What a good topic. I know for me personally I tried to play my girl when she was an ickle firstie as not knowing too much and as an actual 11 year old. I found myself having a difficult time trying not to answer things that realistically an 11 year old would not know. Now that my girl is a seventh year I look back and see more clearly things that I wish I would have done... like I caught myself doing more than I should have because I felt like that was the only way that I could RP and get house points. This time around when Hannah graduates and I come in with a new first year I plan on keeping her where she should be at all times. I guess we live and we learn.

As far as picking out a model for my charrie, I did this kind of late in the game. I think I did this when Hannah was already a third year and I actually tried to search for younger pics of my model (Lauren Conrad) and didn't have much luck so I had a model that looked way older than she should have at the time. This is again something that I will not do the next go round. I have a bad habit of just jumping right into things before thinking them through on this site. (which is weird b/c in RL I am an over thinker and I am so indecisive.)

I think that there really are so many variations on how 11 year olds are that it's not really right to use the term 'realistic', because like... the realistic part is that they're all so different, if that makes sense. Even from remembering being at school, you really do get a lot of either really childish 11 year olds or like craaaaaazy mature 11 year olds and sort of the same like all the way up through the years. I don't think it's really fair to say how I think characters should be played because the thing is on SS there's so much variation that that is what makes it realistic. It's superbetter if the character has a back story that shows why they act how they do (like really doted on and lavished with attention might make a 'childish' seeming kid, but one left to their own devices might seem more 'mature'?)

I'm not sure if I made much sense but I think my main point is that variety is key, and in the real world one 11 year old can be drastically different from the next. And I mean if we're all having fun, right? Speaking from experience, it can be super fun to have either a character with like emotions more befitting to a littler kid, or one that's just kind of cute or whatever. It's fun to have them grow, too, and see how drastic it is.

When it comes to choosing a model I don't really factor that in too much with 'realistic' RPing or w/e? Like my characters always look completely different in my head and I only use a model for like graphics rather than saying 'this is exactly what my character looks like' :3

I'm sorry if that made absolutely no sense, my words are awful todayyyyyy ^___^

I didn't RP Jory much as a first year, hardly ever at all but with Adi I really enjoyed doing it. I thought it was going to be difficult, getting into the head of an eleven year old. But I was surprised when it turned out to be easy because in some ways, I haven't totally gotten rid of my childish side. I RPed Adi in a way I think was very realistic to his age. Take for example, in one DADA class, he answered nothing because despite being half blood he did not know much about Dark detectors. No young one would know the answer to everything, so I think that's the way they should be RPed. Adi's going into second year and I'm still going to have him sit in some classes silently because he doesn't know all the answers. Academics aside, firsties can be however they like: childish, rebellious, mean, fun, prankster. It's all in the fun

Do I think people RP realistically through the years with their charries? Honestly, no. We see some first years knowing the answers to practically everything. As they grow older, that's okay because we can all assume they read more etc but when they're firsties or second years knowing everything is highly unrealistic.

To pick my models, I just see someone I like and go "Hey! You can be my charrie's model!'' For Jory, it's Mitchel Musso. I picked him because I loved watching him in Hannah Montana. For Adi, it's Yatharth Ratnum. I chose him because Adi is an East Indian and I am a fan of Yatharth who is a singer.

Can I just say that I love this thread? It's actually a topic I've debated on starting myself. I, too, am a teacher. I teach 10 and 11 year olds, which is basically first years and about-to-be first years. They turn 12 toward the end of the school year.

In my opinion, first years are often times mis-portrayed here on SS. Here are a few things I can realistically tell you about 11-year-olds based on my experience. Again, this is based on my experience, so I do understand that others may have had very different experiences.

1. First years are not first graders. They're the equivalent of fifth and sixth graders (based on US groupings).

2. They don't look like really little kids. I see a lot of first years on SS portrayed by really young charrie models. 11-year-olds are almost teenagers and look more like them than they do really little kids.

3. Along the same lines, they don't act like little kids. They don't say "Mommy" and "Yippy" and things like that. They're the age when they start to get self-conscious about those things and want to "act cool."

4. They have boyfriends and girlfriends. Well, a good many do. I think it's a tough age where some don't and some are starting to. They do start having crushes and "asking each other out" (in their words, lol). We have school dances, and they do have dates for them. Other 11-year-olds, that is.

5. They don't still carry around stuffed animals and dolls.

Those are just a few things that I think can sometimes be unrealistically portrayed. Sometimes, because 11 is also a borderline age, and each kid has his or her own personality. I think Felix basically hit the nail on the head. You have some who are still closer to how they acted as a little kid and some trying to grow up a little more.

I agree with a lot of the things said above in both posts. I agree with Anna that sometimes we may portray our kiddies as too young...however, commonly, I see charries that act too old.

I think I played my first charrie too old as an eleven year old, and I STILL don't know exactly how to make a young one like that speak. I usually make mine well-spoken, but my brother was't eleven too long ago and he spoke HORRIBLY. I don't know if it's just my brother or..what? xD I don't know, this is an interesting topic.

Great question since i can recently relate to this!

Well for my first year when Belle graduated, i was watching/ addicted to One tree hill and i saw Jackson Brundage play as Jamie and i thought he was the cutest thing ever. I said to myself, I want him to play my charrie Kace! So i looked online and finding pictures was no issue. As for finding older ones, that was harder because he is only 12 right now realistically. He was only born in 2001. So i needed to find another charrie to portray him to his seventh year. Even his younger pics i chose he was only roughly 7 or 8 years old. So i didn't portray him realistically as i could.

Sometimes to portray Kace's personality, i thought to myself, what qualities i would like in a guy. When i was 11 i actually remembered meeting nice guys like Kace so i based it off that. Plus other qualities i would like to see in a guy XD. But then i had to change him since finding pictures would be harder, so i am sticking to my model (Alexander Ludwig) since he does have similar features to Jackson in a way.

But right now i am trying to figure out what goes on in an 11 year olds boys brains and sometimes they can have crushes while sometimes they can hate girls. So it all depends really but i am having fun with this though! It is very interesting!

I feel that we lower the quality of the RP somewhat when we don't have any realistic expectations for RPing our characters at their appropriate age. That being said, variety is the spice of life. So it's fine to have your character be more timid or shy or immature than others his age. I still laugh at the word 'poop' and I'm an adult. I'll admit it. I'm not complaining there. But as a person with eyeballs, I really would love to see 13-year-olds and up being used as character models. Not the children. Please. Think of the children. The internet is a scary place. Don't spread a child actor's face all across it.



And...... as for this..........

This is the point I think Alisha/Bazinga is trying to make. Thank YOU, Anna! This list has to be helpful to someone out there. It's even helpful to me! Granted, I was one of those eleven-year-olds who was annoyed by how immature boys were, and no I would NOT go to the dance with one, thank you very much.

I'm not advocating that we should all play our characters the same way, but I do believe that we shouldn't have them acting like....... four-year-olds. I mean, if I see a middle or high schooler carrying around a stuffed animal or calling his mother "Mommy" ... I'm going to say something. Both IC and OOC. I've had to confiscate some really dumb items from some high schoolers in real life, so... yeah, Bunz would do the same to her Hogwartians.

That's my piece, yo.

OH MY GOSH.. Guys.. I love you for coming in here and saying your thoughts and being honest. Being around this age group all day long and then seeing it hear on SS I have wondered how people thought for so long.

Anna I agree with everything you said, did you get into my head?? *looks around for serum that has you mind reading* sorry divergent moment

Anyway.. I get what everyone is saying, but I do feel many people make their first years into first graders. The cootie stage is way over and they aren't running being preschoolers. The kids I observe and interact with every day are trying to act older, they want make up, books, sports, friends, and "relationship".. Even if it is just he's my boyfriend to say he is and that's it.

I agree some people do make them out to be way to old for their age. I did, I'll admit it. It was my first time every RPing in life and I had no clue what I was doing. I wanted Minerva to be like Hermione because honestly that's all I really knew and I had no clue how to make a charrie or how to do a personality. The rest of her just came with experience.

This is so great guys keep it coming..

I think the thing about playing 11 year olds is that the large majority of RPers in the school RP have already been 11 years old, and so it's a lot easier than, say, being 16 years old and trying to play a 30 year old, because that can feel downright impossible. (I was going somewhere with this point and T O T A L L Y forgot where. Wow. Go me.)



ALSO, and I have to point this out 'cause I am just that one awkward person :3 the thing about the stuffed animals? It's not actually like it never happens that you DO get an 11 year old carrying around stuffed animals and stuff. I am 21 years old and I carry around a small stuffed animal I've had since I was a kid because of comfort reasons (in my pocket or bag when I'm in public tho). Same as I did when I was 7 or 8 years old, just a little bit more discreetly when I'm with people I don't know. I guess what I mean with that one is maybe we should be kinda careful declaring that things like that are things only little kids do?

This thread. Yes. *likes it*

I'm horrible at getting my thoughts organized but here's what I think about all the things. I think that unless you're close to 11 yourself, or are around 11 year olds lots, it can definitely be hard to channel your inner pre-teen so I totally understand how there might be unrealistic RPing there. But with that said, I definitely think that there are some things you would sort of know that an 11 year old wouldn't do and I think that Anna's list, for the most part, is spot-on.

I completely see Felix's point about the stuffed animal thing. I think that totally depends on the child. I'm not saying that I think it's common for an 11 year old to bring a stuffed animal to class for cuddles but I know Ella has her stuffed elephant she keeps in her dorm for comfort and I think that's totally fine? I dunno, again, I guess everyone is different.

I also agree that some 11 year olds will definitely be more mature than others. I think things like siblings, how they were raised, and other general environment-type things have a huge impact on this. If they were babied, maybe they'll act less mature. Maybe if they had to look after a bunch of younger siblings, they grew up faster. Variation is good in this case. People have different childhoods and that definitely will determine how they act later on.

The charrie model stuff doesn't bother me as much because I know it can be hard sometimes to find the pictures you /want/ but I do think that staying within a reasonable age range when picking would be good.

Anyway, just my thoughts.

My eleven year olds that I've played since joining SS I have kind of honestly gone off my own kids xD My oldest was 10 1/2 when I joined SS, so it was a perfect age to start Liz off on, it kind of blossomed from there. Like Anna said they aren't like little kids just starting out at 5-6 years old. Some might still act younger, especially those who might have been homeschooled up until the point of going to Hogwarts. I'm not saying anything bad about homeschoolers, because I've homeschooled all 4 of my children.

But what I am saying is they might be more shy, introverted. They might be missing home a lot more, being away from their families.

Crushes xD yes, they tend to start noticing the opposite gender more at that age, seeing boys and girls in a new light. My daughter who will be a teenager in a week, is now starting to think that boys might like her back. hope she don't read this xD *hides*. The crushes are starting to become more real to them, making them realize that maybe their crush is looking at them back now.

It's hard to think of a firstie being anything but young, but really they aren't as young as some are being portrayed!

The model? I look at teenager models, and see how far they go back. Looking for something that's reasonably teenagerish but not 'very' much so til they're 13-14. More casual til then, maybe a hint of wanting to look older than they are. Because, really. Aren't most 11-12 year olds like, I'm a teenager in a little over a year? xD even though for instance they just turned 11?

I don't think that's the point Anna's trying to make about carrying a stuffed animal around? Maybe it's just me, but what Felix is describing (emphasis added by me) sounds more like a lucky charm than a stuffed animal. And keeping a toy in your room to snuggle with is different than both those. That's... not in public, flaunting a teddy. You know?

One of my closest RL friends is going to be 24 in a few months and he has both Batman AND Superman lego dolls... I mean, charms... on his car keys. And he loves them. And he tries to pose them and take Instagram photos of them.

Immature, sure, but it's more age-appropriate than, as I said, flaunting your teddy-weddy.

Oh man, I was like that when I was 11. LOL. I thought 8th grade was going to be the BEST. Like, once you turn 13 YOU ARE AN ADULT.

But in real life, you're totally not. Haha. I blame the BabySitter Club books on making me think 13 was a super cool age. But 13 year olds do kinda act like young seniors (12th graders), because they're so close to being high schoolers. That's been my experience, anyhow.

I would say it depends on the country the children come from as well. I have no idea what Middle school is, but I'm going to go by personal experience here. I remember when I was year 6 (last year of Primary School which is 10-11) You sort of felt happy because you were the oldest in the school and you know the most but you still played all those classic children games like what time is it Mr Wolf and things like that but we played more football, but then when you went to Secondary School (which would be your second year here) You were back to being the smallest and you were a bit afraid to speak up and got lost a lot of the time. I must admit being the youngest in the school again is quiet frightening but you all do different things I know I was more into football and sports than anything else at that age.

When I went from Primary School to Secondary School I went from a school with only 67 pupils in it, so small we had two years in a class to a school that had 700 pupils in it and each year had 8 different form teachers. I can tell you know for the first couple of months I was scared out of my mind and didn't talk to many people.

Oh, for the stuffed animals, I meant that as more of an example that COULD be the case scenario. Having a stuffed animal that's special to you or used as comfort is perfectly fine, but in general, I don't see very many eleven-year-olds (or older) openly carrying them around or...say, asking for them for birthdays/Christmas.

Also, there's something weighing on my mind as far as SS classes go. It's sort of difficult to RP a firstie not knowing the answers. I mean, when you think of it, most professors ask questions in a "What do you know about ____?" kind of manner. Or even "What is the largest star in the sky?", for example. Our charries are given questions to respond to rather than a lesson where unknown concepts are explained, but that's what works in an RP setting. I just played a firstie, and really, there are only so many "Sophie didn't know the answer, so she sat and took notes" posts I can make.

Kids DO go to school already knowing some things. ABCs, numbers, shapes, etc. So if you shift that line of thinking to older kids entering Hogwarts, I think it can be assumed that they CAN start out knowing the basics. I think it's unrealistic to say they're a clean slate, especially if they have magical parents. Surely they haven't been THAT shielded to magic?

Okay. I like everything about this thread. Okay?

I fully agree with everything Ali and Ro have pointed out. For real.

While I am a HUGE advocate for characters with certain QUIRKS, I fully believe that there is a large quantity of RPers that portray their first years as babies. This is not the case. A first year is ALMOST a teenager. It's an awkward age and there is SO much that one can do with this age to make their character stand out while still staying true to the mentality of an 11 year old. Let's just lead by example, yeah?

<3333

Anna.. Really you are amazing and actually everyone is amazing!! But but Anna you have my brain tonight. I think eleven year olds can know things. They have access to books and if their parents are wizards they could be taught. Everyone RP's their charries either going to some elementary type school as a muggle or private tutor before coming to school. They didn't live in a box they socialized so they could know some answers, maybe just not all of them. They could even get spells to work without trying five thousand times, but just not all of them.

I have to say it goes the other way too. I've seen people use thirty year old models for eleven year olds and have seen people RP them in very obvious late teenage relationships. So I get that it goes both ways, but you guys have been amazing with your thoughts and ideas. I think all around it will help everyone maybe learn something knew about each other and about RPing.. maybe? lol

Other than the homeschooling bit (which I WISH I could've managed) your situation sounds identical to mine. While I did try to relate my firstie characters to what I personally remembered my 6th grade experience to have been, I mostly looked on my own kids for examples.

And speaking of my girls (who are 18 and 12 now but were 12 and 6 when I joined) as 11 year olds, they were VERY different. Ali acted totally mature when she was in school and hung out with a much older crowd. No giggle fits but plenty of stomping up the stairs. She was used to moving A LOT so she was someone that was easily adaptable in new situations.

Tori's friends are all her age. She's known every one of them since kindergarten and they are in their MAJOR boy-crushing years. It's ALL I hear anymore. lol (This week's crush is Robbie Kay from Once Upon a Time) They giggle, they fight, they have WAY too much attitude and they seem noticeably younger somehow.

So yes, variety is key! It is super cool to watch my girls grow and interact with others because they are so unique. I think my Astrid charrie was a nice mix of all three of us. I hope Ava will be too. (I'm majorly rusty and nervous to start again)

You guys are making me rethink how to play a firstie! It's actually very helpful! I guess the key is to make them seem young while they don't want to seem young but...yeah! It's so interesting to see a charrie grow into their own, you know? For the most part no one's eleven-year-olds on here are too unrealistic, just minor things. But thanks for starting this thread, Ali! So helpful!

I know!!!

*high 5's on Baby sitter's club books* xD I read some of them now though and go oh my gosh seriously....just no. Some of those are so not 13 year olds any longer. It's what people are starting to make the kids out to be nowadays, not them actually having a childhood. Yes, kids at 11-13, 14 years of age can still have a childhood. Don't just let them grow up so fast. Let them be kids!

Edit I don't want to say only 11-13, 14...I mean all ages. Even adults, who says anyone has to grow up? I think everyone has a child inside, just some are more mature than others, or handle things differently

I love some of the classes over the terms I've been here, the kids in Hogwarts can have that childhood still! I remember JD I think it was running with MeredithRodneyMckay's Sarah singing songs from the Sound of Music Let the students be kids like they are supposed to be. They don't all need to be all grown up, and shipping them with this person or that person, getting their hearts broken. They're there to learn and have fun at the same time!

SO love the quirks! No perfect students and charries. Sometimes they can be fun but that's quite often what I found gets people tired of their charrie, it's too perfect for them, there's nothing happening to them, and it's the same old. Try for some flaws and fun!

Oh my gosh yes....I've seen some graphics and pictures people have posted and I've said...11???? No....just wrong xD Models that match the age, dress more like a student at that age, do their hair more like a teenager. Even weird things like side pony tails or pigtails, just for the fun of it. Make-up all out? Merlin, I'd never let my kids wear as much make-up as I see in some of the photos I've seen for the models used. Not that young anyway.

Oh wow! My girl's are 16 1/2 and 13, so I'm totally there on that. I love that attitude stage. My Zoe charrie is just getting through that stage xD though I wonder if she will... Pillow fights, make over nights, giggling about a boy they have crushes on.

Fall back on the HP books! Like especially Goblet of Fire! Remember the girl's going around in droves giggling about the boys and who might invite them to the ball? Now, that was quite accurate. They're shy around boys, even 15-17 year olds! Afraid to ask them out, as are the guys! They are afraid of being turned down they don't have the 'perfect' love life! My boys who are 15 and 8, the younger one still being the 'ew, girls...' stage xD but my older one is definitely noticing girls.

The thing about the boys though...for models especially, watch the facial hair. My 15 year old has a little more than peach fuzz but not by much. He likes to shave to shape the few hairs but really there's not much to do. So models and that in graphics, should look more towards that age, not the 18+ models...

I'm just quoting you Anna because I love everything you said here.

Youuuu too. Agree with all of this *nod*


I can only really speak from my own personal experience obviously, but I've done TWO first years at Hogwarts now and... well, I like to think I did them reasonably realistically XD Both Cela and West were smart and didn't so much have that whole 'I don't know' thing for answers but that is because they have the background and learned about all the basic theory stuff pre-Hogwarts, but I would say at that 11-13 age in particular (and... still for West lol) they were more emotionally immature. Though that obviously contrasts with boy vs girl too XD

With West I endeavored to have him on the one hand intellectually think he's ready for things and WANT to be ready for things, but on the other hand when the tough stuff came up he couldn't handle it alone and still relied quite heavily on his father and sister, and older role model types. There was a point around second or third year where he was actively rejecting 'baby' stuff and TRYING really hard to behave in a grown up way, and sometimes he managed it but then emotionally he might've had something come up that was too much and couldn't regulate his anger or something like that. Now at sixteen I would physical/emotional/intellectual growth still hasn't really evened out, and that is what makes it tough for him sometimes to deal with things that an adult might be better equipped for. At elevenish he still had a tendency to sulk and/or whine but really I think that was less about his age and more about the fact that he's the baby of the family and did a lot of that to get his way.

I tried to give him more of a black and white viewpoint around that first year/second year age, and as he gets older he's seeing more of the shades of grey too. He can handle a lot of things on his own but he still looks for reassurance and support. In short he wants it there when he WANTS it but doesn't want parents/teachers/older people to get all in his FACE about things.

I know I personally felt pretty grown up around that age, and I know plenty of 9-14 year olds who don't act juvenile or anything like that so yeah it does bother me when firsties act six years old or seventeen, but as long as it doesn't effect me personally, and ooc the RPers accept that there might be reactions to their charries being slightly out of the ordinary maturity wise then... go forth and have fun.

A, this is a gloriously good topic! I will come back and give a more thought-out answer, but for now all I can say is that I feel I am total crap at realistically portraying anyone younger than say a 23 year old. Even as a child it was very, very difficult for me to identify with other children and I feel that I generally fail to understand them. That said, however I am trying to do a better job at this. Cutty is my first first year...evar. So the things that have been said here...Fantastic! I feel like I've learned things already! Teachers, keep sharing your input! I cannot get enough!

As for the visual, I don't feel like it's that important. We're in the realm of the word in so many ways beyond the power incantation holds for our characters. For me, the model chosen was generally just icing on the cake. A sort of approximation. A way of saying, 'The character might look something like this guy/girl.'

I'm also a fan of variety amongst physical types. To this day, I have yet to find a model that 100% satisfies my needs for my first SS rp character. So I've always sort of looked at the visual part of character creation as an added bonus and not to be taken too seriously. It's not afterall the meat of what we're doing here, it just sort of there for enhancement and enjoyment purposes.

Also, facial essence is clear (for me) in an actor/actress and that's sort of what I'm taking when someone shows me an image of a 21 year old model for their 5th year student. They might have chosen that model for reasons relating to some similarity of essence like the way a person carries themselves, or a tick, or mannerism, the way they move, etc... . I know I've tried to study the way certain actors emote and put that into my writing. I always thought it was so awesome how Helena had to pretend to be Emma's Hermione being Helena's Bellatrix. I found that inspiring (however poorly I may imitate it here).





You said 'poop'!!!

There isn't much I can add without repeating what everyone is saying over and over again...but I will agree that it might be easier for those of us that are in contact with the age groups being represented. Like Ro, Liz, Lisa, and Anna who either have children or have worked around children. For me, I was a total newb with my first SS!charrie. I'm totally okay with admitting this because it was a growing experience and that's what SS is about. Growing.

Also, with the relationships and behavior of a teenage boy, I think I did okay (always considering age). I'm someone who's never had too many female friends (in RL). I grew up with a ton of male cousins, too, and they would always talk about personal "guy stuff". Thus, Dylan was born.

One issue I do have is...skill level among students? Where...some characters are RP'ed like they already know everything. Like with animagus and apparation stuff, patronuses, wandless magic...I'm in no way criticizing anyone, because Dylan was a smartie pants, too...I just think some of it falls short of the "realistic" mark.

Also, your friend is my spirit animal. I LOVE legos.

I love everyone's opinions in this thread and I think it's great that everyone pretty much agrees that RPing varies. Because that's the fun of it.

To add in my own view on it, you all didn't ask for it but you're getting it anyway , I do honestly think first years are the hardest age because every individual is different.

I know kids around that age who are super cool and 'adult' and aren't little children anymore, but I also know kids who still run around with swords and dolls because they are still into that stuff. I personally played with my dolls until I was thirteen (barbies were the best, ok).

So, yeah.

Everyone is different. I think what truly matters is consistency though. If you're going to play a character a certain way don't ride the middle line. That's what makes a character believable- at least to me.

And that's all I'm gonna say besides that fact that I love this thread. A lot.

I agree with like...everything in this thread. ESPECIALLY ANNA because she literally took the words out of my mouth.

Right now I'm teaching 12 year olds, so the same age as Caleb, which is great for inspiration haha. But as far as skill level goes, I think it's important to remember that even if you have a character who is SUPER DOOPER SMART and knows everything - that's just as realistic as a firstie who doesn't know much at all. I teach writing, and there are some kids in my class who could literally write college essays right now. Not many, but a few. Then there's a few who are way, wayyyy behind as well and need a bit of extra help to catch up. It is totally possible to have a smarty pants first year who DOES know everything simply because they paid attention to their surroundings when they grew up, or read a lot growing up, etc. It's not unheard of, but it is nice to see people struggle a bit. Caleb didn't like it when I did that to him, but it was fun having him NOT know EVERYTHING.

As far as face models don't even ask my opinion because I am TERRIBLE at picking out models haha. There's a reason I usually start my RP charries at 5th year haha.