Male | 44
5'11 | 180 lbs
African American | U.S Army Veteran, Recovering Alcoholic
Profile
Appearance: The years have changed Julian. Before joining up he boxed with the other boys in the neighbourhood, even daring to sock the whites who stepped up to the challenge, though he earned a few scars for decisions like that. He kept boxing in the U.S Army, but added combat training to the regimen. His service during the Second World War shaped the latter years of his body's development greatly. Julian has sported a thick chest and shoulders since '45, the type one earns climbing barricades and carrying wounded buddies from. He might have grown soft in areas when in the States, but returning to Korea and later on less savory work felt like riding a bike on a physical level. Today, Julian retains a thickly built chest, shoulders, and a pair of strong arms. His stomach is softer now and if you ask he'll say he's earned it. A close look will reveal several small scars up and down his arms and legs, as well as a particularly large swirling scar below his left shoulder. On the inner area of his lower arms he has tattoos symbolizing his service in two wars. When approaching Jules expect a hard smile held only long enough to be polite. His eyes seem to question even at rest, but he tries to soften the image by sporting a dark mustache and neatly kept greying goatee. The facial hair is styled after his beatnik son, whom people refer to as 'charming'.
In terms of fashion, Jules requires no guidance. He could not afford a zoot suit of his own as a young man, but paid close attention to the shifting styles nevertheless. He commonly wears a slim, dark blue suit with a pale purple button-up, patterned tie, and hat for daily functions. When he expects a more physical day he wears a pair of stitched, black jeans and a black long sleeve that he suspects his son would like. Jules wears no jewelry or other finery aside from an old pocket watch handed down from his father. He intends to give his son, Francois, the heirloom in Tokyo.
Background: Julian Castle was born near the tail end of the Great Migration. The South did not show great kindness to black folks, according to his father, so they moved to a community that would. Though Julian was born in Texas he would not stay long enough to remember it. The family intended on moving to Seattle, Washington, literally as far north as his father knew, but fell in love with Portland, Oregon after given the chance to rest there overnight. His family took up residence in St. John's, a predominantly Hindu town having recently merged with the larger Portland. Julian's father got work at the St. John's Lumber Company, while his mother took care of him.
The Pacific Northwest was a relatively kind place. Julian grew with resources his parent's did not due to the community having embraced people colour many years before their arrival. He learned to read and write as a boy, basic math too, and his parents encouraged him frequently. When he was tall enough Julian began helping out at the lumber yard, mostly to pass the time with his father, but now and again the manager would hand him a coin and a smile. It was a kindness his father responded to with a tear in his eye each and every time. When he was older, Julian began working with a group of other boys his age for seemingly simple tasks like guarding warehouses or picking up packages. For a while the boys made games of the irreverent tasks until one day a package fell. They heard glass shatter and Julian recognized the smell of booze from some of the men in the lumber yard. Each of the boys received a lashing for the clumsiness that day. Afterward, Julian treated the work more seriously. He spared his parents the details too as they described the increasingly criminal nature of Portland, unaware that their son was a part of the change. As a young man Julian split his days between the questionable work and boxing.
Everything changed with the war brewing overseas. Julian and his parents agreed wholeheartedly by advocates like Henry Kaiser, his father even leaving the lumber yard to work in the Kaiser Shipyards building liberty ships. With the help of a few of the unsavory folks he'd worked with prior, Julian was able to enlist into the U.S Army in 1941 at age 16. His parents saw him off angered and yet also proud. After a year of training and 'hurry up and wait' Julian was sent to North Africa. As a black man he was initially tasked with driving supply trucks to assist the infantry units, but as Operation Torch took form, orders grew confused and the need for manpower took precedent. Julian fought alongside the 9th Infantry Division all the way from Morocco to Germany. The early days were the most difficult as some comrades were slow to accept a negro among them, but after rushing the beaches of Algiers those opinions subsided. Julian fought hard, expecting a bullet in his back as likely the chest. His bullet never came, though. They fought their way from Algiers to Palermo in 1943 until exchanging further combat for training in England. Julian felt accepted then and used the time, like his comrades, to send long overdue letters. The 9th would hit Utah Beach shortly after D-Day. Invading occupied France blurred the days as he could not afford to assume any corner checked or shadow empty of threats. Perhaps such attention kept him alive, but the days wore on him. He grew hardened like his brothers. Julian adopted the habit of chain smoking a couple months before arriving to Kalterherberg where he would celebrate Christmas and the arrival of another year at war. The town held a charm that returned warmth to his heart. Julian met a woman among those who remained despite the danger. Françoise was a nurse, intelligent as she was beautiful, and neither wasted time. For a month Julian fought hard to protect to the town and celebrated each new day with her. When the Battle of the Bulge ended the perimeter of the town was riddled with bullets, its roads filled with rubble, but the heart intact. Julian left Françoise with his information and a coldness in his heart deeper than any he'd experienced before. He held the memory of Kalterherberg all the way into the Rhine. Julian and Françoise met again shortly before Victory Day, her beauty unchanged and her stomach swollen. The two married in a humble German church.
Julian returned to the City of Roses a man with purpose. He reconnected with his family, introducing them to Françoise, and quickly found Portland a city changed. In a handful of years the city swelled with people and with the need for liberty ships greatly reduced, many were like Julian in looking for new work. Not long after reappearing some of Julian's old friends and unsavory co-workers greeted him with a new opportunity. By the time Françoise gave birth to their son, Francois, Julian was working security for the Elkin brother's crime ring. For a while he felt ashamed of the work, especially when looking in his son's little eyes, but with time the sense of comradery and tactics felt welcomingly familiar. The chief part of his day was spent in a bar owned by the Elkins where an illegal nightclub came alive downstairs after hours. He worked and Françoise learned the city alongside with their newborn. When stress from the war roused Julian returned to smoking and eventually boxing too. Their life may not have been typical, but it was their reality. It ran smoothly until 1950 when Francois was nearly school age and the Korean War broke out. Though not drafted, Julian saw his friends and neighbours preparing for war and felt it his duty to do the same. François and Julian argued for days, culminating with the two agreeing this would be the last time he left of his own volition. Julian left his wife, child, and parents with a kiss.
Coming back to war felt strangely satisfying for Julian. The structure of order, the feel of a M1 Carbine in hand, and success defined purely by surviving another day. If any inkling of the young man thought Korea a vacation, the Autumn of 1950 would serve as a stark surprise. Julian experienced relatively light combat until November when Chinese forces surprised his unit deep in North Korea. Despite taking the defense, they failed to hold Unsan and were forced into a retreat, during which Julian suffered a bullet wound to the shoulder. He was fortunate enough to receive medical care after crossing the Ch'ongch'on River. After a month creating a new battle line and healing, the river too was attacked and yet again the American forces were pushed back until they left northwest Korea entirely. The foolhardy approach to war Julian entered Korea with had quickly turned back to the hard reality before him. For months survival meant fighting off attacking forces until the line crumbled and falling back. He felt as if playing leap frog, diving behind one barrier to defend his brothers until they did the same for him. The pattern seemed to continue until the fall of '51. Though success came more often, the war had not grown easier. By the time Julian ended his service in 1953 he had grown weary, tense, and slower to hope.
When Julian returned home life had once again changed. His son, Francois, was older, now 8, his wife Françoise an avid painter embracing the city's new culture, and his parents had passed during an automobile accident. A thread of the criminal remained under the surface of Portland, but the city was undergoing shift his wife described as 'beat'. Julian came back noticeably different, but his when he left to get his job back at the bar, Françoise put away the concern. For a few days he eased the transition home with a seat at the bar and whiskey. After that, he returned to work, embracing the 'muscle' aspect of the job with great passion and commitment. When the new Julian became effective to a fault darker doors opened. In a matter of months Julian went from fighting an overwhelming enemy to walking the streets with a hard buzz and an even harder bat. He served as an enforcer collecting money owed and breaking men who opposed his employer, thought reasons didn't matter much. What fueled Julian was the escape. The simplicity of just surviving the day. He needed that and cared little how many sad bastards he'd step on for that pint of solace. This way of living blinded him to the growing distance between him and his wife and child. Françoise did not argue or nag, she simply changed the locks. Half drunk and covered in another man's blood, Julian began sleeping in the backroom of the bar. His life grew increasingly nightmarish until one night broke a man too badly to fix. The body was taken care of, Julian allowed to sleep it off, but the next morning he was sent away to collect himself.
To this day Julian does not believe how long the nightmare lasted. The night he went too far, a night he won't soon forget, that night was eight years after returning home from Korea. He spent another year in a recovery facility paid for by his employer for the years of service. Only after being sober a few months Julian call it for what it was -- retirement. The Portland he woke up to had developed fully into a new way of being. Folks wore clothes that flowed with vibrant colours and spoke passionately about homosexuality and the environment. For a while Julian was angry, then disgusted. Only after he reflected on the last decade did he realize two men going horizontal couldn't compare to beating men to death every night. Who should really be reviled? Once Julian re-acclimated he returned to the home he and Françoise had bought almost twenty years ago. It looked the same aside from a fresh coat of paint. When he knocked a young couple greeted him with limited clues as to where his family had gone. Julian found Françoise a few months later working in the Portland Art Museum. After a few months courting the flame rekindled. He learned of his son's success with photography that took the young man to Seattle, then New York, and recently to Tokyo. Julian began sending letters in '64 and received the first response in '66. After a few more years the report warmed and Julian and Françoise made arrangements to visit.
Personality and Outlook: Those seeking warmth and hours of conversation should keep looking. Julian can be kindhearted and personable, but his formative years have largely been spent at war. When the world around him is calm and he is allowed to relax his likeable characteristics will surface, the storytelling father chief among them. Otherwise, Julian responds to stress with a cold and direct approach. The soldier emerges and survival becomes his one and only objective. He is liable to ignore ideas neither proven by his own experiences or from one without experience he recognizes. Risks must come with reward, and the only true danger is that which threatens the means to live -- ethics and morality be damned. Julian recognizes he is not unbreakable, however. The humbling nature of his experience in Korea, as well as working with the Elkin Brothers in Portland, have both taught him that getting your way is all about need. If a man stands in your way you either speak to his need to survive directly -- with your fists or another weapon -- or speak to the need indirectly -- with bartering or services. Julian sees all interactions with strangers in this simplistic way. Although Julian has a tough exterior and a quiet way about him, he does appreciate the importance of a team. He knows from experience that a group of individuals one can trust opens doors to surviving the best and worst of times. Julian can do without the sob stories of bonding bits, though.
Julian is on a journey for redemption. Living a life largely filled with leaving your loved ones to experience hell for duty and honour has taken its toll. He means to continue where he left off with Françoise and to become the father he should have been years ago for Francois. There is a fear that a life of struggle and hardship cannot turn to peace, one perhaps rooted in his father's Jewish faith. For Julian arriving to Tokyo would be proof that peace is indeed achievable and that his life may yet change. This outlook is parallel to the way Julian and his comrades viewed the war and may well rouse the soldier more often than the man given enough challenge.
Capabilities
Skills:
Combat - Julian is well-versed in battle on scales large and small. He boasts U.S Army training and an awareness gained from years on the battlefield and serving the criminal organizations in Portland.
Survival - Military training and years on the battlefield embedded a strong understanding of what a man needs to survive. Not only does Julian know this, he finds peace in the fundamental aspects of life.
Experience - Training and education are wonderful, but they never fully prepare you for reality. The world is never quite interpreted and you never know how you'll react until a situation arises. Julian has years of experience atop of his training. He has a strong grasp on his abilities.
Weaknesses:
Trauma - With years of combat, trauma cannot be avoided. Julian finds his mind brought back to the days of war when familiar triggers arise. Frightful or informative, these experiences pull his mind away from the present. He makes assumptions on the past, not what lies before him, and his decisions become muddled. Put simply his decision making has a significant blind spot that may easily prove detrimental.
Temperamental - The last several years have not been kind to Julian. To say his interpersonal skills need work as a result would be polite. Julian typically chooses silence, but is apt to respond boldly, at times directly competing or invalidating others. This may be seen as a power play or alpha male posturing. For Julian, this way of being has simply been a means of survival.
Age - When grey hair began sprouting the reality of aging hit home. Julian accepted the aches and pains more than mementos from a hard day of work. He took to working harder to maintain the same physique, all the while aware that slower days lay ahead. Perhaps this is in part why Julian feels so strongly to reconcile with his loved ones. In terms of survival, Julian is in the process of changing his approach. With his endurance waning with time he must remind himself to act smart, hit once, and never miss.
Inventory
Julian brought with him the following in a military-style dufflebug:
- Four day's worth of fresh outfits, three formal and one for physical work
- One tweed longcoat
- An art book full of American photographs, including works by Francois Castle
- Julian's war journal
- Two graphite pencils and one pen
- The last letter received from Francois
- An English-Japanese dictionary
- His father's pocketwatch, a family heirloom he means to pass onto Francois
- Passport
- Wallet with Military ID, $90.26, and a prophylactic
Opinions
To be completed following selection.
Andreyich