Beautiful People - Blakely (And Brothers)

Hello! I am so excited that Beautiful People is back!!! I was so sad when it was down in April... (granted I didn't have time to do it anyways, but... I was still sad). :P Anyways, this lovely little link-up is hosted by Cait and Sky, for the purpose of developing characters... and of course getting to rant about your beautiful little ink-and-paper people. ;) So, without further ado, I bring you my beautiful person for this month, Prince Blakely of an unnamed country... with a side appearance of his two irrepressible brothers, Francis and Edmonde.

1. Overall, how good is their relationship with their parents?
Well, Blakely is very, very close to his mother. All three of them are, but Blakely particularly. The three princes love their mother very, very much, even though they show it in different ways. Blakely - more by helping her, and being her confidant. Queen Gianna (their mother) relies on Blakely much at times, because the age is very dangerous, and Blakely is not only wise for his years, but incredibly like his father, and strong in character. Francis and Edmonde show their love in more teasy, affectionate ways, though, such as bringing her flowers, giving her a kiss, teasing her, pretending to worry her, or by play-bothering Blakely around her. Their relationship with their father was fairly close, too, though I suppose that they are closer to their mother because she has been the only one around for about seven years. Their relationship with their mother perhaps blossomed more because of it. But it may also be because of other difficulties. You see, Queen Gianna isn't incredibly old, and is still (as she always was) rather pretty (not to mention being a widowed queen) and so, occasionally, she receives a suitor or two in the palace. It makes the princes rather angry, especially since Gianna has absolutely no interest in any such thing. She, of course, can take care of herself, and is polite, but unyielding to the suitors, merely humoring. However, despite this, the princes, especially the two younger, get extremely suspicious for her, and dislike her suitors (particularly because most of them only want the throne). There is one particular foppish courtier that, while he never outright does anything about it, rather treats the queen in an enamored way, and it irks the princes. Duke Roanwall (that's his name) is also a rather foppish fool, and presumes to be a close advisor to the royal family, and always is close in presence, so he especially earns the dislike of the princes. Not to mention, he is aware of what the princes think of him, and is rather uncivil to them because of it. Not that they care as much about that as Roanwall's attentions to their mother. Blakely is mostly respectful to Gianna's suitors (unless they step over boundaries), but has no love of them. Francis and Edmonde, on the other hand, are rather outrightly rude to them at times, and always make clear their feelings on the matter.

Why is it that the only pictures I can ever find to fit Blakely's face are little kid ones?! Oh well. Since this is a parental addition of BP, I guess it doesn't matter as much.

2. Do they know both their biological parents? If not, how do they cope with this loss/absence and how has it affected their life?
Well, their father has been dead for seven years, but they have coped with it well enough through the years. Probably because they have always felt like - without their father - their mother needed their protection, and so they were to comfort her rather than feel sorry for themselves about it. And they have done quite the job protecting her, too, though she doesn't really need it. Blakely particularly has always been a stronghold for his mother.

These two look a bit like Francis and Edmonde, except that they don't look quite enough alike.

3. How did their parents meet?
Blakely's father was coming back from hunting, and a royal party from another country had come to treaty with Blakely's grandfather. With the party had come the rulers' children, including a young daughter. Blakely's father befriended the young princess, and they eventually were courting. Blakely's father liked to joke that when the treating party came, he was absolutely unattached in even the slightest fancying, and once it left, he was already wed. :)
4. How would they feel if they were told “you’re turning out like your parent(s)”?
Blakely would feel very blessed, but of course would deny that he had turned out quite so good as his parents. He has always respected and looked up to them, both his father and his dear mother, and so to even be able to half measure up to them would make him a very good leader, and he believes he would be very blessed to be so. But, I believe that he has already fully measured up to them, and perhaps will one day be even better of a leader and a person.

The king and Gianna.

5. What were your character’s parents doing when they were your character’s age?
Let's see... Blakely is 21, so at that age, Gianna was already married to Blakely's father, and was currently expecting Francis. Blakely's father at that age had just seen Blakely's first birthday, and was crowned king (because Blakely's father was about two years older than Gianna).
6. Is there something they adamantly disagree on?
Not really in Blakely's case. Blakely and Queen Gianna are very much alike in some ways. As for Francis and Edmonde, the only thing they really greatly disagree with Gianna on is the subject of hwo she treats her suitors. Ideally to them, she would just send them away immediately, without any formalities or civilities.

Okay, this looks EXACTLY like one of them as a kid (especially Edmonde).

 7. What did the parent(s) find hardest about raising your character?
Blakely was easy-peasy to raise, because he was almost just like his mother, and the only things he differed in made him an even more loveable child. Francis and Edmonde... Well, let's just say their pranking on people (particularly their pet teasing-subject, Blakely) got them into trouble a good few times (despite the fact that, unless it went too far, Blakely also thought it was funny).
8. What's their most vivid memory with their parental figure(s)?
Blakely - when his father first was teaching him to fence. He remembers very well the first time he caught his father in a moment of hesitation and won the duel, while Gianna stood by and watched her Blakely smilingly. It's a memory that always causes Blakely to smile, and often causes him to become rather distracted in thought. Francis and Edmonde mostly share memories, for it was (and is) rare that they're apart for any space of time. Francis, though, remembers best a time when his father wouldn't let him into his parents' room, and kept preventing Francis from going in there. However - beyond all odds - Francis broke his way in. Gianna was in there, in bed holding little newborn Edmonde. She sighed, laughed a little and beckoned for Francis to come and see his new brother. Only seconds later, Francis' father arrived on the scene looking for Francis, ready to scold him. But, on seeing, the little scene, smiled, and relented, letting Francis stay to see his new sibling. Edmonde jokingly claims to remember this, but of course he doesn't, as Francis well knows.

This looks exactly like a young Queen Gianna.

9. What were they like as a baby/toddler?
Blakely was a very quiet baby, and for a while his parents wondered if he even could speak. Soon enough, he showed that he indeed could, but was more a thoughtful sort than a talkative sort. Francis and Edmonde, on the other hand, were quite opposite to this. They were always either talking or getting into something or other.
10. Why and how did the parents choose their name?
Blakely's name is an older name of the country with an irrelevant meaning (it means 'blackened', but - as I said - its meaning is irrelevant as to why it was chosen). They chose it for a different meaning. A neighboring country (which in the introduction of this story, I temporarily named Nova Italia) has a similar name, Belicilio, which means 'beautiful heavens'. Gianna, very young at the time she had Blakely, is now ever-so-slightly embarrassed to admit that she chose this similar name for him because of his very blue eyes, which reminded her of the 'beautiful heavens'. Blakely's father never ceased to tease her about that little fancy. ;) As for Francis and Edmonde, they were merely noble names of the country chosen because Gianna thought they were nice, innocent-sounding names (hah, you can see that names don't always match the person they are for, as time showed for Francis and Edmonde).
Well, that wraps it up, sadly. :( But there'll be another one next month! :D Also, by the by, there will not be a Catholicism Explained tomorrow because, due to celebration of two of my brothers' birthday, I did not have time to finish it, and I will be gone all day tomorrow. Sorry! :P But, what did you think of this Beautiful People? What do you think of Blakely? What about his two, ah, brothers? ;) Which of the three do you like best? Did you do Beautiful People this month? :) Tell me all about it! :D