baum: (f e a r)
2022-01-03 12:03 pm
Entry tags:

Application for Eastbound

PLAYER NAME: Kerry
CONTACT: [plurk.com profile] halfbloodly
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: Mod referral!

CHARACTER: John Connor
CANON: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
CANON POINT: End of Season 2

BACKGROUND: The Terminator franchise has a number of different movies and variants, set in alternative futures and timelines. The Sarah Connor Chronicles was envisioned as a sequel series to The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day movies, so the events of those movies represent John's past and count as canon for him. The later movies in the franchise take place in alternate timelines, and so are not relevant to this version of John. John's history in the show can be found in full here: Season 1 and Season 2.

In the future, an Artificial Intelligence called Skynet gains sentience, and causes the end of the known world by taking control of humanity's nuclear weapons systems and using them against them. The event is called Judgement Day; it permanently changes the face of the globe, destroying the environment and killing billions of people at once. Those who survive organise into the Resistance, led by John Connor, a charismatic and intelligent strategist who becomes an almost Messianic figure of hope. The machines create a time machine to send infiltration units called Terminators back in time, first to try and kill John's mother Sarah before he's born, and when that failed, to kill him in his childhood. Future John sends protectors back in time to save his own life; first, he knowingly sends his own father, Kyle Reese, back to rescue his mother and ensure that he's born. Then, he sends reprogrammed Terminators back to save his life.

In the Sarah Connor Chronicles, one such Terminator, Cameron, finds John in school and rescues him from the Terminator Cromartie. Together John, Cameron and Sarah decide to travel eight years into the future to try and stop the creation of Skynet and avoid Judgement Day. Cromartie manages to follow them. In the future, the Connors and Cameron take on new identities and work in secret. They are eventually joined by Derek Reese, John's uncle, who has come from the future with the same goal in mind. On John's 16th birthday, their efforts lead them into contact with the criminal Sarkissian, who John kills in order to save Sarah. Cameron then attacks John, after an explosion causes damage that reverts her to her original programming. John is able to remove her chip, but against Sarah's orders re-inserts it, unwilling to see Cameron destroyed.

Thereafter the group moves house and continues their efforts. John, traumatised after what had happened, acts out against his family and starts a relationship with Riley, a girl from school. Meanwhile others from the future arrive; first a dying Resistance fighter, who manages to leave a message which points the Connors to new targets, and secondly, a woman named Jesse with whom Derek is in love. Unknown to any of them, another machine taking the name Catherine Weaver has come back in time to take over the Zeira Corporation, which focuses on making a new AI system of its own. The Connors' targets take them close to Weaver, without their knowledge.

It is eventually revealed that Riley is also from the future, and is following orders from Jesse to seduce John and try to get him away from Cameron. When Riley is killed by Jesse, John reveals that he had suspected the truth for some time. Over the course of the second season, John slowly begins to accept his destiny and embrace the person that he is fated to be. At the very end of the season, the Connors finally encounter Weaver and the AI she is building to combat Skynet. When Cameron allows the AI to take her chip into the future, John makes the choice to follow, leaving his mother behind. He emerges into a version of the future where his name is not known because he had removed himself from the timeline, and the series ends there.

ABILITIES | POWERS:

Computer skills - John is notably proficient with computers. He's shown to like and have an aptitude for technology, and particularly for hacking; he's shown to be able to hack into sophisticated government and police computer systems. He's able to build complex computer viruses with ease, and able to build and repair computer systems. His aptitude is such that even when he travels forward in time, he quickly acclimatises to the new computer systems he encounters, and he is able to break into and read the data stored on the chip of a Terminator from 20 years in his future. John is both gifted and well practiced in this area, a combination that makes him the go-to tech expert throughout his life.

Combat and survival skills - John has been trained in combat since childhood. In Mexico he received paramilitary training, and as a result he's capable when it comes to self-defence. He's highly proficient in the use of firearms and is shown to be an expert marksman. He can use a wide variety of firearms, from simple handguns to shotguns and rifles. He's also experienced in making and using explosives, and knows how to check for traps, make bombs from chemical and mechanical parts, and set bombs. He's also picked up various survival skills with a criminal twist, thanks to generally living outside the law for most of his life; he can pick locks and hot wire cars, and knows how to pick pockets, practice sleight of hand, hack ATMs, and so on. Essentially he has the kind of training that might be expected from a guerilla soldier or a terrorist.

Mechanical skills - as well as being good with computer systems, John is a capable physical mechanic. He understands and can build and repair machines, from small alarm systems to cars, and even complex machines from his future. He helps Cameron (a Terminator from his future) to repair herself when she is damaged. As with his computer skills, John's aptitude extends beyond the machines and systems he is used to; he's shown to learn quickly, and can apply his skills to complex and futuristic systems that he hasn't worked with before.

Strategic mind - John has an intelligent, strategic mind, which comes to the fore throughout the series. To cultivate his skill in strategic thinking, he was taught to play chess from a young age, and retains a strong interest in it, displaying an awareness of current grandmasters and the various techniques and famous plays they have made throughout the years. He tends to think ahead; he is shown to familiarise himself with the local laws and expectations of the places he moves to, in order to exploit legal loopholes when needed. He's quietly analytical, watching the people around him and picking up on subtle cues that indicate they are not who they say they are. John won't always call them on their lies, but will play a long game to discover what their plans are, again showing his aptitude for strategy and tendency to treat the situations he's faced with like a game of chess.

Languages - John's native language is English. Thanks to spending parts of his childhood in Mexico, he speaks fluent Spanish (with an American accent). He is good enough to hold detailed conversations with native speakers.

PERSONALITY: John Connor has led a life like few others. From his childhood, his mother Sarah told him stories of a Judgment Day, when an Artificial Intelligence called Skynet would become self-aware and target the human population of Earth with nuclear weapons. In the war against the machines that followed John Connor would be a Messianic figure, loved and respected as the leader of the human resistance who would one day defeat the machines. His importance was such that the machines sent Terminators back through time to try and kill John before he could become their enemy.

John has a complex relationship with machines; although he is destined to be their enemy, he gives them more of a benefit of the doubt than the rest of his family. He is more willing to trust them, and more willing to work with them, despite the majority of the machines he's encountered being the kind who want to kill him. This is due to two very significant relationships with reprogrammed Terminators during his young life. The first became a pseudo-father figure for John in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. During The Sarah Connor Chronicles, John develops a strong attachment to the Terminator Cameron, for whom he cares very deeply. John is shown to trust and rely on Cameron, regularly sticking up for her when other characters are wary of her. Even after she is damaged and reverts to her original programming, John can't bring himself to destroy her; he re-inserts the chip (which he has tried to repair) in the hope that she will not try to kill him again, despite having no proof that his efforts have worked. After this event, John and Cameron's close relationship suffers, though it is not because John loses trust in Cameron - it is because she says that he cannot be trusted after risking himself to reactivate her. John takes this personally, holding a grudge against Cameron for some time. In spite of that, when he finds that she's been hoarding coltan for repairs, he tries to cover for her to Sarah. John's attachment to Cameron is a worry for Sarah, and certain sections of the Resistance in the future. Despite Jesse and Riley's attempts to drive a wedge between them, John ends the series closer to Cameron than ever, and is willing to risk everything to save her by travelling through time to try and get her back. Despite insisting several times that he knows Cameron, as a machine, cannot truly have feelings he spends a great deal of time trying to understand her, and is more willing to accept there may be a deeper level to her than anyone else. This is complicated even further by the knowledge that the machines are sent to John by his own future self, meaning that he is helping to cultivate their impact on himself. It's clear that Cameron means a great deal to John, both in the present and in the future; whether this is ultimately a good and healthy relationship remains to be seen.

The burden of his future weighs heavily on John's young shoulders. Throughout his life, John has seen the people who get close to him die just because he is in their lives. It is hammered into him, both by Sarah and by those who come from the future to protect him, that his life is what matters; he must be saved at all costs, because he will one day save everyone else. In the meantime, what John sees is a string of people either murdered because of him, or ready to sacrifice themselves for him. Derek tells John with some regularity that everyone in the Human Resistance would die for him, and many of them do. John is shown to deeply value human life, and is very upset when he witnesses a suicide at close quarters, and sees a Terminator kill people in front of him.

John is a lonely boy. Due to how often he and his mother have moved around, he has always found it hard to make and retain friendships with his peers. Even where he is able to make temporary friendships, he is not able to tell anyone who he really is. There is a part of John that would love to have a normal life; that would love to just go to school, hang out with friends, and think about what his life might be like if things were different.

As part of this, John wants a real family. He is extremely close to his mother, having spent most of his life only with her. Sarah is someone that John trusts implicitly, particularly after they were hunted by the T-1000 in his childhood. He has strong affection for her which is maintained throughout his life, with Cameron telling her that the John of her future still calls Sarah the best soldier he's ever known, despite him leading an army at that point. He is trained to protect himself, and knows to escape at all costs when he encounters a Terminator, but John regularly ignores this directive to save Sarah. Even when he knows she is being used against him, he struggles with leaving her in danger. He will always fight for her, and knows that she will always fight for him.

Despite this strong bond, John does struggle with the lack of other people in his life. He's very upset when Sarah abandons her relationship with Charley Dixon, who has become a father figure to John. Ultimately he still leaves with Sarah, but he reaches out to Charley more than once against her wishes, and when he discovers that Derek Reese is his uncle, he takes risks to keep him in his life. He displays the desire for stability in a world that's always changing, even going as far as to keep secret that a Terminator had come to his school searching for him so that Sarah would not move them on again.

This moment also showcases John's propensity for taking risks. His mother is cautious by nature; her focus is always on protecting and preparing John, and ensuring that their actions do not put him in any more danger than he needs to be. John plays somewhat more fast and loose with his own safety. John is more willing than Sarah to strike against the machines now, and try to stop Judgment Day from happening in the first place. He is seen to take risks with his own life early in the series, when he sneaks into the warehouse with the coltan despite both Sarah and Cameron saying it was too dangerous. While Sarah was horrified, Cameron was used to a future version of John who does such things regularly.

John's recklessness increases as the series goes on, and becomes more prominent after he develops PTSD following the death of Sarkissian. He begins to display behaviour which is likened to that of a war veteran; it's noted that he will check his exits when he enters a new room, and he becomes more intemperate, aggressive and rebellious. His desire to live his own life, unfettered by the demands of a terrible future, leads him to pursue a friendship and later a romance with Riley, a girl that he meets at school. Despite Sarah, Derek and Cameron all warning him about the dangers of it, John insists on keeping Riley in his life. More than once, he puts himself at risk of being caught by the Terminator Cromartie while separated from his protectors, and yet he keeps doing it. He also takes an enormous risk when he chooses to reactivate Cameron after she reverts to her Skynet programming and tries to kill him; he has no proof that his attempt to repair her has worked, but he still can't bring himself to destroy her and even holds his family at gunpoint to prevent them from stopping him. John is willing to take risks that other people wouldn't, even when he's advised against it and even when it directly puts his life in danger.

John also struggles to connect with the vast majority of other teens. Even before he kills Sarkissian, John has few friends; he's shown standing up for kids who are bullied, which alienates him from more popular crowds, and he tends to be drawn to and more interested in other loners. When he arrives at a teen house party, he's notably frustrated by the atmosphere of the place, and only wants Riley to leave with him; he has no interest in staying, and his PTSD appears to be triggered by the other kids pressuring him into playing video games (which, due to his lifestyle, he has never done and isn't good at). He quickly becomes aggressive, resulting in the other kids rejecting him. This moment, when he also seems frustrated and irritable with Riley for the first time, shows the distinct contrast between John and other teens his age; his experiences have made him more serious and more troubled than most of them, particularly as the weight of his responsibility gets heavier.

This is also the first sign that his relationship with Riley is not all it seems. After her death, it's revealed that John not only knew that Riley was not what she appeared to be, but that he had decided not to call her on her deception and put an end to what was going on between them. As a result, Riley's death weighs heavily on him. By this point, however, John has begun to accept the weight of responsibility that the future lays on him, and has begun to accept his destiny, rather than trying to run away from it. When he confronts Jesse, she realises that John is not trying to run away from his future; he's trying, deliberately, to turn into the man that the future needs him to be. John's trauma has matured him; he's no longer a boy looking for a way to escape a destiny that he cant handle. He's a man, willing to carry the burden of the future even when it hurts him.

Throughout the series, John is shown to have a brilliant strategic mind. He's an intelligent, thoughtful, and serious person despite his youth. He has an aptitude for tactics; part of his training involved learning to play chess, and he maintains a strong interest in the sport. He's also a quick thinker; when he and Sarah's presence in LA is questioned, John reveals that he has done research into legal particulars which give him ready answers for questions that appear to take Sarah by surprise. He has a tendency to keep his own counsel, particularly after struggling with PTSD; he keeps more to himself, and opens up far less to Sarah than she is used to. He doesn't tell anyone about his suspicions regarding Riley, instead choosing to investigate her for himself and make his own judgment about what should be done. This may in part be a reaction against his family's tendency to make decisions for him; John is increasingly prepared to make his own choices and live with the consequences of them. However, he does not do so without thinking about those consequences; he weighs them up and decides to take them anyway, though he is still young, and his decisions are not always the right ones. Despite that, it is already possible to see the John who approaches his life as though it's a game of chess; not everyone always agrees with the moves he makes, but more and more, he's willing to make them whether others approve or not, and he's willing to take responsibility if they're wrong.

SAMPLE: One; Two; Three.

INVENTORY:
  • As well as the clothes on his back (a leather jacket, jeans, combat boots and several t-shirts layered over each other), John's items will be the following:
  • A hand gun (Glock 17)
  • An couple of extra ammunition clips
  • A picture of his mother


NOTES: John is unlikely to use his real name in game. His 'John Baum' identity was blown at the end of the series, so if possible, he would adopt a different name; he'll call himself John Dixon, taking the surname of his surrogate father Charley Dixon.

IF ACCEPTED, WOULD YOU WANT A PLOT-LIGHT OR PLOT-HEAVY CUSTOM INTRO? Plot-light works for me!
baum: (m o u t h)
2022-01-03 12:01 pm

Activity

2022

January 4 January | Network Post | John introduces himself. 4 January | Network Thread | John offers to help with lookouts. 5 January | Network Thread | John talks about food. 12 January | Network Thread | John talks to a girl who disappeared. 12 January | Log Threads | Event: Marcos, Five, Akira, Eleven. February 3 February | Network Thread | John welcomes Ben. 3 February | Network Post | John and Kaneki post about their findings.
March April
May June
July August
September October
November December
baum: (d i s c u s s)
2021-05-16 07:09 pm
Entry tags:

Activity

2021




May

22 May | Log Threads | INTRO: Childe, Sam, Matthias, Nina.
Ian, Nate, Banshee.
27 May | Network Threads | John talks to Natasha and Nina.


June

5 June | Network Thread | John approves of Ian's programming work.*
7 June | Network Thread | John tries to find out what Alex's deal is.
14 June | Network Thread | John wants to go to the meeting.
18 June | Network Post | John talks about the mole invaders.*

July

7 July | Network Thread | John talks to Jonathan about war.
9 July | Log Threads | HATCHING: Bucky, Vidar*
12 July | Network Thread | John talks to Natasha about a special project.
17 July | Network Thread | John talks to Sam about the Adamant.

August



September



October



November




December



baum: (Default)
2021-05-16 05:42 pm
Entry tags:

IC Inbox



▶ VIDEO ✆ AUDIO ✎ TEXT
baum: (l i p s)
2021-05-03 09:16 am
Entry tags:

Application for Ethyraia

Player;

NAME: Kerry
AGE: 35
PRONOUNS: She/her
CONTACT: [plurk.com profile] halfbloodly
OTHER CHARACTERS PLAYED: 0

Character;


CHARACTER NAME: John Connor (but he'll call himself John Baum)
CANON: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
CANON POINT: The end of Season 2, Episode 6
BACKGROUND/HISTORY:

The Terminator franchise has a number of different movies and variants, set in alternative futures and timelines. The Sarah Connor Chronicles was envisioned as a sequel series to The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day movies, so the events of those movies represent John's past and count as canon for him. The later movies in the franchise take place in alternate timelines, and so are not relevant to this version of John.

In the future, an Artificial Intelligence called Skynet gains sentience, and causes the end of the known world by taking control of humanity's nuclear weapons systems and using them against them. The event is called Judgement Day; it permanently changes the face of the globe, destroying the environment and killing billions of people at once. Those who survive organise into the Resistance, led by John Connor, a charismatic and intelligent strategist who becomes an almost Messianic figure of hope. The machines create a time machine to send infiltration units called Terminators back in time, first to try and kill John's mother Sarah before he's born, and when that failed, to kill him in his childhood. Future John sends protectors back in time to save his own life; first, he knowingly sends his own father, Kyle Reese, back to rescue his mother and ensure that he's born. Then, he sends reprogrammed Terminators back to save his life.

In the Sarah Connor Chronicles, one such Terminator, Cameron, finds John in school and rescues him from the Terminator Cromartie. Together John, Cameron and Sarah decide to travel eight years into the future to try and stop the creation of Skynet and avoid Judgement Day. Cromartie manages to follow them. In the future, the Connors and Cameron take on new identities and work in secret. They are eventually joined by Derek Reese, John's uncle, who has come from the future with the same goal in mind. On John's 16th birthday, their efforts lead them into contact with the criminal Sarkissian, who John kills in order to save Sarah. Cameron then attacks John, after an explosion causes damage that reverts her to her original programming. John is able to remove her chip, but against Sarah's orders re-inserts it, unwilling to see Cameron destroyed.

Thereafter the group moves house and continues their efforts. John, traumatised after what had happened, acts out against his family and starts a relationship with Riley, a girl from school. Meanwhile others from the future arrive; first a dying Resistance fighter, who manages to leave a message which points the Connors to new targets, and secondly, a woman named Jesse with whom Derek is in love. Unknown to any of them, another machine taking the name Catherine Weaver has come back in time to take over the Zeira Corporation, which focuses on making a new AI system of its own. The Connors' targets take them close to Weaver, without their knowledge. At present, the major enemy they are aware of remains Cromartie.

PREVIOUS GAME HISTORY: N/A

PERSONALITY:

The burden of his future weighs heavily on John. He sees the people who get close to him die because he is in their lives. He is taught that his life is what matters, because he will one day save everyone. John deeply values human life, and each person who dies around him is an added weight. He's lonely, since he can't allow people to know anything real about him. He struggles to connect with other teens, and has little family. He's extremely close to his mother, having spent most of his life only with her. When other family members appear, he attaches to them; he's very upset when Sarah wants to leave her fiance Charley, and he takes risks to keep Derek alive after discovering that he's his uncle.

John has a complex relationship with machines, due to significant relationships with reprogrammed Terminators sent by his future self to protect him. The first became a father figure when he was twelve, and the second is Cameron, to whom he is fiercely loyal. He was initially unwavering in trusting her, but their relationship suffers after he re-inserts her chip, and she says that he cannot be trusted after risking himself. John takes this personally, holding a grudge for some time, and verbally lashing out at Cameron when she disapproves of his decisions. In spite of that, he still protects and covers for her when her system glitches. Their relationship showcases how badly John wants companionship.

John is someone who takes risks. He's decisive and reckless, willing to endanger himself despite his importance to the future. He's strategically minded, but often decides the reward is worth the risk. He keeps his own counsel, only taking advice when he seeks it out. Others complain of this same thing when they talk about Future John; they don't always like his decisions, but what he says goes. Present John's decisions aren't yet trusted, and he doesn't always get them right. He's more focused than people give him credit for, however; there are hints of the strategist he will one day be.

A major feature of John's personality is his PTSD, which developed after he killed Sarkissian. He skips school, becoming more aggressive and rebellious. Growing frustrated with his limited control over his life, his relationship with Sarah grows particularly strained and he starts to look for bonds outside his family - particularly in Riley. John increasingly takes risks to see her, and won't listen when advised otherwise. He got low enough to attempt suicide, changing his mind at the last moment. He knows that he's struggling, and when he has the opportunity to speak to a psychiatrist, he reveals that he wants to escape all the time.

John's trauma will mature him, but he's not there yet. He's struggling with the weight of his burden, not sure whether he wants to run away from or towards the person he's supposed to become. Right now, he's trying to do both, and failing to do either.

SUITABILITY:

John's whole life has essentially been a survival game. From an early age he was told about the future ahead of him: he will lead the human resistance in a war against the machines, where the stakes are the survival of the human race. Knowing what was in store for John, his mother ensured that he was trained from an early age. He's used to living off the grid and either out of the system completely, or inside it under a fake name. John is used to operating under a fake name and with fake details; he's used to memorising cover stories and hiding in plain sight. He's trained with paramilitary groups and learned how to properly handle firearms and explosives of various kinds. He can defend himself, and he's an expert marksman, at one point shown to be a better shot than young men of a similar age attending military school.

On top of this, John has a strong strategic mind, fostered by part of his training being focused on learning chess as a child. Additionally, much of his training took place in Mexico's jungles, wherein he was sleeping rough with a hand on his rifle. This means he knows how to survive without much shelter. He's also used to leaving places in a hurry, with only a bag's worth of possessions and at short notice. The totality of his experience will leave him well-equipped to deal with the demands of a survival situation.

John's computer skills may also come in handy. He's an advanced hacker, shown to be able to hack into police and government systems without much trouble. He's also able (with the right equipment) to hack into more advanced AI systems from the future, despite the technology level being well beyond what he's used to. On top of that he's a capable mechanic and fixer. He knows his way around a toolbox and is very comfortable with working with his hands. This means he'll be a good person to have around the dragon; he'll make a decent repairman, and he'll want to make himself useful.

ABILITIES/SKILLS:

Computer skills - John is notably proficient with computers. He's shown to like and have an aptitude for technology, and particularly for hacking; he's shown to be able to hack into sophisticated government and police computer systems. He's able to build complex computer viruses with ease, and able to build and repair computer systems. His aptitude is such that even when he travels forward in time, he quickly acclimatises to the new computer systems he encounters, and he is able to break into and read the data stored on the chip of a Terminator from 20 years in his future. John is both gifted and well practiced in this area, a combination that makes him the go-to tech expert throughout his life.

Combat and survival skills - John has been trained in combat since childhood. In Mexico he received paramilitary training, and as a result he's capable when it comes to self-defence. He's highly proficient in the use of firearms and is shown to be an expert marksman. He can use a wide variety of firearms, from simple handguns to shotguns and rifles. He's also experienced in making and using explosives, and knows how to check for traps, make bombs from chemical and mechanical parts, and set bombs. He's also picked up various survival skills with a criminal twist, thanks to generally living outside the law for most of his life; he can pick locks and hot wire cars, and knows how to pick pockets, practice sleight of hand, hack ATMs, and so on. Essentially he has the kind of training that might be expected from a guerilla soldier or a terrorist.

Mechanical skills - as well as being good with computer systems, John is a capable physical mechanic. He understands and can build and repair machines, from small alarm systems to cars, and even complex machines from his future. He helps Cameron (a Terminator from his future) to repair herself when she is damaged. As with his computer skills, John's aptitude extends beyond the machines and systems he is used to; he's shown to learn quickly, and can apply his skills to complex and futuristic systems that he hasn't worked with before.

Strategic mind - John has an intelligent, strategic mind, which comes to the fore throughout the series. To cultivate his skill in strategic thinking, he was taught to play chess from a young age, and retains a strong interest in it, displaying an awareness of current grandmasters and the various techniques and famous plays they have made throughout the years. He tends to think ahead; he is shown to familiarise himself with the local laws and expectations of the places he moves to, in order to exploit legal loopholes when needed. He's quietly analytical, watching the people around him and picking up on subtle cues that indicate they are not who they say they are. John won't always call them on their lies, but will play a long game to discover what their plans are, again showing his aptitude for strategy and tendency to treat the situations he's faced with like a game of chess.

Languages - John's native language is English. Thanks to spending parts of his childhood in Mexico, he speaks fluent Spanish (with an American accent). He is good enough to hold detailed conversations with native speakers.

INVENTORY: As well as the clothes on his back (a leather jacket, jeans, combat boots and several t-shirts layered over each other), John's items will be the following:


Samples;


SAMPLE ONE: Communication
SAMPLE TWO: Thinking
SAMPLE THREE: Conflict
baum: (Default)
2021-03-21 10:05 am
Entry tags:

Character Information




John Connor
The Sarah Connor Chronicles
"If you pretend not to know me I might shoot you in the head."
LAWFUL████████████CHAOTIC
PRUDENT████████████RECKLESS
SELFLESS█████████████SELF-SERVING
EMOTIONAL█████████████LOGICAL
TRUSTING█████████████SUSPICIOUS
HONEST████████████DECEITFUL
AGREEABLE█████████████DISAGREEABLE
INTROVERTED█████████████EXTRAVERTED
ENERGETIC█████████████PASSIVE
IC Info
NAME: John Connor
CANON: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
CANON POINT: End of Season 2
AGE: 17
GENDER: Male
SPECIES: Human
HOMETOWN: Los Angeles
PIERCINGS: None.
TATTOOS: No notable tattoos or markings. Some scars, he's been beaten up a lot.

APPEARANCE: He looks like this!
FASHION: Casual and a bit distressed, with a hint of something military - he wears a lot of muted colours, heavy boots, and leather jackets/combat jackets. He tends to accessorise with firearms.
DEMEANOUR: He often seems tense; tight shoulders and watchful eyes. He has a habit of checking the exits of every room he goes into and he rarely seems completely relaxed. He has the kind of look that seems like he might take off at any moment.
LANGUAGES: English. Also fluent in Spanish but has an American accent.
OLFACTORY: Most of the time he just smells clean. If he's been in a fight, he'll smell of gunpowder.

FRIENDSHIP: John is surface-level friendly to almost everyone. Getting closer to him can be difficult, since he has a lot of secrets and keeps most people out of them by default. He's a lonely person, though he doesn't want to be.
KISSING: Go ahead! He won't return it unless he has feelings for you, and that's not the easiest thing with him.
HUGGING: Go ahead! If he knows you well and you're a friend, he'll hug you!
SEX: Let's discuss! To note: he's 17. He's not without experience, but he's not the type to go for casual sex, either.
ROMANCE: It's possible but won't be easy! He just got out of a relationship that went spectacularly badly. Even if he hadn't, John doesn't trust easily. It'll only work out if your character is okay with him being evasive/lying about pretty much all of his past.
TELEPATHY: He has no way to stop it, so go ahead! Talk to me first so I can let you know what they'd pick up from him.
POWERS: None.
TRIGGERS: He has some trauma, which manifests in anger issues and sometimes violence. Generally it comes out when he's coming to the defence of someone he cares about. If you start a physical fight with John, he'll probably end it.
FIGHTING: Sure! John's had extensive training both in physical combat and in use of weapons. Also, he has some anger issues, and may escalate an argument into violence.
INJURY: Go ahead! Talk to me first if it's anything more serious than cuts/bruises, though.
DEATH: Please don't.
OOC Info
TIMEZONE: GMT
DISCORD: halfbloodly#7361
PLURK: [plurk.com profile] halfbloodly
DREAMWIDTH: [personal profile] halfbloodly
BACKTAGGING: I'm happy to! Though if we've been backtagging the same thread for months, I may eventually have to ask you to wrap it up.
THREADJACKING: Please do, so long as anyone else involved is cool with it.
FOURTHWALLING: I don't mind. John's used to people knowing who he is!
TRIGGERS: Please warn me first if you're going to talk about either excessive gore/body horror/torture, or animal cruelty. Other than that, I'm cool with most things.
baum: (Default)
2021-02-15 01:01 am

Thread Tracking

2021




January



February

15 February | Network Thread | John talks to Aeryn Sun.
15 February | Log Threads | Intro Log: Top level, Aeryn,
Ellie, Dick, Kavinsky*.
20 February | Network Thread | John talks to Simon about paint.
22 February | Network Thread | Nate talks to Rey about work.
23 February | Network Threads | America Discussion: Top level,
Dean*, Clarke, Thor, Cassian.
24 February | Network Thread | John offers to help improve the Safehouse.
24 January | Network Post | John posts about empathy, powers and job hunting.

March

1 March | Network Thread | John talks to Kavinsky about explosives.*
4 March | Log Thread | John talks to Dick about powers.*
6 March | Log Thread | John talks accommodation with Simon.
14 March | Log Thread | Arrival Log: Arkham Jason.
14 March | Log Thread | John gets pulled into Ellie's dream.
15 March | Network Thread | John talks to Ronan about Kavinsky and checks in on K.


April



May



June



July


August



September



October



November




December



baum: (t i l t)
2021-02-10 08:46 pm

Power Permissions

John's Blue Power in Meadowlark is Electromagnetic Manipulation. At a basic level, he can sense electromagnetic fields. This is a passive ability, so John is not able to turn it on and off; it's always operating.

He can sense, for example, the weak bioelectric fields generated by living beings and can locate them through that, as well as being able to tell where large, powerful machines are based on the strength of the electromagnetic field they give off. His power works within a 30ft radius.

I would be very grateful if you could fill in the following:

baum: (Default)
2021-02-10 08:07 pm
Entry tags:

HMD

Name: Kerry
Plurk: [plurk.com profile] halfbloodly
Disco: halfbloodly#7361


How am I doing with John? Comments and feedback are welcome.
Anon is on | IP logging is off | Screening is off.
baum: (Default)
2021-02-10 08:04 pm

Inbox


@john.dixon | ■ ▲ ◌ ▼

baum: (h a p p y)
2021-01-18 10:46 pm

Application for Meadowlark

> PLAYER INFORMATION
NAME: Kerry
PRONOUNS: She/her
AGE: 35
CONTACT: [plurk.com profile] halfbloodly

> CHARACTER INFORMATION
NAME: John Connor (though he will call himself John Dixon, taking the surname of the man he views as a father figure).
CANON: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
AGE: 17
CANON POINT:

HISTORY: Wiki link! To note - the Terminator franchise has a number of different movies and variants, set in alternative futures and timelines. The Sarah Connor Chronicles was envisioned as a sequel series to The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day movies, so the events of those movies represent John's past and count as canon for him. The later movies in the franchise are considered to take place in alternate timelines, and so they are not directly relevant to this version of John.

PERSONALITY:

John Connor has led a life like few others. From his childhood, his mother Sarah told him stories of a Judgment Day, when an Artificial Intelligence called Skynet would become self-aware and target the human population of Earth with nuclear weapons. In the war against the machines that followed John Connor would be a Messianic figure, loved and respected as the leader of the human resistance who would one day defeat the machines. His importance was such that the machines sent Terminators back through time to try and kill John before he could become their enemy.

John has a complex relationship with machines; although he is destined to be their enemy, he gives them more of a benefit of the doubt than the rest of his family. He is more willing to trust them, and more willing to work with them, despite the majority of the machines he's encountered being the kind who want to kill him. This is due to two very significant relationships with reprogrammed Terminators during his young life. The first became a pseudo-father figure for John in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. During The Sarah Connor Chronicles, John develops a strong attachment to the Terminator Cameron, for whom he cares very deeply. John is shown to trust and rely on Cameron, regularly sticking up for her when other characters are wary of her. Even after she is damaged and reverts to her original programming, John can't bring himself to destroy her; he re-inserts the chip (which he has tried to repair) in the hope that she will not try to kill him again, despite having no proof that his efforts have worked. After this event, John and Cameron's close relationship suffers, though it is not because John loses trust in Cameron - it is because she says that he cannot be trusted after risking himself to reactivate her. John takes this personally, holding a grudge against Cameron for some time. In spite of that, when he finds that she's been hoarding coltan for repairs, he tries to cover for her to Sarah. John's attachment to Cameron is a worry for Sarah, and certain sections of the Resistance in the future. Despite Jesse and Riley's attempts to drive a wedge between them, John ends the series closer to Cameron than ever, and is willing to risk everything to save her by travelling through time to try and get her back. Despite insisting several times that he knows Cameron, as a machine, cannot truly have feelings he spends a great deal of time trying to understand her, is more willing to accept there may be a deeper level to her than anyone else. This is complicated even further by the knowledge that the machines are sent to John by his own future self, meaning that he is helping to cultivate their impact on himself. It's clear that Cameron means a great deal to John, both in the present and in the future; whether this is ultimately a good and healthy relationship remains to be seen.

The burden of his future weighs heavily on John's young shoulders. Throughout his life, John has seen the people who get close to him die just because he is in their lives. It is hammered into him, both by Sarah and by those who come from the future to protect him, that his life is what matters; he must be saved at all costs, because he will one day save everyone else. In the meantime, what John sees is a string of people either murdered because of him, or ready to sacrifice themselves for him. Derek tells John with some regularity that everyone in the Human Resistance would die for him, and many of them do. John is shown to deeply value human life, and is very upset when he witnesses a suicide at close quarters, and sees a Terminator kill people in front of him.

John is a lonely boy. Due to how often he and his mother have moved around, he has always found it hard to make and retain friendships with his peers. Even where he is able to make temporary friendships, he is not able to tell anyone who he really is. There is a part of John that would love to have a normal life; that would love to just go to school, hang out with friends, and think about what his life might be like if things were different.

As part of this, John wants a real family. He is extremely close to his mother, having spent most of his life only with her. Sarah is someone that John trusts implicitly, particularly after they were hunted by the T-1000 in his childhood. He has strong affection for her which is maintained throughout his life, with Cameron telling her that the John of her future still calls Sarah the best soldier he's ever known, despite him leading an army at that point. He is trained to protect himself, and knows to escape at all costs when he encounters a Terminator, but John regularly ignores this directive to save Sarah. Even when he knows she is being used against him, he struggles with leaving her in danger. He will always fight for her, and knows that she will always fight for him.

Despite this strong bond, John does struggle with the lack of other people in his life. He's very upset when Sarah abandons her relationship with Charley Dixon, who has become a father figure to John. Ultimately he still leaves with Sarah, but he reaches out to Charley more than once against her wishes, and when he discovers that Derek Reese is his uncle, he takes risks to keep him in his life. He displays the desire for stability in a world that's always changing, even going as far as to keep secret that a Terminator had come to his school searching for him so that Sarah would not move them on again.

This moment also showcases John's propensity for taking risks. His mother is cautious by nature; her focus is always on protecting and preparing John, and ensuring that their actions do not put him in any more danger than he needs to be. John plays somewhat more fast and loose with his own safety. John is more willing than Sarah to strike against the machines now, and try to stop Judgment Day from happening in the first place. He is seen to take risks with his own life early in the series, when he sneaks into the warehouse with the coltan despite both Sarah and Cameron saying it was too dangerous. While Sarah was horrified, Cameron was used to a future version of John who does such things regularly.

John's recklessness increases as the series goes on, and becomes more prominent after he develops PTSD following the death of Sarkissian. He begins to display behaviour which is likened to that of a war veteran; it's noted that he will check his exits when he enters a new room, and he becomes more intemperate, aggressive and rebellious. His desire to live his own life, unfettered by the demands of a terrible future, leads him to pursue a friendship and later a romance with Riley, a girl that he meets at school. Despite Sarah, Derek and Cameron all warning him about the dangers of it, John insists on keeping Riley in his life. More than once, he puts himself at risk of being caught by the Terminator Cromartie while separated from his protectors, and yet he keeps doing it. He also takes an enormous risk when he chooses to reactivate Cameron after she reverts to her Skynet programming and tries to kill him; he has no proof that his attempt to repair her has worked, but he still can't bring himself to destroy her and even holds his family at gunpoint to prevent them from stopping him. John is willing to take risks that other people wouldn't, even when he's advised against it and even when it directly puts his life in danger.

John also struggles to connect with the vast majority of other teens. Even before he kills Sarkissian, John has few friends; he's shown standing up for kids who are bullied, which alienates him from more popular crowds, and he tends to be drawn to and more interested in other loners. When he arrives at a teen house party, he's notably frustrated by the atmosphere of the place, and only wants Riley to leave with him; he has no interest in staying, and his PTSD appears to be triggered by the other kids pressuring him into playing video games (which, due to his lifestyle, he has never done and isn't good at). He quickly becomes aggressive, resulting in the other kids rejecting him. This moment, when he also seems frustrated and irritable with Riley for the first time, shows the distinct contrast between John and other teens his age; his experiences have made him more serious and more troubled than most of them, particularly as the weight of his responsibility gets heavier.

This is also the first sign that his relationship with Riley is not all it seems. After her death, it's revealed that John not only knew that Riley was not what she appeared to be, but that he had decided not to call her on her deception and put an end to what was going on between them. As a result, Riley's death weighs heavily on him. By this point, however, John has begun to accept the weight of responsibility that the future lays on him, and has begun to accept his destiny, rather than trying to run away from it. When he confronts Jesse, she realises that John is not trying to run away from his future; he's trying, deliberately, to turn into the man that the future needs him to be. John's trauma has matured him; he's no longer a boy looking for a way to escape a destiny that he cant handle. He's a man, willing to carry the burden of the future even when it hurts him.

Throughout the series, John is shown to have a brilliant strategic mind. He's an intelligent, thoughtful, and serious person despite his youth. He has an aptitude for tactics; part of his training involved learning to play chess, and he maintains a strong interest in the sport. He's also a quick thinker; when he and Sarah's presence in LA is questioned, John reveals that he has done research into legal particulars which give him ready answers for questions that appear to take Sarah by surprise. He has a tendency to keep his own counsel, particularly after struggling with PTSD; he keeps more to himself, and opens up far less to Sarah than she is used to. He doesn't tell anyone about his suspicions regarding Riley, instead choosing to investigate her for himself and make his own judgment about what should be done. This may in part be a reaction against his family's tendency to make decisions for him; John is increasingly prepared to make his own choices and live with the consequences of them. However, he does not do so without thinking about those consequences; he weighs them up and decides to take them anyway, though he is still young, and his decisions are not always the right ones. Despite that, it is already possible to see the John who approaches his life as though it's a game of chess; not everyone always agrees with the moves he makes, but more and more, he's willing to make them whether others approve or not, and he's willing to take responsibility if they're wrong.

CRAU: N/A

SPECIES: Human
APPEARANCE: Link!
SKILLS:

Computer skills - John is notably proficient with computers. He's shown to like and have an aptitude for technology, and particularly for hacking; he's shown to be able to hack into sophisticated government and police computer systems. He's able to build complex computer viruses with ease, and able to build and repair computer systems. His aptitude is such that even when he travels forward in time, he quickly acclimatises to the new computer systems he encounters, and he is able to break into and read the data stored on the chip of a Terminator from 20 years in his future. John is both gifted and well practiced in this area, a combination that makes him the go-to tech expert throughout his life.

Combat and survival skills - John has been trained in combat since childhood. In Mexico he received paramilitary training, and as a result he's capable when it comes to self-defence, and highly proficient in the use of firearms and is shown to be an expert marksman. He can use a wide variety of firearms, from simple handguns to shotguns and rifles. He's also experienced in making and using explosives, and knows how to check for traps, make bombs from chemical and mechanical parts, and set bombs. He's also picked up various survival skills with a criminal twist, thanks to generally living outside the law for most of his life; he can pick locks and hot wire cars, and knows how to pick pockets, practice sleight of hand, hack ATMs, and so on. Essentially he has the kind of training that might be expected from a guerilla soldier or a terrorist.

Mechanical skills - as well as being good with computer systems, John is a capable physical mechanic. He understands and can build and repair machines, from small alarm systems to cars, and even complex machines from his future. He helps Cameron (a Terminator from his future) to repair herself when she is damaged. As with his computer skills, John's aptitude extends beyond the machines and systems he is used to; he's shown to learn quickly, and can apply his skills to complex and futuristic systems that he hasn't worked with before.

Strategic mind - John has an intelligent, strategic mind, which comes to the fore throughout the series. To cultivate his skill in strategic thinking, he was taught to play chess from a young age, and retains a strong interest in it, displaying an awareness of current grandmasters and the various techniques and famous plays they have made throughout the years. He tends to think ahead; he is shown to familiarise himself with the local laws and expectations of the places he moves to, in order to exploit legal loopholes when needed. He's quietly analytical, watching the people around him and picking up on subtle cues that indicate they are not who they say they are. John won't always call them on their lies, but will play a long game to discover what their plans are, again showing his aptitude for strategy and tendency to treat the situations he's faced with like a game of chess.

Languages - John's native language is English. Thanks to spending parts of his childhood in Mexico, he speaks fluent Spanish (with an American accent). He is good enough to hold detailed conversations with native speakers.

NEW POWER:

John's Blue Power will be Electromagnetism Manipulation. At a basic level he will be able to attract and repel metals/conductive materials, and will be able to sense electromagnetic fields. The ability to sense disturbances will be a passive ability; he would be able to sense, for example, the weak bioelectric fields generated by living beings and be able to locate them through that, as well as being able to tell where large, powerful machines are based on the strength of the electromagnetic field they give off. Where this power impacts other characters, I will operate a permissions post.

At this point, he will not be able to magnetise or demagnetise objects with his powers - he would only be able to attract or repel objects that were already conductive. He will also not yet be able to create new, or change electromagnetic fields - he'll just be able to sense them.

Additionally, while he would be able to attract and repel metals, he would not be able to do so without effort. He could move, lift or hold up to the weight of a small car (approx 3000lbs or 1300kg), but will not be able to move anything heavier than this at first. The heavier something is, the more physically taxing it will be for him and he will suffer headaches and nosebleeds if he tries to operate at his limit for an extended period of time. With progression, he will be able to move heavier objects for longer, but I would propose this as his basic limit as a starting point.

POWER REASONING:

In canon, John is particularly gifted when it comes to technology, both in terms of mechanics and electronics. Electromagnetic energy surrounds computer equipment and machinery of all kinds, and his aptitude for and interest in these systems makes this power particularly well suited to his personality.

> SAMPLES
SAMPLE ONE: Log style.
SAMPLE TWO: Network style. Also a Top level with both, in case you want more!