[Character] David "Mr. Charm School" Devlin [Adultish content]

[Zeke Ryder]

Concept: Novox lounge singer, self-described "silver Nova."

DOB: October 7, 1935

DOE: March 17, 2004

Cause of Eruption: Broken Heart

Allegiance: QNA, but mostly himself and his baseline wife June.

David Devlin is a rapidly-rising novox star, known for his lounge standards like Louis Armstrong (he does a killer imitation), Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Harry Connick, Jr., as well as some surprisingly lively blues, soul, and funk numbers. (He also does a spot-on James Brown, by all accounts.)

But while his voice is formidable, it's his image which has sold him. He's from an older school of suave and sophisticated, and has been described as "an iron fist in a comfortable deerskin glove, the kind of old-school ladies' man that every woman wants to be with and every guy wants to hang out with." He manages to evoke both a young Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra at his peak. He's always well-dressed and groomed, and seems to pull it off in a tuxedo or a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt. He's usually photographed with either a fine wine or a martini, a cigarette, or a fine cigar. Form looking at him, he could be a construction worker, a captain of industry, or the captain of a ship. (He has one, and sails when he can.) He's a known proponent of both QNA and the NRA, and is equally at home amongst hardened mercs or hardened entertainers. He's been seen joking around with Count Oraziz, and even brought his show to the Phoenix Room for a benefit concert. And although he appears to be in his mid-20s, he makes no secret of having been born during the Great Depression.

Description: A timeless-looking man with brown hair and blue, piercing eyes. Gold watch and cigarette case. Clean-shaven, strong but not exaggerated jawline. Gives off an "in-charge" vibe even when relaxing. Sometimes wears a Stetson hat. Stud earring in left ear.

Backstory: If you dig hard enough, and ask the right people, you get the story of a straight-arrow guy who got caught up in weird and kinky circumstances, but somehow came out of it a new man.

Growing up when he did, you had certain obligations as a man, and you fulfilled them as best you could, and just kept moving forward. That's what Jacob Baatz (David's old name before he legally changed it) did, from car salesman to manager to owner of a couple stores in the Philadelphia area. He got married, put his dreams in a closet, got two kids, got divorced, got abandoned by his kids, got ulcers, got better, and finally built up enough money to retire in style.

That's when June walked into the picture. There was something about her, something old school even though she was in her early 20s, that caught his eye, and his heart. And unfortunately for her abusive roach of a boyfriend, Jacob Baatz was old-school enough to go charging after her like a white knight, and still street-savvy enough to send him packing. They got married, and it seemed just like an old Hollywood movie.

But old Hollywood movies never tell the whole tale. She walked out on him a few years later, asking for a clean divorce, no money or anything. She was a submissive: she liked it rough and with him really in control, and Baatz was, at heart, too much a gentle man to do something like that. She loved him, but he couldn't give her what she really wanted. At least she wasn't going back to her ex-boyfriend; she had a new guy, decent, who was younger and could treat her the way she wanted to. It broke his heart worse than his children had, but he let her go.

But he didn't give up. There was this freakin' OpNet thing that could set people up anywhere in the world, and he couldn't be the only guy in this situation, right? So he posted to a BDSM site and, not knowing any better, just spilled his situation out. He got an e-mail from some rough-trade type named Roger Morrison saying, "Do not post any more. I understand you, and I can offer you more help that these poseurs could. Meet me at a location comfortable to you, and we'll talk seriously."

He came to find out that Roger "The Master" Morrison was a nova legend in the BDSM crowd. After he put Jacob Baatz at ease, Jacob took a risk and went to Roger's estate to see how The Master did what he did. What he saw blew his rather conservative mind. and afterward, Roger Morrison said to him, "The problem with being a true Dom, Jake, is that you have to want to be that way from the start. You have to be the Alpha, you have to accept no excuses. You are the Authority Figure in your household, not just for the perquisites, but for the responsibilities as well. You have to want to be the top dog, no matter what. You have to want to own someone who wants to be owned, or it won't work. So before you go charging after this June woman, ask yourself: do you want that, really? It's harder than it looks, even for a nova."

Jacob signified his assent by having an Eruption. When he woke up, after the headache was gone, Jacob Baatz was history, and David Devlin was on the move. It didn't take long to win June back from her inadequate, pompous boor of a Dom. It didn't take much longer after that to get his career started, the one he always dreamed of: a singing gig just like the Vegas guys he always listened to in the dealership.

He's far beyond the determined dreamer Jacob Baatz used to be. He knows how to work a room and take charge. He's done guest shots in movies and been nominated for a few awards. He's been around the world, but not yet under it's wheels. And it looks like it can only get better. At long last, at the tender age of 82, he's everything he's ever wanted to be.

Deep OOC! Do not use unless you have express permission: But happy endings never tell the whole story, either. Recently, June came to him sobbing hysterically. She's begun begging him to find another woman to focus his attentions on. He's a nova, and not a graceful, retiring one either. He's wearing her down, and wearing her out, even though he's been as good as he can be to her. She simply cannot keep up, but loves and wants him too badly to refuse him.

What really upsets him is that he knows she's right. Devlin knows he's got a strong personality; hell, he's been honing it and flexing it for years! Not to mention working on his brain and body ever since that one trip with Oraziz...But he doesn't want anyone else but June, and by now he's become so good, so comfortable at this BDSM thing, that he's almost forgotten how to play it straight. And certainly no lady nova will put up with that crap, right?

So, what to do? Maybe the OpNet has another answer...