#benai

Tagged by @midgardianthief - thank you!

From Usurper:

After all, it really was Rhavan’s support she was after.

The thought sounded all wrong in her head.

And on top of that, she was going to claim the throne.

Yuck.

Probably won’t make it through edits like that lol

(Source) I made a thing!

Benai

(main character of Usurper)

- Princess brat

- Fashion icon

- Teenage rebel

- Keep your responsibilities while she frolicks around the connected universe, wheee (in her dreams)

- Loves street photography and discovering other cultures

- Delighted to be exiled

- Has survived a spoonful of assassination attempts and is good friends with her personal bodyguard, at least until she gets him fired over her slipping away

- Generally friendly with a lot of people, she is good with people, people like her*

- As a member of the royal family, has of course served in the royal army for a minute, to the chagrin of pretty much everyone involved but traditions are traditions

- Her father’s bodyguard, Rodaya, was the closest thing to a mother figure she had. Yes, the Rodaya

- Oh and the story of how she was born. Quite the scandal. Maybe that’s why she never felt fully at home in the royal court

- Speaking of scandals, would be one if anyone knew where she’s run around at night

- Believes in this hot new thing, democracy

- Maybe just because it could help her out of her responsibilities

I got tagged by @sahados-shadow (on my main blog but I’ll answer here since it’s a writing thing :)) I’ll just... stick to the core characters from Usurper.

11 answers:

1.  How well do your characters draw?

Not very! Benai’s and Anrhun’s interest in art is mainly passive. Elvja doesn’t have time between studying, working her side job, and running underground protests against monarchy. Rodaya can probably draw best of the lot but that isn’t saying much. Rhavan and art just don’t go together, though he probably would do okay with technical drawings.

2.  Did (or do) they sleep with any comfort items (stuffed toy, blanket)?

Not that I know, I shall inquire in the future. Rhavan certainly not (he probably wouldn’t have been allowed one even if he’d liked it.) Rodaya, unlikely. The others maybe.

3.  Have they ever gotten drunk?

Benai has gotten tipsy but not completely drunk. Elvja and Anrhun certainly have gotten drunk before, Rodaya probably at some point too. Rhavan never.

Doing this for the main character of Usurper, Benai!

1. Benai is very confident on the surface, but when she stops to think about things, she gets insecure quickly. Being an extrovert, she’ll seek out friends and companions to either bounce her insecurities off of them, or get distracted.

2. She tries to keep an open mind. But once she has formed her judgement, she’ll stick to it with her usual stubbornness and I just realized this might be more plot-relevant than I thought.

3. On a good day, she actually handles anger really well: she’ll take a deep breath and then make an organized effort to remove the source of anger (or if that’s not possible, remove herself from it.) If she’s feeling helpless, however, she absolutely will yell and slam doors (mostly metaphorically, since she is in a sci-fi-ish setting and doors are regrettably inslammable.) She can be quite hot-headed, it kind of runs in the family…

Some lines I like, poorly translated:

Rodaya knew all her other options - and anyway, there was nowhere else she’d rather go.

Benai crossed her arms.

She wondered what Elvja and the others were doing.

Probably something exciting. These were exciting times.

Resigned, she smiled and nodded.

Thank you so much!

6. Are there any former titles you’ve considered but discarded? - Not yet haha. At least, as far as I remember, it’s been Usurper as long as I’ve put a name to it.

15. Describe each character’s daily outfit. - Benai always pretends to be really casual (even to herself) but she does put a lot of care in her outfits, and of course she has access to whatever clothes she wants (at least until things come crashing down) so she’s quite chic in a deliberately “undone” sort of way. Elvja actually is what Benai pretends to be (in more than one way, hah), she’ll just throw on whatever is on top in wardrobe, lots of loose jackets and shirts with prints, combined with simple grey or beige pants. Rhavan is in uniform whenever he can get away with it; he always pretends not to be vain (also even to himself) but he is well aware it makes him look best. Otherwise he’ll wear something simple but elegant, think black suit. Rodaya wears sporty/elegant stuff, she also dresses very deliberately. Anrhun is the flashiest dresser of the lot - if at all practical, he’ll wear the equivalent of a cocktail dress (wonky comparison because apparently men aren’t allowed to dress like that on Earth and that’s sad) on a daily basis, unless he’s required (and delighted to) dress up all the way for formal events. (That’s not every character of course but this’d get long haha)