Hey,
I'm inviting you to join a new roleplay scenario, called "Boarding House 1934: Of Ladies and Conmen!" The basic idea is that the year is 1934 (The story begins in early September), and that the action is set within a Depression-Era boarding house, which is populated by a cornicopia of people, both employed AND unemployed.
My characters will be Florence Beth Truitt "Florie Beth", the owner of the boarding house, and Mr. "Chance Goldwin", the clever conman who entrances Florie Beth into letting him share her business with her, AND who cheats, swindles, and ultimately makes ill half of the boarders who depend upon Florie Beth and her boarding house; he steals, causes arguments amongst the boarders, sells cheap tonics that are full of toxic chemicals, and may ULTIMATELY be willing to make people DISAPPEAR....in order to take their money....but it's "all for Florie Beth's sake," of course. Yeah, RIGHT! Goldwin's REAL name will be revealed during the course of the roleplay scenario.
My third character will be Florie Beth's younger sister, Jennie Trexelle (Trexelle was the sisters' unmarried last name), a pretty, un-married innocent who lives with her sister, but who wants to be ANY kind of a star!
When you invent a character, you must provide your character with:
* A Name
* A Picture
* A Date of Birth
* A History (including previous and current employment status, etc.)
* A Personality
* Any personal connection(s) with Florie Beth and/ or Goldwin (Totally optional)
* A list of any family members who might be joining you
* A list of any pets that you might bring with you; Florie Beth is a young widow, and she's trying to save her late husband's large home (Which includes a horse stable) by renting rooms to strangers AND their pets!
NOTE: I don't necessarily EXPECT you to use pictures FROM the 1930s (or from movies SET during the 1930s), as long as the people who are in the pictures LOOK as though they COULD be from the 1930s
Sooo....
NAME: Florence Elizabeth "Florie Beth" Truitt
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... ront_2.jpgPHOTO CREDIT: en.wikimedia.org
DOB: 3-14-1909
HISTORY: Florie Beth was born to poor parents in a crowded, dirty city, but, during 1914, Florie Beth's grandfather (her father's father) died suddenly, and Florie Beth's father inherited a horse ranch in California! Florie Beth and her family (Father Newton Jr., mother Almeera, and little sister Jennie) moved immediately (Newton was heartbroken about the loss of his father, and he always said that the ranch, "Newton's Ranch" MUST be kept in the family, in order to honor the deceased Newton) , to live successfully for years....
During 1929, the stock market crashed, and, knowing better than to put all of his economic eggs into the basket of the ranch, Newton Jr. left town, in order to find new business connections. He became so busy, and so despondent, that he neglected to contact his family, and when, during the Winter of 1930 (December), rumors about a dead man who looked like Newton Jr. reached Almeera, she calmly denied the rumors, snuck out during the night, and poisoned herself down the road from the house. A horrified, furious, and shocked Florie Beth and Jennie found her the next morning!
Florie Beth's current boyfriend, Shaun Truitt, helped her to assume responsibility for the horse ranch, and, when the girls' father finally returned, during the Summer of 1931, he (Newton Jr.) also took his own life, riding away on one of his horses, without food or water, until he died from exhaustion, grief, and starvation.
By the end of 1931, the Trexelle girls were out of sorts! 22-year-old Florie Beth was irritable and businesslike during the daytime, and furious and emotional by night. Jennie, who was 17, dumped her current boyfriend (accusing him of causing her to neglect her father), called her sister a "flirtatious betrayer", and practiced tying scarves and ropes about her neck, until Florie Beth finally began keeping watch over her each night.
The Spring of 1932 brought the marriage of Shaun and Florie Beth, with Jennie as the Maid of Honor; a baby would've been born during about February of 1933, but Shaun, who was having trouble arranging a horse sale with a moody, cruel man from the next town over, came home from a business dinner one night during early December of 1932, feeling ill.
Florie Beth and Jennie tried to nurse him back to health, but to no avail, and when Jennie found that he was dead....THE NEXT MORNING, she tried to keep the news from her sister, but Florie Beth was too smart to think that everything was cool, and, upon seeing her husband, she flew down the stairs, accidentally loosing the baby by way of a fall, which she somehow survived with a few major bruises, etc.
While she was still partially unconscious, Florie Beth mentioned the idea of renting the ranch house out to boarders, and Jennie reminded her of that later, and so, during February of 1933, the boarding house was opened, and Jennie's 19th Birthday celebration was used as a draw for customers!
The boarding house has been open for almost a year, and business is actually doing well!
PERSONALITY: Florie Beth has been through TOO much! She's a scrapper with a polished sense of flair and sex appeal, but, underneath it all, she desperately craves the protection of a pair of arms, and the love of a marshmallow heart, although she's cool with settling for someone who SEEMS to be the sweet guy she's looking for.
RELATIONSHIP TO FLORIE BETH: Self
FAMILY MEMBERS: Jennie
PETS: An all-black female cat named "Tabitha"
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"Chance Goldwin"
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ma1d0LTftco/T ... emmon.jpegPHOTO CREDIT:
http://www.andsoitbeginsfilms.comDOB: 6-29-1892
HISTORY: The con man was born into extreme Southern California wealth (The son of a banker, Derrek, and a woman who had inherited money, Emmalynn Rose), but the loss of ALL of his family members scared him into becoming a desperate, charming, disgusting rat! He was the first of seven brothers (His little brothers were Ralph, Nicholas, Ollie, Sean....Oooh, the irony...., Edgar, and Thomas, and they were born during 1893, 1895, 1897, early 1902, late 1902, and 1903, respectively)
During early 1904, an exhausted, 35-year-old Emmalynn succumed to pneumonia, leaving behind a 50-year-old husband and seven boys. Furious and sad, Derrek cruelly fired his entire household staff, but, without the care of nannies, the younger boys began to suffer, healthwise, and, within a month of Emmalynn's death, little Thomas died, and little Edgar ALMOST died!
Derrek began drinking, and, unsupervised, or advised by any staff members, his alcoholism led him to threaten the boys at every given opportunity, so that poor "Chance" was forced to look out for the safety of the younger six. By the tender age of 13, he was a seasoned liar (HE'D take his brother's punishments FOR them), thief (He'd steal food from his father, in order to feed the brothers that his dad was punishing by starvation), sneak (He'd sneak confiscated toys back into the nursery for his youngest brothers), and disciplinarian ("Gettin' it from ME is a LOT better than gettin' it from DAD!")
"Chance" threw his own 16th Birthday party (1907)....for himself and his brothers, because his father would've made a mess of a party to which NEIGHBORS were invited, but Derrek trashed the party in a drunken rage, anyway, and Ollie, who was only about a decade old, ran into the street, crying, only to be killed when he was struck by someone's new motor car! "Chance" tried to keep his remaining brothers' wits about them, but, that night, Nick (aged about 12) stole his father's gun, and soon, TWO bodies were laid out in the parlor.
Ralph soon smashed the gun to bits, and he fought with "Chance" to become the leader of the family, but Derrek just bought a new gun, striking fear into the boys....without even making a threat.
Time marched on, and, during 1910, "Chance" graduated from high school....but he remained at home, in order to keep his dwindling family safe. During 1911, Ralph argued with his older brother....shortly after his own graduation from high school, and when he couldn't convince "Chance" to let HIM lead the family for once, he began boarding with a friend, and experimenting with his friend's homemade flying machine, but, during that Summer, the flying machine crashed, killing BOTH men!
Derrek didn't even seem to CARE, and "Chance" began to truly hate his father. He deliberately stole from him, ordered the dog to soil his clean clothes, and had illicit affairs with women whom he was luring to the house with the false promise of employment. His two remaining brothers, who were about 10, weren't really kept in the dark about everything, but they didn't seem to care much.
By 1913, "Chance" was not only having affairs, but stealing cash and jewelry from his lovers by night, and threatening them in the morning, ordering them NOT to "get any funny ideas about telling stories....to anybody...." He was selling the stolen goods to underground merchants, and keeping the money for himself, and Derrek was always too drunk to guess at ANYTHING....
During 1914, Derrek turned 60, but he died a few days after his Birthday....due to "the demon rum," of COURSE! "Chance" said, "Good riddance!", and he raised his remaining two brothers by himself, hiring a tutor....and two 10-year-old twin girls, Desiree and Donalda (They were poor, but "Chance" was going to "buy" them, and to groom them into suitable wives for his brothers).
All went well until 1918; "Chance" convinced the girls' parents to allow them to move in permanently with his brothers, and he paid them so much $ that they agreed, but when the Spanish Flu epidemic struck, every solitary person within that house became ill! Sean (about 17) was to have been paired with Desiree (about 15), and Ed (about 17) was to have been paired with Donalda (about 15), but Sean and Donalda were struck the most violently by the Spanish Flu....Donalda died first, and Sean followed. Since Sean hadn't ever kissed Desiree, and since Ed was missing Donalda, he kissed Desiree....once they had both seemed to recover, and then, later, they both became ill again....and Donalda died!
"Chance" forced his brother to go away for college during 1920, because Ed was so depressed about those girls....and his brother. The seasoned con man dealt with the wrath of the girls' parents alone, and he financially compensated them for their grief, before accidentally impregnating their newly-un-engaged older daughter, 18-year-old Sherry, on New Year's Eve, 1920!
The pregnant Sherry pitched a fit until her parents were so scared for the unborn baby that they allowed HER to be with "Chance"! She married the con man during July of 1921, in a defiant, flashy, irreverent wedding ceremony!
Sherry died giving birth to a stillborn daughter, which the couple had already named "Sienna", and "Chance" was left heartbroken once more!
During 1923, after having sold bootleg liquor for tons of money, the con man turned his home into a brothel, and he vowed that NO woman would ever be HIS WIFE!
"Chance's" brother Ed came home for one of his Christmas visits during late 1925; Ed was now a 23-year-old college grad....with a lovely new fiance, Lucy, and a Business degree, but "Chance" looked down on him, taking him aside, and trying to persuade him to get into the business of selling bootleg gin. When Ed refused, and Lucy caught onto the scheme, and gave the con man a piece of HER mind, "Chance" asked to speak to her alone; he tried to seduce her, and she slapped him, but Ed sided with his brother, claiming that "Chance" would NEVER steal his fiance! Furious about being called a liar, Lucy said that if Ed went into business with his brother, she'd leave him for good! He let her go!
The two brothers went into business, but, during 1928, Ed met a man who convinced him to make, and sell, a substitute for real illegal liquor, and, after having an argument with "Chance", who was somehow afraid of the proposition, Ed went off on his own, but Ed himself was sampling the chemical concoction, and when it proved to be poisonous and toxic, he died....towards the end of 1928 (Ed was only 26 years old!)
Lucy, now feeling guilty, came back....to comfort "Chance"; he was furious with her, but he married her during January of 1929, and when she had a baby....right after the stock market crashed, he filed for divorce, leaving her, and the baby girl, whom he'd requested to name "Sienna", out in the cold!
Having second thoughts, he immediately paid Lucy a visit....at her older sister's home....and he told Lucy that if she'd allow him to re-marry her, he'd care for both her AND Sienna. He REALLY just wanted someone to watch his house while he travelled around, scouting about for other women to take back with him, or to start new businesses with, but Lucy believed him, and, during 1930, he re-married her....by hiring a FAKE preacher!
(Hint, Hint....If you want to....you may play the role of Lucy....coming to the boarding house to find her...."husband"!)"Chance" arrived at the boarding house when it opened, and he's been there ever since, cozying up to Florie Beth, and succeeding at charming her!
PERSONALITY: "Chance's" life has made him into a bitter, dishonest, charming, cruel rat, but he sure seems like a sexy guy to Florie Beth....AND to Jennie! He knows how to get what he wants, and how to get revenge....and how to convince other people to do his bidding!
RELATIONSHIP WITH FLORIE BETH: He's her business partner!
FAMILY MEMBERS: None
PETS: A sly-looking little male pug named "Nostrils"
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Jennifer Anne "Jennie" Trexelle
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vvXeUh8yVzo/U ... bin602.jpgPHOTO CREDIT: 1.bp.blogspot.com
DOB: 2-14-1914
HISTORY: She was brought up with her sister, and spoiled rotten, but she went through sooo much rotten, depressing crud that she was sort of scared away from dreams of domesticity!
After her father's death, Jennie dumped her boyfriend, and began flirting with men whom she believed could turn her into a star of some kind. Each one of them tried to get her to elope with them, and each time that that almost happened, Jennie's sister rescued her just in time.
Florie Beth SOMEHOW kept Jennie at her side, but Jennie's dreams of stardom only became stronger; she claimed that BOTH of her parents, ESPECIALLY Mother, would have wanted her to "make something of [herself]!"
PERSONALITY: Jennie is used to being spoiled by Florie Beth, and she misses Shaun, although she won't admit to being lonely for his big brother-type attitude towards her. She sometimes cries for seemingly no reason, and she was suicidal at one time, but these days, she spends MOST of her time flirting with boarders, in an attempt to find "a TRUE talent scout!"....with whom she can run away, with whom she can find "that glittering realm of fame and fortune that comes along but once in a young girl's entire life!"
RELATIONSHIP WITH FLORIE BETH: Little Sister
FAMILY MEMBERS: Florie Beth
PETS: A black kitten....with white paws and tail....and a white tip on her right ear....called Silver Screen Picture Star, or "Picture Star" for short.
Well, feel free to join this roleplay scenario.
NOTE: I do NOT support, endorse, or encourage suicide, con games, fake marriages, etc., in real life.
See Ya' Later,
Dixie Baby