MissDay7000
05-25-2008, 08:04 PM
Username: MissDay7000
Character Name: Bijan Bakhum
Full Name: Bijan Jaleel Bakhum
DOB: August 8, 1980
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Appearance: Though it is something that has frustrated him to no end, the neutrality of Bijan’s physical appearance has caused him to be tagged with various nationalities and ethnicities. His skin is tanned, evenly toned to a smooth complexion that makes the darkness of his eyes, hair, and eyebrows contrast and compliment it. The way Bijan keeps his hair varies, not on the weather as most men do, but rather on what point he is at in one of his books, as well as kind of book it is. When in the middle of a novel or any other piece of fiction he manages to keep up with trips to the barber to keep it cut short only a few inches from his scalp, but when in the process of one of his nonfiction projects which require extensive research and study, Bijan lets his jet black hair grow sometimes all the way to his shoulders and sometimes even neglects to shave his beard more than once a week (which is something he never likes to do anyway, so there is almost the faintest trace of stubble along his jaw and cheeks). Because of the stress and time constraints of some more strenuous works of his, there are some traces of gray in the hair at Bijan’s temples as well as in his beard, which at times can make him appear to be older than his 28 years. He is a moderately tall man, standing above most members of his sex at an impressive 6’4, and also keeps his body excellently toned by diligent exercise. Bijan inherited the Bakum family’s dark brown eyes which border on black and has brilliantly white teeth that flash in a slow smile of his whenever he is amused or pleased. With an appearance such as this, over the years Bijan has been assumed to be Italian, Puerto Rican, Indian, and even Hispanic by those he’s met. Very rarely will anyone ever guess his true Egyptian origin and are always surprised when he tells them that is indeed where is from.
Occupation: Fiction/Nonfiction Author & Part-time Arabic Tutor
Personality: Because he was the eldest of the four Bakhum children, responsibility was an element that his father Jamil made a personal effort to instill in Bijan in his time at home. As a result it is something that has stuck to Bijan’s way of thinking and done much to shape the way he lives and what he’s done. Immaturity and a lack of conscientiousness are things he detests and looks down upon when seeing them in others. Bijan believes that no matter what one’s circumstance or situation in life may be there should nevertheless be a determination to keep a level head along with a drive not to be idle. He believes that an active lifestyle is the best way to make anything of one’s self and strives to live by this principle in both his professional and personal areas of life. But believing this hasn’t made Bijan a complete stiff, on the contrary, with the siblings he has (particularly his sister Azar) it would have been impossible for him to not have at least some traces of humor. His way with words in his writing makes Bijan capable of dry wit at times, as well as the ability to entertain both sexes with topics of their interest. Most of the time, however, Bijan is a quiet man; pensive, reflective, and ever-aware of all that is around him. Despite having acted and starred in theatre productions in school, he doesn’t ordinarily seek the attention or approbation of others. What he is, he is and believes he is too old to try and try and change that fact.
History: In order to receive what his parents called a more “international” education, Bijan, along with the rest of his siblings (Azar, Fatima and Hasim) upon coming of age were all shipped to various schools in France. There as time went by, Bijan discovered his love for literature, speech and the dramatic arts. Because even then at his young age he still believed in refraining from being idle, he took every opportunity to get himself involved in as many extracurricular activities surrounding his interests as possible. Activities like this included the schools’ debate teams, newspaper staffs, and drama clubs. His passion for them always made Bijan a proficient in the activities’ organizations and by the time he’d been in high school (a magnet school in America he’d decided to transfer to because of its renowned drama department) 3 years, had become the president of all of them.
It was at this point in time that Azar eventually came to attend the same school as he did, entering into her first year of high school as Bijan entered his last. Because unlike him, she knew no one there, Bijan took special care to try and make his sister feel as at home and comfortable in her new environment as he could. Unlike most of his male friends with little sisters, Bijan had no qualms whatsoever about being attentive to his. True, Azar might have been a bit too outspoken and rash for his taste, but she still possessed a fiery exuberance he realized he’d missed and found refreshing to his busy, often serious lifestyle. He let her tag along a majority of the time when out with his friends and also spent a great deal of time with her at home in the apartment they shared when he had the time. A special friendship developed between the two over the course of the year and they grew closer than they’d imagined possible. However, by the time it was over and Bijan was on the verge of graduating, he realized Azar didn’t view her future in America as optimistically as he did. In fact despite the good time they’d had he’d still been able to tell deep down that she never really felt as if she belonged. Perturbed at the thought of leaving her alone at a high school where she still knew hardly anyone (and had recently begun to be hit on because of her growing beauty), Bijan knew he’d never be able to rest easy in going to college without making sure Azar was somewhere she could be happy and safe. So before graduation he wrote back home to Cairo to implore Jamil to send Azar somewhere else where they could be sure she’d be safe and happy. When this place turned out to be a music school in France where Azar did find satisfaction all seemed well to Bijan. He graduated from high school and went on to attend a university with one of the most prestigious drama departments in the country.
While there Bijan went to great lengths to do the same thing he’d done in both high school and middle school by involving himself in as many extra curricular activities surrounding his interest in drama and literature as possible in addition to his school work. Out of all of these activities theatre and acting in drama productions interested him the most and by the time he’d entered his junior year, he was already directing and writing some of the plays the department put on. It was during one of the auditions for one of these plays of his that Bijan first laid eyes on Indira Dhaari (http://www.mymallikasherawat.com/photos/albums/upload/normal_mallika2.jpg). She was a shy, almost ridiculously timid transfer freshman from India auditioning for the part of the leading lady in the play he’d written. Under normal circumstances Bijan would have immediately crossed her off his list and given her a brisk “Next!” of dismissal. This however, was not a normal circumstance…because almost as soon as he’d seen her Bijan had fallen in love with Indira. Despite being a young man in college with temptation constantly being thrown in his face because of the popularity his success in the drama department had brought him, Bijan was not at all shallow. It wasn’t as if there was very much to her to be shallow about either; though she might have appeared moderately attractive at the time, Indira certainly wasn’t the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. But as she auditioned (or more suitably stumbled over the words assigned to her) he couldn’t help but notice a certain kind of grace about her, a hidden elegance that Bijan simply knew from experience that if pushed, could be brought out to be something spectacular. So he shocked—and even angered—some of the other students apart of the drama team by taking advantage of his directorial position and giving the part of the lead role in his play to Indira. After the audition was over and everyone else had left, Bijan approached the absolutely stunned freshman and told her that his bestowal of the lead role came with one condition; that he be allowed to personally coach her acting skills every day after rehearsals. Too grateful to refuse, Indira accepted readily and the two of them almost immediately embarked on a succession of acting exercises that slowly but surely began to season and condition her for the approaching opening night. When at last it came, Indira shocked both the drama department and Bijan by putting on a performance that even he, despite knowing about her potential, hadn’t known she was capable of. Later on when he asked how she’d done it, Indira’s only reply was that the only thing she’d cared about while acting had been making him proud of her.
From that night on the two of them were inseparable.
It was the very first time in his life that Bijan gave no thought to how or why he was doing what he was doing and how or why he felt what he felt. The only thing he allowed himself to know and acknowledge was that he was passionately in love with Indira. Blissfully happy in their newfound romance (which Bijan fully intended on transforming into marriage as soon as he graduated), he and Indira became a team; Bijan continuing to write plays and Indira going on to become a fabulous actress in all of them, so much so that her performances drew crowds by the hundreds. It wasn’t long before talent scouts from movie industries all over the world began to come to see Indira perform. One of these was from her native country, India’s Bollywood movie studios. To his surprise, unlike her rejection of all the others, Indira actually agreed to meet with this producer and told Bijan to just have her understudy read for her at rehearsal for the new production they were putting on. Puzzled, he did so, but ended up having to end it earlier than usual because of the unexpected absence of another one of the lead characters.
The moment he came home to find Indira in bed with the Bollywood producer Bijan will always remember to be the most painful of his life.
He didn’t bother trying to listen to her excuses or even let her try to apologize. He simply told Indira to leave, to never come back, and that he never wanted to see her again. And she did leave…but not before telling him that though she might have wronged him, she only did it to advance her career and he would always be the only man she’d ever loved. But Bijan was too hurt and outraged to believe her. Shutting himself away from his friends and family (not even Azar was told of this), he finished college as if in a trance, dropped out of the drama department, and burned every single play he’d ever written.
Once done with school, it was hard for Bijan to decide just what it was he actually wanted to do with his life. Prior to Indira’s betrayal he’d always thought he’d go on to direct stage plays and perhaps try his hand at writing screenplays. But since his inspiration and muse for it had betrayed him that was out of the question. So Bijan merely decided to travel for a while. With the money he’d managed to save from working for the drama department while in college he went abroad from country to country in Europe, then Africa, then finally Asia. He even continued writing, though with much more subdued themes and subject matter that were all a reflection of his broken heart.
While in Bangladesh one summer however, he was surprised to pick up an Indian entertainment magazine and see Indira’s (gorgeously enhanced) face staring back at him, with the changed name of Jameerah Jhiren (http://www.mymallikasherawat.com/photos/albums/upload/my_mallika_sherawat_28.jpg) as one of Bollywood’s newest upcoming actresses. It wasn’t long after this upon going back home to Cairo that Bijan received a letter from Indira (or as she was then known, Jameerah). It said much of the same that she’d said the last time they’d seen each other; she’d always loved him, she loved him still, and she always would. It also apologized profusely for what she’d done and went on to say that she would be willing to give up all the stardom she’d obtained if only he’d forgive her and take her back. But as much as it almost killed him to do so, Bijan’s heart couldn’t bring itself to forgive or forget. He didn’t answer Jameerah’s letter, nor the many, many that followed it, all begging the same thing. Eventually he stopped opening them and as time went by they began to pile up in a box underneath his bed and gather dust until finally, in a desperate attempt to escape the anguish not reading them caused him, Bijan decided to leave home again. This time, to a place where he could find any kind of solace. He’d recently heard upon going home that Azar had settled in Paris with a position at the Opera Populaire, and had even managed to meet back up with Charlie Watson, an old friend of theirs from school. Figuring he had nothing more to lose, Bijan decided to go to Paris to stay with Azar and hoped with their roles now being exchanged with him as the sibling in need of companionship, his company would not be unwelcome.
Other: Because he’s been abroad so many places, Bijan knows quite a few languages, though not all fluently. The ones he is fluent in, however, are Spanish, English, French (though he might be a tad bit rusty in it since it’s been a while since he’s been in the country), and Arabic. His skills in Arabic Bijan uses as a smaller source of income aside from his writing by teaching it to students part-time. One of his more eccentric beliefs is that the real stories lie in the little things in life, so Bijan draws inspiration for his books by going out to everyday places and watching everyday people do everyday things. Though the whole point and purpose in him leaving Cairo was to escape Jameerah’s letters, since coming to Paris Bijan has been chagrined to find that she somehow knows of it and thus continues to send them to him, imploring him to change his mind. But since he won’t and very much doubts he ever will, Bijan does the same thing with these letters as he did the others; hides them away in a box underneath his bed, this time to avoid having to answer any questions from Azar or Charlie.
Actor AI: Oded Fehr (http://www.odedfehr.de/gallery/cpg1410/albums/upload/razor/razor0002.jpg)
Approved by Sam.
Character Name: Bijan Bakhum
Full Name: Bijan Jaleel Bakhum
DOB: August 8, 1980
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Appearance: Though it is something that has frustrated him to no end, the neutrality of Bijan’s physical appearance has caused him to be tagged with various nationalities and ethnicities. His skin is tanned, evenly toned to a smooth complexion that makes the darkness of his eyes, hair, and eyebrows contrast and compliment it. The way Bijan keeps his hair varies, not on the weather as most men do, but rather on what point he is at in one of his books, as well as kind of book it is. When in the middle of a novel or any other piece of fiction he manages to keep up with trips to the barber to keep it cut short only a few inches from his scalp, but when in the process of one of his nonfiction projects which require extensive research and study, Bijan lets his jet black hair grow sometimes all the way to his shoulders and sometimes even neglects to shave his beard more than once a week (which is something he never likes to do anyway, so there is almost the faintest trace of stubble along his jaw and cheeks). Because of the stress and time constraints of some more strenuous works of his, there are some traces of gray in the hair at Bijan’s temples as well as in his beard, which at times can make him appear to be older than his 28 years. He is a moderately tall man, standing above most members of his sex at an impressive 6’4, and also keeps his body excellently toned by diligent exercise. Bijan inherited the Bakum family’s dark brown eyes which border on black and has brilliantly white teeth that flash in a slow smile of his whenever he is amused or pleased. With an appearance such as this, over the years Bijan has been assumed to be Italian, Puerto Rican, Indian, and even Hispanic by those he’s met. Very rarely will anyone ever guess his true Egyptian origin and are always surprised when he tells them that is indeed where is from.
Occupation: Fiction/Nonfiction Author & Part-time Arabic Tutor
Personality: Because he was the eldest of the four Bakhum children, responsibility was an element that his father Jamil made a personal effort to instill in Bijan in his time at home. As a result it is something that has stuck to Bijan’s way of thinking and done much to shape the way he lives and what he’s done. Immaturity and a lack of conscientiousness are things he detests and looks down upon when seeing them in others. Bijan believes that no matter what one’s circumstance or situation in life may be there should nevertheless be a determination to keep a level head along with a drive not to be idle. He believes that an active lifestyle is the best way to make anything of one’s self and strives to live by this principle in both his professional and personal areas of life. But believing this hasn’t made Bijan a complete stiff, on the contrary, with the siblings he has (particularly his sister Azar) it would have been impossible for him to not have at least some traces of humor. His way with words in his writing makes Bijan capable of dry wit at times, as well as the ability to entertain both sexes with topics of their interest. Most of the time, however, Bijan is a quiet man; pensive, reflective, and ever-aware of all that is around him. Despite having acted and starred in theatre productions in school, he doesn’t ordinarily seek the attention or approbation of others. What he is, he is and believes he is too old to try and try and change that fact.
History: In order to receive what his parents called a more “international” education, Bijan, along with the rest of his siblings (Azar, Fatima and Hasim) upon coming of age were all shipped to various schools in France. There as time went by, Bijan discovered his love for literature, speech and the dramatic arts. Because even then at his young age he still believed in refraining from being idle, he took every opportunity to get himself involved in as many extracurricular activities surrounding his interests as possible. Activities like this included the schools’ debate teams, newspaper staffs, and drama clubs. His passion for them always made Bijan a proficient in the activities’ organizations and by the time he’d been in high school (a magnet school in America he’d decided to transfer to because of its renowned drama department) 3 years, had become the president of all of them.
It was at this point in time that Azar eventually came to attend the same school as he did, entering into her first year of high school as Bijan entered his last. Because unlike him, she knew no one there, Bijan took special care to try and make his sister feel as at home and comfortable in her new environment as he could. Unlike most of his male friends with little sisters, Bijan had no qualms whatsoever about being attentive to his. True, Azar might have been a bit too outspoken and rash for his taste, but she still possessed a fiery exuberance he realized he’d missed and found refreshing to his busy, often serious lifestyle. He let her tag along a majority of the time when out with his friends and also spent a great deal of time with her at home in the apartment they shared when he had the time. A special friendship developed between the two over the course of the year and they grew closer than they’d imagined possible. However, by the time it was over and Bijan was on the verge of graduating, he realized Azar didn’t view her future in America as optimistically as he did. In fact despite the good time they’d had he’d still been able to tell deep down that she never really felt as if she belonged. Perturbed at the thought of leaving her alone at a high school where she still knew hardly anyone (and had recently begun to be hit on because of her growing beauty), Bijan knew he’d never be able to rest easy in going to college without making sure Azar was somewhere she could be happy and safe. So before graduation he wrote back home to Cairo to implore Jamil to send Azar somewhere else where they could be sure she’d be safe and happy. When this place turned out to be a music school in France where Azar did find satisfaction all seemed well to Bijan. He graduated from high school and went on to attend a university with one of the most prestigious drama departments in the country.
While there Bijan went to great lengths to do the same thing he’d done in both high school and middle school by involving himself in as many extra curricular activities surrounding his interest in drama and literature as possible in addition to his school work. Out of all of these activities theatre and acting in drama productions interested him the most and by the time he’d entered his junior year, he was already directing and writing some of the plays the department put on. It was during one of the auditions for one of these plays of his that Bijan first laid eyes on Indira Dhaari (http://www.mymallikasherawat.com/photos/albums/upload/normal_mallika2.jpg). She was a shy, almost ridiculously timid transfer freshman from India auditioning for the part of the leading lady in the play he’d written. Under normal circumstances Bijan would have immediately crossed her off his list and given her a brisk “Next!” of dismissal. This however, was not a normal circumstance…because almost as soon as he’d seen her Bijan had fallen in love with Indira. Despite being a young man in college with temptation constantly being thrown in his face because of the popularity his success in the drama department had brought him, Bijan was not at all shallow. It wasn’t as if there was very much to her to be shallow about either; though she might have appeared moderately attractive at the time, Indira certainly wasn’t the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. But as she auditioned (or more suitably stumbled over the words assigned to her) he couldn’t help but notice a certain kind of grace about her, a hidden elegance that Bijan simply knew from experience that if pushed, could be brought out to be something spectacular. So he shocked—and even angered—some of the other students apart of the drama team by taking advantage of his directorial position and giving the part of the lead role in his play to Indira. After the audition was over and everyone else had left, Bijan approached the absolutely stunned freshman and told her that his bestowal of the lead role came with one condition; that he be allowed to personally coach her acting skills every day after rehearsals. Too grateful to refuse, Indira accepted readily and the two of them almost immediately embarked on a succession of acting exercises that slowly but surely began to season and condition her for the approaching opening night. When at last it came, Indira shocked both the drama department and Bijan by putting on a performance that even he, despite knowing about her potential, hadn’t known she was capable of. Later on when he asked how she’d done it, Indira’s only reply was that the only thing she’d cared about while acting had been making him proud of her.
From that night on the two of them were inseparable.
It was the very first time in his life that Bijan gave no thought to how or why he was doing what he was doing and how or why he felt what he felt. The only thing he allowed himself to know and acknowledge was that he was passionately in love with Indira. Blissfully happy in their newfound romance (which Bijan fully intended on transforming into marriage as soon as he graduated), he and Indira became a team; Bijan continuing to write plays and Indira going on to become a fabulous actress in all of them, so much so that her performances drew crowds by the hundreds. It wasn’t long before talent scouts from movie industries all over the world began to come to see Indira perform. One of these was from her native country, India’s Bollywood movie studios. To his surprise, unlike her rejection of all the others, Indira actually agreed to meet with this producer and told Bijan to just have her understudy read for her at rehearsal for the new production they were putting on. Puzzled, he did so, but ended up having to end it earlier than usual because of the unexpected absence of another one of the lead characters.
The moment he came home to find Indira in bed with the Bollywood producer Bijan will always remember to be the most painful of his life.
He didn’t bother trying to listen to her excuses or even let her try to apologize. He simply told Indira to leave, to never come back, and that he never wanted to see her again. And she did leave…but not before telling him that though she might have wronged him, she only did it to advance her career and he would always be the only man she’d ever loved. But Bijan was too hurt and outraged to believe her. Shutting himself away from his friends and family (not even Azar was told of this), he finished college as if in a trance, dropped out of the drama department, and burned every single play he’d ever written.
Once done with school, it was hard for Bijan to decide just what it was he actually wanted to do with his life. Prior to Indira’s betrayal he’d always thought he’d go on to direct stage plays and perhaps try his hand at writing screenplays. But since his inspiration and muse for it had betrayed him that was out of the question. So Bijan merely decided to travel for a while. With the money he’d managed to save from working for the drama department while in college he went abroad from country to country in Europe, then Africa, then finally Asia. He even continued writing, though with much more subdued themes and subject matter that were all a reflection of his broken heart.
While in Bangladesh one summer however, he was surprised to pick up an Indian entertainment magazine and see Indira’s (gorgeously enhanced) face staring back at him, with the changed name of Jameerah Jhiren (http://www.mymallikasherawat.com/photos/albums/upload/my_mallika_sherawat_28.jpg) as one of Bollywood’s newest upcoming actresses. It wasn’t long after this upon going back home to Cairo that Bijan received a letter from Indira (or as she was then known, Jameerah). It said much of the same that she’d said the last time they’d seen each other; she’d always loved him, she loved him still, and she always would. It also apologized profusely for what she’d done and went on to say that she would be willing to give up all the stardom she’d obtained if only he’d forgive her and take her back. But as much as it almost killed him to do so, Bijan’s heart couldn’t bring itself to forgive or forget. He didn’t answer Jameerah’s letter, nor the many, many that followed it, all begging the same thing. Eventually he stopped opening them and as time went by they began to pile up in a box underneath his bed and gather dust until finally, in a desperate attempt to escape the anguish not reading them caused him, Bijan decided to leave home again. This time, to a place where he could find any kind of solace. He’d recently heard upon going home that Azar had settled in Paris with a position at the Opera Populaire, and had even managed to meet back up with Charlie Watson, an old friend of theirs from school. Figuring he had nothing more to lose, Bijan decided to go to Paris to stay with Azar and hoped with their roles now being exchanged with him as the sibling in need of companionship, his company would not be unwelcome.
Other: Because he’s been abroad so many places, Bijan knows quite a few languages, though not all fluently. The ones he is fluent in, however, are Spanish, English, French (though he might be a tad bit rusty in it since it’s been a while since he’s been in the country), and Arabic. His skills in Arabic Bijan uses as a smaller source of income aside from his writing by teaching it to students part-time. One of his more eccentric beliefs is that the real stories lie in the little things in life, so Bijan draws inspiration for his books by going out to everyday places and watching everyday people do everyday things. Though the whole point and purpose in him leaving Cairo was to escape Jameerah’s letters, since coming to Paris Bijan has been chagrined to find that she somehow knows of it and thus continues to send them to him, imploring him to change his mind. But since he won’t and very much doubts he ever will, Bijan does the same thing with these letters as he did the others; hides them away in a box underneath his bed, this time to avoid having to answer any questions from Azar or Charlie.
Actor AI: Oded Fehr (http://www.odedfehr.de/gallery/cpg1410/albums/upload/razor/razor0002.jpg)
Approved by Sam.