OOC: The Price of a Dream

[SexyChele]

Well, I received a bigger response than I had anticipated - thank you everyone who expressed an interest! Wow! In light of the additional interest, I am going to expand the cast from 4 to 8. Currently the cast is set.

I invite the cast to intro their characters here. Also use this thread for any discussions outside of the storyline. Naturally, PMs to me are always welcomed.

So far, the cast stands at:

SexyChele: Daisy Robbins

quintessential: Frances Reilly

Gaigirl: Katrina

Honey_B: Catherine O' Malley

Thor's Hammer: Thor "Hinky Dink" McKenna

Mr Spikey: Robert MacTiernan

Subo97: Eugen "Scissors Czyrzny

prometheus 2: Edwin Blake


Due to the large cast involved, I ask a few rules to be observed. (Sorry folks, but if this is going to work, I gotta do it!)

• Read each character's post! Makes writers aware of the entire story, plus you might find a twist or two that the originator sometimes likes to throw in!
• Stay aware of days/times. It gets confusing when the cast is writing as evening, and one couple skips ahead to the next morning. It is easier to slow the pace down, rather than speed it up, as a general rule.
• If you find that the rest of the cast is ready to move forward, you might need to get in position to catch up. (Sort of the reverse of above)
• Please be courteous - we are all here to have fun. If you feel there is a problem, either with story or character, please take it either here or to PM. Remember, words can wound.
• Have fun!

There, that isn't too bad, is it? If you feel you can no longer join in the thread, please either write your character out or PM me. I understand things come up and sometimes real life takes us elsewhere, but if this cast is this large, we truly do need to communicate to make this work. I humbly ask your cooperation!

The thread is here: The Price of a Dream

 

[SexyChele]

Daisy Robbins

Daisy Robbins is 19 years old and has visions of fame and fortune ever since she could remember. Her family always knew she had some talent, and somehow managed to get her voice and dancing lessons. However, the small Missouri town in which she lived was not able to give Daisy the life she wanted, so she scrapped her money together from a job as a telephone operator, until she felt she had enough to get to Chicago.

Daisy has a figure that is slender - the body of a dancer. Her thick dark hair has been cut to chin length, and her dark brown eyes smolder wth passion and ambition.

Chicago was the place were musicians, dancers, singers, and any other type of entertainer could find a home. Daisy thought it would be easy, but she soon found out she was just one of the girls on the chorus line, until a break comes her way.

Daisy has dreams, but can she pay the price ultimately offered?

 

[SexyChele]

Thor's Hammer has asked me to post this for him...

Thor "Hinky Dink" McKenna

Thor is Irish, of course. He grew up in Bridgetown and, after working his way up in the 25th Ward organization, now is the iron-fisted Councilman and Ward boss. Thor is known to be able to deliver any amout of votes needed to elect the party anointee. In fact, the do-gooders claim that gravestones actually vote at times. Thor coined the phrase "Vote early and vote often."

The 25th, like most Chicago wards is gritty, industrial in parts - a working mans venue.

It is rumored that Thor, in addition to 'accepting' bribes to provide 'insurance' for the speaks, is also tight with a certain Deputy Chief on the Chicago police. It is also said that Thor knows the 'organization' well and can have people 'encouraged' to be team players.... If you want anything done in the 25th, don't bother with City Hall... Talk to Thor, and, for the right price, things will happen.

Thor is almost 6', with piercing blue eyes....a gene from some long forgotten Viking who landed in Ireland centuries ago. Good food and speak booze have added a bit of fleshiness to his face, but the power is an aura that surrounds him - wherever he goes.

 

[Subo97]

Eugen "Scissors Czyrzny

Scissors is a small time hood in the Capone organization, trusted enough to collect the mob skim from the Southside speakeasys and deliver the cash to Capone's uptown bean counters. He's called Scissors because of confusion over his last name and his penchant for stabbing anyone who makes fun of his first.

Eugene Czyrzny is a refugee from the coal fields of western Pennsylvania. Watching his father die of black lung, Eugen vowed to escape his dismal future and did so by robbing the local mine owner, cutting his throat in the process. He made his way to Chicago and fell in with the Capone organization. He likes to dress to the nines in order to hide his mineworker past and wants a life of refinement and wealth.

 

[mr spikey]

Robert MacTiernan

Deputy Chief of Police, Southside district. He is rumored to be the inside man for the Capone organization in the Police Department and liason to 'Hinky Dink' McKenna. His dream is fame and fortune for himself. He is very ambitious and doesn't particularly care how he gets it. He wants to be Mayor of Chicago and run the town 'his way'.
He is 6 feet tall with brown hair and blue-green eyes. He has a reputation as a man not to cross. He has worked his way up from the 'beat' to Deputy Chief of Police. However, his career has stalled and things are not moving as quickly as he would like. A son of an Scottish immigrant, whose parents died of the infulenza epidemic in 1918.

 

[prometheus 2]

Edwin Blake

Eddy grew up in St Paul Mn. playing piano and organ for a Lutheran church on the southside, but started down a long road to hell when he started hanging out with a group of blues musicians from downtown. Found himself on the wrong side of the law one night, waking up drunk next to a dead whore in a flop house on Washington ave. Caught a freight train to chicago and ened up a a speakeasy where he got a job as a piano player for the chorus line No one really appreciated his talent for playing the blues so he satisfied his need to be somebody by befrending the chorus girls. Not asking for much just a bed to flop into and a piano to play, hoping someone would come along and discover him. Eddy is tall 6' 1" thin with delicate feature gentle blue eyes and long slender piano playing fingers. Eddy is 45

 

[gaigirl]

Female writer 1

Katrina is a singer with a strong background in classical and operatic voice training. As a college student, Katrina performed in community based musical theater productions and never had any reason to doubt that she could have a career on the stage. In those days, she was young and full of dreams, with little experience outside a steady stream of luck that she had been naive enough to consider talent and entitlement.

Now more than ten years out of college, the reality of moving in and out of short term gigs while waiting for her big break had worn thin. Katrina had broadened her horizons to include nightclubs and smoke-filled cocktail lounges on the seedy side of town just to keep singing. Though she still had a heart and the voice for her operatic heroines' melodic strains, she also had developed the ability to sing blues, jazz and musical theater show tunes from the soul.

Tall and slender, with thick wavy auburn hair that fell below her shoulders, Katrina had learned to use her shapely body to get some of the things she wanted, and some of the breaks she needed. Her bewitching green eyes usually danced with laughter and joy, but upon closer inspection also reflected the wariness of world experience and lean times.

The dreams of youth behind her, yet tucked carefully away in a secret spot in her heart, Katrina took life one step at a time, waiting and watching for her chance to move forward and step into the place she wanted to be. Tougher now, and more willing to step on others when was necessary, Katrina had few female friends among the singing community, but several male admirers.

 

[SexyChele]

Wow, I really like the way the cast is shaping up! Thanks to all who have joined! It looks like we have a great mix of people, and I look forward to writing with you.

 

[quintessential]

Chele and Everyone,

Please forgive me. I didn't realize this was part of the thread. I'll post a bit about my character in a little bit.

If you could see my face so deep and red...So sorry.

 

[SexyChele]

Quintessential,
Please don't be embarassed - we've all been in the same place at some point or another! Believe me, I made my fair shair of mistakes. (Oh boy, did I ever!) Just give a description when you get a chance, and enjoy the game!

 

[quintessential]

Chele,

I will, thank you for understanding..sometimes I"m clueless.

 

[gaigirl]

Katrina

such an idiot-- I posted to the wrong thread!
oops... cut and paste time...

 

[quintessential]

Frances Reilly

Frances Reilly, also known as Frankie back in East Cleveland, was the middle child of Eva Heil and Jimmy Reilly. Her parents owned a butcher shop in the heart of that downtown area. The beautiful young girls that seemed to wander around the back of the building always caught her eye. Their clothes, just as magnificent as they were, seemed to float right along with them as they walked. Around their necks, were sparkling ropes of gold and silver, adorned with diamonds, deep red rubies, and stones of blues and greens.

Frankie always daydreamed about the silky materials and the many different textures she saw them wearing. Her mind was made up. That’s what she would do when she had the money. She’d design clothes just like the ones she saw and then she’d have all of those diamonds and gold around her neck, too.

It wasn't until she was older that she finally understood why they went to the back of the store. In a conversation she overheard by complete accident, it all came out. Some of them worked there while others went to drink. The men she saw coming and going from that same area were quite handsome, yet there was something about them that gave her the shivers. Little did she know that one day she would be a part of this world but in such a different way.

Settling upon Chicago as the place that would make her dreams come true, Frankie saved the little amounts of money she made each week through various means. Her daily job was to help in her parent’s store, which she despised. The other job she did only when needed was something she knew was wrong. She was a number’s runner for Mr. Cappiletto, who was the local barber. When business was very good for him, he would nod his head as she peeked in the window under the red and white stripes, and in she’d bounce. Each time she ran for Mr. Cappiletto, she would say a silent prayer that someone in her packet would make it big, for if they did, they always thanked her with a token of their appreciation. That was part of her savings. She couldn’t believe she actually prayed to God for this. It somehow seemed so wrong, but she figured if he didn’t want to help her, he wouldn’t let them hit. HA!

That’s how Frankie, now known as, Frances Reilly, was finally able to leave East Cleveland and make her mark on the Chicago world. Well, it wasn’t exactly as she’d hoped, but she knew that soon it would happen, she’d just keep praying and serving hoping one of them would score big time.

Frances Reilly is 22 years old now. She’s still waiting. Each night she washes the stale smoke from her long, honey colored hair and stares at her reflection in the little porcelain white tub. She can see her outline, still small, but with full hips that she’d rather not have. As she dries herself off, she watches the reflection of her face in the mirror over the sink. Lately, she’s noticed a line or two forming around the corners of her hazel eyes and she wishes she didn’t have those damn freckles and pale skin.

Maybe one day? Yes, she’s still pleading to the heavens above.

 

[Honey_B]

Catherine O' Malley

Love the time, love the place. Chele has been kind to let me contribute to her thread...

Catherine goes by her maiden name when she's between husbands because Catherine O'Malley Wentworth Sims Cantor Duke acquired names like she did fortunes - in great quantity. This red-haired beauty hails from the South and the soft strains of an accent still cling to her speech. She’s statuesque and has curves that have entranced some of the richest men in the United States. Of her age, she won't breathe a word, though she's probably somewhere in her mid-thirties.

Unlike the other players in this story, Catherine comes to Chicago because she's bored. She's looking for excitement and is hoping the sinister glamour of gangland Chicago will be just the ticket.

 

[SexyChele]

Welcome, Honey! It's nice to see you around again!

Okay, the cast is set - on with the show!

 

[prometheus 2]

Welcome honey , us down and outers will be more than happy to see you in our company hopping that some your good luck will rub off on us. lol

 

[Honey_B]

Ok, I came up with a little plot twist. Catherine is going to buy controlling interest in the speakeasy. Just the thing for a bored socialite and I think to make thing really interesting for her, I'll give her a drug habit that will cause her all sorts of problems.

Thank you for your support Chele. And let me just say again, how much I love this thread.

 

[Subo97]

lost post

damn, Lit swallowed my last post, gotta get back to it

 

[Subo97]

plot

Just a note to our thread founder, chele, hope we're all adhering to your original vision. Please don't hesitate to crack the whip if we stray from it. Now if I only looked like Richard Gere.