Benjamin Goldberg, from The Multiverse, a roleplay on RPG

Though his features are a little too angular, a little too glance-twice to be considered handsome (a prominent once-broken nose, a wide, thin-lipped mobile mouth), he is at least striking. His eyes are a pale, oddly-fragile blue that contrasts with his dark, untidy hair and the near-permanent 5 o'clock shadow about his long jaw. His tall, lean frame is verging on skinny and his clothes; bohemian, thrown-on and often a little tatty, seem to hang off him.

At the age of thirty-four, Ben's appearance has not changed drastically. There are a few more lines about his eyes and almost imperceptable hints of grey fleck the hair at his temples. He has lost the near-skinniness of his twenties, replaced with lean muscle, though he remains slim. Having secured a permanent editorial position at the times, Ben is certainly better paid than he has ever been and, as a consequence, better dressed. Still, years of only just scraping by has made him unconcerned with displays of wealth and his dress is as bohemian as ever.

Personality

Though occasionally sarcastic and often cynical, Ben has an easy demeanour and a willingness to talk common to many good journalists. He is as ease with casual conversation and flirtation but has a tendency to detract from more serious topics (when not involved in a story he is chasing) with humour. He tends not to think about the future, taking each day as it comes and uncomfortable with commitment. However, he has forced himself to step outside of his comfort zone as a result of singularly significant relationships with two different women in two different RP arcs.

Equipment

Never without his notebook or a packet of cigarettes, Ben considers these two things his most essential items. Frequently, however, he can be found with a hip-flask full of the Gin Blossom's finest and his rival/lover/enemy Josephine Levard, whom he generally refers to by her second name. Aside from writing and things that should not be mentioned here, he perhaps enjoys volleying easy banter between the two of them the most.

History

Ben was born in the Bronx, New York City, to recently-emigrated Jewish parents of Czech and Hungarian descent, though his father died when he was very young. The youngest of three siblings; two brothers and a sister, he learnt to fend for himself at an early age. Most of his childhood and adolescence was spent reading, writing (both encouraged by his mother who thought of education highly) and causing trouble with his distant cousin Missy.

His eldest brother, Adam, died in the Great War when Ben was 19. At the age of 20, he began to work his way up the ranks of a career in journalism. When he was 22, his second brother, Paul, died of Spanish Influenza, his mother following shortly afterwards. His sister married a wealthy financier and Ben sees her rarely. He met Jo Levard in 1920, when he was 24, during a prestigious job interview at the times and had a brief fling with her before it emerged that she had won the job.

In one arc, his big break came in 1924 after which he finally secured a permanent position at The New York Times and started an on-off relationship with Jo Levard.

In other arc, he travelled to New Orleans to pursue Dorothy Byrd, a singer working at the Gin Blossom, with whom he had a prematurely ended relationship with. There he became embroiled in the gang-warfare of the Big Easy.

Benjamin Goldberg's Story