Your name or online alias: Reg
Your email: regasssa@hotmail.com
Another preferred means of contact: regasssa on aim and plurk
Character's Full Name: Captain Jonathan Archer
Character's Canon: Star Trek: Enterprise
Character's Journal Name:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
spacefaring
What would you like your character's tag to be?: Jonathan Archer
In 300-500 words total, tell us your...
Character's background (their past and present):
"Someday... my people are going to come up with some sort of a doctrine, something that tells us what we can and can't do out here, should and shouldn't do. But until somebody tells me that they've drafted that directive... I'm going to have to remind myself every day... that we didn't come out here to play God."
The son of a man who leant his life to developing Earth's Warp Drive, Archer inherited his father's desire to get humanity into space as well as his frustration for the Vulcans who arrived to assist the early post-warp culture in its development. He joined Starfleet in its early days, rising through the ranks to the level of Commander, where as a young man he flew as a test pilot on the NX project, which worked to transform Archer's (now sadly deceased) father's warp drive into a useable engine. Archer took the project to heart, even going so far as to risk his life and career to prove the engine worked. Years later, it was Archer who was selected to Captain the Enterprise NX-1 despite protestations by the Vulcans--both that Archer was unsuitable and that humanity was unready.
Thus began his ten years serving as a Starfleet captain. During this time Archer forged longstanding aliances with planets that would later form the bulk of the infant Federation of Planets (originally called the Coalition). Many of these species he made first contact with, or laid the foundations to resolve longstanding disputes that had confounded the respective governments for centuries, such as between the Andorians and the Vulcans. He explored the known universe for Earth, made territory safer for cargo vessels and early space settlers, and laid the foundation for many of Starfleet's classical later features, such as training for armed security teams, the red alert system and its siren, first contact and medical protocols and of course Starfleet's general orders, the prime directive among them. Archer even personally helped to resolve temporal disruptions caused by future enemies of the Federation seeking to distabilize it during those crucial early years--none of these events are mentioned in the official records, naturally.
His original xenophobia, given years of friendship with T'Pau and his evolving curiosity about other species, subsided soon enough, even if the xenophobia on Earth would take far longer to resolve, especially after a Xindi attack cut a swathe across the planet, killing millions of people. In short, those first few years were perhaps some of the longest Earth had to endure, but Archer ensured that the path taken in the future would lead to the planet at the centre of the Federation being all the stronger for it.
Character's personality:
"You did the right thing."
"It seems the longer we're out here, the more I have to keep telling myself that."
In terms of choices for the Enterprise's first starfaring captain, Archer was truly an ideal choice; maybe not the choice the Vulcans would have prefered, after all Archer had immense emotional connection to the mission's success, and was more volatile than all the other choices. He took risks, challenged authority, acted illogically--in effect, Archer was a very human choice.
An explorer by heart, a frontiersman and a scientist, with a curiosity about the universe around him and high expectations of humanity's place in it, Archer pushed beyond his own boundaries and urged the same of his crew. He knows how to get the best out of people and to inspire them, is generous and friendly, and apart from his early prejudices - which he masters with time and experience - is in fact a very open person when it comes to the wide variety of alien life that Starfleet is now in contact with. Archer makes friends with the least likely people, earning the loyalty of T'Pau and the respect of Vulcan High Command, the loyalty of their doctor and even the genuine trust of alien leaders like Shran.
But Archer still has his flaws. Early spacetravel is a friendless task, and at warp 4.5 the alpha quadrant is an enormous place. During the mission into the Delphic Expanse and the early challenges involving both space faring and pre-warp alien races, Archer has to make moral and ethical choices that would look far more questionable after the formation of the Federation. His mission is to save Earth from a Xindi weapon at any cost, and he condones the murder of a clone, the destruction of an unshielded Xindi mining colony and the theft of a warp core from a less advanced ship. Archer sees remorse as an occasional necessity where keeping his crew and his planet intact is concerned. He can be a harsh and direct leader, ruthless and efficient. He can be a very hard man, but he is always fair, and does what he can to keep himself on an equal level with his crew, putting as much value on each of their lives as his own.
Above all he believes that there's no point saving Earth if it costs them their humanity.
Character's skills/abilities/powers: Diplomacy, leadership, piloting, some hand to hand combat and phaser rifle skills, and a pretty reasonable understanding of how 200 year old warp engines work.
Any special equipment your character is bringing along? This includes weaponry, magic items, etc.: There's not much use for any of Archer's inventory, though if he could bring his beagle Porthos that would be awesome.
Why do you want to play this character in Ten Forward, and what do you plan to do with them? I've wanted to play Archer for a long time, but this scenario is the first one that's genuinely leapt out at me. Why? Because Archer is so far out of his time; he will be able to see and experience the Enterprise of two hundred years in his future. He'll have to adapt to the changes, and he'll ruminate over the similarities, and he'll rankle under his status as an admiral of starfleet legend. He may come up short of people's expectations, but even if he isn't, like his mirror self he will reflect on his own self doubt in comparison to--well, himself.
Writing Sample #1: Test drive thread
Writing Sample #2 (optional): Happy to provide if above isn't sufficient!
Your email: regasssa@hotmail.com
Another preferred means of contact: regasssa on aim and plurk
Character's Full Name: Captain Jonathan Archer
Character's Canon: Star Trek: Enterprise
Character's Journal Name:
spacefaringWhat would you like your character's tag to be?: Jonathan Archer
In 300-500 words total, tell us your...
Character's background (their past and present):
"Someday... my people are going to come up with some sort of a doctrine, something that tells us what we can and can't do out here, should and shouldn't do. But until somebody tells me that they've drafted that directive... I'm going to have to remind myself every day... that we didn't come out here to play God."
The son of a man who leant his life to developing Earth's Warp Drive, Archer inherited his father's desire to get humanity into space as well as his frustration for the Vulcans who arrived to assist the early post-warp culture in its development. He joined Starfleet in its early days, rising through the ranks to the level of Commander, where as a young man he flew as a test pilot on the NX project, which worked to transform Archer's (now sadly deceased) father's warp drive into a useable engine. Archer took the project to heart, even going so far as to risk his life and career to prove the engine worked. Years later, it was Archer who was selected to Captain the Enterprise NX-1 despite protestations by the Vulcans--both that Archer was unsuitable and that humanity was unready.
Thus began his ten years serving as a Starfleet captain. During this time Archer forged longstanding aliances with planets that would later form the bulk of the infant Federation of Planets (originally called the Coalition). Many of these species he made first contact with, or laid the foundations to resolve longstanding disputes that had confounded the respective governments for centuries, such as between the Andorians and the Vulcans. He explored the known universe for Earth, made territory safer for cargo vessels and early space settlers, and laid the foundation for many of Starfleet's classical later features, such as training for armed security teams, the red alert system and its siren, first contact and medical protocols and of course Starfleet's general orders, the prime directive among them. Archer even personally helped to resolve temporal disruptions caused by future enemies of the Federation seeking to distabilize it during those crucial early years--none of these events are mentioned in the official records, naturally.
His original xenophobia, given years of friendship with T'Pau and his evolving curiosity about other species, subsided soon enough, even if the xenophobia on Earth would take far longer to resolve, especially after a Xindi attack cut a swathe across the planet, killing millions of people. In short, those first few years were perhaps some of the longest Earth had to endure, but Archer ensured that the path taken in the future would lead to the planet at the centre of the Federation being all the stronger for it.
Character's personality:
"You did the right thing."
"It seems the longer we're out here, the more I have to keep telling myself that."
In terms of choices for the Enterprise's first starfaring captain, Archer was truly an ideal choice; maybe not the choice the Vulcans would have prefered, after all Archer had immense emotional connection to the mission's success, and was more volatile than all the other choices. He took risks, challenged authority, acted illogically--in effect, Archer was a very human choice.
An explorer by heart, a frontiersman and a scientist, with a curiosity about the universe around him and high expectations of humanity's place in it, Archer pushed beyond his own boundaries and urged the same of his crew. He knows how to get the best out of people and to inspire them, is generous and friendly, and apart from his early prejudices - which he masters with time and experience - is in fact a very open person when it comes to the wide variety of alien life that Starfleet is now in contact with. Archer makes friends with the least likely people, earning the loyalty of T'Pau and the respect of Vulcan High Command, the loyalty of their doctor and even the genuine trust of alien leaders like Shran.
But Archer still has his flaws. Early spacetravel is a friendless task, and at warp 4.5 the alpha quadrant is an enormous place. During the mission into the Delphic Expanse and the early challenges involving both space faring and pre-warp alien races, Archer has to make moral and ethical choices that would look far more questionable after the formation of the Federation. His mission is to save Earth from a Xindi weapon at any cost, and he condones the murder of a clone, the destruction of an unshielded Xindi mining colony and the theft of a warp core from a less advanced ship. Archer sees remorse as an occasional necessity where keeping his crew and his planet intact is concerned. He can be a harsh and direct leader, ruthless and efficient. He can be a very hard man, but he is always fair, and does what he can to keep himself on an equal level with his crew, putting as much value on each of their lives as his own.
Above all he believes that there's no point saving Earth if it costs them their humanity.
Character's skills/abilities/powers: Diplomacy, leadership, piloting, some hand to hand combat and phaser rifle skills, and a pretty reasonable understanding of how 200 year old warp engines work.
Any special equipment your character is bringing along? This includes weaponry, magic items, etc.: There's not much use for any of Archer's inventory, though if he could bring his beagle Porthos that would be awesome.
Why do you want to play this character in Ten Forward, and what do you plan to do with them? I've wanted to play Archer for a long time, but this scenario is the first one that's genuinely leapt out at me. Why? Because Archer is so far out of his time; he will be able to see and experience the Enterprise of two hundred years in his future. He'll have to adapt to the changes, and he'll ruminate over the similarities, and he'll rankle under his status as an admiral of starfleet legend. He may come up short of people's expectations, but even if he isn't, like his mirror self he will reflect on his own self doubt in comparison to--well, himself.
Writing Sample #1: Test drive thread
Writing Sample #2 (optional): Happy to provide if above isn't sufficient!
