Jean-Renee Saulnier - Initiate

[Jean-Renée Saulnier]

ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER

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The Looks

Name: Jean-Renée Saulnier

Race: Vampire

Species: N/A

Age; Apparent: Early twenties True: 318

Gender: Male

Hair Color: Dark Blond with high and lowlights, worn long and usually braided out of his face.

Eye Color: Blue

Height: 5'7"

Weight/Build: 118 lbs / Very slim. Slender. Lithe.

General Appearance: No scars, tattoos or piercings.

• Note: Maintains a strong French accent as he has spent most of his existence in his home country. He is still well-traveled, of course, he just never stayed away long enough to allow his accent to be muddled

Faceclaim: Danila Kovalev

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Clan Life (Vampire/Slave/Pet Only)

Born or Turned: Turned

Desired Clan: Ankharu Matum (In an effort to remain neutral, despite having friends in high places in other clans, he has chosen to request to be part of Kaiser Van Hasselt's household.)

Desired Class: Master

Desired Rank: Initiate

• Lower rank than class given as he's never exactly been a clan vampire prior to coming to America, and in terms of power he's still sort of a child as his abilities have only made themselves known sometime during the last ninety or so years of his life as a vampire.

Clan Relations:

• Those that call Ankharu Matum home will find Jean-Renée a respectful, appropriately submissive, and obedient clan member. He does not talk back, or question another's right to tell him what to do in the clan setting as he realizes there is very little he actually knows of living in such a group. He also does not question any perceived lack of worth as a vampire due to his being a Turned rather than a Born vampire. Above all, he is loyal - and will be so whether it is deserved or not - and honest even if he knows being honest may not be in his best interest all of the time. Some might mistake this honesty for naivete, but that is not the case as he is well aware that not everyone is kind or good, nor does he expect it to be so. He also does not expect to automatically be treated as well as he will treat others, and does not find it offensive when others fail to give him the same respect he hands out freely.

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History:

Occupation: 

• Tailor extraordinaire, Clothing Designer (male and female), fashionisto, and professional trend-setter. Also dabbles in parfumery.

Personality Points:

• Humble
  
  • -He is capable of accepting compliments, but there is no gloating or sense of self-entitlement in regards to them. He accepts them gracefully, and will always thank those that give them to him, but he does not go out of his way to make himself seem more than he is.
  
  
• Easy-Going
  
  • Jean-Renee is one of those people that is just effortlessly adaptable. It isn't that he's a sheep, because in some regards he can be quite independent and forceful, but he is quite capable of simply going with the natural flow of life and finding pleasure in it.
  
  
• Charming
  
  • The French Vampire is easy amongst people - possessing a natural ability to put strangers at ease in his presence, and make them smile and relax enough to enjoy themselves. This comes in most handy with his work, as often it puts him in face-to-face contact with some very picky clients.
  
  
• Calm
  
  • Unlike a lot of Frenchman seem to be, Jean-Renée is as calm and serene as a gentle breeze. Very rarely do his feathers get ruffled enough to go beyond mere irritation, and if they do, he is quick to forgive once apology is received. This is not to say though that he is not capable of temper. He's no Buddha, and if someone does manage to really anger him, they will find his temper to be a hot and perhaps violent thing - though also a quick-moving thing as again, he is quite quick to forgive and forget as he does not hold a grudge.
  
  
• Compassionate/Kind
  
  • Jean-Renée has a far-reaching heart, one that is capable of finding something good in everything and everyone - even where others might see only dark and ruin. Because of this, he tends to be gentle towards those that others might be harsh with, and kind to those that tug at his heart strings in just the right way. Sometimes this makes people believe he is gullible, or easy to take advantage of - and often times this is the truth of it in his personal life. Especially his love-life. But Jean-Renee doesn't let these little snafus get in the way of the way he is, and tends to brush these things off and move past them.
  
  
• Stubborn
  
  • While normally, Jean-Renée might be placid enough to simply go with the flow - now and then something comes along to make him dig his heels in. It might be in the form of a difficult love interest that he is determined to persue, or it might be a difficult client wanting something that Jean-Renee is not satisfied in giving. Either way, when he decides to become stubborn about something, one will find him an immovable object - one that sweeps protestation aside with an easy smile and a subtly set jaw.
  
  
• Open-Minded (Sexually and In Every Day Life)
  
  • Jean-Renée is not shy about his particular tastes when it comes to sex. Sometimes he enjoys 'vanilla', sometimes he enjoys a bit of bondage...and really, he's very open to suggestion and approaches sexual encounters completely open-minded with no hint of judgement present. This does not mean though that he is only interested in the pursuit of such physical pleasures, or that he even spends an actively large amount of time pursuing them. He is subjective to passion and needs and desires the same as anyone else, but pursuing only these things makes the act more of a means to an end and there's little satisfaction for him in those sorts of acts. He's not adverse to pleasure for the fun of it, of course, but he also doesn't only pursue this type of pleasure. Also, as he approaches sex, he tends to approach every aspect of his life. One will not find themselves being judged for saying, thinking or doing things that others might not find acceptable as he chooses to accept that there is variety in everything, including people.
  
  
• Practical
  
  • "What is past help is beyond grief" Jean-Renée tends to take this view with things that others might seem as less than pleasant, and while he might not always like the hand he is dealt, he doesn't tend to linger in the past. That's not to say that certain things that have occurred in his life have not affected the way he thinks about himself, but he does not actively concentrate on things.
  
  
• Self-debasing
  
  • This is not something done actively or openly, but every now and then Jean-Renée will find himself thinking or feeling unflattering things about himself. Occasionally these unflattering things cause him to worry and fret, but he does not generally allow himself to be prone to open displays of such anxieties and merely smiles through it as he figures a hesitant or timid smile is better than allowing the world to see what they might already suspect.

Skills/Hobbies:

• Profession - Jean-Renée is a world reknowned tailor and dress maker - a man that is not just currently highly sought out by those in the 'know', but a man that has always been sought out since his days as a human for just such a thing. This profession has helped him land on his feet many a time, and keeps him in a life of reasonable luxury. To the point where he can afford to say no.

• Artistic- Much like his profession, this French vampire is a skilled artiste, though his medium is pencil and only pencil as he applies this particular talent to his job and uses it to draw out designs for custom clothing for those that request it. He also has a skilled eye for things like color and drape, in regards to fashion, and tends to use this to his advantage.
  
  

• Parfumer -While not a master at this particular craft, Jean-Renée has a working knowledge of what it takes to make a delightful ladies' parfum, or a men's cologne - and as such has, in the past, accepted commissions to create one of a kind scents for those that ask.

• French Intuition -While not a supernatural ability, Jean-Renée has that certain 'je ne sais quoi' that allows him to know that something is up, or know just what the 'right' course of action may be to take.

• Multi-lingual -This is a skill that he picked up from sheer necessity as he did not want to only serve France's sense of fashion. As such, he is capable of speaking, reading and writing in: French, Italian, German, English, and Spanish fluently. He also can read and write in some Latin.  Anything else and he requires a translator .

• Massage and Aroma Therapy -With these skills, he can put a troubled soul at ease - combining the use of masterfully talented hands with relaxing scents to help put a troubled mind at rest and to work tension out of one's body. He does not do this for a profession...but rather uses this with those that he chooses to want to feel close to.

• Culinary Mastery - While generally viewed as a useless skill for a vampire to have, Jean-Renée finds it to be otherwise. he can cook and bake with the skill of trained chefs in these areas, and enjoys doing so. He's a social creature, one that enjoys having friends of all sorts...and when he is entertaining those friends that are human, he enjoys cooking them a delicious meal. And though he no longer eats, no human has left his dinner parties unsatisfied as he tends to use smell rather than taste to judge spices and flavorings.
• Fencing- Jean-Renée has studied the gentlemanly art of fencing - both for excercise and for practical use. He's very skilled with a sword...and though there's little use for bladed weapons nowadays, he still practices simply to keep his conditioning up.

Abilities:

• Standard Vampire Abilities with no special enhancements given to them.

• "That Je Nais Se Quoi" -nation/region of origin (France)
  
• Aggression and anger are what lead to conflict, whether in potential enemies, or unruly subordinates. Jean-Renée gives off a general aura that can disarm such impulses that might otherwise be directed at him. Speaking or interacting with the individual(s) in question in a way that is meant to have similar results (naturally) bolsters the effect of this power, and can usually have even the most agitated individual feel an unwillingness to give into their state, if it doesn't completely pacify them in regards to himself.

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• The Humble Advisor
  
  • When Jean-Renée has someone's ear, and they are open to his opinions or suggestions, he can use this power with his silver tongue to nudge the individual into his line of thinking. A seemingly benign ability, but leaders have been brought to ruin by advice they should not heed. Jean-Renee though is a fair man, and usually only uses such a power when his clients are trying to be unreasonable in negotiating a price, refusing to pay what he is due, or when they are being too coy about how many of his wears they should order.
  
  

Weakness Points:

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• Standard Vampire Weaknesses
  
  
• Early Riser - While some vampires might consider this a boon, to Jean-Renee this is only ever a nuisance. He consistently wakes up far earlier than he should, often while the sun is still relatively high in the sky. So long as he stays inside, he's fine, but he's still quite notably weaker in strength and power during this time, and tends to find it difficult to focus until the moon is fully risen.

• Tender Heart - Jean-Renee has a lot of love to give...and by love, we're not just talking about sex and the use of his manly parts. No, we're talking about genuine love and caring. And because he has such an excess of it, he generally finds himself casting it on those that are less than worthy and often gets taken advantage of.
  
  
• Vampiric worth - He does not think badly of himself, but he is very much aware of how little he counts in the scheme of things. This doesn't precisely hinder him as he tends to take everything pretty much in stride, but it can often effect how he'd be inclined to believe others might perceive him. It also means that he can be easily lead to believe that he is less, and that he accepts it without question.

• Late To Power- Given as Jean-Renee has only actually had his abilities for the past 80-100 years of his life, his scope of use is significantly less than others' of his age might exhibit. He's not sure why it took so long for his so-called 'powers' to show themselves, and while he doesn't focus on it much, he's aware that because of this his powers haven't had as long to gain strength as most other vampires' do. Therefore, his effectiveness isn't always as effective as it would be wonderful to be. In time this weakness will disappear entirely.
• Claustrophobia - Though this is often thought of as a human fear, Jean-Renee is terrified of being in tight, enclosed spaces, and therefore makes ever effort to keep hsi personal room as spacious and clutter-free as he can. If he does find himself in such a place, the result will be an almost paralyzing panic that is difficult to get him out of.

Personal History:

• Born the only child of an artisan, and raised happily and comfortably because of his father's somewhat reknowned skill as a tailor. Soon enough Jean-Renee begins to train as his father's apprentice - though it is apparent that his own talent will eventually outstrip his father's. This is much to Jean-Renee's human father's pride.
• What is apparent becomes fact, and at the age of sixteen - it is Jean-Renee's talents with the needle that fashionable people seek. The boy has a gift for knowing what will be in fashion, and there are those that very much enjoy using this gift. He also begins to garner attention as a maker of women's apparel as well, though it is seen as something quite scandalous. And yet it is perhaps that scandal that keeps bringing him clientele.
• By the time Jean-Renee reaches the age of twenty-one, he has by far surpassed even his father's hopes for him, and the money that his skill with needle and thread brings in is what allows his beloved family to live in the style to which Jean-Renee believes they should have always been accustomed to. Their life is still not lavish, but it is nowhere near as simplistic as it once was - and Jean-Renee finds himself pleased to be able to provide this.
• With the influx of money, though, does come some trouble. His father takes to spending this money almost as fast as Jean-Renee can make it - deciding to take up the rather precarious hobby of gambling to pass his time as his services as a tailor are hardly needed any more. Soon, the elder Saulnier finds himself in a bit of a bind, and because he does not want to alert his family to financial trouble, the elder Saulnier takes out loans to cover the missing funds. Unfortunately, neither Jean-Renee or his mother notice this as they mistakenly trust him implicitly.
• One of the people Jean-Renee's father ends up owing money to is a man known only to him as the Vicomte - and being as he's a man of title, the poor elder Saulnier fails to see the danger. It is the elder Saulnier's gambling debt that brings Jean-Renee into the Vicomte's clutches, as payment of said 'debt' is collected in person - in the form of appropriate and fashionable (and otherwise expensive) fashionable attire. And in his naivete, he fails to notice the rather keen interest being paid to Jean-Renee until it is certainly too late. 
• 'The Vicomte', turns out to be a man who is not a vicomte at all - but rather a vampire of some considerable age that currently chooses to go by the name of Augustine De Sauveterre. This is the name he eventually introduces himself to Jean-Renee as...and is the only name that Jean-Renee ever knows him by. Augustine's 'interest' in Jean-Renee begins innocently enough, and then moves into not so innocent territory as Augustine realizes that a sure way to get what he wants from the admittedly pretty human man is to make him his lover before making him his slave.
• For two years, Jean-Renee believes that Augustine loves him - and he does so foolishly as he soon comes to discover. Augustine takes advantage of this affection that he has cultivated in him, and gradually begins to show his true self. Perhaps to his discredit, Jean-Renee finds himself fascinated by the lover that reveals himself to be something of a 'monster'...and eventually that fascination proves his downfall.

• Augustine gives that fascination adequate time to blossom, before moving in for the 'kill' - and by the time his fangs are sunk deep into the pretty, and regrettably gullable human, Jean-Renee has professed his utter devotion, and has promised to never leave. A promise, that even during the truly horrible years before their parting, that Jean-Renee sticks to with a rigidity that most believe the French to be incapable of. His turning was unceremonious, one that was marked only by the sensation of waking up with dirt in his mouth - as his Lover turned Maker had been forced to bury them under ground so that they might be safe from the sun's light - and a sharp pang of hunger for a rather unmentionable food source in his belly. Augustine takes him hunting, and though Jean-Renee is freshly turned, he exhibits a control over his hunger that seems to lead one to believe that his future is promising.
• All hints of promise in the beginning though are soon brought to an abrupt halt when it is revealed that though Jean-Renee does have all the typical benefits of a vampire, freshly turned or no, there is none of that special 'je nais se quoi' that would mark him a unique individual. He has no particular gift or talent in any area, and this marks him as useless and a waste of time to Augustine - a thing that does not change for the next two-hundred and twenty-six years until Jean-Renee does finally come into his powers.
• Augustine decides that if he can not get use out of Jean-Renee in the way of power, then he would get use of him in other ways. They needed money, and they needed lots of it - and Jean-Renee's skill would keep them flush. Augustine works Jean-Renee like a slave, and though he takes a majority of the money that his progeny's skill makes, he at least has the decency to be certain that Jean-Renee is kept in like style so people would not suspect that they're wealth was a mask.
• Jean-Renee's love for Augustine turns cold, and twists into something as close to true hate as he's ever been...but he stays with him for the first hundred and twenty-five years out of a rather strange sense of duty. And perhaps because, despite the fact that he does indeed intensely dislike his maker, he also feels pity for him as he is certain that Augustine would not be able to survive without him. During this time, Augustine delights in making Jean-Renee's life a misery in private - reminding him of his lack of worth in every way possible just so he can keep Jean-Renee where he belongs - under his thumb.
• After a hundred and twenty five years of this treatment, Jean-Renee decides he has had enough - and dares to venture out on his own. Augustine does persue him, but to no avail - and in a last act of desperation, he manages to squeeze one last favor out of Jean-Renee. He manages to get Jean-Renee to help him lure another unsuspecting human into his trap - a thing that Jean-Renee does, and still feels guilty about to this day. Once Augustine has another progeny under his belt, he disappears from Jean-Renee's life without a trace or a note. If asked today,Jean-Renee would still say he does not know where the man is, nor does he really care.
• It is at this point that Jean-Renee's life as a vampire really begins. He still has his skills, and he still employs them - and during this period he becomes so well known that his services become so highly sought after that he can afford to turn away clients - and perhaps wisely enough, he does. Earning him the reputation of being a rather elite tailor/dressmaker indeed. It is because of this that he attracts the attention of a French noble-born vampire named Simonne Champeaux.
• Simonne is beautiful, and delicate, and everything a man could desire in a woman. She also reveals herself to be fickle, and coy - like most french damselles -  but Jean-Renee is up to the 'challenge'. He persues her with a rather dogged relentlessness, clearly besotted and unashamed by such feelings. Simonne, however, is not so certain. Jean-Renee is Turned, she is Born - she knows her family would be most displeased. Eventually though, she gives in - and though there are several warning signs early on that Simonne will not be a faithful, or even kind lover - Jean-Renee is elated to be able to claim her as his.
• For a while Simonne and Jean-Renee travel wherever Jean-Renee's skills are needed. Simonne enjoys the fine, jet-setting lifestyle and the luxurious accoutrements that her lover supplies, though in public they are ever seen as Mistress and Servant rather than a couple...and Jean-Renee is in bliss simply because Simonne is there beside him. He over looks her infidelities as a thing to be attributed to her vampiric nature, and Simonne continues to enjoy others on the side simply because she refuses to be chained down to one man - and a Turned one at that. Eventually the stigma surrounding Turned vampires dies down a little and they begin to exist publicly as a mated pair.
  
  
• It is during this time that Jean-Renee makes the acquaintance of a charming Italina vampire named Zeo Di Paulo. Zeo becomes a client, and a friend while he is travelling - and finds all the tales of America fascinating. Simonne is not so fascinated - but she does make an attempt to 'enjoy' the enigmatic Italian, an attempt that is gently rebuffed. Simonne is left feeling insulted, and takes solace in that at least there is Jean-Renee to be loyal to her always. And indeed, despite her consistent indiscrepencies, and insistence that she was a free woman, he does remain loyal...though even this loyalty can only last so long.
• Despite their relationship not being on the best of terms,Jean-Renee retains a rather sunny disposition about life. His clothing continues to grow in popularity, his fashion sense so well reknowned that he can afford to expand his business - and he does. He takes only a very few select clients for himself to deal with personaly, and hires on underlings to handle the rest. He is kept busy, while still having time for Simonne - and Simonne seems reasonably happy...and yet, it does not come as a surprise to him when, finally, she expresses a desire to become seriously romantically involved with someone else. Another noble-born vampire of Austrian decent. She claims to love him, and Jean-Renee...well, surprisingly he does not fight for her. He lets her go, because though in his heart he knew he loved Simonne, he also knew that she would never really love him as she valued her pristine Born vampire world so much. He buries himself in his work to forget about her...and surprisingly, this actually helps, and with his success he finds himself feeling reasonably fulfilled.
• The invitation to come to America arrives in a rather timely manner - his aforementioned friend and by now long time client Zeo DiPaulo having decided that they had not had each other's company for too long. It is perhaps much to Zeo's surprise that Jean-Renee not only arrives in America without Simonne present, but then also asks if he might do him the favor of making so he could remain in America for some time. Zeo pulls some strings, and makes it happen...and Jean-Renee is advised to take up residence in the Kaiser's clan rather than his own. Jean-Renee agrees with not a fuss, and it is there that he has found himself residing during his stay here.
• Currently, Jean-Renee passes his time by further expanding his business - and catering to those in District three as well. He is a resiliant man, for certain, as heartbreak and disappointment have, as of yet, failed to shatter him. He retains a sunny, hopeful disposition - and despite many long years of being told he is worthless, he still does not actually find himself feeling offended by those that still seek to oppress him. He does not know what his future will bring, of course, but he can honestly say that he is very much looking forward to exploring his options here in this new (to him) world.