Profile
Lucien Bernier is a character from the in-progress visual novel Et le grain mourut. He is part of Olivier's friend group, and is an aspiring filmmaker.
Charismatic and confident, he is the de facto leader of said friend group. He is also Louis’ best friend.
About
Early childhood and meeting Louis
Lucien was born with aphonia, which makes him unable to produce voiced sounds. Because of his disability, the first years of Lucien’s life were lonely. No kid wanted to play with a boy who could not talk, and they often assumed he could not hear the insults they said behind his back.
One day, when little Lucien was left alone by other children as usual, he was approached by a boy who offered him to play with him. The boy’s name was Louis. Watching from afar, Lucien's parents thanked Louis' mother, and suggested that their respective sons should meet more often. Louis' mother gladly accepted.
Lucien and Louis have been unseparable since then. After they entered school, very often, it was Lucien who was standing up for Louis, who ended up being mocked by other students because of his short stature, which was becoming more and more noticeable as the years went.
When Lucien ended up learning French Sign Language thanks to the local deaf community, he taught it to Louis as well. Since then, he often works as an interpreter for him, but the two friends sometimes have to hide, as sign language is still frowned upon by society. Most of Lucien’s other friends also know the basics of French Sign Language, but only Louis is nearly fluent in it.
To avoid further bullying, Lucien’s parents had offered their son to try to enrol him in the local school for the deaf, but Lucien has always firmly rejected the idea, not wanting to be separated from Louis and his other friends.
Currently
Lucien and Louis’ current friend group is made of seven (themselves included) Parisian high school students with artistic inclinations, and who like to spend their free time at Laurent's bar. He is known to be the best at binge-drinking, a pretty common custom among his friend group.
Nowadays, Lucien is an optimistic and positive person. He will not let any kind of hardship bring him down, and is used to being “different”. His eccentricity even made him somewhat popular in school, where those who do not know his name call him “the tall guy with acne”. Lucien loves to show off and to joke around (and sometimes tells pervy jokes). He is kind of a daydreamer, but also knows how to look serious when needed. That is why most people think of him as a born leader.
Lucien’s main interest is cinema, and Georges Méliès and Alice Guy are his heroes. Of course, he loves going out to see the newest films, but he has some ideas when it comes to do his own stuff too! He has expensive material bought by his parents in the United States. He cannot use them at their full potential yet, but he is slowly improving. Lucien’s favourite genre is comedy, and often “recruits” his friends and other acquaintances as actors. Olivier finds his films “painfully heterosexual”.
Because of his parent's travels, Lucien wishes he could go to the US too, one day. He is pretty good when it comes to understand and write in English; actually, he is the best among his friends.
Trivia
- Lucien owns a yellow bicycle, and absolutely loves it. He often invites Louis (and sometimes other friends) to sit behind him, and ride as fast as possible in sloping streets.
- Lucien has a brother, Théophane, who is significantly older than him and recently started to work as a doctor. He does not visit his family much any more, and Lucien wishes he could see him more often.
- Outside his friend group, Lucien often feels like he does not belong anywhere. Abled people tend to shun or punish him for his use of FSL, but he does not connect with deaf culture either, since he can hear perfectly.
- Unexpectedly for someone with such a personality, he has a very clean and neat handwriting, due to the fact that he often has to write things down to be understood. He is always carrying a small notebook and fountain pen around.
- His favourite flower is the sunflower.
- I sometimes like to call Louis and Lucien's relationship a “queerplatonic bromance”, although they obviously do not label it as such themselves, given the historical setting of the story.
Name origin
All three of Lucien's given names are references to the Lumière brothers. His first name is a nod to their last name, "lumière" meaning "light" in French, while his second and third names were directly taken from the two brothers themselves.
Likes
- Making his presence known by slamming doors as loudly as possible when entering a room; “How else could I make it known that I'm here?”
- Animated cartoons; “I've tried to mimic the style, but I think Jean would be better than I at this, haha.”
- Classical music; “That's because of Louis, actually. I don't know much about the terminology, I just think it sounds neat. Don't tell him I said this, he would kill me on the spot.”
- Cologne; “That's just common sense! Ladies hate men who smell, don't they?”
- Summer; “At least you won't catch a cold! Winter is so irritating.”
- Geography & foreign countries; “I hope I'll be able to see the world a bit one day, and maybe seeing new settings will give me some inspiration for new films…”
Dislikes
- People disrespecting his friends; “I'd you talk shit about any of them, you'll have to deal with me personally. Unless you're talking about Émile. In that case, it's fine I guess...”
- Easily offended people; “Not that I want to be mean… But I believe we won't be friends. Unless you're Émile.”
- The school system; “Let's be frank about it: I've never done my homework. Not even once in my life. But look! I'm doing fine.”
- Going to bed early; “You're ruining your day, no, your life if you do this…”
- Gullible people; “Hey, that thing about Émile… That was a joke! Did you really believe me?
- Being told to wear his vest properly; “...No.”
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