Decided to do one of the techniques I have to help solidify a character in my mind: writing a monologue from their perspective. Here’s the mnologue for Cristus, my male OC.
Summary
The world is beautiful. I know there are more than a few who would scoff at that statement, see it as childish naivete, but it’s true. The sight of the sun glinting over a hill. The myriad colors of flora, fauna and stone. The ethereal precision of mathematics. The tangled web of connections, obligations and deals that creates a society. The muscles swimming under the skin with every twist and turn of a person’s body. The very concept of knowledge, the idea of an idea. Even death has its own morbid beauty. I want to know beauty in every form, and if Myteus wills it, I shall. I can’t ask for anything greater.
Ohh, I want to comment on this, but it would be a spoiler. I’m so tempted, though. Should I? Well, I give part of it away later in this post.
Lol, I love this! Sounds like your prince would get along well with Nethica.
I do something similar! When I’m still figuring out a character, I’ll write a bit from their perspective. It really, really helps.
I love this so, so much! “The muscles swimming under the skin with every twist and turn of a person’s body.” I loved that line. I like how Cristus sounds.
I love questions like these! From most powerful to least:
Jasiphae. She belongs to House Asimina, which rivals Maeliah in wealth and influence, though Maeliah still has them beat by a bit. They have ties to Edoilese nobles.
Nethica. He’s from House Varena, and their ancestral seat is an important and wealthy port city. A cousin of his married into Merlian nobility; another married a Dharsani prince.
Iseriah. She’s of House Thyminae. They are one of the oldest families in Ophaesia and have an obscene amount of land. Members of her House tend to remain at their estates in the countryside, but when they do come to court, people pay attention.
Kaedra. She and her twin brother Kyrisen are House Galithon. Their House was only established a couple generations ago, but their family is adept at political machinations.
Mavrys. He belongs to House Corathin, which has married into House Dahlas (or will). His older sister Nytheris marries Princess Raelis’s son Raedyn.
Atheron. He’s a Kavendis. His family was respected landed gentry, but King Eraven rewards him with letters patent, declaring him a noble and thus forming House Kavendis.
Senetha & Pythia. They’re not related, but they have roughly the same amount of influence, which is to say none at all.
Sebriel. He’s from House Dulisca, which is actually very, very powerful – in Verey. He himself is a powerful and influential person within Ophaesia, but that is due to his own merit, not his family.
Very interesting! Though I’m interested in the differences in these families and their scions!
Take Jasiphae. She comes from a very powerful family, but how well ‘integrated’ into her family’s power structure would she be? You also said she was very intelligent, I’m curious about what kind of intelligence it is? A poet’s, a mathematician’s, a social theorist’s?
Kaedra is my other RO of choice, so how connected is she to her family’s power and politics? Is she even interested in that sort of thing?
Yep. Literally everything new learned about Nethica and Sebriel just further confirms that I’m in love. Jasiphae as well, but she is too close to my mc to be a romance option and I’m still only going for female mcs. I am going to absolutely adore her friendship arch beyond bounds, though. She sounds so flippin kickbutt, how could you not?
If you don’t mind answering questions, I have so many. But to keep it down to just a few for now - How would a Jasiphae type build of an mc work with Nethica or Sebriel? Would they be compatible at an initial level? And are there any characers/ros that hold disdain for/hate one another?
(I love hearing about your world and characters to uncomfortable levels.)
Although my prince wouldn’t even bother to do something just to anoy his father dearest, he can’t handle a challenge very well. So he would be like:
“No scratch that. I can do a better job at it while getting drunk in the process”
Well, intelligence is his strongest skill so being constantly drunk would not suit him very well. Also his trust issues would not let him get his guard down for too long.
So sexy Sebby would actually be a very good match, provided we could get a gay marriage acknowledged in Ophaesia? Verey was the culture that did allow them already, right?
Well Nethica is cute, but he’ll never love my prince that way and Sebby is even cuter. Nethica does seem like he’d make for an awesome friend once my prince gets old enough to be interested in those kinds of parties.
I do agree with that, also I believe being more intelligent then dear old dad and not bothering to hide it is one of the things that annoys him.
I genuinely laughed out loud at this! You’re killing me with these bits of dialogue lol
She’s very well-integrated into her family’s power structure. Her family considers her an asset – perhaps, though, not in the way she would like. She’s somewhat like a young Ysonia in that her House values her for what (or who) she can bring the family rather than her as an individual.
As for her intelligence, she’s exceedingly well-read and can quote ancient scholars without missing a beat. Philosophy, literature, and history is where she excels most, but she’s skilled at math, as well. Her weakness is in communicating with others. She’s mastered Ophaesian etiquette and is quite good at dissembling, but for her, a conversation follows a script and when the other person goes offbook, she gets flustered. A person who is frank or unpredictable throws her. She often thinks over an impending conversation for hours beforehand, planning over all possibilities and how she should react.
Kaedra is very connected to her family’s power and politics. Her brother is too, somewhat – he’s more interested in the power, not so much the politics. Kaedra will act as an agent in her family’s interests, if it suits her and for the most part it does. She rather likes all the scheming and backstabbing, though she treats it as a game. She plays it for the sake of playing it; she doesn’t care too much about accumulating power.
Nethica enjoys the benefits his family’s power brings him, but he doesn’t give a whit for politics. He just likes being able to do whatever he pleases without consequence.
Iseriah loathes politics. She’d much rather be causing mischief and undermining politics than partaking in any of it. She is a Thyminae, however, so her family name bails her out of trouble. They take care of their own.
Mavrys, bless his heart, isn’t well-suited to politics. He’s totally artless. The rest of the family takes care of the politics for him, and they’re quite adept at it. He’s often an unwitting pawn in their schemes. No one ever sees it coming. Himself especially.
I don’t mind at all! I actually love all these questions! It’s also really good for me as a writer.
A Jasiphae-type build would work well with Sebriel, but I can definitely see it working with Nethica too, though in a different way.
Nethica would find how focused the MC is when studying cute and then would wonder what it would take to disrupt that focus. If the MC is serious (and proper) like Jasiphae, he would delight in irking or unsettling her. He would probably shamelessly flirt, likely as another way to fluster the MC, but would distance himself if it genuinely upsets the MC or if he feels like she’s falling for him.
The moment the MC, male or female, meets Sebriel, he’s appraising them. He’s sizing them up, figuring out where they stand, what influence they have, and whether they’re a capable player of the game. His first few interactions with the MC will be him more or less testing them. An MC like Jasiphae would definitely interest him. He’ll want to test the limits of their intelligence, their influence, their political prowess. Each conversation, every interaction will be a competition of who’s best at dissembling, who can out-maneuver whom. If the MC has plans, he’ll try to interfere, regardless of whether he has a personal stake in them – he just wants to see what the MC would do. An MC who can outplay him? Nothing would excite him more. He’d still want to win, though.
As for characters that disdain/hate one another…
Eraven and Ysonia obviously hate each other. Neraven and Keralith hate Ysonia too and more so than the other siblings.
House Verathae hates House Maeliah and vice versa. (House Verathae is the house of Queen Alapharen, the queen before Ysonia.) House Asimina and House Maeliah have a rivalry.
Eraven hates Sebriel. Neraven hates Sebriel. Keralith hates Sebriel. Jasiphae hates Sebriel. Senetha hates Sebriel. Atheron hates Sebriel. Most of Ophaesia hates Sebriel because he’s Vereyan.
Kaedra and Jasiphae do not like each other.
Jasiphae and Iseriah don’t like each other.
Atheron is not a fan of Nethica. Jasiphae doesn’t like him either.
Althorys (Ysonia’s brother) hates Eraven.
Nethica hates Kaedra’s twin brother Kyrisen. The feeling is mutual.
Can I steal this? I want to steal this.
I had to double check my notes on this! I have a whole private Wiki set up for Seven Heirs and its world, thank god. It’s invaluable for keeping up with everything because there is so much to keep up with. Maybe after the game is finished, I’ll make a public version of my Wiki? There will be a VERY watered-down version on my website. (Mainly the character profiles will be watered-down, as they contain the most spoilers.)
Verey doesn’t have gay marriage, as marriage is largely political (alliances and heirs and whatnot), but they do acknowledge consorts, an important romantic partner outside a marriage. They receive all the same rights as a spouse and are treated virtually the same. There was speculation that Zevya, the Vereyan prince, was going to declare a male lover of his his consort, but they instead broke up.
Now, in regards to getting gay marriage or the equivalent acknowledged in Ophaesia, I think it’s possible, depending on your choices.
Ooh, and how many different stats/skills will our characters be able to be proficient at?
I mentioned wanting a Jasiphae-esque build, but I’ve had a few more ideas ever since reading about the life of a Chinese noblewoman named Wang Zhenyi.
Not only was she an intelligent scientist and mathematician, but was even taught martial arts, archery, and riding! Could our smarty-pants princesses who excel in ettiquette and pretending to be obedient also be secretly good at kicking butt?
But to keep it down to just a few for now - How would a Jasiphae type build of an mc work with Nethica or Sebriel? Would they be compatible at an initial level? And are there any characers/ros that hold disdain for/hate one another?
He’s too pure and sweet!
Aren’t you the one writing it? 