#lyon1

[vintage-miseries]

[vintage-miseries]

[vintage-miseries]

Character Love Meme - Lyon Bousquet

Eros – Romantic, Passionate Love.

Is your OC romantic in the traditional sense? Do they enjoy giving or receiving gifts of flowers or confectionary? Or are there other courtship traditions from their culture of origin that are important to them?

Lyon’s only desire on earth is to see his partners happy. He is a hopeless romantic (despite the bedrock-deep lazy streak in him), and he’ll go to lengths to ensure that his affections are known. Gift giving is certainly a well known love language to him, and he’s constantly plying Alice and Felix with gifts, both edible and not. Lyon wants his lovers at all times to have the very best.

How important is sex to them in a relationship? Do they see it as something essential to their happiness? Would they be able to remain in a monogamous relationship with someone they loved without sex?

I genuinely don’t believe Lyon could reside with a single partner not interested in sex. Sex is Lyon’s bread and butter, a relationship without it would eventually fizzle out.

How do they feel about public displays of romantic affection? Does it make them uncomfortable? How do they feel if a romantic partner kisses them in public?

Put your whole tongue down his throat he doesn’t give a damn, completely shameless.

Do they believe in love at first sight? Have they ever developed a crush or romantic (or erotic) fixation upon a stranger based on their appearance alone?

No, loving someone is difficult for him. Lyon’s love is strange and obsessive, and while there have certainly been interesting looking people that he’s wanted to bed immediately, it takes a certain openness from another for him to begin developing feelings, and even then that person would need to display a very specific set of characteristics for him to fall in love with them. Basically, they need to be better than him, and be nothing but honest.

How closely is their opinion of their own beauty (or lack thereof) linked to their confidence? Do they see themselves as more or less worthy of love or sex based on how attractive they feel?

Lyon’s aware that his looks are middling, and it doesn’t stop him from living his best life. His charisma carries him pretty far in life.

Philia – Affectionate, Platonic Love.

Does your OC have a Best Friend? If they do then how long have they known each other and how did they meet? If they don't then do they have a close group of friends they love equally? Or are they more of a loner?

Outside of Alice and Felix, Lyon’s only real acquaintances are his lawyer, his housekeeper, and his stablemaster. Alice and Felix are definitely his closest friends.

Does your OC find it easy to make friends? Or are there barriers to them doing so? If so then are these due to issues of inclination, communication, or something else entirely?

Lyon doesn’t naturally take to making friends. Despite his gravitating towards group activities and large parties, he’s largely a loner – much preferring the company of one or two individuals over large groups of friends. His rather solitary childhood did a number on his ability to communicate, and he himself admits that when he speaks to people he’s unfamiliar with, it seems to him almost like mummery.

What qualities does your OC most value in a friend? Loyalty? Shared sense of humour? Or something else?

He values honesty above all else. Honesty and loyalty. They of course have to laugh at his japes as well, but that’s by the by.

Is your OC able to build close friendships with people very different from themselves? Perhaps in terms of culture, age or personality?

Again, it’s not so much a culture / age / personality issue, it’s mainly his inability to form genuine connections with people.

What is their most fervent wish for their best friend(s)? How far would they go to make it happen?

Lyon just wants them happy, to be honest, and he’d move mountains to achieve that.

Storge – Unconditional, Familial Love.

Did your OC's parents love them unconditionally? If so then has this helped them feel confident as an adult? If not then how has this affected them? What were the conditions their family attached to their relationship?

Gods no. Lyon was the only child of an arranged marriage, and his parents (who were largely too involved in their own affairs) never paid him much attention. Only the housekeeper and his nanny at the time paid him any attention when he was growing up. By the time he was sent off to boarding school, much of the damage had been done, and he was often side-lined until he managed to teach himself how to behave properly among other children.

Does your OC have children? If so then how fiercely do they love them? If they have more than one then do they love them all equally? If they do not have children then is this part of their future plans?

Lyon himself cannot have children as far as he’s aware. He and Alice tried for years, but gave up a year prior to his incarceration and their meeting Felix. Alice wanted children more than Lyon did – Lyon’s worries focussed on his own lonely childhood, and while he had no intention of repeating his parents’ mistakes, he worried regardless. When Alice eventually had a child by Felix, Lyon loved it more fiercely than he could have ever guessed.

How far does parental approval (imagined or expressed) impact upon their current sense of self-worth? What might they sacrifice or attempt to achieve in order to ensure the approval of their parents?

His parents both died when he was young (19), and so there’s nothing to be gained from wishing. He does have a certain amount of bitterness, but this is covered up with easy japes and shrugs.

Does your OC have any siblings? If so then did their parents have a favourite growing up? Has their relationship with their sibling changed in adulthood? If they don't have any siblings then do they perhaps feel they have missed out on an important relationship? Do they have any especially close friends who go some way towards filling that role?

No and no. No siblings and no close friends, not until he met Alice at 17. He quickly became obsessed with her (she was less fond to start), and they eventually became good friends, then got married at 21 and 18.

Is your OC able to love without necessarily needing or expecting reciprocation or reward? Or are all their relationships to some extent transactional? Have they ever loved another person unconditionally, whether a child or another adult?

Those that Lyon does wind up loving are loved unconditionally, no exceptions. He doesn’t need anything in return.

Agape – Selfless, Universal Love.

Does your OC wish to make the world a better place? How far do they see that as being their responsibility? What lengths would they go to in order to help achieve this?

Lyon’s goals and desires are all quite centred to start. Growing up rich, he and Alice had an understanding of poverty, but only from a learning standpoint. After meeting Felix, Lyon’s outreach widened.

Does your OC feel a spiritual connection to the world around them? Do they have a particular love for nature or living things?

Nah, he’s not spiritual in the slightest, and only enjoys nature from the saddle of a horse (and then only when it’s warm [but not too warm], not raining, between the hours of 12:00 – 15:00, and when there’s few to no insects out).

To what extent does your OC believe in the value (or even existence) of true altruism? Do they see an unselfish concern for the welfare of others as being naïve or foolish? Or as a moral quality to which people should aspire?

He genuinely just didn’t think about it. As far as his mind went, that’s how things were. You couldn’t help all the poor, you couldn’t improve every organisation that needed help. He and Alice made their charitable donations at Christmas, but only after his incarceration did he truly begin to think of others.

Does your OC have a religious faith which emphasises the importance of a love for all people? If so then do they try to follow these teachings authentically? Or do they just pay lip-service to them? If not then do they follow a more martial or mercantile faith? Or none at all?

Nahhh.

Does your OC find it easy to empathise with their enemies? Or do they see it as important to dehumanise them in order to combat them with sufficient determination?

Lyon doesn’t have enemies. There are certainly people he doesn’t like (especially the rat who reported his parties), but he’s honestly too lazy to hate people.

Ludus – Playful, Flirtatious Love.

Does your OC have any particular favourite chat up lines? If not for themselves then perhaps ones they have suggested to a friend? How effective do these tend to be?

He’s not a pick up line kind of guy. Mostly he just piles compliments on people until they’re DTF or they tell him to piss off (which he’d respect).

Is your OC particularly skilled at flirting? Have they had to practice this or does it just happen naturally?

He’s very skilled at flirting, which makes it one of his very few natural talents. He could charm the snake off a snake charmer if he so chose.

How does your OC feel about one night stands? Have they ever enjoyed a night of passionate romance with a stranger? Is this something they are quite keen on recreationally? Or only something they might engage in under specific circumstances (such as the eve of a battle or after a difficult breakup)?

Most of Lyon’s conquests have been one night stands, and he’s far more comfortable with these than with any sort of known intimacy. There are some that he’s slept with numerous times, but these events are reserved for parties, and this keeps a distance between them.

Who was your OC's first crush? How do they feel about it now?

Lyon’s first real experience of love came from Alice, whom he pined after like a besotted schoolboy (tbf, he was a besotted schoolboy). His second love was Felix, so really, he’s done alright.

What seduction techniques are most likely to be effective when it comes to your OC? Are there some things guaranteed to get them going? Or are they immune to such things?

He gets a thrill out of unintentional seduction. Things like stifled laughter, blushing smiles, and gentle (familiar) touches are enough to make him want to sweep that person off their feet. Equally though, he loves a sexual veteran who will tell him exactly what they want, how they want it, and how long they want it for. Lyon himself is a man of indecision and one for whom consistent boredom is an illness. To have a sexual encounter laid out is a dream.

Pragma – Committed, Long-Lasting Love.

Is your OC in a committed long-term relationship (or relationships)? If so then what has contributed to this relationship lasting so well? If they are not in such a relationship, then is this something that saddens them or which they regret?

Alice – Alice is Lyon’s first love. She’s a determined, whip smart individual with a goals oriented conscious and a forthright mind that knows what it wants. She fills the gap in Lyon’s indecision, selecting events, making decisions, and charting a course for them. She has the same sexual appetites as her husband, and often the same humour. She cares deeply about people, and lacks her husband’s flaw when it comes to dealing with other people. Certainly between the pair, Lyon came out the winner.

Felix – Felix is a more recent addition to the Bousquet home, but a no less loved one. He’s honest, bright, and thoughtful, and where Lyon is happy to go with the flow, Felix thinks on each decision before he makes it, tempering Lyon’s usually unbothered nature, and reducing issues down the line. Felix’s gentle soul and caring nature is almost a balm to Lyon’s previously unloved past – despite Felix being younger, there’s almost something parental in the care that he gives to Lyon (as his doctor).

What is the biggest challenge that your OC has had to overcome in a long-term relationship or friendship? What helped them get through this?

He struggles with his inability to form connections, and this has impacted him when it comes to forming his relationships. He years for connections, but struggles to feel for other people. When he does however come to care for someone, the love is burning, almost unbearably so. He’s not possessive, but he’s useless without his partners (so much so that when Alice goes to London for a trip, he sulks at home until she returns). He’s quite useless and somewhat pathetic when left alone, a take from his childhood, no doubt.

Are your OC's parents still together? To what degree do they look to their own parents as a model for their own ideal relationship?

Oh they’re together alright – in the ground.

After the initial fires of passion cool to some degree, what would keep your OC engaged in a relationship? Shared goals? Similar values? Or contented companionship?

Companionship, new conquests, new ventures. Prior to Felix, Alice was one of few people that Lyon felt comfortable chatting to. Their mutual love for all things taboo keeps them grounded in one another, and their strong bonds of love keep them together. Felix is no exception to that rule.

What importance or value does your OC attach to marriage? Do they believe that it is important to make a public statement of commitment to another person (or persons)? Or are they more concerned about inheritance rights and security for their family? Or do they not see marriage as a necessary signifier of commitment and loyalty?

Both Lyon and Alice would marry Felix into their union if they could, but given the time period of their primary AU, such a union would be forbidden. Lyon puts a certain stock into Marriage. It’s as close to being possessive as he’s ever come. There’s something thrilling about having a person bound to you.

Philautia – Self Love.

Does your OC have a healthy sense of their own worth and value? Or do they see themselves as failing to live up to their original potential? Perhaps they are convinced of their own sinful or inadequate nature?

Genuinely, I think he’s too thick to have this much self-awareness. Lyon is content in himself, and lives for each passing event. He’s never allowed his plain features to slow him down, and they haven’t. He doesn’t think on his nature as sinful, nor slothful. He’s happy enough living as he does.

Does your OC believe that it is important to love themselves in the first instance? Perhaps in order to be able to give and receive love authentically? Or because they believe first and foremost in "looking after number one"?

Again, he doesn’t really think of himself outside of thoughts on what he’d like in the moment. He loves more strongly outward than inward.

Does your OC judge themselves by the same standards as they apply to others? Or are they sometimes hypocritical in condemning others for faults they also possess? Or perhaps they find it easier to forgive others for things that they cannot abide in themselves?

Lyon can be both immensely well thought out, and thick as a brick shithouse all at once. He does judge himself, but usually after the fact, and almost always in a “Well, can’t fix that” type of way. He others himself from people, especially in Blackwater, and finds it easier to wave them off as he’s not like them. That said, he can be immensely empathetic, and will go to extreme lengths to try to help when he’s aware of an issue.

Which of your OC's qualities makes them the most proud? Do they think more people should be like them in this regard? Or do they quite like being rare in possessing it?

He considers himself blessedly open minded for the time (and tbf he is). He absolutely thinks more people should be open-minded and attend a local orgy or two. Really helps with stress.

Has your OC always had the same opinion of themselves or has this changed over time? Have they learned to love themselves - perhaps with the help of others - as their journey progressed? Or have the consequences of their actions only served to erode their sense of self-worth?

Ngl he’s pretty basic and has always had the same sort of ideals. This does change after Felix arrives on the scene, and for the better.