4 February 2023

I’m really glad I kept good notes on what little I’d figured out about this story. I don’t know much but it fascinates me more than I expected. I want to take some time at some point and hash it out more thoroughly…

I do not know what events Tavala (Tirian’s mother) is referring to yet. I know something big happened, but at this point, most of what I know comes from the context clues in this scene. I do kinda want to find out, though. Also, writing an outside perspective on Gwen is fun. Mostly just because of what she’s like. Hopefully I can nail her down and keep her consistent without being too stereotypical.

Tavala studied the girl. She stood ramrod straight, her face strained from maintaining her poor attempt at a neutral expression. On anyone else Tavala had met light side, it would have been fear hidden behind the mask; this girl, however, had an energetic mix of curiosity and guilt, as if she were somehow responsible for Sennan’s infidelity.

A whisp of a smile passed over Tavala’s lips. “You can relax, child. Please, sit. No need for formality with me, especially after what you have done for my son.”

Gwen heaved a dramatic sigh of relief, only for her cheeks to turn pink at the last part of Tavala’s comment. “So, you heard about that, huh? Did Tirian mention it?”

Tavala raised an eyebrow. “Even had he not, I am not so removed from society that news of such scale does not reach me. The two of you have become quite the celebrities.”

“Hehe, yeah. Like brother, like sister, I guess?” Despite her words, Gwen shrank into herself, her face burning red. “Honestly it all kind of scares me.”

“Oh? In what way?”

“It’s just… All the lights, all the people. I grew up always hiding part of who I am, trying to stay safe, stay unnoticed. And now… I walk down the street, and mothers are asking me to touch their babies. As if that will bless them or something.”

For a long moment, Tavala just watched Gwen. The girl could not stay still; her hands were always moving, fiddling with something. After what could have been an uncomfortably long silence, Tavala said, “That can be hard. But you will grow used to it in time.”

“That’s part of what I’m afraid of. The fame, the recognition… Honestly, part of me loves all that. And I… I’m scared that means I’ll wind up like him.” Gwen drew her shoulders in closer and looked at the floor. “Sorry. I probably shouldn’t insult your husband right to your face, huh?”

Tavala chuckled and shook her head. “If anything, my status as his wife makes me all the more aware of his failings.” She looked off into the distance, pieces of old memories flickering to life in the back of her mind. “Besides, our marriage was one of political necessity. I doubt either of us felt we had much choice in the matter.”

Gwen chewed on that for a while, staying silent for longer than Tavala would have thought she was capable of. “Why did you marry him, in the end? My father.”

Tavala sighed, and let the bits and pieces grow until the memories returned in full. “Tensions were high. Their fear made some among your people reckless, prone to violence. And my own people fear your ways; the lies, the scramble for power. The desire to control. The marriage let your people believe, however falsely, that they had some measure of control over mine, while my own people could still look to me as a shield, and a source of protection from the lightbearers’ schemes.” She sighed and shot Gwen an apologetic look. “Though, based on recent events, it seems this marriage is no longer effective on eitherr count.”

26 September 2022

This one is pretty self explanatory; rather that write prose, I took the hour to brainstorm what Elsenaia’s past might have been like. Most of the time I do this sort of thing in the 10-15minute prep time before I write, but this seemed big and complicated enough I went ahead and took the whole block, and used it for my writing for the day.

This is pretty much just backstory ramblings, so quality and coherency may not be super high.

Elsenaia was a lot happier as a child. She and Tairsi were thick as thieves, and Tairsi would drag the princess all over the place for little “adventures”. Nothing too serious; they never left the palace, and they never caused any real trouble. That would be rude to the servants.

However, it was considered unseemly for Elsenaia to express her emotions so strongly, and to be running around like that in general. So they were separated. The king found a prestigious promotion for Tairsi’s parents out near the borders of the kingdom, and it would be years before they saw each other again. By that point, both had changed.

What made it worse was the last day before they parted. Tairsi ad been heavily scolded by her parents, and so when she went to say goodbye, she told Elsenaia, “I guess we can’t be friends anymore.”

“What!? Why?” Little Elsenaia had tears in her eyes.

Tairsi wouldn’t meet her gaze. “Princesses aren’t supposed to have friends.”

For a long time, Elsenaia didn’t move. Then her tears overflowed, and she ran. Even she’s not sure if she’s ever truly smiled after that.

Tairsi, for her part, was literally parroting what her parents told her word for word. By the time she realized how much that must have hurt the princess several years later, it was too late. The damage had been done, and she had no way to apologize.

There is now an awkward dichotomy, where the only thing Tairsi could think of to do was serve Elsenaia whole-heartedly to make up for her mistake. However, on the contrary, every bow, every term of respect, every servile action only drove it home to Elsenaia that Tairsi is not her friend; she is her servant. And Elsenaia felt more and more isolated.

After Tairsi was sent away, Elsenaia was forced to spend all her time studying. The angry guard from before was actually one of her tutors; swordplay, specifically. She didn’t particularly enjoy or pursue it, but she’s passable with a blade, which is more than can be said of me.

Her truest passion was magic. I think it was a form of escapism; leave behind all her duties and responsibilities to focus on breaking the very rules of the universe.

As for as her family, her parents are both alive, and they see each other often enough, but there’s also a certain distance between them as well. Like the king (or whatever his title actually is) must keep that royal persona on at all times, even with family. I suspect her mother just follows along with whatever her husband says; someone with little to no will of their own to exert, even if they wanted to.

As for siblings… Elsenaia is certainly the eldest. She has at least one younger brother, I think? How much of this is patterned after the Schnee family? …Nah. Anyway, the next eldest is a brother, who is jealous of Elsenaia’s status, and the youngest are a pair of twin sisters. I’m still deciding if they’re malicious pranksters or something else at the moment.

Each has a day of the week they are assigned to “listen to the voice of the people”, though each of the twins’ days are cut to noon, and they always have one of their parents around to supervise due to their age. Elsenaia finds it very boring; she is, unfortunately, very good at it, and tends to draw bigger crowds than even the king. No telling how he feels about that; could provide an escape opportunity for Elsenaia if he turns out to be jealous.

Unless… I her brother’s actually older than her, and Elsenaia’s the one that “never measures up” in their parents’ eyes, always choking at the last minute, that could be an interesting dynamic, as well. I’ll have to think about that.

Yeah, I like that image; where she was the baby of the bunch, and the twins would always tease or prank her, perhaps because they were jealous of how happy she was roaming around with Tairsi. Then the incident with Tairsi leaving happened, and Elsenaia became way too serious, and the twins were filled with guilt.

When it comes to stories… The sheer shock she had in the last scene doesn’t make sense, I don’t think. Elves have stories, whether real, fictional, or legendary; it’s just a question of which ones Elsenaia was exposed to. And given the general attitude her parents/father had about Tairsi, I think it’s safe to say that her media intake was heavily censored. If it didn’t teach her something (and that something was both specific and approved by the king), it didn’t get anywhere near her.

Which does leave the question, wouldn’t some of the petitions on her public day be about requests to read or watch some of their artwork?

It also makes me curious what she does, exactly, the other six days of the week. I’m sure she’s kept busy, but doing what? Diplomatic meetings? I’m sure that’s part of it bu certainly not all of it. Flower garden tea parties? I’m sure she hates those. Leah Aragaki from Out of Touch might be decent inspiration for her personality; it would explain why she can’t trust anyone without reading their mind.

Does she paint? That might be the one “personal” thing she’s been allowed. Of course, it would still be heavily regimented; what kind of princess gets paint in her hair, for example? This would change on earth, though.

Yeah, I kinda hate her father the more this goes on. That kind of makes it fun, though. Does Elsie get banished, and that’s what lets her cut loose? Or is he an ever-present threat, always looming in the back of her and the MC’s minds, wondering when the other shoe is going to drop?

How big is her country? Initially I thought it would have to be quite small, but if it takes place on a whole different world, it could be quite the empire. Which would explain all of the diplomatic meetings. What kind of communication technology/magics do they have there? Whatever it is, what I’ve seen makes me think the king would make heavy use of propaganda. 

Ooh, what if his kingdom is small and failing, and that’s given him a chip on his shoulder? All his people know it, but he has that royal pride, and so has refused to let his children see it. The others have likely figured it out to one degree or another, but not Elsenaia. It’s a fun idea, but it doesn’t quite fit.

Also, what sparked their invasion? Did the portal reawaken suddenly, and they sent a party through to head off any potential threat? I like that idea. The question, then, is what is Elsenaia doing on this trip? There are two main possibilities, which are very much NOT mutually exclusive. Either she finagled herself onto the trip so she could actually see the world, or else her older brother arranged it in hopes of eliminating her.

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