#then i run into that girl whose murder i prevented and i realise i’m going to have to kill her myself to get out

[fingertipsmp3]

Had a dream last night where I found out this girl was going to be murdered the next day and I was told “do not interfere with the timeline” but I couldn’t stop myself from telling her dad not to take her on vacation to the place she was going to be murdered, and why, and then he died and several members of her family also died in quick succession and I was basically on the run from supernatural beings that wanted to kill me for fucking with the timeline

[engie-ivy]

After the betrayal, after the murder, Remus wonders if he could've known? After all, hasn't it always been clear Sirius Black is mad?

Wolfstar Angst. There are some Fluffy moments in between, but it comes down to Angst.

Never Like This

Don’t cry.

The ceremony is drawing to an end. Soon, all that needs to be said, will have been said. Which seems absurd to Remus. How can all ever be said? There’s so much to say, for most of which words don’t even exist. Still, the final words will soon have been spoken, and they’ll walk to the cemetery of Godric’s Hollow, where members of the Potter family have been buried for generations. Where Lily and James will have their last resting place.

Don’t cry.

Not now, not here, not in front of all these people. Remus can feel their eyes burning on his back. He can just imagine the conversations.

“Is that-?”

“Yeah, that’s him!”

“That scrawny, pale fellow? He’s the Werewolf who fought in The Order?”

“Poor guy, all his friends are dead now. Well, except for the one who’s hopefully wishing he were dead.”

“Hey, weren’t they...?”

“They say they were.”

“And he never realised...?”

“Apparently not.”

“How naive can someone be.”

It’s only in his head, and he can’t actually hear anyone talking, but it seems real to him. He won’t break down in front of all these people. He won’t show that kind of vulnerability.

Don’t cry. Be a man, Lupin. Don’t cry.

Immediately, he can hear Lily’s voice in his head: “Remus John Lupin. Crying is a valid way of expressing your emotion, whether you’re a man or a woman. I will not hear such nonsense out of your mouth!”

Involuntarily, Remus lets out a laugh, and oh, Merlin, that’s probably even worse than crying. Suddenly, the whole situation seems utterly absurd to him. A room full of people staring at the Werewolf Order member whose friends are all killed, waiting for him to fall apart, and here he is, fighting the urge to start laughing. They’ll think he’s gone mad. It’s what they said about Sirius, innit?

He remembers the resentment in Alastor Moody’s eyes.

“There’s not going to be a trial, Lupin. It’s no use. The man has lost every ounce of sanity. You want to know how the Aurors found him? Standing between his victims, the remains of those Muggles he blasted to pieces, gruesome enough to give even the most experienced Auror trouble sleeping, laughing. He was laughing, Lupin. He’s mad. Besides, with everyone knowing he was the Secret Keeper and all the witnesses that saw him murder Pettigrew, we hardly need a trial. We’ll lock him up in Azkaban and that’ll be the last you see of him.”

Even worse was probably the pity in Emmeline Vance’s eyes, when she hugged him tight.

“You couldn’t have known, Remus. You can’t blame yourself, okay? You couldn’t have known!”

Couldn’t he have known? Didn’t he already know Sirius Black was mad? He has said it often enough.

“You’re mad,” Remus said, staring incredulously at Sirius’ grinning face.

He surely hoped the boy was not, as he was to spend the next seven years sharing a dorm with him. But the boy had just informed him that he, in their first week at Hogwarts, had already figured out how to break in into the Slytherin dorms and had managed to sneak into Hogsmeade to purchase a load of Dung Bombs.

Remus knew he didn’t have to count on their other dormmate to be a voice of reason, as James had a similar grin on this face as Sirius. Remus knew he should say no, be the responsible one, that going along with them would only end up getting him in trouble.

But Remus took one look at Sirius’ grinning face, and he already knew he was going to get into a lot of trouble the upcoming years.

“You’re mad,” Remus choked, trying to fight back tears.

Sirius blinked at him, not understanding all the emotion. They had been lying on Remus’ bed, trying to plan a prank to get back at Slytherin for cheating in the latest Quidditch match.

“We can’t do it tomorrow night,” Sirius had said. “James has detention then. And of course not the night after, as it’s the full moon, so you’ll be off doing your Werewolf thing.”

It was just a simple, offhanded comment, like it didn’t make Remus’ entire world come crumbling down. Remus didn’t even have the state of mind to deny it. “Y- you... you know?” He had stammered.

“Oh, right. Yeah,” Sirius had said absentmindedly. “We figured it out a couple of weeks ago.” Then, he had grinned at Remus. “I must say, Moony, that’s your nickname now by the way, I always knew there was a wicked side to you, but this exceeds my expectations! Bloody brilliant, mate.”

So Remus had called Sirius mad, because how could he not mind? How could he not be disgusted with him? How could he not demand Remus to be expelled?

Sirius just shrugged. “I might be a little mad. Does run in the family.”

“You’re mad,” Remus chuckled.

Sirius had just informed him of his most recent crazy idea. He had learned that Werewolves aren’t dangerous to other animals, so he wanted to become an Animagus, to keep Remus company during the full moon, and perhaps prevent him from harming himself. Sirius obviously had no idea how difficult, and potentially dangerous, it is to become an Animagus. There’s a reason why the Ministry is monitoring the process so carefully. It’s quite impossible for a Hogwarts student to pull it off.

“I’m gonna tell James and Pete!” Sirius said enthusiastically, before dashing out of the room.

Remus fondly shook his head and focused back on his book. Typically Sirius. He would be obsessed with some crazy idea for a while, and then move on to the next. Sirius would surely put it out of his head once he finds out how much time and effort it takes to become an Animagus.

“You’re mad,” Remus murmured, barely preventing his voice from breaking.

He was sitting on his knees, his face pressed against the big, black dog sitting in front of him, his hands clutching his soft fur. “I can’t believe you actually did it... I can’t believe you would go through all that effort... For me?”

The dog shifted, and suddenly Remus was resting his head on Sirius’ shoulder, while gripping Sirius’ shirt.

Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus and held him while he sobbed. “You’re worth it, Moony. And we’re never going to let you go through that alone again, okay?”

“You’re mad,” Remus said breathlessly, wide-eyed staring up at Sirius, his lips still tingling from the feel of Sirius’ lips being pressed against them.

They were standing on top of the Astronomy Tower. Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup, and there was a party going on in the Gryffindor Tower. Remus had gone up to the Astronomy Tower for some air, and Sirius had followed him. Remus had told him he didn’t have to, as surely there was a lot more excitement for him at the party. As usual, pretty girls with sweet smiles had been throwing themselves at Sirius all evening. As a response, Sirius had kissed him.

“Why...” Remus stammered, his heart beating wildly and his stomach fluttering.

Sirius cupped his cheek. “Because it’s you, Moony. It has always been you.”

“You’re... mad,” Remus panted.

He was lying in bed, clothes discarded on the floor, while Sirius insisted on kissing every scar on his body.

“Beautiful,” Sirius murmured against his skin. “You’re so beautiful.”

Remus laughed breathlessly, and took Sirius’ face in his hands, pulling him up to his face to properly kiss him.

“You’re mad,” Remus whispered, shifting his eyes from the star-scattered sky to meet Sirius’ gaze.

“Not the reaction I was hoping for,” the man replied.

Remus lifted their intertwined hands to his lips and kissed the back of Sirius’ hand. “Just making sure you know. And to be clear, I love you too.”

“You’re mad,” Remus smiled, spinning around in Sirius’ arms.

Sirius smiled back at him, brighter than all the fairy lights illuminating the dance floor together. “Madly in love.”

Remus rolled his eyes. “Madly drunk I’d say.”

Sirius grinned. “I’m allowed to be a little drunk. My best man duties are done.”

Remus laughed as Sirius dipped him, feeling happy, carefree, and in love, and maybe a little drunk himself.

“You’re mad,” Remus gasped, falling to his knees, trying to control his breathing.

“You can’t do that, Padfoot! You can’t!”

“He tried to hex you from behind!” Sirius argued.

Remus glared at him. “You can’t just bloody jump between me and a Death Eater’s curse! You could’ve...” His chest constricted and he struggled for air. “You could’ve died. You could’ve died because I wasn’t properly watching my back!”

Sirius dropped down on his knees in front of him, and soon came the familiar feeling of Sirius’ arms being wrapped around him, pulling him against his chest. “But I didn’t. I’m okay. We’re okay.”

Remus let out a shaky breath. “Promise me. Promise me you’ll never do that again. I can’t lose you, Pads.”

“I can’t lose you either, Moony,” Sirius whispered. “That’s why I can’t make that promise. I acted on instinct seeing you in danger, and I can’t promise I won’t do it again.”

“You’re mad,” Remus spoke softly, staring down at his cup of tea.

“They’ll come after you. Him, and all his followers.”

“I’ll go into hiding,” Sirius replied.

“But you won’t have a Fidelius Charm to protect you!” Remus snapped, lifting his head.

“We said we’d do anything to keep Harry safe,” Sirius argued. “We all did. I’m the best choice-”

“Exactly!” Remus interrupted. “And everyone knows you are. Isn’t it better with this sort of thing to not go for the most logical choice?”

Sirius avoided Remus’ eyes.

“Look, Sirius,” Remus sighed. “I know you’d never tell, I do. But no one has dived deeper into the Dark Arts as He has, and who knows what methods He has to pry the information from you? Isn’t it better to go with a Secret Keeper no one will suspect?”

Sirius turned his gaze back to Remus, his expression pained. He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but then closed it again, squeezing his eyes shut. When he eventually spoke, there was a forced calm in his voice. “I know what I’m doing, Remus.” He reached out and took Remus’ hand in his. “Please, you have to trust me in this.”

And Remus had.

If Sirius could do that, if Sirius could hold Remus’ hand, look him in the eyes with that sincere, vulnerable expression on his face, ask him to trust him, and then turn around and destroy everything Remus held dear, then it could’ve all been a lie.

It had all been a lie.

Each lingering gaze, each soft, private smile, each reassuring touch, each slow, loving kiss, each whispered word of ‘I love you’, a lie. And Remus had let himself happily be lied to, blinded by his foolish and naive belief in true love.

Remus really couldn’t have known. Alright, maybe he’d always known Sirius was mad, but not like this. Never like this.

[smallersocksx]

10 Favourite Females Tag

So I was tagged by @mythicamagic this was really hard to narrow down but I tried!!!

Rules: Name your top ten female characters from different fandoms. Then tag ten people

1) Haruhi Fujioka (Ouran High School Host Club)

Ouran is an anime that will always have a special place in my heart and Haruhi was an amazing protagonist. Not only was she funny and half the time pretty relatable but she was kind and caring and tried to help those that came to her when they had a problem. Haruhi's not perfect she can be pretty reckless at times but she knew when she was in the wrong and apologised for it. Additionally, anyone is pretty amazing to have to put up with half the crap they do at the host club.

2) Yona (Akatsuki no Yona)

At the beginning of Akatsuki no Yona, Yona was a sheltered and spoiled princess who was then forced to leave her home after her father was murdered by the man she loved. After leaving home, Yona was forced to face the reality that not everybody benefited from her father's reign as King. However, instead of running away from this reality Yona wanted to atone for being blind to the truth, she learnt to use a weapon against her later father's wishes and chose to protect her country as she was still it's princess. As you can see I love Yona's character development going from a spoiled and sheltered princess to a badass warrior.

3) Ochaco Uraraka/ Uravity (Boku no Hero Academia)

What can I say about Uraraka? She's funny and adorable (plus I wanted an excuse to use a funny gif) however I love how she also wanted to be a hero for her parents' sake in order to make their lives a little bit easier. She knows she has weaknesses and during her internship she learned to compensate for those weaknesses. I love how she doesn't stray from her goal of being a hero even when she starts to get feelings for Midoriya (I love these two and I ship them so bad)

4) Mikoto Kuga (Norn9)

I love how all three of Norn9's heroines are their own person with their own unique quirks and personalities. For the sake of this post, I'll just write about Mikoto. I mean Mikoto isn't perfect she can be very stubborn and reckless putting her own health at risk to fufill her duty. However, I feel sorry for Mikoto in the sense that her family thrust the duty of protecting others onto her because of her ability saying it was a gift from the gods and put her on this pedestal in which she feels she can't afford to show any weaknesses. However, her love interest provides her with the support she needs and allows her to be weak. However, I also love how Mikoto acts like an older sister towards Nanami and Koharu and tries to provide them with advice and emotional support when she can. Part of Mikoto's character development meant she started to show weakness and rely on others more but I also love how she maintains her strength and courage to protect those she cares about.

5) Cardia Beckford (Code Realize)

In the beginning of Code Realize, Cardia was in a sense like a doll she didn't display or truly understand emotion and had a low opinion of herself calling herself a "monster". However, as the game goes on Cardia goes from being this "emotionless doll" to a ordinary and very kindhearted young girl whose one simple wish is to touch another person. I love how in all routes of the game, whilst learning and still trying to understand emotions Cardia becomes an emotional support for her love interest. Additionally, do you realise how much of a badass Cardia becomes in the game and anime?!

6) Ani Inako (Dame x Prince)

Ani is probably one of the best characters of 2018 for me. She is a kind princess who was raised to be very pragmatic however given the cast of Damepri the contrast between them and her personality could not be more hilarious. I love Ani's commentary both mentally and out loud, as well as how doesn't take any sort of crap from anyone! Plus I also really love her design, she's so cute!

7) Chizuru Yukimura (Hakuouki)

Anyone who says Chizuru is weak can shut up now! You have to remember Chizuru lives in a time where women were just basically expected to cook, clean and be childbearers. Therefore, she had to dress up as a man so she wouldn't be hassled as she travelled from Edo to Kyoto in search of her missing father. Chizuru can use a sword and has received some training however in comparison to the members of the Shinsengumi and rogue samurai out there her skills are a lot weaker by comparison which of course means she does need to be saved sometimes. However, what I love about Chizuru is her loyalty and bravery. Chizuru is fully aware she cannot fight as well as the men in the Shinsengumi but her loyalty means she wants to help in the one way she knows how by being a medic during the war. Which does require Chizuru to be out by the front lines. What I love is Chizuru is aware of her limitations but she doesn't want that from preventing her helping those she cares about. Additionally, no matter the route Chizuru wants to support her love interest in any way she can whether that means she has to take up arms as well or give her blood or just being their emotional support.

8) Hinako Nakayama (Kenka Bancho Otome)

First things first this game needs to be localised!!! But I really love Hinako, she is forced by her long lost twin brother to attend his school in his place, what he fails to tell her is that the school basically trains future gangsters and that the only way to make it to the top is to beat people up...thankfully Hinako can defend herself thanks to training she received at the orphanage. Although, thanks to her fighting skills this has left Hinako leading an isolated life as she struggled to make friends and also caused her to worry about her femininity. Don't worry Hinako your cute in my eyes >o<. Additionally, like the older brother figure she had at the orphanage Hinako stands up for the weak and is willing to do anything to protect her friends.

9) Tsugumi Kuze (Nil Admirari no Tenbin)

Yes! Someone from the last season of anime not like I've been waiting two years for this anime adaptation. The anime only touches the surface of Tsugumi's character development, in the beginning she is a sheltered young woman born into nobility however due to her family struggling her father has arranged for her to marry into the Yashiro family however after discovering his sister's engagement her brother attempts to commit suicide. Tsugumi later learns that a book known as a cursed tome caused her brother's suicide attempt and that due to the emotional stress of seeing the event Tsugumi gained the ability to see auras which eminate from cursed tome. After moving away from home to Fukuro, Tsugumi does face some harsh realities and learns how narrow the world she saw was. During the first game, Tsugumi becomes a strong and independent young woman who is capable of defending herself *cough* like stabbing Nabari in Hayato's route to escape with her brother *cough*. Additionally, Tsugumi is very caring and kind, she does her best to support her love interest overcome their dark past and anyone whose watched or played or knows the game knows that every character's past in the game is dark. Sunshine and rainbows is a foreign concept in Nil Admirari. Also, can we appreciate Tsugumi preaching women's right to work in Shougo's route. This game needs to be localised as well, just so people can appreciate Tsugumi's character development plus I really want to play the game *weeps*

10) Ritsuka Tachibana (Dance with Devils)

How can you not love Ritsuka?! She is brave, kind and determined. Her mother was kidnapped by vampires and to top it off the school's devil council have taken an interest in her. Both groups are hoping to use her to find the grimoire and Ritsuka refuses to accept that, she refuses to be seen and used as a pawn by anyone. Furthermore, she takes no crap from anyone not even the vampire king, like trying to stab him with a pair of scissors. Need I say more!

I spent way too long on this and most of them are otome/reverse harem heroines...What does that say about me?! I'm sorry for those I didn't include ToT know I still love you!!!

Anyways I will tag: @otome-is-heaven, @psycho-alchemist, @kah0hinata, @alicethefatflounder, @feelingeclectic, @cleaetpauline60 and anyone else who wants to have a go!

[lesetoilesfous]

Dibs

Fandom: Boku No Hero Academia

Ship(s): TodoDeku, background MomoJirou

Tags: Oneshot, Strong Language, Alcohol

Inspired by this post and dedicated to @kilzom because they are wonderful and I cannot deny them anything, and even if I could it definitely wouldn’t be the tododecks.

Summary:

Todoroki Shouto refuses to accept the label workaholic, even if his best friend’s girlfriend insists on giving it to him. So he definitely hasn’t let her convince him to come to a nightclub to prove a point. He lets his hair down all the time. Obviously.

Midoriya Izuku has probably had too much to drink. Luckily he has a group of loyal friends who will prevent him from coming to any harm. Unluckily, they’re less willing to save him from himself.

Or

“Todoroki texting Momo: I just walked into this party and someone yelled dibs

Midoriya texting Uraraka: URARAKA I’M REALLY DRUNK AND I FUCKEF UP SOME HOT GUY WALKED INTO THE PARTY AND I YELLED DIBS”

Todoroki Shouto did not go clubbing. This was largely because he did not have the time to do so. Working as hero meant long shifts, and long shifts meant that not only were most of his nights booked, but the rare ones he had when he wasn’t working were reserved exclusively for catching up on the sleep he hadn’t had for the rest of the fortnight. That, and the fact that since he was Todoroki Shouto, and now a professional hero in his own right as well as his father’s son, he couldn’t go out in public without being recognised. And being recognised meant paparazzi. And paparazzi usually meant gold-diggers. Shouto had first been introduced to the concept when his sister had run home in tears after overhearing her middle school boyfriend discuss what a ‘great catch’ a Todoroki was. The lesson had stuck.

But apparently Momo’s girlfriend thought that his ‘social skills’ were ‘lacking’, and that ‘letting your hair down for once’ would help him get the proverbial stick out of his ass. Shouto had, naturally, politely told her to get fucked. Jirou had flipped him off. Momo had gotten in between them and suggested a compromise. “If you hate it, you don’t have to go again, I promise.”

So here Shouto was, outside a fairly underground nightclub, by himself and feeling distinctly out of place. Was he wearing the right clothes? The people queuing for the door were dressed in everything from fifty shades of denim to bandages of fake leather, and yet somehow he still felt he’d got it wrong, somehow. Shouto fiddles with his shirtsleeves and mentally thanks gods he doesn’t believe in for the decision not to wear cufflinks. In the queue, a tall woman with antennae wolf-whistles at him.

Shouto ducks his head, ignoring the queue and heading for the bouncer. He mentions Jirou’s name and is let in with little more than cursory smirk. Immediately, he’s confronted by a bare, narrow staircase that stinks of alcohol and has him mentally calculating emergency scenarios out of habit more than anything else. Shouto moves up the stairs quickly, and drops Jirou’s name again for a man next to a cash register. He walks through a small, sticky foyer, and then he’s hit by a wall of sound and body odour that feels like a physical punch. Shouto falters, and behind him a group of people comes giggling through the doorway arm in arm.

Shouto slips his hand in his pocket and steps aside, getting out his phone and checking for messages. There’s one from Momo, an apology that she’s running late. Which, he should’ve expected that, really. Beneath it all, he liked Jirou, he really did. But the woman was instilling bad habits in Momo like there was no tomorrow, and lateness was just one of them. Shouto looks at the wall of people jumping, dancing and squeezing past one another in front of him and reminds himself that he is twenty-three years old. He stops mass-murderers as a day job. He can go to a goddamn party.

It takes him another three minutes to peel himself away from the wall all the same.

After half an hour, Shouto’s impression of nightclubs is that they are loud, sweaty, messy and not unlike contact sport. He finds himself constantly pushed backwards and forwards by wandering hands, which often find their way to his ass or his chest. Half out of habit and half out of panic, he starts dodging them as he would an attacker, and is mentally grateful for the magic that is transferrable skills. Even so, he’s fairly certain he knocks a girl carrying shot glasses, and he knows he bumps into a tall, broad shouldered man with tusks because that man offers to buy him a drink. Shouto has no idea how to respond to this so he doesn’t, until eventually the man turns away.

He’s an adult. Yeah, right.

Eventually, Shouto realises that the venue: which is in essence a warehouse repurposed to accommodate a crowd and loudspeakers, is lined on the walls by booths and tables. Most of them are full, obviously, but there’s a gap between them and the majority of the dancers, who solidify into an unbroken wall the closer they get to the DJ. Ears ringing, Shouto ignores the bar entirely and makes a charge for the booths, and the blessed foot or so of bare concrete that lies there like an oasis in the desert.

His shirt is by now clinging to his back, and more than once Shouto considers using his quirk to cool down. It wouldn’t be like he was using it on anyone, after all, and technically he was a licensed hero. The part of him that learnt too well and too soon to be obedient, however, balks at the idea. It would be a misuse of the trust invested in him by the state, and with a crowd like this there was too great a chance of his ice touching someone else, even if it wasn’t going to hurt them.

Gritting his teeth, Shouto continues to weave through the crowd. Hero costumes could be risqué, of course. He was an adult, and he wasn’t totally unaccustomed to the idea of bare skin being on display. Still, there’s an awful lot of skin, and it’s dark and hot and people are grinding up against one another in a way that reminds him exactly how long it’s been since he was intimate with anyone. It’s not that Jirou was right about him, exactly, it was just that he’d not had time for these kinds of entanglements, what with establishing a new hero agency and trying to shake the shackles of his father’s name.

A man who isn’t wearing a shirt and most certainly has a six-pack turns and nearly spills his beer on Shouto. On reflex, Shouto freezes it, and the man stares at him. For a long moment, Shouto waits to be chastised for such a casual use of his power. Then the man’s eyes shift to his scar and he shrugs, tossing a passing comment over his shoulder as he walks away, disinterested. “Nice quirk.”  It was better than being recognised, at least. Marginally.

Shouto makes it to the booths after three near misses with various people and various body parts, and breathes a sigh of relief that comes out frosty and too bright in the dark. His body is slick with sweat, and he runs a hand up through his hair, pushing it out of his face and mentally trying to figure it out when he’d find time for a haircut.

He doesn’t look at the people on the booths beside him. So when someone yells, very loudly, “dibs!” He doesn’t think much of it.  But then a crowd of people are laughing, and the voice that had shouted ‘dibs’ elaborates, loud enough to cut across the noise: “no I’m serious! I call dibs on him.”

Shouto knows how to tell when he’s being watched and startles, turning to see a table full of people staring back at him. Most of them are laughing. One, with shoulder length blonde hair, is clutching at his stomach, and next to him a woman with bright pink skin has her head thrown back. In the centre of the table, a man with dark curly hair and tanned skin and far too many freckles offers him a huge, cheesy grin and a thumbs up.

Shouto blinks, and stares, and with a sense of a man watching a train crash gestures at his own chest. “Who, me?”

A very handsome man who has not apparently been told that shirts are a Thing pushes the one with the freckles, laughing, in his direction. Shouto wonders whether this is the kind of relationship that wildlife photographers have with their subjects. The one with the freckles clumsily clambers out of the booth, over the lap of a woman with short brown hair whose face rings a bell in the back of Shouto’s head. Freckles gets away from the table, stands up, stares at Shouto for twenty seconds, and then flushes a very bright red and turns and runs in the opposite direction.

The man with the blonde hair and the woman with pink skin screech with laughter. The woman with brown hair pinches the bridge of her nose, and the man without a shirt jumps over the table with surprising dexterity and grabs Shouto by the arms. He smiles, and his teeth are sharp  and jagged like a shark’s. Somehow, it does nothing to mar the friendliness of his features. His hands are hot on Shouto’s skin. “Sorry about that. He’ll be right back.” The man squeezes Shouto’s arms and Shouto stares at him. He smells like tequila. “Don’t move.”

Shouto raises both eyebrows, but before he has the chance to say anything, the man has turned and left in the direction of the freckled one. Shouto turns to dive back into the crowd, deciding that the faceless mob was preferable to a crowd of drunk twenty-somethings. He was also decisively ignoring a voice in his head that sounded distinctly like Jirou illustrating her point.

A small, cool hand grabs his elbow, and Shouto wonders what it is about nightclubs that makes people so much more liberal with touching one another. He’s not sure that he likes it. But he stops, and turns, and looks down to see the woman with brown hair. She has pink cheeks and soft eyes and he thinks she’s probably very pretty. She doesn’t smell as strongly of alcohol as either of the men had. “Don’t go, really, Midoriya’s harmless, he just.” Her mouth twitches at the corner, as if she’s trying to contain a smile. “He just thinks you’re very striking.”

Shouto gestures at himself: his hair, his eyes, and the wide scar dominating half of his face. “So I’ve been told. But I’m afraid I’m here to meet my friends. If you’ll excuse me.”

He tugs at his arm, and the woman lets go immediately, though she bites her lip. “Could you at least give him a chance? I promise, he’s a good person.”

Shouto stares at her, looking for any sign of a lie. Under his gaze, she shifts uncomfortably, but she doesn’t look away. After a long moment, he sighs. “Alright. Fine.” He lifts a hand to the back of his neck, brushing the back of his head, and looks in the direction of the DJ before turning back to the woman in front of him. “Sorry, that was rude of me. My name is Shouto.”

The woman’s eyes widen, and not for the first time Shouto questions the wisdom of making the name he had that wasn’t already recognisable the one he gave to the public. Then the woman smiles at him, and her cheeks dimple. “I’m Uraraka! Actually, I think I’ve worked with you before. My hero name is Uravity.”

That was where he’d seen her. Shouto ducks his head. “I apologise, I didn’t recognise you.”

Uraraka waves him off. “Don’t be silly. That’s kind of the point, isn’t it?” She taps her chin and tilts her head, and in the low light of the club her eyes are bright. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you let your hair down, though.”

Shouto tries not to be offended. “I am typically a private person.”

Uraraka hums. “Yeah, I get that.” She glances back at her table, where the group have moved to some other loud conversation that apparently involves the rapid consumption of a variety of shots. “Well, we’re all pro heroes, but I don’t think anyone else has worked with you directly. Well, not except for…”

Her voice trails off as a tall, broad shouldered man with dirty blonde hair shoves his way through the crowd carrying a tray of shot glasses. He’s dressed well enough to have walked off the pages of a fashion magazine. He is also somebody Shouto recognises.

“And that’s my cue, I think.”

Bakugou Katsuki sets down the tray, and the table cheers. Shouto thinks this might be the first time he’s seen the man smile. Uraraka pulls a face. “That’s fair enough. He’s really not that bad when you…” She pauses at the look on Shouto’s face, and laughs. “Well, yeah. He doesn’t make a great first impression.” She runs a hand through her hair. “Or, um, second. Or third.”

Despite himself, Shouto smiles a little, and Uraraka punches his shoulder. “Hey hey, it’s nice to see you smiling. You know that you’re supposed to relax, right? Wait, unless…” Her entire demeanour changes, and she lowers her voice. “Are you here to work?”

Shouto shakes his head. “No, no, it’s nothing like that.” He slips his hands into his pockets and shrugs. “Just thought I’d come see how the other half lived.”

Uraraka beams at him. “Well in that case, first of all we’re getting you a drink. Then you have to go out onto the balcony and stop Izuku from spiralling because I refuse to let him ruin his own night.”

Without waiting for a response, she moves to grab his arm, pausing at the last second and gesturing instead before making a determined dive for the bar.  Shouto takes a moment to text Momo before he follows her.

“We’re on our way now!! So sorry again for running late. How is it??? – M”

“I walked into the club and somebody shouted dibs – S”

This is why Midoriya doesn’t take time off. Bad things happen. Bad things like villains running lose, or Bakugou challenging him to a drinking contest, or bank robberies, or him shouting dibs when he saw a pretty person. Midoriya stares at the rooftop of the next building over and wonders whether it would be melodramatic to jump off the balcony.

A hand lands on his shoulder, and Midoriya jumps, swinging around only to be caught by a fist that’s as hard as granite. Kirishima laughs, softening. “Woah there, jumpy much?”

Midoriya sighs and hides his face in his hands. “Bury me. Just bury me. I should come with a health warning.”

Kirishima laughs again, walking a little closer to stand next to him and lean over the balcony, looking down at the lights of the city below. “It really wasn’t that bad, Izuku.”

Turning to join him, Midoriya groans. “Yes it was. Were you even there? I can’t believe…I should apologise to him. But he probably doesn’t even want to look at me. And it’s not like I can blame him I mean…How hard do you think it would be to figure out where he lives? I could send him flowers. Or, wait, no, that would be invasive oh fuuuuck why did I let you talk me into this?”

Kirishima doesn’t bother waiting for him to stop talking, he just interrupts mid-ramble. “You agreed to do this because your life gives new meaning to the significance of a work-life balance. The last time you stopped working was new year’s eve and even then you left your mother at three in the morning to stop a –”

“Hit and run, I know, I know. But what did you want me to do? Let it happen?”

“Obviously not.” Kirishima sighs. “But you’ve got to trust in the people around you.”

“I do!”

“Yeah, sure, in battle. In a rescue situation, there’s no better team player. But part of being a team player is recognising when to take a back seat. And part of being a human being, a super powered human being sure, but a human being all the same, is understanding that you get tired. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. And when you get tired, you get sloppy. When’s the last time we hung out?”

Midoriya runs a hand over his face, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I know, I know, I’m sorry.”

Kirishima claps a hand onto his back, and it’s warm. “No, dude, that’s not why I’m bringing it up.” He waits until Midoriya looks at him, and holds his gaze when he does. “I’m your friend and I’m worried about you. And I’m not the only one. And listen, we both know that if All Might were here right now, he’d tell you to…”

“Pace myself. Right.” Midoriya takes a deep breath. Far below them a van roars down the road, sirens blaring. Kirishima watches it go.

“Alright. Now, about Mr Pretty Boy. So I asked him to stay put and I’m pretty sure –”

“You did what?”

Kirishima laughs, holding up both hands in surrender. Midoriya tries to remember when he took his shirt off and can’t. “Hey, hey don’t shoot the messenger. Anyway I think the others will have –”

Midoriya is already hiding his face in his hands again. “I have ruined this poor man’s evening. I, Midoriya Izuku, have destroyed an innocent man’s honest attempt to –”

“Um, I can come back if this is a bad time.” A low, gentle voice interrupts his monologue. Next to Midoriya, Kirishima swears. Then he claps him on the back, hard.

“Well, that’s my cue! Ciao.” He flashes both Midoriya and the handsome stranger a wide, toothy smile before disappearing back inside.

They’re not the only people on the balcony, by any means. But out here there’s more space, and people tend to be grouped in clusters, smoking or vaping or just getting some fresh air. It’s brighter out here, too, thanks to the city lights and lanterns glued strategically along the balcony’s edge. Midoriya stares at the man in front of him.

He’s a little taller than him, and slender but not skinny. His shirt is clinging to the lines of his body, and Midoriya can’t help but wonder whether he chose to wear white on purpose or if this was just a very happy accident. He’s wearing black jeans and very nice shoes. His hair is a little overlong, clinging to his cheeks and forehead, mussed by the crowd. He’s holding two fizzing drinks in his hands, and offers one like a white flag.

“Your, uh, friend? Uraraka said you liked gin so…” The man looks away from him, and Midoriya notices that his eyes are different colours. They are very beautiful. He doesn’t know if his hair is natural or part of his quirk, but he can’t find it in himself to care. It suits him, either way.

The man clears his throat, and Midoriya realises that he’s been staring for the good part of a minute. He opens his mouth and tries to speak and fails, swallowing and grabbing the drink he’s offering as he coughs, weakly, in an effort to cover up his speechlessness. “Uh, y-yeah, I mean, yes, I do. You’re good, I mean, it’s, it’s good.”

The man blinks at him. Midoriya isn’t sure, but he thinks that maybe even his eyelashes are different colours. He wonders whether it’s possible not to stare at someone this beautiful. Then the man smiles at him, just a little, and Midoriya forgets how to breathe.

“Good.” There’s humour there, quiet and unassuming. Midoriya feels relief wash through him like a physical force and lets his shoulders drop. The man walks closer, leaning against the balcony beside him as if it’s the simplest thing in the world. Midoriya gulps. The man takes a sip of his drink, and Midoriya tries very hard not to stare at his throat as he swallows. He doesn’t entirely succeed. “You’re not a gold-digger, are you?”

Midoriya takes a moment to collect his thoughts from where this man has thrown them to the proverbial pavement. “Um, no?” He forces a laugh, and scratches the back of his head with his free hand. “Do you have, um, gold to dig?”

The man’s mouth quirks at the corner in another quick smile and he ducks his head to hide it. Midoriya stomach performs a try out for the cirque du soleil. When he doesn’t say anything else, the man’s smile gets a little wider.“I’m going to take that as a no. My name’s Shouto, by the way.”

That name is ringing very loud bells in the back of Midoriya’s mind, but by this point he’s decided that he is still drunk and he can deal with the consequences later. “I’m Izuku. Midoriya Izuku. It’s…” He pauses, flushes, and pushes a handful of curls behind his ear. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Shouto.”

Shouto looks at him sidelong, but whatever he sees doesn’t seem to offend him, because he smiles again and takes a sip of his drink before gesturing to the street below. He has the fingers of a pianist. “I’m not used to seeing it like this.”

Midoriya frowns. “From above?”

Shouto shakes his head. “No, I just.” He hesitates, and clicks his tongue. “Well, I suppose in a sense…I’m more used to living in it. Not just, watching it go by.”

In his eyes, the lights of the city glimmer and dance like fireflies. Midoriya nods, and relaxes a little further. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” He tears his eyes away from Shouto’s face and turns instead to the city below. Vehicles pass by like a river running downhill, metal and fibreglass reflecting the city lights like water. “I keep thinking it’s all gonna fall apart, you know? If I look away, for even a second...” Midoriya laughs and rubs the back of his neck. “Sorry, that probably sounds crazy.” His drink is cold and bitter, but it fizzes on his tongue.

He feels Shouto’s eyes on him, and resists the urge to meet them with a herculean effort of will. “No, I understand.” Shouto sighs, and turns back to the city. “It’s hard to believe anything so beautiful can last.”

Midoriya hums, tapping his glass against the metal railing of the balcony, and looks up at the cloud-filled sky. “Yeah. Yeah, I get that. But there’s the moon.”

Shouto’s brow quirks, and he fights a losing battle against another smile. “The moon?”

“Yeah!” Midoriya straightens, gesturing with his glass at the sky. “Yeah, you know, no matter what terrible things happen. The moon’s always there. And it’s beautiful.”

Shouto follows his clumsy gesturing, staring for a moment at the bright, full moon. By the balcony, and the skyscrapers, and the sky above, his face is bathed in light. “I suppose you’re right.”

Midoriya nods, and lowers his glass, and speaks softly. “You’re beautiful.”

Blood rushes to Shouto’s cheeks like snow in an avalanche, smudging pink under his eyes and around his scar. “Um.”

Midoriya smiles at him. “You are! You should know that. Do you know that?”

Shouto stares at him with much the same expression Midoriya imagines a deer would wear in headlights. “I don’t, um, not…”

Midoriya moves closer to him, pressing their shoulders together. “You are. You’re kinda shy, aren’t you?”

Shouto huffs a soft laugh. “So I’ve been told.”

Midoriya hums, watching the cars go by. “S’kinda surprising, with such a pretty face.” He frowns. “I guess. Not everyone has been nice to you, then? Someone…made you feel like you needed to be shy.”

Shouto drinks. He’s quiet for a long few moments, and Midoriya is searching for something else to say by the time he speaks. “You know, it’s possible to be shy without having a tragic back story. Some people just are.” His mouth quirks at the corner, and he glances at Midoriya out of the corner of his eye. “Even pretty people.”

Midoriya lets that sink in for a moment. From the club, the heavy sound of loud music hums into the air like a giant’s heartbeat. Outside, people laugh and talk, and occasionally touch glasses. Far below, the street rings with the sound of engines and car horns. The alcohol he’s drunk sits over his body like a jacket, soft and warm and blurring his edges.

“Yeah, but you’re not like that. My mother’s shy. But you’re, it’s more like.” Midoriya huffs, chewing his lip as he searches for the right word. “You’re cautious. Wary. Like you’re waiting for something to go wrong.” He tilts his head to the side. “But it’s ok.” He waits for Shouto to look at him, and when he does he gives him his best smile. “It’s ok, because I’m here.”

Shouto laughs out loud, and chokes, and lightly hits own chest as he sputters. When he’s caught his breath, he’s red in the face, and there are tears at the corners of his eyes. “That’s…that’s a really terrible All Might impression.”

It doesn’t take them long to finish their drinks, but they talk for much longer than that. Shouto tells Midoriya about his sister, and Midoriya tells Shouto about his mother. Bashfully, Midoriya describes his friends to Shouto, and in his turn Shouto talks about Momo, and Jirou. Both of them avoid talking about work, though they rarely stray far from the topic of heroes. They have a shared love of All Might, and the Wild Wild Pussycats, not to mention Gang Orca and Crimson Riot.

Midoriya reveals, in a tone usually reserved for religious confessions, that he doesn’t like Endeavour. Shouto stares at him long enough for Midoriya to start sputtering apologies and stops him with a gesture and a smile, ducking his head. “I don’t like him all that much either.”

Midoriya beams. “Thank you! Someone gets it! Well, I say someone gets it, actually most of the people I know agree on this. He just…I don’t get the impression he’s in it for the right reasons, and he has a terrible way of dealing with the public, and with any other celebrity that’s fine but he’s a hero and I mean he’s not just a hero, he’s the number one hero. And sure, anyone coming after All Might would have a hard time of it but even Best Jeanist would be better than Endeavour and I don’t even like Hakamata.”

Shouto lets him go on like this until he’s breathless, only occasionally interjecting to offer a supporting point or ask a question. When Midoriya finally stops, he looks vaguely stunned that someone let him finish. “And, um, well, that’s it.” He looks at Shouto as if he’s expecting to be reprimanded, and Shouto smiles at him.

He has very long eyelashes. “I agree.”

Midoriya looks at him like he holds the key to eternal life, and Shouto doesn’t feel intimidated. “Y-yeah. Right.”

Shouto’s mouth pulls upward at the corners. “Right.”

“S-so.” Midoriya wets his lips. “Have you, um, got any plans?” His eyes fall to Shouto’s mouth, and heat rushes down Shouto’s spine to pool in his belly.

He shrugs off his discomfort and runs a hand through his hair, throwing Midoriya a smile. “Well, I thought I’d go clubbing.”

Midoriya stares at him, and laughs a second later than he ought to have done. His cheeks are berry red, and his blush highlights his freckles. “R-right. Obviously.” He glances in the direction of the door back into the club. The music is still going strong, and there don’t seem to be many less people judging by the sound of stomping coming from inside. “Do you, um, do you want to dance?”

Shouto shrugs, and a light wind tugs at his hair, cooling the back of his neck. “Honestly, I’ve been enjoying the fresh air.” He pauses and glances at Midoriya. He can’t quite fight off a smile. “And your company.”

Midoriya laughs, and runs a hand through his thick curls, and blushes. “Well, I mean, good. That’s good. I like you – I mean, I like your company too.”

Shouto’s smile refuses to leave his lips. “Yes, I got that impression.”

He taps his empty glass against the balcony, and wonders where Momo and Jirou are. Midoriya’s eyes fall to his hand, and he appears to speak before he’s fully processed the thought. “Can I buy you a drink?”

Shouto grins at him, teasing. “You already bought me a drink.”

Midoriya’s blush chases down his chest: Shouto can see it, red and splotchy through the open neck of his shirt. It’s very obvious, and very sweet. Apparently intent on defying the odds, Midoriya lifts his chin. “Can I buy you another drink?”

Shouto’s eyes drift to his lips, and then back up to his eyes. They’re bright, and green as a forest. They’re very lovely. “That would be nice.”

When Midoriya’s gone, Shouto gets out his phone. He scrolls past Momo’s alternately thrilled, bewildered and worried messages to type a quick reply.

“How do I seduce someone I’ve just met? – S”

In less than twenty seconds, he gets a reply.

“He called dibs dude. Ur halfway there already. Also u stood us up. Rude. :p – J (y do u 2 sign off ur messages with a letter this isnt the 50s)”

Midoriya gets sidetracked twice on his way to the bar and twice on the way back. At the bar itself, Kaminari and Mina shoulder him into a line of shots and both kiss him on the cheek before he has a chance to order. Then he gets grabbed by Kirishima, who wants a hug and a fist-bump and a jaeger-bomb. Then Uraraka stops him to ask whether it was ok that she’d sent Shouto in his direction. Then Bakugou tells him that if this pretty boy he’s been hearing about all night turns out to be an asshole then has to tell him so he can defend his honour.

Midoriya is very grateful to have such a close group of friends and is also profoundly aware that they are all very difficult to handle when they’re drunk. Vaguely, he feels no small amount of pity for the club owners. The club owners, and Sero, who is playing Neko Atsume at their table and occasionally intervening to stop Kaminari and Mina from starting any drama. Midoriya still isn’t sure what they did to deserve Sero.

By the time he gets back outside, a good half hour has gone by, and Shouto is texting someone. He’s not as damp with sweat as he was before, and now he only looks lightly ruffled, by the wind more than anything else. In his shirt and jeans, he might as well have walked off an old Hollywood film set. Midoriya swallows and prays he doesn’t fuck this up.

“Hey, sorry for the wait.” Shouto starts at his voice, slipping his phone into his pocket and offering him another small smile. Midoriya’s heart skips a beat.

“I was starting to worry you weren’t coming back.” He takes his drink with a quiet smile whilst Midoriya splutters an apology, then raises his glass. “Cheers.” Their knuckles touch as they knock their drinks together, and Shouto holds his gaze. “It’s seven years of bad sex if you don’t do that, you know.” He takes a sip whilst Midoriya chokes.

“I’m sorry, what?”

Shouto smirks at him. “It’s just an old superstition. If you don’t hold someone’s eyes when you toast, you’ll be cursed to seven years of bad sex.”

Midoriya raises an eyebrow. “That’s an awfully heavy punishment.”

Shouto shrugs, leaning back on his elbows against the balcony and tilting his head. “I guess it depends on how good the sex you were having before was.” He meets Midoriya’s eyes, and Midoriya swallows. Is that…? Was he…?

Shouto bites his lip, and stands up, and gets very close, close enough that his breath tickles the top of Midoriya’s nose. “How would you fare?”

Later, he won’t be sure whether it’s the alcohol or instinct that does it, but in the moment Midoriya doesn’t question the wave of confidence that washes over him, fast as adrenaline. Instead he cocks his head, leaning forwards and resting a hand on Shouto’s hip. Under his shirt, Shouto’s body is firm and cool, and a quick brush of Midoriya’s thumb reveals the telltale ridge of muscle. He meets and holds Shouto’s eyes. “I think I’d do ok.” He drops his gaze to Shouto’s mouth. His lips are wet, and pink, and parted. “How about you?”

Their noses knock lightly against each other and Shouto lifts a hand to Midoriya’s neck. His fingers are hot. “I’d survive.”

Midoriya smiles, and brushes their noses together, deliberately this time. Shouto’s breath rushes over his face, and it’s cool and tinged with the smell of mint and alcohol. “Yeah? Care to prove it?”

Shouto laughs lightly, and this close Midoriya can feel his chest shaking with it. Then he slips his hand up Midoriya’s neck to cup his cheek and winds his fingers in his hair. He bites his lip, eyes running over Midoriya’s features. When he speaks, it’s barely a whisper. “Don’t push your luck.”

Then he tilts his head, and kisses him.

When Shouto wakes up the next morning, he is in his own bed with all his clothes on. He also has a phone number and the name Midoriya Izuku on the back of his hand in permanent marker. That, and a splitting headache.

With a groan, he rolls out of bed and moves in the direction of his coffee pot, making himself something hot and bitter on autopilot whilst he waits for his phone to switch itself back on. Unsurprisingly, he has about a dozen text messages from Momo, plus one from an unknown number signed by Uraraka checking that he made it home alright. Shouto sends her a quick, grateful reply and asks whether she wants to grab a working lunch some time. They really ought to collaborate more closely.

Then he switches to Momo. Her messages are variously teasing, worried and irritated, but the most recent have been sent that morning. There’s a blurry picture of him kissing Midoriya that Shouto would be more bothered about if he didn’t like it so much. Both of them look oblivious to the world, and Midoriya is cradling Shouto’s cheeks like he’s something precious. The lights of the club and the city beyond have blurred into little more than lens flare, and the quality of the picture makes it look like they’re alone.

Under the photo, Momo has sent a message.

“You hooked up with Midoriya Izuku?????”

Then, ten minutes late, another message, this time with a screenshot of a Google search. “Like HERO DEKU MIDORIYA IZUKU?????”

Then, a minute later, a screenshot of a man in a green costume with his mask off who is, indeed, the same Izuku he’d been making out with last night. “Like YOUNGEST EVER NUMBER SIX HERO DEKU? THAT DEKU?”

Shouto stares at his phone for a very long moment, and holds onto his kitchen counter. He drinks his coffee. He wonders whether the dizziness is from the hangover or a brush with one of the few people in Japan more famous than he is. He’s about to send a reply when his phone buzzes, again with a message from an unknown number. Vaguely, Shouto thinks that this is the most popular he’s been in months.

“WAIT YOU’RE SHOUTO LIKE THIS SHOUTO?”

This is followed by a screenshot of a distant and blurred photo of him helping to stop a landslide. Shouto raises an eyebrow, deciding that deciphering whoever is messaging him can wait until after he’s reassured Momo that he’s still alive.

Then another message comes in from the same number.

“It’s ok if you don’t want to talk about it I totally understand I’m a hero too!! I don’t think we’ve ever worked together but my hero name is Deku so maybe you’ve heard of me? I’ve definitely heard of you, you’re really cool!! And also hot ;) oh man sorry you probably get that a lot”

Shouto stares at the three grey dots on his phone screen as the person he believes may very well be Midoriya Izuku, and therefore the man eight spots above him in the national hero rankings, types something else. He drinks his coffee.

“Anyway if it’s not weird or anything like I’m not weird about it well you know I’m not weird with the hero thing ANYWAY if you wanted to maybe we could grab coffee some time?”

Before Shouto has the chance to type a response, another message comes in. Vaguely, Shouto wonders how fast this man can type. His coffee is hot and bitter on his tongue.

“Please? I’d really like to get to know you. Oh and this is Midoriya by the way. Well you probably figured that out. And actually you can call me Izuku. I’d like it if you called me Izuku.”

Smiling, Shouto taps out a response. “That would be nice, Izuku – S”

His phone buzzes. It’s another message from Momo.

“ALSO TODOROKI SHOUTO IS THAT A HICKEY?”

In the quiet of his apartment, Shouto laughs until his cheeks ache.

Across the city, Midoriya types a quick message on his phone, then slips it into the pocket of his hero suit. In his ear, Kaminari’s voice comes laughing through his earbuds. “Loooooove is in the air, eh Deku?”

“Bet you’re glad we got you to come out.” Mina chirps, static buzzing through with her voice. Over the city, the sun is rising, huge and bright and liquid gold as it spills across the rooftops.

Kirishima barks a laugh from three blocks away that’s a little too loud over their earbuds. “What are you talking about Ashido? Deku came out years ago.”

Kaminari chokes, and Bakugou grumbles something about maintaining a semblance of professionalism. Though he adds, gruffly, “you got his number, right?”

“He got a coffee date!” Uraraka sings, laughing, and the channel is briefly an explosion of noise as all of them start talking at once.

Midoriya grins, and crouches on the parapet of the building on which he’s standing, watching the traffic below as he taps his communication device. “Alright alright, are you lot done? We’ve got a city to protect.”

Kaminari sighs. “You’re such a cliché, you know that?”

Midoriya laughs. “You wouldn’t have me any other way.” The wind pulls at his costume, whistling in between the folds to brush light and cool over his skin. He rolls his shoulders, and spots movement five storeys below. “Bogey spotted on 21-10. Five hostiles, but I can’t see Catfish. Kacchan, Ochako?”

Bakugou’s voice growls over the intercom. “On it.” Uraraka seconds him.

Midoriya stands and cracks his knuckles. These are serious criminals. They wouldn’t have teamed up like this if they weren’t. Objectively, it’s terrifying, and he doesn’t expect to make it out uninjured.

But as One For All hums through his body, and he crouches, green lightning wrapping round his legs, he thinks briefly of a man with mismatched eyes and a soft, shy smile. Midoriya jumps, and the wind roars past his ears, and he knows now as well as he did when he was fifteen years old the very simple truth of the matter.

He wouldn’t trade this for anything.

[royalpains-roleplay]

Initiate Program Males - Available

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝I don’t know where you’re going but do you have room for one more, troubled soul. I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m not going home.❞

✗ — Name: Damien Tills. ✗ — Age: 27. ✗ — Kingdom: Argentina. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual.

— Personality; Damien is a warm, compassionate person. He’s the type of person whose laid back and charming in a way that makes people comfortable with him, as well as open up to him. He’s got a patient temperament and is generally calm. It takes a great deal for him to lose his temper or cool, but when he does it’s very intense. He’s very intelligent, and with his intelligence comes a cunning that allowed him to partake in politics for so long, and now aids him in completely lying about his identity to prevent him from getting dragged back into royal life. While he tries to be honest about as much as he can, he hides a great deal of secrets about his past. He’s very protective of those he cares about, and will do just about anything to keep them safe. One of the main ways to get to him is by threatening his family or a loved one.

— Biography; The Castillo family might not have been in power in Argentina, but between their great size and royal status, they had plenty of influence. On the outside, they were unstoppable. They had a seemingly perfect older child, Damien. He shone in almost every subject in school; he was kind, courteous, fair and just cunning enough to understand his way around politics. The people of Argentina flocked to him, even in his younger years the press buzzed around him. His parents weren’t always the most affectionate or forthcoming, but they were there, more so than most royal parents were. When two more children were born, twin daughters, the standards were set just as high. Damien had an outstanding relationship with Delilah, but he could never quite get close to Dahlia as hard as he would try. As soon as she was old enough to have a personality, she was unusually skittish, careful around people. He was still protective over his siblings and his family. And with most of the buzz on their family saying that the power might shift in Argentina, he was sure he would work with his parents as best as he could to keep his siblings safe. His media presence died down over the years, slowly dwindling out. But he was still a strong competitor in the race of who would become the next ruler. When he was twenty-one, everything fell apart. His younger sister, Dahlia had committed suicide, leaving not one but two notes, one addressed to him. The note addressed to him detailed what the reigning King had been doing to her since she was a small child and how he’d said it was revenge for Damien’s attention and possibility as heir. The king had been sexually assaulting her, and telling her it was all Damien’s fault. Near the end of the letter, it said she forgave Damien for it. However, even though he could not control the king’s actions, he felt guilty. Drastically and painfully so. He couldn’t function for weeks and wanted no part in the games of royalty. Not wanting to be the reason for anymore death, he cut all ties, getting emancipated from his parents. He took out loans, finished his schooling in a public college, eventually getting a teaching degree. Under a new identity, Damien Tills, he started to teach. He was offered a job at Royal Pains to teach, and while he was reluctant, because of who he was and his relations to the royals, he agreed to take the position for the money as a way to pay his debt from his schooling. Little did he know that he would start to not only fall for one of his students, but run into his two surviving siblings there.

✗ Secret; Damien Tills was born Damien Castillo. He cut all and any legal ties from his family after the death of his younger sister Dahlia which he blames himself for due to her suicide note.

「 Faceclaim: Ian Harding. 」

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝My family is my strength and my weakness.❞

✗ — Name: Diego Rivas. ✗ — Age: 24. ✗ — Kingdom: Cuba. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual.

— Personality; Diego has always been a level headed man with a good head on his shoulders. He's a very friendly person and will usually talk to anyone who bothers to start a conversation with him. He is known to be the wiser one out of the remaining Rivas brothers but he does love to party and loves being surrounded by women. Unlike Samuel, he has more compassion when it comes to love and believes that it exists but he isn't in any rush to find it. Diego has always been a responsible person who has always attended his classes. He is naturally a really funny person and is almost always wearing a smile on his face even when he isn't happy.

— Biography; Diego was always the more responsible and youngest Rivas sibling and although he still sometimes got into trouble, it wasn't as much as his older brothers. They had a really close bond growing up, one that not many people understood but Diego knew that his brother protected him from the abuse that his father would have inflicted upon him if they weren't around to stop him. Both of his brothers meant the world to him, but he was closest with Samuel because they were only two years apart in age compared to the five years between him and Hunter. Pressure was naturally put on Diego to be a perfect prince but like his brothers, he to loved to go out and party. It was something that helped them all escape. He was pretty popular with women too but unlike Samuel, Diego had a couple of long term relationships through out his entire life although they didn't ever end up going anywhere serious. Diego was overall popular in his country, many adored him and he thrived off it. He has always been a bit of an attention seeker and he doesn't even bother trying to hide it. His parents were always hard on the boys, his father was very mean but they overall trusted them. Partying aside, they were good boys with their heads screwed on so when death threats were being sent to the boys, no one took them seriously, especially their parents who just seemed to blow it off. They left for a business trip one night taking most of the security team with them, the three Rivas boys decided to stay home and spend time with each other. It was just a casual week in, they spent time playing video games and talking about woman. Diego was having a lot of fun until a bang was heard downstairs. They boys went down to investigate only to find a man much bigger than them with a knife ready to attack. A fight almost instantly broke out with Hunter trying his hardest to protect his two brothers which unfortunately ended up with him getting stabbed. Diego didn't know what happened next, it was all a blur but somehow Samuel managed to knock the man unconscious and tried to save Hunter but he was too late. When their parents came home, Samuel was blamed for his death and though Diego tried his hardest to defend his older brother, his father was having none of it. Diego could tell it was getting Samuel feel even worse about the entire situation so after Hunter's funeral, he tried his hardest to cheer Sam up but nothing seemed to work so he took him out partying. This ended up to be a huge mistake, Samuel got extremely drunk and when someone made a passing comment about his brothers death, he lost control and beat the man up. Diego was talking to a girl at the time and once he realised what was happening outside, he rushed tried to stop it but was too late, by the time he had gotten to Sam he was covered in blood with a broken bottle in his hand. Since there wasn't anyone around at the time, Diego panicked and immediately drove his brother home, he stripped Samuel of his clothes and ordered him to show and disposed of the glass bottle and the bloody items of clothing Samuel had been wearing. A news report came on the TV a few days later asking anyone with information to come forward since the attack was so bad it resulted in the man having serious brain damage but Samuel was too drunk that night and didn't remember a thing so Diego decided to stay quiet. He already lost one brother, he wasn't going to lose another. When their parents said they were sending Samuel to Royal Pains Estate, they told Diego he was going there too so he could grieve for Hunter in a place that didn't remind him of his older brother.

✗ Secret; Diego covered up the fight Samuel got into which caused a man brain damage.

「 Faceclaim: Nick Jonas. 」

- Admin L.

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝ It's hard to dance with a devil on your back, so shake him off. ❞

✗ — Name: Eric Elington. ✗ — Age: 25. ✗ — Kingdom: Finland. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual.

— Personality; Eric had always been the typical prince. He was very careless with his funds and the life he’d been granted. He spent his money on whatever he wanted and didn’t care. He didn’t consider anyone else but himself. He would screw around, sleeping with any woman he could come across and end up breaking their hearts. However, after the murder of most of his family, everything changed for him. He became a lot more mysterious and secretive, always brooding. Sometimes he would bring out his charming side to get what he wanted, but rarely did that. He became rather morally inclined after the tragedy, resulting in him becoming a vigilante. Eric is very protective over those he cares about. He can tend to be very independent, to the point where he drives those away because he won’t let them in.

— Biography; Eric was raised in a small enough royal family, one of the ones of Finland. His parents were higher up, and while they were not in power they might as well have been with all the influence they possessed over the country of Finland. He was the second child, the middle of an elder brother and younger sister. They weren’t in power, but they were very rich. They relished in their wealth, even if it sometimes meant they paid little to no attention to the suffering around them. Eric was particularly one minded. He was caught up in the lifestyle his money provided him, the drugs, the alcohol, the girls. He loved it all, and he never seemed to have a desire to do more or have more than the average royal life. When Eric was twenty years old, everything fell apart. He was exposed sharply and quickly to a new painful world, one he didn’t know how to live in. There was a deal, for Eric’s father to bribe Eric’s way into the throne, and it fell through. The people who were supposed to put him on the throne ended up coming in and slaughtering Eric’s parents and elder brother when the deal fell through. They almost killed his sister, but she narrowly escaped with her life and was shipped off somewhere for her own protection. Eric was left alone, exposed to the harsh reality of the world he lived in. And had to deal with holding up his family’s legacy while morning their lives. Something that didn’t include being a careless party boy. He sat and let all that fester for years, finally, he broke. He knew he had to do something, so he began seeking out the corrupt ones of society who were responsible for hurt and chaos and killed them, becoming a vigilante of sorts. He saved many people and killed many. One of the most memorable rescues was of a young blonde woman; something about her just stuck with him. One of his advisers found him going out every night, never interested in politics, so they decided it was best if he went to the Estate to try and hold some grip on the throne.

✗ Secret; After the death of his father, mother and elder brother, Eric has become determined to wipe out all those who are corrupt in the world.

「 Faceclaim: Stephen Amell. 」

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝ I’m addicted to a life so empty and cold.❞

✗ — Name: Charles “Charlie” Anderson. ✗ — Age: 22. ✗ — Kingdom: Scotland. ✗ — Sexuality: Bisexual.

— Personality; Charlie is the essence of what is intended to be royal. He’s poised, graceful and charming. In many ways he is rational and believes in being fair and just. He’s good with people, but not so good that it crosses the royal boundary. Though he can be fairly spoiled as he believes he has a right to everything, it tends to come with the territory of being bred by parents with limitless funds. Charlie also tends to be quite cocky and narcissistic. He’s smug and knows exactly that the way he looks and acts will get him just about everything he wants. Every woman, every man he desires. However, Charlie craves something much more than just to be a King, he mostly just wants to be free. But because of his father’s harsh lessons growing up he’s never dared step a foot out of line, and often because of this he tends to snub those who do act in such a way.

— Biography; Charles was the result of a love affair between the Queen Consort of Scotland and the King of Liechtenstein. It didn’t go on for long, as the King wasn’t the type for anything much romantic. When it got too serious and the Queen spoke of leaving her husband, he decided to break things off, only for the Queen to realize she was pregnant a short while later. Realizing that she would have nowhere to go with her child, she stayed with her husband and told him that the child was his. He seemed skeptical, because of her prior behavior but was desperate enough for an heir that he decided he would take her word. So he claimed the child and eventually Charles was born. His father was not easy on him by any means. In fact, his father was known for his cruel behavior, using it as a method of keeping Charles in line. It was what made sure he would never go against his father or his mother, though she wasn’t nearly as harsh on him. For a long time, Charles was the perfect son. The most rebellious he ever got was sleeping around every now and then and completely disliking his bride to be, Gemma of France. He knew he would have to marry her someday though, as his father wanted to close the alliance with France once and for all. It didn’t make him like her any more though. Eventually, Charles found out the truth about his birth. His mother was completely distraught over the King of Liechenstein’s death. She seemed crushed and heartbroken. That was how he found out something had been there. So he confronted her and she explained everything, including the fact that the King had been his father the whole time, not the man he’d been calling father. He couldn’t believe it, he was so shocked and angry. But most of all he saw an out of his father’s harsh ways. So he decided to use it. He told his father he knew and would expose it to the world. However, instead of loosening his leash only tightened it and sent him off to the Royal Pains Estate before he could tell anyone. A few months in word reached him that the fiancée he’d originally be betrothed to was not dead, and now he was set to marry her instead, and she would be at the Estate with him shortly.

✗ Secret; Charlie is Thalia Holden’s half-brother.

「 Faceclaim: Thomas Doherty. 」

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝ Can you hear the silence? Can you see the dark? Can you fix the broken? Can you feel, can you feel my heart? ❞

✗ — Name: Grayson Levinson. ✗ — Age: 24. ✗ — Kingdom: England. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual.

— Personality; Grayson was everything a royal could want. Growing up, he was mannerly and proper. He was the youngest brother, but he was far more mature than his elder brother. He always prided himself on his truth telling and being honorable and loyal. Grayson is very protective and loyal to both his family and those he holds close to his heart. When he comes to fall for someone, he often sticks to them and does everything he can to make them happy and keep them safe, including cleaning up their messes and fixing their mistakes. Gray is constantly haunted by the guilt of what he did to his girlfriend and holds himself as completely responsible for it.

— Biography; Grayson was everything a royal strived to be. He was mannerly, properly. He was a role model, the things King and Queens told their children to try to be. He was the youngest brother, but without the rage and impulsivity weighing him down, he was much more mature than his brother. He was honorable, loyal. His parents clearly favored him, and wanted him on the throne. Even though he was the younger brother, he was the clear candidate for the throne. It was one of the rare cases where the older sibling was deemed unfit in order to put the younger in the power role. Despite this, Grayson and his brother were incredibly close growing up. Though Grayson was younger, he acted more like the big brother. He was always cleaning up all the messes that his brother made, looking out for him and making sure that he was always okay. It became his job to look after his brother. When he became distant and increasingly unpleasant, dipping into drinking more, Grayson was lonely. So much time had been spent cleaning up for his brother that he had never gotten his own life. At least until he met a girl. A girl he fell for quickly. He loved her dearly, but his parents didn’t approve. They wanted him to marry Eliza, the girl destined to be Queen so their countries would be united. He didn’t find her to be his type, though, and was far too in love with the woman he’d met to care what his parents wanted. Though, the alliance had become something popular, something wanted. So desperately that Grayson’s girlfriend was found by an extremist and was captured, along with Grayson. They eventually forced him to make a choice, one that led to his girlfriend’s death. Grayson never forgave himself, and when he was released he blamed his parents for everything that had happened. He believed if they hadn’t of promoted the potential alliance to Eliza, it never would have happened. Out of anger, he withdrew his claim to the throne and left in the middle of the night. For a long time he worked in a bar. Though eventually, he was tracked down and captured by his parent’s men. They brought him to the Royal Pains Estate, in hopes he might be convinced to return to the throne.

✗ Secret; Despite being physically forced to murder his girlfriend, he still blames himself for her death and hasn’t told anyone the way she died.

「 Faceclaim: Daniel Gillies. 」

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝ I’m the one with ghosts in my bed.❞

✗ — Name: Louis Lynch. ✗ — Age: 26. ✗ — Kingdom: French. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual.

— Personality; Louis has the same Lynch family arrogance that his brothers and sisters did. But he wasn’t quite so prone to it as they were. He didn’t like his smug attitude get in the way of his responsibility and rational mind. He was charming, outgoing and could get just about anyone to do exactly as he wanted. But he knew his limits and didn’t push them, nor did he ever take his requests too far. Louis is intelligent, perceptive and a problem solver. He tends to be able to figure out people quickly and knows how to use such things to his advantage. He’s also creative and tends to solve problems more easily than most. Louis is known for being far more careful and calculated than his siblings are, mainly because he knows what sorts of mistakes can be made if he isn’t careful. He holds a lot of guilt over his sister being kidnapped, and for the longest time was haunted by nightmares and blame for her supposed death.

— Biography; Louis is the second eldest of the Lynch family and held all the perks of being the second son. While it was doubted he would rule because of his older brother, he was still taught all the teachings and had all the knowledge that his brother did. He was taught to have an easy grace with the people and became a favored royal of the Lynch family. It gave him an advantage in strategizing and understanding the world he was in, at least partially. As a young boy, he was known to be rather naïve, innocent. He trusted everyone. So when he befriended a little girl around his age he never thought anything of her strange questions or the weird way she acted. He just dismissed it under a quirky sort of behavior and didn’t think much of it. Little did he know she was being used by the group responsible for trying to ensure the Grimaldi’s remained on the throne to gather information about his family. Information he was feeding to her. Eventually, the girl he’d befriended disappeared from his life and not long after his sister was believed to be dead. He mourned with the rest of his family for his dead sister but never thought anything of it. He didn’t think of any plots or such that could have happened. He just assumed it was what everyone else called it – a tragedy. When Louis was eighteen, he ran into the girl again. He recognized her by an odd birthmark. Only she was going by a different name. He decided to look into her and realized she was a con-woman. So he had her tracked down and finally got her to confess what had happened. She admitted her parents had had her to the job for someone who wanted to bring down the Lynch’s chances of taking over the throne, and that they were behind the death of his little sister, and because of that, so was he. After that, his life was entirely different. He was no longer carefree, no longer as obsessed with being the perfect prince. He was ridden with guilt. He had nightmares often about his sister. He dedicated his time to trying to find the people that killed her. When she was discovered alive years later, he was beyond relieved and determined to somehow make it up to her. So when his parents sent her away before he even got to meet her he went to the estate as well, hoping to learn more about Nesryn’s life and protect her somehow.

✗ Secret; His insider information helped in the kidnapping of his sister Nesryn.

「 Faceclaim: Ben Hardy. 」

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝ Voices in my head tell me they know best. ❞

✗ — Name: Leo Anderson. ✗ — Age: 22. ✗ — Kingdom: Scotland. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual.

— Personality; There were only a few things in life that ever mattered to Leo Anderson. Power, wealth and himself. He was constantly after more power, making him appear to be somewhat of a higher achiever. Though most people never pegged him for it. They just assumed he was charming and dedicated to his future throne and getting along well with future subjects. They were wrong though, behind closed doors he was cocky, narcissistic, full of himself and hard to get along with. He’s very sure of himself, and this tends to make him fearless, often having him take risks that lead him to trouble in almost every case.

— Biography; Leo’s mother was the reigning Queen of Scotland. His father was a higher class man, but he was not a prince and by no means royal. However, it didn’t lessen the status of Leo, and he still had as much of a claim to the throne as any prince or princess. Royal or not, this man was the Queen’s husband, and that meant the children born to them would be princes and princesses by definition of the royal laws. Leo lived the average life of a royal, lavish, but with so many responsibilities and duties that he couldn’t handle all the weight of it all. As much as he wanted all the power and wealth that came with being a royal, he didn’t have the skills it took to make it there. So, instead of taking the hard way and trying to learn to become a royal, he decided he would take another way to get all the power and wealth he desired. So he began making bets with royals. He would gamble money, play for their secrets too so he held things over them. It became exciting, almost addictive. He had all the control he wanted, but it didn’t come with half as much difficulty waiting until he could be King. It was easier at first, but as bets grew further and he became addicted to the risk of it all, he stopped being able to control himself. It became something he had to do, something he couldn’t stop doing no matter how hard he tried. He ended up spending most of his trust fund, and was still in debt to many other royals, and low lives that he had gotten loans from. His parents finally stepped in when they noticed the money was gone. They learned what had happened, and what he had done and knew they had to do something. So, in order to help with the great deal of loss they’d suffered because of his addiction, they arranged a marriage alliance with a woman. In order to give him a break from the world that he’d been in while having the addiction, they decided sending him to the Estate to meet his bride was the best option.

✗ Secret; Leo ended up putting his family in financial debt by making a bet with another royal family.

「 Faceclaim: Zac Efron. 」

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝ Take my badge, but my heart remains. ❞

✗ — Name: Landon Asenov. ✗ — Age: 22. ✗ — Kingdom: Bulgaria. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual.

— Personality; Landon is very laid back and easy going. He’s charming, a trait that was used often to get him out of whatever trouble he found himself in, which was something that his devious and adventurous nature tended to get him in quite a bit. Despite the mistakes he has made he does consider himself a decent person, to the extent where many of his friends consider him to be the go to for advice. Many people refer to him as the ‘Golden Boy’ or ‘Moral Compass’ of the Estate, even though he often finds himself in small troubles with his best friend Julian Brooks.

— Biography; Landon was the son of the Prince of Bulgaria, and while his father was not reigning King, it was believed that power would shift to the Asenov family in the upcoming Selection. However, his father had his problems, problems that included a gambling addiction. His father was constantly betting money, and sometimes, he’d win it back, with extra, but a lot of the time, he was constantly gambling away dollar after dollar. With a wife who’d died giving birth to Landon, there was no one to stop him from dealing away the riches that came with being a royal. Finally, by the time Landon was five years old, his father had blown all his cash, to the point where he could barely afford to feed Landon. He survived only through other royal’s parties and such, re-wearing old outfits to maintain the façade that he was still as rich as the other royals. Finally, Landon’s father was so desperate to get anything he could, he decided to get rid of the last thing of value he had. Landon. He was sold to a woman in Australia. She was higher up, and believed Landon may one day make a good match for her daughter. She gave his father a sum every month as payment. He barely interacted with the woman who bought him. He barely knew her at all really. Because of his title, and the title of the woman who was paying his father to keep him about, he was raised in the castle. He was still a royal, and often surrounded himself with the other royals. He got along well with Julian Brooks, as well as the Dayley family, although he got along especially well with them, as he began to develop somewhat of a crush on Chloe. He was a solid rock, almost always there for her through and through, though she never seemed to see him as more than platonic. Upon turning eighteen, the woman who’d bought him became more present in his life when she was grooming him to meet her daughter. Of course, she soon became obsessed with him and decided she had to have him. They began sleeping together. The scandal was exposed by one of her advisers and knew if it kept happening it would blow the deal and destroy both reputations. The adviser went to him and said he would expose the scandal or Landon could go away to the estate. Believing he had fallen for the woman, he wanted to save her reputation and chose to go to the estate.

✗ Secret; Landon was raised by a Lady in Australia because his father gambled away all their money and could not afford to support him.

「 Faceclaim: Chace Crawford. 」

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝People are afraid of me because I’m different.❞

✗ — Name: Levi Jansen ✗ — Age: 22. ✗ — Kingdom: Netherland. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual.

— Personality; Levi is a fairly quiet person and often keeps to himself. He’s outwardly awkward but once you get to know him, he is the most open person anyone could ever meet. He’s usually shy around most people, but he is known for his honesty. Levi doesn’t like to lie, he thinks it’s bad for you and would much rather everyone be honest with him. The people he truly cares about could trust him with their lives because Levi is fiercely loyal and protective, he’ll do anything to protect those he loved. Recently he’s become a little more closed off from people and it takes some really effort from other people to actually make him have a decent conversation.

— Biography; Levi had a very sad upbringing. His mother died when he was just seven after being involved in a car accident leaving Levi with his father. The two never really got along too well. His father was always so judgmental over everything Levi did, it didn’t matter how hard he tried he always felt like he was a failure. A few years after his mother’s death, his father had fallen in love again and even if the woman could never take place of his Mom, Levi was fond of her. She was kind to him and her daughter, Lotte, soon became the cheeky younger sister Levi had always wished for. He became very protective over her growing up and when she started to date someone who was known as being a trouble maker he tried to split them up knowing he wasn’t any good for her. Levi had never really been into socializing much but when he was nineteen it was announced that his father and stepmother were throwing a ball, he couldn’t have been less thrilled. It didn’t take long for it to happen. Many royals were invited from different countries but there was only one that caught Levi’s eye. Delilah. He remembered her from childhood, his parents used to be close to hers but after the death of his mom he never saw much of the again. That night Levi made extra effort to find scenarios in which he could make conversation with the brunette. Luckily enough for him she seemed to like him too so he didn’t have to try too hard. The night drew to a close, and Levi was disappointed that Delilah had to return to her own country. However, they made a plan to have a date a few weeks later which instantly lifted his spirits. Unfortunately, their date never happened. Only two days after the ball Levi was arrested for the murder of his step sister’s lover. Although he hadn’t actually done it, everyone knew how protective he was of Lotte, how much he hated the man and his DNA was found at the his house, there was no way for him to talk his way out of it. Even though he was the prince and would be the king someday, Levi was treated poorly in prison. Guards would often beat him and leave him for days without food or water to rebel against the royal family. Levi never told anyone, even when scars started becoming noticeable on his skin. He was released two years later after it was proven that the man had faked his own death for revenge plot on Lotte after she broke their relationship off. His stepmother thought it be best to send him to royal pains so that he could adapt back into society.

✗ Secret; Levi was repeatedly beaten by the guards in prison, which has left him with some nasty scars.

「 Faceclaim: Keegan Allen. 」

—Admin L.

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝ Everything is g r a y — his hair, his smoke, his dreams. ❞

✗ — Name: Kyle Dayley. ✗ — Age: 23. ✗ — Kingdom: Australia. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual.

— Personality; Kyle is a very charming man. His laid back and open-minded nature makes it incredibly easy for others to get along with. He holds little jealousy over the fact that his royal status is limited, and he holds no real claim to the throne and doesn’t ever get angry over the fact his siblings are more than likely to become King or Queen and he is not. Kyle is very friendly, his compassionate, openhearted nature makes it easy for people to open up to him and turn to him in times of crisis or need. He’s very compassionate, caring and his thoughts are almost always on the needs of others. He’s very self-sacrificing and often gives up his own happiness for the sake of others. Sometimes he can make very rash decisions, but most times his are well thought through. Kyle carries a lot of guilt over both Ivy’s miscarriage and the face he slept with Eliza.

— Biography; Kyle was one of two children from his father’s first marriage. He was never in the limelight, and always took a backseat to his newer half siblings. Given that he wasn’t the oldest of his siblings, nor did he have the attention or support of his other siblings, he didn’t have much chance of being King. He had known and accepted this fact. His life consisted of parties, living with his family and just trying to get through the days. When he was five years old he met Ivy, a princess who he became good friends with. They were different in behavior, but they eventually started dating at twelve years old. That was when he began getting attention from the tabloids. All they could talk about was the young lovers and the alliance it could bring about. His parents were all for it, hoping there was a chance Kyle might earn more power for the family by marrying her. When they were older and became engaged, it was revealed that Ivy was pregnant. It wasn’t easy. The pregnancy had several complications, and it was fairly clear they stood a high chance of losing the baby. He was under a lot of stress. And eventually Eliza became his shoulder to cry on. One night, they got a little drunker than intended and they slept together. They remained close, and Kyle knew he was falling for her. He even planned to leave Ivy and tell Eliza he loved her. But then Ivy lost the baby, and he found himself so guilty that he stayed. However, neither of them seemed invested anymore. The relationship was extremely strained and tumultuous. And they ended up realizing they were no longer going to work together. It was evident to both they no longer were in love, but Ivy was the one to walk away. His parents were furious, and when they found out Ivy was being sent to the Royal Pains Estate, they sent Kyle as well in hopes they would rekindle their relationship. Instead, Kyle ended up rekindling his friendship with Mia Winters. They had been good friends before she’d cut him off suddenly. And he was happy to be around her once again. He ended up falling for her. But after how poorly things had gone with Ivy, and Mia having left him behind once before, he was scared to tell her.

✗ Secret; Kyle has an affair with Ivy’s best friend, and for a short while thought he was in love with her.

「 Faceclaim: Paul Wesley. 」

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝Would it really kill you if we kissed?❞ ✗ — Name: Bradley Lynch. ✗ — Age: 20. ✗ — Kingdom: France. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual. — Personality; Bradley is a special kind of full of himself. In most cases, most people have a little bit of cockiness to some extent, but Bradley surpasses it all. He appears to be in love with himself, and his appearance, the way he looks and carries himself. There are a rare few who carry the kind of confidence in themselves that he does. Though it’s hardly a good trait to have, more than anything it gets him in plenty of trouble and causes him to be extremely reckless, with no real boundaries. He’s incredibly flirty, having a bad habit of going after every woman, including the ones older than him and the unavailable ones. He is also very secretive about everything personal in his life. If anyone starts to get close, he clamps right up. — Biography; Bradley’s life was spent being pressured by his parents. Despite the fact that his brother had been trying to secure an alliance for their family, it didn’t mean the pressure was any less placed on him and in fact, Bradley felt like it was more so since he had to live up to the same expectations as his brother. When the alliance mostly fell apart, things only seemed to get worse. He was groomed and picked at under a microscope to be the best husband he could ever be. He hated it; he absolutely hated it in fact. Every ball that he was ever at, he was forced to dance with every single princess in the room, and eventually he was forced to pick a bride. Bradley didn't want this; he was sick of his life being planned out for him and simply wanted to live for himself rather than for his parents. So like most stubborn people do, Bradley refused to comply with his parents wishes for him to pick a bride. This didn't exactly work out the way Bradley hope it would, though, for when he refused to pick a bride from just one dance, a marriage was arranged by his parents. The girl loved him, but she was all about romance. She had this vision in her head of them riding off into the sunset and living happily ever-after like a fairytale and Bradley just wasn’t feeling at all. Eventually, all this pressure turned him into something of a womanizer. Due to his ways, his little escapades were always in the press and once his bride to be caught on to what he was doing, much to Bradley's delight and his parents dismay, she called off the wedding. By the time he was fifteen, he had been a full-blown womanizer. He slept around, got with everyone he could, it didn't matter to him if people were in relationships. It wasn't his fault he could woo the woman. It turned out that Bradley did in fact ruin quite a few serious relationships as well as reputations and broke several hearts. It was who he was, he just simply couldn’t be tied down. It was a lifestyle he loved and one he didn't plan on giving up anytime soon. His affairs weren’t limited to older women, he ended up sleeping with a Queen, and not only did he do this, he got her pregnant. Since it happened, his country receives a large sum of money every two months so Bradley will keep her secret. His reckless behaviour continued and so did the press, so his parents sick of the negative stories written about their family due to Bradley's behaviour decided to send him to Royal Pain's estate. ✗ Secret; He got a married Queen pregnant, and his family receives pay checks for his country every two months. They don’t know that the check is to keep Bradley quiet, but he does and it’s one of his biggest secrets. 「 Faceclaim: Francisco Lachowski. 」

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝ Some legends are told, some turn to dust or to gold, but you will remember me, remember me for centuries. ❞

✗ — Name: Carter Heartly. ✗ — Age: 23. ✗ — Kingdom: Madagascar. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual.

— Personality; Carter has never been able to find the in between ground of ruling. While he is dominantly laid back, charming, a side much loved by his people, he can also be temperamental when it comes to the harsher decisions of ruling, simply because he believes after the injustice done to him, people should be punished more severely. Despite his ways of ruling, many people love and practically worship him. He’s constantly throwing lavish balls and parties that are never stingy like most royal events. He likes to include common people in everything, something heavily increasing his popularity. Carter is still heavily affected by what happened to him as a child, and it affects his day to day life, even the way he loves.

— Biography; Carter wasn’t raised by his birth parents. When he was a baby, his parents decided that they didn't want to have a child since they didn't feel as though they were ready to be parents. Perhaps it was the fact that they were younger, pretty much powerless compared to all the people in the world. But in the end it didn’t really matter what the reason was at the end of the day, they ended abandoning him in the cupboard of his kitchen and left him to die. Two or three days later, he was found naked in a cupboard, malnourished, dehydrated and sick. He was nearly dead, and the man that found him was shocked that he was in fact still alive after the state he had found him in. The man that found Carter managed to take him to the hospital in time for him to be nursed back to full health. The King and Queen of Madagascar heard this story, it was headline news and several citizens of Madagascar were fighting for legal action against the parents for leaving the child to die instead of putting him up for adoption. Instead of doing this, they took pity on the poor baby. After several years of trying, they were told by several doctors they couldn’t seem to conceive a child and it was unlikely that they ever would. This put them in a tricky situation because needed an heir. So they legally adopted Carter, making him the prince of Madagascar. They loved him as though he was their own and treated him as much but Carter knew he was adopted from a kid and even though he was still a baby when it happened, he sometimes gets flash backs to being locked in that cupboard. It upset him slightly, but he tried to forget about it. He loved his adoptive parents and realised that they did everything they could do for him, but he fears that he will never love them the way children usually love their parents because he doesn't really trust anyone but himself. He quickly realised that no one in Madagascar realised he was adopted either, so he has kept that secret to himself. Despite the tragic story at the start of his life, Carter never didn’t have any major problems growing up. At least no real ones. He was well loved by everyone, but Carter was known to love to partying. He was popular with the people, however, his issues was that he was simply too laid back and didn't really care about his title as a prince or he was too harsh and took his prince title way too seriously. There was no real in between. To help him extend on his skills and become more in tune with other royals; his parents sent him to the Royal Pains Estate.

✗ Secret; He is the adoptive son of the King and Queen.

「 Faceclaim: Charles Michael Davis. 」

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝ But if you like causing trouble up in hotel rooms, and if you like having secret little rendezvous, if you like to do the things you know that we shouldn’t do, then baby, I'm perfect — baby, I'm perfect for you. ❞

✗ — Name: Ashton Deutch. ✗ — Age: 24. ✗ — Kingdom: Russia. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual.

— Personality; Ashton is the exact opposite of his twin Anastasia. He is very extroverted, outgoing, and likes to socialize even though with his abrasive, impatient and temperamental nature he often struggles with getting along with everyone. He doesn’t like waiting for things and can quickly lose his temper when he doesn’t get what he wants. Although he doesn’t become violent with other people, he’s been known to break things and yell in his fits of anger, usually when he is drunk. Ashton likes to play off an air of narcissism, when in truth he suffers with himself quite a bit. Ashton is stubborn and refuses to admit anything is wrong with him, although almost everyone else can see there is. He often relies on alcohol as a crutch. Somewhere inside himself, Ashton blames himself for not being there more for Anastasia, so after she got into remission, he became extremely overprotective with her. Despite his problems and challenges, Ashton is more than capable of being incredibly loving and caring, as well as compassionate and kind, it just takes the right person to bring out that side of him.

— Biography; Ashton, being the fraternal twin of Ana, grew up to be very protective of his sister. Despite being total opposites, they were very close growing up and often did everything they could together. Of course Ashton had other friends, such as Alessandra; he was a very popular guy growing up and Ashton thrived off of it. As he grew up, it was obvious that Ashton grew a liking to the party scene. He would typically sleep around with any girl he deemed fit and find himself enjoying himself when he could really let lose. However, when it was revealed, that Ana had cancer; Ashton swore his world had stopped. His sister meant the world to him and her becoming ill felt like he had been stabbed in the heart. Instantly, he stopped his partying ways to focus on Ana. He was there with her day and night, even if it was just to hold her hand, he refused to leave her alone in case anything terrible happened to her. He felt like he had aged significantly, and once Ana beat her cancer and went into remission Ashton still couldn't help but worry about his twin. After a few months his worry subsided and he began to focus on princely duties. One day, at a charity gala he spotted Elsa Grimaldi from across the room and the rest was history. Every chance he got, every event their countries attended, Ashton looked for the shy girl. Eventually, they got drunk together at an event in the Russian castle and ended up in bed. It was then Ashton realised his feelings for the girl were more than just a simple liking towards her, he was in love with her Elsa. The next morning Elsa panicked and fled his room and once Ashton realized she was gone he broke. The boy lost his last bit of hope and went off on everyone in his sight. As a boy, he had tantrums and always had a short temper; it never took much to trigger him. It didn’t take long for him to actually finally lose it for good. He had a psychotic break, and his parents admitted him to a psych hospital. After a few days of treatment, he left. There was barely a difference in him, though. He still refused any sort of treatment and suffered from his depressed rage. Eventually, seeing no way to help him other than this, his parents sent him to the Royal Pains Estate with his sister, whom had been part of the pilot program there.

✗ Secret; He has psychotic depression and was admitted to an institution for it yet refuses to agree to go along with treatment. Sex and liquor are his only coping mechanisms.

「 Faceclaim: Harry Styles. 」

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝Sell your soul, not your whole self.❞

✗ — Name: Anton Jarvinen. ✗ — Age: 26. ✗ — Kingdom: Finland. ✗ — Sexuality: Bisexual.

— Personality; Anton is a devilishly charismatic man which makes his incredibly dangerous. He doesn't really care much for rules and plays by his own. Not use to being told 'no', Anton often does whatever he wants when he wants regardless of other people getting in his way. He isn't known to be much of a caring person; he doesn't engage with the idea of having friends but he does enjoy the company of both males and females in his bed. Though he is responsible for selling drugs, he hardly ever takes them unless it's a special occasion since he has seen what it does to people and really doesn't want to end up overdosing. It is rare that Anton grows an attachment for anyone; he's not one to admit or share his feeling well. Anton is a master manipulator. He's a closed book, and it is extremely hard to get him to open up.

— Biography; The Jarvinen family actually is the ruling family of Finland and Anton's parents hope to maintain that through their son. It was clear to Anton very early on in life that his parents weren't as picture perfect as they claimed to be. Even as a child Anton was exposed to things, he shouldn't have been which is what he blames for the way he turned out. As child, Anton was always scared of the men that would come into his home to have private chats with his parents but as he got into his early teens things became a lot more clear to him. His parents were involved with the drug cartel and naturally, it only made sense for Anton to join too. Being royalty gave them the perfect cover, no one suspected the royal family to be involved in the selling and distribution of drugs in the country. Anton took to it like a duck to water, an instant fascination developed and he loved the lifestyle it brought. As he got older, he became the perfect candidate to sell to the young unsuspecting people of Finland. He could be as manipulative as he wanted to get people into the drugs his family were selling. He would often use his sexuality to bring people in. Anton partied a lot because it was easier to target people this way. While all this was going on, Anton still put on the perfect display of a charming, humble prince. He would only ever target the rich, well known people in his country who wouldn't tell anyone he was their drug dealer because they had a reputation to loose as well. To the public, Anton seemed actually very sweet and no one ever really suspected him of any wrong doing until he became too power hungry. The people of Finland as well as Anton's parents noticed that his public attitude began to slip. Instead of doing is drug dealing in secret, he became too cocky and started doing it in plain sight. A few paparazzi happened to catch him one and it was leaked all over the internet. Luckily enough for Anton, his face was blurred so his parents managed to spin a story of the picture being a hoax and paid the photographer to say that he didn't think it was Anton, just someone who looked similar to him. His parents knew that with Anton being as reckless as he was being, they would get discovered sooner or later so they decided to take action quick and enrolled him in an estate for royals under the false pretence that he was recovering from a bad car accident when in reality the only reason Anton was sent to Royal Pains Estate was because he was getting sloppy with his involvement in the drug industry and his family couldn't risk being exposed.

✗ Secret; His family is heavily involved with a drug cartel.

「 Faceclaim: Bob Morley. 」

- Admin L.

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝There are parallel universes out there where this didn’t happen.❞

✗ — Name: Sebastian Munteanu. ✗ — Age: 22. ✗ — Kingdom: Moldova. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual.

— Personality; Sebastian has thick skin and can often seem distant to people around him, but he just doesn’t want to let people in so easily to people after what has happened to him. Underneath his sarcasm and dark humor, he is actually a really sweet, thoughtful guy who is constantly worried about losing people he loves. Unlike most royals Sebastian was allowed to live a normal life, so he doesn’t always act royal. He’s street smart, and he knows that he could live alone and survive if he had to. Before he used to put a lot of trust into everyone he met, but he’s discovered that not everyone is to be trusted and a lot of people will just stab you in the back to get what they want.

— Biography; Sebastian considers himself lucky in terms of his up brining. His parents weren’t like most kings and queens, they wanted him to have a normal upbringing like everyone else his age. They decided it would just be cruel to separate him from his peers the way they were so he was sent to a public school. He was taught to respect everyone equally and if he ever did run into some trouble, he would never let his status interfere with the punishment he faced. However due to being royalty his family had to travel a lot, which meant at a young age Sebastian would join his parents. One of the many places he remembers visiting from his childhood was Switzerland. The rulers of Switzerland never liked the Munteanu family so every few years his parents visited to attempt to make peace with them. Sebastian was six when he first met Selina Caspari and they instantly became friends. He was drawn to her even then, and as they grew up they became closer until her parents realized how close they were getting and cut off all ties with the Munteanu family. For years Sebastian didn’t give it much thought but when he was twenty and his parents gave him more responsibility in the kingdom, he decided that he wanted to join the two counties together. He arrived in Switzerland a few days later to discuss the possibilities with the king and queen. However the meeting left more to be desired and Sebastian feared it was a wasted journey. Until he once again met the princess. Selina had aged well, and he couldn’t deny how he felt. They decided to spend some time together, behind her parents back and only a few weeks later they started dating in secret. Sebastian didn’t like the secrecy of it all, but he would do anything for Selina. Things became pretty serious rather fast. A year later Selina informed him she was pregnant and after he initially freaked out, he was more than excited to have the baby. He planned on sitting down his parents as well as hers to explain what had happened but someone beat him to it. Selina’s parents were informed much sooner then he would have liked and to say her dad was angry was an understatement. Before Sebastian has time to talk to her, she was taken back to the palace. Sebastian left Switzerland after Selina’s father told him that she agreed to leave him and have an abortion. He didn’t believe him at first but he left to go back to Moldova to give Selina some space. When he tried to call her and she began to reject his calls and eventually blocked his number, he realized that her dad was right. Selina agreed to all of his demands. Sebastian had never felt so low in his entire life and instead of being level headed, like he usually was, he took up drinking as a coping mechanism. Eventually it became too much to bare, he couldn’t go a day without having alcohol and rather than see him drink himself to death his parents decided to send him to royal pains so he could overcome the issue.

✗ Secret; Since losing Selina and his baby, Sebastian has become dependent on alcohol.

「 Faceclaim: Tyler Blackburn. 」

— Admin L.

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝All we do is think about the feelings that we hide, all we do is drive.❞

✗ — Name: Noah Rutten. ✗ — Age: 23. ✗ — Kingdom: Netherlands. ✗ — Sexuality: Bisexual.

— Personality; Generally, Noah can be on the kinder side. He’s somewhat out of touch with the proper social constructs as his rather isolated childhood didn’t prepare him for such things, so he tends to be rather curious about learning how to interact with his environment as he’s expected too. He almost always has the best intentions at heart, but has been known to be incredibly selfish at times, not always thinking of others. Noah can be difficult to reason with, and tends to be rather closed off about his past. When something reminds him of his experience, that’s when his truly mean behavior comes out. He can be rather unkind and cruel to get people to leave him alone, a method he uses to protect himself when he’s reminded of his uncle. Overall, Noah does care about people, but doesn’t always know how to show it. He’s compassionate, but sometimes his selfish nature can be rather all-consuming. He’s also the type who acts on his desires as opposed to thinking it through.

— Biography; Noah’s family was incredibly conservative and paranoid. After a few attacks on their particular royal line in the past, they became certain people were out to get them and would go after their children if given the chance to do so. So Noah barely ever left his palace. If he did he was under heavy guard. Most times he wasn’t even allowed to attend royal functions. His parents would, but he couldn’t. There were never guests in his home, and his best friends were his maids and cooks and other workers in the palace. He was a very lonely child, all because of his parents over protective actions. However, they weren’t able to guess that the true danger rested within the walls they held their son in. The one true exposure he got to the outside world was his uncle. He was loving at first, and Noah was convinced they were friends. He would come with gifts and photographs of his travel, promising Noah one day he would show him the world. Sometimes he would even sneak him out of the palace. Noah was always excited when his uncle arrived and always sad to see him go. Things changed when he was about eleven and his uncle started doing things that made him uncomfortable – things that he knew weren’t appropriate. But he was always told it was their game – and that he would have to keep it a secret if he wanted to keep seeing his uncle. Knowing that if he wanted to keep seeing and experiencing things he’d have to keep quiet, he complied. Eventually, the abuse stopped when he turned fifteen, and he was free from the cruelty. He missed his exposure to the outside world, but didn’t miss what his uncle did. As he grew, he understood how bad what his uncle had done was. And eventually he told his mother. Hearing her brother had been so awful and that she’d allowed him, she ended up taking her own life. Noah’s father followed not soon after, going out after a fatal overdose. Noah was left alone in the world, with no real concept of how to understand it. Realizing how grossly inhibited he was, his advisers decided Royal Pains was the best option to undo the option of what had been done by his isolation.

✗ Secret; Noah was molested by his uncle growing up.

「 Faceclaim: Chris Wood. 」

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝You learn to take life as it comes at you. To make each day count.❞

✗ — Name: Caine Laiton. ✗ — Age: 22. ✗ — Kingdom: America. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual.

— Personality; Not much is known about Caine’s past. He likes to remain an enigma in people’s minds and basks in people that are often captivated by the mystery he is known as. Caine is brilliantly clever and creative. Especially when it comes to his writing, he’s known to be very passionate. He never shares his work, though, because he often writes about people he knows, and things he sees. Things that are personal to him that he doesn’t want anyone else seeing. Because of how observant he is, it often leads to him getting into trouble but he is always able to charm his way out of terrible situations which is something he had learnt to do whilst living on the streets. Caine prefers to be alone rather than being in big groups because he’s so closed off. He doesn’t like to let people too close in fear of rejection. Caine is known for being direct and honest where necessary, and often says what’s on his mind rather than sparing people’s feelings. He doesn’t like things being handed to him and although he agreed to let the king and queen adopt him, Caine likes to work in order to get what he wants, he feels more accomplished that way.

— Biography; Caine was born into a broken home. His birth parents had a toxic relationship that they didn’t bother to hide or shelter from their son. In his home an ‘I hate you’ was the perfect substitute for an ‘I love you’ and Caine became to numb to it that he just believed it to be normal behavior. At school he was an outcast because people were aware of the way his parents acted. He didn’t mind much though, he would have liked to have had a friend or two but she wasn’t reliant on it and did well by himself. His grades were always high, but he arrived for improvement. And when his school grades increased, his family life rapidly went downhill. At thirteen Caine walked in from school only to witness his father beating his mother to death. Scared out of his mind, Caine ran from the home and immediately called the police but he knew he couldn’t be there when the police showed up. Instead Caine fell under the raider and at such a young age he began to fend for himself by living on the streets. Even though he enjoyed attending school, he knew he had to drop out otherwise he would be sent into the care system and it was the last thing he wanted. For years Caine managed to keep himself alive but on one of the queen’s trips out, she noticed Caine sleeping in a street corner. At the time Caine wasn’t aware of who was in power, he had fallen so out of touch with the world that he hadn’t realized who she was when she woke him up. Being only fifteen at the time the queen invited Caine to stay at the palace for a few days and the opportunity to sleep in a real bed was too good to pass up. It was only when they arrived that Caine realized who she was but that didn’t stop him from agreeing to stay the night, and then the next night and the night after that. Eventually, the king and queen sat him down and explained to him that they weren’t able to have children of their own and had grown fond of having Caine around, and truthfully he had grown to like them. When they asked if he would like to be adopted he reluctantly agreed and soon they managed to bring Caine back into education where he rediscovered his love for writing. Caine began to show how intelligent he truly was and began to work around the palace to help his adoptive parents out. A few years later they were given the opportunity to travel to Poland and Caine was curious to meet the family who was known for having such a perfect image. It was there that he met the princess Lena, he was instantly attracted to her innocent ways but he was no fool. He was aware of the way her parents felt about him. They didn’t think he was any good, so he decided to stay away from her, not wanting to cause any trouble. He only became close to her after she had had one of her blackouts and he helped calm her down. The two became fairly close after that incident and even after he returned back to America, she would often call him. After so long the calls became to come less frequently and even though he pretended it didn’t hurt, it did. Caine decided to focus all his energy into writing but that was his downfall. While he was out, the queen discovered some of his writing that went into detail of his mother’s death. Now she loved Caine unconditionally, but she knew he wasn’t over the tragedy so she sent him to royal pains in hopes that it would help him overcome the trauma.

✗ Secret; Caine watched his real father kill his mother.

「 Faceclaim: Cole Sprouse. 」

— Admin L.

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝I don't know what's worst, being taken for granted or being played like a fool.❞

✗ — Name: Teo Arslan. ✗ — Age: 26. ✗ — Kingdom: Turkey. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual.

— Personality; Teo is known for being charismatic person who likes to lead a fulfilling lifestyle. Despite the heart break he has recently, he remains optimistic and hopeful that better things are coming his way. Teo is a total party animal and if he's not at a party, he is often the one throwing it. If someone he cares about is feeling upset or down, he goes out of his way to make sure that they're okay. Loved ones are often lucky due to Teo's fiercely loyal trait. He is the first person their if a friend is in need and the first person to defend the ones he cares for. Teo isn't a push over, if he doesn't like someone then he tells them. He's not afraid of being honest, and it shows especially when he's in conversation with people he doesn't like. If there's trouble, Teo usually has something to do with it. He loves mischief and does whatever he can to entertain himself and others around him.

— Biography; Like most royals families, Teo's parents were always strict when it came to their son. He was always told what to do, what to wear even down to what he should eat. Teo grew up resenting his parents for the way they treated him. He felt more like their property than their son. His relationship with his father, in particular, was pretty rocky. They could never see eye to eye. His father always tried to control Teo, but he wasn't one that wanted to fit the mould so he would rebel against him. Any time his father told him to do something, he would be the complete opposite. Due to him impeccable charm, Teo has always had a way with women and embraced in pretty quickly much to his father's dismay. There were always different news articles featuring Teo with different women. His father believed Teo was brining shame to the family so he forced him into joining him visiting different kingdoms around the world. They travelled all over, and Teo became friends with a lot of new royals. It was in Australia though when he met someone that changed the way he thought about other women. She was the queen and at least twenty years older than Teo was but she was so beautiful and so charismatic that Teo fell at her feet. She was married, but that didn't stop Teo in pursing the relationship. Pretty soon they began a secret affair. His father didn't know why Teo had calmed down when it came to women, he had no idea that his son had fallen in love with the ruling queen of Australia. He thought it was impossible but since Teo was on his best behaviour, he allowed Teo more freedom which he spent travailing to and from Australia to continue with his affair. Teo, however, enjoyed travailing around so the next year, while the affair continued, his parents decided to visit a kingdom in Jamaica and Two decided to tag along. While visiting Jamaica with his family, he met Harlow Campbell. Though their introduction was a bit rocky as well as their first day, the pair quickly became friends. Teo liked her because she was so honest and quickly told her about the affair he was having with the Australian queen. Harlow was the one that told him how wrong the relationship was and that Teo was being led astray by the woman he thought he loved since she had no intention of leaving her husband for him. She helped him realise that he was just a toy to the queen. After he returned home, he kept in contact with Harlow through letters rather than through phone and quickly realised that what Harlow had said was true. He was much more invested in the relationship then the queen was. Although it hurt him, he broke off their relationship before anyone else found out but it wasn't that easy. The queen kept calling him and when that wouldn't work, she sent letters. Letters that ended up in his fathers hands. Once his father realised what had been happening, he didn't think twine before packing Teo's bags and sending him to Royal Pains Estate to keep him as far away from that woman as he possibly could.

✗ Secret; Teo has been having an affair with the queen of Australia.

「 Faceclaim: Michael Malarkey. 」

- Admin L.

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝I’d probably still adore you with your hands around my neck.❞

✗ — Name: Quinn Braxley. ✗ — Age: 23. ✗ — Kingdom: Brazil. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual.

— Personality; Quinn is a moral compass of sorts. He grew up non-royal, with a father who thoroughly believed in doing the best he could to be a good person. He was honest, moral and prided himself on always being trustworthy. He was always charming, had almost everything going for him. He was compassionate towards others, friendly and relatively laid back. And on top of that he is passionate about the things he believes in, and the things that he enjoys. Despite this, Quinn has always been insecure in his self-image, mostly because of his mother’s abandonment.

— Biography; Quinn was not born royal. In fact he was born a commoner, to a man of simple means and a woman of a lower status. His parents were not together long, they were a brief romance, something that burned out rather quickly in the end. But it did result in something, Quinn. His parents tried to make it work after he was born. But in the end it was just something that ended miserably. His mother turned to alcohol, partying, going back to her ways from before her father, and most of Quinn’s memories of her was finding her passed out in the various rooms of their house. He loved her, though. Always patient with her, helping her with her hangovers and withdrawals, even if he didn’t fully understand. He did his best. However, when he was ten, she left with only a letter. She said his life would be better without her in it. The only reason he’d found the letter was because he’d gotten in the door before his father did. After that, he always carried the worry around that he had been the problem, and while it stuck with him he became relatively successful. He maintained good grades, got a scholarship to college, ended up doing well in that field too. When he turned twenty-one his entire world shifted. His father had met a woman, a princess of Brazil. Quinn wasn’t even sure how to act. But the dating kept up, month after month with her coming to America to see his dad often. He didn’t get to meet her daughter though, not until after his father revealed that he would be marrying the woman. They moved to Brazil and the marriage happened rather quickly. He struggled to regain connections, to maintain his life from before. His new step-mother did her best to include him, even legally naming him as a Prince of the country. However, one of his biggest problems, aside adjusting and a newfound status he’d never had before was being completely and utterly smitten with Ariella, his new step-sister. The attraction was mutual, and after months of trying to resist he finally gave in, resulting in a passionate night together. He was caught by the guard later on that night. It was late, and the guard knew what he was doing. He used his newfound source of money to pay the guard off. Ever since he’s been struggling with the moral problems of what he’s done. His step-mother offered to send him to Royal Pains so he could learn more about royalty and he accepted, desperate to get away.

✗ Secret; Quinn was caught leaving Ariella’s room one night by a guard. He’s been paying the guard’s silence ever since.

「 Faceclaim: KJ Apa. 」

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend, somewhere along in the bitterness and I would have stayed up with you all night, had I known how to save a life.❞

✗ — Name: Samuel Rivas. ✗ — Age: 26. ✗ — Kingdom: Cuba. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual.

— Personality; Samuel is a fun loving guy who likes to partying. He enjoys drinking and smoking anything that can help him forget about the past. He lives his life from day to day and doesn't really have a plan for what he wants to do with his future. Samuel can seem arrogant and full of himself. He knows he's good looking and isn't afraid to use it to his own advantage especially when it comes to the topic of women. Never one for serious relationships, Samuel finds satisfaction from meaningless flings to fill his nights. Samuel is seductively charming and always finds fun in a challenge. If he knows he can have someone, it's usually a turn off because he loves the thrill of the chase. Samuel isn't as shallow as he seems but he often closes up to keep people at a distance.

— Biography; Samuel was the second oldest Rivas sibling and since it didn't seem likely that he would ever be up for the opportunity of ruling Cuba, he took things easier than his older brother. There were three of them all together and all of the Rivas boys were extremely close. Their father was a strict man that no one wanted to cross because if you ever got on his bad side, he was often abusive. Since Samuel was always the cheeky, rebellious brother, he often had to face his fathers punishments and was seen with bruises covering his body frequently but he was good at coming up with excuses if anybody asked. Early on in his teens, Samuel grew a taste for the night life. Often he and his two brothers would go out on the night and see what trouble they could get into. Samuel liked it so much because it was one place his father never followed, too ashamed to be seen having fun. It was like a whole other life style for Samuel and he loved it. It was never taken too far, though, and the boys never got out of control. They would return home by morning and take their classes like other royals just to please their father. As they got older, the brothers bonds became stronger than ever. If one of them was in a relationship, the other two knew about it, if one of them stayed out too long the night before, the other two would cover for them. It was a very powerful bond they had and because they were so close, they often spent a lot of their free time together. Media loved them, they were all attractive and had a certain charm about them so they were constantly written about in news articles or on the TV. It seemed like everyone in Cuba wanted to know everything about the boys. It wasn't so bad at first, but people soon began to obsess over them and sometimes death threats would be sent their way. No one ever took it too serious though and the boys tries to block it out. Once day the three brothers were home alone doing what they usually would. Play video games, order pizza, talking about girls. They were having a great time just enjoying each others company but when a bang was heard from downstairs. Most of the security team had accompanied their parents to their visit, so the brothers were left unprotected. The oldest Rivas brother walked downstairs first with Samuel following behind and their youngest brother behind him. When they entered the kitchen, they noticed a man with a knife heading straight for them. The fight got out of hand quickly, the three brothers fought for their lives. Tragedy struck when the oldest brother, Hunter was stabbed. Samuel was the next target but with so much adrenaline running through his system to save his brother, Samuel fought back ten times harder and knocked the man unconscious before he could hurt him or his younger brother. Sadly it was too late for Hunter, after an ambulance arrived he was pronounced dead on the scene. His parents soon returned home and after hearing about what happened, his father placed all the blame on Samuel for not rendering the man unconscious sooner. Usually, Samuel would argue with his father, but this time he couldn't since he thought it was his fault too. He believes he should have taken the death threats seriously and had a security team around them all the time. Samuel soon became depressed because of his brothers death and to help him cope, he turned to what he knew best. Alcohol and sex. Every night he would go out and drink just to forget. Since Hunter died, it was only fitting that Samuel would be next in line for the position of the crown but since he was drinking so heavily, his parents knew he was in no fit state so they sent him to Royal Pains Estate so he could clean up his act.

✗ Secret; Since the death of his brother, Hunter, Samuel has been relying on alcohol to help him cope.

「 Faceclaim: Joe Jonas. 」

- Admin L.

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝ Rate yourself and rake yourself, and take all the courage you have left. ❞

✗ — Name: Nolan McCormick. ✗ — Age: 22. ✗ — Kingdom: Scotland. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual.

— Personality; Nolan is determined, passionate, kind hearted and loving. After the cruel example set by his father, and the more passive one set by his mother, he decided to better himself and rise above his upbringing. He strives every day to help others and to spread the kindness that he can. He is very friendly and gets along well with almost all others. He wants nothing more than to be a good King and good friend. Sometimes he can get caught up in his own head and back down from doing things.

— Biography; Nolan was raised by a single mother. She was a princess of Scotland. The other family had all the power, but she still held her title. For a long time, she was the one everyone expected to become Queen. She had all the graces, the intelligence and the love of the people. But when she was fifteen years old, she became pregnant with Nolan. Being in that phase, women who got pregnant out of wedlock were frowned upon, and the scandal just about destroy her chances of ever becoming Queen. As for his father, he was a lower level royal who just happened to be a general scum bag. He was a player, had slept around and tended not to care what he left behind, unless of course that something was rich. He had an addiction that he refused to try and fight, and ended up doing anything to feed his habit. He never hit Nolan, but he had a bad habit of sweeping in and out of his son’s life. And every time he came in, it was only because he wanted the chance to steal jewelry from Nolan’s mom and get some money for his next fix. Every time he’d come, he’d be the dad Nolan always wanted. He would do things like teach him sports and just have general fun, then he’d have a big freak out over something small and leave again. His father was like a hurricane, destroying nearly everything in his path. Watching his mother, who was still hopelessly in love with his father, and seeing how crushed she was every time he left, he knew he didn’t want to be that sort of man. He decided to take the pain and the rejection he felt from his father and let it inspire him to be a good person, to not be like his father. He wanted to be a good King if he ever gained power, so he had his mother send him to Royal Pains to learn everything he could should the day come. There, he met Blake and Benjamin, who soon became his best friends. He ended up developing a crush on a girl named Ellie, but he was too shy to approach her.

✗ Secret; Nolan has a head injury from a fall down the stairs and if he strains himself too much, he could die.

「 Faceclaim: Tyler Posey. 」

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝Smile though your heart is breaking, smile even though it’s aching.❞

✗ — Name: Evan Cavanah. ✗ — Age: 26. ✗ — Kingdom: Ecuador. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual.

— Personality; Evan is a kind, compassionate man that has time for everyone around him. He is a very bubbly person that could tell jokes for days and have people laughing in no time. He’s a true ray of sunshine and tries to see the best in everyone and everything. It is clear to most that he is very passionate about the relationships he had with people, be it friendship or family, he tries to do what’s best for everyone he surrounds himself with. Known to be pretty old fashioned with his ways, Evan his very gentlemanly and could charm just about anyone in his presence. Evan tried to look on the positive side of life even after going through a pretty traumatic event in his life because he fears if he lets sadness consume him then he’ll never feel happy again. He’s is a very sincere, honest person, he hates lying to others and find it rather uncomfortable so even if it can get him in trouble, he always tells people the truth. Unlike his brother, Evan is gentle and caring. Kindness radiates from his being and he’ll socialise with pretty much anybody he comes into contact with. He’s a good man with strong morals, he always tries his hardest to put a positive spin on things but his optimism can be too much for some people so when he’s around people with negative views, he tries his hardest to tone it down. It’s known that Evan is very open about things, he doesn’t like to keep his emotions locked away because he knows it unhealthy but sometimes he doesn’t know how to deal with them very well and that scares him. Evan pretty much goes with the flow, he doesn’t like the plan ahead because he knows how quickly things can change so he tends to just let the world guide him and hopes it takes him to where he’s needed.

— Biography; Never having known who his father was, Evan grew up without a strong male father figure in his life. His grandfather passed when he was two and his mother never had a boyfriend so Evan was forced to deal with male issues on his own. Not that he minded, his mother was loving and honest, she cared a great deal for Evan and would do anything he asked to ensure that he was a happy child which he mainly was. Sometimes he was a little lonely due to not having any siblings but his mother allowed him to go to a normal school so he could make friends there and he did. Evan was a popular child and that continued on to his adult life. The people of Ecuador loved the prince because he had good values and he was always kind and polite to anyone he came into contact with so everyone thought the world for him and he worked hard to maintain his reputation. Evan adapted to being a royal fairly easily, he did well with his royal lessons and because he was motivated to make his country a better place to live, he had the people on his side which was something he was always greatly appreciative of and he always went out of his way to show people that. Evan was popular with the girls but he wasn’t one o take advantage, he had a few girlfriends but nothing too serious until he met a girl called Elizabeth who worked at a charity Evan sponsored. The two clicked immediately and were fast friends but it was obvious to people around them that they both wanted me. It was actually Evan’s mother who set the two of them up on a date and although he was embarrassed that his mother had asked her out for him, from that day forward the pair never looked back. They were constantly by each other’s side and they were known to be the perfect couple. They were together for years and Aidan really saw himself growing old with her. They were destined to be together in his mind, there wasn’t anyone more perfect and eventually, he proposed to her. Things were going great until tabloids and new articles started reporting that Evan had been spotted with a string of other girls and with photographic evidence, it was hard to deny. Even didn’t understand it, he had never done anything of the sort, he would have never risked his relationship with Elizabeth but she didn’t believe him when he told her it was lies, after all, it was definitely him in the photos, or so she thought. Elizabeth drove away from their shared home that night in tears as heavy rain fell from the sky. The next morning, Evan was woken up to a phone call telling him that Elizabeth had gotten into a car crash and passed away. He was heartbroken and still confused over the photos but he tried to keep positive for the people of Ecuador. A few months later, he realised what had happened when a man who looked identical to Evan was introduced to him as his twin, Aidan. Evan had never felt so betrayed in his life, both by his mother and Aidan. He has been lied to his whole life and he had a twin that had been sleeping around with half of Ecuador. From that moment on Evan blames his twin for Elizabeth’s death and to this day, he can honestly say he is the one person he truly resents. Evan hasn’t really been dealing with his grief for his lost love well so his mother suggested it was time for him to go to royal pains estate so he could get over his fiancé in a healthy manner rather than live in denial about it.

Secret: Evan blames Aidan for his fiancé's death.

「 Faceclaim: Colin O’Donoghue. 」

_ Admin L.

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝It’s a good excuse to be a bad influence on you.❞

✗ — Name: Aidan Stanley. ✗ — Age: 26. ✗ — Kingdom: Ecuador. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual.

— Personality; Aidan has always had an element of charm about him that always makes people believe it is safe to be around him, he is a natural flirt and although he is straight, he will flirt with men if he thinks it’ll get him what he wants. He’s always been fairly good at coming up with little, sarcastic comments and one-liners that will add humour to most situations and cause people around him to laugh and he’s always liked that about himself. He can be mean and rude to people though if he doesn’t like them, he isn’t one to hold his tongue, if he has something negative to say to someone then he will say it without fear of consequence. After all, most of his life he had been around criminals who never cared about anyone else’s feelings and that definitely rubbed off on him as he grew up. Aidan has a reputation of being ruthless to the people that cross him because he doesn’t like people to think that they can just take advantage of him so he makes an example out of the people that try. He can kind to some people but only the ones he respects, usually the ones that except his dark nature and don’t try to change him because he is perfectly content with who he is and he won’t change to please people. If challenged, he is never one to back down from a fight. Aidan likes to party as much as the next man, rum is his drink of choice and if he’s ever going to an event or something of a similar nature, he usually carries a flask of it around with him. Aidan isn’t totally selfish, some people he will allow to get close to him but that’s a very limited number and it’s hard for him to let people in because he’s spent most of his life closed off to everyone around him. Though isn’t completely horrible to be around, you’ll find that Aidan can be pretty vindictive and manipulative to the people around him, he does often put himself first and if he wants something, he’ll do anything in his power to ensure he gets it. Aidan is a mischievous person that often lands himself into trouble because his curiosity always gets the best of him.

— Biography; Unlike his twin, Aidan grew up knowing exactly what had happened between his parents. His mother was a princess of Ecuador and she met his father when she was eighteen, the pair hand a short romance that soon ended when she found out his father had ties to the Russian mafia. However, fate didn’t seem to be on their side when the princess discovered she was pregnant. She told the father that she would raise the child on her own but he wanted to be there for his child too, this argument continued for a while before they discovered that she was having twins. They came up with an arrangement that they would have one child each to raise as their own and they would never speak of their relationship again. Aidan lived with his father but his father didn’t keep their deal a secret, as soon as Aidan was old enough, his father told him everything and Aidan respected him because of it. He didn’t care too much that he was royal, he had a close relationship with his father and that was all he really cared for. Aidan went to a boarding school in England while his dad was off doing work, so Aidan picked up an English accent rather than his mothers Irish one or his father’s Russian one. Aidan did fairly well in school, he was intelligent but he was a problem child who found great pleasure in distributing all the other students but nonetheless, he passed all his exams and left with top grades. When he was in his later teens he discovered what his father did for a living, he was tied in with the Russian mafia which meant that Aidan would sometimes help too. At first, it was nothing major, just some small drug deals but the older he got, the more involved he became. By the age of twenty-one, Aidan had to hide bodies for the mafia bosses after they had killed someone. He knew it was wrong and he didn’t enjoy it but he did it anyway because he knew what happened to people that spoke up and he would rather hide the bodies than be a body to hide. All the while, his twin seemed to be doing pretty well in Ecuador so when he had the chance, Aidan would visit Ecuador and cause some mischief that would get his brother into trouble because everyone thought that he was Evan. News outlets would report that Evan had been seen in obscene circumstances. Aiden would be photographed leaving clubs and bars with different women hanging off his arm, he would be terribly drunk and usually singing really loud. Luckily for Aiden, he could fake an Ecuador accent so no one ever questioned if he was Evan or not. It was a lot of fun for him and helped him escape the horror of the mafia life he was born into. Things seemed to take a turn of Aiden when the mafia bosses told him that he would have to kill someone who owed them money. His father was fully against this idea, his son was dark enough, Aiden was ruthless to the people that crossed him but he had never murdered anyone, sure, he had gotten into fights and injured people but never killed them. His father didn’t want to turn fully dark and lose who he was so he stood up to the bosses and told them that his son wasn’t going to be involved in anything like that. They gave his father a choice, either Aiden could kill the man that owed them millions or he could have his freedom and his father would die. Aiden was forced to watch as the man shot his father and he had never realised what heartbreak was until that moment. He has rushed away from the scene and never even got to say a proper goodbye to his father. With nothing to do and nowhere to go, Aiden did the only thing he could think of and travelled back to Ecuador where he went to the kingdom and demanded to see his mother. The meeting involved a lot of her apologising for abandoning him but Aidan was so numb from watching his father die that he didn’t care to listen to her pathetic excuses, he would never forgive her. Either way, he was introduced to his twin but the pair didn’t really get along. Ecuador soon found out that there was another prince and although he’s now part of the royal family, Aidan refuses to change his last name from his father’s. He likes having a piece of him with him wherever he goes. Due to Aiden’s lack of knowledge about how royals are supposed to act and what their responsibilities are, his mother thought it would be best if he was sent to the royal pains estate to get a better understanding of the life he was denied for so long.

Secret: Aidan was linked with the Russian mafia due to his dad’s involvement with them.

「 Faceclaim: Colin O’Donoghue. 」

_ Admin L.

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝I forget about the consequence, for a minute there I lose my senses.❞

✗ — Name: David Anuwat. ✗ — Age: 25. ✗ — Kingdom: Thailand. ✗ — Sexuality: Homosexual.

— Personality; Usually David is an upbeat happy person who will talk to anyone and everyone he’s around. He can be a real wild card as he often does things that push him out of his comfort zone because it makes him feel like he’s achieving something people always told him he couldn’t do. David always has a sarcastic comment up his sleeve so his friends find him extremely humorous. He’s typically a happy person but he gossips a lot, he’s a good friend but he can never keep his mouth closed when he finds out juicy gossip. He can’t help himself, it just always ends up spilling from his lip which often tests his friendships. The people he is close to, David really cherishes and cares deeply for them. He knows what it’s like to be at a low point in life so he always wants the best for the people around him and often goes out of his way to try and help people achieve the thing that makes them happy. His bubbly nature draws people to him, he’s usually always seen with a smile on his face, though the good doesn’t come without the bad. When he stops taking his medication, David can have a complete switch in personality and become withdrawn from the things around him and he’ll seem to be uninterested in things he usually loves and his motivation will be at an all-time low. It’s almost like a zombie is living in his body, he eats and drinks because he has to do it to fiction and survive but he doesn’t do it because he wants to. When he is off his medication, people usually have to sit down with and remind him to do it because he tends to let himself wither away and doesn’t bother with important key tasks in everyday life. Luckily, this doesn’t happen when he is on his medication when he is on it, he’s an upbeat, spontaneous person that will pretty much be up for anything.

— Biography; David grew up in a loving, unproblematic home where he was the only child which meant his parents spent as much time with their son as they could. Being royal, they were always busy but they would never leave David with nannies, they hated the idea of letting someone else practically raise their child so they would bring him with them wherever they went. He truly was adored and that was something that made David confident as a child, he grew up with very little insecurities and knew that it was thanks to his parents because they always treated David as an equal despite him being their child. Sure, they would tell him off if he was taught and they’d talk to him if his grades were slipping but overall, they were the best parents he could ask for and he was an ideal version of what a son should be. He always did what his parents ask, he was a well-behaved child who did extremely well with his studies, both royal and normal and his parents were incredibly proud. David was a very social child and had plenty of friends but when he was fourteen, his mental state began to deteriorate. He began to get very withdrawn from things and wasn’t motivated to do anything, he stopped eating unless his parents sat down and made him and then a couple of months later he started to hear voices telling him to harm himself. His parents didn’t understand what was happening, he barely went out with friends anymore and stayed locked away. They were worried about their son and that worry only increased when they heard him talking to himself and one day they saw that his wrist was bleeding. That drew the line, they refused to see their son suffer so the decision to seek out help. The strange behaviour lasted only a short while before his parents made him go to a doctor that was a professional in the mental health department and that was when David was analysed and after speaking with him, he was quickly diagnosed with having schizophrenia and he has prescribed a medication to help him stop hearing the voices. When his parents brought him back home and he started to take the medication, he drastically improved and started to become his normal self again. His parents decided to keep his disorder from the public because they didn’t want to add any more stress to their son when he was showing clear signs of improvement. For years, David was taking the medication and functioning like he used to, he was happy and carefree, he had plenty of friends and finally felt as though he was free. Recently though, he had been having an inward struggle with the medication, he thought he was well enough to stop taking them so he did but didn’t tell anyone he had stopped. Instead, he would hide the pills and act like everything was fine but it didn’t take long until the cracks began to show. His parents once again noticed he was becoming withdrawn and wouldn’t really speak to them. They feared the worst and booked a doctors appointment immediately but the day before he was supposed to see someone, his mother found him fully submerged in the bathtub with all his clothes on. He was immediately rushed to the hospital and revived but when he woke the only explanation he had was that the voices told him to do it but David wasn’t scared. In fact, he continued to refused to take the medication believing he was fine until one doctor talked some sense into him by telling him that if he continues, he might hurt someone other than himself and that was the wake-up call he needed. He started to take the medication again and slowly he has started to become himself again but his parents believe it to be in David’s best interest to take a break from the royal duties, believing it would only cause him more stress he didn’t need so they decided to send him to Royal Pains estate where many of their royal friends have sent their children in hopes of David realising how important and valuable he is to the world.

Secret: David suffers from a schizophrenic disorder which caused him to almost kill himself.

「 Faceclaim: Casey Cott. 」

_ Admin L.

» ; ♛ ❮OPEN❯

Character quote: ❝It’s not the human walk, it’s the human race, if you ain’t living on the edge you’re taking too much space.❞

✗ — Name: Gerard Chandler. ✗ — Age: 22. ✗ — Kingdom: Andorra. ✗ — Sexuality: Heterosexual.

— Personality; Gerard knows from first-hand experience how precious life is and how easy it can end so he tries to do as much as he possibly can to ensure that he has lived a full, happy life. He’s fairly reckless with this though and often pulls dangerous stunts. He’s fairly easy to get along with so long as your fun to be around, Gerard finds that people with no drive tend to bore him and he just can’t find it in himself to want to hold a conversation with them. He’s fun to be around but his eccentric nature sometimes scares the people around him because they never know what to expect from the prince but he is always kind, he would never force someone into joining in on his crazy acts, he’s far too polite for that but he doesn’t like to do them alone. When he’s not doing something life-threatening, he’s a pretty calm guy that enjoys a good party and if he’s not going to one, he’s often the one throwing it. He’s always been fairly rebellious and does things that he wants rather than waiting to get permission. Gerard easily gains friends but he’s never sure if they want to be his friend for real if because he’s royal so he keeps himself pretty guarded because he’s been let down a lot. Although he’s been through a lot, Gerard is rarely seen without a smile on his face, he always seems to be in a good mood. Even if he’s upset, he tends to fake a happy emotion so that people don’t question it. He was affected by the plane crash more than he’s willing to admit so he keeps quiet about it, he’s never actually spoken about the traumatic experience to anyone and he doesn’t plan on it either but the even is heavy on his shoulders and he feels like he might crack under the slightest amount of pressure. Still, he keeps it to himself in hopes that one day it won’t plague his life so much.

— Biography; Growing up was pretty simple for Gerard, though he was royal, he lived in a small country so he didn’t have as much pressure resting on him as other royals from bigger countries had. His parents allowed him to do whatever made him happy so long as he carried on with his studies which is something Gerard happily agreed to. He knew he was lucky that his parents trusted him so much so he was always sensible and didn’t do anything dangerous because he knew they wouldn’t approve of it and he wanted to stay in their good graces. His family wasn’t the closes and it wasn’t because of a lack of love, it was simply because his parents were always so busy they would have to leave Gerard behind a lot to focus on other things and that was one of the disadvantages of being a royal, it was rare to get a lot of family time and when you did, it was limited. Gerard knew this so he never truly held a grudge against his parents because he knew they were trying their best provide a stable life for the prince, it wasn’t their fault they were royal. Though this did mean he was a pretty lonely child, sure, he had nannies to take care of him but it wasn’t the same as being around his family or friends so when he was ten, Gerard started to sneak out and meet up with other children which is when Gerard realised how much of a people person he was, he managed to gain friends quickly but soon realised that most people only wanted to be his friend because he was royal. This was something he had to take with him growing up, he never knew who he could trust so he became very guarded though he still spoke to people, he would just manipulate the situation to get things he wanted. Gerard’s life was a series of similar events day in day out until it wasn’t anymore and one day changed his life forever. At twenty, Gerard was invited to England to go to some gala event thrown of a charity and he happily agreed to go, he and a few of his staff set out and to get there, they had to go on a plane. He had been on one a million times before so he had no issue but he regretted agreeing going an hour into the flight. The plane experienced terrible turbulence and before he knew what was going on, the plane was going down and there was nothing he, nor anyone else, could do about it. Gerard thought he was going to die and when the plane made contact with the floor, he thought he had. By some miracle, he survived and so did one of his staff but everyone else aboard died and that changed Gerard’s life forever. A few days later, a search party found the prince as he was noted as missing and Gerard soon realised just how quickly life can get taken from you. It was reported all over the news that Gerard was found safe and alive but he never once spoke to a single person about it, not even his parents. He soon realised that he had been taking his life for granted for years, never doing things that would excite him so he decided from that moment on, he would live life to the max. He would go to different parties all the time and gained a love for the night scene, he would do bungee jumps and climb the tallest mountains in the world, at first his parents didn’t see any harm in it until he started to do things that were becoming more and more dangerous because it was the only way he could get the adrenaline rush he wanted. His parents particularly started to worry about him when he and a group of friends started to free climb up thing. Climbing up tall buildings with no equipment gave Gerard the adrenaline rush he desired, even when one of his friends fell to his death, Gerard continued to do it. The crazier his tasks were becoming, the more scared his parents were so eventually they told him that for his own safety, they were going to have to send Gerard to royal pains estate.

Secret: Gerard was involved in a plane crash where all but two people including him survived, though he’s clearly struggling to deal with it, he refuses to talk about it.

「 Faceclaim: Shawn Mendes. 」

_ Admin L.

[theshatteredrose]

This Can’t Be Normal… (Guardian Chronicles) - Etrian Odyssey Untold 2 Fanfiction

Summary: Flavio had just wanted to ask Lynus how scared he should be about Chloe making friends with the Pinkettes. He was not expecting to be crash-tackled and forced to hide in a bathroom with a skittish gunner and a survivalist he didn't even know...

AN: This turned out a bit longer than anticipated. Don’t take this too seriously ^^ I just felt the need to write something light-hearted and fun, so I hope you enjoy reading~

~*~*~*~*~

Flavio ascended the stone stairs to the second floor of the inn. He knew that Lynus’ room was located a few doors down from the stairs, and he wanted to ask the medic a few quick questions about…a certain group of pink-haired girls.

As a survivalist, he felt it was important to get a handle on what he should expect to deal with. It probably won’t help with the humiliation factor, but he should at least have some kind of idea what to expect, right? And maybe he could get some tips on how to avoid them?

The sound of pounding feet, akin to someone running or in a desperate hurry, pulled Flavio from his musings and caused him to lift his head up to look in front of him. A blur of someone wearing a forest green coat skidded around the corner, somehow managing to stay upright despite their speed and sudden change of direction, and immediately returned to a sprint.

They made eye contact and Flavio vaguely recognised him as the Guardians’ gunner, Macerio, before Macerio suddenly skidded to a stop next to him and…

Flavio felt the wind knocked out of him when Macerio literally crash-tackled him around the waist. His back hit something behind him, a partially open door probably, with a loud thud and he landed on the floor with an equally loud crash. He uttered a loud ‘oof!’ when something landed on top of him.

The weight atop of him abruptly vanished and Flavio drew in a sharp breath of air as the sound of a door slamming shut rung through his ears. He stared up at the ceiling for a moment as he lay sprawled on the floor with his arms outstretched on either side of him.

Ok, first; ow! Second; what the hell?!

Flavio sat up and clutched his stomach as he stared in utter bewilderment at the brown haired gunner who was frantically engaging the lock on the door. "W-what are you-?" he wheezed.

"Shhh!" Macerio hissed at him as he pressed his back against the door and tilted to the side as if to hear whatever could be on the other side. "She's coming."

Flavio was about to ask who would be so feared that Macerio would crash-tackle him through a partially open door and into god know who's room when he heard a soft tinkling of...bells? Wait, he had heard that sound somewhere before. What was it…?

“Macerio~”

Ah, that was right. Binah. She had chased Macerio through the inn when he had first encountered the gunner. Who of which dove into his room to find shelter. Did he have the habit of ducking through any partially open door he came across in his desperate attempt to avoid the pink-haired troubadour? Ok, sure, Flavio could kinda understand his fear, especially now that Chloe seemed to have made friends with Binah, but wasn’t crashing into someone else’s room rude? Not to mention dangerous?

…Maybe that was a risk he was willing to take?

Good god, what kind of trouble was Chloe going to be dragging their guild through now?

“Macerio~ Come out, come out, wherever you are~”

That sounded more haunting and scary than he thought possible, especially coming from a young girl.

Despite being incredulous of how dangerous the situation truly was, Flavio unexpectedly found himself holding his breath in fright as well when that scarily cheery voice and tinkling of bells suddenly stopped just outside the door.

“Hmmmmmmmm,” came an ominously drawn out hum before followed by a loud, disgruntled huff. “He’s not here. Ugh, so rude! Whatever, he’s gotta come out of hiding eventually!”

Macerio winced and covered his head with his hands as he cowered, and Flavio couldn’t help but grimace in sympathy for the gunner.

“Chloe? Your guildmate is around here somewhere, right?”

Flavio felt his eyes widen as he subconsciously tensed. Chloe? She was out there, too?

“Yup, Flavio should be close by.”

Gah, she was out there, too! Wait, him? She was going after him?!

“He’ll be our next victim, then~” came a girly giggle.

Victim?! She wasn’t even attempting to hide her evil plans for him!

Flavio was torn between feeling utterly bewildered and utterly terrified as he sat numbly on the floor, listening to the sound of footsteps and tinkling bells as they faded from hearing range. Finally, he couldn’t hear a thing. Only silence.

Macerio breathed out a huge sigh of relief and slump against the door. “That was too close…” he muttered under his breath.

Now that the, ah, threat was gone, Flavio’s ribs and stomach started to ache, and he rubbed them subconsciously as he turned a pointed gaze at the gunner. “Look, I know she’s scary, but was this really necessary?”

Macerio immediately sat up straight and bristled as he pointed a finger in his direction. “You should be thanking me! They were after you, too!”

Yeah, well, his back and ribs weren’t feeling too thankful at the moment.

“Thanking you?!” Flavio shrilled and bristled at the same time. “You literally crash-tackled me into someone else’s room and probably fractured a rib or two in the process!” He then paused when he realised that, yes, they were indeed in someone else’s room.

Oh crap…

“W-whose room are we in anyway?” he asked as he subconsciously hunched his shoulders, almost afraid to look around in case he found someone standing just behind him looking utterly pissed.

“Ours,” a familiar voice unexpectedly answered.

Macerio immediately perked up at the sound of the voice and his gaze turned to look over Flavio’s shoulder. “Lynus?” he questioned before he sagged against the door in utter relief. “Axel, oh thank god.”

Flavio quickly turned to look over his shoulder as well to find his gaze locking on with that of a familiar violet-eyed medic. He had to admit that he also felt a surge of relief upon seeing Lynus smile at him with friendly amusement.

He wasn’t alone, though. Axel was there, too. Though there were two beds in the room, they were both occupying the one. Axel was sprawled out on his back atop of the bedsheets with a couple of pillows propped up behind his head. And Lynus sat on the edge of the bed, close to the bedhead and were Axel was lying. He was curled slightly towards him and it wouldn’t be hard to imagine that Lynus had been previously running his fingers through Axel’s hair.

Flavio couldn’t help but notice just how…comfortable yet intimate they looked together.

Lynus suddenly tilted his head to the side, regarding Flavio with a sense of curiosity. “You all right there, Flavio?”

“A-ah, yeah,” Flavio replied stiffly before he gave the medic an embarrassed smile and shifted to face him fully, but still sat on the floor nonetheless. “Wasn’t expecting to be tackled like that, but other than that, I’m fine.”

“That certainly was an interesting entrance,” Axel commented as he peered at them through one eye, a half smirk of pure amusement on his lips.

Macerio managed to flush and bristle at the same time. “Yeah, w-well, desperate times call for desperate measures.”

Both Lynus and Axel laughed softly, but good-heartedly nonetheless and Flavio couldn’t help but marvel at how easy-going the two were. If a guildmate tackled someone into his room before slamming the door shut in a panic, he would be asking a million questions and demanding swift answers. Something like that didn’t happen every day!

No, wait, maybe it did for the Guardians?

“You're welcome to hide out here,” Lynus said with a knowing smile before he shook his head slightly. “But please keep your voices down. Axel has a headache.”

Macerio quickly stood to his feet and pushed away from the door to walk into the centre of the room. “What happened?” he asked with genuine but subtle concern as he looked over at Axel on the bed.

Lynus smiled reassuringly as his hand sought out to play with the red strands of Axel’s hair. “Zeryn and Simmons had a bet to see who could ride a raptor the furthest.”

Flavio honestly found himself deadpanning at the explanation. Really?

Axel grunted in pure disgruntlement and a scowl appeared on his face. “I will murder those two one day, I swear it.”

“Yes, yes,” Lynus chuckled softly as he turned his full attention toward the red-haired landsknecht and began to soothingly run his fingers through his hair. “You can murder them after you've gotten some sleep and rid yourself of this headache.”

Flavio felt as though he was intruding (which, technically, he was), but he was also somewhat fascinated by the gentle but strong bond that Lynus and Axel shared. There was no nervous jittering, no awkward or shy smiles or conversations. They were so comfortable, relaxed with one another, uncaring of who or what was in the room with them.

…Could he reach that level of comfort with Fafnir…?

Flavio shook his head violently to rid himself of that train of thought and cleared his throat in a desperate attempt to prevent those feelings of frustration and disappointment from rising in his chest.

“Quick question; how screwed am I really now that Chloe has made fast friends with the Pinkettes?” Flavio asked bluntly as he looked at the two on the bed.

Lynus blinked at him before he shared a glance with Axel and then the two of them simultaneously looked at him with nothing but pity in their gazes. “...You'll be in our prayers,” Lynus said.

Flavio’s shoulders drooped in defeat. “I was afraid of that.”

A strange sound, like that of a grunt of exertion, suddenly rung through the room. They all fell silent as they glanced around, sharing confused glances. Axel suddenly sat up and abruptly pulled Lynus toward him, manoeuvring him over his lap to the other side of the bed, where he pressed him against the wall. He then slid off the bed, purposely positioning himself between Lynus and the open window.

Flavio felt a bubble of alarm in his chest, brought on by Axel’s reaction. He was about to take to his feet as well when someone hastily, and rather swiftly, scrambled in through the window from outside and practically threw themselves into the room.

Wait, weren’t they on the second floor?

“Ryker?” Axel questioned before he sighed and slumped back down onto the bed, immediately relaxing his defensive stance, and clutched at his forehead in an agitated manner. “The fuck, man?”

The man with blue hair and dressed in the garbs that were similar to that of a survivalist, scrambled across the table that was situated under the window and skittishly backed away. “Only window that was open,” he said as he clutched at his left elbow as if it was painful in some way.

Lynus sighed as he noticeable relaxed and scooted away from the wall. Instead of sitting on the edge of the bed like he had done before, he positioned himself onto his knees and leaned against Axel’s back, his arms slipping around Axel’s neck comfortably and rested his cheek on his shoulder. A small smile found its way onto Axel’s lips and he lazily tilted his head to the side to nuzzle his cheek against Lynus’ hair.

…They were really comfortable around each other, weren’t they?

“Are you hiding from Darrell again?” Lynus asked idly to the survivalist.

The survivalist (Ryker was it?) winced and tightened his grip on his elbow. “Yeah, well, you know what he’s like with me. Too damn protective for his own good. For heaven’s sake, it’s a grazed elbow. Ok, so I entered the labyrinth alone, but it was to the first floor! Christ, can’t I even do that?”

“Dude, no good hiding here,” Macerio suddenly said, cutting the man off mid rant. “Binah's circling outside like a FOE.”

“Oh course, perfect, just what I needed. Shouldn’t have gotten out of bed today,” Ryker mumbled. “Speaking of bed, if Darrell gets his hands on me, he’s likely to tie me to the bed again.”

“So didn’t need to hear that…”

Flavio was stunned into silence once more. D-did this kind of thing happen often around here? Or…just around the Guardians themselves?

“Ryker!” a voice suddenly bellowed from outside the window. “I know you’re in there somewhere!”

Ryker jumped a foot in the air before he lurched forward to hide away from the window and darted behind Flavio. “Oh shit oh shit oh shit!” he muttered aloud under his breath.

“Macerio! I will find you, I swear to god I will!”

Macerio also jumped a good foot in the air before he, too, started to panic. “Why won’t she leave me alone?” he whimpered.

“The bathroom,” Lynus unexpectedly said around a chuckle.

“Right!”

The next thing Flavio knew he was in the bathroom, crouched on the floor with his back against the door of the room with a survivalist he didn't know on the right of him and a gunner who was all but trembling in fear to the left of him.

Definitely not how he imagined his day would turn out when he got out of bed this morning.

Why was he even here?

The blue-haired survivalist next to him suddenly stuck out his hand to him, as if he wanted to introduce himself with a handshake or something. “Ryker,” he said simply.

Choosing to simply go with the flow despite the absurdity of the entire situation, Flavio shook his hand and introduced himself in turn. “Flavio.”

Ryker gave his hand a firm shake before releasing it to cradle his elbow again. “What you in for?”

Unexpectedly, Flavio felt a wry smile slip across his lips at the question. “Teammate teamed up with the Pinkettes and seems to be on a matchmaking frenzy.”

“Dude.” The way Ryker said that, it was filled with nothing but sympathy and empathy.

Despite just how ludicrous everything was, Flavio felt a chuckle of genuine amusement bubble up from his chest. “Yeah.”

“I'd rather deal with Darrell than those girls.”

“They've already got Hrothgar.”

“No one is safe, huh?”

A sharp knock on the door of Lynus and Axel’s room caused the three of them to plunge into a sudden silence. Flavio felt both Macerio and Ryker tense on either side of him, and he found himself briefly wondering just what he had done in life to result in him hiding in a bathroom of someone else’s room. Who did he manage to piss off to get to this point?

“Hello, Darrell,” Lynus was heard greeting after he opened the door.

“Where is he?” a gruff voice asked.

“Who?”

“You know who.”

Ryker grabbed the brim of his hat and pulled it down over his face. “That’s Darrell’s voice,” he muttered.

“I thought you said you're rather deal with Darrell?” Flavio couldn’t stop himself from asking.

“Not when I don't have to,” Ryker retorted sharply in response. “He's a decent guy normally, if know-it-all asshole, but he's dangerous when he's in doctor-healer mode.”

He must be if Ryker was desperate enough to climb in through someone’s second story bedroom window and hide in their bathroom.

“Tell that idiot that hiding is only delaying the inevitable,” the voice that must belong to Darrell said sternly. “I will not hesitate to tie him to the bed again.”

“I’ll be sure to tell him that,” Lynus said in a pacifying manner before there was the sound of the door to his room falling shut and the lock engaged.

Well, one down, right?

“How long are we expected to hide here?” Flavio asked as he looked over at the gunner to his side.

“For as long as it takes,” Macerio replied bitterly, but with a strong sense of stubbornness all the same.

Oh, joy…He better find a way out (without it resulting in pure humiliation) before Fafnir came looking for him. That would lead to a different type of embarrassment.

There was another sudden knock at the bedroom door, softer this time, but they all fell into a tense silence nonetheless.

“Are they all hiding in here?” a somewhat familiar voice asked, causing Macerio to perk up and utter a sound of relief. “Binah's helping Hanna in the kitchen, Darrell has been called back to the hospital, and the one named Chloe has wandered back to the restaurant with her guild.”

Macerio abruptly jumped to his feet and threw open the door of the bathroom. And Flavio and Ryker followed, Flavio sheepishly, while Ryker still appeared skittish. Macerio immediately flung his arms around Lirit’s neck, the orange haired troubadour only partly surprised, but patted his back in a sympathetic manner as Macerio mumbled into his shoulder.

“Best make your escapes while you can,” Axel said idly as he flopped himself back down onto his bed.

That sounded like a good idea.

Though, he…was reluctant to tell Fafnir and the others what had transpired here. He certainly wasn’t going to tell Chloe.

Instead of approaching the door like the rest of them, Ryker chose the window. “Good luck, boys,” he said as he gave them a quick salute before he clambered through window and disappeared from view.

…What’s the deal with explorers and windows around here?

As Lirit guided a still skittish Macerio out of the room with an arm around his waist, Lynus turned his attention to Flavio and gave him a soft, but somewhat amused smile.

“Like for me to escort you back to your room?” he unexpectedly asked.

For a moment, Flavio felt indignant. It was bad enough that he had been crash-tackled into Lynus’ room without warning and then forced to hide in his bathroom, but asking the kind medic to actually be his bodyguard to protect him from a small group of pink-haired girls was beyond humiliating. He was a trained survivalist, for heaven’s sake. An explorer and a member of the Midgard Library. He could handle himself. No need to drag Lynus into it.

However...

“J-just for insurance, yeah?”

[themyskira]

Some disordered (spoilery) thoughts on the movie

Some things that I liked

Kid Diana racing through the streets, lighting up with excitement as she watches the warriors train. The not-at-all-innocent “hello, Mother” when Hippolyta catches her out (literally).

An active, bustling Amazon society. Amazons going about their days. Amazons sparring together, Amazons taking pleasure in one another’s company.

Diana’s compassion. Her instant willingness to risk her own life in the face of others’ suffering. 

“I am willing to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. Like you once did.” “You know that if you choose to leave us, you can never return.” “Who will I be if I stay?”

Hippolyta’s love and grief and pride. The parting gift of Antiope’s headband -- the iconic tiara.

Diana’s palpable delight in the little things -- The sight of a baby. Snow. Dancing. Celebrating townsfolk. The taste of ice cream.

(The ice cream moment, by the way -- so, so, so much better than the comic book scene it’s derived from, which was actually awful.)

Her refusal to walk past injustices or to sacrifice individuals for the greater good. Steve, the military intelligence man, forces himself to ignore the suffering civilians and focus on the mission, which will ultimately prevent greater suffering. Diana can’t accept that, won’t accept that. No other relief is coming for these people. She steps out into No Man’s Land.

Facing Ares at the last with that simple, powerful conviction: for all the darkness in human hearts, there is also the capacity for great love, and she’ll fight for that every day if she has to.

The use of the BvS quote in the trailer is thoroughly misleading: this isn’t the story of why Diana walked away from mankind. It’s the story of why she continues to fight for humanity, believing in people’s ability to rise above their darker impulses.

Some things that I did not like

DIANA IS A RASH, NAIVE IDIOT.

And yes, this is a young Diana, an untested Diana on her first journey into Man’s World. I realise that. I expect her to screw up, to misjudge things and have her preconceptions challenge. I expect there to be a learning curve.

Even allowing for that, the Diana in this movie is a complete dickhead.

She’s an adult who still believes in fairy tales. She thinks that humans are completely good and pure, and only the corruption of outside forces causes them to do bad things.

Over the course of the movie, she is continually confronted with situations that challenge this view. She meets good people who have done bad things -- people who don’t always have the luxury of standing up for principles, and people who’ve made terrible choices for right reasons. She witnesses and learns of corruption, discrimination and dispossession. Again and again and again.

And she learns nothing from any of this.

Because when she thinks she’s killed Ares (and oh, I’ll get to that bit of stupid), she is shocked -- shocked -- that people don’t immediately lay down their weapons.

And when Steve floats the possibility that maybe, maybe war is just a little more complicated that “the devil made them do it”, she can't fucking deal with it and decides “FUCK Y’ALL, YOU DON’T DESERVE MY HELP. NEVER MIND THE INNOCENT BYSTANDERS I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT BEFORE, THEY CAN ALL FUCKING BURN. IF HUMANS AREN’T PERFECT CREATURES OF VIRTUE THEN THEY DON’T DESERVE TO LIVE.”

but no I don’t think I’ve adequately explained what an absolute boneheaded twit this woman is.

Her naivety goes beyond the usual fish-out-of-water hijinks. She has no awareness of the people around her. She cannot make intuitive leaps. She doesn’t take on board what she’s told. She has no interest in planning or considering the consequences of her actions, which means that Steve’s constantly trailing one step behind her lecturing her about how she can’t do whatever it is she's about to do.

“OH NO I DON’T NEED A PLAN I’LL JUST RUN INTO THE PARTY AND MURDER A DUDE AND THEN THE WAR WILL MAGICALLY END I SEE NO REASON TO TALK ABOUT THIS FURTHER THERE IS NOTHING THAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG IN THIS EQUATION”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE NEED TO THINK THIS THROUGH. WHY WOULD WE SECURE THE POISON MURDERGAS AND PREVENT IT FROM BEING DEPLOYED AGAINST ANYBODY WHEN WE COULD KILL A GUY ON A HUNCH I HAD INSTEAD. GOD STEVEN IT’S LIKE YOU’RE TRYING TO STOP ME FROM ENDING THE WAR”

She comes to the conclusion that General Ludendusseldorfendorf is Ares in disguise based solely on the fact that he is he one spearheading the German murdergas project, and obviously humans are not capable of doing evil things on their own, and it’s not like there are hundreds of other people involved in the production of these weapons or at least there are but she doesn’t know any of their names so she can probably pre-emptively rule them out and just go murder Ludenhoodendooden.

Sure, it helps that Ludenhorfledorf is an absurd cartoon villain of the sort who is prone to cackling maniacally and shooting his own men at random. Who, when Diana finally comes face-to-face with him, spends most of the conversation talking about the massive hard-on he has for war and slaughter and Ares specifically. But you kinda want to be sure before you jump to the dramatic speechifying and righteous murdering.

Gary Oldman Ares is awful. Everything about the gods is awful. Ares murdering all the gods. Zeus as a loving, self-sacrificing, pseudo-Christian god. Zeus replacing the role of the goddesses in the Amazons’ story. Ares describing himself as the god of truth URGH. The utter bullshit of Ares’ “boooooo humans are assholes, I want them all to die so much so that the world can be decent again” urgh fuck off mate you are such a disappointing villain.

And could anybody else figure out the logic in his ranting? because fuck knows it’s still eluding me. “oooooohhh I have so much faith in humans’ ability to fuck themselves and everybody else over that I’m actually helping to negotiate Armistice! I’m literally doing everything I can to stop the war because I know that in the end it will have no effect and humans will bomb each other into oblivion! and I won’t have had anything to do with their destruction! Sure, I very deliberately put the tools for mass slaughter in the hands of the select few people in this war who had both the desire and the power to use them, thus giving them the ability to overpower the majority who had turned their efforts to peace, and to escalate the conflict against the wishes of their leaders! But really it’s humanity as a whole that is the asshole here!”

Dr Poison is more plot device than character. She has no backstory, no arc and no personality. She’s a generic evil minion whose only pleasure in life comes from devising new ways to murder people with chemicals. She is wasted.

If Etta Candy were a rose by any other name, I might have liked her. I like Lucy Davis as an actress, and though I found the character a bit... overly quirky-loveable-British-comic-relief-girl... it was nice for Diana to have a potential female friend in what was (outside of Themyscira) a very male-dominated cast, and it would have been nice for them to interact more.

My sticking point with the character is that she was supposed to be Etta Candy. Who will always be, in my head, a fierce, fabulous, fearless, ass-kicking Texan lady. Quirky British “we use our principles, although I am not averse to engaging in fisticuffs should the occasion arise” haha jolly good... ain’t gonna cut it for me. Though I acknowledge that this is getting into nitpicking.

Steve annoyed the shit out of me. He is both the brains and the heart of the movie. He is the one who ultimately teaches Diana to love humanity, to fight for them, to be a hero. Diana wants to help end the war, but Steve’s words are what spur her to defy her mother’s forbiddance. She throws herself into the fight against Ares, but Steve’s sacrifice and the love and dedication behind it are what empower her to defeat him. She wants to help from the start, but it’s Steve who teaches her not to fight for people because they “deserve” it, but because it’s the right thing to do. It’s Steve who teaches Diana true compassion.

Throughout the film, Steve is the one trailing after Diana trying in vain to make her see reason. He’s the one making the plans to actually stop Ludendude from committing chemical genocide while Diana is crashing from scene to scene all “OKAY I WILL GO END THE WAR NOW. WHICH WAY IS THE WAR AGAIN?”

Steve is smarter, more understanding, more competent and more compassionate than Diana.

Also, after Diana sees Steve naked he spends the next two or three scenes anxiously assuring her that his dick is, in fact, larger than average.

(Diana knows about sex because she’s read all the books, urgh)

The sword is a misdirect: the weapon Zeus left the Amazons to counter Ares is Diana herself. Kind of cool as a general concept, except that this effectively replaces Diana’s “brought into being by a mother’s love” origin with one in which she is a weapon bequeathed by the Supreme Patriarch. Also, the foreshadowing of this was the exact opposite of subtle, taking some of the power out of the eventual revelation.

This origin also means that Diana is the only child on Themyscira, which adds to this whole... woman-child thing about her that I really don’t like. Because the movie requires her to go from “why are those people holding hands? because they’re together? well, you and I are together, why shouldn’t we hold hands? what do you mean it’s not the same? of course I know about sex I have read lots of books about human biology” to fucking (and, the implication is, losing her virginity to) Steve and... euuugh.

also 140 minutes is a fucking slog, man.

idk there is probably more to say but I feel like I’ve stopped being coherent.