PUMPKIN CARVING PARTY

[colemoss]

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.
<b>Character Name:</b> <b>Year & House:</b> <b>Did their team plan ahead?:</b> If your team talked about their pumpkin plans, link the conversation for some bonus points! :) (The conversation only needs to be linked once.) <b>What is their contribution?:</b> Describe what your character is doing to help out their team, be it actual carving, digging out pumpkin guts, or just resisting the urge to grouse every 30 seconds. Photos are fun, but absolutely not required. Feel free to paint a word picture instead. ;) <b>How hard are they trying?:</b> Are they dialing it in, making a decent effort, or have they been practicing their carving technique all month? <b>Anything else?:</b>

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!
  <b>Character Name</b>: Character Name <b>Approach</b>: 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)? <b>Anything else?</b>: 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!
  <b>Character Name</b>: Character Name <b>Approach</b>: 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? <b>Anything else?</b>: 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!

Comments

AZURCREST

[colemoss]

JUNIOR JAYS / Essie!!!

[magitechnically]

Character Name: Essie!!!
Year & House: Junior Jays!!!
Did thier team plan ahead?: Yes!!!
What is their contribution?: An artistic representation of the rearside of the WORLD'S GREATEST CAT DETECTIVE!!!
How hard are they trying?: Essie is here to have FUN with sharp objects and talk about cat butts!!!
Anything else?: She is totally going to get in trouble for harassing her teammates playing with her pumpkin guts.

Re: JUNIOR JAYS / Essie!!!

[stclair]

Before they've even started carving, Micah sits down with a sketchbook and starts drawing cat butts to help out their team. Then he... starts getting carried away.

Re: JUNIOR JAYS / Essie!!!

[magitechnically]

A menu of options!!! Oliver should be SO flattered!!! Essie leans over the paper and after some not-so-careful consideration, decides that she is definitely going to try making a VORTEX!!! ₍˄·͈༝·͈˄*₎◞ ̑̑

Re: JUNIOR JAYS / Essie!!!

[stclair]

Good choice, good choice. If Essie doesn't think it would be BREAKING THEME too much, Micah would like try carving The Maw.

Re: JUNIOR JAYS / Essie!!!

[magitechnically]

It takes a moment for Essie to fully understand Micah's vision, but when she does, she blurts out the obvious, "His butt is gonna bite people!!!" This sounds like approval.

Re: JUNIOR JAYS / Essie!!!

[odder]

Jade will confirm this is the most accurate design; she’s seen the litterbox

JUNIOR JAYS / Essie!!!

[readingrainbows]

Upon hearing this, Zach starts to get a little worried about the state of Oliver's butt health.

JUNIOR JAYS / Essie!!!

[bubblewrapped]

Lucas wonders aloud if anyone knows the name of a good cat exorcist. Or even a butt exorcist.

JUNIOR JAYS / Essie!!!

[readingrainbows]

Who knew butt demons were something they'd have to worry about? Man, young adulthood was full of shocking revelations. First puberty and now this? So much innocence, lost.

For the record, Zach is making his own attempt at a cat butt. Great art, it is not. But he's pretty pleased with how it's turning out.

Re: JUNIOR JAYS / Essie!!!

[badassbeaterbabe]

"All art is great art if it's made with passion and truth, Zachary. Anyway, the anus-stem really sells it."

Ree

[badassbeaterbabe]

Character Name: Regan Hobbs
Year & House: Junior Jays <3
Did thier team plan ahead?: Yes, see Essie's entry
What is their contribution?: Ree is super into carving catbutts. She likes pumpkin guts less, but whatever, Essie can have them.
How hard are they trying?: It's a semi-artistic endeavor, and also an absurd one, so Ree's giving it her all.
Anything else?: junior jays are already winning it, i see.

JUNIOR JAYS (Lucas???)

[bubblewrapped]

Character Name: Lucas Kowalski
Year & House: Junior Jays
Did their team plan ahead?: Oui
What is their contribution?: Lucas is pretty big on minimalism. It's a cat butt, alright. He handles the knife gingerly, and quietly frets while his friends do their own carving. He's a much better help with scooping out pumpkin guts.
How hard are they trying?: Lucas is VERY into it but also AFRAID OF CUTTING HIMSELF or SOMEONE ELSE CUTTING THEMSELF. He definitely flicks pumpkin goop on someone, though.
Anything else?:

JUNIOR JAYS/Jeffy!!!

[racingstripe]

Character Name: Jeffy!!
Year & House: Junior Jays!!
Did their team plan ahead?: They sure did.
What is their contribution?: Jeffy isn't, like, an ARTIST. He's marginally better than Notorious Masterpiece Maker Quinn Cunningham. But it's hard to argue with that enthusiasm!! He does a pretty basic cat butt, though these proportions are ALL off, and then turns his pumpkin around and carves a cat face on the front. In case you didn't know what was happening here. Three cat face is too small to go with the butt and the ears are different sizes and who needs more than two whiskers?? But he loves his kitty all the same.
How hard are they trying?: Jeffy is giving precisely 139% today.
Anything else?: i'm free from the auditor because she fucked up her car, god bless bad drivers.

JUNIOR JAYS / Micah

[stclair]

Character Name: OK SORRY I guess I should post this in a properly entry. MVSC reporting.
Year & House: Junior Jays!!!!
Did thier team plan ahead?: This is a COORDINATED EFFORT.
What is their contribution?: The Maw, which involves Micah very carefully carving off thin layers of pumpkin flesh as he sculpts the jagged cat butt fangs. Boy, that was just lot of terrible words grouped together.
How hard are they trying?: Micah is not only trying very hard at his pumpkin, he will gladly aid his friends in realizing their artistic cat butt dreams.
Anything else?: BEST BOOTIES OF GOOSEBERRY 2014

Junior Jays / Zach

[readingrainbows]

Character Name: ZACH
Year & House: JUNIOR JAYS
Did thier team plan ahead?: YOU KNOW THIS BY NOW
What is their contribution?: ORGANIC CAT BUTT
How hard are they trying?: Zach always puts in 110%
Anything else?: I finally turned off capslock

Big Birds/Riley

[riledup]

Character Name: Riley Mae
Year & House: Senior Azurbabes
Did their team plan ahead?: Surprisingly, yes.
What is their contribution?: Riley has like two skills, and one of them is making shit look pretty. She's helping with the ~artistic~ end, helping people draw sugar skulls to bring out their inner hot af-ness. Her style is kind of cutesy, but it's fine it's just a guideline. She can barely be trusted with a knife, so if someone could help cut hers she'll love you forever. Asking her to focus long enough to help paint at the end is fair, but this is Riley, and that's about where her attention starts flagging. She fucks off, like, one pumpkin in to, like, go talk to the tree or skip around and bother her friends. Or like, look at herself in the mirror. She might come back. Don't count on it too much.
How hard are they trying?: Riley is into this for the first, what, 45 minutes, maybe an hour. Which is impressive! For her! Then she's, you know, interested in the project. Then she's antsy. Then she's just fucking gone.
Anything else?: It's really hard to tell if she's participating in Wear Something Gaudy Day or just being Riley.

Big Birds / Lachlan

[lachlangalbraith]

Character Name: Lachlan Galbraith
Year & House: Senior Azurcrest
Did their team plan ahead?: Yep!
What is their contribution?: Lachlan isn't much of an artist but he is a Scout with a fair amount of experience handling a knife so he'll tackle the carving! And the pumpkin gutting if needed. Ew.
How hard are they trying?: Lachlan's a perfectionist and always wants to do things Right, so he'll be trying his best!
Anything else?: Sofia had the idea of carving their pumpkins with sugar skull designs and Riley had the idea of making the designs represent the different participating Azurcrests; so creative those girls! Lachlan's design likely looks something like this.

BIG BIRDS / Sofia

[sovain]

Character Name: Sofia Delgado
Year & House: Senior Azurcrest
Did their team plan ahead?: Yes, Riley linked it already.
What is their contribution?: Sofia's helping paint and design sugar skulls. She asked people keep the knifes away from her because she'd probably kill herself trying to carve a pumpkin. But yeah, she's creative! Go team! Hers probably looks like THIS but more colorful.
How hard are they trying?: Sofia's a fairly good painter so she's doing a bitchin' job making things neat and colorful.
Anything else?: Ayyy

JUNIOR JAYS: JADE

[odder]

Character Name: Jade
Year & House:Junior Azurcrest!
Did thier team plan ahead?: God, yes.
What is their contribution?: One tenth of the Cat Butt Pumpkin Collection, of course. It's a relatively simple design; she'll leave the art to the artists, but almost absolutely attempt to carve a smashed mouse tail under Oliver's feet. It's for Oliver Otterwell, solver of crimes, vanquisher of rodents, after all.
How hard are they trying?: This is in tribute to her beloved detective pet, so pretty hard. But she gets distracted when she narrates the dissection of her pumpkin, and scoops out and names the guts with surgical precision.
Anything else?: Why did you trust Jade with a knife? Please keep reminding her to not point it at people, even if she does retain non-stabby control of it at all times.

Big Birds / Jaime

[lupofiasco]

Character Name: Jaime Castillo
Year & House: Senior Azurcrest
Did their team plan ahead?: Yeps~
What is their contribution?: A pumpkin with a much more poorly executed version of this. Jaime only uses blues and whites for paint accents, but he's easily distracted and forgets to add any other real touches of himself to the design. Whooops.
How hard are they trying?: Jaime is very excited!!! But notoriously bad at crafts, and at focusing. He likes working on his pumpkin, but he gets seriously distracted by his friends pretty constantly and probably throws a seed or two at each senior jay at least once.
Anything else?: -3-

BABY BIRDS (London)

[beansontoast]

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...

Big Birds / Webster

[websterknox]

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.