#“I'm old” yeah no kidding I'm out here using “cut” from my LJ days instead of “read more” xD

[anonofseasons]

What do your characters look for in a partner romantically? Personality/looks if they have a specific type?

Thank you for the ask! This is a fun and interesting question. :)

I’m not entirely sure which characters you want to hear about most, so I’ll focus on the Liddell kids. I have trouble with tumblr refusing to post anything long (not an issue I had in the past on tumblr, since I’d post chapters of stories on here), so if anyone wants to hear about other characters, I’ll do them in separate posts/asks. ^^

For all of the kids, however, someone “not like Vivian” is important in a partner! ahahaha Answers below cut ;)

I’ll start with Sophie, since she’s actually had romantic partners. She’s been in several relationships, even if Brielle and Rhett are the only two times she’s ever been married. As far as personality, she seeks those who are kind and make her laugh. People she can relax around. Those who enjoy a bit of mystery and things that are whimsical, if only because she’s anxious that revealing she’s a spirit could total the relationship.

For looks, she tends to be one of those “fall in love with the person and start seeing all the beauty of their features even more” people, but she does like pretty eyes and a kind smile to attract her attention first. :)

I’ve mentioned Shannon is aroace before, in that he’s never experienced any sort of arousal or romantic attraction to people. This has nothing to do with his upbringing, although that does affect him having any partners. He might thrive in a queerplatonic polyship someday. For now, I’ll just be grateful he’s warming to his siblings and understanding that Phineas’s other kids are also his found family.

Shannon would require that partners not be anything like Vivian and Graham. That extends to more than personality. Maybe he needs a quiet dork of a partner who enjoys reading by the windows on rainy days, the curtains open wide to let in all the natural light despite the weather. :’)

Shannon will not date humans.

Howie finds “liking nature” attractive. (I feel like spirits in general will gravitate toward those who love nature, who knew? But I bet he dates a lot of people whose favorite season is autumn “coincidentally”.) He does have a preference for redheads. He loves having someone to compete with on racing or climbing, someone who’ll join him on hikes.

As he wants kids eventually, he will seek partners who feel the same about parenting as he does, given his traumatic background. It’s not a spoiler because this takes place well beyond the epilogue, but Howie does have a family and ends up being like… Best Dad Ever.

Howie will date humans, but for long-term partners, he’ll hold preference for fellow spirits.

Bee… has a partner in the epilogue, and saying too much about what he wants is a bit of a spoiler. I’ll just let that relationship speak for itself, and if anyone has further questions, feel free to ask them. I plan to keep asks open for a while after I finish the series, although I’m sure it’ll eventually taper off and just be around for reference to new readers, if I have any. xD

Okay, so El.

El… is attracted more to fictional characters. Particularly monsters. Scales and horns are sexually attractive. I answered another ask about sexualities and briefly mentioned this, but I was a bit self-conscious about going into it at the time. He’s probably aro, but he loves the idea of romance and courtship—at least to make it a significant part of his reading!

And while I’ve been too chickenshit to actually wonder this out loud before, I’ve honestly thought that based on how unhealthy El and Howie’s dynamic is, how many readers have ended up shipping them. No judgment here, obviously it crossed my mind. It has that taboo ripeness for the picking, that’s all? It’s not canon, but I also don’t mind people shipping characters. (I’m old, and some of my earliest fandoms included Clamp works and Spiral Suiri no Kizuna soooo…yeah.)