Name: Bastien Marcel Duval

Nickname(s): Bas, Marc

Age: 21

Year: Sapling

Gender: Male

Sexual Preference: No preference, but is Demisexual (meaning he’s much more easily attracted to people he already knows well)

Wing: Manticore

Species: Vampire

Antion/ Darion: Antion

Human Appearance: Bastien isn’t necessarily someone you’d immediately peg as a vampire. He’s still just as pale as the rest of his kind, and pink certainly isn’t a normal eye color, but he isn’t too loyal to the “dark and brooding” stereotype. His hair is naturally pure white in color, and it’s starting to show at his roots, but his hair has been dyed blonde for so long that most people don’t even know this. It's short and curly, falling almost to his eyebrows. He’s a little short in stature, about 5’5, with a slim frame. He has a naturally friendly appearance with his round face and deep set pink eyes. His fangs are a little on the larger side, making it a bit hard for him to close his mouth fully. As such, he seems to have a near-constant, slightly open-mouthed smile. He appears quite young, about 17-18 instead of his actual age, leading to quite a few annoying encounters with other adults.

Attire: Bastien tends to dress nicely. His casual attire typically consists of a short-sleeve shirt, usually lightly-patterned, and black pants under a light-colored jacket. He usually also wears a scarf of some sort. Tennis-shoes or boots are his go-to footwear. For more formal occasions, he prefers to wear a simple button-up shirt, dress pants, and dress shoes. He also wears earrings, switching them out every couple of weeks, though he prefers his golden studs. He has a couple of tattoos: one of a robin on his chest and a black and white one of a manticore (his wing) on his left arm.

ShapeShift appearance: A bat, something akin to a normal vampire bat. Yes, that does mean he is tiny. No, that does not mean you can hold/pet him. Not without permission. Bastien’s bat form is 2.8 inches long and weighs about 1.2 ounces and has short, neat, white fur. He has a wingspan of about eight inches, and said wings are a pale gray. His ears are about the same color. His tiny, beady eyes appear pitch-black in this form. His bat form, like most bats, appears to be a little chubby, a fact he hates. The one difference between him and a normal vampire bat is that he is missing the characteristic two front fangs most vampire bats have.

*Voice: Working on it.

Personality: Calm, cool, and collected, like any vampire worth their salt, yet oddly empathetic for his kind. He’s also fiercely loyal to the point of being compared to a wolf. He’s usually willing to help those that need it, but not at the expense of his own health/grades/etc. He tends to play things by the book and does all he can to avoid breaking the rules, but push come to shove he’ll run guns blazing into the dark woods if one of his friends are in trouble. However, as good as he is at hiding it, he tends to take everything he’s told to heart. Every compliment, every insult, every jab at his pride. Quite often, he’ll make subtle changes to himself based on these comments. Paler colors after an outfit was called garish, a little foundation after a few other vampires laughed at him for seemingly somehow getting a tan… Emotionally, Bastien is very easy to hurt. It also means he’s surprisingly easy to manipulate if you know what you’re doing.

Strengths:

• Eyesight: Rain or shine, fog or snow, even in pitch-black darkness, Bastien can see clearly. Even more so than a normal vampire. His eyes are so well-adjusted to the dark that they even seem to give off a small amount of light, making him something of a walking low-light flashlight. Just hope you don’t mind your illumination being in pink.
• Charisma: Had Bastien been a little more to the dark stereotype, he might have been in the Kelpie wing. He can manipulate his words, tone, and body language so well that even others of his kind can have trouble telling when he’s lying. Not only is he naturally charming, he was also a drama kid for three years in high school. He’s had training. It’s pretty easy for him to get others to listen to him.
• Strategy: Bastien is smart. It’s something he’s quite proud of. It’s also a talent that comes in handy during duels. He always seems to know exactly what to do next. He studies enough to know the best counters, the best weak spots, and thankfully when it’s time to back down. As kind as he is, staring into his calculating eyes as he figures out the best way to knock you out can be a little intimidating.

Weaknesses:

• Sun-shy: The sun doesn’t turn vampires into a pile of ash. That’s just an old myth. However… pale skin and harsh UV rays don’t exactly mix too well either. Bastien can get sunburned very badly, very fast. I’m not talking about a minor rash and some peeling skin, either. He’s gotten third degree burns once. He can’t stay outside in the sun very long without an umbrella or some very, very strong sunscreen.
• Soft-skinned: Bastien can hit like a truck magic-wise, but physically…? There’s a reason he’s picked last in most sports. He’s not exactly frail, but he’s nowhere near athletic. Perhaps it’s because of his somewhat-privileged upbringing. He can’t dole out a punch for the life of him, and taking one is even harder. About the only physical thing he is good at is, well… running.
• Soft-hearted: Bastien is a sucker for a sap story. If someone says they need help, whether they really do or not, and he reasonably can help them, he will. No questions asked. It’s gotten him in trouble before, and it’ll probably do so again. His kind heart, as his family says, may very well be his downfall.

*Likes: Tea, coffee, and a good book are the best three things in the world for this man. Of course, only one of those makes a very good gift. He does like fashion, so gift-wise it may be best to get him some clothes. Food-wise, well… Obviously he needs blood, but vampires can eat for pleasure too. He really likes tree fruit. Oranges, plums, pomegranates, peaches… just no lemons. Please no lemons. Or limes. He loves avocados though, weirdly enough. Yes, he will eat them raw. As for his activities, he quite enjoys sewing. Yes, sewing. Is he any good at it? No, but he tries. He also likes to garden, which he is a bit better at, though all that time in the sun can be draining. Weirdly enough, he also likes the beach. Not the ocean, just the beach. Well, more the shells and creatures that live on the beach, but… gotta deal with one to see the other.

*Dislikes: Lemons. As mentioned before, don’t give him one. He made the mistake of biting into one once. He’s also not too fond of high temperatures, and heaven help you if it also happens to be humid. He’ll complain all day about his discomfort. And please, for the love of all that is holy, no cats. He’s allergic.

Reputation: Among other vampires, Bastien’s reputation is a bit… spotty. It depends on who you ask. Most younger vampires are pretty okay with him, some are even friends of his, but those who tend to lean more towards the stereotype (and their parents) aren’t often too fond of him. He’s known as either a helpful, slightly-abnormal, but still friendly classmate or a freak depending on which side you question. Amongst other students, it’s a little less complicated. He tends to get along well with werewolves. Being able to match wits with them and feed their ego with his eloquent praises makes him good company, and sticking around them is beneficial for him since they can make up for his lacking physical strength. He tends to ignore the fairies’ existence unless one specifically starts talking to him, as he has a somewhat-irrational fear of them, and is therefore often seen as a little cold and is avoided in turn. He was raised on old European fairy tales, so he’s just a little wary. Centaurs scare the crap out of him. Not only are they twice his size, they’ve also generally got the disposition of a honey badger. He’s not in the mood to lose his life today, so he tends to avoid them. This of course means that he tends to come across as being rather weird to them. Shapeshifters are iffy. They’re unpredictable, but finding a nice one means finding a very useful ally. He’ll give them a chance, but like with the fae, he’s a bit wary. However, he still tends to come across as quite friendly. Witches and Wizards are… well, he kinda just sees them as humans. As long as they don’t piss him off, he’s nice to them. Unless they have something against vampires, he just kinda comes across as… almost a normal human. Not even a vampire. Half-breeds tend to like him since he’s actually really nice to them. He finds them interesting, far more so than any of the original Antion species, and finds them to be the most accepting, so they’re the students he tends to get along with best. To teachers, Bastien is a good student, always trying his hardest to make sure other students don’t fall behind. He always seems to go the extra mile with his work, turning it in very early or doing extra research to make sure it’s perfect. He’s always helping them as well, listening to what they say scarily well and often leaving small gifts or offering to help with things he knows they struggle with.

Affiliations: Open to ideas!

Love Interest: None… yet.

Kin: His parents are your typical vampires. Both went to Argates, both passed. Bastien also has seven siblings. Yes, seven. Two are older, the rest are still in high or middle school. The two older ones have also already gone to Argates, though… one did not pass. She failed in her third year and never came home afterwards. He hasn’t seen her since. He’s actually here at Argates mostly to try to mend his family’s broken image from that incident.

*Pet: He has a brown bat. Yes, the bat has a bat. Don’t laugh. And no, he did not sneak one of his siblings into school. It’s a fruit bat, and he and said bat can often be found sharing a bowl of pomegranate seeds under the shade of some of the larger trees on campus.

*Theme Songs: N/a

Backstory: Bastien’s family is a large, somewhat well-to-do family of vampires from Venice. Anyone in his family who is old enough has gone to Argates and passed, save for one. Bastien, though not the pride of the family, is certainly toted around like a bit of a trophy for his unusual appearance. Albinism makes it pretty easy to stand out, even among vampires. Couple that with his general good looks, and Batien became a pretty clear candidate for the family poster boy. Other than that and his somewhat unusual sense of style, he’s a pretty normal vampire. Of course, he doesn’t exactly have the most normal family. Not anymore. The second eldest child of the family, his older sister, went to Argates and became the first person in his entire family to fail. It broke his mother, and it brought a lot of unwanted attention on him and his siblings. His whole family feels the sting of what happened, but so far none of them have tried anything to change it. He has plans to change that. He feels that if he can go to Argates and pass, maybe it will smooth out his family’s image again. His sister was just a fluke, and he plans to prove it.

Other: Due to his family’s reputation, he won’t usually tell anyone his last name, not even teachers unless he has to. He likes to avoid people knowing who he is, though obviously this is sometimes unavoidable.

Let me know if I need to change anything!

Name: Juniper Grenleff

Nickname(s): Juney, Weirdo, + Jupiter

Age: 22

Year: Knowledgeable

Gender: Demiboy (He/Them)

Sexual Preference: Pansexual

Wing: Dragon

Species: Half-Breed (Fairy [ 40%~] + Wizard [60%~])

Antion/ Darion: Antion

Human Appearance: Juniper is only five foot six, yet covered in bulging muscle that is often hidden under bulky, baggy clothes. His shoulders are wider than his hips and his legs seem like trunks, capable of propelling Juniper forward quickly and keeping him balanced no matter the situation. With rough, dark golden skin that is covered in small scratches and scars, his pale opal tattoos stick out on him like a sore thumb. His pale tattoos are hard to conceal and are patterned like Mehndi, an Indian pre-wedding activity for Mehndi parties. Juniper just likes how it looks on him though and likes to think it connects him more to his dad’s culture. These tattoos paint his right arm and shoulder as well as the side of his neck, spiraling in a beautiful fashion in a symbol of good luck. On the lower part of his back, he has a long, scratch mark clawed into his back from not being careful while taking care of a drake. Of course, the drake didn’t fully mean it, but the drake and Juniper still got heavily scolded by his enraged mother afterwards. His limp wings sit higher up on his back. The deformed feathered wings remind him constantly of the fact that he is just a ‘defect.’

Juniper has a soft, round face, with only a slightly square jawline. Juniper has a sharp nose, pointed like a beak, and beady dark brown eyes that appear like black buttons from afar. Dark bags hang under his always observing eyes, barely visible most of the time unless he spends more time than usual reading late into the night. A soft tuft of hair sits messily in his head, often with leaves or grass sticking out of it. His hair color is similar to that of his tattoos, a soft Opal color with a green tint to it. It looks like silver in the moonlight because the color seems to almost change in different lighting. A long strand of hair in a braid held together by a small bead is the only hair that escapes his small, stubby ponytail. Their pale honey cheeks seemed slightly burned from sunlight, but always slightly rosey when complimented. In fact, if you look close enough, you can sometimes see black freckles on their cheeks. They have a polite simple smile, thin lipped and small, for when anyone tells them a joke they find funny or is simply trying to make a good impression. Although, his smile when he genuinely thinks something is funny is so much better. His toothy smile lights up his face and his chipped tooth can be seen. It looks silly and goofy which is what makes it so much better. He just looks so much more joyful and full of life when he truly smiles.

Attire: Juniper’s clothes seem pretty ancient, mud covered, and downright terrible to most people, but the two pairs of clothes he wears to school are the nicest clothes he owns. A white button up shirt that is wrinkled with muddy patches and torn at the rim is tucked into nice black pants with overall straps. A teal sweater goes on over that, his hands always fiddling with the soft hem of the handmade sweater so much so that the hem has been worn down. When they aren’t wearing that, they like to sport a dark green dress with gold stitching at the ends of the short sleeves and bottom of their dress. They will tie a small belt around their waist as well just to keep the flowy dress from flowing too much. His black, mud-covered boots are not only light and allow him to run quickly but are his only pair of shoes. Only problem is that they always track in lots of dirt. Juniper used to never hear the end of it from their teachers when the halls were filled with dirt that they brought in. The boots are full of soft ram fur and have a coating on the outside to stop the boots from getting wet. When it gets even slightly cooler out, he is always quick to wear his favorite jacket. He also wears a large cloak, torn and worn with time. It has several large pockets overflowing with herbs, a notepad and pen, and a small pocket near his chest for his pet, Xeno. The cloak has a comfortable hood and has the Grenleff’s family seal sewn with gold string into the back. They will also don a cap that covers their head when it gets colder. No matter what though, Juniper wears their big, circle glasses with the gold rim.

Juniper carries a small satchel over their shoulder with basic smaller necessities and a large backpack or anything else he might need. The backpack, like everything else he owns, looks like a hammy down with holes and fading color. It holds a spare of clothes for different weather conditions, a sketching journal, a normal journal, plenty of ink, random herbs and spices, and every book he could possibly cramp into his bag. The sketchbook and diary look to be about the same or at least made from the same maker. With a nice hard cover and aging parchment paper, the books are filled with memories, song lyrics, and notes, ones he doesn’t let anyone see. Juniper loves to read and could imagine a world without books which is also why he shoveled books into his bag like a farmer shovels hay. He also stores his guitar and a goat’s horn inside in order to remind him of his home. As for what’s in his satchel, only the basic things one needs especially if you deal with drakes, wyverns, foxes, cats, kelpie, horses, dogs, griffins, bees, wyrms, and more daily. A few herbs such as lavender and thyme as well as cinnamon, cumin, and copper for Xeno in several different thin, glass bottles. A wand is also crammed inside to help him focus his spells more effectively and a book and spells and magical creatures beside it. Juniper has an odd assortment of skulls and bones in there as well and a couple of strange berries are never far behind. An astrology map may be close to that as well, seeing as Juniper does love stargazing so much as well as finding constellations.

ShapeShift appearance: Juniper’s other form is an Indian Pitta. With soft fluffy wings, Juniper is able to flap with mesmerizing teal and green wings with black tips. With what seems to be a black mask around his eyes with a matching pointy beak, the rest of Juniper’s tinsy body is a pale yellow color. It’s rare for Juniper to even be able to shift so when they do, their flight is often sporadic and rigid.

Voice: His voice has a mixture of an Indian and Dutch with hard ‘arr,’ ‘o,’ and ‘uu’ sounds and short ‘t’s. Their voice is higher than what you would suspect, but his voice often sounds a bit horse due to screaming so much across the fields and trying to get dragons to stop flying above him and come down for their baths, causing him to cough and rub his throat and neck constantly. He often speaks just barely above a whisper to avoid this, making it harder for people to hear his true voice. Juniper also has a stutter and a bit of a slur in his words, often having to repeat what he said because it wasn’t understandable. Despite this, Juniper has a wonderful singing voice. He is often shy about this, but his older sister taught him how to play a piano and how to sing well and his older brother taught him how to play a goat horn and guitar. The guitar he owns is roughly more than the size of a ukulele so it makes it easy to take it out and use it to sing whenever he pleases. He would rarely do it infront of someone else though.

Personality: Juniper is an odd person to come across. With a bright cheerful personality but one laced with stubbornness and passion, Juniper is a lot different from when you first meet him to when you next come across him. He loves to tussle with people he has grown fond of, ruffling their hair, punching them jokingly on the shoulder, and hugging them at seemingly random, which seems very different from when you first encounter him where he is very polite and seemingly shy at times. He is not overly trusting per say, but he is very accepting. Always treating people like one of his own no matter who they are, Juniper may not trust them with his secrets or other things, but he does his best to make the person feel comfortable and happy.

Of course, this might make them seem like someone who has no bite and no bark, but believe me when I say that they can and will fight you verbally or physically if you say something out of place. There are several things Juniper will gladly debate anyone one whether it’s a teacher, a student, or a family member. The first of those things Juniper will fight for are half blood rights, followed promptly by animal rights related topics as well as more things shortly after that. While Juniper doesn’t generally result to violence in disagreements, sometimes their opponent does. Juniper will always try to convince the person to not be violent and de-escalate the attacker, but Juniper isn’t afraid to fight if there is no other option. They aren’t going to be just to light taps on the cheek either especially if the other person isn’t holding back.

As for friendships and love life, Juniper really has none except for their family, their animals, and their one or two friends. Not that he is sad by this fact, but it does make him feel a little lonely from time to time. If he does manage to befriend someone, he will occasionally give them gifts as well as be very protective of them. If anyone makes fun of his friends, that person will get one hell of a time afterwards. His friends will have to be able to deal with his nonsensical hugs and weird rants he goes on, marveling at something that he remembered about history, magic, astronomy, or anything of that nature. As for if someone fell in love with him, good luck. Juniper will probably trust that person more than anyone and talk nonstop to them, he’ll compliment said person a lot, and go out of his way to help them. This might sound good, but he does occasionally get too worried about how the other feels.

Likes: Animals, Singing, His Idiotic Siblings, Xeno, the Valley, Reading, Drawing Small Doodles, Loud Storms, Stargazing, Collecting Skulls, and Nice Dresses

Dislikes: Hot humid weather, Most Loud People (Only while Reading), When Xeno Gets Grumpy, Singing In Front of Others, Tight Clothes, Egotistical People, and Being Humiliated For Their Heritage, Family, or Anything Like That in General.

Reputation: Juniper has a fairly good reputation among the teachers, always getting his work done on time and doing extra credit. He isn’t necessarily a teacher’s pet, but he always does try to be polite to adults. As for other students, after living on the ranch for most of his life, he tends to either rough house with people or be overly and extremely polite. This is why not a lot of people like him.

Affiliations: TBD (I will update this soon I promise-)

Love Interest: N/a… yet… ;)

Kin: Juniper lived with their mom, “Ma,” (Serenity, 49) and dad, “Pa,” (Kiaan, 51) Of course there is also their Nani, or their grandmother (65) from their dad’s side. Oh and how could they forget about their seven sisters and brothers? Henry, who is the strongest of the siblings and amazing with a guitar (27), Falla, who always was asking the oddest questions and getting in more arguments than Juniper, (26), Daksha, who is a Seedling now and who will never stop teasing them (20), Jatin the most timid of the triplets (18), Keddan the most maniacal schemer of the triplets (18), Dalia, the boldest, most chaotic, of the triplets (18), and of course Fredrick who is the youngest and seems to always be tired (17). There were also the animals that live on the ranch that practically are family but they don’t really count. Their mom spends most of her time working on the ranch with the children while their father mostly works in a library an hour and a half away on griffinback from the ranch and does tutoring on the weekdays for children. Each of Juniper’s siblings work on the farm (especially Henry who gets up before dawn and seems always to be working on something) except for Falla. Their older sister now lives on the other side of the continent, providing education for those who cannot afford it as well as running food drives for the hungry and needy. She always writes once a week though. Or once every other week. Or… once a month.

Pet: Juniper has a pet he named Xeno when he was younger. Xeno, a small, magenta Spitfire Wyvern is Juniper’s best friend. This Wyvern is pocket sized and because of its small reptilian wings it can glide through the air instead of flying. Because it eats copper minerals and ram meat, it produces a small green flame when threatened. Xeno is generally pretty protective of his partner, often slithering out of his satchel or coat pocket to hiss at anyone who approaches, but Juniper does his best to keep his Wyvern companion under control even if the Wyvern couldn’t do much to begin with.

Theme Songs: Ocarina of Time: Lon Lon Ranch by Koji Kondo, Little Poor Me by Layto, Put it on Me by Matt Maeson, + I Get Overwhelmed by Royal & the Serpent (there are probably more but I can’t think of anything-)

Backstory: Juniper was born on his Grandfather’s ranch, a ranch that had been owned by his mother’s side of the family for… generations at least. Even as he was younger, he had always held a fascination with animals especially since the ranch he lived on was a habitat for hundreds of them. It had always been his job to look after some of these creatures and make sure they were happy until they were ready to leave. It was always his older sister who looked after the sick or hurt ones and his older brother’s job to get the energy out of the rowdy ones. Daksha and the triplets were born sometime after that and continued to help at the barn as well as to sell peaches, flowers, and goat’s milk. It also brought in enough extra money for the family to buy a new piano, one that actually works, as well as a guitar for Henry and Juniper to share.

While Fallas was in school, she had a falling out with Juniper’s parents. A huge family argument. Juniper for the life of him couldn’t remember the details, but does always remember Henry keeping Juniper and the others upstairs while a lot of shouting could be heard from downstairs making Fredrick and the triplets, except for Dalia, cry. Falla left home the next day, packing up her bags and leaving the house and slamming the door loudly as she left off to the other side of the continent. It was never really the same in the house after that no matter what happened. It was as if the good energy of the small barn was zapped as soon as Falla left.

Not long after Falla left, Juniper was accepted into the greatest school of all University of Argates.