#guileta

3. What are some of your character’s most significant connections with others?

Her fellow healer and eventual husband, Tzefanyah Pae, had a huge influence on her life and eventual peace/happiness.  Her padawan, Theril, alternately makes her beamingly proud and impossibly flabbergasted.  Her siblings provide a perfect mix of exasperation and devotion.

4. Does your character get along better with people who are very similar to them, or very different to them?

It depends on the similarities.  If they’re fellow code-following Jedi who maintain the outward appearance of devotion to the order, generally neither one will venture beneath the mask to unearth anything troublesome.  If the similarities are more like – vengeful, harsh, extremely critical, prone to extremes?  That can get messy very quickly.  

5. How important is trust to your character? Who do they trust the most?

Trust is incredibly important to Guileta.  She can be gutted by betrayal, and unfortunately for that person, she’d rather be mad than sad.  And she’s a healer, sure, but damn that girl has some telekinetics.

Jedi Knight Eli’Zan Luz

6. What are some of the things your character most enjoys doing with people they are close to?

Practically anything, especially if the other person suggested it.  Eli loves but is not particularly talented at dancing (not until she’s had many lessons with Daemon Kraspen).  She enjoys childish games like tag, hide and go seek, Master Sii-mon Says, etc.  She also just likes listening to people, but be warned, she is a very active listener and you should be prepared for a lot of bouncing-in-seat.

7. Is your character generally touchy-feely or hands-off (emotionally or literally)? Are there exceptions to this?

Very touchy.  Many hug.  Such affection.  WOW.

8. What does your character look for in a _____? (Insert friend, romantic partner, working partner, whatever you want in blank; either asker or answerer can specify.)

Do you exist?  Are you capable of feeling an emotion?  Eli would like to be your friend and admires you.  

9. Who would turn to your character in a crisis, and how would your character handle it?

Eli isn’t very senior in the jedi hierarchy, but she is a jedi.  Any stranger might turn to her for help.  Her first impulse is to Be Sweet At the Crisis, try to sort out any misunderstandings and reach common ground, if possible.  If that’s not an option, Eli’s number one priority is always preserving as many lives as possible and getting civilians to safety.  She has no interest in glory or bravado and will only draw sabers when left no other option. 

10. What’s the most ridiculous, hilarious, or stupid dispute your character has had with somebody else? How was it resolved?

Eli’zan started calling her sister Gooey because of their half-brother, Loren II.  Eventually Loren II pointed out that Guileta was not fond of the nickname.  Eli’zan didn’t believe him, because surely Gooey would have said something if Eli were upsetting her.  Loren II challenged her to use increasingly terrible nicknames and see if Guileta would put up with it out of love for her sister.  

Apparently she drew the line at ‘Goo Goo Ka-Choo.’

Senator Loren Fidelis Luz

11. What are some of the hard lines that your character keeps about what behaviour they won’t tolerate?

Slavery or the enabling thereof; war profiteering, the casual, habitual genocide so common among hutts and Imperial agendas.  Loren Fidelis’ strongest anger is reserved for his fellow senators and representatives of the Republic; those who abuse that trust and then hide behind the need for ‘unity’ or ‘a strong coherent Republic image’ will face the full brunt of his wrath and the considerable list of his allies and resources.  

12. How does your character handle betrayal of their faction (if applicable)? Personal betrayal? Which is the worse offense to them?

Loren Fidelis is not a stoic or a hard case; when he is betrayed, he is wounded deeply and his heart aches.  That said, his immediate concern is usually for that person’s safety, emotional health, and continued survival.  Personal betrayal cuts more deeply than a betrayal of the Republic, but the difference is probably best phrased as: in a personal betrayal, Loren Fidelis would not press any charges.  When the Republic is betrayed, it is his responsibility to the citizenry to do so.  

13. What does your character like most about the people closest to them?

Each individual’s tiny languages of love and kindness.  Sabine’s cold, thin hands warming themselves on a mug of his tea.  The grin of boyish pride Cyrus Hargrave gets when the model ship soars up over the senate plaza.  Ellekai’s sprite form hidden under an endless pile of blankets as she mutters about minutiae under her breath.  Loren II’s spark of clever determination as he leaps toward he next challenge.  Eli’Zan’s small gasp of surprise.  T’zipporah’s bland ‘pun?  what pun?’ expression with the laughter at the edges of her eyes.  Daemon’s blink of surprise each time he realizes a new level of affection from his found family.  Angeles Hargrave, his lips a tense line of exasperation, signing a bleeding heart refugee bill into law.

14. Who does your character have the best memories of?

Loren Fidelis treasures memories of his father, Grantian Luz, who died in the Siege of Corellia.  He also carries many small moments with Captain Ophera - her smirk, her throaty laugh, the ‘tch’ of her tongue when her pragmatism hit the wall of his idealism.

15. Is there anyone your character never wants to see again?

5. What is one thing they do that can negatively affect their relationship with friends?Ek is sometimes overly enthusiastic to the point where he doesn’t pick up on more subtle cues about wanting space/needing to be left alone. He tries very hard to notice these things, but isn’t always able to do so. When he messes up, he apologizes, does as he was asked, and works very hard to find new, less-obnoxious ways of showing his affection.

Guileta keeps people at arm’s length and aggressively enforces this distance. People who think they have gotten close enough to her to bypass that often end up emotionally clotheslined or verbally eviscerated. As you might have guessed, she doesn’t have a lot of friends. If you do manage to get past that barrier, expect to see an uglier, emotionally-compromised, occasionally ill-tempered woman who is not nearly as attractive as the icy mask suggests. But who is a great deal more human, and has a lot of buried affection for those who think it’s worth the wait.

7. What is the biggest mistake they’ve ever made?Ekhein really shouldn’t have become a soldier if his life goal was to rebuild the ruined Agapi clan.

Guileta’s life altering mistake as a child of five was deciding that the reason her mother suffered so much when the Jedi took her children away was because she allowed herself to be ruled by her emotions. That view of tears and their source cut her off from the love and affection of so many people over the course of her life. 

9. Name some of their major physical shortcomings.Ekhein, being a Zabrak, is an obligate carnivore. He loudly bemoans this a lot because he loves trees and wants to eat fruit [a couple amusing but fruitless attempts to do so ended in projectile vomit and a green medic]. He also carries a lot of bangs and bruises wherever he goes, so he’s never quite in mint condition – mostly because he’s always devoting his supplies to his troops or civilians they encounter.

Guileta is known as a beauty, and is in very good physical condition. By jedi standards, she’s certainly more competent than the saber animations for Sages suggest, but she’s not on the physical top level that a jedi knight or saber instructor would reach. She doesn’t suffer from any physical ailments or ongoing disabilities. Her shortcomings are more emotional and relational than physical.  And if you suggest she has physical defects you will probably hear a five hour thesis on the curve of her neck from her husband.

11. What are their intellectual shortcomings?Ek is really, really not a scholar. He loves engaging with new ideas but it takes them a long while to sink in. Fortunately, he has zero ego invested in this, and is happy to learn and pick up bits and pieces where he can. That said, he just does not grok either the Jedi Code or the Sith Code; both make zero sense to him. He’s just here to keep people in one piece and as happy as they can possibly be, given the circumstances. 

Guileta has read exhaustively on jedi philosophy, but her fear of emotion and knowledge that she really doesn’t handle it well has kept her from actually engaging with a variety of interpretations. She sticks to the Code out of fear rather than freedom, completely undermining the goal of the Code in the process. This is somewhat loosened by Tzefanyah Pae’s intellectual influence, though not loosened quite as dramatically as the clasps on his shirt [and pants].

13. In what ways might they be overly negative and/or pessimistic?Ekhein aggressively chooses to be cheerful, chooses to hope, chooses to smile. His philosophy is to eschew as much negativity as he possibly can. He understands that this is not something everyone can or even wants to do. But for him, it was a choice between dwelling on the enormity of his losses or living for the joy that survived. The choice isn’t always easy, but he continues to make it.

Guileta on the other hand is naturally pessimistic about almost everything, though she would describe it as being ‘rational.’ She has little faith in her fellow sentients, and is almost offended when she realizes that she actually has hopes for/believes in one of her friends and allies. 

15. How might they be ignorant or prejudiced?Ekhein likes people, and wants to like people even in the face of extreme differences. If someone says “You are wrong about this,” his inclination is to listen. He’s a Pub Scum Republic Trooper to the Max, however, and while he will offer medical treatment to anyone in need, he’s obviously wary of Sith and their followers.

Guileta is deeply prejudiced against imperials and Sith, and will strictly adhere to the code in her dealings with them while still generally looking for opportunities to strike. Imperial agents in particular she would rather eliminate than make the mistake of trusting them. Some of this comes from her own experiences in the Sacking of Coruscant, and some of it comes from her freakish overprotectiveness of her eventual husband, Tzefanyah.

17. When would they be too judgmental of someone or something?If you judge Ekhein’s music taste he’s gonna fake being deeply offended for like three years while being genuinely a little offended for maybe an hour. Other than that he’s like a sentient golden retriever, he’d rather lick your face than waste time judging you.

Guileta is always judging everyone everywhere at all times, no one escapes the critical gaze, how is this even a question.

19. Is there anything they refuse to budge on? What are they stubborn about?Ekhein will not be budged if he believes he is making the right choice to keep his friends healthy and safe. This mostly comes up when people order him to sit the fuck down and get some damn rest.

Guileta is the big exception to this, as she and her husband don’t give a damn about gendered clothing; what they care about is looking damn fine. Zef is a knockout in heels and a short skirt, and Guileta will accompany him in a stunning, perfectly tailored suit.

5.) Any particular reasons why you gave your characters the appearance preferences that they have?

Loren II likes to pretend he’s a lot more vain, selfish, and idiotic than he actually is, so having him maintain a wardrobe of fancy pirate-y coats and change them out like a preening peacock is just another layer of his obfuscating stupidity. 

Guileta’s love of finery comes from her happy memories of life as a senator’s daughter, before that opulence was replaced with the austerity of the Jedi temple.  Her nostalgia for that finery is a secret shame of hers, as a jedi is not meant to long for such things. 

Eli literally doesn’t notice appearance stuff unless it’s pointed out to her, so of course she prefers gifts-that-were-given-to-her over any other clothing ever.

Loren Fidelis’ clothing choices are mostly arranged around what is respectful and appropriate for the task at hand.  Sabine doesn’t give a shit, so her wardrobe is mostly arranged by her husband [who is trying to manage a vague semblance of giving-a-shit on her part].

Ophera wears what makes her look good (which is everything), and what will get the job done, which could mean anything from ImpInt uniforms to dancer outfits to full power armor to her usual asshole-in-a-long-coat aesthetic. 

Iphe wears catsuits because she’s a sneaky slicer thief and she looks good in a catsuit, fight me.  They also make her look like less of a member of society to me, though I’m finding it hard to explain how.  She’s always in mission-appropriate clothing because she does not exist outside of that world.  She has no identity to present to the world through her aesthetics other than the blank, black, sleek assassin’s gear.

7.) Do your designs tend towards complexity or simplicity? Does that line up with your characters’ preferences?

If they were pretending to be a couple, Ek would not hold back one tiny bit.  Constant doofy pet names [“my darling baby bubby bunker boo”], sweeping Ankoni up in his arms, making up lots of romantic episodes that definitely never ever happened and citing them constantly in front of strangers.   Ankoni might be too mortified/embarrassed for them to maintain the illusion.

8.) Do they routinely compete over anything?

Ek is only competitive when he senses that one of his friends thrives on competition. Still, I can see him making up competitions just to have another thing to pester Ankoni about.  But like, useless, difficult-or-impossible-to-objectively-judge things.  Best bedside manner. Cutest sneeze. Best taste in music [according to Ekhein Agapi whose music taste is flawless].  Ankoni usually wins these contests [even that last one] because Ek thinks he’s great at everything.

13.) What happens if you abandon the pair in the wilderness together?

Ekhein: DUO HIKING TRIP, I BROUGHT MATCHING SUNHATS

Ankoni: this was not planned, we are lost in enemy territory, why do you have those

Ekhein: I have been waiting for a chance to show you these for like two months

Ankoni: kill me

Guileta and Theril

2.) What do they disagree about the most?

Theril’s safety, usually.  Guileta does not approve of Theril running off with her mom’s stealth tech, adopting sentient lightning rod sith lords with brainwashing issues, or making black market deals for huttball animes.  Gooey does a lot of chasing after her padawan, who generally wants permission but is willing to ask for forgiveness instead in a pinch.

5.) What do they trust each other with?

While Guileta occasionally questions Theril’s methods [and sense of self preservation], she has never once worried about Theril’s motives.  Guileta has faith in Theril’s sense of right and wrong, her instinct for compassion, and her bravery - her padawan is lightyears ahead of Guileta’s own skewed motives and misplaced priorities at that age.  

Theril in a very basic sense looks to her master for knowledge, experience, and hands-on application of healing.  Beyond that, Theril trusts Guileta’s advice on force phenomena of all kinds, hears and respects her warnings [even if she sometimes feels compelled to act anyway], and looks to her master for understanding in areas of bitterness, loss, or conflicted emotions.  Guileta has a great deal more experience with such things.

10.)  Who wins at chess?

At first, Guileta.  Theril makes incredible progress at an alarming rate, being chiss [and bright even by chiss standards].  By the time they’ve been playing for two years, matches are long and impossible to predict, usually taking place while both ladies discuss lessons or concepts from earlier that day.  Theril has a tactic of distracting Guileta with huttball anime feels that is both underhanded and extremely effective.  Guileta learns to counter this with distracting stories about her adventures with Tzefanyah in their younger years as Jedi.

15.) What’s the worst thing that one could say to the other?  What’s the best thing?

Probably the worst thing Theril could say to Guileta was that her teaching drove Theril to join the Sith.  Fortunately I don’t see this ever happening???

Best thing probably has something to do with Gooey’s Huttball Anime OTP being Canon Forever Suck It Haters.

The worst thing Guileta could say to Theril would probably be forbidding her from interacting with Lethen for her own safety.  Guileta considers this when Leth first gets mailed to them in carbonite, but ultimately trusts Thiria when she approves the connection.