#also bc Syn's answers being ''well that's complicated because they're an offset manifestation of the primordial spirit of the land'' is uh.

[ace-malarky]

⭐ 🌀

(Am: @literarynecromancy )

Hey Grim! thanks for the ask :)

We're gonna do these for Syn and Halliel bc skies know I haven't given Halliel enough attention lmao

⭐ What is your OC afraid of? Any crippling phobias or some such? How do they act when scared and what helps them calm down? Does anyone ever find your OC scary? Why?

Halliel is Not Great with enclosed spaces but conversely being in pitch black is absolutely fine because if she can't see shit, nothing can see her, right? She pulls out bravado like a pro when she's scared in very much a "fake it 'til you make it" facsimile which to be fair has been known to work for her! If there are others with her (Syn) that helps because then she is Not Alone and that gives her something else to focus on because they will Need Help and she can do that.

Syn is maybe a little scared of her the first time they meet as Val (and maybe a little turned on) bc like. consider Dame Aylin. That's the vibe we're going for when Halliel is pissed. She holds herself real still and bristles in a way she doesn't when she's scared herself, and she's got a sword and you get the feeling she will use it when necessary.

Syn does a lot of pretending never to be afraid ever, which is fair enough when you can shapeshift into something with more teeth than whatever's facing you but they're not great at being alone with themself. If you want them real scared, threaten the people they love, just uh. be careful because that's when they stop being careful and a Syn not being careful lets a hell of a lot more humanity slip.

They tend to get more flippant as they get more scared like they're pretending they're not, but you know it's bad when they can't even muster that.

N fuck listen. people are definitely scared of Syn by the end of the book! They do some shit! the aforementioned throat ripping! it's definitely in a monster-under-your-bed kinda way, a little That Thing From The Wilds

🌀 Where is your OC from? Where were they born? Do they still live there, if not why did they move? If they still live in the area how has it changed since their childhood? How many places has your OC lived in and where has been their favourite?

Halliel has lived in Shutora - the capital of Verial - her whole life but thinks about moving every so often to somewhere out by the coast, perhaps. She'd say the city itself hasn't changed that much but in that way where the shops have changed over and a wider panoply of people have moved in, but it happened so gradually that you don't notice until it's happened and then it's the way it's always been.

There are a few more disused buildings that she remembers being the scene of many a birthday party when she was younger, but now they make for good abandoned haunts and community gardening.

The theme park on the edge of the city is new, too, and that's one hell of a novelty.

Syn uh. well. They settled in Shutora just long enough ago that they seem like they've been there forever, and they certainly know the city like they're a native, but dig too much and you realise that no record of them exists for any education/birth certificate/clubs before they started work.

If asked, they say they come from a little village out in the sticks that barely anyone knows about. Intentionally rural. They came looking for excitement and better prospects and seem content to stay for now, but they always talk about travelling to see more of the world with a kind of longing that makes it seem like they're reminiscing on faded childhood memories