Gabriel Fanfarinet

Gabriel Fanfarinet [he/him], previously Gabriel Benoît, is the son of Ambassador Fanfarinet from the Princess Mayblossom.

He had once lived thinking he was some non-legacy of no substantial value, until he discovered that he was the son of the previous Ambassador Fanfarinet during the events of The Manhunt. Desperate to do something more interesting with his life, he took up the offer to fulfill his father’s destiny, and has since moved to BookEnd, near Ever After High.

Currently, he works as a bookkeeper in BookEnd, but is also receiving some training for his future role as the next Ambassador.

Personality
In a word, Gabriel is philosophical.

Not in a “constantly critically thinking” kind of way. Not in a “sits in a comfy armchair and does nothing but ponder” kind of way.

He’s philosophical in the most convoluted way.

A man of fate, Gabriel Fanfarinet believes that everything in the world is predetermined.

For this reason, he is constantly calm and collected, maintaining a professional air and outlook. Gabriel sees little reason to fuss over the state of the world, or the state of his life. The only certainty of life is uncertainty, after all, and with this little axiom, he tucks away all the stress he feels.

He is verbose, and possesses a jarring, sharp wit. Such wit is often rarely used in comfort, but instead manifests itself in dry remarks and quips against an opponent or a peer.

As somebody still quite new to fairytale society, Gabriel is still learning the ropes. Although still in the process of mastering the skills of villainy, he's been acquiring the acumen quite quickly. There's something to say about his adaptability -- which is not surprising when his background is taken into account.

Despite so, Gabriel shows a persistent lack of ability to think for himself. He believes he does some things for his own benefit, but in reality, he's easily swayed by authority figures and good bargains. He can be a real stickler for rules -- or a complete rebel -- depending on which group is peer-pressuring him at that particular moment.

When he speaks, it's with an assured tone, making him sound certain of everything he says. It partly makes him seem trustworthy, and yet, unfathomable. After all, what sort of person, at 18, can fully comprehend who they are?

Appearance
A pale young man of 18, tall, with mousy brown hair. A build neither skinny nor muscular. White, French. Has scrutinising brown eyes.

Handsome, but in a cold way. Reminds you of an oil painting.

Hobbies and Interests
Gabriel clearly shows some sort of interest in philosophy and expresses some admiration for Voltaire -- although, that could be simply to give himself the appearance of an educated young man.

He is also a frequent reader, though he only seems to read classics and rarely picks up a book written in the last ten years.

He also has a fondness for art history, and cites his favourite painting as Millais’ Ophelia.

How it Goes
Princess Mayblossom is born, but a fairytale named Carabosse curses her to be miserable for 20 years. Thus, the princess was put into a tower to prevent any harm to her.

When Mayblossom was nearly 20, her parents decided that she must be married, so they sent her portrait to every legible prince. King Merlin sent his ambassador, Fanfarinet, to make an offer for his son, but Mayblossom swiftly fell in love with Fanfarinet instead, and convinced him to run away with her, taking her father's dagger and her mother's headdress.

A chancellor realised that the princess was missing, and the nurses told him about the princess and Fanfarinet. They later found from a man that he rowed the couple to an island.

At the island, you probably expect the Ambassador and the Princess to be happy. Nah. Turns out that Fanfarinet was actually a huge jerk, a lazy arse, and wasn't very nice to the princess at all. Later, while the admiral men land on the island to search for Mayblossom and Fanfarinet, Mayblossom made Fanfarinet invisible with her mother's headdress, and he ended up killing the men.

Later, Fanfarinet turned on the princess, about to kill her as well, but instead Mayblossom stabbed him in the face and threw him down a cliff.

When Mayblossom went home, her 20 years were up, and ended up married to King Merlin's son, who was hella rad.

How does Gabriel comes into it?
The previous Fanfarinet was Jacques Fanfarinet, and in the few years between school and destiny, he decided that the best way to spend his life was "to go out with a bang– or several". I suppose, for the sake of brevity, you can assume what happened.

Gabriel grew up with a single mother, who unfortunately passed during his teenage years. Through stoicism and resigned determination, Gabriel took night classes, worked in food service, did whatever he could to support himself. As luck would had it, sometime between those years he received a sponsorship from a sudden benefactor, and could manage to get a place as a lawyer's receptionist.

It was far from an interesting life, so during the events of the Manhunt, he almost immediately jumped on the opportunity to take his biological father's destiny.

Opinion on Destiny
When Bastion Fanfarinet offered Gabriel the destiny of the ambassador, he had talked of it like it was some great honour, and had sold the idea of being a legacy as some sort of great adventure. Gabriel – dear author, inexperienced, young Gabriel – jumped at the offer, and didn’t bother to grapple with the consequences until it became too late.

Villains are important, Gabriel thinks. Without villains, there would be no story. And if there’s no story, well. So, in that regard, Gabriel believes that his new role is important as hex.

While he does admire the work of D’Aulnoy, it’s mostly performative (and mostly built out of a small resentment for Perrault).

Parallels

 * He's handsome? Much like how Fanfarinet is supposed to be.
 * I'm also going to use this section to talk about his design because I don't have outfits for him.
 * Colour scheme is very brown-yellow-white, in reference to the tarts, honey and milk motifs in the tale.
 * Use of hexagons – honey motif.
 * The dripping? um? shoulder things? Yeah, that's to reference the pitcher of milk. It's grey because white looked dodgy.
 * Hearts on the boots – Fanfarinet is a temporary love interest.
 * The pinned flowers – I'm pretty sure Mayblossoms are flowers?

Family
His father is, of course, the previous Ambassador Fanfarinet, Jacques, and his mother was some random he hooked up with. He had not been particularly close to his mother before she died, and never knew his father.

He has a bit of a strained relationship with both his aunt, Elise Fanfarinet, and his cousin, Bastion.

Acquaintances
He knows Airmid Valerian – after all, the doctor was Bastion’s companion on the very trip that led Gabriel to finding out from his heritage, and his destiny. Gabriel doesn’t think much of Airmid. He knows that the other guy is clever, so he often tries one-upping the doctor with witticisms. (Airmid loses. Frequently.)

He’s also aware of the existence of Charmaine Lexwington, and has the feeling that the fairy thinks of him as a “discount Bastion”.

Quotes
"The world is meaningless, gentlemen. Might as well have fun living in it. If the life of a legacy is grandeur, then I say a few years of fun is ultimately worth more than decades of boredom."

- "And that final day of agony?" – Bastion. "An honourable way to go." – Gabriel.

Trivia

 * Gabriel is the name of an archangel, specifically the messenger.
 * Likewise, an ambassador relays messages in the same way the archangel Gabriel does.
 * It's also a reference to the preraphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
 * Fanfarinet is the canonical name of the Ambassador in the story.
 * His previous surname, Benoît, was chosen as a variant of the name ‘Beatrice’. Yes, his name was in fact intended to be a reference to Divine Comedy, but this motif was later dropped. Benoît is also a common French surname, which emphasises the common, non-legacy roots he comes from.