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@merieshenanigans

*dies*

I told you, they’re ridiculously dumb XD

Their relationship sounds so delightfully complex. Maybe I should just adopt all your characters…

LOL, it’s great. It’s very complex, but I keep expanding on it and making it more complicated XD

Aww, a burnt cinnamon roll <3

That’s actually a good way of putting it XD (Right, @calidris ??? It’s a particularly good way of putting it, isn’t it? *Evil laughter*) Yes his backstory may or may not have involved fire 😇 That may also be the part where I made Calidris almost cry because I dropped it on her like a sack of bricks. (In my defense she asked me about it so it’s not all my fault)

That is, of course, the best kind of ship. I’m really interested to see how their relationship will develop

LOL, so am I, I don’t know what I’m doing XD

Well it’s true that our tastes collide at some point xD I love watching that kind of character grow into a better person (because I’m assuming he will become a better person by the end of the series). It’s so very satisfying. Also, they’re just kind of funny, and humor is very important to me *nods seriously*

He… grows less than you’d expect XD As I mentioned, he’s very much a background character, he doesn’t do much more than hang around, give bad advice, be sarcastic, and bicker. The amount of development is more that the other characters get better at dealing with him XD

I was planning to give him and Sahar bigger arcs, but I just genuinely didn’t have enough screentime 😭

So, now I’m keeping him around to please Calidris and everyone else who took an irrational liking to the brat XD

oooh yes this just got even better. You didn’t tell me she was the bubbly feminine type too!! <333

Oh, extremely!! She spends half the time squealing over pretty jewelry and makeup and the rest kicking butt XD It’s amazing, especially since I love how it compliments Liorah’s more practical self. Liorah needs someone to give her fashion advice and actually appreciates it when Sahar helps her, it’s amazing. Did I mention I love their friendship?

Yes! So like, he grew up wearing a blindfold and almost never takes it off, so he’s kind of basically sightless but also not… (and this is where my chief concern comes in because… writing that will be a challenge :)) and so instead of smirking like a normal person, he just always has the same sweet smile on his face when he’s teasing. Which basically defeats the point and intimidates nobody.

Ohhhh, that’s fascinating!!! I love that! Aww, that’s such an adorable quirk! I love him already <3

*dusts hands* SO this main series of four planned books all takes place on the Fidelis continent, whose name needs a change because it sounds kinda lame and also because there are too many other similar names that will definitely get confusing later on, which used to all be under the control of the mighty Fidelian Empire (see what I mean?). It’s a fairly small continent–only six countries, though formerly there were seven.

Hmm, I actually really like the name! It made me think of the Latin “Fidelis” (loyalty), I have no idea if that was intentional or not XD But sometimes you just want to change the names because you don’t vibe with it, which is completely valid XD

 So um… there’s some political and historical background for you xD Now as for the actual cultural aspect…

That’s fascinating! I love that, I can see how much you’ve thought about it! I can see it impacts the cultures a lot!

As far as culture goes, I drew a lot of inspiration from Japan, and they have an order of knights that are more like samurai than European knights. Even so, a lot of Fidelian customs have been folded into their own, and their king isn’t the let’s-destroy-everything-and-begin-anew type, so they’re just livin with it now. Um, as far as the actual culture, Amadern is the least developed, oops xD

OOohh, that’s an awesome concept already! I love how they seem to have kind of conserved the old Fidelian customs!

It has a vibrant, diverse culture and is regarded as the continental center of trade and tourism. As for the people, they tend to be the most forward-thinking and open-minded, as shown by the fact that they were the first to allow women to join their own order of knights. They do not get along with their neighbor Kaynslie.

Ohh, I remember, Della is one of the knights, right? I can imagine it causes a lot of conflict with their neighbor country!

they remain the oldest country on the continent, and even though it’s pretty small it’s been fought over forever, because it remains fresh and green all year round, due to a blessing bestowed upon it long ago that ensures the land will always be fertile. The people seem very carefree and easygoing, but they’re famously stubborn. It’s probably their stubbornness that kept the country from being torn apart by all the others.

That’s awesome! I love how you use the wanted resources to establish conflict!

I love writing in Kaynslie because it always feels so fresh and green, like I’m surrounded by lovely hills and lush gardens and :))))

Oh, that’s a mood! That’s the exact reason I love writing Nebatan country! The rest of the country is just kind of desert, wilderness and cities, but Nebatan country is just this gorgeous, whimsical hills and forests with old hidden ruins. (They’re near the coast so they get more rain) It just makes me happy, the vibes are impeccable XD

Oombalia is one country I haven’t explored a great deal but can’t wait to, because it has the stereotypical desert-kingdom-in-the-south setting and I like that stereotypical setting xD

Oh, I LOVE it too!! That’s what I based my project off, and then just went on and expanded it XD

And of course, they channeled it into financial use, and now banks and debt collection in that country are managed by an intricate system of promise magic that I obviously don’t know much about because I don’t like economics.

LOL, that’s a mood, I spent maybe three seconds on the economics XD I love that idea of promise magic though, that’s facinating!

Dommes is the smallest country on the continent, but quite possibly the wealthiest because the whole land is rich in valuable mineral deposits… beyond the ring of craggy mountains and uninviting bogs that tends to keep unfriendly outsiders away. They have a very advanced system of etiquette and have raised some of the most revered sages and philosophers in history, whose wise adages you’ll see are effortlessly incorporated into everyday language (born of my great appreciation and even greater bitterness toward the Chinese idiom). Also home of the Nerich School of Martial Arts, which is where Faëll teaches.

Oh, I love that! They sound like they’ve put a lot into advancement because they’re so rich!

Last, but certainly not least, is the mighty Raynor, the massive kingdom of the north, and culturally speaking, the most introverted xD Like Dommes, they have strict etiquette and some famous scholars, though more mathematically inclined than the former. They’re quite superstitious (all the countries have different religious backgrounds, which I’d love to talk about but don’t want to swamp you with too much info   ) and really like the number seven, lol. Their knights are organized into teams of seven; they’ve divided the territory into exactly forty-nine districts; the queen’s council has seven head ministers, etc…

LOL, that’s hilarious, I do the same thing! I made it a running joke to see how many times I could incorporate the number seven into my story! There are seven tribes, and the world has seven countries. The Sanat have seven guild leaders, it’s been seventy years since the treaty that united the tribes XD There are probably more, I just can’t think of them right now XD

And… looks like that’s it *wipes brow* Sorry for this… incredibly long info dump, lol. It’s the first time I’ve written about all six of these nations together like this.

I really enjoyed it! It’s epic, I love how much worldbuilding you’ve done! Your world sounds big but also lived-in, and I love how they all have cultural things that set them apart!

Friend, my imagination is a terrible place. Don’t you underestimate it xD

Don’t underestimate me either 😈😈

That being said… while I have no qualms torturing my own dear characters, I can’t say I feel the same toward others’. They are to be protected…

Honestly, that’s completely valid XD I have the same thing XD

 

@calidris

Idek what to say to this.  Merieshenanigans it’s way worse than anything you can imagine, like it made me tear up and I rarely, if ever, cry for stories.

I have never been prouder of an accomplishment. You all need to know that whenever I tell you all the horrible details I am either grinning with evil glee or hating myself. Or both, yaknow 😇

Also rose-colored-fancy how can you possibly call me out for making Basil sad when you went and wrote that???

Because Basil is my boi. I love Basil, he deserves nothing but happiness. And, he’s not mine, so I don’t get as much satisfaction from his misery.

That’s very fair, and tbh it’s kind of a rule of thumb that all of your own characters are horrible nasty brats and everyone else’s are precious cinnamon rolls

See, you said it yourself! XD Other peoples’ characters are my friends, my children! My characters are the barbies I use to act out soap operas with XD (I’ve said this before but it bears repeating because I’m right.)

(except then you reach a certain level of familiarity and you start making up your own tragic headcanons for other people’s characters…)

Look, I know what you’re talking about but Basil really is fun to torture 😇

Well I have to say, your reasoning is slightly more mature than mine.  I just like seeing them get used as a living punishment for the other annoying brats xD  Yes Acyn is awful, yes I adopted him on sight, yes he may or may not remind me of certain other favorites I have xD

He really is XD It’s even better because the more I read about Basil the more of his awfulness I add to Acyn XD It’s a vicious cycle XD

Also rose-colored-fancy how could you possibly forget about Fayedin?!!

I mentioned them! I mentioned the frog argument! What more is there to say? XD Is there anything else that could truly tell you more about their relationship?

What can I say, I always end up falling for the obliviously annoying, socially awkward characters and Acyn just happens to check both of those boxes twice xD

Oh, he does and you keep encouraging me to make him worse XD