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Tweak says, "Snape is better than you."

Gooseberry Mods (goosemods) wrote in gooseberry,
@ 2016-11-11 09:12:00

Entry tags:

! ic/ooc, henrietta gray, philippa nightingale

NOVEMBER GROTTO PARTY

There's still a light snowfall as the sun sets, but adrenaline must be keeping some of the students warm as one by one they sneak out into the woods to the Grotto.

The Grotto is always warmer than you expect it to be, although the chill and snowflakes encourage everyone to cuddle close to their friends and dates. The bonfire is large and ambitious, and it reflects off the white snow, making for a warm and seasonal party. Alcohol is widely available to anyone who wants it, and some thoughtful students also made sure there was plenty of water and soda. By the fire is a conjured table hosting Quidditch Beer Pong.

Inside the stone building, things get downright cozy. There's one odd discovery, though: Laurel Templeton's flag! It appears to be stuck hard with magic, so taking it back will be a problem. Regardless of this, many students sit down on blankets and pillows to keep themselves off the cold dirt floor. A circle gathers around a single glass bottle, and kissing games take place on and off throughout the night.

If you signed your character up for either Spin The Bottle or Seven Minutes In Heaven, find their partners below:

Cameron Carney STB #1: Regan STB #2: Ursula 7MIH: Tabitha	Wesley Carpenter STB #1: Tabitha STB #2: Etta 7MIH: Laurel	William Chase STB #1: Veronica STB #2: Regan 7MIH: Chloe	Sun-mi Choi STB #1: Zoey STB #2: Veronica 7MIH: Mina
Quinn Cunningham STB #1: Etta STB #2: Rafael 7MIH: Ty	Sofia Delgado STB #1: Olivia STB #2: Essie 7MIH: Etta	Calvin Evercreech STB #1: Solomon STB #2: Chloe	Leonardo Fiori STB #1: Cricket STB #2: Sy
Henrietta Gray STB #1: Quinn STB #2: Wes 7MIH: Sofia	Ty Hawkeswood STB #1: Casey STB #2: Laurel 7MIH: Quinn	Ryan Hertz STB #1: Chloe STB #2: Tabitha 7MIH: Cricket	Regan Hobbs STB #1: Cameron STB #2: Will STB #3: Susana 7MIH: Reid
Ursula de Luca STB #1: Micah STB #2: Cameron	Joanna May STB #1: Jacob STB #2: Solomon	Diego Morales STB #1: Riley STB #2: Cricket 7MIH: Casey	Estella Morales-Tran STB #1: Cole STB #2: Sofia
Cole Moss STB #1: Essie STB #2: Micah	Frances Noble STB #1: Reid STB #2: Olivia	Tabitha Ogletree STB #1: Wes STB #2: Ryan 7MIH: Cameron	Christopher Park STB #1: Rafael STB #2: Dom 7MIH: Zoey
Casey Patterson STB #1: Ty STB #2: Faye 7MIH: Diego	Veronica Powers STB #1: Will STB #2: Sun-mi 7MIH: Dom	Cressida Quayle STB #1: Leo STB #2: Diego 7MIH: Ryan	Rafael Ramirez STB #1: Chris STB #2: Quinn
Olivia Sanchez STB #1: Sofia STB #2: Frankie 7MIH: Riley	Chloe Shepherd STB #1: Ryan STB #2: Calvin 7MIH: Will	Micah St. Clair STB #1: Ursula STB #2: Cole 7MIH: Susana	Riley Stamper STB #1: Diego STB #2: Mina 7MIH: Olivia
Rosemary Stoker STB #1: Faye STB #2: Reid	Sylvester Stoker STB #1: Laurel STB #2: Leo 7MIH: Faye	Laurel Templeton STB #1: Sy STB #2: Ty 7MIH: Wes	Wilhelmina Tran STB #1: Dom STB #2: Riley 7MIH: Sun-mi
Dominic Tremblay STB #1: Mina STB #2: Susana STB #3: Chris 7MIH: Veronica	Faye Turner STB #1: Rosy STB #2: Casey 7MIH: Sy	Zoey Valentine STB #1: Sun-mi STB #2: Jacob 7MIH: Chris	Susana Velasquez STB #1: Dom STB #2: Regan 7MIH: Micah
Reid Wainwright STB #1: Frankie STB #2: Rosy 7MIH: Regan	Solomon Webb STB #1: Calvin STB #2: Joanna 7MIH: Jacob	Jacob Wood STB #1: Joanna STB #2: Zoey 7MIH: Solomon

RULES

Teen peer pressure (and player sadism) aside, no one is obligated to do anything they don't want to. Characters doing Seven Minutes In Heaven can spend the time just talking or staring awkwardly at each other, and characters playing Spin The Bottle can opt out of a kiss (although people will probably boo).

If characters get up to anything more racy than PG-13, please fade to black on that! This includes sexually explicit conversations. Many people track IC/OOC posts, so please have consideration for your fellow players. Talking about sex is fine (and part of the flavour of a teen game), but there's no need to get into detailed descriptions of anatomy or sex acts.

If you'd like to say two characters were partners in STB or 7MIH in addition to what's been rolled, feel free! Obviously, get the permission of all involved characters first.

» Before the Party: Classes drag on and on, and then after dinner students have a scant two hours of prep. Primping, pre-gaming, or just impatiently waiting for 7:00.

» Around the Fire: The large bonfire is warm and romantic. Pull up a log and grab a blanket, or dance to the party music. You can contest for control of the music, but don't make it weird, guys. (That means you two, Diego and Katya. We know what you listen to.) If you don't care for music, there's beer and soda in the ice chests, along with bins for empty bottles and cans. Don't litter, guys, seriously.

» Inside the Building: This may be where the kissing games are taking place, but there's still some room to just snuggle and chat.

» Kissing Games: This is where to post your character's reaction to their Spin the Bottle and Seven Minutes in Heaven Assignments!

Spin The Bottle: Everyone sits in a circle and takes turns spinning the bottle to find their partner. Anyone who squeezes in (or happens to be accidentally standing behind a gap in the circle) gets a shot at a kiss. People can leave and enter the game at any time. Participants will be encouraged by their drunken classmates to kiss on the mouth.
Seven Minutes in Heaven: "Heaven" is a narrow, closet-sized room adjacent to the main party, and is dark except for some cracks of light from the door. (The "door" being a heavy wooden board that's propped against the doorway and magically "locked" for seven minutes.) You can use your wand to get more light, but really, you two should be making out.

» Quidditch Beer Pong: Not far from the bonfire, Sy Stoker has set up a table with three yellow hoops sitting on a rectangular box, which will randomly release a miniature Golden Snitch. (Sort of like this, but slightly less janky-looking.) Nearby is a supply of red ping pong balls, Solo cups, and a waterproof signup sheet. Rules have been posted in Sy's journal. Winners will be determined through RNG (Marin will roll 1–50 for each player, best team total wins).

» The Woods: Don't wander too far. Is it just me, or do you keep getting the sensation of being watched from beyond the trees?

» After the Party: The further you get from the Grotto, the colder it gets. Brr! Did you make it back to your cabin? Did someone else put you up for the night?

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catseyenebula
2016-11-12 03:59 pm UTC (link)

Katya just nodded along until he started trying to apologize for something, her mind turned over the words for a moment before coming to the realization that maybe something was just as bad in his life as it was in hers. "What do you mean you aren't okay?" It was asked softly as if she wasn't trying to push him into saying anything, Katya knew she wasn't the only student keeping secrets in this place and Casper wasn't exactly the most outgoing of people but maybe she'd be able to get a bit out of him.

There wasn't a lot else she could try to say, if he was slightly broken too at least she wasn't going to be alone in it.

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casperkim
2016-11-12 06:51 pm UTC (link)

This gentle tone isn't what Casper had expected, not after he'd called Katya broken and told her that her problems might not ever be part of her past rather than her present. The actual question, though, is less of a surprise. He's known more about her life than she has about his for a while now and that sort of imbalance can't go on forever. He raises his eyes again and looks at her and gives a small, resolute nod.

"My mother used to be an Auror," he begins, his tone and his frame stiffening as he talks, "Something happened to her when she was on a job. There was kind of dark magic. She's alive, but she's gone. She can't do anything on her own. She can't talk. She doesn't respond to anything or anyone." While his voice remains controlled, the muscles in his jaw and his neck tense visibly and he pauses to swallow a lump in his throat. "And they cut off her fucking hand. Took it." This, finally, makes him look away again. Talking about what happened to his mother always sets off something inside of him and, even with Katya's company and the mellowing influence of alcohol, the rage is starting to rise.

"It's been eight years. And I still don't know what happened. And I still...some days, Katya, I hate everything. And I get so goddamn angry I think I could do anything to anyone." He shakes his head. This isn't something he's proud of and, sometimes, it even frightens him. But it's the truth. "And I don't think that's going away."

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catseyenebula
2016-11-12 07:01 pm UTC (link)

If Katya had thought she knew what Casper was going to say, this was certainly not it at all. She had known something was a bit horrible in his past, there had been little things here and there that made her think maybe he had something in his past. He fought hard in DADA and duelling and was more than willing to help her learn to fight. This made sense but it didn't make her happy. It helped but it didn't make it better. His mother's hand was gone, she was mostly gone, what in the fucking world was wrong with people? How would anyone be able to do that to anyone?

Katya didn't exactly know how to respond so she kept quiet for a minute and did what she felt like might have been the right plan or at least what she would have wanted. Carefully she wrapped her arms around him, pulled Casper a little closer and tried to get his eyes to meet hers. "I'm so sorry." She wanted to say thank you, to say that she was glad he told her but she didn't want to have to drag that up out of anyone. The very idea made her angry, that someone could do that to him but there wasn't anything she could do now outside of what she was doing now.

She knew he was angry, that he wanted to destroy everyone that got close to hurting him or anyone he cared about, but she just wanted to try and help. "I don't know how to fix it just. I know how it feels."

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casperkim
2016-11-12 11:20 pm UTC (link)

Casper doesn't actually want to be touched and he remains rigid as Katya hugs him and pulls them closer together. At first. After a moment, though, he hooks one arm around her and some of that tension begins to wane. He shakes his head. "You don't need to be sorry. That's not why I told you." He pulls her a little closer, pressing a firm kiss to her temple before continuing; it's an uncharacteristically gentle gesture for Casper. "I don't know how to fix it either. Any of it. Not your shit or mine."

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catseyenebula
2016-11-12 11:29 pm UTC (link)

"Do things ever need to be fully fixed?" Katya wanted to say that maybe everything would be perfectly fine for both of them in the end, that somehow all of the shit in their lives would disappear but that just wasn't possible. At all. What happened happened. "Just. Thank you for telling me, it helps. I'm not so alone in this shit." She didn't like it but there wasn't anything anymore that she could do to fix that. "It's a lot, isn't it? How do you even." Katya tried to form a sentence to make something come out. "How are we supposed get any better?"

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casperkim
2016-11-18 12:35 am UTC (link)

It's not a nice way to think or a nice way to feel, but Casper understands and some part of him likes that Katya's just as fucked up as he is. It makes him feel connected to her. It makes him feel less alone. "I know," he acknowledges, "Me too. And...you're welcome." The question, though, silences him for a moment. He shakes his head and smiles wryly. "Fuck if I know. Maybe...we just keep doing this? Try to help each other. Try to figure all the shit out together. Since nobody else can do that for us."

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catseyenebula
2016-11-18 01:42 am UTC (link)

Two really fucked up people with screwy pasts would eventually have to meet up, Katya figures but at least they could carry each others secrets. It felt a bit better for her to at least have someone that she could tell everything to and she was pretty sure Casper needed that as well. "I guess that's right. I'm not about to go running off to tell anyone anything and I know that at least the two of us have something together. Even if it's fucking horrible. Just letting it out of my brain helps. You help." Not that she had ever had someone she could tell most of that to outside of Riley but now. "I'm glad I found you."

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