Post by Francis Bonnefoy on Oct 12, 2010 16:20:41 GMT -5
Character Information
Character name: Francis Bonnefoy
Nation: France
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Appearance
Height: 5’9
Hair/eyes: Blond; just below/at shoulder length and wavy. Blue eyes
Notable Features: A rose that seems to always cover his privates; keen sense of fashion and importance paid to image. Scruff on chin
Personality:
Francis is a person who does things at his own pace. He doesn’t like to be pushed or prodded into doing things faster by others, especially by Arthur. Francis and Arthur have been fighting forever, so much so that it’s more out of habit now than any actual hatred. With other nations Francis likes to believe he has a very good relationship with most of them. He expresses his appreciation for them with an abundance of love and affection and loves both men and women very much, especially beautiful ones. Often times it can be said he goes too far with making his advances toward other nations, doing things such as streaking and touching them inappropriately. Much of his advances come from him being the country of love and his language from being the language of love. He is very adamant about this and loves himself so much that he won’t learn English. He has a love of culture and arts, as well as fashion, and all things that are beautiful. He considers himself a gourmand and loves a good wine.
Francis is a person who is not afraid of voicing his opinion about matters, especially if it causes trouble for those who he feels like picking on. Generally a playful and loving person Francis shows his affection through touches and extravagant actions. He is passionate in all ways from love to those things he enjoys. Though it may not seem it Francis is a good fighter when he needs to be, when cornered he does not simply give in and give up. Of course if there is no need for over-exertion then Francis will simply do the minimal amount of work.
While he is content to remain out of things for the most part, especially if they don’t concern him, Francis can also be quite a bit of a trouble maker. This is especially true when he gets together with his best friends Gilbert and Antonio. When those three are together they can paint the town red, literally. Of all the nations however Francis is most affectionate towards Canada, whom he thinks of as his son. To most of the other nations, such as N.Italy for example, he is ‘big brother’.
Mythology
French mythology encompasses a large time frame from the Gaul to the Normans and Franks. I will try to include mythological characters from all eras if possible so that I can get as much coverage as possible of the extensiveness of their mythology. Guess it’s what comes from being such an old codger (or is England the codger?)
Creatures:
Barbegazi: A gnome-like people that inhabit the Alps mountains between France and Switzerland. They look just like other gnomes except for large feet which gives them the advantages of both skis and snowshoes. Barbegazi are known as the caretakers of the Mountains and are generally friendly towards man-kind, and will often help those who are lost and dying of cold in the mountains.
Bicorn: The Bicorn or Bycorne is a mythical beast, fabled by the early French romancers to grow very fat through living on "good and enduring husbands". It was described as half panther- half cow with two horns, hence its name.
Chichevache: is a mythological European monster fabled to feed on "good women".
Croquemitaine: The croquemitaine or croque-mitaine is the equivalent of the Bogeyman in the foklore of France. He is often seen along his wife, Dame Croquemitaine (or Vipérine) and his servant, Bras-de-Fer (or Mordillard, Brique-à-Brac).
Epona: In Gaulish and (later) Roman and Gallo-Roman mythology, Epona was the goddess of horses, donkeys, mules. She was particularly a goddess of fertility.
Gargouille: The gargouille was a mythological water dragon originating from France and said to live in the River Seine. The Gargouille is described as a colossal monster with a long neck, a slender snout and eyes greaming like moonstones.
From the waters of the river Seine, a monster with a great scaled head appears one day and starts mercilessly saturating the land until the entire region is flooded. In legend, Saint Romain, the archbishop of Rouen, lured the monster to shore using a convict, and then made a cross with his fingers to tame the monster. This gesture immediately tames the Gargouille. He then led it into town where it was slaughtered. Some accounts say it was burned.
Goblin: a general term that can apply either to the ugliest members of the fae, or to certain sub-races. Those fae numbered among the goblin subraces, include the Scottish Trows, English Spriggans, Welsh Knockers, Cornish Knockers, German Kobolds and Wichtlein, the Irish Phooka and even Shakespeare's infamous Puck .
Peluda: (sometimes called the Shaggy Beast or La Velue) is a dragon-like beast that terrorized the city of La Ferté-Bernard, France, in medieval times. Depending on the account, it had either a porcupine-like body or a mess of hair-like projections hanging from its body that were actually stinger-tipped tentacles which could erect into quills. Consistently, it was said to have possessed poisonous stingers that it could shoot off its body, a snake's neck, head, and tail, large, tortoise-like feet, and a green color.
The lore proposed that the beast was denied access to Noah's Ark, yet survived the biblical flood by seeking refuge in a cave near the Huisne River. After many years, it returned to rampage across the countryside, wilting crops with its breath and devouring both livestock and humans. It was finally defeated after it killed a man's fiancée. He tracked it down and cut off its tail. This was the only vulnerable point on the beast, and it died immediately.
Vouivre: is a hybrid monster in French mythology. The Vouivre is an enormous female beast with shining green scales which gives off a low and strange musical sound as she flies. She wears a crown of pearls and a gold circlet on her tail which also ring. But most strange of all is her dragon's head with its one great and glowing ruby eye. This luminouse orb she removes when she bathes, making herself blind for just those minutes.
The Vouivre dwells in a cave and can breathe fire. It guards the treasure and devours people who come to stealth the treasure. In other versions, she lived in a river.
Medieval France shared a number of common mythological figures with the rest of Europe:
European dragon - Dragons from Norse mythology, Germanic mythology and Greek Mythology were often woven into folklore and myths as the greatest opponents of the feudal knights and kings.
Fae - Fairies and Elves. (See etymology of "Fairy") - The word Fairy comes from the French name of the Fates in Greek mythology, but had morphed into strange, fantastic, magical beings.
Dames Blanches - were female spirits, who may come from the mythology of the Matres guardian goddesses.
Sample Post
Sometimes as Francis stands in the market place picking out the freshest ingredients for a dinner with one nation or another; he cannot help but be taken back to a time long ago. When he hears someone call out ‘papa!’ his first instinct is to always turn around as though any moment a little blond head will be running towards him, arms out stretched in welcome, crying that he has been gone too long.
Those years however are long gone; now instead of being greeted by a running little boy he is greeted by a brief hug and a ‘how have you been?’ His little Matthew is all grown up and sometimes Francis regrets that he did not make more of the time he and Matthew had together while the other was young. But the past is often full of regrets and truly Francis has many.
“Franciiiis! Tell Matt to stop pushing me!”
“Alfred hit me first!”
“Bloody hell, you two stop fighting!”
And sometimes Francis realizes that even though he lost one child somehow he gained three in place. “Now, now; Matthew stop pushing Alfred, Alfred apologize to your brother and Arthur my dear do try to keep from strangling them.” He said all as he looks over at the selection of fish spread out before him. Truly perhaps he has not lost his child, no children, at all.
((I hope it’s okay that I kept the dialogue in there even though most of it isn’t Francis))
An exert from something a little more depressing:
It was a horrifying sight, no matter who it was but today it was completely unbearable to watch. None within the crowd cheered or laughed, not for this execution. Not for the savior of France.
The sight was so horrifying, that none gathered could find pleasure in it. There was no cheering or laughter from the crowed. Even though this girl was considered the enemy she was still a child, this savior of France. The silence seemed to thicken as a lone figure walked into the area just as the wood began to catch fire.
"Jeanne." Though the name was a mere whisper but the pain it carried with it was beyond all compare. Stepping slowly forward on shaky legs, Francis reached out towards the figure tied to the stake eyes full of tears as he watched her gaze slowly fix on him. Suddenly he found his voice, screaming her name as he began to run toward her as she gave him a smile that conveyed nothing but her love for him.
Other Important Notes
My France will steal be a perve but I don’t believe he just perves on everyone without reason. I think there’s something much deeper there and that will more than likely reflect in my posts.
I hope there was enough in the mythology section; there really is too much history of different mythologies to get them all. A lot of them are shared with England, particularly in the time before and during the Roman Empire, due to their shared Celtic roots.
Character name: Francis Bonnefoy
Nation: France
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Appearance
Height: 5’9
Hair/eyes: Blond; just below/at shoulder length and wavy. Blue eyes
Notable Features: A rose that seems to always cover his privates; keen sense of fashion and importance paid to image. Scruff on chin
Personality:
Francis is a person who does things at his own pace. He doesn’t like to be pushed or prodded into doing things faster by others, especially by Arthur. Francis and Arthur have been fighting forever, so much so that it’s more out of habit now than any actual hatred. With other nations Francis likes to believe he has a very good relationship with most of them. He expresses his appreciation for them with an abundance of love and affection and loves both men and women very much, especially beautiful ones. Often times it can be said he goes too far with making his advances toward other nations, doing things such as streaking and touching them inappropriately. Much of his advances come from him being the country of love and his language from being the language of love. He is very adamant about this and loves himself so much that he won’t learn English. He has a love of culture and arts, as well as fashion, and all things that are beautiful. He considers himself a gourmand and loves a good wine.
Francis is a person who is not afraid of voicing his opinion about matters, especially if it causes trouble for those who he feels like picking on. Generally a playful and loving person Francis shows his affection through touches and extravagant actions. He is passionate in all ways from love to those things he enjoys. Though it may not seem it Francis is a good fighter when he needs to be, when cornered he does not simply give in and give up. Of course if there is no need for over-exertion then Francis will simply do the minimal amount of work.
While he is content to remain out of things for the most part, especially if they don’t concern him, Francis can also be quite a bit of a trouble maker. This is especially true when he gets together with his best friends Gilbert and Antonio. When those three are together they can paint the town red, literally. Of all the nations however Francis is most affectionate towards Canada, whom he thinks of as his son. To most of the other nations, such as N.Italy for example, he is ‘big brother’.
Mythology
French mythology encompasses a large time frame from the Gaul to the Normans and Franks. I will try to include mythological characters from all eras if possible so that I can get as much coverage as possible of the extensiveness of their mythology. Guess it’s what comes from being such an old codger (or is England the codger?)
Creatures:
Barbegazi: A gnome-like people that inhabit the Alps mountains between France and Switzerland. They look just like other gnomes except for large feet which gives them the advantages of both skis and snowshoes. Barbegazi are known as the caretakers of the Mountains and are generally friendly towards man-kind, and will often help those who are lost and dying of cold in the mountains.
Bicorn: The Bicorn or Bycorne is a mythical beast, fabled by the early French romancers to grow very fat through living on "good and enduring husbands". It was described as half panther- half cow with two horns, hence its name.
Chichevache: is a mythological European monster fabled to feed on "good women".
Croquemitaine: The croquemitaine or croque-mitaine is the equivalent of the Bogeyman in the foklore of France. He is often seen along his wife, Dame Croquemitaine (or Vipérine) and his servant, Bras-de-Fer (or Mordillard, Brique-à-Brac).
Epona: In Gaulish and (later) Roman and Gallo-Roman mythology, Epona was the goddess of horses, donkeys, mules. She was particularly a goddess of fertility.
Gargouille: The gargouille was a mythological water dragon originating from France and said to live in the River Seine. The Gargouille is described as a colossal monster with a long neck, a slender snout and eyes greaming like moonstones.
From the waters of the river Seine, a monster with a great scaled head appears one day and starts mercilessly saturating the land until the entire region is flooded. In legend, Saint Romain, the archbishop of Rouen, lured the monster to shore using a convict, and then made a cross with his fingers to tame the monster. This gesture immediately tames the Gargouille. He then led it into town where it was slaughtered. Some accounts say it was burned.
Goblin: a general term that can apply either to the ugliest members of the fae, or to certain sub-races. Those fae numbered among the goblin subraces, include the Scottish Trows, English Spriggans, Welsh Knockers, Cornish Knockers, German Kobolds and Wichtlein, the Irish Phooka and even Shakespeare's infamous Puck .
Peluda: (sometimes called the Shaggy Beast or La Velue) is a dragon-like beast that terrorized the city of La Ferté-Bernard, France, in medieval times. Depending on the account, it had either a porcupine-like body or a mess of hair-like projections hanging from its body that were actually stinger-tipped tentacles which could erect into quills. Consistently, it was said to have possessed poisonous stingers that it could shoot off its body, a snake's neck, head, and tail, large, tortoise-like feet, and a green color.
The lore proposed that the beast was denied access to Noah's Ark, yet survived the biblical flood by seeking refuge in a cave near the Huisne River. After many years, it returned to rampage across the countryside, wilting crops with its breath and devouring both livestock and humans. It was finally defeated after it killed a man's fiancée. He tracked it down and cut off its tail. This was the only vulnerable point on the beast, and it died immediately.
Vouivre: is a hybrid monster in French mythology. The Vouivre is an enormous female beast with shining green scales which gives off a low and strange musical sound as she flies. She wears a crown of pearls and a gold circlet on her tail which also ring. But most strange of all is her dragon's head with its one great and glowing ruby eye. This luminouse orb she removes when she bathes, making herself blind for just those minutes.
The Vouivre dwells in a cave and can breathe fire. It guards the treasure and devours people who come to stealth the treasure. In other versions, she lived in a river.
Medieval France shared a number of common mythological figures with the rest of Europe:
European dragon - Dragons from Norse mythology, Germanic mythology and Greek Mythology were often woven into folklore and myths as the greatest opponents of the feudal knights and kings.
Fae - Fairies and Elves. (See etymology of "Fairy") - The word Fairy comes from the French name of the Fates in Greek mythology, but had morphed into strange, fantastic, magical beings.
Dames Blanches - were female spirits, who may come from the mythology of the Matres guardian goddesses.
Sample Post
Sometimes as Francis stands in the market place picking out the freshest ingredients for a dinner with one nation or another; he cannot help but be taken back to a time long ago. When he hears someone call out ‘papa!’ his first instinct is to always turn around as though any moment a little blond head will be running towards him, arms out stretched in welcome, crying that he has been gone too long.
Those years however are long gone; now instead of being greeted by a running little boy he is greeted by a brief hug and a ‘how have you been?’ His little Matthew is all grown up and sometimes Francis regrets that he did not make more of the time he and Matthew had together while the other was young. But the past is often full of regrets and truly Francis has many.
“Franciiiis! Tell Matt to stop pushing me!”
“Alfred hit me first!”
“Bloody hell, you two stop fighting!”
And sometimes Francis realizes that even though he lost one child somehow he gained three in place. “Now, now; Matthew stop pushing Alfred, Alfred apologize to your brother and Arthur my dear do try to keep from strangling them.” He said all as he looks over at the selection of fish spread out before him. Truly perhaps he has not lost his child, no children, at all.
((I hope it’s okay that I kept the dialogue in there even though most of it isn’t Francis))
An exert from something a little more depressing:
It was a horrifying sight, no matter who it was but today it was completely unbearable to watch. None within the crowd cheered or laughed, not for this execution. Not for the savior of France.
The sight was so horrifying, that none gathered could find pleasure in it. There was no cheering or laughter from the crowed. Even though this girl was considered the enemy she was still a child, this savior of France. The silence seemed to thicken as a lone figure walked into the area just as the wood began to catch fire.
"Jeanne." Though the name was a mere whisper but the pain it carried with it was beyond all compare. Stepping slowly forward on shaky legs, Francis reached out towards the figure tied to the stake eyes full of tears as he watched her gaze slowly fix on him. Suddenly he found his voice, screaming her name as he began to run toward her as she gave him a smile that conveyed nothing but her love for him.
Other Important Notes
My France will steal be a perve but I don’t believe he just perves on everyone without reason. I think there’s something much deeper there and that will more than likely reflect in my posts.
I hope there was enough in the mythology section; there really is too much history of different mythologies to get them all. A lot of them are shared with England, particularly in the time before and during the Roman Empire, due to their shared Celtic roots.
