Post by Ayu on Sept 2, 2008 16:05:31 GMT -5
Name: Nicolas Luc Marchand
Nicknames: Nico, le soldat, Frenchie, Monsieur Marchand
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Clique: Staff
Clique Status: French teacher
Picture:
Play by: Jonathan Caillat w/ badly painted scars
Appearance: Nico’s hair is short, straight, scruffy and sort of red-brown. His face is rather tanned, a bit more than ‘pale and interesting’ and significantly short of ‘surfer boy’, and almost always carries hints of stubble. He has high cheekbones and a thin nose, which has a slight lump at the top (he maintains that it has never been broken, despite the evidence to the contrary). His face is expressive, his mouth usually laughing. He’s not exactly Mr Gorgeous, but he has no shortage of female admirers. Mostly this is because of his personality more than his looks, but he’s far from ugly.
His right eye is grey-blue and slightly crinkled by laughter, and usually dark-rimmed through lack of sleep. However, his left eye is conspicuously absent, the area between his cheekbone and his brow marred and pitted by small scars, with one long cut running from his hairline to his cheekbone. Incidentally, he also has a scar wrapping right around his right shoulder, several nasty marks above his left wrist and a burn mark on his left side.
Nico is best described as ‘wiry’; a tad above six foot, with long arms and legs and very little excess body fat. However, his muscles are by dint of years in the army well developed, as is his stamina. When he was younger, he used to forget to eat a lot of the time. He no longer starves himself, on the contrary he eats well and often, but despite eating like a horse, he doesn’t ever seem to put on much weight. Several theories abound, involving tapeworms, stomach pumps and overexercise, but the truth is that he just has an amazing metabolism (although his inability to keep still might also have something to do with it).
He has generally good posture when standing, but tends to slump forwards while seated. He puts his elbows on the table while eating, fidgets a lot and is generally rather irritating in meetings. You can tell him from a mile off, and guess his personality and mood just as easily.
He mostly dresses in a shirt and trousers, but somewhat scruffily, and he remains attached to his military jacket. He says it keeps the cold out and makes him look cool. The double-breasted blue frock coat is usually dirty and missing several buttons; the same goes for his white shirt and black trousers. His boots are scuffed and loosely laced. The only accessory he wears regularly is a plain silver watch given to him by his squadron. He carries a large black leather bag, which contains his papers, his equipment and his lunch.
Personality: At first glance (and second, and third), Nico seems rather happy-go-lucky. He’s never neat, always smiling, always has a friendly word for everyone and is totally incapable of punctuality. His attitude to authority is irreverent, to say the least. To most people, it’s something of a mystery how he got as high in the ranks as he did before leaving the army.
The thing is, under this laid back, friendly façade lurks a mind with the power to bring down cities. It’s not obvious at first; he comes across as immature and silly, but occasionally he would just sit up and calmly and amiably point out that if those troops move there the whole situation can be easily resolved. It worked about half of the time, too.
On top of that, he’s a strong leader in that he has a talent in making people like him. Perhaps it’s his incapability to let people get hurt without a really good reason, perhaps it’s his natural geniality; whatever the reason, he definitely has no problem making friends. He’s ready to admit failure, and rather good at laughing at himself. This may or may not make up for his total lack of organisation and inability to accept orders he disagrees with.
But, lazy as he seems, there’s no denying that Nico has passion. He tends towards impulsiveness, even recklessness, diving into the line of fire for civilians. It’s got him in trouble countless times, both in the army and in the school. But he absolutely can’t stand by if innocent people need help. It just doesn’t work for him. The only time he ever seems to be on time is when he needs to help someone.
Although he has no problems with shouting out his feelings to the world, there are a few things Nico keeps close to his chest; he won’t tell anyone things that will upset them unless he must, and he never releases his anger on vulnerable people. If somebody pisses him off, which is rare in itself, he will just grit his teeth, try to ignore them and then go back to his flat and punch several kinds of shit out of the wall. He also keeps quite quiet about certain aspects of his past.
History: Nicolas’ parents, Adrien and Cecilia Marchand, both come from Northern France. Adrien, a police officer, has a similar passion to his son, and his people skills clearly come from his nurse mother, but where Nico’s particular brand of laziness comes from is not at all obvious. He was raised kindly, but since both of his parents worked full time from when he started school, he learnt most of the things he knows about the world by himself.
At school, he got on well with most people his age and younger, although several older students saw him as weak and treated him accordingly. He didn’t mind, because they stopped short of beating him up and he didn’t take much notice of insults. He had enough close friends that he was able to brush off his enemies. However, it upset him when they started on his friends. He didn’t get particularly good marks in school, having problems concentrating and being late for many exams, but managed to stay at about average through natural intelligence. From school, he went on to study English at university and eventually graduated with merit.
For a while, he thought about joining the police like his father, but decided against it. Instead, he went to the army, hoping that he could use the strategical mind he’d been told was brilliant to help people there. The reality was rather harder than expected; he had trouble with the idea of shooting and invading the privacy of others, and physically the training was hard on him (it was at boot camp he got the scar on his arm; he somehow got barbed wire tangled around his shoulder and cut his arm open. Nobody’s yet figured how). But it was too late by then.
After a few years doing both field work and desk work, Nico decided that, tough though it was, and despite the insane amount he got into trouble, it was for a good cause. But, hating having to obey orders he thought were wrong, he made up his mind that he’d get in a position where he could make the rules. So he worked hard, straightened up his act and achieved the rank of commandant (Major) aged 31.
Almost exactly a year after his promotion, he was at a meeting in Versailles when the group received an anonymous warning of a pro-royalist terrorist attack in the city centre. Disregarding orders from his superior officers, he leapt out of his seat and ran all the way to the scene instantly. Pulling rank, he evacuated the area moments before the bomb went off. There were only two casualties; the attacker and an innocent girl. In trying to protect the latter, Nico was almost killed in the blast.
He woke up in hospital two days later. His whole left side was a mass of pain, and he could only see out of one eye. The doctors sombrely informed him that he had lost most of his left eye and that his left hand was paralysed, hopefully temporarily. He would not be able to fire a rifle again, nor would he ever regain full vision. Offered a choice between a desk job and an honourable discharge, he chose the latter. While still in his hospital bed, he was handed several month’s backpay and a medal and told to give back all equipment belonging to the army.
It took two years to allow his hand to move near-normally again, and he could only afford the doctor’s help through the generosity of his family, friends and ex-squad, who all contributed what they could to pay fees. When he was finally independent again, he decided to search for a new job. He’d never been anything but a soldier, so he was lost in this new world. One of his friends suggested teaching. But English was all he could do, so he thought he would try teaching in England. It would be a new experience, if nothing else.
He moved to London and applied for a job at Florence, which he got. Over the last two years, he has grown very close to students and staff alike, and is generally quite a popular teacher. Although for some reason everyone hears his name as Nicola.
Fears:
- Loud noises/sudden flashes of light (because of the trauma from the explosion)
- Hurting people/letting people get hurt
- People he loves dying
- Being a bad teacher
- Honey (look, it’s a HELL of a long story, ok?)
Likes:
- Heights
- People
- Seeing smiles
- His jacket
- Sunlight
- Music
- Talking
- Laughter
- Homemade bread
- Apple juice
- Savoury food
- Food in general
- Using his hands
- Helping
- Being lazy
Dislikes:
- Being made to be on time/dress smartly
- Being told to do things he disagrees with (he does what he thinks is right anyway)
- Staying still
- Boredom
- Unfriendly people
Dreams: To help as many people as possible, to regain his vision somehow.
Anything you'd like to add? WHY DOES AYU MAKE FRENCH TEACHER WHEN AYU NO CAN SPEEK FRENCH? AYU NO KNOW!
Nicknames: Nico, le soldat, Frenchie, Monsieur Marchand
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Clique: Staff
Clique Status: French teacher
Picture:
Play by: Jonathan Caillat w/ badly painted scars
Appearance: Nico’s hair is short, straight, scruffy and sort of red-brown. His face is rather tanned, a bit more than ‘pale and interesting’ and significantly short of ‘surfer boy’, and almost always carries hints of stubble. He has high cheekbones and a thin nose, which has a slight lump at the top (he maintains that it has never been broken, despite the evidence to the contrary). His face is expressive, his mouth usually laughing. He’s not exactly Mr Gorgeous, but he has no shortage of female admirers. Mostly this is because of his personality more than his looks, but he’s far from ugly.
His right eye is grey-blue and slightly crinkled by laughter, and usually dark-rimmed through lack of sleep. However, his left eye is conspicuously absent, the area between his cheekbone and his brow marred and pitted by small scars, with one long cut running from his hairline to his cheekbone. Incidentally, he also has a scar wrapping right around his right shoulder, several nasty marks above his left wrist and a burn mark on his left side.
Nico is best described as ‘wiry’; a tad above six foot, with long arms and legs and very little excess body fat. However, his muscles are by dint of years in the army well developed, as is his stamina. When he was younger, he used to forget to eat a lot of the time. He no longer starves himself, on the contrary he eats well and often, but despite eating like a horse, he doesn’t ever seem to put on much weight. Several theories abound, involving tapeworms, stomach pumps and overexercise, but the truth is that he just has an amazing metabolism (although his inability to keep still might also have something to do with it).
He has generally good posture when standing, but tends to slump forwards while seated. He puts his elbows on the table while eating, fidgets a lot and is generally rather irritating in meetings. You can tell him from a mile off, and guess his personality and mood just as easily.
He mostly dresses in a shirt and trousers, but somewhat scruffily, and he remains attached to his military jacket. He says it keeps the cold out and makes him look cool. The double-breasted blue frock coat is usually dirty and missing several buttons; the same goes for his white shirt and black trousers. His boots are scuffed and loosely laced. The only accessory he wears regularly is a plain silver watch given to him by his squadron. He carries a large black leather bag, which contains his papers, his equipment and his lunch.
Personality: At first glance (and second, and third), Nico seems rather happy-go-lucky. He’s never neat, always smiling, always has a friendly word for everyone and is totally incapable of punctuality. His attitude to authority is irreverent, to say the least. To most people, it’s something of a mystery how he got as high in the ranks as he did before leaving the army.
The thing is, under this laid back, friendly façade lurks a mind with the power to bring down cities. It’s not obvious at first; he comes across as immature and silly, but occasionally he would just sit up and calmly and amiably point out that if those troops move there the whole situation can be easily resolved. It worked about half of the time, too.
On top of that, he’s a strong leader in that he has a talent in making people like him. Perhaps it’s his incapability to let people get hurt without a really good reason, perhaps it’s his natural geniality; whatever the reason, he definitely has no problem making friends. He’s ready to admit failure, and rather good at laughing at himself. This may or may not make up for his total lack of organisation and inability to accept orders he disagrees with.
But, lazy as he seems, there’s no denying that Nico has passion. He tends towards impulsiveness, even recklessness, diving into the line of fire for civilians. It’s got him in trouble countless times, both in the army and in the school. But he absolutely can’t stand by if innocent people need help. It just doesn’t work for him. The only time he ever seems to be on time is when he needs to help someone.
Although he has no problems with shouting out his feelings to the world, there are a few things Nico keeps close to his chest; he won’t tell anyone things that will upset them unless he must, and he never releases his anger on vulnerable people. If somebody pisses him off, which is rare in itself, he will just grit his teeth, try to ignore them and then go back to his flat and punch several kinds of shit out of the wall. He also keeps quite quiet about certain aspects of his past.
History: Nicolas’ parents, Adrien and Cecilia Marchand, both come from Northern France. Adrien, a police officer, has a similar passion to his son, and his people skills clearly come from his nurse mother, but where Nico’s particular brand of laziness comes from is not at all obvious. He was raised kindly, but since both of his parents worked full time from when he started school, he learnt most of the things he knows about the world by himself.
At school, he got on well with most people his age and younger, although several older students saw him as weak and treated him accordingly. He didn’t mind, because they stopped short of beating him up and he didn’t take much notice of insults. He had enough close friends that he was able to brush off his enemies. However, it upset him when they started on his friends. He didn’t get particularly good marks in school, having problems concentrating and being late for many exams, but managed to stay at about average through natural intelligence. From school, he went on to study English at university and eventually graduated with merit.
For a while, he thought about joining the police like his father, but decided against it. Instead, he went to the army, hoping that he could use the strategical mind he’d been told was brilliant to help people there. The reality was rather harder than expected; he had trouble with the idea of shooting and invading the privacy of others, and physically the training was hard on him (it was at boot camp he got the scar on his arm; he somehow got barbed wire tangled around his shoulder and cut his arm open. Nobody’s yet figured how). But it was too late by then.
After a few years doing both field work and desk work, Nico decided that, tough though it was, and despite the insane amount he got into trouble, it was for a good cause. But, hating having to obey orders he thought were wrong, he made up his mind that he’d get in a position where he could make the rules. So he worked hard, straightened up his act and achieved the rank of commandant (Major) aged 31.
Almost exactly a year after his promotion, he was at a meeting in Versailles when the group received an anonymous warning of a pro-royalist terrorist attack in the city centre. Disregarding orders from his superior officers, he leapt out of his seat and ran all the way to the scene instantly. Pulling rank, he evacuated the area moments before the bomb went off. There were only two casualties; the attacker and an innocent girl. In trying to protect the latter, Nico was almost killed in the blast.
He woke up in hospital two days later. His whole left side was a mass of pain, and he could only see out of one eye. The doctors sombrely informed him that he had lost most of his left eye and that his left hand was paralysed, hopefully temporarily. He would not be able to fire a rifle again, nor would he ever regain full vision. Offered a choice between a desk job and an honourable discharge, he chose the latter. While still in his hospital bed, he was handed several month’s backpay and a medal and told to give back all equipment belonging to the army.
It took two years to allow his hand to move near-normally again, and he could only afford the doctor’s help through the generosity of his family, friends and ex-squad, who all contributed what they could to pay fees. When he was finally independent again, he decided to search for a new job. He’d never been anything but a soldier, so he was lost in this new world. One of his friends suggested teaching. But English was all he could do, so he thought he would try teaching in England. It would be a new experience, if nothing else.
He moved to London and applied for a job at Florence, which he got. Over the last two years, he has grown very close to students and staff alike, and is generally quite a popular teacher. Although for some reason everyone hears his name as Nicola.
Fears:
- Loud noises/sudden flashes of light (because of the trauma from the explosion)
- Hurting people/letting people get hurt
- People he loves dying
- Being a bad teacher
- Honey (look, it’s a HELL of a long story, ok?)
Likes:
- Heights
- People
- Seeing smiles
- His jacket
- Sunlight
- Music
- Talking
- Laughter
- Homemade bread
- Apple juice
- Savoury food
- Food in general
- Using his hands
- Helping
- Being lazy
Dislikes:
- Being made to be on time/dress smartly
- Being told to do things he disagrees with (he does what he thinks is right anyway)
- Staying still
- Boredom
- Unfriendly people
Dreams: To help as many people as possible, to regain his vision somehow.
Anything you'd like to add? WHY DOES AYU MAKE FRENCH TEACHER WHEN AYU NO CAN SPEEK FRENCH? AYU NO KNOW!
