#senetha tephys

[esfawkes]

Hey why don't you bring Kaedra's twin brother back and make him the male only RO? That way players could have a knight and his lady romance with Senetha?

Well, for starters, Kyrisen is an absolute prick, lmao. He would not make for a good “longterm” RO, because he’s a manipulative, selfish ass who sees relationships as a transaction. He makes for an interesting “temporary” love interest, but he’s not suited to be a proper, end-game love interest.

Beyond that, the current gender ratio for the ROs is already skewed, and adding another male RO would make things even more unbalanced.

I’m still undecided on Senetha’s sexuality, though I do feel considerably less pressure for gay male RO now than I did previously. The entire issue cropped up because I cut an RO from the game who was the only gay male RO and there was concern about a lack of representation in my game. Which is a valid concern, of course, and something that I took seriously.

But that entire debate occurred on the forum, where Seven Heirs is more… “straight passing,” I guess you could say, lol. I have been a lot more open about how queer 7H is on here, though there is still a lot that I haven’t mentioned because, you know, spoilers.

There may not be a gay male RO, and readers are entitled to be unhappy about that, but I am not going to add one simply to meet some arbitrary LGBTQ+ representation quota when I, as the author, know there are a lot of queer characters — both past and present, both good and bad — within the universe. There are already several queer characters introduced within the game (as of my version of the demo, that is), but since the MC is all of seven years old at the moment and homosexuality is presently a no-no in Ophaesia, they don’t exactly advertise it, lol.

So whenever I come to a decision on Senetha, it will be based on what I believe is most in line with who he is as a character and the story I want to tell with him, nothing else. I’m sure people will be disappointed either way, which I totally understand, but I’m starting to accept that there is no pleasing everyone, so I just have to do what I think is best for my story.

Fortunately, people have been, for the most part, patient and understanding about this so far, which makes it a lot less stressful on me. 😊

[esfawkes]

!!!

LOOK! AT! THIS!

I AM IN LOVE

WOW

SENETHA TEPHYS, PALADIN OF TEPHARON

glory (n.) /ˈɡlɔːri/

1. high renown or honour won by notable achievements.

2. magnificence or great beauty.

3. praise, worship, and thanksgiving offered to a deity.

4. a thing that is beautiful, impressive, or worthy of praise.

5. the splendour and bliss of heaven

6. a luminous ring or halo, especially as depicted around the head of Christ or a saint. 

Senetha moodboard for @fantasyfawkes. Gay as heck character study below.

Keep reading

[esfawkes]

it surprised me to hear Terrisen has sexist views toward women, but that will make knocking him on his ass with Female Heirsona extra fun.

A lot of Terrisen’s sexism is due to his association with the Paladins. I mean, Ophaesia’s own culture hasn’t exactly helped, but the Paladins are unfortunately quite misogynistic as a whole. (As you can imagine, creates a lot of tension between them and the Priestesshood of Naphenia.)

From a young age, Terrisen has been fascinated by the Paladins. While he cannot join them himself since he’s a prince, he spends a lot of time among them, learning whatever he can. It’s how he met Senetha and became close with him; under the guidance of a Paladin, they trained together. While most of what they learned together was combat-related, their Paladin instructor also passed on some of his general wisdom — and his prejudices. This has, unfortunately made Senetha somewhat sexist as well.

But just like with Terrisen, you can literally beat the sexism out of him if you want lol.

Regardless of whether you do or not, though, as they get older, they learn that not everything they were taught by the Paladins (and their tutors) was true or fair or right. Which is a good thing, of course, but also something difficult for both of them. Realizing that not only were the Paladins wrong but that they even might have purposefully lied about some things really shakes their faith, in both the Paladins and people as a whole.

(Though for Senetha, it’s not just his faith in the Paladins as an institution but also his faith in the Monathalist religion as a whole. Terrisen, despite his borderline obsession with the Paladins, isn’t actually very religious.)

[esfawkes]

What was terrisen going to say before senatha misunderstood Fawkes??? please I’m begging you that can’t be it

I’m going to be real with you.

I wrote it so long ago, I have no idea.

I do know that Terrisen is absolutely in love with Senetha in the story and very much wanted to tell him so. He never would have, though. It’s too complicated, and he’s too scared. Plus, for all that he loves Senetha, he also loves Jasiphae, and his relationship with her is far easier. There’s no risk to being with her; Senetha, on the other hand...

Would Terrisen have let things go further between them that day? Yes. He’s hopeless, after all. But afterwards he would constantly be worried for Senetha and half-way to hating himself for putting Senetha in such a precarious position with their relationship.

Even if he finds the whole “forbidden lovers” thing a major turn-on.

[esfawkes]

Senetha and Kosphoren Portraits

[esfawkes]

Back when I posted Senetha’s portrait, I mentioned that Paladins have brands on the backs of their necks.

To elaborate, when boys join the Order for training, they are branded to signify that the Order owns them. Running away is considered desertion, a crime with severe consequences. Runaway boys are often checked for brands.

When they complete their training and become full Paladins, they are branded once more, adding on to their original brand.

Here are the brands:

[esfawkes]

I love the idea of Jasiphae and Senetha thirsting together over Terrisen and the heirsona

They rock-paper-scissors to figure out who gets whom.

[esfawkes]

Is Senetha off the table for the heirsona now?

Oh, definitely not! Senetha is still very much a primary love interest for the Heirsona --- that isn’t gonna change.

So much of what happens in the game is dependent on the player’s choices. If the Heirsona is interested in Senetha, absolutely nothing will happen between him and Terrisen over the course of the game, because Senetha will be focused on the Heirsona instead.

The stuff with Terrisen --- it’s largely self-indulgent for me personally. I like the pairing, so I like thinking about them and writing about them. It doesn’t override canon.

[esfawkes]

Is terrisen and senetha canon? I can’t believe I have to fight my brother for TWO people

It’s not technically canon --- there may be some pining on Senetha’s end, but I don’t have plans to make it anymore canon than that, despite my love for the pairing.

[esfawkes]

If you ever want to make the pairing more canon than just some pining on Senetha's end, I would love to see Terrisen and Senetha get together in canon! They seem like they'd be very cute together!

Well, who knows what happens when they go off to war as adults. A lot of things can change when you’re surrounded by death and destruction.

[esfawkes]

How good could we become in fighting? Would we have any chance against them?

The only character who would ever have any chance at besting Senetha is the MC, regardless of their gender

[esfawkes]

correct me if I’m wrong- senetha finds us beating him unbearably hot.

You are not wrong!

[esfawkes]

I'm new here and I've been trough your old asks and I got really curious about the elopement situation. You said that you considered Senetha as a choice to elope but didn't think it would work. Was that only because of his undecided sexuality or another reason?

It’s because I’m not sure if your relationship with him at that point in the game would be deep enough that he would be willing to completely forsake his vows. Later, certainly, but maybe not then, not yet.

[esfawkes]

Could our MC become a better fighter than Senetha and Vesperion?

The MC (of either gender) can become a better fighter than Vesperion. They cannot become a better fighter than Senetha.

[esfawkes]

Really hope my boy Senetha can still be romancable with female MC in the end... I just love the paladin guy trope so much...

I have yet to make a decision on Senetha’s sexuality.