MAY GROTTO PARTY

[goosemods]

MAY GROTTO PARTY

Welcome to another Grotto party, a.k.a. Micah St. Clair Celebrates Halloween Year-Round. In honor of the new stars of this year's musical, the theme is "Ghosts Are Our Friends": strips of white gauze hang from the trees, along with adorable ghosts made of similar gauze. More white-draped figures are scattered across the Grotto, some hand-in-hand like they're dancing in circles. Ghost-shaped lights with cartoonish faces cover the stone building where sounds of bottle-spinning can be heard. The logs by the bonfire are draped with white sheets, interspersed with fake gravestones borrowed from Drama Club. Two of the most prominent gravestones feature the names "MARG(ARET)" and "DANNY", and declare them the guests of honor.

The ghost decorations spread, somewhat distractingly, to the beer pong section of the Grotto, where this year's Quidpong Championships are being held. Ghost lights and white gauze adorn the tables, and hopefully none of the competitors crash into the ghosts on the grass. And as always, there's a movie being screened, this time the ghost story classic, The Others.

As nice as theme is, Gooseberry's actual ghosts are still banned from the Grotto... a fact that Nisha Lewis learns when they decide to walk alone, and end up in the company of a tall boy who calls himself Henry. He's pale but handsome, with a scarf tightly knotted around his neck. As they reach the Grotto, Henry stops and says, "We're not allowed," before suddenly vanishing into thin air.

RULES

• If this is your first time at a Grotto party, welcome! Although the Grotto is forbidden in the school rules, you can assume your characters a) have heard about the party and b) make it past any adults who are walking the trails. Just be casual!


• There are two routes to the Grotto: in the woods near Bear Trail, and in the woods near Ribbonfin campsite.


• The party starts at 6:30 PM, and runs until 10 PM. The prefects are strictly enforcing curfew, and will start breaking things up at 9:30 PM.

If you signed your character up for either Spin The Bottle or Seven Minutes In Heaven, find their partners below:

Evangeline Bagman STB #1: Avery STB #2: Pandora 7MIH: Riley	Jaime Castillo STB #1: Georgie STB #2: Grace	Avery Davenport STB #1: Eve STB #2: Madison 7MIH: Georgie	Balthazar Doyle STB #1: Chad STB #2: Karen 7MIH: Tally
London Holloway STB #1: Karen STB #2: Chad 7MIH: A freshman with an obvious cold.	Madison Ives STB #1: Riley STB #2: Avery 7MIH: Ruby	Pandora Lacey STB #1: Tally STB #2: Eve 7MIH: Grace	Georgiana Mills STB #1: Jaime STB #2: Ruby 7MIH: Avery
Ruby Oberholtzer STB #1: A freshman with an obvious cold. STB #2: Georgie 7MIH: Madison	Natalie Prince STB #1: Pandora STB #2: Salem 7MIH: Balthazar	Grace Sowerberry STB #1: Salem STB #2: Jaime 7MIH: Pandora	Riley Stamper STB #1: Madison STB #2: A freshman with an obvious cold. 7MIH: Eve
Salem Wagonblast STB #1: Grace STB #2: Tally 7MIH: Karen	Chad Winterbottom STB #1: Balthazar STB #2: London	Karen Zabinsky STB #1: London STB #2: Balthazar 7MIH: Salem

RULES

1. Teen peer pressure (and player sadism) aside, no one is obligated to do anything they don't want to. Characters doing Seven Minutes In Heaven can spend the time just talking or staring awkwardly at each other, and characters playing Spin The Bottle can opt out of a kiss (although people will probably boo).


2. If characters get up to anything more racy than PG-13, please fade to black on that! This includes sexually explicit conversations. Many people track IC/OOC posts, so please have consideration for your fellow players. Talking about sex is fine (and part of the flavour of a teen game), but there's no need to get into detailed descriptions of anatomy or sex acts.


3. If you'd like to say two characters were partners in STB or 7MIH in addition to what's been rolled, go ahead! Obviously, get the permission of all involved characters first.

» Before the Party: It's one of the last Grotto parties before the end of the year! If you've never gone before, now's your last chance. Come on come on come onnnnn.

» Around the Fire: The large bonfire is warm and romantic. Pull up a log and grab a blanket, make some s'mores, or dance to the party music. There's a karaoke setup for anyone who feels bold enough to sing along. If you don't care for music, there's beer and soda in the ice chests, along with bins for empty bottles and cans. Don't litter. This isn't your home.

» MOVIE SCREENING: THE OTHERS: Students sit around to watch the cult classic ghost story, 2001's The Others.

» Quidpong Championships: Not far from the bonfire, a few tables have been set up with Quidpong. Today, the tables will be dominated by the Quidpong tournament organized by Casey Patterson! Thank you to everyone who signed up in advance! Signups are currently closed.

» Inside the Building: This may be where the kissing games are taking place, but there's still some room to just snuggle and chat.

» Kissing Games:

• Spin The Bottle: Everyone sits in a circle and takes turns spinning the bottle to find their partner. Anyone who squeezes in (or happens to be accidentally standing behind a gap in the circle) gets a shot at a kiss. People can leave and enter the game at any time. Participants will be encouraged by their drunken classmates to kiss on the mouth.


• Seven Minutes in Heaven: "Heaven" is a narrow, closet-sized room adjacent to the main party, and is dark except for some cracks of light from the doorway. There's now a proper wooden door on the closet, and people will magically lock it behind you for 7 minutes. You can use your wand to get more light, but really, you two should be making out.

» By The Treeline: The prefects probably won't let you wander too far in, but why would you want to anyway?

» After the Party: At 9:30 PM, prefects will be clearing the party and guiding people home, so everyone can be in their cabins in time for curfew. Don't walk back alone!

» OOC - QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION

Comments

BEFORE THE PARTY

[goosemods]

Senior Azurbabes + Open

[riledup]

"I should get to go in my underwear again," Riley tries to argue, though she has nothing to back that argument up. But, honestly, who's going to stop you, Riley Mae. The only person you're hurting her is yourself.

@ Chickabro Cabin (Open to All Adjacent?)

[bubblewrapped]

Lucas lifts Danny (the cat, not the ghost or the coppertale) off his sweater and picks a couple of strands of long gray fur off before deciding it's now too coated in cat hair to wear. He sets her back down and turns away with a sigh. She returns immediately to her spot nested between the sleeves. Don't leave your shit lying around, Lucas.

"Last party of the year, chaps," he says gamely as he hunts in his belongings for a different monochromatic sweater. "Next year, we'll all be too busy having existential crises to party." Not that these kids are known for (a) partying particularly hard or (b) not having existential crises, already. "So I hope you're all going to enjoy it."

AROUND THE FIRE

[goosemods]

Fern & Open

[nothalfplaid]

Forest entities. A cabal of dark wizards with a name that also appears on Director Grimshaw’s business card. Ghosts being angry about a school musical. Mimics that can’t be hexed away anymore. Her dad had told her that he, nor any of the other faculty, would let them stay at school if they thought the student body was in danger, but not for the first time, Fern wonders if they are all fucking idiots. There’s a lot to be concerned about, and not a lot of clear solutions.

That’s for another time, though. She can’t do anything about it now, so she may as well drink until she can’t worry anymore. That’s healthy, right? Right. So, Fern lines up a row of shot glasses and grabs the nearest bottle of tequila.

Georgie & Open

[wholegrain]

"Oh nooo," Georgie half-whispers, head tilted as she looks over the gravestones. "Danny died." She sits down next to one, and her level of seriousness is difficult to nail down. "Goodbye forever, third place."

Chloe Paints Faces & Open to Multiple

[cmdrchloe]

When Chloe shows up at the party, she has what looks like an artist’s kit in tow. Is she planning on painting the scene, maybe? No, even better. What she pulls out of her messenger bag is a set of face paints. She claims a whole log by the fire for herself, setting up the paints on one side and leaving space on the other for people to sit down. “Okay!” she says, as soon as the seat is filled, “What would you like?”

Lilika & Casper (Just before Quidpong)

[lilipad]

In a not-so-shocking turn of events, Lilika is in a bit of a mood tonight. In reality, she's suffering from a fairly common case of second semester Senior nerves but there's no way she's going to admit to being scared about the future. She can see the future! The future is her bitch. Instead, she chalks up her anxious energy to the fact that Venus and Pluto are inconjunct right now and every idiot knows that means her desire for intimacy and her need to control are butting heads. Of course, old resentments are going to flare up! It's not her fault she's feeling needy, the planets are POISONING her.

Regardless of whether it's her own hormones or an onslaught of astrological bad juju that's making her feel vulnerable, the only clear cut solution is to numb the noise. Typically, Lilika only drinks when she's uncomfortable or feeling very, very safe and today she is the former. She's already had a couple of cups of poorly mixed Grotto party punch when she notices a crowd starting to form around the Quidpong tables.

Lilika hadn't planned on playing drinking games tonight but... why not?! The Sun and Pluto are in a harmonious angle with one another, so obviously it's a good night for partnerships and team sports. Instinctually, she glances around for her usual partners in crime but finds they're already all paired off—Riley and Cameron, Kenzie with her boyfriend, Addy and Kenzie's other boyfriend, Sofia ... probably off sucking face with Phin, if she had to guess. London looks like she's partnered up with Griffin, which is cute. Maybe he'll finally realize the 'L' on his Valentine's Day candygram was for London and not Linus all along. Heathcliff is with his sister, which is also very cute. Noel is nowhere to be found, which is less cute. It's a forgone conclusion that Webster will be paired off with Gwen, which is objectively SUPER cute and Lilika is theoretically super supportive of, yet it makes her feel more vulnerable than ever. Blame Venus and Pluto!

She takes another big swig of her sugary punch and sighs. Clearly, the stars aren't aligned and, if she had her tarot deck, she suspects Quidpong wouldn't be in the cards. She's about to give up when she spots Casper on the other side of the fire pit. All that sugar and ... rum(??) is making her feel a little fighty and she zeros in on the Ebonhide with single-minded fixation. A desire to piss off her absentee boyfriend, her lovestruck best friend, and his perfectly perfect girlfriend isn't the ONLY reason she suddenly decides that Casper would make the ideal Quidpong partner .... but it's not NOT the reason.

Without giving herself time to reconsider, Lilika marches straight up to Casper and taps him on the shoulder. "Be my partner," she gestures toward the Quidpong tables. There is no rising inflection at the end of her request.

Phineas Bones

[phin]

After at least five beers, Phineas serenades Sofia with a rousing rendition of Rihanna's "Only Girl in the World." Does he know the lyrics? A little. Is he committed to this interpretation? Absolutely.

Ebonhide Senior Boys

[casperkim]

Casper's still absorbing the unexpected disruption that made him and the other senior Ebonhide boys late for the Grotto party as the five of them settle near the fire and start on their first drinks of the night. The fact that he'd intended to stay sober and play chaperone doesn't occur to him. He's got other things on his mind now and that unnatural calm is still clouding his mind and someone had pushed it into his hand so...he takes a sip.

Then he shakes his head and looks at the others. "...Who knew the forest would be so strict. For fuck's sake." This complaint doesn't have much heat behind it, though. He still doesn't feel any.

Ira & Eileen

[ashworthless]

Ira's in a good mood, tonight, as one should be at a party. He'd discovered that maybe he and Spencer were perhaps better as platonic Quidpong partners, but it's fine. He'd made a good trade, anyway. He also hadn't brought a book to this party, a telltale sign in itself. He's separated from his date for a minute, and he doesn't even miss his opportunity for brushing up on Drunk Hermeticism. That's a kind of progress.

Instead of that, he wanders around looking for more bad ideas or at least more booze and finds both in his new best friend. He grins at Eileen and gestures for her to stay exactly where she is while he steals a bottle of bad whiskey and pours a generous amount into two solo cups. "It's the only drink I can make." He apologizes halfway while shoving one into her hands. "But I owed you a drink, probably." (Dirty Korean lessons are going well.)

Drunk Fishy Mom & Dad

[browbeats]

Rosy is a puncher. There are moods to her punches, there are degrees to her punches; there are happy punches, victory punches, angry punches, playful punches, sleepy punches, ... sneezy punches? Just all kinds of punches. And usually, she knows not to use any of them on her more sensitive friends, like her darling fish.

But Rosy just had a couple terrible rounds of beer pong and is very proud of Ferdie right now, so she's forgotten those rules. And also how to pull her punches.

"Ferdie fact number 251!" she shouts, socking him right in the arm. "He's a Quidpong prodigy." Also maybe dead. It's okay though, Rosy's a future Healer, she can handle that.

Karen & Open

[inksy]

Karen showed up to the party and stopped at the fire to just chill there for a little bit. It felt like it gave her the time to get the lay of the land. Karen did a bit of people watching and considered getting a drink.

MOVIE SCREENING

[goosemods]

Liberty & Open

[ghostbluster]

During the last Grotto party, Liberty had drank to excess. It hadn’t helped her in her endeavor to loosen up and find romance, and it certainly hadn’t improved her worldview the next morning, when she had pretty much wanted to die. Overall, though she wouldn’t call it a failed experiment (there’s no such thing as a failure when there’s data to be gleaned), it was a negative experience.

Still, maybe there’s a middle ground that could be fun without ending up with vomiting in a waste basket? It’s worth further experimentation, she thinks, sitting down to watch the movie with an alcohol-light mixed drink in hand.

QUIDPONG CHAMPIONSHIPS

[goosemods]

QUIDPONG: Instructions

[sunsoutgunsout]

• Please do not reply to this comment as I will need to edit it throughout the tournament.
• The deadline to sign up for the tournament has passed! New teams will no longer be accepted.

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Quidpong Tournament Instructions

• The tournament ends 11:59pm MST Sunday. If a champion has not manifested by that time organizers will roll the remaining matches until a team emerges victorious from the ashes.


• How do tournament matches work?
  Here is an example. In short, players are responsible for signing up for matches in the appropriate round and organizers will roll. Here is how last year's championship went.


• Only organizers can roll match results for plot reasons. Organizers are Alex, Cameron, Kas, Katie, Lyss, Manx, and Rin.


• My team won their match! What's next?
  Head to the next round by posting in an open Round 2 match. If you win that one, post in an open Round 3 match, and so on. This uses the honour system so please be don't move your team on if they lost a match!


• My team lost their match! What's next?
  If they lost their first match they're allowed to rematch once under "ROUND 1.5 (REMATCH)".
  If they lost a match in round 2+ they're out of the game. Sorry!


• Relief teams
  Relief teams are marked on the roster with an asterisk (*). They can only function as a relief team if they have already been eliminated from the tournament.
  In the event that there is an odd number of teams in a round, a relief team will step in and play against the loner team. If the loner team wins, they proceed. If they lose, they're done. A relief team cannot continue to the next round if they are playing in their capacity as a relief team.


P.S. A massive thank you to all organizers for their help!!! They are perfect in every way!!! ESPECIALLY ALEX WHO HAS HELPED ME SO MUCH TODAY ILU BB :*

QUIDPONG: Teams

[sunsoutgunsout]

• Please do not reply to this comment as I will need to edit it throughout the tournament.
• The deadline to sign up for the tournament has passed! New teams will no longer be accepted!
• Relief teams are marked with an asterisk *.

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Quidpong Tournament Teams

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Ebonhide * Antonia Iliya	👑 THE DEMON BEERBERS ON FLEEK STREET 👑 * Riley Cameron	STOKER STYLE   Rosemary Sylvester	SUN SHEEP *   Georgiana Marie
FORGET PERU *   Webster Gweneth	YAEGER'S Girlfriends *   Hazel Fern	VOTE FOR LEVI (PAID FOR BY LEVI KRAMER) Dinah Nisha	WELL-GROOMED WRIST *   Griffin London
WOEBEGONE WILDERNESS Ursula Ferdinand	NELL'S PARENTS * Casper Lilika	SMALL CHILD Archimedes Chad	BAD IDEA BOYS * Spencer Ira
CROOKED CUP * Jaime Adeline	ROYAL QUAIL * Mackenzie Ulysses	> PUGS * Pandora Heathcliff	SASSY STRANGERS * Ramon Balthazar
FLYING WASTOIDS * Wilde Clementine	RUSSIAN SINGLE * Micah Calvin	FRESH SASHIMI Tobias Natalie	FAIL TITLE Austin Todd
OBNOXIOUS ORNAMENT * Daniel January	BRING BLOOD Ariadne Jade

ROUND 1

[sunsoutgunsout]

ROUND 1.5 (REMATCH)

[sunsoutgunsout]

INSIDE THE BUILDING

[goosemods]

Addy & Nia

[addytives]

Addy had followed Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Ebonhide's Quidpong legacy even before she was dating one of the members, and had always been a superfan. She's super regretting tonight not making T-shirts or posters for them. Instead, she drags Nia away after their last, soul-crushing defeat and drapes herself over her like a blanket. A small, blonde, drunk blanket who'd been going drink for drink in support.

"You did so good, you're so good." She croons. "And I'm REALLY sorry for not making a t-shirt."

KISSING GAMES

[goosemods]

A FRESHMAN WITH AN OBVIOUS COLD (open to all)

[goosefresh]

They're wiping their nose on their sleeve and aren't bothering to cover their sneezes.

BY THE TREELINE

[goosemods]

London & Open

[beansontoast]

Solo had done his best to save London’s scrapbook, though the pages were still crinkly and the pictures had lost their vibrant color, and Rupert had saved even more of her pictures from the creepy ghost teacher thing, but she still needed to take more pictures to make up the difference.

Firelight pictures aren’t her favorite to take, but on the other hand, Grotto parties are a good source for juicy gossip. So, she brought her camera along to snap candid photos of her classmates.

AFTER THE PARTY

[goosemods]

OOC 🎉 DISCUSSION

[goosemods]

♥

Due to a lack of numbers for STB... we had to improvise. :)

Re: OOC 🎉 DISCUSSION

[wholegrain]

fuck I love you