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 Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 5:13 pm
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Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:20 am
[x] Iosif Zaslavsky
- Appearance
- Personality (incomplete)
- History (incomplete)
[x] Talent
- Sharpshooting
- Guns (incomplete)
[x] References
- World
- Images
- Music
[x] Roleplay
- Friends and Foes
- Log
[x] Parting Words
- Credit
- Reserves
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Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:29 am
Iosif Zaslavsky Character Name: Iosif Davidovich (patronymic) Zaslavsky
Title: Iosif Zaslavsky the One-Eyed Sharpshooter
Birthdate: November 20th 1883
Zodiac Sign: Scorpio
Previous Occupation: Rum Runner, Mafia Hit Man
Likes: Jazz music, alcohol (he's not picky about what kind so long as it gets the job done), good cigars, dancing.
Dislikes: Feeling inferior, warm/humid weather, reptiles (they give him the willies).
Hobbies: Practicing his shooting, polishing his guns, making a nuisance of himself.
Favorite Food: Cheese fritters, otherwise known as sirniki.
Favorite Color: Red, any and all shades.
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Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:36 am
Appearance Iosif is a fairly daunting character when judged only by his appearance. He stands at 6’0” and weighs a solid 200 lbs, and maintains a rigid posture that somehow only makes him more intimidating. He’s well over forty-years-old (how old he is he won’t say, but it’s forty-five ) and thus is older than most of the other circus members, though Iosif has aged reasonably well and looks somewhat younger than his actual age.
In the past Iosif was a wildly attractive man, though perhaps not in the traditional sense. While Iosif is not as good looking as he was in his prime, he carries with him a rugged sort of charm that still has an effect on women vulnerable to that sort of thing. He has a square, strong jaw and a high forehead, and his eyes (eye?) are set heavily into his face. He has full lips, not uncommon among Russian men, and a prominent, wide nose with just the slightest hint of a bump on the bridge. Iosif’s smile tends to be eerily crooked, and his teeth are not perfectly straight, but there’s something bizarrely jubilant about it. His features are sharp and his nose and mouth dominate his face somewhat, although the addition of a jaunty eyepatch somehow manages to provide his face with more balance.
As mentioned in his billing, Iosif only has one eye. The other is god only knows where, probably some trash heap. His remaining eye is a pale blue in color, and his eye is shaped narrowly, under thick eyebrows. The other eye is long since gone, and as previously mentioned Iosif wears an eyepatch to cover it. The socket is actually covered by a nasty, jagged scar that Iosif wears like a badge of honor. He’s prone to simply “forgetting” his eyepatch and walking around with his scar in plain sight, if only because the varying reactions he receives tends to amuse him. His face is very expressive, because his features are so exaggerated, and Iosif always wears most of his emotions on his sleeve.
Iosif has a thick head of wavy, dark hair that grows to about the middle of his neck. It’s actually a medium-dark shade of brown in color, bordering on black without proper light, with streaks of gray scattered here and there throughout. He rarely styles it, and it’s completely unruly; he seems to walk around with a perpetual case of bedhead.
As far as physique goes, well… Iosif is not as young as he once was. But he maintains as good a physique he can manage, and while he may not be as strapping as some of the younger men in Cirque, he’s managed to avoid the evils of beer bellies. Best described as barrel chested, Iosif has some definition in the torso, and a decent amount in his arms. He makes sure to keep in shape, because his work demanded that he be in pique physical condition. While Cirque isn’t as demanding for Iosif acrobatically speaking (ironically), he stays in shape out of a love for physical activity and a general desire to be healthy.
Iosif has a taste for expensive and well-tailored clothes. He has a closet full of sharp suits, each tailored to his measurements and specifications that he normally wears if he’s heading out on the town or any other formal occasion. He tends to dress rather “period” and thus the suits are cut to fit what was popular in the later 1920s: his pants tend be high-waisted and almost maddeningly baggy, in the “oxford pant” style, and his suit jackets tend to fall at a normal length with wide lapels and loose sleeves. Under these he’ll either wear suspenders or double-breasted vests, usually with fairly ornate patterns and designs on them, suit shirts, and silk ties with tie pins.
In his more informal wear Iosif wears the oxford trousers, and usually just suspenders or a simpler vest. He tends not to wear the jackets unless the occasion calls for it, but he’ll usually keep a tie on. He’s prone to either page-boy caps or tophats.
Due to his rather dangerous line of work, Iosif’s figure is covered with an intricate web of scars from his numerous encounters with knives, bullets, and even fire. Aside from his most obvious wound – his eye, and the scar that goes along with it – he has another scar on his face that stretches from one cheek to the other. Another prominent scar starts on the left side of his chin and cuts diagonally across his mouth, ending a little past his upper lip. Aside from these scars he has dozens on his arms, legs, and torso – it got to the point where he stopped counting and stopped caring. He’s not ashamed of any of the scars, since he’s long since reconciled himself with them, and has no issues rolling up his sleeves to show off a few, and possibly tell some (embellished) stories about a few of the more choice ones.
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Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:37 am
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Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:38 am
History Please be aware that Iosif's history is not yet complete. One day it will be, but for now enjoy the first 25%.
Iosif was born to Liza Zaslavsky (neé Agranovsky) in November of 1883 in Moscow, Russia. Liza married at seventeen to David Zaslavsky who at the time was one of the very few Jews living in Moscow (Jews required special permission to live outside of the Pale Settlement) in the 1880s. The Zaslavskys had been friends with the Agranovsky family before leaving the Pale of Settlement, and after hearing that their children were of like ages they had arranged a marriage, assuming it would be best for Liza to leave the poverty that plagued the Pale of Settlement. David was the son of a wealthy banker and was part of the small Jewish elite present at the time, so their decision was not ill advised. Despite the hastily arranged marriage, Liza and David grew to care genuinely for one another, and for three years they were content with one another. David was busy with the banking business however, and Liza was often left alone; not only that, but the couple was eager to have children but was having difficulty conceiving. (This was likely a problem on David’s behalf, as Liza conceived later when she was raped.) Still, they were happy with one another, and David treated Liza well.
However, the 1880s brought with it a wave of pogroms – attacks against the Jews – in the southern provinces of Russia, including the Ukraine, where the Agranovskys lived. Liza was visiting her family, as she was concerned for their welfare and was trying to persuade them to apply to live in Moscow, when one such pogrom occurred. Liza was young and attractive, and was immediately set upon by several men, who raped her.
Her family survived the pogrom, though their property had been all but destroyed. Liza told no one of what had happened to her – saying that she had only been beaten - and her family decided it would be best not to question matters. She returned home knowing that her family would not be able to leave for Moscow given the attitude towards the Jews at the time, and she was unsure whether they would even be able to find a home.
Equally terrifying was her realization that she was, in fact, pregnant. Horrified and desperate to hide the evidence of her rape, she and David made love soon after she returned home, so that she could attribute the child to him. Iosif was born in mid-November 1884, and despite the fact that he looked very little like David, David was absolutely delighted with the arrival of their healthy son. Liza, however, was not so happy – she had grown increasingly estranged since returning home, and the birth of her son seemed to make her detach completely from her family. She was almost completely absent from her son’s upbringing, which will be detailed further in later paragraphs.
Iosif was a temperamental child at best. He didn’t seem to like being held, but at the same time he was miserable if no one else was present in the room. He was raised primarily by David, a nurturing father who lavished attention on his boisterous son, and a nanny named Ilya Tabenkin. (Also Jewish, as the Jews at the time were forbidden from hiring Christian servants.) As he grew and developed, he proved himself to be a mischievous toddler, with a somewhat unsettling penchant for destruction. David, however, was not a disciplinarian – he sought other ways to curtail his son’s behavior.
The Zaslavskys were all musicians, and as a result Iosif was encouraged to pick up an instrument at a young age. They hoped that an instrument would occupy some of his time and give the rest of the family a break. And so, since none of the Zaslavskys had a pianist in the family yet, they purchased a piano in the hopes that it would distract Iosif.
Iosif took to the piano with a passion none of them had expected. Even though the piano was still a bit big for him, he immediately began tinkering around with it and, after only a day, requested a teacher. David found him one in an old family friend named Gera Gari. Gera had been playing piano for well over forty years, and he was impressed by Iosif’s desire to learn at such a young age. So, Gera taught him some of the basic techniques for a pianist – how to place his fingers and position his arms, how to use the pedals, etc. – and promised to teach him more when he was older.
Time passed, as it often does, and Iosif grew. He was generally a happy child, though he was prone to tantrums when things did not go according to plan. By the time Iosif was seven he had grown comfortable with the piano, and he’d been tinkering with the thing for the past three years (nearly driving the Zaslavskys up a wall, though he did eventually get better at it.) Gera returned to start giving Iosif real lessons, and was surprised by how much the boy had taught himself on his own. For the next year approximately, Gera then set about refining Iosif’s technique, teaching him actual songs, and a few tricks that he usually didn’t bother teaching young students. Iosif took to it all eagerly, as he loved playing the piano – and not only because he enjoyed it.
For a good portion of his childhood Liza, Iosif’s mother, was very distant from him. He received plenty of love and attention from David and Ilya, but it was becoming painfully obvious that his mother was intentionally avoiding him and had been doing so for the past seven years, and that the flaw lied somewhere within him. This changed somewhat before Gera began giving the boy real lessons; one day Liza wandered into the piano room and asked Iosif to play. Iosif told her that he didn’t know any real songs, and Liza said that it was all right, and again encouraged him to play. So Iosif did, and when he was done Liza actually smiled at him for the first time in his life. Although she left the room soon after, she said that she was proud that Iosif was working so hard, and that he was the handsomest pianist she had ever seen. This only motivated Iosif more in his dream of becoming a famous pianist.
Due to the limits placed on Jewish students entering Russian schools, Iosif was not able to attend school. He was, however, home-schooled by David who had received a full education. David had taken on the burden of educating Iosif when the boy was still young, and by age seven Iosif knew how to read and write decently, as well as some basic mathematic principles. He did not seem particularly adept at learning however, and David found himself somewhat frustrated with his son’s aversion to education, given that he himself was a well-educated banker. David did not have it in himself to be as strict a disciplinarian as he should have however, and would often excuse Iosif from lessons to go play his piano, since it was when the boy seemed happiest.
Iosif had very few playmates as a child. There were very few Jews in Moscow at the time, and most of the children were swept up in the wave of anti-Semitism and we’re not terribly accepting of the little Jewish boy in the neighborhood. This was only exacerbated by the fact that Iosif did not attend school like the other children, and thus had a lot of problems meeting children his age – or children at all. The fact that he had very few playmates, or interaction period, outside of his somewhat overbearing father and nanny effected his ability to socialize as an adult, and might have contributed to his inability to form deep relationships.
In 1891, when Iosif was seven, there was a systematic expulsion of the Jews from Moscow. Unable to acquire the proper emigration papers, David moved his family to the Pale Settlement with the promise that it would only be temporary. Like most of the Jews in the Pale Settlement, the Zaslavskys lived in impoverished conditions, but Iosif was able to meet his relatives on his mother’s side – including a few young cousins around his age. But he was often excluded from playing because his cousins envied their cousin’s privileged background, and often refused to let him participate in any games.
When Iosif was eleven (1895), the Zaslavskys managed to procure permission to immigrate to the United States, where they settled into New York City amongst the other Russian Jews attempting to escape the rampant, nearly government-sanctioned anti-Semitism in Russia. Unfortunately Ilya was not able to travel with them, leaving Iosif without a nanny and in the sole care of his mother (who rarely spoke two words to Iosif a week, if he was lucky) and his father. Life in New York was in some ways easier: the Zaslavaskys had much more freedom, and Iosif was able to attend school like the other children. But like most things in life, the move to America was a double-edged sword: the Zaslavskys lived in much poorer conditions than they had in Moscow, as their money and influence had dwindled during the move. Still, conditions were better than those seen in the Pale Settlement.
But there were issues aside from the standard of living. The Zaslavskys exposure to English was severely limited – despite being an intelligent man, it was nearly impossible for David to find work without being able to speak proper English. Eventually he found employment working in a grocery run by an old Russian couple, but his income had been cut significantly – the Zaslavskys could no longer afford the decent standard of living they had in Moscow, but four years living in the Pale Settlement had prepared the family for the change in living.
Iosif had a difficult time with English as well. (As a matter of fact, he never seems to have completely mastered the language – or even come close.) He attended school with other Russian children who he could speak to, but he was a surprisingly awkward boy despite being a boisterous child at home. He didn’t enjoy school, or the fact that his father no longer was tutoring him. He was quiet in classes and his grades reflected his lack of effort – he performed very poorly, much to his father’s disappointment. Still, David felt it better for his son to remain in school with other children, in the hopes that Iosif would one day bring home a friend or playmate. Needless to say, David was to be disappointed.
At home Iosif practiced piano – one of the few large items that the family had brought with them to both the Pale Settlement and America – and was gradually coming to master the instrument even without a teacher. He continued to excel at it, playing at a level no one would have expected of a teenage boy, and dedicating almost all of his free time to it. His mother – who normally avoided the boy for reasons he could not begin to fathom but that he knew existed – would often come visit him when he played and would sometimes ask for specific songs, or ask Iosif to teach her a little. Iosif happily complied with any requests she made of him, desperate for some inkling of approval from his mother. He got it: around the time he was fifteen, Liza began kissing the boy goodnight, talking to him at meals, seeing him off before he went to school. The boy’s heart practically soared.
But when Iosif was sixteen Liza became very ill. She had caught pneumonia and had to be quarantined to a different room in the house, and Iosif was not allowed to visit otherwise he might get sick. David was worried – Liza had always been a pale and moon-eyed girl, who got sick easily, and was never known for taking good care of herself. Still, it came as a shock to the entire family when Liza passed away due to complications with the disease, and none took the information harder than Iosif. After sixteen years with hardly any interaction with his mother, despite living under the same roof, he had finally gained her approval! It seemed cruel to him, and he grew resentful of his father and his insistence that this had to happen, and that Liza was in a better place now.
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Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:39 am
Talent Iosif’s act is derivative from the likes of Annie Oakley and Lillian Smith – famous (albeit it female) sharpshooters. Iosif possesses such lethal accuracy that he can put several bullet holes through a playing card dropped from a relatively short height, – and not only that, but he can hit the card edge-on. He’ll shoot just about anything and manage to riddle it full of bullets before it touches the ground.
Iosif uses pistols, rifles, and shotguns in his act, with the occasional semi-automatic if he’s feeling particularly saucy. All of his pistols are carried over from his own time period, with several of Russian make, and a few from other countries. During an act he might fire at candles and blow out the flames by the force of the bullet, or shoot backwards using a mirror, shoot using either hand (and be equally capable with both), shoot through cards held sideways, and shoot apples (or any other fruit) off the heads of audience members. Those are just examples – just about anything the audience or ringleader want him to hit he can put at least three bullets through.
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Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:40 am
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Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:41 am
World Iosif comes from a timeline similar to that of Earth's, but there are several important details and facts changed. Iosif does not come from a current time period, and when he leaves for Cirque it would be, according to his timeline, approximately 1928. The American Prohibition began 1910 and lasted until 1933. The main gangs in Chicago are also quite different - Capone never existed, for example.
More to be added.
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Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:42 am
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Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:42 am
Music [x] General Themes
- You Know My Name - Chris Cornell
- Windowlicker - Aphex Twin
- Bullet Proof - A3
- Marcello Mastrioanni - Oliver Future
- Baka Koe no Nirvana - Hellsing
- Junior Kickstart - The Go! Team
- All the Little Pieces - Louis XIV
- Ghostwriter - RJD2
- Two More Dead - RJD2
- Freindship Update - The Go! Team
[x] Ambrosia and Iosif Themes
- I Love You All the Time - Oh No! Oh My!
- Touched - VAST
- Black Black Heart Version 2 - David Usher
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Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:43 am
Friends and Foes Ankita - hey lital anuchka!!!!! she seem very nice i like very great. has lital pet with eyes are big. once i get know better we become closest friends!!!! 11/10.
Lucrezia - lucy is very nice girl but has fethers in hair wich i mabe not understand?!!?! maybe she dont like alkohall wich is lital sad but is okay because she is very very nice!!!!! 20/11
Grete - here the woman is so lital!!!! why is woman so short in this a circus i do not understand!!!! grete is very nice tho i am her room partanar!! also i am her DANCE partanar i like very much she likes alkohall!! 100/30
Hadrian -
Charlot -
Keep in mind that Iosif pretty much likes everyone, so how he rates people is pretty much irrelevant.
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Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:44 am
Log Iosif and Ankita - In Which Iosif Meets His First Cirque Member, Whose Name He Cannot Pronounce, and Introduces Himself to a Furry Animal. (2054 words)
Iosif, Lucrezia, and Grete - In Which Iosif Encounters a Drinking Partner and Room Mate, and Nearly Chokes People (3837 words)
Current Fame: 58.91
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Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:45 am
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Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:46 am
Credit Iosif Zaslavsky (C) Puchiko (Rachel GK)
Cirque du Coeur Torve (C) Its Staff, Who Are All Pretty Cool So Don't Steal Their s**t
All art (C) its drawer person thingie.
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