#to achieve both a sympathetic character for Medusa

[ofswordsandpens]

Going back to episode 3 cause I'm still hung up on how RR claimed that he could get away with delaying the Medusa reveal in the book but in the show it was just so obvious, and thus Annabeth would get it right away. And its just like dude, come on, you yourself wrote the perfect device in the book called the Mist that obscures a monster's true appearance and can also trick demigods and the like. He also heavily implied in the book that there was some form of magic going on at Medusa's that was lulling Percy and Annabeth.

Like, as much as I ended up liking the styling for show Medusa, you could have (through the Mist) given her sleek glossy hair in loose curls and put in the faint sound of hissing snakes in the background that Grover would be picking up on nervously. Put some sunglasses on her that could have purposefully clashed oddly with her anachronistic style. Then, when she reveals herself truly, the mist dissipates.

Just. Believe it or not you can convey mystery or intrigue or deception from page to screen. You could have used music to imply that magic was at play effecting Annabeth and Percy. There's just so much the show runners could have done.

[marymacdonxld]

Name: 

Mary Elizabeth Macdonald.

Aliases: 

Mare, Mac.

Gender/Pronouns: 

Cis female, she/her.

Sexual/Romantic Orientation: 

Lesbian.

Age: 

19.

Birthdate: 

November 3rd 1960.

Occupation:

Intern for the Wizengamot.

Height: 

5’8.

Build: 

Slim.

Hair: 

Brown.

Eyes: 

Brown.

Identifying Marks: 

A magical tattoo of Medusa on her upper inner arm, on which the snakes of her hair are always moving and silently hissing; while it seems an odd choice for a Gryffindor, Mary finds her a sympathetic character of mythology, and finds resonance in her story with her own trauma from Mulciber.

Personality: 

Mary is very much a Gryffindor: quick to temper, but brave. She is also sharp, noticing a lot and using it for her own gain. Her own gain, though, is bettering Wizarding society for Muggleborns and other magical creatures ( in the long run. ) She is also incredibly reliable when it comes to her friends; if they need her, she will be there. Having had her closest friends ‒ her housemates ‒ there for her after the Mulciber incident really cemented her loyalty to them; none of them knew about who had hurt her, just that someone had. Even without any verification, something she could not offer for fear of what Mulciber may do in retaliation, they had believed her and been there for her. They were her family now.

Motivations: 

She originally wanted to stay out of the war; perhaps not very Gryffindor, but she was aware that she had a target painted on her back, and to truly engage with the war would mean cutting off her parents, something she wasn’t ready to do. Until she was attacked by Mulciber and she knew that she just couldn’t sit back when people like him, the other Death Eaters were roaming free and looking to do the same to other people like her, and their families. As a Gryffindor, she felt compelled to protect others from the same harm she had suffered. So she cut off her parents, told them that they had to move and change their names and not tell her where, and then at the end of the war, she would find some way to contact them, and if she didn’t make it ? They would continue their current lives, knowing that their daughter was dead and they had nothing to go back to, no one to go back for.

Current Goal: 

Her current goal is to survive the war, and see her loved ones do the same. Plain and simple. If she sees the end of the war, she will worry about her future then. In the meantime, she is doing absolutely everything she possibly can to help the Order of the Phoenix, and the fight against You-Know-Who.

Life Goal: 

To settle down, marry a beautiful woman, have a few cats and maybe some other magical creatures. A garden, and perhaps even a child one day. A career at the Ministry; she could sit on the Wizengamot and write and pass important legislation that could help people after the war wreaks havoc.

Best Quality: 

Bravery. 

Worst Quality: 

Hot-headed.

Fears: 

You-Know-Who, but more than him, Mulciber. But more than him, the world they want to create where Muggleborns are killed and Muggles are seen as little more than animals. It’s why she fights so hard against it.

Hobbies: 

Jogging ( she likes to stay in shape, and she’s never been much of a flier ), amateur potion brewing ( she isn’t amazing at it, but she’s competent, and she only really brews the more basic potions herself, preferring to purchase ready-made potions when she feels that the potion is outside of her competency ), reading ( she loves the Muggle novels , the classics and the romances, but she also likes to read magical history books in her free time. )

Talents: 

As soon as she began studying Ancient Runes at Hogwarts, she knew it would be her best subject, and she was right. She managed to get Outstandings on both her O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, which were her highest set of grades; she swept Exceeds Expectations for everything else, except History of Magic, where she had just scraped an Acceptable. She’s also a quick duellist ( she has built up stamina from her daily runs, and she trained hard during and after school, determined to be as useful to the Order as possible. )

Skills: 

She’s a competent Runist; she’s able to create wardstones and she’s a decent cursebreaker, although decent is a higher level than many ever achieve. Due to her finding a little bit of control over her magic as a child ( part of being an only child was having a lot of time on her hands, and she’s always been observant and good at using that information ) which led to her picking up a fair bit of wandless magic over her later school-years and since she has left school, too. She is unable to cast more than fourth or fifth year spells wandlessly, and only the most basic charms wandlessly and wordlessly. Once again, while not much, is still more than a lot of people ever achieve in the field.

Family: 

Her mother, Elena Macdonald, and her father Robert Macdonald are both Muggles. Her mother is an accountant, and her father is a computer programmer. This led to her leading an comfortable upbringing, never wanting for food or toys or anything else she might need, but not quite spoilt. Her parents were left-wing, ideals which she wholeheartedly agreed with as soon as she was old enough to understand politics. The daughter of advocates for equality led to her experiencing little grief with coming to terms with being a lesbian when she was thirteen years old. Her family were and still are, incredibly supportive of her, even though they have cut all ties currently due to the war.

Relationship Status: 

Single, and while not actively looking, she would not be opposed to finding a girlfriend.

Other Relationships: 

She dated a Hufflepuff third year for most of her fourth year, but they broke things off before the summer at the end of the year because they didn’t really click, they were just the only two out lesbians at Hogwarts ( that they each knew about. ) And after Mulciber attacked her, she didn’t find herself wanting a relationship for quite a while. And when she did find herself wanting that, she had bigger concerns; the war.