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PLAYER INFORMATION
Your Name: Effy
OOC Journal: ”senorsockpuppet”
Under 18? If yes, what is your age?: I’m 20
Email + IM: Best contact is to PM me here, but I have email and AIM upon request!
Characters Played at Ataraxion: None
CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: John Hamish Watson, M.D.
Canon: BBC Sherlock
Original or Alternate Universe: Original
Canon Point: The conclusion of “The Great Game”, when he grabs Jim Moriarty.
Number: 197
Setting:
The setting for Sherlock is modern-day London. There isn’t anything out of the ordinary that is particular to the canon.
History:
Not a lot of John’s history has been expounded upon in the BBC canon, but by doing a little investigating within the British Royal Army’s recruitment policies, we can make our own deductions as to his military past.
It is known and stated many times that John is an “army doctor”, and we know that he has seen combat or, more specifically, “a lot of violent deaths” while deployed in the war in Afghanistan. Judging by the fact that John was not only capable, but overqualified for his later job at a clinic, it’s safe to assume he did indeed receive his medical degree before or during his time of service in Afghanistan. According to the British Army’s website, recruitment is allowed between ages 18-29. Medical school in the UK may start as early as 18, so it’s safe to say that John served at least ten years in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC). Jobs he would have qualified for would be Medical Officer (MO) or Medical Support Officer (MSO).
Why, if John was on the road to becoming a doctor, would he choose to enter into the army? It’s possible that he did it for a sponsorship that would help him fulfill his degree - after he is discharged, John professes to only be living on an army penchant, which seems to indicate he came from a background of no real wealth. It’s also possible that he simply does not wish to fall back on family because he is estranged from it. This could be supported by the fact that we learn that John’s sister, Harriet, is an alcoholic and John resents her for it, as well as the fact that John’s old university buddy, Mike Stamford, implies that the John Watson he knew wanted to be everywhere but London.
John played rugby for Blackheath at some point.
These are the linear facts from the canon:
John went to war in Afghanistan, where he used his medical training on-site. He was caught up in a fire-fight in the line of duty and shot in the left shoulder. Bill Murray, a male nurse and fellow soldier, saved John’s life by keeping him from bleeding out. After John recovered, he was honorably discharged from the army (his limp made him unfit to return to duty) and chose to return to London.
John was living on an army penchant and keeping himself in a small flat while he tried to find more permanent accommodations and employment. He was seeing a therapist for his PTSD, but insisted that he was fine, and that his life was not particularly interesting at all. Wandering through Hyde Park, he came across Mike Stamford, a friend from John’s days in St. Bartholomew’s teaching hospital. After a thoughtless comment regarding a flatshare, John was taken back to St. Bart’s and introduced to one Sherlock Holmes.
With little more than a few words between them, Sherlock deduced John’s military history, that he retained a psychosomatic limp, a therapist, and an alcoholic relative. Despite the man’s very apparent arrogance, John was intrigued. Within twenty-four hours, he ended up moving into the flat at 221B Baker Street with Sherlock. Not much longer after, Sherlock was having him gallivanting through London to solve a mystery involving a serial-killer who managed to have their victims self-administer a lethal poison.
The doctor found himself briefly abducted by a man who was interested in gathering intel on Sherlock, someone who was willing to pay John a large sum of money to report Sherlock’s activity on occasion. John turned down the offer in no uncertain terms, and it was only later that he discovered that this foreboding man was, in fact, Sherlock’s older brother, Mycroft.
Eventually, Sherlock discovered the suicide killer, but allowed himself to be abducted in order to satisfy the curiosity of how the killer managed to convince their victims to kill themselves. John arrived nearly too late to stop Sherlock from potentially ingesting poison himself, and too far from their location to bodily stop Sherlock. So John shot and killed the serial killer, effectively saving Sherlock and tying himself to the detective for good.
John would continue to follow Sherlock to more of his cases, inspired enough to begin cataloguing their adventures in his personal blog. The two became fast friends soon after the first case, now immortalized on John’s blog as “A Study in Pink”.
In the episode titled “The Great Game”, Sherlock and John encountered their most formidable culprit yet - James Moriarty. Moriarty kidnapped John and strapped him to explosives as the final reveal and threat to Sherlock to stop pursuing him. While Moriarty was distracted, John threw himself on the criminal, still strapped with explosives, in hopes that Sherlock would be able to get away while he effectively held Moriarty hostage. This is the point in which John is taken.
Personality:
John Watson is often described as an ordinary man and, when standing next to his friend, flatmate, and colleague, Sherlock Holmes, that would be a fair assumption. But Sherlock Holmes can, and often does, make idiots and dullards out of perfectly capable people.
The truth is John Watson is a quiet and exceedingly private man, but not for lack of ability or intelligence. Years in the army have disciplined him, while age, experience, and injury has humbled him. He doesn’t like being a part of the spotlight, preferring instead to be the one that bends the ears of those who do, or contenting himself as an observer in the background. This does not mean, however, that John is incapable of socializing normally - on the contrary, the doctor is often responsible for gathering facts that require more personable prying. He’s also shown himself to be a capable flirt. The only caveat with John is that he volunteers very little information about himself, mostly because it makes him uncomfortable sharing anything personal with strangers. He has trust issues, a diagnosis certified by his therapist.
John took to the role of a doctor honestly. He isn’t any sort of doting caregiver, but he does genuinely seem to care about the welfare of others. This is often a point of argument between he and Sherlock, because John is generally disapproving of the callous manner in which his friend treats and uses people. Does he try to stop Sherlock from doing it? No. But he will usually try to step in and perform damage control on the detective’s behalf, if possible, if not directly apologize for him. He is inclined to help others in need or distress, though he will not allow it to weigh upon him if he has other priorities he must attent to.
Another notable trait for the doctor is his steady temperament. John has proven himself to be a man in possession of a phenomenal amount of patience and good will, especially when it concerns his socially impaired friend, Sherlock. Despite being a tidy man by habit, John has allowed himself to live in a flat that is almost always budding with clutter. There are human body parts in their fridge and microwave and, after an initial complaint, John just shuffles them aside and goes about his business. This is the attitude he has for most of the stunts that Sherlock pulls - initially disapproving, but ultimately insubstantial. He endures his flatmate’s erratic, and occasionally destructive moods and his quite frankly disturbing astuteness and candor. There are things that can set John off, of course, things that will spark loud, abrupt, short-lived rage: his leg (which he used to carry a limp in) is a sore subject (and any physical inadequacy for that matter), and he is quite easily frustrated with technology. Despite how angry John has gotten, however, he never seems prone to exact violence on anyone or anything. He would much rather walk away from a situation that made him angry. Sometimes his rage embarrasses him, at which point he is quick to apologize. Otherwise, he returns and forgives once he’s cooled off a bit.
Finally, it should be understood that John Watson is a man of upstanding honor and moral principle. He is honest and sincere; unlike Sherlock, he knows how to do this with a level of kindness, too. John believes in promoting the welfare of humanity and bringing to justice those that would seek to destroy it. He is not shy about voicing his objections if his sensibility is offended, though he knows that the opportune moment to speak them is not always the heat of the moment. He is unwaveringly loyal to his friends and loved ones, enough that he would risk life and limb for them, even kill for them if it meant saving them. As an example, he was offered the opportunity to spy on Sherlock for a large sum of money, something he was very concerned about having, but declined the offer on the principle that he thought he was defending Sherlock from a nefarious force, despite the fact that John himself had been coerced into the meeting and had no guarantee of making it out alive. Once he and Sherlock officially became friends, he was willing to try and sacrifice himself in order to save the detective. Even if he disagrees with Sherlock on something, he will defend him against others and wait until they were in private to disclose his true opinions. It'd be assumedly the same for any other friend he had.
John considers himself to be an ordinary, and largely insignificant, person. He has confidence in his abilities as a physician and an intellectual, but little else. He tries to be a good man and a good friend to the few relations he keeps. In his friendship with Sherlock, he considers himself a voice of reason. Monetary matters often concerned him, and by extension having the security of a job. He has only recently come to the realization that he may not be as content with a normal life as he had originally thought, as he forsakes other responsibilities to accompany Sherlock on whirlwind, often dangerous, missions. He tries to justify this by the belief that Sherlock’s work has more of an impact on the world than anything he can do with his own profession.
Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations:
John is a trained medical doctor and army medic. It’s assumed that he has a professional grip on human anatomy, pharmacology, diagnosis, and medical treatment. He is suited for repairing wounds sustained in and out of combat situations or otherwise preserving life until in a more equipped facility. He has exhibited the ability to determine general time and cause of death in murder victims.
He is steady and capable of working under stress. He is adept at firing several types of guns and is considered to be a crack shot with a pistol. John is capable of defending himself and others in physical altercations, using standard military techniques combined with personal experience. Because he’s physically fit, it’s assumed that he has some strength in these situations, though he prefers to use his opponent’s movements against them rather than brute force.
John is afflicted by post-traumatic stress syndrome. This has shown itself before in a psychosomatic limp in his right leg as well as a chronic case of nightmares. While he has not shown the limp in some time, he may still find the limb sensitive to certain temperatures.
Any of John’s friends should be considered a weakness, as he’s far too loyal to hope to leave them behind for his own self-interest. Hurting or threatening them would be a very simple way to damage him emotionally, and it’s almost certain that he will come running to their aid, despite the possible consequences. Just as much, John will allow some of his morals to be bent for the sake of preserving a friendship.
Inventory: Jacket x2, shirt x2, trousers x1, pants x1, shoes x1, earpiece receiver x1, mobile phone x1, wallet x1, keys, gloves x1, semtex-strapped vest x1
Appearance:
John is on the shorter side of average for a male, standing at about 5’7 (170cm). Hair is a light blonde color, probably with a few streaks of white or silver to it, and his eyes are hazel/grey. He’s in good physical shape, but very little of that is apparent due to his affinity for wearing layers and long sleeves. He favors jumpers or collared shirts over an undershirt, and generally in muted or dark colors. Every now and then, though, you’ll see an orange shirt or something suspiciously close to yellow. He wore more formal clothes -shirt, tie, and slacks- to his work at the surgery, but probably only had one or two suits to his name.
Age: 39
AU Clarification: n/a
SAMPLES
Log Sample:
(( Sample is set in canon setting. ))
John never made it to Sarah’s that night. He hadn’t actually made it too far up the street from the flat before he was waylaid in the worst possible way.
And he should have known better, but at the time he had done quite enough thinking for the day. It had been exhausting, both physically and mentally, and before he could be wrapped up in something else (one of Sherlock’s household experiments, perhaps) he had made a point of escaping to one place he knew he could be at rest. Sarah was a nice woman, something he was quite certain he needed in his life at the moment. Best of all, she went to bed at a reasonable hour and didn’t mind him taking shelter on her couch. After that incident with the Black Lotus, he had honestly expected to have that budding relationship and his job nipped off completely. It would have been the smarter thing to do, really.
For some reason,though, she seemed to have decided that he was worth taking a chance, or else was taking mercy upon him. It’s not in Watson to turn it away, advise her of the sane thing, because he needs this. Or thinks he does. So on his way to Sarah’s flat, he’s not thinking about much more of the day’s case because, if he does, it’ll impede his sleep for the rest of the night. He’s thinking vinyl couch cushions and the buzzing white noise of the telly, and how one day it might be cotton bed sheets hitched around his hips. By the time he sees the masks rise out of the alley, it’s far too late.
They crash into him, a tangle of limbs, bare him up into darkness and onto the unforgiving metal floor of a nondescript van. It had crept up the street just out of his peripheral vision and now he’s kicking out of the shadow against his attackers as they toss him through the open door. He’s a military man and he won’t die easily, won’t give up even as the engine revs and the door slams with an air of finality, carrying him farther and farther away from Baker Street. It’s not much of a fight, though. Whoever they are, they’ve been waiting for him and there are hands all over him, shoving him down, crushing him beneath the weight of one or several bodies. Careless, because his head is slammed against the floor and suddenly there is light beneath his eyes and the tang of metal on his lips.
He’s in the dry heat of Afghanistan again, behind the rampart, and his lieutenant’s voice is the hiss of a motor. It dissolves from there.
Comms Sample:
[ There's a mild thumping sound over the comm-link as John fumbles with the device trying to disguise itself as a mobile phone. Everything is touch-screen, and John is all thumbs. ]
Christ. I just...had it... Where did it..?
[ It's a murmur of sound, barely comprehensible as the man tries to locate the window he just had. And what was the little light on the device for? That hadn't been on before! Finally, he's retraced his steps back to where he was and... ]
Oh. Brilliant.
[ It's been recording this entire time. Fantastic. ]
Sorry; having a bit of trouble adjusting this device. I'm not even certain if it's actually working. Is anyone out there? More specifically, is there anyone out there that I could trouble to explain to me what the hell is going on?
Thanks.
[ A moment more of pause before he finds the button to cease recording. ]