█ ＡＰＰＬＩＣＡＴＩＯＮ » 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚖.

[extramuralise]

PLAYER INFO

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† PLAYER NAME: Gabbie
† PLAYER CONTACT: PM  /  reggiemantle  /  littlesailorclown @ discord
† PLAYER AGE: 34
† PERMISSIONS: Here.


CHARACTER INFO

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† CHARACTER NAME: John Irving
† CHARACTER AGE: 33
† CHARACTER CANON: AMC's The Terror
† CANON POINT: End of episode 7, "Horrible From Supper."

† CHARACTER HISTORY: Here.

† CHARACTER PERSONALITY:

🔆 PRAGMATIC⨟ Irving takes both himself and his position quite seriously, which can of course be either a pro or a con, but as a pro it stands out because he does take significant pride in his work, in what it means to be useful and necessary and make a difference with what he does. Is he necessarily the most effective in what he does? Maybe not always, but he is steadfast and committed, truly giving his all to setting a good, righteous example to others, and to doing his part thoroughly and with fastidious dedication. He has his faults both as a man and as an officer, to be certain, among them being he is rather passive as an actual leadership figure, but what he lacks in overall authority he makes up for in reliability to his superiors, a keen mind for rules, procedure, and protocol, and going above and beyond in what areas his strengths do lie— not so much commanding respect or enforcing discipline (although he will certainly make an effort when called upon to do so) but work that is far less forward-facing, more to do with organizational busywork such as inventory, keeping logbooks and records, relaying messages and updates between his contemporaries and superiors, and various other minor tasks he is often thanklessly delegated by his captains, but time and time again performs diligently and without complaint.

🔆 EMPATHETIC⨟ Though to his peers and crewmates he may come off as preachy and ineffectual, a likely outspoken proponent of all their country and era's most harmful prejudices, rather to the contrary Irving does not take a cynical or contemptuous view to humanity as a whole, nor does he believe those who sin, have not "found their way," or perhaps aren't even white, English, and Christian, are lesser to himself in the objective sense of a collective human potential. While it's very possible he may have once felt this way, even early on in the series we see and hear from Irving a surprisingly measured, even respectful, perspective regarding the Netsilik people (whose territory Terror and Erebus have encouraged upon) compared to that of almost all his contemporaries, superiors, and subordinates. Later this is emphasized even further when Irving encounters a Netsilik family while out on a hunting expedition; he approaches them alone, very carefully so as not to frighten them, going as far as to also set down his gun, approaching them defenseless to communicate he poses them no threat. Despite being unable to speak their language, he introduces himself (prompting one of them to do the same) and uses that foundation, along with hand gestures and body language, of simple human-to-human connection to communicate instead, offering them his clearly cherished brass spyglass in return to thank them for providing him food from their own pockets.

While it isn't difficult to see how the harrowing trials and tribulations he and the others go through while stranded on the ice may have contributed significantly to his ability to view these people as people, his equals rather than inferiors, by no means does this sentiment from him seem from out of nowhere, as he'd already been one of extremely few others to have previously suggested they actually speak to the Netsilik regarding the clear and present threat of the Tuunbaq. Even regarding his own men aboard Terror Irving often acts with an effort towards compassion, such as absolving and then even defending Billy Gibson from what Irving had been led to believe were acts he'd been coerced into by Hickey, because Gibson spoke to him convincingly as a remorseful, penitent man, which Irving would of course be more inclined to forgive and empathize with over Hickey's shameless and unapologetic behavior— although he certainly wants, and even invites, Hickey to choose redemption as well.

🔆 FAITHFUL⨟ As in of faith as well as in loyal, because he is nothing if not strongly defined by both, of course. One of John Irving's most visibly noted qualities among his crewmates is how he is a deeply pious man, a practicing protestant Christian, and while this may not often endear him to his peers it is this very faith that provides him the strength to keep going even through times of severe adversity. He is not necessarily an optimist, but he does believe that most any struggle can be overcome through steadfast perseverance, and takes comfort in knowing how everything is all part of God's great plan, which stops him becoming ruthless and desperate as many of the other man gradually do— again, he simply has faith that God will guide them back home in the end, that order and logic will eventually prevail over unknown forces, but perhaps this all depends on if they earn their passage back by retaining their humanity— man's generous natures and brotherly spirit.

Right to the bitter end he always seeks to do the right thing, the righteous thing, even when what that truly means may not be so clear to him. This is not to say his judgement is always correct or even wise, of course, but just that he does try to consider the bigger picture beyond only himself when taking action or making a decision, to set a "Christ-like example" in being kind, patient, and forgiving, even if in practice he often falls just short of this. It also speaks to how, unlike some of the other lieutenants who will go on to survive him, he's never once swayed or faltered even for a moment from his duty and loyalties to his captains and his men, nor been so much as tempted. Tragically that includes his rushing to the scene of Hickey's assault upon Mr. Farr, so shocked by the sight that he failed to draw his weapon, and so got stabbed over and over and over again in his hasty effort to intervene.

❌ AVOIDANT⨟ Such deep faith can, however, simultaneously still foster quite a rigidly parochial mindset, as well, and in Irving's case he would very easily be described as myopic in his way of thinking; narrow-minded, conservative, and conventional. Early on in the series, in fact, Hickey describes Irving to Gibson as lacking the imagination necessary to even be capable of informing command about having caught the two of them together in the hold— that Irving is a man too "afraid of chaos" to actually open his mind up far enough to ever truly confront what it is he saw, and it's perhaps the most astute observation of Irving that Hickey will ever make or articulate aloud.

Indeed, Irving is rarely ever not seeking to shelter and isolate himself apart from the rest of the world's many ills and sinful influences, earning him something of a reputation on Terror for being "such an anchorite" (derogatory), which is even further underscored by his near-compulsive avoidance of conflict and confrontation in his role as an acting lieutenant, and his preference for pretending any awkward or problem situations that he's faced with simply never happened. Denial and willful ignorance have become a way of life for him that he relies on desperately to get by in both the Navy and just in general, trying to fake it until he makes it (spoilers: he does not make it) and has even himself convinced, because certain things, certain truths, are just far too awful to confront.

❌ ASCETIC⨟ In a similar vein to the avoidance come his nigh-puritanical efforts at maintaining the long-standing practices of things like abstention, self-restraint, and discipline, guided of course by his strict Christian values (or in other words: for religious reasons) which demand he should eschew all (or almost all) forms of temptation and indulgence to keep his soul on the fast-track to Heaven. True that he isn't perfect, and he does have his slip-ups with indulgence from time to time, his weaknesses and blind spots like any other man would, but Irving by and large tries to at least remain consistent in which indulgences he will or won't allow— which is why he might sometimes be seen with a beer in hand over dinner, or perhaps tipsy (drunk) on spirits at a party or other social function, without sacrificing any amount of his prissy, uptight prudishness, his preachy and sanctimonious lectures, or the pearl-clutching over any and all overheard obscenity, cursing and/or blasphemy. He is easily flustered and made uncomfortable whenever he is forced to deal with less "savory" or "appropriate" subjects, such to point where perhaps that is in fact why he allows himself to still drink, as something of a reprieve from his constant withholding. To call him repressed doesn't begin to describe it: even for an exceptionally pious Victorian man, he is repressed.

❌ ALOOF⨟ No doubt it can't exactly be easy being a somewhat priggish, uptight Lieutenant aboard a ship full of rowdy, foul-mouthed sailors, and indeed, Irving does not appear to have many friends or confidantes on the ship (apart from the rapport he shares with his fellow Lieutenants, Edward Little and George Hodgson), nor does he seem particularly gifted at making those types of fraternal connections with people very smoothly or comfortably. This is not entirely purposeful on his part, granted, but rather an impression he gives off in spite of any attempts otherwise to connect with people. Remember he's an anchorite? That rather implies socially awkward, subpar people skills right on the tin, doesn't it.

† CHARACTER SKILLS:

• High aptitude for maths and numbers
• High aptitude for reading / writing
• Strong faith / religious aptitude
• High aptitude for protocol and regulations; inventory keeping; maintaining logbooks and records; and other similarly meticulous "admin"-type tasks
• Knowledge of firearms / gunnery
• 20 years experience in the Royal Navy, the last 5 of those serving as an officer
• Survival experience in arctic conditions, including food/resource rationing, relocation, and walking for extremely long stretches
• Diplomacy, discretion
• Middling-to-adequate leadership skills

† CHARACTER INVENTORY: Bearing in mind that his outfit at this point in canon is not actually his standard uniform, I've accounted for that below!

— #1: Irving's retractable / telescoping brass spyglass.
— #2: Standard issue naval officer uniform, including hat, greatcoat*, and epaulets
— #3: One (1) 12-gauge double barreled shotgun

( *Yes, he will have his coat as Hickey is later seen wearing it, which is to say: full of stab holes! ♡ )

† IMPORTANT NOTES: John Irving — and, indeed, the Franklin Expedition as a whole! — did, of course, actually exist, but as I am playing him, it is strictly in the sense of his fictionalized adaptation as appearing in AMC's The Terror, with some secondary and tertiary supplementation (if/as needed) from the novel the show was based, as well as John Irving's actual history, that does not otherwise contradict his show portrayal.

† WRITING SAMPLES:

— SAMPLE ONE.
— SAMPLE TWO.