Realistic or Modern Summer Ghosts CS Page

[queendilettante]

Hey friends! The following CS template is a loose overview that I use for most projects. Feel free to add more information to this if you'd like

Face claims are strongly encouraged but not required! Please no overly cartoonish faceclaims, though art is okay

Please remember that Summer Ghosts takes place in the summer of 1881 in Baltimore, Maryland!

Name: _
Occupation (Former or Current): _
Gender: _
Age: _
Birthday: _
Sexuality: _
Height: _
Weight: _
Build: _
Hair: _
Eye Color: _
Complexion: _
Distinctive Physical Features:

Typical Clothing:

Supernatural Experiences:

Personality:

Quirks:

Skills/Equipment:

Bio/Backstory:

_

 

[queendilettante]

Joseph Healy
The Priest

​

Occupation: Priest
Gender: Cis Male (he/him)
Age: 37
Birthday: February 3rd, 1844
Sexuality: Joseph hasn't really had the privilege to think about it.
Height: 5’7
Weight: 140lbs
Build: Lean and lanky.
Hair: Short, dark brown hair littered with gray
Eye Color: Brown
Complexion: Gaunt
Distinctive Physical Features:

• He has more wrinkles than is common for his age, especially around his eyes and lips.
• Joseph’s lanky figure gives the impression that he’s taller than he is.

Typical Clothing:
Joseph generally wears the outfit of the priesthood. When not wearing his liturgical collar and clothing, he aims to dress inconspicuously. Long, dark overcoats that don’t draw much attention are often preferred.

Supernatural Experiences:
Joseph is a lifelong devout Catholic. Aside from the Holy Spirit, he’s always regarded ghosts and the like as mere superstition, even if he played into it to strengthen his flock. It wasn't until recently that he's come to terms with the people's spiritual superstitions as being rooted in more than hysteria.

Personality:
Joseph is a warm and friendly man who’s been worn down by a life of devotion gone, in his mind, unrewarded. He’s quick to open his door to anyone in need, even to his own detriment. He’s always one to lend an ear and a comforting presence. Still, he’s burnt out and desperate. The faithful have been faltering for decades, only now his livelihood is on the line. He toes a somewhat hypocritical line between selflessness and selfishness, making him frequently come across as conflicted.

Quirks:

• Joseph has a habit of being, if it could be believed, a bit preachy. He’s quick to go on tangents that need to be cut off by someone that isn’t him.
• Like many in his day, Joseph smokes tobacco throughout the day, though he abstains from liquor. He's rarely seen without his pipe.
• Joseph is self conscious his failing to always practice what he preaches. He presents himself as much more pious than he tends to be, in spite of the guilt that accompanies him for it.

Skills/Equipment:
While still relatively new to the idea of exorcising ghosts, he's equipped with what he feels is appropriate. He carries a lantern, matches, incense, a Bible, a book of hymns and prayers, a crucifix, and a journal.

Bio/Backstory:
Joseph was born only a few days after his immigrant parents, Sean and Bridget Healy, arrived in the United States. His family didn't have very much money or very many connections, but they remained stable enough throughout Joseph's childhood. Even with his younger siblings, Connor, Jack, Patrick, and Maeve, they somehow managed. He was happy with his family, if a bit unfulfilled.

When baby Patrick, the youngest of the Healy's, lost his life to sickness before his tenth year, Joseph's parents lost themselves to depression. Joseph, by that point, was old enough to work and took it upon himself to help his family. Raised Catholic, studying for seminary and rising through the church seemed the only natural path for Joseph to follow. He didn't fancy himself overly fond of the idea of factory work. Luckily, he had a knack for devotion. He finished seminary at twenty six, supporting his parents and living siblings all the while.

He wanted to stay close, but the Bishop needed him in further from the bay. He packed his things and moved to St. Agnes Parish in the western reaches of Baltimore, becoming his home and his place of work from then on. He sent money to his family and visited a few times a year, but his duties were many and his time scarce. He last visited in '79, though he writes to his mother and Maeve a few times a month.

His parish was small when he took the reins and as its aging population gradually began passing away, the already dwindling numbers began to fall even further. It freed up time for a while, but the pressure of the church collapsing, leaving his parents to fend for themselves, ate away at him. Things were beginning to look too bleak to fix until the ghost rumors began.

It must have been three years since he first encountered someone speaking of a haunting toward the bay. A young woman, no older than twenty five, burst into his office one evening in tears. Joseph had never seen terror on a person's face like hers, but he did his best to help her calm. He gave her food and warmth and offered her a place in his congregation.

To his surprise, it worked. A woman raised but loosely protestant in her disposition was confirmed under his supervision faster than any he'd worked with prior. And she was only the first of many. Every few months, another person would come, speaking similar stories about ghosts near the harbor. Joseph would give them all the same response, welcoming them into his fold, and nearly all of them agreed.

It wasn't until eight or so months ago that Joseph started seeing the financial benefit that such a panic could bring. Instead of opening his doors for the lost, he began seeking them out. He'd go to bars, taverns, and markets, offering to help those plagued with fears of hauntings. The size of his congregation doubled then tripled, nearly overnight. The Bishop even offered to begin expanding his parish buildings because of his success.

It would have been the perfect scheme if Joseph hadn't started to believe the stories for himself. There were just too many similarities, too many disparate people describing the same events. How could people who had never met encounter the same ghost or the same demon at different times and with no connection?

Something about the hysteria was not adding up. It couldn't be rooted in nothing, and Joseph had unfortunately volunteered himself to hundreds to be the man to do something about it.

 

[Solar Daddy]

Victor Bouchard​

Occupation (Current): Carpenter
Gender: Male
Age: 30
Birthday: December 3rd, 1851
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Height: 6'-0"
Weight: 195 lbs.
Build: Average
Hair: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Complexion: Fair
Distinctive Physical Features:

Typical Clothing: Victor often wears a light peacoat over a white shirt and suit pants.

Supernatural Experiences: Victor feels he's grown up around ghosts. Having lost many of his family early in his life, Victor feels the weight of their presence often and is constantly bothered by unexplainable activity. Victor believes undoubtedly that his relation to the dead has caused him to be a magnet to countless supernatural experiences. It's almost as if he's being clung to by wayward spirits, looking to him as their only chance of salvation. In Victor's mind, he's walking between the worlds of the living and the dead.

Personality: Victor Bouchard is, in a word, somber. Having his life ruled by the dead has given him great cause to ponder endlessly on life, death, and everything in between. Melancholic is who he is. The macabre has clung to Victor like a disease, and he seldom forgets it. Around strangers, he may come off as judgmental, but in reality he chooses to observe. Those close to Victor know him to be kind, thoughtful and smart.

Quirks: Victor has a few quirks, namely that he can't seem to put a cigarette down. Victor is rarely caught without one dangling from his mouth, sometimes even unlit. Otherwise, Victor often finds himself tapping his foot as a way to ease his own tension.

Skills/Equipment: (To be determined)

Bio/Backstory:
Victor was born into a stable household in the dense Boston streets. Never particularly wealthy, Victor’s family was filled to the brim with - according to society - unimportant and unassuming members. His parents were not ones to argue in front of their children, despite the thin walls of their apartment barely masquerading the fights they’d have in their room. It was clear from a young age that Victor’s parents, Emma and Vincent, were only still together due to the heavy bills they shared; neither had any family or friends, and divorce would’ve meant swift homelessness for both. Victor and his two older sisters would often leave the house to "play outside" to try and stay out of their bickering. His two older sisters, Emilie and Elise, were a major part in ensuring Victor’s early childhood was not all bad. They were kind and caring, with Emilie often taking Elise and Victor out to do various things that wouldn’t require paying for anything; the park, mostly, was their place of choice.

When Victor was thirteen, his eldest sister, Emilie, was the victim of a gruesome murder when she was only twenty-one. She’d been stabbed just a couple hundred feet from their home, allegedly by an individual intending to rob her, according to witnesses. Victor and Elise were shaken from the death of their sister, while their parents shared similar reactions. Emma was especially heartbroken, losing her job due to her depression. In the following months after the tragedy, Victor swears he'd seen her walking the halls of their home. He knew she was dead and nothing could change that, but some nights, Victor was able to hold conversations with Emilie. He would whisper into the dark, and the most imperceptible noise would respond. Every single time. Victor was assured his sister was looking over him.

The Bouchards left Boston soon after to escape the bad memories tied to their home. This time, they lived out in the rural areas of Maryland, though their home wasn’t much better than the one they had in the city. The biggest difference was the space they had; a nice, lonely house was exactly what the family needed to breathe and grieve for their lost sister and daughter.

Unfortunately for the Bouchards, Emilie would not be the last death in the family. Elise would be the victim of a fire in their home, which only Victor and his parents had escaped from. Not long after the loss of Elise, Victor's mother would vanish from their lives, her fate unknown to the remaining Bouchards. Just like before, Victor found himself experiencing the unexplainable, just like when Emilie had died. Now, he swears, there were two ghosts following him through his life. Victor also believed his mother to still be alive, as her ghost had not visited him since her disappearance.

Victor and his father remained dedicated to busying their lives to ignore the thoughts of their family’s tragedy. Victor held a steady job in carpentry in Baltimore after him and his father moved there, once again, to try and escape tragedy. In that time, Victor met his eventual wife, Elle, who moved in after a few years of their relationship. Despite all the tragedy befalling the Bouchards, Victor still had his father Vincent and his wife Elle. He would live his life respecting the lives of those he lost, seeing their shadows in the night and hearing their voices in his dreams.

After this point in his life, Victor would find himself as a ghost whisperer. He would travel to abandoned homes and sites of tragedy to speak to the dead in his own, strange way. Some felt sinister, others felt melancholic. He was estranged from the few friends he had due to his strange habits, but Elle and his father remained close to him all his life. Their support was everything to him. Victor may have had a troubled life filled with grief, but he would not let it make him miserable. He still had his sisters at his side.

(CS in progress, to be updated)

 

[Pipsqueak]

​

Name: James Daughtery
Occupation (Former or Current): Detective
Gender: Male (He/ Him)
Age: 29 y/o
Birthday: September 16th, 1852
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 152 lbs.
Build: Lanky, Lean
Hair: Dark brown
Eye Color: Dark brown
Complexion: Pale, almost gaunt
Distinctive Physical Features:

• Long, slender nose
• Sunken, tired eyes
• Tall- His lankiness seems to add to his height
• Major widow's peak

Typical Clothing:

• Nice dress pants
• A long, fabric coat/ Scarf (Except not in the heat)
• Fancy detective hat
• Button up shirts (He a fancy mans)

Supernatural Experiences:

• A few times during investigations, especially if the victim died in an awful way (I.e. Disembodied voices, moving objects, candles going out, etc.)

Personality:

• James is a no- nonsense type of guy. Unless, of course, that nonsense has to do with the paranormal, or a crime. The harder the mystery to solve, the more engaged and excited he becomes. This detective is very often in his own head as he stalks around others- following them and listening to what they have to say. Observing everything. Watching everything. If something of interest gets his attention, he is most likely to go investigate it without letting those around him know. Not that he forgets to tell them, but simply because he forgets they're even there. Some describe the man as anti social, while others simply believe him to be too tunnel visioned for his own good. In reality, James loves social interactions and often enjoys picking apart every detail of others. What size shoe do they wear? What kind of quirks do they show? Where do their eyes travel when speaking of something important to them? It's become like second nature to him, but a fun one nonetheless. Despite the almost morbid happiness he exudes while investigating, he deeply cares for others' feelings and has exceptional bedside manner. He believes in swift justice- the more dramatic the better.

Quirks:

• Will often not answer questions. If he does, he answers with his own question. Whether or not he's doing this on purpose is not easily perceivable
• Likes to flip his coat when he turns in a very dramatic fashion
• Chews on his pencil or twirls it in his fingers while thinking/ stumped on something

Skills/Equipment:

• Perceptive
• Knows basic medicine tings
• Magnifying glass
• Brushes/ cloth
• A small pencil and notebook

Bio/Backstory:

_WIP

 

[evermoon]

Levy Adler​

basics:

age: 28​

birthday: march 16th, 1953​

gender: cis male​

sexuality: levy is bisexual, and while this is a part of himself that he accepts and understands, it is not something he shares with others or feels all that compelled to explore.​

occupation: medium​

looks:

hair: levy has hair that a romantic would describe as light chestnut, and a pessimist might call dirtied hay. at this point in time, it's at a length that looks as though it was well-groomed a month or two ago, but now has a slight shag to it that scrapes the tops of his ears.​

eyes: his eyes are a very dark brown, and if you look very close, you can see that the left one is just a bit smaller than the right.​

build: levy stands tall, at least compared to the rest of his family, at 5'11. he's walking a completely average line between lanky and stocky-- he's got enough meat and muscle on his bones to look filled out, like he could lift a few heavy boxes or two, but you wouldn't call him ripped by any stretch of the word.​

distinctions:​

typical clothing: levy tends to wear a dress shirt (usually white/light grey, but he might branch out into a plain dark, like navy or forest) and a pair of slacks. if the occasion seems worthy of more importance, or he feels like he needs to make a good impression, he'll throw a black blazer over top. it's the nicest thing he owns, and it almost fits just right, but it's a hair too big for him.​

personality

description: levy is a calm, usually centered person. at first meeting, he could come off as fairly introverted; he is rarely the first one to speak up in a room, and he tends to be softspoken. however, levy can be rather charming or charismatic, due in part to the fact that he tends to be genuine and kind with his actions. if anything, he can be a little too intense when it comes to the things he cares about, or ideas he really believes. having said that, though, it is important to note that levy is actually rather emotionally repressed-- he will share little of actual emotional weight with the people around him unless he truly considers them close, and will do his best to hide, suppress, or ignore any negative emotion.​

quirks: levy has a few quirks, although none of them stand out too much. levy prefers chewing tobacco, and will only smoke it if he feels like it's the correct social choice to make in the moment. his preference for this might be tied to his tendency to keep his hands hidden. if he isn't actively touching or holding something, he will shove his hands in his pockets. he also tends to be hesitant with touch. he was no issue with receiving it from other people, even if he does seem surprised when anybody shows him something considered phsycial affection, but he rarely gives it out himself.​

history

backstory: WIP​

notable family: evie friedmann, nee adler (mother), abigail friedmann (half-sister), samuel friedmann (stepfather)​

supernatural experiences: levy started having experiences with the supernatural at a young age, although these were very hazy experiences that didn't go past a tendency to pick up strange energy in the room, or act like there were more people in a space than there truly was. his family often wrote this off as him just a quirk, and he believed this until he started to hit his teen years. it was around this time that he started to get a stronger sense of the vibes that spirits/ghosts around him would give off, and he began to realize that this was more than everyone around him had believed it. by the time he was sixteen, he was able to pick up a sense of spirits in the space, whereabouts they were, and things that mattered to them: their wants, emotions, strong beliefs or opinions, and the connections they might have to people around them. while they can't directly communicate with him, he can often learn a lot from what he can sense.​

skills/equipment:

​

 

[Aeris]

Basics
Name: Edeline Marie Everett
Occupation: College student
Age: 19
Birthday: October 28th, 1862
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Heterosexual

Appearance
Height: 5'4 (64 in)
Weight: 110 lbs (49.9 kg)
Build: Lithe
Hair: Red
Eye color: Blue/Grey
Complexion: Fair
Distinctive physical features: N/A

Typical Clothing


Supernatural Experience
Edeline doesn't have supernatural experience per se. However, she was taught from a young age that nothing is impossible, and just because she cannot see the dead does not mean they are not there. All her life she has treated beings on the other side of the veil with the kindness she would show any stranger.

Personality
She is a kind and caring young woman, often seen by her peers as a bit of an airhead at times. Edeline has always looked at life with optimism, as she was taught that the universe will only show you what you need to see, and everything happens for a reason, even if it is negative. She always appears calm, never showing if she is angry or not, as that could upset someone else. Some would say her calmness can be a bit offputting from time to time, though Edeline has never really cared what others think.

Quirks

• She keeps a small bag of shiny objects on her person, should she meet a crow or another being that likes shiny things.
• Edeline doesn't make eye contact, she looks at whomever she is talking to's forehead. As eyes are the windows to the soul and she has no wish to see someone's soul.
• She never steps inside a mushroom ring, as she doesn't want to be taken by fairies
• Edeline will always introduce herself first, so she doesn't give her name to the fae
• Edeline keeps a pouch of salt on her in case she needs protection from an evil spirit

Skills/Equipment
Edeline wouldn't say she is particularly skilled or well-equipped for anything. But she does have knowledge from her mother. She carries some protection charms at all times, and a hag stone necklace to ward off negative energy and bring her luck.

Backstory:
Edeline was born annoyingly normal, much to her mother's disappointment. Her parents had hoped the gift of sight would be passed onto their daughter, as it had for generations. But alas, Edeline grew up unable to see through the veil as her mother and grandmother were able to. This, however, did not stop her mother from exposing her daughter to what the supernatural was. Edeline was taught from a very young age about the beings that hid behind the veil, even if she couldn't see them for herself.

From a young age, Edeline recalls playing with the fae that lived in her backyard. Or hearing her mother yelling at a ghost that may have knocked off one plate too many. She couldn't see these things though, and deep down it troubled the young girl. She didn't want to be normal like her father, she wanted to see what every woman in her family tree had been able to see. Over time though, Edeline embraced the normal. She accepted that she wouldn't gain a gift, but no matter what, the supernatural was still all around her.

To her peers, she was an odd girl. Always talking with a calmness that was very unsettling to those around her. This did result in Edeline being bullied for the better part of her childhood. Over the years, rumors began to spread about her family being witches, that they could put on a curse on you in the dead of night. While it wasn't especially true, Edeline didn't do much to sway the rumors. She would simply say "that's not how that works" but would never deny it.

When Edeline eventually got into a university she decided to try her hand at a normal life. She found her calling in literature and writing and was very content with where the universe was guiding her for a while.

And then more rumors started up.

Edeline overheard her peers discussing the sudden influx of weird sightings throughout the city. Though no one wanted to admit it was supernatural, Edeline knew it must be it. She had felt the sudden shift and decided she wanted to go investigate the happenings. She told everyone she would be conducting a research paper on the strange occurrences and set off.

WIP Will be fixing this up

 

[Lixy]

|| Elijah Strickland ||

B A S I C S

|| Full Name ||
Elijah Nelson Strickland

|| Nickname(s) ||
+ Eli, what he introduces himself as
+ Nelly, what his family called him as a child
+ Strickland, what he was called in school

|| Age ||
36
April 15th, 1844

|| Gender + Pronouns ||
Male, he/him

|| Sexuality||
Homosexual
He has known from a very young age that he's only interested in other men, and has made no serious effort to disguise this fact

|| Occupation ||
+ Previously in training to be a priest
+ A patroned painter for a time
+ A "wandering artist"
+ Would currently describe his occupation as "a man of many passions"

A P P E A R A N C E

|| Height + Weight ||
~175cm and unwilling to disclose his weight.

|| Build ||
As a boy he was extremely lanky and boney, but he has filled out in the years since, turning into a gangly and slightly pudgy man with little interest in exercise or fitness. He carries himself with a certain amount of pride and dignity that often makes him seem taller and broader than he really is - plus his noble childhood has given him an excellent posture and the sense of how to dress himself to appear tall, strong and important if he so wishes.

|| Eyes + Hair ||
Dark hair and slightly darker eyes. If he combs it properly, his hair can be somewhat managed into waves, but untouched it is usually a tangled nest of curls, made worse by how often he fidgets with it. He keeps his beard well maintained, saying that it is more refined to keep it well-kempt, but really he just doesn't enjoy getting hair in his mouth and food in his hair. He combs out his hair every night to keep it from growing too tangled, but he thinks he looks more mysterious and interesting if he leaves it slightly tousled, so he doesn't keep it too neat and tidy.

|| Complexion ||
Olive skin that is mostly unblemished from a rather... relaxed lifestyle. He is very lightly freckled around his nose, but most of the time his complexion is rather even. He's been both blessed with clear skin and the fastidiousness to keep himself clean and well-groomed. He despises going too long without bathing.

|| Clothing Style ||
Eclectic. One day he wears a somber and dark ensemble, the next he's found a silk robe somewhere in his house and is taking it out for a spin. Most days he wears the conservative clothing his parents encouraged him to wear as a teen, but cut through with an accent piece of some sort. A belt of dyed leather, obnoxious snakeskin boots, an extravagantly patterned silk shirt - he's never been the sort to care how others view him.

|| Distinctive Marks ||
He has a large scar on his left hand, running from the web between his thumb and pointer down and across to the outer turn of his wrist, then down the side of his forearm, almost to the elbow. It is rather deep and heavily scarred and still impairs movement in his fingers to this day. It was gained in school, after the other boys found out he could write with both his left and right hands; or maybe it was a punishment for carving dirty images into the back of a pew in church; or maybe it was gained when he jumped from a bridge in a test of courage as he tried to catch himself and failed.
He has some other, minor scars on his hands from sharp quills or playing with knives as a boy, but most of his scarring is usually covered by his clothing; on his back, which is laced with scars from various forms of corporal punishment from both his father and his time in school.

|| Physical Description ||
Eli holds himself like a man with more confidence than sense. He's always sporting either a cocky grin or a grim and contemplative expression, both equally impenetrable and neither informing an onlooker much on what he is actually feeling. Though his dress sense is questionable, it is always expensive - the highest quality ingredients to bake the stupidest possible recipe.
He never walks anywhere, he strides with purpose. He was taught as a young lad to appear as though he knows exactly what he's doing and where he's going at all times. Despite that, he's often a wanderer, walking aimlessly through his house or on the streets.
When he talks, Eli is a gesturer, and a toucher. He moves his hands a lot and if fond of casually touching those around him; putting a hand on their shoulder, touching their backs, patting their knees. If he could get away with it, he would want to be draped all over his companions at all times, but this is generally considered "inappropriate" behaviour for a nobleman. He wouldn't let this bother him if it weren't for the fact that it usually very much bothers his companions - either the perception of being too close to a man, or the touching itself. He makes up for it by fidgeting with his own clothing and hair or little knick-knacks he idly picks up as he talks.

B A C K G R O U N D

|| Early Life ||
Eli was born to his English aristocratic father, Lord Edgar Strickland, but not, funnily enough, to his "mother" Lady Rose Strickland. Instead he was born while his father was in India to a mother he knows only as "Diya". He has never met her, nor does he know her full name or anything about her. He knew he was illegitimate from a young age. His father told him that he was brought back to England as Edgar and Rose had no children at the time. When he was 4, Rose gave birth to Eli's younger sister, Viola. He and his sister got along like a house on fire. Eli was fiercely protective of his baby sister, and Viola, as she grew up, endeavoured to protect Eli more and more from the wrath of his father and the society they were being raised in.
When Elijah was sent away to boarding school at 11, he and Viola exchanged constant letters, and Eli always went home for the holidays, despite preferring his dorm to his room at home, just to see her. It was while he was at school, as a 16-year-old, that his sister died of pneumonia. She hadn't mentioned being ill in any of her letters, not wanting to worry him, and his father and step-mother felt no need to tell him, wanting him to stay away from the family home as much as possible. He would not have known until he returned for Christmas or the letters stopped coming, if not for his supernatural abilities.

|| Supernatural Experiences ||
Though Elijah knows he has seen strange shadows and shapes in the edges of his vision for as long as he can remember, the first clear and very real supernatural experience he can remember is from when he was 16. He'd been sitting in bed in his school dorm room, unable to sleep, trying to write a letter in the dark so he wouldn't be caught. As he wrote, he felt an enormous weight suddenly fall on his back, like he'd been crushed by a falling bookshelf. He'd been unable to move for several minutes as the shock of it wore off but the weight didn't disappear. When he felt at his back, there was nothing, though his spine was telling him otherwise.
He didn't sleep at all that night and found it hard to even stand upright come morning, but he knew he'd only be in more pain if he lingered too long and was caught "lazing" in bed. When he finally saw himself in the mirror, he was terrified. There was a strange shadowy mass, clinging to his shoulders, hanging off him. When he reached for where the claws dug into his skin, he felt nothing. He couldn't touch whatever it was, but the weight was very real. If he had to guess how much it weighed, he would say it was about the weight of a sickly 12-year-old girl.
Ever since then, he has noticed the shadows more clearly, lingering in place or following him around.

|| Background ||
After leaving school, Eli was shipped off to become a priest. His family didn't want much to do with him and would have preferred he "stay out of trouble". Unfortunately for them, he was ejected after only a few short years for his "inappropriate" relationships with his fellow brothers. By that point, he was well and truly considered an adult and his family decided this meant he could be responsible for himself. They not-so-subtly encouraged him to leave home and learn a trade, but it was clear they were not very interested in whatever he did with his life, which was fine by him. He received minimal support but found himself a somewhat cushy job as a painter for an eccentric older man. He was able to earn some money and his patron was more than happy to support him for the foreseeable future, but Eli is the kind of man who hates being nailed in one place. He left to travel Europe, especially Italy, coming home to England at 30, considered a "wastrel" by his family. After failing in school, the priesthood and even the arts, he was finally given a lump sum and told to go live far, far from home. So he set sail to the Americas. Initially he thought he might go to India to look for his mother, but he quickly realised how difficult such a task would be and decided instead to try and find something he was passionate about and make a new life for himself.

|| Languages Spoken ||
English, Latin, some Italian from his time living in Italy

P E R S O N A L I T Y

|| Basic Personality ||
Elijah is charismatic to the point of farce. Perpetually trying to charm whomever he speaks to, it comes off as insincere most of the time, despite the fact that he is usually very sincere beneath the jokes and witticisms. He is a lover of people, the kind of man to fall in love platonically or romantically after just a few conversations. He is equally a lover of the arts, someone who might've been considered a savant if only he could stick with something longer than a few years. He could have been a great painter, musician or writer, but he loves people too much to dedicate and apply himself to any one craft. He gravitates towards others, wanting connection above all else.
At times he is annoyingly intelligent, but he is always consistently impulsive. He never stops to consider the consequences of his words, thinking that if he just speaks his mind, others will follow and understand. He will bare his soul to the slightest of strangers that may ask and be hurt by it every single time.

In his father's words; "if not for his vices and wicked soul, he would be the perfect son."

|| Strengths + Weaknesses ||
+ Sociable to a fault
+ Disarmingly honest and charming (though this is hit-or-miss for many people)
+ Relentlessly artistic and creative, able to pick up almost any craft astonishingly quickly
+ Intuitive and empathetic, able to connect to and understand a wide variety of people
+ Generous, though possibly too much so

- Far too easily bored
- A complete lack of dedication to anything but his latest fling or friendly obsession
- Prone to deep bouts of depression when left alone too long
- Impulsive and thoughtless, likely to become a runaway train
- Directionless, unmotivated and completely uninterested in having a stable life
- Addictive personality
- A little gullible, though it was much worse when he was a child
- Though he's had hardships, he grew up in a life of extreme privilege, and it shows
- Extremely blasphemous, which lands him in hot water more often than not

|| Quirks ||
* Though he doesn't paint much anymore, he is usually carrying around supplies; usually to impress potential paramours and friends.
* A relentless flirt who still manages to be respectful of boundaries. He flirts with just about anyone, including women, though he rarely means it overly seriously.
* Prone to talking to "himself", or more accurately, the shadows that follow him when he is bored or alone.

A B I L I T I E S

|| Supernatural Abilities ||
Elijah has come to label his affliction as some kind of empathetic manifestation. Shadowy and blurry figures constantly follow him, though the cast of characters rotates quite frequently - aside from one, the shadow on his back, which has been constant for some time now. They do not speak so much as contain emotion like strange, shapeless balloons that he can glimpse inside. They appear somewhat like sunspots in his vision, which allowed him to dismiss them until they started to affect him physically.
Eli will pick up these shadows in passing as he walks the street, but the ones that stick around longer are the ones that came from people he knew, or even sometimes, people he still knows, alive and well. They cling to him, though he cannot touch them, and they sit heavy on his shoulders. He hasn't truly figured out how to get rid of these beings, though the burden lessons when he's under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
They aren't always distressing - sometimes they are positive, like pockets of light, or more commonly, neutral; an even blend of the good and bad in life. He does not know if these are spirits, demons, auras of some kind, or just simple energy that clings to a place or person. He's tried mostly to ignore it. He is used to the heavy weight on his shoulders after a decade of carrying it and would prefer people not to advertise his strange affliction.
He has found that with sufficient openess and understanding, he is able to hazily communicate with these beings, but the experiences have been short, frightening and unappealing to a man such as Eli, who strives to seek pleasure most of all. They do not communicate in words but through emotions, images and physical sensations, which is such an alien and frightening experience for a man such as Eli, who prides himself on his ability to understand and connect with people.
He has felt the emotions and physical sensations of his sister's illness and death several times when he's let his guard down.

|| Skills | Weaknesses ||
+ Charisma and charm come naturally to him, making him easy to like, as long as his sense of humour and flirtatious attitude don't grate on you too much
+ He's dabbled in a large swath of creative pursuits and could turn his hand to practically anything if he had sufficient motivation and desire
+ Though it is not considered a skill, he still has access to a very healthy bank account from his various patrons and his parents and has no qualms using those funds to means his family would not approve of
+ Though he doesn't make a habit of it generally, his easy charm and charisma make him a rather convincing liar
+ A natural entertainer, he can keep a party going all on his own if needs be and generally enjoys the attention

- An extreme extrovert who detests being left alone, he's no good at entertaining himself
- No matter how unjustly horrible they are to him, his parents were right to call him a wastrel. He is terrible at managing funds, spending responsibly or making any sound financial decisions. He's only survived thanks to his privileged background and the generosity of his large group of friends and various... "friends".
- Drinks far too much for his own good and smokes like a chimney. These vices help him take the edge off the constant weight of the demons on his back
- He would be atrocious in any kind of physical confrontation. He knows nothing about fighting, self-defence or using a weapon and would be much more likely to try and "talk it out" - something that works rather poorly on something like an angry dog or a vengeful demon.

|| Gear ||
In his coat, he can always find;
+ A matchbook and a case of high-quality hand-rolled cigarettes. His father is heavily invested in tobacco production, and he's heard tell of these new-fangled cigarette-rolling machines that are on the horizon, but he still prefers to roll his own.
+ A hip flask, usually with brandy or whiskey
+ A heavy and richly decorate pocket watch that he takes very good care of
+ A coin purse, usually half empty rather than full
+ Scissors - for some reason, he never goes anywhere without a good pair of sharp and ornate iron scissors. He's been known to say that one can never know when they'll need a good pair of scissors.

In his satchel he will often carry;
+ A few novels
+ Notebooks, both for sketching and writing
+ His roll of art supplies - a leather apron with charcoal, paintbrushes, paints, ink, and other various supplies that can be rolled up when not in use and tied closed
+ A rosary so he isn't caught without one again
+ Some cosmetics he's put in there and forgotten about

He's never even truly thought about carrying any sort of weapon on him, aside from various tools and stationary supplies that could be made into make-shift weapons if he needed to. Having lived a rather peaceful and privileged life, he's never needed to. Even when he's getting involved in more seedy business, like drinking in more underground establishments or going to highly scandalous parties, there's always been someone else willing to protect him should the need arise. Along with the fact that he's usually able to talk himself out of most trouble, the thought of self-defence has never crossed his mind as more than a passing concern.

R E L A T I O N S H I P S

|| Platonic ||
TBA

|| Antagonistic ||
TBA

|| Romantic ||
TBA

​

 

[Ha_lfLife]

LISETTE ANTOININE
of New Orleans, Louisiana

Female | Socialite | Sep. 9, 1854 | Twenty-Seven​

— ... code by ditto ... —

Sexuality
Unconfirmed, often Debated

Height
5foot 6inches

Weight
130pounds

Build
Slender

Hair
Chestnut

Eyes
Brown

Complexion
Fair, Rosy

Physical Distinctions
A beauty mark beside her left eye, slightly crooked fingers

Wardrobe
Dresses luxuriously, though indulges in rich colors and textures much more than the women of older, more established families; she enjoys velvets, silks, furs, and exotic jewels; her favorite colors of dress are fuchsia, emerald, and mustard yellow; the cuts of her garments are always aware of, and at times eclipsing, the fashions of the season.

Supernatural Experience
|The Man in the River| When Lisette was a child, no older than six years old, she saw a man in the river, reaching desperately for the surface and flailing his arms as if drowning. Lisette leaned over the side of the pier to offer him her hand. The form pulled her underwater where she surely would have drowned if not for nearby workers jumping to her aid. She distinctly remembers hearing, while under the water, the garbled cries of a man pleading, “m’aidez, m’aidez!”

|Henry| Oh, Henry. Her beloved. Though she has not seen him in her waking hours, she often dreams of him and has conversations with him in her sleep. She is still unsure if such dreams bring her peace or simply leave her unnerved upon awakening.

Personality
|Assets| Self-Reliant, Confident, Clever, Compassionate

|Detriments| Stubborn, Indulgent, Unorthodox

Oddities
Quite likes reading horror, adventure, and so called “science fiction” stories.

Plays the harp (and is quite decent)

Has a parrot named Israel

Was raised Catholic

Skills
An uncanny ability to captivate someone in conversation, especially men, and to maneuver a conversation.

Has an unusually good handle on firearms, considering her sex. Shooting was one of her father’s most beloved hobbies, and he often practiced shooting targets with her. She still has the white Pearl revolver her father gave her as a parting gift when she left Louisiana and hides it in her jewelry box.

Lisette speaks French fluently and dabbles in rudimentary German.

History
Lisette always considered New Orleans the place where she truly came from. Although she was born in France, her parents’ immigration to Louisiana happened so soon after her birth that the city on the river was all she ever knew. Born to a well-to-do shipping magnate, Leonard Antoinine, Lisette lived a privileged and carefree life. The love given her by her parents and a slew of governesses gilded her into a talented and beautiful young lady, whose unrivaled looks were only matched by a book-widened and witty (though unvulgar) intelligence.

While her father’s exorbitant wealth left the Antoinines wanting for nothing, their status as “new money” found little attraction in many of the South’s most established families. In the summer of 1875, Lisette and her mother and sisters were traveling to New York and were there introduced to John Wesley Harvey, III, a dashing man with immaculate manners and a handsome face.

Harvey was one of the many suitors enamored with the poised and amicable young Lisette that summer. His family was one of the wealthiest in Baltimore, also of new wealth built upon ship manufacturing. After a courtship that lasted only a season, Lisette’s family were quick to accept Wesley’s proposal of marriage. Lisette acquiesced without protest. Though handsome, Lisette silently concluded that Wesley’s vanity and brashness were reasons for her distaste, though she obediently packed her things and moved to Baltimore. In the interim, Lisette stayed in one of the Wesleys’ several city homes in Baltimore to prepare in the final weeks before the wedding that was sure to decorate each major East Coast newspaper’s headlines. Like many young girls raised in this age, marriage, no matter how unideal in reality, was the penultimate reward.

I’m August of 1875, everything fell into disaster. The call of police to the girl’s rooms a week before the wedding ended in a story emerging from the press of a man - very much not young John Wesley Harvey III - found dead in the young to-be bride’s bed. Though the death was ruled an accident, caused by the decedent’s own poor health, the greatest casualty was poor Lisette’s reputation.

Her marriage to the Harvey family was instantaneously canceled. The family arranged for a generous monthly stipend for her comfortable living, so long as she not divulge any further details of that scandalous night. She agreed, as her family back home, upon catching word of the travesty, did not welcome her back after the ending of the engagement. She instead hired out luxurious rooms in Baltimore, lounging around for the next six years in luxury, tormented by loneliness and loss.

For the whole city knew, cities such as these reveling in tabloid gossip, that Lisette was found with that man in her bed, and concluded all sorts of damning revelations about her character. Some of the rumors which floated in wicked mouths were half-true. Most were fictitious in their entirety. In the years to follow, Lisette was known only as loose, hedonistic harlot from the Gulf. Men in even the most respectable families bragged to their friends of devious, fabricated exploits with the beautiful yet morally bankrupt muse. Lisette was excommunicated from The East Coast’s upper crust, isolated and friendless in Maryland’s capital city.

She’d entirely abandoned the notion of companionship and children, by 1880 aging far past the desirable age for a young lady’s marriage. She instead resolved to live life under the shadow of her notoriety. She began to indulge in seedier, more “bohemian” crowds, dabbling in tobacco and absinthe, lingering with artists and poets and philosophers, the likes of which served not to heal her reputation but instead to solidify it.

 

[guac]

Name: Elsie
Occupation (Former or Current): Spirit Photographer, “Medium,” Former Fortune Teller
Gender: f
Age: 25ish?
Birthday: ??
Sexuality: bi
Height: 5’4
Weight: 150
Build: average?
Hair: brown
Eye Color: brown
Complexion: pinkish
Distinctive Physical Features:

• A mole on her left temple

Typical Clothing:

• Nothing too fancy, the practical dress of the time: a simple bodice and a plain skirt
• Enjoys a good chatelaine belt, from which she hangs her purse and other tools

Supernatural Experiences:

• Before arriving in Baltimore, Elsie did not believe in ghosts. In fact, she firmly believed in their non-existence — a faith instilled in her from a young age by her mentor, Oliver.
• When she started working as a spirit photographer in Baltimore, however, things changed. She began to notice a cold chill in the air when she was alone on location (taking photos of mannequins that she would later transform into ghostly figures in the background of her client’s portraits), or goosebumps raising on her arms. She thought nothing of it until she noticed a faint transparent figure in the background of her photographs — one she did not put there.

Personality:

• Elsie has always been an optimist, even despite her penchant for reading ominous fortunes. She wants to see the best in people, and to give them something to hope for (even if that means lying to them).
• She can be a bit socially awkward, as she was raised in a circus and never learned proper manners or etiquette of any kind

Quirks:

• Exceptionally good at cartwheels and walking on her hands

Skills/Equipment:

• Her trusty camera — though it is not of the newest technology she loves it nonetheless
• A tarot deck she hardly uses anymore
• A crystal ball (for seances)
• A pocket knife (in case of trouble)

Bio/Backstory:

Elsie never knew her last name, or her birthday, or where she really came from. She was told by Francois Arnaud, the founder of Arnaud’s Amazing Travelling Circus, that she had simply appeared to them one fateful night, as if handed down by god. The man had a flair for the dramatic. Other performers who were around at the time said she was left behind in the stands after a show, with nothing but a blanket and a note asking to take good care of her. Elsie was more inclined to believe the second story.

Arnaud took her in as a baby, but he was never a father figure to her. He passed off her care to the performers and displayed her in the freak show as “The Backwards Aging Woman,” claiming she was actually 90 years old. When she was old enough to do cartwheels, he moved her to the acrobatics show, but Elsie had an unfortunate fear of heights and dreaded every performance.

When she was finally old enough to speak for herself, Elsie talked her way into offering palm readings for a nickel in a smaller tent outside the main show. She wasn’t very good at first, but for a while at least she got by on the charm of being a sweet little girl at the circus, so no one felt inclined to ask for a refund.

When she was 16, Arnaud hired a new act to join them: a spirit photographer by the name of Oliver Moore. He taught her his tricks and gave her a tarot deck, and she fell hopelessly in love with him. He promised her that someday they would have a charming house with a yard and little children to play in it, and like a fool she believed him.

When Armaund’s Amazing Travelling Circus fell on financial ruin and disbanded for good, Elsie assumed she would live with Oliver like he always promised. To her surprise but no one else’s, he disappeared without a word, leaving Elsie to fend for herself.

Oliver left behind some of the equipment he couldn’t take with him, so Elsie took that for herself and started her own spirit photography business. It paid a whole lot better than fortune telling, and besides, Elsie felt better about the endeavor. Fortune telling had soured a bit for her over the years — she felt bad giving people false hope for the future, and the only alternative was giving them bad omens. She much preferred being able to provide comfort to the grieving, even if it was based in lies.

She travelled on her own for a few years, setting up shop in locations where she claimed the barrier between the spirit world and the living world was thin, and selling ghost portraits to whoever she could. Eventually someone who knew a bit about photography would come along and spread the word that her act was a hoax, and she would have to pack up and leave town. This was how it always went, and Elsie grew comfortable.

That was, until she arrived in Baltimore. Things were going as they always did, at first. She found a haunted looking spot and took an ad out in the paper, and then she got to work. But something was different this time. A blurry, transparent figure began to appear in the background of her photos — one she wasn’t putting there.

Something weird was going on, something Elsie couldn’t help but feel like she needed to get to the bottom of.