15964/Masquerade, Masquerade, Superheroes on parade-

Masquerade, Masquerade, Superheroes on parade-
Date of Scene:	27 September 2023
Location:	Ye Olde Costume Shoppe
Synopsis:	Ancient Geek proverb says: Never hit the Cheshire Cat between the ears, if it is a clown that you fear~
Cast of Characters:	Gar Logan, Terry O'Neil

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Gar Logan has posed:
Garfield Logan holds up an oversized, colorful floppy hat with plumes and feathers fashioned into it. "They actually wore this stuff? Or is it just people trying to imagine what something fancy might have looked like back then? I never read any Shakespeare or Mozart or any of them, if I'm being honest."

He's in casualwear right now, at a costume shop catering to various styles and themes. Halloween /is/ just around the corner, but the trip over is for another reason: talk of going to a Ren Faire came up. "I'd probably fit in as a jester, you know." A green brow raises.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Vorpal chuckles, looking at Gar over his shoulder as he fiddles with his own cape- a long affair in crimson. "Oh, they totally wore this stuff. But this isn't even as crazy as they got in the seventeenth century when men started wearing high heels as a sign of power and maculinity, along with wigs with long flowing, powdered locks."

He looks at himself in the mirror. Red does suit his fur color, and sets off his mane. Something to consider. "A jester, maybe? You know the historical significance of the Court Jester, right?" he glances back at Gar, taking off the cape and folding it carefully in order to set it aside. He's considering it, definitely.

Gar Logan has posed:
Garfield Logan hasn't got into anything yet, but the visit is not very old so far. "Oh, yeah, because nothing screams 'I'm a manly man' like all that. Just imagine the kind of response that would get from some people today." The way he sounds, he knows it wouldn't be a positive reaction.

Then he tosses the hat back on the rack it'd been on, landing it perfectly before he plants his hands at his hips. "They..uh, hang on, I know I've heard this before, or read about it. That inventor guy, didn't he also write? Straczynski? Nobody thought twice about jesters because they were always acting the fool, so it was easier for them to find out secrets and tell the King or whoever."

His eyes light up, like he's some kind of genius as he grins widely and asks, "Right?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Nothing. Not even a wince. Not even a hand to the chest. Nothing... except, perhaps, an infinitesimal twitch, right below the right eye. "Well, not quite- the Court Jester was someone who was allowed to say things straight to the king's face as long as it was couched in a joke. Speaking truth to power and having the permission to say what nobody else was able to say. Of course, while it was a priviledged position, it was also a very dangerous one, because you only could speak truth to power as long as you were funny enough to pull it off. If your jokes landed flat, so would your head. Often several feet away from your body."

He leans over and picks something up. A pair of red leather shoes, beatifully elaborated and adorned. There is a slight heel to them, but not as high as it will get a few centuries later. "That goes to show you how the concept of what is 'manly' and other things of that sort are just, really, made up, and they change. History is full of people constantly trying to tell people how they should behave or be, and other people feeling like they'll only be accepted if they behave in one prescribed way or another." He spies a suit. It is scarlet with gold, and white, and hmms. It is beautiful. It's also in Gar's colors. He glances up at Gar and holds up the suit to show him.

"It's sort of why Terry Pratchett and Slavo Zizek say that masks might hide a face, but they only hide the face on the /outside/. When we put on masks, we betray our real selves with how we act. Be it villainously..." he walks up to Gar and puts an arm affectionally around his waist, "Or heroically."

Gar Logan has posed:
Does the green one catch that twitch? Likely not. He's spending more time inspecting this, that, and the other. "Yeah, that. And they had to be good at performing and making people laugh, because they were there for morale and stuff too. But I can see how that was dangerous." He flashes a knowing look. "Especially with someone like your Red Queen and her fondness for, you know." He clicks his tongue a couple times as he mimes slicing his own neck with a finger. "Not a spot I'd have wanted, but you could have kinda fit as a jester there."

Now Gar crosses his arms as he peers at whatever it is Terry is in thought over. "This? What kind of look are you thinking?" he wonders, nodding a couple times to the concept of masks hiding one thing or another. He's got experience there, they both know. Hips bump at the arm in place there. "Yeah."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
The cat leans over and kisses the green boy- not a shameless display of PDA, but a quick and affectionate peck, "Oh, I was thinking if you're going Court Jester, I could go Troubadour or Bard. This has the puffy sleeves in white, see?" He grins, "And the white tights. I'll need a codpiece. You know, at one point it sort of became a bit of a troll? Men started wearing elaborate, colorful ,and at one point larger and larger codpieces. The clergy were scandalized, men just saw it as yet another thing to one-up each other about- who had the most expensive, elaborate, colorful codpiece. Because boys can be real silly about some things, sometimes." He winks

"I spoke truth to power to Herself back in the day. Well, my father did. She was none too happy, but you can't decapitate a floating head." He giggles, "... you should read Mozart, sometime," he says, trying to keep a straight face while looking for any sign of impishness in Gar's eyes, "I think you'd enjoy him."

Gar Logan has posed:
Garfield Logan doesn't exactly purr - he isn't in any sort of feline mode here - but one could imagine it from his brief shift in expression from the smooch. "I haven't made up my mind yet. I was hoping to see if something jumped out at me. And..uh, yeah. I saw that movie about Shakespeare having the hots for someone. They all looked silly, like they were compensating for something. At least if they tripped and fell, they had a lot of cushioning."

A shake of the head. "And some think people are weird now. Nobody goes around doing that."

He sniffs faintly at Vorpal's acknowledgement of the Wonderland matters, then the Mozart idea. No impishness present in the moment. "Maybe. I think we should keep looking. I know what..um. Steve would probably want to look like the fanciest, richest one around. But that's not really me."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"No, you are the fun, barrel of monkeys who is secretly the sweetest boy in the world," Vorpal says, his tone all velvet, "And the sexiest. So let's keep looking."

He doesn't mention Steve. If he could erase Steve from existence, one gets the impression that he would.

"Shakespeare in love, right? Totally made up, not historically accurate, but a funny movie. The costuming is kind of inaccurate too, but a lot of movies don't care about that anymore, it's rather sad. Heck, if you look at some of the Jane Austen stuff they're doing now, the hair is all wrong, the shifts are all wrong and- I could go on" The history nerd has a sartorialist side, who knew? He picks up a hat, it is red, floppy, and not as large as Gar's.

Gar Logan has posed:
"I can only be one monkey in a barrel, just to point out," Gar responds, treating the saying literally. Regardless, there's a bit of a smile at the other compliments paid. "Of course you're biased," he notes, moving along then. Steve is left to be a footnote.

Then he nods. "Yeah, that one. I know they weren't really trying for anything accurate. But there's also the Game of Thrones stuff, the Wheel of Time. Those aren't bad examples of how some people might look, I don't think. And I've never been to one of these things either." There are racks of doublets, vests, coats, tights, varying styles of boots, and so on.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Well, those are fantasy environments, so you can take a lot of liberties. But if you're doing stuff like Regency England and you show a young lady with her hair down out in a social gathering, that was just something you /did not/ in certain social circles without scandalizing people. And Jane Austen's characters are all about being subversive while having the outward appearance of complia--" he stops, and laughs. "Gar, you are marrying a nerd. I really appreciate how you put up with my nonsense streams, you know."

He hmms, "You know, a doublet would look nice on you. Show off that shoulder-to-waist ratio you work so hard for," he winks. He still has the scarlet suit in hand, looking for potential alternatives.

Gar Logan has posed:
Garfield Logan holds up his hands. "Hey, I get it. I'm a nerd when it comes to animals. You remember that series I did on social media. We're all nerds about something. I just learn when to nod and act like I'm listening and..whoops, shouldn't have said that." He clears his throat.

"Yes, yes. Doublets, and this, and..that, and you know I'm hard to match things to. They don't make a bunch of stuff for green people, you know. Or.." A gesture toward Vorpal and his own unique coloring. "And I wish I had a good idea for you, but I don't yet."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"You kidding me? Green goes with almost any color, including grey. I think you are beautiful-" he reaches over to playfully run a fingertip across Gar's jawline, "And no, I'm not biased, I have /good taste/ and I'm lucky enough to be the one who was sane enough to grab one hell of a catch when he... ended up staying a few weeks in my apartment recovering from a wound that I was unwittingly responsible for inflicting on him HEY what's this?"

He dashes off to the side, grabbing something that looks like an elaborate cane, a herald's staff.

Gar Logan has posed:
Garfield Logan nips lightly and playfully at the finger. "Yep, I always knew that was a setup. Evil cat." He shakes his head, as if saddened. "What's what?"

He's got to move to keep pace, leaving him to peer at whatever the cane or staff is. "What caught your eye? Aside from me, that is."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"I believe this is... aha, I thought it was a herald staff, but no, look, it's got little bells..." he waves the staff around and it tinkles, so he hands it over to Gar. "Your jester staff, if I'm not mistaken. Usually it's a rod, but sometimes it's a staff... and I swear I know exactly what you're thinking Gar and you should be ashamed of yourself." He smirks.

"As to what I should be... weeeell... I'm a librarian. I could look up scholarly robes, too."

Gar Logan has posed:
Garfield Logan accepts the...thing, and promptly bonks Vorpal atop the head with it. Lightly, but still done. And the bells sound. "That's for you know what," he declares, rolling his eyes. "So it sounds like it's gonna be jester for me, but maybe we can find something that isn't so...patchwork, from what I've seen."

He brandishes the staff again, threateningly. "And if you suggest I go looking like that little guy in the Safety Dance video, I'll hit you again but harder. Did librarians have glasses back then?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
The Cheshire ouches and rubs his head, making a big deal out of something that was a little bump, to get sympathy from his fiance.

"Well, eyeglasses have been around since the 1200s... but a librarian or a scholar would wear a Shaube- a sort of shell-like cape that he poked his arms through, and he'd wear the regular sleeves and breeches under that- nothing terribly /fancy/ which is no fun. So I would probably go for a bard or something of that sort. Stuff that would be showy. And I could probably guy a lute as a prop... I might even learn to play one, someday," he says, giving Gar a grin.

Gar Logan has posed:
"That sounds like a threat," Gar deadpans when the lute is brought up. "Just what we need, music to go along with the serenading caterwauling," he scoffs. What do they say? You know someone's a friend when you can say things that would get you beaten up by the average person, but the friend just laughs at it?

He adds, "I can't see you doing the librarian look. It's just not..you. And then we have to figure out what to do with Kian."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Oh, Kian will go with a kilt. Guaranteed. You can't get a stitch of clothing on him. I'm already getting him a few kilts for him to choose. One day we'll get him in a tie and a suit- but that day ain't RenFest day." He smirks, and then a positively evil look comes over him as he slides up to Gar from behind, his arms suddenly around the green mean Titan machine, the scarlet suit still folded over one of them.

"I don't seem to recall you objecting to being serenade by me. Are you forgetting our date by the lake?"

His voice becomes ever so sweet, and he nuzzles Gar's cheek. It is, all in all, a very sweet gesture, and one that the patrons of the store probably will disctreley snap photos and video of. Which is exactly what he's planning, "And then, you and I, under the moon, holding hands on the boat... and me, singing very softly to you..." he takes a breath.

"Baaaaaby shark! Doot doot doot doot doot doot!-"

Gar Logan has posed:
Garfield Logan rolls his eyes. "I'm sure he'll draw some looks with his wings, anyway. I don't think anyone was going around with those back then," he says. But, more and more things are being planned with the three of them, not just two.

Anyone trying to get pictures or video of this, subtle or not, will notice Gar's eyes narrow visibly with Vorpal unable to see it from his position. The nuzzle itself is not a problem, hasn't been for quite some time, but he works an arm free and just as the last bit is coming out of Vorpal's mouth, whack goes the jester staff again. Right between the cat ears.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Youch! Hoisted on my own petard!" The cat yowls a bit, but doesn't let go of Garfield. Instead, he offers a kiss to the back of his neck as appeasement, and then he lets him go, grinning and rubbing the top of his head. "You know... if you're going to get you into Court Jester duds, I think we need to have an expert in the subject matter povide some assistance, you know?"

Yes, this might be revenge, as the cat brings out a cell phone from his pocket and dials a number. A few seconds later, and then he says into the mic:

"Haaaaaaaaaaaarleeey, my bestie- whatcha up to?"