[ During Time Ripples ]

[hallaifyouherd]

[ Someone's been noticing a pattern. Maybe not necessarily connected to the age fluctuations, but one never knows. Instead, she wrinkles her nose slightly. ]

Is it just me, or have people here become a good deal more...amorous, lately?

It's something in the water, isn't it.

Comments

[icysmile]

Of course! I'm a professional Hero. I know what needs doing more than most of the people here.

[hallaifyouherd]

Oh this I've got to hear.

[icysmile]

[Oh, hey. When she's twelve minutes into this rant/lecture, remember that you asked for this. Because it will last. Karina trained for a solid year before making her debut as a Hero, and then she was active for four years after that. She's got a deep wellspring of practical experience and theoretical considerations to draw from.

Some of it is stuff that the Legion already covers, and she'll give it credit for that, but Karina's not kidding about the professional part. Sure, there's a four minute tangent about how to handle nosy fans, but even that has its place given the Legion fandom. But a lot of what she covers is logistics, safety, powered tactics when collateral damage is a concern, proper diet and exercise...]

...And that's not touching on the in-depth public relations and ways to work the camera. Granted, a lot of what I mentioned is just the basics, and I know that the Legionnaires are trying to give everyone a crash course, but that's not going to end up being enough.

But, no, you can spend your free time looking trying to score instead. I'm sure whoever ends up dying won't mind that someone thought their free time was better spent on a date than studying and making sure they had a firm grasp their job.

[hallaifyouherd]

[ Marjara listens. At some points incredulously, giving Karina a look like she's almost embarrassed for her, but she says nothing. She lets her continue on venting for however long it takes, before it finally winds down to the topic they'd originally started with. ]

That is all very extensive. When did you decide to make the transition to become a hero yourself?

[icysmile]

[Marjara's looks don't phase her. She's long since grown inured to embarrassed looks.

Still, she blinks at the question. Well, that's a tangent she didn't expect.]

That's... A little complicated. I started training when I was fourteen and debuted at fifteen. It was the only way to get my sponsors to finance my music career, so I took it seriously. But... Still as a sideline. I didn't start being sincere about it until I was... Seventeen, I think.

[The oil rig fire. Yeah, that was hard to forget.]

[hallaifyouherd]

So you were brought into it over time, with the expectation of it at a young age?

[ Her brow creases slightly. ]

Of course it's easy not to take things quite so seriously when you're just beginning. I remember not understanding the weight of responsibility on my shoulders, even when it became clear what my duty was.

[icysmile]

Mm? Oh, no. [She waves her hand dismissively at the camera.] I signed my contract and trained when I was off of school. Once they'd trained me up a bit, I got thrown into the deep end. There's no room for training wheels with HeroTV, not if you want to do better than the others. Granted, I had a better field support crew than most anyone else and my powers are good for almost any situation, so that helped a lot.

[She raises her chin, haughtily. Her eyes glow and an aura springs up around her. Not quite pulling out all the stops for Blue Rose, but she finds that just showing off her NEXT looks can be dramatic enough.]

But I'm the Queen of Heroes for a reason. And once I realized that my job as a Hero was more important than any side jobs I had, I got even better.

[...But still always in second place. Never the King of Heroes.]

[hallaifyouherd]

'Better than the others'.

[ The tips of her ears twitch, ever so slightly. ]

Is that what this is about?

[icysmile]

Here? [She snorts.] God, no. Here, it's about making sure everyone gets out okay. Back home, though? We got scored on how well we did. People saved, property protected, that kind of thing. The Hero with the best score got... Well, a lot of advantages and opportunities.

They don't have that setup here, so trying to compete is a waste of time.

[Not that it's stopped her from competing anyway. Just more low-key than outright subverting the other heroes. The Legion wasn't set up for outright Hero politics. They're just heroes.]