As loud as their feathers are bright, Reven has learned to bite and never let go. They are outspoken and passionate, willing to go to the ends of the world in pursuit of freedom for their species.
Updated design for Rev! >:) Some trivia below
Genderqueer, uses any pronoun except 'it'
A passionate artist, they focus on street art and tattoo designs. Also a decent drummer.
Well-connected, they probably know a guy for anything you need.
Blueberries are their favourite food.
Showy and loud, they are terrible at anything stealth-based.
Really good at flight, but their skill is entirely empirical. Words like 'angle of attack’ or 'drag coefficient’ are gibberish to them.
Wings are broad and short, with gentle slotting. It allows for good maneuvering while still getting to soar, though not as effectively as a vulture.
Very, very good memory!
Stands at 160cm (of pure SWAG)
Loves wearing jewelry, in particular chain necklaces, bracelets and rings. They like anything that sparkles, but know better than to wear anything actually luxurious as it's likely he'll lose a few mid-flight
We’re newly discovered but have documented symptoms going back like fifteen years, so finding others who share similar experiences is a blessing. We’ve been able to put words and new terms to describe things and the last few months has been so much easier because of it.
I have to say, it’s been a wild ride. Fictives in particular are crazy sometimes. Sometimes we’re watching a new show and there’s a character that has us like “ew he’s so fucking creepy/annoying. I hate him” and the same guy pops up in the chorus out of nowhere like “who let you in and why are you here?” This has happened twice in the last few years.
There’s another who’s a badass, but fronts mostly to drink wine, and wash dishes for some reason. Never at the same time, and the wine makes sense, but dishes is so random.
Another doesn’t relate to his canon self past a certain point, and is embarrassed by his canon self’s behavior, but still enjoys keeping up with his source and reading fanfiction, even when it’s upsetting. Sometimes especially when it’s upsetting.
I’m honestly so thankful to have them. All of them. When we’re all getting along, when people are fighting in the headspace, through good times and the bad.
First of all: congratulations on meeting your homework deadline and dropping your latest chapter in less than the two day granted extension to your deadline 🤣
You are one of my favourite ask guests (yes, guest: I have come to think of myself as the James Lipton of Tumblr) because so much of your characters development process is done out in the open, ie Musings on Thrawn & Kallus on the Couch. I recently re-read both essays, hence, you give me a lot of material to work with.
Like many people who watched Rebels, I was left with somewhat of a case of moral whiplash when over a very short period of time, Kallus makes the arc from dastardly to heroic. Initially, I bought it, but over a short period of time idealism wore off and history kicked in. In your own words:
The man [Kallus] causally murdered a stormtrooper who had offended him, poisoned the food supplies to refugees, was a participant in the assassination of Minister Tua, and then we learned he took part and possibly led a genocide…”
Yeah. All that. Hold that thought.
Along with you, one of my grossly over-educated collection of degrees is a minor in history. We have had history-based discussions and agreed that Thrawn bears a certain passing resemblance to Rommel (with some Sherlock Holmes thrown in…and possibly a dash of TE Lawrence) Thrawn being a man with both near and far reaching agendas, delicately balances different allegiances - he has his own moral dilemmas.
What about Kallus? Does he have a historical character equivalent? Is it conceivable in reality that anyone who travelled so far down the party line would turn around midstream and grow a conscience?
The rest of your quote from above is:
so I wanted more cost and pain, and a less fluffy happily-ever-after ending.
This tells me that you, too, hold the same reservations, possibly, about the redemption. At the very least, that tidy little happily-ever-after ending of the Rebels series did not set well with you, either. You have done a magnificent job of character development, allowing us more time - and Kallus suffering- for that arc to be (possibly) believable.
So this brings me to a few queries:
Do you ever have doubts about redeeming Kallus?
Do you believe that after what Kallus has done that upon defecting, he would not be turned over for war crimes?
Bonus question:
Have we lost our minds for holding any sort of affection for this character? 🤣
As always, feel free to deviate from my queries and just muse…
PS I still meet regularly with my historian friends & more than a few of them have threatened to drag me in for a psych eval over the fact that I have aligned myself with the “bad guys” (they have seen enough of my Thrawn collection for me to mount a decent defense) so I huddle over here with my besties.
Yes, you are in fact the James Lipton of Twitter and I love your Asks.
I have struggled to think of a historical equivalent for Kallus. Perhaps Colonel Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, the army officer who led the failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. That might be one of the reasons that I had Kallus be at least nobility adjacent because it's often people with privilege who think they won't be hurt or will be spared because of their positions of relative power that try this sort of thing. If you are just trying to scrape by and stay alive it's harder to make the grand gesture.
Kallus is going to spend some significant time in a cell on Yavin 4 while people debate a.) if he can be trusted and b.) if he deserves to be accepted into the rebellion. He is a traitor, spy and turncoat. His new companions won't trust him and find his lack of loyalty disgusting. His former associates hate him and find his lack of loyalty disgusting.
Yes, I have very real doubts about redeeming Kallus, and while I don't want to give away too many spoilers I think Kallus' decision not to stay on Lira San will have... consequences.
I suppose if I were religious I would argue that redemption and salvation is possible for Kallus and even for Thrawn. I'm not sure Alex's life will be a particularly happy one because a significant number of people -- human and alien -- are not going to forget and forgive. But one can find peace in service and sacrifice.
Villains are by their nature more intriguing than heroes. Good villains are complicated. It's harder to complicate a hero without turning them into a morally grey figure. Though I love grey characters. I created a character for a book series in which I write that is _so_ grey, and he is so much fun to write.
I can name a few of my favorites -- Loki (in the films & TV show), Vader, Kallus, Loghain in my favorite video game Dragon Age: Origins.
As loud as their feathers are bright, Reven has learned to bite and never let go. They are outspoken and passionate, willing to go to the ends of the world in pursuit of freedom for their species.
Reven! The original reference is from early 2021, but I recently tweaked some details here and there ;)
Trivia time!
They id as non binary, and their whole presentation is fairly androgynous. They aim to be a genderless blob, but they don't really care if you use gendered pronouns (he/she). 'It' isn't well received, though.
They are a prototype version of the Cyclone 5, hence the lack of ear feathers.
A passionate artist, they focus on street art and tattoo designs.
Adores flying near to the coast and oceans. They find dynamic soaring very fun.
Blueberries are their favourite food.
Showy and loud, they are terrible at anything stealth-based.
Really good at flight, but their skill is entirely empirical. Words like 'angle of attack' or 'drag coefficient' are gibberish to them.