00 ☄ App/Info for ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
lastvoyages
Jan. 19th, 2015 08:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quadruplerehabUser Name/Nick: Naomi
User DW: N/A
AIM/IM:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
metonumia
E-mail: asyndeta@gmail.com
Other Characters: Merlin
Character Name: Captain John Hart (allegedly)
Series: Torchwood
Age: ....old enough? Mid 30s to early 40s physically, though chronologically he may be a little older due to time travel shenanigans.
From When?: Immediately after leaving Earth at the end of Torchwood 2x01, 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'. Stepping into the Rift is an inherently dangerous experience, potentially life-threatening.
Inmate/Warden: Inmate. John is an amoral nihilist who needs to learn at least some self-control and appreciation of the world around him.
Abilities/Powers: John seems very strong for his build (he easily lifts an average-size man off his feet) and can take a hell of a beating, though not beyond human capacity, and as a contemporary of Jack's will share his '51st century human' pheromones which make him smell unusually good (at least to 21st-century humans). Also like Jack (as a consequence of human evolution or Time Agent training) he would also be faintly aware of someone trying to read his mind, though not able to do anything about it.
He also seems able to drink half a bottle of vodka in one go without it really making a dent. These seem too minor to be worth nixing on the Barge and he certainly wouldn't consider them 'powers'. It can also be assumed that he has a range of skills related to his life of crime and can use a broad array of weapons.
Personality:
One of the first things we learn about John Hart is that he underwent (and failed to benefit from) rehab for sex, drink, drugs and murder. That's who he is in a nutshell: John has no impulse control, no limits and no boundaries. He's described as a kind of extreme doppelganger to the (somewhat) more restrained and principled Captain Jack Harkness, to the extent that he chose his current pseudonym as a mirror of Jack's; where they both crashed out of the Time Agency and went rogue, Jack eventually cleaned up his act and started serving the greater good whereas John dedicated his life to thieving, fighting and screwing his way around time and space. He is subject to constant wanderlust, a need for novelty and stimulation keeping him on the move.
Under all this, though, lies someone who views everything as meaningless and has precious little empathy. When he learns that Jack can't die, he tells him he pities him for having to be reborn over and over, painfully, into the same 'godforsaken mess'. It's likely that he joined the Time Agency (an organisation without much canonically defined purpose) looking for adventure rather than out of any sense of civic duty or concern for his fellow man; Jack commented that he could never see any deeper beauty in the world around him and, indeed, it's likely that John viewed his adventures through a cynical lens, only perceiving what supported his concept of reality as a meaningless, futile cycle. As of his appearance in canon he's only interested in profiting from his escapades, to the extent that - in a moment of rage when Jack threatens his payday - he throws him off a rooftop, believing it'll kill him.
This is significant because he does actually seem to care for Jack, and indeed Jack is probably the only person he does genuinely care about. They were partners in the Time Agency and spent five years exclusively in each other's company, trapped in a two-week time loop. Although John's affections border on the 'obsessive jilted lover' side of things, they do at least lead him to soften his approach - he could have just killed Jack's entire team while his plan was being executed, but instead chose to give Ianto the opportunity to save his teammates. It's up in the air as to whether he gave them a sporting chance for Jack's sake, or just because he thought it'd be more fun, or a combination of both. (It's also noteworthy that John went out of his way to track down Jack's brother, Gray, for no apparent reason other than the fact that Jack had lost him; there didn't seem to be any profit in it for him.)
James Marsters describes the character he plays as 'evil', but amoral is closer to the mark; evil would require a lot more motivation than John has. He doesn't care, about anything (besides Jack); he has no other emotional investments and thus no reason to feel much of anything about anything. He kills, steals, lies, cheats and doesn't really perceive any consequences to his actions because he moves on too quickly for them to affect him. His hedonism is a front (and a distraction, and a form of self-medication), but it doesn't seem to be a front for very much besides a kind of deep dissatisfaction that is only briefly glimpsed. He describes money (and presumably all the drink, drugs and sex that money can buy) as 'the only consolation' in what is ultimately a miserable existence.
But it takes a lot of digging or a major personal crisis for that aspect to emerge even momentarily. In day-to-day interactions John is charming, chatty and will hit on anything with even the possibility of sentience; he's a troublemaker even when there's not much reason to be making trouble, just for something to do. He'll make himself easy to befriend and easy to trust, particularly with those who a) are easy to work and/or b) have something he wants.
Barge Reactions:
'Interdimensional space prison' is not going to be a hard sell for John. Likewise, the range of worlds, time periods and parallel universes represented will be old news; they're his stock in trade. The fact that he can't leave - and the possibility that entering the Rift killed him - is going to take a while longer for him to accept. He might well burn a few bridges very quickly while working on the assumption that this going to be a few months' stopover at most; after that, he'll have to change his strategy for something more long-term. Events like floods, ports and breaches will be actively welcomed as a source of stimulation and/or an opportunity for mischief; the sameness of day-to-day life would probably drive him completely insane otherwise.
Path to Redemption:
John would be okay if he was genuinely the person he gives the impression of being: a cheerful, flirtatious wandering rogue. That would be fine - if that persona was built on a foundation of actual interest in, and concern for, the places he goes and the people he meets. Because it's not, he has absolutely no problem with murder, manipulation, theft etc.
The environment will help to an extent. As soon as he realises he's stuck on the Barge (which will take a while), and he can't just chew people up and spit them out and move on, he might start seeing them as people and not as resources/sexual relief/targets. What will likely happen is a milder version of what happened with Jack Harkness, who he came to care about after five years spent stuck with him - though that has its own pitfalls. Jack is probably the only person he had a genuinely rewarding relationship with, and Jack later made it clear that he can't stand him being around, pretty much exclusively because he was a 'reminder of [his] past'. John's betrayal, anger and frustration towards him for that rejection are some of the most real emotional experiences he's had. They were awful. The first person to make him feel any sense of attachment is probably also going to be the person he lashes out against most violently in self-defence; if that ends up being his Warden, they will need to have the patience and empathy to wait it out and let him come around.
Otherwise, the challenge for a Warden is twofold. Firstly, when he hits that wall of 'oh shit I'm actually stuck here', he'll need someone to get him through that without just dropping into the miserable pit that exists under his outward-facing self. Secondly, they'll need to get him to generalise any nascent feelings of empathy to everyone, everywhere, not just the people he's had months to get to know while on the Barge. As he starts to experience emotional responses to other people he'll need to be brought to terms with the fact that everyone else experiences those things too and maybe he ought to start treating people like he'd want to be treated himself.
History:
The only thing known about Captain John Hart prior to his canon timeline is that he joined the Time Agency in the late 51st century and was partnered to Jack Harkness.
Anything I ever say about his childhood, family etc. would be extrapolated from his current behaviour. Given that his entire personality is basically the Wikipedia page for Antisocial Personality Disorder, it's likely his early home environment was unstable at best and abusive at worst. I imagine that he joined the Time Agency after a string of failed attempts to hold down more sedentary jobs, and during the course of that career noticed that the people on the other side of the law seemed to be making a lot more money and having a lot more fun than he was. It's never confirmed whether John's going rogue was before Jack's exit from the Agency, or was prompted by it, but given his rather possessive attitude towards his partner I would say the latter.
Sample Journal Entry:
[John's sitting in the dining hall, cup of coffee on the table in front of him, holding his communicator at arm's length with one hand.]
So. Prison ship, eh?
Tidy little business. Sailing the multiverse, scooping up its villains and its heroes, pitting them against each other in an epic battle for the souls of the forsaken - [He makes a grand arm gesture, pauses for effect, then chuckles.] Classic. And I do like the period detailing. Very post-modern. Or, you know, positively archaic. Or as-yet-unheard-of. Depends where you're standing.
...Got to wonder what the man in charge is getting out of this, though, haven't you?
Anyway. Captain John Hart. [He pulls off a lazy salute.] Delighted to be here, et cetera. Compliments to whomsoever performed the cavity search - not so much as a twinge. One small question.
[He gulps his coffee, then sets down the mug.]
Who've I got to go down on for something stronger than caffeine?
[Transmission ends, then abruptly restarts:]
Or up on, or under, or over. I'm a man of eclectic tastes.
[He raises his coffee cup in a toast, grins, then disappears again.]
Sample RP:
The end of the flood brings him back to himself gradually. New memories of another life slide into the new, already compacted and distorted and faint, like a compressed copy of an entire filing cabinet being dropped into a single file. (Not that John considers his life's memories to belong in anything as orderly and boring as a filing cabinet. His mind is more like a disorderly antiques shop run as a front for dealing stolen goods and drugs trafficking.) He takes stock of himself. Hair's short again (though could use a trim). Ten fingers, Ten toes, two arms, two legs, two -
Oh. The tits are gone.
Further equipment checks reveal that all systems are operating as normal.
Shame. He'd hoped there'd be a lag between getting his mind and his body back. It would have been nice to have five minutes to enjoy the novelty of having girl bits, as opposed to spending three days toiling under the impression he'd always had them. It's like watching someone else have fun, except they don't even know it's fun that they're having, which makes it simultaneously frustrating and wasteful.
At least it was something. A splash of colour, a moment of difference. He's been on the Barge for a month and it's starting to wear on him. John likes new places - fucking loves them - but he's come to understand that they become old places for him faster than they do for the average person. He's never questioned this or felt particularly troubled by it. He simply assumes his mind works faster than other people's: like someone with a quick metabolism needs to eat more, he needs to see more, have more, do more.
He reaches under his bed, rummaging for one of the inelegant improvised weapons he's been piecing together over the last few weeks. Sometimes a man just needs to make his own fun.
User DW: N/A
AIM/IM:
E-mail: asyndeta@gmail.com
Other Characters: Merlin
Character Name: Captain John Hart (allegedly)
Series: Torchwood
Age: ....old enough? Mid 30s to early 40s physically, though chronologically he may be a little older due to time travel shenanigans.
From When?: Immediately after leaving Earth at the end of Torchwood 2x01, 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'. Stepping into the Rift is an inherently dangerous experience, potentially life-threatening.
Inmate/Warden: Inmate. John is an amoral nihilist who needs to learn at least some self-control and appreciation of the world around him.
Abilities/Powers: John seems very strong for his build (he easily lifts an average-size man off his feet) and can take a hell of a beating, though not beyond human capacity, and as a contemporary of Jack's will share his '51st century human' pheromones which make him smell unusually good (at least to 21st-century humans). Also like Jack (as a consequence of human evolution or Time Agent training) he would also be faintly aware of someone trying to read his mind, though not able to do anything about it.
He also seems able to drink half a bottle of vodka in one go without it really making a dent. These seem too minor to be worth nixing on the Barge and he certainly wouldn't consider them 'powers'. It can also be assumed that he has a range of skills related to his life of crime and can use a broad array of weapons.
Personality:
One of the first things we learn about John Hart is that he underwent (and failed to benefit from) rehab for sex, drink, drugs and murder. That's who he is in a nutshell: John has no impulse control, no limits and no boundaries. He's described as a kind of extreme doppelganger to the (somewhat) more restrained and principled Captain Jack Harkness, to the extent that he chose his current pseudonym as a mirror of Jack's; where they both crashed out of the Time Agency and went rogue, Jack eventually cleaned up his act and started serving the greater good whereas John dedicated his life to thieving, fighting and screwing his way around time and space. He is subject to constant wanderlust, a need for novelty and stimulation keeping him on the move.
Under all this, though, lies someone who views everything as meaningless and has precious little empathy. When he learns that Jack can't die, he tells him he pities him for having to be reborn over and over, painfully, into the same 'godforsaken mess'. It's likely that he joined the Time Agency (an organisation without much canonically defined purpose) looking for adventure rather than out of any sense of civic duty or concern for his fellow man; Jack commented that he could never see any deeper beauty in the world around him and, indeed, it's likely that John viewed his adventures through a cynical lens, only perceiving what supported his concept of reality as a meaningless, futile cycle. As of his appearance in canon he's only interested in profiting from his escapades, to the extent that - in a moment of rage when Jack threatens his payday - he throws him off a rooftop, believing it'll kill him.
This is significant because he does actually seem to care for Jack, and indeed Jack is probably the only person he does genuinely care about. They were partners in the Time Agency and spent five years exclusively in each other's company, trapped in a two-week time loop. Although John's affections border on the 'obsessive jilted lover' side of things, they do at least lead him to soften his approach - he could have just killed Jack's entire team while his plan was being executed, but instead chose to give Ianto the opportunity to save his teammates. It's up in the air as to whether he gave them a sporting chance for Jack's sake, or just because he thought it'd be more fun, or a combination of both. (It's also noteworthy that John went out of his way to track down Jack's brother, Gray, for no apparent reason other than the fact that Jack had lost him; there didn't seem to be any profit in it for him.)
James Marsters describes the character he plays as 'evil', but amoral is closer to the mark; evil would require a lot more motivation than John has. He doesn't care, about anything (besides Jack); he has no other emotional investments and thus no reason to feel much of anything about anything. He kills, steals, lies, cheats and doesn't really perceive any consequences to his actions because he moves on too quickly for them to affect him. His hedonism is a front (and a distraction, and a form of self-medication), but it doesn't seem to be a front for very much besides a kind of deep dissatisfaction that is only briefly glimpsed. He describes money (and presumably all the drink, drugs and sex that money can buy) as 'the only consolation' in what is ultimately a miserable existence.
But it takes a lot of digging or a major personal crisis for that aspect to emerge even momentarily. In day-to-day interactions John is charming, chatty and will hit on anything with even the possibility of sentience; he's a troublemaker even when there's not much reason to be making trouble, just for something to do. He'll make himself easy to befriend and easy to trust, particularly with those who a) are easy to work and/or b) have something he wants.
Barge Reactions:
'Interdimensional space prison' is not going to be a hard sell for John. Likewise, the range of worlds, time periods and parallel universes represented will be old news; they're his stock in trade. The fact that he can't leave - and the possibility that entering the Rift killed him - is going to take a while longer for him to accept. He might well burn a few bridges very quickly while working on the assumption that this going to be a few months' stopover at most; after that, he'll have to change his strategy for something more long-term. Events like floods, ports and breaches will be actively welcomed as a source of stimulation and/or an opportunity for mischief; the sameness of day-to-day life would probably drive him completely insane otherwise.
Path to Redemption:
John would be okay if he was genuinely the person he gives the impression of being: a cheerful, flirtatious wandering rogue. That would be fine - if that persona was built on a foundation of actual interest in, and concern for, the places he goes and the people he meets. Because it's not, he has absolutely no problem with murder, manipulation, theft etc.
The environment will help to an extent. As soon as he realises he's stuck on the Barge (which will take a while), and he can't just chew people up and spit them out and move on, he might start seeing them as people and not as resources/sexual relief/targets. What will likely happen is a milder version of what happened with Jack Harkness, who he came to care about after five years spent stuck with him - though that has its own pitfalls. Jack is probably the only person he had a genuinely rewarding relationship with, and Jack later made it clear that he can't stand him being around, pretty much exclusively because he was a 'reminder of [his] past'. John's betrayal, anger and frustration towards him for that rejection are some of the most real emotional experiences he's had. They were awful. The first person to make him feel any sense of attachment is probably also going to be the person he lashes out against most violently in self-defence; if that ends up being his Warden, they will need to have the patience and empathy to wait it out and let him come around.
Otherwise, the challenge for a Warden is twofold. Firstly, when he hits that wall of 'oh shit I'm actually stuck here', he'll need someone to get him through that without just dropping into the miserable pit that exists under his outward-facing self. Secondly, they'll need to get him to generalise any nascent feelings of empathy to everyone, everywhere, not just the people he's had months to get to know while on the Barge. As he starts to experience emotional responses to other people he'll need to be brought to terms with the fact that everyone else experiences those things too and maybe he ought to start treating people like he'd want to be treated himself.
History:
The only thing known about Captain John Hart prior to his canon timeline is that he joined the Time Agency in the late 51st century and was partnered to Jack Harkness.
Anything I ever say about his childhood, family etc. would be extrapolated from his current behaviour. Given that his entire personality is basically the Wikipedia page for Antisocial Personality Disorder, it's likely his early home environment was unstable at best and abusive at worst. I imagine that he joined the Time Agency after a string of failed attempts to hold down more sedentary jobs, and during the course of that career noticed that the people on the other side of the law seemed to be making a lot more money and having a lot more fun than he was. It's never confirmed whether John's going rogue was before Jack's exit from the Agency, or was prompted by it, but given his rather possessive attitude towards his partner I would say the latter.
Sample Journal Entry:
[John's sitting in the dining hall, cup of coffee on the table in front of him, holding his communicator at arm's length with one hand.]
So. Prison ship, eh?
Tidy little business. Sailing the multiverse, scooping up its villains and its heroes, pitting them against each other in an epic battle for the souls of the forsaken - [He makes a grand arm gesture, pauses for effect, then chuckles.] Classic. And I do like the period detailing. Very post-modern. Or, you know, positively archaic. Or as-yet-unheard-of. Depends where you're standing.
...Got to wonder what the man in charge is getting out of this, though, haven't you?
Anyway. Captain John Hart. [He pulls off a lazy salute.] Delighted to be here, et cetera. Compliments to whomsoever performed the cavity search - not so much as a twinge. One small question.
[He gulps his coffee, then sets down the mug.]
Who've I got to go down on for something stronger than caffeine?
[Transmission ends, then abruptly restarts:]
Or up on, or under, or over. I'm a man of eclectic tastes.
[He raises his coffee cup in a toast, grins, then disappears again.]
Sample RP:
The end of the flood brings him back to himself gradually. New memories of another life slide into the new, already compacted and distorted and faint, like a compressed copy of an entire filing cabinet being dropped into a single file. (Not that John considers his life's memories to belong in anything as orderly and boring as a filing cabinet. His mind is more like a disorderly antiques shop run as a front for dealing stolen goods and drugs trafficking.) He takes stock of himself. Hair's short again (though could use a trim). Ten fingers, Ten toes, two arms, two legs, two -
Oh. The tits are gone.
Further equipment checks reveal that all systems are operating as normal.
Shame. He'd hoped there'd be a lag between getting his mind and his body back. It would have been nice to have five minutes to enjoy the novelty of having girl bits, as opposed to spending three days toiling under the impression he'd always had them. It's like watching someone else have fun, except they don't even know it's fun that they're having, which makes it simultaneously frustrating and wasteful.
At least it was something. A splash of colour, a moment of difference. He's been on the Barge for a month and it's starting to wear on him. John likes new places - fucking loves them - but he's come to understand that they become old places for him faster than they do for the average person. He's never questioned this or felt particularly troubled by it. He simply assumes his mind works faster than other people's: like someone with a quick metabolism needs to eat more, he needs to see more, have more, do more.
He reaches under his bed, rummaging for one of the inelegant improvised weapons he's been piecing together over the last few weeks. Sometimes a man just needs to make his own fun.
