Gideon alexandre Beuchene

the basics

full name ♦ Gideon Alexandre Beauchene IV

nicknames ♦ Monday, Beau

age ♦ Twenty Seven

birthday ♦ December 1st, 1990

occupation ♦ Culinary Arts Teacher at Primrose Academy 

school ♦ Johnson and Wales University, Rhode Island | Primrose Alumni

species ♦ Shapeshifter

ability/power ♦  Crocodilian Shifter

how the ability works ♦ Gideon is capable of shifting between his humanoid form and the form of a large Saltwater Crocodile. In his animal form, Gideon is a dusky gray-green reptile that spans nearly twenty feet and weighs just over two thousand four hundred pounds. His pelt is covered in multiple scars from run-ins with other shifters and would be hunters. While shifted Gideon gains all of the physical attributes of a Saltwater Croc his size while retaining his higher cognitive functions. As time passes though he becomes more aggressive, keeping in line with the Salties status as the most dangerous crocodile in the world. The longer Gideon stays shifted the longer this state of hyper-aggression and territorial behavior lasts. Gideon begins to lapse into his state after remaining transformed longer than six hours.

In his human form, Gideon is markedly stronger than the average human male. While nowhere near the strength of someone with an ability Gideon is more powerful than his already large build belies.  He also possesses a powerful sense of smell and night vision to aid in hunting. 

gender ♦ Male

sexuality ♦ Heterosexual

the appearance

face claim ♦ Mustafa Shakir

height and weight ♦ 6'4'' 265 lbs.

identifying features ♦ Gideon's eyes are crocodilian in nature as well as being a brilliant shade of topaz. He bears a plethora of scars that have carried over from his crocodilian form from encounters with other shifters. He has a rosary tattooed on his left forearm.

overall appearance ♦ Monday is a powerfully built man who sports short cropped chestnut hair and a full complimentary beard. While out and about he tends to favor loose fitting clothing such as hoodies or sweaters despite the Louisiana heat. While in the classroom setting he dons more professional garb either sporting rack bought suits or his chef's uniform depending on the circumstances. As a man with a distaste for excess, he rarely wears any jewelry save for a small silver hoop in his left ear. 

the personality

likes ♦  Early Mornings | Home Cooking | Red Wine | Late Nights with Friends | New Things

dislikes ♦  Cold Weather | Extravagance | Complaining | Domestic Beer | Fast Food

strengths ♦ Culinary Genius | Prodigious Strength | Fluent in English and Creole French | Speaks some Korean

weaknesses ♦ Loyal to a Fault | Cold-Blooded | Slow while Shifted 

dreams ♦ Opening his own successful restaurant

fears ♦ His father being right

overall personality ♦

Monday is a man who seemingly radiates warmth and compassion. Only on the most somber of occasions does the man appear without his trademark smirk and air of amenity. Monday accepts anyone who sits at his table and will happily do all he can for them. His clemency is nearly boundless. Imparted with a strong paternal instinct Monday has a great fondness for those younger than him and extends this kindness without thought.

Whatever Monday sets his mind to he pursues with earnest passion. Whether that be preparing a meal, teaching, or even doing renovations around the house. It's easy for the man to lose himself in what he pursues living up to his Mémé 's words, "anything worth doing is worth doing well". He expects a similar attitude from those around him in that they'll give all of themselves to their tasks in order to complete it. When that fails to happen, Gideon oft time feels dejected and grows irritated. To those that look on Gideon seems to go overboard in his endeavors. A perfect example is when he planned on replacing the trim of his grandmother's home and ended up redoing the floor, fixing a bad joist, and running new drainage. 

Monday is exasperatingly humble, a trait he attributes to his grandmother and adolescent years. Compliments about anything other than his cooking are brushed off as other's being too kind. He diverts attention from himself whenever the opportunity arises and finds the scrutiny of other's unnerving. His entire approach to style is a subtle attempt to hide his physical features for fear of drawing unwanted attention. When it comes to his art he performs a quick one-eighty and displays fierce pride. Displaying any sort of dissatisfaction with his cooking is a quick way to earn the killer croc's ire.

For all of his friendliness and good cheer, it is best not to forget that there is another side to Monday. Dwelling within him is an apex predator that has not changed for millions of years.  Monday has proven to be fiercely territorial over things that he believes are his and it might come across as comedic when he tells someone to leave his kitchen it quickly turns dire. While he's learned to control his aggressive tendencies even he can slip up. His temper seems to flare up with little warning and peters out almost as quickly as it was stoked. 

Monday tends to turn to food as comfort when he's upset. The trait is a leftover from his childhood and despite his best efforts one that will remain with him for life. Faced with obstacles that his optimism cannot overcome Monday will begin to go into a flurry of cooking and, once exhausted from the ordeal, consume gargantuan quantities of food. 

the history

father ♦ Gideon Alexandre Beauchene III, 52, Shipping Magnate

mother ♦ Margaret Beauchene, 56, Shipping Magnate

siblings ♦| ------ Dufrense(nee Beauchene), 34, -------, Sister

important people ♦ Mémé Ruth Beauchene, 106, paternal great-grandmother, homemaker, deceased |  ------ Dufrense, 16, Student, Niece

hometown ♦ New Orleans, Lousiana

overall history ♦  For the last two centuries the Beauchene family has been an integral part of the New Orleans' shifter community as well as the city's elite. Owning, what Monday calls, a modest shipping empire the Beauchene's have rarely wanted for anything. For over two hundred years they were tantamount to royalty and their firstborn son, Gideon Alexandre Beauchene, fourth of his name, was to be their little prince. His entire life was charted out for him like a ship at sea. He was to attend the finest schools, learn from the best scholars, attend an Ivy league university, and take his place at the head of the Beauchene empire.

It was apparent early in Gideon's life that he was different from the rest of his family. Born portly, with brilliant eyes, and with a jovial temperament that ill-suited what was expected of a crocodilian shifter. Many thought him odd, his great-grandmother, affectionately named Mémé Ruthie, thought him the most adorable thing she'd ever seen. She was quick to nickname the child Monday, after the legend of Uncle Monday, a witch doctor in the Florida Everglades who turned into the largest crocodile to escape slavery.  Gideon adored the name and it stuck.

Childhood provided him with more unkind monikers. The baby fat that he was born with never left his poor bones and he only grew huskier as the years went on. Monday was much too kind to resort to violence and often cried when the taunting became too severe. His parents urged him to retaliate where his grandmother would stroke his hair and tell him that the best revenge was kindness. Monday took Mémé's words to heart. His father thought him ruined after that, kindness had little place in running a business and for the next decade, he strove to instill in Monday an edge. It would not take in the rotund saint.

Monday had been prepared his whole life for his first shift and when it finally occurred at thirteen he was still not ready. His father, ecstatic at the change, took his son out for his first hunt, their reptilian bodies slithering into the bayou. There, Monday displayed a surprising amount of grace and control for a new shifted child. When Monday performed his first kill he sobbed uncontrollably for the next day. His namesake was unable to do anything about it and called upon Mémé Ruthie to quiet the boy.

Mémé was a shifter who still believed in the old ways, the shamanic ways, the Vodun way. She thought it best that the boy reside with her, where he might flourish. His father, largely ignorant of the way things had been done nearly a century ago, agreed. Monday packed his bags and moved from the lavish home to the small house less than two miles from the Mississippi River. It was in this home that Gideon was taught the old ways of the shifters. 

For hours at a time, Mémé would assume her crocodile form, that of an American Crocodile. Mémé encouraged Gideon to follow suit and spend as much time in his shifted form as possible. Even though he was still a child, Monday dwarfed his great-grandmother despite her being nearly ten feet long. In these hours, Monday explored the bayou with Ruth at his side. She explained to him how life was a circle and that food was a powerful thing. That even though he killed to eat that he too would one day feed another. At first, the thought terrified him but it soon grew to comfort him.

Time shifted had a positive effect on the boy. His girth melted away to layers of muscle and by the time he entered Primrose as a freshman, he was already quite the specimen. Battered by years of ridicule Monday was unable to relish this attention. His first year he did his best to fly under the radar until one fateful day in gym. It was during a session on football that Monday displayed his remarkable athleticism and trucked his way through several of his classmates to sack the other team's quarterback. Time and time again this occurred and the gentle giant began to be referred to as "unstoppable". Word got around to the coach of the team and the next thing Monday knew he was on the football team.

Football would never be his true love though. In school, he found it hard to be passionate about anything. That was until he took a home economics class on a whim. It was supposed to be an easy A to keep him eligible to play football. It ended up throwing the boy headfirst into the world of cuisine. Monday found the art fascinating and it resonated with the lessons his grandmother gave to him. The act of putting himself out there with his food and nourishing others lifted his spirits and turned into a lifelong love. 

By his senior year, Monday had already been offered several full rides to play football and was something of a star at Primrose. Still, he was the awkward, gentle giant who wanted nothing more than to cook. The world wanted him to play a sport he had no love for, his parents wanted him to attend an Ivy league college, and all he wanted to do was cook. He surprised everyone when he revealed that he would be attending Johnson and Wales for Culinary Arts.

It was on that day that his father disowned him and told him that his "dream" would get him nowhere. Monday was forced to work while going to school in Rhode Island. He began to believe that being on his own, supporting himself, was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

The shifter graduated with outstanding marks and entered the workforce with aplomb. He quickly made a reputation for himself with his dedication to his craft. Flitting from kitchen to kitchen he sought to make food his way. He eventually realized that to do that he would need to open his own restaurant. Twice he tried and twice he failed. Thrown into horrendous debt, Gideon returned to New Orleans to live with his Mémé. Disheartened, he found work in one of New Orleans' many establishments as a line cook. Noting his dour mood, Mémé Ruthie encouraged her great-grandson to go back to where he had first fallen in love with cooking. Begrudgingly, Monday agreed and sought employment with Primrose. His reputation from school as well as his family name must have still carried weight as he was given the job quite quickly. 

With the summer to prepare Monday began the preparations to move back into Primrose. Unfortunately, in that three-month stretch, Ruth Beauchene finally passed on at the age of one-hundred and six. Monday attended the funeral standing on opposite sides of his family. When the matriarch of the Beauchene's was laid to rest they left without exchanging a single word. Monday somberly began to finish his preparations to begin his first year teaching.

It would not be a career, he told himself, just a way to pay down his debt and try his dream once more.

 

the role player

alias ♦ Silence

age ♦ twenty-six

pronouns ♦ he, him, his

code ♦ ADMIN EDIT

other characters ♦ Benjamin Townsend