windeity | Jun. 28th, 2007

JOHN EGBERT
heir of breath

BASIC INFO

BASIC INFO

Name: John Egbert
Age: 16
Canon: Homestuck
Canon Point: Act 6, Act 6, Intermission 4
Appearance: 5'8" (headcanoned), messy black hair, bright blue eyes.
Power: The ability to fuse any two items together.
Price: The Land of Wind and Shade
Acclimation Level: 8

PERSONALITY

Full App: Here

Okay so John Egbert. John Egbert sure does happen a lot and is generally considered the one person in his world that starts the adventure and helps end it. The thing is that it's never been John's desire to be the hero or be the leader. It wasn't his primary goal to be the one to set action into motion, but instead he finds himself thrown directly into it and rides the waves as they come.

At the beginning of their adventure, John is a normal teenage boy with a variety of normal teenage hobbies. As a boy who loves his sense of humor above all else, John finds himself content with life and surrounding himself with lowkey yet slightly whimsical hobbies (including comedy/pranks magic tricks, music, video games, computer programming and watching movies.) He's raised in arguably the most normal household of his friends, surrounded by the love and sometimes hovering of his father whom John clearly has a close bond with. Unsurprisingly, the stability of his every day life and these certain hobbies actually help shape who John is and allow him the ability to think more openly than most of his peers.

Due to his sense of curiosity and, frankly, poor impulse control, along with the idea that there is always a way to solve everything, John tends to be an innovative kid and this trait lends him well on his journey. For instance, it's this very core component that helps John learn to start alchemizing items at the beginning of the game, fusing cards and solving puzzles along the way. John's strategy of thinking outside of the box is also what helps him ultimately complete his personal quest and learn to use his powers. Learning to use these powers was important, as it's the only way for John to be able to fix the broken timeline, go backwards, and alter things enough to save everyone he cares about and make things right. As the first of the Betas to begin the game, he's the one who paves the way for what they're supposed to be doing and though sometimes his friends remark that they "have no idea what the fuck he's doing there", it allows for others to follow his example.

Throughout his journey, John finds himself doing things that others may deem as silly or flighty, and at one point one of his friends even calls him a fickle idiot. But the thing about that is even if his actions seem irrational or goofy John seems to know what he's doing about half the time. John isn't afraid to experiment and he isn't afraid to explore new environments even if he doesn't always quite grasp the situation at hand. Though "smart" isn't necessarily a word one would automatically associate with him (as that term tends to fall more in line with his friends Rose and Jade), John is what one could describe as clever. He's quick to think on his feet and capable of making plans when he really puts his mind to it. On the other hand, he tends to get restless when left to his own devices for too long and that further drives him to follow some of his more ridiculous ideas, such as fuse a hammer and a child's pogo ride, or stick his arm right through a portal that no one knows how to use. Or even, in fact, ironing his pants while waiting around for everyone else to catch up with him at the meeting place his friends were supposed to arrive to.

Yet somehow even being impulsive usually works as a positive trait for him. It's a certain kind of bravery that comes from someone who knows what he has to do and refuses to let things fall to the wayside for long. Though sometimes John can find situations hard to believe and even grow a bit frustrated, he doesn't let things bring him down for long and instead tries to see the positive and neutral grounds in all situations.

Even though several people reference him as the leader early on, John isn't someone who sees himself as a leader at first. Or, like, ever. Even right before their final battle begins when they're dividing their group and making plans, though he'll admit to being the leader it's said with an exasperated kind of fondness that comes from knowing his friends are counting on him. The core of who John is as a person resides in being able to support his friends in action and help them get to where they need to go. John has a tendency to see most people as an equal and he's not one to turn his back on someone in need whether it's a friend he's had for several years or it's someone he's just met that day. He's the type of guy who's thoughtful and generous, and though sometimes he puts his foot in his mouth he's quick to correct himself and think of people's feelings. We also see this in his interaction with the Betas (Dave, Jade and Rose) and how he goes out of his way to send them all individualized birthday gifts and letters that indicate he really takes the time to understand his friends as best as he can.

He makes friends very easily and takes care of people when he can, being the positive force behind their team and the one to encourage them. One of the most obvious instances of this is his conversation with Roxy and Terezi in which he recognizes that he has to mobilize those who are left in order to fix reality as they know it. This is also prevalent in his early conversations with Roxy about Calliope in which John promises to find a way to go backwards, reclaim the ring of life that he lost, and bring it back to Roxy to give to Calliope despite never meeting Calliope at this point and barely knowing Roxy herself.

John recognizes the value of teamwork and making sure people aren't left behind. He tends to usually be the calming force and his determination and kindness help lend to the "leader" qualities as well. ("ROXY: (yoo troll grouch... john is so nice agh its fuckin me up) TEREZI: (1 KNOW) TEREZI: (1T'S D1SGUST1NG)") Unlike some of the other kids, John has the ability to stay grounded even in crisis and doesn't let things knock him back that easily. He doesn't let very much bother him overall and his motivation very rarely wavers.

One of the other important things about John that truly defines him is how he really is the first of the Betas to accomplish several great feats. Aside from being the first of them to enter their session, John is the first to ascend to godtier status as seen in the flash [S] John: Rise Up. What this means is that he's the first to obtain great power and also the first to learn to really use his powers. John is capable of extraordinary feats when he really puts his mind to it and concentrates, and though he finds it frustrating and annoying at first he later uses his own experiences to help other people reach their full potential.

But that doesn't mean he's simply a nice boy. John is still a typical teenager and still has plenty of qualities that can bite back. Though John doesn't get angry about much, when he does his temper can get a bit out of control. One instance of this comes in his first face-to-face interaction with Caliborn where he's so angry that the cherub's slandering his friends' reputations he outright attacks him and punches him repeatedly. Another instance is when Davesprite plays a joke on him, leaving a note for John as a mimicry of his deceased father, and John's response is to ask Jade for a hammer so he can hunt down the sprite and make him pay.

A lot of John's anger that manifests tends to come from preying on his interpersonal relationships with people. When there's a threat to his friends or his family John springs into action without second thought. On the other hand, there's anger and there's frustration, and with his frustration comes John's self-doubt. Though he is the leader of the Betas John does have a sufficient amount of self-doubt especially later in his journey. Wanting to be reassured his friends will still be his friends in the end, and later feeling like a failure for being unable to stop the events of Game Over, give us an inside look to John's psyche and how he really views himself.

"I got here too late to do anything. Because as far as I may think I've come...I still don't know what i'm doing. Dave's bro in the funny pants was right. But not about himself. I was the one who let everybody down. I'm the failure. It's me."

Though he doesn't let negative thinking impact him for too long, it's something that shapes a lot of his drive and if he were a less optimistic person John may be someone who resigns to his own feelings of doubt and uncertainty. Like most of the kids in the Homestuck canon John has faced a large amount of loss and trauma including the death of his father and the death of all of his friends after Game Over. At first he doesn't even believe it when Terezi says everyone is dead and he tries to justify the information as being wrong. ("Did you take Jade's pulse? You know she likes to sleep a lot.") It's this form of naivety that also works against John in several cases. He's fairly easy to influence and often times doesn't really question when people tell him to do things. This is seen especially early on when Terezi tricks him into seeing his Deizein (a large monster residing on his planet) and he gets himself killed in an alternate timeline, forcing Dave to go backwards in time and stop John from following Terezi's orders. This is also seen when John follows Vriska's advice and seeks out his quest bed, not knowing that Vriska had rigged things so that John would die and ascend to his godtier status.

Along with being easy to influence, it's important to go back to John's poor impulse control and his tendency to act and then figure things out later. There are several instances in canon where this, along with some of his absent-minded traits, end up putting him out of touch with the others in his session. A running gag in the Homestuck canon is John's inability to hold onto a cell phone or a laptop for very long as he has a tendency to either leave them somewhere without thinking, or in one case throwing it into an ocean of oil simply because he was annoyed and only later asking "why did I do that." John usually can bail himself out of tough situations, but it can be said that if he put a little more thought into things he wouldn't get in those situations in the first place.

John can also be awkward and fumble on serious subjects, often times turning things into a joke to make things more light-hearted. In some cases he can be blunt or sarcastic to the point that he's outright rude to people, seeing how John isn't exactly someone who hides his true feelings very often if at all. At one point John even describes himself as being shy and it's easy to say that he can be somewhat passive especially with his friends. He's prone to wandering off on his own and doing his own thing without warning which makes him somewhat of a wildcard, but in the end he always comes back. While these flaws can interfere with his relationships with his friends, it's the positive traits John tries to focus on.

It's in his nature to forgive people. People will and have manipulated him and made his life a mess but even those people earn John's forgiveness in the end. He has a tendency to want everyone to get along and he often acts as a connecting bridge and helps keep his friends together. It's hard for anyone to say anything bad about John Egbert, and this transcends time and space as well. His post-scratch self (an alternate version of himself) is described as a kindly old cornball and it's said that there isn't "a nicer guy you couldn't hope to meet."

So overall, John is a boy who's been thrown into a role he didn't want in the first place but takes it in stride, rising up above everything and bringing everybody else along for the ride. In the interest of his friends and saving the world, he'll do anything to finish anything he sets out to do and keep his sense of humor along the way. And that, perhaps, is exactly the true reason he is the leader.

PERMISSIONS

Physical Affection: Go for it. John's a fairly affectionate person though he tends to be a little shy with people he doesn't know well.
Violence: Dude wields a giant hammer. Generally fine, please ask me first though!
Death: Let's discuss this!
Sexual Content: Probably a pass since it's not in his nature but let's talk about this.
Power Usage: Generally fine, please ask me first though if it's anything really huge.
Mind Reading: Generally fine, please ask me first though in case I need to adjust my playing based on what's going on mentally for him.

Backtagging: Always!
Threadhopping: Generally chill
Fourth Wall Breaking: deadeyes at Homestuck. But in all seriousness I'm not sure there are enough canons that could fourth wall Homestuck so let's skip this.
Sensitive Subjects: I'm generally pretty okay with everything so if you think it might be particularly triggery maybe a heads up, but don't worry too much.

OOC INFO

Name: Ty
Contact: PM or

alternatively
Timezone: PST
HMD: This
Opt-Out: That
Threadtracker: This and That

Inventory

-Vrillyhoo
-Godtier pajamas
-A strand of Christmas lights (from the TDM, wrapped around Vrillyhoo currently.)
-Pack of M&Ms (from the TDM)
-Set of cutlery (from the TDM. Knife has been fused with Chinese fingertrap.)
-Star-shaped post-it notes (from the TDM.)
-Chinese fingertrap (from the TDM. Fused with knife from cutlery, broken, and re-fused with sand.)
-Jeans (from the TDM.)
-Oranges (from the TDM.)
-Parka (from Genette on Day 1.)
-Candy (from Genette on Day 1.
-Water Bottle (from Genette on Day 1.)
-Broken mirror shard (from Genette on Day 1.)
-Letter (from Genette on Day 1.)

Missions/Tasks

-Get three newbies to give him personal items to fuse with three other items of his choice. (Attempted in training log 7/11/Day 4)

-Exploration leading to a fairy ring of edible mushrooms and alien comic books

CODE MODIFIED FROM WEARESTARDUST @ SUPERSUITS