POST : application to boomtown

[futuristical]

Player's Name: S.
Are you over 16? Yes. I’m 26.
Characters Played Here: Enomoto Shiori | secretsymphony

Character: Marcel
Series/Canon: Silver Wolf (Takarazuka musical, 2005), modern AU
From When? 2011
Previous Game(s): N/A

History:

Marcel was born in 1974 as the oldest son and only child of Wouder and Ines Verlinden, a couple originally from the Netherlands, but who had migrated to Luxembourg during the 60s in search of a more stable livelihood. Due to severe complications during the birth, however, Ines died not long after having delivered the baby, leaving Wouder alone with an infant child and a grief he didn’t know how to properly express – being an conservative and quiet man with a very limited network.

The first ten years of his life, Marcel was the centre of Wouder’s world, the bane of his existence. The altogether unobtrusive man would readily allow his son everything, so long as it wasn’t a mockery of the Holy Bible in which he firmly believed or in other ways clashed with his own principles. Marcel, who was a difficult child, nevertheless readily accepted these (few) demands made of him, finding Wouder easy to read and easy to understand. As a father, he was good at sending clear messages and as a son, Marcel was good at following up on those same messages, overstepping no boundaries and only toeing lines that Wouder didn’t care about. Quickly, they became a team, rather than nursing any real family relations.

At the age of 10, something of tremendous importance happens to Marcel, however. He gains an (not-quite-adopted) brother in Jean Louis Duroc, another ten-year-old whom he meets while roaming the working districts of Luxembourg late at night. Doped on morphine, Jean Louis is attacked by a group of older boys and Marcel decides to scare them off with a large wooden board, opting then to bring Jean Louis home with him – where Jean Louis promptly ends up staying for the next three years. During these three years, Jean Louis and Marcel slowly become the most feared partnership in the milieu that they frequent – the underground and criminal environments, getting themselves into all sorts of trouble, from relatively “innocent” pranks like setting the neighbour’s cat on fire to actively dealing drugs. All the while, Marcel’s father covers for them whenever the police shows up at their door, demanding an explanation as to why all traces lead to these two 12/13-year-olds.

Eventually, though, society intervenes and Jean Louis is removed from the Verlinden home, relocated with his new foster family who rather quickly decides against Marcel and Jean Louis continuing their friendship. In the wake of this, Marcel’s life takes a new turn. Where Jean Louis is, on the surface, steered in the direction of conformity and politics, Marcel digs deep into the underground. He begins hanging out with various gangs in Luxembourg City and works his way up the social ladder on the criminal scene – which involves a fair share of anal sex and cock-sucking. In his early twenties, as he’s beginning to gain the upper hand of the criminal world, he catches onto some rumours about Jean Louis who is now trying to kickstart his political career, rumours that might be devastating to any of Jean Louis’ chances of getting into Parliament, involving some of the crimes they carried out as mere kids.

Looking for the other man, Marcel manages to warn him in time – expecting in return a share of the political power that Jean Louis is going to hold once elected into Parliament, a glimpse into a world that has until then been completely out of reach for him. The two of them reconnect and resume their old friendship, slowly merging the two layers of society – the upper layers of law and order, soon to be ruled by Jean Louis and the nether layers of money and chaos, ruled by Marcel.

This division of kingdoms become even more prominent when Jean Louis in 2006 takes over as leader of the CDP and as State Minister of Luxembourg, when Philippe Barrault who had been leading the party until that point has to step back due to his multiple sclerosis. Over the years, Marcel has – besides becoming Jean Louis’ leading security guard – managed to expand their prostitution rings and drug circulation with their base of operation being in Amsterdam, Holland. Now, with Jean Louis in power – in full control, they can begin expanding on their weapon dealings as well and exploit their access to high society’s authorities to reach out to other parts of the world. And from there, it only gets better…

This is where Marcel is, in his life, when he’s met with the offer from Eli in 2011. Everything is working out, better than he could ever had planned himself and really, he just wants more. More and more and more. Space seems like the perfect place to find it. The next, natural expansion.

Personality:

The first word one should associate with Marcel is psychopath. He displays all the classic traits of psychopathy, from the complete lack of empathy for others, to a manipulative and often cruel exploitation of his surroundings – yes, down to the almost stereotypical fondness for animals and little children. On top of being a complete and utter psycho, Marcel is also sex-crazed and harbours little respect for women in general which has led to several cases of what can only be categorized as sexual assault. He frequently makes use of prostitutes, in addition to earning money on trading them. To his understanding, all women are basically just holes on legs, existing for the sake of his gratification only and if a woman is sassy with him, it’s not far from him just to smack her down, so that she’s reminded of her place.

This is how he acts in his “natural” environment, however. The criminal milieu. Walking the hallways of Parliament as Jean Louis’ bodyguard, he blends in easily. Without being seen, because Marcel is, in many ways, invisible. Beyond his profanities and his hidden gun collection, he is anonymous and can fool most people into thinking that he’s (relatively) normal, if he decides to do so. This is why no one ever asks for his last name (which he never reveals) and why no one makes the connection between the crime lord of the underworld and the hardcore bodyguard always trailing after Jean Louis, from meeting to meeting, from plane departure to plane departure. He may be crazy, Marcel, but when told to – he can lay low. Be discreet.

Another aspect of Marcel’s personality is loyalty. In this case, to Jean Louis. From Marcel’s perspective, Jean Louis is his blood brother in the same way Odin is Loki’s blood brother in Norse mythology. They live the same kind of life, in the same kind of world and Jean Louis has, single-handedly, helped him achieve a degree of power that he would never have been able to grasp without him. Thus, his loyalty should perhaps rather be called greed, because due to his lack of empathy, Marcel actually doesn’t feel much of anything for Jean Louis. He exploits him, but as one of the only people in the entire world, Jean Louis is allowed to exploit Marcel right back. When it comes to Jean Louis, Marcel actually lets himself be used in return. And that’s the difference between Jean Louis and everyone else, for Marcel. He doesn’t need to be on top constantly, doesn’t need to trample the other man into the dirt, because Jean Louis allows him to reign freely. So long as he keeps to his own territory, the division one that they’ve come to a mutual understanding about and one that is so clearly marked that even Marcel can’t miss it.

Because in a lot of ways, Marcel might be pretty stupid. His education is insufficient at best, rendering him largely unable to read and write at any comprehensible level. Yet, in even more ways, more significant ways, Marcel is pretty intelligent. He knows how to manipulate people or, at least, how to cow them into doing what he wants them to do. He is good at organization and is physically fit, sporting a black belt in Taekwondo and practicing parkour regularly. He can drive anything that has wheels, he can fly a jet and – from his father, the mechanic – he has learned how to repair and boost most available vehicles. Marcel isn’t without skills, they’re just not of the academic kind and really, in the underground… Academics aren’t in high demand.

Whereas, Marcel is. He is more than a king of his castle, he is a god of his world.

Does your character have any close ties to existing canon characters?

In the original musical, Marcel is called Jean Louis’ bodyguard, plain and simple – although, it’s shown that his role exceeds this description and the proper description would be something along partners in crime. It’s this thought that has been expanded upon somewhat in this modern AU where they have grown up together and in many ways, act like brothers. Later, when they resume their relation, they do become actual partners in crime and build a shared empire in Luxembourg, as well as in the rest of Europe and later, in the rest of the world.

Why do you think your character would work in this setting?

When Jean Louis as the first receives Eli’s offer, he contacts Marcel and they both grasp at the opportunity to expand their empire beyond its naturally defined borders. Furthermore, Marcel chooses to accept Eli’s offer, mainly because he sees it as a way to escape the luring boredom that he’s beginning to experience at home – New Dodge sounding like a playground to him.

Thus, in New Dodge, he won’t do much to hold back in regards to proper conduct. He’ll be his natural, charmless self, except for the cases when he thinks he can gain something from acting differently. This is also why Jean Louis and he won’t interact publicly and will pretend not to know each other at all, so that Jean Louis can go about his business without Marcel’s dirt smearing his reputation.

What will your character do for work?

Marcel will work at the docks, either as a pilot or in the position of air traffic control.

Inventory:

One non-automatic handgun with spare ammunition. A suitcase of casual clothes. If it’s okay, he’s also hidden a small amount of cannabis in the toe of his shoes, hoping that it will go through C&P undetected. A stack of porn magazines and a fleshlight. Lots of lube.

Additionally, I have a question. Marcel has a German shepherd named Bubbles. Would it be possible for him to bring her with him to New Dodge?

Samples:

Third-Person Sample:

The table he’s chosen is near the back, where he’s got a good view of the room in its entirety. He doesn’t like people who sneak up on him from behind, he doesn’t like giving them the opportunity to, so this is the deal. He stays near the back, where the shadows might conceal him a bit, but not entirely. People who enter, people who exit, they’ll know he’s there, but they wouldn’t be able to make out his features in a crowd. No line-up detection, that’s the important part. The way it’s gotta be, for someone like him. He doesn’t have enough money on him (yet, but give him time) to buy a decent drink, so he’s stuck with a coke on the rocks – the ice cubes quickly melting, diluting the soda. Fucking lame excuse for sating the thirst of a thirsty man. He wants vodka, damn it. Proper vodka. Expensive vodka. Vodka for tsars and their servants. Vodka to pour on open wounds in the darkest night of the fucking revolution. Not this shit. In due time, he knows. In due time, he’ll be running an empire again and when that time comes, he’ll be back to drinking champagne out of hooker panties.

Until then, he’s fine like this. Anonymous and unknown. Nothing more than a given name, no one knowing no more. Who are you, they’re all gonna ask in this place of second chances (give him a fucking break from that hippie shit). Marcel, he’ll say and it’ll mean absolutely nothing of value to them. Yes, he’s here now, drinking coke out of a glass, the ice cubes melting and the taste melting away in chorus. Singing la la la. Soon, it’s another song they sing. Another song altogether. And the tune they’ll be singing to is his in the making.

First-Person Sample:

EENT | video

[He’s grinning. Oh, his grin is so wide. New Dodge, Marcel is very happy to be here.]

Cute little town you’ve got here. I was hoping for more cowboys, though. Some Mexican standoffs, you know. All that shit. [He runs a sloppy hand through his hair. Smile fading somewhat.] So, all’s fucking roses and unicorn farts, I know where to go for drinks, but where the fuck am I supposed to get laid? This town got hookers or what? Bar girls? Something with a fucking cunt that’s wet and working.

If you don’t know or just don’t give a fuck, I’ve heard unused cocks wither, okay? So go ahead, be a good fucking Samaritan – help a guy out. You know you want to.

[With that, he returns to whatever Marcel was doing at the saloon until he decided to make his very PSA to the network.]