wintershepherd: (Default)
Jack Frost ([personal profile] wintershepherd) wrote2017-02-01 08:17 pm

❄ app v.2 for [community profile] tushanshu

Player Information:
Name: Li
Age/18+?: Yes
Contact: [plurk.com profile] sojourney
Other Characters Played: Bakura ([personal profile] denyamenti) and Elizabeth ([personal profile] isochrone)
Most Recent AC Link: January 2017

Character Information:
Name: Jack Frost (formerly Jackson Overland Frost)
Canon: Rise of the Guardians
Canon Point: Post movie
Age: Looks 17, actual over 300

Type of Character: Canon
Reference: RotG Wiki | Jack Frost wiki entry

Setting Concepts:
    Canon Source Notes
    The Rise of the Guardians movie is adapted from the Guardians of Childhood novel series, but the two have some conflicting information (namely regarding the identities of Nightlight and Jack Frost. But a lot of the back history of the other characters, as well as the supplemental information provided by the official art comics, does not conflict and so I've incorporated those parts into Jack's rendition.

    The World
    The world of Rise of the Guardians is near identical to our own, save for the magical aspects discussed below. Current historical, social, political, etc events can all be assumed to be the same as the real world.

    Spirits
    Populating the world, unbeknownst to most humans, are spirits. In many cases, these are personifications of natural or abstract concepts: the seasons, luck, time. The other count of spirits are mythological figures throughout history, or people who were thought to be allegory like Johnny Appleseed, or the Headless Horseman. Spirits are often tasked with certain duties relating to their areas of magic; for example, as the Winter spirit, Jack's responsibility is to help bring snowy and icy weather to different parts of the world. There have been spirits around for at least thousands of years, but by the time of the events of the movie, there are very few of them remaining. They haven't exactly 'died out' so much as they were no longer needed, and simply faded away. For newer spirits like Jack, this has been hard, because there are fewer people to help him learn what he's supposed to do.

    Guardians
    From among the multitude of spirits, some are chosen by the Man in the Moon to represent special aspects that protect children. At the beginning of the movie, there are four Guardians: North (Santa) who is the Guardian of Wonder, Toothiana (Tooth Fairy) who is the Guardian of Memories, Bunnymund (Easter Bunny) who is the Guardian of Hope, and Sandman, the Guardian of Dreams. In the novels, there are a few additional Guardians: Katherine (Mother Goose) Guardian of Stories, Ombric, and Nightlight. The Guardians have magic that allows them to protect their chosen areas for children. For example, Toothiana has the ability to store children's most precious memories in their baby teeth, allowing them to be retrieved when a child begins to lose their sense of belief.

    Belief
    Belief is a central concept for spirits, as it both gives them their strength and determines whether they can be seen and interact with the world. It also allows children to visibly see spirits. When Jamie wakes to find all the Guardians in his bedroom, he cannot see Jack because he doesn't believe that Jack Frost is 'real', but as he believes in the other childhood figures, he is able to see them. Additionally, Pitch Black's ability to gain power is deeply hampered by the fact that so few people believe in the Bogeyman anymore, and at the end of the movie, he's even rendered intangible by the children's complete lack of fear. It's implied that a spirit who loses all belief may completely fade away or 'die'.

    Pitch Black & Fearlings
    Pitch Black is the Bogeyman, the Spirit of Fear and the main antagonist of the movie, who has clashed with the Guardians many times in the past. He has been gradually losing power and influence as a spirit, and the central conflict is his plan to steal the Guardians' belief from them, weakening their power while increasing his own. Fearlings are creatures that are thousands of years old, who corrupted Pitch. At present, they are embodied in creatures called Nightmares, horses created from Pitch's stolen dream sand. Pitch takes various approaches throughout the film to try and get Jack onto his side: first belittling him, then trying to draw parallels between them, and manipulates Jack using his fears of being alone and irrelevant to control him.

    Man in the Moon ("MiM")
    The "leader" of the Guardians who grants them their power and chooses people (some human, some not) to become spirits, and sometimes those spirits to become Guardians. Not much is mentioned about him in the movie, other than the Guardians' obedience of him, but the books reveal he is also a member of the Golden Age race, the same as Pitch. MiM resurrected Jack as a spirit after witnessing his sacrifice to save his sister, but then didn't give him any information or guidance and additionally, removed all his memories of his human life (the reasons for this aren't revealed). This hugely shaped Jack's personality, as he "grew up" feeling abandoned and ignored, and that made him resentful of the Guardians and other spirits in general. Essentially, MiM is a giant asshole!


Personality: The absolute core of Jack's personality is fun, playing games, and enjoying his freedoms. Even when he was human, in the flashbacks we see that he was happy, a prankster who liked making the younger children laugh with jokes and wild stories acted out for their amusement. Although the family experienced hard times, Jack felt that it was his responsibility to keep everyone smiling and hopeful. He wants to bring joy to children, to see them happy and enjoying the things he creates for them. Even when the situation seems dire, Jack can focus on the positives and find a way to get through them. These aspects are what leads Jack to discovering his center and being accepted as the Guardian of Fun.

He is utterly dedicated to children, beginning with his sister and his friends when he was human and being a big brother figure to all of them that later transferred to Jamie and Sophie Bennett, even before he had recovered his memories. Their happiness is literally his happiness and Jamie, being the first human to be able to see him in 300 years, also became a special friend for him. Jack selflessly risks his life to protect those he cares about: first his sister on the frozen lake, and then later to save Jamie from Pitch. Family and a sense of belonging means the world to Jack and being deprived that for so long has impacted him greatly, which is clearly evident when he recovers some of his memories through the tooth capsule and all he's overjoyed to find out that not only did have have a sister, he'd saved her life... completely overshadowing his realization that the act had cost him his own.

Beneath Jack's airy and playful exterior, there is a very lonely boy. When the Man in the Moon stripped Jack of his memories, he left the same basic personality core intact, which meant that Jack continued to seek out people's approval and affection without really knowing why. Yet because he was now a spirit and unknown to the world, he was not believed in and therefore couldn't be seen. In many ways, it was the harshest of punishments for Jack to endure and we see that over the centuries, Jack loses some of the guileless joy and wonder he first had upon discovering his powers and it is replaced by a bitterness that he is not acknowledged and therefore remains invisible and untouchable even when others like himself are revered as childhood legends. He harbours a deep resentment towards the Moon but at the same time places some blame on himself, believing that he is the one doing something wrong.

"Hold on, hold on! What about all the fun we just had? That wasn't the Tooth Fairy,
that was me! What's a guy gotta do to get a little attention around here?"

"If there's something I'm doing wrong, could you just tell me what it is? Because I've tried... everything!
And... no one ever sees me! ... You put me here! The least you can do is tell me- tell me why..."

He buries his loneliness under his carefree attitude, even going so far as not only to rebuff the Guardian's attempt to bring him into their ranks but to insult them as well. He sees them as being too bound up in their own rules, even saying that they merely "think up new ways to bribe kids". Yet it only takes a few well-placed verbal barbs from the Easter Bunny to drive home the point that while he may consider himself freer than they are, kids still believe in them but not in Jack himself. Yet his refusal is more based in his anger at the Man in the Moon when he finds out that his submission as a Guardian came from the Moon, and he shows clear anger at having not been told this himself. His anger -- bordering on rage -- is shown again when Sandy is defeated by Pitch in battle, the Sandman being the first Guardian Jack really had a chance to interact with because of the dream streams. It also affects his power, increasing it substantially to the point where the other Guardians are amazed that it defeats Pitch handily. In many ways, he IS the personification of winter in temperament as much as in ability: he can be gentle and affectionate, but when he is angry it is harsh and brutal.

For much of the movie, Jack is very insecure about himself something that both allies (Bunnymund) and enemies (Pitch) exploit. Pitch in particular capitalizes on Jack's fear of never being accepted, never knowing why he has been forced to exist like he has for so long, and his desire not to disappoint the other Guardians, of his feelings of not being worthy of their trust. It makes his realization near the end when Jamie finally understands who is helping him and says Jack's name aloud even more powerful. Jack's reaction to finally being realized is heartbreakingly beautiful so stunned and amazed like he almost dare doesn't believe it. As much of a front as he puts up to others about not needing anyone, everything comes back to wanting to be part of things again.



Appearance: Jack is a very slight, tallish young man with snow white hair in a messy short cut, deep blue eyes and light boned features. His complexion is almost unnaturally pale and in some lights does look faintly bluish. He wears a royal blue hooded sweatshirt with frost that patterns around the collar atop a white woolen shirt, thin brown wrapped pants (almost like leggings) which are tattered at the bottoms and no shoes -- he is always barefoot. If you ever got him to remove his sweatshirt, he is almost unnaturally thin beneath, as much of his current appearance aside from his colouring was taken from his appearance upon his mortal death. He is very cold to the touch and can inadvertently cause people frostbite if they remain in contact with him for too long. The way he moves is also very distinct: he rarely seems to be still, always in motion. He's unbound by gravity (or apparently a spine) and is flightly, like an errant snowflake in a breeze. [ IMAGE ]

Abilities: Jack is the Spirit of Winter, a personification of the frigid season and as such, he has complete control over all aspects of ice and snow. It's his duty to bring snow to different parts of the world, to shepherd in the winter season and to dismiss it when he moves on, responsible keeping a seasonal balance. He can summon snow, ice, and the frost of his namesake at will, manipulating it as he chooses and is unable to feel cold -- or rather, does not feel cold as any kind of discomfort. He uses his hooked staff to focus his energy and strengthen his abilities though it is not the core of them.

One of his abilities allows him to create enchanted snow, which brings out a sense of freedom and reduced inhibitions to have fun and be childish. It's possible to resist, particularly if someone knows it's happening, but most people go with it.

He is also able to fly with the help of the Wind, particularly the North Wind though he can call on all of them. He also is able to bring to life his icy creations as phantom images. The opposite side of Jack's ability is that he is weakened by extreme heat, becoming lethargic and feeling ill.

Inventory: His usual blue hooded sweatshirt outfit and his staff.

Soul Gem: pic

Previous TuShanshu History: Jack had previously spent almost three years in Keeliai, and prior to his disappearance was one of the longest tenured Foreigners left from Emperor Eshai's rule. He took over the unofficial welcoming committee and developed the formal Welcome Center. He also had huge character development over those three years; some of his early blunders were atrocious abuses of his abilities and his understanding of people! He also became much more comfortable with his (then-newly-adopted) role as a Guardian, and with his state as a spirit.

Writing Samples:
Third Person:

Jack could scarcely believe the changes that had taken over Keeliai in the 15 months he'd been absent, and it hadn't even felt like that long. He had gone back to the weeks after that Easter-- and not had a memory of Tu Vishan. Only now that he'd returned did the three years he'd previously spent here resurface. He was grateful for that, at least. He couldn't imagine losing everything he'd been through, all the friends he'd made, all the relationships he'd formed. Not just with other Foreigners, but with the kedan as well, and more than one of them recognized him as the children's "Snow Boy".

It was jarring, having what felt like two sets of memories... one knowing Keeliai, and one not. Even his preternatural senses, the ones that kept him instinctively connected to time and place, felt like they were mismatched. Hopefully, Jack thought, that would subside.

But the city looked like it was doing all right... good, even. (The fact that it was currently covered in snow was simply a bonus, as far as he was concerned, and he couldn't resist adding a few additional bursts of cloud seeding for more flurries.) The winter spirit circled the various sectors from the air, letting once again familiar winds support him, picking out landmarks he knew but spotting many he didn't recognize. Yet there was one destination that was first on his list to drop in on -- almost literally: the Welcome Center.

The fact that the Center was still running as intended -- proven when a few kedan who didn't recognize him helpfully pointed him in that direction after he'd landed -- filled him with a foreign warmth. To have helped form something that lasted, even when he wasn't here, that still felt new to him.

And now it was time to make sure he picked up where he left off.

Network:

[ Whether the viewer sees anyone on the video screen largely depends on whether they believe in spirits, or even magic in general. For those who do, have a smiling teen with a messy shock of white hair in a ice-patterned blue sweatshirt! For those who don't, the feed may show nobody there for the duration of the video. And some may fall in the middle, hearing a voice but not seeing its owner. ]

I'm liking the fancy new consoles, who's responsible for them? I'm going to assume they still melt into goo if you mess with them too much, but I appreciate the new handhelds! Much more convenient for flight.

[ The smile falters a little. ]

Looks like I've missed... a lot. Uh, for those I don't know... my name's Jack Frost. I was here before, for about three years. I arrived back when Eshai was still Emperor [ a faint crease along his brow; he and the former Emperor didn't exactly get along ] but the city's really changed... I've got plenty of catching up to do.

[ private to Zatanna; ]

Zatanna, I'm...

I'm sorry. For leaving.