InsaneJournal

🎂 Happy birthday, Olivia Sanchez!

The journal blackout continues. Yesterday, Headmistress Bloom sent an owl to Martin Pratt to ask his help in fixing the journal network, but the school has yet to receive a response.

Passing by the Charms classroom just before dinner, Cole Moss hears loud voices within. Agent Larke is arguing with Mr. Calderon-Boot about the workings of his Anonymity Charm, and mentions that she believes one of the forest entities used it to infiltrate the dance. Dr. O’Hare orders them to quiet down, and casts a Silencing Charm on the room, ending any eavesdropping.

🎂 Happy birthday, Clementine Decourt!

Feeling stir crazy after almost a full week without the magical journals, students throw an emergency Grotto party. (Okay, let’s be real, they don’t need excuses to throw parties.)

🎂 Happy birthday, Ravinder Dhaliwal!

In the minutes after midnight, as the Grotto clears of tired and drunk students, there’s a strange heavy fog on the ground which only clears as they leave the forest and hit the trails back home.

🎂 Happy birthday, Leonardo Fiori!

QUIDDITCH GAME: Ebonhide v. Coppertale

• Leading up to the game, there are rumours all week that there will be Quidditch scouts present. That morning, Mr. Thorn confirms they won’t be coming until next week, as the seniors interested in being scouted will already be playing then.

Students spot a strange young man arriving on campus, escorted in by Mr. Covington. He speaks to no one but the staff, and enters Ms. Bloom’s office. By the time he leaves… the journals are functioning again! Robin Youngblood literally bumps into him, and has a short conversation with the scatterbrained visitor who introduces himself as Martin Pratt, the inventor of the magical journals. He’s nice, but… odd. He gives a barely comprehensible explanation about why the journals went down, and invites Robin to send him an owl if they have questions.

Finally, Xavier Lewis and Jesse McBride’s dreams come true, and Taco Tuesday is announced. It features a generous taco bar with enough options to please even the pickiest palate. Prospero informs the school that if today is a success, the first Tuesday of every month will be Taco Tuesday.

March Madness Quidditch fever continues at Gooseberry, with its three exciting back-to-back games this month. Dominic Tremblay is working on a miniature Golden Snitch as an Artificing project, but oh no! It gets loose and escapes into the lodge, where it flies around classrooms all morning, until Sybilla Borgin jumps on a table and catches it out of the air.

Susana Velasquez is running late! It’s past curfew, and it’s dark, and they’re in a rush to get back to their cabin. But in the distance through the trees, they see two shadowy figures. They’re… hard to make out. They have antlers. Although they’re not doing anything, the student gets the impression that they’re arguing. Suddenly, they both look over at Ana in unison. Spooked, Ana runs the rest of the way home.

During school team practice, Christopher Park breaks their arm and hits their head falling off their broom, and has to be taken to the infirmary. Despite some speculation that they might get replaced by a reserve for Sunday’s game, they’re fine by the next day, thanks to Healer Mufferaw.

Jaime Castillo discovers an unusual binder labeled DO NOT OPEN. Of course, they open it anyway, and discover that it’s full of sexy male pinup photos. Except... it looks like the owner cut out the faces of all the senior boys from the yearbook and crudely pasted them onto the bodies of glistening, muscular models. Maybe they shouldn’t have opened it after all.

MONTHLY BONDING ACTIVITY for all grades: Obstacle Course.

• Staff has created a complex and very fun looking obstacle course for all students who are physically capable to play with. On this day, they encourage all students to just give it one go! C’mon, it’ll be fun!


• But as is the way with Gooseberry, it becomes a competition between the four houses. This will be an RNG house vs. house game!

ANNUAL GOOSEBERRY HUNGER GAMES. Diego Morales was given the responsibility of carrying on the proud (?) tradition this year. The game that will take place over the course of the week, running from Saturday the 11th to Saturday the 18th. (You must be signed up by Friday the 10th to be included, because I can’t write in new participants!)

• This game has been played for the past three years at Gooseberry. Last year, the winner was Estella Morales-Tran, and the year before that was Leonardo Fiori. Meanwhile, Laurel Templeton has the unfortunate luck of having been killed on the first day for the last three years in a row, but this year they’re going to turn things around! (Feel free to make up details about how the past two games went, but don’t godmode other characters.)


• On Monday, everyone will find a plastic knife that’s been slid into their locker. The knife has the name of another participant written on it.


• You then have to ‘kill’ that person by prodding them gently with your knife. After they ‘die’, you then take their knife, and have to go after their target next.


• There are rules:
  
  • You may not ‘kill’ someone while they’re naked.
  • You may not ‘kill’ someone in their cabin, the bathroom, the showers, during a Grotto party, or in the cafeteria.
  • You may not ‘kill’ someone in front of a teacher. This is largely so that staff doesn’t catch onto this definitely reasonable and well-organized game created by sensible children.
  • If you actually hurt the other person in your murder attempt, you’re out of the game. The person who was injured takes your knife, and it’ll be as though they killed you. (This rule was written in by Diego because look, Ravi and Cecil, they’re being so responsible!!!)


• Every day during that week, Diego’s journal will post in the OOC comm with who will be ‘killed’ today and by whom, with updates on everyone’s new targets. Making references to playing the game, plotting or strategizing on the journals will increase your chances of winning.


• The winner is the last student standing, and the prize is 200 dragots and a bottle of vodka. It’s Diego, so it’s nice vodka.


• SIGN UP HERE. If you want to participate, your character will be included in Diego’s wards where he introduces the game. If you sign up, Diego takes your character as someone who will not ruin the game.


• While no one is going to get in real trouble, this game is clearly skirting the line and there may be IC consequences for wild behavior (i.e. hurting someone). However, merely participating in the game won’t have any consequences.

🌕 WORM MOON

QUIDDITCH GAME: Gooseberry v. Ilvermorny

• Before the game, Casey Patterson makes out with the criminally attractive captain of the Ilvermorny team. For luck? ♥


• If you’d like for one of your characters’ friends or family members to be an Ilvermorny Quidditch player, please APPLY HERE.

Studying late at night, Avery Davenport is looking out the window of the library and sees a girl in an old-timey dress wandering around in the snow. When they run outside to check on her, there are no signs she was ever there. Not even footprints.

Aesthetic Magic will be studying drawing the human body this week, and asks for volunteers willing to pose for the class. Ms. Poe wants to make it perfectly clear that these won’t be nude models, but they may be in their underthings. Seniors only, please, and the look in Poe’s eyes says you’re out if you turn this into a sex joke. Henrietta Gray, Ty Hawkeswood and Kazim Raza all volunteer.

3/14, aka National Pi Day. Accordingly, every meal today has pies available for people to eat.

Damon Evercreech finds that the pockets of their jacket have been filled with smooth river stones.

The Ides of March! Mr. Merrill dresses up as Caesar and puts on a show in the atrium during the lunch break, where Mr. Elmasry stabs him. Mr. Merrill bleeds ketchup and dies very dramatically. He’s a terrible actor. They both are.

Chloe Shepherd gets sprayed with ketchup, which has a charm on it to make it MORE VIBRANT and therefore hard to get out. But the kind young potions teacher helps them out by lending them one of his shirts for the day, and giving them his written permission to be out of uniform. They get to see Mr. Elmasry’s room, and learns he makes ships in bottles, and has quite a talent for it. He gives Chloe one of his smaller creations.

All the characters that had a gift destroyed last month wake up and find their sock drawers full of flowers stolen from the greenhouse. Mr. Hightower is baffled by the theft, and concludes it was probably the entity in the forest. Agent Larke and Dr. O’Hare spend the day investigating the greenhouse. Ulysses Quayle and Ivy Templeton also find flowers in their shoes, despite not having given anything to “Anonymous.”

☘ St. Patrick’s Day ☘ Naturally, there’s a Grotto party scheduled in the evening, with plenty of alcohol.

• There will be games of Spin the Bottle and Seven Minutes in Heaven. If your character would like to participate, SIGN UP HERE.


• At the end of the night, the heartiest drinker will be named King or Queen of St. Patrick’s Day. There’s a gaudy crown on the line, and the winner will be carried back to their cabin by the remaining drunken survivors at the end of the night. (Yes, they’ll probably be dropped at least once.) People who participated in the drinking games (and anyone else who wants to play along) are expected to refer to them as “Your Highness” for the next week and bow when they enter the room.


• In order to be crowned, your character will need to participate in drinking games! The more you participate, the higher your score is. However, the higher your score is, the more likely you are to pass out or vomit. Whoever has the highest score without passing out or puking wins!


• Last year, Levi Kramer was crowned King/Queen, and while being carried home, they were accidentally dumped in a stream.

The winner of the Gooseberry Hunger Games is announced!

🎂 Happy birthday, Cole Moss!

QUIDDITCH MATCH: Azurcrest v. Ribbonfin

• As with last week, there are professional scouts in the audience from regions all over North America.

Farewell Cookout: After the game, there’s a cook-out in the fields not far from Coppertale. Each cabin has access to a fire pit and are given all the supplies they need to make their own dinner. Staff will be on hand to help out cabins who can’t cook. Students are free to flit between different fire pits to socialize and sample food. (IC/OOC to come)

Spring Break begins. Students leave first thing in the morning to return home for the week.

Spring Break.

Spring Break.

🎂 Happy birthday, Will Chase and Tabitha Ogletree!

Spring Break.

🎂 Happy birthday, Ty Hawkeswood!

Spring Break.

🎂 Happy birthday, Cameron Carney!

Spring Break.

Spring Break ends. Students return to the school.

Laurel Templeton, Xavier Lewis, Riley Stamper, Quinn Cunningham and Christopher Park return to find little dolls on their beds. They’re crudely constructed of pinecones and sticks, and look like deer.

🌑 NEW MOON

The Anonymous Writer should post tonight...

🎂 Happy birthday, Marilyn Fairchild and Isabelle Sargent!

Today at lunch, there’s an enlarged photo of Isaiah Covington that’s been hung on the wall, and in big red letters it says ISAIAH IS A DIM-WITTED DOLPHIN BURGER. The photo has a pointy goatee and horns drawn on it. No one’s completely sure what’s going on here.