character information.
TUDOR, MARLA LOUISE.
Nicknames/Aliases: None; Marla is short enough. Under no circumstances should you refer to her as "Marly."
Age/DOB: 19; March 3.
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, CA
Hometown: Friendswood, TX
Current Residence: Austin, TX (Jester Center at UT Austin)
Species: Human - Witch
Occupation: Student (College Sophomore)
Religion: Agnostic/questioning. Self-identifies most often as pagan.
Family:
Father Edward Sidelong. Aeronautical Engineer.
Mother Meredith Tudor. Sixth-grade teacher.
Brother (older) Robert Sidelong. Graduate student.
Brother (younger) Thomas Sidelong. High school sophomore.
Magical Abilities: Marla's magic in inherent--it comes from within her. Any force or energy she puts out comes directly from her own. Using too much, too fast or towards anything too big will drain her up until the point of exhaustion and collapse. If her energy has been tapped in any other way (sleep deprivation, starvation, injury, blood loss), what she attempts through magic may and can fail or be weakened. Rest and time will replenish her strength. She is skilled in brewing potions, but as she is without her book and appropriate materials are in very short supply in Paradise, she will avoid it in all but the most dire of emergencies.
Casting spells requires no external help or direction unless the action itself demands it (like using a personal object to locate someone or manipulating an object or the elements to move in a certain way). To protect her mind from the raw force of the magical energy, any spells she casts must be done in a language other than English. Her chosen tongue is Latin, like her mother. She can cast without speaking, but the results are very unpredictable. It's more of a brute force than her regular measured and finessed spells.
There are things she can't do. Because she is still considered a novice in her family, and because she's yet to assume her role as one of the next "heads" of the family, she is not privy to the higher levels, like blood magic, alchemy, necromancy, and summoning. And while she is able to alleviate pain, she can't heal through magic; not herself or anyone else. To do such a thing properly requires more power, more focus, and more finesse than any one person can wield.
Personality: Marla is very much the product of her environment. Secrecy was something ingrained in her from the start: keeping her magic secret from the rest of the world, keeping the things she knew secret from her 'normal' family members. As such, she's wary of trusting anyone right away. Her trust takes time and actions to earn. Each time you show her you're good people, she trusts you a little more. She plays her cards very close to her chest, and only those within that tight circle of trust get even a glimpse at them. This also makes her fiercely loyal to those she does trust, even beyond the point of reason. She'll follow you into hell and back if you're a worthy ally, and if you get in trouble, she'll risk it all to save your ass. That being said, if you break that trust and burn her, she'll be first in line to rake you over the coals. There's very little room for second chances.
The girl has a bit of a mouth on her. She swears like a sailor, and the profanity flows freely when she's angry, hurt, or scared. She often pops off at the hip with whatever's on her mind, speaking before thinking even when it may hurt someone. She says something when she should hold her tongue, and very rarely holds her tongue. When what she says invariably does offend someone, she tries to cover it by claiming the statement as a joke. She has chronic foot-in-the-mouth disease, and will often be choking on her own toenails before managing to back-pedal. And despite her sometimes coarse language and blunt nature, she is capable of expressing remorse to those she's deeply hurt.
Don't go thinking she's all bad, though. In the normal, day-to-day life, she's a fairly laid-back gal. Marla tends to go with the flow and very little ruffles her feathers. She's got a quirky and sarcastic sense of humor, and generally prefers to have company over being alone.
In times of crisis, she takes charge and assumes a leadership role. And you'd better get busy helping her or get busy getting out of her way, because once she sets her mind to accomplishing something, she'll do it with your assistance or stepping over you. She can be stubborn once she's got something set in her mind, and changing it may take a little arm twisting. Her initial reactions to fear or sadness is to get angry. Nothing makes her pissed off like wanting to cry.
History: The middle child of three, and the only girl, Marla Louise Tudor was born late in the afternoon on March 3. She seemed no different than any other of the newborns in the nursery born that day: swaddled tightly in blankets, bald, and squalling. But she had a distinction that would always set her apart-- she was born a witch.
The Tudor line can be traced as far back as the Berwick Witch Trials of 1590s Scotland. Two sisters, Mary and Margaret, original surname unknown, assumed the Tudor name after a particularly close call with the hangman's noose. In the family, the two are credited with the founding of the "modern" line and the majority of its traditions. Such practices include the valuing of female offspring over male, to the complete exclusion of male children from any and all magical education from within the family and the passing of the leadership of the family, the two "heads", from grandmother to granddaughter. Ideally, each head would pass the mantle on to her own eldest granddaughter, but if no such heir exists, the second eldest female of that generation is chosen. These heads are tasked with the family records and history, and are responsible for all family secrets, even those that are never meant to be shared. The family had a unique naming tradition. In honor of Mary and Margaret, all female children's given names start with the letter M (i.e. Marla, her mother Meredith, her grandmother Marie). Also, if she chooses to marry, a Tudor woman keeps her family name and passes it on to any female children.
From birth, Meredith was protective of her daughter, nearly obsessive. Here was the daughter she had wanted with her first pregnancy, instead getting a son. She knew her aunt Melissa couldn't and didn't have any heirs, so the next two leaders in the Tudor line would come from her and her sisters' daughters. She'd already missed having the eldest; Maxine was born a mere two weeks after her son Robert. But none of the sisters had children since, making Marla the second eldest. Marla's education began before she could even truly understand it. Her bedtime stories were ones of her ancestors; her lullabies, translations of old chants set to music. Meredith left her teaching position to be her sole caregiver, going so far as to exclude her husband. She returned to teaching only when Marla began school, happily leaving her one year-old son in the hands of babysitters and daycare centers.
Marla was a happy, healthy child, bright-eyed and naturally curious. She walked earlier than her peer group, and talked even earlier. Even as a child, she was relaxed and content to entertain herself. When the family moved from California to Texas, after her father had secured a much-coveted position with Boeing, the transition was smooth as glass. And for as much as Meredith was concerned with her daughter, Marla was equally attached to her. Her brothers were not oblivious to the constant maternal attention given to her, and before long they began to take their resentment out on her. Sibling rivalry turned into all-out war, with the worst of it happening behind Meredith's back.
School became a refuge for her. When she started, the work was too easy for her, and her bored little hands sometimes got her into trouble. The decision was made to move her ahead a grade then, before she became too attached and too settled. While most of the kids thought she was a little odd, she did manage to make a small group of friends. They stuck up for her when others teased. It was a welcome change to her home life, with the constant barrage of spite from her brothers and no one to stop it. And like at home, the teachers doted on her. It was a world where she was supported and liked and was completely safe.
Things began to change once Marla hit those tumultuous teenage years. The year she'd skipped became even more apparent as she entered high school shorter and far less shapely than the other girls. Her gawkiness made her feel even more like an outsider. It didn't help that she was now in school with her older brother, him a senior to her freshman. Robby was handsome and popular, and used his position as big man on campus to bring his torment of her to a new playing field. But Marla was no longer going to suffer in silence. The years of taunting had taken a toll, a huge irremovable wedge forcibly driven between the two. He persecuted her friends, and she returned in kind, but with a lot more oomph. With age, she had only grown into her magic, and under her mother's constant guidance, she'd become a force to be reckoned with. Mysterious accidents would befall Robby's friends.
It wasn't just Robby she'd had enough of. While she had once clung to her mom's shadow, she was now beginning to chafe under the constant pressure and supervision. It was clear to Marla now that her mother had an agenda for her, and she wanted no part in it. The tighter Meredith had on, the harder she pushed back. She had new friends, started new things, and got into a lot more trouble. Deep down, she was still the girl she always was, but this new, harder exterior made it easier to protect herself.
All the teenage rebellion in the world couldn't stop the plans her family had for her, though. At her sixteenth birthday, it was made formally known that Marla would become her great-aunt Melissa's apprentice, assuming her role when the time came. And when it came time to talk about after-high school plans, there was a small uproar. It was expected that she would move to Massachusetts, studying and working under Melissa full-time. Marla was dead-set on college in California or the West Coast, as far from the reach of both her mother and grandmother. A compromise was struck. She would attend school in either Texas or Massachusetts and, upon graduation, assume her full-time apprenticeship. In the meantime, the majority of her summers would be spent at the house in Concord, getting a head start on her studies.
It was almost a moot point, though. The summer after her freshman year in college, Marla was in a car accident. Her father had been driving, and at fault in the crash. While her body was relatively intact, she suffered major head trauma from the force of impact. This is the source of the scar on her forehead. She lay comatose for four days, the doctors unable to assess how badly hurt she was until she regained consciousness. Meredith flew into a rage at her husband, furious at the near-loss of her only daughter. But Marla did wake, and though she remembered nothing of the crash or the days leading up to it, she was okay.
Her sophomore year of college has finally drawn to a close, and with the summer coming, Marla's excited, in spite of herself.
Nicknames/Aliases: None; Marla is short enough. Under no circumstances should you refer to her as "Marly."
Age/DOB: 19; March 3.
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, CA
Hometown: Friendswood, TX
Current Residence: Austin, TX (Jester Center at UT Austin)
Species: Human - Witch
Occupation: Student (College Sophomore)
Religion: Agnostic/questioning. Self-identifies most often as pagan.
Family:
Father Edward Sidelong. Aeronautical Engineer.
Mother Meredith Tudor. Sixth-grade teacher.
Brother (older) Robert Sidelong. Graduate student.
Brother (younger) Thomas Sidelong. High school sophomore.
Magical Abilities: Marla's magic in inherent--it comes from within her. Any force or energy she puts out comes directly from her own. Using too much, too fast or towards anything too big will drain her up until the point of exhaustion and collapse. If her energy has been tapped in any other way (sleep deprivation, starvation, injury, blood loss), what she attempts through magic may and can fail or be weakened. Rest and time will replenish her strength. She is skilled in brewing potions, but as she is without her book and appropriate materials are in very short supply in Paradise, she will avoid it in all but the most dire of emergencies.
Casting spells requires no external help or direction unless the action itself demands it (like using a personal object to locate someone or manipulating an object or the elements to move in a certain way). To protect her mind from the raw force of the magical energy, any spells she casts must be done in a language other than English. Her chosen tongue is Latin, like her mother. She can cast without speaking, but the results are very unpredictable. It's more of a brute force than her regular measured and finessed spells.
There are things she can't do. Because she is still considered a novice in her family, and because she's yet to assume her role as one of the next "heads" of the family, she is not privy to the higher levels, like blood magic, alchemy, necromancy, and summoning. And while she is able to alleviate pain, she can't heal through magic; not herself or anyone else. To do such a thing properly requires more power, more focus, and more finesse than any one person can wield.
Personality: Marla is very much the product of her environment. Secrecy was something ingrained in her from the start: keeping her magic secret from the rest of the world, keeping the things she knew secret from her 'normal' family members. As such, she's wary of trusting anyone right away. Her trust takes time and actions to earn. Each time you show her you're good people, she trusts you a little more. She plays her cards very close to her chest, and only those within that tight circle of trust get even a glimpse at them. This also makes her fiercely loyal to those she does trust, even beyond the point of reason. She'll follow you into hell and back if you're a worthy ally, and if you get in trouble, she'll risk it all to save your ass. That being said, if you break that trust and burn her, she'll be first in line to rake you over the coals. There's very little room for second chances.
The girl has a bit of a mouth on her. She swears like a sailor, and the profanity flows freely when she's angry, hurt, or scared. She often pops off at the hip with whatever's on her mind, speaking before thinking even when it may hurt someone. She says something when she should hold her tongue, and very rarely holds her tongue. When what she says invariably does offend someone, she tries to cover it by claiming the statement as a joke. She has chronic foot-in-the-mouth disease, and will often be choking on her own toenails before managing to back-pedal. And despite her sometimes coarse language and blunt nature, she is capable of expressing remorse to those she's deeply hurt.
Don't go thinking she's all bad, though. In the normal, day-to-day life, she's a fairly laid-back gal. Marla tends to go with the flow and very little ruffles her feathers. She's got a quirky and sarcastic sense of humor, and generally prefers to have company over being alone.
In times of crisis, she takes charge and assumes a leadership role. And you'd better get busy helping her or get busy getting out of her way, because once she sets her mind to accomplishing something, she'll do it with your assistance or stepping over you. She can be stubborn once she's got something set in her mind, and changing it may take a little arm twisting. Her initial reactions to fear or sadness is to get angry. Nothing makes her pissed off like wanting to cry.
History: The middle child of three, and the only girl, Marla Louise Tudor was born late in the afternoon on March 3. She seemed no different than any other of the newborns in the nursery born that day: swaddled tightly in blankets, bald, and squalling. But she had a distinction that would always set her apart-- she was born a witch.
The Tudor line can be traced as far back as the Berwick Witch Trials of 1590s Scotland. Two sisters, Mary and Margaret, original surname unknown, assumed the Tudor name after a particularly close call with the hangman's noose. In the family, the two are credited with the founding of the "modern" line and the majority of its traditions. Such practices include the valuing of female offspring over male, to the complete exclusion of male children from any and all magical education from within the family and the passing of the leadership of the family, the two "heads", from grandmother to granddaughter. Ideally, each head would pass the mantle on to her own eldest granddaughter, but if no such heir exists, the second eldest female of that generation is chosen. These heads are tasked with the family records and history, and are responsible for all family secrets, even those that are never meant to be shared. The family had a unique naming tradition. In honor of Mary and Margaret, all female children's given names start with the letter M (i.e. Marla, her mother Meredith, her grandmother Marie). Also, if she chooses to marry, a Tudor woman keeps her family name and passes it on to any female children.
From birth, Meredith was protective of her daughter, nearly obsessive. Here was the daughter she had wanted with her first pregnancy, instead getting a son. She knew her aunt Melissa couldn't and didn't have any heirs, so the next two leaders in the Tudor line would come from her and her sisters' daughters. She'd already missed having the eldest; Maxine was born a mere two weeks after her son Robert. But none of the sisters had children since, making Marla the second eldest. Marla's education began before she could even truly understand it. Her bedtime stories were ones of her ancestors; her lullabies, translations of old chants set to music. Meredith left her teaching position to be her sole caregiver, going so far as to exclude her husband. She returned to teaching only when Marla began school, happily leaving her one year-old son in the hands of babysitters and daycare centers.
Marla was a happy, healthy child, bright-eyed and naturally curious. She walked earlier than her peer group, and talked even earlier. Even as a child, she was relaxed and content to entertain herself. When the family moved from California to Texas, after her father had secured a much-coveted position with Boeing, the transition was smooth as glass. And for as much as Meredith was concerned with her daughter, Marla was equally attached to her. Her brothers were not oblivious to the constant maternal attention given to her, and before long they began to take their resentment out on her. Sibling rivalry turned into all-out war, with the worst of it happening behind Meredith's back.
School became a refuge for her. When she started, the work was too easy for her, and her bored little hands sometimes got her into trouble. The decision was made to move her ahead a grade then, before she became too attached and too settled. While most of the kids thought she was a little odd, she did manage to make a small group of friends. They stuck up for her when others teased. It was a welcome change to her home life, with the constant barrage of spite from her brothers and no one to stop it. And like at home, the teachers doted on her. It was a world where she was supported and liked and was completely safe.
Things began to change once Marla hit those tumultuous teenage years. The year she'd skipped became even more apparent as she entered high school shorter and far less shapely than the other girls. Her gawkiness made her feel even more like an outsider. It didn't help that she was now in school with her older brother, him a senior to her freshman. Robby was handsome and popular, and used his position as big man on campus to bring his torment of her to a new playing field. But Marla was no longer going to suffer in silence. The years of taunting had taken a toll, a huge irremovable wedge forcibly driven between the two. He persecuted her friends, and she returned in kind, but with a lot more oomph. With age, she had only grown into her magic, and under her mother's constant guidance, she'd become a force to be reckoned with. Mysterious accidents would befall Robby's friends.
It wasn't just Robby she'd had enough of. While she had once clung to her mom's shadow, she was now beginning to chafe under the constant pressure and supervision. It was clear to Marla now that her mother had an agenda for her, and she wanted no part in it. The tighter Meredith had on, the harder she pushed back. She had new friends, started new things, and got into a lot more trouble. Deep down, she was still the girl she always was, but this new, harder exterior made it easier to protect herself.
All the teenage rebellion in the world couldn't stop the plans her family had for her, though. At her sixteenth birthday, it was made formally known that Marla would become her great-aunt Melissa's apprentice, assuming her role when the time came. And when it came time to talk about after-high school plans, there was a small uproar. It was expected that she would move to Massachusetts, studying and working under Melissa full-time. Marla was dead-set on college in California or the West Coast, as far from the reach of both her mother and grandmother. A compromise was struck. She would attend school in either Texas or Massachusetts and, upon graduation, assume her full-time apprenticeship. In the meantime, the majority of her summers would be spent at the house in Concord, getting a head start on her studies.
It was almost a moot point, though. The summer after her freshman year in college, Marla was in a car accident. Her father had been driving, and at fault in the crash. While her body was relatively intact, she suffered major head trauma from the force of impact. This is the source of the scar on her forehead. She lay comatose for four days, the doctors unable to assess how badly hurt she was until she regained consciousness. Meredith flew into a rage at her husband, furious at the near-loss of her only daughter. But Marla did wake, and though she remembered nothing of the crash or the days leading up to it, she was okay.
Her sophomore year of college has finally drawn to a close, and with the summer coming, Marla's excited, in spite of herself.