goosemods: (Other - Quidditch.)
Gooseberry Mods ([personal profile] goosemods) wrote in [community profile] gooseberryhigh2017-10-08 02:00 pm

QUIDDITCH: October 8, Match #1

COPPERTALE

EBONHIDE

“Welcome, one and all, to the second most anticipated event of October!” Announcer Lee’s voice booms out of the magical loudspeakers as everyone finds a place in the stands—staff and students alike, and even a few black-robed MACUSA officials lead by Agent Larke, who can be overheard assuring her colleagues that Gooseberry High plays amazing Quidditch. Light snow is anticipated for later in the evening, but for now, the sky remains gray and partly cloudy.

On the field, cheerleaders are still stubbornly wearing their warm weather uniforms as they line up for the opening routines prepared by Captains Powers and Patterson. “Of course, everyone knows the incomparably lovely and talented Captain Vee, who cheered for Ebonhide every step of the way as we crushed all the competition last year,” Lee starts off. Despite the announcer’s obvious bias, Coppertale still wins screaming cheers from the crowd as they demonstrate that the squad’s dance legacy remains intact.

The three captains meet in middle for the customary pregame handshake, but Stoker pointedly only shakes hands with Decourt before walking back to his team. There’s little time for Decourt and Quayle to discuss what just happened, as it’s time for the players to take to the air. “Oh dear, that was awkward,” comments Lee. “There isn’t any truth to those love triangle rumours, is there?”

Coach Thorn throws the Quaffle up high, and elbows fly as the Chasers jostle each other for the Quaffle. It’s beefy Chaser Lacey who breaks out of the melee with the ball under his arm. He makes it a fair distance until he spots Beaters Bailey and Kim catching up to the Bludgers, so he throws an impressively long shot—but it’s handily blocked by Keeper Wilde. With both of their Beaters now on the Bludgers, Ebonhide easily takes possession next.

Over the next 20 minutes, Ebonhide shows they’re the more experienced Chaser team, and knocks out a 30–10 lead. This becomes 40–10 only a few minutes later when Chaser Decourt, neatly dodging a Bludger sent by Beater Meer, passes under Lacey’s broom to Chaser Quayle. Keeper Velasquez is milliseconds too late to stop him. The purple-clad supporters cheer, along with Announcer Lee. “Good try, Velasquez! I think your fingertips touched that one! Everyone, let’s pray she can get closer than that today, or this will look very bad for our favourite foxes.”

At the same time, Chaser Lewis weaves through the other team’s defenses, just barely avoiding getting hit as Beater Kim’s Bludger takes off the last inch of her ponytail. When Chaser Stoker manages to grab the Quaffle next, she’s in position to catch the ball from him and score on Wilde. Lewis also scores the next goal for Coppertale after that, but the tight teamwork of Ebonhide continues to keep them ahead.

Above the drama, Seeker Wainwright carefully circles the pitch, hoping to avoid a repeat of the last time he ended a match after only 20 minutes—or so Lee speculates during a lull in the action, giving everyone a play-by-play of what happened to ruin Coppertale’s chances at the 2014 Quidditch Cup. Ms. Vector can be heard cutting in as Lee sighs, “It’s honestly such a pity,” and ordering him to focus on the present. The pointed commentary might be the reason why it’s Seeker North and not Wainwright who sees the Snitch flitting very obviously around the Ebonhide goal posts. She hesitates, but not long.

The Chasers are busy jockeying for possession of the Quaffle, which ends with Lacey bumping shoulders with Decourt and taking the Quaffle from her. Lacey turns for the Ebonhide goal, and is knocked hard in the elbow as North swoops around him. He drops the Quaffle, but it’s caught by Stoker. Seconds behind North is Wainwright, hot on her tail, both Seekers punching through the cluster of Chasers to pursue the Golden Snitch. It’s still ten minutes before the hour mark, the score 50–40 for Ebonhide. Quayle takes advantage of the excitement to grab the Quaffle right out of Stoker’s hands, and he gets it to Webb. The Beaters scramble, looking for a clean target; it’s Barringer who gets to a Bludger first and sends it rocketing towards the Seekers. Wainwright pulls up just in time, but North doesn’t. Her broom is sent spinning through the air, and she nearly collides with Keeper Wilde. Chaser Webb scores on a frustrated Velasquez, bringing the score up to 60–40. The Snitch is lost.

There’s a break to discuss the Ebonhide Seeker’s status. North insists she’s good to go save for some bruises, while Stoker calls down his players for a talk. “Big surprise, Captain Stoker is steamed. Or wait—is that actually strategy he’s discussing?” Lee wonders. “Strategy” apparently takes the form of slamming hard into Chaser Decourt the next time she has the Quaffle. Decourt swings sideways on her broom as she takes the impact, and aims a kick back at Stoker, catching him in the jaw. Coach Thorn blows the whistle on them, but given that both Chasers committed fouls, he awards a penalty shot to both teams. Webb takes it for Ebonhide, but Velasquez makes up for earlier and blocks it. Lacey’s up next, and fires a surprisingly powerful throw that gets in past Wilde. The game resumes.

The rest of the match becomes a furious back and forth, with Coppertale playing rougher than ever to claim the Quaffle and get it to Lewis, who has a knack for popping into Keeper Wilde’s field of vision only when it’s too late to stop her. The Beaters appear evenly matched, neither pair allowing the other to do more than get a near-miss on any players. But things change, as it always does when the minutes tick by, and the players get more and more tired swinging a heavy bat. The next time Lewis has the Quaffle, Kim chases down a Bludger—but Barringer’s there, ready to block him. Instead, he hits it towards Bailey, who’s in perfect position but not ready for the force of his Bludger, and she fumbles her aim. Lewis dodges easily, and Meer flies in behind her, swinging her bat. The Bludger slams into Webb’s upper arm, fracturing the bone. Now 90 minutes into the match, Coppertale finally ties, 100–100.

Although Webb’s able to fly himself to the ground, Healer Mufferaw that he needs medical attention, and Captains Decourt and Quayle call for Reserve Rose to tag in. The announcer is particularly enthusiastic about this change-up: “New to the team this year, Rose may look diminutive, but he’s a star in the making. Mark my words!” Sadly, this praise doesn’t get much chance to be proven, as the Snitch is spotted ten minutes later when Seeker Wainwright suddenly streaks across the pitch, an orange blur followed three seconds behind by a purple one. Unfortunately for North, three seconds is all Coppertale needs. She’s just caught up to him when she hears, booming across the whole pitch: “Aaaaand Wainwright’s caught the Snitch! I repeat, he has the Snitch! That’s right, everyone—”
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COPPERTALE WINS
150–110
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. Sorry this took so long! I ended up having to reroll the events for the second half of the game because what I wrote for the first half didn’t work well for the flow of the match anymore. HOPEFULLY STILL EXCITING?
bitterlysweet: (14)

Spencer provides peer pressure.

[personal profile] bitterlysweet 2017-10-09 04:25 am (UTC)(link)
ARE YOU SHY? ARE YOU SAD??? DID YOUR TEAM LOSE OR WIN OR DO LITERALLY ANYTHING????

Spencer is here to lure your character into a questionable party at Coppertale. There's not as much booze as there would be at a Grotto party, but if you want to loosen up and get to second base with someone (someone = probably Spence), now's your chance.
theniceboy: (pic#11151839)

Re: Spencer provides peer pressure.

[personal profile] theniceboy 2017-10-09 04:27 am (UTC)(link)
Solo agrees to attend the coppertale victory party before he's reminded he needs to go get his arm taken care of
ulixes: (♔ 24)

Re: Spencer provides peer pressure.

[personal profile] ulixes 2017-10-09 04:28 am (UTC)(link)
Solomon fuckin' Webb.
Edited (don't think you can get away with this just 'cause it's 5am GMT) 2017-10-09 04:29 (UTC)
byebyebirdies: (- legit pout)

Re: Spencer provides peer pressure.

[personal profile] byebyebirdies 2017-10-09 04:43 am (UTC)(link)
Cor can walk Solo to the infirmary because she's pretty sure that's her fault you need two good arms to not die on the way.
oh_girl: (say what)

Re: Spencer provides peer pressure.

[personal profile] oh_girl 2017-10-09 04:46 am (UTC)(link)
Sam may glare at her, but less if Cor can help Sam drag Solo to the infirmary and stop hugging everyone, Solo!
theniceboy: (pic#11151839)

Re: Spencer provides peer pressure.

[personal profile] theniceboy 2017-10-09 04:47 am (UTC)(link)
Okay but guys everybody needs to know that they played good
theniceboy: (Default)

Spencer provides peer pressure.

[personal profile] theniceboy 2017-10-09 06:09 am (UTC)(link)
If Cor does walk him to the infirmary he's pretty sure you don't actually need two good arms to not die on the way?, Solo has a lot more praise to tell her about how she played today, but the praise isn't empty or vague.

Re: Spencer provides peer pressure.

[personal profile] phin 2017-10-09 04:53 am (UTC)(link)
Stick and pokes? :p
bitterlysweet: (L54)

Re: Spencer provides peer pressure.

[personal profile] bitterlysweet 2017-10-09 04:54 am (UTC)(link)
Spencer technically has Cash's blessing soooooooo....

Yes. :)
ashworthless: (153)

Re: Spencer provides peer pressure.

[personal profile] ashworthless 2017-10-09 05:09 am (UTC)(link)
Remember to sterilize.
bitterlysweet: (L72)

Re: Spencer provides peer pressure.

[personal profile] bitterlysweet 2017-10-09 05:11 am (UTC)(link)
Hey Ira, want to hold Spencer's hand platonically since he probably underestimated the pain of getting a stick and poke tattoo???
ashworthless: (246)

Re: Spencer provides peer pressure.

[personal profile] ashworthless 2017-10-09 05:21 am (UTC)(link)
Yes. No one deserves to suffer their dumb choices alone.
longcons: Y2!!! (☑ 38)

Re: Spencer provides peer pressure.

[personal profile] longcons 2017-10-09 08:14 am (UTC)(link)
Well. That's one way to interpret their conversation.
iliya: * (🌧️ 01)

Re: Spencer provides peer pressure.

[personal profile] iliya 2017-10-09 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
Iliya sees Spencer trying to charm people into coming to a victory party, and he... turns and walks away.

He tells himself it's because of loyalty to Ebonhide.
bitterlysweet: (87)

Re: Spencer provides peer pressure.

[personal profile] bitterlysweet 2017-10-09 05:10 am (UTC)(link)
Spencer sees Iliya, and knows he's leaving without talking. For a lack of better ideas, he winks at Iliya when they briefly make eye contact. This guy definitely hates him!!!
iliya: * (🌧️ 17)

Re: Spencer provides peer pressure.

[personal profile] iliya 2017-10-09 05:13 am (UTC)(link)
At that wink, Iliya walks faster.
heathclifflacey: (pic#11665339)

Re: Spencer provides peer pressure.

[personal profile] heathclifflacey 2017-10-09 05:04 am (UTC)(link)
Heathcliff doesn't need to be lured. HE IS THERE. Now is definitely the time to celebrate with his cabinmates and his teammates!
sunsoutgunsout: (= shirtless sunglasses)

Re: Spencer provides peer pressure.

[personal profile] sunsoutgunsout 2017-10-09 05:32 am (UTC)(link)
What's peer pressure??
of_mice_and_men: (pic#11766865)

[personal profile] of_mice_and_men 2017-10-09 06:40 am (UTC)(link)
This is Eve's first American Quidditch game. She wants to observe a questionable american party up close, so she didn't much care who won this game but she's down for a party.