BIG BIRDIES' BYE-BYE BBQ BEACH BASH

[quinning]

BIG BIRDIES' BYE-BYE BBQ BEACH BASH

It's a hot and sunny afternoon as students in swimwear and sun hats begin to arrive at the clearing behind the lodge. Let the annual Azurcrest Parting Party begin!

Each year's senior Azurcrest class holds a (staff-approved) "Parting Party" for the student body to celebrate all the adventures they've had and friends they've made at Gooseberry High. It's also tradition for them to outdo the previous class' efforts. Last year's theme was The Mighty Jungle; the rope-swing course over Lake Gooseberry was legendary!

This year, though, the big blue jays think they have a strong contender. Sand is laid over the whole clearing to expand the modest beach. Umbrellas and lounge chairs evocative of a resort dot the 'beach' and the summer-ready tunes of DJ Levi Kramer pump across the party. At one point, "You Reposted in the Wrong Neighbourhood" begins to blare over the speakers—disaster is in the air, but Oscar Zabinsky saves the day and skips to the next track before any teachers hear the questionable chorus.

The Azurcrests are throwing a...
BARBECUE BEACH BASH!

A Slippery Surprise

The first thing students see as they round the corner of the lodge is very large and very blue: it's A GIANT SLIP 'N SLIDE! Starting atop a hill behind the lodge, it ends with a small ramp to launch adventurous teens into Lake Gooseberry.

In true Gooseberry fashion, [Volunteer B] starts a competition to find out who can shoot the furthest off the Slip 'N Slide. Meanwile, [Volunteer C] tries to impress [The Apple of Their Eye] by sailing off the ramp and catching a beachball mid-air... but it's intercepted by Goosey, who punts it back to shore with her tail! Whoa! Apparently even lake monsters wanna have fun.

While swimming in the lake under the bright summer sun is fun, especially after a ride on a giant Slip 'n Slide, isn't life even more fun with a little competition? At some point, Susana Velasquez climbs up onto Antonia Papadakis' shoulders and challenges nearby classmates to a game of CHICKEN! The game quickly catches on and students are soon cheering and whooping while their peers try to knock each other into the water.

Cookout & Bonfire

After a cookout dinner grilled by the seniors and a few enthusiastic staff (in thematic aprons!), the party heads up the hill to Azurcrest to end as it always does: with a bonfire.

Wyatt Winslow's improvised song about the Gooseberry houses, to the tune of [Song of Their Choice], is an instant hit.

The final ballad of the night is also the final tradition of the day—a heart-wrenching rendition of [A Song Suggested by the OOC Studio Audience, Please Take Pity on Me, This Is a Very Long Post] performed by the Parting Party seniors. Although not a senior, Jefferson Key joins with such gusto that they're ushered in to finish the song with the rest of the pack. The crooning of Mercedes Estrada and Quinn Cunningham lead some to question whether or not they actually practiced like they insist they did. (They did, but they're... just that bad.)

When curfew falls and it's time to go home, house groups gather and walk back to their camps while the graduates-to-be clean up the evidence from their final Parting Party.

RULES

• The whole school is invited! The Parting Party happens every June and characters will already know what & when it is.


• Summer clothing and swimwear is recommended but there is no dress code. Clean Azurcrest gym shirts are available for those who prefer to wear them when swimming or sliding.


• The party begins at 3:00 PM.


• Dinner is served at 6:30 PM.


• The beach segment packs up and moves to Azurcrest for a bonfire when the sun begins to set at 8:00 PM.


• The evening concludes at 9:45 PM. Students gather into prefect-led house groups and walk back to their respective camps.


• All contraband is contrabanned. Yes, even though this is an Azurcrest fête.

---

RULES: SLIP 'N SLIDE

• The Slip 'N Slide is safe! This isn't another extreme sledding incident. There are charms to keep students from veering off of the slide and everything has been triple-checked by staff.


• More charms keep the slide wet at all times.


• Only one person on the slide at a time.


• No animagus forms allowed. (You have claws, children.)


• You only have one chance to compete. You can now compete twice! Feel free to fill out the form more than once twice, but don't expect a score for extra runs!


• Your highest score will count toward the competition and the house sums.


• No magic use is allowed in the competition.


• There's no prize for the winner; consider it a metaphor for adulthood.


• The winner will be decided Sunday, June 4 at 5:00 pm MST.

» Before the Party: Set-up time for the senior Azurcrests is primp 'n preen time for the rest of Gooseberry!

» Beach & Lake: Whether students want to relax, chat, or play, there's plenty to do! Beachy ambiance is provided by picnic tables, beach chairs and chaises, large towels, and colourful beach umbrellas to provide shade (and modest privacy). Nets for volleyball and badminton are set up, and when in doubt... you can always swim in the lake or build sand castles on the shore!

» Chicken! Post a comment with the first team's names (ex. Ty & Hazel vs. ???), stating which is the vehicle (the person on the bottom) and which is the attacker (the person on top). Then another team can claim the match à la beer pong (ex. Ty & Hazel vs. Casey & Riley), stating who fills the same roles. Katie and Rin will roll your results!

» Slip 'N Slide: The bright blue plastic runs down a steep hill behind the lodge and ends with a small ramp that launches adventurous teens into Lake Gooseberry.

• Slip 'N Slide rules can be found under Rules.


• Sliders compete to find out who can fly the furthest off the ramp!


• Post the below form on the Slip 'N Slide thread to receive your score! You can only compete once You can compete twice, but if you are not competing, you can post as many times as you like and don't need to use the form! :)

<b>Character Name:</b> <b>House:</b> <b>Their slidin' style:</b> Do they do the classic 'stomach or bust,' or do they try something more adventurous like holding a pose, beginning with a cartwheel, or going down backwards? (This has no bearing on RNG. Probably. Unless I get Inspired.) <b>Anything Else?:</b>

Azurcrest	Coppertale	Ebonhide	Ribbonfin
333'10"	263'2"	143'1"	225'1"

Longest Distance: Samantha Sweeney @ 47'6"!
Their flight was 7.5ch long.

Totals were last updated after Fern Mufferaw's first attempt.
» Cookout: The evening's chefs—the ten seniors and a handful of generous staff members (Mr. Merrill, Mr. Elmasry, Ms. Thrussell, and Ambrosia)—slip on puntastic aprons in Azurcrest blue and grill up some grub! The menu consists of hot dogs, hamburgers, and corn on the cob. As always, meat-free alternatives are available and cooked on uncontaminated barbecues. (The less competent cooks have been given less vital tasks.)

Toward the end of the meal, a cake of monstrous proportion is brought outside and students are forced invited to sing "Happy Birthday" to birthday twins Laurel and Ivy Templeton!

Ambrosia:	FEELING PECKISH?	Henrietta:	Eagle-eyed
Mr. Elmasry:	Eggcellent chef	Jesse:	Hawkward!
Mr. Merrill:	TOUCAN SAY THAT AGAIN	Laurel:	Shake a tail feather
Ms. Thrussell:	Songbirds duet better	Levi:	BIRD IS THE WORD
Cecil:	PAPA BIRD	Mercedes:	Free as a bird
Diego:	Cheep and cheerful	Quinn:	FLYING THE COOP
Drusilla:	MIGRATING SOUTH	Ryan:	Trick or tweet

» Bonfire: Parting Parties always end with a large bonfire back at camp. Songs, s'mores, and stories are exchanged as friends snuggle up under blankets and swat away the season's first mosquitoes.

» End of the Night: When curfew falls and it's time to go home, house groups gather and walk back to their camps while the graduates-to-be clean the campsite. Azurcrest non-seniors are welcome to stick around and lend a hand.

» OOC - Questions, comments, concerns!

Comments

BEACH & LAKE

[quinning]

Quinn! (open to multiple~)

[quinning]

From stupid dances to playoff beards, you might have noticed that Quinn loves traditions. She's all about the Parting Party and in particularly high spirits today as she moves between organizational tasks, hanging off of her friends' arms, and pestering people to play volleyball (when she scores a point she insists teammates call her 'Iceman'; at least she is wearing the aviators). She takes the occasional breather in a lounge chair, buuut they're rare.

The day's outfit isn't anything fancy but it does its job as she flits about, and she's got a loose, white collared shirt that ties around her waist in case a situation calls for a coverup—but she's kind of vain and into passively showing off the hard-earned results of all that time in the weight room and calculating her macros? So... only expect that in case of an emergency.

Quinn and Oscar

[dumb_ass]

Oz is dressed in just his swim shorts though he's sure there's a t-shirt around there somewhere. He's been training so hard trying to do well enough to make it on the Quidditch team next year he's actually been trying to work out and stuff and it's showing. Nerdy Oz is no more still around but slightly more physically in-shape!

Spotting Quinn who he knew was instrumental in setting up this amazing parting event, he slides up to her and bumps her hip with his lightly. "Awesome Party, Quinn!"

Quinn and Oscar

[quinning]

Quinn gives Oz a warm smile as she returns the hip bump. Oh, her darling junior jays. "Think you'll be able to do one better next year?"

Quinn and Oscar

[dumb_ass]

"Better? Never. I can only hope to come close." He replies, grinning. "I'll probably have better taste in music, though, and not try and get us all in trouble with meme music."

Iceman & Maverick

[jijmjr]

If Jesse were capable of experiencing complex emotions, he'd probably be feeling a little nostalgic about his last Parting Party but instead he's imagining his bright future with his bestie. Literally bright. Sunshine every day. "So, you think Iceman can get used to this?" he asks, as he digs through his functional and fashionable fanny pack for a sunscreen stick.

Iceman & Goose

[quinning]

"Iceman," Quinn replies with a tip of her aviators that she totally bought after seeing Top Gun last summer, "loves the hell out of this." She does love everything the summer has to offer, it just so happens that she loves the winter multitudes more. Snatching the sunscreen stick out of his hands to check that it isn't just Chapstick for Giants™, she admits to her master plan: "Iceman is also going to get to a rink via portkey and play in a regular-fucking-league again. Maybe even back home."

Lucas! Avoids! The! Sun! (Open)

[bubblewrapped]

Lucas maybe overdid it on the sunscreen. But, really, can you overdo it on sunscreen? Because, well... you know. ;) Lucas, personally, feels that he used the exact right amount of sunscreen. And does not give even one shit if you think he looks ridiculous with it smeared across his face (don't overdo it on the posturing, kid).

He plants himself beneath a colorful umbrella, sets out a couple of books about the history of mining in Utah and then promptly forgets about them in favor of beginning construction on what I'm sure will be a truly elaborate sandcastle.

Lucas! Avoids! The! Sun! )Somewhere in the distance, somebody's mother approves.)

[professionalcorpse]

So maybe Bash had been driving Wyatt himself up the wall and had been unceremoniously dragged kicked out of the cabin under the threat of totally not demonic but definitely illegal murder. Or maybe he just really liked umbrellas. Either way, the end result is the same: Great strides are being made on the becoming a human freckle front.

He's relatively sure that he'd meant to go and get something to eat. But, y'know, things happen. So he's flopping down into the sand instead, mindful of the construction. "Did you remember to install the horrifying torture dungeon?"

Could he still go and get a hotdog? Sure. But he's already here. And attempting to pull a Kryponian and fuel his body through the power of sunlight alone also seems like a legit option.

Lucas & Bash

[bubblewrapped]

Lucas glances up at Bash and after a beat snaps his fingers and points at him. "Horrifying torture dungeon. Knew I was forgetting something."

Trying to suppress a grin and sound as mournful as possible, he says, "Now I've gotta apply for all new permits. Get the whole site re-inspected." Lucas shakes his head at Bash, like this is all very serious. "I'm not cut out for contractor work." He pauses, and shrugs in the direction of his no-longer-up-to-code-sandcastle-venture. Tone back to (mostly) normal. "What's up? Wanna help?"

Lucas & Bash

[professionalcorpse]

"They always forget the horrifying torture dungeon," he agrees, heaving out a very heavy sigh and propping an elbow on his knee, chin cupped in his palm. "Happens all the time. They're surprisingly easy to overlook."

Bash waves his free hand. "But it's all good. I know a guy." Then he straightens, shuffling forward a bit and grinning crookedly. "I feel like we could whip this place into shape in no time." His hands clap together, brushing off sand in an effort that's both futile and kind of pointless considering his plans for the near future. "As for what's up - um. Me? I think? I'm reasonably sure that I am both awake and speaking sentences out loud." A personal victory, to be sure.

Lucas & Bash

[bubblewrapped]

As he stares down at the sand, moving it around a bit and consolidating his thoughts, that grin he was fighting finally wins out. "Cool. Horrifying torture dungeon will up the property value, too. Especially if you put it in the listing as a rec room." Lucas might not actually know what he's talking about at all, but he sure sounds convincing.

He thinks about bringing up the seance, and immediately decides he really, really does not want to. Present company is too pleasant to go there. He settles on just saying, "Good. How about a moat?"

Samantha & Open to Multiple

[oh_girl]

Music, beach, swimming, slides, etc? This was Sam's scene and there was no way in hell she was going to miss it! She dons her favorite beach outfit and heads out to enjoy the warm weather and party atmosphere. It's still sad, reminding her that the year was almost over and she finds herself actually being introspective about it. Damnit, Solo. Stop making her think so much.

Wanting to ignore the sudden sadness and overwhelming realization she was going to miss this place a lot over summer, she strips off her shorts and tank top in favor of a bathing suit so she can splash around in the water. Swimming is one of her favorite things to do, the whole boating incident completely forgotten.

Etta

[unregrettable]

Is this the best Parting Party ever? Hell yes it is. Maybe there'll be time for lying around and sunbathing later, but right now Etta wants to do ALL THE THINGS. Anyone up for a game of beach volleyball?

(Don't bother pointing out that her bikini doesn't match. She knows. She doesn't care. She may even have bought it like that but who can be sure?)

Diego makes Ravi's life difficult. (open)

[indiefolk]

Diego knows Ravi will be on the shore "reading" all afternoon, like he always does whenever he's faced with water. It's not a point worth arguing, and honestly, it doesn't bother Diego. In fact, it's an opportunity to play one of their "favorite" games: Make Ravi Pretend He's Not Checking Diego Out.

And so the first thing Diego does once Ravi gets settled is take off his shirt and toss it at Ravi's face before strutting off to the water's edge. He only looks over his shoulder at Ravi once.

Jade is Not Actually Judging You *OPEN*

[odder]

This event is much more California than New York, and that's not typically Jade's scene. But it's for the seniors in her house, and so it would've been rude not to go. So she's strutting around in big sunglasses and a grandma swimsuit. She's not going to go on any slip'n'slide, and her Chicken skills will have to be saved for only the deserving.

What she can do, though, is sit in one of the chairs by the shore, painted toes dangling in the water. It would've been a good place for a book, but she doesn't really feel like reading. She's been preoccupied lately, and that feels strange. And bad. There's no better way to reset than cooly sipping lemonade while raising eyebrows at people to pretend she's subtly judging them from behind her sunglasses, and that's exactly how Jade plans to spend today.

Jade & Cole

[colemoss]

Cole doesn't mind parties but he often ends up as an outsider looking in when he attends one, observing more than participating or simply finding a different way to take part. This party is no exception. With everything that's been going on lately and with his mood caught somewhere between tense and pensive and simply unhappy, he almost hadn't come at all, but he has enough friends among the Azurcrests that just not showing up seemed...strange. So he'd come and fallen hard into old habits instead. He hasn't been in the water yet, a fact which is made readily apparent by the fact that he's completely dry and hasn't shed his t-shirt or his light jacket or event his sandals yet. And maybe a bit moreso by the fact that he's got a satchel hanging across his body and a sketchbook in his hand and a pencil stuck behind one ear. If he's been doing anything at this party so far, it's been drawing. Not swimming.

There are a lot of chairs lined up by the shore, but the one beside Jade is one of the few that isn't occupied and so that's the direction he heads, pausing before he sits and waiting for her to look up at him. He doesn't say anything immediately and may not at all unless she prompts him, but his faintly hopeful expression and raised eyebrows get the message across.

Jade & Cole

[odder]

There's a few seconds where Jade pretends not to even see Cole. After all, he's not saying anything. He could not even want to talk to her. He can sit where he wants. Honestly, in any day leading up to this, she would've probably found it a fun game to keep up this ruse for at least another ten minutes, before she sauntered away, not really caring about his desire to speak.

Today, though, after what they'd all been through on Thursday, she couldn't quite do that in good conscience. After the requisite five seconds to demonstrate to Cole how he really shouldn't be impeding on her time, she takes a pointed sip of her drink and pushes her sunglasses up over her nose, into her hair.

"Hi, Cole." She half-sighs, resigned. A tiny quirk of her eyebrow is intended to remind him to not mention any shared trauma they, as far as anyone here knew, had no reason to have experienced. "How are you?"

Jade & Cole

[colemoss]

"Hi, Jade." A tiny quirk of eyebrow is far too subtle to convey anything to Cole and he responds to her question by glancing down at the ground and biting his lip for a moment. It's not difficult to see that he's troubled by what happened the other night. Tense. Uncertain. And tired. "Bad," he says finally, "I went to the campout last night. I...shouldn't have gone to the campout last night."

Then he looks at Jade. "How're you?"

Jade & Cole

[odder]

Jade looks up and around, to see if someone's near to hear him almost talking about things he shouldn't be talking about. There's no one, really. She moves to put her glasses back over her eyes, but even Jade knows this wouldn't be the sneaky disguise she might hope for, and eventually just leaves them as they are. She does slip toward the front of her chair so she can lean closer to Cole and lower her voice. Just in case.

"I'm all right." She waves off the question, easy. "Did something else happen at the campout?" Her voice has a more panicked edge than she'd usually allow. That doesn't mean a thing.

Tess + Open to Multiple

[noblewon]

There may be a mystery in the woods and Auror training looming on the horizon, but today there's a beach at the school and a farewell party. There's barbecue, a slip and slide, chicken, and Tess is ready to party.

Ari & Open

[untarnish]

"Swimsuit" was one of those things on the packing list for Gooseberry that filled Ariadne with a sense of impending doom, but she did in fact bring one, and she's wearing it now, along with the lace shawl-thing and big floppy hat she wore over spring break. And the stupid American flag novelty sunglasses Ulysses won for her in the arcade. Sue her, it's bright out. The bikini was supposed to look nautical, but instead she looks like she belongs in a Fourth of July commercial for the GAP. Believe her, she's aware.

Ari's fair complexion means that spending anything upwards of five minutes in directly sunlight will result in sunburns and/or freckles, so she's camped out underneath a beach umbrella. She's finished reading Frankenstein and has moved on to A Game of Thrones, but even though she has the unwieldy paperback book on her lap she's not actually reading it. She's been super absent-minded since Thursday. Approximately twenty of you know exactly why.

Chloe + Open

[cmdrchloe]

For the most part, Chloe is content to spend her time on the sidelines. Why does everything have to be a competition? Can't they just relax and hang out?

Of course, as usual, she can be talked into just about anything with the slightest application of peer pressure.

Chloe & Drive-by Ivy

[duelled]

Ivy's on her way somewhere else, but she sees your dinosaur swimsuit, Chloe! She points right at her and yells "STEGOSAURUS" like the overenthusiastic dinosaur nerd she is.

Re: Chloe & Drive-by Ivy

[cmdrchloe]

Chloe jumps, a little startled, and she may be the only person who can look a little afraid and happy at the same time. "Oh! Thank you!" she says.