#Beauxclaire family

[decoloraa]

Fake smiling has been passed down to the Beauxclaire line for generations 😀😀

The Beauxclaire family is the second most influential and wealthy family in Central city (the first one being the Armstrong family).

Dor generations there has been a rivalry between the Armstrongs and Beauxclaires, ending in each of the families specializing in different fields. While the Armstrongs are known for their skill in alchemy, art and leading roles in the military, the Beauxclaires had family members in important positions in politics and jurisprudence and greatly influenced Amestris legal system.

Val: Yep, his full name is Percival! He’s the eldest (and only) son and thus has his father’s enormous expectations weighing onto him. Because marriage is a big thing in their world, Bernard pressures Val into marrying someone from an equally whealthy family. His father’s plans for Val were to study law and then eventually to get into politics (like himsself). However Val always wanted to become a doctor and eventually he's able to talk his father into letting him study medicine (it’s kind of the only time Val ever found the to courage to stand up to his father). But even then his father tried to push his own plans onto Val. His relationship to his family is ambiguous, but he suffers greatly under his father’s expectations and commands.

Ann (Angéline): She’s the only daughter and a few years younger than him. They have a pretty good relationship and talk rather often. Ann also has a way better relationship with her father: Bernard’s only expectation of her is to marry rich and so she doesn’t stand under the same pressure as her brother. More than often Bernard finds qualities in her that he misses in Val, which leads to him greatly favoring Ann at some point. At least that means he's not that toxic to her. Ann sees how her father is treating Val and tries her best to comfort her brother, but Val can be a bit distant and he rarely wants to bother her with his problems. I never talk about her but she’s actually pretty cool! She studied law (her father didn’t want her to work at first, but she insisted on it) and later in the story she works as a lawyer for those who can’t afford one. Ann even plays a major support role at the beginning of the story and appears a few times later on.

Bernard: He’s a „politician“ in the Amestrian Parliament (reminder: the Parliament does exists in fma, it just doesn’t hold any real power). He’s definitely corrupt and does whatever he can to help his status. If he’s best at one thing, it’s being a horrible father. I don’t wanna go into full detail on how he treats Val, but basically Val is never doing enough in his father’s opinion and Bernard wishes to have a different son on more than one occasion. He’s an abusive piece of shit and it takes Val years to escape from his grip. (This guy is also the reason why Val fights with internalized homophobia among other things)

Cylia: She married into the family and has the big luck to be married to Bernard (🤢). Cylia is more complicated and neither truly toxic nor a good mother. On the outside she seems sweet and she definitely doesn’t deserve to be with her husband, who’s being toxic and overall not treating her that kindly. However she does literally nothing to improve Val’s life, neither by defending him against his father nor by comforting her son in any kind of way. Instead she tries to push him with the same expectations as Bernard, just with a more kinder approach.

[decoloraa]

Waltz and champagne (part 1/?)

A little journey into Val’s life when he’s not at Fort Briggs. Central City’s upper class life has everything to offer from fancy parties to fake smiles and schemes.

[decoloraa]

„There are responsibilities that come with your name and status.“

The story of Val is one with a doomed narrative, or at least he sees it as such. Being the eldest son of an important family, Val is burdened with many expectations, one of them is finding a wife and getting children.

For years women will try to win his heart or his parents will go and arrange meetings with women, urging their son to make a decision. Every time Val brushes them off, shows himself differently to make sure their desire for him is gone, all to escape from his fate.

Yet with each woman getting turned down, another awaits in hopes of marrying into a rich family. Val only manages to push his fate away shortly. The expectations of his parents will never change and it‘s only a matter of time until Val resigns to his inevitable fate of marrying someone he doesn‘t love.

Val thinks that one day he will have to chose the lesser evil, by picking someone that seems bearable. Until that day the engagement ring he will some day be forced to gift will heavy as a stone. He‘s trapped by the small object as it resembles the reign his parents have over him.

Why doesn‘t Val just cut ties with his family if he doesn‘t marry and suffers so much under his parents expectations?

It definitely isn‘t the status or the money that comes with this life. Maybe at the beginning when he was freshly at Briggs, because there he is used to living with the standards of high society. However over time he learns that he doesn‘t need the food, parties and especially not the fake politeness.

However despite the dread he feels at the thought of having to tie himself to a woman and to Central City, he never cuts ties with his parents and keeps chasing their approval. Because in the end, they still are his parents, even after all the emotional strain. Val, like every other human being, seeks contact and community. Cutting off his parents would mean cutting off everything he grew up with.

Even if his name doesn‘t carry the same importance to him as it does to his father, Val IS a Beauxclaire and he‘s proud of it. It‘s part of his identity, engrained in him ever since he was a child.. His fear of what would come if he were to sever his ties to this life outweighs his dread of having to marry one day.

So in the end he does what he always does whenever he visits his parents and has to meet another potential fiancé: He drives her off to protect his freedom and to escape from his doom a little bit longer. Val despises doing this, but it‘s all he can do.

There is no way his parents would ever accept that he just stayed unmarried and they would certainly never accept that he‘s gay.

Val‘s story is about self-acceptance and learning to stand up to oneself. But it‘s also about how tight a person‘s grip can be on you, even if that person isn‘t good for you, which is the case with Val and his father.

Despite everything that happens, Val will always seek his father‘s love. Even if he never saw it before, even if it forever will be out of his reach.

Or, at least Val will never be able to sever himself from all of this from his own strength.

Uh since a lot of my oc lore is about toxic family and horrible father’s, I‘d like to add at the end that my family is great and not toxic. I just like writing these things, I‘m not trying to process something with this fgkjffdgfd

[decoloraa]

A sketch dump of Val‘s parents: Bernard and Cylia

I‘ve talked a lot about Val and his relationship with, but it‘s time to share a bit more about them.

Bernard is a politician with a lot of influence as well as connections in Central City. He himself is the main heir of the Beauxclaires and thus inherited the large estate.

Cylia was married into the family. She‘s an opera singer who had her break through in her mid twenties.

When the opera house that belonged to her parents was about to go bankrupt, the Beauxclaire family offered to give financial aid. Of course only if Cylia promised to marry Bernard, which she did more out of her love for her singing and less because she loved him.

How is Val‘s relationship with his mother? Not as bad as it is with his dad, but still difficult. Cylia is a very distant person and as a mother not really emotionally available. Most of the time she‘s more passive with Val than anything else, only rarely showing care for him. Though she too does urge him to find a wife as much as Bernard,

[decoloraa]

Waltz and champagne

part 1 | part 2 | part 3

Meet Angéline Dominique Chloé Beauxclaire, Val‘s younger sister! Calling her Ann is fine too tho, she‘s not so fond of her full name, just like Val.

Ann is much more to have with parties like that, she genuinely enjoys chatting with all kinds of people and making connections. Though sometimes the conversations bore her too, which is why having Val around she an bother is a nice change of pace. The Beauxclaire family is far from perfect, even if their facade is almost perfect. However Val and Ann get along great and are rather close. If your parents are horrible, it‘s good to stick together.

[decoloraa]

Friends and acquaintances part 3

A comic on how Casther and Val got to Briggs. More info below!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

This comic is about my characters Casther and Val and how they interact with the world of fma and it's characters. While I want to stay canon, please note that I take liberties in the world building. Olivier, Buccaneer and Miles are by no means my creations, but keep in mind that I have my own interpretations of them.

Some context: Olivier is about to be handed the command at Briggs, rn she is in her late 20s. Because of her young age and important position, she is currently trying to recruit people she knows she can trust so they can join her to Briggs.

My characters:

Val Beauxclaire: Black hair, early 20s. He and Olivier are childhood friends, him being son of Central city's second whealtiest family (right after the Armstrongs). He recently finished his medical studies and got recruited by Olivier to be a doctor at Briggs.

Casther Wilk: Grey hair, early 20s. Olivier knows him from when he was a teenager. Back then he ran into Olivier and Val and she helped him out of trouble. After leaving for the military academy, the three lost any contact. Because of his fighting skills and principles, she too wants to recruit him to join them to the Fort. However unknown events seem to have changed Casther..