Name: Jackson Carleton Franklin
Nickname: Jack is it.
Age: 20
Power: Does being able to ollie while stoned count as a power?
Sexuality: Bi-curious. Jackson knows he loves women, but men? Untread ground there.
Description:
Face - Jackson sports that 'ruggedly handsome' sort of face that only those with little money can pull off. His hair is nearly bleach blonde, but due to some genetics he has some brown in there, so it's more like 'barely dirty' blonde. At the moment, his hair sticks roughly an inch out of his beanie in true skater style, but is planning on getting a haircut since it's is freaking hot in Hawaii (at least, according to him). His eyes are a solid, deep blue, which some would call 'pools of water' but due to his phobia Jackson refrains from such wording. He is always cleanly shaven to compliment his more narrow chin.
Body - Jackson is at a size that he truly enjoys. He stands only 5'11 and clocks in at roughly 150 pounds, which means that on the topic of body type, he is more lanky with a hint of athleticism - after all, he boards everywhere he goes. On proportions, Jackson is a little more legs than torso, which helps him maneuver better on his board than some kid with stubby legs. His arms are the weaker of the limbs, since he doesn't do much with them besides lifting food and whatnot.
Scars, Tats and Piercings - Jackson doesn't have much in the line of scars. Sure, he would wipe out a lot as a kid and get scrapes, but he has grown out of most of them. He does have hidden scars though: his tattoos cover the needle tattoos from his previous years of drug abuse. Now, for his tattoos: his right arm and his left arm. Little backstory, Jackson got his left arm done (the phoenix) after he was officially labeled 'sober' to tell the world that he had turned over a new leaf. His right arm, on the other hand, was for his best friend: he wanted to show the snobby art college that refused him that tattoos could be better than their art, and Jackson volunteered to help him out on the condition that he got to help choose the theme. Other than that, he has a few small ones, but none that are really visible/significant. For piercings, both of his ears are pierced with ones that look like nuts and bolts. He also has his nose pierced, but doesn't put it in very often.
Clothing - In true skater fashion, Jackson really will wear whatever he can that allows him to board. In the current weather - aka freaking hot - Jackson will be found in either a band or skater t-shirt. He will probably have his beanie on his head, but he may not depending on his mood for the day. On his legs are either a pair of tighter fitting jeans (not skinny jeans - Jackson finds those annoyingly restrictive to his moves, and hates poser skaters that only wear skinny jeans) or a pair of shorts. Since he only owns one pair of shoes, Jackson wears his black and green Vans all the time.
Likes:
- Skateboarding and Longboarding
- Alcohol
- Relaxation
- Marijuana
- His beanie
- His guitar
- Making music
- Adventures
- Open-mindedness
- Impulses
- Parties
- Competition
- Getting lost
- Ambition
- Challenge/Dares
- Video Games, Comics, etc. - the dude has never missed the Comic Con in San Francisco yet.
- Religion
- Authority
- Closed mindedness in any situation
- Reading
- Hard Drugs
- Pressure to be somebody else
- Posers
- Snobs
- Rich/Haughty people
- Schooling
- Serious folk
- The inability to unwind
- Crazy drivers
- Smoking
- Becoming Addicted Again
- Aquaphobia - fear of drowning/
water. When Jackson was an adorable 6 year old, he was adamant about swimming: he didn't like the idea of holding your breath to have fun. But they were at his uncle's house in Cincinnati, so he was told to make the most of it. Anywho, he finally decided he would go swimming in their pool with all the others, and began to have a blast; well, until his uncle lifted him up anyway. As soon as he did, his uncle suffered a heart attack which caused Jackson to be dropped. He couldn't swim that well in the first place, but it certainly didn't help that his uncle fell on top of him in his heart attack. Both nearly drowned. Jackson has feared the water ever since. - Fear of Abandonment by Matthew or his parents
- To stay the same - Jackson has had many people in his life try to forcibly change his personality and lifestyle because it wasn't as 'productive' as others. To be fair, the kid is extremely lazy, but he doesn't like to change for anybody - hence the dream.
- Become a Singer or Guitarist - Jackson is actually one talented young man in the musical section, but doesn't sing or play for many people. Instead, he will keep strumming away on his guitar alone, and sing in his room. He hopes that one day, however, he will be able to take his talent on the road.
- Keep himself clean- It took 3 years for Jackson to become clean of hard drugs, concluding his drug cycle at five years: five years of horrible pain, hundereds of hospital and therapy appointments and dozens of written cheques. He never wants to go back.
- Learn to Surf - Odd dream, but Jackson desperately has been trying to cure himself of his Aquaphobia for months now leading up to his visit to Hawaii. He hates that he can't go into 2/3's of the world simply because of an accident as a kid. Besides, Jackson really wants to learn to surf, since it looks a lot like skateboarding and looks just as fun.
Secrets:
Recovering Drug Addict - Jackson isn't proud of it, but he finally got himself clean of a few drugs that he was addicted to, with one of them being cocaine. He really doesn't want to relive that nightmare, so he plans on keeping drugs out. He seems to omit alcohol and pot though.
Gang Affiliation - Back during his drug years, there was only a few ways that he could make enough money to get what he needed. Jackson turned to the local gang to help get his money.
Unwelcome Guest - In actuality, he isn't supposed to be on the island at all for 'vacation'. See, his cousin lives in Honolulu, and he was supposed to be staying with them while the whole thing back home blew over. However, said cousin and Jackson aren't entirely big fans of each other, so they made a plan: Jackson would bring more money than he was supposed to, and Derek (the cousin) would pitch in the expenses that Jackson would have cost him, and Jackson would be free to do whatever he wanted for those 3 months. Just as long as he wasn't in Derek's house.
Personality: Jackson is probably one of the most mellow, down to earth people you could run across in your life - granted, that doesn't mean he will let you walk all over him.
For starters, Jackson likes to play everything with a degree of calmness and a laid back attitude. In his eyes, nothing can't be solved by simply laying back and waiting to see what happens next. Sure, that usually means that his initiative is pretty low, but that is another topic. Jackson has been through multiple situations where he simply started something, and it turned out to be the worst days of his life. So instead, Jackson will lay back and wait for things to develop on their own, and let everything else go on without him. You could compare him to a river, but that would be inaccurate: Jackson is more like that shallow stream in a country backyard, where everything just moves at its own pace, constantly shifting but never rushing.
Thing is, though, that while Jackson may not always be an initiator, he is always the first to back somebody up on some crazy idea: think of him as the ultimate wingman. He loves going out for some crazy thrills if another wants to, regardless of how dangerous it truly is. After all, the saying goes 'Friends never let friends do stupid things alone'. Jackson believes in this wholeheartedly, even if it has gotten him into serious problems with multiple factions in the past. He just likes having a bit of fun and adventure, that's all: regardless of it is a party or simply going out for a longboard tour. He is always willing to complete any dare that is thrown at him - as long as he can throw them back - and just loves the atmosphere of parties and gatherings alike, regardless of what kind of party - drinking party, weed party, gaming party, all three put together, sober party, he loves them all.
Jackson does have many personality traits that aren't as social as the rest of him, however. For starters, he loathes self pity. As a kid that grew up not that well off, and had his own hardships to get through, Jackson knows and understands what it feels like to be stuck at the bottom of the world with no way out. Thing is, he made it out on his own, and he hates people that whine, complain or just feel sorry for themself simply because of their past - it makes it worse when said kids are pretty well off. Sure, Jackson can be understanding, since he knows that everybody has gone through something that they had trouble dealing with, but he can't stand self pity.
Which brings us to the fact that Jackson is pretty spiteful and highly vindictive. If his initiative is high enough, he will go out of his way to make sure that those that have pissed him off get what's coming to them. Now, this is pretty contradicting to the previous statement of his mellowness: how can he be mellow, yet spiteful? Well, it's a selective spite. Usually, his spite only kicks in when others attempt to indulge in self-pity, or try badmouthing his way of life or his friends. Jackson takes his loyalty to his friends extremely seriously, refusing to share secrets that are ever given to him with anybody. His way of life is also a product of his friendships, so he will always have a problem with people that say he is 'lazy' and 'useless' just because he uses pot and skates.
All in all, Jackson keeps himself in check as one of the most chill people that one could come across, with random streaks of impulsiveness, spitefulness and brash actions. However, Jackson will always try to keep himself out of situations that could bring back his own past, because he refuses to relive it. Jackson likes to live by the motto that 'The past is behind me, the future is in front of me, but the present is right now: might as well focus on right now'.
History: Welcome to the life and times of Jacky Franklin, the kid that nearly got killed a few times all because of his stupidity. Let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we?
Jackson was born to a mid to lower class family in the slowly-but-surely-being-destroyed Detroit in a neighbourhood where even though they would have been considered lower class in another city, they were one of the richest people in the area. See, Jackson's family lived on a property that had been in their family for generations, but the neighbourhood around it was slowly turning into a more slummy area, full of violence, gangs and drugs. They couldn't do anything about it, however, as they didn't have anywhere close the money to get out.
Anywho, Jackson grew up in about as average way as they could. He tried to make friends with all the kids that would be in the neighbourhood, but it usually ended up with a parent dragging all their butts into a house and scolding them for being careless, stating that it was dangerous to play outside. That really did stop him from making his first and best friend Matthew, however. The kid lived on the corner of his street, and was constantly drawing during any days that he could. Sure Jackson made friends with a bunch of other kids as well, but they didn't share his love for the media, video games and the arts. It was Matthew that also got Jackson hooked on skateboarding, as that was how he passed the time and got to school and other places faster.
Now, while Jackson was growing up, he may have not noticed a few details about his little patch of the city. For starters, he was a seriously small minority when it came to race: as the Franklin's found out, their neighbourhood was split in half between the Afro-Americans, and the Latin-Americans. Matthew's family was one of 3 that was of Asian decent, and Jackson was one of 5 that was Caucasian. All the different ethnicities were pretty racist towards the others, especially towards Matthew's family. The Franklin's and the other Caucasians weren't let off the hook too easily either: when Jackson turned 11, the Afro-American gang that had taken up residence in their neighbourhood broke into their house, beat his dad and took a bunch of their stuff. While Jackson was opened to the reality that life sucked for all that lived in lower class neighbourhoods, he made the most of what he could with the friends that he could make. By the time that Jackson reached 13, he had made friends with the kids on both ends of the street and with at least one kid from each gang.
Jackson's first experience with drugs hit him when he turned 14. Always being the kind of kid to take dares, Jackson was invited/dared to go to a party that was happening at one of the Latin gang houses. Matthew warned him against it, saying that things might head south fast, but Jackson was determined to prove the other boy wrong, that he wasn't a chicken and could have a good time. So, later that night Jackson made his way into the house, and partied the night away. By the time he left that house, however, he had gotten hooked on heroin, snorted cocaine, and started smoking both cigarettes and weed.
So began the 2 worst years of Jackson's life. Matthew literally watched his friend waste away from the dare mellow kid to a bumbling addict. To keep the cash flow going to get his drug money, Jackson joined up with the Latino gang, and did some pretty heinous crimes: stealing from the elderly, beating up those who owed money, breaking and entering, the works. He never killed a single person, but it felt like it on the inside. The worst part was that Jackson felt like he was watching a movie of himself becoming an addict as it all happened, powerless to stop himself as he kept pumping himself full of heroin, snorting cocaine and chain smoking like a chimney. It wasn't until Matthew literally shut his friend out of his house that Jackson truly knew that he needed to get himself help: fast.
Now 16 and feeling more broken than a smashed window pane, Jackson enrolled himself in rehab with the help of Matthew. Where were his parents during all of this trauma, might you ask? Silently crying. See, Jackson got into a major fight with them when he was 13 about his direction in life and moving away. He wanted to stay because of his friends, saying that they could make it work here. They came to an agreement: if he could keep his grades up and stay out of trouble, they would stay. A year later, they watched their only child become an addict, but there was nothing they could do, especially after Jackson hit his mother when she tried to touch him: thing was, Jackson doesn't even remember that night, and his parents never told him. Jackson only found out when Matthew told him, and he nearly knocked himself out in the shock.
Rehab was tough on Jackson, but Matthew dared him into it - he knew Jackson couldn't resist - and he planned on coming out clean. That took almost three years of Jackson's life to get rid of all the things in his system, get back to a healthy weight and repay all of his mistakes. Upon entering rehab he cut ties instantly with the gang, knowing full well that they would probably come after him, but he didn't care: Jackson knew he needed this. So finally, at the age of 18 and a half, he was labelled drug free. It was then that he got his left arm tattoo of the phoenix. He still went to parties for the alcohol and the weed - after all, he found that weed helped him keep calm to avoid the hard drugs. It was roughly around when Jackson turned 19 that Matthew was rejected from the artist collage, since they stated that his tattoo art in his portfolio was 'a joke' and absolutely 'pathetic'. Feeling for his friend, Jackson volunteered for Matthew's greatest masterpiece, which took roughly 24 hours - broken into 4 sessions of 6 hours each day. When Matthew sent that to the art college as a middle finger, they responded with his acceptance to the college.
Now on his 20th year, the gang has gotten a little bit iffy about the fact that Jackson planned on moving out of his parent's house - shocking, but he was full time rehabilitation, so schooling had to be put back - his parents gave him a plane ticket to Honolulu as a congratulations on his rehabilitation, as well as a way to escape for a few months. During that time, his parents were also planning on moving out of the state, probably down south somewhere, and would text him when he got back. Since Derek wasn't entirely keen on having his formerly-drugged-yet-still-a-stoner cousin over for 3 months, during a phone call they made each other a deal that Jackson would go where ever he felt like for the 3 summer months, and Derek would fund him the amount it would have costed him to keep him, along with Jackson's meager earnings that he had saved up during the last year and a half of being clean.
So here Jackson got his hotel booked - it was one of the cheaper ones - and is now on the little island of Maui.
Place of Origin: Detroit, Michigan.
Anything else: Upon arrival, the only things that Jackson is armed with is his n64, both his skateboard and longboard, and cash. Oh, and some clothes and other stuff, or something - he doesn't really have a clue. Also, be forewarned - picking a fight with Jackson isn't a good idea. Even though he was usually hyped up on drugs, he can still remember how to attack people with a knife or his fists very well. He has never had formal training, but that doesn't stop him from beating the crap out of his opponents. The last guy he fought, Jackson nearly broke his board by smashing the guy in the face - he was that pissed off at the guy.