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mademoisellemonaco-blog · 8 years

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La Petite Garce ♚ The Making of a Brat

♚ A Guide to an unorthodox interpretation of APH Monaco ♚

There’s one thing about minor characters that I absolutely love and it’s this: the less that’s revealed, the more you can fill the blanks regarding who they are when it comes to roleplay.

APH Monaco is no different. With two-three manga cameos and a 20-second appearance in the anime, aside from her design and way of speaking, we just don’t know all that much. I, very personally, have been playing around with this character since Himaruya gave us her first design, the stern brunette in business clothes, circa 2010.

Six years later, I’m still playing her.

I dedicate this pretentious character development essay to the Scriptorium RP circle, thanks to whom I truly realised that I needed to map out my thoughts regarding how I play APH Monaco.

Or, as I call her, Angélique Rochelle.

I hope you’ll enjoy reading. Please do not hesitate to drop by my askbox if you have any inquiries! Let’s go!

One of the first things people notice when playing with my Monaco is her absolutely rancid behaviour. She’s vain, superficial and self-centred. These aren’t traits she has expressed in the manga, but there is always, always an explanation behind everything I write with her. Through History and cultural context, allow me to expose Angélique to you so we can have a better look at her inner workings…

♚ Relation to canon

What do we know about Monaco in canon? She’s a sociable, fashionable young lady with an affinity for cuisine and a brain to match. She also strives to be a Duchess and speaks in a very old-fashioned manner.

Aside from that? We don’t know much.

While it wouldn’t be entirely wrong to say that I took great liberties while developing my interpretation of her, one thing that is important to note is that I’ve been to Monté-Carlo. Many, many times, and not just as a tourist but as a guest, staying the the Hotels and enjoying cocktail parties, strolling through the streets and, well, being there. I have seen the guests and inhabitants of Monaco, not to say that I’ve studied them, but let’s say that I do have a good idea on what goes on around there.

I try to say this without pretension, but I do my best to engrain the Monté-Carlo mindset into Angélique for the sake of accuracy. To say that Angélique was always a horrid rich girl would be a lie, however. It’s something that is very, very recent…

A crash-course of monégasque History might help. (You can skip to the next bullet if you don’t feel like it, though!)

♚ The best of times, the worst of times.

Monaco was a Phocean Greek colony in the senatorial region of Narbonese when the Roman Empire was still up and running. At the fall of Rome, it became a simple fishing port with an old temple on the Rocher which was soon destroyed to be turned into a monastery when Monaco fell into the hands of the Holy Roman Empire which handed the small but fruitful territories to Genoa. Between the Fall of Rome and the ‘handing over to Genoa’, Monaco had been occupied and taken over many times; Ostrogoths, Lombards, Franks, Saracens and finally, Ligurians.

In other words, a lot of tossing around was done until 1297 when a Genoese noble known as Francesco ‘la Malizia’ Grimaldi decided to take the Rocher for himself and claim it once and for all.

He succeeded, and to this day his descendants are still ruling over the principality.

Fast forward through years and centuries of being tossed around some more, this time by the French and Spanish, occasional Austrians and maybe Italians, we finally get to some sort of stability in 1815 when Monaco officially came under France’s protection.

An important thing to note is that Monaco’s wealth is, frankly, a very recent thing. Until 1863, the Principality had only lived on lemon, fish, and olive exports. In 1863, Prince Charles III (who was, by the way, an excellent friend of the Tsar Alexander II of Russia) decided not only to open Monaco to the rest of the world, presenting it as the Jewel of the French Riviera, but also by making the Principality attractive to the Rich and Famous™ of Europe. Casinos, Hotels, money and opulence all over the place, trades with the rest of the world, opium, silk, cashmere, gold, rubies, pearls and Champagne in everybody’s glasses…

Monaco’s Golden Age lasted for quite a long while. Actually, we’re only on the top of the downhill slope nowadays!

In the meantime came the worst followed by the best. World War II threw Monté-Carlo between Mussolini’s greasy hands, turning the Principality into a playground for his social circle until the Germans decided to take over in 1943, beginning the Jewish deportation. Monaco collaborated, absolutely, but what else was to be expected from a tiny country who fears for its dear life?

After WWII came the calm after the storm; Prince Rainier III took the throne after his father, Louis II, passed away… And in April 1956, he married Grace Kelly, the gorgeous, glamorous American actress, crowning her as HSH Princess Grace of Monaco, the mother of the current Prince of Monaco, Albert II.

There were a few spats with France between the arrival of Grace Kelly and the 1980s, notably in 1962 during the Monégasque Crisis in which France threatened to take over Monaco, revoking the Principality’s sovereignty. France failed and took back their threats.

Princess Grace died on September 14th 1982 in a car accident on one of the cliffs surrounding Monaco. The Monégasques haven’t had a true love and passion for one of their Princesses ever since.

The actual Prince of Monaco’s crowning took place in 2005 and his marriage with a South-African Olympic swimmer, Charlene Wittstock, in July 2011.

And that, my friends, is all you need to know about the History of Monaco.

This now brings us to our second point; APH Monaco, Angélique Rochelle. What was she like during the years? What brought her to be what she is like now? Let’s keep reading.

♚ I’ve been through so much, you wouldn’t understand

•The following paragraphs contain headcanons that may depend on other characters. I usually make a few tweaks depending on my partners’ own opinions and headcanons when needed.•

Angélique was a waifish child. She was a meek, obedient yet very emotional little girl. Fascinated by the sea and sailors (fishermen, actually), she always had dreams of escaping the life she was born into.

Working hard and paying taxes were a pain, but she was desperate to live, desperate to be her own nation, desperate to one day be a Lady dressed in gorgeous peach-coloured dresses with pearls around her neck.

She was tossed around from House to House, living with different older, intimidating male Nations. She took as a habit to lower her voice and make herself smaller than she was so as to not anger anybody, to be absolutely sure that she wouldn’t be verbally or physically abused. This wasn’t always a success.

She was a little girl; a pouty, ugly little duckling. She didn’t necessarily evoke pity in others since she was but a little fisher girl who had dirt under her nails.

She was a crybaby and hated working, but she did, always in hopes of never having to work anymore… Some day. One day, when she’d be on her own and not fearing every day if her current host had decided to pass her own to someone else, or that someone else was there to rip her away from her current host.

The constant tossing and general intimidation ended, however, after centuries of being treated like nothing but a useless child. Things started turning out better when her body matured from one of a bruised, disgraceful brat, filling out with curves, hips, breasts and thighs… The moment she started turning into a woman was the moment things started being a little less hectic for her.

I’m thinking puberty happened right before Francis officially took her in as a protectorate. I’m also thinking Francis would have been the one to spoil her with dresses and compliments.

When she found out what she could do to men nothing but by batting her lashes and talking sweetly, offering a cuddle or two in exchange for nearly anything, Angélique hopped on that pony and never got off. She became an expert liar, manipulator, learning how the ‘male psyche’ worked to get to what she wanted, and goodness did she want it all.

When her principality opened up to the world, taking in Aristocrats and Millionaires, she entered her Golden Age. Everything was luxurious and gorgeous. Every night, cocktail parties were held and she was surrounded with people who complimented her, flattering her ego, kissing her rings and offering her everything and anything.

Beauty and luxury soon went to her head, and she was thrilled that she finally was a true Lady dressed in silk and cashmere. She became selfish, obsessed with herself, her comfort, her survival. She was happy now that she was rich and after years- centuries of having been at a lower class than the one she would have killed to be born into, she refused to tone it down and crawl back to being humble.

She was at the peak of her life in 1956 when not only was she rich, but she was pushed to the front of the stage as her Prince married an American woman.

Sour at first that her sovereign was marrying not only a commoner, but an American one at that, and visibly not soothed by the phony title of ‘Hollywood Royalty’, Angélique learned to put on a lovely smile for the cameras to appear sweet, lovely, inviting and sociable, taking on the role of the darling host for the entire world to see.

She was still rotten inside, though.

I would say that Princess Grace would have been someone who changed her. Grace Kelly was said to have been a very calming, motherly and lovely woman. Her presence would have done Angélique a world of good once the Nation would come to accept her beyond the label of ‘American commoner’.

Monaco matured a little in her presence, learning to tone down her condescending behaviour… Hell, she was probably a real peach at times, whether she was with people she genuinely liked or not, but it was eventually not to last.

When Grace died, Angélique turned bitter, miserable and melancholic, and as the years go by, she grows more and more nostalgic.

Nowadays, things are complicated regarding her attitude towards certain things. Allow me to try and organise my thoughts regarding that.

♚ Money is the anthem of success

Whoever thinks about Monaco ultimately thinks about money, it’s a fact (kiss, kiss).

As said in the above section, wealth and security has always been something she strived for. It started off as a simple desire to be comfortable enough to live on her own and live without having to depend on anybody… And it turned into having so much money she no longer knew what to do with it.

The transition from mere overwhelming comfort to opulence was so brutal that Angélique only had a very short period of time to adapt to it. The moment she understood what was happening, she was under the false impression that all this cash in her hands meant that she had power- something she never had until she got rich.

Slapping a God complex onto her was a decision I made recently and I am still dabbling with it.

The thing with money is that it’s a constant give and take. She could only win so much, and when she lost cash she needed a way to fill the hole immediately. I can easily imagine her dabbling with illegal things for the sake of her own gain, but another thing I can very easily see her do is lend money to those who need it… And expect it back. With interests. Not out of cruelty but out of greed.

She has money but she also has to show that she has it. She can whine about modesty all she wants, when it comes to money she is absolutely horrid.

Dresses, shoes, handbags, jewelry, pearls, watches, cars, purebred cats, expensive phones, glamour, luxury; she has the need to show that she is worth something, at least though wealth rather than through morals.

It’s also through money that she believes she secures love and friendship, making people indebted towards her is how she reassures herself that she won’t ever be alone again; at least emotionally.

♚ Straight to the heart, please

Monaco’s relation to another character isn’t usually something I define alone. It often depends on my RP partner unless I’m writing a fic on my own… But generally? As said above, she feels the need to secure her relationships with gifts.

She is desperate for attention, good or bad. She misses being in the spotlight and feels as though she must bring it to her rather than wait for her turn.

She wants to be adored and idolised and treated beautifully like she was previously, back when she was actually relevant.

Nowadays she is a nation like many others. The post-War beauty, glitz and glamour seem to have flown away at the same time as dear Grace did and she desperately craves for its return.

Despite her newfound bitterness and return to pomp and condescension, she still expects to be loved… Somehow.

She’s a toxic person without even necessarily being malicious about it. Of course her behaviour is disgusting and to say that she’s misunderstood would be a stretch, but in the end she is just desperate to be loved. She had her 15 minutes of fame, they are gone and past, but she wants them back.

However! There aren’t only horrible things about her. While antagonising her would be easy, it’s important to note that she does genuinely care about certain people. These people are those she either adores out of the goodness in her heart or those that she feels indebted towards in one way or another.

France, the Italy brothers (all three of them), possibly Liechtenstein, Spain and to an extent Russia and Seychelles. That’s the list of Nations I imagine that she genuinely has affections for.

Macau, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Belgium, and America would be those she seeks out of interest.

I can’t imagine her genuinely hating someone who has yet to do anything to her, but she will still have that air of superiority about her regardless.

It’s all a shell, however. Of course it is. Can you imagine someone being so petty for no reason at all? No, of course not… But she still needs to have someone to soothe her.

♚ There’s a war in my mind

Monaco is, at least to me, a character with many layers.

I think that perhaps for something to truly be enjoyable her core must be exposed.

I play Monaco with a facade. Her horrible attitude isn’t entirely gratuitous, mind you. It’s there for a reason and the reason is this: she’s insecure and terrified of falling back into the shadows.

Beauty princess, excellent host, spoiled brat, wannabe femme fatale, capricious crybaby and hysterical little bitch. These are a few labels I’d slap onto her, the last two being labels I like playing with a lot.

Studying Monégasque history has given me more than enough material to build a psychological profile for Angélique. Most of her traits and flaws are linked to events and facts that I have come across; this profile is nearly constantly a work in progress.

Trust issues and fear of abandonment: Having been tossed around by various bigger Nations in the earlier years of her existence, trust isn’t exactly something that Angélique is familiar with. She is afraid of being tossed away some day to the point of no longer having anybody to hold onto. Thus, nowadays, she only trusts herself much to her own distress. Despite the fact that she doesn’t trust easily, she does desperately need to be adored and coddled by others… Unfortunately, when said others turn their backs on her, she goes completely ballistic. She will constantly try to avoid being abandoned (i.e. by offering gifts and favours in exchange for somewhat loyalty) and often try to control the relationship herself.

Capricious personality and general ‘hysteria’: Being a Nation who isn’t really required to do anything important or life-changing for the rest of the world, she stays in Monté-Carlo, basking in her comfort and acting like the spoiled brat she is. Not having an actual ‘Daddy’ to say no to her is what ruined her, frankly. She has money and throws it around to get what she wants, and if she can’t have it she’ll be angry and frustrated to the point of tears. A noteworthy detail: When I say ‘hysteria’ when describing Angélique, it’s usually in the crude, non-professional manner. If I were professional I’d have a long list of symptoms and disorders which would make me sound pretentious- allow me to explain what’s on my mind when I call Angélique ‘hysterical’: She is moody, thrown between thinking extremely highly and lowly of herself, prone to fits of anger, paranoia and general aggressive behaviour towards others. Her vicious outbursts aren’t necessarily intimidating to most, but they do take a toll on her well-being. She’s all bark and no bite, but perhaps it would be interested for someone to know how to soothe that part of her.

Nostalgia and melancholy: The Golden Age of Monaco is on its decline– it has been since Princess Grace passed away. That even it something that hurt Angélique further than she had expected. It was there and then that she experienced a Nation’s uttermost grievance; adoring a mortal human and watching them die without the hope of ever being able to be reunited with them. She misses it. She misses everything about the life she led in the Thirties-to-Eighties. She is desperate to go back to it though she can only move forward so she tried to surround herself with memories to try and revive them… At least for her. She often cries herself to sleep knowing that she will never go back to her former glory.

Addictions and dependency: Angélique is very clearly addicted to gambling. Despite the laws that forbid that Monégasque citizens gamble in Monté-Carlo, she indulges and allows herself to do so to her heart’s desire. She knows how to count cards and considers herself a very lucky woman, so that doesn’t really take any tolls on her or her bank account. Wine and other alcohols have made their place into her life. Being petite like she is, she doesn’t handle them well but still insists on drinking herself into a sobbing mess evenings when she is alone and reminiscing.

♚ CONCLUSION

Angélique is a character I have spent many years developing. I have worked hard on her and there is always room for improvement though I usually like to believe that my interpretation is acceptable.

Regardless of the adjustments that I have made, I aim to make her a recognisable character to the Hetalia canon, relatable to the universe in which she exists and believable as an actual person– as if she could be somebody you could possibly come across one day. I have gone through books and pages upon pages regarding Monégasque History and society. I have already said this, but I believe this is important information.

Whew! This was a long writing session, but it was worth it! If you have made it this far, congratulations!! I’m glad you took the time to read my babbling.

Again, if you have any questions or critiques, my askbox welcomes you and so do I! I am more than willing to discuss certain points and am eager to hear what others might think!

Love you all!

xoxo Baguette ♥

#APH Monaco #Hetalia RP #characterization #essay #Hetalia #long post #ooc post

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