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 Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 7:31 am
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 7:05 pm
name Lukas Lassetter
nickname/stagename Luke ;
age 24
hair colour dirty blonde
eye colour blue with specks of green
nationality TEXAN!
appearance The first thought that might come to mind when one looks at Luke would be a 'scruffy Adonis' or 'ruffled David' (by Michaelango). If he were clean shaven, he would have a face reminiscent of the Greek statues of Gods and heroes like young Herakles, but he usually sports a five-o-clock, lack-of-care shadow and his hair is mussed to hell. His high cheek bones are soft rather than sharp, so that he still appears youthful as opposed to well traveled, despite his history. He has a smattering of freckles over his nose and just beneath his eyes from summer sun in Texas, and his skin is rather dark from all the days spent out with the cattle, horses, or at war. With blonde hair cropped wildly, he will probably always look rough and tumbled unless he were to gel it all straight back. Being that his family is wealthy, he is used to richer fabrics, but he still dressed like a common cowboy. Hats are a no go unless absolutely necessary, but he does have one that he brought with him to the Cirque. Mostly he just wears a bandana around his neck when he's working to keep sweat controlled or, if he's working with stalls and cages, to keep the dust and dirt from his mouth and nose. He stands at a reasonable six feet tall and his build is moderate. Too large to be considered gymnast or dancer, but not bulky enough to be a football player or strongman, per say. He does have significant muscle mass, however, from hefting hay bales as well as carrying instruments like bass drums, bass and the like.
His eyes are bright, but if one looks close enough you can see the world that they have seen. They are old soul eyes, and though the smile lines around them do not hint at it, they are weary with sadness. But to see this, you'd have to see past a broad smile and a wink. He does have a scar that goes through his right eyebrow and stops just below the brow line. It's about an inch and a half long and there is a small continuance of it just below his eye for about a half inch. He got it from the same shrapnel incident in winter of 1943 that is mentioned later. That's the only visible scar, but he also has one across the left of his chest (vertically with a slight angle) from another incident, a bit of missing flesh on his right hip where a bullet grazed him and a sort of cross looking scar on his left thigh that was from another shrapnel wound. The last is what sent him home injured a month before offical peace was declared.
personality As the youngest of such a large brood, Lukas was destined to be spoiled from his first cry. Not only was he the youngest, but most of his siblings were old enough to spoil him just as bad as their parents! Mary, especially, took the greatest care of her little brother, often toting him and young Charlie around despite being so little herself. The three of them were quite inseperable; Charlie typically being the one to get the lot of them into trouble, Mary usually getting them out of it and Lukas merely tagging along behind. When Mary moved away, Jakob really took his brother under his wing - teaching him mischief, mayhem and frivolity. In general, this has caused Lukas to be bubbly, cheerful and devilish. He enjoys making people laugh and making girls blush, no matter his own mood. If Lukas is having an off day, he generally avoids people rather than talking through his own problems, but he is willing to listen to anyone else's rants and be a shoulder to cry on. He is empathetic, but keen on improving someone's mood rather than wallowing in it with them. He beliefs the best method of dealing with things is a good cry, a great meal and a better laugh. If only he'd learn to follow his own advice. Though he has sobered since the years directly after the War, he will not speak of his experience if he can help it as he simply has not moved on emotionally. He'd rather ignore that the whole thing ever happened and that his family lives on elsewhere rather than acknowledge what all really occured. As a general rule, it's not good to poke and prod at his sore 'spots' and leave his past well enough alone. If/when he does drink, he can be brought to talk at the listener's own risk. He's a cryer once he gets going, but who can blame him?
interests music, women, lassos, horses
dislikes politics, snow, Christmas
hobbies whittling, composing, collecting new melodies, learning new instruments
talent Precise relative pitch, absolute pitch, and eidetic memory. This combination of abilities aids as well as fuels his musical abilities resulting in exceptional musical performances and a significant mental library of pieces to chose from. However, it also results in Lukas quickly mastering instruments and musical works, but composing his own music tends to keep him from becoming bored.
Though I'm keeping Luke's original talent, simply because I like it, that will not be his act. Lukas is a bull rider. Sounds mundane, right? In all actuality, his act will become quite exciting. In order for it to work, however, he has to use extraordinary strength and balance. He is by no means supernatural, but he strong enough for his act. As his stages progress, however, his strength and balance would increase with practice and with the... magic, for lack of a better description, of the Cirque. He is also very good with animals. Nothing unnatural, but he was considered a sort of a 'cattle' or 'horse' whisperer back home. His skills don't move past livestock, so no worries about him charming tigers.
general background Luke is a southern boy, through and through. Born in central Texas, midway between San Angelo and Austin, he was raised on a longhorn cattle farm as the youngest son of six children. His brothers and sisters ranged between eight and fifteen years older than him, so needless to say he was an unexpected, but thoroughly spoiled, surprise to his parents. He was five years old exactly the day that the stock market crashed in New York City - October 29,1929. His family's farm was, at that point, only large enough to sustain the family and some members of the extended family. As the Depression waned, however, his family began to profit on the good breeding and meat of their cattle and thoroughbred horses. Lassetter Thoroughbeds were nationally reknowned and the wealthy pulled the family through the rough storm and into daylight. Fortunately the Dust Bowl's worst was far to the north and Texans are used to dry weather nevertheless. The hardy cattle persevered and the Lassetter's added wild mustangs to their farm as a means to attract the locals as well as the eccentric tourists eager to experience the "wild west".
World War II brought trouble to the prosperous family. Luke's father had fought in the first War and the family was naturally patriotic as a result, though their mother held them off. Billy, the oldest boy, could not be held off, however, and he signed up at the first draft. Mary, the youngest daughter, was drafted by her hospital where she worked as a nurse. She was sent to Pearl Harbor for training with her unit in September of 1941 and perished in the pre-emptive military strike by the Empire of Japan's Imperial Japanese Navy. She was survived by her husband, Jack Thompson and her four year old daughter, Elizabeth.
Following the death of "Mer Bear", the rest of the Lassetter boys entered the United States military. Jakob and Charlie entered in the third draft and were followed by Lukas in the fifth registration. The two older boys were in the same unit that took up the new recruits of Lukas' unit. The troops toured the occupied territories during which time Lukas lost a number of good friends both from back home as well as those made in the war zone. The hardest hit, however, came in the winter of 1943 when he lost his bother Charlie. Fatally injured by shrapnel, Charlie died in his little brother's arms surrounded by unfamiliar snowy ground a week before Christmas day. Jakob and Lukas managed to survive the final two years of warfare, briefly seeing their oldest brother Billy, before returning home to their families.
Lukas, unfortunately, could not return to life as normal. Though his brothers had experienced much the same as him, he simply could not continue on. Falling into despairing alcoholism, he spent a few years simply laying about his parents' home messing around with various instruments. Having always been musically inclined, he decided to take his gifts outside of the house in winter of 1947 at the age of 23. It was only after he sobered up in spring of '48 that people began to take him somewhat seriously. Shortly after his 24th birthday in July that same year, he saw advertisements for a Cirque. Being a man who adores attention, it was all downhill from there for our Lukas. He simply had to try.
world Type A - 1948/9 Texas, United States (His farm is just outside of Brady, Texas, but the Cirque probably would've been in San Angelo or Austin)
et cetra Family;
Florence Grace Lassetter (born 1891 - 33 at birth of Lukas - 54 at end of WWII)
John Lee Lassetter (born 1889 - 35 at birth of Lukas - 56 at end of WWII)
Sara Caid Lassetter-LeBlanc (15yolder - '09 - 32 at start of US involvement in WWII) married and living in Austin with a wealthy bank manager and their four children.
William "Billy" Lassetter (13yolder - '11 - 30 at start of US involvement in WWII) entered first draft registration on October 16, 1940 at the age of 29. Living still, married to the heiress of an oil company in Austin with their two children and expecting twins on the way - baby boom, much?
Jakob Leroy Lassetter (12yolder - '12 - 29 at start of US involvement in WWII) entered third draft registration on February 15th 1942 at the age of 30. Living still, married to a waitress in the local town but inherited the Lassetter ranch.
Mary "Mer-Bear" Lassetter Thompson (10yolder - '14 - 27 at start of US involvement in WWII) drafted as a nurse. Was in training at Pearl Harbor during the attack on December 7th and perished there. Survived by her husband and young daughter.
Charles "Charlie" Lassetter (8yolder - '16 - 25 at start of US involvement in WWII) entered third draft registration at the age of 26, but his unit merged with Lukas' in fall of 1942. Perished overseas in Lukas' arms at the age of 27 in late 1943. Survived by young wife and two children.
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 8:12 pm
stage one;
- cage cleaning, stall mucking, exercising/grooming the horses
- entertainment occasionally outside cirque dining tent, for cirque members (cast and workers) not for audience. mostly would just be his practicing and they would hear it? hah. singing, fiddle, guitarre, mandolin, saxophone. no real expertise except on the guitar. others he mostly just messes with.
- practicing his bull riding on a bull he would bring with him. The bull is tame, for the most part. Tornado's just a big baby if you ask Luke, but he's got the bull doing tricks and can get him to turn the 'rage' on and off. Luke's not stupid, though. He treats him like the dangerous animal he is; no cuddling and pampering allowed.
stage two;
- Bull Riding Just as it sounds, nothing too fancy until he was bucked off Tornado. He'd hold on as well as he could, then slip off most likely using some rehearsed somersault or another. That isn't to say mistakes couldn't be made and that he couldn't hurt himself, or be trampled, but hey? No pain no gain, right? And what Cirque act isn't with a bit of a risk factor?
- Rustlin' Target practice of sorts. Lukas uses rope to lasso various objects that he's set out around the ring (post bull ride). He gradually escalates to roping audience members or assistants to roping ponies or calves or whatever is on hand. Nothing harmful, just ropes them and ties them up for show before letting them run off again. As he gets better and things progress, he would move on to roping Tornado for kicks and letting the bull pull him around the ring, but that'd be the most involvement for the bull for now.
- Side Entertainment ( more of an extra job, not a performance trait) Lukas is excellant at working the crowd, as any musician or circus performer should be. He enjoys entertaining the audience between major acts while the stage is reset, or even providing enjoyment for people waiting in line to enter the Cirque itself. He would mostly use sound effects with his voice, song and generally just... being a cowboy. He's going off the fact that many of the worlds they've been to have probably never seen one.
stage three;
- ??? Things are escalating pretty fast now. Tornado is a more important part of the act now then ever and it's crucial the bull does as close to what Lukas wants as possible. Changes within Lukas and Tornado as they stay with the Cirque, however, are making that ever easier. The two appear to be insynch, almost as if they were linked telepathically or something of the sort. Lukas is even experiencing small physical changes which will be noted later. As far as the act goes, Lukas now begins out in the ring on his own. Tornado joins later, perhaps as a "surprise" as has to be lassoed to "prevent injury to the crowd". Luke ropes him and in some way or another (somersaulting, pulling, details would be in the performance log), ends up on his back. The rope would have been twisted and pulled around the bull before then to make into a makeshift hold for riding. After a few moments of bucking and rearing, Lukas would manage to "calm" him just enough so that he could stand on the bull's back with one foot in his stirrup. From there, he could lasso new things such as a shetland pony, audience members, assistants or props.
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 8:14 pm
Reference LinksWorld War II on Wikipedia (too lazy to look it up again)
Draft Dates
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 8:42 pm
-slides in-
8D Your historical stuff is spot on. Shiny. I think he's quite charming and endearing as a character, I like his act too. Some things to consider~
His musical ability doesn't always have to be a self act; music is necessary all over the circus be it the ticket booth to draw people in, waiting areas, in front of main arena's where the BIG show is going on, or even accompanying performances like organizing a music score to go with the trapeze or other acts. So... in a sense he's extremely versatile and can latch on to anyone and anything to enhance and add.
Perhaps he could help write shows for the circus. Ala, Kalaido Star- theme'd performances around story concepts, musical pieces, or things like a cirque show based on winter, Halloween... etc. He could work as a composer or even as a story developer for the shows.
A lot of his stage performances feel like in between major show cool downs; like the trapeze set just finished and the set is being re-stages... he would be out there distracting the audience with pitch call or his song play. Sort of like a troupe of clowns would but with music. I think that's pretty damn cool and would bring him into the main stage too.
Also, dunno if this is totally off base.. but maybe he has the ability to make sounds with his mouth that sound like other things- like bird calls, musical sounds, or something... kinda like he can manipulate his voice. Just, kinda tossing out some additional talents for him if you were fishing for more related. ;]
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 8:51 pm
heee, danke. <3 i'm a history major so i loff teh history. that was the fun stuff, to search all that up.
but yeah, on your bullets:
i was thinking as i was writing up his stuff that he'd be a better sideshow. or, as you said, an inbetween/distraction act. it'd fit him pretty well too as for a short while, he'd get all the attention in the world, but he wouldn't have to deal with being on stage for lengthy periods of time.
the ability to makes sounds with his mouth is AMAZING. i do think i'll add that in, it'd be a fun thing to add to his little performances.
that's where i was a bit confused. i think he'd be a better... like... well, tacking on to people or composing music for people than being an actual big act. he'd be a big name, sure, but not a big act. i don't know if i'm making sense.
he could entertain people while they waited to get tickets, too. gawd, that'd be hilarious. he'd flirt up a storm and whatnot. he's a good people person, the kind that would pick the mopiest person in the crowd and do anything to make them smile, which would be entertaining for everyone else to watch anyway.
i guess he could do things like play/compose music for acts like lucrezia or other dance/aerial acts as a form of background entertainment, kind of?
ogre, i loff yew.
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 8:59 pm
Yeah, totally. I mean... if you wanted to groom him for the spot light later you could incorporate things like... maybe he stumbles across some mystical puppet and being the voice manipulator he is he could dabble in a bit of ventriloquism and maybe have a musical puppet act. I mean that's stretching out, but a way for him to become an ACT and not a GEAR of the circus. As a musician composer he is part of the circus itself, not just a worker- know what I'm sayin? ;D
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 9:02 pm
i kind of like him being a gear of it, as opposed to an act. it'd be difficult for him to progress his stages (as far as like... the performance roleplays) but i think it suits his nature better. if i can get around it and the staff doesn't mind.
yah, the puppet would be ... yeah. i think luke would feel silly and i'm afraid of them. )X but it's a cute idea that fits his talents!
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 9:04 pm
Hehehe. I think you can totally do it, with his orig. concept. Just, maybe sniff around and see who's doing a performance too or just organize a double rp like I did with Ankita for Charlot. ;] Each time he had a performance he could be doing a different show/musical style for each. Pretty cool!
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 7:06 pm
exnay on the omposercay. just got a PM from the mule saying that would be a no go. only staff can be literal gears of the cirque. :/
if anyone has any ideas, i'd appreciate it. the whole... him looking ridiculous playing a huge contraption of various instruments no longer appeals to me.
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Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:05 pm
i win! 8D
-proud of his new act- <333
the name of the bull, as uninteresting as it may sound, is not likely to change. 8D i like how "tornado" sounds with a texan accent. X3
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Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:42 am
I love him. And I love the whole rodeo aspect of it. I honestly can't think of any suggestions right now, but I'll read it again later, and if I think of anything, I'll let ya know! <33
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Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 3:18 pm
GLEE. Texan! 8D And a WWII guy. If you get him, I'm pretty much demanding he and Jo kick around. They both know horses! They were both in wars! Depression-era (or thereabouts)!
And I love that you did your research. I'm a big geek for that particular time period, so joy!
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