Richard (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
traumaticus) wrote2024-04-28 11:30 pm
traumaticus) wrote2024-04-28 11:30 pm
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Player: jenni
Contact: pm & lamarqiaa @ discord
Age: 32
Current Characters: Goro Akechi, Juri Arisugawa
Character Name: Richard Plantagenet
Character Canon: Requiem of the Rose King
Canon Point: vol. 13 -> Right before his coronation!!
Age: 30-ish.
Crime: Existing.
This is, in fact, what Richard believes is his most grave offenses and crime against the world. It's heavily tied into his own self-loath, which in return is influenced by his traumatic childhood and abuse at the hands of his mother, who would shun him. It is that hatred towards himself that causes Richard to look for light and acceptance from other sources, such as his father and Henry. But when those both fail him Richard turns his gaze at the ultimate symbol of power and acceptance: the crown. This is what drives him to do all the cruelties and commit crimes. (That and.. he is just lil' bloodthirsty and unhinged by nature but, you know).
Background: So. There is no adequate wiki link for this. I'm going to try be as brief as I can because holy shit there is a lot. Requiem of the Rose King is based on Shakespeare's History Plays, focusing mostly on Henry VI and Richard III, but it does cover the majority of the events around civil war known as The War of Roses where Yorks and Lancasters fought over the crown of England.
While being imprisoned with his mother and older brother George by Lancasters Richard managed to sneak out the castle through a small hole and found himself from the nearby woods. There he met a strange shepherd named Henry who took liking to Richard right away and wanted to be his friend. This kind of open acceptance and affection made Richard recoil in confusion (and have very warm feelings). He would keep running to Henry in the most unexpected places when he was the most vulnerable. He eventually even realized that he had fallen in love with the man and was ready to throw everything aside and live with Henry in the woods as shepherd once the fighting between York and Lancaster was settled.
BUT TL;DR. York was eventually victorious, managing to defeat Lancaster army (the royal family fled from the country) and crown Richard's oldest brother Edward as King. Unfortunately, this peace did not last long as Edward fell in love with a lowly noblewoman, Elizabeth Woodville, who's dead husband had been Lancaster supporter. Unbeknownst to all, Elizabeth's husband had been Richard's first kill when he was fleeing away from Lancaster camp. And heartbroken Elizabeth was now on mission to get revenge on York family. Edward and Elizabeth married in secret, causing a lot of drama and conflict within the court. Especially Warwick, king's secondhand man and Kingmaker, took this very personally as Edward had previously promised to marry French princess. The situation eventually went over the boiling point and a new civil war started. Warwick gathered his troops, manipulated George (the middle child of York royal family) to join him to overthrown Edward. They joined forces with Lancasters and now we are kinda back in the starting point: lots of battles, victories for both parties, Richard accidentally goes on a date with a Lancaster prince while being undercover etcetc.
I should mention that before the 2nd battle with Lancasters Richard had met Anne Neville, Warwick's oldest daughter. Two of them had become quite close and fallen for each other. Warwick saw this bond and wanted to use it to his advantage, encouraging his daughter to seduce Richard further and marry him so that he could have his support in a war against King Edward. Not wanting to hurt Richard Anne rejected this plan and very loudly stated that she'd never marry Richard. He, of course, heard this through the door. Heartbroken he pushed Anne away and made a decision that he'd never let anyone to play with his feelings. So. Rip? After failing with Richard, Warwick married Anne to Henry VI's son (who's name was also Edward btw).
When the final battle approached George had a change of heart and joined forces with his brother to defeat Lancaster army once again. York, indeed, proved to be victorious eliminating the Lancaster prince and capturing Henry VI.. And it was this time when Richard finally learned the true identity of the man who he had fallen in love with. The shepherd Henry was actually the enemy king, who Richard had sworn to kill to avenge his father. King Edward even gave Richard a mission to kill Henry in secret to ensure his claim on the throne. This.. understandably threw Richard into emotional turmoil. Hating Henry for being who he is. And hating himself for having the feelings that he did for the man.
On the night when he was supposed to kill Henry Richard went to him and revealed his body to him and begged the other man to love him. Henry, who was very devout Christian did not react to this well. Not because he didn't have feelings for Richard but because his religious guilt (along with prior sexual trauma) made him unable to handle these feelings. He violently rejected Richard and triggered his trauma in return which led Richard to stab Henry. It was a messy night, ok.
As a reward for his loyalty King Edward arranged a marriage between Richard and Anne Neville, who's husband Richard had killed during the war. With their previous love for each other now dead and turned sour, their marriage proved out to be cold and distant. Richard refused to fulfill his duties as a husband and never visited Anne during the nights. But hey, luckily she was pregnant with her previous husband's child! Which Richard immediately claimed as his own to misdirect any suspicions to his own person.
Aaaaand that is the first act. Now we get a time-skip!
The years passed and England was in relatively peaceful era. Edward, however, became depressed with his life as a king and started to look escapism through pleasure. He took woman called Jane as his lover and hosted all kinds of drug induced bacchanals in his court. Seeing his brother's resolve sway made Richard doubt Edward's suitability to be a king. These doubts were fueled by Duke Buckingham, a man who kept hyping Richard up as potential future king.
The drama among the royal family began to stir even further as Edward and George (who had become full-blown alcoholic by now) kept becoming more hostile towards each other. The latter was even accused of trying to kill the King via witchcraft and curses (Jane the witch was involved in everything here.. but if I went to explain her story in further detail we'd be here forever). Seeing that George had become unstable and danger to his family Richard arrested his older brother and later, with Buckingham's help, orchestrated his assassination -- all while placing the blame for it all on Woodville's, Elizabeth's family.
Buckingham had started to hear rumors about Richard having a body of a demon. He decided to investigate and eventually managed to forcefully disrobe him. But unlike Henry, Buckingham did not recoil upon seeing Richard's "sinful" body. Instead he embraced Richard and finally managed to get the wanted confession out of him. That Richard yearned for the crown. After this messy night, Buckingham and Richard became lovers and started to plot how to remove all the obstacles between Richard and the throne.
AND THAT'S IT! Are you still with me? Good? Good. Ngl, there's so many events and lot of political drama going on here that writing it all down would take forever.
Personality:
That night, a fearsome storm toppled all of the trees. The owls hooted, crows cried out to announce the age of misfortune. Mother experienced an unusual birthing pain. And what was born? A bloodstained demon, an existence that violates God's will! In the end, the great many elderly who lost their children, the great many widows and great many orphans will all grieve the unnatural death that you will bring about. The people will ask: "Why was he born?"
For his whole life Richard is haunted by the prophecy he had given at the birth and by the visions of the dark woods of his childhood. He's learned to stay quiet, expect nothing and receive nothing - only do right by his family and York. It's all rooted in his isolated childhood, where his mother would downright refuse him. There was no kind words, loving looks or warm touches from her, as each time Richard sought connection as a child he would be violently shunned and called a demon. As for his father? Richard describes his father as the 'light' that shone on to darkness of his life, saving him from the despair that is his own existence. So once that light was robbed from him Richard succumbed to the belief that he, due to his "demon body", is absolutely unlovable -- and that if people were to find out his secret he would shunned and rejected by the world. Look, his mother got him pretty good.
His entire identity is based on the fact that he is his father's son. His bloodline and memory are his lifelines, keeping him striving forward. It's the love for his late father that bound him with loyalty to his family rather than any feelings of affection towards his brothers. It's this loyalty that makes his blood boil with hatred towards the Lancasters and seek vengeance. He views world through black and white lenses. You are either ally or enemy, no inbetweens.
So, instead of pursuing relationships he found comfort in dedicating his life to the sword. As in the heat of the battle one is able to cast down their bodily selves and become one with the blade. And in the battlefield he is able unravel his anxieties, lash out with his anger and sadness that he carries with him.
It's really no wonder that Richard turned out to be the way he is: reserved, unstable and distrustful man. He's quiet, preferring to use his words sparely and thoughts to himself. Richard describes his role and life in English court as a performance. He attends to events and services that are required of his rank, bows down to the king and does his dirty work. He's seemingly just resigned to his position inside the marginal never truly feeling sense of belonging. And it's because of this he feels no connection to those around him, explaining why he acted so indifferently when his brothers died one by one.
At first, it might look like he's void of any ambitions. However, that could not be further from the truth. It's just that Richard has not only shut himself off from the rest of the world but from himself as well. Because he believes that any dream he could have for himself is nothing but a crime.
But oh boy, does Richard yearn for the crown. The throne and kingdom have always been in Richard eyes, but he's denied the possibility of them from himself. After all, he is a demon. It's after Buckingham places his beliefs on him Richard becomes more confident in himself and begins to chase after his dreams. Just like he had accepted the role of dutiful brother, with Buckingham embraces the role of the devil - whispering sweet nothings to people's ears and deceive them from the path of light and righteousness to support him. Because hey, if he's a demon he might as well go ahead and have fun while doing so, right? And maybe, just maybe if he gains the crown, proof of divine power, he might be able to obtain the light. Because to Richard the crown represents everything he doesn't have. It symbols power to have whatever you desire, to have acceptance and love of others. It gives him the power to make the world to his liking, so that he could create a haven for himself where he is not shunned. If he obtains the crown, maybe he too could have a taste of the paradise. The crown is the same light that he once saw in his father and in Henry who he had loved so much. It's a lifeline that he desperately grasps on.
Richard is full of contradictions, which can be seen in his conversations with the ghosts he sees inside his mind. He closes himself off from the others, but at the same time he can't live alone. It's in the presence of those who he loves and trust Richard feels the most safe and alive. When he's on his own he is withdrawn and crumbles before his own fears.
Ok, this section is already long enough so TLDR; Richard is a walking paradox, fighting army of demons inside his mind. He's insecure and unstable yet a brilliant actor, moving through the society while playing different roles that is most benefit to him. He manipulates others and appears a cruel man but is definitely capable of kindness towards to those whom he loves and feels connection with. Richard's allowed himself to be consumed by his own self-loath, making him keep everyone at arm's length to protect himself from further hurt, despite yearning for the connection.
Abilities: you know when you look at your character and think that.. yeah, he's just a guy. Richard is skilled knight and war veteran, knowing quite lot about different tactics in warfare. He has received the education that you'd expect one from nobility during 15th Century to have. Idk that's it.
Also I'm not sure where to put this but! Richard believes himself to be haunted by the ghosts. These ghosts are, however, nothing but hallucinations and manifestations of his own fears. The most prominent figure of his visions is the ghost of Joan D'Arc, whom he views as a witch going against God's will etc. Richard has hostile and antagonizing conversations with her. The other recurring one is the ghost of his deceased father, with whom he has more fucked up moments... so yeah.
Inventory:
The clothes his wearing, a dagger and sword.
Samples:
tdm tl
silly bkst stuff
Questions: Considering the nature of this canon I will have an opt-out post for Richard.
Contact: pm & lamarqiaa @ discord
Age: 32
Current Characters: Goro Akechi, Juri Arisugawa
Character Name: Richard Plantagenet
Character Canon: Requiem of the Rose King
Canon Point: vol. 13 -> Right before his coronation!!
Age: 30-ish.
Crime: Existing.
This is, in fact, what Richard believes is his most grave offenses and crime against the world. It's heavily tied into his own self-loath, which in return is influenced by his traumatic childhood and abuse at the hands of his mother, who would shun him. It is that hatred towards himself that causes Richard to look for light and acceptance from other sources, such as his father and Henry. But when those both fail him Richard turns his gaze at the ultimate symbol of power and acceptance: the crown. This is what drives him to do all the cruelties and commit crimes. (That and.. he is just lil' bloodthirsty and unhinged by nature but, you know).
Background: So. There is no adequate wiki link for this. I'm going to try be as brief as I can because holy shit there is a lot. Requiem of the Rose King is based on Shakespeare's History Plays, focusing mostly on Henry VI and Richard III, but it does cover the majority of the events around civil war known as The War of Roses where Yorks and Lancasters fought over the crown of England.
click here for drama
Richard here is the third son born to Lord Richard, the Duke of the York and patriarch to the Plantagenet bloodline. He's born as intersex, bearing genitalia of both sexes, which made his mother shun him as a demon. The only person who showed him love and affection was his father, who was waging a war against King Henry VI from the Lancaster house. To keep this part short: lots of battles happened, both York and Lancaster had some victories and losses. Eventually Richard of the York fell in the battle and was brutally executed by the Lancaster army, his decapitated head placed on the walls as a symbol of defeat.While being imprisoned with his mother and older brother George by Lancasters Richard managed to sneak out the castle through a small hole and found himself from the nearby woods. There he met a strange shepherd named Henry who took liking to Richard right away and wanted to be his friend. This kind of open acceptance and affection made Richard recoil in confusion (and have very warm feelings). He would keep running to Henry in the most unexpected places when he was the most vulnerable. He eventually even realized that he had fallen in love with the man and was ready to throw everything aside and live with Henry in the woods as shepherd once the fighting between York and Lancaster was settled.
BUT TL;DR. York was eventually victorious, managing to defeat Lancaster army (the royal family fled from the country) and crown Richard's oldest brother Edward as King. Unfortunately, this peace did not last long as Edward fell in love with a lowly noblewoman, Elizabeth Woodville, who's dead husband had been Lancaster supporter. Unbeknownst to all, Elizabeth's husband had been Richard's first kill when he was fleeing away from Lancaster camp. And heartbroken Elizabeth was now on mission to get revenge on York family. Edward and Elizabeth married in secret, causing a lot of drama and conflict within the court. Especially Warwick, king's secondhand man and Kingmaker, took this very personally as Edward had previously promised to marry French princess. The situation eventually went over the boiling point and a new civil war started. Warwick gathered his troops, manipulated George (the middle child of York royal family) to join him to overthrown Edward. They joined forces with Lancasters and now we are kinda back in the starting point: lots of battles, victories for both parties, Richard accidentally goes on a date with a Lancaster prince while being undercover etcetc.
I should mention that before the 2nd battle with Lancasters Richard had met Anne Neville, Warwick's oldest daughter. Two of them had become quite close and fallen for each other. Warwick saw this bond and wanted to use it to his advantage, encouraging his daughter to seduce Richard further and marry him so that he could have his support in a war against King Edward. Not wanting to hurt Richard Anne rejected this plan and very loudly stated that she'd never marry Richard. He, of course, heard this through the door. Heartbroken he pushed Anne away and made a decision that he'd never let anyone to play with his feelings. So. Rip? After failing with Richard, Warwick married Anne to Henry VI's son (who's name was also Edward btw).
When the final battle approached George had a change of heart and joined forces with his brother to defeat Lancaster army once again. York, indeed, proved to be victorious eliminating the Lancaster prince and capturing Henry VI.. And it was this time when Richard finally learned the true identity of the man who he had fallen in love with. The shepherd Henry was actually the enemy king, who Richard had sworn to kill to avenge his father. King Edward even gave Richard a mission to kill Henry in secret to ensure his claim on the throne. This.. understandably threw Richard into emotional turmoil. Hating Henry for being who he is. And hating himself for having the feelings that he did for the man.
On the night when he was supposed to kill Henry Richard went to him and revealed his body to him and begged the other man to love him. Henry, who was very devout Christian did not react to this well. Not because he didn't have feelings for Richard but because his religious guilt (along with prior sexual trauma) made him unable to handle these feelings. He violently rejected Richard and triggered his trauma in return which led Richard to stab Henry. It was a messy night, ok.
As a reward for his loyalty King Edward arranged a marriage between Richard and Anne Neville, who's husband Richard had killed during the war. With their previous love for each other now dead and turned sour, their marriage proved out to be cold and distant. Richard refused to fulfill his duties as a husband and never visited Anne during the nights. But hey, luckily she was pregnant with her previous husband's child! Which Richard immediately claimed as his own to misdirect any suspicions to his own person.
Aaaaand that is the first act. Now we get a time-skip!
The years passed and England was in relatively peaceful era. Edward, however, became depressed with his life as a king and started to look escapism through pleasure. He took woman called Jane as his lover and hosted all kinds of drug induced bacchanals in his court. Seeing his brother's resolve sway made Richard doubt Edward's suitability to be a king. These doubts were fueled by Duke Buckingham, a man who kept hyping Richard up as potential future king.
The drama among the royal family began to stir even further as Edward and George (who had become full-blown alcoholic by now) kept becoming more hostile towards each other. The latter was even accused of trying to kill the King via witchcraft and curses (Jane the witch was involved in everything here.. but if I went to explain her story in further detail we'd be here forever). Seeing that George had become unstable and danger to his family Richard arrested his older brother and later, with Buckingham's help, orchestrated his assassination -- all while placing the blame for it all on Woodville's, Elizabeth's family.
Buckingham had started to hear rumors about Richard having a body of a demon. He decided to investigate and eventually managed to forcefully disrobe him. But unlike Henry, Buckingham did not recoil upon seeing Richard's "sinful" body. Instead he embraced Richard and finally managed to get the wanted confession out of him. That Richard yearned for the crown. After this messy night, Buckingham and Richard became lovers and started to plot how to remove all the obstacles between Richard and the throne.
AND THAT'S IT! Are you still with me? Good? Good. Ngl, there's so many events and lot of political drama going on here that writing it all down would take forever.
Personality:
That night, a fearsome storm toppled all of the trees. The owls hooted, crows cried out to announce the age of misfortune. Mother experienced an unusual birthing pain. And what was born? A bloodstained demon, an existence that violates God's will! In the end, the great many elderly who lost their children, the great many widows and great many orphans will all grieve the unnatural death that you will bring about. The people will ask: "Why was he born?"
For his whole life Richard is haunted by the prophecy he had given at the birth and by the visions of the dark woods of his childhood. He's learned to stay quiet, expect nothing and receive nothing - only do right by his family and York. It's all rooted in his isolated childhood, where his mother would downright refuse him. There was no kind words, loving looks or warm touches from her, as each time Richard sought connection as a child he would be violently shunned and called a demon. As for his father? Richard describes his father as the 'light' that shone on to darkness of his life, saving him from the despair that is his own existence. So once that light was robbed from him Richard succumbed to the belief that he, due to his "demon body", is absolutely unlovable -- and that if people were to find out his secret he would shunned and rejected by the world. Look, his mother got him pretty good.
His entire identity is based on the fact that he is his father's son. His bloodline and memory are his lifelines, keeping him striving forward. It's the love for his late father that bound him with loyalty to his family rather than any feelings of affection towards his brothers. It's this loyalty that makes his blood boil with hatred towards the Lancasters and seek vengeance. He views world through black and white lenses. You are either ally or enemy, no inbetweens.
So, instead of pursuing relationships he found comfort in dedicating his life to the sword. As in the heat of the battle one is able to cast down their bodily selves and become one with the blade. And in the battlefield he is able unravel his anxieties, lash out with his anger and sadness that he carries with him.
It's really no wonder that Richard turned out to be the way he is: reserved, unstable and distrustful man. He's quiet, preferring to use his words sparely and thoughts to himself. Richard describes his role and life in English court as a performance. He attends to events and services that are required of his rank, bows down to the king and does his dirty work. He's seemingly just resigned to his position inside the marginal never truly feeling sense of belonging. And it's because of this he feels no connection to those around him, explaining why he acted so indifferently when his brothers died one by one.
At first, it might look like he's void of any ambitions. However, that could not be further from the truth. It's just that Richard has not only shut himself off from the rest of the world but from himself as well. Because he believes that any dream he could have for himself is nothing but a crime.
But oh boy, does Richard yearn for the crown. The throne and kingdom have always been in Richard eyes, but he's denied the possibility of them from himself. After all, he is a demon. It's after Buckingham places his beliefs on him Richard becomes more confident in himself and begins to chase after his dreams. Just like he had accepted the role of dutiful brother, with Buckingham embraces the role of the devil - whispering sweet nothings to people's ears and deceive them from the path of light and righteousness to support him. Because hey, if he's a demon he might as well go ahead and have fun while doing so, right? And maybe, just maybe if he gains the crown, proof of divine power, he might be able to obtain the light. Because to Richard the crown represents everything he doesn't have. It symbols power to have whatever you desire, to have acceptance and love of others. It gives him the power to make the world to his liking, so that he could create a haven for himself where he is not shunned. If he obtains the crown, maybe he too could have a taste of the paradise. The crown is the same light that he once saw in his father and in Henry who he had loved so much. It's a lifeline that he desperately grasps on.
Richard is full of contradictions, which can be seen in his conversations with the ghosts he sees inside his mind. He closes himself off from the others, but at the same time he can't live alone. It's in the presence of those who he loves and trust Richard feels the most safe and alive. When he's on his own he is withdrawn and crumbles before his own fears.
Ok, this section is already long enough so TLDR; Richard is a walking paradox, fighting army of demons inside his mind. He's insecure and unstable yet a brilliant actor, moving through the society while playing different roles that is most benefit to him. He manipulates others and appears a cruel man but is definitely capable of kindness towards to those whom he loves and feels connection with. Richard's allowed himself to be consumed by his own self-loath, making him keep everyone at arm's length to protect himself from further hurt, despite yearning for the connection.
Abilities: you know when you look at your character and think that.. yeah, he's just a guy. Richard is skilled knight and war veteran, knowing quite lot about different tactics in warfare. He has received the education that you'd expect one from nobility during 15th Century to have. Idk that's it.
Also I'm not sure where to put this but! Richard believes himself to be haunted by the ghosts. These ghosts are, however, nothing but hallucinations and manifestations of his own fears. The most prominent figure of his visions is the ghost of Joan D'Arc, whom he views as a witch going against God's will etc. Richard has hostile and antagonizing conversations with her. The other recurring one is the ghost of his deceased father, with whom he has more fucked up moments... so yeah.
Inventory:
The clothes his wearing, a dagger and sword.
Samples:
tdm tl
silly bkst stuff
Questions: Considering the nature of this canon I will have an opt-out post for Richard.