gooseberryhigh | QUIDDITCH: May 6, Match #11

Entry tags:

QUIDDITCH: May 6, Match #11

EBONHIDE

RIBBONFIN

Conditions: Sunny, clear skies throughout the entire game. As with last year, there are a few well-dressed adults in the stands with Mrs. Bloom, presumably scouts for North American teams. Both cheer squads present their showstopper routines, but it's Captain Ives's squad that wins the most shouting and banner-waving from the audience. Team Ribbonfin might be in last place, but their fans have arrived in full-force to cheer them on.

0:00:00–0:30:00 — Quayle grabs the Quaffle; Ebonhide knocks out a quick series of goals with him on point. Bagman steals from Decourt and leads a few plays, but Wilde shrugs off everything that comes at him. Davenport soon rallies, blocks a shot from Decourt and hits it into Rush's hands, who scores the first goal for Ribbonfin. Score is 40–10 for Ebonhide.

0:30:00–1:00:00 — Davenport is focused now, blocking every shot that comes at her except for one sneaky throw by Quayle. Ribbonfin rallies. Just as they tie again, Ryder dodges a Bludger from Kim and crashes into Webb; Webb stays on his broom but Ryder falls off, hitting the ground. Pitchford is subbed in as Chaser. Score is 50–50.

1:00:00–1:30:00 — Ebonhide presses their advantage. They hammer Davenport, who can only block half the goals. Decourt, Quayle and Webb are a well-oiled machine, weaving and dodging, passing and scoring, almost untouchable. Popplestone sees the Snitch but holds back, knowing that Ribbonfin needs way more points to even have a shot at the Cup. She tries to chase the Snitch off, but North follows; Delgado and Evercreech get their bats on the Bludgers and hit both at North, who just manages to dodge by flipping under her broom. The Snitch disappears. Score is 100–70 for Ebonhide.

1:30:00–2:00:00 — Ebonhide stays strong, as the Ribbonfin Chasers start struggling as their Beaters switch their attention to the Ebonhide Beaters instead. They aim for Bailey, who has a harder time to keeping surprise Bludgers off her. Kim moves in to protect her, and gets a Bludger to the face by Evercreech. He's out cold. Chan subs in as Beater. This seems to shake Ebonhide; their Chasers struggle without Bailey and Kim backing them up. Ribbonfin ties again. Score is 110–110. It's anyone's game.

2:00:00–2:29:52 — Ribbonfin edges forward, with Bagman leading in scoring. Rush and Pitchford make solid backup, with all three players putting in goals past Wilde. 120, 130, 140... This is the best they've ever played. Popplestone spots the Snitch a second time; she considers holding out again, but North is too quick, and starts chasing the Snitch as she's thinking. Popplestone struggles to catch up, leaning low on her broom. She can't let her team down. Chan hits a Bludger at her but Popplestone dodges, barely slowing down. Everyone in the audience stands, screaming for their favorite team. The sound is deafening, but for North and Popplestone, the only thing they hear is their breath, the wind, and the fluttering of metal wings. They're shoulder-to-shoulder now, arms outstretched, fingers straining. Only one Seeker can be the best...

.
.
.
.
.

RIBBONFIN WINS
190–120

Whether you're a player, cheerleader or spectator, post below with your character's reactions! If you wish to post separately about the game, please use lj-cuts and mark for spoilers for the first 24 hours, so no one sees the result before reading the official match description.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

This was it, the last game of her high school career. It wouldn't be her last game ever - she was fortunate enough to have received a few scouting calls at this point - but she still felt like she needed to prove something here. She needed to win. Not just this game, but the Cup. This was her last chance for her team to win the cup. Last year was Ebonhide, Coppertale the year before that, and Azurcrest in her freshman year. Her sophomore and junior years saw Ribbonfin get so close to the cup but not manage to pull it out, last year being particularly devastating for the whole team, and Avery both as a player and as Captain.

She needed her team to win, but they'd been behind all year. If they could just get enough points, they might have a shot - and the stress she put on herself for that made her play terribly. She was never a good player when she was focused on winning, and she let her team down. It was even more apparent at the end, Gwen catching the Snitch put them at 190 points. That was totally doable, if Azurcrest and Coppertale had a low-scoring game, but she didn't block enough goals. If she had just blocked three more than what she had, they'd be in first and could cross their fingers for a low-scoring final game between the other two houses.

But she didn't. Her team played their hearts out, played better than she had ever seen them play. Gwen was amazing, holding off on the Snitch for as long as she could, outstripping North. No, it was on Avery - this win with such a bittersweet feeling of loss. By twenty stupid points, Ebonhide was in first and the best they could do was come in second. She felt sick, and she felt tired. When she landed, Avery made a point to check on Ryder and tell each one of her teammates just how spectacular they were and how well they played, how proud she was of them. They had struggled possibly more than any other team with cohesion and team atmosphere, but they'd pulled through it and played each and every game really well.

After her post-game speech, holding the pride and smiles began to be a little difficult and she heads off to wallow.

She feels metal on her fingertips until she doesn't, and then she realizes that Gwen has the snitch. She doesn't. Tuesday inhales, sharp. And then she flashes the biggest smile she ever has at the other seeker, because Gwen's a senior and deserves that catch. She could've done about a dozen tricks just there. But maybe she was too in her head. Maybe she was worried about Casper (she has to go check on Casper.) Or maybe she just wasn't good enough.

She doesn't land.

On land, there's a lot of people who will probably try to make her feel better, and she doesn't deserve that now, and a throng more of people who are disappointed. She can't quite face that. It's good being in the air, where she's not sure if her eyes are tearing up because she's going so fast or for stupid reasons. She flies high, high, up, obfuscating herself in the trees.

And then she's never seen again.
For like five minutes, it's fine, she'll land to shower eventually, tears gone and all hugs and apologies.

A rival Seeker, especially one who just took the Snitch, probably isn't the person who Tuesday wants to see when she does land. For that reason, Gwen doesn't immediately crowd her, or interfere with her teammates. But she waits for an opportunity, and takes it as soon as there is an opening.

"Hey, she says, without preamble, "you are an amazing Seeker. I was scared to fly against you this whole season. You are going to be one of the best. You got me?" She follows that with a small smile, hoping her words are taken sincerely.

Tuesday and Gwen

tues - 2018-05-07 05:00 (UTC) - Expand

Tuesday and Gwen

gwenniepop - 2018-05-07 05:05 (UTC) - Expand

Still stinging from the loss to Ilvermorny, Gwen isn't sure how to approach the game. She hasn't been able to discuss it with her cabinmates, hiding her dismay under all the talk about prom. Calvin is the only one who seems to really get it, and she probably spends a little too much time at his cabin, although thankfully Micah never complains. At least where she can hear it.

And yet, her mind goes crystal clear when she gets on the pitch. Somehow, the game seems less stressful in the wake of her anxiety over Ilvermorny; she knows these players, both her own team and the Ebonhide flyers. She knows how they play, how they move, their strategies and their methods. The math is already there in her head when she spots the Snitch, and only the stray thought goes by, every game I spot it right away and yet... She chases it enough to send it scrambling, barely looking as Calvin and Ramon back her up, as always.

It's a blur when she sees Casper hit, tumbling and unresponsive, and she only has time to be grateful that her own small scream is shrouded by the deafening noise of the spectators. Her grip is tight on her broom to keep from landing alongside his teammates, her heart up in her throat, but she keeps her expression to merely concerned, biting her lower lip savagely. He's taken to the infirmary, and then the game is back on, and when she sees the Snitch again, she has to suddenly check the score, having lost track in those precious minutes. Not enough, not enough..

But it has to be. Tuesday is already after it, and Gwen can't lose this. Not even for herself, but for Avery, and her teammates. She is prepared for some dazzling trick of the sophomore now, and bends lower over her broom, going faster and faster on pure willpower at this point. She has to outfly the other Seeker, this time, using her strength, her steadiness. She'll never outdo Tuesday in flashiness, but Gwen knows that she can stay on target like no one else.

Then she's landing, the tiny, cold ball clutched tightly in her fingers, and she looks around to center herself on the important faces, on Calvin, Avery, Ramon and Eve, her other teammates, and Webster when he comes to join them. There's smiling, cheering, but Gwen already knows it wasn't enough points, and that Avery will be heartbroken. There's nothing else she can do now. This was their last chance, and they didn't blow it completely, but the Cup was forever out of their grasp. Bittersweet, but she consoled herself that one last time, she got to be the best Seeker she could.

Ending up in the infirmary is becoming too regular an occurrence for the Ebonhide team, even for Clem. Since February:

She's been bashed in the head by a bludger.

She got hit by a bird and broke her ankle.

Quayle's been bashed in the head by a bludger.

She took another bludger to her arm.

Tuesday broke her leg.

Wilde got bashed in the head by a goalpost.

Casper has had his face newly rearranged by a bludger.

Even before Casper's injury today, the team has been worse for wear - and this is Tuesday and Wilde's third game in as many weeks. Their training schedule has been lax for awhile. Probably as lax as it's been since Clem's been on the team. So it's a little hard to not feel like the fact that they didn't play their best today isn't her fault. But she also knows that there's another timeline where she and Quayle ran the team harder and they had even more injuries today. They're 120 up from Azurcrest, and even though it'd take a pretty massive fuck-up of judgement on Jaime and Sy's parts to put them in first place at this point, it's a respectable showing. They've done well.

Still, she spends a little longer in the showers than she strictly needs to. Her bad shoulder is bothering her - she's not sure if she's actually pulled something, or she's just imagining things. Sympathy pains? Self-pitying pains? Something like that. Anyway, she's in there for a solid twenty minutes, long enough that the water has gone tepid. So she shouldn't be surprised that she isn't the first one to Casper's side in the infirmary after the game.

"Hey," she says, plopping down on the foot of Casper's bed, which she knows he's not going to like. She's not in a standing-on-her-own-two-feet kind of mood right now, though. "Good season, kids."

Clem's right that Casper doesn't want her perched on the end of his bed but that's mostly because he'd prefer to be alone. Because, despite all of his proclaimed disinterest and his dismissive attitude toward Quidditch, coming to in the infirmary instead of finishing the last game on the pitch leaves everything feeling somehow...incomplete. The knowledge that they'd lost doesn't help. The fact that his face still aches and his head still throbs doesn't either. Healer Mufferaw had taken care of the worst of the damage, a badly broken nose (that had bled everywhere) and a fractured cheek bone and a no small amount of bruising, but he'll still need some time to fully recover from taking a metal ball to the face.

Still. He knows why they're here and so pulls in a breath, silently resolving to act as fine as he can. He doesn't even complain about his captain's (former captian's?) chosen spot. Instead, he gives a small nod, "...We lost. But at least we made them fucking work for it."

Edited (Downplaying serious injuries whatev whatev. MAGIC. ) 2018-05-07 04:39 (UTC)

Meanwhile, on the Island of Broken Toys (Ebonquid)

neattrick - 2018-05-07 04:58 (UTC) - Expand

Meanwhile, on the Island of Broken Toys (Ebonquid)

tues - 2018-05-07 05:05 (UTC) - Expand

Meanwhile, on the Island of Broken Toys (Ebonquid)

ulixes - 2018-05-07 06:52 (UTC) - Expand

Meanwhile, on the Island of Broken Toys (Ebonquid)

destructobot - 2018-05-07 09:51 (UTC) - Expand

Meanwhile, on the Island of Broken Toys (Ebonquid)

ghostbluster - 2018-05-07 15:05 (UTC) - Expand

Meanwhile, on the Island of Broken Toys (Ebonquid)

ulixes - 2018-05-07 17:19 (UTC) - Expand

While JD never relishes in being subbed in when her teammates get hurt, she's in a prodigiously good mood this evening. It's been a rough season for them as a team, and this was absolutely their best match of the season. And she got to play in it! She even scored goals! She might just be riding a victory high, because she's almost sad there aren't going to be any chaser positions available next year or she'd consider going out for that instead.

Ribbonfin celebrations are always pretty low-key, but tonight's an especially mellow evening. JD's set up little fairy lights all around the camp in olive and copper, and they twinkle over the dark surface of Rainbow River. She's also charmed the fire to burn a festive green, casting a surreal light around the campsite. She never skimps out on snacks, but she's busted out the big guns for tonight's celebration. She's serving up s'mores that she claims are Xavier Lewis Inspired!, although her tastes aren't quite as adventurous as his were. She'll still give you an experimental s'more if you want one.

Unbeknownst to her, Jonah is offering to pair your fancy s'mores with a spiked warm drank. He is extremely good at dodging her watchful gaze, and she has no idea this is happening all evening.

(Leave a comment here and I'll randomly generate you a fancy s'more! And a complementary fancy boozy hot drink if your character is a MISCREANT!)

"Oh, my god, please hook me up," Gwen murmurs as she stumbles out of the senior cabin, showered and changed and exhausted. "I need something edible, and.....is that fire green?" She looks around the campsite a bit warily, noticing the tiny it casts on everything. It's decidedly unusual.

Gwen & JD

electable - 2018-05-07 05:07 (UTC) - Expand

Gwen & JD

gwenniepop - 2018-05-07 05:10 (UTC) - Expand

After penning a journal to her teammates encouraging them to come out for S'mores (and finding out JD was already on it), Avery takes a few minutes to wallow in self-pity and frustration before putting on the smile and shrugging off the negativity. They played amazingly, and setting aside the Cup and this being their last game - her last game - she can revel in this particular victory. Better late than never, and they had certainly flown like the absolutely brilliant team they were.

She takes herself outside, not bothering with a jacket or blanket. The weather was nice enough, and she enjoyed feeling the breeze on her skin. "Hey JD, these look... Interesting? But really good." And yes, she absolutely wants something boozy.

i lied about it being 1-2 hours but zombies happened

Game Length: 2h 29m 52s
Final Score: 190–120 (140–120 without Snitch)

EBONHIDE
# goals blocked by Wilde: 9
# goals scored by Decourt: 5
# goals scored by Quayle: 3
# goals scored by Webb: 4

RIBBONFIN
# goals blocked by Davenport: 13
# goals scored by Bagman: 6
# goals scored by Rush: 4
# goals scored by Ryder: 1
# goals scored by Pitchford: 3

Edited 2018-05-07 04:20 (UTC)

Good last game ever, Casper.

I'm dying.

At least it didn't happen in the first 30 minutes adisngasd

i think every single ebonhide player has been severely injured in the last month or so

PLAYERS & CHEERLEADERS

Avery (&open, if you wanna)

Tuesday

Tuesday and Gwen

Gwen and OPEN to multiple (especially the extra-evil Calvin)

AUDIENCE REACTIONS

AFTER THE GAME

Meanwhile, on the Island of Broken Toys (Ebonquid)

Meanwhile, on the Island of Broken Toys (Ebonquid)

Ribbonfin Victory S'mores Cookout! (Open to Anyone~)

Ribbonfin Victory S'mores Cookout! --Gwen and open

Ribbonfin Victory S'mores Cookout! - Avery and open

OOC 💫 QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION

OOC 💫 GAME STATS

Re: OOC 💫 QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION

Re: OOC 💫 QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION

Re: OOC 💫 QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION

Re: OOC 💫 QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION

Re: OOC 💫 QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION

Re: OOC 💫 QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION

Re: OOC 💫 QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION

Re: OOC 💫 QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION

Re: OOC 💫 QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION

Re: OOC 💫 QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION

Re: OOC 💫 QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION