#revolve lukiat

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in honor of blorbo blursday, been rendering

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✵ Revolve Taglist ✵

@corinneglass @aalinaaaaaa @write-with-will @mymomsaysbobcipher @writeintrees @firesidefantasy @inspirationallybored @askyaphelion

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I AM HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE

THE LUKIAT FULL ART IS DONE

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✵ Revolve Taglist ✵

@corinneglass @aalinaaaaaa @write-with-will @mymomsaysbobcipher @writeintrees @firesidefantasy @inspirationallybored @askyaphelion @cat-esper @definitely-not-flynn

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Happy Blorbo Blursday! What was your OCs education like? What were the primary things they were learning? How did they do in their education?

i feel like the most interesting characters in this regard are the royal trio of Ideli & Lukiat & Luz , so lemme quickly go through them

Ideli

Ideli had a vaguely weird education. she had very specialized nannies as a kid that were already in charge of teaching her to read in multiple languages and basic math, and a tutor in high-society manners. once she was of age, she started her education in a private primary school aimed at the noble class; it had high levels of security and were very strict and meant to give a headstart to the children in matters of history, politics, languages and finance, so that by the time they got out of there they'd have a vague idea of their career path, and then feeds the children directly into its middle-school counterpart.

however, Ideli's time in private schools was cut short by the shitstorm that happened in her family, and she was taken in by her uncle (the one and only Emperor Witia of Reiki) halfway through primary school. she spent a few years after that with private tutors that followed more-or-less the same curriculum as the private school (languages, history, literature, civics, maths & sciences, theoretical magic) but her uncle also privately tutored her in practical magic and physical training

and then things just... kinda settled into a midpoint for a while. Ideli went back into private schooling for middle school, but had additional classes with her uncle and some tutors he hired (more advanced magic, martial arts and armed fighting instructors and more language teachers)

but then highschool time hit, and Ideli would have had to go into the same highschool as her brother and that was a bad idea. so her uncle pulled her back into home schooling but with a caveat. he hired tutors and teachers for her both her core subjects and her electives (politics, international history, law, advanced magical theory) from one Elaise Kainen-Virs Accademy, an all-girls private highschool, and he allows the various teachers to bring a chosen student (vetted) to share classes with Ideli (this is part of how Ideli gets her hands on Meiviza)

by the time we get into Revolve plot, Ideli is in university and for the first time back out of homeschooling to take her degree in political sciences, but she's also taking a couple additional law classes. and training with her uncle hasn't stopped. he's started making her shadow him as she gets ready to be crowned Imperial Princess, and thus her uncle's heir to the throne.

Lukiat

Lukiat's education is fucked up. like, genuinely so fucked up. he was born into the royal family of Xor, so his education started through private tutors with reading, maths, magic, fairly easy things still. then when he was 7 his aunt disappeared into nothingness, which put his mother and him back on the table to become Xire or Esluxia. thus, education to prepare him to be xire it is. multiple languages, history and culture from all the nations of Esluxia, geography, magical traditions, international literature, things like that

then, disaster struck. his mother died, the generational curse passed over and took his sight, and he became the only person viable to become xire after his grandmother. so they intensify his tutoring, which only becomes more difficult because he just lost his sight, plus his grandmother has him start shadowing her to learn at least a little bit of the ropes

and then disaster struck again and his grandmother died. Esluxia is without a xire because Lukiat is thirteen and he can't be xire now, he needs to be older. so noblemen and merchants and other people with agendas start vying for the rather enviable position of being the one to educate the future xire and creating a debt. Lukiat, quite overwhelmed, runs away

from age 13 to age 18, Lukiat has no formal education. he keeps learning, but through overhearing and experiencing and by how the people who take him in live. he jumps between underfounded overcrowded public schools, then makes his way into the underground and starts learning through there the subtle arts of debate, diplomacy and threatening someone, as well as all the ways to exploit how laws are written

he reappears legally very briefly to test out of a Xorean highschool, and by the time people notice he's already somewhere else. that somewhere else is actually with Sarie's father to learn medicine, which he does for a year or so before the mess that is the underground strike on the Five Rings happens. after that, Lukiat starts working up his magic, learning to control the newly aquired light resonance, sharpening his knowledge of law, politics and the very subtle ties between governments, individuals and organizations before he pops up legally, once more, in Asglen and near-ready to stake his claim on the title of xire

he becomes very rapidly a public figure there, not quite already acting as xire but people are looking up to it. and in the mean time, he manages to undertake a degree in international law and graduate in time to actually get the title of Xire. even so, with such an intensive jobs, sometimes there is a figure that's hard to make out hanging out in the back of philosophy, politics and medicine classes

Luz

okay so, Luz has maybe the most "standard" education of all three. except where Lukiat managed to evade the people vying to be his educators by running away, Luz couldn't dodge that. so while the subjects she studied were always the same (starting simple then developing into advanced magic, political sciences, law, international relations and sociology), the people teaching them tended to change depending on which political party got its hands on the royal household and thus her education

her teachers changed seven times before she was fifteen, and they were stable for the last three years. for those years, it was the People's Merit Party that were in chsrge of the royal household, and they also had it when Luz was 7-8 and then again when she was 11-13, and her teachers were people such as Ambassador Paka Senior, the director of the magic department at the Royal Academy, Sina'baj Zeronnis, the head-archivist and her assistant, and a lot of people like that. at the start of Revolve, Luz is a little over a year into her official reign and the way she values hard work and precise knowledge is very clear

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✵ Revolve Taglist ✵ @corinneglass @aalinaaaaaa @write-with-will @mymomsaysbobcipher @writeintrees @firesidefantasy @inspirationallybored @askyaphelion

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Happy Blorbo Blursday, Azzy! I have a two part question if you’ll indulge me!

Part A: rate your main OC(s) on a scale of 1 - 10 (1 being low and 10 being high) in the following attributes: Capabaility (the power and ability to take action); Relateability (doesn't have to mean likable! Rather do they have reactions, perspectives, or experiences that the reader could relate with); Proactivtity (do they take action to solve problems?) You can explain their scores in each one or not!

Part B: Does your OC(s) move up or down on one of the scales during the course of the story? If so, how? Is this important? If not, why not?

Based on this article

oh oh oh, this is interesting Star. lemme have a go at it for the main cast of Revolve

Aira

Capability: 5/10 Aira has been sort of sheltered for most of her life? so she has a bunch of skills she's good at, but it's mostly physical skills (martial arts, farmwork, some wilderness survival because she was a scout). socially? nope. she's paranoid, she has a horrible time interacting with people and she much prefers having someone to guide her through plans and social interactions

Relateability: 9/10 Aira is, under the spikes, fiercely loyal to her friends, as well as protective to a fault. she craves connection, despite feeling wholly incapable of it. plus i think anyone with a parent they really want nothing to do with can appreciate the mix of spite and self-hatred

Proactivity: 7/10 she may not be much of a leader, but if you want someone who will jump in on an impulse? who will refuse to back down and be quiet? who is willing to fight tooth and nail for the things that matter? she's there. she's first in line. you cannot stop her

Aleji

Capability: 9/10 holy monster. they start fixing shit (for themselves) from the second they appear. can you tell it's for themselves? no, absolutely not, they're fixing everyone else's problems. quite quickly actually. how? don't worry about it :)

Relateability: 6/10 they love their wife. so much. she is the light of their lives and their reason to live. to the point of destruction and madness and torture. everyone else can get fucked

Proactivity: 7/10 they're already doing it. they've been doing it. what is 'it', you ask? anything and everything that can even tangentially benefit them and their wife. anything that's not for them (or that their wife didn't asked of them) doesn't matter

Syphe

Capability: 8/10 Syphe is pretty good at what he does (espionage & information gathering) for how big of an idiot he is. serial eavesdropper and pretend gossiper, he's actually really good at keeping his mouth shut. maybe too good. gods know he doesn't tell anybody shit unless they need to know

Relateability: 6/10 lives in a permanent state of asshole pretending to be nice. he laughs with his coworkers and smiles at them and offers help but on the inside he's cursing them out. would rather stay home and fix his knife collection or tail someone for the nth time. cranky and tired because insomnia, will save someone but only because it gives him a better reputation (or so he says)

Proactivity: 5/10 for the longest time, not really. he's self serving to a fault, and that means he's usually only doing things if he can benefit from them, and only occasionally doing things for others. lately tho he's been feeling pressured to do some good in the world by his growing illness, so he can be bought

Meiviza

Capability: 7/10 a beast at hand-to-hand combat, and self taught to boot. she will hit all of your pressure points if she gets close enough, and then she'll fold you like a pretzel. unfortunately she has more trouble with the subtleties of intelligence work, so her mother's informant network gets a little lost in the sauce

Relateability: 6/10 Have You, afab person (or not), also been Catcalled? Been Harrased? Heard Nasty Comments? Been Told it is simply Not Your Place to complain or Your Duty? have a character that goes rightfully feral about it

Proactivity: 8/10 Meiviza is somewhat stopped by her mother, which she detests. as soon as her mother can't have her? gone. if she thinks you're not worth dealing with, she cuts you off. if she thinks you're worth saving then gods damn she's gonna save you no matter what it takes. she likes helping people, she'll do it the second she decides you're not a scumbag

Lukiat

Capability: 9/10 oh he's good. he's really good. sure, divine prophecies help a bunch, but he's been pulling strings for a loooong time. also, the fact that people both praise and are terrified of both his two different identities says a lot i'd say

Relateability: 6/10 ahhhh, the weight of the world. the need to save everyone. the guilt for every life you couldn't save, even when it's not your fault. the search for the moral line. the urge to run from it all. the best kind of attitude for someone in a position of authority

Proactivity: 6/10 let's let that time he ran away for five years slide. he cam back. quietly got his enemies exposed and eliminated. been pushing reforms. also, with that guilt and drive to make everything better? oh yeah he's in now

Ideli

Capability: 7/10 an incredibly competent fighter and mage out in the streets, and incredibly sharp-eyed when it comes to social interactions, especially high society ones. unfortunately tho, she's an idealist and sees the world through rose-tinted glasses, so her plans do kind of hinge on best-case scenarios. at least she's good at coming up with solutions on the spot

Relateability: 5/10 half her problems are rich people problems. the remaining half is distributed between wanting to create some lasting good in the world and dealing with family dynamics that put feudal europe to shame and incredibly justified ptsd

Proactivity: 9/10 if she weren't proactive, she wouldn't be out on the streets of Ziphia working her ass of as a vigilante and suffering people she hates and their political agendas to find a gimmer of good in it, would she?

Luz

Capability: 6/10 pretty damn badass, i would say. one could argue she has the advantage of having lived multiple lifetimes, but it's not like she remembers them. mostly, she's hella charismatic, brilliant when put on the spot, and a damn good fighter

Relateability: 8/10 every teenage girl ever, and then everyone else. she just wants to live, to go explore, for people to stop telling her what to do and who she must be and what she's not allowed dreams. well, fuck that. she's gonna go out, and she's gonna find a life that she's happy with and proud of

Proactivity: 10/10 six thousand years fighting, always fighting, never giving up, never stopping, when she fails she just gets up and tries again and again. she's proactive as fuck

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✵ Revolve Taglist ✵ @corinneglass @aalinaaaaaa @write-with-will @mymomsaysbobcipher @writeintrees @firesidefantasy @inspirationallybored @askyaphelion

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To Be Or Not To Be In The Xire's Harem?

thanks so much for the tag @lizardperson. you can find its entry here

Rules: Create a bingo board using traits of your OC's type. Others can fill it in as their OC and see if they get a bingo. Comment on the post that you got a bingo (or didn't), or reblog with your completed bingo board added!

i'm gonna tag @aalinaaaaaa @firesidefantasy @elkieselkiewrites and @mymomsaysbobcipher, plus open tag for anyone who wants in

today's target is Lukiat and his ever-growing list of lovers

blank under the cut

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Runaway (Leave Nothing Behind)

written for Flash Fiction Friday 319, event hosted by @flashfictionfridayofficial

WIP ✵ Revolve

Trigger Warnings ✵ N/A

Rating ✵ Gen

Wordcount ✵ 597

Lukiat has his arm halfway into his backpack when the rustle of wings and the flutter of wind make themselves known in the room's window. He doesn't turn around at the wood panel's slide against its frame though. He's gotten familiar with the mana signature he can feel from behind it, light and quivering and whirling.

"Running?" comes Kea's voice from the now-open window, immediately followed by the soft thump of feet against the floor.

Lukiat stuffs the last tunic into the backpack and sighs. "I felt a familiar mana signature down at the market. I have to–"

"I know," Kea says, draping one hand over Lukiat's back as he leans beside him. A soft rustle of fabric drops into his open backpack and feather-light lips press to his cheek. "I get it."

"I"m sorry," Lukiat says, voice barely a whisper.

Kea doesn't reply. Not at first. He just keeps one hand on Lukiat's back, claws slightly digging into his coat, and keeps packing away at Zhang existence.

It's only when Lukiat starts to wander the room, patting every surface to tuck away the loose bits, that Kea speaks up, his hand leaving Lukiat's back as he walks over to the makeshift desk. "Y'know, I had plans to leave too in a couple days."

Lukiat's head snaps up, and he whirls around so fast that he nearly loses his balance. Only Kea's hands on his shoulders keep him from falling ."Really?"

A rustle of fabric and wings, and Lukiat can nearly hear the smile in Kea's voice. "It's getting boring here."

"I'm sure it is," Lukiat says before he can think about it.

Kea's laughter puffs air onto his neck. His hands leave Likud shoulders. "Point is, I can pack up quickly, and I don't mind compromising on destination," he says, voice far quieter than usual. Clawed hands grab his, lifting them up between them. "We could go somewhere together."

Lukiat falters, squeezing Kea's hands. "I… I don't know. Wouldn't it be harder to find somewhere to sleep?"

"Not with the right contacts."

"Kea," Lukiat hisses. He tries to step away, but the other holds his hands tight.

"Hear me out, Zhan," he says, quiet as the wind. "You know the kind of jobs I take. I'm not dragging you deep, you know that. And if you want to do this long-term you need a lot more stuff. A fake ID, certifications, covers. We can get those. Void, the Idefexi would even keep an eye on whatever you're running from."

Lukiat sighs. He thumps his head against Kea's shoulder and just leaves it there. "I hate this."

"I'm sor–"

"Don't be," Lukiat interrupts. "You're right. I just…"

"We're not bad people. I promise." Kea pulls away slightly, and his hands come back to Lukiat's shoulders. "Do you trust me?"

"For some insane reason," Lukiat half-laughs. He takes a deep breath and lays a hand over Kea's wrist. "Alright, let's do this. Together."

Kea's wings flutter behind them, sending the slightest breeze through the room as he steps away. "I'll go pack my bag. Meet you at Madam Eripatla's?"

Lukiat hums. "Of course."

Kea's fingers drift over his hand again. "Be right there," he says, before dropping out of the window in a flutter of wings. Lukiat can feel his mana signature fly off. And like a summoned monster, the other he'd recognized passes below the window.

Lukiat flinches away from the glass. He takes a deep breath, steels himself. If Ilibenomk is so dead set on finding him, then Lukiat is going to make himself disappear.

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✵ Revolve Taglist ✵ @corinneglass @aalinaaaaaa @write-with-will @mymomsaysbobcipher @writeintrees @firesidefantasy @inspirationallybored @askyaphelion

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QUICK! what are your 3 favorite FFF pieces you've ever written, and why those?

ooooo, this is such a nice question. thank you so much!

top spot goes to A Curse Cast

i adored the prompt and i wish i could have written more. the Lifexi Revolution is one of those pieces of worldbuilding that i adore and that i spent so much time on and i regularly come up with new material for

if that wasn't enough, Yilvar (the leader of the revolution) is such an interesting and complex character, and King Asema is his perfect foil. they're both very morally gray bastards who do plenty of horrible things in order to protect their nation. unfortunately their nation is the same and they consider each other a threat. genuinely their only difference is that Asema is a little more okay with looking the bad guy while Yilvar is really good at getting a crowd to like him

also in the piece itself i adore Asema's curse on Yilvar. aside from generational curses being awesome in general (and this one isn't on bloodline, it's on dynasty, so it clings to the family name), the way the one Asema casts is worded fills me with joy. if you haven't read the piece, this is the curse:

“I love this kingdom, you know? These people were mine to protect. And may they know peace after this, but you. You never will, nor your descendants after you. You want my throne? Then you will always fight and bleed and lose what you love for it.”

it's an incredibly damning curse that tells so much about what Asema is like as a person. i adore it

second place probably goes to Dandelion (In A Concrete Prison)

it's one of my earliest pieces trying to figure out the relationship between Livi and vilaer host (or at least for the First Fallen in particular) and it really helped me nail down the tone and characterization and mechanics for vilaem

helpfulness aside, i adore its subject. of all the Livi to explore (which i've also done in Over The Smoke with a diffferent one), the First Fallen is incredibly complex and interesting simply by the fact that vie is bound behind vier host's conciousness. which means vie can see very little, it takes viem a lot of energy to even start getting to the forefront, and vie cannot communicate with vier host. not in actual words like the other Livi do at the very least

also, it has one of my best uses of the strikethrough. like, i know you like the strikethrough. this one. this one, i tell you, is peak. it truly works so well with the narration and gives such a nice taste to the angst. plus, y'know, hints of plot but who caaaaaaaaaares?

third place is a hard choice, because i love both Torrential and What's A Friend Worth? for very similar reasons

those two pieces are very friendship-centric and filled with banter, which is a thing i love. it's an extremely solid way to show bonds and personality who people tease and what for. but there is a very strong difference between Zeno's "i can't believe you want to talk to the river" to Ike and Kea's "you make me homophobic" to Lukiat, and that is after you consider that Zeno is deep in denial about his crush on Ike while Kea and Lukiat were friends with benefits for years

the contexts of the two pieces are entirely different. where Zeno and Ike are in a tense almost-stand off because it's the first time Zeno is talking to a fabeir rather than fighting it, Kea and Lukiat are just casually drinking and talking shit. where Torrential leads off into a plot-relevant incident, What's A Friend Worth? is entirely character-centric

as a plus, Zeno and Ike are (still) on the lighter end of the moral spectrum. yes they work in secrecy and Zeno especially has dealt with the fabeir through violence, but in his defense he was misled. with Lukiat (political figure with international weight) and Kea (assasin and informant) things get immediately more shady. when you consider the money exchange that follows a conversation about travel expenses and an elusive politician... yeah, they're a fair bit more morally grey

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✵ Revolve Taglist ✵ @corinneglass @aalinaaaaaa @write-with-will @mymomsaysbobcipher @writeintrees @firesidefantasy @inspirationallybored @askyaphelion

⛧ Unearthly Taglist ⛧ @elkieselkiewrites @wildweeds @mymomsaysbobcipher

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(hello !! another sts bc i'm bored !!) what are your characters most obvious red flags?

oo, this is a very interesting question, i never thought about that. lemme figure out a list of actual serious answers

for Revolve we have:

Aira ✵ lies about anything, even about little things. i'm talking "impulsively lies about eating the last biscuit" levels, bordering on gaslighting the other person

Ele ✵ needs constant validation/approval from someone else. usually it's Aira who gets the "hey should i buy this or that?" texts, and won't date Beriel until Aira gives her approval. Aira is not aware of this

Aleji ✵ is a workaholic, too busy for almost anything, everything and anyone. they're never "just chilling"

Beriel ✵ struggles with making decisions on her own, and because she's so indecisive it's really easy to get her to change her mind

Dani ✵ takes every negative opinion as a personal attack. even a "you look tired" gets twisted and interpreted as "look at this loser who took so much time studying that he didn't get sleep"

Syphe ✵ never said sorry and meant it. most of the time you get fake apologies, at best you get apology gifts

Meiviza ✵ really strong anger issues, and otherwise pretty unemotional

Ideli ✵ out of touch with how regular people live, her vision of the world is extremely idealized

Lukiat ✵ very obvious favoritism when there really shouldn't be

Niev ✵ still looking for Reyenn (it's sweet, yeah, but also major Yikes)

Reyenn ✵ the worst case of "i can fix him" mentality ever

and then as a bonus, have some In Destiny We Trust (Not):

Zeno ⛧ apathetic about most topics, will always look at others for guidance

Ike ⛧ majorly protective and possesive

thanks so much for the question! it was a really good character-building exercise lmao

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✵ Revolve Taglist ✵ @corinneglass @aalinaaaaaa @write-with-will @mymomsaysbobcipher @writeintrees @firesidefantasy @inspirationallybored

⛧ Unearthly Taglist ⛧ @elkieselkiewrites @wildweeds @mymomsaysbobcipher