Prompt: What are your characters hobbies? What do they do with their free time?

I should probably explain something right off the bat—the curriculum at the academy I attend is very different than Saint Vlad's. For one thing, though both academies are in session year round, I've been told that at Saint Vladimir's the class load is lighter in the summer—to accommodate the Royal students who vacation with their families. That's not the case with my school at all—our course load is the same year round, and our academic day is much longer too. From a very young age, we are required to take courses in a multitude of languages; then, when we are older, we move on to studying government and culture for different countries too. Since we don't know where we will be assigned—the chances it will be somewhere in Russia are practically non-existent, since most of the Royals relocated to other places when the Royal Court moved—there are a myriad of things we have to learn to help us prepare for spending our lives in other countries, far away from our homeland.

In addition, at Saint Basil's we are required to take 4 enrichment courses a year. The reasoning behind it is simple—the administrators want each novice to have a well-rounded education in an assortment of extracurricular activities. Having a broad range means we will be able to mesh well with whatever Royal we are assigned to, no matter what their interests might be. Every quarter, the class we take changes; the theory is that by the time we leave Saint Basil's, we will have a fundamental knowledge of things like classical music and the fine arts. In the very least, we will know enough to be able to make it through a discussion of the artwork in a museum or the music at the symphony, or whatever leisurely outing our charges decide to attend.

The problem is… I've always done horribly in those classes, no matter what they were covering. It's not that I'm not interested or don't want to succeed—I'm always excited at the start of the course and eager to learn new things. Unfortunately for me, being enthusiastic isn't enough to make up for a lack of natural talent. Take the time I was assigned the flute for orchestra—I practiced so much that my lips and facial muscles were constantly sore. It was so bad that it actually hurt for me to smile, but I kept it up despite the pain, because I wanted to make music. Despite my dedication, the sounds I produced were so dreadful that the instructor told me she would give me a passing grade if I promised to never play the flute again.

Choir wasn't much better; I ended up mouthing the words to most of the songs—bluffing my way through the class, right up until the teacher gave us solo pieces. Apparently… according to him… I am tone deaf. He actually went so far as to compare my singing to the sound of a cat yowling as it was slowly tortured.

When it rolled around to art, I did a little better; first, we covered the history of the subject and identifying different styles—which was easy for me to do, since I love beautiful things. My success took an abrupt nosedive, however, when it the time rolled around for us to actually create something. It's really better not to relieve the humiliation I felt—let's just say that the drawings and paintings I created made Paul's artwork that hangs on our refrigerator at home look like it was done by Rembrandt.

Dance, pottery, poetry… all of them were lost causes—when it comes to creative talent, I haven't got a shred. The sad thing is… I wanted it—more than anything. I wanted to be able to express myself artistically—to make something beautiful out of nothing at all. Sadly, there wasn't much I could do since my attempts all ended dismally, no matter how much I tried.

But then, last quarter… I finally found my niche—in the most surprising place imaginable. It's funny—when the class started, I thought it would be a bore. I mean… photography? Really? What's so special about that? Anyone can snap a picture—Moroi girls around campus were constantly snapping selfies with their phones, and they certainly hadn't had any kind of formal training. I was pleasantly surprised that my opinion changed drastically after the very first class; my instructor did a presentation that day, to introduce us to the subject matter, showing us photographs by Ansel Adams and Subhankar Banerjee—beautiful landscapes that completely stole my breath away. In that moment, I was hooked. I was positive that I'd finally found a way I could express myself—after all, I might not be able to draw a straight line or paint a sunset capturing its vibrant, blazing colors, but I could certainly point a camera and push a stupid button.

We were informed that throughout the course, we would be required to snap photographs of anything and everything that might catch our eye; Mrs. Ramodya said they would be used in a project that was due at the end of the quarter—and that one, single project would determine our grade for the entire thirteen week course. Thought I was worried about failing at yet another subject, my excitement made it impossible to fret—especially when she started handing out cameras to each of us. They weren't the best by any means, but that didn't matter to me—I didn't care one bit about anything other than the fact the object in my hands would enable me to finally create something, and hopefully succeed at it.

From that moment on, that camera was my constant companion; every night before I turned in, I would upload all the pictures I had taken to the rickety old computer in my room, amazed at how good they'd turned out. For once, my hard work and determination paid off; at the end of the session, my grade was the highest one in the class—in fact, Mrs. Ramodya liked my project so much that she asked to keep the collage I'd made to use as an example for future students.

It actually hurt when I had to return that camera; I felt like I was losing a part of myself, as stupid as that sounds. Immediately I called Mama up and begged her to purchase me an inexpensive camera for an early birthday gift to replace the one I'd had to turn in—I figured I could pick it up the next time I was at home. I didn't have to wait nearly that long; she was so pleased that I had done well in my class that she went out and bought me a camera the next day—one that was much nicer than the one I'd been using—and had them ship it overnight to Saint Basil's.

I'll never be good enough to make a profession of it or anything, but you know what? That's okay with me. I'm content to have a hobby that helps me capture the beauty that surrounds us—the tiny things we often overlook, like the riotous colors of the autumn leaves on the trees or the way the early morning dew sparkles on a spider's web.

I suppose it is a good thing that I won't be going into service—I can't imagine many Royal Moroi would care about such things. They would much rather be seen at a fancy concert or ballet than to gaze at silly photographs. But me? I'll take spending time outside and admiring the beauty of nature over sitting in an overcrowded audience watching someone perform any day of the week.


A/N: I think there are going to be waaaay more of these than I anticipated, since people have been sending in character development questions/prompts on the tumblr accounts—not that I mind in the slightest, it's really fun to get into the characters heads and see how they process the questions. If anyone has something they'd like to see one of the characters explore (any character in the series, doesn't matter who) feel free to shoot me a message here or on one of the tumblr accounts and I'll add it to the list. Just be sure to add who the prompt is for to the message. ;o)