#2vulpes

Fern thank you so much and sorry it took me forever. 💕

💌 - First crush/love

Answered here and here!

🐾 – Pets

Answered here

💔 – Exes

Oh I could yap and yap... Kristov sweet soft dumpling of a man. There is much lore. Kris is Thuvian, a revolutionary poet and a political refugee in Andoran. He’s traumatized by having had to flee his homeland and wants nothing more than a peaceful, safe place to continue to exercise his art. He and Sia fell madly in love and held on for six years but they really weren’t meant for each other, and sadly Kristov was the only one to realize that.

Siavash is too flighty for him. Not present. And when Kristov tried to express his loneliness and confusion, Sia didn’t take it seriously enough. Just kept thinking it would work itself out, it’ll be fine, he just needs some cheering up... Until the day Sia came back from a diplomatic mission and found the flat empty.

He was devastated. Really didn’t see it coming. Which says a lot about how he deflects, even internally. The silver lining is he learned a lot from that experience that helped him in the Crusade.

🏆 - Best friends (past, current or future)

Thanks Ash! And thanks Fern (@2vulpes) for the asks! I was hoping for this one 💕

Character questionnaire

Doing this with the caveat that Seelah’s a beloved Pathfinder iconic and I haven’t read all the source material she appears in! Just the game and this very essential background from Paizo.

off the top of your head: notes for characterization? what are the most essential traits of this character to you (personality traits, important connections/dynamics, voice)?

Seelah is about bringing people together. Friendship, redemption, helping people out. And she’ll charge into mortal peril to do it. She owes every moment of life beyond that teenage error to Iomedae’s forgiveness and she’s paying it forward.

She knows what it’s like to be on her own with no one to count on, so she’ll be the one you can count on. She also knows what it’s like to make selfish mistakes, and she’s willing to work her butt off to make up for them. She knows what forgiveness has meant in her own life.

She beats herself up over it, but I love how human and fallible she is. She doesn’t see through the deception of Anemora’s disciples or Darek Sunhammer, and she messes up with each of her friends in a different way, but always with her heart in the right place.

I think she thinks she’s dumb because of that original sin of stealing Acemi’s helmet, and the sad thing is she’s willing to forgive others’ mistakes, but not her own. She was ready to inflict the ultimate punishment on herself for causing Acemi’s death but she wouldn’t do that to anyone else. As she matures I think she’ll learn to be kinder to herself, and a good KC does get a chance to boost her self-image.

Her cheerfulness is her shield. She says it loud and clear: giving into sadness and grief is to risk letting demons get their claws in. Yet like her sword, that shield has a weight.

She’s brave, reliable, down-to-earth and funny. She can hold her liquor and she can dance Daeran Arendae under the table.

The way I see it, her faith, her heart and her paladin abilities are one and the same. You can’t break her faith without breaking the rest. That’s one point where she might be a little fragile.

adjacently—do you think fandom does the above traits justice? why or why not?

I avoid reddit like the plague so I’ve never seen anyone disrespect her. At their peril.

throw this character at any other character of your choice to bounce off each other as outsider pov to each other— regardless of timeline or logistics (crossovers allowed if you're interesting about it). why this combination? what insights would they have on each other?

How about the other paladin companion: Trever Vaenic...

We’re never told what exactly happened to him, but he set out from Carpenden a gentle, idealistic young Shelynite, but something in his path to becoming a paladin went wrong. I think the ugliness submerged him. Unlike his brother, he couldn’t see the beauty with his heart. He never walked in Shelyn’s grace.

And that’s very human of him. When things are looking bad, it’s easy to give into despair. Still in the face of the ugliness Trever didn’t give up—he pushed himself so hard he eventually broke. Became obsessed with discipline and punishment, and was harder on himself than others—but also took it out on others. When you lose your heart in favor of harsh efficiency, you become a Hellknight instead of a paladin.

By contrast, Seelah kept her heart alive. She’s had failures, and she is hard on herself, and she expects a lot of others, but ultimately she’s kind and forgiving and sees the potential for righteousness even in a succubus.

The difference between them is a cautionary tale. But also a tale of luck, because grace is bestowed, not earned. A paladin reached out a hand to Seelah, and I think no one did that for Trever.

how do you think you would react to this character in real life and vice versa? would you prefer be a million miles out of range, be amicable classmates, or fall desperately in love? (bonus: arrange a hypothetical date between yourself and this character. getting silly with it is encouraged (fakedate them! escape a dinner date through a bathroom window!))

She would fit right into my irl friend group. A lady who laughs loud and likes to party, but who’s also tough as nails and on your side. I’d love to be her special pal but I’m the wallflower (not to say weird kid) in that group.

ideal flavor of rotating for this character? crack them open and dissect them— do you want them tormented, pining, or being loved + comforted? do you have any specific scenarios you like to think about?

She’s already been through a lot and come through the other side with flying colors but I do want to torment her just a little bit. Question her faith, if only to reinforce it. Mostly I want her to know that she’s too hard on herself. Tell her “you’re doing great kid.” Maybe a smooch from a kind but tormented Gold Dragon commander will help.

weave a web of dynamics through the cast for this character: which dynamics are you most interested in? both canonically and through extrapolation/speculation— which dynamics are the richest to you, and why?

As far as I know, besides Camellia and occasionally Woljif, Seelah’s the only companion who’s mean to Ember. I have trouble wrapping my head around that because Seelah is such a generous soul, but my theory is that what unnerves her about Ember is that Seelah’s own heart and code of mercy are so entwined with her faith that she takes Ember’s atheism personally.

Every time Ember says the gods are charlatans Seelah gets really upset. Trying to put myself in a religious person’s shoes I think this can be explained by the concept of grace: the unearned gift of partaking in divine nature—and Iomedae’s divine nature is that of the protector of mortality. Seelah moves in Iomedae’s grace. Ember simply negates that. In so doing, she negates Seelah herself. Kind of a slap in the face.

The thing is, they were both pulled from the pyre, Ember as an innocent, Seelah as a self-condemned criminal. Ember sees the universe, including the gods, as senseless and cruel. To her, human kindness can temporarily assuage the pain. Seelah on the other hand sees the universe as a march toward the light—toward life and joy. To her, human kindness can move that march forward.

The other essential difference is that Ember is hung up on loss and separation (she lost her father as well as the kind knight who saved her) while Seelah’s all about bringing people together (the Iomedean paladins who forgave and saved her became her friends). Ember’s atheism springs from hopelessness while Seelah’s faith springs from hope.

(btw the reason she’ll be able to make it up with Raqim is because unlike Ember’s, his atheism springs from hope)

do you have particular niche takes on this character? defend those takes. (openly controversial takes are permitted, but also: hyper-specific headcanons which you believe in and no one else has considered enough to disagree with yet. pick a hill to die on.)

Thank you Fern! Much blorbo food to chew on 💕

20. When would they say “I love you?” Do they say it first? Do they say it often, or is it reserved for special moments?

Siavash/Zrise:

As much as Sia’s the kind of guy who’ll casually say “I love you” to his pals anytime, he’s scared to death to say it when he means it. Always putting it off until the perfect moment, and the moment’s never perfect. There are two problems. One is that he says it casually to so many people that when it’s real and forever he needs Zrise to know it’s real and forever. The other is that Siavash has learned to be scared of what it means—that it might pin him down, give the other person certain expectations he can’t live up to. For Siavash, “I love you” does not mean and cannot mean “I will stay with you every minute of every day.” It means “I will always come home to you.”

Luckily Siavash’s love shines out of him without him having to say it, but the sad part is that Zrise doesn’t believe he deserves it. He tells himself it’s ok if he never hears it. I think it’s because of past abuse that he devotes himself completely to someone and doesn’t expect much in return. Ironic that Siavash thinks Zrise does deserve it, so much that he’s reluctant to say it.

The good news is, once that first-time barrier is breached it gets much better. Siavash is very affectionate.

Raqim/Seelah:

I honestly haven’t decided yet and the gears are burning holes in my brain. I want it to be Raqim and I am kicking him in the shins but it might actually be Seelah during a certain confrontation at the beginning of Act V.

25. They accidentally hurt or upset their partner. What happened? How do they respond? What do they do to make their partner feel better?

Siavash/Zrise:

I think what hurts Zrise most is Siavash’s constant deflection. Zrise wants into his life so badly. He can tell sometimes that Siavash is hurting or scared, but when he asks about it Siavash brushes it off or changes the subject because he’s a total coward about facing his own insecurities. Zrise takes this to mean that he’s not lovable or trustworthy enough for Siavash to confide in. He’s wrong. One of the things Siavash appreciates most about him is that out of all the companions, Zrise is the only one who truly sees him. Sees how heavy the burden of being cheerful is. And loves him anyway.

One of the best things Zrise does for him is to let him drop the façade and learn to face his fears. Eventually Siavash will find the courage to thank him for it.

Raqim/Seelah:

Oh dear. I don’t want to spoil this one too much but Raqim’s constant pestering about religion hits her at just the wrong moment once and he immediately knows he messed up. It's a low point for her when all her friends are alienated or lost, and she's having trouble squaring her faith with the torrent of misery she sees daily. And then he opens his stupid mouth. The look on her face almost kills him.

He has no idea how to take it back or apologize, so he just stews in it for a few days. The thing is, he’s grappling with regret over things he said to his father too.  He realizes he has to make this right while he still has a chance. At that point he’s already played the extravagant gift card so he’ll have to come up with something good, and I honestly don’t know how he’s going to dig himself out of that one.

27. They have to apologize to their partner. Is this difficult for them? How do they approach it?

Siavash/Zrise:

There’s one incident where Siavash is upset with Zrise and trying to provoke a reaction, but at the same time feeling horribly guilty for doing it to him. In a way it’s a test, and in a way it’s hoping that his anger will cleanse the guilt. But Zrise isn’t angry, just confused and hurt, and that’s much worse. Siavash goes to great lengths to try to make it right, not only with smooches and apologies but with an evening of cheering up (that may involve a candlelit bath).

I’m afraid Sia’s used to being too easily forgiven. Being the cute little brother who can get away with murder. But actually that’s not good for his guilt complex, because deep down he feels he deserves more blame than he gets. Doesn’t stop him from trying it though.

With Zrise he’ll have to be a lot more careful. There’s good reason to be afraid Zrise will take anything he dishes out without complaining. Siavash couldn’t bear that.

Raqim/Seelah:

Raqim owes a few apologies to Seelah and they are absolutely like pulling teeth for him. She is so worth it. He’s not practiced at apologizing, so I imagine it will be awkward and require some prompting. No, don’t get down on your knees. Just look me in the eye and tell me you are wrong.

29. What compromises are they making in their relationship?

Siavash/Zrise:

Being with someone injured and fragile is hard work, but nothing is more rewarding than watching Zrise heal. Let himself really smile. Accept unconditional love. Siavash is willing to put in that work.

Raqim/Seelah:

Spoilers again but neither of them is having a change of heart about religion in the long run. They’ll just need to learn to respect each other’s opinions.

Thanks Fern 💕

Raqim/Seelah

Unironically it's a beautiful love song

Siavash

This one I owe completely to Dolly. A song from the French Revolution. Ça ira – It’ll be fine HAHA

It corresponds more to Galt than Andoran in the PF setting but Zrise and Sia both know it well.

I chose the punk version because hell yes and it has the original sans-culotte lyrics. (Honestly, I suspect Gojira took out the lines about hanging the aristocracy for the Olympics. cowards)

Punk version by Les Porte-Mentaux

answered III. 2 here!

4. Did either of them try to resist their feelings?

i think probably yes for both of them, but it was a very half-assed effort lmao. i believe once they started catching feelings they each had a moment of "well this isn't smart" but also they didn't like, stop sleeping together. and they kept doing everything but admitting their feelings out loud, like promising to protect each other and wistfully talking about living in a cabin by the sea [insert the image of a bird in a cage but the cage only has two bars here]

12. Do they hide anything from each other, big or small?

OH good question... well i think their feelings for each other is the biggest one 😭 (there's also the whole "possessed by an otherworldly, undead hive mind" thing but for the purposes of this question i'm going to say that one doesn't count) BUT besides that, Blythe hides her insecurities from everyone, it doesn't occur to her to not do that with Daeran because she thinks hiding behind a confident facade is why anyone likes her

i'm honestly still getting a grasp on what i think changes about Daeran post-game; both the final conversation with him at Threshold and his epilogue slide shows that he's become pretty open about his relationship with the Commander, so i think by that point he's actively making an effort to not hide his feelings from her anymore. that said, the biggest thing he keeps from Blythe is probably his grief; i think even after the Other is gone that is Not something he wants to touch. on a lighter note! he definitely still surprises her with little gifts and treats all the time, and whisks her away on impromptu dates 😊

11. Who hogs the blankets or takes up more than their fair share of the bed? Who puts their cold feet on the other? Who are the big and little spoons?