if you think about it, riya's secondary documented type when it comes to men is Loser. victor (couldn't win at tourneys, failed dragon hunting, terrible noble), leroux (can't do insight checks, dreadful attack rolls, got his ass beat each encounter), lucin (got caught trying to be a lil thief, couldn't keep control of the wardens under his watch for 15 minutes and they committed numerous crimes), insert who knows how many other cringefails from the past

1, 9, 16 for riya/victor, and bonus 3 for riya/leroux :)

i give u a kees on the nose muah thank u // development questions for couples

What, specifically, was the catalyst for their physical attraction (if applicable) to the other character? In other words, what in particular had them like “Oh, they’re...hot...”

it's cheating if i just put "lust at first sight" as the answer, i know it, but i do believe in my heart that it's absolutely true for victor lmao. how is he (a simple spoiled rich boy) supposed to see her (a beautiful girl in a striking dress) walk by giving him an overt once-over and a wink while attending a fête or smth, and not immediately be a goner? impossible. alexa play sucker by jonas brothers. on riya’s end, without a doubt it happened the first time she saw him spellcasting. whether it was during the previous tourney or simply catching a glimpse of him practicing some spell or other, he was a showman who knew he was hot shit and she ate that spectacle right up. mages are incredibly sexy in action and both riya and i will die on that hill

What do they think about commitment? Is a long-term partnership the goal? Are they thinking about building a life with their partner, or are they focused on the present?

neither of them were particularly focused on the Big Picture and that was part of why they worked so well together, much to the disappointment of parents on both sides. they could see into the future so far as their grand plans of exciting and romantic adventures, but most of their focus was on enjoying their time in the present to the fullest without worries of what was to come later. which is entirely why long-term commitment was never discussed between them, though it was probably assumed?? given how deep their feelings were. 

If they had the ability to just spend free time with their partner, what would they do? Would they go out or stay inside?

mmmmm i think 9/10 times they would choose to go out, which shows how hilariously privileged they were before things went downhill. they'd get up to a lot of things but their favorites would have been dancing, walking the markets, and frequenting their favored meal spots. the kinda couple that were always in contact of some kind while out together, but it was hard to tell if that was fully motivated by affection alone or if they also wanted to be a little obnoxious and in-your-face about their happiness and attraction to each other. (it was for sure both.)

By contrast, what was the moment that first made their ~heart~ Soft for the other person? Not necessarily a conscious realization of “I love this person,” but a moment that had them like “Oh...I adore them...”

hmm. i don't know if riya's reached an Adoration level with him. the closest thing i can think of here (so i can give an actual answer) would be closer to a moment of Appreciation. my memory won’t provide what scene was going down when it happened, but i do remember there being a moment during a session where as a player i realized oh, this guy is the only one here who is actively going through something similar to riya. because while everybody else in the party has already been exposed to such things through their own varied experiences, riya was having her worldviews torn apart piece by piece with each revelation of how bad things are with the templars and the circle (and the world outside of her tiny view in general tbh) beyond cumberland and she was not doing great. so yeah it sucks leroux had to confront that the system he’s trusted and worked in for however long was allowing—and even encouraging!!—terrible things to happen right under his nose, but it gave riya a moment of being able to recognize that she wasn’t alone in having her views and faith flipped on their head. and as a lil extent of that, his commitment to taking action after the revelations helped influence her own attitude towards the entire white spire magebreak :) 

on the other side, clearly leroux was besotted at first meeting. duh. just look @ that smile of hers, how could he not be (aka i won’t make assumptions on his end lmao)

5, 8, 24 and 32 for riya/victor and 6 for any riya ship (or potential ship?) of your choice!

thank youuuuuu. now pretend i published this in a timely manner and didn't forget to hit post the other night xoxo // development questions for couples

How do they consciously realize that they like the other character? Does it take them a while?

there was a solid year before they made things official in which they played a game of push & pull because they both were getting such a kick out of it, and i think riya's genuine feelings would have manifested somewhere during that time. riya's interest was purely surface level for a while as she found entertainment in his persistence and displays for her attention and [redacted horny shit], but the actual moment of realizing she Liked the guy beyond their game would have taken a few months. almost certainly after noticing that he wasn't getting tired of her teasing and it only encouraged him further, she loved that he couldn’t be deterred by any of her more attitude-filled responses or bad moods. 

i think victor probably had his realization talking to bastian tbh. bastian would have been tired of having to watch his brother flirting with riya as he had to constantly be nearby to do his due diligence as her guard, and victor would've been given a moment of "no wait, it's not like that. i want more" while being admonished for choosing the worst lady to pick as his next temporary fixation. of course that made bastian's life more miserable because victor doubled down on his efforts to gain riya's true affection with bigger acts but that's not his problem, maybe just go take 15 and relax for once while they have some fun, bud.

What do they think about romantic love? Do they have baggage surrounding it? Do they idealize it? Is it an object of longing and wanting, or were they really not thinking about it until they started falling for the other character? What are their expectations like?

neither of them had big thoughts about it as they'd spent a lot of years going through lovers like they were flavors of the week/month. riya likely had the strongest outlook on it because of what a romantic her father is and how she'd seen him display it over the years to her mother, but i wouldn't say she had that kind of love as her #1 priority. they both discovered what that kind of love was like together as they grew closer and found no desire to end things. riya expected romance to be digging in roots together and building a family because of what she'd seen from her father's happiness, but turns out her and victor's romance was more like discovering they wanted to share the thrill-seeking with each other. it used to be just following whims for the excitement in the moment for just oneself, but then ideas came with thoughts of "i want [him/her] here for this" and it was clear the love had reached a deeper level than it had with others. 

What would their partner do that would really turn them on, perhaps unintentionally?

one of victor’s plays during that year of chasing was getting onto his knees and hamming it up with some praising, not-so-subtle flirting, and lowkey begging for her attention because he thought she’d get a kick out of it, and hey maybe they’d have some fun in a side room before she shooed him away for the night if she got enough of a laugh out of it. turns out he flipped some switch in her because something Awakened in riya seeing him like that and he for sure secured her attention for the entire evening with that one lmao every instance after that was very intentional, homeboy spent a lot of time on his knees for this woman.

first of all, riya knows all too well when she’s doing something to get somebody hot and bothered tbh. now for the actual answer: riya’s incredibly tactile and doesn't shy away from being touchy with her lovers/partners at all times. victor loved it in general but the 👀 came whenever she was grabby with him. stuff like taking his chin in hand to shift his focus to where she wanted it, pulling him in by the neck or chin for a kiss, holding him still there before said kiss just to tease him, pushing/pulling him around in bed when she wanted him somewhere specific, etc etc. he was a sucker overall for her being the more dominant one

How do their friends react to finding out they’re a couple? Do they have lots of mutual friends? Did their friends know, perhaps before they themselves did?

they probably do have a lot of mutual friends now that i think about it, and i’m sure none of them were surprised by the time they made it official. definitely some people who weren't so happy (out of jealousy or annoyance, take your pick), some who were excited by it, and a few who didn't give a fuck because they assumed the pair would move on to a new person like they had been doing for years. they both had plenty of lovers in the past and suitors in the present, it would have been no surprise if they'd called it quits, but those odds got lower with each year that went by! insert more bastian going thru hell about it goofs here

How do they react to the realization that they like the other character? Is it an “oh my god I’m never going to think about this again” thing, or are they pretty comfortable with it?

(a second post for the riya/leroux tag bc spotify shuffle played the leroux song while i was brushing my hair and that's basically god herself telling me what to do here)

riya's entirely comfortable with it because it didn’t really have time to develop into anything really deep?? it was mostly her just projecting the idea she’d be down to make a moaning room out of any free space if they had half an hour or more to fool around, y’know. plus she's used to developing attraction and connections to people relatively quickly. she was fine to throw a few flirts his way to check the vibes and then continue on without making a fuss about it 🤷‍♀️

i can only presume any leroux reaction would be along the lines of "i literally cannot think about this right now" given the Everything that was going down during the time they had together, and he's not exactly built like riya over there. no time for moaning rooms or making eyes @ each other there's work to be done you little freak (he wouldn't call her that) ((she'd be fine if he did tho. might even like it))