Realistic or Modern OOC: Santa Monica Home for Boys and Girls [Reboot!]

[Edric Blight]

Thanks for getting it up!

Also wishing you two the best of luck!

 

[Edric Blight]

Alright, got my post up. Looks like things are finally winding down soon and the kids will all be heading to bed momentarily.

 

[Dawnstar]

Jack's not very good at skating either is he? Thinking about Asher's thoughts looking for a rink.

 

[Edric Blight]

Oh no, Jack's great at skating. He's been skating and playing ice hockey ever since he was young, so he's like a master at it. But now that he's at the home, he can't play ice hockey and can only play/practice street hockey alone like he has been doing or can just watch the hockey games on TV.

But yea, Jack is an excellent and fast ice skater.

 

[Dawnstar]

Ahh okay I misremembered!
Hmm just find it an interesting parallel that Felix is teaching Nathan to skate, and its possible Jack might have to at some point teach Asher.

 

[Edric Blight]

It's all good. I get it, sometimes I even find myself forgetting your characters' back stories and stuff. But yea, Jack has been skating and playing hockey since he was around 5 years old, so he's more than capable with skating lol.

And yea who knows, could happen. Although I don't know if Jack is the teacher type, but I'm sure he could be if he tried. Also, if we do end up having Jack teach Asher to skate, I don't know how I would write that since I can't really write teaching how to skate accurately or at least engagingly lol.

 

[Dawnstar]

Jack and Felix having it similar then in general experience, given I think Felix started when he was like 4 year old. Ofc there are subtle differences between Ice Skating and Inline Skating but if you can do one, you can quickly pick up the other. (There are even inline skates, designed to mimic the feel of Ice Skates for off-ice training!) And obviously Felix has been more interested in aggressive tricks, flips, ramps, but still.

If Jack's not the teacher type - once Felix and Asher burry the first-contact hatchet. Felix could end up teaching Asher the basics, being sportier and less cowardly it'd likely be a lot quicker a process. After all once he hears/see's that Nathan got taught how in an afternoon basically. That should open it up.

You know what else I'm hearing Edric? We have two very experienced skaters, and two not-very experienced ones. Two aggressive players, and two cowardly ones. I'm hearing the possibility of all boys having a fairly balanced practice game 2v2 at some point. Or atleast a group session and shooting practice.

 

[Dawnstar]

Jack has one distinct and kinda massive advantage here, Felix doesn't know how to play hockey!
He can dance around most people on wheels or on the ice. He can like 'dribble?' is that even the right word for Hockey the puck? His shooting aim and passing is gonna be trash.

So Jack's gonna have to do some teaching anyway if this was to happen.

 

[Edric Blight]

That's interesting. I only know basics about ice skating, but virtually nothing about inline skating. That's interesting. And yea, it seems he's more into the tricks and risky moves part of skating ahaha.

Also yea, possibly. I'm interested to see when, if, and how those two get past their first contact issue haha. I'm assuming Felix still thinks of Asher as this big mean jerk of a bully. I also wonder how Asher feels about Felix and the way he treated him earlier too. That'll be interesting to see.

Also hey, who knows? I don't see it happening any time too soon, since Jack is too shy to let too many people into his life like that and certainly too shy to play and share his interests of hockey with them. I think it's gonna be a while and certainly take a while before Jack starts making friends with others, I think he's complacent with having just one friend in Asher right now. I mean, Jack didn't even want ONE friend, but now that he has one, he is insisting on keeping it at that lol.

 

[Edric Blight]

Jack has one distinct and kinda massive advantage here, Felix doesn't know how to play hockey!
He can dance around most people on wheels or on the ice. He can like 'dribble?' is that even the right word for Hockey the puck? His shooting aim and passing is gonna be trash.

So Jack's gonna have to do some teaching anyway if this was to happen.

Yep. Jack's got the hockey part all down, and seems to be the only one in the group who has done hockey. Plus, he's done it ever since he was young and for years, so he definitely has a leg up on all of the other boys.

Also good question, I know what you mean with that question, but in hockey there's not really a word for the act of like taking the puck on your stick and carrying it down the ice. There's no hockey word equivalent to dribbling to my knowledge. It's kinda just called puck handling I think, to use something close to that.

But yea, obviously not playing hockey for as long as Jack has, Felix's stick handling and shooting and aim are gonna not be so hot lol. I think it will be interesting to see how Felix coaxes Jack into teaching him to play hockey.

 

[Dawnstar]

Yeah Felix loves the aggressive skating scene. Verts, bowels, ramps, grinds, ect. Also a little slalom. He is obviously still a great skater on flat ground as well, kinda a prerequisite to the rest.
I obviously know lots about inline but my ice-skating knowledge is more on the basic side. I know there are some minor technique differences when you're talking about breaking and accelerating due to the shape of the blade vs just a set of wheels. Turning feels a bit different. But the skills are roughly translatable, though if your used to one the other while recognisable will overall still feel kinda weird.

But yeah Felix has never played any serious hockey, just very basic street hockey out on the driveway - and not very much of that either. I've heard the words stick handling and puck handling before, but yeah I just like Felix know very very little about actual hockey. Glad I'm making sense though Felix's aim will not be pretty to start with: we're probably talking missiles with a lots of strength behind them, and very poor control.

And yeah I know any kind of big thing is a long way away for Jack. Still he'll make more friends in time!
In Felix's case both boys seem to like the basketball court outside, so I totally just see Felix at some point gliding up while Jack's in the zone and starting to watch, probably cheering when Jack scores and suprising him. Felix just being generally friendly and eventually getting Jack to awnser his questions once he's wore him down. Might go another way, but this is one option

 

[Edric Blight]

Yep, all those tricks seem right up his alley. My inline skating knowledge is zero, and my ice skating knowledge is enough, but I don't know if it's enough to write any detailed or engaging enough "Jack teaching someone how to skate" scene. I'm sure I can really try if needed, but it would be really basic if I did end up writing Jack teaching someone to ice skate.

Also yea that makes sense. Jack has done all the types of hockey: ice hockey, street hockey, ball hockey, you name it lol. So yea, Jack will be very knowledgeable on all forms of the game of hockey, and certainly good with puck handling and stick handling. And it's to be expected that his aim will be garbage at first, but with time and practice, it will get better like everything eventually does with enough practice!

Yep, it's gonna be hard though for Jack to make friends because not only is he so shy and timid, but as I've said before: very stubborn lol. And yea, I see them meeting somehow when Jack assumes he's alone outside on the empty basketball court as he shoots pucks into the net to practice and Felix unexpectedly pulls up and begins striking up a conversation with him lol. But who knows, it's good to think about these things but I'm sure as the rp goes along we will figure it out from there and find out a good way to have them meet lol. Looking forward to that. Felix seems like a friendly and outgoing kid, so it will be fun to see the contrast between that personality and Jack's shy, timid, quiet, and reserved introverted personality.

 

[Dawnstar]

Felix would definitely just be interesting in asking questions about Hockey. Like its a sport, that also combines one of his favourite activities? Hell yeah!
His big issue and why he's never gotten into it is he knows he's never going to get picked for any kind of actual sports team proper. He's tiny for his age, and even though strength wise he can keep up with his peers. Mass wise he cant, in a sport like Hockey or American Football no matter how strong he is or how hard he trains, a normal sized or more likely on a actual team a big-player for his age will win out of pure mass when they check him.

 

[Dawnstar]

That and I see his parent's were more into other sports, so like this was never something he was exposed to on TV. Only from playing street hockey casually with a neighbour.

 

[Edric Blight]

Yep! And as someone who knows quite a lot about hockey, I could definitely write Jack answering those questions since Jack too will be an expert on hockey, obviously playing it his whole life.

The only reason why Jack even got into sports was because his parents (the rare time they were home because of their demanding jobs) were huge hockey fans, so naturally he got into it. His parents thought it would be a good idea to get Jack into hockey and into skating so he had a sport to do to keep the boy active. So since he was like 5 years old, he had been taking skating lessons and playing for various different hockey teams, along with his old childhood friend Mitch who lived a couple houses down the block from him and who was also good at hockey too, being in the near same situation as Jack (minus the busy parents). He became pretty talented and a natural at the sport and ice skating from a young age. It's kind of ironic for such an average little kid, Jack plays such a rough and tough and physical game like hockey. He's more of the fast skater they use to quickly score goals or make passes and assists, not to lay hits on other players or fight. Yet, here he is, and he has always been good at hockey, being quite a good goal scorer at times, and really good at assisting the goal scorer during plays. Every team needs a good fast skater, even if he isn't a big tall or stocky tough guy. It's ok to be somewhat tiny and short in this case lol.

 

[Edric Blight]

And yea, Jack was exposed to hockey games on the TV from a very young age, further getting him into the sport of hockey lol.

 

[Dawnstar]

In Felix's mind he just assumes like for every other big TV sport, they'd only care for big players. American football, basketball, ect all wanting just big dudes - meanwhile Felix stares at the size tag in his own clothes and see's an age 2 or 3 (sometimes 4) years younger than he actually is. The idea that hockey might value a little guy able to speed past and take that seriously isn't something he'd ever thought of.
It's partly why he soo doubled down on skating, and why he loved being enrolled in gymnastics for a few years - being small and light but strong is not a disadvantage for a speed sport or for something just needing flexibility and accuracy - might even be almost an advantage at times.

 

[Dawnstar]

Felix also likes soccer quite a bit, but again that's because its a speed thing. He can get away with being small but fast in that and keep up just fine. But since its not as big a thing in the US as it is elsewhere, I didn't make it a big point on him. Though he does enjoy it, and is good with a ball.

 

[Edric Blight]

Yea that makes sense, seeing as Felix is a small little guy and all of the major league sports on the TV seem to feature these big large guys playing well. While there's not too many little guys in hockey, there's some exceptions, and the smaller less "built" guys tend to be able to skate faster than the slower larger players, so Felix could find some enjoyment in that aspect.

Aww that makes sense. I love these little types of details about their backstories and lives before the home.

Also yea, soccer, or "football" as you guys call it (lol) isn't too big of a sport here in the US, but I remember it being very popular to play among boys when I was around Felix's age.

As for Jack, he's athletic and fast all around, but he mostly sticks to playing hockey with the occasional basketball practice such as dribbling the ball down the court and practicing shooting at the hoop alone lol.

 

[Dawnstar]

Its honestly been really nice seeing Jack kind of open up and get all excited watching the sharks game. Its a different side from the kid hiding all the time we saw at the start!
I was worried at first he'd be too shy.

Felix' height is a massive hurt on his ego though at times whenever 'EVERYONE' is taller than him, even a sizable majority of kids the grade or two, some three younger sometimes. Whenever he meets someone new he's always sizing himself up, figuring out if maybe he could just go on tiptoes maybe and not be the shortest in the room. One of the other reason's he loved skating is just, it gives him a height boost - its not huge but a few extra inches from the wheels still puts him closer to the average for his age.

It's a large part to why he likes being on them soo much even when playing basketball by himself, sometimes gliding around the house (clean wheels ofc) on them, as part of his chores taking out the trash back home on them, ect. He gets reluctant to take them off, lose that small boost to his confidence. Similarly to why he likes the punching bag and fighting lessons outside of being a way to burn off his energy - even if he can't change his height, again trying to not be 'the little guy' even if its just in the strength department.

 

[Edric Blight]

Exactly. I love writing and slowly but surely showing more and more emotion. He isn't like grumpy and depressed or anything, but just doesn't really show much strong emotions. He's just really quiet and reserved. So the fact that he is openly talking with Asher and even getting a bit hyped while watching the game around him is a big step.

That makes sense. It must feel so deflating having everyone be taller than you and what-not. I can see why the tiny few extra inches from putting on the skates makes him feel much better. I'm sure he yearns to always be taller, and for as long as he has them on, he can kind of be a bit taller- or at least look like his age's average height.

Aww that's cool. Interesting that he kinda always wears something with wheels. He seems like a ball of energy, so I guess the skating is not only a tiny way to make him feel a bit tired, but a way to burn off and use up all that energy inside of him.

 

[Dawnstar]

Felix's height as you can understand is a area he's also been bullied for, and it makes him really defensive and easily provoked. "Pipsqueak" being a huge trigger. But yeah so anything that makes him feel taller is a massive comfort.

If someone were to give him a piggy back ride or similiar he'd proberbly quietly grumble but yet "secretly" enjoy it and not actually fight it.

To clarify he doesn't ALWAYS have skates on, though he does sometimes want to. Arguably more comfortable on them than just walking. As you can understand while Felix would be happy to roll around all day, and he is skilled and comfortable enough to do so - Most adults wont let him get away with it. School, parents, carers, ect. Plus even as a high-energy kid he does sometimes get tired or just wants to chill with cartoons or something.

If someone could convince the staff to let him, you could challenge Felix to pretty much do anything on them however. Or do some 24 or 48 hour challenge.

 

[Edric Blight]

Oh yea I can only imagine that kids at his age relentlessly bullied him for his short height. Words like "pipsqueak" or "squirt" must really get him going.

Also I love those little things that like someone will be visibly annoyed at, but deep down they secretly enjoy it, but of course they would never admit it to someone. Kind of like Jack when someone lightly messes around with his hair and tousles it around a bit from petting it. It annoys him but he secretly doesn't mind (well as long as your close with him).

Ok makes sense, not like a 24/7 thing. Don't worry I didn't think that, as it would be unrealistic to think he always had them on. Plus I'm sure that wouldn't really fly with Mrs. Richardson.

 

[Dawnstar]

Any kind if tease like that making fun of his size. Or telling him he cant do something bevause he's too small - he just wont take it. Fists might fly.

Yeah the secret pleasure activities like these can be really fun, and kinda cute. Felix would go very calm and well behaved if someone was giving him a ride - proberbly the only time you could get him just sit still quietly of his own choice. But again he'd never ask for a ride, even if he was frustrated by not being able to see past a crowd or such.

Felix sometimes wears his knee and elbow pads like fashion accessories even when not, skating which does add to the look and idea of him being on 'em 24/7. Give Felix a day off with nothing else to do and he might spend the nearly the whole day on them. But obviously thats different, thats him just having fun on a day off.

 

[Edric Blight]

Aww yea, that makes sense. Felix, despite his size, is definitely more of a fighter type who I'm sure gets a bit testy sometimes.

Haha that's cute, I love it.

Makes sense he wears the pads a lot, skating is something he loves, something that he enjoys and feels a sense of pride in. I understand why he'd be wearing the gear around, even when not skating.