Let's get this party started! on Quidditch Pitch

Coach Reilly

October 27, 2018 10:09 AM

Quidditch Match! by Coach Reilly

Coach Patricia Reilly stood in among the fourteen students that made up Sonora’s school-wide Quidditch team, plus reserves. Fourteen was a very convenient number. It meant they could have full matches during practice sometimes. Other times they worked on coordinating specific plays or drilled certain skills that had needed improvement during a recent league match, but today was a good day for just playing a good solid game of Quidditch. Chilly, of course - it was January- but clear and not too windy.

She checked over the paper she held in her hands, more as a symbolic gesture than because she didn’t already know what it said. “Midterm grades are in,” she remarked gravely to the gathered students. “As you all know, anyone not keeping up in their studies cannot continue to play.” She paused a moment for suspense, giving hard looks toward the students teetering just a bit too close to the passing line for her comfort. “You’re all fine.” She smiled again.

“We’ll be playing a practice match today.” She waited for the couple of cheers that erupted from this announcement, the smile still hovering on her lips. “Joe, you’ll be captain of the second team.” Ben Pierce had been chosen as the primary captain for the school team as a whole, so it was a given that he would be captaining the first team. She changed up her secondary captain, to give each of the students who marked it on the sign up sheet a chance to try it out, but Joe got it most often as he was a good match for Ben, both of them being seventh years and beaters.

“We’ve got a game against the Howard School of Magic this weekend so all first string players are in their team positions today.” That wasn’t always the case. She mixed those up, too, letting the kids have a turn at positions they had wanted but not gotten, and to give her an idea of how she might rearrange the team next year, when her two strongest beaters were gone.

“With Ben, we have Jozua as a beater,” she frowned at them as both boys groaned, “Lily, Ness, and Malikhi as Chasers, and Eden and Tatiana as Seeker and Keeper, respectively.”

“For Joe, we have Parker as your second beater, Simon, Winston, and Evelyn as Chasers, Amelia, you’re the Seeker, and Nathaniel, you have Keeper today.” Jozua often played Keeper during practice, as it seemed to be the only position he actually liked, but Nathaniel was technically the reserve Keeper, Jozua having declined competitive play, and the younger Teppenpaw did need some practice in case Tatiana ever couldn’t make a game.

“Any questions? Good, you can have a few minutes to work out your strategy, then we’ll begin.”

The two teams huddled around their captains. She handed out yellow practice robes to Joe’s team (their captain was a Teppenpaw) and red ones to Ben’s (red was a good contrast color to yellow).

Once the two teams were equipped with their practice robes, and seemed to be done making plans, she summoned to two captains together to shake hands. Once they returned to their teams, she released the snitch and bludgers (they were using game regulation balls, not practice ones), threw the Quaffle high into the air, and blew her whistle to start the game.

OOC: Welcome to Quidditch playing! I know we have a few new people. Quidditch rules can be found here, but the gist is that there is no posting order, just build off of whoever has already posted. No god-modding; you can say you had a good solid well-aimed throw, but you can’t say your teammate caught it, in case they want to fumble or an opposing player wants to intercept. Use the html font tag shown below to show your name in your team color.

You can assume there have been official league games already. We won some, we lost some.

For reference, the official team is as follows:

First String
Ben Pierce (Captain, Beater)
Joe Umland (Beater)
Simon Mordue (Chaser)
Winston Pierce (Chaser)
Lily Spencer (Chaser)
Eden Manger (Seeker)
Tatiana Vorontsova (Keeper)

Reserves
Nathaniel (Keeper)
Amelia (Seeker)
Malikhi, Evelyn, Ness (Chasers)
Parker (Beater)

And these are today’s practice teams with the font tags to use.

Red Team (Your Character Name, Your Position)
Ben Pierce (Captain, Beater)
Jozua Sparks (Beater)
Lily Spencer (Chaser)
Ness McLeod (Chaser)
Malikhi Hill (Chaser)
Eden Manger (Seeker)
Tatiana Vorontsova (Keeper)

Yellow Team (Your Character Name, Your Position)
Joe Umland (Captain, Beater)
Parker Fitzgerald (Beater)
Simon Mordue (Chaser)
Winston Pierce (Chaser)
Evelyn Stones (Chaser)
Amelia Layne (Seeker)
Nathaniel Mordue (Keeper)

Subthreads:

Let's get this party started! by Lily Spencer, Chaser with Captain Ben Pierce, Beater, Winston Pierce, Chaser, (Evelyn Stones, Chaser), Coach Reilly, Joe Umland, Cap-Beater, Simon Mordue, Chaser, Tatiana Vorontsova,Keeper, Ness McLeod, Chaser

Guarding Eden by Jozua Sparks, Beater with Amelia Layne, Seeker, Coach Reilly

Don't mind me, I'm just keeping score.... by Nate Mordue, Keeper

0 Coach Reilly Quidditch Match! 1483 Coach Reilly 1 5

Lily Spencer, Chaser

October 30, 2018 6:53 PM

Let's get this party started! by Lily Spencer, Chaser

Lily was cheesed off that she hadn’t made it as a Seeker, but at least she was part of the first-string. Chasing wasn’t terrible, she just hadn’t been in the position for very long, and she much preferred Seeker. But, if she were fair, she could concede that Eden deserved the position. Lily just didn’t have to pretend to be happy about it, especially since she wasn’t the captain.

On the brighter side, she was on the same team as Jozua and Eden this time. At least with Manger on their side, they had a better chance of winning.

It was only a practise match today, but she still wore the necklace underneath her robes that she’d recently acquired as a good-luck token for Christmas. She hadn’t shown it to anyone – save her best friends – to try and keep the luck from spreading. She wasn’t sure it helped very much, but it did bring her some comfort. This year, overall, was more exciting since they were playing against other American schools. The only sour bit was that the team members changed often. She hadn’t played very long with Ness and Malikhi – not enough to know their tactics well, anyway – and they wouldn’t have much time to get comfortable with each other before this practise match.

She huddled with the rest of her team around Pierce and listened to the strategy, interjecting an approving sound here and there if she agreed, and frowning if she didn’t. Once they’d finished, she watched – and silently coveted – the captains as they went through the formal procedures before the match itself began.

Lily soared up, enjoying the air whipping through her short hair again. She loved the feeling of flying. She immediately knocked the Quaffle into her hands and took off for the opposing team’s hoops. Her limber and agile body made it easier for her to dodge other Chasers and squeeze past them to continue moving forward. She made it about twelve metres before she felt too claustrophobic. It was time to pass. Her keen eyes found a red team-mate, and she sat up on her broom to throw it at them. It was still early enough that she didn’t expect someone else to steal it out of her hands, but then again no one could predict anything in these matches. Lily turned away out of the fray and to possibly shake off other Chasers. She sought to make herself available enough to receive the Quaffle again, hoping for a goal.

Though she wouldn’t admit it quite yet, she was surprised to find she’d missed this position. Seeking was a very solitary charge, whilst this one was constantly changing and kept her on her toes. Lily felt a familiar thrill run through her, and she couldn’t help but smile. “Let’s go!” she yelled out, following the Quaffle as close as possible.

40 Lily Spencer, Chaser Let's get this party started! 357 Lily Spencer, Chaser 0 5

Captain Ben Pierce, Beater

October 31, 2018 10:26 AM

Sounds good to me! by Captain Ben Pierce, Beater

Ben was loving the new Quidditch set-up. They got to play more games against more people. Their team was stronger with the best from each house working together now and giving the younger years more opportunity to practice and learn how to play before getting thrown into harsh competition, and with fourteen players (when you counted Jozua) that meant even practice could host full games, which was really important for training and improvement.

The practice games, by necessity, had to break up the regular team so it wasn’t just first string crushing second string, but it got everyone practicing and playing and sometimes playing against someone helped Ben see strengths or weaknesses he wouldn’t ordinarily see as their teammate, so that was cool. Plus, it let him see how the reserves played so if a first string player ever couldn’t play, he knew what to expect from the kids on the second string.

Today, he was getting two of the new Chasers, Ness and Mahliki. And Jozua. He otherwise had first string players, including Eden, so he figured Red had the advantage today, even if Lily was their only experienced Chaser and Jozua was as much hindrance as help as a Beater.

“Jozua,” he said, when they were given time to talk strategy. He paused, sighed, and tried to figure where the Teppenpaw would do the least damage. “You’re protecting Eden,” he decided, with a look of apology toward his star Seeker. She was a good and talented Seeker, and didn’t need Ben protecting her back as badly as the two greenhorn Chasers did. “Just keep the bludgers away from her and don’t worry too much about going after Amelia.”

Besides, he usually put Joe with the Chasers (partly because Ben was a slightly better beater and the Seeker was the key to winning but partly because Ben didn’t want the temptation of ‘accidentally’ smacking a bludger at Winston (which - hey! - he could do on purpose today! Awesome!) so if Joe stayed in that role, going head-tho-head with the other seventh year would be great beater practice for both of them.

“Tatiana and Eden,” he looked at his first string Keeper and Seeker, “You know your jobs. Good luck.” No sense in micromanaging positions he didn’t know very much about. They had both proved in try-outs they were the best the school had for those spots. (Though if he’d had his say in positions today, he probably would have put Tatiana in Beater and Jozua in Keeper, but Coach Reilly had made it clear that wasn’t an option.)

“Chasers,” he turned to Lily and the two first years. “Lily’s lead Chaser,” he said. It was an obvious no brainer, but it still had to be declared. “Follow her lead and listen to her advice. I’ll do my best to keep Winston and Simon occupied with bludgers, but work together, don’t hold onto the ball too long, and do your best. Good luck everyone. Team Red!”

After the cheer, he put his red practice robe on, then went to shake hands with Joe. Soon after that, the whistle blew and the game was on! “Yeah, Lily!” he whooped when she came out of the toss up with the Quaffle.

Then he went to find a ball of his own. Ah, there was a bludger. He went for it, catching up to the dark metal ball quickly, and saw a Yellow Chaser looking suspiciously like they wanted to make a bid for intercepting Lily’s pass.

Ben grinned in eager anticipation then gave them something more exciting to do. With a resounding crack, his bat made contact with the bludger and sent it flying towards the Yellow clad Chaser.

1 Captain Ben Pierce, Beater Sounds good to me! 339 Captain Ben Pierce, Beater 0 5

Winston Pierce, Chaser

October 31, 2018 12:16 PM

Re-Gifting this Bludger by Winston Pierce, Chaser

Winston was none too happy about the new school wide Quidditch team. First of all, Winston was stuck as a Chaser again, losing out to a girl who was younger than him, so there wasn’t even hope that he might get it after she graduated. Secondly, the stupid coach made That Pecari the captain!

If Crotalus still had its own team, he would have both Captain (or at least co-captain) and Seeker this year. The only two good things he could see were that Lily Spencer didn’t get Captain or Seeker either, and he got to play first string Chaser with Simon. That Lily was their third (which was an unfortunate side-effect of her not getting Seeker either) was distressing on a social level, but he did have to admit she played good Quidditch, which meant they did have a very strong team of Chasers out on the field, and that was kind of awesome. He couldn’t remember ever playing Quidditch where at least one of the Chasers wasn’t a beginner. As much as he hated to admit it, Lily, Simon, and him did play very well together against the other schools.

He was almost, almost starting to not hate being stuck playing Chaser with her.

Of course, today, she was on the red team and Winston and Simon were stuck with the weird little first year with the funny colored lips and the weak throwing arm. It made him almost miss Lily.

Well, at least the coach hadn’t stuck them with The Aladren. He was at least allowed to speak Evelyn’s name, and that was helpful if he had to shout to get her attention on the field.

He was also glad he got Joe as his Captain of the Day. It made listening to the pre-game strategy talk easier with fewer occasions to grind his teeth in fury that he had to listen to that clown now speaking to the red team.

Soon enough the whistle blew and Winston growled under his breath as Lily got to the Quaffle first. It was a good sign for their game on Saturday but not so much for his team right now.

He positioned himself a little behind and above Lily, hoping for a chance to intercept when she passed but just as he saw her looking around for a teammate, he heard the unmistakable sound of a bat hitting a bludger.

Winston turned and saw Ben aiming right for him. He broke away from Lily, flying defensively and trying to lose the oncoming bludger.

Maybe, if he was really lucky, shake it off onto the tail of one of the less experienced red players. He flew really close to one of them, hoping to entice the bludger latch onto them instead of continuing to follow him.

1 Winston Pierce, Chaser Re-Gifting this Bludger 370 Winston Pierce, Chaser 0 5

Jozua Sparks, Beater

October 31, 2018 1:14 PM

Guarding Eden by Jozua Sparks, Beater

Jozua groaned as the Coach put him in as a beater again. He hated being beater. He hated being a Chaser, too, but he hated being a Beater more. But he kept getting stuck there because that was the spot team seemed most lacking in, and that was only going to get worse next year once Ben and Joe graduated. He was actually tempted, if only a little, to actually volunteer to play competitively next year, if only to guarantee his spot as Keeper during practice games. He was, he thought, maybe possibly a better Keeper than Tatiana, and even more possibly better than Nathaniel. He had longer arms at any rate.

And surely it was better for everyone if he was parked in front of the goals instead of flinging dangerous metal balls about with no real idea how to aim them properly. His beating strategy was basically ‘hit it and hope for the best’.

Maybe he just wasn’t very good at hoping. He could usually manage the hitting part at least. It was where the bludger went after it encountered his bat that was often the problem.

Though his hopes to get assigned to Eden paid off. There was just way too much going on around the six chasers for him to have a prayer of doing any good there. At least with the seeker, there was only one person to protect. He could usually handle that much. Deflection didn’t require any aim other than not hitting the person it was already heading towards, which was easy enough most of the time.

He gave a salute to Eden and a grin he hoped looked confident. When the whistle blew, he kicked up into the air, taking Ben’s instructions to heart. Just guarding. Nothing else. Amelia was not his concern, only Eden. He followed Eden and didn’t so much as try to collect a bludger for his own use.

1 Jozua Sparks, Beater Guarding Eden 348 Jozua Sparks, Beater 0 5

(Evelyn Stones, Chaser)

November 03, 2018 1:22 AM

I have no idea what's happening. by (Evelyn Stones, Chaser)

Evelyn hadn't expected to get on the team at all, let alone on the team as a chaser. Of course, she wasn't technically on the team. But she wasn't on the sidelines either. She did feel a bit guilty that Malikhi was on the opposing team as she certainly wouldn't be wearing a Hill jersey at this rate. Of course, she wasn't sure he'd want that anyway. Ness was on that team as well, and Evelyn quickly decided she didn't like the color red very much. It felt like a glaring red reminder that she was the odd one out, even among her friends.

When the older girl on the red team got the Quaffle first, Evelyn felt the same surge of focus and effort that she'd felt during tryouts. The problem was that that hadn't worked out for her at all and the nerves swallowed up whatever athleticism it might have granted her otherwise.

Flying on the offense didn't seem like a strategy that fit her well, particularly when the other two chasers on the yellow team were so clearly more skilled in that regard than she was. At the same time, she also knew the other team better. Ness would be strategizing and Malikhi would be either flying full-blooded into the heat of the situation or be fluttering, distracted by his own thoughts. Evelyn could hardly blame him for that, and hoped he wouldn't blame her for taking advantage of it.

Flying low and fast, Evelyn made her way around the red team's chaser with the Quaffle and flew up underneath her. She saw one their beaters, Winston (she only knew that because it made her think of Churchill) making a play on a bludger that had made its way towards them. Swallowing her nerves and hoping that if her attempt failed, one of her team's chasers would at least be there to take advantage of an odd distraction at least.

A growl built in her chest as she flew up suddenly underneath the chaser, reaching for the Quaffle with her right arm.

22 (Evelyn Stones, Chaser) I have no idea what's happening. 1422 (Evelyn Stones, Chaser) 0 5

Coach Reilly

November 06, 2018 7:32 AM

Amendment - OOC by Coach Reilly

OOC - As there is a lot happening in Quidditch matches, we know it can be hard to keep track of, and there seemed to be a bit of confusion as to where the Quaffle was.

I have clarified with Evelyn's author, and she is going to develop her post further later in the week in order to move the Quaffle on in play.

In order to keep the match moving, it can be assumed that Evelyn intercepted Lily's pass, traveled with the Quaffle, then made an attempt to pass it, and that is is now up for grabs again.

I made a document summarising the game movement so far in order to help. I will try to add to this as the game progresses. We previously discussed the possibility of having OOC notes on the game posts to summarise key things like movement of the balls, which seems like it may be helpful.

Match summary can be accessed here

13 Coach Reilly Amendment - OOC 1483 Coach Reilly 0 5

Evelyn Stones

November 06, 2018 8:19 PM

Amended Post by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn hadn't expected to get on the team at all, let alone on the team as a chaser. Of course, she wasn't technically on the team. But she wasn't on the sidelines either. She did feel a bit guilty that Malikhi was on the opposing team as she certainly wouldn't be wearing a Hill jersey at this rate. Of course, she wasn't sure he'd want that anyway. Ness was on that team as well, and Evelyn quickly decided she didn't like the color red very much. It felt like a glaring red reminder that she was the odd one out, even among her friends.

When the older girl on the red team got the Quaffle first, Evelyn felt the same surge of focus and effort that she'd felt during tryouts. The problem was that that hadn't worked out for her at all and the nerves swallowed up whatever athleticism it might have granted her otherwise.

Flying on the offense didn't seem like a strategy that fit her well, particularly when the other two chasers on the yellow team were so clearly more skilled in that regard than she was. At the same time, she also knew the other team better. Ness would be strategizing and Malikhi would be either flying full-blooded into the heat of the situation or be fluttering, distracted by his own thoughts. Evelyn could hardly blame him for that, and hoped he wouldn't blame her for taking advantage of it.

Flying low and fast, Evelyn made her way around the red team's chaser just as she threw the Quaffle and flew up underneath her. She saw one her team's beaters, Winston (she only knew that because it made her think of Churchill) making a play on a bludger that had made its way towards them. Swallowing her nerves and hoping that if her attempt failed, one of her team's chasers would at least be there to take advantage of her attempt at an interception, Evelyn reached out. A growl built in her chest as she flew up suddenly underneath the Quaffle and---

It landed squarely in her arm. For a moment, she was in too much awe to do anything but stare, jaw-dropped at the beautiful burgundy ball. Then she remember everything else that was happening and pulled up hard on her broom, turning back towards the correct goals. She flew straight for a moment, leaning in to gather as much speed as possible. Preferring not to risk her luck, she waited until she saw a yellow-clad chaser and hurled the ball towards them, surprising herself with the ferocity of the throw. At least if she was scrawny, it was muscle. Tree-climbing had seen to that.

The Quaffle out of her hands, she did her best to fly up the pitch further, keeping her out to see whether her throw was caught.

22 Evelyn Stones Amended Post 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Joe Umland, Cap-Beater

November 07, 2018 8:39 PM

Redirecting things. by Joe Umland, Cap-Beater

Joe suspected it would be highly impolitic to mention it, but he could not honestly say he was entirely unhappy with how things had worked out with the combined team. The way he saw it, Ben acquiring the role of school captain took a large task off of Joe’s plate without actually taking anything away from his resume. He had been Teppenpaw captain last year and so could put down the title on his resume without lying. The fact the position no longer existed was not altogether relevant.

He had a plan, of sorts. He did not like the plan, but short a Revelation from the Heavens, he was not going to find a better one, and so had resigned himself to this one. He was going to continue working on all his classes, ignoring the sleep deprivation and occasional stabbing pains in his hands as best he could, until the end of the year. He would then go to university and let his RATS determine what he studied along with political science. With an education and his family connections, he could get a job at the Ministry back home - something like accidental magical reversal if he could juggle enough magic at uni, something like fetching and note-taking if not, but either way, in a place where he’d have an opportunity to work his way up higher over the course of a career. Selfishly, he had factored Julian’s revelation about William’s ambitions into his considerations; if his brother-in-law was Minister for Magic and one of his brothers almost certainly a respected researcher by then, Joe stood a good chance of moving a little more quickly than he might have otherwise. Provided, of course, John stuck to his laboratories and didn’t talk to people, but that seemed like a safe enough bet.

There was no way the next few years weren’t going to suck, of course, but he really didn’t see any other options. His problem was that he was a Good Student. He performed the magic they were taught; he didn’t innovate on it. He wrote essays showing he understood the theory they were taught; he did not push the envelope or explicate much beyond what was in his sources. And he did not do any of this with indifferent ease. It took him significant effort to look that good on paper. He suspected, in fact, that the staff might have said something about approving his frankly masochistic course load had he not been John Umland’s brother - that for once, others being half-stunned by his brother had worked to his advantage.

He was captain of a team of sorts today, though, which meant opening remarks were necessary. Too bad they hadn’t given him Jozua and Eden; he would have liked having more of his own people around. Plus, Winston Pierce and Simon Mordue were, perhaps, something unlikely to be overly impressed by a half-blood from western Canada - though who knew, perhaps being the brother of a genius and, even more importantly, having a sister who was of their social class might help him out here. Maybe if he laid on a little flattery….

“We clearly have the stronger chasing team, and I want us to prove it,” he said, speaking mostly to Simon and Winston here. “Try to keep Nathaniel really, really, bored, yeah? Control the Quaffle. Especially keep it away from Lily Spencer, she’s the only decent Chaser they’ve got, but the more we have it, the better off we are. Nathaniel, if anyone does get you involved, you know the drill - just keep your eyes on the ball and follow it.” Nathaniel wasn’t as quick as Tatiana Vorontsova, but he was detail-oriented and seemed steady-headed, which was an advantage. “Amelia, Parker, our strategies might change a little depending on who goes with Eden Manger - if Ben’s with Eden, I’m with you, Amelia, but if they put Jozua up there, then Parker can go with you and I’ll move back and forth however I need to. Sound good everyone?”

Joe was not entirely surprised, overall, to see it was in fact Jozua following Eden. Eden was the school’s reigning queen of Seeking and perfectly capable of looking out for herself, which meant Jozua was really in a position best suited for a Keeper - keeping him where he could do the least damage. This made Joe feel ever so slightly bad as he sought a Bludger, but he forgot about it when he found that Ben had found one first and had hit it toward Winston. Nasty business, this Pierce family, from everything he’d heard. Luckily, he was not involved in their business, just in this business, which compelled that he defend Winston and Evelyn, who had somehow intercepted the Red team’s pass in all the confusion. He swooped down on the Bludger, a move made to look slightly less intimidating than it might have due to the sunny happy color of his robes, and hit it toward a straggling Red, away from his players.\r\n

OOC - Chaser-Bludger redirected, heading towards red players.

16 Joe Umland, Cap-Beater Redirecting things. 329 Joe Umland, Cap-Beater 0 5

Simon Mordue, Chaser

November 07, 2018 9:32 PM

Likewise. by Simon Mordue, Chaser

Simon found several aspects of his present situation objectionable, some to greater degrees than others.

For one thing, he and Winston were not supposed to be subordinate to Ben Pierce and Joe Umland. It was against nature and he was always amazed that this never seemed to occur to adults when they were organizing things. For another thing, he and Winston were not supposed to be wearing yellow. Winston was too pale-skinned and Simon a shade too in the middle to look well in it - aside from it just being offensively bright and not quite manly, it made them look consumptive.

He, at least, however, was slightly mollified by Umland’s speech about the strength of their Chasing team. Merlin knew that he, Winston, and Nathaniel were the only real strengths they had - Miss Layne had experience without victories, Fitzgerald was a second year, and Umland was not significantly better with a bat than Pierce was. However, compared to two tiny Chasers instead of just one, a bouncy little girl for Keeper, and Jozua Sparks...anywhere nearby, he thought they were far from doomed, even with Red having the advantage of Miss Manger.

He was able to gather evidence for that idea quickly as the game began, Evelyn making an impressive interception and Umland addressing Pierce’s attempt to assassinate Winston. Simon flew forward, caught the next pass, and was surprised by the strength with which it smacked into his hands. The first year was stronger than he would have thought, or else the wind had caught the ball in a very specific and atypical way there.

Now it was his turn...he thought he could make an attempt on the goals. The Red Chasers weren’t interfering much so far, so with Umland at his back, he thought it would be safe enough. Of course, an attempt at the goals - even if he scored, it would give the Reds time to catch up and organize, and probably get the ball in their hands, at least for a moment...but there wasn’t much use in passing again, really, not when they had started so near the center of the field. He’d make the effort.

Drawing near, he feinted right as though he were going to pass, hoping to distract Tatiana, and then threw the ball hard toward the left hoop. \r\n

\r\nOOC - pass recieved from Evelyn. Attempt made on red goals.

16 Simon Mordue, Chaser Likewise. 369 Simon Mordue, Chaser 0 5

Tatiana Vorontsova,Keeper

November 07, 2018 10:04 PM

Yes. You should all start being somewhere else now. by Tatiana Vorontsova,Keeper

On a personal level, Tatiana liked the color yellow better than the color red. For purposes of a mock Quidditch game, however, she was quite happy with her designation. Red was the color of luxury - good rubies were impossibly luxurious, and ruby-red blown glass, where gold was added to molten glass before the glassmaker shaped it, made precious lamps, such as those Mama kept lit in her krasivyy ugolok, the Beautiful Corner, before the ikons representing her six children. In Dorian’s culture, red was also the color of good luck, so long as names were not written in it, and at home, red flowers and red jars of sugar-water drew hummingbirds. Plus it looked much fiercer than pretty yellows did. She put carnelian cabochons in her ears and tied red ribbons in her hair.

She was pleased when the krasnyi kapitan, Ben (whose name, she had discovered fairly recently, sounded a lot like the Chinese word for stupid, which would make her giggle if she thought about it too long), told her that she knew her job and to do it instead of trying to give her many detailed instructions about it. Quidditch words were thankfully limited, but still sometimes struck her brain as backward, or meaning the opposite of what they were supposed to, plus there would be other words in a speech and it was even easier to miss something under those circumstances. Accordingly, she figured out which goal she was supposed to protect (that her photographer friend didn’t go to it was a good clue) and went there to start flying around the hoops.

The game began quickly, with enough movement that Tatiana awkwardly bounced on her broom and clapped her hands as her kapitan hit a Bludger toward Winston Pierce. The game quickly stopped going so well for Red, though, with the Yellow Chasers getting the ball and throwing it back and forth between themselves until it became very obvious that Tatiana was about to have to actually Keep something.

Simon Mordue was the one who had the ball as she closed her small hands into fists for a moment in determination. He was a sturdy, unremarkable looking fellow (sometimes, with his quiet manner and dark eyes, Tatiana was somewhat reminded of a placid cow) generally, but right now, he looked uncommonly strong and intimidating.

Luckily Tatiana’s response to feeling intimidation was usually to put her back up and go after the task all the more enthusiastically.

Unluckily, she had a short attention span and short arms.

She saw his hands move as though he were going to pass at the last moment and started to go in that direction, thinking to put herself where she could defend the center hoop and the far hoop he was passing toward as best she could - but as she was moving, she realized the ball was also moving, but not toward another yellow robe. Instead, it was moving toward her, but to the side - back toward where she had come from. Almost quickly enough to impress the bird her father had nicknamed her after, she wheeled around, but her small stature and accordingly smaller model broom worked just enough against her that the shot was good. Tatiana swore in Russian as the Yellows scored, glaring at Simon as she went to catch the ball, feeling almost personally offended as she got it in her hands and grimly tossed it back toward a Red robe.\r\n

\r\nOOC - save failed. Quaffle retrieved and passed towards red team. Quaffle up for grabs.

16 Tatiana Vorontsova,Keeper Yes. You should all start being somewhere else now. 1396 Tatiana Vorontsova,Keeper 0 5

Coach Reilly

November 08, 2018 12:14 AM

Yellow score! 10-0 (nm) by Coach Reilly

0 Coach Reilly Yellow score! 10-0 (nm) 1483 Coach Reilly 0 5

Ness McLeod, Chaser

November 08, 2018 9:13 AM

Less of that, please by Ness McLeod, Chaser

Quidditch was everything that Ness had hoped it would be and more. This was kind of surprising, given the fact that there was not an Aladren team – something that the first year had been very much looking forward to being part of, due to a solid combination of house pride and having heard great things about it from when Kir had first been at school – and that Ness’ butt was firmly on the bench for most of the proper matches. It was still exciting. The whole school team plus the ever-changing combinations that the coach put onto the field were really excellent learning opportunities (Ness loved learning opportunities!) and they got to go on adventures.

Today was the best kind of practise - they were having a game. And not only that, but Ness got to be with Ben (who was the actual captain), Eden (who was the best Seeker) and Lily (who was just the coolest cool person ever. Ness had known about the older Pecari for a while because of Kir’s D&D game, and because Ness had seen the very girly name mismatched to the boyish features and haircut when paging through Kir’s yearbooks). The downside the universe decided to throw onto the red team was Malikhi, but a lot of the rest of the team more than made up for it. Also, it was better that he was on this team with Ness than he and Evelyn being together on the other team because that just made Ness feel jealous and left out. Also, if the Aladren was totally honest, Malikhi was an okay player, and not even the worst part of this team from a tactical perspective. From a personal point of view, he wasn’t even the worst option to be stuck with. Kir had warned Ness to look out for Winston Pierce and Simon Mordue, who were apparently quite likely to regard Ness as being a bit of dirt rather than a human being. Luckily, any kind of personal interaction was minimal during Quidditch, but the few times they had been forced to work together had not felt pleasant.

They gathered round to talk tactics. Ness knew Evelyn’s playing style more than anyone else’s. Evelyn would be likely to go for short passes because… well, she was a first year and couldn’t throw as far as other people. But the trouble was, the same weakness was true of Ness and Malikhi, and in fact Ness had noticed that Evelyn had managed a few distances that Ness couldn’t, so the Aladren didn’t want to point it out. They had all probably noticed that but still… There was no point drawing attention to it. Ben seemed to have some faith in them, so long as they followed Lily’s lead and kept the ball moving. And he would try to keep Winston and Simon busy with Bludgers, which gave several pleasing mental images of them having their snooty noses messily broken. Ness joined in the team cheer, feeling excited as they took their positions.

On the whistle, Ness kicked off, diving into the scrum for the Quaffle. It was one situation where being one of the smaller players could conceivably be an advantage, owing to increased ability to manoeuvre. It could also be a disadvantage, owing to being that much easier for fifth year and older players to shove out of the way. Today was the second kind of day, and Ness emerged from the scrum having received an elbow in the ribs rather than a Quaffle. Lily had it though, and Ness was quick to streak off up the pitch, trying to stay close enough for a pass from the older player. The yellow team, unfortunately, had other ideas. Ben had sent a Bludger Winston’s way, and he seemed determined to fly in such a way that it got mixed up about who it was heading for, and that was before Joe Umland gave it a helping hand. At that point it was solidly aiming for Ness, and the first year had to sacrifice the prime passing position in order to… well, not be knocked out. Tactically, that was the obvious right choice. Unconscious players were even less use than just temporarily unavailable ones. It still stung though.

Especially as things seemed to go from bad to worse for the red team at that point, with a succession of passes ending in an attempt on goal. Which Tatiana missed. Tatiana confused Ness, in spite of having an upbringing built around not making assumptions or putting people into narrow little boxes. Ness was perfectly used to applying that to the queer community, not having a stereotype of what a lesbian looked like, or how a gay man behaved. But the idea that someone could be as into her appearance as Tatiana obviously was and still want to play Quidditch seemed contradictory. The moment when Tatiana had pulled out co-ordinated accessories to go with robes for a team assignment she had not known she would have – for a match she hadn’t even known she was playing – had been mind-boggling. It implied that Tatiana’s pockets were filled with an array of accessories, ready to deploy as needed. And that was a very loose sense of ‘as needed’ because no one really needed hair ribbons ever and much less in a Quidditch match. Ness sort of wanted to talk more to the third year but was unsure whether they spoke the same language. And Ness did not mean the fact that Tatiana was Russian.

Theoretically, Ness knew Keeper was a hard position. It came down to those high pressure moments and no one could get every single one of them right. Ness was still disappointed to see the third year miss though. And was disappointed by the knee jerk reaction that said that maybe, if Tatiana concentrated less on ribbons and more on the Quaffle, she wouldn’t have missed.

Still, Ness tried to give the Pecari a supportive smile, whilst swooping near enough to collect the Quaffle. Tucking it firmly out of harm’s way, Ness learnt as close to the broom handle as the ball would allow. Ben had advised not holding the Quaffle too long, and Ness was keen to be a player who listened. However, they were deep in enemy territory, and thus this instruction was balanced with the need to get out and put a safe distance between the Quaffle and their Keeper. Feeling Tatiana was a safe distance away, Ness glanced around for a fellow red, preferring to get in close if possible. Seeing an open player, Ness went in. There was still a bit of a gap between them - getting close reduced the risk in some ways, giving the ball a shorter distance to travel, but it made it so obvious who you were passing to - but the pass was on the short, sharp side.

OOC - Quaffle collected, pass attempted

13 Ness McLeod, Chaser Less of that, please 1419 Ness McLeod, Chaser 0 5

Captain Ben, Beater

November 08, 2018 10:26 AM

Simon, here, I don’t want you to feel left out by Captain Ben, Beater

The bad news was he didn’t hit Winston. The good news was he didn’t have a chance to intercept Lily’s pass. The bad news was that Evelyn did. He saw Joe moving in to assist Winston and moved in closer too, trying to guess which of his teammates would be targeted. Obvious choice was Lily, so he flew quickly to try to get between her and Joe.

It wasn’t Lily. Ben wouldn’t swear his presence hadn’t had an influence on that decision, though, so he didn’t feel too bad for guessing ‘wrong’ except that it meant one of his first years was now in trouble.

“Awesome dodge! Good job!” he called out to Ness as he swooped in to take care of the bludger dogging her broom tail. He took control of the metal ball with a light tap, breaking its pursuit of the younger player, but not sending it away yet. He looked around, trying to figure out what to do with it. Evelyn was back in red territory, having reversed the progress Lily made, but would likely be passing soon.

He smiled and lined up another shot at Winston. He had promised his players to keep the older two yellow chasers busy after all. With a good hard crack, his bat sent the bludger screaming back toward the other Pierce on the field. Not really close enough to threaten injury (that would force Joe to get involved again), but close enough to make Winston think twice about moving into Evelyn’s passing range.

Evelyn successfully passed to Simon, but the yellow team was basically down to those two as its Chasing team at this point, if he could keep hounding Winston like this. Plus hounding Winston was really far more fun and satisfying that it really ought to be.

Simon scored though, and Ben grimaced. He shouted something captainly and encouraging toward Tatiana, but doubted she’d be able to hear him from this distance. Ness got the ball and started back this way.

He managed to get over to the loose bludger before Joe did and decided to mix things up and smack it good and hard and accurately at Simon this time. If he was really lucky, both Simon and Joe would be assuming by now that Ben was carrying out some kind of Pierce vendetta, and so Joe would be on hand to help out Winston rather than his other first string Chaser, and maybe Simon wouldn’t be paying Ben quite enough attention, especially if he was still congratulating himself on his goal.

Though, on the other hand, having just scored, they may both correctly assume Simon had just made himself a much more tempting target.

OOC: I’m trying to get the bludger game caught up to the quaffle game since I assume that has more ball exchanges over the same period of time; so this post has two hits of the same bludger in it: first bludger hit goes in Winston’s general direction around the time when Evelyn is passing, but it misses, (there is some unaccounted time in here for Joe to claim another hit if he wants one while the goal is being made), then same bludger gets aimed for Simon a little while later, after the ball is with Ness. That’s the one that actually needs to be resolved ->

Bludger at Simon

1 Captain Ben, Beater Simon, here, I don’t want you to feel left out 339 Captain Ben, Beater 0 5

Winston, Chaser

November 08, 2018 11:18 AM

Lining up for another goal shot by Winston, Chaser

Winston already hated The Pecari. Today that piece of dirt was making himself into a really irritating and frustrating thorn in Winston’s backside. The Pecari seemed intent on making it impossible for Winston to do anything to help his team. Every time he turned around it seemed like that blasted bludger was coming back for him. It wasn’t even coming dangerously close either, it was just there, keeping him back, distracting him, making him pay attention to the Pecari (something he hated doing under the best of circumstances) more than the Quaffle.

A cheer rose - not from the stands; this was just a practice game - but from the other yellow players, and the coach blew the whistle trill that indicated a scored goal. Everyone else was crowded out near Tatiana, so it was 10-0 Yellow. Good. He shot a smug look at The Pecari. The guy might have kept Winston out of the action, but Winston’s team still scored again the Pecari’s, even down one Chaser. He’d take the win, despite having no share in the glory this time.

The Quaffle and other Chasers were coming back. The Pecari’s bat cracked again and Winston flinched, jerking his broom handle backwards, to rise up higher, get out of the way, but it wasn’t coming for him this time.

It wasn’t coming for him this time.

Winston pushed himself, getting back into the game, and, coming from the wrong way and above, maybe The Aladren didn’t see him. He saw her though. Saw her moving in for an obvious pass. Winston dove for it, snatching the Quaffle out of the air as it flew between the two red players (How did the team with no Crotali on it get red? That wasn’t right.) and then leveled out under them and kept going the same direction he had already been going.

He wasn’t heading straight for the goals. He was out to the left a bit. Not really a good scoring position, though he was probably close enough for a run on the goals, had he been more centrally aligned.

He kept going, but as he got nearer to Tatiana, he barrel rolled closer to the middle of the field and made a pass to the yellow Chaser better positioned to take a goal shot.

OOC highlight: Quaffle intercepted, pass made near red goals

1 Winston, Chaser Lining up for another goal shot 370 Winston, Chaser 0 5

Amelia Layne, Seeker

November 09, 2018 4:12 PM

Hunting the Snitch. by Amelia Layne, Seeker

As much as she knew it had been a good idea, it still felt kind of weird to Amelia not to aim for the top. Therefore, practice games were actually kind of a relief, because she was automatically back in a prominent role, but still without the stress of constantly traveling and battling other Seekers and battling Eden within the school and all that. She could study like a maniac for her CATS and still feel like she wasn’t a complete one-trick pony, something that all her relatives seemed to think would be a death sentence to doing well in life after high school, however much Lionel had barely even qualified for the one trick. Lionel, after all, was still being guided by Granddad and Grandmother and Uncle Geoff, and supported to an extent; without them, Amelia didn’t seriously question that it would take her brother very long to end up no better off than their mama, and the last Amelia had heard of her, she’d been painting plates for some kind of loosey-goosey touristy thing in North Dakota. It was such a waste; Mama really was a talented painter, but who besides them and random people with fifty bucks would ever know it, since Mama didn’t have a degree in studio art or connections to galleries to back it up?

Admittedly, Amelia knew she was not at the top of the game in academics, either. Without Uncle Geoff, she suspected she would struggle to get much of anywhere, either. Which underscored the point but also reminded her that but for the grace of God went she – or somewhere close to there, anyway, since Amelia couldn’t paint. She was much more comfortable with the idea of working in the lab that made the paint.

She didn’t know either of the captains well, but was not entirely pleased with her assignment. Joe Umland was a perfectly capable Beater, of course (her own acquaintance with his older brother made her suspect he might not have had much choice in the matter), but he had also been the Teppenpaw captain. On one hand, he was John Umland’s brother, but on the other, he was…a Teppenpaw. Teppenpaws were soft, and until very recently, Eden had been Joe’s charge. He might run into conflicts of interest there, ones which would not benefit Amelia. She was therefore glad to see Ben and Joe both seem to assign the least dangerous of the Beaters to the Seekers; Joe promised to back her up at need, but she wasn’t really that worried about his buddy Jozua putting her in too many positions she couldn’t get herself out of.

Still, though, Parker Fitzgerald was new and foreign enough that Amelia still had half an eye out for Bludgers as she kicked off and went into the air and started looking for the Snitch. Since she also had to keep Eden and Jozua in the corner of her eye, this exercise made her wish for a fleeting moment that she was a spider or a fly or something. A multitude of eyes would have made all this watching a lot easier for her.

16 Amelia Layne, Seeker Hunting the Snitch. 360 Amelia Layne, Seeker 0 5

Simon Mordue, Chaser

November 14, 2018 4:41 PM

Trying to un-include myself. by Simon Mordue, Chaser

He had scored. He had scored. Admittedly the Keeper who he had gotten past was only Tatiana, who he doubted, somewhere between her House placement and the fact she still didn’t speak proper English even after at least three years in America, was very smart in addition to her physical stature not being ideal for Keeping, but she was the first-string Keeper and he had just beaten her. If only it didn’t feel so peculiar to be pleased that someone had gotten the Quaffle past a Keeper wearing red. He and Winston had been the Crotalus captains, for goodness’ sake. They should have been wearing red today.

He still flushed a little, pleased, at some clapping, only slightly pausing when he saw the glare Tatiana was giving him. He was not really used to being looked at like that, not by anyone, no matter whether he had just beaten them at something or not - it was impolitic, and the quantity and quality of the jewelry she wore on a daily basis suggested financial resources that should have led to a concern about avoiding being impolitic. For a moment he vaguely thought about whether or not Russia was even considered a properly civilized place - most of what he could remember about Russia from his lessons before school was that their art had developed much more slowly than art in the West, remaining crude long after the West had rediscovered perspective and proper use of light and shadow and all that stuff, and that they had conflicted with the International Convention of Wizards a lot over the centuries, when they weren’t being extremely reclusive - but then the Quaffle sailed back into the air and the game was back on and he all but forgot the third year existed.

McLeod caught it and started to fly toward Nathaniel. Well, that wouldn’t do. He was supposed to watch out for Nathaniel and Sylvia at school, make sure they didn’t associate with the wrong sorts, and the McLeods were both definitely the Wrong Sort. He had a moral responsibility here. Determined, focused on the Quaffle, not anticipating any difficulty with the inexperienced Red Chasers, he only realized there was a Bludger heading straight toward him when it was too late to fully avoid it.

Upon the realization, he froze for approximately half a second, then tried to steer away. He did not get far, however, before the Bludger slammed into his shoulder, a force which, fortunately, threw him further to the side. Gasping, he kept moving away from the Bludger more by instinct than design, rolling over in the air and then diving away from it, the Quaffle now forgotten as his mind became occupied with little other than how much that had hurt and how much he wished to avoid encountering the responsible object again.

OOC: Bludger hit Simon, he fled the game area to escape further injury. Bludger on the loose, Quaffle still in midair between Winston and someone else. Author hopes hitting Simon with the Bludger will suffice as her apology for his poor moral behavior earlier in the post. Though it’s far from the most problematic thing he said, also please do not accept his opinions on art as facts, they are misinformed.

16 Simon Mordue, Chaser Trying to un-include myself. 369 Simon Mordue, Chaser 0 5

Joe Umland, Cap-Beater

November 14, 2018 5:10 PM

Trying to include someone wearing Red. by Joe Umland, Cap-Beater

Clapping was a difficult proposition when one’s hands were full with a bat, but Joe made an effort when Simon successfully tricked Tatiana into going the wrong way just long enough for the goal to be collected. “Well done Simon!” he cheered. It seemed, admittedly, a bit strange to call Simon by his real name, but while the other Mordue present was too far away and irrelevant to the game so far to be confused for the person he was talking to, it also just seemed more…teamish to at least pretend they all knew each other to some extent and were on a first-name basis. Also, to Joe, less weird. They were all teenagers, for goodness’ sake.

He did not miss the glare Tatiana sent Simon’s way as she recollected the Quaffle, and found it a little surprising. Of course, she would be disappointed she had missed a ball, and disappointment was easy to express in anger, but he would have expected someone who wore earrings to a Quidditch game to express disappointment in tears, not glares. Still, she was tiny and stuck at the goals, so her fierce expression was more amusing than anything.

An even tinier member of the red team got the Quaffle from Tatiana, the one Joe was only about ninety percent confident was a girl (not something he would have suspected on appearance alone, but Lily Spencer also appeared confusingly unfeminine to the eye), and the game was back on. He kept an eye on Winston, thinking that Ben seemed extremely keen on hitting him specifically, and intensified that eye when Winston stole the Quaffle from Ness’ pass toward one of the other red-robed players, figuring this made Winston both a personal and strategic target.

Unfortunately, however – both for the yellow team and for Simon personally – Ben was smarter than Joe had perhaps given him credit for, and Simon clearly took a hit. Joe winced at this realization, in part because it represented a failure for him – he was supposed to prevent anyone from getting close to the people in the yellow robes, and any deviation from that was a failure; an unimportant one, as it wouldn’t go on his resume, but a failure nevertheless – and in part because an injured Chaser was not good for their chances, but also in part because, well, that had looked like it hurt and he had an unusual flash of sympathy for the guy.

Sympathy for Simon Mordue. For a guy who had probably been born with a platinum spoon in his mouth – not just that he was older than the other dude named Mordue at this school, not just that he and Winston Pierce managed to walk around an awfully lot as though they owned the joint for a pair of fifth years who no longer even had badges, but just something about him gave it away. Perhaps Joe had been Sorted into the right House after all. He found it hard to imagine John or Paul having such a moment of sympathy – to the more strident two of his three brothers, guys like Simon were representatives of The Enemy and deserved to get knocked down by any peg available. Whether this was on the Pitch or in the public arena was material, but not by that much.

Joe’s main concern, however, remained not with morality, pain, or politics, but with the fact that Simon had been a heck of a lot more useful to Joe un-knocked than he was knocked. With a noise of exasperation, he sought the Bludger, got to it before Ben, and hit it very hard back toward one of the red robes, glad they were a color he was used to associating with ‘people to hit Bludgers at’ so there was less chance of making mistakes that led to friendly fire.

OOC: Bludger claimed and hit toward a red player.

16 Joe Umland, Cap-Beater Trying to include someone wearing Red. 329 Joe Umland, Cap-Beater 0 5

Evelyn Stones, Chaser

November 15, 2018 9:00 PM

I don't suck! by Evelyn Stones, Chaser

Evelyn watched her successful pass and the score her team ended up making with a sense of disassociation. She had played a part in that score, and suddenly she felt strong. Of course, there was no denying that she'd likely gotten lucky, that adrenaline had played a bigger part than she had, and that she was still one of the most - if not the most - unskilled player on her team. Regardless, she felt good.

So when Simon scored and the Quaffle was returned to play, Evelyn was already there and eager to be part of the fray. She had to resist cheering when Ness collected the Quaffle, but sent the Aladren a sly thumbs up and a grin before focusing on the moves at hand. Winston not-Churchill intercepted Ness' pass and made to throw it towards either herself or Simon.

Unfortunately, the horrific crack of a bludger and a face colliding was a too close for comfort and it only took a moment for her to recognize that Simon had effectively been put out of commission. Evelyn snarled, knowing full well that a hit like that would hurt. Doing her best to focus as the Quaffle was still in the air, she dove for it. She wasn't too proud of the idea that her game might be the "wait for something distracting to happen and steal the Quaffle really Fast" game but if it worked, she might as well roll with it.

The Quaffle felt good in her hands as it landed with a satisfying smack and she allowed herself a moment to see what had happened for poor Simon. Not too long though. He was clearly in pain but had flown himself to the ground so at least he wasn't knocked out or dead or something. Falling that height would've been much worse than flying it.

She turned her focus back to the game. She no longer had another chaser to pass to with Simon gone and Winston in a position that he'd needed to pass rather than shoot for a score himself, so she angled herself towards the goal posts and put as much speed into her flight as possible. She flew until she was sure she'd be clobbered if she attempted any more distance and threw the ball as hard as she could towards the goal posts, hoping that if it missed, at least Winston would have caught up by then.

OOC - Quaffle claimed and flown up field toward Tatiana. Goal-shot attempted, Quaffle in the air.

22 Evelyn Stones, Chaser I don't suck! 1422 Evelyn Stones, Chaser 0 5

Nate Mordue, Keeper

November 15, 2018 9:24 PM

Don't mind me, I'm just keeping score.... by Nate Mordue, Keeper

There was, as far as Nathaniel could see, only one thing wrong with his team, and that was that they hadn’t received Eden Manger as their Seeker. With Eden, victory would have been assured, for surely he did not think the Red team could beat them any other way. Even without Eden, however, he thought they had a good chance. They had three captains, sort of, on their team. How could that not somehow work to their benefit?

He did have to suppress a small frown, though, during Mr. Umland’s speech to them. He did not want them to keep everyone so occupied that Nathaniel had nothing to do all game. He wanted a chance to prove he could be a good Keeper, too. He had been nervous in tryouts, but he was sure he had to actually be better than Tatiana - that it was just her age and the fact she was so exhausting to be around for any length of time which had gotten her the prime spot. Of course, he was fairly sure she was quite smart (Nathaniel knew, with absolute certainty, that though they had tried out both French and German on him at home, he would never, ever have been able to go to school in any language other than English, much less in one as intimidating as Russian), which did count for something, and also gave the appearance of being fearless, which was an advantage, but...was she putting on an earring on her way out of locker rooms?

His fingers itched for his camera, but he sternly reminded himself that it would be inappropriate. Looking at girls was the kind of thing boys did when they were going to grow up and be like his father. Didn’t matter if it really was just the frequent incongruity between Tatiana and her surroundings which made her interesting as a subject, and if he never had observed that she was quite pretty once one looked past the showy, faintly exotic trappings - one just didn’t do that. At least not in such very public venues.

He did not know if his cousin had taken Umland’s speech to heart or not, but it seemed that Yellow was dominating the Quaffle by the time Nathaniel got settled in well at the goals. He applauded, annoyed by how strange it made his hands feel to clap in the game gloves, when his cousin scored a goal, then tensed up, waiting for the ball to come back his way - only for Yellow to seize it again. He was about to applaud that, too, when he saw a figure he recognized as Simon break away from the others, seemingly injured, and winced, hoping Sylvia wasn’t watching. He wouldn’t want her to be upset seeing her brother get hit by a Bludger.

16 Nate Mordue, Keeper Don't mind me, I'm just keeping score.... 1412 Nate Mordue, Keeper 0 5

Amelia Layne, Seeker

November 24, 2018 2:44 PM

Victory is mine! by Amelia Layne, Seeker

Alas, even had Amelia been capable of an Animagus transformation – something she doubted she would ever really be capable of; she was not a walking disaster in Transfiguration, which was something, but nor was she exceptionally talented; more than once, she had worried about whether or not she would be able to make at least an E, the score on a test which her grandfather regarded as an A, on the Transfiguration CATS exam, between solid mediocrity with that form of magic and the stress of the test situation exacerbating things – and had somehow happened to have an Animagus form which was useful for Seeking, she was pretty sure it would have been against the rules to use it on the Pitch. Plus, if she was able to turn herself into a spider at will, she might have an advantage when it came to seeing in multiple directions at once, but a much larger problem with actually steering her broom, much less catching the Snitch, which moved fast enough and was large enough that Amelia suspected it was capable of squishing a spider. Winning was important, no doubt, but she was pretty sure that even Granddad would agree it wasn’t worth dying such a messy, complicated, bizarre, and undignified death over. Especially since she was not exactly noted for winning a lot in this domain in the first place.

Injury, however, was something she thought Granddad would tolerate, though he would prefer it if she won and avoided injury at the same time – it meant she had performed better, at least on paper. In reality, Quidditch was too chaotic, with too many variables, for Amelia to think such things were really that neatly quantifiable, but paper results were paper results and the things people looked at. As a result, she kept her head moving even more than the rest of her, looking for both Bludgers and the Snitch, and was just contemplating whether it was really possible to accidentally unscrew her own head from her neck this way when she spotted a flash of gold to her right.

Her stomach jumped up toward her chest cavity and her heart jumped up toward her throat, but she began to dive so quickly that she reckoned the rest of her caught up with their new positions pretty quickly. She didn’t look behind her now, nor even to the side – not for Beaters, or Eden, or Bludgers, or anything. The wind dried out her eyes, but she refused to blink until her hand actually closed around the fluttering lump of metal, giving it not even a fraction of a second to dart out of eyeshot.

16 Amelia Layne, Seeker Victory is mine! 360 Amelia Layne, Seeker 0 5

Coach Reilly

November 24, 2018 10:25 PM

Yellow team wins! (nm) by Coach Reilly

0 Coach Reilly Yellow team wins! (nm) 1483 Coach Reilly 0 5

Coach Reilly

Quidditch Match! by Coach Reilly

<font color=red>Lily Spencer, Chaser</font>

Let's get this party started! by <font color=red>Lily Spencer, Chaser</font>

<font color=red>Captain Ben Pierce, Beater</font>

Sounds good to me! by <font color=red>Captain Ben Pierce, Beater</font>

<font color=yellow>Winston Pierce, Chaser</font>

Re-Gifting this Bludger by <font color=yellow>Winston Pierce, Chaser</font>

<font color=red>Jozua Sparks, Beater</font>

Guarding Eden by <font color=red>Jozua Sparks, Beater</font>

(<font color=yellow>Evelyn Stones, Chaser</font>)

I have no idea what's happening. by (<font color=yellow>Evelyn Stones, Chaser</font>)

Coach Reilly

Amendment - OOC by Coach Reilly

Evelyn Stones

Amended Post by Evelyn Stones

<font color="yellow">Joe Umland, Cap-Beater</font>

Redirecting things. by <font color="yellow">Joe Umland, Cap-Beater</font>

<font color="yellow">Simon Mordue, Chaser</font>

Likewise. by <font color="yellow">Simon Mordue, Chaser</font>

<font color="red">Tatiana Vorontsova,Keeper</font>

Yes. You should all start being somewhere else now. by <font color="red">Tatiana Vorontsova,Keeper</font>

Coach Reilly

Yellow score! 10-0 (nm) by Coach Reilly

<font color=red>Ness McLeod, Chaser </font>

Less of that, please by <font color=red>Ness McLeod, Chaser </font>

<font color=red>Captain Ben, Beater</font>

Simon, here, I don’t want you to feel left out by <font color=red>Captain Ben, Beater</font>

<font color=yellow>Winston, Chaser</font>

Lining up for another goal shot by <font color=yellow>Winston, Chaser</font>

<font color="yellow">Amelia Layne, Seeker</font>

Hunting the Snitch. by <font color="yellow">Amelia Layne, Seeker</font>

<font color="yellow">Simon Mordue, Chaser</font>

Trying to un-include myself. by <font color="yellow">Simon Mordue, Chaser</font>

<font color="yellow">Joe Umland, Cap-Beater</font>

Trying to include someone wearing Red. by <font color="yellow">Joe Umland, Cap-Beater</font>

<font color=yellow>Evelyn Stones, Chaser</font>

I don't suck! by <font color=yellow>Evelyn Stones, Chaser</font>

<font color="yellow">Nate Mordue, Keeper</font>

Don't mind me, I'm just keeping score.... by <font color="yellow">Nate Mordue, Keeper</font>

<font color="yellow">Amelia Layne, Seeker</font>

Victory is mine! by <font color="yellow">Amelia Layne, Seeker</font>

Coach Reilly

Yellow team wins! (nm) by Coach Reilly