#forgive me for likely being a bit ooc XDD

[timeguardians]

@protectxthem

Max shrugs his shoulders at her. "I survived being Patient Zero. So yes, I figured this would get better." He turns away from the mirror in his room. "It doesn't look that bad." He replies, reaching a hand down to touch the scratch, well gash, that he got when he went surfing and crashed into some rocks, which resulted in him getting scraped up pretty bad. "Us doctors make bad patients anyway."

Worriment beckons in the depths of the nurse's eyes. The reminder of his own, quite inspiring story lingers. "Yes, well this WON"T just magically disappear," she clips. And the only reason it is edged with something curt, is because she so deeply cares about his well-being. Maybe it was the way they danced, or the way their eyes met. But the chemistry there is too damnably obvious. "In fact, if anything, they only seem to get infected from the briney waters."

His next remark earns him an exasperated huff. "Not that bad-" Her eyes dartingly hone in on his. "Or maybe it is because you're trying to be macho to impress me." She challenges in the undercurrent of her breath. "I saw you, trying to catch my eye before the wave, Doctor. Surfing is not a sport best done while distracted. Not in these waters."

Avery moves to the cabinet to get the necessary supplies to fix him. "You do know what I do with my bad patients? I have nurse Tristan help me throw them overboard as sharkbait."

[carewyncromwell]

Because she's my character's bae, Merula!

“Must we discuss Merula?”

Where do I even start?

“*sighs tiredly* Look...Merula and I...have a history. And not a very good one at that. From the moment I met her, it became clear to me that she’s the sort of person to take her own insecurities out on others...bullying others in a stupid attempt to puff herself up. And with how she treated Rowan and Ben and tried to sabotage me both in class and with the Vaults...not to mention all the terrible things she’s said about Jacob...yeah, I reckon it’s obvious why she and I don’t get along.

“But...how do I say this? I’m tired. I’m tired of playing around like we’re kids fighting on the playground. I’m tired of getting all hot and bothered because of the stupid things Merula says. I’m tired of wasting my time getting upset about Merula’s bad attitude, when Jacob and Beatrice are the ones who need my focus. And as awful as Merula is a lot of the time...at present, our goal is the same -- to deal with the Cursed Vaults. If we can come together enough that we can reach that goal...then it’d be stupid to handicap myself by refusing to work with her. And as much as I hate to admit it, we have been able to play nice sometimes.”

Though I would’ve appreciated her actually thanking me for giving her my spot on the Frog Choir -- she wasn’t the only person who’d dreamed of being in the Choir --

“...I remember Mum saying once that bullies were often once bullied themselves, so it’s possible that Merula just needs a friend...but frankly I don’t know if she’d even know how to be a real friend.”

Isn’t that sort of sad too, though? I mean, sure, Rowan was my first friend ever -- but imagine thinking friendship was only about putting other people down...

“...Still...I suppose ‘kill ‘em with kindness’ is a saying for a reason. Even if Merula is 95% awful -- well, okay, maybe just 75% awful -- it’d be a waste to throw out the bit of good there is.”

/////

OOC: Ahahahahaaaaa, you went off the deep-end with that question. XDD

Okay, so for me, I find Merula a very interesting character. I’m not entirely sure I like all of the characterization choices surrounding her (like her getting a crush on Jacob -- eugh), and admittedly tsundere characters in general can be very hit-and-miss for me -- but I think there’s a lot of potential in her character, if she ends up breaking away from her parents’ example and becoming better. The only thing I kind of lament is that in the meantime, at the end of year 6, Merula’s arc has sort of stagnated with her in “vengeance mode” and she’ll probably stay that way until we confront Rakepick again. Still, it’s neat that, for a character so clearly modeled on Draco Malfoy, the game did give us, the players, the freedom to express romantic interest in her and spend actual quality time with her outside of the “rivalry” thing, like spending Christmas with her or finding out how much she wanted to be in the Frog Choir.

I can see why Merula is so many people’s “type,” even if as I said before, the tsundere trope is tricky for me, since sometimes it can result in a character just stubbornly refusing to grow or improve themselves and wallowing in their own bitterness and resentment, rather than learning how to connect to others in a healthy way. I’ve known people who channeled the tsundere vibe IRL, and I’m sorry, it can be much less cute than it’s depicted in a lot of anime. The people I knew just came across as mean-spirited, selfish, and short-sighted, expecting others to do the heavy lifting and read their minds, rather than actually taking the time and effort to try to reach out to others. I don’t hate all tsundere characters, but I always prefer ones who figure out that suffocating their emotions that way isn’t healthy and go through an arc where they develop better ways to communicate their feelings.

I like Merula pretty well despite this, but I don’t really think Carewyn and she will ever be close friends, not just because of Carewyn’s inability to forgive past grievances, but also because of Merula’s own resentment toward “little Miss Perfect.” Carewyn does not make herself easy to like, for someone like Merula. XD

Send Carewyn and me a HPHM character!