Can I even do this if I've never written a story in my life
Side Note -- I just need to reiterate or iterate what I reiterate later -- my titles are shit they're ridiculous y3ni like if you actually like a concept in here, you don't even need to ask...
She might've idealized the relationship between Lottie and herself. They were next door neighbors and felt like opposites. But Zena never idealized herself or Lottie, she always knew who they both were. Least she thought she did before she got kicked off the gymnastics team last year for not being tiny like she used to be. Being the best gymnast was Zena's only worth and she was lost when it came to who she was anymore and what to do when Lottie came to her window inviting her to join her team. It was different, she had a lot to learn about a whole new sport and the rest of the team liked messing with them -- how she vouched for Zena to them and how she stared at Lottie -- but it was exciting and offered more camaraderie than the other gymnasts ever did.
And with more balance, she remembered there was more to life. That's when she kissed her. Unfortunately, that was also when she got rejected though, citing something vague about family drama even though she's already pretty familiar with Lottie's family drama. She could've dismissed it all as a bump in the road of their relationship if she didn't end up trying to forget everything with Travis, and then with Lee who was trying to forget about how Akilah's parents called her a bad influence on their daughter, ending with rumors cycling around school calling her super freak. She was stressed spiraling thinking about how that'd be the end of everything when Lee approaches her after a full day of nobody talking directly to her just to tell her Lottie booked them a flight except not just her the whole team.
Malaika Mosendane as Rozena Graham
-AND-
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Erana James as Leonie
A LOT EXTRA : s/o to Laura over on YouTube for the vid w the amazing quality of URA Fever and the delicious 90s vibes! And ofc TheWilds on Tenor for the Erana GIF
phew ok that was kinda long so I aint tryna add too much more but to be clear Zena's Lottie's love interest and Lee's Akilah's
also Zena loves Lottie deeply and maybe you could even call it worship but that'd be worshipping Lottie not no antler queen and that goes the same for her beliefs she believes in Lottie not as the queen but as Lottie cause she knows her and accepts the shit about her Lottie struggles to accept and she believes she's special and ofc Lottie feels the same it's just a bit tortured/brooding for her
I was tempted to give Akilah and Lee a similar relationship them being each other's day ones and Lee being all about her and kinda waiting on her but if you think that's predictable for both relationships to be similar like that feel free to go in a different direction I left out pretty much all the details so you can choose!
Far as smaller details go Lee's on varsity, Zena could go either way honestly, and if you want to take it past the time jump Gail Mabalane or maybe Pearl Thusi could be a older Zena and Nikki Si'ulepa could be older Lee
And if you want ideas for older Akilah lmk cause I got a few like Tika Sumpter and Saycon Sengbloh and she DID survive IT AINT UP FOR DEBATE i saw her in the background of that shot!
Another little plot point I was thinking maybe Zena coulda got separated at the end of S1 w Javi and kept him safe, maybe encountered some shit out there, shoot I even thought she could have a little soapy amnesia subplot between the seasons when she's separated but I aint include it bc it's up to you
