#ask leonore

7. is here.

8. opinion on nap dates?

in anatole’s case you have to hm, Tire him first, bc he doesn’t really nap, but cuddling counts as a date in his mind so. he appreciates anyone who can manage him to relax.

leonore is partial to basking in the sun and sleeping in more than napping.

medea fully believes in napping as self care and would constantly encourage you to take a break and take care of yourself, and hey, if you can be gay while doing it, double win.

sabine likes afternoons for quiet, private gay moments, and they don’t care if that means napping, cuddling, talking or something else.

24. have you ever been heartbroken?

all of them have at some point, either because they thought something would work or didn’t, or because they realised the people they were with weren’t the best for them. sabine and medea are the first kind, leonore is the second. but i don’t think that with them it’s as formative as it’s with anatole, except perhaps with sabine who shares his Existential Fear of always being an option and never a choice.

with anatole heartbreak is so formative or such a significant wound because of how he conceives self realisation. to him self realisation is very tied to his work and leaving his mark in the world, and while he would never give this up, at some point he realises that the choices he has made, the choices he has to live with, have lead him to a point where everyone around him go home to someone or something other than... their work. anatole has a big case of Loneliness which can make him very melancholic (which he transform into further working or occupying himself with something). anatole has a ‘list’ of previous people he’s been involved with later that have marked him in some way, namely:

decimo vittoria, the son of a vesuvian aristocrat and his first ‘official’ boyfriend. taught him aristocracy would try to tokenise him because of who he was related to.

in some case’s @thelazaretmakesmesad‘s vishal vissente, who is always part of anatole’s backstory as that one childhood friend that vanished without a trace.

in some cases, julian devorak. there’s no timeline where he does not love julian, it’s IMPOSSIBLE for them not to be at least friends, but sometimes their relationship doesn’t work, namely because someone gets accused of murder.

the child of a diplomat, one year older than anatole. their involvement had an expiration date, but if it hadn’t had one, they would’ve made it. alas, timing.

a vesuvian painter of enough renown. anatole would’ve loved to love him, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen. the painter called him venus and sapient eros.

anatole rarely talks about any of these. this is one of the things from anatole that ran out of my control, like it’s something that the character came with more than something i put into him, sometimes characters acquire a mind of their own like that.

7. are you a morning time gay or night time gay?

medea is morning, and so is anatole but out of habit more than choice (he got used to waking up early and now he can’t turn back). leonore is night time. sabine is afternoon gay.

12. what’s a turn off you look for before you start officially dating someone.

i think all of them would look for lack of emotional availability, dishonesty and lack of genuineness. i think none of my apprentices like people who keep appearances for the sake of it, impose their will on others, or do not have a level of emotional maturity they can work with.

individually, i think it’s very important for anatole to have someone who is intellectually stimulant enough. he is a person with a very busy mind, and he is someone who enjoys a good conversation. having someone who he constantly needs to explain himself to, without ever being understood so it’s never a conversation but an exposition would put him off. so would people who cannot respect his job.

leonore’s strong point is emotional maturity, so people he discovers have no will to grow, change, and work through their emotions would be a huge red flag. so would be jealousy and emotional manipulation. this is obviously a red flag everyone should have — and that i think all my apprentices do have — but it is specially important for leonore. he wants to find someone he can conquer the world (in his own away) with, not someone who will a. neglect him b. restrain him. it’s an important balance for him. you don’t have to be the best with your feelings (see: lucio) but you have to be willing to open up.

for medea she doesn’t like people who do not respect her capacity to make choices, people who only vent to her or are waiting for her to fix them because she’s an empath, and medea is really off put with people with a superiority complex.

sabine is a special one because they seem like the easiest going of my apprentices, but deep down, sabine does have a bit of a choleric disposition, so people who dismiss art, the wonders of the simple things in life, and people who are plain rude, don’t have a sense of humour or have no capacity to change would hmmmm not vibe with them.

23. for anatole: have you ever been in love?

“I was, a couple of times, not many but I can count two, three. I am right now, though, lucky me.”

— Anatole 🌞

15. for leonore: (if attracted to more than one gender) do you have different “types” for different genders?

“I don’t think I have? I mean, regardless of your gender if you can bench press me, carry me like a sack of potatoes, or crush a watermelon with your thighs, I’m sold my guy.”

“What can I say except I’m baby.”

25. how do you determine if you want to be them or be with someone.

anatole’s the easiest because the way he goes through gender and expresses his orientation is completely different from the people he’s attracted to. like sure, sometimes some personality traits he admires collide, but he does not want to be in the intersection of: goth, virgo or scientist with a golden heart. or you know, in short: he does not want to be a himbo with an academic degree.

he just wants the academic degree, and the leftist political leanings/basic sense of caring for others is not a type thing but more of a requirement for him to like you as a person and not want to nerf you. also he, as a general rule, doesn’t want to be anyone who isn’t himself.

i think the difference with leonore goes from “holy shit what a BICON” vs. “please baby me and let me sleep in your bed with fancy sheets until one pm”. some people you admire, some people you want to hold hands with. like he thinks frida khalo is cool as shit, but he admires her. while if he was alive at the same time as julie d'aubigny he’d throw himself in her arms.

medea only knows the difference because she too has a strong sense of self and self respect. but believe me, she would’ve been the kind of girl who grew up being obsessed with every single pretty and defiant woman she ever knew only to realise what she felt wasn’t plain admiration but also just a huge case of lesbianism. sabine is p similar in this way, with the difference that every lanky ass androgynous figure they encountered they were like WHOA GENDER? while whenever they came across girls laughing and being carefree or you know, having Strong Arm, they kind of lost it in a completely different way.

i’ll do 5 for nana, and the other two for the four of them 💕

5. Describe the cutest date you’ve ever been on.

“So you see, there was this guy who was a friend of my friends. I met him at a party. First thing I tell him is “what on earth are you wearing”, which was so incredibly impolite considering I didn’t even particularly disliked his fashion choices, they’re rather amusing, really. He keeps me on my toes with his inability to combine colours sometimes.”

“Long story short, we go home together — my place. He makes me breakfast in the morning. We keep having a great time after breakfast. He has to go and here’s the thing: sometimes I do one night stands for the hell of it by it’s usually with people I already know, and not the first time I meet them. It just makes me uncomfortable. But this guy? He took my breath away, and I hadn’t even realised it yet — but my heart did, and I like a fool asked him if he’d like to hang out with me in some other occasion, making it clear it was a date. He didn’t reply.”

“So I tell him to forget about it. To spare my dignity, you know. He leaves, I kick myself for a good while, and suddenly, a couple of hours later, I get a message from him. He asked me out back. Right then.”

“He was everything I already thought he was and more.”

— Anatole 🌞

now, jules’ note: this is his first day with @froyofam’s august in modern au! while he has several boyfriends in different verses (you can ask about his other dates with the others if you wanna!) i picked this one because while nana has his fancy moments or his particular rand of dramatics, this one — honest and not according to plan but better than the plan in its own way, surprising? i can’t imagine of something else he’d absolutely love more in retrospective.

10. dog gay or cat gay?

“Snake gay... but cats if I must choose.”

— Anatole 🌞

“Surprisingly cats? Dogs are great, I love both, but cats are so silly — they’re so fucking ridiculous.”

— Leonore 🔥

“I seriously cannot choose.“

— Medea ⚡️

“Reptiles.”

— Sabine 🌚

27. what is a piece of advice you have for young / baby gays.

Anatole would advice you to learn about LGBT history and reach out. you’re not alone, and together is how we make it. having a community of LGBT people who will have your back, who will understand you, is life changing. Let others be the spoonful of sugar your life needs. Also, develop a personal fashion sense, and gender is fake.

Leonore would advice to take your time. Feeling like you are missing out is anxiety inducing but you have to remember you do have time to know yourself. You do have time to flourish: don’t force yourself into things you’re not ready for. That means you have to be responsible with your mental and emotional health. Reach out. And also: the flashier the coat, the better.

Medea would say community, sense of humour and irreverence. Others to take care of us, sense of humour to uplift us, irreverence because society can and will try to make you feel guilty about who you are, and we must not, ever, let it do that. We don’t lick the boot as much as we don’t let the boot stomp us. Support trans women.

17. If they could change one thing from their past, what would it be? Why? ⏳

“I would’ve told Lucio to cut it out sooner, though I have no idea how that would’ve ended. It’s a matter of principle, no one was winning from that, no one is winning from it — except maybe for the courtiers.”

— Leonore 🔥

“I love a good ‘what if’, but I only like them when they’re set in the future. I’ve gone over things I could’ve done differently too many times, only to get nowhere with it. Regret is corrosive, but the future is bulletproof.”

— Medea ⚡️

“I should’ve been more careful when the Plague was around, and I should’ve adopted more reptiles, and climbed more windows to woo girls.”

— Sabine 🌚

18. Describe the major turning points or “life beats” in childhood.

Leonore 🔥

Age 3: Isha, the fifth of the Kaur siblings is born.

Age 7: School starts, he proceeds to discover he has a gift for magic.

Age 12: Goes to work with his dad for the first time, and discovers psychology as a field.

Age 14: His first big travel, it was a family holiday. He always wanted to see the world, but this one changed him.

Age 17: His first love.

Medea ⚡️

Age 7: Loses her parents, moves in with her grandmother and her aunt.

Age 12: She begins formally learning magic.

Age 16: She decides she wants to be a community organiser, after her grandmother began taking her to community councils and the like.

Sabine 🌚

Age 3: Began raising a farm of lizards in a shoe box.

Age 5: Their younger brother Ender is born.

Age 7: Camille, the youngest of the Rey is born.

Age 12: Given their first pet, a bearded dragon called Sambar. It ended up being their familiar.

Age 13: Realises they’re sapphic.

Age 17: Realises they’re nonbinary. Meets Asra.

19. What are three adjectives to describe them as a child?

“Lively, outgoing, chaotic.”

— Leonore 🔥

“Generous, curious, advetrous.”

— Medea ⚡️

“Creative, nap-prone, weird.”

“I suppose easy answer would be helping during the plague, so we’ll forgo that one. I was in the Red Market (irrelevant why) and I saw a baby raccoon being sold as an exotic pet. It was frightened and lost, not knowing where he was, so I began haggling for him. It escalated to a rather nasty business, but I got the raccoon. His name is Antu and he’s my familiar.”

— Anatole 🌞

“I was gonna say getting into a bar fight, because you never know, but actually? I tried to eat my sister Althea’s chocolate, and she sucker punched me. So it didn’t pay off.”

— Leonore 🔥

“Once I overcalculated my chances in a dare (I refuse to say what was dared) and I broke an arm. So it turned out poorly... but my cast was purple!”

— Medea ⚡️

“I fought a goose. I won.”

— Sabine 🌚

Guava: Share one of their embarrassing memories.

“Oh, god, once I walked into Valerius and Lucio making out. Worst day of my entire life.”

— Anatole 🌞

“I have no shame and a lot of stories, but I think the worst one by far is one time I lost my clothes (or they were stolen, I’m still not sure) while bathing in a river, and I had to make my way back naked.”

— Leonore 🔥

“I called Nazali ‘Dad’. In front of Nadia, and I broke an arm because I was dared to do something, and I failed phenomenally.”

— Medea ⚡️

“I too have little shame, but… well… you have no idea how many times someone has told me their name, I have forgotten, and then had to admit I had no idea how they were called months later. I’d rather fight a goose again. Now Sambar, my familiar helps me with names.”

63. How does your OC display love?

Anatole is acts of service, first and foremost. Little favours, foreseeing what you may need, helping around by getting out of his way. Generally investing himself in you, I can’t describe it here without making it into a 7 volume manifesto, but Anatole doesn’t get into any sort of relationship with someone unless he’s gonna shoot his shot — friendship or romantic. Other cues are: him letting you break his personal space and touch him in certain areas and him letting you know him (if he reveals any sort of personal information about him that’s a big thing).

Leonore is physical touch and quality time. For someone who values being able to come and go freely, if he wants to give you his time it’s a huge deal to him. He has strong fears of entrapment so QT is the big gesture for him.

Medea is acts of service and words of affirmation. She’s a devoted friend and partner, who makes sure she has your back. Need help organising something? There she is. Do you need xyz? She can do it! She’s also pep talker galore when she cares about someone: she’s an orphan raised by her aunt and grandmother, and both of them always made sure she heard that she was loved so it stuck. Sometimes people can misinterpret your actions but clear words of affirmation not so much, in her opinion.