, holding her staff close with her water elements still hanging in the air.

The weirder thing is that whoever is controlling it is obsessively petting the wings on her head... Like, just totally enamored. Henry has no qualms whatsoever with this arrangement. Does she care to approach?

Eirika

[heartofarapier]

Considering how sometimes the academy could be full of tense times and moments, the infrequent gathering that reminded Eirika of Renais's social galas were considered a welcoming celebration. It was the second year she'd celebrated something called Halloween. The first year she couldn't remember doing much in the way of costumes. The second year she had to make up for that. And only if she was spouting falsehoods could she say that she didn't like pretending to be something other than what she was.

Most of the evening saw her travelling frequently. Across the dancefloor. From one end of the barn to the other. Weaving around people who were conversing or eating. Visiting the snack tables. And basically keeping an eye open for people she knew, and even people she didn't.

[trustycrowbar]

"Hello, Eirika."

Oh hey, look who it is. A physics teacher dressed as a musketeer. He'd noticed Eirika flitting like the social butterfly that she is, and made a point to meet her on the end of the refreshment tables.

"That costume looks... very nice, on you." He adds politely.

Ian

[redshirted]

PRE-SWAP:

Ian is all about holidays. The military probably doesn't have social committees, but if they did, Ian would definitely be the de facto leader. He has definitely embraced the opportunity to cut loose. He's got an interesting costume. Seriously check out the details on that probably custom-made helmet. He went through a lot of trouble finding a vacuum-forming machine on campus to pull that out. It's definitely in the spirit of Halloween, but fortunately, it leaves the lower half of his face free and available to eat many delicious Halloween themed snacks.

He's clearly in good spirits as he moves around and mingles. This is sort of his anniversary of visiting Smash, and although this Halloween has not brought him any reunions, he's still sort of hopeful. He never knows what to expect with Smash Academy.

POST-SWAP:

Wait a second. This is not his beautiful house correct. His helmet feels more restrictive, transformed; he messes with it to try and get it off. His body feels different too-- shorter, less bulk. With all the chaos going on, and the lowered visibility from this new mask makes it inevitable that he's going to bump into someone. Or something. There goes the punch bowl... Oops.

Post-body snatchers

[forgetbeam]

At least Ian had the luck to still be the correct species. Not like that body's original owner, who was now inhabiting that of a large hedgehog. Kiyotaka wasn't used to such stubby legs, and it was clear by the way he stumbled around in his new form, knocking into people and chairs and walls. He was stressed enough as it was, but the pain of knocking into things didn't help much at all. He was going to impale someone on all those rigid spines at this rate.

But at least he was able to locate his true body. Wow, his... costume didn't actually look that great from the outside. But more importantly, who was going around in his body and wrecking the punch?!

"Hey!" Oh jeez, this new voice was so quiet and feminine. Sable definitely did not have the Lungs Of +50 Projection that he was used to. "What do you think you're doing?! That's me!"

Sonny Moe

[punchtheflute]

Sonny was there, in his costume, of course!

He didn't even need to find a new mask because he'd made one especially for his Ninja Squirtle outfit. He also had Pizza that was part of his outfit, and he was happily offering a slice to whoever wanted one. Even then, he could still be found around the snack table - hey, a dude has to keep up his strength for all this Halloweening! Plus, there was soda and pizza tended to make him thirsty.

Re: Sonny Moe

[flamejock]

Sonny, Sonny, it's Vinnie, Sonny. He's wearing a ghoats tree costume and running towards you.

Sonny, Sonny, he's falling down at your feet.

Sonny, Sonny, he's grabbing your knees.

"Sonny, Sonny, help; I'm Vinnie," sobbed 'Vinnie.' "I'm Vinnie."

Voile

[liberatedempath]

PRE-WARREN
She looked better than she usually did, and maybe that was the makeup. Or maybe it was the hat she was hiding under. Contrary to the bright and pastel colours she often wore, Voile was decked in something dark. Whatever the case, Voile was joining the festivities.

And oddly not as inconspicuous as she normally was. Passing people, she'd lean over, as if listening for something. She wasn't listening at all, at least not in the way people normally did. She was simply feeling things out. If anything, it was a little suspicious, all things considered. Like a child too curiously running about.

---

POST-WARREN
She wasn't running around any longer. In fact, she seemed perfectly content to remain on standby. Keeping to herself was easier than she thought it'd be. Observant, 'listening' to the best of her ability, and still holding a somewhat welcoming air. In the back of her mind, however, she was thinking some more adult-friendly drinks. Not that she'd seen any and she imagined nothing like that would even be coming up.

Making some adult friends would not be awful, she found herself thinking.

Until then, she supposed she could live easily enough drinking all of the punch at the snack tables.

Post Warren!

[punchtheflute]

Sonny had spent a lot of his evening being pretty much as social as ever. He loved Halloween with a passion, and seeing everyone in their costumes was so much fun! Plus, the snack table was wonderful this year.

Still, there was one person he always kept an eye out for. No matter who else he'd run into, his spirits always lifted that much higher when he spotted her. She was drinking some punch at the table and he decided he could stand to wet his whistle too.

"Hi!" He said, bustling over. Unfortunately, all his pizza was gone, or he would have offered her a piece of that. "Your costume is really neat, Voile! You look beautiful! And spooky, too!"

[awakeningwill]

Zero still didn't understand the point of Halloween. But here he was. Security guarding.

Chihiro had helped him with his costume... if it could even be called that. Really, it was just a robot mask and a few gundam decals slapped liberally over his armour. There was no question of what his identity was at all, and he couldn't really care less. It was just to get him into the venue so he could actually do his job.

Still, he'd never been to a dance before. The whole idea was completely new to him, and he was begrudgingly curious to see what this sort of celebration entailed. This kind of frivolity simply couldn't be afforded in the crapsack future he came from, and especially not by a group of resistance outcasts. To think that humans indulged in this sort of thing all the time here... it was a little baffling. Too confusing for him to grasp, but they might as well take advantage of it while they could.

I was serious

[forgetbeam]

Who in the world could that mysterious robot be?!

Okay, yeah, Kiyotaka was clearly smarter than that. Even if he didn't really know what the costume was meant to be. But that mask looked really cool... Was it one of the ones provided at the door? If he'd noticed one like that he totally would have gone for it, shoot.

But besides that, if Zero was here keeping watch... Maybe he had the same vibe he did about this whole thing. That vibe being that the whole thing seemed fishy. So he took up his own take on Zero's stance (come on, he wasn't going to slouch against a wall) and gave his mentor a nod. Great.

[flowerofmtsilver]

PRE-SWAP

Honestly, Vinnie was just here because Bulba was chaperoning. This whole event was a painfully obvious trap for some sort of Halloween madness. Something was going to happen in this not-so-inconspicuous barn that popped out of nowhere, but as much as he disliked the spooky nature of the holiday, he might as well be somewhere he could be of some use.

Bulba seemed keen on organizing some joint costume though, so at the very least he was here dressed up in the spirit of things. This Venusaur was probably just going to stand around and drink punch though - he was definitely too on edge to jump into much of the festivities. Seriously, if ghosts were going to show up, he was going to be so upset.

[Hey Jock, guess you get to be a plant tonight. You're taller than before, and pretty muscular, but unfortunately your body hair count has gone down. There's a hum of life that you can hear in the background all the time, coming from the plants in your vicinity. Might get a little annoying if you're not used to it. Your sense of smell definitely isn't as good as a dog's, but seems to be better at identifying different floral scents. You also smell pretty damn sweet yourself, and it'll only get sweeter if you're panicked or trying to reassure someone else. There's vines under your skin, but you kind of have to be controlling them consciously most of the time, save for emergencies. Also: you're not hungry. You're never hungry, ever again.]

[flowerofmtsilver]

POST-SWAP

Pit, what are you wearing. Pit, why are you so short and how do you manage these wings. Pit.