Annual Boys v. Girls Snow War! (2015)(Open to all!)

[Event !]

Whomever started this particular tradition at Hammel is long gone now. However, the weather decided to dump a good couple of inches of snow on the second weekend in December. And that means it is time for the annual boys vs. girls snow war. (Characters with non-binary genders can join any team they like.) Though it is intended just for the students, it isn't unheard-of for staff members to join in the melee.

By all means, enjoy yourselves.

This event will be closed on January 31. This thread is not eligible for Thread of the Month. It is a party thread, so do not worry about post order, so long as you have something to respond to. (And get people involved! Throw snow at characters you haven't met yet!)

[Sunar Chugani]

Sunar did not especially care about gender segregated competition (or, to be truthful, any competition at all) but the boys vs girls snowball war was always fun. 

As long as nobody took it too seriously, of course. 

He had bundled up in the warmest jacket he owned, which was unfortunately also very difficult to maneuver in. His shouts as he pelted the enemy with snowballs were muffled by his scarf, and his already atrocious aim was hindered even more by the low range of motion his jacket afforded him. 

"Nnnnghmmmmm," He complained unintelligibly, shedding the jacket and throwing it behind him without really looking to see if there was someone there. 

"Brrrrr!" He shivered, wrapping his arms around him. Maybe taking off the jacket was a bad idea! But this thought had to take a back seat to dodging out of the way of flying snowballs pelted by the girls and any non-binary allies they happened to have. 

[Joelle McIntosh]

Joelle hadn't been too keen on the idea of the giant snowball war that was an apparent tradition. Honestly, she could think of better ones. Snow was cold and gross.

But then again, she was sure Jeff couldn't possibly pass up the chance to do something like that. So she'd bundled up in her new winter gear and headed out with the sole mission of finding Jeff and pelting him with a snowball. Sure, he'd probably take revenge, but it would be so, so worth it.

She'd first sided with the girls, ducking behind people and giggling as she ran. Soon enough she'd found herself across enemy lines. She'd thought she'd found Jeff, but as she got closer, she was very, very wrong.

Cue a squeal as she raced backwards and tried to flee back to the girls' side. Going so fast, she stumbled and nearly hit the ground. Blinking as she fell to her knees, she realized she did recognize someone else. For real this time. "Sunar?!" Maybe he'd help her out and not pelt her with snow! ".... Aren't you cold? It's freezing!"

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

Harmony took this particular Hammel tradition very seriously. Perhaps a little too seriously. Meaning that at the first at the first mention of an impending snowfall, she started to get giddy. And the morning of the snowball fight, she'd gotten up early to build various snow walls to hid behind and to make snowballs. She made some filled with chunks of ice, some with a paintball in the center, some plain, and she'd even colored a few to make it look like she'd made them from yellow snow.

She'd mixed them all up and started tossing them the moment the first boy had shown his face. And just cuz she was all about gender equality, she'd tossed a few at girls too.

She spied two kids chatting and attempted to cut their conversation short by tossing several snow balls their way before something caught her eye.

An adult was walking past the courtyard, just within her range. Harmony couldn't make out who it was, but it was definitely an adult so they had to be staff. This was her change, it wouldn't be her fault if she hit them. She could use the old 'girls can't throw/have bad aim' excuse'. Grabbing a snow ball, she chucked it as hard as she could, aiming for their head.

((if Harmony tosses a snowball your way, feel free to assume it's whatever type of snowball she's made that you would like))

[Dr. Sean Neville]

The annual Snow War was a Hammel tradition in which Sean had never participated. As a student – and it went back that far – his powers had affected him so badly and made him such a social pariah that he had never found reason to play along. By the time he had his powers under control, he had been too old to lob snowballs at students three to five years younger than him; besides his only friend had been a girl, and so that would have been unfair and disloyal.

As an adult, he had lost all interest in snowball fights. He would play in the snow as a younger man with his nephew or with peers, and, if he had been fortunate enough to have children (and in fact had when Bailey had lived with him and Josh), but he wouldn’t go to war with them in the snow. Certainly not at Hammel, with the students, where it would be inappropriate. Moreover, at fifty-eight, the snow and cold temperatures chilled him enough that all he wanted was to be inside with the heater on and radiating in his direction.

Yet, he had needed to get a file from his car, and he needed to cross through the courtyard in order to reach his office.

The psychiatrist walked briskly, and he neared the walking path to the side entrance and then...

A snowball came out of nowhere and pelted him squarely in the chest. Thankfully, he was exceptionally tall, otherwise that might have hit him in the neck, or worse, in his temple. He turned, glancing out at the students, while tucking his file under his arm. With his two (now) free hands, he held them perpendicular to one another, forming the “t” for “timeout” sign.

[Sunar Chugani]

"Joelle!" Sunar exclaimed in surprise, bending down to offer her a hand. "Yeah, I guess it is cold but...it's so hard to maneuver in winter clothes!" 

On the other hand, this was winter. In Vermont. He was liable to get frost bite if he didn't put his coat back on immediately. With that in mind, he stood, marched over to his coat and was immediately spattered with green paint across his arm. 

"Ow!" He yelped, looking over to see who had hit him. That wasn't even snow! No fair! 

But before he could decide who the culprit was he saw a tall, imposing figure calling silently for a time out. 

Oh, no. 

A teacher. 

He paused, arm still outstretched towards his jacket, but he didn't pick it up. Instead he watched and waited with trepidation, hoping they weren't all in trouble now.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean had no interest in punishing the students for participating in a tradition that was, if not encouraged, then at least tolerated by the rest of the faculty. If the administration wanted to shut down the Snow war, then they could do so at any time; they certainly could have put forth the effort in the past.

Rumors started by disgruntled students who found themselves sent to his office aside, the psychiatrist didn’t hold the students to higher standards than the rest of the administration. He refused to infantilize them, and he expected basic respect which included not using profanity directed towards him, but he had no interest in ruining their fun. Even if he disagreed with a decision from the administration – and that didn’t apply to the Snow War tradition – he believed in presenting a unified front, and thus he didn’t undermine other staff members.

At the same time, he was a large, slow-moving, easily-recognizable target, one who obviously had not been participating in the snowball fight, and thus was supposed to be off-limits. More than that, the snowball that hit him had been deliberate, and that he wouldn’t shrug off.

Tucking his file under his arm to shield it from further pelting, he arrived in front of the group of students and said, “Whoever threw that can apologize right now, or they can come inside with me.”