Likely Lads (Neo-Noir, OOC/Signups) [Closed]

[Nature-Spirits]

So, I've finally gotten around to checking this all out (work takes a lot of time out of my day), and I must say, it is fantastic work.

That said, I'm not sure I'll have the time to take on something like this. I would absolutely love to join, but the sad fact is that I can't guarantee my schedule will be free enough for me to make regular, high-quality posts in both this RP and Agri's.

Regardless, I will definitely be keeping my eye on this, and reading the wonderful world you guys will no doubt bring to life shall surely prove to be a joy.

You could always partner up with my character, as I'll be in a similar boat timewise.

So, I've finally gotten around to checking this all out (work takes a lot of time out of my day), and I must say, it is fantastic work.

That said, I'm not sure I'll have the time to take on something like this. I would absolutely love to join, but the sad fact is that I can't guarantee my schedule will be free enough for me to make regular, high-quality posts in both this RP and Agri's.

Regardless, I will definitely be keeping my eye on this, and reading the wonderful world you guys will no doubt bring to life shall surely prove to be a joy.

I don't ask for guarantees. Throw up an app, and see what you can do. If you drop, you drop. As Agri Astro pointed out, you can always partner up with another player whose time is limited.

Alright, then. I'll see what I can do.

Io non sono nostro Antonio.

Jesus wept. I did that during Debatable Lands too. Sorry, Astro. I do this with my friends IRL too. I apologize.

[Astrolinium]

At last, an app.

Role, If Any: None

---

Name: Harry Schwartz

Age: 35

Gender: Male

Appearance: Tall and muscular with light skin and brown eyes. He keeps his black hair cut short, but if it grows out, his curls betray his Jewish identity. He has a fairly narrow face with a jaw not very well defined, which looks odd atop his well-built frame, and he wears a pair of round glasses set atop his nose. People sometimes tell him he looks like a young Tom Selleck, but he doesn't see the resemblance at all.

---

Personality: Stubborn and willful, Harry once had a very strong sense of justice and idealism. Somewhere, deep down, he still might, but he's seen too much too quickly, and now he's mostly sarcastic and cynical, with something of a pessimistic outlook on life. He's a hard man with little sympathy for those he views as degenerates, and little room for mistakes. He is not grim, though: he enjoys laughter and community, but he knows innocence is ultimately a facade, and as someone with a very black-and-white view of the world, he sees it as mostly black, including himself. He also has a deep mistrust of the unknown -- not a fear, merely a mistrust. He doesn't talk much.

Likes: Soccer, Batman, whiskey, early cars, swimming, the odd cigar, the odd hooker.

Dislikes: Naivete, the gangs, nosy people (ironic in his line of work), Brazilians.

Fears: The unknown, the jungle, large animals, small spaces.

Hobbies: He has a green 1952 Oldsmobile 88 he likes to work on, and he likes playing soccer with his cousin Eli's kids. And as awful as they are, he enjoys watching CSI and other crime shows.

Skills: He speaks English, Spanish, and a bit of Hebrew (not that that helps him much). He's a big guy and knows how to beat a man up. He drives well, he's good with his hands and with machinery, and he's good at intimidating people. In spite of his temper, he keeps cool well in bad situations -- it's little things he blows up at. He's a strong swimmer, and he tends to be good at the "quiet leader" sort of thing.

Weaknesses (must be serious): Paranoid, has a bad temper, drinks too much, afraid of commitment

---

Birthplace: Marrano Heights, New Leiden

Nationality: American

Ethnicity: Ashkenazi

Political Views: Fairly libertarian, basically believes that the government should leave people the hell alone, and assumes that Obama is going to use war in the Middle East to illegally stay in office, not that it really affects him. He also views the gangs as ultimately being a product of big government corruption.

Sexuality: Heterosexual, mostly

Religion: Conservative Judaism, but not terribly religious, and seriously doubts the existence of God.

---

Rank: Detective

Education: BA Criminology from New Leiden University

Residence: A modest house in Marrano Heights down the road from his parents, near Beth El synagogue. It has white siding, a faded red tin roof, a garage, and a nice covered porch in the front.

Biography: Harry Schwartz was born thirty-five years ago in Marrano Heights to David Schwartz and Sara Schwartz, née Metzler, devout members of Portocielo’s conservative Beth El synagogue. The only child of moderately affluent Ashkenazim, Harry never had to worry overly much about finances growing up, and never truly experienced how destitute much of New Leiden and the greater Portocielo community was, particularly as his parents discouraged him from making friends among the goyim, a feat partially accomplished by keeping him enrolled at the Beth El Day School throughout his youth. His closest friend throughout his childhood was Eli Metzler, his cousin, who was someday destined to become the rabbi at Beth El. Harry was never as devout as his parents or his cousins, though. Growing up immersed in Judaism, its ritual and tradition were as a second nature to him, but he never felt truly moved by the theology. As a child, his interests were not so focused on torah and more focused on his skateboard, his Atari, an d DC Comics. His favorite hero was Batman, the world’s greatest detective.

When it came time for high school, Harry begged to be allowed to attend public school. He wanted a more worldly education, he said, and he wanted to make different friends. He saw his friends from Beth El in the neighborhood all the time, he said. Reluctantly, his parents let him agree, and he began attending school at Eindhoven High School. He was, to say the least, not prepared for the difference between life in Marrano Heights and life in the rest of New Leiden, let alone the destitution of Eindhoven. He was bullied, beat on, called names – kike, Christ-killer, kankerjood, you name it. It was not long before he was back at Beth El Day School, but the world as it truly was outside the prosperous little haven of Marrano Heights was forever something scarred to him – driving past the bungalows of Eindhoven was no longer simply driving past decaying buildings. He knew there were people there, and he knew that, while many of them were decent, enough of them were not, and enough of him would hate him for his gangly, white skinniness, for his curly, dark hair, even for his name.

Over the next few years, he became vastly more interested in sports and weightlifting – he had been beaten up enough times during his brief stay at public school that he vowed that no one would ever again just be able to punch him with impunity. He learned to play soccer, he took up swimming, and he took up boxing, and soon he went from the gangly kid to a proper jock. He also lost a lot of friends during this time, though, as he became somewhat more introverted than he once had been.

While his friend and cousin Eli went off to the American Jewish University and eventually the Ziegler School to become a rabbi, Harry had more mundane expectations. He knew of gang violence in New Leiden. It was a fact of life. He thought that it shouldn’t have to be, and so, like many a young idealist, he enrolled in New Leiden University’s criminology program (his parents had wanted him to go somewhere nice on the mainland US to study something nicer, but Harry was young and stubborn, and insisted that if he was going to go into the PTPD and help clean up New Leiden, then studying on the mainland would bring too great a risk of never getting back). He was an active member of the university’s chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi and campus Hillel, though there were few others who could say the same. He made good grades, and somehow even met a girl: Irene Kaufman, who he dated for a number of years and even ended up moving in with after college. But while at school, he largely kept to himself – he mistrusted most of his classmates, and was very focused on his studies. People said it was odd for the star member of the soccer (or was it futbol?) team, but Harry didn’t care what they thought.

After he graduated, he floated around for a few years working at a local grocery store while attempting to get hired by the PTPD. They certainly seemed reluctant to at first, but then, later on he’d look back and think he probably looked much too cleanly cut. During this time, he moved in with Irene and, after a few years, had a mind to propose to her.

Of course, it would happen that one night while walking home from the store (if only they could have afforded a car), she was picked up by strange men. Harry doesn’t like to think of what the next twenty-four hours must have been for her, but when they found her body in Echo Canyon, it was bloody and bruised, clothes torn off, and covered in semen. They never found out who picked her up, and it seemed to Harry that nobody on the force really cared. He would care, he told himself, and he dedicated the next three months to his own brand of tikkun olam. He eventually found a lead among a shop owner who’d gotten off later than he expected, and through him tracked down a small Brazilian street gang. Were they behind it? Maybe, it didn’t much matter. They were someone to blame, mostly. When their bodies were found in Echo Canyon, their heads had bullet holes in them. Nobody cared much about their deaths either.

After that, life for Harry was different. It was as though a light had gone out of them. It was perhaps ironic that it was then that he got hired at PTPD, and he seemed to have a knack for police work, especially when it involved breaking the occasional kneecap. His intelligence and quick thinking didn’t go unnoticed, either, and it wasn’t long after that he was picked up for the Goon Squad. In the seven years since, he’s bought a nice house, and he’s had a girlfriend or two, but nothing serious. He goes to Beth El every Saturday morning, and sometimes on Friday nights if Eli ribs him enough about religiousness, but he mostly goes as habit: he’s not sure he would even want God to be real, given what the world can be like.

[Walabam]

Every time I open this thread, I feel like expanding my biography more

[Reverend Norv]

Harry Schwartz

It was worth the wait. I have nothing to add, Astro: welcome aboard! The Dramatis Personae and glossary are updated.

Every time I open this thread, I feel like expanding my biography more

I don't think it needs expansion, but I certainly don't believe that expansion can hurt, provided that you keep it PG-13. If you feel like it, you can absolutely go ahead.

[Walabam]

I don't think it needs expansion, but I certainly don't believe that expansion can hurt, provided that you keep it PG-13. If you feel like it, you can absolutely go ahead.

I've just got the urge to do so. Either way, no worries Norv. I'll be keeping my posts as PG-13 as possible in the future, I guarantee.

[Astrolinium]

Harry Schwartz

It was worth the wait. I have nothing to add, Astro: welcome aboard! The Dramatis Personae and glossary are updated.

Wonderful!

[Cylarn]

Norv, what's your preferred beer?

[Rudaslavia]

In terms of Roman Catholic churches, what cathedrals and/or houses of worship are located within the Diocese of Portocielo?

[Aurinsula]

In terms of Roman Catholic churches, what cathedrals and/or houses of worship are located within the Diocese of Portocielo?

There has to be at least one church dedicated to San Joaquin (Joachim, Mary's father), so that the hacienda can be named after/in conjunction with it.

[Reverend Norv]

Norv, what's your preferred beer?

Guinness, preferably draught, definitely from Ireland. Accept no substitutes.

In terms of Roman Catholic churches, what cathedrals and/or houses of worship are located within the Diocese of Portocielo?

The Cathedral of San Joaquin, in Downtown New Leiden near Ciudad Cielo. A beautiful four-hundred-year-old Baroque building.

Parish churches include San Gabriel in Eindhoven, Santo Tomas in Truman Square, and San Pietro in Monteflores. The Little Rio churches are mostly missions run by Brazilian priests steeped in liberation theology, and they are only tangentially connected to the Diocese of Portocielo.

Finally, there is still a Carmelite convent in Angelwood, Santa Maria de la Montana, with a small number of mostly Spanish nuns.

[Rudaslavia]

Norv, what's your preferred beer?

Guinness, preferably draught, definitely from Ireland. Accept no substitutes.

In terms of Roman Catholic churches, what cathedrals and/or houses of worship are located within the Diocese of Portocielo?

The Cathedral of San Joaquin, in Downtown New Leiden near Ciudad Cielo. A beautiful four-hundred-year-old Baroque building.

Parish churches include San Gabriel in Eindhoven, Santo Tomas in Truman Square, and San Pietro in Monteflores. The Little Rio churches are mostly missions run by Brazilian priests steeped in liberation theology, and they are only tangentially connected to the Diocese of Portocielo.

Finally, there is still a Carmelite convent in Angelwood, Santa Maria de la Montana, with a small number of mostly Spanish nuns.

Does the Cathedral of San Joaquin have an archdeacon? I only ask because as a somewhat extremist Catholic, Celestia will have attended Mass there regularly.

[Reverend Norv]

Guinness, preferably draught, definitely from Ireland. Accept no substitutes.



The Cathedral of San Joaquin, in Downtown New Leiden near Ciudad Cielo. A beautiful four-hundred-year-old Baroque building.

Parish churches include San Gabriel in Eindhoven, Santo Tomas in Truman Square, and San Pietro in Monteflores. The Little Rio churches are mostly missions run by Brazilian priests steeped in liberation theology, and they are only tangentially connected to the Diocese of Portocielo.

Finally, there is still a Carmelite convent in Angelwood, Santa Maria de la Montana, with a small number of mostly Spanish nuns.

Does the Cathedral of San Joaquin have an archdeacon? I only ask because as a somewhat extremist Catholic, Celestia will have attended Mass there regularly.

I was under the impression that archdeacons are now very rare in the Catholic Church; their duties are mostly performed by auxiliary bishops and episcopal vicars. So I would say that it's unlikely.

[Rudaslavia]

Does the Cathedral of San Joaquin have an archdeacon? I only ask because as a somewhat extremist Catholic, Celestia will have attended Mass there regularly.

I was under the impression that archdeacons are now very rare in the Catholic Church; their duties are mostly performed by auxiliary bishops and episcopal vicars. So I would say that it's unlikely.

It's a ceremonial title that's still occasionally used in cathedral administrations. I was just making sure. Thanks.

[Aurinsula]

Norv, what's your preferred beer?

Guinness, preferably draught, definitely from Ireland. Accept no substitutes.

I feel you there. But what do you drink when there's no taps and no trained tap-masters around?

[Reverend Norv]

Guinness, preferably draught, definitely from Ireland. Accept no substitutes.

I feel you there. But what do you drink when there's no taps and no trained tap-masters around?

Red wine. Or scotch, or bourbon. Occasionally even hard cider - Breton-style cidre brut.

In places where I can't get any of that, I'm stuck drinking local lager or rice wine. Which is imperfect, but in those places I'm probably not drinking for the taste.

[Cylarn]

I am debating as to whether or not I should give Ronnie a relative to fit into the story. I'm torn between a young son/daughter, a deadbeat brother/sister, or a well-to-do brother/sister. Thoughts?

[Reverend Norv]

I am debating as to whether or not I should give Ronnie a relative to fit into the story. I'm torn between a young son/daughter, a deadbeat brother/sister, or a well-to-do brother/sister. Thoughts?

Personally, I think kids are always the most interesting option. They always have a psychological effect; the way a character relates to his children is deeply revealing. That relationship can redeem a bad man, or bring out the worst in a good one. A complex character who beats his kid immediately becomes a monster; a racist lout who loves his child can't quite be all bad. There's way more opportunity for character development with a child than there is with a sibling.

[Cylarn]

Alrighty. When I have the time, I'll edit in a passage about a child.

[Nude East Ireland]

a racist lout who loves his child can't quite be all bad.

This reminds me of a character in Sons of Anarchy, who fits that description to a tee.

Now, mid-way through the third season, Sons of Anarchy turns from Hamlet on motorcycles to a horribly-written soap opera. The most absurd event is when the entire motorcycle club goes to Belfast. Basically, watch up to season 3.

[Reverend Norv]

a racist lout who loves his child can't quite be all bad.

This reminds me of a character in Sons of Anarchy, who fits that description to a tee.

Now, mid-way through the third season, Sons of Anarchy turns from Hamlet on motorcycles to a horribly-written soap opera. The most absurd event is when the entire motorcycle club goes to Belfast. Basically, watch up to season 3.

Thanks for the recommendation!

[Cylarn]

Are there any racist Dutch gangs; not necessarily Neo-Nazi organizations, but something similar. There would like be one in Eindhoven, sporting themselves as some sort of neighborhood defense group.

[Reverend Norv]

Are there any racist Dutch gangs; not necessarily Neo-Nazi organizations, but something similar. There would like be one in Eindhoven, sporting themselves as some sort of neighborhood defense group.

Makes sense to me. Feel free to invent one of your own, and I'll add it to the glossary.

[Nude East Ireland]

Since most crime and noir settings have skittish, desperate insomniacs, I think there should be an island theater company. Not everyone who does theater is crazy, but most of them are. Trust me, I'm one of them.

"Look, man, I don't know anything about anything. I just play Horatio. I work night shifts at the bar up the street. I barely eat, and whenever I do it's at a diner. Half of my annual income goes to coffee, and that's before taxes; which I don't pay, because I sleep backstage in a cot. All of my clothes are dirty band t-shirts and skinny jeans. The only sex I've had for the last seven years has been with members of this cast, but I can't do that anymore because the guy playing Claudius got HIV and spread it to Ophelia and one of the Gravediggers. Please leave me alone, I need to learn these lines or the director will rip my other testicle out. He keeps the first in a jar on his bookshelf."

[Reverend Norv]

Since most crime and noir settings have skittish, desperate insomniacs, I think there should be an island theater company. Not everyone who does theater is crazy, but most of them are. Trust me, I'm one of them.

"Look, man, I don't know anything about anything. I just play Horatio. I work night shifts at the bar up the street. I barely eat, and whenever I do it's at a diner. Half of my annual income goes to coffee, and that's before taxes; which I don't pay, because I sleep backstage in a cot. All of my clothes are dirty band t-shirts and skinny jeans. The only sex I've had for the last seven years has been with members of this cast, but I can't do that anymore because the guy playing Claudius got HIV and spread it to Ophelia and one of the Gravediggers. Please leave me alone, I need to learn these lines or the director will rip my other testicle out. He keeps the first in a jar on his bookshelf."

Dandy! If you write up a glossary entry for it, I'll find a way to slide it into the plot. It fits the setting perfectly.

[Nude East Ireland]

Since most crime and noir settings have skittish, desperate insomniacs, I think there should be an island theater company. Not everyone who does theater is crazy, but most of them are. Trust me, I'm one of them.

"Look, man, I don't know anything about anything. I just play Horatio. I work night shifts at the bar up the street. I barely eat, and whenever I do it's at a diner. Half of my annual income goes to coffee, and that's before taxes; which I don't pay, because I sleep backstage in a cot. All of my clothes are dirty band t-shirts and skinny jeans. The only sex I've had for the last seven years has been with members of this cast, but I can't do that anymore because the guy playing Claudius got HIV and spread it to Ophelia and one of the Gravediggers. Please leave me alone, I need to learn these lines or the director will rip my other testicle out. He keeps the first in a jar on his bookshelf."

Dandy! If you write up a glossary entry for it, I'll find a way to slide it into the plot. It fits the setting perfectly.

Later.

True Detective needs me.