Name: Leu Age: 27 Contact Info: @Leucrotta on Plurk Other Characters: None
Character Information
Name: Charles "Coyote" Yvry II (what a mouthful) Canon: Original Character (the working title is Renaissance if that helps) Age: 20 Gender: Male Inventory: Wearing a white button-down, an askew black tie, and black slacks. Sensible, yet very expensive black shoes. He isn't carrying anything incredibly special, just a wallet with some petty cash and cards (no ID; woohoo, no federal control!) and a now non-working cellphone, though it would probably look strange to anyone not from his world/timeline. It's essentially the size and shape of a modern smartphone (a larger one) but in appearance, it's a thin silver frame with an entirely clear middle. As in, you can see through it when it's not on. Sort of looks like a pointless tiny window now.
World Description: Charles comes from Chicago, in an alternate timeline version of our world. The divergent point was the end of World War II; instead of the Cold War, there was an Actually Very Hot War between (primarily) the United States, the USSR, and China. Things got tore up pretty bad. Between various countries dropping bombs (and yes, a couple nukes) and someone (no one's quite sure who) unleashing a deadly biological weapon that essentially cut the planet's population by a third, the world is not quite the same as it used to be. World War III is currently considered over (as of about 25 years ago), as the major parties involved have called a cease-fire.
In the aftermath, large swaths of the United States are no longer under federal control, or are only loosely so. Chicago is partially one of those places. Since in this timeline, the power of the mafia was never even mostly broken (the FBI had better things to do, and the mob actually assisted in wartime efforts), the city is largely run by their descendants, as well as the heads of varying other former and current criminal organizations.
As the only positive outcome of having a sudden necessity for rapidly advancing technology, things are just a few steps ahead in Charles' world than they are in our own. No flying cars, and cybernetics are still in their infancy, but it's enough to be noticeable. A lot of the advancements are military-related, as you can imagine; weapons, computer networks, medical and genetic technology. As for the condition of his immediate environs, Chicago is mostly intact compared to other places; the damaged sections have typically been rebuilt, at least around the general downtown areas. That's not to say everything is great, though; there's still a lot of poverty and crime, and basically if you're not associated with the mafia in some way, you're on the outs. Outside of Chicago it's a wasteland/wilderness in most every direction; civilization doesn't show back up until you hit St. Louis or go further East. As one of the most heavily-populated areas of the country, the Midwest didn't fare so well once the virus broke out, and so much of it is ghost towns these days, with the occasional homestead or commune here and there.
Background: Charles (along with his twin sister) was born into the (technically) illegal organ trade, and his early existence was basically just as a host for products that would theoretically be sold to other people. As you can imagine, it's not a great way to grow up, and he didn't come out unscathed; he's missing a kidney and part of his liver, and a botched third surgery left him blind in one eye. He and his twin were "rescued" at approximately age 11, by a man named Archer who ran an entirely different sort of technically illegal business. Based in Chicago, he had a tendency to sort of collect kids from violent circumstances (those inclined to violence themselves) and raise them as mafia soldiers, in the service of one Charles Yvry, a criminal upstart who made his fortune as an underhanded mercenary during and after the War.
Charles the Second and his sister weren't exactly suited to this sort of work, though Charles did try for the sake of not being abandoned to their own devices. He was fine at the majority of tasks, but when it came time to kill somebody, he wasn't as great at it; his first success sort of wrecked him for a while. This didn't exactly endear him (and his completely-unwilling-to-cooperate sister) to Archer, and they might have just been left on a sidewalk somewhere, if the Charles in charge hadn't intervened. As might be obvious by the fact that he now shares his "father"'s name, Charles II was brought up from that point to be his namesake's successor. He was a lot better at this bit, since it relied more heavily on his people skills instead of his murder skills, even if he was still pretty closely connected with shady stuff and not as good as he thought he was at people skills.
Things went fairly swimmingly until recently, when Charles II discovered quite by accident that Elder Charles had a hand in the corporation that originally used him as an object. In a fit of rage, he murdered his father, but he got caught. Archer saw the whole thing, and it was only the fact that Charles has spent the better part of a decade getting close with the people around him that allowed him to convince the rest of the "family" that Archer was the killer instead. Now Charles is stuck in the sort of awkward position of being in charge of a large criminal empire and several murderously-inclined teenagers/young adults, despite not wanting to actually really be a criminal and/or have anyone murdered. The other mafia heads in the city don't trust him or think he's just a child, meaning he's probably become a target, and not being used to having his own agency, he has no idea what to do with it all. Canon Point: After passing out drunk on the night before his father's funeral.
Personality: Charles is one of those contradictory people who is simultaneously an asshole but also very friendly. He has an open manner about him, even if he seems grumpy, always acting like everyone he meets is already a friend or at the very least, in on whatever he's up to. Even if he's being sarcastic or rude to someone (which is typical), he does it in the way that people do when they've known you forever and can get away with it, even if he hasn't earned that right yet. Naturally, this means not everyone is going to like him, because that can come off as way too forward or annoying. He's blunt and frank and sometimes crude, but almost never malicious. He just says what he's thinking, most of the time, and doesn't bother to filter out the unpleasant parts.
Speaking of being blunt, he's not great at hiding his emotions, either. If he's angry, he'll seem angry. If he's upset, he'll seem upset. Fear is the only feeling he can hide, and even that, not forever. Usually it winds up disguised as more anger.
Perhaps a terrible quality for someone in the business of organized crime, he's always honest about his intentions, even if he's lying. Which sounds like another contradiction, but it's not; he might lie about the details of why, what, or how, but the intent is always clear. He's not actually a very good manipulator, and he's certainly no criminal mastermind. Despite being in a position of authority in a very unsavory aspect of the world, Charles is not actually very... well, evil. He's more neutral than anything. In fact, unless he's got a stake in either side, he'll usually pick the mediator position instead of the aggressor.
While he's quick to irritation and even anger (and he certainly is), the desire to actually hurt people isn't really on his radar. He might do it by accident, or in a "just business" way, but usually he'll regret it later. Unless you manage to make him hate you, which is surprisingly not easy. He forgives slights against himself pretty easily, and for the most part his own safety is not his highest priority, but heaven forbid you mess with somebody he likes. As in, genuinely likes, not just acts the way he does with everybody.
Charles is an extrovert at heart, and he doesn't like being alone, though he doesn't often make lasting connections with people, nor does he tend to inherently trust them. Friendliness is easily given, but trust has to be earned. There are very few people he does trust, and this list is essentially confined to his twin sister, Xivia (she got to pick her own name and she was 11, oops), and a handful of the other kids (mostly no longer kids) Archer raised. His sister is his absolute closest connection, since they've been in it together their entire lives, though recently there's been some turbulence in that relationship, mostly due to Charles' seeming indifference to the violence and horror around him. In general, he trusts young people easier than capital-A Adults. In fact, he has something of a soft spot for children in general, and will probably endeavor to protect or assist them more than anybody else. Even if they're annoying.
Speaking of which, yet another bad trait for a crime boss, but Charles is a natural protector. Even if he doesn't trust or especially like you, he'll try to keep bad things from happening to you unless you've like, super earned it (standing in his way can sometimes count as earning it). He has a tendency to just sort of gather people, as he can't bear the thought of abandoning them in the long term. Again, this especially applies to kids. Of course, all of the above makes him sound like some sort of philanthropist, which is only partially true. He doesn't want to kill people or hurt them, but he will if he thinks he has to, and if you're on the other side, whatever that may mean, he won't hesitate to go through you to get what he wants or needs, or to protect the people who are with him. Serious violence doesn't come easy to him, at least not after the fact, but if he's genuinely pissed, there's no telling what he'll try. (He did kill a person in a rage pretty recently.) I mean, he's lived half of his life among organized crime and hasn't made much of an attempt to stop it or even leave, so there's that. I wouldn't classify him as a pacifist, he just doesn't like getting his own hands dirty. But again, he'll do it if he thinks he needs to, or if you had it coming.
Although I guess it should be noted that while he's willing to start a fight, he doesn't always mean to hurt the other person, if that makes sense. Sometimes people just need to fight to communicate with each other, or at least that's how he sees it. He doesn't have a great grasp on how real interpersonal relationships should work, seeing as how he's almost never had a "normal" or "healthy" one.
And on that note, please remember that Charles has only been out in the "real world" for about nine years. Prior to that, he and his twin were kept like merchandise, so they didn't exactly get the greatest exposure to learning and socialization. He's done a lot of catching up, but the fact remains. He's missing a lot of pop culture knowledge, he's missing a big chunk of formal education, and his grasp of history is limited to the relatively recent past. He knows a good deal about the War and all that, because people talk about it constantly, but he's not super clear on the causes, or anything before it. If you ask him, though, he'll probably make something up.
That's another thing: Charles is a pretty good liar, most of the time, and that's probably partially because his actual emotions are so obvious. He seems like he's not hiding as much, but he can spout complete bullshit facts with an utterly straight face and not flinch. He's not good at lying about what he's feeling or planning, but why he's feeling that way might be easier to fake. For example, he might make it obvious he's pissed, but then tell you it's about something completely different than what it actually is. He might seem scared, but if asked, he'll lie his ass off about why. Or just deny that he's scared, but that doesn't usually pass as true.
And speaking of fears, he has a surprising amount of them for someone who comes off as so confident most of the time, and who ignores his own safety for things he needs. The major one, for reasons that may perhaps be obvious, is anything related to surgery or medicine. He won't take pills unless he's dying, he will not allow anyone to treat his injuries (not that he knows how to do this himself), and needles are absolutely out of the question. Just being in a hospital-like environment totally wigs him out and makes him super jumpy. Being injured makes him very uneasy.
For not nearly as obvious reasons, he also as a Thing about the number 12. He's borderline neurotic about it. He hates seeing it, and associates bad things with it. Be it the 12th day of the month, the 12th hour of the day, or just there being a dozen of something tends to make him super nervous. He will also avoid saying it, and will ask other people to do the same (though probably not exactly politely). Instead of "twelve" he'll say "noon" or "dozen" or "midnight". If he can't avoid saying it, he just won't talk about that thing.
As a further note on fears, Charles is very claustrophobic, which may be a problem in Norfinbury. He can't stand small spaces or being trapped or held. Being underground is also bad, like caves. Drives him nuts, and he may employ physical force to get out of the situation. The "may apply physical force" also extends to the medical stuff. Basically if he's trapped in a fear situation for too long, he is going to do whatever he can to escape it, his confident image be damned. His threshold for the medical stuff is much lower than the claustrophobia, so that'll get a reaction more than anything. The number 12 stuff is bothersome but he probably won't flip out unless it's relentless or very, very significant.
And as a final thing about fear and related issues, I should probably talk about his very complicated relationship with the idea of control. Charles has never really been in control, not until now. He's only technically had autonomy over his own body in the last nine years, and even then, other people have always controlled what he could do or where he could go. This infuriates him to a large degree; he desires control, he resents having it taken from him, and he fears losing it completely again. But at the same time, if he's in control, he doesn't always know what to do. He's inexperienced at it. If deferred to on an important (ie, life-or-death) decision, he tends to freeze up and potentially panic. So basically, he desperately wants the option to do whatever he wants, but then he has no idea what to do.
That said, he does prefer to look like he's in control, or at least to act like it. He likes to keep up the image of a level-headed person who just rolls with the punches. He certainly has his pride, and for the most part he really is confident in his own abilities, though he shouldn't always be.
And that brings me to the issue of defiance. Charles is tenacious to a fault; if he really wants something, he's going to get it, come hell or high water. He's stubborn and has an incredibly strong will, even if it's directionless most of the time. He usually won't back down, even if he really, really ought to. This tendency to throw caution to the wind and just go for whatever he desires is what earned him the nickname Coyote, for that animal's similar reputation of having a near-complete lack of self-preservation. Sometimes he's defiant in what you could consider a really bratty way; he might do things just because he was told not to, or to intentionally spite the person giving him orders.
Charles Yvry | Original Character | Not Reserved
Name: Leu
Age: 27
Contact Info: @Leucrotta on Plurk
Other Characters: None
Character Information
Name: Charles "Coyote" Yvry II (what a mouthful)
Canon: Original Character (the working title is Renaissance if that helps)
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Inventory: Wearing a white button-down, an askew black tie, and black slacks. Sensible, yet very expensive black shoes. He isn't carrying anything incredibly special, just a wallet with some petty cash and cards (no ID; woohoo, no federal control!) and a now non-working cellphone, though it would probably look strange to anyone not from his world/timeline. It's essentially the size and shape of a modern smartphone (a larger one) but in appearance, it's a thin silver frame with an entirely clear middle. As in, you can see through it when it's not on. Sort of looks like a pointless tiny window now.
World Description: Charles comes from Chicago, in an alternate timeline version of our world. The divergent point was the end of World War II; instead of the Cold War, there was an Actually Very Hot War between (primarily) the United States, the USSR, and China. Things got tore up pretty bad. Between various countries dropping bombs (and yes, a couple nukes) and someone (no one's quite sure who) unleashing a deadly biological weapon that essentially cut the planet's population by a third, the world is not quite the same as it used to be. World War III is currently considered over (as of about 25 years ago), as the major parties involved have called a cease-fire.
In the aftermath, large swaths of the United States are no longer under federal control, or are only loosely so. Chicago is partially one of those places. Since in this timeline, the power of the mafia was never even mostly broken (the FBI had better things to do, and the mob actually assisted in wartime efforts), the city is largely run by their descendants, as well as the heads of varying other former and current criminal organizations.
As the only positive outcome of having a sudden necessity for rapidly advancing technology, things are just a few steps ahead in Charles' world than they are in our own. No flying cars, and cybernetics are still in their infancy, but it's enough to be noticeable. A lot of the advancements are military-related, as you can imagine; weapons, computer networks, medical and genetic technology. As for the condition of his immediate environs, Chicago is mostly intact compared to other places; the damaged sections have typically been rebuilt, at least around the general downtown areas. That's not to say everything is great, though; there's still a lot of poverty and crime, and basically if you're not associated with the mafia in some way, you're on the outs. Outside of Chicago it's a wasteland/wilderness in most every direction; civilization doesn't show back up until you hit St. Louis or go further East. As one of the most heavily-populated areas of the country, the Midwest didn't fare so well once the virus broke out, and so much of it is ghost towns these days, with the occasional homestead or commune here and there.
Background: Charles (along with his twin sister) was born into the (technically) illegal organ trade, and his early existence was basically just as a host for products that would theoretically be sold to other people. As you can imagine, it's not a great way to grow up, and he didn't come out unscathed; he's missing a kidney and part of his liver, and a botched third surgery left him blind in one eye. He and his twin were "rescued" at approximately age 11, by a man named Archer who ran an entirely different sort of technically illegal business. Based in Chicago, he had a tendency to sort of collect kids from violent circumstances (those inclined to violence themselves) and raise them as mafia soldiers, in the service of one Charles Yvry, a criminal upstart who made his fortune as an underhanded mercenary during and after the War.
Charles the Second and his sister weren't exactly suited to this sort of work, though Charles did try for the sake of not being abandoned to their own devices. He was fine at the majority of tasks, but when it came time to kill somebody, he wasn't as great at it; his first success sort of wrecked him for a while. This didn't exactly endear him (and his completely-unwilling-to-cooperate sister) to Archer, and they might have just been left on a sidewalk somewhere, if the Charles in charge hadn't intervened. As might be obvious by the fact that he now shares his "father"'s name, Charles II was brought up from that point to be his namesake's successor. He was a lot better at this bit, since it relied more heavily on his people skills instead of his murder skills, even if he was still pretty closely connected with shady stuff and not as good as he thought he was at people skills.
Things went fairly swimmingly until recently, when Charles II discovered quite by accident that Elder Charles had a hand in the corporation that originally used him as an object. In a fit of rage, he murdered his father, but he got caught. Archer saw the whole thing, and it was only the fact that Charles has spent the better part of a decade getting close with the people around him that allowed him to convince the rest of the "family" that Archer was the killer instead. Now Charles is stuck in the sort of awkward position of being in charge of a large criminal empire and several murderously-inclined teenagers/young adults, despite not wanting to actually really be a criminal and/or have anyone murdered. The other mafia heads in the city don't trust him or think he's just a child, meaning he's probably become a target, and not being used to having his own agency, he has no idea what to do with it all.
Canon Point: After passing out drunk on the night before his father's funeral.
Personality: Charles is one of those contradictory people who is simultaneously an asshole but also very friendly. He has an open manner about him, even if he seems grumpy, always acting like everyone he meets is already a friend or at the very least, in on whatever he's up to. Even if he's being sarcastic or rude to someone (which is typical), he does it in the way that people do when they've known you forever and can get away with it, even if he hasn't earned that right yet. Naturally, this means not everyone is going to like him, because that can come off as way too forward or annoying. He's blunt and frank and sometimes crude, but almost never malicious. He just says what he's thinking, most of the time, and doesn't bother to filter out the unpleasant parts.
Speaking of being blunt, he's not great at hiding his emotions, either. If he's angry, he'll seem angry. If he's upset, he'll seem upset. Fear is the only feeling he can hide, and even that, not forever. Usually it winds up disguised as more anger.
Perhaps a terrible quality for someone in the business of organized crime, he's always honest about his intentions, even if he's lying. Which sounds like another contradiction, but it's not; he might lie about the details of why, what, or how, but the intent is always clear. He's not actually a very good manipulator, and he's certainly no criminal mastermind. Despite being in a position of authority in a very unsavory aspect of the world, Charles is not actually very... well, evil. He's more neutral than anything. In fact, unless he's got a stake in either side, he'll usually pick the mediator position instead of the aggressor.
While he's quick to irritation and even anger (and he certainly is), the desire to actually hurt people isn't really on his radar. He might do it by accident, or in a "just business" way, but usually he'll regret it later. Unless you manage to make him hate you, which is surprisingly not easy. He forgives slights against himself pretty easily, and for the most part his own safety is not his highest priority, but heaven forbid you mess with somebody he likes. As in, genuinely likes, not just acts the way he does with everybody.
Charles is an extrovert at heart, and he doesn't like being alone, though he doesn't often make lasting connections with people, nor does he tend to inherently trust them. Friendliness is easily given, but trust has to be earned. There are very few people he does trust, and this list is essentially confined to his twin sister, Xivia (she got to pick her own name and she was 11, oops), and a handful of the other kids (mostly no longer kids) Archer raised. His sister is his absolute closest connection, since they've been in it together their entire lives, though recently there's been some turbulence in that relationship, mostly due to Charles' seeming indifference to the violence and horror around him. In general, he trusts young people easier than capital-A Adults. In fact, he has something of a soft spot for children in general, and will probably endeavor to protect or assist them more than anybody else. Even if they're annoying.
Speaking of which, yet another bad trait for a crime boss, but Charles is a natural protector. Even if he doesn't trust or especially like you, he'll try to keep bad things from happening to you unless you've like, super earned it (standing in his way can sometimes count as earning it). He has a tendency to just sort of gather people, as he can't bear the thought of abandoning them in the long term. Again, this especially applies to kids.
Of course, all of the above makes him sound like some sort of philanthropist, which is only partially true. He doesn't want to kill people or hurt them, but he will if he thinks he has to, and if you're on the other side, whatever that may mean, he won't hesitate to go through you to get what he wants or needs, or to protect the people who are with him. Serious violence doesn't come easy to him, at least not after the fact, but if he's genuinely pissed, there's no telling what he'll try. (He did kill a person in a rage pretty recently.) I mean, he's lived half of his life among organized crime and hasn't made much of an attempt to stop it or even leave, so there's that. I wouldn't classify him as a pacifist, he just doesn't like getting his own hands dirty. But again, he'll do it if he thinks he needs to, or if you had it coming.
Although I guess it should be noted that while he's willing to start a fight, he doesn't always mean to hurt the other person, if that makes sense. Sometimes people just need to fight to communicate with each other, or at least that's how he sees it. He doesn't have a great grasp on how real interpersonal relationships should work, seeing as how he's almost never had a "normal" or "healthy" one.
And on that note, please remember that Charles has only been out in the "real world" for about nine years. Prior to that, he and his twin were kept like merchandise, so they didn't exactly get the greatest exposure to learning and socialization. He's done a lot of catching up, but the fact remains. He's missing a lot of pop culture knowledge, he's missing a big chunk of formal education, and his grasp of history is limited to the relatively recent past. He knows a good deal about the War and all that, because people talk about it constantly, but he's not super clear on the causes, or anything before it. If you ask him, though, he'll probably make something up.
That's another thing: Charles is a pretty good liar, most of the time, and that's probably partially because his actual emotions are so obvious. He seems like he's not hiding as much, but he can spout complete bullshit facts with an utterly straight face and not flinch. He's not good at lying about what he's feeling or planning, but why he's feeling that way might be easier to fake. For example, he might make it obvious he's pissed, but then tell you it's about something completely different than what it actually is. He might seem scared, but if asked, he'll lie his ass off about why. Or just deny that he's scared, but that doesn't usually pass as true.
And speaking of fears, he has a surprising amount of them for someone who comes off as so confident most of the time, and who ignores his own safety for things he needs. The major one, for reasons that may perhaps be obvious, is anything related to surgery or medicine. He won't take pills unless he's dying, he will not allow anyone to treat his injuries (not that he knows how to do this himself), and needles are absolutely out of the question. Just being in a hospital-like environment totally wigs him out and makes him super jumpy. Being injured makes him very uneasy.
For not nearly as obvious reasons, he also as a Thing about the number 12. He's borderline neurotic about it. He hates seeing it, and associates bad things with it. Be it the 12th day of the month, the 12th hour of the day, or just there being a dozen of something tends to make him super nervous. He will also avoid saying it, and will ask other people to do the same (though probably not exactly politely). Instead of "twelve" he'll say "noon" or "dozen" or "midnight". If he can't avoid saying it, he just won't talk about that thing.
As a further note on fears, Charles is very claustrophobic, which may be a problem in Norfinbury. He can't stand small spaces or being trapped or held. Being underground is also bad, like caves. Drives him nuts, and he may employ physical force to get out of the situation. The "may apply physical force" also extends to the medical stuff. Basically if he's trapped in a fear situation for too long, he is going to do whatever he can to escape it, his confident image be damned. His threshold for the medical stuff is much lower than the claustrophobia, so that'll get a reaction more than anything. The number 12 stuff is bothersome but he probably won't flip out unless it's relentless or very, very significant.
And as a final thing about fear and related issues, I should probably talk about his very complicated relationship with the idea of control. Charles has never really been in control, not until now. He's only technically had autonomy over his own body in the last nine years, and even then, other people have always controlled what he could do or where he could go. This infuriates him to a large degree; he desires control, he resents having it taken from him, and he fears losing it completely again. But at the same time, if he's in control, he doesn't always know what to do. He's inexperienced at it. If deferred to on an important (ie, life-or-death) decision, he tends to freeze up and potentially panic. So basically, he desperately wants the option to do whatever he wants, but then he has no idea what to do.
That said, he does prefer to look like he's in control, or at least to act like it. He likes to keep up the image of a level-headed person who just rolls with the punches. He certainly has his pride, and for the most part he really is confident in his own abilities, though he shouldn't always be.
And that brings me to the issue of defiance. Charles is tenacious to a fault; if he really wants something, he's going to get it, come hell or high water. He's stubborn and has an incredibly strong will, even if it's directionless most of the time. He usually won't back down, even if he really, really ought to. This tendency to throw caution to the wind and just go for whatever he desires is what earned him the nickname Coyote, for that animal's similar reputation of having a near-complete lack of self-preservation. Sometimes he's defiant in what you could consider a really bratty way; he might do things just because he was told not to, or to intentionally spite the person giving him orders.
(cont.)