Post by Raphael "Raph" Meyers on Nov 5, 2009 7:22:56 GMT 9.5
Biographical Information
Name: Raphael Adrien Meyers
Gender: Male
Place of Birth: Winn, Maine, USA
Date of Birth (Age): May 19, 1961
Height: 6'1"
Blood Type: O-
Hair: Light brown, clean cut.
Eyes: Blue
ID Marks:
Professional Information
Occupation: Linguistic Anthropologist, Ph.D.
Organization: Civilian
Position: Professor, Departments of Humanities and Social Sciences
Personal History
Early life:
Born right in the thick of the Cold War era, Raphael Adrien Meyers was born to Seraphine and Mark Meyers. Clearly, his mother got to choose his name and, in turn, caused his seclusion throughout grade school. Lucky for him, he found ways to entertain himself, like reading the newspaper...or making his own "Fortress of Solitude" in the back yard...or playing with the decoder rings and the backs of cereal boxes. In fact, that was one of the things that sparked his tinkering little mind. While watching the news with his family, he wondered what it would be like to actually learn Russian so he could understand those crazy, Soviet farts, as his father, a former Marine, would call them. Being a smart little cookie and getting a library card, he began to study the language. What? It's not like he had anything better to do. That little shortwave AM/FM radio he got for his 12th birthday helped considerably, when he began to listen to different AM frequencies and pick up Soviet radio talk shows. When his teachers overheard him murmuring in Russian on the playground, his parents were quickly informed. Either he was a spy...in the 6th grade...or he was a valuable asset.
Of course, they assumed the latter.
Throughout high school in Winn, Maine, he continued to study Russian, as well as a few other languages, just for the fun of it. It was almost like a game to him. It started off with your generic, taught-in-public-school Romance languages, including French, Spanish, and German. Those got pretty boring pretty quick, espeically after something so exciting as Russian. Of course, he dabbled in Latin...then in Greek...then in Arabic...then in ancient Phonecian...then in some of the Bantu and Sudanic languages...and the list continued. By the time he graduated from high school, he managed to speak 5 languages fluently and was proficient in about 9 or 10 total.
Then along comes college. Without a second to spare, he was offered a place at Cornell University, where his love of languages was nurtured by their Linguistics program. Along the way, during his undergraduate years, he found an interest in dead languages...as many linguists do. Only, he liked how the languages told a story about the people who spoke or wrote it, without being able to read it. Where it was written...why it was written...how it was written. All of these things he like to take into consideration before figuring out WHAT was written. In the end, after 7 years in college altogether, Raph graduated with a Ph.D in Linguistic Anthropology and began teaching at Cornell...until a little place called the Pentagon "asked" him to come down to DC.
Well, it wasn't like he could say "no".
Of course, knowing about his fluency with a plethora of languages, they wanted to use him as an agent. It took a little convincing; he wasn't exactly 'spy material' as he put it, but...the American Government doesn't like being told no. He was issued to a battalion in Russian territories with a select few Air Force officers. One being young Lieutenant McKenzie Brightly. Although it seemed in the beginning that the Air Force officer wanted to leave the Linguist out to dry on several occasions, mainly because of his impish nature out in the field, there was instant chemistry between them. After about a year of working together, Raph got this crazy idea to drop down on one knee at the New Year's event in Washington DC. With the President in attendance, it wasn't exactly like she could refuse. Not that she wanted to anyway.
No less than 3 weeks after the wedding and honeymoon, the newlyweds were given new orders to relocate to Colorado. Both, strangely, had been assigned to work at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. Why would they want an agent from the Pentagon to work here?
Aliens.
So, for a few months, the Meyers' jumped through wormholes to distant planets across the galaxy. It was like a candy store to Raph. Alien languages??? Oh boy! AND, as if things couldn't get any better, an old friend of his from Cornell also worked with the Stargate Program: Theodore Waldo Bernard. Small world, eh? After working together within the Program, they became close-knit companions, though...it was merely a continuation of college, only with much less booze. Er, well...less booze. Most days. BUT, a lot more bowling. Yes..bowling.
However, approximately 14 months after the reassignment, a little girl was brought into the world. Persephone Adrienne Meyers, clearly named by her father under penalty of death by Seraphine, was the shiny new lifeform brought into the Meyers household...which now had to become an actual household. Myth has it that the decision was made by flipping a coin, but however it happened, Raph was the one who stayed home and played Mr. Mom.
For about a decade, McKenzie and Raph performed a special dance, balancing work and their growing baby girl. Even though he rarely went on base, and he only did so when Seph was in school, he did continue working for Dr. Jackson and the Stargate Program as one of the lead Linguistic Anthropologists. Several times, he was offered to come and work on several off-world teams, though he refused each time. Even Theo, known to Seph as "Uncle Theo" tried to drag him back...almost forcefully once, which sad to say, involved the only real fist fight they ever had. Eventually, folks got the idea; he needed to be home with his daughter...especially since McKenzie really had no choice but to work with the program full-time.
However, being a stay-at-home dad had it's perks. She was a daddy's girl, and he developed a bond with his daughter that would not be broken. They were friends, though they still understood their places in the family. Seph never had any behavioral problems, aside from a few school issues, but even then, Raph sided by his daughter when she was right. He loved her more than anyone on earth could understand. However, as she grew older, she became suspicious of the reasons behind her mother being gone for such long lengths of time. The other kids on base usually got to eat with both of their parents around the dinner table at night. Why couldn't she? The answer, he knew, he could not tell her and it killed him a little on the inside to watch her struggle with the generic "just part of the job" answers.
But, things were about to change.
The night before, there was unrest in the Meyers household. McKenzie came home that night, exhausted, when Seph brought up the issue to her mother. Things began to get out of hand. Raph did what he could, but knew this was one of the things coming. After Seph stormed to her room for the night and the couple got ready for bed, he voiced his own concerns. Not only for his daughter, but also for himself. Selfishly, he asked what it would take for her to give it up and come home. The rest of the night, he was given the silent treatment. She was gone in the morning and never came back. That afternoon, Dr. Jackson and a gentleman in a uniform came to their door. Things had changed forever.
Although it completely destroyed him inside, he did what he could to put on a strong face for his daughter. Telling her hurt nearly as bad a being told. A few weeks after the funeral, Raph sent his letters of resignation to Dr. Jackson and they moved to his hometown of Winn in Maine. His father had died several years before, so his mother moved back to Canada, leaving him their old house. Over the next few months, he began to grow closer to his daughter than before and fully supported her decisions to follow ROTC through high school and her decision to apply to the US Air Force Academy.
Soon after his daughter sent in her application, she received a phone call from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Warily, he picked up the phone and was made the offer he could not refuse. Seph seemed a little suspicous when he joined her for her trip to Colorado for the testing sesions. During those three or so hours, he managed to make a trip back to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex to sign a few papers to make it all official. After driving back to the Academy, he met his daughter after her session, beaming. Clearly confused when the officer notified her of her acceptance, she looked to her father for a hint.
Raph could barely contain his excitement...
"Oh, you're gonna LOVE this..."
The look on his daughter's face was priceless as she watched the training videos. After everything was explained to her, he told her the big news.
They were both going to the Stargate Academy. She as a cadet and he as a professor.
Oh, what fun there was be had by the dynamic duo!
Education:
Family:
McKenzie Meyers -- Wife, deceased
Persephone Meyers -- Daughter, enrolled at SGA
Personality:
"He's like a 9 year-old on a sugar rush!"
Or so he's been told. Raph is a strange mix of a college kid, a wise old man, and a toddler, to be exact. He has this air of scholarly knowledge in the classroom and even outside of it, just from teaching for so long. There's this wistful need for adventure that he satisfies through a number of means: hiking, bowling, drinking....and did he mention drinking. Ah, that's the college kid talking. The whole being-a-dad responsibility thing kicks in, though he considers his daughter a friend rather than a charge. When she was younger, he was the only dad out at the playground, sliding on slides with her. He would also take her bowling...and to laser tag...and to movies. Pretty much anything anyone would do with their friends. It's a wonderful relationship.
Overall, he's a rather happy character, usually having a witty comment to just about every situation. There is only one subject that he gets sore over: the death of his wife, McKenzie. Over the past seven years, he's been able to keep most of the sorrow out of sight of others. Every now and then, though, if Seph was at a friends house, he'd let himself think of her, and the life they had before hers was taken all too soon. He rarely speaks about her, and when he does, he speaks only of the good things.
In the end, he's just your average professor, teaching things. He never realized his passion for teaching until after his daughter was born and he was no longer able to be at the SGC. Rather, he wouldn't allow himself to be. Some students think he's crazy, some students think he's a god. He just does what he does, and he does it well.
Avatar Character: Nathan Fillion
Name/Country: Meredith/USA
Do you agree with the rules of Stargate Academy? And a third, Durr Hurr! =}
Are you a member of any of our affiliates? SGD
Roleplay Example:
0715
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Starbucks Coffee
Ahh, those kids and their little bands with their threes and ohs in them. Alas, another digression. What thoroughly amused him though was that, after taking that theatrical swig of his drink, his dear friend had yet to swallow. Theo had always been one for theatrics. It was too much to resist.
"What have you got there? Smells delicious."
The face was priceless.
[/blockquote]
Name: Raphael Adrien Meyers
Gender: Male
Place of Birth: Winn, Maine, USA
Date of Birth (Age): May 19, 1961
Height: 6'1"
Blood Type: O-
Hair: Light brown, clean cut.
Eyes: Blue
ID Marks:
Professional Information
Occupation: Linguistic Anthropologist, Ph.D.
Organization: Civilian
Position: Professor, Departments of Humanities and Social Sciences
Personal History
Early life:
Born right in the thick of the Cold War era, Raphael Adrien Meyers was born to Seraphine and Mark Meyers. Clearly, his mother got to choose his name and, in turn, caused his seclusion throughout grade school. Lucky for him, he found ways to entertain himself, like reading the newspaper...or making his own "Fortress of Solitude" in the back yard...or playing with the decoder rings and the backs of cereal boxes. In fact, that was one of the things that sparked his tinkering little mind. While watching the news with his family, he wondered what it would be like to actually learn Russian so he could understand those crazy, Soviet farts, as his father, a former Marine, would call them. Being a smart little cookie and getting a library card, he began to study the language. What? It's not like he had anything better to do. That little shortwave AM/FM radio he got for his 12th birthday helped considerably, when he began to listen to different AM frequencies and pick up Soviet radio talk shows. When his teachers overheard him murmuring in Russian on the playground, his parents were quickly informed. Either he was a spy...in the 6th grade...or he was a valuable asset.
Of course, they assumed the latter.
Throughout high school in Winn, Maine, he continued to study Russian, as well as a few other languages, just for the fun of it. It was almost like a game to him. It started off with your generic, taught-in-public-school Romance languages, including French, Spanish, and German. Those got pretty boring pretty quick, espeically after something so exciting as Russian. Of course, he dabbled in Latin...then in Greek...then in Arabic...then in ancient Phonecian...then in some of the Bantu and Sudanic languages...and the list continued. By the time he graduated from high school, he managed to speak 5 languages fluently and was proficient in about 9 or 10 total.
Then along comes college. Without a second to spare, he was offered a place at Cornell University, where his love of languages was nurtured by their Linguistics program. Along the way, during his undergraduate years, he found an interest in dead languages...as many linguists do. Only, he liked how the languages told a story about the people who spoke or wrote it, without being able to read it. Where it was written...why it was written...how it was written. All of these things he like to take into consideration before figuring out WHAT was written. In the end, after 7 years in college altogether, Raph graduated with a Ph.D in Linguistic Anthropology and began teaching at Cornell...until a little place called the Pentagon "asked" him to come down to DC.
Well, it wasn't like he could say "no".
Of course, knowing about his fluency with a plethora of languages, they wanted to use him as an agent. It took a little convincing; he wasn't exactly 'spy material' as he put it, but...the American Government doesn't like being told no. He was issued to a battalion in Russian territories with a select few Air Force officers. One being young Lieutenant McKenzie Brightly. Although it seemed in the beginning that the Air Force officer wanted to leave the Linguist out to dry on several occasions, mainly because of his impish nature out in the field, there was instant chemistry between them. After about a year of working together, Raph got this crazy idea to drop down on one knee at the New Year's event in Washington DC. With the President in attendance, it wasn't exactly like she could refuse. Not that she wanted to anyway.
No less than 3 weeks after the wedding and honeymoon, the newlyweds were given new orders to relocate to Colorado. Both, strangely, had been assigned to work at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. Why would they want an agent from the Pentagon to work here?
Aliens.
So, for a few months, the Meyers' jumped through wormholes to distant planets across the galaxy. It was like a candy store to Raph. Alien languages??? Oh boy! AND, as if things couldn't get any better, an old friend of his from Cornell also worked with the Stargate Program: Theodore Waldo Bernard. Small world, eh? After working together within the Program, they became close-knit companions, though...it was merely a continuation of college, only with much less booze. Er, well...less booze. Most days. BUT, a lot more bowling. Yes..bowling.
However, approximately 14 months after the reassignment, a little girl was brought into the world. Persephone Adrienne Meyers, clearly named by her father under penalty of death by Seraphine, was the shiny new lifeform brought into the Meyers household...which now had to become an actual household. Myth has it that the decision was made by flipping a coin, but however it happened, Raph was the one who stayed home and played Mr. Mom.
For about a decade, McKenzie and Raph performed a special dance, balancing work and their growing baby girl. Even though he rarely went on base, and he only did so when Seph was in school, he did continue working for Dr. Jackson and the Stargate Program as one of the lead Linguistic Anthropologists. Several times, he was offered to come and work on several off-world teams, though he refused each time. Even Theo, known to Seph as "Uncle Theo" tried to drag him back...almost forcefully once, which sad to say, involved the only real fist fight they ever had. Eventually, folks got the idea; he needed to be home with his daughter...especially since McKenzie really had no choice but to work with the program full-time.
However, being a stay-at-home dad had it's perks. She was a daddy's girl, and he developed a bond with his daughter that would not be broken. They were friends, though they still understood their places in the family. Seph never had any behavioral problems, aside from a few school issues, but even then, Raph sided by his daughter when she was right. He loved her more than anyone on earth could understand. However, as she grew older, she became suspicious of the reasons behind her mother being gone for such long lengths of time. The other kids on base usually got to eat with both of their parents around the dinner table at night. Why couldn't she? The answer, he knew, he could not tell her and it killed him a little on the inside to watch her struggle with the generic "just part of the job" answers.
But, things were about to change.
The night before, there was unrest in the Meyers household. McKenzie came home that night, exhausted, when Seph brought up the issue to her mother. Things began to get out of hand. Raph did what he could, but knew this was one of the things coming. After Seph stormed to her room for the night and the couple got ready for bed, he voiced his own concerns. Not only for his daughter, but also for himself. Selfishly, he asked what it would take for her to give it up and come home. The rest of the night, he was given the silent treatment. She was gone in the morning and never came back. That afternoon, Dr. Jackson and a gentleman in a uniform came to their door. Things had changed forever.
Although it completely destroyed him inside, he did what he could to put on a strong face for his daughter. Telling her hurt nearly as bad a being told. A few weeks after the funeral, Raph sent his letters of resignation to Dr. Jackson and they moved to his hometown of Winn in Maine. His father had died several years before, so his mother moved back to Canada, leaving him their old house. Over the next few months, he began to grow closer to his daughter than before and fully supported her decisions to follow ROTC through high school and her decision to apply to the US Air Force Academy.
Soon after his daughter sent in her application, she received a phone call from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Warily, he picked up the phone and was made the offer he could not refuse. Seph seemed a little suspicous when he joined her for her trip to Colorado for the testing sesions. During those three or so hours, he managed to make a trip back to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex to sign a few papers to make it all official. After driving back to the Academy, he met his daughter after her session, beaming. Clearly confused when the officer notified her of her acceptance, she looked to her father for a hint.
Raph could barely contain his excitement...
"Oh, you're gonna LOVE this..."
The look on his daughter's face was priceless as she watched the training videos. After everything was explained to her, he told her the big news.
They were both going to the Stargate Academy. She as a cadet and he as a professor.
Oh, what fun there was be had by the dynamic duo!
Education:
Family:
McKenzie Meyers -- Wife, deceased
Persephone Meyers -- Daughter, enrolled at SGA
Personality:
"He's like a 9 year-old on a sugar rush!"
Or so he's been told. Raph is a strange mix of a college kid, a wise old man, and a toddler, to be exact. He has this air of scholarly knowledge in the classroom and even outside of it, just from teaching for so long. There's this wistful need for adventure that he satisfies through a number of means: hiking, bowling, drinking....and did he mention drinking. Ah, that's the college kid talking. The whole being-a-dad responsibility thing kicks in, though he considers his daughter a friend rather than a charge. When she was younger, he was the only dad out at the playground, sliding on slides with her. He would also take her bowling...and to laser tag...and to movies. Pretty much anything anyone would do with their friends. It's a wonderful relationship.
Overall, he's a rather happy character, usually having a witty comment to just about every situation. There is only one subject that he gets sore over: the death of his wife, McKenzie. Over the past seven years, he's been able to keep most of the sorrow out of sight of others. Every now and then, though, if Seph was at a friends house, he'd let himself think of her, and the life they had before hers was taken all too soon. He rarely speaks about her, and when he does, he speaks only of the good things.
In the end, he's just your average professor, teaching things. He never realized his passion for teaching until after his daughter was born and he was no longer able to be at the SGC. Rather, he wouldn't allow himself to be. Some students think he's crazy, some students think he's a god. He just does what he does, and he does it well.
Avatar Character: Nathan Fillion
Name/Country: Meredith/USA
Do you agree with the rules of Stargate Academy? And a third, Durr Hurr! =}
Are you a member of any of our affiliates? SGD
Roleplay Example:
0715
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Starbucks Coffee
[/i][/b]
To be perfectly honest, Dr. Raphael Meyers was approaching the line of excitement labeled "kid in a candy store". No, not about the coffee. Though, as was known in the world of professors, it was indeed the nectar of the gods. In fact, if he wanted to, he could rattle off several different cultures that actually did see coffee beans and their products as heavenly gifts. But, not was this not the time or place for such a feat, he was too thoroughly engrossed in the crossword on page six of the Springs Herald to even think about his usual thoughts.
A ten letter word for persnickety? Hmmm...
However, his mental thesaurus almost couldn't control the giddiness that came along with the past week's events. Yes, he had known for a while that his daughter was interested in the US Air Force Academy, and yes, this trip had indeed been planned. But, no, he was not expecting the phone call two days before their flight left out of Augusta, from someone who might as well have been the Ghost of Christmas Past: Dr. Daniel Jackson.
Nearly spilling coffee over the thesis papers he had been grading for his Grad Students, he listened carefully. Apparently, the oddness of his daughter's first name and the registration of his own last name in the system caught the attention of a particular, top-secret military institution known as Stargate Command. Prepared to have to fight the archaeologist off, verbally of course, unlike a rather unlucky xenobiologist and best friend he had to physically a few years back, he listened as Daniel offered him something he couldn't refuse. Replaying the phone conversation over once again in his head, he was brought back to reality by someone all too familiar standing at his side.
"Long time no see." Well, speaking of unlucky xenobiologists...
"Theo, long time indeed," Raph smirked, removing his reading glasses and tucking them into his blazer pocket. Suddenly appearing pensive, scrunching his brow and raising his finger and thumb to his chin, he continued. "I feel as though I was supposed to tell you something, but, ya know? I forget what it was. Oh well, must not have been too important. Sit." The mischievous smirk was beginning to crawl across his face as he took in his friend's appearance. No black eye. Nose, a little off skilter, but...meh. A song lyric from his daughter's iPod scampered through his mind for a split second.How do I say I'm sorry, cause the word is never gonna come out..
Ahh, those kids and their little bands with their threes and ohs in them. Alas, another digression. What thoroughly amused him though was that, after taking that theatrical swig of his drink, his dear friend had yet to swallow. Theo had always been one for theatrics. It was too much to resist.
"What have you got there? Smells delicious."
The face was priceless.
[/blockquote]
