name
caius james rubens rousseau
caius - from latin,
meaning "rejoice"
james - from hebrew,
meaning "supplanter"
rubens - from german,
meaning "bright renown"
rousseau - from french,
meaning "red"
nickname
cai
gender
demiboy
he/him
sexuality
demi-panromantic
occupation
bookbinder/restoration work
theme song
sellers of flowers
by regina spektor
writing up personality - please be patient!
-Cai originally lived w/ both his parents in a cabin-style house up in the mountains
-It was pretty secluded, so he didn't get to see many kids his age, but he loved exploring the woods
-Cai's mother was previously a medical assistant in a refugee camp, though she doesn't talk about it all that much
-She's got hand tremors from anxiety and paranoid delusions, and was a stay-at-home mother since Cai was born (I don't think anyone reads all this scribblescrawl besides me, but if they do, know that I'm writing from experience here. Don't yell at me.)
-His father was a writer, and his work was too heavy for Cai to read for a long time
-The house was both of their sanctuaries, a place of inspiration for Cai's father and a place of serenity for his mother
-Cai's father's work really took off after the second book in one of his series, when Cai was around 4
-The house started getting visited by press and fans that didn't respect the family's privacy
-Because of this, Cai's mother no longer felt safe and his father became stressed and anxious
-Cai didn't really understand what was going on, but he did know there were more strangers around and he was permitted to play outside less and less
-Having a child suddenly cooped up in the house with a now frequently panicking mother and an exhausted and irritable father was, of course, a recipe for disaster
-Cai'd sneak out pretty often to go play outside just because he was bored
-At one point a fan started bothering him, asking him to confirm fan theories
-Just wanting them to go away and not really realizing what they were asking, Cai told them yeah, sure, whatever
-They started pestering Cai specifically, thinking he could provide canon, and their pushiness started to creep Cai out
-He finally went to his maternal grandmother, who had been the main guiding example in his life as of late since his parents were dealing with their own problems
-She realized the poor kid was getting stalked, and did her best to convince Cai's parents that the problem wasn't going to go away on its own
-Cai's mother and father disagreed immensely on what the best course of action was, and they started arguing constantly
-In the middle of trying to deal with this mess, they decided divorce would be the best thing for both of them, but didn't tell Cai
-He found out anyways
-The kid was in court testifying so a restraining order could be gotten and his stalker would leave him alone, knowing that his parents were soon going to be separated
-y i k e s
-Pretty soon after the restraining order was gotten, they divorced
-Cai's mother got full custody, and Cai's dad left to go find somewhere he could write in peace
-She started moving them around often, fearing they were still being watched and stalked
-Though her first interest was keeping Cai safe, her paranoia eventually accidentally put them both in danger (elaborate on that later? haven't fully worked that bit out yet) and she was deemed unfit to care for him when he was in 1st grade
-Cai's father now suddenly had custody of him, and took him along on "inspiration vacations" and book tours
-He learned how to stay still and not say anything that would excite the now virtually constant press
-His relationship with his father became very strained - his father was under constant stress and was very strict and Cai still missed his mother
-His usual form of entertainment was whatever classic book his father strongly suggested he should read, and he fell in love with words (poetic prose is his favorite, as long as it's not stuffy)
-Took online classes until college
-Went to a small community college for a year and found out that living in one place for that long felt very unnatural to him
-Scraped together his savings and bought himself a tiny house, moved to another town, then worked various jobs until he could pay it off
-Still hasn't completed college, and has no desire to
-His father's very unhappy w/ his life choices and won't help him out with money in any way
-Started book restoration as a hobby - he had a crumbling copy of "The Secret Garden" from his mother that he loved, but duct tape just wasn't going to do it anymore
-Worked for a bit in one town helping out an old carpenter and picked up some woodworking skills from them
-At another point, he worked in a library in a tiny little town and restored some of their beat-up books when his help wasn't needed
-One patron noticed and said she'd teach him how to market that as a business if he'd rebind the family scrapbook and refinish an old coffee table, and he took her up on the offer
-His business started slow, but interest really started building once he started making videos showing book restorations
-Cai started getting requests from all over, and decided to start moving from town to town
-He'll set up shop somewhere for however long feels natural to him, sometimes even after people cease to have work for him
-He doesn't get fond of the people so much as of the town itself, and he's hesitant to get close to anyone because he won't see them again for so long (if he ever returns to that town)
-Aside from his books, loves plants! Plant symbolism is especially fascinating to him, though he enjoys them just for being pretty as well
-Has so many succulents because they keep having babies, even though he gives them away
-Most of his plants are pretty hardy, since he has to move them so often
-He names them all after famous authors
-The shower's been taken over by plants, and they all have to be moved if you want to shower
-Keeps up with very few people, though he will video chat with a few close friends
-Uses technology for his business, but otherwise rarely uses his phone or computer
-Gets really in the zone when working - won't even hear his name being called
-Definitely a perfectionist, though he has to deal with the fact that he can't fix everything
-Prone to undercharging because he really does want to help preserve people's memories
-Tends to accidentally loosely quote snippets and phrases from things he's read when he talks, especially when he's nervous
