Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2017 5:45:32 GMT
GUARDIAN
Malia has no formal defense training, so she needs a protector. This is a trusted warrior who ranked highly in the army and was asked by the former emperor to become Malia’s guardian when she was still fairly young. He’s in his forties now with no family, being basically married to his job. Although Malia would be super open to him finding love if you wanted that to happen. He has become quite fond of his charge and is one of the few who can see through her masks. Because of that Malia typically trusts him enough to be honest about her thoughts. He’s a bit like the Alfred to her Bruce Wayne. He has very paternal feelings for Malia, who sees him as something of a surrogate father figure, but he’s also a soldier while she’s royalty. Sometimes that difference in status complicates their relationship with Malia pulling rank or him feeling like he can’t overstep certain boundaries. I figure he’s more on the gruff side but still has a sense of humor and tries to look out for Malia emotionally as well as physically. Everything else is up to whoever takes him. I really like Manu Bennett (Spartacus/The Shannara Chronicles) for the face claim, but I’m open to alternatives if you don’t care for him.
FRIEND
This is a boy around Malia’s age, probably 16 to 18. He can be a young warrior, a tradesman’s apprentice, a servant for the royal family, whatever. What matters is that he’s Malia’s first real friend of her own age. They haven’t known each other very long. Maybe a year, two at the very most. (Unless he’s a servant, in which case that’s how long it’s been since Malia started actually taking notice of him.) Most of his personality is pretty open. Maybe they hit it off right away or maybe they clashed at first. But now they’re starting to be good friends. He probably introduced Malia to certain parts of more common life, like his favorite food in the market or the best place in Arlest to watch a festival from. I figure they have a habit of slipping away from her bodyguard, much to his consternation. This is someone who lets Malia be a little more playful since she never really had that chance as a child. And he should probably be a little patient and not too easily offended since Malia’s still learning how to do this whole friends thing. For now it’s just platonic, although it could easily turn romantic if you want. The picture is Aramis Knight, but I’m open to pretty much any face claim for this.
MENTOR / OLDER FRIEND
This one is a little more detailed, so bear with me. This character is probably mid to late twenties and would be a successful trader from Arlest (what of is up to you – metalwork, woven goods, herbs, whatever) who Malia met in the market a year or two ago. Malia has a keen but untrained instinct for business, and it caught this woman’s eye while they were bargaining. Over time they’ve become friends. She has even started teaching Malia a little about business to hone Malia’s natural talent. (Maybe we could do AUs where Malia becomes an apprentice of sorts helping her with the business, seeing as in cannon it's far more likely they'll all die first.) But they also browse the market together and have friendly debates, and maybe they have a weekly tradition where they play the grounder equivalent of a strategy board game.
Malia never really had a female role model or friend, and this is someone who’s starting to fill that hole. She has at least one brother (no sisters) and grew up with her mother out of the picture, so she knows what it’s like for Malia to want that. (Although her own father loved her very much and raised her with a healthy dose of confidence.) She’s smart and opinionated with no problem standing up for herself or those she cares about. She’s also a perceptive judge of character who sees straight through people’s crap and picks up on what they aren’t saying. That makes her both a talented businesswoman and a supportive friend. She’s a fairly upbeat person who will tease Malia about the boys (or lack thereof) in her life, but she’s also a good listener that Malia may need to lean on now that the world seems to be ending. She sees Malia as a talented girl in need of a friend and has made a conscious effort to be the person she needed when she was Malia’s age. She’s not married as of yet, although there can definitely be a love interest if you want. I would love for Hayley Atwell (Pillars of the Earth) to be the face claim, but we can negotiate if you prefer someone else. I would absolutely love for someone to claim her because she has a big role in shaping the person Malia is becoming.
