Application for Last Voyages
User Name/Nick: Rycca
User LJ: --
AIM/IM: --
E-mail: --
Other Characters: Severus Snape, Sarah Harding
Character Name: Sadira
Series: Aladdin (TV)
Age: Seventeen
From When?: Sadira will be coming in from near the end of 'Witch Way Did She Go?', just after being dropped by Aladdin into the Realm of Mists
Inmate/Warden: Inmate -
Sadira is selfish and unable to maintain normal relationships with others. She resorts to using magic to get whatever she wants with complete disregard for the feelings of others. Her spells rob others of their free will, and have the potential to cause serious injury and death.
She also has issues with loyalty, and is a petty thief and a liar when it suits her.
She has the potential to go as bad as she possibly can if she takes up with the wrong crowd.
Her repertoire has a lot of evil spells in it, and she's very flippant about it. She doesn't care or differentiate between good spells and evil, so long as they get her what she wants.
Abilities/Powers:
In the series, Sadira has taught herself to use sand magic - that is, the ability to cast spells with the use of sand. She has been shown to alter the very fabric of time and space with it, so it can be assumed that she is actually quite talented, though inexperienced.
Presumably, she needs sand to cast the majority of her spells; in some cases, she needs to cast a spell directly on the sand to enchant it. However, she has done some spellwork in the course of the series wherein sand was not necessary - specifically, teleportation. It isn't unreasonable to assume that she could learn other magic, as the aforementioned suggests her abilities have become innate rather than reliant upon external magical sources. (In other words, Sadira is magical - not the spell.) She can pick up spells from others, particularly Mozenrath, as he is part of her canon.
However, MOST of her magic relies on sand. As there is a decided lack of beachfront property on the Barge, it isn't really necessary to limit her abilities too much. Teleportation will be limited, obviously (no warden areas, she might end up not quite where she meant to go, etc), and if she tries to use any magic of Mozenrath's, she'll find it doesn't work quite so well for her.
If she lays hold of sand, she'll find her magic isn't nearly as strong as it once was, and will go horribly awry if she's not very careful.
It was pointed out to me that she can probably get sand from the CES, so I think it's best to say the following:
1. I'll use the CES sand excuse sparingly as a player; she needs a warden to let her in there, anyway, so she might only get away with it once or twice unless she can work something out with other inmates.
2. Most spells she casts on others will not work out as planned unless her warden lets her have full control of her magic, OR they won't be nearly as powerful. The rest of her spells aren't a problem because she needs a good deal of sand for most of them.
I am okay if her warden wants to take away her powers entirely. The above is just how she would be upon arrival.
I have included a list of her spells and abilities here.
Personality:
Sadira is, emotionally, just your average teenager. She has an extremely vacillating personality based entirely upon her moods, and can go from a quivering mess of weepiness to a bundle of sheer joy in two seconds flat. While heartfelt in most everything, this unfortunately means she can become temperamental and overreact to the smallest insult or accusation. She’s indecisive when pressured and inconsistent with her choices. Where her magic is concerned, she’s a firearm without a safety. She knows how to cast spells - and has even grown to be able to control them - but she uses them selfishly rather than for purposes of good and evil. In the end, this is exactly what Sadira is: selfish.
Because of her upbringing and age, Sadira is streetwise and intelligent, but not the world’s greatest wit. She’s a street rat, so she knows how to talk her way out of a jam; she lies, steals, and cheats. However, she's uneducated, and when put toe-to-toe with intellectual superiors or those who have had the benefit of higher learning, her deficiencies are painfully obvious. Her retorts usually consist of a scathing “Oh yeah?” or half-baked insults. She does try to be sarcastic, but it usually falls flat. She is something of a braggart, and will try to make herself sound more important than she really is to win the approval of others. She's very open about her magical abilities, simply because it's the only thing she has that is hers and hers alone. She is the last of the witches of the sand, and she will play that card for all its worth. Unfortunately, for all her bravado, she can't always back up her words with actions. When put into a situation wherein she has to interact with the upper crust, she fails. Miserably. She doesn’t know what it is to have money, so she acts the way she thinks rich people act. She has absolutely no class. This is, in part, due to her immaturity and inexperience. In time, she could be taught to behave properly.
Her clingy behavior toward male figures suggests a closer identification with them and the possibility that those role models she may have had in life were predominantly male. The romantic attachment to them can suggest that if she suffered loss, which is likely as she's homeless and stealing for a living, then it happened at a crucial developmental age. This creates abandonment issues that conflict with her sense of self-worth. She doesn't seem to believe people will stay with her unless she forces them.
The concept of friendship is extremely important to her, but she doesn’t know how to have friends. She doesn’t have a thick skin and thus her feelings are easily hurt when she’s teased. She’s very flighty and switches sides at the drop of a hat, and when she interacts with people, she can come on too strong (as with her interactions with boys she fancies). Her eagerness to please and sheer desperation for approval make her easily manipulated and willing to allow others string her along, and her inability to form strong attachments means regardless of who her friends are, she will turn on them when she thinks she’ll get a better deal. However, if she does find true and lasting friendship, she will be fun, cheerful, and unfailingly loyal, but there are hurdles to overcome, particularly related to her fears that she will eventually be abandoned.
She is something of a late bloomer: she’s going from that transition from childhood to womanhood in her present canonpoint. She never had a female role model and doesn’t quite have the hang of being an adult. She has all the physical features of a grown woman, but she’s still very immature and unable to handle her apparent burgeoning sexuality. (God, did I just write that about a Disney character?) There are moments when she seems to have some clarity and maturity, but most of the time she’s a boy-crazy teenager. She falls in love at a glance, and treats men like movie stars: if Aladdin had been an actor, his posters would be all over her bedroom. She has a very childish view of romance, as evidenced by her interactions with Aladdin. She asks him once or twice if he loves her, but never says it in return (though she expresses the belief that they're meant to be), suggesting that she believes love is something taken and not given, and that her partner is simply someone to make her feel loved. In other words, she has a Disney princess viewpoint. The man is just a two-dimensional character to adore and worship the woman.
As an aside, it's not very likely she puts much thought in to the concept of sex. Her behavior is too immature to suggest that she's thinking about anything other than 'playing house' - hugs, kisses, pet names, flowers, 'See you after work, dear'.
Unfortunately, because Sadira hasn’t had a normal upbringing, she has difficulty knowing where to draw the line or even when to draw it. She displays stalker tendencies and relies on her magic for instant gratification; she has tried three times to use sorcery to make Aladdin fall in love with her instead of either getting to know him or finding someone worth her while. She doesn’t show any particular concern for the feelings or desires of the object of her affections or how her actions may affect those around them; she simply sees something she wants and goes to almost any extreme to get it.
It isn’t just romance that falls prey to her use of magic. Sadira has never had to put in an honest day’s labor in her life (with the exception of those times when she’s trying to impress her friends), and if she isn’t stealing to get what she wants, she’s using magic for it. In short, if you gave the stereotypical teenage girl a shot at becoming a witch, you would end up with Sadira.
Her first reaction to the Barge will be one of horror. Given her canonpoint, she’ll consider herself a victim who tried to help her friends. She’ll avidly deny any suggestion that she’s a criminal and demand to be released. However, she’s aboard the Barge because it’s only a matter of time before she tries her shenanigans again on Aladdin (or someone else), and also because of her glib acknowledgment that a lot of her spells are evil. She’ll eventually settle in to the fact that she’s stuck there, and will start getting up to her old habits, particularly if she manages to lay hold of some sand.
The floods, for the most part, will be handled with a sheer lack of concern: weird things happen in Agrabah all the time, so this is nothing new. However, in some cases - particularly those floods which leave her physically the same but alter an aspect of her personality, she will come away with some empathy for what it's like to have someone violate her free will. In the right circumstances, it could be a good lesson for her.
She might try to run away during ports, or smuggle sand back on the ship.
It would be best for her to be paired with a female warden; as stated before, Sadira has never had a female role model or a mother, so one who takes this approach with her will probably serve her best. It wouldn’t be good for her to have someone who is unnecessarily harsh or cruel, and it would be an extremely bad for her to be paired with a good-looking male, no matter his sexuality, treatment of her, or relationship status. An older male might also work - someone who’s grandfatherly, who she wouldn’t necessarily associate with romantic overtures. Really, Sadira should be an easy rehab. She needs firm, strict, caring parental guidance, not hardcore criminal redemption. However. If her warden abandons her due to drops, repairings, or what have you, or if they’re inattentive or negligent, Sadira will absolutely become worse for it. She’ll align herself with those inmates she views as powerful, and she’ll resort to behavior which seems to garner the most attention, positive or negative. She needs a parent, but she also needs someone who's on their toes and will keep her in line.
Path to Redemption:
Sadira first and foremost needs to be taught not to abuse the free will of others. She will need to be taught to behave around people, particularly when dealing with friendships and romantic relationships. She needs someone to explain to her that stalking is not an acceptable way of showing a boy you like him, and neither is casting spells on him. This sounds straightforward, but it isn’t an easy fix. She’s socially inept and while things may go well for a while, when a relationship (platonic or otherwise) doesn’t seem to be going her way, she’ll probably resort to her old schemes.
She’ll have to be taught not to use her magic for selfish motivations or to harm others. Sadira will never accept that she should abandon her magic entirely; in the course of time since she discovered it, it has become an intrinsic part of her and this is not something I would expect her to give up.
She also needs to learn to love herself. It's important for her to learn not to devalue herself based on what others have, or how others treat her. She has to understand that her worth is not dependent on having a boyfriend. A good way to go about this is to focus on her abilities, particularly magic, cooking, athleticism, and intelligence.
She’ll obviously need to learn that thievery is wrong, and taught a trade. She has shown a passion for cooking, if not a talent for it, so working in the kitchens might be a good start. Again, appealing to her magical abilities might also be good.
She has to learn not to respond to hurt feelings with kidnapping, murder, torture, or other criminal acts.
Finally, she’ll have to admit Aladdin didn’t drop her into the Realm of Mists intentionally; it was an accident. He was trying to save her. She might go back and forth on this one for a long time. Once she does admit it, she’ll have to acknowledge that the accusations he flung at her were a mistake and forgive him for it.
History:
Link to the Aladdin Wiki.
There are some inaccuracies in the above. The sand witches didn’t teach Sadira; she fell into their cavern and discovered their ancient scrolls, as well as an amulet which allowed her to manipulate sand (which she destroyed to stop the sand beast). All of her magical knowledge has been self-taught.
In the final encounter with Aladdin, the protagonists thought Sadira was responsible for the actions of the Sand Witches, and drove her away when Jasmine capitulated and agreed that Sadira probably had attacked them - despite the fact that Sadira had been with her the entire time. In spite of the accusations, Sadira attempted to rescue them by opening a portal to the Realm of Mists and shoving the Sand Witches into it. When she was dragged down as well, Aladdin attempted to save her, but she slipped out of his grasp and fell. Though she does miraculously save herself at the end of the episode, this is the point from which I’m bringing her. Once she fell into the Realm of Mists, she was trapped there for some time, fighting the Sand Witches and growing increasingly bitter about how Aladdin et al treated her. Eventually, she was killed.
Her reappearance in the episode will be after her time on the Barge (as, without any reasonable explanation, she’s shown falling happily into the arms of the friends who just dropped her down a pit.)
As for the rest, Sadira was your average orphaned street urchin, living off of handouts and picked pockets. According to her, she had been picking locks since she was five, so it’s safe to assume that she entered a life of crime very early on. Given her personality and ability to read, it can also be assumed that she did have a parental figure until she was old enough to survive on her own. However, it's likely they passed on when she was an adolescent. She lived an impoverished, unremarkable life until the day she met Aladdin and Jasmine, and subsequently discovered the cavern of the Sand Witches.
Sample Journal Entry: [5-10 Sentences]
[And Sadira's back, pacing in front of her camera. Like most villains of the Disney variety, she clearly likes to be a bit melodramatic. Much of the following rant is accompanied by broad hand gestures to emphasize her points:]
Okay. Maybe I died or - or whatever. But I'm not a criminal. I don't deserve to be here. I was trying to help Aladdin. In fact, I was the one who saved his life, and they - Well, they -
[Sadira falters here, as though she doesn't want to admit that Aladdin dropped her down a doom pit. She thrusts one hand on her hip and waves dismissively with the other as she continues:]
Look, he should be here; not me.
[And then she waits. Responses forthcoming? No? She throws up her hands in frustration.]
Ugh! Is anyone even listening to me? I said I shouldn't be here! You can't just kidnap dead people! That's -
[Hm. She stops her pacing and brings a finger to her cheek, thoughtful and a bit disgusted. Her rant becomes an aside for a moment:]
Well, it's a little creepy, actually.
[And now she's back to talking to the camera, stabbing the air with an emphatic finger:]
So here's what we're going to do, oh great Admiral: you're going to send me right back to the Realm of Mists and give me back my staff, and I'm going to defeat those witches once and for all.
And then-
[And then what? She frowns and lowers her hand slightly, her finger relaxing. With an angry tut, she folds her arms across her chest and mutters:]
And then I'm going to give that jerk what's coming to him. Dropping me after I did all the dirty work for them? That was low.
[Her arms relax and then drop to her sides in defeat. She glances around her room as though searching for a friendly face or a word of advice, then looks miserably down at her hands.]
I can't believe he dropped me.
Other: A pretty terrible first attempt, but the comments are just lulzy. She's such a dipshit.
Sample RP:
Sadira, all tasteless robes and tangled hair, hit the ground with an 'oomph!' and immediately scrambled to her feet. She shot darting glances around the room, trying to determine where she was; however, none of it seemed familiar. She didn’t recognize the room or the person inhabiting it.
It wasn’t a good sign that no one bothered to put her in restraints. For her. It wasn’t a good sign for her. People who didn’t use ropes or shackles generally didn’t need ropes or shackles. Of course, the idea that they didn’t think she needed to be restrained made her feel rather insulted; after all, she was a sorceress. Not a very good one, but surely not one who ought to be dismissed so easily. How she wished at that moment that she had something on her person other than sand for a love spell. She privately decided, if she lived through this, she would carry a defensive spell or two just in case.
As she listened to the conversation, her nose wrinkled up and her eyebrows drew together with indignation. So not only had she had been kidnapped by weird undead things while trying to get Aladdin’s attention (again), but to add insult to injury, she was apparently the wrong target - and her captor was too busy engaging in a very one-sided argument with his minions to notice her. She had been kidnapped and now she was being ignored. Priorities.
"Hey, what’s the big idea? You can’t just - just grab girls off the street, you know! I was in the middle of something very important!" she snapped, thrusting her hands on her hips. She quite clearly had lost all sense of self-preservation in deference to her desire to feel special. "I demand you return me at once or - or -"
Or?
"...Or you’ll be really sorry!"
Special Notes: