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maia-and-ria · 7 months ago

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Ria's Past, Stigma, Relationships, and How It's All Connected: An Essay on Love.

H-hahaha yeah lore dump (not a fic) let's go! This is 2.8k words long... and it contains toxic depiction of love. It's angsty and can be upsetting to some.

If you're not into reading lore that involves romantic feelings towards a canon character, you might want to step away from this. Especially if you don't want that character to be Romeo.

Last thing before you read this, I need you to turn off your brain regarding the canon in-game story. There's a possibility that you would find some things to not make any sense, particularly in the part where the lore happened before the in-game story take place. They're simply the changes I made for my own lore and that doesn't mean I disregard the canon.

TW: upsetting theme – s3x slavery and father who doesn't know how to father

I mentioned Ria's stigma briefly (yes briefly) here and I said that it doesn’t work on the people that she loves. Well, her stigma might not have any effect on them but it very much affects her – because the second their heart stops beating no matter where they are, Ria will want nothing but to follow them to the other side, and there’s no way she can get out of this.

This, is her curse.

And in this essay I will be talking about it in detail.

How Ria’s stigma works is that it can manipulate people’s hearts by slowing it down and vice versa. I took Nina Zenik’s ability from Six of Crows but made some twists of my own. The day she made the pact with the demon Ria could hear people’s hearts, and after some time of getting used to her ability she doesn’t hate the crowd as much. On a certain radius if she concentrates enough she could tell how many people are around and she can even determine whose heart it belongs to. Basically no one can sneak up on her nor lie to her (she’s her own polygraph). Of course it’s not always 100% accurate but it’s has better rate of success unlike my gacha results I mean *cough* What the hell was that? Anyways– this stigma also makes her good at gambling. Typically the ones like poker where the players are more involved. Her opponents might have a terrific poker face but by pulling the right strings – and hearing the right beat – you can guess the cards on deck and rule the game.

It’s not exactly like how Romeo’s stigma works where the more attached he is to the object the bigger the impact, but the more she dislikes a person, the more their heartbeat rings in her ears like a blaring siren. Kind of like when you hate someone you’d find everything about them repulsive – yeah, that. While on the opposite side, she can’t hear/feel let alone control the hearts that belong to the people she loves. It's “Your heart is safe with me” but you don’t even remember giving your heart to her, but she will keep it safe for you anyway. Oh to be loved by the person who’s never properly loved.

The next is “Why?”

Why this stigma? Let’s take a look at Ria’s past.

Ria had a bottom bitch for a mother and a father who owned the brothel. Yes, her mother was a sex worker. Ria never knew her mother but the other ladies who also worked there said that she’s as beautiful as her mother and that’s all she knew. None of them knew much about her past other than her being one of the top earners and that’s what made her close to her father.

Her father’s night business had a few branches – thanks to its patron being filthy rich old men with weird fetishes, but after being caught commiting sex slavery, he was sentence years in prison. Maia was involved in the case and after knowing what he had planned for his daughter, she made sure he got what he deserved behind bars (with Ria’s full permission).

My point is, Ria was born without love, and didn’t experience love as she grew up. She kept wondering why her father never paid attention to her and why he had kept her only to be sold off to some old man. All that time and energy wasted away ended up being another disappointment – she wished people could be more honest with what they’re feeling. If you love, pour your heart into it; if you hate, make it known to the world and shout it out loud from the top of your lungs.

And if people don’t think twice about playing with her heart, why should she be considerate of others?

In this fic the demon said that Ria gave her heart in exchange for this power and it’s more or less true. SHE STILL HAS HER HEART ALRIGHT but it’s just that she wouldn’t fall in love like how normal people would because those that she loves will be her walking weakness. Here’s their “exchange” in a nutshell.

Ria: What’s the price?

Ose: Your very own heart.

Ria, thinking they meant she would never fall in love ever again: Cool! Let’s do it.

Ose: Pleasure doing business with you, my dear.

Ria after knowing what would happen to her when her loved ones got hurt: Ose you son of a bitch–

It’s blissful if Ria and that person love each other. She can protect them and devote her love but it’s hell if it’s one sided – especially if that person hates her. Moving on is not even an option here so that means when she falls in love and the person doesn’t reciprocate her feelings, it’s hell on Earth for Ria. Giving her heart away never meant that the demon took it, but the person she fell in love with will be the one keeping it. Whether the person wants to bleed the heart dry or put it in a glass display for safety is entirely up to them (it’s a metaphor) and Ria can never do anything about it. Putting her trust in a person is the last thing she like to do yet at the same time can't get out of.

Once she falls in love it’s falling in love to death for her.

Because once the heart of her heart-keeper stops beating, she would want nothing but to follow them to the other side.

It hasn’t happened in the story but the second it does she will feel like somebody is holding her heart tightly and yet is trying to rip it apart at the same time. The pain will be so unbearable that she will have blood for tears and will be begging to have her life to end. Nothing else would matter than reaching them even though they never loved her back.

Her stigma is one big joke. She had all the reason to stop believing in love and was prepared to lose all feelings related to that. After multiple betrayals she knew better than trusting another human being. But now she had her own heart betraying her. She wouldn’t survive long if she can’t figure out what to do with her own feelings. She would have to live on thin ice constantly if she can’t keep her loved ones close to her.

As of now there are three people that she loves to this extent. First is Taiga (her distant relative. first family that she considered real family), Maia (her first best friend and savior), and Romeo (first romantic love). These three people are the only people whose hearts she can’t feel nor control – Ria’s walking and living weaknesses.

“Taiga is her family so how can he return her feelings?” There are many types of love here alright and even though Ria acts all tsundere little sister to him she actually loves him so much that she would want nothing but happiness for him even though the price is everyone’s peace and safety. To her, Taiga's existence in her childhood days were priceless. Living under her father as nothing but a meat to be sold while wondering why she wasn't loved by him, and suddenly Taiga crashed into her life like it was nothing, teaching her that she needed to have more fun in life. Maia might be her savior but Taiga was her only reason to not give up on those days. And thanks to him, most of her happy childhood memories had him in it. And despite their current relationship, Ria won’t hesitate to sacrifice her own happiness for him. Even if it kills her.

Ria and Taiga lost contact for a few years and ended up finding each other at Darkwick. Despite not being the biggest fan of the whole mafia theme at first, Ria, Taiga, and Romeo built the casino together. Ria was in charge of the casino’s entertainment until she decided to step back at the end of second year. She still involves herself with the casino through her hustle (you can rent a company of her talents while you enjoy your time in Sinostra. And no – no sex allowed. Ria specifically trained them to understand all the games in there to help the customer win. It’s like a cheat code indeed but hey, none of them are as accurate as Ria and why not live a little dangerously? Just don’t get caught. Or just plant your own loyal dealers <3).

Taiga is the main reason she never wanted to move to another house (to be with Maia, for example) even though the air between her and Romeo is not as good as it used to. But she’ll never tell him that. Of course Ria isn’t there to prevent him from causing chaos, the only thing she cares about is to stop him from hurting himself badly over some stupid reasons.

Maia found Ria in that whorehouse that belonged to her father. Out of the three people, Ria is most possessive with Maia. They’re not putting any labels on their status (like dating) but Ria is glad that she can still wake up every morning knowing that Maia will never stab a dagger right into her heart — and that’s just more reason to never let her go from her grasp. Even though Maia sometimes acts nonchalant and cold, they swore to never leave each other and hurt one another. You can consider them soul-sisters or soulmates who will do anything for each other. Maia is usually indifferent when people confess to Ria but Ria hates it when people are eyeing Maia as their potential love interest, especially when they seek Ria’s advice for it (sometimes I need to remind myself that Ria runs that matchmaking thing). In her eyes Maia only belongs to her and no one can ever love her the way Ria does – and Maia will do the same to Ria without question. A big part of her possessive tendency comes from her fear of not having a strong hold on the other two people. Maia’s way to return Ria’s feelings is to be her most trustworthy individual that Ria can always rely on. The only thing that worries Ria is Maia’s way of living – which can lead to health issues and kill Maia in the long run.

Ria and Romeo used to be in a uhh… some kind of rather comfortable situationship from 1st to 2nd year of Darkwick. Romeo used to be able to get in and out of her private office whenever he pleased and they used to spend some nights in private just chatting and trying out some… shady substances that Romeo was trying to sell. Right now Romeo is the reason why Ria quit smoking because she never even did it before she met him (yes, smoking became the thing that she associated with Romeo). Maybe you can say that the reason Ria fell in love with him was the most cliche reason out there like he’s pretty or that she wanted to help him heal from his past, but what did it for her was how honest he was about his own emotions. He expressed his anger when needed and he rewarded people when they deserve it. Yes, everything he says is unfiltered but Ria will take that any day than wondering what the other person actually means and what their real intentions are. It’s exhausting to be around people who always hide.

Either way, whatever the reasoning behind her love, it won’t change the fact that the second he dies the story is going to be Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet pretty quickly.

To her, Romeo’s beauty was so blinding that there's no way people wouldn't feel the same way she did back then. HELL even now she still thinks he’s beautiful as she gazes at him. She wanted there to be days where she could say that he’s beautiful without any worries – without thinking that it’d be weird for her to say those praises, but it’s all in the past now. Romeo is her first and possibly the last romantic interest she’ll ever accept into her heart.

After watching him for two years, she came to realize that there will never be a place for her in the vast sea of his ambitions. And Ria fully understands that, she too has her own plan to execute by the time she graduates. But with her own heart that’s always ready to betray her, she would run to him the second he offered his hand. She hates it – she hates to love him. She hates that Romeo would take dangerous missions not knowing what it would do to her. She hates that Romeo had to suck up to Hyde to achieve what he wants. She hates that she can’t do anything that can sate his greed. Ria would offer the world beneath his feet if it’s what he wants from her – that’s just how far her love can go. And it’s scary for her. All the things she would do to gain his love is scary and she is well aware of that.

Every time she thinks she has a grasp of what love is, Romeo would walk in and remind her that he is the impossible last piece of the puzzle that she can never have – Jyuria’s heart is forever Romeo’s but not the other way around, and it never will be.

If there’s someone that can grant what Romeo wants, it’s Taiga. And Taiga needs Romeo as well. So who is Ria to deny them of that? She could only hope that they would be happy as she sat there praying they wouldn't betray each other one day.

Speaking of Romeo and Juliet, Ria’s name (Jyuria) was actually from Juliet but I didn’t want it to be that obvious so I changed it to Julia or Jyuria (or Yuria/Yulia if you may I really don’t care) and then gave her an even shorter and simple name – Ria. In that story Juliet died first and then followed by Romeo AND THEN Juliet. Pretty much the same thing that would happen here too. If Romeo dies, Ria will want to follow him. But if Ria dies, Romeo wouldn’t feel that way. In a nutshell, Romeo and Ria dynamic is “Your Atypical Romeo and Juliet Story” (very cliché contemporary novel book title yeah)

While we’re on the topic of dynamics, I need to mention Ria’s name. Hoshibami means star’s dwelling (correct me if I’m wrong) while Taiga’s surname means star eater. And they both want the same thing – no I refuse to elaborate further than this.

But I do think of this post a lot.

Towa’s nickname for Ria is “Stargazer” for short of Stargazer Lily. It’s a lily that blooms facing the sky – or stars. It represents unlimited meaningful possibilities that are there to pursue. But really, the reason Towa gave her that name is probably because of her painful gaze towards a certain someone.

Out of three people, Maia is the only person that knows about Ria's stigma in depth. Taiga probably knows too but he doesn't show it, while Romeo has some theories. He knows she can tell whether someone is lying through their teeth or not (he used to trust her with questioning rats and in business dealings), but he doesn't know that her stigma doesn't have any effect on him. He noticed that it's not easy to sneak up on her but there are multiple times when he tried and succeeded. Romeo hasn't figured out why he's different. Can you imagine how dangerous it would be for her tho 💀 I still don't have the heart to be that cruel.

Romeo is the reason those love letters coming her way always get rejected. The reason for so many confessions that leads to heartbreak. She can’t even blame them for liking her but at the same time – deep in her heart – she wished all of this would just stop. Rejecting people has never been easy for her because Ria herself will always live in fear of rejection. Romeo might not be here as her lover, but as a lesson.

Her greatest mistake. A never-ending Tartarus that calls to her. A fault star in the sky that’s forever lovely in her eyes.

You might think that Ria was stupid for loving them in the first place but that was literally the price of her own stigma. Her heart will never truly belong to her anymore. She wouldn’t help but fall in love and want to devote her all to those people – they will become her Achilles’ heel and there’s nothing she can do about it. If they want to stab her in the back, she won’t even defend herself. Because every ounce of attention, be it good or bad, is considered love language to her. To be conscious of those that can harm her but completely vulnerable at the same time, all because she loves those people blindly. To have the power of literally breaking people’s hearts at the price of making hers fragile… What's so different from a curse?

#tokyo debunker oc #jyuria hoshizumi #mairia archive #mairia lore #((it scares me how a big portion of ria's lore is centered on romeo. but then again he was the reason i made her in the first place))#((and i guess the angst parts are all my fault. oops))

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