(no subject)
Character's name: Judas Iscariot (Judah of Kerioth)
Character's LJ: sweptawaytrash
Character's canon: Jesus Christ Superstar (2000 primarily)
Brief (around 300 words) personality outline of your character:
Fucked. No, really.
It's been a while since something happy happened for Judas.
He's a good, observant Jew with a good heart, if not one made of gold, and possesses a genuine, generous desire to help people. Judas is, perhaps, a little too frugal when it comes to money, but many accountants are. He perhaps errs on the side of caution, dislikes violence, displays a habit of being argumentative, but he's human. His heart is in the right place, he just has a stubborn need to assert and defend his opinion. He is not a greedy backstabber, and while he can be cruel and malicious when he has lost his temper, his words often have a point to them. Sometimes it's just a very pointy point.
Discussing religion with Judas right now is possibly not the best idea that anyone's ever had. He has betrayed his best friend, and he's not entirely sure who's to blame on that front. It could be A-D-N, it could be Jesus, the Pharisees, Judas himself... all of the above. He doesn't know, and he doesn't know what he thinks about Jesus being the supposed Messiah, either. He prefers to remember him as a friend, a good man with better ideas, a teacher. He doesn't want to think about any other implications; those lead back to Jesus' death, and his own death, and who is to blame for both. He already shoulders quite a bit of that blame himself, but it's not something that he wants to dwell on.
After all, and unlike the other disciples, Judas did not get to stick around to see whether or not their rabbi rose from the dead. He witnessed Jesus' death from within his own, and while it gave him some closure, it also broke him. There are a lot of questions circling the inside of Judas' skull and he is very much still in mourning. His friend is dead; for Judas, there is nothing to celebrate in that fact.
First and foremost and beyond the aforementioned, however, Judas is very much a man of his time. He grew up and lived in an Israel that was dominated by the Romans. His people were persecuted and many were starving or ill. It was not an easy life, even for one educated as Judas was. Needless to say, when a person is born along the cusp of BC and AD, his viewpoints are somewhat traditional. Children are largely to be seen, not heard, though they became adults much earlier then. Women are to be treated one way, men another, though Jesus taught him to blur the lines there somewhat. Sabbath is to be observed, though some exceptions may be made for emergencies and necessities. So on. So forth.
Brief (around 500 words) history and background of your character OR link to a really good wiki page with their history. In either case, explain where they cut off from the timeline:
Judas was born Judah, in the small town of Kerioth, in southern Judea. The oldest of five children, he was the son of an accountant and thus grew to be an accountant himself. Likely if he'd had a son, that son too would have been an accountant, but Judas was still working to have enough money to support a wife when he met a strange man with stranger ideas. The man was Joshua bar Joseph, a teacher of around Judah's age with some interesting things to say. It did not take much to convince Judas that this Jesus man could change things, and that he should follow him.
So follow Jesus he did, and he became one of the twelve principal disciples to the rabbi. He felt arguably close to his teacher, being more educated than the other disciples and gaining control of the group's purse. His particular focuses were not as revolutionary as some (Simon's) or as relaxed as others (Mary's). Judas focused primarily upon improving the lives of the unfortunate, typically through the use of the group's funds. His point of view clashed, at times, with the other disciples, and that only grew more noticeable as time progressed. Joshua gained more and more of a following, and those people all had their own interpretations of what it meant that this Joshua might be the Messiah. They wanted social reform, many of them, revolution and a new kingdom on Earth bought with blood.
It began to worry Judas. He saw a lot of danger in the way things were heading, thought that it was all getting a little out of control, and so he voiced his concerns to Jesus. They were getting too popular for the Romans to ignore for much longer, and their message was getting twisted away from what Judas thought was its intent. It would not end well for Jesus and his disciples.
Frighteningly, his words seemed to fall on deaf ears. The other disciples became less and less comfortable with him, and as he felt more ignored and ostracized, Judas acted out more. He felt that he was fighting his own battle on two fronts - one against Simon and his revolution, the other against Mary and her foolish lack of concern - and that he was losing on both sides.
When Caiaphas and the other Pharisees approached Jesus about disbanding his company, it gave Judas something to consider. It did not take long for him to conclude that something must be done, and he talked to them himself, agreed to help them against Jesus, believing that it was the only way to alleviate the situation while avoiding bloodshed. They led him to believe that they only meant to imprison Jesus before the movement grew any larger, to speak to Joshua again about calming things down, and offered a reward of thirty silver pieces. Though very conflicted with what he was doing Judas agreed to help them, believing that in some small way Jesus wouldn't mind, that it would all be okay. He refused the money, however, disliking the thought of a bribe or of selling out his friend, but ultimately they coerced him into accepting it, coaxing him with suggestions that he could donate it to those who needed the money.
This, of course, led to the Last Supper, and a horrible confrontation between Jesus and Judas. They argued, accusations flying; Joshua charging Judas with wanting him dead, Judas declaring that Jesus wanted to be turned in. In the end, Judas begged Jesus not to let him do this, but was still sent away.
Later when, in Gethsemane, Judas delivered his betrayal - and kiss - they hardly spoke to each other. The entire affair was already beginning to eat away at Judas' conscience, tearing him up from the inside out. Things quickly dissolved from there as Jesus was taken way to trial, publicly humiliated, and beaten. Having witnessed nearly the entire ordeal, Judas rushed to confront the Pharisees, throwing their money back at them and denouncing both their and his own actions. Unfazed, they brush him off completely.
Left to himself Judas was unable to face his guilt, his friend's eminent death, or the idea that the other man might have turned away from him. There was no question of the other disciples ever forgiving him for what he had done; Judah himself could not do so, after all. In the end, there seems to be no other path for the man from Kerioth. Judas Iscariot hangs himself before his teacher and friend is even on the cross.
I will be taking Judas from his point of death, but with the addendum that the rest of his actions in Jesus Christ Superstar, the confrontation on the way to Jesus' own execution, Judas' witnessing the death and then mourning as Mary's invisible counterpart, would have been things that he experienced in the moment of his death. These would be his memories, not likely to be shared with any others present at the time bar perhaps Christ himself but allowing Judas some of the resolution he would need to be able to function in the game. His final, unearthly fate would be either undecided or unknown to him at this point.
Sample post (just a general, everyday, puttering-around-the-ship post; please include a snippet of dialogue):
If the character has magic, mutant, or otherwise metahuman abilities, please explain what they are and outline EXACTLY how they function, as their powers may not work due to the nature of the ship or may need to be limited somehow:
None
Non-superhuman special abilities of note (Is your character a master ventriloquist? A naturally-occurring super-genius? The best martial artist in the world? Say so here):
He's a pretty darn good accountant and he can read.
Character's LJ: sweptawaytrash
Character's canon: Jesus Christ Superstar (2000 primarily)
Brief (around 300 words) personality outline of your character:
Fucked. No, really.
It's been a while since something happy happened for Judas.
He's a good, observant Jew with a good heart, if not one made of gold, and possesses a genuine, generous desire to help people. Judas is, perhaps, a little too frugal when it comes to money, but many accountants are. He perhaps errs on the side of caution, dislikes violence, displays a habit of being argumentative, but he's human. His heart is in the right place, he just has a stubborn need to assert and defend his opinion. He is not a greedy backstabber, and while he can be cruel and malicious when he has lost his temper, his words often have a point to them. Sometimes it's just a very pointy point.
Discussing religion with Judas right now is possibly not the best idea that anyone's ever had. He has betrayed his best friend, and he's not entirely sure who's to blame on that front. It could be A-D-N, it could be Jesus, the Pharisees, Judas himself... all of the above. He doesn't know, and he doesn't know what he thinks about Jesus being the supposed Messiah, either. He prefers to remember him as a friend, a good man with better ideas, a teacher. He doesn't want to think about any other implications; those lead back to Jesus' death, and his own death, and who is to blame for both. He already shoulders quite a bit of that blame himself, but it's not something that he wants to dwell on.
After all, and unlike the other disciples, Judas did not get to stick around to see whether or not their rabbi rose from the dead. He witnessed Jesus' death from within his own, and while it gave him some closure, it also broke him. There are a lot of questions circling the inside of Judas' skull and he is very much still in mourning. His friend is dead; for Judas, there is nothing to celebrate in that fact.
First and foremost and beyond the aforementioned, however, Judas is very much a man of his time. He grew up and lived in an Israel that was dominated by the Romans. His people were persecuted and many were starving or ill. It was not an easy life, even for one educated as Judas was. Needless to say, when a person is born along the cusp of BC and AD, his viewpoints are somewhat traditional. Children are largely to be seen, not heard, though they became adults much earlier then. Women are to be treated one way, men another, though Jesus taught him to blur the lines there somewhat. Sabbath is to be observed, though some exceptions may be made for emergencies and necessities. So on. So forth.
Brief (around 500 words) history and background of your character OR link to a really good wiki page with their history. In either case, explain where they cut off from the timeline:
Judas was born Judah, in the small town of Kerioth, in southern Judea. The oldest of five children, he was the son of an accountant and thus grew to be an accountant himself. Likely if he'd had a son, that son too would have been an accountant, but Judas was still working to have enough money to support a wife when he met a strange man with stranger ideas. The man was Joshua bar Joseph, a teacher of around Judah's age with some interesting things to say. It did not take much to convince Judas that this Jesus man could change things, and that he should follow him.
So follow Jesus he did, and he became one of the twelve principal disciples to the rabbi. He felt arguably close to his teacher, being more educated than the other disciples and gaining control of the group's purse. His particular focuses were not as revolutionary as some (Simon's) or as relaxed as others (Mary's). Judas focused primarily upon improving the lives of the unfortunate, typically through the use of the group's funds. His point of view clashed, at times, with the other disciples, and that only grew more noticeable as time progressed. Joshua gained more and more of a following, and those people all had their own interpretations of what it meant that this Joshua might be the Messiah. They wanted social reform, many of them, revolution and a new kingdom on Earth bought with blood.
It began to worry Judas. He saw a lot of danger in the way things were heading, thought that it was all getting a little out of control, and so he voiced his concerns to Jesus. They were getting too popular for the Romans to ignore for much longer, and their message was getting twisted away from what Judas thought was its intent. It would not end well for Jesus and his disciples.
Frighteningly, his words seemed to fall on deaf ears. The other disciples became less and less comfortable with him, and as he felt more ignored and ostracized, Judas acted out more. He felt that he was fighting his own battle on two fronts - one against Simon and his revolution, the other against Mary and her foolish lack of concern - and that he was losing on both sides.
When Caiaphas and the other Pharisees approached Jesus about disbanding his company, it gave Judas something to consider. It did not take long for him to conclude that something must be done, and he talked to them himself, agreed to help them against Jesus, believing that it was the only way to alleviate the situation while avoiding bloodshed. They led him to believe that they only meant to imprison Jesus before the movement grew any larger, to speak to Joshua again about calming things down, and offered a reward of thirty silver pieces. Though very conflicted with what he was doing Judas agreed to help them, believing that in some small way Jesus wouldn't mind, that it would all be okay. He refused the money, however, disliking the thought of a bribe or of selling out his friend, but ultimately they coerced him into accepting it, coaxing him with suggestions that he could donate it to those who needed the money.
This, of course, led to the Last Supper, and a horrible confrontation between Jesus and Judas. They argued, accusations flying; Joshua charging Judas with wanting him dead, Judas declaring that Jesus wanted to be turned in. In the end, Judas begged Jesus not to let him do this, but was still sent away.
Later when, in Gethsemane, Judas delivered his betrayal - and kiss - they hardly spoke to each other. The entire affair was already beginning to eat away at Judas' conscience, tearing him up from the inside out. Things quickly dissolved from there as Jesus was taken way to trial, publicly humiliated, and beaten. Having witnessed nearly the entire ordeal, Judas rushed to confront the Pharisees, throwing their money back at them and denouncing both their and his own actions. Unfazed, they brush him off completely.
Left to himself Judas was unable to face his guilt, his friend's eminent death, or the idea that the other man might have turned away from him. There was no question of the other disciples ever forgiving him for what he had done; Judah himself could not do so, after all. In the end, there seems to be no other path for the man from Kerioth. Judas Iscariot hangs himself before his teacher and friend is even on the cross.
I will be taking Judas from his point of death, but with the addendum that the rest of his actions in Jesus Christ Superstar, the confrontation on the way to Jesus' own execution, Judas' witnessing the death and then mourning as Mary's invisible counterpart, would have been things that he experienced in the moment of his death. These would be his memories, not likely to be shared with any others present at the time bar perhaps Christ himself but allowing Judas some of the resolution he would need to be able to function in the game. His final, unearthly fate would be either undecided or unknown to him at this point.
Sample post (just a general, everyday, puttering-around-the-ship post; please include a snippet of dialogue):
If the character has magic, mutant, or otherwise metahuman abilities, please explain what they are and outline EXACTLY how they function, as their powers may not work due to the nature of the ship or may need to be limited somehow:
None
Non-superhuman special abilities of note (Is your character a master ventriloquist? A naturally-occurring super-genius? The best martial artist in the world? Say so here):
He's a pretty darn good accountant and he can read.