Tag: always standing by true companions ( andre headcanons )

“I will stand with my comrades.“

His father’s death taught Andre that if you must die, then die for something you believe in, or at the very least, for people worth dying for. Compounding this, the death of Andre’s mother taught him that if you must die, do not die alone. It is for these reasons that he does not hesitate to stand with Horatio and his British allies in preparation to die on a beach that aided in shaping his childhood. In a way it felt a bit like he truly had come home.

A fun fact as to why Andre was so offended by having to share a berth with Lieutenant Bush. He honest to god had no idea that was normal – in fact, he wholeheartedly believed that he was being punished by Horatio for being rude when he first met him, and he considered the action both inappropriate ( as regard to his station and that he outranks Horatio considerably ) and extreme in reaction.

However, as soon as he came to realize that this was simply how ships were built, he immediately regretted his resentment and made efforts, where manageable and appropriate, to show his contrition.

“I can help the status of my birth no more than you can,” Andre pointed out mildly, despite being somewhat affronted by the man’s thoughts, “I did not realize at the time such quarters were the best to be had – how could I? It was my second time on a ship in the whole of my life, and the first in which I had ever been in such tight space. What reason had I to know such was normal to others until I was granted cause to learn it?”

“Most noble houses are built with escape routes in mind,” Andre mused thoughtfully, “Positions of power have, historically, been also positions of great danger. My family is very close to the crown – two of my ancestors have in fact been on the throne. There are perhaps twenty or so ahead of me now – before Bonaparte it was nearer to sixty. For this reason my family has escapes available in all of their houses, in the case of siege or attack. We have a ship in our harbor, hidden, that my family could have taken if they wished – but my mother would not leave her friends to the revolutionaries, and my father would not abandon his people. Even enraged as they were, he believed in them to his very last.” His tone was soft, and it was clear he did not hate those who had killed his father, perhaps only because he knew the man would not want him to.

The Cotard family’s servants knew ahead of time that the revolutionists were coming. They forewarned Lorens and his wife, and helped them escape with their daughter Eveline. It was a mob well beyond Roussillon (In Angoumois, in fact, enroute to where Andre was stationed in Brittany ) that took them down.

Though Andre knows all this, he also knows that his father would not want him to hate any of the revolutionists – his father fought and argued frequently to build what was essentially a precursor to a public education system. Educating the lower class was his father’s greatest ambition in life, so Andre sees them more as misguided than anything worthy of hatred.

He wishes to re-establish order in France, which the revolution greatly lacked because they had no true leadership or real understanding of how to govern or monitor expenditures. They were not educated in these matters enough to manage things, but they absolutely could be – Andre firmly believes it possible for the people to have a republic if they take time to establish it correctly. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know precisely how that would work.

What he knows for certain is that Napoleon is not the answer for his people – by his estimation, the actions of Napoleon are destroying much more than aristocracy. That, Andre can happily live without. It is culture and France as a whole, that is being laid to waste by a man who would call for revolution and simultaneously name himself emperor.

So right now his goal is: Get rid of Napoleon. But after that he is one big fucking shrug emoji because he doesn’t know how to fix France.  ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Growing up, Andre was always aware that it would fall to him to have to take on the Cotard estate. On top of this he also had to forge for himself an exemplary military career in order to ensure he did not shame his ancestors, his family name, or his father. Amid training between nobility and military, he also had to figure out how to wear three faces – but he always had his parents to at least direct him.

Andre idolized his father in many respects. Lorens Cotard was a man who commanded respect – when he walked into a room, people hushed and only the brave would approach. He was always unfailingly kind to those who did so, and it always seemed to be a bit of a lottery on who was permitted and also daring enough to enter his sphere.

He was known for somewhat radical ideals – the greatest dream of Lorens was to build an education system that was accessible to the peasantry. He believed that the ability to read and write, to calculate and strategize, were powers born to all men and that France could only benefit from having a broader range of scholars among her military.

His angle was to have boys be trained in a program regardless of their status prior to being volunteered or permitted to participate in the military, navy, or even on merchant ships and caravans. This gave it a broad scope with many angles to argue the wisdom of it, while also making it accessible to a class of people that was otherwise ignored by the gentry.

Despite this radicalism, Lorens was still seen as a man worthy of great respect. Andre was determined to be as like to his father as possible – to be willing to fight for the people and yet capable of maintaining a positive presence at court and also maintain an impressive military career were all pressures he was under – but also that he brought upon himself by way of doing his best to keep his feet in time with his father’s bold strides

In truth, Andre suffered deeply from anxiety as a result of these pressures. It was all he could do before violence broke out across France in the wake of the revolution to maintain his public personas. His father and his mother both served as anchors in their own ways, helping him feel as though he knew what he was doing and why. He never spoke of the nerves, or the panic in him over what may happen should he slip.

Only Eveline knew how deeply he struggled, or had any inkling toward how often he would succumb to tears in private. What anxiety attacks he did suffer Andre managed to sequester away out of sight, regardless of where he was. He never let his cracks show, and even before things fell apart he found himself best focused when he had an immediate goal – and he felt at his most stable when that goal involved fighting.

Socially, Andre tends to feel out of his depth. He prefers quiet, private conversations to political mingling and the complications of dancing around topics expected during colorful get togethers. He tends to be blunt and to the point, and though he can be positively charming if he has a goal in mind, he is generally seen as a bit quiet. Like his father though, Andre is notable perhaps for his unfailing kindness at gatherings ( Not to be mistaken with militaristic gatherings; this is specifically in regard to matters like balls and dinners. There is no time for dancing around the point in military matters. )

After his father’s death and his mother’s decision to remain in France to help the Queen, as well as other women within the higher courts with whom she held dear friends and family, Andre felt cut adrift. When he has a fight to focus on, he is tightly controlled. He feels focused, he knows what he is doing – but outside of this, he tends to isolate, because he is always just one small push from breaking his public persona, and that is something he cannot bear to fo.

Due to the sheer amount of things I need to put down, this will be coming in pieces. Firstly, I wish to discuss Andre’s lessons from his father, which are lightly touched on by Eveline’s history of the family and resultant traditions.

Andre had to learn to tend his own horses and hounds, in every respect. He mucked out stalls, tended to tack, picked hooves and brushed down his horses to the point he was well familiar with every aspect of their care. When it was deemed inappropriate for a noble to do these things ( in other words, whenever Andre was acting in his role as a major or as a son of distinction at court ) he would oversee matters when he could and was able to check for any signs of tampering or mistreatment with a critical eye once his steed was returned to him.

These skills proved to be invaluable, particularly during the time in which Andre was still establishing his own name and was the object of malicious sabotage efforts on multiple occasions as a result of his status among higher society. The Cotards were still seen as new among the aristocracy, and concentrated efforts had to be made to establish a reputation notable enough to cause the nature of his nobility to no longer be contentious – or at least, not so openly contentious.

His father did not stop there in regard to matters, however. Andre spent a good deal of time with a local blacksmith, learning how to work metal and create his own horseshoes, nails and bullets. He was shown how to shoe his horse, which like all elements involving his gear, proved to be invaluable when others saw fit to make their own adjustments in the hopes of having Andre thrown or his horse hobbled. By noticing swiftly and tending to the matter himself, Andre avoided many a potential accident over the years it took to build his own reputation.

Due to his family history, Andre was raised in a militaristic fashion and was expected to uphold the family name in regard to strategic prowess and overall command over his troops. He was trained and tested from a young age in many of the matters of war, and was set in as a footsoldier – the Cotards never poured money into commissions, instead opting to utilize such funds in architectural development and various investments throughout their region.

Like his ancestors, Andre had to fight his way to the top and it was expected that he do so in a very timely manner. No Cotard had ever before languished away on the fields and there would be absolutely no sympathy for the one who did. So, naturally, Andre did all that he could to excel. Over time, he developed a reputation for being curt and steady, and was noted as one of the sharpest shots seen in years. It was said he never missed his mark, and in many respects this wasn’t wrong.

Sabotage efforts dwindled the higher he climbed within the ranks of the military, and by the time he was a major by the age of twenty-eight, he had but one true nemesis and a considerable popularity among the court. That popularity has kept him in contact with escaped aristocrats around the world and has allowed him to keep something of a name for himself among the nobility in England, who perhaps do not register him as being new nobility considering the fact that, due to revolutionary efforts, he has gone from ranking fifty-seventh to the throne to twenty-third on account of his mother and he bears the title of marquis on account of his father – though, by point of preference, he only ever introduces himself as major.