The Pines: Application

[naneunyulyeongibnida]

PLAYER

NAME: Brona
CONTACT: waswritinwater or PM this journal.
OTHER CHARACTERS IN THE PINES: I'm apping another character this round: Rachel Conway.

CHARACTER

NAME: Junyoung Cho
CANON: Original Character
CANON-POINT: Present day, age 26, in his first year of residency after graduating from medical school.

DOSSIER

HISTORY: Junyoung Cho was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. His parents had a pretty tempestuous marriage; his father left his mother when he was eight years old, and from then on he was raised by his mother and his maternal grandmother. He's had limited contact with his father here and there as he's grown up, they're distant without Junyoung understanding why they don't have a better relationship.

There wasn't always a lot of money; his mom was a bank teller and took in sewing projects to help make ends meet, and as soon as he was able he started working side jobs around school to help. He's been responsible since a young age, and always strove to help the people around him. He decided pretty early on that he wanted to be a doctor, and he worked hard in school so that he could get into a good college, and at whatever jobs he could lay his hands on to help save up for it. He also dreamed of being able to make a good living at it, so he could take care of his mother and grandmother after they'd taken care of him so long.

Junyoung was seven years old when he first realized he could pick up on the energy and history of some objects when he touched them. This weirded him the hell out. He confided in his father, and when his father left the family a few months later he couldn't help feeling like he'd been abandoned for being a weirdo his dad wasn't willing to put up with. Once he was older, and with his mom and grandma's help, he realized that wasn't the case, but that early fear planted the seeds of keeping his abilities secret for the rest of his life. As he got older they developed further and he began to occasionally hear what he assumes are the ghosts of the dead whispering to him. He hasn't actually checked, he'd be perfectly happy not having any of this happen to him, so he just tries to ignore it and carry on.

He became something of an overachiever as a result, working very hard to show that he was PERFECTLY NORMAL AND NOT SOME WEIRDO EVERYONE THANKS. Dutiful son and grandson, top student, got into the top medical school in Korea, worked his ass off to graduate near the top of his class (even if he did like to party as hard as he worked in his off time, look, he'd earned that, right?) In South Korea every able-bodied man 18-35 has mandatory military service for about two years. Medical students usually put off their service until they've finished their schooling so they can get cushier posts as medics; Junyoung opted to pause his schooling after his first two years, like most other men his age, and serve it then, in the infantry.

His grandmother lived long enough to see him graduate this past spring but she passed away soon after. That's left him somewhat shaken, navigating this new period in his life without her guidance. Death's been on his mind a lot lately between that and starting his residency, where he's now working hands-on with patients--and sometimes losing them. He can't help wondering if that's got anything to do with his abilities coming back stronger than ever, and with a new twist: a handful of times now, he's seen one figure, a black vaguely person-like figure that never speaks to him like the others have but certainly seems to want his attention. He's rattled enough to finally think about getting some answers about what he can do and why he can do it.

WHAT ARE YOUR CHARACTER'S STRENGTHS?: Junyoung is capable, ambitious, polite, and caring. He's achieved a lot in his life, and while he's proud of it, he also has the modesty expected of him culturally. He's certainly not going to brag about being a doctor and getting high marks and he will totally tell you it's not that big a deal if you bring it up. He feels fortunate that he's been able to live the life he wants to be living.

He knows how to be serious when the situation calls for it but he's also fun, ready to laugh at most things (most especially himself) and put the people around him at ease. He makes friends pretty easily, and stays loyal to them once he's got them. He's generous, he's inclusive. He's very physically affectionate with friends too; skinshipping's totally a thing where he's from, usually with friends of the same gender but he's also affectionate with friends of other genders (which has sometimes led to him being called a flirt - that's not exactly untrue).

Inwardly he's driven, always pushing himself to do his best, to work hard, to give, and to help. At his core he's a deeply compassionate person, full of warmth. His mom and especially his grandma, raising him, imbued him with a strong sense of values that include respect for others, understanding for their differences and life situations, doing everything you can to help others, and taking care of the people you care about. He became a doctor because he genuinely wanted to help people, to save and lengthen lives.

WHAT ARE YOUR CHARACTER'S WEAKNESSES?: His strengths mask some of the fear and worry he feels: that he grew up without his father and therefore doesn't have the right ideas about being a man, that he's not going to be able to provide for his mother, that he's a total weirdo who would be shunned forever if people knew he could read objects by touching them, hears spirits, even sees one now. So he works hard to do well, so that no one has any reason to inspect him all that closely.

The same compassion that makes him good at his job is a double-edged sword at times, making it harder to bear the losses or get past losing patients. The drive he has to just be like everyone else, a normal, hardworking guy, can sometimes lead him to be avoidant of his problems (biggest case in point: ignoring his abilities instead of learning anything about them or trying to use them constructively). He tends to bury himself in work when he's upset, or doesn't want to deal with something. Sometimes he gets too caught up in worrying about how he should be or act As A Man, which makes him guarded or less willing to open up when he should.

WHAT EVENTS OR CIRCUMSTANCES IN YOUR CHARACTER'S PAST HAVE IMPACTED THEM THE MOST?: Realizing he was different from everyone else in being able to sense things from touching objects or hearing spirit voices shook him up as a kid. His father leaving the family left him feeling abandoned and vulnerable, deep down, for a long time. His first jobs, and being able to help support his household growing up, made him feel like an adult, a grown man. Graduating medical school was a dream come true, both personally and in seeing the pride in his mother and grandmother's faces. Losing his first patient wrecked him, losing his grandmother wrecked him even worse.

WHAT MOTIVATES YOUR CHARACTER?: The strong desire to help and protect people, to always do good, and to love and be loved.

WHAT IMPRESSION DO OTHERS TEND TO HAVE OF YOUR CHARACTER?: A Bro in Good Boy's Clothing: he's a man's man, he likes his drink, he likes to have fun and crack jokes, he's athletic, he works hard. It's easy to think these things, and his job, and his constant state of being tired from his job, are all that he is. He seems to be your average every day guy, doing and loving average every day guy things, with a good job on top. He's happy to cultivate that image.

IN WHAT WAYS DOES THAT IMPRESSION DIFFER FROM WHO YOUR CHARACTER REALLY IS?: He's hiding supernatural abilities he knows not everyone has, and that he doesn't particularly want. He feels burdened by them, and isn't always sure what to make of them. He's also hiding his grief at losing his grandmother, one of his anchors in life, and at his father abandoning the family so many years ago. He is both incredibly compassionate and incredibly strong, and on both fronts he feels like it's because he has to be, to keep going, to do well.

HOW DOES YOUR CHARACTER HANDLE CRISIS OR ADVERSITY?: with the unshakable certainty that this, too, will pass. With strength and a desire to persevere. With the willingness to support or carry others through it if that's what they need.

WHICH 5 THINGS WILL YOUR CHARACTER REMEMBER UPON ARRIVAL, AND WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THEM?:
Finding his mother and grandmother in the crowd after his graduation ceremony, and how his grandmother was the first person to address him as "Dr. Cho".

Making rice cakes with his mother on Sunday mornings in their apartment.

The contrast between losing his first patient who died in the midst of noise and chaos in the ER and losing his grandmother who slipped away quietly while he held her hand.

His first kisses: a girl in his high school class, another guy in his pre-med classes.

The first time he was able to come out to the waiting area and give a patient's family good news, how they'd cried and thanked him.

All of these things remind him of what he has, what he's lost, what he's worked so hard to get, what he values.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU FEEL WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER?: He really, really likes historical dramas but doesn't think it's manly to admit right off the bat that he's into all that princess shit.


SKILLS, ABILITIES, & PHYSICAL WEAKNESSES: He is a medical doctor working on his specialization in emergency medicine. He is in his first year of residency so if y'all want to put him at the hospital under the guidance of whatever npc doctor etc that works for modly purposes I am down for that. He'd be a low-level doctor so not likely to be in the loop on anything at all ever.

He is fluent in Korean and English. He's had two years of basic military training thanks to mandatory conscription in South Korea: he can do basic hand to hand combat and self defense, he knows how to fire a pistol and rifle, but he's not like some supersoldier or Rambo or anything. Just capable. The army got him into top physical shape and he's maintained that because his job requires stamina and strength.

He also has the following supernatural abilities:

he can do psychometry - getting psychic impressions from an object by touching it. He can only do this with objects that have a lot of history or personal meaning to a person, so like: yes to tombstones, wedding rings, a photograph of a loved one; no to random cups from Starbucks, things on the grocery store shelves, random tools at the hospital. I would only bring this into play with another character with the agreement of that player and discussion of what he would learn from an object so as not to be rude or godmodding.

He can also hear spirits whispering to him sometimes, like trying to get his attntion, but I would not use that ability to godmod another player, and would not involve another character in his hearing things without us agreeing on what's going down.

That shadowy figure is an entirely personal thing he's seeing and will have no affect on other characters.

INVENTORY:
Clothing: hospital scrubs, t-shirt, white lab coat, zippered hoodie, running shoes, wristwatch with an inscription from his mother on the back.

Doctor's kit: a bag containing: stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, thermometers, peak flow meter, pulse oximeter, alcohol swabs and gel, gloves, tongue depressors, small flashlight, reflex hammer, glucometer, swabs, specimen containers, small first-aid kit, notebook, pens, airways.

SAMPLES

PROSE-HEAVY: Prose thread.
DIALOGUE-HEAVY: Texting thread.