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Gooseberry Mods (goosemods) wrote in gooseberry,
@ 2017-01-15 07:14:00

Entry tags:

! ic/ooc

ANNUAL TALENT SHOW

The talent show is a source of both excitement and stress for many students, especially with a big prize on the line. Backstage is bustling with activity, and the audience is in high spirits already.

Ms. Thrussell oversees the whole thing, and quickly hands out everyone’s order of appearance. She reminds the entrants to not be late, or they’ll simply be skipped! Now quiet backstage, it’s time for the show to begin.

“Welcome, everyone, to the Gooseberry Annual Talent Show,” Mrs. Bloom greets the audience. “We are so fortunate to have such a diversely talented student body, and this is an opportunity to celebrate all of your hard work and passion.”

The prizes are:

Third place: A pair of tiny pocket two-way mirrors. They show what the other one would be reflecting, and voices can be heard through them.

Second place: A probity probe in the form of a magnifying glass. When you look through it, anything magical that is hidden appears to glow.

First place: The 2013 Contrail Hurricane, a top of the line broom generously donated by a former student who was notoriously good at showtunes and Quidditch. This broom is the best of the best, and used by professional American teams.

THE RULES

Winners will be announced Monday to give people time to respond (and the mods time to calculate the winner) while still getting everyone results so they can write reaction posts before it’s too late.

You have until 10 AM MT on Monday, January 16 to post your entry. Any entries posted after midnight will sadly not be in the running for a win. If there is a scheduling issue for you, drop us a line in the Dropbox and we’ll try to accommodate. ♥

Winners will be calculated with a combination of RNG and earning points through roleplaying.

Are they established as proficient in the skill they’re performing? +15 points

For instance, Rafael Ramirez is a skilled dancer. If his act involves dance, he starts at a +15.
Multiple skilled participants will not get you an additional +15. This is a one-time-only bonus.

Did you put effort into your entry? If the mods determine your description of the act is detailed, entertaining or clever, you gain an additional +5.
Audience response! Each comment with a unique character responding to you on the IC/OOC nets you an additional +1.
Preparedness! If you can link at least one post or conversation where your character alluded to practicing or planning their act (posted prior to 1/15/17), you gain an additional +2.
RNG! Oh, RNG, you cruel mistress. Each act gets a random score between 1–50. This number will be hidden. We will not post it publicly, so the winner will be a surprise!
After all these numbers are calculated, that is your final score.

Fill out the form below and post it HERE, under your character's heading.

Entrant(s): List all the characters participating.
Their act: Briefly tell us their act.
Description: Describe in detail how their performance went. Please do not post any gifs or images. You can link references for their performance.
Preparedness: Link to a comment or post where your character references planning or practicing their act, posted prior to 1/15/2017, to earn two extra points.
Are they in the running?: Do you want them to have a chance at winning?

» Before the Show: Wish friends luck! Get into costume! Last minute rehearsals!

» Entrants: Reply here with the above form filled out. Then people can comment with their reactions. Each individual who reacts to your entry nets you one extra point towards winning.

» Audience: If you’re not in the show, or already finished your performance, you can sit in the audience and cheer on your friends!

» Afterwards: After the show’s over, there’s a small party in the atrium with snacks and (teacher-approved) drinks.

» OOC - Questions, comments, concerns!

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18. AWKWARD EMOTIONS

morale
2017-01-15 09:34 am UTC (link)

Entrant(s): Diego Morales
Their act: Diego will be singing Llorando, the Spanish language version of Roy Orbison’s Crying from Mulholland Drive. This is the version he’s referencing, but with his guitar the arrangement sounds more like this, and his voice sounds like this. THROW THE THREE OF THESE IN YOUR IMAGINATION BLENDER.
Description:

Diego’s been working on this plan for a while, but now that he’s faced with actually performing it, his mood turns from elated to doubting. He’s much quieter than he was when the Holy Rosicrucians performed.

“I’m going to be performing the Spanish version of—actually, the explanation is too long, it’s a song in Spanish, one, two, three, let’s do this.” He looks legitimately nervous, and there’s a pause as he takes a deep breath and prepares himself. A lot is going through his head (Cecil’s still terrible at Spanish, right? Is Ravi going to think this is cheesy? He should probably stop looking out at Ravi.) and he tries to wrestle his thoughts into order before he begins.

Diego begins, and the performance is immediately an intense one, too personal for a talent show. While Diego isn’t a singer with any interest or talent in vocal gymnastics, he’s able to bring a lot of emotion to a song, and ends up sounding almost ghostly when he’s taking things seriously. This is doubled tonight, as the lyrics dredge up recent personal experiences. He balances the effect of sounding like his voice might break with emotion at any moment, while never actually doing so.

At least until, unexpectedly, it does break, and there’s the uncomfortable realization Diego actually did start crying as he asked “Dime tú que puedo hacer?” He soldiers on, though, even if every second after that feels far too long for him. Once he’s done, he smiles and gives an awkward little bow, then hurries off stage, wiping his face. No teenager likes crying in public.

Preparedness: I can’t find the comment where he directly references planning this but I don’t care~
Are they in the running?: Sure!

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AWKWARD REACTION

idfk
2017-01-15 03:36 pm UTC (link)

Levi does speak Spanish, but he's not familiar with the song. He can tell right off the bat that it's an emotional performance and he sits in the audience and wears an encouraging smile until the line, "Y tú sin saber que he estado llorando por tu amor," when his smile quickly fades as he realizes the context of this song and just why Diego seems on the verge of tears up there. He just stares at him with a dumbfounded expression, brows knitted, mouth slightly agape, rubbing the side of his hand against his forehead.

Normally, Levi is compassionate, understanding, and pretty laid back, but he finds himself... upset? Angry, even? He perceives this as Diego pouring his heart out over Cecil in front of the entire school and he doesn't like it. 'Pero es verdad es la verdad que te quiero aun mas mucho mas que ayer,' has him slumping miserably down into his seat, stealing a glance toward Cecil and suddenly very glad that their Spanish lessons weren't very productive. This is horrible. A quiet, breathy, "What the fuck, Diego?" escapes him.

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choneychurch
2017-01-15 04:52 pm UTC (link)

Despite studying and practicing with Ravi, Cecil's Spanish is still terrible and he watches his friend perform with awe and appreciation. At least at first. But Diego sounds so sad and, when the boy's voice actually breaks on stage, he winces. He can't tell from this distance whether or not his friend is actually crying, but it's obvious enough that he's hurting and that this wasn't intentional. Sitting beside Levi, he glances at his boyfriend with concern written all over his face and nothing else. He hasn't jumped to the same conclusions, so there's nothing to muddy this simple worry for his friend. But...he does recognize that Levi's upset as soon as he looks at him and that stops him before he can say anything immediately.

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	idfk 2017-01-15 05:59 pm UTC (link)
	Levi can't even look at Cecil until a while after the song ends. He's still giving the death stare to the side of the stage Diego escaped into, and he shares a look with Chris before even looking back to Cecil. He doesn't even know what to say to his boyfriend and he simply heaves a heavy, frustrated sigh in his direction. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	choneychurch 2017-01-16 02:07 pm UTC (link)
	Cecil is immediately concerned but he doesn't immediately understand this drastic shift in Levi's mood or connect that shift to Diego's heart-wrenching performance.. He reaches for the other boy's hand and presses softly, "...Levi? Are you all right?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

idfk
2017-01-16 06:45 pm UTC (link)

"No," he answers curtly and in a far more aggressive tone than he'd meant to use on Cecil. Levi wants to tell Cecil exactly what the song meant, exactly why he's so upset over it, but he knows Cecil. The imagined scenario of Cecil rushing to Diego's aid to soothe him over hurt feelings makes his stomach twist.

Still...

He grits his teeth and finally spits out the answer, "It's a song about unrequited love, loving the person even more now than before, and how they'll always be crying over them."

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choneychurch
2017-01-16 07:07 pm UTC (link)

Unaccustomed to the sharpness that's come into Levi's voice, Cecil flinches when it's turned on him, but he doesn't let go of the other boy's hand and he doesn't look away...not until Levi explains the lyrics of the song. Rather than angry, he looks uncomfortable and guilty and lowers his dark eyes, making that imagined scenario of him running to Diego's side to comfort him seem considerably more plausible. He doesn't know what to say.

Finally, he shakes his head. "Everything has been better between us lately, Levi. Hasn't it? Maybe this isn't...what it seems like." Even to him, the excuse feels thin. But it's the only one he has and everything has been better lately. More like the time when there had been nothing more complicated between him and Diego than friendship. He doesn't think that's just been wishful thinking.

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doyouevenlift
2017-01-15 04:12 pm UTC (link)

Chris can speak Spanish, especially how simple and a little repetetive the lyrics of the song are. He isn't familiar with most Spanish music. But he can understand the song. It's a good performance. It's clearly an emotional performance that Chris watches on complete silence.

But holy shit, Chris knows about Diego and Cecil and it's hard to tie this performance to anything else. "Jesus fucking Christ, Diego, what the fuck are you doing," Chris mutters in disbelief after the kid hurries off stage. He glances toward the general direction of Levi because he doesn't know if Cecil speaks Spanish but he knows Levi fucking does.

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	idfk 2017-01-15 04:38 pm UTC (link)
	Levi goes from this to this to this. HAS CHRIS EVER SEEN LEVI LOOKING SO UNCOMFORTABLE? Has anybody? Probably not. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	doyouevenlift 2017-01-15 04:45 pm UTC (link)
	Does Levi's face even know how to properly react to his own discomfort? Levi looking so uncomfortable makes Chris uncomfortable so he makes the universal gesture of what the fuck dude (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

idfk
2017-01-15 05:56 pm UTC (link)

This was basically his face when it went from "Aw, what a lovely song!!" to "Oh shit." IT WAS A BAD TIME.

After the performance, Levi is giving a cold stare to the stage in the moments after Diego clears it. He feels a pair of eyes on him and instinctively looks, slowly shaking his head in response to Chris's gesture and returning it with his own silent expression of 'What the fuck?' There's relief in knowing that somebody else picked up on it too and he's not alone in the discomfort after witnessing that performance.

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18. MORE AWKWARD EMOTIONS

paladins
2017-01-15 05:24 pm UTC (link)

Ravi hasn't been given any hint as to what to expect from Diego today. A song, of course, and Ravi is already leaning forward in his seat in anticipation when Diego steps onstage with his guitar. Ravi's Spanish is still mediocre, but he knows from the first word—the first note—what Diego is singing. He rambled to Diego about this song when he was drunk after Diego's birthday party. He spent hours talking to Diego about it when Ravi stayed at the Morales'. Diego is singing "Llorando"—Ravi's favourite song.

He's listened to this song (and watched the scene in the movie) too many times to be emotionally affected, but Diego's guitar arrangement and the aching sincerity of his voice stirs something new in Ravi. He watches with his hands pressed to his mouth, not taking his eyes from the stage even when it's obvious Diego has started crying.

When the song ends, Ravi quickly swipes at his eyes and sits back to compose himself again. They still have a few more acts to sit through.

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magitechnically
2017-01-15 05:36 pm UTC (link)

Essie thought Diego was being LESS weird ever since he had Ravi over to visit during break. Apparently she was WRONG.

She doesn't speak Spanish, but that doesn't stop her from wanting to melt into her seat in embarassment pretty early into the performance. Maybe everyone will just forget that Diego is related to her.

She claps awkwardly at the end because she's a good sister and looks to see if Mina is having a similar reaction.

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resentfully
2017-01-15 07:57 pm UTC (link)

Oh BIG SURPRISE, Diego being a HUGE DRAMA QUEEN on stage. Mina rolls her eyes, even more so when she sees the ripple of activity amongst the Azurcrests. Her eyes narrow. She learned only a little Spanish, for Ofelia's sake, not enough to understand what's causing a stir.

She only has two questions: 1) Diego, what have you done now? and 2) Am I going to have to threaten someone to STEP OFF? UGHHHH. When Mina notices her sister looking at her, she schools her face back to neutrality and just shrugs. She doesn't want Essie to worry.

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Re: 18. AWKWARD EMOTIONS

adorbs
2017-01-15 07:18 pm UTC (link)

Addy doesn't know Spanish but can absolutely read the body language of her friends and associates and senses from looking around and at the stage that for whatever reason, something is not quite right. Diego crying makes her even more concerned. She makes a mental note to hug him later but for now just perches on the edge of her chair in case anyone needs more immediate comforting for reasons she isn't sure of.

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	18. OBLIVIOUS ENJOYMENT rageahol 2017-01-15 07:21 pm UTC (link)
	Riley understands Spanish well enough to get the gist of the song, but she just, like, thinks it's a song. And she's not really paying attention to how her friends are reacting. And she loves Diego. So she CHEERS OBNOXIOUSLY when Diego finishes. SO OBNOXIOUSLY. (Reply to this) (Parent)

henshinyo
2017-01-15 08:02 pm UTC (link)

Okay, this one is odd. If Ravi has ever mentioned this as being his favorite song, it's likely not a tidbit of information that Sun-mi filed away. The lyrics and the performance and the reactions from some of Diego's nearest and dearest all combine for a very weird experience.

Sun-mi makes a point of not following Diego's love life, so she assumes that he's singing about Tabitha. :|a

Polite applause.

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18. AWKWARD EMOTIONS

lupofiasco
2017-01-15 09:20 pm UTC (link)

Jaime is... really uncomfortable only a short while into the song. Like, really uncomfortable. His eyes dart around, searching for his fellow Spanish-speakers to see if they too feel like melding with their chairs on Diego's behalf. He's never heard this song before, unsurprisingly, and he doesn't know much at all about Diego's love life, but he's not oblivious. The intense emotion with which the song is sung, the intensity of the lyrics along with the fact that Diego is now crying... Jaime doesn't even think to clap at the end he's so disoriented.

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	18. AWKWARD EMOTIONS gonnabefamous 2017-01-16 02:27 am UTC (link)
	Cameron is, for the most part, pretty oblivious to people's feelings. He knows the song in English, and assumes the lyrics are probably the same in Spanish, but doesn't catch on that this might have any deeper meaning. Diego seems to get emotional - but that just means he's really into it, right? A+ performance man, big round of applause! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	AWKWARD EMOTIONS orangepip 2017-01-16 03:08 am UTC (link)
	Pippa doesn't speak Spanish and has no idea what's going on but the sight of someone crying on stage -- especially someone like Diego, who always seems so upbeat -- makes her stomach twist in painful sympathy. How awful. Is he okay? His friends are going to go after him and cheer him up, right?? (Reply to this) (Parent)

18. OBLIVIOUS ENJOYMENT II

sheepishly
2017-01-16 06:48 am UTC (link)

Ennis is also one of the ones oblivious to the negative reactions of the people around them. He doesn't speak Spanish and he barely understands it, but he can feel that it comes from the heart and when Diego gets emotional, so does Ennis. (Fairly, Ennis doesn't really need much of an excuse to get the waterworks going.)

Ennis didn't bring flowers like he did for the play because he didn't want anyone to feel left out, but he wishes he did because GOLLY GEE WHAT A GREAT PERFORMANCE. He's absolutely biased.

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