#[ ty ty for this omg we need to talk about igraph background fr!!! ]

[leicestersbeast]

lilac :   what was your muse’s childhood like ? how has their upbringing affected them as they’ve aged ?

“𝚆𝚎'𝚍 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚒𝚍𝚎-𝚊𝚗𝚍-𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚜, 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚠 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚘 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚞𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚘𝚘!” | 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚜.

DURING CHILDHOOD, Raphael had exposure to a bit of 'both' worlds—the excitement of exploring the bustling centre of Derdriu's mercantile boroughs and a little rubbernecking at some fancy estates.

His parents maintained a humble but stable merchant business. While their base of operations was situated in the heart of Derdriu, their company had dealings throughout the Leicester Alliance on small, steady contracts that often saw them travelling throughout the Alliance. Their family home was located in Derdriu, above their shop; as such, Raphael spent much of his youth set loose upon the mercantile boroughs of Derdriu.

[ no tws; under a read more for length! ]

During periods of heavier (literally) work, Raphael would work alongside his parents or assist where possible with friends of the family. Often, little jobs could be exchanged for food or snacks, which was always a nice incentive. Although his responsibilities were mundane physical tasks like loading, securing, and unloading wares at various destinations, the trade off—seeing so much the Leicester Alliance, meeting so many interesting people—was a reward itself, and so Raphael never much minded the hard work despite being young at the time.

Outside of assisting with the mercantile work, Raphael had a starkly average, happy childhood. His family was a tightly knit unit, with strong ties to their community. He attended modest schooling but hard little interest in the actual lessons, and was always more inclined toward days spent outside and playing with friends.

AS HE’S GROWN, Raphael has come to cherish his childhood and holds it fondly in mind. Best memories stem from playing with friends of his age. Naturally, memories of his parents are safely guarded with attempts to preserve the details—their faces, their voices, their personalities—from the fade of time.

Childhood generally came to a screeching halt with their passing, with new responsibilities to shoulder, but Raphael still honours the good memories and times he had as a young boy and not let the hardship jade him. Most of all, he does what he can to not lose sight of what lessons he learned during childhood. His mothers strong work ethic and staunch drive for fairness, and his fathers ethos of strength though compassion, have continued to be incredibly formative touchstones.

The bonds that he formed during his earlier years similarly remain important to Raphael. Though many of them have been lost connections over passing years bringing change—from closing the family business and selling their estate, to enrolling at the Officers Academy—the feelings remain. Prior contacts, mostly other mercantile families, are firmly rooted in Raphael’s mind as positive connections.

No longer of their world, he tries to honour the dedicated work ethics, community connections, and virtue of sharing burdens where possible as informed by old family friends.