MoM APP (revised for July 2017

[heckblazer]

〈 PLAYER INFO 〉
NAME: Jen
AGE: 26
JOURNAL/PLURK: jenofvengerberg
IM / EMAIL: jenofvengerberg@gmail.com


〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: John Constantine
CHARACTER AGE: Early to mid-40's (his timeline has gotten a little cronched because comics)
SERIES: DC Comics
CHRONOLOGY: New Earth. Post-Search for Swamp Thing, Pre-New 52

NOTE ON CHRONOLOGY: Vertigo is weird and seems to flip-flop on whether or not it’s part of the same Earth as mainstream DC stories. So I’m saying “screw it” and just assuming it is, at least in John’s case. He started out in the Swamp Thing series, which was canon to Mainstream DC/New Earth before Hellblazer happened under Vertigo. Given the RP’s setting, it makes more sense to pull him from a canon point where he’s more familiar with and deals with superhero business already. The events of Hellblazer generally don’t contradict mainstream DC’s existence so I 'll pull some canon points from his appearances in both.

CLASS: So very, very anti-hero.

HOUSING: Alone please, any city is okay

BACKGROUND:
His backstory is laid out on his wikipedia page and his ComicVine page, and frankly it’s a BIT much for me to have to rephrase and type out again: I AM SUCH A GREAT AND NOT LAZY WRITER AHAHAH
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/john-constantine/4005-3329/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Constantine#Fictional_character_biography


Some embellishments below:
The darkness and insanity that follow John’s life began before he was even born. In his mother’s womb he was a twin, before his would-be brother died suspiciously, followed by his mother’s death during childbirth with the surviving boy.

Subsequently, John was born and raised in a not-so-great part of Liverpool. Most glamor the town might have from being the hometown of The Beatles very effectively became squashed later by the poverty brought on by Margaret Thatcher bringing unemployment and repression, which bloody well wrecked the livelihood of most Northerners. Between the, ahem, character of his neighborhood and being the youngest of two children in a single-parent household, John did not exactly become a soft man. Enduring the drunkenness and resentment of their father alongside his older sister Cheryl, John was drawn to his destiny, the practice that had entrapped his bloodline for centuries: magic. Through the practice a young John found ways to occupy his time, perhaps even seek the sense of empowerment that his own background failed to provide.

At an age when most children ought to be playing with harmless toys or preoccupying themselves with cartoons, John cast a spell that compartmentalized all his own innocence and sense of vulnerability and locked it in a box. This being one of his first feats of magic, it also explains much of the man’s sensibilities later in life. Fight as he might against destiny, his behaviour was and is often a self-fulfilling prophecy: in trying to defy the cruel designs that the Powers That Be have for him and mankind as a whole, he often brings them (and/or occasionally worse consequences) unto himself.

He would proceed to flee home to make his own life in London amongst the occult scene, and for a time things were pretty hunky dory until his own god damned John-ness drove everything into madness. During stints in the United States he studied with and romanced Zatanna Zatara, and back home later managed to assemble a punk band consisting of friends with a shared interest in magic. He would later drive apart his gang with a botched attempt at summoning a demon that resulted in an innocent young girl becoming damned to hell. The event tipped John over the edge and put him in what would practically become his second home, Ravenscar Psychiatric Hospital. His care was a rocky experience, as the orderlies and staff were, understandably, disinclined to believe his story about demons and magic. He was eventually checked out once able to retain some semblance of daily functionality, realizing his was a case that could not be helped by conventional healthcare. This experience is at least part of the cause for his apprehension of traditional cultural institutions.

Following his release he got involved with Swamp Thing, the two teaming up to deal with greater paranormal threats and forming an odd friendship. In another example of his good intentions and arrogance towards magic screwing over everyone close to him, there’s also the time he killed Zatanna’s father. During a seance to prevent Hell on Earth from happening, the group was overwhelmed with Zatara directing the force into himself, burning alive. That was, to say the least, one of John’s more interesting break-ups.

Whether magic finds him or whether he seeks it out is debatable. His adventures and misadventures henceforth were marked by macabre and tragedy, with the odd, albeit twisted triumph. Deciding to leave superheroes and their struggles well enough alone, he buried himself and his life in magic, the force becoming a drug for him. No matter how many friends and loved ones he lost, he carried on his life in a vicious cycle of finding new people and losing them to horrific incidents, usually caused by him meddling with the affairs of Heaven and Hell.

Amongst his more notable accomplishments was tricking the sons of Satan into curing his lung cancer while he was at Death’s door. Upon making three separate deals to sell his soul, the demons realized that the conflict would ignite a civil war in their realm, leaving God to claim victory. In order to avoid this outcome, they removed John’s cancer with promises of revenge one day.

During visits back home to his family, John was horrified to discover that his niece, Gemma, had followed him into the world of magic and much like him, no force could sway her from the path. Even traumas like the untimely and unjust death of Cheryl. Gemma became one of few loved ones of John that could survive prolonged exposure to him and his life, the other being Chas Chandler, cabbie and enduring friend of John.

John’s sense of arrogance as well as his dependence upon magic to get him through his life only grows with every scheme he gets himself into. And with decades of doing this under his belt, it’s not hard to see why the list of those whom fear and loathe him is so long. After spending his life in this vicious cycle of magic-induced chaos, John gets summoned to Heropa. With a new universe to explore and no old attachments in this universe to nag on his conscious, he will be rolling up his sleeves and looking for misadventures in short order.

ADDITIONAL HISTORY FOR TIME SPENT IN MASKORMENACE:

John entered this world in September of 2016 and much to his chagrin, he seemed to be... reasonably well-liked by other imPorts, never quite inciting the ire from superheroes (except perhaps Batman) or the intimidation from other magically-inclined folks that he wished. Although he had his suspicions about the world he got sucked into, he often found himself too involved in monthly drama to commit to much further investigation about the nature of the world.

Perhaps because the universe wanted a chance to torment him, a number of younger folks took an interest in John and insisted on socializing with him. Tried as he might to distance himself from them, his sense of guilt compelled him to take at least some responsibility for them. Most noticeable of his developed attachments were what he referred to as the "Teen God Squad", led by the likes of Persephone and others from her world. Shortly after meeting her, in fact, John became her manager, a job he held until they agreed to professionally part ways in May of 2017.

Some of John's other greatest hits in the world of MoM include his first "adventure" with Persephone in which they destroyed Kavinsky's memory curse, an act which forged their bond and gave John a number of unanswered questions about the world; producing a number of the girl's shows; aiding Robin in a missing children investigation; accidentally enhancing the anachronisms that appeared in March 2016 in attempting to magically absolve Dorian Gray's guilt (also leading to his death); and making a number of friends by, basically, getting beat up and having them pity him enough to intervene.

Shortly before his getting ported out, he began looking for work elsewhere, mostly producing Zatanna's magic shows. However, his itch to get into trouble has long since gone un-scratched, so it's likely to be a high priority when he gets ported in again.


PERSONALITY:

At John's core, what often drives him is addiction. Although he drinks, smokes and screws like no tomorrow, magic and the Powers-That-Be make up his ultimate vice. His life experiences are largely defined by what he will do to get his next ‘hit’ and what happens when he does get it. Like with any addiction, this ends up hurting the people he loves time and again, compacting and complicating his sense of guilt and other negative self-emotions, often being driven back to the thing hurting his life and friends for the escapism and thrill it provides.

In many ways, John Constantine is a classic case of what happens when a man projects a persona in order to mask vulnerability. He is a man of contradictions. He is deeply feeling but acts flippant. He cares for others and values their lives, but will put his own interests first and act to save his own skin. Though he has fallen in love many times, things come crashing down because he runs with what he wants first. He is plagued with self doubt and complex mental illness but projects arrogance. He mocks and distrusts the world and hates people, while still meddling in the uncaring universe in order to give puny humans a fighting chance. He dreams of a better world while preparing for and facing off against the worst possible scenarios the same world can throw at him. Although he is charming, he is also truly dangerous, often moreso than he even knows.

John is more self-conscious than he will admit, however he is aware of his reputation in spite of his sense of self-doubt. He can use his reputation to charm or intimidate others, namely when he made God fear the possibility of him taking over hell. However, beyond the rush from magic, John is not power-hungry and often lives by an anti-authoritarian mindset. He is distrustful and even resentful of authority, being vocally skeptical of superheroes, deities, and those who won't pick on those their own size in general. He likes to gamble and to win things, but isn’t so great at actually maintaining or caring for things once he has them.

In spite of a maddening lifestyle John prefers to use wit and his wicked sense of humor to navigate situations, very rarely ever raising his own hands or inciting violence personally. Impulsive and moody as he may be, even a seedy magic hobo man has standards. He is a man whom generally has good intentions, in spite of the road to hell they pave. Or perhaps, because of it. Either way, it's a road he walks with leisure, and he will stop to smell every rose. Every flaming, demon rose fertilized with damned souls.

INFLUENCE OF MoM ON HIS PERSONALITY:

Due to the company he keeps and the fact that the nature of MoM neuters his magic and bastardly plotting somewhat, he is very much in touch with his softer, more emotional side. He tries his damnedest to cover it up with sarcasm and being a general mess, but there are people here he cares about. More of them than he anticipated, to boot. While he does enjoy their company, as well as the potential redemption that they represent, he also realizes that caring for people means exploitable weaknesses for enemies. That combined with the potential damage to his reputation if word ever got out that he was getting soft and he feels a bit of anxiety creeping under his cool persona. While not exactly fixing to make himself particularly useful to the people who run this world, he does get bored and may be inclined to get himself into trouble when he's back.

POWER:
‘Dark Magic’ is the umbrella under which is powers fall. I've defined his powers under the 3 power slot rule for MoM

1. Spellcasting - spells consist of:
Divination - able to locate people or find out things about them if he's had contact with them and/or has something of theirs

Summoning - can bring forth demons and creatures to do him favours. Since the world of MoM has no native heaven, hell or afterlife, he would be pulling supernatural critters from his home world. The amount of energy this consumes means he can't summon anything particularly large or capable of serious damage if it broke loose. Additionally, he can use the circles to deliver small items to people if he knows their location.

Exorcisms and Hypnotism - he can influence people's minds (with permission from players!) for the purposes of either expelling forces that have possessed them, or subduing them to extract information. This power in particular is dependent on player permission and mutual plotting, so it won't be used without prior discussion and planning with people involved in logs.

Protective Wards - usually the form of drawn circles that a person can stand in. Prevents against possession and a certain amount of physical harm. The rule of thumb for limits is that if it's bigger than a 1-storey house or greater than the force of a house being dropped on you, it overpowers the spell he casts. However, within that parameter he can keep himself or others safe for a short time.

2. The Trenchcoat - John has spent a lot of time faffing around in occult things. A lot. And for most of it his outfit hasn't really changed. Because of this, his coat has absorbed some of the magical energy he's come into contact with. It provides some added protection from harm, neutralizing forces that would harm him and dulling some of the pain from physical assaults. (if a superhero punches him, for one, it would still hurt and knock him over, however he might be spared a broken nose). In the pockets of his coat there is always a cigarette when he needs one, and his flask refills itself upon emptying, the booze within changing depending on his mood.

3. Iron Liver and Lungs - his internal organs will counteract long-term damage. While he will still get hangovers and feel the immediate effects of smoking and drinking, his insides will 'refresh' after taking a certain amount of abuse, preventing long-term damage or diseases such as lung cancer or liver failure from occurring. The process feels like a severe hangover and all of its consequences, taking about 24 hours for his organs to return to their default, regular-amounts-of-messed-up levels. Did the porter give him this one just to prolong his suffering on the mortal plane? Probably.