Arthur Kirkland - England

[Arthur Kirkland]

Arthur Kirkland

→Full Name: Arthur William Kirkland

→Nicknames: Art, Artie; past names – Oliver Kingsley (1800s), Albion (400s)

→Nation: England

→Gender: Male

→Age: 23

→Applicable Age: 23

→Physical Description:

Arthur is a relatively small man, five-foot five, and rather scrawny, further accentuated by his constant glower. His bright green eyes are often filled with frustration, and his impressive eyebrows are pulled down tight over his eyes, leading to some serious frown lines crossing his face. A mop of scraggly blonde hair sits atop his head, and has never been neat, especially since he has a habit of running his hands through it when he’s angry or frustrated. Which is all of the time. He’s often dressed very formally, as per his teaching position, and, despite the messiness of his hair, normally has a very orderly appearance.

→Distinguishing Features: A birthmark on his hip shaped like a dragon, and his unusually thick eyebrows.

"Teachers who educate children deserve more honor than parents who merely gave birth; for bare life is furnished by the one, the other ensures a good life."

→Personality:

In a mere word, Arthur is grumpy. His students, his neighbors, and perhaps even his son will agree to this fact. He is not a morning person, is certainly not a night owl. However, he does have a softer side, one that can only be seen around favorite students or Jin. He can be kind and sweet, as well as generous to those that have less that he has. He is awkwardly sweet, and has a blush that can be brought on by the kindness of others.

Arthur is passionate about teaching and learning, pushing his students and his son as far as they can go. To have an education is the most important thing he can push children to and has resolved to never stop doing so. Arthur is clumsy, and can sometimes be a romantic, something brought on by those Austen novels he continues to reread.

He is also sweetly naïve at times, and refuses to hear anyone tell him that fairies do not exist. He believes in them with his whole heart, as he has since he was a small child. He can often be found conversing with them in the classroom after everyone has left. Some students find it charming, while others consider him bonkers.


→Likes:
Teaching
Rum
Tea
Reading
Rain

→Dislikes:
French food
Americans
Coffee
Ireland
Hot weather

→Fears:

Losing his family – Arthur has already lost his father, and has left his mother behind in England. Jin is the last of his family, and Arthur is terrified of losing him to anything.

Being sent to war – With his father’s untimely death in the First World War, Arthur is convinced that war only leads to death. He will do anything he can to make sure that he is not sent out onto the battlefield.

→Aspirations:

To Be a Good Father – In keeping with his fear of losing Jin, Arthur always makes sure that he is supportive of the boy, and makes sure that Jin knows that he is loved very much. He wants to be the best father he can be, almost to make up for his fatherless childhood. He pushes Jin in his education, especially, pressuring him to make a good future for himself.

To Be a Good Teacher – In response to the education he received in England, Arthur has resolved to be the best teach her can be. He remembers the harsh experiences of his childhood and refuses to let another student feel discouraged, even granting his students free lessons outside of class, and spending what little money he has on new books for them.

→Lesser Known Facts:

Has the Sight – Arthur has always heard stories of the Fae, and is convinced that he can see them. They speak to him, and even though they’ve always called him Albion, he enjoys his connection with them. He doesn’t know why they call him Albion, or why they giggle when he talks to certain people, but he’s sure that it’s just them being silly.

Can needlepoint – A rather expensive hobby, yes, but one that reminds Arthur very much of his mother. When he was a child, on stormy days, she would teach him careful tricks, instructing him on how to embroider cloth, and initialize handkerchiefs. When he sits down to do this, he is reminded strongly of home, and it comforts him.

Knits Jin’s scarves and gloves – From needlepoint, Arthur continued to pick up on knitting, something to do between grading papers that was less costly than needle pointing. Gradually, he became better at the activity and started to knit scarves and mittens for Jin, moving up to gloves as Jin grew older.

Speaks French – A talent for language was granted to Arthur, and the first language that he picked up beyond English was French, much to the shock of many of his English relatives. He speaks the language with ease, and can slip into it when he’s angry, though he is embarrassed by this fact.

"Character is largely caught, and the father and the home should be the great sources of character infection."

→Current Family: Mother – Daisy Reid-Kirkland; Father – Sean Kirkland; Adopted Son – Jin “Michael” Kirkland

→Past Family: Hong Kong – son (If anyone else would like to be on here, just PM me.)

→Current History:

Arthur was born to lower middle-class parents in the suburbs of London in 1910, to a military man named Sean Kirkland and his seamstress wife, Daisy. The blonde-haired boy was an only child, mostly because, when he was four years old, World War One broke out, sending Sean Kirkland off to fight for the Empire. He was killed, leaving Daisy and Arthur alone in London, hoping to make their way.

Arthur was sent to the public schools around his home, wearing second-hand uniforms from the clothing his mother received from her clients. His school days were rough, between bullying students who picked on him for his tattered clothing to the teachers who told him that he would be nothing and that he shouldn’t even try. He knew that this was nothing different form the hundreds of other poor children in the area, so he tried not to listen and kept studying. However, as the years wore on, he found himself becoming more and more discouraged with his life. Just as he was ready to drop everything and take a position at a factory, something appeared to him.

A fairy, right out of one of his mother’s bedtime stories, specifically a brownie. She lit upon his shoulder when Arthur was out in the slight forestry around his home and whispered in his ear that he was destined for greatness. The more she whispered to him, of how he would be a great leader, a great father, a great teacher, the more he came to listen to her. With her constant encouragement, and the gathering of other fairies about him, he graduated; a feat mostly unknown in his suburb.

Not two days after his graduation, Arthur found a small boy in the streets, obviously without a home or parents. Arthur brought him back to his mother, and together they helped him regain his strength. Upon hearing about Jin’s situation, Arthur informally adopted him, giving the boy a home and a family to depend on.

However, in England, life was only becoming harder. Daisy received a pension that would cover herself, but could not afford to support Arthur and Jin, no matter how hard they worked to bring in money to the household. Not long after bringing in Jin, Arthur came home with two boat tickets, proposing that he and Jin move to Canada, where he had found a small town in need of a teacher. They packed up, Arthur kissed his mother good-bye and headed to Canada, finally settling in the small town of Genova.

→Past History:

2493 BC – First born as Albion
2461 BC – First killed; death by arrow to chest
2438 BC – Discovered that he could reincarnate
857 AD – Beheaded for attacking Viking invaders
May 29, 1431 – Stabbed and killed by French soldier
September 7, 1549 AD – Worked in the royal court; kissed Princess Elizabeth
August 8, 1588 AD – Killed amongst the defeat of the Spanish Armada; shrapnel to chest
April 23, 1657 – Born under Cromwell’s reign
September 5, 1666 – Died in Great Fire of London
October 19, 1781 – Shot and killed by an American revolutionary
January 8, 1815 – Shot in New Orleans by American soldier
July 1, 1839 – Son, (Hong Kong) is born, England who is then under the name Oliver
March 15, 1857 – Catches cholera in India and dies
April 23, 1910 – Born, Arthur Kirkland to Daisy and Sean Kirkland

"Nothing can be truer than fairy wisdom. It is as true as sunbeams."

→Roleplay Sample:

Arthur Kirkland considered himself a relatively calm and sensible man. Generally, he was not quick to temper, and could normally handle any situation thrown at him from anywhere. Even his employees often commented on his ability to control his temper in trying situations.

However, one of two things were known to cause him to lose this temper. One was mocking his eyebrows, which resulted in an explosive flurry of insults and things thrown at people's heads. Many employees learned this the hard way when they first entered the office of their new boss.

The other was the inability to follow proper procedure. This often ended in someone losing a job when it took place under his company name. He was known to fire entire crews of ships in a single breath for failing to fill out the proper forms and follow the proper procedure. He was also known to stare down the offender until they meekly handed in their resignation, along with a formal apology for ignoring the duties explained to them upon being hired at Kirkland Docking and Engineering.

When it was another company failing him, though, different measures were taken. By his underlings, there would be multiple frantic calls placed to the employees of the other company. They would be informed of their failure to fill out proper forms, and would be instructed on how to remedy this fact.

When that failed, the calls would go to higher and higher ranked officials within the business, until finally, his personal secretary would call the CEO of the corporation to speak with them about the procedures of Kirkland Docking and Engineering.

Which normally worked.

This time, however, the CEO failed to answer her phone.

Arthur slapped down the improperly filled forms on his desk, scowling. He'd done business with Bonne Vie for years, and had never had an issue with the procedure. Everything had always shipped smoothly, without problems.

Except for that one time with Cambodia and that was hardly Elise Bonnefoy's fault.

He hunched over and plucked one of the forms from off of his desk and squinted at it. "Shipped under the name of Francis Bonnefoy. Well, Francis, I don't know who you are, but I don't appreciate your humour in trying to pull one over on my company."

"M-Mr Kirkland?"

Arthur straightened up and looked across the room to his secretary and nodded. "Yes, my dear?"

". . . There's a call coming through for your personal line from Bonne Vie's number. Should I take it?" She asked nervously, fidgeting and obviously not wanting to be caught in the middle of a war between CEOs.

"Absolutely not. I will take the call. You go back to work, and clear all of my appointments for the next two hours. I need the time to get down to the bottom of this nonsense."

As she ducked back out of the room, Arthur plucked the phone off of the cradle and held it to his ear. "Kirkland Docking and Engineering; CEO Arthur Kirkland speaking."

→Name/Nickname: Sarah/Iggy

→Contact Information:
MSN – [e-mail]
Skype – sarah.jean.snow
AIM – fitzsexbombdarcy

→Time Zone: GMT - 6

→Age: 19 (Sept 5)

→Years of Roleplaying Experience: Three

→Did you Read the Rules?: England has fatal food.

[Etta]

^^Very good! Accepted! Though, I do have one question: If Arthur has reached the applicable age, why doesn't he remember about being a reincarnate? Has he not reached that exact 'moment' yet, and you want to, well, play it out? Or has he, and you decided not to elaborate on that in your app? o:

[Arthur Kirkland]

He hasn't reached the moment yet. I'm actually planning that thread.

[Etta]

Oh, mkay! Thanks for letting me know!^^