Zaphia
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Location Ista Weyr
Position Candidate
Birthdate 8.437.8.10 (16)
Birthplace High Reaches Weyr
Sexuality sex is a tool
Played-By Sophia Bush
Player Siarna
Appearance

Zaphia is the girl that turns heads when she walks past. She puts a lot (too much) of time and effort into her appearance; making her curly black hair fall just so down her back or piled atop her head in the latest of fashions, applying kohl to her brown eyes to make them pop, adding just little extra redness to her lips. From an early age she’s known that she’s a rather beautiful girl, but seductive rather than pretty. She plays that angle more than she really should- why should she actually work, when a bat of her eyelashes gets her a volunteer to do it for her? Without all the cosmetics she is actually a rather lovely girl, if a little plain. She’s got a common problem with all teenagers- she’s desperately self-conscious about her looks. Cosmetics give her a new, sexier face.

She’s a small girl, slender, with enough of an hourglass curve that gives her the confidence to add a little sashay in her step. She works hard (not at all) to maintain these curves, careful not to work too hard else she lose her curves to muscles, and where would she be then? She wants to look small, diminutive, helpless; she wants to look like she needs to be protected by a big, strapping man (or woman, she’s not picky).

Personality

Zaphia is pretty sure there are a number of people out there who think her a dumb, shallow, bitch, but she finds she doesn't much care what they think. She pretends to be more airheaded, stupid and vacuous than she is, underneath it is a sharp cunning. She isn't ridiculously smart or anything, studies really do come more difficult for her, her brains simply have a brand of street-smart cunning to them. The kind of social guile that knows how to use her best assets and helplessness to shamelessly twist people to do her bidding.

From an early age she's known how to charm, and with the understanding of her body that only a weyrgirl can have at such an early age. If she pretends to be helpless she can make people do things for her, particularly big strong strapping men (and the occasional woman). She uses her image as a pretty little fool to her own ends, ruthlessly, all while keeping up the dumb, flirtatious facade.

If there is one thing however that Zaphia actually enjoys it's being physically intimate with someone. That doesn't just mean sex of course, she likes touching, leaning into people, contact. She’s naturally just a very physical person, someone who easily oversteps the boundaries of personal space without really noticing.Of course she loves the act of sex as well, it's fun, it's natural. She doesn't understand the Holdborn prudishness about sex or their thoughts that doing such things to themselves or another might be wrong. She loves corrupting people and showing them the light, and its very rare for Zaphia not to have someone to bed on whatever night she wishes to do so. She craves the rush of seduction, the way she can turn heads in a crowded room. And later, when all is said and done, if her partners think that they owe her something, then that’s all well and good too.

From early on Daddy dearest has put a lot of pressure on her to perform well (and surprise, she hasn’t). He expected both his children to outshine him and held them to certain lofty standards. He wants her to be a goldrider- expects it, the way he expected Z’san to Impress a bronze- but if she works at anything, it’s at underachieving in her Father’s eyes. Sure, having a gold would be nice (the POWER! the PRESTIGE! the MEN!) and it’s every girl’s dream, but there’s no sense in having theatrics over impressing a green or a blue instead. There’s no shame in being a woman in the fighting wings; it’s doing your duty for the good of Pern. And with only one clutching Queen, she isn’t going to be all that picky about what she Impress and to shells what her Father thinks of it.

She can't imagine being a rider, but she can't imagine doing anything else either. She works hard enough to not be held back from Hatchings, she stands and every time she wonders what it must be like to feel that kind of love and acceptance. She thinks it must be nice…

Common Knowledge

She thought that Z’seph might lower his standards for her once Z’san Impressed green, but if anything he’s become more overbearing, despite her attempts to stop it.
She’s the master of the backhanded compliment, “Oh darling, you look so pretty when you put a little bit of effort into it…”
Will not tolerate any nicknames. The Zeff/Zaph debacle of ‘01 was just enough, thank you. It’s the only time Zaphia has thrown a punch.

Background

Zaphia and her half brother Zasean grew up at High Reaches Weyr, the children of two riders. Like most Weyr kids their parents didn't have a lot of time for actually parenting them, they were raised primarily by the creche, and didn't grow up particularly close. Their father turned up regularly to get reports on them however, on their behaviour, their aptitude, and when they went into candidacy, their performances. He considered them his legacy, and he was hard on them both, expecting them to live up to his high standards. Zasean was expected to take his rightful place as a bronzerider (or, if the dragon demanded, brown) but Zaphia was to Impress the next gold.

Zaphia tried to live up to the expectations, tried to gain one piece of praise from her Father, but there was always some excuse, some small piece that she missed that left her feeling empty and horrible. Sometime in her early teens she decided that it was better to underachieve than to overachieve, and she sank into her ways. Why should she exert herself when she can make another do it? What’s the point in being smart when batting her eyes and pouting has the same effect? It worked out well for her; Daddy’s visits to the candidate barracks became a lot less frequent when he realized that she would make a shoddy excuse for a goldrider.

The news of the Isan First Fall spread like wildfire. Z’seph was among the first that High Reaches sent to Ista. When he went, he demanded that both of them accompany him. It came as a surprise to Zaphia (she thought Z’seph would have only asked for the prodigal son). While she wasn’t exactly pleased to be transferred South with only one clutching Queen, she didn’t throw the amazing tantrum that Zasean did, nor did she cry when she had to say goodbye to the friends she’d known since childhood. Ista was just a new location, after all. It turns out that she preferred the south, with it’s beaches and sun and sexy people.

Zaphia laughed so hard she almost cried when she realized her brother had walked off the Sands with a green instead of his prized bronze. The tantrum he threw, however, was less funny and more infuriating than anything. She’s avoided her half-brother since, preferring not to associate with him after that particular display. Instead, she’s made herself quite comfortable in the candidate barracks as she waits for the next clutch to be laid.

Relationships

Z'seph, Father
Arsia, Mother
Z’san, Brother

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