| Dwarf
Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: #8000FF
Posts: 35,306
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Amelia "Mia" Adair
Slytherin Sixth Year
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Leigh Upstead
Hufflepuff Fifth Year  x11
|  Laps part one xoxo be curious, not judgmental
Text Cut: Zoryn, Flyin' Quote:
Originally Posted by ArianaBlack  Huh?
He wanted her to choose for him??
The Gryffindor took a good look at Callum Kettleburn... a full up and down sorta look. This was a loaded question. Obviously they'd need his talent on the team, but there were others that she wanted too who were already trying out for very specific positions. There was an advantage to having someone who could mold to whichever position they were asked to take on. With that in mind... "How 'bout you spend half the time with the Chasers and the other half with the Beaters?" She'd need a good partner to help balance out some of her rashness on the pitch, so it'd be nice if a Kettleburn could be her dynamic duo. Buuuuuuuut they needed a real strong offensive team too. So, really, she was curious to see him play both.
Did that sound okay? Callum was unfazed by Zoryn scrutinizing him from top to bottom - in fact, he made a thing of it and stood tall, puffed out his chest, flexed a bicep while standing in a power-pose with his broomstick over his shoulder, and laughed all the while. When she came to her conclusion, he relaxed, grinning puppy-like and shrugged his shoulders again. "You got it."
He wasn't worried about where she wanted him to go; he was already mentally preparing for what was to come. As they continued to stretch it out, glances were exchanged with others who said they were trying out for Chaser to see who he would be working with for passing reasons, and he sized up those who said they wanted to play Beater to see how psyched they seemed about it. It seemed that the general consensus was that this was going to be fun from his housemates, and he wholeheartedly shared that same enthusiasm. If nothing else, they were all getting a good workout in today, eh? Text Cut: Zoryn, Flyin' Quote:
Originally Posted by ArianaBlack After arms, Zoryn moved on to legs; calling out stretches so that they could all get nice ’n loose before they took off into the sky. Really, she was being MEGA responsible here. ‘Cause if it were entirely up to what she wanted, they’d be in the air, like, yesterday. Zoryn hated this part. The stretching. It was SOOOOOooooOOOooo boring, but a necessary evil.
Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnndddddd.....
Finally, she had made her way around to talk to every potential player and had a running list of their preferences, which meant they could actually get to the flying thing they were all here for. They were all here for that, yeah? So once again, she walked over to the center of the huddle and raised her voice to address the group. “LISTEN UP! Now that we’ve got all the boring stuff outta the way,” whaaaaaat, it was the truth! “I’ve got some stations, separated by position! Beaters grab a bat! You'll be on that side of the pitch! I’m gonna release some bludgers and you’ve gotta hit em at the moving targets,” Get it? Got it? Good.
“Chasers, there are a bunch of floating hoops stationed around the pitch leading up to the three goal hoops. You’ll take turns or work together, passing back and forth, to fly through the hoops with the quaffle and then take a shots at the goals at the end of the line.” She looked around to make sure they were following. “Which brings me to the keepers, you lot will take turns protecting the goal posts from the Chaser’s as they try to score.” Straight forward, yes?
And last, but certainly not least: “Seekers, I’ve also got floating hoops staggered around the course of the pitch for you all as well as some other floating and some moving obstacles up there. You’ll fly through the obstacle course and at some point I’m gonna release a few Snitches. When they make their appearance… Well, you know what to do,” it was their whole job, yeah?
All of this to say, there was one last thing she needed from them. “BUT before you can head to your respective parts of the field, you gotta fly some laps. Both to warm up, but also so I can see what you’ve got.” Made sense, yes? “Everyone’s flying FOUR laps, don’t cheat cause I’ll know,” that was true of the whole try out, okay? Cheaters did NOT belong on this team. Slytherin, maybe. But not here. “First and fourth lap take it easy, but lap 2 and 3 I wanna see SPEEEEEED!”
Yes? Yes. “I’ll be floating around taking notes!” The only time in her life when she'd be taking notes, actually. Cash her in Muggle Studies taking a nap, yo. ……….. “Okay, well, what the heck are you waiting for?!!?! Go!”
OOC: Here’s what you’ve got to do from this point on:
1. 4 laps around the pitch: Laps 1 &4 are warm up / cool down laps, respectively. Laps 2&3 aim for SPEED
2. I will outline the stations below. Feel free to have them complete the tasks on their own OR work with other member’s trying out for the same position (I tried to make it work both ways). Post as many times as you want for this!
Beaters: Grab a bat and hit bludgers at the MOVING targets (they will vary in movement speed, height, etc) ; Can also hit the bludger at each other like a back and forth partner work
Chasers: fly through the floating hoops leading up to the three goal hoops. Take turns (or work together) to fly with the quaffle and throw it into a goal post
Keepers: Protect the three goal hoops from the quaffles that are being thrown by the chasers
Seekers: Fly through the in air obstacle course, then when the snitch is released capture it
Note: It’ll help if you TITLE your post with the position you are trying out for (ex. Zoryn: BEATER) so that others can interact with you. Post as as much as you want and INTERACT with each other! You can ALWAYS catch up. We will be watching and reacting throughout too! You should have until around January 18th for all of this! It was peculiar how protective Callum felt toward the captain. It was hard not to look at her and see his similarly excitable, spunky sister, Chloe, and when they finished their stretches and Zoryn was calling everyone to attention to listen to her give instructions, Callum gave anyone who didn't hush quickly a pair of RESPECT YOUR CAPTAIN eyes. Not that he was particularly intimidating personality-wise, but his height and build worked in his favor when he needed to be authoritative. That's what seventh years were for, right?
Four laps. One warm-up, two that counted, and a cool-down lap - that's how he had interpreted that, and he nodded coolly. This would be a good opportunity to show off his decade-long experience with flying, and he didn't wait for anyone else to take the initiative to mount his broomstick, kick off, and take to the sky to start his first lap around the pitch.
His speed was steady; he was cool and cruising, level with the stands. He found his gaze scanning the entirety of their audience for the day, searching for familiar faces, for family, for friends... mostly for Jae, as he'd asked her not to come because he was CERTAIN that he would keep looking at her and winking at her and trying to show off for her when he did not need the added pressure of being, well, impressive. Being flashy and fancy and goofy was fun when it was just them on the pitch, enjoying the autumn day, but this was sure to require some focus. If she was really desperate to be there, Callum assumed she was hiding inside one of the columns, peeking out through the fabric. He didn't mind that - as long as he didn't see with his own two eyes that she was there, he was good. No distractions by beautiful girls today. Not allowed.
He didn't mind if his housemates passed him while they were on this first lap. If nothing else, they gave him something to catch up to once it was time to crank it up a notch, and he silently thanked every flyer who passed him on this easy lap around the pitch. Thank you, thank you, thank you... Even Emma passed him by, close behind the Botros boy, and Callum smiled. It was nice that she was getting out here and really going for it, especially as a first year. That kid was fearless, and Callum admired her for that.
Meanwhile, he combed his fingers through his hair and basked in the wind pummeling him in the face. When he made himself plenty comfortable with the wind up here, Callum chose to hone in on some other senses: the crisp scent of autumn in the air, the distant-growing chatter and laughter of many of his housemates flying ahead of him, the texture of the worn but well-polished surface of his broomstick handle - none of this ever got old. Even outside of the incredible view of the grounds and these energizing sensory aspects, flying was incredibly therapeutic - he appreciated the alone time, how it was him and his thoughts and his broomstick when he wanted it to be, and he could still interact with others if he decided to. But, at least for right now, the solitude was calming, and it wasn't until he was reaching his start point for the first lap that he allowed himself to switch gears.
He had smoothly taken each turn on that first lap, almost giving off the air that he wasn't taking this seriously and it was just second nature, but as soon as he neared the area he had started from, he pulled his shoulders back, his core tightened, he leeeaned forward toward the handle, his boots tucking tighter against the finely-trimmed twigs of his broomstick, and the smallest smirk twitched the corner of his mouth upward as he shot forward like a rocket. The first turn was coming up all too soon, and he anticipated it - he braced himself and leaned into the turn, handling the rounded end of the pitch with plenty of room to spare between himself and the wall - which, as he took the corner, he realized was probably not super impressive, and as he straightened back out to head back to the other side of the pitch, he was mentally preparing himself to push the limits and fly as close to the wall as he could to really show how well he could control his broomstick.
He almost felt bad - on the straightaway, he caught up to a few housemates easily and passed them, but on his way, he noticed that many of them actually had superb form, and he found himself blaming the school brooms on their behalf. It was a shame, really, that they were disadvantaged like that, and Callum hoped Zoryn would take that into account. He actually found himself wishing he could let a first year - Emma, of course - borrow his broomstick, then he could show off how well he could make one of those school ones work, but he knew it was probably against the rules in some way or another. At least this way, all the first years were sharing the same disadvantage, so Zoryn would at least be able to see who had some raw talent on that level playing field, right? Buuuut... maybe he and Emma could hang out on the pitch after tryouts, he could let her fly his broomstick, and they could make it happen really quickly before Zoryn had the chance to leave the pitch. Heh.
Still dwelling on what felt like an unfair advantage for him on his high-end broomstick, the half-oval turn at the end of the pitch was just seconds away, and Callum took in a sharp breath before hugging the wall as tightly as he could - it was an arm's width away as he guided his broom around the curve, and he slowed his speed slightly to nudge himself a liiiittle bit closer to the wall. If he were to stick out his elbow, he would have hit his funny bone against the fabric walls and the wooden posts concealed underneath, but he consciously squeezed his elbows in tighter, making himself as slim as he could, as he straightened out and accelerated, looking to use the straightaway as another opportunity to pass, or at least catch up with, any of the housemates who were ahead of him.
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