#revolve syphe

[ark-inkweaving]

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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[ark-inkweaving]

(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

❊

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

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[ark-inkweaving]

Your mystery question is here! :)

Home: What makes your character think of or feel like they are home?

hii! thank you so much

for Aira and Ele, home is the scent of nature and firewood and the cawing of crows. it reminds them of the farmhouse, which was home already back when Aira's mother owned it, but now that Leo has it it's a thousand times more home than either their houses

Beriel is reminded of home in loud markets and big crowds. to her, home is definitely not a place

Dani is caught between two answers: chocolate cookies, the rustle of paper and stained sinks, or fireplaces, dark stone and the smell of sweat. either with his father or with Aleji and Luz

Aleji and Luz are entirely each other's home, so anything that reminds them of the other is a go. for Luz, it's mostly coffee and inkstains and old leatherbound books, and for Aleji it's dandelions and gold jewelry and pretty knives

to the entire Unseen (Syphe, Dajsper, Tumaril, Ideli, Irami and Meiviza), home is the base. metal and stone and the heavy scent of grease from Tumaril's workshop, and it's clothes draped on every surface and bowls of shared food and rock music playing quietly in the background while someone argues

to Lukiat, home is still barn roofs and lukewarm soup and the kindness of strangers (and children's laughter and soap bubbles and a quiet steady presence at his side)

to Niev, home is casual touches and magic skittering over his skin and the warmth of pride in his chest

Reyenn doesn't quite have a concept of home yet. but when he looks for comfort, he thinks of the cold

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

[ark-inkweaving]

Hey Azzy! Happy STS! I love your symbolism for Ike and Zeno, we love a sun/moon + warm colours/cold colours pair! Do you have any clear symbolism for the main characters in your other work? Do you actively decide on their thematics or do they sort of come organically as you're fleshing out the characters?

hey Jas! happy STSunday(?) i am very late lmao

i'm glad you like the symbolism! i always have a lot of fun with it, and i can proudly say that it is e v e r y w h e r e

i can tell you for sure that most characters in Revolve have their own symbolism, though that's a feature (?) of how i originally created the cast back in 2017 (yes it has been 8 years of this. send help). the characters were originally meant to be heavily linked to their elements, almost to the point of personification. over the years they all just sort of morphed, shifted and grew around the elements, but never really abandoned them

in fact, the main characters more so grew into the elements rather than around, though in more subtle ways

of course Aira is always reaching out to people without really managing to, she's Space. she's the Stars and the milions of lightyears of distance and the deep loneliness of being "different"

of course Syphe has spent his life stuck on trying to find his past and trying to predict the future, of course he never stops, he's Time. he's the slow movement of Planets and the ticking of the hourglass

of course Aleji has a whole double life they're keeping hidden, of course they're a manipulator, have you never heard of the dark side of the Moon? this is just what the Mind does, it plays tricks on you

of course Meiviza is burning herself out, of course she feels the need to outchine everyone, of course she has violent outbursts, she's the Sun, she's the ache in your Body, she's the pain of trying too hard

if i say too much about Luz we get into spoiler territory, but let it be known that in my mind she is a single dandelion breaking through the cracks in the concrete

as for other works, they do start with an idea of symbolism, but it doesn't always stick and i try not to force it to. i haven't been able to put anything down for either The Other Side or Mighty//Wicked, but i can tell you this:

in The Lost Sea Symphony, Talia is the lighthouse and Ester is the harbor. however both of them are also grief, only Talia is the quiet, resigned grief that stays on your shoulder and Ester is the loud, angry grief that you wield like a weapon

in The Mortal God, the whole gang (Aren, Leta, Ciela, Riem and Jefi) is slowly stabilizing around a semblance of symbolism, but it's not quite yet defined. they'll probably settle more once i start getting into the nitty-gritty of the plot

so, it really depends. i try not to restrain the characters to fit them into the symbolism, but characters that are important enough always tend to spontaneusly develop one, and the ones that start from the symbolism grow organically into and around it

(bonus point: the original versions of Ike and Zeno had different symbolism. Ike was the phoenix (for obvious reasons) and Zeno was the lion. i kept that reference through Ike having a phoenix tattoo on his shoulder, and Zeno's star sign is Leo)

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[ark-inkweaving]

hello !! give your favourite character(s) a cute lil stuffed animal and a sweet treat. what do you give them and why?

i am very late answering this but it is so adorable. thanks so much for the ask <3

Aira gets a star-shaped plushie about as big as a throw pillow. it has a little face stitched in and a stereotypical wizard hat and wand. as for a treat, Dani's chocolate biscuits. they are incredibly fudgy and chocolatey and they're by far her favorite, though she'd rather die than admit to that (ask me about sweets in EttDS and you will have my eternal love)

Syphe gets a handstitched teddy bear from Dajsper and Tumaril. it is the ugliest thing ever, uneven, with a bit too little stuffing. He says he hates it, but he won't go to sleep if he isn't sure that thing is under is pillow. and for a sweet treat, a very sugary pumpkin cake. specifically, the one Tumaril's mum bakes. he is rude to everyone except Tumaril's mum, and the pumpkin cake is a big part of it

Meiviza gets a jellyfish plushie that can be turned inside out. one side is pale green with a smiling face and the other is pale yellow an angry face. she keeps it almost exclusively on the angry face. and with that, mango ice cream. mango is not a common fruit in Reiki, and she fell in love with it the one time she tried it in Ideli's company. plus, it makes for some good breakdown icecream. she deserves it

Aleji gets a really pretty glowmoss plushie that is covered in sparkles and glows in the dark. they adore it and keep it on a shelf where it can somewhat light up the room at night. they get honey muffins with a vanilla glaze. and i'm talking about the fancy vanilla. they don't have much of a love for sweets, but when they do they go for the fancy stuff

Luz gets an actual blåhaj from ikea. the big one. Aleji gets it for her as a joke but she actually loves it and thinks sharks are awesome (she's right). and for a treat, and this is very specific, rice and rose water cake. i have had it once (1) and it's amazing, and i feel like she'd love the simple and subtly floral taste

and finally Reyenn also gets a handmade stuffie but of a magic tome, because his sister has a sense of humor. this will spiral into Reyenn having a collection of varying book-shaped plushies made and gifted by friends. for a sweet he gets a berliner completely stuffed with akkomaviberry jam. one hell of a heavy duty sweet, and though Reyenn doesn't remember it, he loved akkomaviberry back when his family was still around. it was his favorite fruit (fun fact: akkomaviberry is a native Izerkean berry. it grows nowhere else)

❊

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[ark-inkweaving]

Happy STS! Describe your OC's resume.

heya, happy sts to you!

ohohoh this is fun. i have a couple of idiots who actually had to hand in a resume to get a job, so i'll get them

Aleji ✵ Head Researcher in the University's Department very consistent high grades, independant research in uni and professor reccomendations can get you places. specifically in the university's research department. from there it's easy work to get a lab and start on (supervised) independent research that then expands to a small team

Syphe ✵ Interning as a Junior Administrator in the Reikian Court private tutoring until highschool, then top grades in a private highschool, internships at a big company over the summer, captain of the finance club, vice-captain of the debate team (and a childhood in the Underground. the government really needs info on the Underground) (it's not a bribe, it's just encouragement) (most of the info he gives is fake)

Dajsper ✵ IT Security in the Reikian Court nepo baby. (jk xe actually had a perfectly good resume with all xir techonlogical skills and additional courses) (the fact that xir father is the CEO of the main digital security company in Reiki sure helped tho)

Meiviza ✵ PA to the Imperial Princess a slew of scholarships in her name, consistent top-class grades, class rapresentative for a number of years, a lot of languages and self defense training (plus Irami already knew her)

Tumaril ✵ TA for the Bioinformatical Algorythms he built a fucking prosthetic leg out of scraps, programmed it and attached it to his missing limb in under a week, while kept prisoner and heavily injured by a collapsed building. bro trust me, he can do it

Niev ✵ Personal Guard to the Xire his sponsor made the resume and it was almost literally just "that's the guy that killed four void beasts on his own in 10 minutes. you might want him"

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

[ark-inkweaving]

🎻

heya, thanks for the ask!

🎻 VIOLIN — does your oc play any instruments? what is their skill level (beginner/intermediate/advanced/virtuoso/etc)?

no one in the Elegy to the Desperate Stars crew plays any instruments, so i'm moving on to the guys in Requiem of the Breathing Worlds

Syphe loves music and learned a variety of instruments under the Wiroski's tutelage. he's classically trained in violin, viola and cello, as well as the piano. however, as the dramatic bitch he secretly is, his favorite is the organ

Dajsper was also classically trained by xir parents in the same instruments as Syphe against xir will, but managed to convince them to add flute to the roster. that one xe's surprisingly fond of

similarly, xir spouse Irami is also classically trained (rich kids smh) and holds a deep love for doublebass. y'know, the cello's big brother. absolutely gigantic instrument

Ideli also learned the violin, but really she plays it more like a fiddle to her uncle's delight (this family needs to stop bonding over acts of rebellion)

neither Meiviza nor Tumaril play any instruments, but you know who does? fucking Kea, that's who. like that bard stereotype he is, he plays the lute, the guitar, the harp, the lyre and the fiddle

[questions list]

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[ark-inkweaving]

Your mystery question is here! :)

Butterfly: What's the biggest change your OC has faced in their life?

heya, thanks for the ask (and the ask game)!

the biggest change? hmm, i reckon a coule of people have really big changes

Lukiat's biggest change is either going blind or leaving the idefexi circles (semi-criminal spaces) to claim his title and go lead the alliance. both of them were very sudden changes, though the first he had no control over and the second he actively chose

both Aira and Syphe got their magic locked away, and Syphe also lost a good chunk of his memories. and again, this happened very very quickly (45 minutes to 1 hour)

Onisdre lost everything very quickly. went from a top templar captain trusted a lot by nobility to fully kicked out of the temple, stripped of her titles and medals, her lover died, her friends renounced her, got disowned, the full package

and i would say Reyenn, but he doesn't really remember it and never got quite the full experience. he was the son of a lord in Izerko, a quite powerful one too with political influence and plenty of riches... and then his family died and he ended up non the streets. he was 5 or 6 so there wasn't much time for him to get spoiled, but it's still one hell of a jump

however, though he's not from Revolve, Ike might beat them all on count of a near-death experience giving him magical powers, magical sight and the ability to get possessed. that's a funky one

❊

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