gooseberryhigh | PUMPKIN CARVING PARTY

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PUMPKIN CARVING PARTY

PUMPKIN CARVING PARTY

Working in collaboration, the Event Committee and the Crafting Club have arranged for an event this evening! After classes are over for the day, the atrium is cleared so the groups can do some setting up and it seems like there's a lot going on in there. Just what are these kids up to??? When the other students return, there are some drastic changes...

The atrium is now decorated for the season with artificial spiderwebs and floating black candles and other dark touches. In the center of the room, there now stands a large, gnarled, leafless tree crafted from paper mache and magic! It's quite spooky and atmospheric and, upon closer inspection, becomes even spookier because the contours of the bark suggest three strange faces and the branches will bend and creak and occasionally reach for a passerby, especially those on the second floor. When Susana Velasquez tries glibly talking to one of the faces, it responds in a deep, rasping voice like autumn leaves. Madison Ives, unprepared for this revelation, shrieks! But after it becomes clear that this was done by design, other students discover that the tree has stories and costume ideas and even little treats (or tricks!) to share. If one is brave enough to reach up and into the tree's small knothole, that is! Pumpkins are scattered around the base of the tree and the reason for that is readily apparent!

Around the tree, forming a loose daimond, there are four large tables dramatically draped in the colors of the four houses. On each, there's an assortment of pumpkin carving tools, sample patterns, and simple instructions which cover both safety tips and basic techniques. That's right: the Pumpkin Carving Contest is back! This year, though, students will be competing by house and year, so find your team and get to work! [Volunteer C] wants to do one spectacular pumpkin rather than a set of coordinated pumpkins or one normal-sized pumpkin with their teammates and uses Engorgio to make one of the pumpkins appropriately grandiose! Unfortunately...poor aim leads them to enlarge one of [Volunteer D]'s belongings on the first attempt instead. Oops? Hopefully [Volunteer C] knows the reverse spell too.

While the students work, they'll also have plenty of time to socialize, play, eat (cider and pumpkin spice cupcakes, along with vegan alternatives, are supplied), and get into the spirit!

HOW THIS WORKS: PUMPKIN CARVING!

The rules of the contest are:

All entries this year are on a team basis. Teams are divided by house and year. Teams may carve up to ten pumpkins.
Individuals within a team may carve whatever they like; however, points are being rewarded for a cohesive team presentation.
It is not required for everyone to carve a pumpkin, but they should be clearly participating in some other way to earn points for their team.
Teams will be given until 9:00PM to finish their creations and then it's time to clean up and vote!
Teams may not use magic for anything except lighting their pumpkins.
Mr. Hightower is supervising and reserves the right to tell teams if anything they're doing is too dangerous.
Gentle Ribbonfin-style trashtalk is allowed, but no sabotage!

The winning team will be determined by a combination of IC participation, RNG, and voting:

Teams that plan ICly will receive bonus points. Since this event is happening late in the day ICly and I am enjoying reading these conversations, these points will continue to be up for grabs through the end of today, Tuesday October 17. :)
Characters may comment on entries they are particularly fond of to vote for them and earn that team some bonus points.
A winner will be determined by 10:00PM EST on Wednesday October 18.
The winning team's entry will be displayed in the atrium alongside the Halloween Tree throughout the rest of the month.

HOW THIS WORKS: HALLOWEEN TREE!

By talking to the faces on the Halloween tree, characters can:

Trick-or-Treat! Say trick-or-treat to one fo the faces and the tree will give the character a treat (a piece of candy, a small toy, or some other pleasant trinket) or a trick! To get their prize, the character must reach into the tree's knothole. Only the tallest characters would be able to look into the knothole; most will just have to put their hand in and see what's there!
Character Name: Character Name Approach: Are you feeling lucky (punk)? How does your character approach the tree? Are they hoping for a trick or a treat? How do they reach into the knothole (or will they force someone else to do it for them)? Anything else?: Anything else!

Ask for Advice!: ...but only about costumes. A character that asks who they should be on Halloween will receive a recommendation from the tree. Don't expect it to be perfect, though. It is just a tree. The tree will not force the character to follow through on this recommendation, but a bet with another peer might!
Character Name: Character Name Approach: Taking advice from a tree, huh? Well okay! Does your character have any input before leaving this important decision in the barky hands of fate? Anything else?: Anything else!

Ask for a Story! One of the faces is a bit chatty and it's charmed to tell ~spooky stories~. But only after dark. So gather around, students of Gooseberry, and have a listen! Some of these stories are from Gooseberry's amateur authors (including Zachary Zheng and any members of the Event Committee or Crafting Club that would've contributed) as well as popular campfire tales and short stories. Feel free to take the lead and have the tree tell a spooky story for the characters to react to!

While the pumpkin carving contest will only be going on for one night, the Halloween tree will be up from now until the Halloween dance! Feel free to reference it as needed and desired for treats, tricks, and other shenanigans!

» Pumpkin Carving: Where characters can find their teams and get carving! That's what they're here for, isn't it?

» Halloween Tree: Characters can take a break from carving pumpkins to get tricks or treats or chat with a charmed tree!

» During the Party: Any other character interactions that take place during the event can go here!

» After the Party: Any characters hanging around after the event or walking back to camp together or the like? Put it here!

» OOC - Questions, comments, concerns!

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Character Name: Grace Sowerberry
Year & House: Sophomore Ribbonfin
Did their team plan ahead?: Nope! Though she and Rupert did come with something in mind after talking over lunch.
What is their contribution?: Grace does not want to clean out this pumpkin. Please don't make her. Apart from that, she's willing to draw the design on and do her best to carve (even though she's a wimp and it's hard). She also brought along some props for their very dapper pumpkin-man, including a bow tie, a top hat, and two stick arms. This fellow is ready for a night at the theatre!
How hard are they trying?: Moderately. Grace finds this a little silly but it's fun too. So maybe that's okay. For tonight.
Anything else?: She wants to bring him home. :(

Edited 2017-10-18 03:34 (UTC)

Character Name: London Holloway
Year & House: Soph Jay
Did their team plan ahead?: Nope
What is their contribution?: London has no qualms about digging in pumpkin guts, and then getting down to business!! She really wants to win!! But also she didn't follow the instructions and didn't even carve her pumpkin!! But it's so CUTE though!!!!!!
How hard are they trying?: She's trying decently hard for someone who forfeited by not following the instructions...

Character Name: Austin McNamara
Year & House: Ebonhide Junior
Did their team plan ahead?: Not really.
What is their contribution?: He made himself a friend.
How hard are they trying?: Now he's going to use his new friend as a chair to sit on.
Anything else?: He didn't want to get pumpkin guts on his guitar.

Edited 2017-10-18 03:50 (UTC)

Character Name: Webster Knox
Year & House: Senior Azurcrest
Did their team plan ahead?: We did!
What is their contribution?: Webster's main contribution will be carving. Between playing musical instruments, cooking, and doing lots of mechanical and physical labor with his dad growing up, Webster is very comfortable working with his hands. He also used to used to carve bars of soap in the tub, an odd skill he can finally put to use. Because he's a bit of perfectionist and not the best artist, he'll delegate the painting responsibilities to Riley. Ideally it'd look like this this with some color.
How hard are they trying?: Webster would like to win. He'll be sure not to be intense and be off-putting to his peers who don't care that much... but he'd like to win. He'll happily and quietly pick up others' slack if need be.
Anything else?: The tree just told him to be a teddy bear for Halloween and he likes that idea and he's in a good mood.

Webster considers this and then smiles. That will do. It's fun. And easy. And not sexy -- something Webster was worried about. And seeing as he's already the Azurcrest mascot, dressing up in an animal suit feels... on-brand?

"Thanks tree," Webster says as he walks away, pleased.

Relax, Dennis! Ennis mostly catches Ulysses flicking pumpkin seeds at his housemates (and at Ennis, if he catches him looking), although at one point, he definitely does brace the inside of the pumpkin with one hand and push the carving knife through the outside with the other. He seems blithely ignorant to the fact that he narrowly avoided impaling himself. This boy gets straight As. How is he so stupid?

Ennis can feel his soul leave his body as he watches Ulysses cut through his pumpkin while his hand is still inside of it. The scariest part of Halloween isn't the ghosts or goblins, or even the reappearance of the Lake Gooseberry Killer. No, it's Ulysses Quayle armed with a knife and boyish confidence.

Rest in peace, Ennis. Rest in peace.

Taking a break from his own work to get some cider, Lachlan can't help but gape at the elaborate pumpkins the Ribbonfins are carving. With Ennis and Yancey and Chloe in the same group, he supposes he shouldn't be surprised but....still! And also, Yancey, you're covered in pumpkin guts. How did you even do that? He makes a face and shakes his head but smiles just the same.

If he gets caught looking at the group's work, he'll tell them how impressive it is and maybe offer Yancey a wet nap.

Ooh! Ree is not about to turn it down, whatever it is. With a bright grin she turns back around and sticks her hand gamely into the hole.

Inside, Ree finds a small plastic tommy gun perfect for an aspiring gangster!

Character Name: Heathcliff Lacey
Year & House: Junior Coppertale
Did their team plan ahead?: ...Sort of? They decided to use stencils if they could get them?
What is their contribution?: There wasn't exactly a clear consensus among the Coppertales (shocker!) but Heathcliff told Fern he'd carve a dog so he's carving a dog! Stick with what you know, right? Good pumpkin. Roll over!
How hard are they trying?: Pretty hard! Heathcliff is competitive even when it definitely doesn't matter and even when his team doesn't stand much of a chance. Since this isn't really his Thing, though, he's likely to get distracted by his roommates and the Copperladies at points. They're fun, okay?
Anything else?: Does Fern want this pug? Heathcliff will definitely give her this pug. :o

"Tree, you are the best," Ree says, patting the edge of the hole, because it really is a sweet gesture for a paper-mache plant.

Though she's going to have to check with Merrill if toy guns are allowed at the dance.

Character Name: Cassius Holcomb
Year & House: Medium foxes
Did their team plan ahead?: Ehhhh
What is their contribution?: He brings several stencils. You're welcome.
How hard are they trying?: Cash isn't normally one for like, bonding activities, but he is a known whiz with a pocket knife. Carve a dog? Okay. Sure. He can do that. He systematically churns out a pretty decent pumpkin. You're double welcome.
Anything else?: He... really likes this activity. Don't tell.

Character Name: marie patterson
Year & House: foxlet
Did their team plan ahead?: oh absolutely and extensively
What is their contribution?: marie gives a really good effort pretending to be like, refined and dignified and stuff!!!! she's sensitive!!!! a medium! an artiste! but this is what she carves, so... don't listen to her. hey, it's effective.
How hard are they trying?: it's just for fun, guys
Anything else?: these girls should be illegal

DAMN, DUDE. Heathcliff was already pleased to have Cash on Team Dog, but that pumpkin is badass! He requires a high five.

Character Name: Sybilla Borgin
Year & House: Senior Ebonhide
Did their team plan ahead?: Yes
What is their contribution?: Girl rolls her sleeves up and is elbow deep scooping out seeds and almost gleefully stabbing at her pumpkins. She carves two in total in keeping with the theme Nia suggested - a Brutus pumpkin with a very stoic grimace, and a Mark Antony pumpkin with a dramatic tearful sort of look. She also seems to be very invested in artfully scattering the seeds and pumpkin goop around the Julius Caesar pumpkin wanting to get it just right.
How hard are they trying?: Sylla's a Borgin. They're not known for their chill. She is so into this.
Anything else?: 🤷‍♀️

.................... fine. One high five.

Character Name: Spencer Sweet
Year & House: Junior Coppertale
Did their team plan ahead?: Cash brought stencils.
What is their contribution?: Thank god for stencils. Spencer's got the manual dexterity and focus, but he's... pretty uncreative. He probably needed someone else to pick out which design to do when he got too indecisive.
How hard are they trying?: SPENCER SWEET ALWAYS TRIES 100%. That said, he's just as interested in teasing his roommates and throwing pumpkin seeds at them for attention.
Anything else?: He's not above throwing a handful of pumpkin guts at someone if this roughhousing escalates.

You've made his day, Cash!

The wet nap has about the same effectiveness as writing "WASH ME" into the windshield of a filthy car, but the gesture is appreciated. And, hey, at least Yancey's face isn't caked in orange gore anymore. The mystery of how he managed it in the first place still stands. Regardless, thumbs up, Lachlan!

It...will almost certainly escalate and Heathcliff is TOTALLY okay with that. Bring it on, Spence! This is going to get messy.

Someone is getting a gross lump of pumpkin insides to the side of the face. Spencer will... probably feel bad.

For anyone tracking this post, two hour warning on getting pumpkin carving forms in! ♥

Character Name: Cameron
Approach: Cameron approaches without hesitation, half distracted, having a conversation over his shoulder

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 7 of 8

PUMPKIN CARVING PARTY

Little Fish / Grace

BABY BIRDS (London)

Medium Bears/Austin

Big Birds / Webster

Re: RESULTS

BIG BEARS (Ulysses)

BIG BEARS (Ulysses)

BIG BEARS (Ulysses)

Re: BIG FISH (Yancey)

Re: RESULTS

Re: RESULTS

JUNIOR COPPERTALES (Heathcliff)

Re: RESULTS

JUNIOR COPPERTALES (CASH)

COPPERTERRORTOTS (Marie)

Re: JUNIOR COPPERTALES (CASH)

BIG BEARS (Sylla)

JUNIOR COPPERTALES (CASH)

JUNIOR COPPERTALES

Re: JUNIOR COPPERTALES (CASH)

Re: BIG FISH (Yancey)

Re: JUNIOR COPPERTALES

Re: JUNIOR COPPERTALES

Re: OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

Cameron