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[Dec. 17th, 2010|05:23 am] |
And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares that infest the day
Shall fold their tents like the Arabs
And as silently steal away. ~~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |
name: John Michael Mayfield
age / dob: 36 / October 5, 1974
residence: A small home on the same land as the stables.
occupation: Co-owner and instructor at Mayfield Equestrian Center in Stowe.
sexual orientation: Heterosexual.
marital status: Divorced, single.
children: John has two daughters, eleven year old Ava and seven year old Sophia, and he shares custody of them with his ex-wife Jess, who lives in nearby Burlington.
education: John has a few business classes under his belt from U of V, but no degree and no interest in pursuing one. He also has taken a Red Cross first aid class and keeps up his CPR training. |
| appearance |
| John is six feet tall but looks taller due to his long-legged, lean and rangy build. He also looks thinner than he is; he's actually broad-shouldered and muscular from the work he does, though it's more the long muscles of the swimmer than the bulky ones of the bodybuilder. John has unruly dark brown hair and green eyes that frequently look brown. His nose is by far his most noticeable feature; strongly aquiline, it has been broken three times and now wanders a bit to the left. The length and shape of his face, the cant of his eyebrows, his heavy-lidded eyes and the set of his mouth tend to make him look melancholy or sullen, but he's not usually either. He's generally clean-shaven but occasionally grows a goatee, enduring the mocking of his daughters. His style of clothing tends to be practical and dark-colored--boots, jeans, henleys, sweaters, hoodies--but he does clean up nicely when he chooses. |
| personality |
John is self-contained and self-confident, self-motivated and single-minded. He is resourceful and sure of his own potential--he has the power to make or break his own life, and he knows it. He never lies to himself, and doesn't blame anyone but himself for her own mistakes. He's the very last person anyone would accuse of having an inferiority complex. Even when John appears self-controlled and calm there is a seething intensity of emotional energy under the placid exterior. Like a volcano not far under the surface of a calm sea, there's always the sense that he might burst into eruption at any moment. Intense and perfectionist, he has a harnessed aggression, an immense forcefulness under a tranquil, but watchful composure. John is often pleasant to be with, thoughtful in conversation, dignified and reserved, yet amiable and courteous but his eyes are always watching, assessing and penetrating, which can make shyer companions feel naked and defenseless before him. Adaptable and quick to grasp things both physically and intellectually, he can be impatient with those less sharp; he prizes competence, expects much from those around him.
His tenacity and willpower is immense and his passionate conviction can be overwhelming, yet he's also deeply sensitive and easily moved by emotions. His sensitivity, together with a propensity for extreme likes and dislikes makes him easily hurt, quick to detect insult or injury to himself (often when none is intended) and easily aroused to ferocious anger. This anger can seemingly drop the temperature by fifty degrees and bring out the arrogant tilt of chin and icy gaze that has people running for cover from cold and cutting insults; he has an unerring sense of where to strike for the most hurtful effect.
He has a lot of energy and can harness it constructively, tempering his self-confidence with shrewdness and his ambition with generosity toward others provided he likes them and if he thinks they are giving it their all. Reflective of his own upbringing, John is often too demanding, too unforgiving of faults in others. In spite of his perfectionism and demanding nature, he makes an excellent friend, provided that his companions give as much of themselves as he himself does.
In spite of his perfectionistic tendencies with other adults and particularly co-workers, John is very good with both animals and children. With them, he's calm and patient, willing to do something over and over again until it's learned, and properly learned. Children appreciate how he gives them his full attention, how he treats them as individuals, how he's honest with them. He's a loving father to his own children; he enjoys them, relates well to them, tries to make their time with him fun and educational as well. He has a lot of love for them and faith in them and expects much from them. |
| history |
history: There have always been Mayfields scattered throughout the area, and John's immediate family were and still are based in Burlington.
John is the oldest child of Michael and Emily Mayfield, an orthopedic surgeon and a professor of economics. Two years after John came Miranda and two years after that, Paul. Their lives followed the same clockwork precision, dominated by controlling parents who were fully determined to plan every aspect of their children's lives. Although his home life was never abusive, it was often unpleasant; early on John decided that he didn't like the totalitarian regime, and began rebelling against it. Too much like his willful and arrogant father, they clashed at every opportunity. John didn't want the planned playdates with the "right" sort of families, wanted nothing to do with the career in medicine he was expected to pursue--he himself would determine what he'd do, choose those with whom he'd associate.
Luckily enough, he didn't drift into anything too unsavory just to strike back at his parents; he was smart enough to avoid anything serious that would come back to bite him in the ass later. He had no desire to attend the Ivy League schools chosen for him, and although he was very intelligent, well-read and well-spoken, he kept his grades determinedly average, ensuring he'd never be a consideration for them. Family dinners were often a battlefield, though the fighting was primarily between John and his father; Miranda and Paul were content enough--or smart enough--to go with the direction their parents set.
Things were not completely stressful; John found a kindred spirit and ally in his paternal aunt, Anne Mayfield. Anne lived in nearby Stowe and ran Mayfield Stables, a business that gave riding lessons and catered to the ever-growing tourist trade in Stowe. It was there with Anne and the horses that John truly felt at home. Things just seemed to fall into place for him, and he found peace and pleasure and a sense of purpose working there. From a young age he was a rider--the one thing he didn't fight his parents about--and became more skillful as the years passed. Anne was strict and disciplined but also patient and loving, and she had a deft hand with John, gentling him as she gentled her horses. She brought out his best qualities and taught him discipline and self-respect, how to harness his willfulness into something constructive. John adored her, and while it wasn't always sunshine and roses--it couldn't be, with two such strong personalities--he felt more at home there than his parents' house.
Riding and working at the stables became his whole life, and that was what he'd decided he would do. By the time he was sixteen, he was living full time with Anne and going to school in Stowe. While it wasn't the life his parents had planned for him, by that time they were just grateful he wasn't a delinquent and had some order and purpose in his life. By that time John was an accomplished horseman, with many awards to show for his skill and had begun working with the youngest riders; he'd shown an aptitude for teaching them.
After graduation from high school, he eventually took a few scattered business courses from a nearby college simply to get the information and read everything he could with an eye to expanding the stables and bringing in even more business. His hard work and dedication paid off. With his trust fund he bought into the business, an arrangement which eventually developed into co-ownership with Anne. As time passed, he showed he had a good eye for business and expanded their services. Now in addition to over one hundred acres of riding trails, a large stable of horses for customers to ride, lessons in riding and dressage, and board for horses of local riders, they also have begun breeding Friesian horses, John's favorite breed. Under a new name--Mayfield Equestrian Center--the stable has become well-known in the area for the quality of their lessons and horseflesh.
All work and no play makes John a dull boy, so he didn't let the personal area of his life fall by the wayside. He wasn't conventionally handsome, but he was strong and graceful and had a certain charm and intensity, a gravitas that pulled others to him. His relationships were seldom for more than a short period of time; with his need to be at the stables so much, one night--or at most, a week--stands were simply easier.
At least until he met Jess Abbott. The daughter of a wealthy Montpelier lawyer who regularly vacationed with his family in Stowe, he'd actually met Jess when they were both in their mid-teens. Like many pre-teen and teenaged girls, she was crazy for horses, and spent most of her time at the stables instead of on the slopes, so John became acquainted with her. He liked her; she was smart, good with horses, stood up for herself when she thought she was right and took instruction well. It didn't hurt that she was pretty--not a spectacular beauty, but definitely enough to catch his eye. Still, as attracted to her as he was, John did nothing to indicate his interest or encourage her: she was a client.
It wasn't until she graduated college and stayed in Burlington to take a job as an RN at a local hospital that John thought they might become more than just friends. She spent a lot of time in Stowe and he spent what time he could in Burlington. Friendship quickly blossomed into more, and at twenty-three, they were married. Jess moved to Stowe, and lived with him in the small house he had on the stable's property.
They hadn't planned on starting a family so early, but by the time they were twenty-four, they had Ava. John was happy; he had a family that meant everything to him and a career that he loved dearly. Four years later, they had Sophia, and he thought he couldn't be happier.
When Sophia was five, Jess presented him with divorce papers. He couldn't say he was surprised; after Sophia's birth the small cracks and differences that had always been between them in their marriage became larger, more apparent. They began growing apart, the passion they'd always had cooling, becoming apparent only through the arguments they had; both had tempers and could be lethal with words, though they tried to keep their disagreements from the children. They shared the love for their children, but it wasn't enough to keep them together. Six months before the divorce, Jess moved herself and the girls to Burlington. John signed the papers with the stipulation that custody would be shared equally; he loved his daughters and was a good father, wanting to be involved as much as possible in their lives. They worked out an agreement in which he had them one week and Jess the next, and if it meant he had to drive them to Burlington every day for school and pick them up again during the weeks he had them, it was something he was willing to do.
John and Jess have been divorced for two years now, and their relationship is fairly amicable. Neither blamed the other for the failure of their marriage--both knew they contributed to it. Jess has begun seeing someone regularly and while there's still a touch of jealousy, John truly does wish her to be happy. He himself dates, but infrequently, and only during the weeks he doesn't have his daughters. John likes being in a relationship, likes the comfort of marriage, but even after a couple of years as a single man, he's not in much of a hurry to turn casual dating into anything more. He's adjusted to the life he has now and is mostly happy with it. His relationship with his parents is still cool, but he's trying to mend it; there's a lot of work to be done after years of estrangement. Still, he's stubborn and knows that if he sets his mind to something, he'll eventually get it.
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| miscellaneous |
miscellaneous:
John took piano lessons as a child and plays passably well. He has an old upright at home and still plays. He's taught both Ava and Sophia to play, though Sophia shows more of an interest.
He doesn't have OCD, but he has a decided preference for order over chaos. He likes knowing that things are where they should be; his office at work and his home are very orderly. Almost scarily so. His bookcases would make a librarian weep with joy. And yes, the spices are alphabetized.
John likes music of all types and his CD collection/mp3 player reflects this. Right now, he's on a Sixties-Seventies kick.
He has big hands with long fingers and they are deft and utterly steady. His hand-eye coordination is excellent, and he's nearly unbeatable at darts.
John absolutely insists on no smoking in the house or on the grounds. He hates it; being around smoke makes him headachy and nauseated. He's willing to compromise on a good many things, but on this, no.
Every year, without fail, he rereads The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He's read them every year since middle school.
John doesn't drink much. He likes a glass of wine with dinner, but that's about the extent of it. If he goes out with guys, he'll order a single beer, and usually ends up being the designated driver. When it was just him and Jess, his wife, he'd order mixed drinks, the girly ones--peppermint patty, chocolate martini, grasshopper, frozen blue hawaii or margaritas, and said they were for her, though he drank them. Yeah, he got teased and figured he should have checked his manhood at the door when he ordered them. But he liked them.
He likes to cook, which is good, as he has the girls so much. He has many cookbooks, and once a week, they try a new recipe. Usually, it turns out well. Even if it doesn't, it was still worth the effort to try something new.
John runs three times a week, but other than that, doesn't make any extra effort to exercise--he rides daily and work around the stables keeps him strong and fit. He has no interest in skiing, but does like skating in the winter and rollerblading in the summer. Ava is the one who enjoys skating, and if she didn't like horses so much, she'd be a competitive skater instead of a rider.
In spite of his excellent coordination, he's terrible at video games, which is a source of constant delight to his daughters.
He's very good at combing out tangles and braiding the hair of his daughters; he says teasingly that he just thinks of them as tiny horses. He's not so good with helping them with wardrobe choices; Jess has often been horrified at the combinations of clothing and colors he allows Sophia to wear. As long as she has on enough layers appropriate for the weather, he leaves the choices to her. While he expects adherence to the rules he's set, he has no interest in micro-managing their every decision, unlike his own parents.
John has a large fish tank with fantail goldfish, and Ava and Sophia have named each one. He also has a white chihuahua named Pickles (Sophia named him) that he insists is Sophia's dog, but he loves the yappy thing and takes him everywhere with him.
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| the player |
player: Deirdre
AIM/Y!M/etc: n/a
email/contact post: here
played-by: Adrien Brody
coding: ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) damosel@![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif) rp_tutorials |
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