[ REIMS APP ]
( fandom faculty/teacher application )
PLAYER INFORMATION
PLAYER: Aiden.
AGE: 25.
CONTACT: livejournal, plurk.
PERSONAL LJ: owlcoholic
CHARACTERS PLAYED: none!
CHARACTER INFORMATION
NAME: Big Macintosh Apple.
CANON: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
CANON REFERENCE: here!
AGE: 28.
GENDER: Male.
TENURE: He's been employed here for about two or three years.
SUBJECT/POSITION: Groundskeeper/landscaping.
RESIDENCE: At the Faculty Apartment Complex.
APPEARANCE:
Big Mac is pictured left!
PERSONALITY: Big Macintosh is a slow, steady man of few words. But that isn't to say that he's unintelligent! He's easily the quietest member of the Apple family, but he has about him a sort of easy wisdom and practicality that soothes those around him. As the eldest sibling, elder brother to both Applejack and Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh is the natural leader of his family, and serves as a steady source of guidance and dependability for them.
More than anything else, it's this dependability that defines big Macintosh. He's an anchor of sorts, a rock that holds down the fort at Sweet Apple Acres. For all that Applejack is fiery and stubborn, Macintosh is tough and strong and placid. His quiet stolidness keeps her temper in check, and thus keeps order at the farm. Big Macintosh doesn't often leave Sweet Apple Acres and it's unusual for him to make an appearance in town, so he spends a great deal of his time working the fields, plowing, planting, and harvesting the apples while also, presumably, seeing to Granny Smith, and the youngest sister, Apple Bloom. Every member of the Apple family is important and vital to the survival of the farm, but Big Macintosh comprises the spine of it all, and he is the glue that keeps them all together, and keeps Sweet Apple Acres on its feet.
Aside from his firm dependability, Big Macintosh is also an easy-going sort of pony guy. Directly contrary to his sister Applejack, whose temper is quick, Big Macintosh is slow to rile and rarely, if ever, raises his voice. It takes a great deal for something to get under his skin, and though he won't shy away from conflict, he's not the sort that can be easily aggravated. This isn't to say that Big Macintosh is a coward - he is in no way afraid of anyone or anything - but he simply isn't the sort of guy to sweat the small stuff. He's slow and practical, calm and accepting, and it takes a great deal to get him angry. In fact, throughout all of his appearances in the series, Big Macintosh never once loses his temper, even in the face of Applejack's hardheaded stubbornness. Certainly he's encountered aggravating moments, but rarely does he ever lose his cool or blow his top. Big Macintosh doesn't believe that anger solves anything, and he'd rather take the time to think things through the right way instead of wasting precious time and energy on fleeting, unsteady emotions. This is likely due in large parts to his strong sense of responsibility to both the farm, and his family. He can't possibly be a caretaker and an essential farm worker if he's wasting time getting irritated by every little thing. Working the fields and harvesting the apples takes a great deal of stamina and patience, both of which Big Macintosh has in truckloads.
All of this staunch earthiness may seem to make Big Macintosh out to be a cold sort of character, but he is anything but. Beneath that tough skin and hard working muscle beats a large, warm, loyal heart. Few are as gentle and faithful as Big Macintosh. Though he may be as rough and tough and strong as a hard-weathered work horse, he's incredibly kind and gentle. His family is more important to him than anything else, and preserving their way of life is his utmost priority. The Apple family are hard workers at their core, and handling the earth comes naturally to them. Big Macintosh knows his place in the way of things, and he's not at all ashamed of it. He's proud of his lifestyle and his family, and his sisters and grandmother and many, many cousins and aunts and uncles mean more to him than life itself, and he would gladly give anything and everything to keep them safe. He's protective of them, but not overbearing, and he gives his younger sisters a great deal of slack, though he would never allow any real harm come to them. But should any real danger ever face them, he would stop at nothing to protect them. Family comes first.
So in closing, Big Macintosh is the absolute epitome of anchored, hardworking kindness. He's practical and gentle, warm but rugged. He is everything that is earthy and calm and collected and steady. He is the eye of the storm, a man of few words, a staunch, reliable, grounded man who lives to protect others and live a simple, land-working life. He is soft spoken and laid back, tough and relentless, and constant and dependable as stone itself. Anyone would be lucky to be counted among his friends.
COMPUTER APTITUDE: Preeeetty much zilch. He can check his email if necessary, but he doesn't take the time to access computers most of the time.
AU HISTORY:
Big Macintosh was born and raised in the American South, into a farming family that grew and harvested apples, almost exclusively. The Apple family made their home at Sweet Apple Acres, a sprawling, placid patch of land that had been owned by their family for generations past. He learned the way of the earth, the tree and the plow. From a very young age, Big Macintosh was taught the value of responsibility and hard work, and chores were piled upon him. It was a difficult lifestyle, but Big Macintosh never complained. His parents were careworn and strict, but warm and gentle - quiet hard-working folk. Big Mac looked up to them, and to his older cousins, and every day he strove to become like them, building his stamina with every harvest.
Soon enough, the Apple Family began to grow. At the tender age of ten, he was soon blessed with a younger sister, Applejack, who he immediately adored. They grew together, sharing chores and responsibilities - Big Macintosh's steady patience tempering Applejack's fiery stubbornness. Both of them were growing into strong young adults when they were gifted with yet another sibling - the youngest member of the Apple family: Apple Bloom.
Not long after Apple Bloom's birth, tragedy struck. Stricken by an illness and infection brought on by a difficult pregnancy and delivery, Big Macintosh's mother soon fell ill and passed away not two months following Apple Bloom's birth. The family mourned, but they were made of tough stuff, and Big Macintosh plowed on, ever the anchor for his sisters, the strong heart and steady, comforting presence. After only two short years, the siblings' father was killed in a freak accident on a tractor; since the death of their mother, their father had been listless, careless, and a trivial slip of the hand had spelled his demise.
This came as a difficult blow to the Apple siblings, who were now left completely parentless. Big Macintosh was in his late teens at the time, and though their elderly grandmother, Granny Smith, moved to Sweet Apple Acres to look after them, Big Macintosh took it upon himself to care for the Apple family. He took up the reins and, though he knew he could never replace their father, thrust himself fully into running the family. Granny Smith, though loving and kind, was old and growing frail, so it was up to the siblings to keep Sweet Apple Acres on its feet. With the strength and stamina of a bull, Big Macintosh organized the plantings and harvests, at the plow every day, working hard from dusk 'til dawn. The siblings grew stronger and more independent with each passing day, and though they alone were in charge of the farm, their parents spirits lived on within them, shining through in their strength, endurance and will.
With Granny Smith's age, and Apple Bloom's youth (she was only two years old at the time of their father's death), Big Macintosh and Applejack grew into a dynamic duo, working extra hard to get the apples harvested, delivered and sold. With each passing day it grew easier and easier until their daily chores became second nature.
The days that passed were long and sweet as the Apple siblings grew together, expanding Sweet Apple Acres and living the hard but rewarding life of the farmer. But soon enough, things would change again. They were contacted by their uptown cousins, the Orange family, who had taken it upon themselves to secure a future and education for the Apple siblings. It was too late for Big Macintosh, as he was already overage, but both Applejack and Apple Bloom were given full-tuition rides to a prestigious school, far across the Atlantic Ocean. The sisters were excited, but hesitant to leave the farm - Big Macintosh was forced to make a difficult decision. He knew that he could not control their decisions, but he urged them in his slow, practical way, to accept the invitations. Sweet Apple Acres would always be here waiting for them, but this chance at strong formal education would not. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and Big Macintosh wouldn't allow them to waste it. After many tiffs and a few heated altercations (mostly on Applejack's part), the sisters reluctantly agreed to enroll in the school.
It was a difficult farewell, but Big Macintosh saw them off with a warm goodbye, and returned to Sweet Apple Acres alone. When his sisters arrived at the school, they immediately began to correspond with Big Mac via letters written once a week. Applejack, with her strength and independence, was fitting in well enough, but Apple Bloom seemed to be having a difficult time of it. The other students in her classes teased her relentlessly, and though she tried to be strong, Big Macintosh recognized the blotchy tearstains on her letters, and the false bravado in her written words. Another difficult decision faced him now. Sweet Apple Acres had been in their family for years, but his sisters came first. After a full year of deliberation, Big Macintosh took a leap of faith and applied for a groundskeeping position at Reims Academy, the school that his sisters had been accepted into. To his astonishment, he was accepted and hired. So he left Sweet Apple Acres behind, in the capable hands of his cousins and hired farmhands, to join his sisters in Europe and provide emotional support. After all, they had always been together, and faced every new hurdle as a family. This would be no different.
Leaving the farm behind was tough, but it would still be there for them, waiting in the American South, for when the girls' completed their education, and they could all return together.
JUSTIFICATION: Big Macintosh is an easy choice for a member of the faculty. In his canon, he is pretty much the big boss of Sweet Apple Acres, and though Applejack shares nearly all of the work with him, Big Macintosh's age and experience clearly mark him as the patriarch of the Apple family in Ponyville. Their parents are never mentioned and never seen around Sweet Apple Acres (or in their canon at all), and though Big Macintosh and his two younger sisters have a grandmother, she is far too elderly to be of any real use around the farm.
So it falls to Big Mac to 'take the reins' and get things done. Applejack is stubborn and hardworking, so she often takes it upon herself to work without direction, but Big Macintosh considers it his duty to take care of the farm and look after his two younger sisters, despite their bullheadedness. His size alone is imposing, and though he's the gentle sort, people aren't likely to cross him; and despite this gentleness, he knows when it's time to knuckle down and get the work done. Big Mac isn't the sort that's easily taken advantage of, and though he's quiet and thoughtful, he thinks things through thoroughly and has no problem giving orders if need be - though he has a weakness to his younger sisters.
Considering his stamina and background, Big Macintosh is the perfect candidate for a groundskeeping position; working the earth comes as easy to him as breathing.
SAMPLES
INTRANET/1ST PERSON SAMPLE:
[ the screen shakes a bit - consarnit, these fancy intranet machines! big mac can use one well enough when necessary, but he'll never feel one-hundred percent comfortable using electronics. his low sigh is audible. ]
Howdy, kids. No need ta fret, I won't be takin' yer time up fer long.
[ he frowns, chewing the sprig of wheat he has caught between his teeth. talking to large groups isn't his forte - especially when addressing ornery high school kids. but he plows on forward. despite the fact that he's issuing a complaint here, Big Macintosh's voice is low and even. ]
I won't be brookin' no disrespect to the grounds, ye hear? I know you may be thinkin' you can toss yer trash jes' anywhere an' we'll be pickin' it up, but t'ain't right ta be tossin' yer rubbish about, willy nilly. Do us all a favor 'n show a little respect; if I catch any of ye tossin' those smokin' butts on these here grounds, we'll be havin' words.
LOG/3RD PERSON SAMPLE:
Big Macintosh sighed as the ride-on mower shuddered beneath him, sputtering and coughing, black smoke belching from the exhaust pipe as it squealed and drew to a halting stop. A rich, fancy school like this, you'd think they'd take the time to service their machines! Or, well, to provide better machines in the first place. Big Mac had put in his request for a new mower almost a year ago, but so far the administration had seemed a bit too busy to get to it. So he'd been keeping this old dinosaur alive as best as he could, but it was on its last legs, and soon enough it would fail completely.
Turning the key, the engine quieted, and Big Macintosh heaved himself over the side and onto the ground, his heavy boots pounding the thick grass with a satisfying thud. It was a hot day in this late spring, and Big Macintosh paused to breathe and wipe the sweat from his brow with a grubby glove.
"Hmm."
The hood of the mower was hot to the touch, and the moment he opened it, steam and smoke billowed out, and he had to maneuver his big body quickly to keep his face out of it. "Aw, shoot." Waving it aside with his wide hands, Big Macintosh leaned in and squinted, examining the oil soaked engine with a frown. After giving it a few long minutes to cool down, he dove into the innards of the mower for what felt like the tenth time this week, and his hands were slick with oil when, suddenly, his cell phone rang.
Startled, he gave a jump and smacked his head on the lifted roof of the mower, and it came crashing back down. Glancing towards the ringing phone, he muttered when he saw the name flashing on its front screen. Given the state of his hands, he ignored it - he'd simply have to call them back. So, back to work!
Only the phone didn't give in. It rang again and again and again, until finally Big Macintosh snagged it with his greasy hands, fumbling to get it open. When he heard the too-familiar voice at the other end, he heaved a slow, heavy sigh, his voice deep and rumbling and even.
"Consarnit, Applejack-"
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