#self-insert: scourge of royalty (telanthera)

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Here is my piece for today, which is the twenty-fifth day of the month! It's of Camellia teaching my self-insert Telanthera to dance, since Tel never learned how to properly in her youth despite her current position as a noble lady, but this is something that Camellia has some prior experience teaching despite her position as a servant. Selwyn mentioned once that this is something Cami would be able to do, and.. it fit perfectly into what I'd established of Telanthera's story, so I made it canon to my selfship with her.

Tag list: @catake | @vampking | @wazzuppy | @cherry-bomb-ships | @call–me–home | @xenobabble | @beeon | @coralward | @crosshairswife | @pandapup | @altamont498 | @mercuryships | @lemonloven (to be tagged in what I make, please see this post!)

Comments on and reblogs of my work are always okay, and appreciated, but are by no means required! ^-^

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“I trust you can make your own way back to your room, my lady?” “I- That is true, yes. There’s no need for you to accompany me, Miss Camellia.” Telanthera asserted, still rather nervous. Something about this brought the tiniest hint of a smile to Camellia’s face.

Here is my piece for today, which is the seventeenth day of the month! It's depicting a scene from the first bit of writing I wrote for my selfship with Camellia, who is an OC of my friend @vampking - if you'd like to read my old writing, then it's linked via the caption!

Tag list: @catake | @vampking | @wazzuppy | @cherry-bomb-ships | @call–me–home | @xenobabble | @beeon | @coralward | @sanderswife | @pandapup | @altamont498 | @mercuryships | @lemonloven (to be tagged in what I make, please see this post!)

Comments on and reblogs of my work are always okay, and appreciated, but are by no means required! ^-^

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My Lady Telanthera,

...I'm aware I don't frequently send you letters of this sort, but I had heard from another noble that it was your day of birth. Is that correct? I had hoped to wish you a happy birthday in person, but I'm afraid that work keeps one busy, as I'm certain one of your status is more than aware of. ...Seeing as I'm unable to visit you myself today, I thought it would be suitable to at least write you a letter.

Though I know you aren't the type to have as grand of a celebration as other nobles are prone to, I do hope you have a pleasant day, my dear. If I had the choice, I would come to your side in an instant to celebrate with you. As it is, I hope you have plans you will be able to enjoy- no matter how simple or complex they are.

I've sent a gift to you, enclosed. ...I hope you'll enjoy it.

Faithfully yours,

Camellia Smith

(...With the letter is a package containing a dress that, while simple, must have been no easy task to find. Made with fine fabrics, the skirt is also embroidered with flowers.)

((i wasn't sure if your S/Is shared your birthday, but i hope you'll enjoy this letter nonetheless! happy birthday again!!! ~Sel))

Sel. Sealey. @vampking.

Of course I enjoyed this letter, because it is absolutely AMAZING!!!! It always impresses me how well people are able to write others' F/Os and compose such lovely letters, but.. well, in your case it's a little bit different because Camellia is already your own character. That does not change how wonderful this letter is, however, because it is truly incredibly lovely and I very much appreciate the fact that you took the time to write something so wonderful. Also, yes, to answer your question, my self-inserts do all share the same birthday as me, because they are all me! ^-^

Thank you so, so much for sending such a lovely letter - it really made me smile (and blush, because of course it did), and I very much appreciate it, friend - just as much as Telanthera appreciated the lovely gift of the dress, hehe ^-^

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Incidentally, a full image of Telanthera’s reference model is now on my carrd, now that her model is finally mostly finalised! I may well add more details or change some textures in the future, but it certainly works for the moment. Here is what she looks like:

This leaves Seralune - my UTAUloid and general vocalsynth self-insert - as the only self-insert I use for romantic selfships who doesn’t have any kind of visual reference yet, although I do also need to update the one for Emily, my Harvest Moon self-insert (mainly so that her reference model uses the same base as all the others, because that base is more accurate to my own facial features compared to the one that old reference model is using). And I’m rather happy about that! ^-^

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sapphic_panic.png

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Flowers Hiding Thorns

Telanthera’s involvement in a plot to overthrow a cruel nobleman and distribute his wealth among the rest of the court is accidentally revealed to none other than the head of the nobleman’s household servants, Camellia. Luckily, the situation finds itself working out much more smoothly than either woman first expected. (1256 words)

tag list: @thatslikesometaldude | @garchompp | @beeon | @tex-treasures | @catake | @tartaglialovemail | @kalliopi-ships | @lilacslovers | @blackbirdcrime | @dragonsmooch | @vilehusband | @kissofthemoonrabbit | @childrenofmeyneth | @strawberryshipz)to be tagged in what I make, please click here!)

Made it just in time for this to be my piece for the twenty-first day of sapphic September!! This is also the first piece of content I’ve created for my selfship with Camellia, who is an OC created by @vampking! Technically, this takes place before our relationship actually starts, but.. it still counts, right

Reblogs of my work are always okay, and appreciated, but by no means required! Comments should be enabled on the document (which is how I recommend reading it) if anyone wishes to leave any comments, but a transcript is also available below the readmore.

The estate’s regal presence was clear even in the depths of night-time, as the shadows of imposing buildings loomed ominously over their painstakingly-managed grounds. Only a few lonely figures could be seen moving through the mansion, as all those who were awake would have been lowly servants restoring the halls to their peak condition for the apparent benefit of the noble’s guests. Such effort on their part was only a small piece of a grand social affair, designed solely to impress to excess - and the woman holding the wax-sealed letter was sick of it.

“You know I can’t abide by his needless extravagance,” she was muttering in a low voice to a tall man standing in the corner of the room. “All this has to end, for the benefit of all of us.”

“And it very well will, with your assistance in this affair.” replied the man, similarly quietly.  “The weightier the fool’s throne, the harder it inevitably crashes down when he sits upon it, no?”

“Yes, quite true,” the lady nodded, before stepping closer to hand over the letter she was holding. It contained a long list of the observations she had made of the estate the two were currently staying in, little insights and quirks of the buildings or the servants’ paths from her perspective. Although they were not perfect, given the lady’s position as a noblewoman, they were nevertheless more useful than anything her peers could have picked up on if asked to, since her early years were spent in a position much closer to a servant than their master, and even despite rising into the higher ranks of the social circles, she always maintained a courtesy and gratitude towards those who assisted her in some way.

“You’ve made the right choice here, Telanthera.”

This remark earned the man a glare that was only half-obscured by the low light, and the lady’s response came in a much less smirk-filled tone. “I suggest you don’t use any names here unless you want a listening ear throwing a spanner in all your well-planned works.”

“Oh, but of course, my dear. Now then, on the note of such, we’d best leave it here, don’t you think?” he asked, stepping back off of the curtain he had been leaning on with the merest sound. “It’s in all our best interests to have you here to assist.”

The man left the room with the smug confidence of one who has always known power and fortune, closing the door behind him silently. Telanthera felt she had done what she needed to, and after taking a moment to compose herself, she also opened the door and stepped out into the corridor. It was long and sprawling, still somehow retaining an air of pompous grandeur in the relative darkness, but the darkness gave it an ominous nature, as well.

As the noblewoman carefully tried to keep her movements quiet yet without provoking suspicion, her mind decided to worry about the consequences of her actions. What would she do if someone caught her out of her bedroom this late at night? One of the most low-ranking servants might be tirelessly cleaning or adjusting the curtains; she supposed she would have to try and emulate enough menace to convince them not to talk about seeing her, though she doubted whether such a tactic would work. It probably would, given that those kinds of people were thought of as expendable and nameless by the tyrant - which is what she tended to call the man whose estate she and other nobles were currently staying in, the man a small selection of those other nobles (which now, as of this night, included herself) were planning to topple and seize the numerous assets of. He was not their direct ruler, so she hesitated to think of these acts as revolution - but he definitely acted like he owned everyone and everything, and at the end of the day, seeing him crumble was all that was important.

That plan should work, she thought to herself, nervously. As long as I don’t run into someone more loyal to the tyrant, someone higher up in the hierarchy, I’ll be alright.

At that moment, the exact sort of person Telanthera hoped not to meet appeared in front of her.

The woman’s bright green eyes seemed heartless and icy in the low light, and her expression belied no hint of surprise or of being caught off-guard. Despite the late hour, her dark brown hair was still tied tightly in a long ponytail, as if she was always on-duty and ready to act. Her dark suit was impeccably neat and proper as well, matching the unmistakeable air of authority she was exuding.

“Camellia Smith, head of the household, in charge of managing household affairs and new servants.” Telanthera had written this down a short time ago in the letter of information she had just handed over, and the fact she was extremely unsure of what to do caused her to absent-mindedly state these facts aloud.

“..That’s correct. I doubt most of my liege’s guests would take the time to recall that as well as you apparently have.” replied Camellia, now also somewhat unsure of how to respond. But such feelings never lasted in someone as well-trained as she was, and she quickly regained control of the situation, standing steadfastly before the nervous noblewoman.

“Might I ask what has caused you to be awake so late at night, my lady?”

“It’s- I-” Such a loss for words was something no person of noble birth should experience, having painstakingly practiced the finer details of etiquette and proper composure from a young age. However, Telanthera was not well-accustomed to the position the Amaranth family had recently reached, and some would argue this meant she was not well-fitting for it, either.

Camellia pressed on, and in the process, confirmed Tel’s worst fear. “If I may, it would not be wise to leave the door of your room ajar with writing implements visible on the table.”

She knew about their plans! Surely someone so important within the tyrant’s servants would expose them!

“Every step should be taken to keep confidential matters and business out of the knowledge of those they do not concern. Surely you understand why this is important now?”

Again, Telanthera was lost for words, though this time because the servant had said something she was not expecting. Was this some elaborate method to try and get more information out of her?

Then something even more unexpected happened.

“I trust you can make your own way back to your room, my lady?”

“I- That is true, yes. There’s no need for you to accompany me, Miss Camellia.” Telanthera asserted, still rather nervous.

Something about this brought the tiniest hint of a smile to Camellia’s face. “Very well then. I wish you a good night’s rest, my lady.” With this said, she began to walk away, in the direction Telanthera had come from.

“A-And the same to yourself, Camellia. However, regarding what you may have seen-”

“Don’t worry.”

What?

She turned to face the lady with the confidence of any noblewoman. “You may already have noticed this, but my brother is also a servant here. Whatever loyalties you believe lie with my liege, are reserved only for him.”

And with that, she turned the corner, seeming to disappear in an instant.

Telanthera hurried back to her own room, still confused, but now wearing a smile of relief.

Perhaps her plans were not ruined at the first hurdle after all.

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🙄 im so sorry but please do camellia

Selwyn, I feel like I'm the one who's supposed to be apologising here, but thank you for this =P

(source: this post by kissofthemoonrbbt)

send me a 🙄 + an F/O and i will tell you how my ship with them is problematic and bad (this is for satire not actual discourse) -

Camellia is a servant. My self-insert Telanthera is a noblewoman (and Camellia isn't even her servant). Clearly that means there is an unhealthy power dynamic going on and I should not even be giving her the time of day

She has a knife, knows how to use it, and has indeed used it in the past on numerous occasions. This makes her an irredeemable villain

I looked at the metric ton of amazing and otherworldly characters in Cloverse and ended up falling for one of the absolute most "normal" human people in the whole thing, how dare I discredit all your hard work like this

We both participate in a revolution and overthrowing of a nobleman for the partial but significant purpose of not having to hide being in love with each other quite as much

I hope that all that was alright, haha - thank you very much again for sending this in!!

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void im sorry im abt to be very self-indulgent but i would like to know for camellia (and i am about to send a second self-indulgent one)

S, you never have to apologise for being self-indulgent, thank you very much for this opportunity (and also the other one, which I aim to get to imminently!)

(question source: "New Ask Game!" by pisskid)

Send me one of my F/Os and I'll tell you..

- What made me like them - ..please disregard what was written here when this ask was first published because I now remember why I fell for her and it was because of this post entirely, from your forbidden romance assignments. Admittedly, I remember being aware of her and liking her as a character before that point, mainly because a) I like camellia flowers and b) we both have green eyes, but that was the post that started the whole thing off and became the basis for my selfship with her

- My favourite thing about them - I don’t know if it’s a precise favourite since I am notoriously utterly incapable of determining exact favourites, but.. the aspects you were talking about in the server last night about how she doesn’t care what has to happen in order for something to get done, and how she sees no distinction between people in terms of status because, at the end of the day, a fatal wound doesn’t care so why should she? Just, like- the fact that she’s like that but she still has the ability to care for others, and she does care about others, just.. only very few others and only in her own specific way of caring, is just something I find really interesting about her as a character. I used to be a similar way, myself (and sort of still am??) so maybe that’s also why it resonates with me.

- Nicknames we have for each other - ..I get the feeling we’d mostly deal in the more fancy traditional romantic nicknames, things like “darling” and “my love” (a bit like how it is with Luna, really) that could go either way? Only in situations where Camellia doesn’t have to keep up her normal strict formality, of course. Maybe in those she’d just stick to something like “my lady” for Telanthera, since.. she is supposed to be a noblewoman of some description.

- A headcanon about our relationship/friendship - ..Camellia was the one who taught Telanthera how to dance, because you said that she knew how to dance and would teach other nobles, and I already had had it so that Tel wasn’t initially in as prosperous a position as she is now while she was growing up, so it would make sense for her not to have learned that kind of thing, and.. the idea of it also makes me very soft so .w.

- My favourite image of them - well, to my knowledge there are only two different images of her in the first place, namely the sprite and then an art Chris drew. I think the sprite one wins out for me though, just because Camellia’s visibly holding a knife in that one, as she deserves to /lh

- Anything else! - I apologise for being the opposite of Blaine in the sense that I am usually too shy to send any asks about her, but thank you for making such a loveable OC (even if a number of your other OCs are arguably more “conventionally” loveable, and I do love a fair few of them in a platonic way, Camellia’s the one I fell for romantically, so  there =P )

I hope that all that was alright! Thank you again for sending this in, friend! ^-^

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hi echo i would also like to know for cameron if thats okay

Hehe, that is absolutely okay - thank you again for both this and the previous ask, S

(question source: "New Ask Game!" by pisskid)

Send me one of my F/Os and I'll tell you..

- What made me like them - he’s just really nice!! The fact that I had started to selfship romantically with Camellia was probably what led me to feel more of a connection towards him, and made me want to try and find out about him more. He just radiates friend vibes to me and has done for a while.

- My favourite thing about them - hmm.. there are a lot of things, but it’s possibly the fact that he cares a lot about plants and one of his main duties is tending to them! It makes a lot of sense, given that he does literally have flowers for eyes, but I just really like the image of him pottering around a garden and taking care of the plants there, maybe being proud of how they are growing or something ^-^

- Nicknames we have for each other - ..to be honest, I don’t really think we would have any nicknames for each other, just because of the fact that Cameron is a servant whereas Telanthera is a noblewoman (since he sees more of a line between the two compared to Camellia, so he would probably see nicknames as overstepping those boundaries). The dynamic just isn’t quite right for it.

- A headcanon about our relationship/friendship - leading on from what I mentioned two questions prior, Cameron gives Telanthera tips about taking care of plants! It may well be something she could just read up about in a book, and it’s not really something she ever has to know about herself if she doesn’t want to, but.. I like to think he would appreciate her taking an interest in something he has a knack for and trying to understand what he does a bit more?

My favourite image of them - I only actually know of one image, which is the sprite, but technically that has two versions, since if I recall correctly Cameron doesn’t have his flowers for eyes in the original sprite. So my favourite is the one from that powerpoint slide you made where you hastily edited some flowers over the top of his sprite to cover his eyes, because I found it amusing =P

Anything else! - Cameron is really nice and I like him a lot (platonically)! I also find it amusing that he only exists because of a magic anon, if I recall correctly? But the fact that he stuck around even after that, and became his own character that’s still around today, is neat ^-^

Thank you again for sending this in! I hope that my answers were okay!~

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Today’s random selfship-related fact is:

Telanthera did not grow up in quite as prestigious of a social circle as the one that she now resides in, so she didn’t learn all the proper skills that one might expect a typical noblewoman of her station to be proficient in. One of these skills was dancing, until Camellia offered to assist her in learning the proper techniques while Tel was visiting the residence of Camellia’s liege, some time after the two of them had begun to interact with each other more often. Needless to say, despite her superior societal standing, Telanthera was very appreciative of her assistance.

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9 and 10 from the SI asks for Telanthera? (-dragonsmooch)

Third time's the charm, I see, dear dragon! And the previous ask I answered was also for Telanthera, so this follows on from that nicely. Thank you very much for this (and again for all of the ones you sent, haha!) ^-^

(question source: "Self-Insert Ask Game!" by clowned-prince-selfship)

9. How does your self-insert meet your F/O? - Telanthera first becomes aware of Camellia after she arrives at the grand event that Camellia’s current liege is holding, which Telanthera was invited to. Since Camellia is the head of the household’s servants here, it makes sense that she would be slightly more prominent and therefore noticeable. However, the two do not exchange a proper conversation until after Telanthera decides to join a group of other nobles to overthrwow Camellia’s liege, and is promptly caught by Camellia only to find out that she has no qualms at all with what Telanthera is doing. After that, we end up talking and meeting covertly, and eventually fall into a rather forbidden romance.

I wrote this scene as one of my entries for sapphic September this year, so if you want to read it then you can do so via this link!

10. Does your self-insert have any animal companions? If not, what do you think they’d have? - Ah, no, unfortunately. I haven’t really thought about Telanthera having any pets, but for some reason I could kind of see her with some kind of bird? I’m not super sure on the specific type, though.

I hope that those answers were okay!! Thank you very much again for sending this, Drake!~

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3, 4, 5, 6 for Telanthera? if youd like!!!

Of course, friend!! Thank you very much for all these!! ^-^

(question source: “Self-Insert Ask Game!” by clowned-prince-selfship)

3. What species is your self-insert? Human? Something from your F/O’s universe? - I know that the Four Leaf Cloverse has a myriad of fascinating different species, but Telanthera is a pretty standard human; the only thing that really stands out about her in that regard is the fact she is a noblewoman, though even then she isn't the absolute highest in the hierarchy by any means.

4. Does your self-insert have any special powers or abilities? - I don't really think this counts, but Tel is naturally very observant and quite perceptive of other people and their intentions. She wasn't born into nobility, so she has a unique perspective on things compared to most other nobles who have maintained the same position they grew up in and/or grew up in an already high-up position compared to her. I think she would also have a bit of an affinity for magic if ever she had the opportunity to learn any, but that's probably just because she is naturally fairly intelligent and would want to learn it well.

I think it might be best if I put the other two answers under a readmore if that's alright, just so that this post isn't too long on the dashboard!

5. Does your self-insert have a hobby or occupation related to your F/O’s universe? - Telanthera is quite interested in plants and flowers - how different conditions are favoured by different species, the ways that plants defend themselves and attract pollinators, and so on and so forth. This is one of the ways through which she gets to know Cameron better, since he tends to the plants a lot and is very caring of them, so I like to think he would help her learn more about them.

6. Give us a physical description of your self-insert! - oh boy, here we go. Telanthera is unfortunately one of the few self-inserts I haven't yet created a reference model for (and therefore can't properly visualise yet), but the main things to tell her apart from my other self-inserts are that she has amber eyes, rather than the usual green, and her hair is blonde like all the others but inexplicably turns more red at the ends (for no other reason than I thought it would look cool, as well as being a reference to telanthera plants which are red). She also wears her hair up, but it's not nearly as wild as someone like Ardea's is. Tel has a few freckles scattered across her face, and is a fair few inches shorter than Camellia.

I hope that all that was alright! Thank you very much again for sending all the questions, Selwyn!~

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would hold you at knifepoint for talking shit, but doesn't care enough abt her superior to follow through

(ask source: this post by kaliships)

Come into my ask box and, without telling me who you’re talking about, describe my F/O in the WORST way possible. - I mean this has to be Camellia, right?

not only because it’s you, but because that description suits her extremely well and I can absolutely see her doing this

Which is also making me think of Tel as the knife cat in that one meme thing

Thank you for this, friend ^-^

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Right, I think I might have figured out a solution for tags! I won’t actually implement this system until people have had an opportunity to say what they think of it - and also so I can change the tags from my laptop at home, rather than trying to do it from my phone - but, I think I’ve come up with something I’m happy with!

Romantic F/O tags will follow the format “love: tag (name)”. For example, Pyra’s tag would become “love: fire of the aegis (pyra)”, and Pavo’s would be “love: winged watcher (pavo)”.

The tags for my selfships will be written as “selfship: tag (F/O name/self-insert name)” - for instance, my selfship with Aqua will be tagged as “selfship: survivors of the dark (aqua/aria)”.

Self-inserts will be tagged similarly, using the format “self-insert: tag (name)”, such as “self-insert: scourge of royalty (telanthera)”. These tags (as well as any others that contain hyphens) will all use non-breaking hyphens so they appear properly in search results, so be warned of that!

Familial F/O tags will be structured as “relation: tag (name)” to make things a bit more specific - for example, “brother: cobalt cool cat (inigo)” or “father: the dad from down under (vandham)”.

Platonic F/Os will be tagged according to the format “friend: tag (name)”, such as “friend: firecracker of a gal (crossette)”. I think I will also change the series tags to make it more obvious what they’re alluding to, like just using “xenoblade friends”, or “kirby friends” rather than “friends from the stars” for the latter. I might keep “friends from friends” for others’ OCs and self-inserts, though.

Any tags I have for characters that aren’t actually F/Os (yet?), or where I can’t quite discern what my feelings for them are, will follow the format “???: tag (name)”, such as “???: flower cut too soon (strelitzia)”. I was thinking of making a distinction between crushes and other potential F/Os, but I figured it would be better to just put everything under the same umbrella of potential F/Os, especially when I’m not sure what I feel for them.

This system allows me to make it more clear whether names of characters are my F/Os or my self-inserts, as well as what kind of F/O each character is to me without needing constant referral back to my carrds, but at the same time most of the F/O tags don’t make it entirely obvious at first glance that I selfship with them to someone who doesn’t know what selfshipping is, so I would still feel comfortable reblogging fanart and things.

Do people think this is a good idea?