𝕽𝖔𝖈𝖐 𝖒𝖊 𝕬𝖒𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖚𝖘

He is neurodivergent, but that is never used to justify any sort of social deficiencies. If anything he is so effortlessly charming and charismatic. He does not let anyone place him into strict sexuality or gender boxes, while never appearing to be trying too much. He is comfortable being very close - physically and emotionally - to other men, but he has a long term gorgeous girlfriend. He is from that generation that complains about "male loneliness epidemic", but he has a million friends, many of whom have been his friends for many years. He is working class and has worked in the service industry, but he is quite developed intellectually and keeps wanting to grow. His parents are divorced, and yet he very vocally expresses love and the importance of having an open heart and allowing yourself to be vulnerable. He does not take himself seriously, while managing to succeed in what he does. He used to be an MMA fighter, yet he treats everyone with the most gentleness and respect. He has demonstrably experienced racism and other forms of bigotry, and yet he greets everyone with a smile, appreciation, and encouragement.

You, who are experiencing racism of a certain kind in Northern America can't demand we shut up "and listen to how PoC are hurting" when we tell you that there's no fucking way someone with a Korean heritage drew that fucking hate symbol on himself. Open a fucking history book and read what Korea suffered under the tyranny of Japan, a state allied with Hitler at the time.

Start recognising that oppression works differently across the world and not everything is about the specific American history of it all.

(inspired by amazing art like this by @themoonandmyman and this by @currysideplate. Forgive me if this has been done before but let me go off)

Location is some imaginary non-descript European place in renaissance times. Shane of the Hollanders and Ilya of the Rozanov dynasty as both knights, but since it is peaceful time in the kingdom, they spend their time taking part in jousting tournaments. Due to a centuries old animosity between their respective places of origin, they are always pitted against eachother.

They are also pitted against eachother because of how different they are. Shane is the only child of a family of knights, so he grew up in that culture and he dreamed of becoming one ever since he was a kid. He spends his free time training, but also educating himself on battle tactics. He has a rotation of horses, none of which is his favourite but he always makes sure they are all taken care of extremely well. He always follows the rules of chivalry, he never cheats, he always congratulates his opponents when they win and pays his respects. The first time he removes his helmet after a tournament, half the audience - both peasants and royalty - almost faint due to how handsome he is. His coat of arms is the fleur-de-lis, denoting family links to old aristocracy.

Ilya comes from an old dynasty and he didn't have a choice in becoming a knight, but he was also so good at it that he didn't mind that much. He likes the adreline rush, the smell of the wet ground, the adoring crowd, the celebrations! He only rides one horse, a beautiful brown mare named Anya that he grew up with and trained. He loves her more than anything, especially since she was a gift from his mother.

In contrast to his boisterous image, Ilya is known to all to be extremely nice to have around. Every squire loves and looks up to him, every blacksmith and tailor are delighted to work with him as he also lets them experiment with colours and styles. Whenever he wins, the ladies of the court fall all over themselves to get his attention. He is childhood friends with Lady Sveta, and when some idiots try to besmirch her honour, he shows why he always wins in melee competitions. His coat of arms is a battering ram.