King Reef and the children he wholeheartedly adores
Reef is a very big man with an even bigger heart, and even if most of his dragonets aren’t related to him by blood he loves each and every one of them equally and undyingly so. The only thing he wishes? That he could have the experience of being with them all as hatchlings all at once.
Reef is the dragon that all of the princes and princesses think of first when they need someone to talk to or to comfort them. Prince Token has a particularly strong attachment to Reef, but all of the kids love him so so much.
In our modern world, the media are known for going after anybody they can wring a story from and royalty sell newspapers like nobody's business. Anything from the Queen wrinkling her nose at a meeting with a diplomat or a Princess at some social occasion or the King making a speech and fumbling his words, the media is there to notice and spread the word. This is not even a modern concept; for as long as people could print things, the media have been printing every single thing that a royal says and does.
The Power of the Print
Think back to the last news headline you saw about a member of a royal family. It made you feel a certain way about that person on account of who wrote it. The media is not unbiased. Every outlet has a view, either approving or disapproving opinion of somebody and their actions and it's their intention to get you to think like them. There is power in their words, and sometimes it's what the media pumps out that can be life or death for the monarchy.
Using the Media Wisely
If your royal family is saavy in the knowledge of the media's power, they will use it to their advantage. You will notice at most events, the media is invited to snap photographs or observe what is going on. While some royals might be sympathetic and warm with the people they are meeting, the entire act is a performance at its most fundamental level. What they wear, who comes with them, what they say etc. Nothing is left to chance. They may even leak information beforehand so the media knows what to look out for. For example, Queen Elizabeth II often wore certain colours or broaches in order to convey a message or to mark the occasion, like wearing purple in Japan or her Silver Fern broach in New Zealand. Royalty will make sure they are seen doing events, not only for personal gain but to show the people they doing something or to bring awareness to whatever event they are doing.
When Media Use Goes Wrong
We all have embarrassing photographs or get caught saying things we shouldn't. For royalty, it refcts badly on them and the monarchy. From Prince Harry in his Nazi uniform to a cartoon of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in bed with Rasputin, the media tends to feed on these things. Why? Because the media wants money and money is best obtained when the masses smell a scandal. So the media lurks hoping to catch them off guard, whether it's at a private party where they will have their guard down or somewhere they thought they would have privacy. The media is invasive, no matter how much they are kept happy by the royals. They will use any means necessary, harassing them while they are on their down time, using false documents to lure them into trusting them, crowding around them, bribing servants and their friends to spill the beans on them. These might range from being downright nuisances or fatal.
Protection from the Media
Royalty are well aware of media presence and they will take steps to protect themselves from any intrusion. They will exchange information in order to stop other stories coming to light. They will bribe/bully/threaten journalists into not publishing anything damaging and when they can't, it's likely they will flood the news with other less harmful news. They will use protected phone lines, hire only vetted staff, do the occasional sweep of their residences for bugs or spies, they will bury facts, pay off who they can and if things take a dark turn... Hey, people fall down stairs all the time. These are not people just protecting their children or their spouses, they are protecting the Crown and the government will be complicit in cover ups. Avoidance of media interference will often lead to royals going to lengths to keep secrets, such as hiding relationships, travelling incognito, disguises etc.
Communication with the Media
There is direct contact, such as interviews, photocalls, events and such and then there is indirect. Royals often release statements. These are short responses to say disasters or events in the world and sometimes in answer to media coverage on their actions - especially if it's negative. These can be speeches pre-recorded or in print or before a selected group of journalists. Bulletins might also be posted outside the palace gates to inform the people of births, marriages, deaths etc. The royal family will often have an agreement with the media surrounding the deaths of monarchs, usually if they find out before it's released that the media will wait until the formal announcement is made. Sometimes the media might even reach out to a royal for a comment or interview. Questions are always screened and most times, somebody is there to yank the royal out before they can say something dumb - like Prince Andrew "I can't sweat" dumb.
Your Royals and the Media
Pay attention to the climate out there i.e. don't be photographed dripping in diamonds while the people are starving.
PR is not mumbo jumbo. If you want to keep bring royal, you need the people and if you cannot make them like you or respect you at very least, you may need to find a new job.
All royals - ALL ROYALS - will have some sort of media training. They will know how to conduct themselves before a camera, in an interview etc. The consequences will be drilled into them from the get go. You do not send out loose canons and neither will you be caught with your guard down.
Stick to the script. Don't stray from what you have been told to say or do. Yes, work that PR magic but within certain perameters.
The Media can be Manipulated. The media can be a shield for the Crown. The Prince fucked up? Guess what, here's a picture of him after joining the army, here's 30+ photos of him in their uniform with all the other soldiers! The royal family is unpopular? Look, your favourite royal is out doing charity work! Use the media when you can.
The Media is not your friend. In the sane breath, never imagine those journalists care about your wellbeing. They have to sell papers. They will throw you under the bus if it would sell a few million copies.
Establish contacts you can trust. Know which journalists and publications that will give you a break. Know your enemies.
Never give them a real story. If they must write about something, better they write about something not so bad rather than a clusterfuck. Know which stories to leak, know which ones to bury.
There's a lot you can say not saying anything. Sometimes the most ingenious statement or action is silence on a matter but you can make a statement through your actions or clothes.
When in doubt, consult an expert. Have you news you're not sure how to break to the media? Or have you some damaging story you need to fight? Look no further, your royal probably has a guy for that. If not, call Ms. Pope.
These two are so fun and I love them, the prince (brown hair guy) is named Keir and the knight- who is also a prince btw but oh well it would be as cool to title this “The Prince and The Prince”- (blonde hair guy) is named Soren.
They are on opposite sides of a war but fall for each other 🥀
i'm unsure if i've talked about the updated story of my royal ocs so i don't know if you guys have context for mothnette, so i shall update you here!
solstrians who attempt to flee their kingdom are usually hunted down and their wings are forcibly cut off, so it's incredibly rare to see a winged solstrian outside of solstria. knowing this, it was imperative minette disguise herself as a different creature lest she be hunted and lose her wings. so for all of her travels, she posed as a moth person. once she made it to rexcanima she continued to use this disguise and worked as a maid inside the castle. she would always attempt to get close to mikhail as the heat he radiates soothed her chronic pain, but a lot of times she ended up embarrassing herself and would cry in private because she was making a fool out of herself in front of the king. her chronic pain and fatique made it difficult for her to properly do her job as well, and she frequently had to take breaks or would collapse, accidentally breaking things often.
her real identity was finally discovered by the castle staff one day when she collapsed, and while inspecting her injuries, the head maid discovered the crystal embedded in her arm that allows her to project her disguise. the head maid had no choice but to alert the guards and king, as someone disguised and seemingly always wanting to be close to the king could very easily be a spy or assassin. mikhail took her to anatoly the doctor to inspect her crystal, as she had worn it for way longer than she was supposed to and her skin began growing over it.
anatoly surgically removed her crystal, while minette begged and begged for him not to. as previously stated he felt like he had to because her behavior was very suspicious. once her disguise was finally removed, anatoly felt immediate sympathy and understanding for her. while he couldn't have known she was a princess, he understood immediately why a winged solstrian would be hiding her true identity. anatoly himself is a solstrian who had his wings taken thousands of years ago. on top of that he could tell why minette left her kingdom in the first place, as its clear from the size of her wings that she is flightless. being flightless is essentially a disability in solstrian society, the flightless are seen as lesser individuals and the kingdom itself is incredibly inaccessible if you can't fly.
after a full blown panic attack, minette was eventually able to tell them her full story. how she was the former heir to the throne, how her connection to the sun was severed, how her parents attempted to kill her. anatoly was blown away upon learning she was without the sun, as solstrians unbonded to the sun only live for up to a few hours afterward. minette was a medical anamoly and anatoly didn't think such a thing was possible. he was immediately drowned in empathy and compassion for her as he knew that the pain must be unbearable, and upon hearing that mikhail's heat soothed her pain he was completely fascinating. mikhail and anatoly had always wondered where mikhail's flame pelt came from, and it was kind of like discovering an unknown truth, he must have been blessed by the sun.
mikhail was full of regret for how he'd treated minette before he discovered all this, he'd found her kind of awkward and assumed she wanted to be close to him so badly was simply because he was the king and she was an ass-kisser. when he found out his presence lessened her pain he was instantly protective of her. internally he was like "i should Die, i thought she was annoying but she just wanted the pain to go away, i'm a horrible person." it didn't help that he was instantly captivated by her beauty once he saw her undisguised, he treated her poorly AND she was hot!!
after that the story is pretty much the same, minette and mikhail get progressively closer and fall in love. they are my pookies.
I made this for Arctic Fight, this is my character Sol Radiance.
Some brief context is that his kingdom and the Petrichor kingdom are feuding and Sol ends up falling in love with the heir to the Petrichor kingdom, Dimitri.
Some lore I came up with:
Sol would often sneak out of his kingdom at night to sing in Petrichor so I knew that once Sol was married to Dimitri I wanted him to have the title of the Nightingale which means “night songstress” because of the misconception that female nightingales were the singers when it was actually the male birds.
In the Petrichor kingdom, when the heir turns eighteen, it is tradition for suitors to develop routines in order to impress the heir.
The heir and their parents act as three judges and the contestant that gains approval of the three judges is given a title and blessing for the heir’s hand in marriage.
Previously, when Runa was being crowned, Larissa performed a special dance for the princess, and Runa gave her the title The Peafowl.
Before Dimitri met Sol, Runa was always furious with Dimitri for skipping these performances but he finally stays when Sol is given a chance to compete.
