#rinnyx

(note: the last one is a spoiler for the book... all the rest happen before it begins)

I want to talk about Rinnyx because I miss him, but I talk about him a lot, so how to arrive at something new?

Have I ever talked about how Rinnyx has ADHD? See, I didn't realize that he did when I made him, I thought "this isn't something ADHD related this is just normal." But the reason I thought that was because I also did not know that I had ADHD. He's probably got combined type, not inattentive like me, he's much more hyperactive. And like many high achievers with ADHD, he's got some serious imposter syndrome. One handy thing: while he doesn't live in a world where ADHD can be medicated as in ours, he's learning how to affect his own mind through magic - that could probably have some applications here.

and now for some characters on the projects I'm actually currently working on:

Lady Amaranth is the firstborn immortal, and she has been married, oh, a few dozen times in her life. The immortals are all in one family, see, so it's only mortals available as partners. There are a lot of opinions among the immortals on relationships with mortals - some scoff at the idea they could ever have an equal partnership, some don't see the point in commitment to someone so comparatively shortlived, some have lost before and don't want to go through that pain again. Amaranth signs up for that pain over and over. She looks death in the face and chooses love. She's got a portrait gallery in one of her houses as a memorial to all of her husbands, and it's her most private sanctuary. She's also, at this point, not likely to be interested in anyone under like, 35. It makes for a funny contrast as she stopped aging in her mid-twenties, but actually has centuries on all her partners who look as though they have decades on her.

and from the other project I'm working on:

***

The Emperor’s translator found me on the day before the imperial party was set to depart, not long after the coronation. I had been avoiding any engagements but those I was absolutely meant to attend, my purpose here being done, and at those of course he was always working, no chance to speak to me - certainly not without the Emperor himself hovering over our shoulders. Not that he would have understood us, but it would have put a damper on the conversation all the same.

It would have reminded me too forcefully that Rinnyx Glade was a close and personal friend of Emperor Seyetto, which would have made me a little less inclined to be open to friendship with him myself. When the Emperor was not right there, it was easier not to hold it against him. The Emperor was still a man, if that was far removed from all that he was to me, and a man must have friends, and those friends may well be reasonable and good-hearted people - Rinnyx certainly seemed to be. There was no reason he ought not be friends with a young man who had been his schoolmate. And for his part, he seemed not to hold my having been on the opposite side of war from his homeland and his friend against me, so I felt I did owe him the same courtesy. All the same, I did not particularly want to think about Emperor Seyetto’s personal life and friendships.

What would be a turning point for your character's morals? How do they change throughout their story? How would your character at the beginning of their story feel about their morals at the end of their story?

*rubs hands together gleefully because rip Rin's morals*

ahem.

So Rinnyx, at his low point (which isn't the end) would be unrecognizable and horrifying to Rinnyx at the start. Now, the whole plot is basically about Rin's internal conflict and successive moral compromises, but there's three major turning points I would point to. (uh, spoilers incoming, if you care about that)

Number one is when he makes the decision that it's worth it to betray his best friend's trust, lie to him, manipulate him, and use just a little light mind control, if he can keep the peace in the empire and save lives. This is when he opens the door.

Number two is when, rather than have his secrets discovered, he fully mind controls his best friend, in a manner that is made possible by their close personal relationship, a way no one else in the world would have been able to do, and has another person he counted as a friend executed. This is when he really goes all in. His low point. This is where he accepts that he is not a good person (but hopes that maybe he can still do good things.)

The third is when he has to choose between keeping his power and saving his best friend's life, and he realizes that when it really comes down to it, between Seyetto and the world, he's got to choose Seyetto. He gives it all away. This is where he decides the greatest good is being good to people.

So Beginning Rinnyx wouldn't be horrified by Ending Rinnyx anymore, but he still wouldn't see as much of himself - he's had to learn conviction. Beginning Rinnyx generally intends to be a good person but he doesn't have much commitment yet. Ending Rinnyx is much more confident in his morals and his choices.

What are the dynamics like between your characters? Do they generally get along? How do their personalities and motivations bounce off one another? How do they come away feeling upon interacting with each other? 

Oh, what an excellent question for my OCs! Thank you fairy 🥰

Rinnyx and Seyetto are, of course, best friends. Rinnyx is basically the only person that Seyetto will relax around - be Seyetto, instead of the emperor. (I would say "be himself," but the emperor is also himself.) Rinnyx and Seyetto are also very different people from each other. But they know each other well. They're comfortable with each other. Honestly their conversations are always the easiest things for me to write (for anyone who ever considers sending me prompts). Seyetto releases some of the dry humor he doesn't always find appropriate in formal situations. Rinnyx talks to him like a person. But, of course, Seyetto is also the Emperor, and Rinnyx works a lot with the Emperor, and he doesn't really like the emperor quite as much. The emperor does some things he doesn't agree with. Rinnyx doesn't like thinking about that when he talks to Seyetto, but he wants to understand. And he thinks Seyetto - Seyetto-the-emperor - probably just doesn't understand some things, some people. But Rinnyx does. He can help, just, nudge things in a better direction.

And since I'm always talking about these two: bonus rounds!

Seyetto and Tavina, his younger sister: they do not, currently, get along. They got along fine as kids. But now they aren't kids. And Seyetto is the Emperor. Tavina wants him to just be her brother. Seyetto wants her to grow up and accept the responsibilities that come with their positions. These opposing desires lead to basically constant conflict. Tavina needles Seyetto, trying to get him to act like a person instead of a crown - even if she only gets negative reactions out of him. Seyetto tries to push her to be, well, everything she dislikes about him. Which makes both of them more and more frustrated with each other. Each just fundamentally doesn't understand what the other wants.

I need... very little prompting to go on about these two, lol. As it happens I have written their first meeting before... but not from Seyetto's perspective! So that's what you're getting! Thanks so much anon, and I hope you enjoy them.

---

Seyetto's father the king took him aside to instruct him in the days before he would begin his studies with Dor Arill. “I hope you will give your foremost attention to your studies, of course.” Seyetto nodded, though this instruction was hardly needed. He had never been anything other than a dutiful student in his studies up to this point, with his various private tutors for different subjects and stages. “But attending Dor Arill’s classes will be about more than just schoolwork,” his father the king continued. “It is also an important opportunity to build relationships with your peers - and with the common born students as well as the nobles. They will all be your subjects, and it is good to be gracious,and earn their loyalty.” That was the truth of it - Seyetto would have no peers among his classmates, not truly. Only he was the Crown Prince.

“I will, sir,” he said, just as determined to carry out this duty as his schoolwork. He knew, of course, it would be the first time he and other children of noble houses would really be socializing on their own terms, independent of their parents - not that any of them could truly be divided from their house. But one day they would be practicing the politics and diplomacy that their parents did, and this was a chance to try it out. “I will represent our family well.”

“I have no doubt,” his father the king replied, with just the beginnings of a smile. “You must always remember who you are. Because no one else there will ever forget. They will want to be your friend. They will want to please you. And they will always see you, first and foremost, as the Crown Prince, and not as Seyetto. Remember that.” His father the king put a hand on Seyetto’s shoulder, and looked intently into his eyes. “There will not be a person there who does not want something from you. It is not wrong of them to want, and it will not be wrong of you to give it, if it please you. But do not believe that they wish to be your friend for your own sake. Do not forget who you represent. Build good relationships, but know that no friendship will ever be only that.”

This advice, Seyetto felt the weight of, like the crown that sat atop his father’s head. If this was true of himas crown prince, it must be all the moreso as king. And one day he would be king. Kings, he surmised, did not have friends. “I will remember, sir,” he said, solemnly, and his father the king clapped his hand once on his shoulder and stepped back.

“I’m sure you will do well.”

---

And for a year, he followed his father the king’s advice. He asked each of his classmates to sit with him in turn - at the desk he had claimed in the front row, so as to give his full attention. But when he had gone through them all, he asked no one and sat alone. He would meet them on his terms. From then, some days he would ask someone and some days he would not. Sometimes he would have a chance to invite one of his classmates to a social event outside of class - but never for friendship’s sake alone. He kept track of what everyone wanted from him and what he was willing to give.He doled out his favor in pieces, and never let anyone have it all.

To some it might have sounded lonely. He didn’t mind. The classroom was his court and he reigned in it as king. He knew who he was. He knew the game. And he was good at it. Those who were not so peerless formed their own friendships around him. They knew how to stand in their position, but they would step aside from it when the work was done. But he was there at the center of it all. And he was happy. All was as it should be. He was not looking for anything to change. He did not want it to change. But quite unexpectedly, it did.

He has not marked the day as anything out of the ordinary when it began. He came to class the same as always, chatted with his classmates before the lesson began, and having no particular reason to offer the seat to anyone took his place in the front row alone. He was taking out his materials to prepare for the lecture when, suddenly, he was no longer sitting alone.

He looked to the new arrival beside him, too taken aback to have anything at the ready to say. It was no one he recognized, which of course meant it must be the new student Dor Arill had said would be starting - he must have only just arrived, Seyetto had not noticed him among his classmates earlier. He knew already this would be one of Dor Arill’s common born findings, but there would have been no mistaking him for one of the noble students by sight. And yet he had sat down next to him, Crown Prince Seyetto Farran, with a bright smile and as little care as though he were with an old friend. “I’m Rinnyx Glade,and who’re you?”

He didn’t know? But he must know the royal colors,which Seyetto always wore, and the Farran falcon, and the face everyone said looked remarkably like his father the king, who was on their money. “I’m Crown Prince Seyetto Farran,” he answered, politely.

“I should have known!” Rinnyx responded immediately, but beyond a brief wince of embarrassment his demeanor towards Seyetto did not change at all. “It’s great to meet you.”

He was trying to be friends, Seyetto realized, unsure how he felt about that, because Rinnyx had been trying to be friends before he even knew who he was. Well. It would be rude to tell him to change seats now. “It’s good to meet you as well,” he said, and turned towards the front of the room as Dor Arill stood at his podium about to speak.

---

Rinnyx arrived more promptly the following day, and Seyetto had a chance to see him speaking with the others - just as bright and friendly with each of them from the lowest born to the highest. Seyetto decided he would offer Rinnyx the seat beside him again today - because he wanted to show him the way things worked, because he wanted to know what Rinnyx wanted, because he had enjoyed his company. The day before, Rinnyx had often leaned in to ask questions or share a look as though telling some silent joke. Seyetto was not used to that. He thought perhaps he liked it.

The next day, Seyetto offered the seat to no one, but Rinnyx caught his eye as he headed to the front. He smiled, and Rinnyx followed. He didn’t stop him.

Everyone wants something. But Rinnyx only wanted to be his friend. And he wanted to be friends with everyone. He wanted to be friends with Seyetto.

  rithmeres  hm i feel like i...

how about you give the most detailed physical description you can and i’ll draw them

ok first of all this about knocked me flat bc i always want to draw them but.. i cannot draw (yes. i know drawing is something really anyone *can* do if they take time to practice. but i already need to spend more time writing so.) 

and unsurprisingly this got long soooo im putting it under a readmore

Seyetto had asked the servants to send us wine, but he swirls it in his glass and stares, not drinking. I don’t know what to say to him - a strange feeling, and an uncomfortable one.

“I’m not ready. I thought I’d be ready to be king.” I can tell by the way he lets out his breath and relaxes his shoulders that he hasn’t talked with anyone else about this yet, maybe not even Tavina.

“Who could be ready for this?”

I assumed he’d return the favor one day, but after Dommil he’s the last person I want to see.

drabble for @oc-growth-and-development‘s OCtober.