Thread: Onyx Landing Character Thread

Character Name Jessamine Barrow Aliases Jess Gender Female Profession Newspaper ReporterEditor Apparent age 29 don't you dare call her 30 Appearance Jess considers herself a handsome woman rather than beautiful, but she prides herself on her thin figure and affinity for smart suits , despite her lack of curves to fill them. She's on the shorter side, only 5' 4, and has a frantic energy about her, rarely being found standing or sitting perfectly still. This often leads to her thick dark hair getting disheveled and falling in her face, but when she's working in the print shop she keeps several scarves handy to tie it back. Her hands are almost permanently stained with ink, although she takes good care that her clothes don't get spoiled it's not unusual for her to go out with little spots of ink on her face as well. Personality Most people would say Jess is a greedy, mercenary woman posing as a wannabe voice of the people, but Jess herself believes she is a noble pursuer of truth who occasionally gets sidetracked with the more material things in life. She is almost fanatically devoted to journalistic pursuits, but knows that without a steady source of income a paper can only survive so long. If that means getting her hands dirty to keep her business up and running so be it, although occasionally acting in a slightly-less-than-honorable manner often leads to some dark thoughts. However, she always does her best to keep pushing forward and believes that ends always justify the means, even if she needs to force a smile on top of it. Recent history After inheriting Fred Barrow's printing press, Jess and her sister Jules left their hometown of Chicago and headed west, determined to start a new paper and continue the family business of bringing the truth to the masses. Unfortunately, the first town they set up shop in already had three papers, and no one was interested in reading a ladies rag written and produced by two young women. It was the same story in the next town, and the next. Finally, they decided to try the town of Onyx Landing, which by all reports--or lack thereof--has no newspaper outlet whatsoever. With no competition in sight, Jess is determined this time the paper will be successful. Notable relationships Jess is still on good terms with her mother and stepfather, who have since retired to Toronto since the press was turned over to the girls, but she doesn't write them as often as she should. Although she enjoys a good fling now and then, she hasn't had a real romantic relationship since leaving Chicago, and doesn't really aspire to one unless it might benefit the paper in some way. The only person she truly seems to love wholeheartedly is her younger sister, who often acts as her check and conscience. Strengths, talents, and points of pride Jess is inquisitive, driven, a shrewd negotiator, and knows to never take no for an answer. She also believes she's one of the greatest journalistic writers in the country, and that she's pretty good with a shotgun. Weaknesses, detriments, and points of improvement Jess is not as good with a shotgun as she thinks she is. She is also not as good of a writer as she thinks she is, but Jules is one hell of an editor. Overall Jess is far too overconfident and prideful for her own good, and her obsessive and selfish streaks don't make her very likable overall. What are your habits? Jess has an oral fixation, and when not smoking cigars or a pipe can often be found chewing on pencils, pieces of grass, or her fingernails What are your secrets? She was having an affair with Seneca Ford, the freedman typesetter on her stepfather's paper, up until he died. Jules doesn't know this. What drives you into the frontier? A free press is the first bastion of civilization, and by God she is going to civilize the west with the truth and advertising for Dr. MacGillicudy's Miracle Medical Elixirs. Most of Jessamine's life has been about facing challenges. Her real father was a riverboat gambler who knocked up a farmer's daughter in La Crosse, Wisconsin, then skipped town, never to be seen again. Jess has vague memories of her earliest years struggling with her mama, but they came to an apparent end when the single mother married Fred Barrow, a newspaper man from Chicago. A few years later, little Julia came along, and the family was complete as they slowly built a prosperous paper in the city. But not everyone agreed with the things Fred printed, especially after finding out he was hiring freedmen and former slaves to help run things. One night, things came to a head when someone set fire to the newspaper office, with several of the apprentices inside. The family managed to save the press, but one of the typesetters died in the fire, and Fred was badly wounded. Realizing he was no longer welcome in the city he loved, he bequeathed the press to his daughter and stepdaughter and decided to move to Toronto with their mother in the hopes of finishing their lives in quiet, while charging his heirs to continue his mission elsewhere. Jess, being entirely devoted to her stepfather for ending her early life of poverty, took the mission head on, and dragging her little sister behind her, set out west to purvey truth and justice and advertising to the masses.