I go "in character"

"You're going to the prom?"

I looked at my only female D&D gaming friend and, with a big smile, said, "And YOU, Lori, are going with me."

She laughed hysterically, then said, "Hell NO I'm not going to the prom. Why would I want to do that?"

I smiled broadly. Because we're going ... IN character."

Her broad smile of humor faded, then spread again. "You mean ... as Ezmerelda and Rayla?"

I nodded.

"But ... in character would mean ... wouldn't it mean--"

"IN character," I repeated. "As in ... in costume."

Our D&D group was a very serious group of pretenders, and when we got together to fight our way through an adventure, we -- the players -- did so in full costume applicable to our individual characters. Plus, while our characters fell into the normal 'career choices' of Fighter, Magic User, and more, they each had a 'cover' career choice that came into play occasionally.

Lori and I each played human characters, so it wasn't like we were going to be wearing fake ears, painting our faces green, or adding extra appendages to our costumes. But, we DID play some very interesting 'career choices' that came with their own 'interesting' costumes.

Come prom night, we strode into the ballroom...