+ FOURTH WALL EVENT: FOREST PARTY +

[vitaelamorte]

Who: E V E R Y O N E
Where: The Forest!
When: Sept 7th to Sept 10th
Rating: G to PG-13 (please label higher ratings, thank you!)
Summary: Could it be that you (GASP!) don't want to be here? Do you maybe want to make like a tree and... leaf? Then how about you do the next best thing, and come to the woods to party! And don't forget to have a look at the Fourth Wall Master Post for event rules, puzzle clues, and more places to mingle!
The Story:

Beginning on September 7th, colourful ribbons will hang from several trees by the forest. Whoever follows their path will be guided deeper, right to the scene of a forest party.

Wooden benches, swings in all shapes and sizes, tree trunks, and other arrangements give plenty of opportunities to sit together. Tree houses and tents provide shelter, and come nightfall the festivities will light up for you.

Campfires provide additional light and warmth and a great place for ghost stories. Camping coolers store more than smores, and all around you nature twists and turns to give you room to dance to the music, to wander in the quiet, and to simply have a good time!

(...Are you the curiously perceptive, or the perceptively curious sort? If so, then you might also notice the small bird sitting on a branch nearby.)

Comments

Max Caulfield | Life is Strange | Resident | OTA

[mypartnerintime]

[This party Max can get behind. It's quieter and there's no risk of being pulled into some crazy dance. She can dress like she always does, jeans and a light jacket, messenger bag draped over one shoulder- no need to wear swim-clothes or fancy shoes or anything like that.

She makes her way through people, not so much talking as taking pictures. That arrangement of candles is beautiful- so is that tree house covered in gentle lights- those people on that swing, talking, sweet- the curving trees that make way for the crowd and the assortment of food, and that cute little bird, too.

Definitely her favorite one so far. For once she feels like she's in her element, and that gives her a little more courage.]

Cheese!

[Today it's not just the interestingly dressed people that get a picture. Just about everyone gets Max approaching them to have a quick photo taken, because everything seems interesting... and peaceful. Look your best, Wonderlandians- you never know where these pictures will end up!]

!!!! here, have a ghost

[rlynotfeelinup2itrnsorry]

[Max caught the ghost illuminated by the soft glow of candlelight, framed by dark wood and leaves. Napstablook jumps at the sound and accompanying flash, whipping around to see where it came from, their expression worried, as if they've done something wrong.]

i'm so sorry i uh.....

[they stare at the contraption in the humans hands]

what...

was that a... a photograph?

Max absolutely adores those!

[mypartnerintime]

[Her first reaction when Napstablook looks at her is:

Oh my god please don't hurt me.

It's not like she was trying to catch the ghost's attention. It's all cool and fun to have ghost-hunts until you actually find the ghost- then you kind of get scared and lost, and you have no idea what to do.

In this case, Max stutters back.]

Y-Yeah, sorry, is- is that not okay? [Aren't there stories about spirits being stolen by cameras or something? She quickly takes the photo from the little slot in her camera and holds it out.] I can get rid of it if you want.

good!

[rlynotfeelinup2itrnsorry]

....oh, uh...
......no, it's fine!
don't....don't worry....

[The human looks scared. Of them. what a strange thought. Cameras didn't fall to the underground often, and when they did, they hardly ever worked. The ghost floats forward, slowly, trying not to frighten her.]

no one's.... ever taken one of me before, haha......
did it....did it come out ok?

[mypartnerintime]

[Okay, wait, this ghost seems more awkward than she is. Her nervousness melts ever so slightly into a desire to make the ghost feel better, because they're actually... kind of... cute.

Like, pet cute.

...There must be something seriously wrong with her.]

Yeah, it, uhh. [She looks at the partially developed film, noting how the ghost actually shows up against that candlelight, and then holds it out again for them to see, smiling.] It's cool. I'm honored to be your first photographer.

[stefanged]

Hey, think you've got room on your roll for one more?

[Stefan can't quite help smiling at Max's enthusiasm. It reminds him a lot of someone he used to know - a very special photographer friend, in fact - and seeing her in her element? It brings all of those memories back.

He's dressed casually himself, in a loose jacket, jeans, and a simple t-shirt with Arabic calligraphy all over. But he'll give her a casual pose all the same, head slightly tilted and his hands stuffed in his pockets. Like, maybe, he's more than used to posing for her camera.]

[mypartnerintime]

I have tons of film. One of many Wonderland perks.

[Unlike say, if you were traveling around in some space ship!

She leans forward slightly to frame him just right: gently glowing lights on either side, a canopy of dark green leaves overhead, and the forest (gently winding away into the distance) as a backdrop. The Polaroid flashes decisively and lets out a gentle whirr as the picture slides out of the slot.

She shakes the photo as it develops and smiles at him, teasing.]

Looks like you're a natural.

[stefanged]

Or maybe I've just had way too much practice.

[He laughs, walking over to her and trying to get a better look of the photo as it develops. Stefan's no stranger to them (partially because he remembers when Polaroids were invented, and partially because his Max lugged hers everywhere), but his curiosity gets the better of him - ]

Are you old-school on purpose, or does Wonderland not like technology much?

[mypartnerintime]

[She holds the picture up so he can see- a milky white image starts to form, resolving slowly into a full-color photo. In all honesty she'd rather he not see it immediately. What if she screwed up with some amateur mistake? Now they're watching it develop at the same time, and it makes her a little nervous. But it's not like she can just... hide it from him.]

Oh, no, we've got robots and everything. I just love analog. It makes me feel, uhh... [More like an artist, she wants to say, but it dies slightly in her throat. She finishes the sentence lamely.] I dunno. More creative.

[She glances at him to study him again.] You're not a model or something are you?

[mandrakes]

[He doesn't flinch, exactly, but the flash, click and accompanying call of a foodstuff produced via coagulation of the milk protein casein all combine to produce a very perplexed expression as he turns to the source of all three.]

.. I beg your pardon?

[Regis is genial, friendly enough, but ultimately confused. The technology behind photographs is an alien one to him and one he hasn't yet come across in this place.]

[mypartnerintime]

[Max turns away from the photo she just snatched out of the camera and gives him an amused (if slightly cautious) look.]

You know, uhh, like mozzarella? Or The Notebook. [She smiles at her own joke.] For pictures...? Oh. You're from before photography, aren't you?

[mandrakes]

So it would seem.

[He can take this in his stride. After seeing the technology available in the clinic, nothing should surprise him now. This place has been full of little surprises so far, and it's been an interesting experience for someone who has several centuries behind them and thought he had seen most of what the world had to offer.

Noting the caution in her expression he smiles kindly and gives the camera a glance, then the small square she took from it.]

May I? It has certainly never been in my habits to shun the unfamiliar.

[mypartnerintime]

Uh, sure, I guess? [She holds out the photo for him to take, slightly worried about what he'll think- either about her skills or photography in general.]

It basically... makes an image of you and puts it on a piece of paper. To help save moments in time.

[Ha. Full of witty inside jokes today. She frowns just a bit.]

The first real photographs were taken in the 1800's, using cameras. [She holds up her own camera to emphasize the point, surprised that she actually learned something in photography school.]

feel free to ignore

[punful]

[He spots her from a distance as he's trying to avoid--basically everyone. He's been doing his damndest to stay on the edges, and honestly he doesn't even want to be here at all but...]

[But things keep happening. A lot keeps happening.]

[He spots her being happy and taking pictures. That's good. A good indication that it's the Real Max, at least. And if she's happy, maybe it means that her Mirror never bothered her or anyone close to her. She's having fun. A lot of people are having fun.]

[That's good.]

[She turns toward him and he turns away, tugging his hood higher. Maybe he can just disappear before she spots him. Pick a direction and walk off into the woods, keep walking until he feels the pull of Wonderland's edges and just. Sit down, wait things out. No one will think to look for him that far out, right?]

[mypartnerintime]

[Well. There's Sans.

It could be mirror-Sans. Max has been following a pretty strict rule for the entire event: avoid mirrors. If she bumps into someone and thinks they could be a mirror or even just unpleasant, she does her best to speedily walk away- or just not talk to them in the first place.

Supposedly they're friends. Supposedly. By this point it's kind of hard to say. She's not sure she's ever seen Sans with his hood up. Then again, he's been acting strange all event. Or at least the one time that they talked.

He was trying to help when he called. Was he trying to help when he told Frisk and Chara things they're not supposed to know? And he ran into her mirror and things happened, apparently, and-... and she has to know. She can't not know, right?

She absolutely has to know. And to explain to him that she can't do that thing before he gets any ideas into his skull. She can't do the thing her mirror did.

After about half a minute of indecision, she finally follows him, walking quickly to try and close the gap. Once they're relatively alone and in shouting range, she calls out.]

Sans!

[punful]

[He makes it past the edge of the crowds, into where the trails of ribbons and lights lead away to other areas of the party, when he hears her call.]

[For a moment he's actually...afraid. Because he could be wrong. He's been wrong this entire event. This might just be her Mirror again. But if it's not, he can't just...ignore her. Can't just keep walking into the woods like he wants to.]

[So he stops and looks back at her over his shoulder.]

oh. hey.

...i was just leaving.

[mypartnerintime]

Going where? [She looks pointedly behind him, where the path he was following winds ever deeper into the woods, away from everyone and toward the edges of Wonderland. She supposes he's trying to disappear again. Too bad, because Max needs to talk to him.

Wants to talk to him... for his own good, maybe.

He shouldn't just... disappear again. Though she knows what that feels like. Her expression softens, and she pauses a respectful distance away from him, one hand rubbing the back of her neck.]

...I'm not her. I'm the one-hundred-percent authentic Max.

[easily]

[Rebekah likes pictures -- it's much better than when she had to sit still to get a painting of herself done. She's even down with selfies, much to her family's annoyance. She smiles brightly for the flash. She's dressed simply today in a pair of nice jeans and a nice blouse, her long blonde hair in a single braid but she carries herself well all the same.]

How did it come out?

[mypartnerintime]

[She would get no judgment from Max over selfies- Max gets teased a fair amount for the amount of selfies she takes, and the whole habit has led to more than one creative insult flung in her direction. But she adores her selfies.

Max looks up from the developing photo.]

We'll know in a minute. [She smiles shyly at the other woman.] Half the people here start handing me food whenever I say 'cheese'. Or they just give me the w-t-f look.

[easily]

[Rebekah seems no harm in selfies, why shouldn't people enjoy images of themselves if they can?

The last time Rebekah took a Polaroid her brother had destroyed the photos. At least there wasn't chances of that happening now.]

I imagine not everyone likes to be caught off guard like that.

[mypartnerintime]

You'd be surprised! More often than not they ask for a second picture. I can't remember the last time someone went all rage-mode on me.

[She shrugs.] Besides, if they don't like it I just give it to them or tear it up or something.

[No one can tell Max to not take pictures. No one!]

Re: Max Caulfield | Life is Strange | Resident | OTA

[voiceinthedark]

[Sam blinks as the camera flashes, but then melts into a grin, probably too late for the camera to get a good photo, but he's not that photogenic anyway so it's no loss.]

Oh! Do another! I think you got me squinting.

[mypartnerintime]

[She chuckles.] Really. It's not my fault you blinked. [She keeps the first photo anyway, just in case, to be checked later on once it's fully developed. Sometimes candid shots make the best photos- in fact, famous street photographers just about always went candid.]

Alright, think of a big wide-eyed thought and strike a pose.

[voiceinthedark]

Yeeeeah but... I probably look stupid.

[He has to smile though. He tries to look cool in the next one and probably looks even dorkier, but it makes him feel a bit better when she takes the next shot.]

[mypartnerintime]

You really don't. [Come on, dorky is the new in. Max wishes it was, anyway, then she could actually feel hip.

The Polaroid camera flashes as she releases the shutter.] Ta-da!