Julian Bell (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
burns_so_brightly) wrote2011-12-19 07:34 pm
burns_so_brightly) wrote2011-12-19 07:34 pm
Entry tags:
OOC: Luceti Application
Mun
Name: Tori
Livejournal Username: tori-angeli
E-mail: phoenixrider@earthling.net
AIM/MSN: mtangeli
Current Characters at Luceti: Archie Kennedy
Character
Name: Julian Heward Bell
Fandom: Cambridge Spies
Gender: M
Age: 29
Time Period: Post-death (episode 2)
Wing Color: White with inky black speckles.
History: Since this is a fictionalized version of a real person named Julian Heward Bell, I'll be using history only to fill in the blanks where canon states nothing.
Julian was born on February 4th in 1908 in Bloomsbury, London, but spent most of his childhood in Sussex. His parents were Clive and Vanessa Bell, and he was the nephew of Virginia Woolf. He was educated first at Leighton Park, a boarding school, then attended King's College at Cambridge. While there, he became part of the secret society known as the Cambridge Apostles. This is how he met fellow Apostles Guy Burgess and Anthony Blunt and even struck up a relationship with the latter.
After Cambridge, he accepted a position teaching English in China for two years as he developed an increasing obsession with the unrest in Spain. When he returned to England, he began to take action to support the Republican side of the Spanish civil war. Seemingly abandoned by his fellow apostles, who he did not know were spies carefully developing a right-wing reputation, he decided to go fight against Franco himself. He did not end things on good terms with Burgess or Blunt.
He was only in Spain for a month before he became a casualty of war, succumbing to his wounds in a crowded hospital.
Personality:
“Isn’t he beautiful? His name’s Julian Bell. He frightens me because he burns so brightly. Bright, beautiful flames burn out.”
Of course not everything Guy Burgess says about Julian Bell can be trusted. Like everyone else in the Cambridge Spies miniseries, Julian is deeply flawed and utterly human. Still, it’s easy to understand, with some observation, why Guy romanticizes him. Julian is a man of great feeling, with an innocent sense of wonder and a passionate love of social justice.
Even Julian’s profession is gentle. He is a poet and a scholar, a professor and an artist. He spent two years teaching English in China and has published a couple of volumes of poetry. One of our very first glimpses of him involves Guy and Anthony sitting with him on the lawn of Trinity College. Guy and Julian are in a playful struggle for Julian’s hat, which Julian eventually reclaims as he jogs off, tossing an unreserved grin over his shoulder at his dear friends, unconcerned with anyone who might have seen. The sensitivity with which he delivers the news of Donald’s father when Donald isn’t even in the room is far greater than anything displayed by Guy or Anthony, who hope to be friends with Donald—and “friendship is everything.” Even Julian’s unreserved joy at the May Ball is a testament to his emotional innocence, his utter lack of apology for his very brightly burning feelings.
Hand in hand with that unreserved emotion is a certain frankness. He is not at all afraid to berate Guy in public for his supposed fascist sympathies. “I’ve come to say goodbye, and also, how sad it makes me that you’re…not what you were,” he tells him with obvious disgust. Guy’s assumed change of heart is taken as a personal betrayal, because everything to do with social justice is a personal matter for Julian. His voice grows louder and louder as he growls about everyone who talks about the “dark cloud gathering over Europe.” “But it’s raining!” His voice reaches a shout, drawing attention from the rest of the club, but he doesn’t care. “It’s already bloody raining!”
This love of social justice transcends nation to the point of defying patriotism. He is very nearly obsessed with the Spanish civil war, and it drives all his actions in the second episode. First we see him with Luisa, speaking against his own government for making it illegal for UK citizens to fight in the war against Franco. He collects love offerings with his own hands while Luisa sings to support her family and her people. He is completely taken aback when Guy, Anthony, Kim, and Donald refuse to give money and completely crushed when Guy says, “Sorry, Julian. Not sure I believe in all this anymore.” Later, he speaks to Guy of going to Spain despite his own government, hurt and outraged that Guy is supposedly no longer the type to do the same. He seems to indicate that he was hoping Guy would go with him. I don’t believe for a moment that he hates Guy even now, but his disgust is clear, as is his disappointment. He still cares for his wayward friends, and that’s why he’s hurt by them.
His approach to social justice is not solely emotional. He is a staunch socialist and sees it as a completely obvious and rational choice—something he has in common with Anthony Blunt. The things he is passionate about he sees as being obvious and reasonable and anyone with a brain should agree with him. This betrays a strong arrogance, unsurprising in a man with such a high-class education. Still, as an utterly privileged man who has never been oppressed a day in his life, his drive to help the less fortunate is admirable nearly to the point of being heroic, even if his sense that he knows what is best for everyone is a little narrow-minded and self-righteous. That said, the things causing him such righteous anger were truly terrible and his arrogance does not make him wrong about that. According to some of the things the historical Julian Bell wrote, he was quite capable of agreeing to disagree, but like more or less everyone in existence, was pretty sure he was the one in the right anyway.
Other choices of his life have not necessarily been admirable. His choice to go to war was done with the best of intentions, but it was still a fairly morally gray decision. It was made with blatant disregard to the desperate appeals of his family, and his only concession to them was to agree to drive an ambulance instead of fight. This turned out to be a task more suited for the gentle Julian, but it was just as dangerous as fighting in the open. He also took a mistress in China, a married woman he referred to only as “K” in his letters. Rather than coming around to his senses later on, he admitted on his deathbed that he’d always wanted to have an affair. Morality, therefore, is a grander picture to him than a matter of day-to-day choices. Helping the people “out there” is what he wants, but questionable choices that hurt the people nearby are not necessarily something he dwells on. This never comes out of malice, simply a distraction with the greater good rather than the immediate good, as well as an admitted dissonance between his morals and his mun’s.
Despite his flaws, however, he in an exceptionally charismatic man and most find him easy to talk to. The fact that he is, canonically, the only lover of Anthony Blunt who is not merely a partner for casual sex should say something to that effect, as well as the fact that he has captured the wild, wayward heart of Guy Burgess. Even the vulnerable Luisa seems to feel safe with him, and historically, he has been described as very likable and magnetic.
While born to a life of privilege, he doesn’t seem to think his status is a big deal. He is willing to humble himself to be a faceless soldier instead of a published intellectual, and he’s not too good to drive an ambulance. While in bed with Anthony, Anthony notes that Julian kept his socks on. Julian innocently tells him that his Aunt Virginia gave them to him. He good-naturedly mocks her commission to him—“Whatever you do, don’t take the socks off”—while an amused and reverent Anthony marvels, “I’m in bed with Virginia Woolf’s socks!” This sort of association is something Julian very much takes for granted and doesn’t get a big head about at all.
In contrast to Anthony, however, Julian doesn’t seem to be the type for casual sex. The only relationships we know he has seem to be serious, even his affair with K. He’s bisexual, with an implied relationship with Luisa and an explicit one with Anthony. Still, his attraction to men is something he never explored until Anthony, if his somewhat bewildered statement of “I’m still not used to this” while in Anthony’s arms is anything to go by. Judging by their affectionate body language in the first episode, he and Anthony were in a very real relationship—dating, not just sleeping together. Julian’s deep emotionalism certainly does not seem like it would mesh well with casual relationships. If someone loves everything he sees, let alone touches, how can sex only be sex? Still, we have no indication as to whether or not the relationship ended with hard feelings. Most likely it was concern for the broken heart of Guy Burgess that led Anthony to end it, probably without explanation, but there’s no way to be sure except to start making up headcanon. Which I have. But that doesn’t go in an app.
As little canon as there is for Julian, we still have a picture of someone flawed and complex but still gentle and bright. Like most people, he has many faults, but is still a pretty good person. Not everything about him is likable, but he himself is.
Strengths:
Physical
Julian is a good driver, and therefore has decent reflexes and coordination. His death was not due to poor driving—he wasn’t even in the vehicle—and unlike most ambulance drivers, he was able to be very careful while in a hurry, at least according to one of his letters. That’s it, I’m afraid, as far as physical strengths go.
Mental
He is intellectual and well-spoken, excellent with words as a writer and poet, having a certain art to speaking even when he’s making things up on the fly (his last speech to Guy is quite dramatic). He is a professor of English and a Cambridge graduate as well as deeply philosophical by nature. He’s been published many times and is a well-known name in his time.
Emotional
He has a very strong sense of right and wrong as well as an inborn love of justice. He has a deep caring and empathy for people he does not know despite his privileged life. He is also fiercely determined—if he has something to be determined about.
Weaknesses:
Physical
Julian has lived a sedentary life for the most part. The biggest physical struggle of his life was in getting his stolen hat back from a playful Guy Burgess. He is not a fighter.
Mental
If a telepath comes after this guy, he is toast. Moreover, his mental and emotional weaknesses are a sort of cycle. His heart can override his head, and he can justify anything he feels if he thinks about it long enough. He spends so much time in his head pondering other parts of the world that he misses things happening right around him. Guy’s affection, for example, is obvious to everyone but Julian himself. He is studied in the ways of the world but somehow manages to maintain a streak of naivety, as evidenced by how shocked he is by his government’s refusal to fight for a cause he feels strongly about. That evil is “out there” is clear to him, but when evil is “right here,” it’s a surprise.
Emotional
His sensibilities can screw with his perception, and he expects, therefore, that anyone with half a brain cherishes the virtues he does. His determination can become stubbornness, his good and righteous anger an unintentional weapon against friends and family, as in his choice to go to war. His emotions can indeed blind him even as he tries to remain rational, but to him, reason and emotion may well come hand in hand. If something is reasonable, why not be emotional about it?
Samples (ALL samples must be set in Luceti-verse.)
First Person:
To my students:
I graded your poetry critiques. If you'd like to know your grade, you may ask me now or wait till our next class. Of course I'll filter the responses in case your parents are reading.
Now, I've noticed some of you think yourselves very clever. I've been a student far longer than you, and I know every trick there is. From now on, using my own poems as examples in critiques will be considered cheating and result in a failing grade. As this is a new rule, I won't enforce it for these critiques, only in future ones. That said, thank you very much to the one student who was honest, although I myself thought the poem about green eggs to be witty and not at all “amateurish.” However, since your critique was thought through, we'll agree to disagree.
When you come to class on Monday, I would like you to bring a hundred-word essay about any subject you like.
-Mr. Bell
Third Person:
Dr. Cochrane was nearby, his voice muffled through the morphine haze. Julian couldn't quite open his eyes, but he was surprised with how articulate his tongue managed to be.
“Well,” he mumbled, “I always wanted a mistress and a chance to go to war, and now I've had both.”
Dr. Cochrane might have laughed, or it might have been a game attempt on Julian's part. He wondered if the massive hole in his chest was still there, because he couldn't feel it or anything else. Really, he wanted only to sleep, too drugged to care that he wasn't going to wake up again.
I'm sorry, Guy. I didn't want things to end that way, either. But I'm not sorry for what I did. Never sorry for what he did. He knew that if he had done one significant thing in his life, this had been it.
His eyes sank closed, and the brightly burning flame of Julian Bell was extinguished.
Except that he woke up.
On carpet, oddly enough. On his front, with his fingers curled against the floor. It was like he'd passed out at someone else's place and this entire war had been a vivid dream, except usually if he woke up naked he was at least in someone's bed. Blinking until his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he pushed himself up to his knees and looked down at himself.
No chest wound. The carpet was still there, though. As far as he could tell, he was in an abandoned but very clean flat. That, and his clothes were folded beside him. Peering around for onlookers who might jump out of the woodwork at any moment to surprise him, he quickly dressed. That was how he found the wings.
His reaction was somewhere between hopping and spinning, or really, a little bit of both, as if he was facing an assailant instead of a brand new body part. When the wings followed his motions, he froze and blinked at them.
Definitely not. There was no way the afterlife was this trite. He wouldn't believe it for a moment.
It was when he found and read the journal that things started to make an odd sort of sense. This was a new civilization, a different world, something he had always wanted to experience without quite putting his finger on it. All right, then. Alive, and given some second chance he'd never asked for? If the people of this village were being oppressed, why should he be happy about this? He'd had a good death, doing something meaningful.
Except that he was alive now. Free to walk the woods and smell the fresh air and enjoy the warmth of the sun. Alive, and all the problems of this world seemed so much smaller than the ones he'd left behind for good.
Tucking his journal under one arm, he pushed the door open and stepped outside. The cold blast of air proved he was awake.
Name: Tori
Livejournal Username: tori-angeli
E-mail: phoenixrider@earthling.net
AIM/MSN: mtangeli
Current Characters at Luceti: Archie Kennedy
Character
Name: Julian Heward Bell
Fandom: Cambridge Spies
Gender: M
Age: 29
Time Period: Post-death (episode 2)
Wing Color: White with inky black speckles.
History: Since this is a fictionalized version of a real person named Julian Heward Bell, I'll be using history only to fill in the blanks where canon states nothing.
Julian was born on February 4th in 1908 in Bloomsbury, London, but spent most of his childhood in Sussex. His parents were Clive and Vanessa Bell, and he was the nephew of Virginia Woolf. He was educated first at Leighton Park, a boarding school, then attended King's College at Cambridge. While there, he became part of the secret society known as the Cambridge Apostles. This is how he met fellow Apostles Guy Burgess and Anthony Blunt and even struck up a relationship with the latter.
After Cambridge, he accepted a position teaching English in China for two years as he developed an increasing obsession with the unrest in Spain. When he returned to England, he began to take action to support the Republican side of the Spanish civil war. Seemingly abandoned by his fellow apostles, who he did not know were spies carefully developing a right-wing reputation, he decided to go fight against Franco himself. He did not end things on good terms with Burgess or Blunt.
He was only in Spain for a month before he became a casualty of war, succumbing to his wounds in a crowded hospital.
Personality:
“Isn’t he beautiful? His name’s Julian Bell. He frightens me because he burns so brightly. Bright, beautiful flames burn out.”
Of course not everything Guy Burgess says about Julian Bell can be trusted. Like everyone else in the Cambridge Spies miniseries, Julian is deeply flawed and utterly human. Still, it’s easy to understand, with some observation, why Guy romanticizes him. Julian is a man of great feeling, with an innocent sense of wonder and a passionate love of social justice.
Even Julian’s profession is gentle. He is a poet and a scholar, a professor and an artist. He spent two years teaching English in China and has published a couple of volumes of poetry. One of our very first glimpses of him involves Guy and Anthony sitting with him on the lawn of Trinity College. Guy and Julian are in a playful struggle for Julian’s hat, which Julian eventually reclaims as he jogs off, tossing an unreserved grin over his shoulder at his dear friends, unconcerned with anyone who might have seen. The sensitivity with which he delivers the news of Donald’s father when Donald isn’t even in the room is far greater than anything displayed by Guy or Anthony, who hope to be friends with Donald—and “friendship is everything.” Even Julian’s unreserved joy at the May Ball is a testament to his emotional innocence, his utter lack of apology for his very brightly burning feelings.
Hand in hand with that unreserved emotion is a certain frankness. He is not at all afraid to berate Guy in public for his supposed fascist sympathies. “I’ve come to say goodbye, and also, how sad it makes me that you’re…not what you were,” he tells him with obvious disgust. Guy’s assumed change of heart is taken as a personal betrayal, because everything to do with social justice is a personal matter for Julian. His voice grows louder and louder as he growls about everyone who talks about the “dark cloud gathering over Europe.” “But it’s raining!” His voice reaches a shout, drawing attention from the rest of the club, but he doesn’t care. “It’s already bloody raining!”
This love of social justice transcends nation to the point of defying patriotism. He is very nearly obsessed with the Spanish civil war, and it drives all his actions in the second episode. First we see him with Luisa, speaking against his own government for making it illegal for UK citizens to fight in the war against Franco. He collects love offerings with his own hands while Luisa sings to support her family and her people. He is completely taken aback when Guy, Anthony, Kim, and Donald refuse to give money and completely crushed when Guy says, “Sorry, Julian. Not sure I believe in all this anymore.” Later, he speaks to Guy of going to Spain despite his own government, hurt and outraged that Guy is supposedly no longer the type to do the same. He seems to indicate that he was hoping Guy would go with him. I don’t believe for a moment that he hates Guy even now, but his disgust is clear, as is his disappointment. He still cares for his wayward friends, and that’s why he’s hurt by them.
His approach to social justice is not solely emotional. He is a staunch socialist and sees it as a completely obvious and rational choice—something he has in common with Anthony Blunt. The things he is passionate about he sees as being obvious and reasonable and anyone with a brain should agree with him. This betrays a strong arrogance, unsurprising in a man with such a high-class education. Still, as an utterly privileged man who has never been oppressed a day in his life, his drive to help the less fortunate is admirable nearly to the point of being heroic, even if his sense that he knows what is best for everyone is a little narrow-minded and self-righteous. That said, the things causing him such righteous anger were truly terrible and his arrogance does not make him wrong about that. According to some of the things the historical Julian Bell wrote, he was quite capable of agreeing to disagree, but like more or less everyone in existence, was pretty sure he was the one in the right anyway.
Other choices of his life have not necessarily been admirable. His choice to go to war was done with the best of intentions, but it was still a fairly morally gray decision. It was made with blatant disregard to the desperate appeals of his family, and his only concession to them was to agree to drive an ambulance instead of fight. This turned out to be a task more suited for the gentle Julian, but it was just as dangerous as fighting in the open. He also took a mistress in China, a married woman he referred to only as “K” in his letters. Rather than coming around to his senses later on, he admitted on his deathbed that he’d always wanted to have an affair. Morality, therefore, is a grander picture to him than a matter of day-to-day choices. Helping the people “out there” is what he wants, but questionable choices that hurt the people nearby are not necessarily something he dwells on. This never comes out of malice, simply a distraction with the greater good rather than the immediate good, as well as an admitted dissonance between his morals and his mun’s.
Despite his flaws, however, he in an exceptionally charismatic man and most find him easy to talk to. The fact that he is, canonically, the only lover of Anthony Blunt who is not merely a partner for casual sex should say something to that effect, as well as the fact that he has captured the wild, wayward heart of Guy Burgess. Even the vulnerable Luisa seems to feel safe with him, and historically, he has been described as very likable and magnetic.
While born to a life of privilege, he doesn’t seem to think his status is a big deal. He is willing to humble himself to be a faceless soldier instead of a published intellectual, and he’s not too good to drive an ambulance. While in bed with Anthony, Anthony notes that Julian kept his socks on. Julian innocently tells him that his Aunt Virginia gave them to him. He good-naturedly mocks her commission to him—“Whatever you do, don’t take the socks off”—while an amused and reverent Anthony marvels, “I’m in bed with Virginia Woolf’s socks!” This sort of association is something Julian very much takes for granted and doesn’t get a big head about at all.
In contrast to Anthony, however, Julian doesn’t seem to be the type for casual sex. The only relationships we know he has seem to be serious, even his affair with K. He’s bisexual, with an implied relationship with Luisa and an explicit one with Anthony. Still, his attraction to men is something he never explored until Anthony, if his somewhat bewildered statement of “I’m still not used to this” while in Anthony’s arms is anything to go by. Judging by their affectionate body language in the first episode, he and Anthony were in a very real relationship—dating, not just sleeping together. Julian’s deep emotionalism certainly does not seem like it would mesh well with casual relationships. If someone loves everything he sees, let alone touches, how can sex only be sex? Still, we have no indication as to whether or not the relationship ended with hard feelings. Most likely it was concern for the broken heart of Guy Burgess that led Anthony to end it, probably without explanation, but there’s no way to be sure except to start making up headcanon. Which I have. But that doesn’t go in an app.
As little canon as there is for Julian, we still have a picture of someone flawed and complex but still gentle and bright. Like most people, he has many faults, but is still a pretty good person. Not everything about him is likable, but he himself is.
Strengths:
Physical
Julian is a good driver, and therefore has decent reflexes and coordination. His death was not due to poor driving—he wasn’t even in the vehicle—and unlike most ambulance drivers, he was able to be very careful while in a hurry, at least according to one of his letters. That’s it, I’m afraid, as far as physical strengths go.
Mental
He is intellectual and well-spoken, excellent with words as a writer and poet, having a certain art to speaking even when he’s making things up on the fly (his last speech to Guy is quite dramatic). He is a professor of English and a Cambridge graduate as well as deeply philosophical by nature. He’s been published many times and is a well-known name in his time.
Emotional
He has a very strong sense of right and wrong as well as an inborn love of justice. He has a deep caring and empathy for people he does not know despite his privileged life. He is also fiercely determined—if he has something to be determined about.
Weaknesses:
Physical
Julian has lived a sedentary life for the most part. The biggest physical struggle of his life was in getting his stolen hat back from a playful Guy Burgess. He is not a fighter.
Mental
If a telepath comes after this guy, he is toast. Moreover, his mental and emotional weaknesses are a sort of cycle. His heart can override his head, and he can justify anything he feels if he thinks about it long enough. He spends so much time in his head pondering other parts of the world that he misses things happening right around him. Guy’s affection, for example, is obvious to everyone but Julian himself. He is studied in the ways of the world but somehow manages to maintain a streak of naivety, as evidenced by how shocked he is by his government’s refusal to fight for a cause he feels strongly about. That evil is “out there” is clear to him, but when evil is “right here,” it’s a surprise.
Emotional
His sensibilities can screw with his perception, and he expects, therefore, that anyone with half a brain cherishes the virtues he does. His determination can become stubbornness, his good and righteous anger an unintentional weapon against friends and family, as in his choice to go to war. His emotions can indeed blind him even as he tries to remain rational, but to him, reason and emotion may well come hand in hand. If something is reasonable, why not be emotional about it?
Samples (ALL samples must be set in Luceti-verse.)
First Person:
To my students:
I graded your poetry critiques. If you'd like to know your grade, you may ask me now or wait till our next class. Of course I'll filter the responses in case your parents are reading.
Now, I've noticed some of you think yourselves very clever. I've been a student far longer than you, and I know every trick there is. From now on, using my own poems as examples in critiques will be considered cheating and result in a failing grade. As this is a new rule, I won't enforce it for these critiques, only in future ones. That said, thank you very much to the one student who was honest, although I myself thought the poem about green eggs to be witty and not at all “amateurish.” However, since your critique was thought through, we'll agree to disagree.
When you come to class on Monday, I would like you to bring a hundred-word essay about any subject you like.
-Mr. Bell
Third Person:
Dr. Cochrane was nearby, his voice muffled through the morphine haze. Julian couldn't quite open his eyes, but he was surprised with how articulate his tongue managed to be.
“Well,” he mumbled, “I always wanted a mistress and a chance to go to war, and now I've had both.”
Dr. Cochrane might have laughed, or it might have been a game attempt on Julian's part. He wondered if the massive hole in his chest was still there, because he couldn't feel it or anything else. Really, he wanted only to sleep, too drugged to care that he wasn't going to wake up again.
I'm sorry, Guy. I didn't want things to end that way, either. But I'm not sorry for what I did. Never sorry for what he did. He knew that if he had done one significant thing in his life, this had been it.
His eyes sank closed, and the brightly burning flame of Julian Bell was extinguished.
Except that he woke up.
On carpet, oddly enough. On his front, with his fingers curled against the floor. It was like he'd passed out at someone else's place and this entire war had been a vivid dream, except usually if he woke up naked he was at least in someone's bed. Blinking until his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he pushed himself up to his knees and looked down at himself.
No chest wound. The carpet was still there, though. As far as he could tell, he was in an abandoned but very clean flat. That, and his clothes were folded beside him. Peering around for onlookers who might jump out of the woodwork at any moment to surprise him, he quickly dressed. That was how he found the wings.
His reaction was somewhere between hopping and spinning, or really, a little bit of both, as if he was facing an assailant instead of a brand new body part. When the wings followed his motions, he froze and blinked at them.
Definitely not. There was no way the afterlife was this trite. He wouldn't believe it for a moment.
It was when he found and read the journal that things started to make an odd sort of sense. This was a new civilization, a different world, something he had always wanted to experience without quite putting his finger on it. All right, then. Alive, and given some second chance he'd never asked for? If the people of this village were being oppressed, why should he be happy about this? He'd had a good death, doing something meaningful.
Except that he was alive now. Free to walk the woods and smell the fresh air and enjoy the warmth of the sun. Alive, and all the problems of this world seemed so much smaller than the ones he'd left behind for good.
Tucking his journal under one arm, he pushed the door open and stepped outside. The cold blast of air proved he was awake.