Heron DeRosse

"La Vie en Pose"

Heron DeRosse (he/him) is a relatively popular fashion model, made even more popular by his appearances alongside a certain miss Iconic Charming in various photoshoots.

When he was 16 he received a letter from Ever After High, assigning him the role of Cupid in Death and Cupid, due to being the closest thing to a cupid they had at the time (CA Cupid had not transferred yet.) Heron is not that into his role, but his managers insist that a destiny is good for PR. Hence, Heron has to withhold his true opinion, and identifies as neutral.

Personality
Heron's been rather popular, both inside and outside school for the past few years, so most people could give you a pretty reliable summary of his public persona- level headed, emotionally intelligent, reliable and hardworking. His presence at school is rather sporadic, due to his job, but beyond that, he managed to balance training for his role,as well as running a romantic advice column (later taken over by CA Cupid.) Heron's emotional intelligence gives him a great deal of social tact, allowing him to steer the conversation away from topics that might be upsetting, and defuse tense situations with nothing but his words. This, combined with his calm personality and high empathy make him generally well liked around the school. However as of late, his persona has been slipping.

When the attention is off him, Heron's a completely different person. The real Heron is sullen, gloomy and highly irritable. Some would call him a prima donna- he is prone to making unreasonable demands to his managers, threatening to walk if they don't fulfil them to the letter. He is also more prone to snapping at coworkers, getting frustrated at minor inconveniences and altogether being more high maintenance. This has started to creep into his interactions with his peers at school- he is quite standoffish as of recent, and he seems almost suspicious of their intentions.

Truth be told, Heron finds his public persona draining. The reason he's so good at empathising with others and keeping things pleasant is because of his powers. Heron has strong empathy powers, which when activated allow him to sense people's emotional state with complete precision. This has been invaluable for him when it comes to building rapport as well as for networking- because he can read a room, he can work it to his advantage. However because of the advantages, Heron has been overusing his powers for the past year and he's drained. He's prone to migraines because of it. The overuse has had some pretty rough effects on him, especially emotionally. For one, he is burnt out. Having to physically feel everyone else's emotions all the time has proved very draining, and trying to think of what to say and how to please people is also a huge mental burden. Secondly, he has trouble separating other people's emotions from his own. His mood is heavily affected by the moods of people around him, meaning he's happy when people are happy, and sad when they are. This impairs his ability to be critical and to decide things for himself, as he is vulnerable to other people's impulses. Overall however, he is overwhelmed. He barely ever feels like himself anymore, and this just makes him stressed, tired and irritable. Any emotions he experiences become compounded by other's feelings, which makes him prone to outbursts.

Because of this, Heron has become highly avoidant of others, spending less time in social situations before finding reasons to leave, and generally withdrawing from school life. He wants to maintain his public perception, but simply doesn't have the emotional capacity for it.

What Heron hasn't told anyone is how trapped he feels. Over the past year, his managers have become increasingly demanding, adding in even more jobs to his already packed schedule and expecting him to accommodate them gracefully. They have also become increasingly demeaning, undermining him at every turn in order to control him better. They frequently argue with Heron behind the scenes in order to cajole him into doing what they want him to. In retaliation, Heron has become intensely demanding, matching them at their game by forcing them to run around to fulfil unreasonable demands. He often behaves a bit more aggressively and is meaner than he would prefer to be, but he's afraid that if he doesn't do that much, he will be seen as weak. This is another thing that has leaked into his default behaviour- when his persona lapses, he speaks quite rudely.

Now, Heron loves his job, but he has started to feel constrained by it. He is a guy with big dreams, and ambitions, and he doesn't just want to model. Recently he has been incredibly interested in branching into acting (hey, he'd be good at it, he's been faking a personality for years) but unfortunately that was met with a flat no. He feels like he has been forced to remain in the position he is because it's profitable for the higher ups. He has lost a lot of his enthusiasm for the things he used to care about, and mostly he just appears sullen and bored.

His manager's main argument for why Heron shouldn't do anything beyond obeying him is that Heron's personality is bad. And well, Heron is starting to believe them. Heron has a growing feeling of imposter syndrome, that applies to everything, from his abilities as a model to his position at Ever After High. Let's face it-he's just a fae who looks basically the same as others in his family, he's not remotely qualified to deal in matters of love and romance, nor is he qualified to take the place of a god. He's incredibly self critical, and he finds it hard to look at anything he's done without scrutinizing every single flaw. He is also incredibly uncomfortable with romance. He dislikes being asked to give love advice, seeing as he is neither a love god nor remotely experienced, and tends to respond to these questions defensively. Heron also hates being seen as romantically desirable- it really freaks him out. Since Heron doesn't feel comfortable being seen as a love god, he also isn't comfortable being crushed on, as he's scared it comes from the same place, of idolising him as a romantic god. It genuinely freaks him out.

Heron masks most of his insecurities with a facade of indifference. Whether compliments or criticisms, Heron approaches them with the same bored expression. This almost serves as a form of emotional regulation for him- since he's so sensitive to other's emotional states, neutrality is the one emotion in the fray that's definitely his. Since Heron believes his true personality is unlikable, he has become quite withdrawn, and disconnected from others. Most people who talk to him these days find him incredibly hard to connect to emotionally, often bringing them to the conclusion that as a spellebrity he has no time for them, thinks he's too good for them, or, if they want to see the best in him assume he's just having an off day. Either way, Heron suppresses his personality to not disappoint anyone.

So that said, what is Heron's actual personality like? Honestly, it wasn't too different from his public persona, bar maybe the extreme professional politeness. However his doubts and insecurities have changed him a bit, making him far more quiet amd antisocial. Beyond that though, Heron is a highly passionate person. When he cares about something, he cares a lot, and places all of his love and passion into it. This makes him an extremely hard worker, as he approaches everything he does wholeheartedly. Because he cares so much, he used to be quite outspoken and quick to point out issues, to make sure things are perfect. He does this less now, because yeah actually when he thinks about it he was probably being unreasonable. The disadvantage of him being so passionate is that he puts so much of himself into the things he does, that when he fails, it hurts. He is also prone to burnout, because of how dedicated he is to them. Heron is also quite a frank person, when not behaving professionally. He can also be extremely stubborn, refusing to back down from challenges he's accepted, or bets he's made, to an excessive degree. It causes him to keep doing things he's unhappy about or accept defeat ever because he simply refuses to bow out first.

Background
For clarity, Heron is not a cupid. His family hails from Venusberg, one of the Fairylands of France. Known as the Land of Earthly Pleasures, the fae that live there are said to be the descendents of Venus. Whether or not this is true is debatable, but most of the residents are perceived as love spirits nonetheless.

Since Heron is actually a fae, his abilities don't really match the cupid powerset, but he can approximate them.

Powers and Abilities

 * Empathy powers- Heron can sense other people's emotions. This ability can be turned on or off, but Heron often overuses it to his own detriment. In the first place, these powers were far too strong for him to use comfortably, and using it so often has only strengthened it, to the point it's still working when he isn't using it.
 * To note- Heron can only sense emotions, but not intentions. This power does not help in determining who is or isn't trustworthy.
 * Charm magic/fixation- Gazing into his eyes has an almost hypnotic effect, meaning that he can charm people very easily. To avoid this, he usually covers one eye with his hair, apart from when he's modelling. The effect is downplayed on photographs, meaning it mostly just kind of makes him a very compelling model.
 * Supernatural Beauty- like most fae.

Herbalism and Alchemy/Science
Venusberg has a lot of very unique plants, many that are completely unheard of beyond the mountain. That's why Venusberg herbalism is rather unique in its knowledge base. That, and the rarity of Venusberg natives living on Earth make it a very profitable profession.

Heron's family are herbalists by trade, so it's only natural he'd pick it up as a child. He enjoys growing and looking after the plants but very rarely actually gives anyone any of the dried herbs or medicines, mostly because he's actually responsible.

This knowledge has been very useful in faking Cupid type abilities.

Art
Tba
 * Oil paints

Appearance

 * Heron is a handsome youth with androgynous leaning features.
 * His fae heritage isn't immediately obvious, but he does have a very ethereal quality to his appearance