Character Avatar: Ioan Gruffudd
Character Name: Guillaume Nihel Dupuis (formerly Guillaume no Alyssum)
Age: 33 (birthday: 14/3/1992)
Race: D'Angeline
Country/Province: L'Agnace
Player: Janet
Appearance: Tousled mousy brown hair that clumps into loose curls, big brown eyes and a potential to blush as soon as he's looked at makes him a perfect candidate for Alyssum. Long-limbed and slender, he gave off the appearance of being awkward and gangly, despite his adept trained gracefulness, though he's grown out of that awkward stage somewhat now.
Although standing at 5'11, Guillaume appears to be shorter as he has a tendency to stoop a little, especially in the company of those he does not know, or know well, hunching his shoulders as if trying to escape notice. His taste in clothing is simple, but he's always neat, tidy and well-presented. He rarely smiled at Alyssum, though now his smiles are more frequent. When he's reading or listening to music he relaxes and his true personality begins to shine through. As his confidence and self-esteem has grown, his nigh constant expression of shy nervousness has begun to disappear.
Personality: Guillaume is incredibly shy and bashful, yet eager to please - which conflicts him. He's intelligent and easy going - if you can make it through his shyness which can be almost painful to observe. He has been described as "Heart-meltingly sweet" and "an enchanted garden of a man, who had never known the blight of sudden frost", both descriptions are apt, though Guillaume has suffered through a rough childhood which has seemed to exacerbate his shyness and manifested itself in a stutter which occurs whenever he's nervous (which is most of the time). However, if he's reading aloud, talking about something he is passionate about, or with someone he knows and trusts, then his stutter fades and he forgets all about his nervousness. Guillaume also has a surprisingly impish sense of humour, though again, it is something rarely seen unless you spend the time to get to know him and break through his ever-present anxiety.
He is very fastidious and likes things to be clean, tidy and well ordered, something that he has slowly been teaching his rather messy love.
Thanks to his childhood, Gui had low self-esteem and did not think much of himself, though slowly and surely, with the love and encouragement from Voltaire, his esteem and confidence has been growing. Despite all he's been through, he has a tendency to look on the positive side of things, though he can still get a little melancholy on occasion.
Musical Inspiration: Nature Boy
History: Guillaume was brought to Alyssum at the age of nine by his annoyed parents, Nihel and Dianne. They had wanted a son, hale and hearty, as an heir to the family estate. Instead they got a blushing shy boy, who hid or tried to hide behind his mother's skirts at every opportunity. A boy who preferred reading or sitting quietly in the kitchen watching the cook work to the usual boyish pursuits like tree-climbing and generally being boisterous and dirty.
Various attempts by his father to make him "man up" or be a "proper boy", such as giving him punishments like locking him in the cowshed overnight or depriving him of meals, locking him in a closet, or destroying his favourite books, failed in turning Guillaume into the boy his father wanted, instead making Guillaume even shyer and more introverted than before. In the end he gave up and decided to send him to Alyssum, leaving his estate to his second son, Pierre, who was more to his expectations. His father's constant criticism and anger has stayed with Guillaume, and as such he has developed a very low self-esteem.
As Guillaume grew up he came out of his shell a little bit but still retained the essence of shy modesty that Alyssum is known for. His début made - he still blushes terribly when he thinks on it - he settled into the Adept's way of life, with not exactly contentment, but at least some happy sense that he could belong somewhere. For most of his time there he has spent in Alyssum's library, burying himself in their books and trying to forget about the world around him.
Updates: Guillaume has left Alyssum in order to start a new life with his beau, Voltaire Saint-Andre. They live together and Guillaume has begun to work at Armand's bookshop in order to earn a more regular income to supplement his partner's income from assignations and events. He's grown a little more confident, coming out of his shell, but still remains a shy, quiet, fastidious man on the whole.
Backstory
