(no subject)
* Your name: Zai
* Your personal LJ: eudaimon
* Who do you currently play at Tabula Rasa?: Eostre, Ian Murray, Lily Strombeck, Charlie Andrews, Jerry Bines and Gus Knickel.
* Have you dropped any pup since your last application? No.
* If so, why did you feel the need to drop them? (Please note: This section of the application will have no bearing on whether it is accepted. It is intended only as a device to encourage muns to evaluate who they are applying for.) N/A.
* Your character's name: Clay Busby
* Your character's canon: Memphis Belle
* What type of canon is it (Book series, film, etc.): Film.
* Your character's LJ: sweeter_be
* Is your character living or dead at their time of entry?: he's alive
* Does your character have any pre-existing disabilities of a medical, physical, or psychiatric nature?: (paralyzed or missing limbs, AIDS, barren, schizophrenia, etc.) no ma'am.
* Your character's personality: (This should be between 150 and 400 words detailing the major aspects of your pup's personality. This is NOT the same as background information.)
Clay is one of those straight forward boys...he's a charmer, but there isn't any real guile in him, he never lies to anyone and he has no malice in his heart. Caly just has a lot of love. He had a totally unorthodox unbringing (his daddy was a gambler, his momma died, but Peggy's girls sure were nice to him), but he turned out okay. What you have to understand about Clay has to do with loyalty and duty; the things which he did because he had to, because of who he is. Clay left school at thirteen to play piano in a cat-house because someone had to put food on the table at home. Clay signed up for the airforce because somebody had to help save the world. It didn't occur to Clay to wait to be drafted and it isn't because he's brave or stupid. It's more complicated than that. All his life, it's been one thing after another; farm, cat-house, war and now he'll be back in the belly of tha tbig old bird which is where he was happiest, really. Clay's an easy soul to please: give him something to fix, something to play, a song to sing or a warm body ot lie beside a tnight. He doesn't want a lot. Clay will tell you that he ain't too bright, but he's got a good head for odds and there was never a song that he couldn't learn if you told him the words and let him hear the tune once or twice. And that's gotta count for something, right?
* Why do you want to play this character?: (This should be between 150 and 400 words detailing your character's general ability to contribute to the fictional community of Tabula Rasa.)
Clay is just one of those characters, one of those handsome, charming boys, who it's difficult not to be in love with from the moment you set eyes on them. MEMPHIS BELLE is one of those canons that depend on the strength of its ensemble cast for success. Harry Connick Jr as Clay is an integral part of the crew...it's equilibrium, sort of. He's the deep breath that stops panic setting in. The scene in which he sings Danny Boy (the scene from which he makes his entrance to the island, incidently) is really important: it's the scene in which we see the crew let their hair down (and fal apart) before they go off on their final mission (30-1 they crash on take-off, says Clay, ever ready with the odds). You have to have the contrast...be able to know the boys like that so that you can still love them later when the centre can't hold. What I love about Clay is that he's right in the middle of all that, and he's singing and flirting and he isn't scared.
Possible interactions are always vital when considering a new app. On a superficial level, Clay's a very social person, a flirt and he's likely to enjoy interacting with the women on the island. Particularly, though, I'm looking forward to threading him with Ruth Anne Miller (her threads with Danny already being a delight) and, of course, with Clay's crewmate, Danny Daly. They have this intriguing, slightly infuriating hint of a relationship in canon and I think it'll be a blast to explore that.
Last (but not least!), Clay has a number of marketable skills (above and beyond being a gift to the straight women of the island, of course :b). Being a farmer's song, Clay's pretty handy with livestock and growing things and, being mechanically minded (canonically, he fixes farm equiptment), he'll be helpful in that area too. There's more than one use for Clay Busby's clever pianist's hands.
* Tell us about your character's background: (This should be between 150 and 400 words detailing your character's past and present. The future may be included, if relevant. Also be sure to include the point at which s/he is leaving canon)
Clay was born on a farm outside of New Orleans in 1919. His momma taught him to play piano at her knee (mostly gospel hymns), but she was dead by the time Clay was nine. His daddy was a heavy drinker, a pretty shitty farmer and an even worse gambler (though its from him that Clay gets his head for odds). When Clay was thirteen his daddy finally lost the farm and Clay got his first job, playing in a cat-house down in the French Quarter for a woman named Peggy. He liked it pretty well and he wasn't ever mad at his daddy...It wasn't like he was going to stay in school, anyway.
After Pearl Harbour, Clay signed up for the airforce pretty quickly. It seemed like the right thign to do at the time. He made friends with Danny Daly sometime during Basic Training. It doesn't surprise Clay that Danny isn't really a gunner. Clay used to tease Danny and Danny took it pretty well and if that wasn't the only thing that Danny took well then Clay ain't saying a word. Gentlemen don't talk anyhow.
The way Clay sees it, this could go either way now. Twenty four missions down, one to go, but everyone says they're gonna see Germany one last time. Clay doesn't know about that. The way he sees it, worst comes to worst, it's still 50-50.
Clay departs canon while he's serenading Danny Daly (and a packed dance-hall) with "Danny Boy" (in C). At least Danny will be able to tell him whether he saw Germany or not one last time.
* Your character's initial personal inventory: (This is a detailed list of everything on a person when they first arrive on the Island. It should include clothes, accessories, carried items, etc. Should your pup be in possession of a device that requires a battery, please include the power level of the battery/ies. This list cannot be too detailed!)
1 x dark khaki dress pants.
1 x dark khaki dress jacket (with appropriate insignia for a Corporal in the U.S Airforce circa 1944).
1 x light khaki dress shirt.
1 x light khaki dress tie.
1 x white undershirt.
1 x white undershorts.
1 x pair of dark khaki socks.
1 x black shoes.
Carried in his pockets:
1 x hair comb
1 x packet of cigarettes (12 lefT).
1 x silver lighter
1 x container of Vaseline (1/3rd used)
1 x WWII era standing microphone and stand.
* Your character's entrance post: (This may be altered once you actually post your pup in, but our primary goal here is to ensure you have put a modicum of thought into how you will go about portraying your pup.)
Clay ain't doing it just to fuck with Danny...well, not just to fuck with Danny anyhow. What the good Colonel just don't understand is that some of this is odds, sure...and, yeah, a lot of it is the other guys, and the Belle herself, big old beautiful girl that she is, but you don't just go inviting bad luck to fly away with you. Didn't Daddy always tell him that a good song was a spell against heartbreak? He ain't sayin' that this is a good song but it works, don't it, and maybe it'll do anyhow?
Contrary to popular belief, Clay ain't crazy 'bout bein' up on that big strange in front of all those people. "Danny Boy" in C, he says...that'll do real nice and it'll probably make Danny blush and that won't be so bad either. It isn't like he can see much of Danny in the whirl of the boys' khakis and the girls' pretty coloured dresses but Clay imagines him down there and he winks and suddenly it don't feel so bad being up there. Suddenly, Cay can feel himself begin, maybe, to shine.
"And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me, and all my dreams will warm and sweeter be...If you'll not fail to tell me that you love me...I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me."
Listen: it ain't the loss of the crowd or the sudden hush that Clay notices...the notes, they change. It like the piano is suddenly in much better shape than that beat up clunker in that hanger. The tone changes. Like a swallow of cold beer, a good kiss, Clay lets the last chords linger for a moment before he opens his eyes.
He blinks.
"Well...I'll be." With one hand still on the piano, Clay slides the cigarette from behind his ear. This ain't any air-hanger that he's ever been in. This ain't England or War-time and it sure as hell ain't Danny Boy in C.
"Hey, Toto? I don't reckon this is Kansas anymore."
Now, if only he could find his damn light then he could get to know this nice piano a little better.