Sources Of Conflict, Secondary Characters, And Agency In SGE

Sources of Conflict, Secondary Characters, and Agency in SGE

The supporting cast of the prequels is awful as far as them as human beings with the barest shreds of common decency goes. I'm tempted to say they have no restraint. They are madmen—take the Pan for instance—unlike the Coven, Agatha (not that she's a side character), and even book one Beatrix, who all have some ethical standards and rationality to them. Really.

The brothers are the only "Good" characters, possibly along with Kyma, Midas, and Rufius, albeit, about two of these three don't have the most major impacts on the plot. (And classing either of the brothers as moral is a stretch by itself.)

Literally everyone is against them, if we're operating with protagonist-centered morality. The brothers have a solid relationship, and external factors tear them apart. It's a man vs. society/world conflict with them.

And, nearly all the supporting characters, the jerks in particular, enter the narrative by themselves. They are out for their own personal gain. Aladdin fits this description, to a point; he's on a fine line. And, Vulcan, Marialena, and the Pan definitely fit without question. They are invaders. I'd add pre-reformation Hook to the list, but to be fair, Rafal "recruits" him by kidnapping/human-trafficking.

In contrast, the main series cast of secondary characters are mostly decent people, which makes for a completely different atmosphere, however hostile the Schools may be with Evil Rhian at their head. These side characters were simply trying to live their lives, have a normal school year. Then, Sophie and Agatha arrive, and their appearance creates a major disruption.

Things don't go on as they normally would because they are meant to overhaul the status quo while Rhian and Rafal were meant to uphold it, which is an interesting juxtaposition by itself. The creation twins and the destruction twins. Both forces/freaks of nature, the pairs. Inevitably leading to upheaval and uproar. They're forces of order and chaos, plain as day.

Nearly all the supporting characters in the main series are ambivalent and are dragged into the plot/tale by the sheer force of Sophie's drama. She's the prime mover, with the magnetism of a black hole. She's the will of Man, the engine for conflict. The supporting cast is just trying to stay alive and exist alongside our all-consuming protagonists. They're not truly out to get anyone until they're offered the chance to leap at, until they're given any kind of motivation to take offense. They revolve around Sophie and Agatha and the tale, while the prequel side characters revolve around themselves and their own desires.

The main series' supporting characters aren't active agents in their own stories—unlike Marialena, Vulcan, and Aladdin, all with indisputably ulterior motives—they're along for the ride: the Coven, Tedros, even poor Agatha... The story revolves around Sophie and her decisions/actions. The conflict stems from them, her and Agatha.

Meanwhile, in the prequels, the conflict arguably stems from a wide array, a multitude of sources, and the brothers themselves are only one factor or source of conflict among all the rest. Rhian and Rafal are along for the ride in everyone else's games (the Storian's included). And the brothers are both active and reactive.

Their decisions matter, sure, but the determining factors are often out of their hands. For two immortal School Masters who would/should probably have control over a lot of the Woods/the future of civilization under usual circumstances, they sure don't have much agency on an in-narrative, plot level.

Look at Rhian, even on a lesser, personal level: his soul seems to override his self, sort of, and he ends Fall as if he's been possessed by his own inherent Evil. That's the most obvious example I can point to.

Basically, my point is that, unlike Sophie, unlike even Sophie and Agatha as a duo (and they are mere, seemingly powerless Readers), Rhian and Rafal do not orchestrate the events of their own plot nearly as much. You'd think the brothers, as aware of their genre and the workings of their world as they are, would have the advantage, but no.

They aren't the "authors of their own misfortune," at least not entirely. It doesn't matter how much claim free will seems to have. (It doesn't have much, considering we have a non-negotiable prophecy in play at all.) It doesn't matter how much the narrative claims they have free will (it doesn't really claim that to begin with). They're both far more beholden to the yoke of fate than Sophie and Agatha could ever be.

The dynamics in these pairs of twins are similar, on a small scale, but how they interact with their plots is different. Therefore, Man/free will/choice wins in the main series, and Pen/Fate wins in the prequels.

AAAH, I love this one! Literally, these are three of my favorite things: Rafal, birds, and symbolism! (Unfortunately, my pet bird has long been dead.) Incredible art as always, OP.

(I wonder if Rafal would be the type of person to appreciate birdsong at all? Or, perhaps, he’d like ungodly squawks and cawing that’s more characteristic of corvids, knowing him and his penchant for the “loathly” over the “lovely.”)

i think this drawing single handedly made me part of the rafal fanclub

Hey, can I get being the Best friend or close Friends With Rafal or Rhian ( Or maybe both? ) maybe the reader is a childhood friend or something. The gender can be whatever or whichever you prefer.

That's if you are comfortable writing that. 😁

My apologies. I wasn't really planning on taking writing requests of this type since I'm not currently interested in writing reader prompts. At times, I sort of view most readers as a blank slate rather than a character themselves, unlike the way an OC or a canon character would have a more definitive personality.

Thus, determining reactions by the reader would be difficult unless I gave the reader a defined personality I chose and made up, which might not align with what you or others want from a self-insert. Sure, I suppose I could fill in the blanks myself, and give the reader traits, essentially making them closer to an OC, but I'm not particularly interested in writing an SGE OC at this time either.

So, overall, I think I'd have a bit of a hard time with the vague nature of this request/anticipating what the reader "should" be like since it doesn't really give me a "plot" to work with, just a blank "character," if you understand what I'm getting at. Sorry if this is at all unclear.

That said, when I originally said you could address characters directly (in this post), perform actions and get them to respond, or give them information or a query to react to, I am open to writing Rhian or Rafal responding to a friend-like gesture or a what-if of some kind, say, what if a reader gave Rhian and Rafal a gift as a friend. This would give me enough specificity to more easily work with.

It's just that I don't plan on representing the asker/reader as anything much further beyond an entity, as if they were the bringer of content/information or the doer of a deed.

In a lot of cases, a typical response might take a form like this:

What would happen if I/you/the reader did/gave/said [this] to the brothers?

And the response would be the aftermath of that action/prompt, usually, written more passively, so as not to involve the reader/asker/doer/whomever:

Q: What would happen if Agatha were given a bouquet?

A: She would sneeze because of her pollen allergies.

Or, alternatively, an answer might look like this:

A: Agatha: [sneezes] Thank you for the flowers, but I'm afraid I'm going to hand them off to Sophie instead. She will appreciate them more than I could.

So, in conclusion, you could "do" something, essentially, perform an action/impart a (potentially dramatic) piece of information, but I won't usually take requests the type of relationship you're requesting. Yet, feel free to send another ask, if you have anything in mind that I might actually write.

For further clarification, what you could probably expect to get from a non-reader request is something with more focus on the character(s) involved and their reaction to an item/action/question posed.  This would mean the focus inherently won't be on the doer of the action (the reader/asker) whether it's on themselves, as a person, or on a relationship with the canon characters.

Overall, I simply don't plan on establishing new relationships with non-canon characters in the case of asks, and I'll only tend to work with new events/novel scenarios/prompts, involving existent characters and relationships.

Most likely, I'll try to keep to some form of canon (or if specified, my fics), as far as characterization or relationships go, depending on what an ask requires. While I think the idea of the brothers having a best friend is sweet, it doesn't really fit with my (very subjective) sense of their characters. Albeit, Rhian might be open to having a friend outside of Rafal.

So, to sum this up: I don't (usually) take formal writing requests or those involving a reader, and I'm sorry if I had ever been misleading about this before. (When I wrote dialogue or scripted scenes for other prompts, it was because I was given a premise/writing prompt that actually contained a "plot"/inciting incident/central concept of some kind, and chose to make the characters respond to events/information/other content within what I interpreted, sort of, to be the bounds of canon or the particular hypotheticals.)

None of my previous asks have been complete stories (they tend to be scenes or snippets) like the nature of this request seems to suggest(?), and I'm tempted to say this is because a relationship is a state of being, not a singular event, and such a thing could require much more development or the invention of a self-insert's "character." Also, honestly, I'm not an expert on reader-inserts as a genre, so I might not be the ideal person to ask.

However, again, if you would like to perform an action or give me dialogue of some kind, addressed to the brothers, I'd (usually) be willing to let Rafal and/or Rhian or anyone else from canon respond to such a gesture or events, if the gesture isn't by you or another hypothetical person with a major role.

So, apologies again, but I don't plan on taking requests that involve readers in the vast majority of cases, yet what I will write are Rhian and Rafal (or other characters) responding to concrete things or scenarios, usually in the context of their already-existent relationships, unless they otherwise happened to meet someone from canon they did not previously know.

Basically, these conditions would exclude a new, blank-slate relationship since I can't be absolutely sure what a reader-insert should be like, to successfully align with an asker's tastes, and simply don't have an interest in writing this type of dynamic at the moment.

Finally, if you or anyone else would like me to clarify anything they didn't understand (sorry if anything was explained too circularly), or if anyone has more questions on what I am generally willing or not willing to write, please don't hesitate to ask!

Dear prequel Rafal (could be him still alive in Rise or his ghost in Fall after he died), how would you feel if i told you your brother's true love is female? ;)

Rise Rafal: [He bowls over with laughter, until his laughs turn into silent convulsions. Finally, his laughter subsides and he stares you dead in the eye.] You’d have to be a complete simpleton to believe that. To think you can delude me into believing you. In what future could Rhian ever like a girl?

⸻

And now, we ask the simpleton himself, shortly after the Fall:

Ghost Rafal: [woodenly] In truth? I don’t care. Not anymore. [seething] I tried to save Rhian, from himself, from his "romances," and what did that get me? Nothing. Nothing but a traitor. [His eyes glaze over into a hollow, thousand-yard stare.] The impossible is capable of happening. It's now fathomable to me since Rhian murdered me. I could fathom anything at this point...

Hmm...what if Sophie was somehow nominated by the Storian as the new School Master? Imagine her friends and everyone's reaction...

I decided to interpret this from a more comedic angle, so hopefully you won't mind.

⸻

Hark and gird your loins, Woods!

Subscribe to follow the ascension of the (in)famous Witch of Woods Beyond, newly appointed School Master by the Pen.

Upon being named, nay, crowned, (She insisted on holding the coronation of the century, with grandeur that would dwell in the minds of the Woods' citizens for an epoch or longer!) the School Master seemed euphoric.

The Royal Rot was said to have gotten wind of a rather candid, positively scandalous moment however. They say: anonymous sources tell us that the lady of the hour hoisted up an urn which apparently held the previous School Master's ashes, and tossed it whole into the Savage Sea, crying out: "Take that, Rafal! I won and I can rule these Schools perfectly well without you!"

Allegedly, an errant bolt of black lightning tore through the clouds and nearly struck the newly crowned School Master where she stood. Whether it should've been taken as an asassination attempt or a warning... no one can say.

Then, she spun on her dyed, glass stilettos, and without acknowledging the masses gathered, she flounced away from shore, numerous skirts and a sand-speckled, ermine-lined, coronation train in tow, claiming that "Rafal would pay for the dry cleaning from his grave," and that her next order of business was to "claim to be his widow and extort riches from his Putsi accounts." So, it's safe to say, she's landed herself a prime spot in Vulture Vale's next issue of Extortionists Extraordinaire, a magazine exclusively marketed toward Nevers.

⸻

Everyone else was flabbergasted by the outburst, however cathartic it seemed to be for her.

⸻

The King and Queen of Camelot are abstaining from commenting at this time, but eyewitnesses say the King was rather shaken, and that Her Majesty was equally bewildered by the news. The head of their staff purports that the two gaped like goldfish and appeared to be at a loss for words.

⸻

Later on, a reporter documented a chance encounter with His Majesty alone:

Tedros swivels his head around to make sure he’s in the clear and away from Agatha.

“Knowing my queen, I’d say that we’re probably bound to visit the Schools in a few days’ time. She—we just need time to... process. And, don’t tell either of the girls I said this, but I think neuroticism runs in the blood... Can’t complain like a git though since Agatha’s saved my life several times over."

"A trip to the Schools is in order, Tedros! Pack before the maids invade our chambers!" Agatha shouts from another room.

Tedros grinned smugly at the reporter. "I told you so. She's predictable, like clockwork by this point."

⸻

The School Master's classmates were especially eager to commentate on her appointment:

Hester: The uniforms had better stay black.

Anadil: Agreed.

Dot: I wouldn't mind a change, actually.

[The other two witches glare at her.]

⸻

If you want to hear any other characters' reactions, feel free to comment below.

⸻

Also, I’m currently in the process of writing a fic called The One True School Master of Vault 41, in which Rafal is resurrected and Sophie is a candidate for his old position, and so, she's a bit like a usurper to him.

The other usurper, Japeth, has also ruffled Rafal's feathers since Rafal's been back because Rafal thinks some Snake isn't worthy of the figurative #1 Villain trophy. Japeth doesn't care about the figurative "trophy" though, so that competition is technically nonexistent.

Ok, so, there's kind of a premise that humans want to impose reason onto a world that resists our minds and opposes reason. The world is absurd, essentially.

The Storian (regrettably from Rafal's viewpoint) takes care of everything out of Rafal's power.

Rafal probably thinks that the Woods turn to the Pen for the impossible. (Miracles like resurrection can only really happen within the bounds of a fairy tale, probably, and not under the conditions of ordinary, day-to-day living.)

The other side of the coin is that they, Man, can take care of the possible. I think that Rafal recognizes that, as a human, he must rely on the Pen, but he resents the fact that he's dependent on it. That he can't exist apart from it.

The only thing he needs from the Storian is immortality/his status. Otherwise, would he really care? I think not. He serves it in order to serve himself.

He'd rather not deal with it, but he requires it to cover the impossible, which he tragically cannot manufacture on his own.

Also, there's a more unsympathetic, abhorrent view of God here, which fits Rafal's view of the Pen.

And, when Rafal is finally even further disillusioned by the Pen, the moment that he finds out that he's Good, that could be a moment where he sees the sheer absurdity of life and existence and the Woods run by the Pen.

Even if he can't (rationally) comprehend or make meaning out of the Storian, he still must obey it. And the more hideous the outlook concerning the future fate of the Woods appears, under the tyranny of Pen, the more the Storian is seen to have interfered—every time we see it withhold or reveal information, strategically, when it writes.

Rafal doesn't understand why it does what it does or its own motives, and we can only speculate. But, he does see that it wreaks havoc, and, in doing so, it becomes more and more abhorrent to him, despite his contradictory reliance and subservience in relation to it. He has to sacrifice principles for pragmatism/his own gain.

As much as he hates it, he tries, part of the time, late in Fall, to not display that hatred of his. Because, as much as he hates to admit it, he needs it and will never not need it.

So, he has to kind of parley with it, figuratively, I mean. He has a truce of sorts with it, for functional, Utilitarian purposes, and that's all.

And the final, several lines about God's inhumanness and incoherence (unresponsiveness to reason, in a way) relate to Rafal's conceptualization of what the Storian stands for. Its will, not Man's will.

The Storian's "greatness" stems from how it can wield its power without a logical explanation, unlike every other human character, who must have clearly defined reasons/motives for their every action. The Storian is allowed to be unknowable. It has that strange privilege. It can, if it so chooses, remain "motiveless" in humans' eyes. Often to the narrative's advantage.

(Which, this clearly frustrates Rafal, and that could potentially send him over the edge into embracing the absurd above all else like this philosopher's view reflects. To me, the question here is: when control and rationality are out of Rafal's hands and no longer options, when he's downtrodden and bested by all the world, who/what is he most likely to become?)

In canon, he went in one direction, yielding to the Pen. But, what if he went in the other direction? (which I originally saw as more likely, given his Rise characterization (...not Fall) and "Rafal"'s TLEA characterization. I was wrong, of course.) What if he became an actual disbeliever, an "atheist" of his world, or worse of all, partially nihilistic/apathetic, inured to everything and all life, apart from his worldly desires, like dominance over the Woods, etc.?

This passage from a philosophy book I’m reading for a class happened to remind me of Rafal’s attitude toward the Storian. Thoughts?

(I could elaborate when I have time, if anyone wants me to.)