#ashelyn karva arminius

[il3x]

what do you see in the mirror?

[thesternest]

so the amazing tumblr mutual @leoonius has been making art for my story Callbringers which you can read here

so i thought why not post the art (and yes i did ask for permission to post it) to showcase the characters

Why not start with the protagonist Orev Karva Arminius Vi-Fervall himself It's impossible to explain my thought process about this guy because I rotate him in my head at light speed literally all the time (it is terminal) He is the older twin child of the archduchess Raenill Karva Arminius and the older twin of our second protagonist When his city is attacked by an invading army he runs away and abandons his home city to its fate where will he go? Will he return to take it back? Who knows (not me)

Ashelyn Karva Arminius Vi-Fervall is our second protagonist (and a headache since i didn't plan her plotline nearly as much before putting her in the story but I still like her)

While Orev chose to run away while his city was under attack she chose to hide (which proved to be a bad idea) and now she is stuck being a puppet ruler while trying to preserve her autonomy and take out the ruler controlling her beneath his nose

And now we have Magnie Vi-Daulfenn (the one who is holding the brain cells)

She is a Platinumforged (if you want to know what that means you'll have to read it) Im not really sure where her plot is gonna go but it sure is fun to think about her becoming Encrusted (once again im not telling you)

Then there's Faolan Wolventhorn (yes I know the last name isn't very creative to give for a wolf person but shush) he is also very fun to think about He's a deaf swordsman wolf-boy who wants to be the next head of his House

Then there's Faolan's Sibling Fyndrenn They are a very late addition to characters i spin in my head but i am already starting to get somewhere They state their goal is supporting their brother in his ambitions (there may be something else too who knows not me) If they were to be in a different setting than fantasy they would be in a western

secret drawing

Autism beast Fyndrenn Jumpscare

[il3x]

Huh, that could've been cool! I like the way it is better, though. It read as Ausvoln = pawn and Magrias = player, which I think is more apt.

Magrias isn't really a king as it's normally used in chessboard metaphors - a vitally important but weak figurehead to be protected. He's extremely hands-on in his ruling & conquest, and his voice is the ability that makes his side so dangerous. If anything, I'd make him the queen, and Ashelyn (as he views her/wants to use her) the king? Ashelyn might also fit as a pawn who became a queen.

Tbh, don't think that chess metaphors map too well to the wider Callbringers crew, even if "the knight / the king" would slap hard as Magrias epithets.

In writing, epithets ("the taller man"/"the blonde"/etc) are inherently dehumanizing, in that they remove a character's name and identity, and instead focus on this other quality.

Which can be an extremely effective device within narration!

They can work very well for characters whose names the narrator doesn't know yet (especially to differentiate between two or more). How specific the epithet is can signal to the reader how important the character is going to be later on, and whether they should dedicate bandwidth to remembering them for later ("the bearded man" is much less likely to show up again than "the man with the angel tattoo")

They can indicate when characters stop being as an individual and instead embody their Role, like a detective choosing to think of their lover simply as The Thief when arresting them, or a royal character being referred to as The Queen when she's acting on behalf of the state

They can reveal the narrator's biases by repeatedly drawing attention to a particular quality that singles them out in the narrator's mind

But these only work if the epithet used is how the narrator primarily identifies that character. Which is why it's so jarring to see a lot of common epithets in intimate moments-- because it conveys that the main character is primarily thinking of their lover/best friend/etc in terms of their height or age or hair color.

[cpericardium]

draw me an Ashelyn Karva Arminius Vi-Fervall (yes that is her full name no she does not have a middle name)

You fell for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[il3x]

holy shit most Ashelyn vs Magrias song ever if i were a weapon by suzanne vega

Interesting pick!

If I had to guess, I'd say the song was about a toxic relationship, but it does fit these two very easily. (After all, they're also a case of power imbalance, control and abuse).

Yeah, Magrias is like that. Crushing all potential for resistance with overwhelming power, most notably - in his interactions with Ashelyn - via liberal use of his Second Voice. And, as I've noted, he doesn't do subtlety - contrast with Orev there.

Heh, Ashe literally has a sword concealed, as well as plans to resist (or backstab?) Magrias.

Again, resistance. I'm not sure who, or what, "the hostage" would refer to here; Ashe herself? Ferra? Maybe that bit doesn't correlate directly, though it does fit well enough on vibes.

I think the beginning generally fits less - especially verse two; it's true that Ashelyn isn't going to be heard by Magrias, but that's not something you'd expect in a literal hostage situation. And the first verse... Actually, thinking on it, that could refer to Magrias making Ashelyn Forged.

The forceful imposition of a "weapon" role that doesn't align with the singer's self-perception - indeed, is more violent than that - and this violence is then turned upon the person who imposed it? Yeah.

[il3x]

man I keep listening to Welcome To The Circus and wanting to write or draw something inspired by the Ashelyn Feelings (TM) it gives me but there's just no way to top the raw horror of being canon Ashelyn Karva-Arminius.

[il3x]

@thesternest more picrew shenanigans with the manipulation twins!

picrew by @wervty :D

[il3x]

I bite at the hand that feeds me / Snap at the face that eats me...

@thesternest Ashelyn Karva-Arminius Moment... ashe being paralysed and forced to watch her parents' execution lives rent free in my head. I think she should kill Magrias with an executioner's sword and develop complexes about it <3

[il3x]

@thesternest ashelyn momence via this picrew...

[il3x]

take me to war by the crane wives is an Ashelyn song

MY GIRL!!! !!!!!!

"But I keep snapping at Goliath's hands With all of my tiny might"

yeah

"All of the fire I've swallowed All of the sparks that went dark in my gut I am always burning up"

SOBS. MY FIRE GIRL...

"And I'll rankle the beasts with words"

ashe politics arc?? it's inevitable. orev was born to politics ashe had politics forced upon her when she really just wants to solve her problems with Sword

"I watched a weed usurp the garden And it poisoned the rest of the crops It would take days of fighting stubborn roots To tear the whole damn thing out So I will leave it where it's standing And instead I will find me a match I'll turn it all to kindling I'll burn it all down to ash"

BURN HIS IMPERIAL ASS DOWN!!! TEAR HIM APART!!! scrunkly v scrunkly fight... show no mercy

[il3x]

callbringers ch14 (dropped today!!) spoilers

@thesternest liveblog rambles! i'm pretty much just saying this to you, might make separate posts out of the analysis points when the other readers catch up to them.

ASHELYN DISSOCIATION WINNN

Or loss, if you're Ashelyn.

ooh [kicking feet] i'm gonna have to picrew Ashe with her white hair streak soon!!

i love how she describes him jyhtsdfgyhjk. gonna start calling him "that terrible king"

ashelyn's nobility training coming back to prop up her masking :3 that's a neat detail, and it's gonna make her Losing Herself To The Mask/dissociation moments soooo much worse hehe. worm tangent, I suspect Lisa Wilbourn went through a similar thing with learning to school her expression as Sarah Livsey...

ASHEEEEEE😭😭😭 disconnect between emotions and body/actions, speedrun! magrias really is handcrafting her Issues as well as his own huh

oh magrias is SO fucking slimy. horrible bastard. terrible king indeed. god, that speech...

ough. can't say I'm surprised though

[me who's been daydreaming about an Ashelyn Gets Mind-Controlled Into Killing fic for a while] hmm...

YOU WERE RIGHT I DO LIKE THIS CHICK :DD < me when people are mean to my blorbos in compelling ways

also i would not be surprised if luan was experiencing taylor-esque passive suicidality, ngl. she's certainly Gone The Fuck Through It. anyways i respect the determination [tips hat]

back to ashe - I think the epithets she gives magrias in her inner monologue ("that tyrant", "that terrible king") are a way of reminding herself who he is and what he's done. staying focused on him as an enemy, while everything around her tries to convince her he's her leader. she needs this to centre herself and vent her anger, when she can't express her emotions or have her perceptions validated externally.

Oh, shit, wait - what was that Magnie song you sent me ages ago? Character prediction, the other Scholars working with Magrias will catalyse a crisis of faith for Magnie. I think she'll either leave the Scholars, or drastically change/reform them.

OUUUGGHH I LOVETHE ATTENDANTS PLAYS. loveeeee this. ashelyn channeling her (Reversed) Manipulation <33

"this was a much bigger picture than a few attendants and she could not let them burden her if she wanted to free her country" hm. storing this line. i don't think she's wrong for it but it could be the start of something.

you SLANDER my daughter??? you tell LIES and MISINTERPRETATIONS?? can't really blame you. but damn how did that one happen

Ohhh I Like This Girl

luan<3 storing for future analysis reference

I'M SORRY I-

OUGH FUCK THIS MUST HAVE STRUCK CHORDS WITH ASHE'S UPBRINGING. hold on imma grab the relevant quotes

ashelyn on "what it's like to be a noble":

GOD. FUCK. GOD. THIS IS WHY SHE'S SO COMPELLING. BEING MAGRIAS' PUPPET QUEEN IS THIS TURNED UP TO 200. ashelyn really is worm-esque in that she has the worst day of her life and it makes all the problems that lead up to it infinitely worse... anyways, yeah, bet she hates Aiven extra for that one.

[rubbing hands] is this the bastard we discussed? :3333

KILLING HIM KILLING HIM KILLING HIM

luckily, if he IS the bastard in question, I might have the honour of having (indirectly) orchestrated his demise already >:)

i love how you've done him BTW. there are already some juicy characterisation snippets which may lend themselves to analysis once I've seen more of him. like he totally fits the description of Bastard but you took that and elevated it and [chef's kiss].

[thesternest]

is Hell To Your Doorstep by Thomas Borchert an orev song? please let my boy go full vengeance feral...

this is kind of a "oh no the hero's town was destroyed by villain at the start of the story line" which does fit and i can see Orev saying this

this seems like an Ashelyn line to me since she is very much in a disadvantages position waiting for any chance to turn the tables also fire metaphors so even more Ashelyn

the first line resonates very much with Orev's current place in the plot he is very much Running from Magrias's pursuit trying to find something to help him fight back (control over his powers) and the second one gives me brain worms so i also put it here

this is an Orev line but not directed at the character you think its directed at a different character one I'm not telling you

[il3x]

ashelyn gets gaslit arc

[il3x]

THE BELOVEDS!! ft. bonus guy who is the puppet and the strings :]

[thesternest]

welcome to the circus by skittish: ashelyn and magrias song?

very litterally what Magrias is doing to ashelyn she is being put up for display as a puppet whether she wants to or not

this line is interesting to me but for different reasons Magrias is aware Ashelyn probably wants to and is planning to kill him but he doesn't think she actually can so he just tells her to act naturally as if this is how its meant to be

i feel like this is an Ashelyn to Magrias line when he is beneath her blade she will be waiting for whatever excuse or rationalization he can come up with so she can ignore it

and this is what is the most likely thing to happen to Ashelyn if she lets that happen if she has him on the ropes and yet lets him talk then he wins

[il3x]

Do Ashlyn for a blorbo bingo

the issues are that they are dead