The Coach

June 26, 2020 1:18 PM
The game was today. The first game was today! The team had been practicing for a few weeks and this was a home v home game, so the coach wasn't terribly worried about pitting the students against those from other schools. In a lot of ways, this was a trial run. But the school had pulled out all the stops.

Banners and decorations with jersey numbers of the players, showing which color they were playing for today, were hung around the stadium, and some of the elves had gone as far as setting up booths for students to get such treats as cotton candy, caramel corn, hot dogs, nachos, and more thematic foods, like mozzarella broomsticks, Quaffles (the coach was pretty sure they were pigs in blankets essentially), and a wide variety of candy. The coach appreciated the effort because it was well known that the students would decide today what this was going to look like in the future, and it was up to them to decide how popular or not this would be as well.

The coach addressed the waiting players as a whole, and smiled at all of them. They were mixed today, which was just as well because they were otherwise pretty uneven. It also meant that they all had the same knowledge and experience with any secret moves, which leveled the playing field a bit. A roster hung on the wall to remind players where they were playing today anyway:

Orange team:
Keeper: Tatiana Vorontsova
Chasers: Ness McLeod, Valentine Duell, Heinrich Hexenmeister
Seeker: Jeremy Mordue
Beaters: Felipe De Matteo, Hilda Hexenmeister

Green team:
Keeper: Graham Osbrook
Chasers: Morgan Garrett, Bonny Row, Parker Fitzgerald
Seeker: Anya Delachene
Beaters: Nathaniel Mordue, Evelyn Stones

"Today's game is going to be an experiment," the coach began, lingering on each set of eyes. "And you're going to show me just how well you can do. There's a stadium out there full of your peers. Let's show them what you can do, too."

The game began and the teams were, to the coach's pleasure, well balanced. This would be a good day. The music and fanfare outside was proof enough of that. It grew and surged throughout the game until finally, a very close game ended with the green team winning. It was exhilarating to be part of and to watch and most of the action was probably lost on the crowd, who were both distracted with the atmosphere of attending a sporting event, and undoubtedly out of practice with watching the play-by-play of a back-and-forth game of Quidditch. For some of the audience, the coach knew, this was their first time ever seeing a game. Heck, that was true for some of the players probably. This was, the coach thought, going to be a very exciting season.


Highlights -
- Near the end of the game, when the Seekers were nearing the Snitch, Felipe De Matteo attempted to smack a bludger at the opposing team and found it instead colliding hard with Jeremy Mordue. Jeremy sought medical attention after the game. (Approved by Felipe and Jeremy's authors).

OOC - Hello, all! This is an experiment as much for us as it is for our players and I am excited to see how it goes. You'll notice below that there is room for folks to thread pre-game, during the game, in the stadium during the game, and post-game. The goal is to really encourage anyone and everyone to be able to participate, not just players. You'll also please notice to I have (well, chatzy has) selected a winning team. That is to give us the most variety of threads we can do without the back and forth that can go with an FnF game when that hasn't happened for a long time. That being said, if there's a moment you want to thread during the game, feel free to do so.
Just don't assume that they won or lost for their team if that's not what I/chatzy decided. I think this will be a lot of fun and I am excited to see how it goes!

Happy threading!!
Subthreads:

Pre-Game

During Game (players)

During Game (crowd)

Post-Game
22 The Coach Quidditch Game 1! Winner: Green team! 0 The Coach 1 5

Dora Xavier

July 09, 2020 6:42 PM
Dora was trying to keep up with her parents but there was just so much to look at! Daddy had bought her a pretzel and it was sooooo yuuummmmy, but she dropped a piece and when she stood up again after picking it up and looked around, she didn't see Daddy or Mommy. She shoved the piece of only slightly dirty pretzel into her mouth, and jumped up, trying to fly high enough to find her mommy and daddy, but her flying powers weren't working today and she didn't get high enough to see anything but the legs of the people closest to her.

She swallowed the bite of pretzel. It didn't taste bad at all, even with the dirt on it. Daddy was so silly for throwing away perfectly good pieces of food when she dropped them into his fertilizer bin.

"Mommy?" she called out tentatively, but Mommy did not materialize. "Daddy?" Daddy did not either. There were so many people, and everyone was talking. Probably nobody had even heard her.

She darted between people, hoping she was still going in the same direction Mommy and Daddy had gone, but she still didn't see them. Tears were starting to fill her eyes, making it harder to see.

"Mommy!" she yelled louder. This time at least someone close by noticed, though not Mommy herself. "I can't find Mommy!" the little three year old told this person tearfully. "D'you see my Mommy?" Mommy was usually easier to spot in a crowd than Daddy, but she couldn't see either of them and she was starting to get scared.
1 Dora Xavier Have you seen my mommy? 1507 0 5

Alexander Pierce-Beales

July 10, 2020 8:59 PM
Alexander wasn't really super interested in the Quidditch game, but he didn't mind going either. He was hoping to meet Mab there and they could sit together. He'd been a little worried that he wouldn't like hanging out so much if they were together all summer but that hadn't seemed to happen so far. Really, he was looking forward to winter break and getting to go "home" again. He was still afraid of lots of things, but at least he wasn't alone anymore. Or yet.

The game hadn't yet begun and Alexander was trying to decide whether he wanted anything to eat before he found a seat, looking around at the options while waiting for Mab, when a toddler caught his attention. As a Teppenpaw, he recognised the small one and knew who she was. Which was good, or finding a toddler screaming about having lost their mother would probably be a lot more anxiety-inducing. As it was, he could only wonder for a moment if he'd ever done this when he was little, only to find that he wouldn't ever find them. That was a morbid thought.

"Hi," he told her, crouching so they were closer to eye level. "I haven't seen her but I can help you look," he told her. "I'm Alexander. Do you want up? Or do you want to hold my hand and I'll look?" He wasn't really sure whether you were supposed to touch other people's children, but it seemed like a better option than letting her get lost again and he was sure, with parents like Professor Xavier and Professor Carter-Xavier, that the girl wouldn't be lost for long. He privately thought that holding her up on his shoulders where her parents could see her would be the best but he wanted to leave the options open for her to decide. "It's going to be okay," he added with a smile. "We're going to find them."
22 Alexander Pierce-Beales Have you seen mine? 1475 0 5

Dora Xavier

July 13, 2020 6:46 PM
The one who had noticed her was one of Yellow Room people. She missed the Yellow Room. And the Brown Room. Mommy and Daddy didn't let her go in those anymore. This saddened her more and nearly pushed the brimming tears over the edge, but then the Yellow Room kid was saying he would help her look for Mommy, and that helped lots.

She wiped at her eyes and held her arms out to him. "Up!" she demanded. She didn't know why people ever asked if she wanted up. She always wanted up. Who didn't want up, ever?

Dora believed him when he said it would be okay and that they would find Mommy and Daddy. He was big, and when he lifted her up, she should be about to see everything, especially Mommy.

Once she was hoisted up, though, she realized he was not as big as Daddy and finding Mommy might be harder than she'd first thought. Still it was better than being on the ground. She could see a little better from up here.

"There!" she said triumphantly, pointing. She had not spotted Mommy or Daddy yet, but she did see the hot dog place, and Daddy had said he would get her a hot dog next, to go with her pretzel, so that was probably where he was now.
1 Dora Xavier I have not. 1507 0 5

Alexander Pierce-Beales

July 13, 2020 7:29 PM
Children, it turned out, were heavy. Alexander had grown up around a plethora of children but it was generally frowned upon to pick them up and kids were kept in their own age groups most of the time. Plus, he'd never really been motivated to pick up children before. He'd played with them and enjoyed that a lot, but that wasn't the same as picking them up. Children, it turned out, were also loud. He knew that a bit more directly than he'd known that they were heavy, solid little things, but it didn't make it any less surprising when Dora suddenly shouted, pointed, and shifted her weight enough that Alexander was doubly over taken by surprise at the moment of it. She didn't be squirming to be let down, though, so he kept a hold of her and followed her pointing finger towards the hot dog stand.

"Are you excited for the game?" he asked her, figuring some conversation would keep them occupied. He hoped this wasn't a big ruse to get him to get her a hot dog. "Do you ever get to fly?" he added, not sure if that was even a thing that magic kids did.
22 Alexander Pierce-Beales Same, though. 1475 0 5