Hidden Haven

Keeping this as record. Apparently INTP/ESFJ are about as unalike as you can get and not likely to get along. Ah weelz.

( V+R )

There are few characters who elevated so quickly in my opinions as this guy...apart from maybe Neillan.



The little prince of southwest Talgrith. It's funny to call him that, because he has a pretty big personality and even though I do imagine him as...well, not a large person, but I don't associate him with being the little pampered royalty, like Sigmund. LOL. Vivrael can get away with patronising Sigmund and calling him "princeling", but Rossaer doesn't have the protected greenhouse feel to him. And he'd probably hit Vivant if he tried LOL.

The Hanged Man is associated with sacrificing physical wealth for spiritual wealth. I think his choices later on fit the descriptions of the card more closely - the loss of his attachments to his current identity (okay...I have to say, it wasn't so much HIS choice as Vivant's fault), the change in perspective, the wisdom he gains from that.

I don't think he ever has an epiphany as the card suggests, not even quite as dramatic as Vivant's "reverse epiphany", if there is such a thing >_>;;; The changes come over him slowly, but I think he does change. Even though a lot of the chapters since his introduction are changing the readers' first impressions of him, I think he also changes during that time. But I don't think he tries to be the good guy or wants to pay the price, there is a strong element of selfishness in his decisions, which might sound bad, but I think he also tries to balance his own selfishness with the number of people he would hurt.

On that thread he's similar with Vivant (although I think there are many points in which the two of them are similar, and many others in which they are interesting dichotomies), who also makes a lot of choices out of selfishness, but I think they both understand that, and there's a little part of themselves who won't forgive their own actions.

I was reading someone's blog when I came upon a match rate for Pisces and Virgo...which happened to correspond to the Rowan and Sigmund pairing. It said this:

處女座能安靜的為魚兒混亂的思緒理出頭緒，也能幫助魚魚走出逃避的狀態，對善於做夢的雙魚有督導的功能。同樣的雙魚也會引出處女柔情的一面，兩個人浪漫的愛情能夠滿足處女座內心深處對愛情的夢想，所以這是很互補的一樣哦！兩人的心思都很複雜，對於彼此有著細微的了解，在相處上形成了一種別人想像不到的默契！

Virgo can quietly help comb out the Piscean's tangled thoughts, and can help Pisces walk out of their escapism, and has a directive effect on the dreamy Pisces. Similarly, Pisces can bring out the soft side of the Virgo, the romantic love between the two can satisfy what the Virgo has deep in the heart as their dream love, so this is a very well-complemented match! Both people have very complicated feelings, and have delicate understanding of each other, and can form an unexpected mutual understanding!

It matches =0=;;;;; It matches almost exactly (apart from the romantic love part XDD) Rowan and Sigmund are destined for each other...or maybe I'm just too good at matching them to their star signs XDDD

I realise I've never made an important character a Leo ==; I think I'm just really bad at exhibitionist personalities...(has just gone and offended every person born under Leo...)

One day I shall assign everyone in Vivant's story to a star sign XDD The only ones I know for sure at the moment are Vivant as a Scorpio and Kamaeh as Gemini.

I can't remember if I set Lyriel as Sagittarius or Capricorn ==; Her and Vivrael are one or the other. I think she's Capricorn because Vivrael seems more like a Sagittarius type? >_>;

Can I just say that....

Sometimes it's annoying writing a character who's clever? =______=;;;;;;

I know, I know, I stopped writing Rowan's story because I found him too dumb. Am I going to stop writing Vivant's story because I'm finding him too smart? Orz

I'm nearly done with the part just before they reach Averron. What was originally meant to be Terethise-centric turned so Rossaer-centric I had to rename the file ==;;;;

Thanks to Vivant's smartassness, there was at least one major change and many minor changes to what I originally envisioned.

I was originally going to have Vivant kill Rossaer's beast because he thought Rossaer went and blabbermouthed something to some people, but nooooooooo, he had to realise Rossaer didn't do it, and so I had to make up some other reason for him killing Rossaer's beast! ** (Hey, don't talk about it as though you didn't write him that way ==;) (**Actually, that reason always existed so it wasn't that I had to pull something out of my ass, so to speak ==;)

Arrrgh, now Vivant's and Rossaer's relationship has totally walked into the "It's Complicated" territory. I mean it's all very well with Rowan and Sigmund in their own complicated way, but at least that was in third person. I suspect Vivant doesn't even know how he feels about Rossaer half the time, although I could say the same for how Vivant feels about any other character at that particular point in the plot. It was a time of turmoil and change =v=

In fact, Rossaer is starting to remind me of Sigmund, which is...I don't know how that happened considering they started off so far apart (but now, come to think of it, they do have similarities in their upbringing --;;;; argh). Fortunately, Vivant is not reminding me of Rowan, but I haven't written the first bit of their time together and I suspect Vivant is much more Rowan-like-submissive in the beginning, out of requirement ==;

Rossaer's nowhere near as vulnerable as Sigmund, even though I think he's been through worse than what Sigmund has (yes...). I think the difference is he's partially at fault and he's invited much of what happened to him. Though he's in the perfect position to say "but I had no choice", he doesn't, because he knows he had made a choice to live, whatever the means. He's also not cold and tsundere like Sigmund...instead of keeping his emotions bottled up, he's more of the unsympathetic kind who cares very little for others, even at his best. I don't think he ever comes to see Vivant like Sigmund does Rowan, as an obligation or as someone he needs to protect.

There are a lot of female entities in the tarot deck, and I have a dearth of important female characters that I like enough to use as tarot. Here is one I had always intended to use, somewhere:



I hadn't decided on what Hinkan would be until I read Aeclectic's interpretation.

On the bleak landscape where the Tower stood, the Fool sits, empty, despairing. He hoped to find himself on this spiritual journey, but now he feels he's lost everything, even himself. Sitting on the cold stones, he gazes up at the night sky wondering what's left. And that is when he notices, nearby, a beautiful girl with two water urns. As he watches, she kneels by a pool of water illuminated with reflected starlight. She empties the urns, one into the pool, one onto the thirsty ground.

"What are you doing," he asks her. She looks up at him, her eyes twinkling like stars. "I am refilling this pool, so that those who are thirsty may drink, and I am also watering the earth so that, come spring, the seeds will grow," she tells him. And then she adds, "Come. Drink." The Fool comes to kneel with her by the pool and drink. The water tastes wonderful, like liquid starlight. "I can see you are sad," the girl continues, "and I know why. But you must remember that you have not lost all. Knowledge, possibilities, and hope, you still have all of these. Like stars, they can lead you to a new future." Even as she says this, she began to fade away, like dew, vanishing. All that remains is a gleam that was at the center of her forehead. This rises up and up, until it settles in the night sky as a shining star. "Follow your star," the woman's voice seems to sing from that light, "and have hope." The Fool takes in a breath and rises. It is a dark night, a desolate land. But for the first time, he has a guiding light to show him the way. Distant as it is, it heals his heart, and restores his faith.

Hinkan is one of the few characters that loves Vivant unwaveringly, but I hesitate to put the word love anywhere near them because I don't want their relationship to be mistaken. Probably once or twice, Vivant might have mistaken his own feelings of gratitude and thought he loved her like a woman, but she herself always knows where she stands with him. She loves him, but there is a distance between them, just as there was a different distance between she and Mordan. She's not someone to fall blindly and irreversibly in love. She believes that all meetings come at the price of an eventual parting, and she's never tied down a man simply because she loved him.

Without spoiling what their relationship becomes... Vivant is an important existence in her life, bound by the love of friendship and the duty of oath and the burden of guilt. I think she is an amazing girl, who becomes what people need her to be - not what they want or what she wants.

The picture would have been set some years after she parted with Vivant. I mentioned her in the epilogue, the Prilloni boy who asked Vivant to visit her. I think she knows he'll never come, and she takes solace in knowing that they are watching the same night sky. Even if the constellations she sees won't be the same as what he sees, she knows he'll see the same constellations some day. Even if she searched the endless oceans for him she may never find him, but she takes solace in knowing that he's drinking from a river somewhere that will one day run to the sea and join her. Even if she dies without meeting him again, she takes heart in believing their bond, and that they'll meet again in some other life. I don't think she's absurdly optimistic, just possessed of an incredible tranquillity of the mind.

As for Vivant, Hinkan becomes the hope...the light at the end of the tunnel that he knows will always be there, and so he can find his way with its help, without having to go towards it. Because he knows that if he ever needs her, if he ever feels starved of hope, he could find her and she would accept him, and so...perhaps he could hold out just that little longer...perhaps he could bear just a little more. And I think she is incredibly foresighted to send him that Prilloni child, who will equally dote on Vivant, and who will be there even when she is gone, so that when his mind tires, his heart will always have someone to turn to.

I have to apologise for the colour scheme, haven't had time to edit it properly yet.

I'm proud to announce that I've been writing! LOL.

I actually don't have much to say at this point, because there's been no new characters and no major character changes. Or maybe this has been brewing for so long I just don't notice it...

How do I put it...I just can't wait for Vivant to start banging heads together.

I know he's not technically a nice character even now, but he's so apathetic. Well...not so much apathetic as...just generally resigned to everything. Easy-going? Unfussed? Unfazable?

This was always the intention, actually, because the whole first half was meant to show how carefree Vivant can be. But still, it's not as fun when writing it.

Vivant's a smart character (yes...for once...), but he's easy-going when it comes to other people's stupidity (unlike myself...ahem), especially if the stupidity doesn't cause any direct injury to someone he cares about.

He doesn't seem to be so quick to pass judgements. I tend to think it's because he doesn't have the luxury of knowing what he really believes in. Religion, moral, culture...all that kind of stuff, he seems to bypass them and go instead for first principles.

...Hmmm...I really don't have much to say ==; Except I'd like to work Terethise into the story more. I am kind of regretting the personality I gave her =0=; Because it's making her very difficult to work with ==;;;;;

Gah.

After being the main character for a story I've tried to write over three years, you'd think I'd have more than two pictures of just this kid by himself....



Like Vivrael and Vivant, I decided pretty quickly on Rowan being "The Hermit". Unlike "The Fool" or "The Magician", the meaning of "The Hermit" card is fairly close to our impressions of hermitage. The lone person, who seeks solitude, who needs to retreat from human society, who may be knowledgeable but his wariness of human contact prevents him from sharing that knowledge.

The meaning of the card is "need for withdrawal or introspection" or "the need to step out of their retreat". Rowan is naturally in the first stage and through his growing relationships with other characters, learns to do the second.

Unlike Sigmund or Vivrael, Rowan isn't "good-looking", so I always try not to draw him as so. I guess his most noticeable characteristics are innocence and uncertainty.

I know I often say that I don't like him. I don't tend to like uncertain personalities, especially in fiction, but as far as being a "character" - a tool of the story - I do like Rowan. He grew from reading too much postmodernist theory in year 12.

Where Vivant is a very traditional main character - he learns fast, he's quick-thinking, he has limited tolerance for tyranny, he gets along with people (when he wants to) etc...Rowan was invented purposely to overturn much of that. He's hesitant, he's slow to be drawn out of his shell, he's naive and can be short-sighted, and it takes a long time for him to grow.

Vivant is neither a follower nor a leader, but Rowan is quite decidedly a follower. He needs to be told what to do for him to feel any sense of purpose. In the end he becomes a limited narrator, because although his existence instigated much of the events, his participation in them is limited.

But I do like Rowan as a "character", in that he develops and grows and becomes comparatively stronger and confident to the withdrawn boy at the beginning. Vivant grows too, but I think he more or less reaches in for the nastiness that he's always had in place, whereas Rowan really works at pushing himself towards the optimism he's never had.

Come to think of it, I think Rowan and Sigmund's relationship would work quite normally if Rowan was a girl. LOL.

So in a new burst of energy, I have finally picked up the metaphorical pen and paper (in this case, sticking my USB back into my laptop) to write again. It's quite terrible how little I've written this holidays. My only consolation comes from the fact that I spent a lot of spare time throwing ideas about for the story, and as a result I have fleshed out more of the Isshaten arc.

The Talgrith arc had been planned out some time last year, so now I just need to set things up and write it. I had also pretty much planned out the Averron arc, which was always meant to be a fairly short reprieve arc, but has now gotten even shorter because I've decided to delegate certain events to a time skip. Also because they're not important, not relevant and I really can't be bothered planning it.

I think if I had my life to myself I'd probably just write the plot first and come back to revise it, but I'd rather not do that again as revising Next Assignment has caused me to do about three complete re-writes and it is not, in any way, fun. Nor does it do anything to put the characters in my good opinion - which is pretty bad if you have to stick with them for the story.

I'm still having trouble with Talgrith's geography. At the start I wanted its climate to be cool and temperate in the north, but tropical in the south, but then because of various latitudinal problems.... So either Isshaten is more south than I originally intended it to be (probably the case), or the countries are bigger than they're supposed to be, or Talgrith is farther away from Averron... anyway. It's not entirely important, but I'd like to know what Talgrith's weather is like =0=; Ah weather. It's surprising how vital it is to society.

So as a preview of things coming up (a looooong time later...by which time I might change my mind, which is exactly why I'm putting it here):
Coming up soon (i.e. in Talgrith)...
- Vivant nearly gets killed
- Someone gets killed
- Someone gets killed
- Someone gets killed
- Vivant nearly kills someone
- Vivant kills someone
- Someone gets killed
- Vivant nearly kills someone
- Someone gets killed
- Giras makes the stupid mistake of taking pity on Vivant
...That's about the general order of things, although the "someone gets killed" might shuffle a bit XDDDD

Coming up later (in Averron)...
- Vivant nearly gets married?!?!
- Vivant meets the next king of Talgrith
- Vivant disappears for a while

Coming up eventually (in Isshaten)...
- Vivant breaks a promise
- Giras' younger brother
- Arianna's son (Xantes)
- Vivant is a genius at pissing people off...or so he says
- Various people die, often through their own de/vices
- Shuddup, there are still living beings by the end of the story, although it was tempting to end with a nuclear holocaust

At the moment (well it's been decided before the story began) it seems that instead of building to a big final roaring showdown, the story dwindles to a personal confrontation. I don't think Vivant ever goes into the battle expecting to "win" and overpower Arianna's army. It's fortunate for Vivant that this war could be solved by removing a few people, although the repercussions are probably worse than the war itself (not that...ahem...some people stay to witness it). It's not like the war was based on ideology, or race, or belief, or something that people feel compelled to hold on to.

And just in case anyone's worried (or more for my record), here's a list of people who will almost certainly make an appearance in Isshaten - omissions doesn't (necessarily) mean death!! It could mean I simply forgot their existence. LOL. On the other hand, don't ask me "what about [insert name]?" if you don't want to be spoiled.

Vivant, Arianna, Xantes, Giras, Ruelli, Cheltis, Kamaeh, Delshya, Shela, Giras' brother, Kasaris, Hinkan, Yunyi

...Come to think of it...that's not that many people O_o

LOL...I can't believe I did this on my own characters ~__~;;;; I was going to do it properly! And then I couldn't be bothered thinking up anime characters I liked, and randomly started typing names, and one thing led to another....

Oh well, it was kind of interesting XDDD

First, select your ten fictional characters (from any medium) by whichever method you like best. Then answer the questions below.

1. Vivant
2. Vivrael
3. Solen
4. Kamaeh
5. Sigmund
6. Hinkan
7. Rowan
8. Lyriel
9. Giras
10. Ruelli

1. Divide the list up by even and odd. Which group of five would make a better Five Man Band (like a Power Rangers team)? Who would you slot in each position: Leader, Lancer (second-in-command), Big Guy, Smart Guy, The Chick? If you think the team would be improved by swapping one character between the even and odd groups, which ones would you switch?

Group 1: Vivant, Solen, Sigmund, Rowan, Giras
Group 2: Vivrael, Kamaeh, Hinkan, Lyriel, Ruelli...wow, all the girls ended up on one team LOL

Group 1: I think Sigmund would become Leader by default, since Rowan and Giras are definite followers, and Vivant and Solen tend to stand back and watch. If Sigmund becomes Leader, Solen kind of becomes Lancer by default since...well, someone has to keep the guy in check. And besides, he's more mature and more ready to take control than Giras is. Er...the big guy is Giras? I guess you can count on him to take care of the rough work since the others are younger - or in Solen's case, blind. Vivant would be the Smart Guy, or at least a smart but keeps it to himself guy. Umm. Yes. Rowan, the Chick. Er ok. As long as it's not Sigmund, or he'll start killing someone.

Group 2: Oh dear, we have a number of clashing personalities here. Vivrael tends to be the one who likes to take control, but none of the girls like stupidity, which means they'll all abandon Vivrael in times of crisis XDDD I think Lancer...gah, maybe the others would let Ruelli be Lancer out of pity. Hinkan and Lyriel are both lone wolves in their own ways - they both like to go get things done on their own, so they won't care much for the group. The "Big Guy" is Lyriel. Even though Hinkan is useful and highly trained, I think Lyriel has the much-needed ruthlessness. This is a group that doesn't fit into stereotypes, gah! I don't even know what "the Chick" role is meant to do.

As for swapping, I think Vivrael really needs Solen by his side, aww. If we swap Ruelli for Solen, at least Rowan doesn't have to be "the Chick" any more =/ I think the first team is more coherent, but only slightly.

2. Gender-swap 2, 8 & 10. Which character would have the most change in their story arc? Which the least? Would any of these characters have to have a complete personality change to be believable as the opposite sex?

So...Vivrael, Lyriel and Ruelli. I think the least affected would be Ruelli. Besides...she's....er.....anyway.

Vivrael as a girl would at least mean Solen would stop refusing his proposal requests so abruptly XDDDD I think Lyriel as a guy would make her relationships with Rowan and Sigmund creepily homoerotic, and that's on top of Rowan and Sigmund's already rather creepily homoerotic relationship =/

But I think I can imagine all three as the opposite sex. Lyriel's relationships probably change the most though.

3. Compare the matchups of 1 & 8 and 5 & 9. (Ignore canon sexual preferences for the moment.) Which couple would be more compatible? Which couple would be more plausible to people from either principal's home culture?

Vivant and Lyriel or Sigmund and Giras? Sigmund's really hard to warm up to, and Giras doesn't quite have the patience or submissiveness to wait for it. He'll most likely read Sigmund at face value, and Sigmund would be content to let him do that and drive him away with his usual arrogance. Unless something happens, these two are unlikely to stay together.

As for Vivant and Lyriel...I think Vivant has more patience than her brother. At the moment they're also both around the same age. He'll humour her, and he's not afraid of being spurned if he finds her amusing - which he will. The two of them would work well together - since both have a fairly loose view on deceit, both are reasonably clever and efficient, and both have an eccentric streak. Actually I think the two of them would have a lot of fun together, but I still think, for some reason, that at the end Vivant will reveal much less about himself than he learns about Lyriel.

4. Your team is 3, 4 & 9. The mission consists of a social challenge, a mental challenge and a physical challenge. Which team member do you assign to each challenge?

Solen, Kamaeh and Giras...What exactly is a social challenge anyway? I think any of them would do as well as each other for social. They all have their different strengths and flaws. Giras is well-cultured, but too thin-skinned/honest to maneouvre out of sticky situations. Kamaeh has a naturally bubbly personality that makes him likeable but he's naive. Solen is mild-tempered and cautious with strangers, so maybe he's ideal here.

As for mental...er...none of these people are very smart =/ I'd go for Giras, since he seems to have gone through the highest level of schooling out of the three....LOL!!

Kamaeh for physical. He's nimble and fast at least.

5. 7 becomes 1's boss for a week in some plausible fashion. How's their working relationship?

Rowan becomes Vivant's boss??? HAHAHAHA. Umm. If it was anyone else I think the relationship would've overturned within about an hour, but Vivant will probably amuse himself by staying under Rowan's command and wheedling him. Oh, he'll do it gently of course, he's not one to antagonise people who haven't provoked him, but he'll probably end up giving his own orders THROUGH Rowan.

6. 2 finds him/her/itself inserted into 6's continuity. As far as anyone other than 2 or 6 is concerned, they've always been there. What role would 2 be presumed to have had in 6's story, and could they fit in without going wonky?

Vivrael in Hinkan's story? Hmmmmmmmm...........Cousin? Well, of course they can still have the same personalities, but one of their stories have to change, all things considered! I think Vivrael would be really fond of Hinkan as a younger sister-type role, and the two would probably be closer than he is with Lyriel - generally because Hinkan's less...spiky?

7. 3 and 5 get three wishes. The catch is that they have to agree on all three wishes before they get the benefits of any of them. What three wishes would they make?

Solen and Sigmund? Errrr....I don't know if either of them are the type to count on wishes. They probably want to achieve happiness by their own hands. Still, Sigmund would probably insist that Solen's illness be completely and irrevocably cured, which Solen will be talked into. Maybe they can wish the Spirited away and end the story prematurely =D

8. 1 and 2 are brainwashed by a one-time artifact that works even on people immune to mind control to attack and kill 4. They keep their normal personality, skills and competence level, except any Code vs. Killing has been turned off. Can 4 survive? How?

Vivant AND Vivrael against Kamaeh?!?!?!

I'm sorry Kamaeh, you...are...sooooo....DEAD. Vivant and Vivrael would make a lethal team, even if they're NOT directly working together - they can easily wear out their opponent just by alternating attacks. The only people (on list) who would stand any chance are Hinkan and Lyriel, and that's only if they're willing to kill these two first.

9. 6, 7, 9 & 10 must help an orphanage full of small and depressed children have a merry Christmas. Who does what, knowing that at the very least the kids will be expecting a visit from Santa?

Hinkan, Rowan, Giras and Ruelli...Hmm. None of them are natural with children. Rowan will probably be forced into a reindeer suit. Ruelli would make nice food. Giras would be the weary babysitter and make sure no one kills themselves. Hinkan might do a few magic tricks or play her music if she's in the mood. A very serene but boring party. Meh.

10. 3 and 8 are challenged to circumnavigate the Earth in eighty days or less, using only forms of transportation invented before 1900. Can they do it, or will they be fatally distracted by sidequests or their own personality conflicts?

Solen and Lyriel? Awww, they'll love it together. Lyriel is at her most tender around Solen, and he returns it with his own natural mildness. Since they're both no-nonsense people, I think they'll get things done......and besides, Lyriel has her useful telekinesis/teleportation if anything goes awry XD