Jonathan Brooks
From Changeling Venue
|  |
Overview
| Seeming | Fairest Bright One |
|---|---|
| Court | Spring Court |
| Freehold | Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando |
| Player | Ben R. <ben.cam AT gmail.com> |
Real Name: Jonathan Brooks
Alias(es): Johnny Thorn, The White Bard
Titles: Aquilifer of the 1st Century of The Praesidium, Ward of Thorns
Location: South Florida and Orlando
Age: 19
Concept: Rockstar, Bannerman, Warrior-Bard, Heart-broken Musician, Orator
Relevant Mechanics: Striking Looks(x4), Fame(x3): Music
Looking for Ties
- Members of the rock band Black Velvet Rope
- Others met during time in Faerie, especially during Jonathan's wanderings while blind
- Anyone who wants to have some sort of adventure together post-2005
- Stories that Jonathan can tell; if your character did something cool and Jonathan could have been along for it, or otherwise been witness to it (even through a retelling by someone else), tell me! He's a bard, I need stories.
- Friends from pre-Changeling life (from school, etc.)
History
Basic Timeline
- 1991: Born
- 2003: Abducted
- Faerie+2: Reunited with mother
- Faerie+3:
- Mother is killed
- Loses his eyes, set to wander the eastern meadows
- Faerie+5:
- Finds his way back to the Castle
- Given his mother's left eye
- Escapes to the Hedge
- Rescued by Gaius Arctorus
- 2005: The Return
- Moves to Orlando
- Joins The Praesidium as a Decurion
- Formation of his rock band, Black Velvet Rope
- 2006: Homecoming
- Finds his Fetch, along with the Fetch of his mother
- Attempts suicide in the Hedge with poisonous Goblin fruits
- Saved by Stephen Daedalus
- 2007: Transition
- Leaves Winter Court, joins Spring Court
- Promoted to Aquilifer of the First Century of The Praesidium
- Black Velvet Rope achieves success, thanks to MySpace and YouTube
- Kills mother's Fetch
- Second suicide attempt
- Sent to live at the House of Thorns in Ft. Lauderdale
Current Activities
- Aquilifer of The Praesidium
- Ward of Thorns
- Lead guitarist of Black Velvet Rope
Synopsis
Jonathan is a musician and storyteller, and he delights in what he considers the noble privelege of retelling the exploits of his comrades.
As a Knight, he is fanatical in his devotion to the duties required of him and whatever position he holds at the moment. He often sees things in stark terms of right and wrong, of ideals rather than realities, and he will uphold the letter of a vow even if it is to his detriment; anything, so long as honor holds.
To Jonathan, his fellow Knights are his family, and he will do whatever is necessary to protect them, so long as no vow constrains him otherwise. He has experienced a great loss in his past, and he will hold onto those dearest that remain to him with all his strength.
Additionally, his family is his family, on both sides of the tree, and he expends great effort to make sure that the limbs prosper and flourish rather than cut each other off in a race toward the sun.
He currently lives in Ft. Lauderdale with a group of unsavory characters that could not provide a sharper contrast against his strict morality. Most of his time is split three ways, between his musical endeavors with Black Velvet Rope, his duties as Aquilifer for The Praesidium, and his place as a Ward of Thorns.
See: The Sorrowful Ballad of Jonathan Brooks
The Entourage
- Laurel Thorn - I will fix her dream.
- Gaius Arctorus - Once, I thought he could do no wrong.
- Edria Meredith - She seems pure. But I've been deceived by pure before.
- Bandabras Pelinor - Selfless and loyal. A good friend.
- Durendal - He cares about me in his own way.
- Velios - He has a good heart, and that's all you really need in this world.
- The Praesidium - Sometimes, they're more confused than I am.
- Black Velvet Rope - Every once in a while, something incredible happens.
- The Wise Woman - She knows what it's like to wander in the dark.
- Andros - A different kind of Knight. One day, he'll see there's more to a man's word than money.
- Stephen Daedalus - He held me up through some dark times. I wouldn't be here without him.
- Nevermore - Dead man walking.
- Brand - His righteous courage keeps us on the right side of the tracks.
- Zoe Edwards - She is the key.
- Aaron - I liked him at first, but now I know the truth.
- Miragel - She's not just a fan. She's one of the reasons that you know my name.
- Gwendolyn - Laurel tells me I should care more about her.
- Bengali Shirkan - Right on. Almost a brother to me.
- Race - He's on my side.
- Nujalik - Let me tell you a story.
- Althea Sexton - Grin.
- Holly Poppet - She did what with Nevermore? Stop making shit up.
- Dog - My number one.
- Dominic Thorn - Shut. The. Fuck. Up.
- Thomas Thorn - Crazy. Just absolutely insane.
- Sebastian Wulfhiem CEC and The Hedgeapple - Good food, good music, good times. He knows how to treat people well.
- The extended Brooks Family - Blood is blood. We're in it together whether they like it or not.
- Summer
Quotes
"He has courage, if tempered by innocence. One day, he will live up to his dream." - Althea Sexton
"I mean seriously, have you HEARD his music? Black Velvet Rope 4EVAH!" - DJ Miragel
"Sometimes something beautiful comes with the strangest trappings." - Gwendolyn
"Lonely, confused, and lost.... Someday this boy will understand what he is part of." - Andros
"He was introduced to me as 'the good Thorn...' whatever that means. Aaron says he's the one we like. I don't know about 'we,' but there's more to this particular Thorn than I give the rest of of them credit for. Damn it... He had to go and ruin the makings of a perfectly good stereotype." - Zoe Edwards
"...and THEN, Johnny grew to a height of seventy feet!" - Velios, Lord of Leaves
"Speaking of being naked... Dude, you remember that show?!" - Bengali Shirkan
"Johnny... an interesting young man. Passion and desire rule his heart and they rule it well. I've never seen one so ready to kill someone that he would escape six people holding him and jump an entire flight of stairs upwards, just to be stopped by a few simple words. He has a good head... but anger will one day be the death of him if he doesn't gain control." - Ryver
"I'm proud of Jonathan. Very, very proud." - Laurel Thorn
"I cannot say that I am proud of that day... it is rare for my anger to slip lose of it's hold - yet he never forgot our purpose, even if I was too blinded to see it for a moment. I cannot say that I am proud of that day, but I can say that I am proud of him. I must trust him to make the right choices, and to see a path between the Light and the Dark." - Gaius Arctorus
"He has conviction and strength and honor and I do not think he knows how alike to his grandfather he is in so many way. I wish I knew how to guide him out of what he's lost in but I know enough to know that I cannot be his mother. Maybe someday he'll let me be his friend." - Edria Meredith
"You want to know who Johnny Thorn is? Well, I've never met the man, but I've never let that stop me from gossiping about a celebrity before. OK...imagine a completely dark room. Now, imagine a light comes on in the center of the room, and there in the middle is Johnny Thorn. He then starts singing Freddie Mercury's part on Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody - "Is this the real life, is this just fantasy," and goes on through the "I don't want to die, I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all" part. Then, as he starts singing "I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me," a light comes on to his left, showing the entire Thorn family, and THEY sing "he's just a poor boy from a poor family, spare him his life from this monstrosity," and when he sings "will you let me go," they sing "Bismillah! We will not let you go!" and THEN a light comes on to his right and there's the entire Praesidium singing "Let him go!" They go back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, until Johnny STANDS UP, and fucking BELTS "Beelzebub has a devil put aside for meeee, for MEEEEE, for MEEEEEEEEEE!!!" and then everyone starts head-banging.
...
THAT'S Johnny fuckin' Thorn." - Dzxoxian Brokehorn
"So many people trying to manipulate Johnny for their own reasons. Personally, I'd rather just be his friend. Then I don't have to worry about making his decisions for him." - Bandabras Pelinor
"Go my blue haired warrior friend... go!" - Nicadeamus
"There are very few people I know who are completely, unapologetically, 100% who they are. One of them is Johnny, who has made the most sense out of everyone I have seen post in the last day. I count myself blessed to have him as my Aquilifer because even though I might occasionally need to reign in his enthusiasm, and despair at his total disregard for tactics or planning... he at least never, ever falters in his sense of justice and application of his ideals... and he as sure as god damn will let you know if he thinks you are." - Kalen
"Johnny, I like you, but I told you everything I know, your just not listening." - The Highwayman
"As a fellow musician, I can appreciate the fact that he lent me his guitar at the wedding, simply after hearing that I played a little...nor was the gesture tinged with contempt or even the normal display of friendly rivalry between musicians. I hope we have more opportunities to talk in the future." - Falcon
"Johnny sings so pretty!!!" - gleefully exclaimed by Summer, a friend and fan
"He carries the strength of his conviction, and the hope of his honor into the Praesidium. May they never fail him." - James Daniels
Rumors
- Jonathan is being held prisoner against his will by Laurel Thorn, who only lets him out to play shows so that he generates income.
- Jonathan helped the Freehold of Ft. Meyers fight a gigantic hedge-beast... and to fight it, he used some unknown magic or contract to grow taller than the trees.
- Sometimes, just sometimes, Jonathan is so beautiful that he is literally painful to look upon, and his perfect features can lead to victory before he even need draw his sword.
- A Loyalist lurks behind his glowing eye, and all of Jonathan's morality and good-hearted deeds are simply a veil to conceal his true nature.
- Jonathan escorted Camilla Venery to the Hunt of Leaves and was the last to see her. Camilla Venery turned up dead after the Hunt. Hmmm.
- The 'good' member of Thorns. Isn't that a contradiction in terms?
- Jonathan voluntarily surrendered to Thorns so that he could spy on them for The Praesidium.
- Jonathan, or more specifically, Johnny Thorn, has a crazy arsonist for a stalker who burned down buildings all over town.
- When Johnny Thorn breaks out the guitar, even the True Fae have stood in rapture, unable to do anything but listen.
- Jonathan is spending large amounts of his time helping his friend Brand look for his missing family.
- Jonathan has secretly made a pledge with giants, giving him the ability to grow in height to 70ft.
- Any rumor you can think of has been said about Johnny Thorn. Just check your daily supermarket celebrity gossip tabloid.
- Johnny was arrested in late 2007.
- A Bassist & Drummer have been found to fill the empty spots of Black Velvet Rope
- Jonathan set out to kill Nevermore in a fit of rage, and it took a dozen members of the The Praesidium to stop him.
- After a public disagreement in early 2008, Jonathan almost resigned from The Praesidium.
- Jonathan is allergic to bees.
- He has been seen riding a blue-maned unicorn.
- Jonathan and Thomas Thorn are arch rivals.
- Jonathan and Thomas Thorn are secretly good friends.
Character Inspirations
- Oedipus
- Orestes
- Orpheus
- Aram (Wheel of Time)
- Dilios (the movie "300")
- Michael Corleone (The Godfather)
- Allen Walker (D.Gray-man)
- Anakin and Luke Skywalker
- John Mayer
Soundtrack
- "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" - Death Cab For Cutie
- "Mother" - Pink Floyd
- "You Don't Know What Love Is" - The White Stripes
- "The End" - The Doors
- "Prayer of the Refugee" - Rise Against
- "Uphill Both Ways" - Yellowcard
- "The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most" - Dashboard Confessional
- "Goodbye" - Yellowcard
- "Our Lady Of Sorrows" - My Chemical Romance
- "This Is How I Disappear" - My Chemical Romance
- "Gone Away" - The Offspring
- "Rockstar" - Jimmy Eat World
- "Forget My Name" - New Found Glory
- "Someday You Will Be Loved" - Death Cab For Cutie
- "Along Again, Naturally" - Gilbert O'Sullivan
