Deputy US Marshal Givens

Raylan's job took him everywhere, from Harlan to Los Angeles to Paris. The Marshals service was demanding but Raylan leaned into the work, traveling as needed to get to get his man.

[Use this post to start threads or PSL'S!]

AC link: https://singmod.dreamwidth.org/1558.html?thread=365078#cmt365078

PLAYER INFO

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Player Name: Arma
• Player Contact: figmented
• Player Age: 27+
• Permissions: Permissions.


CHARACTER INFO

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• Character Name: Raylan Givens
• Character Age: 42
• Character Canon: Justified
• Canon Point: Season 3, Ep 4 'The Devil you know'

• Character History: Justified Wiki

• Character Personality: Provide information about their personality, both negative and positive aspects — with three of each. Give examples of how they've behaved this way. You do not need to provide an essay, but please submit enough to give a feel for the character.

— Positive Trait: RESILENT & RELIABLE - Having been raised in an environment where 'weakness' was a great many things, all of which was only ever answered with violence, Raylan grew up tough. Mentally, he's very often like a dog with a bone, an unstoppable force - for better or worse, tactical and a strategizing, and with a grim enough experience of what Man is capable of to react and plan accordingly. If he's given a challenge, he meets it. He's always going to be there, ready to go. It's something that's a boon in his chosen career - anything Harlan didn't teach him, what he had to do to get into the Marshal's service and the demands of stake outs, prison transfers and manhunts have. He doesn't complain about his job or his life or what the people in his life ask of him, he isn't bowed by too many insecurities, and more importantly, he truly cares about keeping his word. This is a common theme in this canon and observed many times as plot points.

— Positive Trait: INVESTED IN JUSTICE & PROTECTION - Raylan is a man who believes in right and wrong on a basic human level. Seen frequently as a bastion of security and reliability for others, he goes to great lengths to get bad people off the streets and out of business, at personal risk. This is because his father was a raging abuser when he was young, and Raylan comes from a home of domestic abuse, and knows what it's like to have evil men inflicting death and worse on innocent people trying to live their lives. With the confidence in and of his skills, his sense of right and wrong, and his willingness to stick to the general spirit of the law, he is trusted and trustworthy of holding responsibility and authority without lording it over anyone... who isn't a criminal he's pursuing.

— Positive Trait: AFFABLE & DISARMING - Is it the accent, the gun, the badge or the hat that makes Raylan Givens so damned smooth? Bets continue to be taken, as Raylan is a man who never raises his voice and makes the most remarkable statements with the casual and unbothered air of neighbors chatting about the weather. Along with a charming smile and plenty of experience of getting along with folks that he disagrees with on a fundamental level, Raylan manages to be mostly congenial with everyone in his life. He's used this smoothness as a tool in his career, talking people down or into making the better choice over being dead. While it doesn't always work, Raylan gets by via not making a fuss unless it's case related. He was also a firearm professor at Glynco and knows how to work with young cadets, building them up in classes and helping them gain confidence.

— Negative Trait: TEMPER - But how, you ask, with that rave review up there? Raylan bears a metaphorical curse handed down to him by his father, also a child of a drunk and abusive home, and his Justice has a fury behind it, hidden under a well practiced veneer of a man trying his best to not be an asshole. While Raylan follows the general spirit of the law, he's also ruled by the environment of no-nonsense, toxic masculinity, and backwoods expectations he grew up in. This is wholly taken out on criminals or suspects in his custody. While Raylan ensures, by the aforementioned investment in justice and doing things right, that he is given a reason that can be justified to the standards of the federal agency that employs him. Temper has led him to more than a few shootings, all of which were told true, but with just enough to get it by. "He went for his gun and I was forced to shoot him." To say nothing of the ultimatum that Raylan made to cause the gun to be drawn, ect. This does feed into his sense of justice directly and is moderated by the severity of the damage and crime done, but his temper is smoldering coals that flare up towards him getting what he wants.

— Negative Trait: SINGLE MINDED - While this a great personality trait for his work, this has caused him to disobey direct orders, give up his gun and badge at later canon points, and generally, get himself into a lot of trouble. Many points in canon, Raylan is told to leave something alone, but he's unable to and has no issue lying to an extent to get around questions and people that would otherwise stop him. This threads in with both temper and his sense of justice, but it's also used as a mechanism to keep his alcoholism in check. From his point of view, it only produces good results. Unfortunately, his divorce, inability to change careers, failure in having any 'life' to add to work/life balance, would disagree with that assessment. If he's unable to follow a thread, it will chew at him and consume his idle thoughts to near a point of obsession if he doesn't have a distraction or whiskey to push it all back.

— Negative Trait: CLOSED MOUTHED - Raylan doesn't talk - not about his work, not about his cases, and never about his feelings. He's earnest but emotionally unavailable, lacking the tools. His ex-wife once described it as 'You've got that.. that casual Don't care thing, I don't know what you want!'. Raylan hates to linger or stew in his life's hardships, even if that's what he does when he gets drunk alone. He can't stand the pity or well meaning comfort that people might offer or provide, and knows better than to open doors in conversation that might lead to anything close to that. People who know him well read his body language and the subtle shifts in his expression and tone, and even then, he obfuscates and dodges, especially hard with new people he doesn't know if he can trust to not use what they learn against him.

• Character Skills:

• Quickdraw
• Firearms Expert
• Basic Carpentry skills
• Forest & Mine Survivalism
• Technically knows how to cook moonshine

• Character Inventory:

— ITEM ONE: 1 good wool duster length coat
— ITEM TWO: His .9mm service weapon with a full clip in it
— ITEM THREE: A bottle of Jim Beam

• Important Notes: Nothing comes to mind - as a baseline human, Raylan's skills are his powers. He's sharply astute, resourceful, unwavering once he's set an eye on a goal and patient enough to wait to strike when it's to his advantage. He reads people and makes educated guesses as part of his survival skills as much as part of his job and isn't easily beaten down.

• Writing Samples:

— SAMPLE ONE: Here
— SAMPLE TWO: Here

The Admiral had dropped Raylan off, just where he'd promised. Next to his car, out at a random gas station that was a twenty minutes out of Miami, with a duffle bag of goods in hand. Raylan takes a good five minutes standing there, breathing the fresh, if exhaust tainted, air and flexing his fist around the duffle bag handles. He had thought he'd take showing up here alone in stride, but the solitude, the isolation, the loneliness, it was stark in its contrast in a way that dug into him.

He was home. Right back into the empty and cold comfort situation he'd been in before. He was, technically, on vacation for a week and with a hesitant touch to his forehead to confirm the healing shotscar, he remembered why. Boone. Raylan had been in Miami all of two weeks when the Admiral found him. Long enough to find an apartment. He could feel the keys in his pocket.

Finally, he starts moving, getting into his car and starting it up. He pulls out his cellphone and dials Winona's number.

Willa is always the number one priority

"Hey Winona. Is everythin' alright?" There wasn't any reason why there should be but Raylan's first act was going to be checking up on her and Willa.

"Everythin's fine Raylan, why? Did something happen?"

"No no," he quickly assures. "No, I just- Hey, look, I know it's late but I'd like to stop by for a few minutes."

"Raylan, it's four in the mornin'," she remarks tiredly. "I don't wanna wake Willa either, by movin' around. Can it wait until tomorrow?"

"I just need to see you two. I'll stay up with her if she wakes up, I promise. I told you I wouldn't show up unannounced, and I wanna honor that."

"Don't you have work?"

"Not til later today." Another lie, but a serviceable one. "Please?"

Winona sighs on the other side of the call, put out and annoyed and exhausted. "Fine, but I swear to god, if she starts bitching, you're taking her the rest of the day and I'm gettin' a hotel."

He smiles a little to himself and nods, even if she won't see it.

"I'll even foot the bill, if you want. I'll be there in a bit, I've got the key."

Winona 'mmhmms' her agreement and hangs up on him, leaving him staring at his phone before glancing at his empty passengers seat and throwing his car into gear. Two years away hadn't diminished his memory at all, the twenty minutes flew by, and he even took a minute to enjoy the raw joy of riding around. God had he missed this. He was already looking forward to his first long drive, his first hot, served meal, his first cold beer he doesn't have to do anything other than show up and pay for to get.

Slipping into Winona's house was easy and he didn't bother going to his ex-ex's room, beelining for Willa's nursery and starting what he didn't know would be a lifelong routine of coming in to check on her. She was small, all of 8 months, sprawled on her belly, pacifier loose in her mouth. He wasn't going to disturb her. He wasn't going to disturb her! He just.. had to put a hand that looked too large on her tiny back to feel her breathe steadily. She was small enough that he could feel her heartbeat under his palm, ticking away without a care in the world. Knowing he was going to spend the rest of his life, the rest of his time with her watching her grow into the young lady he loves on the Barge, meant he could push most of the emotion away for right now.

Willa was safe. She was still here, still whole, still perfect.

A touch on his arm brought him out of his reverie and he looked over at Winona with glassy eyes an uneven breath. Her face pinched in concern as she gently guides his arm back from touching Willa. He'd been standing there for nearly ten minutes, and she'd seen him on the nanny cam, but Raylan Givens didn't often look like this and it was worrying for all sorts of reasons.

He hesitates a moment at the door, stealing one last long look at his daughter before closing the door back up. Winona asked him what was wrong, of course, should she be worried, but he assuages her concerns, and she knew better than to push. It was still four in the morning, and he still needed to leave. Torn between wanting nothing but a plate full of greasy diner food and starting to chew his own liver, Raylan opts for the latter.

Standing outside his first story apartment, he considers the windows and the dark empty waiting for him and wishes again that Neal had come with him directly. It felt like as soon as he opened that door and got around to his waiting, his choice became real. It was over. All of it was over and he wasn't sure his life had moved an inch. A million promises made, and the only one he was sure in this exact moment he could rely on was the Admiral's. He wasn't tired at all, despite having been up all day already, and he knew that the closer it got to the next evening, the closer he was to a bottle.

But there was still a spark of faith, of real hope that it would only be a few hours, and then Neal would show up on his doorstep.

He could at least make sure there was a light on and someone waiting for Neal, if he was coming.

..

If not, Raylan was going out for that full stack meal at a reasonable time of day, check in with his job to figure out how many days left he had to kill before he could go do the only thing that never left him as comfort.

A case.

How's My driving

( Permissions Form )

User Name/Nick:Arma
User DW: N/A
E-mail/Plurk/Discord/PM/to a character journal/alternate method of contact: Plurk @ figmented
Other Characters Currently In-Game:N/A

Character Name: Raylan Givens
Series: Justified
Age: 43/44ish
From When?: End of Season 6, post headshot, pre '4 years later'

Warden Justification: Raylan Givens is a skilled, collage graduate of Criminology and long time Marshal and has seen, through his job, various trainings, and his insular upbringing in Harlan County, both the best and the worst that Humanity has to offer. Being a studier of people, Raylan manages to balance his wielding of authority, even if it is to temporarily cast it off to level a playing field, and his empathy for what people feel they might have had to do masterfully to a non-violent resolution. His relationships with the criminal element throughout the vast majority of his canon tilts towards affable and almost friendly, despite the underlying edge that his power and position tend to give to a situation. That edge is often trusted by the same men and women who have been imprisoned by it due to the fact that Raylan is a good man, interested in what is Right in a given situation. Even the death of his Aunt Helen wasn't enough to push him to murder; He values justice over revenge, no matter what that might look like.

Knowing how valuable a little understanding and empathy are, Raylan keeps a casual, easy going personality that tends to disarm some people, lulling some into speaking more openly or barbing others into lashing out with useful information. When pushed or overly annoyed, Raylan's affable mask can turn into cold steel, ready to do what he needs to in order to prove his point, sometimes much to the pained chagrin of his bosses. Raylan also has spent his life working with people in this way, accustomed to devoting most all of his time towards it and living the job. The people that meet the end of his gun are people Raylan is disabling or believes cannot be reasoned with, but he has no issue brandishing or firing his weapon to help control a situation.

While Raylan does believe that there is hope for some and not others, he is also professional enough to (mostly) keep his personal feelings and opinions out of it.

Item: His Blackberry phone if possible please, including all the apps that came with it - Notes, contacts ect.

Abilities/Powers: Raylan is a quick draw gun expert and a veteran investigator. Aside from the subtle People intuition that Raylan has gained over the years, it's his best and only real ability. He can use almost any modern (to his time) gun without issue and has likely practiced with it.

Wardening Strategies and Philosophies: Having grown up where he did with an abusive criminal father, and with a 20 year career as a Marshal on top of that, Raylan has seen people in all sorts of states and ways. He believes that most reasonable people just want a chance to talk and feel heard, no matter how briskly or aggressive that conversation might be had. The Barge will change the job from collection and deposit to a facility to rehabilitation, which means Raylan will adjust how hard line he is about how he approaches people and situations. This philosophy and empathy lets him manipulate people towards opening up with patience and a casual, southern charm drawl. While he is no counselor, his many years of learning and understanding why People make bad, ugly choices, even if he wholeheartedly disagrees, or why people make bad choices to protect the people they love, means that his gut and instinct around them are usually on the spot. 

An endlessly patient man when he's after something, Raylan can be petty to the point of assholishness, but it's all in the service of making or reinforcing a point. People take handling, even if that handling includes having to be chased down.

All that being said, he's not afraid of using his gun to make a point, if all the other avenues fail him. This has included 'winging' his wards, if they force him too and he will kill them if he has to, but it's not something Raylan does lightly. To shoot a man, he has to feel his life is in danger or the person is so reprehensible that there's no other sensical recourse. Raylan has been described as a pain in the ass by the people he hunts down; an unstoppable force that has manners until he doesn't. Used to wielding authority, Raylan has had a lot of practice in the subtle wieldings, including lying to achieve his ends - this extends to his relationship with his own bosses as well. Raylan does what he needs to do, bending rules to meet his own ends. The outright lying happens rarely enough that it doesn't get in the way of the relationship that Raylan has already built, and he does it sparingly, when possible. Raylan weighs his reactions very carefully because of the environment he was raised in, and is a good man, despite being capable of terrible things. His temper is well kept under control to avoid him being anywhere near the realm of Arlo, but as a flawed man, sometimes this effort slips and falters, leading Raylan to headstrong and anger-rash decisions in the name of ending something for good or stopping a cycle.

Deal: Raylan wants security for his daughter, from all the men and madness of his world, specifically, the men and varying madnesses that are looking for Raylan Givens and his family. It doesn't matter to him much how this is achieved, he will make assumptions about the stretch of the Admiral's powers and leave it to the best recourse at the Admiral's discretion.

History: It's been so heavily hashed, might as well -LINK- it.

Sample Journal Entry: [The screen kicked on to show an older man, salt and pepper hair only slightly awry as a white Stetson was removed and set off to the side. Raylan sat back with a sigh and started simply.]

Real nice boat you got here. I gotta admit I'm a little suspicious of the air or how we keep any of it but- [He shrugged with one shoulder, features flicking down in a passing facial shrug.] Guess some things gotta go on trust.

[He tapped his ring on the desk off screen twice before taking a deep breath and continuing.]

This ain't my first rodeo on this kind of job, but I understand things are.. different here. Sure as hell ain't in Kansas anymore but.. Here's hopin' y'all still have good ol' whiskey.

I'm not afraid of work. Or of what I've heard some of our number can do. That bein' said, if anyone can tell me where to requisition more ammo... Otherwise, I suppose, I'll see y'all on the deck.

Sample RP: Sample RP - TDM

Special Notes: I wasn't sure how in depth you guys wanted things, please let me know if elaboration is needed.

( Read more... )

If you need to leave a message under a rock or something, let him know here.

Raylan Givens canon: Justified canon point: Post Canon end [The Village] - Season 3, Episode 5 canon cw: Violence, mentions of child abuse, light drug use. brief bio: Raylan Givens is a 20 year plus Deputy US Marshal veteran, with deadshot shooting skills and a wide reputation for using it. Affably casual to the point of annoyance, Raylan uses his cultivated Southern Charm, edging on authoritative aloofness, and a sharp eye to generally be a pain in the ass to anyone misfortunate enough to find themselves under his mindful attention. Unlucky in love and his personal life in general due to a habit of emotional closure, Raylan is dedicated to his work, followed closely by his hobby of drinking. Once called 'The angriest man' his ex wife had ever known, Raylan's temper is quiet but quick and saved for those that are more appropriately deserving of the righteous lawful justice. He strives to be a good, kind man and mostly succeeds, with a weak spot towards those who cannot defend themselves, seeing too much of his childhood self in them. relationship status: Single, if you don't count his love of whiskey apparent age: Early 40s appearance: A tall man of 6'1, Raylan is lean and athletically built with dark hair that's starting to salt heavily and hazel eyes that wrinkle into amused halfmoon eyes when he laughs. With a strong jaw and a few beauty moles on his face that only intensify his sometimes serious expressions, he fits the cowboy aesthetic of jeans, cowboy boots, and his most recognizable possession - his white stetson hat - with a tragically good looking casual amble. identifying marks; Two moles on his face, two healed gunshot wounds on his chest and right side. Village additions: After being torn to pieces, Raylan now has a lattice work of faint scars like a web over the lower left side of his face. The scars aren't marring, but they are apparent. ABILITIES DeadShot Quickdraw Firearms Expert Mental Acuity & predictive strategy IC PERMISSIONS physical affection: Raylan is not a hugger but if you want to touch his arm or something, you won't get bitten. flirting: He'll take it and give some back too relationships: He's into 'em sex: Yes please. fighting: HAH YES. He's a fist fighter when he scraps and can keep up with his own, most of the time. injury/death: Injury, yes - Death, no. He's human. That tends to be a permanent thing. psychic information: Affable as deflection with a chasm of fury behind his charm, expects some kind of abuse generally speaking and will respond accordingly. triggers: Talking about his mama with any kind of real authority. OOC PERMISSIONS time zone: EST rp style: Generally I do prose, but have no problems matching if someone feels strongly about it. I try to balance narration against conversation, so sometimes I can get wordy, but for good back and forth conversations, I like shorter tags. rp speed: I do the best I can to tag back at least a couple of times a day, but I promise nothing during the week and catch up during the weekends. contact: figmented backtagging: Yes! offensive subjects: Graphic child abuse, sexual child abuse in any form.

For a sizeable state, Kentucky people had a way of getting around. The whole idea of small towns being hard to get out of was eased when you got to travel a little bit, even if you landed back in the same depressing place. Nevermind that most of Kentucky looked that way- people knew people. People saw New people like they were glaring thumbs and now that Raylan had moved, people were seeing him elsewhere. They were seeing Malcolm to, who, for all his good intents, still hadn't rubbed off all of the tells of New York.

The jeans and tshirts were a start.

Raylan knew that, at any given time, there was a chance that someone was watching him. It was a fact of life he'd long come to grips with and with the dust he tended to kick up, it was bound to bring out the brave idiots with something to prove. Malcolm being who he was, it made Raylan only a little nervous to bring him into the scope of trouble, instead of the furious protective scenarios he had to instill in Winona to be sure she'd be safe.

Having left Malcolm in the early mid morning to go to work, Raylan had no idea who it was strolling up to his door.

Three solid but measured polite knocks were rapped on the door around 1pm.

Art was suspicious right off the bat when Raylan took a week off with the express note that his phone would be Out Of Order til the next Monday, but the Chief Marshal wasn't going to look gift horses in the mouth. Not when it suggested he'd have a few days of peace, until Raylan caved to turning his phone back on again. Still, he watched the younger Marshal walk out of the office and promised himself to check into the state of Harlan within 3 days to make sure that the place wasn't on fire. The smoke would reach him before he called, he was sure.

But Art didn't have much to worry about - Raylan had no plans on staying in the state for his vacation, beyond one day spent closing up Arlo's and securing it the best way he could before getting on a plane to New York City. He wanted to surprise Malcolm - it'd been near two months since they'd last seen each other and frankly, Raylan was tired of missing him. They'd called and texted, stayed in a fairly consistent, if odd houred, touch but it wasn't the same.

Once he landed, Raylan rented a car and navigated his way towards Malcolm's apartment, stopping to grab a bouquet of flowers. It was.. Extra, but Raylan didn't want to show up empty handed, just in case. Thirty minutes later, Malcolm's door buzzer was being hit, like Raylan was here to deliver something. Well, he was, but that was half the fun.

[Continued from here]

They'd set a 10 AM meeting time and while this wasn't Raylan's office, being in New York for reasons he wouldn't tell anyone, he'd managed to talk the local Chief into letting him borrow a conference room with a promise that Art Muller would buy him a high shelf drink next time he was in town. He was sure Art would be fine with it.. After a little cussing and swearing at him. The case he had actually been on was still active, but Raylan was waiting for someone to come in from overseas in a few days.

Set with a couple cups of coffee, Raylan (and his hat) looked over Crane's file as he waited for the man to arrive and be shown up. Crane hadn't been lying about his record; a point in the man's favor, but Raylan wasn't sure about him yet. The morning was going to prove to be interesting, if nothing else.

[Continued from: here]

[Raylan took advantage of having several hours to bring his hotel room back into something resembling tidiness, as well as taking a shower and grabbing a nap - Sleep wasn't something anyone got a lot of around Malcolm Whitly, but he'd long learned how to live and work on smaller amounts of sleep.

Dressed but with his button up open and no shoes on his feet, Raylan answered the door with a pull of a smile.] Managed to make it one piece I see. C'mon in. [ He shut the door behind him as he continued.] Flight okay?