Post by Clopin Jacques Laroche on Mar 13, 2010 14:26:51 GMT -5
this application is complete
Clopin Jacques Laroche
* tell us a little about yourself.
Ooooh! J'adore answering questions! Ah, oui. Okay. Well, my name is Clopin! Clopin Laroche! My friends call me Clop sometimes, if they feel too lazy to talk right, and sometimes I get Cloppy, but that just pisses me off, so don't do it. Unless you're a pretty fille, in which case I think I can make an exception. My birthday is... well... I celebrate on April first, but I'm not exactly sure what day I was born. It is not like I can remember, mon amour, and God knows no one else cared to.
Anyway, I am twenty-eight at the moment, and I've been living in Walten City for... ah... oh! For almost a year! Before I lived here, I was in New York. Did you know I was on Broadway?! Oui! I have a degree in musical theater, and I got taken on for a few parts. Non, none of them were exactly huge roles, mais, I digress. I was still there!
Before I lived there I was in Paris, France. You see, mon amour, I was born in a ratty hospital and left for the orphanage to look after. The only thing I know about my parents is that my pere was from Brazil and mon maman was Romany. All in all, I have some shitty genetics for life in Europe.
But I got adopted by an American couple when I was twelve. Haha! Mon Dieu, you should have seen the first year of my life here. I had the most rotten English skills. I don't know how they could have even stood me! I was such a rotten little brat. Always stealing things, and lying, and running off without warning. Jesus, I would have shot me if I were them.
You see, when I was in Paris, I made my way by pickpocketing, mostly. I was a nasty kid. I knifed someone when I was nine. I wonder if they were all right, now that I'm not so... er... crazy and violent. Admittedly, mon amour, I was still a nasty little shit by the time I was twenty. I was getting into fights, and using guns, but I mean... I wasn't as bad as I used to be. When I got into university and got my degree... then things turned around fast.
I always used to sing, and dance, and I played lots of instruments, but when I found out that I actually had talent, I think I poured everything into it. I didn't focus on fights and gangs anymore. I focused on perfecting a song, or a dance. I pretty much lived in the theater.
Now? Well, after I left university, I jumped right into the theatrical world, you know? I spent two years with Broadway, mais, I feel like I want to experience things... I never got that chance as a kid. So I moved here, and I've got a pretty amazing job as live entertainment at bars and restaurants. I travel through the city regularly, and I get a lot more money than you would expect from it.
And I get a lot of women! That's the biggest benefit, mon amour! I get my pick of the lot! And men as well. I get them all, and I have someone for every day of the week! I get a lot of compliments on my looks, and people sometimes say I look like Rodrigo Santoro. Which is nice, because hey... that guy's hot!
* what are some of your positive traits?
Oooh, well, there are lots of those!
First of all, I am... well, I am very friendly! I have what people call an attractive personality. I just know how to set people at ease, and I'm always the life of a party, between dancing and singing, and just being an energetic person. I work hard to make people like me.
I like to think, after all the shit I've gone through in my own life, that I have a lot of advice to give. I'm good at giving it without pissing anyone off, too. I just like helping, and I think it must show, because people don't seem to mind. Or if they do, they don't tell me.
Actually, I have a great talent for leading people. My adoptive parents say I have 'natural leadership skills'. I am most at ease when I'm the one in charge. I spent a few years playing Pied Piper for others when I was younger, and now I use it to my advantage to control the crowds when I'm performing. It's not really any sort of strange power, but I just know how to use it well.
Aha! I'm pretty crazy, too! Mais, not in a bad way, mon amour! Don't panic! You never know what I'm going to do next. I could end up singing Wicked from the top of a vending machine, or I could do a few backflips down the road! I'm tres unpredictable, but not... really... in a bad way.
Last? Well, I am protective of my family(my friends will always be my family). I will never allow them to be hurt, and if it happens anyway, I will make sure it never happens again. The best way to wipe a smile off my face is to do something stupide like threatening the people I care for. If you do... you won't leave the room on your own two feet.
Oh! Oh! Wait! One more! I am, without a doubt, the best damn storyteller you will ever meet, mon amour! I can tell the best tales, and they always have a moral. I love telling them to children... I'm a sucker for kids, too, did I tell you that? Oui, I just love them. I like talking to them more than I like talking to adults.
* what are some things that you can improve on?
Nothing. I'm perfect!
...
What do you mean, I can't leave it there? Merde.
Fine, but this is just what other people say. I don't agree with any of it.
You know how I said I was kind of crazy, but not in a bad way? Well, according to some people, that is a lie. I admit, sometimes I have taken things too far. When people I care about are threatened, especially, I lose sight of what is within my rights to do. I have hurt people in a blind rage... and they haven't gotten up. But! Butbutbut! It's not like I do that very often at all, oui? So it's no problem.
Er... hmm... I have been called obnoxious before, and I guess it's kind of true. I can come off a bit too strongly for some people; I'm always moving, and I am extremely quick. I think it may frighten some people away from me, but c'est la vie, right? That's life. I can't help who I am, or how I act.
Oh, I guess I have to mention my ego, too. Ugh, I disagree with this. People think I have an ego just because I know how wonderful I am. But that is just it! I just know that I am what I say I am. I know that I'm handsome. I know I can sing and act. I wouldn't talk about things if I didn't have some experience about it.
Ah. I'm a ladies man. That always bothers people about me. I have a lady for every day of the week, and... okay, I admit I take advantage of my own good looks to get away with it. Fuck. I can't help it if I don't do commitment. I'm not willing to tie myself down to one person, so instead I take all the pretty faces I can find. And trust me, I have plenty of men to occupy my time as well.
...I am completely desensitized to violence. And that means when I get into a fight, I can go a lot farther than I should. It's kind of like having a lightswitch in your head that you can flick off. Suddenly it doesn't matter if bones are breaking, or people are screaming. You just keep going until you make your fucking point.
Mmh... One more. I don't take things seriously. Or at least, not very often. I'm a laid-back person for the most part. I can't understand why some people get so upset over silly little things. I just think everyone should lay back and smoke a joint or something.
* what's your biggest secret? we won't tell.
Churches.
I am... petrified of churches.
I hate thinking about them. I hate them in general. Last time I was dragged into a church I started crying. I never ever cry, but churches just fuck up my mind and I can't help it. No one even tries to get me to go anymore. Thank fucking God.
I don't want to talk about why I'm afraid of them. Just... don't ask. Please?
* what does your heart want?
Mmh... now this is a topic I like!
I am very happily bisexual. I'll take a pretty fille or a handsome garcon on the same night. Maybe even at the same time! Hehehehe... I'm an expert at getting people in bed with me, but I've never really had a relationship. That's what you're talking about, isn't it? Well, fat fucking chance. No one's going to pin me down.
But... well... if I really had to have a relationship, I would want someone pretty. Yes, I'm shallow. I'll admit it. I would want someone thin, and cute. I'm not ashamed to say it.
Hmmm... I would need a sense of humor. That would be very necessary. But not the sort of person that finds everything funny - that would piss me off.
I want someone spunky! Oui oui! I want a person with some bite! None of this stupide gentle shit. I want someone that can match me in a good mood and a bad mood! Sugar and spice, non? That's what I need! Haha!
I would hate to have someone that's jealous. Jealousy is so... well, with what I do, it just doesn't work. I'm always going to have someone whistling or catcalling. I don't want to have to constantly promise that no, I'm not cheating. Mon Dieu, that wouldn't work.
Hmm... this sounds very strange... given what I'm like already... but I wouldn't want someone only interested in sex. I would like someone that would be with me for personality's sake as well, you see? Not that I don't object to someone that's good in bed! Heehee, because that would be a lie!
* what do you do in your spare time?
Spare time? Hmmm, well, I do like to pull off shows in the park. Just little things for children. It helps add a bit of money to my pockets, and I like doing magic tricks for kids, and puppet shows. Sometimes, if I'm not too tired, I'll even throw in some gymnastics, like backflips and rolls, and things like that. The police may find me annoying, but I don't do it for them, now do I?
When I'm by myself for the day I usually just lounge around playing guitar. I'm not exactly great at it, but I can string melodies along. Sometimes I might sing to the radio, but I like to save that for the crowds, oui?
Mmh... I suppose I spend a great deal of time walking around town, just for something to do. This place is so small though, it's not like the city at all. Sometimes I miss it... But not often. Better I got out before I couldn't anymore, non? Yeah... better this way.
Oh! I make puppets! Just little hand ones. Kids absolutely love them, so I have lots. I have all the most popular people around town, and... hehe... me, of course. I always keep that puppet with me. He's practically my best friend! Is that strange?
* so what does your family life look like?
Haha... family...
Je suis desole. I'm sorry. Ah...
Well, I don't really have a family. All I know about my biological parents is that they wanted nothing to do with me. My father was Brazilian, my mother was Romany. She gave me to an orphanage with absolutely nothing. My name is what the nurses gave me. Clopin Jacques Laroche. Clopin came from a book one of them was reading at the time, and Jacques Laroche were the names given to children received in April.
When I was growing up in Paris, I spent a lot of time on the street. As long as you got out without anyone noticing, you could stay gone as long as you wanted. I used to run around with these street urchins, hopping between warehouses and empty garages like it was going out of style. I got tough faster than any child should, and I was violent. The orphanage stopped even trying to get rid of me - it never worked. I was unappealing. I was this ugly, gangly Roma kid with a bad mouth and bad habits.
But when I was twelve, the Goodmans must have seen something that I was missing, because they came all the way to France to get me. You know what the first thing I did was? I spit on their fucking shoes and cursed them out in French. That should have been the end of it, but they didn't even bat an eye about it.
So... I guess they are family. I love them very much, even if I never acted like it until I was an adult. But my real family was on the streets of New York. A gang... a gang I created, even if I was only eighteen when it started getting big. The Miracle Gallery was my home away from home. The Goodmans put me into university, hoping it would distract me, but I'm a damn good multi-tasker, and by the time I was twenty-two I'd been shot seven times!
Meh... but I eventually grew up... I realized the Gallery was going to kill me. Between the drugs, and the fights, and the... well, other things. I cut ties over time, and eventually I came here to sever the rest.
And now, here I am, eh! Good story, oui?
* what are the memorable moments in your life?
Three big events, eh? Well, lemme see.
Well, first time is definitely getting adopted. I mean, even if I didn't act very grateful, I can't explain the feeling of knowing someone wants you. And not just anyone, but someone picked you out of a crowd to be special to them. It's sort of a glow... it made me very happy. Happier than I ever was before.
Second big thing? Ooh la la. Probably when I was twenty, and sitting around with the Miracle Gallery one night. Suddenly someone asked what we were going to do for the evening, and they all looked at me for an answer. It was the first time I can remember being the one in control; the actual leader. It was fucking awesome. We got pizza!
Last is when I got on Broadway! I auditioned and I actually managed to snag the part for Perchik, in Fiddler on the Roof. It was actually a pretty big role, and I loved it so much. I wish I could make you understand how amazing it feels to be able to stand on stage singing to that many people, and acting... and... and... Oh, mon Dieu, it is beyond words.
* so we've heard that you're a lot like disney character goes here
name:
Clopin is the character's actual name. Jacques Laroche are callbacks to his French origin, and, being named by nurses, he would have gotten two very common names.
play by:
I use Rodrigo Santoro as a playby for a few reasons. First of all, like Clopin, he's got Brazilian in him(well, he's completely Brazilian). As such, he has the appearance of it. They are both fairly lanky, and both very flexible. Rodrigo Santoro is also rather handsome, which also plays into Clopin(you can't have a fanbase that big without something).
positive traits:
Friendly, advice giver, leader, crazy, protective, storyteller. All these can describe Clopin in the movie. After all, he is frequently seen speaking to children and playing with them(friendly), but at the same time he tells them stories(storyteller) with very important lessons(advice giver). He is the "King of the Gypsies", and controls the Court of Miracles(leader), and after taunting and tormenting the heroes(a bit crazy), he is willing to kill them to keep his people safe(protective). Voila!
negative traits:
Crazy , obnoxious, egotistical, ladies man, desensitized, can't take things seriously. While laughing rather maniacally, Clopin attempts to murder the heroes(crazy and desensitized to violence). When he gets caught attempting to hurt Esmeralda's friends, he grins and shrugs it off(obnoxious and can't take things seriously); when Phoebus tries to explain the danger they're all in, Clopin looks completely unwilling to listen(egotistical). I'll confess, I threw in his lady-loving ways, just because of how the character acts in general. Someone that flamboyant doesn't just go home and watch TV!
orientation:
He's a crazy man jumping around in a suit that's utterly blinding, dancing with men and women alike. Hence my assumption that he can swing either way without trouble.
turn ons:
Clopin makes fun of Quasimodo in the movie for being deformed, so he's probably pretty shallow about his partners. He would definitely need someone just as crazy, but not moreso than he is, just to keep up.
turn offs:
Given his attraction to being the center of attention, he wouldn't be able to have someone that would just get jealous all the time. Clopin's too rough around the edges and zany for a normal, laidback person. He would run all over them!
spare time:
Shows in the park would follow Clopin's character, being that he appears to love children, and enjoys performing for them. As in the movie, he's skilled at music, as well as gymnastics and sleight of hand. It's clear that Clopin, in the movie, was musically inclined, so it's not strange that mine would likewise occupy his time with instruments. In the movie, he's extremely familiar with Paris, being a gypsy, and so my Clopin knows his way around without trouble. Finally, Clopin in the movie has puppets to represent a lot of characters, that he clearly must have made himself.
family life:
In the movie, Clopin's past is not explored, but he treats the Court of Miracles(AKA the Miracle Gallery for mine) like his family. To explain how he would come to be able to get an education or even get to the United States, I gave him an adoptive family. Clopin in the movie doesn't seem like the type to be appreciative, so it isn't until his adult years that mine even begins to see how much his 'parents' did for him.
memorable moments:
Well, getting adopted would be a big moment in anyone's life. And his first taste of leadership would be important, as the character of Clopin in the movie is in a position of 'kingship' over the gypsies in Paris. So he's clearly familiar with being in power. As well, performing on Broadway would be a callback to Clopin in the movie being the main performer of the Feast of Fools, which appears to be the biggest celebration in Paris.this application was written by Jack, who also plays Basil Lochlan Holmes.
