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Sherlock Holmes {{ BBC's Sherlock }} Reserved onbakerstreet October 18 2011, 07:32:12 UTC
Name: Haley
Livejournal: ussenterprise
Contact: AIM: wings and lace
Other Characters Played: None!
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Canon: BBC's Sherlock
Character: Sherlock Holmes
Timeline: The end of episode 3; The Great Game.
Personality:
Sherlock is, to put it lightly, absolutely terrible with people. He is analytical and he is intelligent. He values his intelligence and his skills over all else, and most certainly over personal relationships. It is because of this that he is a great mind (though not without some arrogant faults) who entirely lacks friends. That is, until he meets Dr John Watson -- a man with whom he forms an instant bond and, for lack of better description -- adopts and promptly moves in with. Sherlock is a reserved, though blunt, individual. He is capable of making connections and analyzing crimes within seconds; he can decipher motives from the tiniest of clues, and his mind moves at a mile a minute. It is almost an irony that he is capable of deciphering the motives and intentions of criminals with such scientific detail while at the same time being entirely incapable of coping with the emotional affectations of humanity. It is for this reason that Watson provides his better half; provides empathy where Sherlock has none, and provides a ground on which Sherlock may stand when he finds himself baffled by the human condition.

Watson is Sherlock's buffer; his censor. For example, there is a point during which Sherlock is attempting to decipher the unfinished name that a victim attempted to carve into the floorboards of her death scene. Rache. While Sherlock's mind raced with definitions for the word 'rache' in several languages, others suggested that it could be the unfinished name of her years-deceased daughter, Rachel. Sherlock seems baffled by this suggestion and rather loudly inquires of his audience of detectives and Watson, exactly why a woman ought to continue to mourn her deceased daughter after so much time has passed. The room goes silent, and Sherlock looks to Watson, who has to inform him that, well, that wasn't exactly the best thing to say. Sherlock accepts this, though he can't fathom why. It is the first time we see the development of the eventual rapport between Watson and Sherlock in which Sherlock says something rather insensitive, and Watson is the one to caution him against it -- often with amusing results.

In combination with his lack of empathy, Sherlock is an arrogant individual and it does much to stifle his capabilities without his realizing. There is a point in Sherlock's further canon wherein it is revealed that Sherlock did not know that the Earth revolved around the sun. Watson, incredulous, chides him for his lack of astronomical knowledge and Sherlock is quick to defend himself that astronomy is irrelevant, and he did not need to know anything about it to solve his crimes; thus it was a waste of his time. It is revealed, however, by the end of that particular episode that astronomical knowledge was exactly what Sherlock needed to solve the great riddle of the episode's crime -- slowly opening Sherlock's eyes both to the necessity of Watson's continued friendship and the necessity of humility. Sherlock is by no means an aggressive character -- while he is blunt and he finds himself in situations in which he is offensive, it is never his intention, and he is often baffled by the responses he garners from those around him in reaction to his standard behavior.

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Sherlock Holmes {{ BBC's Sherlock }} Reserved onbakerstreet October 18 2011, 07:32:35 UTC
It should be noted alongside Sherlock's unusual approach to the human condition that he is also a rather eccentric character. His misunderstandings extend much further than his day-to-day interactions with the police force and society, and he is so eccentric that one of Sherlock's colleagues actually cautions Watson against becoming his friend. It is even suggested, early on in Sherlock's canon, that the detectives he spends his time with actually believe that Sherlock could be the criminal, serial-killing mastermind that they are after. It perhaps does not help his case that he keeps a jar of human eyes in his freezer for scientific study. Watson, meanwhile, is intrigued by Sherlock and continues to room with him and befriend him; even when he is put in positions of opening up Sherlock's refrigerator and finding himself greeted with severed heads. Severed and in Sherlock's refrigerator for science, of course. What other purpose could they be there for?

Background:
In this BBC adaptation of Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson are living in our modern era, in London, and solving classic Sherlock mysteries that have been twisted to be contemporary and made more relevant to 2011. (For example, we find out after the first episode that Watson is running a blog online in which he recounts all of the cases that Sherlock works on and he assists with as well as sharing insight into living with a man who does not know that the Earth revolves around the sun). Sherlock is a young, arrogant and prodigious consulting detective who essentially makes his way into investigations uninvited. His methods are eccentric and his intellect is unmatched, and the police force begrudgingly accepts his assistance -- though not without the regular roll-of-the-eyes and dismissal of his insane theories. Of course, his theories are always clever and almost always correct, and were it not for Sherlock's track record he would perhaps not have a business at all. After all, he is not exactly the most personable. He's living in a small flat that he rents from an exasperated but lovely elderly woman and making a business out of his consulting from his couch -- utilizing all sorts of strange methods to do so.

Dr John Watson, in this incarnation of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan and he befriends Sherlock both out of Sherlock's insistence and perhaps necessity of his own. He's intrigued by Sherlock's ability to read a person's history, life and motivations from a simple glance. Sherlock knows an incredible amount about Watson from first meeting and, quickly, they become friends and roommates. They develop a friendship wherein Watson helps Sherlock solve his crimes by adding that dash of humanity to Sherlock's recipe of eccentricity, and Watson quickly becomes an asset to Sherlock, using his own experiences to counter-balance Sherlock's unusual world and offer necessary insight.

The series runs for three roughly 90-minute episodes, each of which is a separate and classic case from the existing Sherlock Holmes mysteries but with that modern twist. They tie in together by the end of the 3rd episode, wherein Sherlock discovers his intellectual nemesis, whom has been orchestrating many of the earlier mysteries from behind-the-scenes with the intention of getting Sherlock's attention. Sherlock finds himself in a place where he's gained both an asset and a nemesis. An asset in Watson, his close and only friend, and a nemesis in Moriarty, an equally-intellectual prodigy of a man with much darker motives. We leave Sherlock off with a thickening cast of characters and a promising primary antagonist -- prepared to face whatever further (and promised) cases there may be for he and Watson in his future.

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Sherlock Holmes {{ BBC's Sherlock }} Reserved onbakerstreet October 18 2011, 07:33:08 UTC
Abilities/Additional Notes:
If it can be considered an ability, Sherlock is often able to learn incredibly personal information about complete strangers to him with a mere glance. He also has a habit of making all sorts of blunt statements about what he's learned, without understanding of their consequences -- or understanding why doing such a thing would be upsetting to someone.

Sample Journal Post:
This is a rather strange development. Not the most unusual, but enough. I'm going to wager that everyone who arrives here spends their first minutes in a period of unnecessary self-reflection.

I am not going to do that. It has no purpose.

I have read the most recent posts of the individuals here. I cannot say I have made sense of them, but that doesn't matter. I am not going to ask where I am. Though I will ask those who are listening whether or not they could give me a bit more insight. I'm not proud that I'm asking, but there seems to be rather a lot at stake here in this… world. Enough that I find necessity in retrieving information in my least favourite of ways.

With that said, I address my audience. Where are you from? Your home. Your world.

After all, there must be a connection.

There always is.

Sample RP:
Restless. Sherlock is restless. He's not exactly surprised, as restlessness is something that happens almost all the time for him. When his mind is not being challenged enough he finds it racing, desperate for connections, for problems to solve -- for puzzles to find the ultimate end to. It's maddening for him as he crosses one arm over his chest and flexes the fingers of his other hand, pressing a closed fist against his chin. He's tapping at his chin as he paces. He thinks that he could quite use Watson right now -- a strange thought that crosses his mind and makes him frown deeply as it begins to sink in. He has never once desired companionship of any kind, nor has he found himself desiring Watson's company more than he does at this moment. Sherlock may not appreciate the companionship of a roommate, but he certainly appreciates the distraction from his running and excitable mind, and its absence is almost painfully noticeable after having had it in his life for so long. Sherlock needs something. He needs something to solve, something to grapple with; something to tear apart and analyze.

He finds himself upset that he's arrived in this unusual place and this unusual time and still there are too many answers provided for him already. It is not challenge enough for him, and for that he is left eternally restless. With a growl to himself, Sherlock crosses his small room and snatches up his violin easily -- having thought to obtain one at his most immediate opportunity and appreciating it enough (though it was no substitute for nicotine). Long fingers reaching for its bow, insistent hand grasping its neck. Sheet music is unnecessary; it is all archived in his mind as he begins to play. Sherlock is quick with the bow and unforgiving with his violin's strings, lengthy fingers long practiced. He plays quickly and loudly, almost violently. He plays for catharsis, for distraction, and without Watson's presence -- without a case -- he plays long into the night, until his fingers are exhausted and his violin is warm and worn; until his mind is calmed, silenced, even if it is only momentary. After all, that has to be enough. For now.

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ACCEPTED~ adstrngndummod October 21 2011, 22:50:30 UTC
Congratulations, you've been ACCEPTED! Now, please do the following...

→ Follow the instructions located {HERE}
→ Create a journal for your character and reply to this comment with it
→ And HAVE FUN! :D

Welcome to the RP!

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Re: ACCEPTED~ onbakerstreet October 21 2011, 23:27:08 UTC
..replying!! :3c

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