gooseberryhigh | 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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Character Name: Concorda Knight
Approach: Completely excited! Cordi dashes towards the tree and stares at it in awe for several long minutes. That's some paper mache crafting, right there! Impressive! I mean, she's in crafting so it's not like she didn't know it was happening but she TOTALLY thinks this is still the coolest bit of crafting-related magic she's ever seen. She totally gets close and asks a friend to help boost her up. She cries out "TRICK OR TREAT" very enthusiastically and sticks her hand into the knot-hole and hopes it's not a trick.
Anything else?: Feel free to trick this little dumbass. My little monster girl.

It's a treat! In the knothole, Cordi's fingers find something small and fluffy. Fortunately, it's not a real bat! If she gives the toy a squeeze it will squeak and its little wings will flutter.

Edited (RNG said to be nice~) 2017-10-17 16:33 (UTC)

AWWW YISSS. Concordia squeals at the softness at first, but realizes pretty soon that it's nothing super scary or dangerous and instead pulls out the most ADORABLE little orange bat toy she's ever seen! "NICE GOING tree! This is awesome!" And saunters off to go shove it in her best friends' faces and talk about how cute it is.

Edited (she's so obnoxious, she deserves bad things) 2017-10-17 16:51 (UTC)

Character Name: Gabriela Flores
Approach: Gabi is absolutely charmed by the tree. She thinks it is beautiful and, upon realizing that the faces can talk, tells it so. She would very much like a treat but will forgive it if it tricks her.
Anything else?: gabi just likes trees ok

It's a trick! When Gabi puts her hand in the knothole, she finds something small and round. As she takes it out, it gets warm in her hand and when she looks at...it pops with a loud BANG and a small shower of black and orange glitter.

Gabi jumps, and then laughs, and then spends some time getting as much of the glitter into her hair as possible.

Character Name: Riley Stamper
Approach: "Oh my god are you gonna give me candy??" she asks hopefully. She's not very good at being gracious, but she really wants some damn candy.
Anything else?: She might not realize there's a possible "trick" outcome here.

It's a treat! When Riley reaches into the knothole she finds a small, plastic shape. It's a pumpkin-shaped bubble blower! The bubbles that it produces are bright orange and oddly resilient and have a sweet smell like candy.

No actual candy, though.

Too late, she's already tried to eat one.

Despite the sweet smell, the bubble definitely tasted like soap.

Character Name: Hazel Keating!
Approach: Ok, so maaaaybe the prospect of reaching into something is not her favorite after having to put her hand down a drain last year, but that turned out ok, right?? Maybe this will too! Hazel awkwardly pats the trunk of the tree as if to ask it to play nice before she shoves her hand inside.
Anything else?: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ yolo Hazel

It's a treat! When Hazel puts her hand in the knothole she feels something like a small, fuzzy, oddly-shaped pillow. It's a little ghost plush! The pocket sewn to the front is filled with a few pieces of candy.

Character Name: Sybilla Borgin
Approach: Sylla is quite interested in the magical charms at work in the enchantments of the tree, and has a more analytical approach at first. She watches several students go first before she makes her approach. She has some struggle to properly reach in, as she is far too tiny to peek into the hole, but asks a polite "Trick or treat?" as she does so.
Anything else?: She's really holding back on cursebreaking this tree. Consider that a compliment.

It's a trick! When Sylla puts her hand into the knothole she finds a small paper box. It probably contains a treat, right? Wrong. When she opens it, an origami bat flies out and almost right into her before screeching and darting away.

Please don't hurt the tree, Sylla.

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

It's a treat! When Cameron reaches into the knothole he finds something made of thick paper. Hopefully he didn't squeeze it too hard. It's a papercraft grim reaper! Oddly enough, when he shakes it something rattles inside and a rendition of Danse Macabre begins to play.

Cute! A little creepy when the music starts to play, but that's okay, it can go on the shelf with Jolene.

Character Name: Ruby Oberholtzer
Approach: As with most school events, Ruby appears disinterested, but observing several people approach the admittedly impressive-looking tree has her a little curious. Okay, why not. "Trick or treat." She has no fear of reaching into strange holes.
Anything else?: I KEPT FORGETTING TO DO THIS IT'S SO CUUUUTE

It's a treat! When Ruby puts her hand into the knothole she finds something big and fuzzy and soft. It's a spider plush! On the underside, she finds a small zipper that's mostly hidden by the fuzz. When she opens it she finds a small stash of candy!

Oh no. It's... cute. Ruby holds the fuzzy spider in both hands, staring down at it like she's not sure if she should cuddle it close to her chest. No, no, she's definitely not going to do that in public.

She's already secretly named the spider after her ex-girlfriend, also an eight-legged creature whose entire purpose was to trap unsuspecting innocents and suck them dry.

Character Name: London
Approach: London approaches the tree fearlessly, then demands more than asks, "Trick or treat!"
Anything else?: Sophs deserve tricks.

It's a treat! When London puts her hand in the knothole, she finds a sparkly unicorn headband! Before she can she can take it out, though, SOMETHING falls on top of her hand and gives her a small start! ...but it's just a second headband! Was this a coincidence? Does the tree know she's got a twin? Who knows...

Edited (omg RNG has been so nice to these kids. I feel sorta bad.) 2017-10-21 07:39 (UTC)

London responds with a shriek that goes from excited, to scared, back to excited without ever stopping for breath. Thanks, weird Halloween tree!

PUMPKIN CARVING PARTY

TRICK-OR-TREAT

Cordi!

RESULTS

RESULTS

Gabi

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Re: RESULTS

Riley Mae

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Haaaazel

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Sylla

RESULTS

Cameron

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Re: RESULTS

Re: TRICK-OR-TREAT

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Re: RESULTS

London

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