Etienne L'Artaire
Out of Character
Etienne was spawned from Alice by way of Scout as an outlet for James McAvoy love. ... and then he took on a life of his own. And Alice loves him.
In Character
Specifics
Full Name: Etienne Fabrice L'Artaire
Nickname(s): Adèle calls him Etti sometimes, but he mostly gets called Tonton. Like Tintin, only ... not.
Birthdate: May 13th, 1981
Birthplace: Nice, France
Hometown: Lyon, France
Currently Resides: Paris, France (though spends his summers with his aunt and uncle in Nice)
Family: Father, Arnett; Mother, Collette; Sister, Adele; Sister, Margot (deceased).
Sexuality: Straight as a pin
Relationship Status: Single, divorced (Kezia Petrovski. 2006)
Schooling: Homeschooling
Occupation: He designs fashion-related shelves! And changing rooms! Stylish ones. And he earns quiiiite a bit of money for it. Most of the time.
Detailed Information
Physical Description
Dark brown hair, piercing deep blue eyes. 5'7". Slight, but not thin.
Personal Information
Etienne mostly speaks only French, though had picked up some English from his older sister who has been residing in Ireland/England since 1989, when she traveled to Dublin for a year long exchange. He prefers to speak in the mother tongue purely because his parents often tried to get him to move overseas to and English speaking country, though this only cemented his love of his mother country and made him more determined to stick with his roots.
Etienne is a fly fishing enthusiast. He has spent much of his life fishing, having found it the easiest way to deal with the large number of family dramas that evolve from his relatives.
The only family he enjoys spending any time with are his aunt and uncle Delphine and Edouard Guillot (his father's sister and her husband). They live in his birthplace of Nice, and as a child he would visit them and spend the summer at their house and take the 45 minute drive to spend his days fly fishing. He still takes his annual leave and spends 2-3 weeks there, though both Delphine and Edouard are elderly now, so he helps them with other inane things they cannot manage during the rest of the year.
Backstory
Etienne was born in Nice, France, in a small town close to the border of Italy, Menton. His parents, Arnett and Collette already had nine-year-old Adele at the time of his birth, and had just recently buried a daughter, who had passed away a few months earlier. The rest of the L'Artaire family were based in Menton, also, though the eldest, Delphine, had moved into the city with her then fiance, Edouard Guillot.
Adèle was fiercely fond of her youngest brother, and though she had memories of her late sister, she did her best to be a good sibling to Etienne for fear of loosing him, too.
Arnett and Collette had been happily married since 1971, and were very liberal hippie-like people who had a large circle of friends. Adèle grew up in this liberal environment and though, by the time Etienne was born, this way of life had mostly faded, his upbringing was not dissimilar to his older sister's.
Etienne's early childhood was somewhat scarred with the loss of his older sister who has passed away a few months earlier. This enigma stuck with Etienne, having been brought up using her childhood toys and other bits and pieces. This was a difficult reminder for his parents to deal with.
Both of his parents believed he should be homeschooled, along with his older sister Adele. This was a lot easier for Etienne than Adele, with her need to be among others and finding social activity to participate in often making it a difficult environment for her to thrive in. His grades were impeccable and he enjoyed learning and being taught by his mother, while his father owned (and ran) Les Briques Pleines. This was the sole income for the family while Etienne and his sister were being homeschooled and often money was quite tight, though it depended entirely on how many contracts the business got. This also placed a lot of stress on the family, and shortly after Adele left to go to England, Etienne got a part time job to help his parents recoup from their financial losses. Etienne originally planned to go to college but settled upon a job offering shortly after completing his homeschooling at age 17.
The family moved to Paris in 1992, and Etienne and his sister, though much preferring the countryside, we're not opposed to living in Paris. His father moved the company to Paris, too, attempting to find work within and on the outer borders of the city.
The job he was offered was in Toulouse doing building work not dissimilar to the stuff his father was doing in Paris. He chose to leave Paris, however, to be closer to the rest of his family and to get away from being stuck at home for the rest of his life.
Etienne married Kezia Petrovski in 2003 after a fleeting romance in the years following his high school tutoring. They stayed married for almost three years. Etienne believed he would be able to continue to make it work, and his even-tempered nature certainly suggested he could accomplish it, but he began to realize that his happiness should not be sacrificed to look after an immature emotionally unstable young woman. They divorced in early 2006, and Etienne quit his job and moved to live with Delphine and Edouard for six months working on their land. He attempted to find out what he wanted to do but nearly a year later in mid-2007 he was still at a loss. Feeling defeated, he bid his aunt and uncle farewell (with the intention of returning soon) to return to Paris.
In late 2007, feeling that carpentry and design was his best avenue, he started a business that services high-end fashion designers and fashion connoisseurs. Mostly building closets, storage spaces and various types of shelving, though also designing workspaces and boutique shop spaces. The business has so far been very successful but he misses the country life and wishes to return to Nice soon to spend more time with his aunt and uncle.
Etienne is currently living in the heart of Paris in a small apartment near his work office. He employs a few young men, including one of his distant cousins, Everley De Lorme, who, at only a year younger than Etienne, has accomplished far more than Etienne feels he has (though he has actually accomplished and learned a lot more). The two look strikingly alike, despite their distant relations. Also, Etienne smoked, then he didn't, and then he did, and then he didn't. He 'quit' in September 2007 (the 9th, if you want an exact date) and started again on March 2nd, 2008. Old habits die hard.
In late February of 2008, Etienne met Isabella Fitzwilliam at a store of one of his close friends and colleagues, Claude Deschamps. They attended a party later that night and spent most of the evening together. The best part of the rest of that week they spent together, before Isabella left France unexpectedly on the morning of March 5th, without a reason or way of letting Etienne know.
In the early hours of March 17th, Etienne's half uncle (Arnett's half brother) Beauvais, and his son, Lucien, died in a car accident in their hometown of Nice. Etienne, Adele, her kids, their parents and aunts and uncles all gathered that day at Arnett and Collette's household. The funeral was held on the 19th, and Adele, fearing that Etienne would take the death of his closest cousin rather harshly, asked him to return to England with her and the kids. Etienne agreed and they arrived in England on the morning of the 21st. Etienne plans to spend no more than three weeks there, not wanting to risk his business going under without him.
Etienne encountered Isabella in Holland Park attempting to distract himself from the aftermath of the funeral, though aside from a somewhat heated argument, nothing so far has come of it.
He spent almost a month in England with his sister and his nieces and nephews, returning to Paris on April 12th, 2008. He had originally wanted to return earlier, but Adele had convinced him to stay until she couldn't convince him anymore. England did more harm than good, and upon returning to Paris, things became better for a while. His cousin Everley, who had been maintaining his business while he was away, had done a reasonable job of keeping things in check, but Etienne had loose ends to tie up once he returned, and this kept him busy for the remainder of April into early May.
Then he turned 27. And everything suddenly fell to pieces. Things happen. Life moves on, he attempts to struggle on. However, in late July, he turns up unexpectedly on Adele's doorstep miserable and downtrodden. She lets him stay.
Backstory: Simplified
Ainsley's uncle.
