Joan Armstrong

Out of Character (tell us just just a bit about you outside RP)

Name: Sub


In Character

Name: Joan Armstrong
Age: 37
Gender: Female
Career: Self-employed mechanic



(For family, just enter names and if there alive or dead please)

Parents: Patrick and Denise Armstrong
Grandparents: Paul and Maria Armstrong; Michael and Harriet Cooke
Siblings: Caitlin Armstrong
Aunts & Uncles: None
Nieces & Nephews: None
Cousins: None
Children: None yet
Grandkids: None yet



Skin color: Tan
Hair Color: Platinum Blonde (dyed)
Hair length: Short
Eye color: Blue
Size: 5’ 4”
Build: Lean, with toned musculature
Picture:
Celebrity Playby P!nk



Crushes: Sarah West, Alexander Hayes
Mates/Spouse: Alexander Hayes, Damian Moore
Status: Reluctantly Married / Alpha Clan Captive



Personality: The first thing one is most likely to notice about Joan is her loud, outspoken demeanor. She is not afraid to tell it like it is or call things as she sees them, and she certainly isn’t afraid to toss in a handful of profane or vulgar words into the mix. It is her great joy to break every societal norm applied to women. Some believe she is simply a rebel, but these choices truly suit her personality. It is just like her choice to become a self-employed mechanic: there aren’t many women in such a profession, but that has absolutely no bearing on making her reconsider that choice. She loves to know what makes things tick, and fix them when they act up. People are even more fascinating in regard to the former. Her auto shop isn’t just restricted to cars, either: Joan is also a motorcycle enthusiast. She hates housecleaning and has a fear of syringes.

There are many things Joan will not tolerate. Chauvinism, condescension, intolerance toward personal choices or freedoms, injustices inflicted upon her or her loved ones, and being thwarted are just a few of them. When a person has made Joan their enemy, they will either get the manipulative, vindictive Joan... or the feisty, scrappy Joan. Most often it is the latter. Don’t let her fool you – she has one hell of a right hook!

Joan is not at all a clingy lover, nor can she tolerate a companion of that nature. In short she needs her space and will do anything to get it. The same can be said of when she prefers to be with someone: she will go out of her way to make that desire known and, if snubbed, will seek alternatives. Despite her occasional aloofness she is a very warm and loyal person toward her loved ones. She would give the shirt off her back, the food off her plate, and if necessary or possible she’d give her very life.

After the chaos of the epidemic outbreak, watching her husband murdered before her very eyes, and being forced into a marriage of sorts with her husband’s murderer, Joan’s personality has taken on a darker tone. Opportunistic would be one of many words one could use to describe her attitude. She has also hardened her heart since she has lost the last person she ever cared for, and can be mistakenly assumed as cold or callous.



Your Story Please? There isn’t much that is exactly typical in the life events of Joan Armstrong. She was born a bit beyond her mother’s expected due date, and complications with induced labor resulted in a Caesarian section. From her first tiny breath, and onwards, Joan has been little else than a fighter. Her older sister, Caitlin, is Joan’s polar opposite. To Caitlin’s irritation and baby Joan’s great delight, Joan enjoyed making as big a mess of anything she came across as was possible for a little baby. That included throwing a big handful of chopped up spaghetti and sauce at her sister’s pristine white shirt, among many other things.

Even as a little girl, Joan’s interest was solidly fixed on cars. Her father would work on his car, and she would watch or occasionally help him by handing over tools. Questions aplenty were asked about vehicles – knowledge that she tried to soak up despite her young years. The trend continued well into and beyond high school.

Joan was mocked in her early school years for liking cars and things traditionally defined as “masculine” moreso than dolls, and playing racing games with the boys instead of wandering towards other girls giving each other a “makeover”. The mockery didn’t stop her; more often than not it was the inspiration for a fight and the subsequent trip to the principal’s office.

Upon graduation Joan decided her dream was to become a mechanic and, with any luck, maybe find herself on the pit crew of a famous NASCAR driver’s vehicle. It was a big dream, but she eventually earned the required credentials to open an auto repair and body shop. Her competitors jokingly referred to her as “the wench with a wrench” and made off-color statements in varying degrees of amusement and sarcasm. Joan eventually came to like the phrase, “the wench with the wrench,” and had it added to her business card.

She also moved out of the family home in favor of renting a flat with high-school sweetheart, Sarah West. Sarah had dreams of becoming a cosmetologist, and a brother who knew someone in the auto dealership business. Sarah tried to help Joan via this connection, and Joan in turn tried to help Sarah gain clients. Unfortunately, Joan was a bit too aggressive a salesperson to be much help. Word got back to Sarah of one particular sales incident regarding Joan, and they had a large falling-out at Joan’s auto shop. Sarah promptly moved out of the apartment and severed all ties with Joan.

The largest reason for Joan’s success as a mechanic wasn’t the fact that she was going against society’s norms and thus attracting curiosity, but that her prices were much more affordable than other mechanics in the area. This was possible via Sarah’s brother’s connections to certain auto dealership moguls. It had never occurred to Joan to have Sarah give her the email addresses of these people. She did have Sarah’s brother’s email, but he never replied to a single message she sent. With great reluctance, she raised the prices on her work and the retail spare parts she offered.

A towing service dropped off a police vehicle and its driver on a chilly spring morning. The patrol car had bullet holes, numerous scratches on the paint, broken knobs aplenty, and a number of other problems with it. The officer, Alexander Hayes, had turned down the county’s assigned designation for patrol car repair. Joan later discovered that Alexander Hayes had been referred to her shop by none other than her ex, Sarah West. Joan had the holes welded shut, a new coat of paint, and the vehicle altogether up and running before the week was out. She tacked onto the bill a reasonable discount, and not more than a week later was mailed a proposition to continue servicing the local police’s squad vehicles.

It surprised Joan when Alex called the shop some few days later. At first she thought he was calling to make an appointment to have his civilian vehicle looked at. Instead, he had called to ask her on a date. Joan liked what little she knew of Officer Hayes, and accepted on the spot. The relationship bloomed into a fiery rose: they dated for a short while, then started living together, and finally after a year and a half decided to get married.

The virus epidemic hit a few years after their marriage, when they were considering notions of having children. Both were glad to be alive and with each other upon hearing how many people the virus had claimed. However, calls out to relatives weren’t so fortunate. Joan and Alex had lost the rest of their respective families to the epidemic.

When cars and bodies started filling the streets, Alex felt it was best they move on. He had some survival skill training, and they ventured into the nearest woods. Together they built a small cabin, and scavenged for furniture and non-electrical appliances. Joan tilled, planted, and tended a garden, and “rescued” some livestock from a nearby farm whose owners had expired. For a while, they had all they needed to survive.

It wasn’t long before they noticed distant gunfire and sounds of struggle. They assumed they were safe, secluded as they were out in the woods. Raiders proved them wrong as they raided the place of food, water, shelter-building materials, and other needed things. The brutes were almost prepared to just leave them to die of their own devices, but Alexander proved to be too much of a threat. Joan, being the fighter she was, was also a handful. The leader of the raid, Damian Moore, ordered the slow death of Alex Hayes while Joan watched the whole terrible event.

With barely even a single day to mourn, Joan was forced into an unwilling union with Damian. They had a mock ceremony, and Damian often referred to his cruel practices as “taming” Joan. It took a lot of doing, but in time Joan toughened up and eventually learned to accept her new role. She would never love the man now deemed as her husband. Only reluctantly did Joan tolerate Damian, waiting patiently for the right time to make her move and gain her freedom. It had yet to happen, and before she knew it she was seeing an organized group spring from the band of raiders she was forced to live with. They called themselves the Deltas, and Joan started unconsciously acting just like Damian: cold, sadistic, and unforgiving to anyone that wasn’t a member of her community... and certainly no remorse for taking every last drop of another’s resources in the name of her clan.

While out on a raid Joan and nine other Delta companions were attacked by Alpha clan slavers. Her old self would have viewed this as her last chance at freedom, but her new self was too comfortable with life among the Deltas to consider alternative options. They fought bravely. Six Deltas died, but Joan and the remaining three were captured and brought to Liam Rockwell’s compound to be processed as slaves. Joan has been determined to fight against this life of servitude and does not plan to give up anytime soon.



Weakness:
Afraid of syringes
Loves dark chocolate
Hard-hearted
Reckless
Stubborn

Strengths:
Bold
Determined
Independent
Resourceful
Mechanical repair


Favorite Color: Camouflage

Theme song: Raise Your Glass by P!nk, and Bad Reputation by Joan Jett