Cirque De Sang Et De Flammes: Circus Of Blood And Fire (Recruiting)

[Lemon Lime]

Hey everyone. I have been communicating with cream via PM about my creating a female circus hand. Just haven't posted anything here and thought i'd say hello to everyone! :)

I am enjoying everyone's characters so far. Should be fun.

[Senti]

I should have more imformation for the 'girls' up tommorow We are certainly working on the old school type 'carnie idea'.  If that works, they are just shy of the 'freakshow' but only just.

[Niferbelle]

Here he is for approval. I wrote a lot  :-[

Kepler

Name: Isaiah Kepler (just goes by Kepler)
Age: 26
Home State: Illinois
Desired Role: Circus hand (security/general muscle)
Place of Hierarchy: Elizabeth's Talent

Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Light brown
Height: 6'
Weight: 170#
Physical Description: Kepler is a handsome guy, his features as sculpted as his body, with shaggy black hair that manages to look good whether he's combed it or not, golden brown eyes, and a certain detachment about him that gives you the feeling he's always thinking about something else. He's muscled and hard as a rock but not especially imposing in terms of bulk, leading some steroid cases to think they can take him on but it invariable turns out to be a bad idea when they do. He pays little attention to what he wears, always jeans and whatever shirt he can find that's clean though with the work he does it's not unusual for him to be a little grimy during the course of the day. He has anywhere from heavy stubble to a light beard and moustache, where on the spectrum he falls on any given day not a matter of design so much as when he felt like shaving last.

Personality: he seems to be a kind of walking stereotype of the handsome brooder, with that air of danger about him that inspires the naive (and sometimes not so naive) to fantasies of winning him over and civilizing the beast. It's inevitable that in every town he attracts young women who find him as compelling as the acts but he pays them little mind beyond a polite tolerance. In his experience they think they want to lay down with the wolf but they always complain when he bites. In truth he's more thoughtful then most would give him credit for, lacking in book knowledge, but philosophical in nature, the result of a guilty conscience and a young lifetime of making mistakes. He's taciturn but generally helpful unless he thinks you're shirking your work and trying to get him to do it, and he's very protective of everyone in the circus.

Brief History: Kepler grew up in a working class neighborhood of Chicago, his father a mechanic when he wasn't too drunk to show up for work and his mother a waitress who spent her tips on crank. He had two younger siblings he tried to look out for but by the time he was a teenager he was getting into trouble, in and out of juvie and dropping out of school eventually though he got his GED. When he turned eighteen he figured he couldn't afford to get arrested anymore and he wanted to get the hell out so he joined the Marines. This seemed to be working out well for a couple of years, and he excelled physically in the training and was able to put the mechanical skills he'd picked up from the old man to use as well as further his education in that regard but it wasn't to be. He served a little time for assault and was dishonorably discharged after punching a superior officer who didn't have a sense of humor about getting his nose broken.
     He returned to Chicago, despairing at how things had turned out. He slept with too many women, got in too many fights, worked a series of crappy jobs before settling on becoming a bouncer at a strip club. But one night a particularly obnoxious guy who thought money could buy him anything came in with his buddies and started getting grabby and mouthy when asked to back off. Kepler did his job and grabbed the guy by the collar to show him outside but the jerk was drunk and feeling like he had to front for his pals, and after talking some smack he gave the bouncer a shove and Kepler lost it. Kepler put the guy down before he could draw another breath but didn't stop there, lost in a rage that seemed to come out of nowhere. Three days later the guy died from the beating he took and Kepler was arrested, and while you'd think he was relieved when he was let go on a technicality, that wasn't the case. Kepler left Chicago once he was freed and headed downstate, his conscience finally having taken all it could, and it was there he found the Circus.
     He's been with the Circus for about a year now, acting as security when needed and generally filling in wherever needed. His mechanical skills come in handy keeping the equipment running and well maintained. He's found a refuge here that seems to give him some sense of purpose and has no desire to rejoin the rest of the world again. Been there, done that, and fucked it up royally.

Introduction Post: It's not your goddamned job, not here, not now. These people should have their own bastard to take care of this shit. Watch the damned show.

It was the second night Kepler had been to the circus. It was a fluke he'd found it the first time. He'd just been passing through and he was just sick enough of the road and his thoughts to take any sort of distraction he could get that didn't involve a bottle of booze or a local floozy and what he'd seen here had blown him away. He was nothing but a pretty face, a hard fist, a bad temper, and a whole lot of nothing but these people...they were putting something out there in the world. They were creating beauty. So he'd returned the second night rather than moving on, a quiet but appreciative watcher in the stands, but tonight serenity was not to be thanks to the three hundred pound asshole sitting across the aisle.

Some of the clowns had come up to engage the crowd and one in particular...a lovely, willowy young woman...seemed to have gotten the bald, portly biker's attention and he was trying to 'convince' her not to move on, mainly by grabbing at her. Kepler tried to mind his own business, knowing it couldn't be the first time this had happened and that they had to have somebody assigned to handle it. But nobody was showing up and the girl and the other clowns were getting nervous and long about the time the fat guy put his hand on the girl's ass, Kepler'd had enough. He was across the aisle in a flash, grabbing a handful of shirt and cocking his fist back, putting the asshole down in one punch despite his size.

"If you don't think I'd kill you for less you're wrong," Kepler growled, bending over him, fist at the ready again. "Get the hell out of here."

He was relieved when the biker did just that, scrambling to his feet in ungainly fashion and waddling to the nearest exit. Kepler looked around, realizing he'd become part of the show as everybody from the clowns to the crowds to the ringmaster...what was her name again? Elizabeth?...seemed to be staring at him. He sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair.

"Sorry about that miss," he mumbled to the clown and after hesitating just another moment, decided to leave before he got kicked out or the cops came. It's not like he belonged in a place like this anyway. He stepped outside and got a few strides away before he heard someone calling and turned to look.

“Hey, asshole.” She called out to the man who had just fixed a situation he had absolutely no right fixing.  The man that she had formally used to deal with the crowd had had a late night drinking.  No, fix that, a late morning drinking.  He had managed to show up to the big tent, but when she tried to get him off his stool to go and interrupt the problem he fell back to the floor.  Later that week he would find himself thrown off the train into a lively river.  None the less, the man who had dealt with the problem turned around.  She anticipated that, in all likelihood he expected a pissed off biker bitch.

Elizabeth walked up to him.  She stopped a few feet in front of him and looked him up and down.  She smiled, and without any fear spoke. “You are beautiful, that is certain.” She took a step forward, and moved her hand to the fist that had been used as a weapon.  Her fingers ran over his knuckles, with intentions to hurt. “But do me a favor?  The next time you see one of my clowns, or anyone in this circus, get violated or hurt you react quicker?”  Elizabeth smiled and took a step forward.  She leaned up to kiss him, before she turned around and began to walk away.

She stopped just before the canvas doors, and turned around to look at the man.  Now she more or less looked irritated.  “Are you coming or not?  The last bastard who was my muscle got drunk last night and passed out when I told him to fix the situation.  You fixed it.  You’ll be paid well and get to beat anyones ass who violates my circuses talent.” Elizabeth didn’t wait for him to respond.  She walked into the big tent, and began her show.

It was a hell of a pitch...a kiss from a classy woman, a promise of money, a way out of the mess he'd made of his life, and even more, the feeling, however brief, that he'd made something better...it went without saying, he followed her in.

Likes: Living in the moment, friends with benefits, time to think, Mexican food, fixing things
Dislikes: The past, unruly crowds, teases, lazy people, drunks

[Cream]

Look forward to seeing what you guys come up with for the girls :).

I will read through yours in a moment Nifer, but detail is a wonderful thing in my book.

[Wargtass]

Sending you one one via PM. Thought that would be best since I took some liberties and am applying for a true old timer. Hope you will enjoy it as much as I had creating the old bugger.  ;D

[Cream]

Not a problem, War.  Liberties can be dealt with, as long as they conform to my idea.  And old timer means a lot of back tracking between us, so be ready for that :).

[Flower]

*flexes for DF*

-whistles in approval-  ;D

Everyone's character looks awesome in my opinion. We are going to make a hell of a circus. xD

[Niferbelle]

*takes a bow* I agree, interesting premise, interesting characters!

[Flower]

I was pleased when I saw your charrie is from Chicago. I love the windy city. <3

[Niferbelle]

I love Chicago too! And it's only about three hours away so wheee!

[Senti]

Should have something up for cadavar and I today. He trusts me ....silly man.

[Senti]

Still working on it....trust me no naughty hands.

Just been flicking trough a book about 'freaks' that I read years ago...Goodness I try to some research :)

[Cadavar]

Should have something up for cadavar and I today. He trusts me ....silly man.

of course i trust you ;)

no puppets ok?

[Senti]

They could have just one :P Called Nigel.

Ok No puppets.

[Cream]

I have the evening off so I should be able to work on finishing the approval process for those who have been waiting.  You should start hearing from me from around 630 est on =)

[Senti]

It may be tommorow when the two are finished.

Senti is a tired puppet.

[bubby]

I'm going to back out of starting this game. Apologies, but I'm just way too confused to even begin to attempt a char.

[Flower]

Perfectly fine, Bubby. :)

If you would ever like for those details, which are confusing you, to be made clear, feel free to message Cream since he loves answering questions.

[Senti]

I'll be posting what I have written to Cadavar so he can check through it. I am sure he wont mind but I like to keep things straight as it were.

[Lemon Lime]

Mariana I. Nicholas

Name: Mariana I. Nicholas
Age: 26
Home State: Nebraska
Desired Role: Circus Hand
Place of Hierarchy: New Talent

Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Hazel
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 129lbs
Physical Description:  Long, lean, freckled, and lanky. Quite thin but there is muscle that hides underneath it all. A few scars here and there from life and her hands and feet are callused and speak to her history of being a hard hands-on worker.


Personality: A little quiet but when she speaks it’s quite to the point. She is tough and honest seeing no point in beating around the bush or lying. It just complicates things and often leaves her friendless. Always had a hard time finding people she fit in with besides her family who understood her and her oddness. Very tough, emotionally and physically, knows how to hold her own in a fight and it takes a lot to make her emotionally upset. Often stares off into space thinking, day dreaming, and always seems to be creating something in her head.


Brief History:
Mariana was born and raised in Nebraska. Her family wasn’t rich but they were not poor either, they made what they could and worked hard for every penny. Her father owned a garage and fixed any machine you brought in that needed fixin’. Her three older brothers also worked in the shop and her mother had done most of the paper work and tax stuff that everyone seemed to forget about. She did anyways until she was in a car accident and passed away when Mariana was five. From then on it was just her and the four men in her life.

Her mom, before she passed, had enrolled her in a youngsters gymnastics program thinking it would be a fun after school activity – only to find out her daughter was talented and in love with it. She came from a family of athletes but Mariana was not going to be joining the local baseball or football teams anytime soon like her father or brothers had – she was a local gymnastics star instead. At first it was just fun and something she was good at, then as she got older and better it grew into something she could do at a national level, and winning became a huge goal. She worked for her father before school and anytime she wasn’t training to help pay for gym costs, training, and she did everything she could to pay for it herself. She even dropped out of school when she was 15 got her GED that year so she could work to help pay. She was extremely smart and knew if gymnastics didn’t work, college was an option – and her family supported her, two of her brothers getting football scholarships she had heard of some for gymnastics and thought the stars were the limit. Until a qualifying meet to get to regionals went all wrong.

At the time she was 17 and was all but guaranteed a medal and to move on and after that it was Nationals. Until the vault. She was tall, unlike many gymnasts who were small and muscular she was a taffy pulled version of them. The vault was to be adjusted slightly to compensate for her height, it was all regulation. It wasn’t and when she hit the spring board and her hands went to launch her into the air her hands and fingers slipped off causing her to fly to the ground breaking her left wrist, a few fingers, right ankle, nose and tweaking her neck. Nothing so severe where she’d be in hospitals forever, but enough to end her career as a gymnast.

From then on she spent time at physical therapy and working for her dad, fixing things, something she had quite the knack for. Flips, tricks, and fixing internal combustion engines – among other things. Eventually she grew tired of doing the same things and decided if gymnastics was not going to let her travel, she’d just do it on her own, maybe go to college if she found one she liked and when she was done exploring. So on her 18th birthday she gathered her essentials, all the money she had and bought a train ticket out of there. Her dad didn’t want her to leave but like her mother she was a rather independent woman she always had a home to come back to and at that point had 2 brothers in parts of the country she could stay with. She never went back and eight years later she was still on her own, making her way through the U.S. sometimes barely scraping by. She found new interests – like being a contortionist and new ways to make money. Always the thinker and innovator she lived on the road the thought of settling down anywhere made her nauseated. But she didn’t know how long “fixing things for cash” or performing at night clubs by twisting herself into a pretzel would keep working. Her joints and old injuries were hurting and people didn’t always trust a random girl to get their machines working again. How long this would last started to worry her greatly.

Introduction Post:
Mariana’s day had started like any other day in a new place. Lots of walking around, checking out the lay of the land and then searching out the cheapest motel, which was usually at the edge of the city in a less than reputable area. On her walk through she had seen multiple posters for a circus, but the posters were magnificent. Not the usual hokey picture of a man with a whip, a lion, and some random dancing horses. This was different, and had piqued her interest by more than a little.

She had found her motel for later and a bus schedule and decided to make her way towards this circus. There were enough posters and flyers to suggest a large number of people would in attendance and if so maybe one of those fine patrons would like to provide her with some work, or cash. At minimum a ride back into town – it was a bit of a risk but that’s what she lived for these days – the fact that anything could happen while she traveled the road. It took a few buses and a considerable amount of walking but she made it there and was pleased with what she saw.

It was huge and loads of people were driving up and making their way in. She straightened up her jeans and button up shirt, fixed her hair a bit and pulled her cardboard sign out. She made her way towards the side, not too close to the entrance but not too far away from the crowd. She stood there with a bit of a smile, her duffle bag on the ground next to her, backpack on her back and a sign that read, “Will fix stuff for food”. On the other side it said “Will work for food” she switched it back and forth from time to time, also this way if she held it right people in both directions would see it. The dirty brunette in suspenders stood there, hoping to strike gold.

~

Of all the horrors that could occur in a circus, this was likely the worst that hers could endure.  Her acts were always absolutely flawless, and even if they made a mistake the spirit that flowed through them got them through it.  But there were certain elements of the circus that could not be controlled, no matter how hard you tried.  One issue with travelling by train was that there were curves, and different parts of the circus shifted inside of the train.  Thus far it hadn’t effected much beyond a bit of motion sickness.

This time it had put a severe kink in her show.  One of her spirit gifted acts, Chloe, depended upon her equipment to work properly for her show to work.  Everything had been working well, the landing stage had been assembled forty feet above the floor.  The take off stage was being built, and the last part of the wooden scalding had a fault.  The idiotic builder hadn’t thought anything of it and had began building the top part of the stage.  Where Chloe would stand.  And one of the wooden bars broke, the man(Her carpenter) fell ten feet to the stage below and broke his arm.  She was nearly in a state of panic, she had an hour and no one to assemble the stage.  She had to go outside, for the simple fact she was going to break the carpenters other arm if she stayed any longer.

She walked through the crowd until she came across a woman who appeared as though she as homeless.  She went to look away when out of the corner of her eye she caught the sigh. “Will fix stuff for food.”  The Ring Mistress turned towards the girl and stood in front of her.  She lowered her hand, and beckoned the girl to her feet. “Up, up.  My trapeze stage needs fixed or I am screwed for one of my acts, you had better know carpentry or I am going to break your other arm.” In her state she didn’t differentiate between one possible carpenter to hers.  She was just furious.  She turned around and began towards the tent, looking over her shoulder to yell out. “Do it and you’ll have a job.”  She never looked back.  People tended to follow Elizabeth when she asked them.

~

The night had been uneventful; no one really looked at her and if they did it was either with some contempt or pity. One person gave her a dollar and she just hoped that maybe there would be better luck after the show. Her luck seemed to change quickly as a rather flustered woman came to her, had her stand and offered her work. No names were exchanged just asked to fix a stage and a small threat. The rather beautiful woman was in charge or in a higher up of some kind and Mariana quickly gathered her bags and followed her inside the tent.

She was pointed at the problem and it was quite evident and immediately her mind went to work and she couldn’t deny that she could have built it better. She was pulled from her cocky ponderings a moment when she was offered a job if she fixed it. She wasn’t 100% sure what that meant but if anything she’d probably get some money and food out of it all. She pulled her tool belt out of her backpack, clipping it around her hips and climbing the ladder up to the platform. She got to the platform and tried to anchor herself underneath it to fix the supports. She went to work and as quickly as she could not only fixed the platform but made improvements. Not by much but enough where she was proud of it. With more time she’d re-do it entirely but this was sufficient, and more importantly – safe.

Climbing down she wiped the sweat from her brow and checked the time on her pocket watch. She jogged over to the other platform and made similar adjustments making it safer, and far more stable. Shimmying back down she found the woman that had recruited her.
“So, I finished and made a few adjustments to both platforms… it’s much safer now. With some time they could be better… But for now I’m sure you will be pleased with my work.”
She didn’t want to sit there and demand a job now but her curiosity and desire for a real work was getting to her.
“Um, about that job you spoke of…”


Likes: engineering, hard work, cars, contorting, challenges, traveling, honesty, gymnastics, and integrity.
Dislikes: liars, closed-mindedness, incompetence, whining, being ungrateful.

Fixed! Thank's DF :)

[Flower]

You have this:

Code Select Expand

floatright][img height=200]http://[url=http://i694.photobucket.com/albums/vv301/mh0916/girlinsuspenders.jpg]http://i694.photobucket.com/albums/vv301/mh0916/girlinsuspenders.jpg[/url][/img][/float]

It needs to look like this:

Code Select Expand

[float=right][img height=200]http://i694.photobucket.com/albums/vv301/mh0916/girlinsuspenders.jpg[/img][/float]

[Lemon Lime]

Thank you. Somehow I always mess up the code - I really don't know how I do it. lol

and to Niferbelle I'm going to have a hard time not calling Kepler, Johannes. :P Also, very yummy picture.

[Flower]

Not a problem lol. It just takes some practice. It will go back to its larger size if you click on it, by the way. :)

[Niferbelle]

Thank you. Somehow I always mess up the code - I really don't know how I do it. lol

and to Niferbelle I'm going to have a hard time not calling Kepler, Johannes. :P Also, very yummy picture.

Yeah, I figured if I were going to play another dude, I wanted him to be someone you could sink your teeth into *grin* Johannes kep[ler is really fascinating to me so actually he is the reason I picked the name, however unlikely it may seem in relation to this character.

I left my picture too big  :-[ I can size it down for the future though.

[Flower]

I wouldn't worry about it, Nifer. It can be easily fixed with code once the pictures are moved from this thread to the actual character thread. :)