Application for gargleblasted
OOC:
Name: Deb
Are you over 16?: yes
Personal LJ: thaasophobe
Email: [removed - see contact post]
Timezone: US Central
Other contact: [removed - see contact post]
Characters already in the game: none
How did you find us?: Jen (aurajen)
IC:
Character name: Dr. John H. Watson
Fandom: Sherlock
Timeline: The end of the third episode ("The Great Game").
Age: early 30's
~*Magical*~ abilities and strengths: Watson is human and has no magical abilities. (Unless you consider being able to live with Sherlock Holmes a magical ability, which is arguable.) He is a fully qualified medical doctor. He was trained as an Army doctor, so he's experienced in both civilian and combat medicine. As a soldier he had combat experience, and he's still a crack shot with a gun.
How would they use their abilities?: If there's a need for human doctors on the ship, he would be happy to help out. He would also attempt to keep Sherlock out of trouble.
Appearance:
John Watson is 5'7" (1.70m) tall. He has blond hair, which he keeps military-short. He's not a flashy dresser, preferring casual clothing. [pic, Watson is on the right]
Background/Personality:
Background:
"Sherlock" is a modern retelling of the classic Sherlock Holmes stories. The show is set in London of 2010, and although the characters are familiar, the stories themselves have been greatly modified to fit the modern day. For example, they now have modern technology at their disposal, including mobile phones, GPS tracking, and the internet. Holmes is still a consulting detective, but now he has a website. Watson still chronicles their cases, but he now writes them up on his blog.
But wherever you find Sherlock Holmes, there is always Dr. John Watson. Not much is known about Watson's history prior to the first episode of this version. The only family mentioned is his sister, Harriet (who goes by Harry). John is a medical doctor and he served in the British Army. He was wounded in battle in Afghanistan and would have died if one of the nurses hadn't pulled him out. His injuries were extensive enough that he was sent home to England and retired from military service.
As the first episode begins, he's living in some kind of hospital setting. He has a limp and walks with a cane. He also has occasional tremors in his left hand. His therapist has diagnosed him with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and she suggests he start writing a blog as part of his recovery.
Watson doesn't seem to think that will help anything. His response is "Nothing happens to me." He's about to be proven wrong.
As his Army pension doesn't provide much, Watson is in search of someone who will share a flat. He runs into an old school friend, Mike Stamford, in a park, and when he mentions his situation and asks "Who'd have me for a flatmate?" Mike comments that he is the second person to say that to him that day. Watson asks "Who was the first?"
Mike introduces him to a very odd man who takes one look at John and, after borrowing his mobile phone to send a text message, asks "Afghanistan or Iraq?" The man also correctly guesses that Mike brought Watson to meet him as a potential flatmate. He tells John that he has his eye on a flat, and they should meet there later that evening. He's almost out the door when Watson stops him, pointing out that he needs the address of the flat, and he doesn't even know the man's name.
The man is Sherlock Holmes, of course, and the address is 221B Baker Street.
After meeting Sherlock at the flat, John agrees to move in. Before he can even get settled, a police inspector arrives to ask Sherlock to come look at a dead body, the fourth in a series of similar suicides. Sherlock is thrilled to have a new case and he disappears out the door. A minute later, he's back. He asks if John is any good as a doctor? ("Very good.") He suggests that Watson has probably seen injuries and violent deaths, and has been in trouble before? ("Of course, yes. Enough for a lifetime. Far too much.") Then Sherlock asks the most important question, would he like to see some more? "Oh god yes," Watson responds with enthusiasm, and follows Sherlock out the door.
On the way to the crime scene, John asks Sherlock to explain how he knew all the details he mentioned about him when they met, Sherlock goes through his deductive reasoning and John declares it extraordinary. Sherlock seems surprised by this, since apparently most people are annoyed when he tells them his deductions about them. John does point out the one thing Sherlock got wrong - Sherlock assumed "Harry" was John's brother, but "Harry" is actually short for "Harriet", John's sister.
At the crime scene, Sherlock asks John for his opinion as a doctor on the cause of death, but doesn't seem too interested in the answer. He's more appreciative of John's vocal admiration for Sherlock's deductions. Sherlock apparently has a very antagonistic relationship with most of the police department, so he could use an assistant who is willing to work with him. John is definitely willing, and this begins their first case together. John follows along, somewhat bewildered, as Sherlock investigates the case in his own unique way.
At one point, Sherlock takes John along on a stakeout. When they take off running after a potential suspect, John accidentally leaves his cane behind in the restaurant. Later Sherlock mentions that in addition to searching for their suspect, he was proving a point - John's limp was psychosomatic and he doesn't really need the cane. Watson doesn't use the cane again after that.
After several twists and turns, Sherlock realizes who the murderer is, but doesn't tell anyone. Instead he sneaks out to confront him personally. John realizes Sherlock was behaving oddly (well, odder than usual). He eventually tracks him down and looks through a window to see Sherlock confronting the murderer. When he realizes Sherlock is in danger, John shoots the murderer without hesitation. Sherlock, in an unusual display of concern, asks John later if he is okay after having killed a man. John hesitates briefly, then replies "He wasn't a very nice man."
And thus begins a beautiful friendship.
Their next case begins when an old school friend of Sherlock's asks him to investigate a break-in at a bank, and eventually leads them to a gang of Chinese antiquities smugglers. Meanwhile, John gets a part-time job working in a medical clinic, where he's interviewed by a woman named Sarah. He ends up asking her out. For their first date, Sherlock generously gets them tickets for a Chinese circus. Except when they get there, they discover that Sherlock got three tickets, and he's invited himself along on their date.
The circus turns out to be a front for the smuggling mob, and John ends up helping Sherlock subdue some of the gangsters. Amazingly, Sarah doesn't run screaming, and even goes with John and Sherlock back to their flat to continue discussing the case. However, due to a series of misunderstandings, John and Sarah are kidnapped by the gangsters because they think he's Sherlock. They threaten to kill Sarah unless "Sherlock" tells them what they want to know. John is unable to convince them he's not Sherlock, but luckily the real Sherlock shows up to help distract the gangsters, allowing John time to struggle loose enough to save Sarah and kill one of the gangsters. Optimistically, John tells Sarah their next date won't be like that.
Their third case is targeted directly at Sherlock - someone is kidnapping people, strapping them with explosives, and forcing them to call Sherlock with a mystery for him to solve. If he doesn't solve the mystery within the given time period, the explosives will be detonated. Of course Sherlock solves the mysteries, with some help from John.
The last mystery doesn't seem to have a potential bomb victim, except when Sherlock finally meets the bomber, John is also there, rigged with explosives. The bomber, who introduces himself as Moriarty, engages in a battle of wits with Sherlock. At one point, Moriarty comes close enough that John is able to grab him, preventing him from triggering the bomb without killing himself. John tells Sherlock to run away and escape, but unfortunately Moriarty's henchmen have a rifle scope aimed at Sherlock, so John is forced to let Moriarty go. Moriarty makes more threats, telling Sherlock to stay out of his business, and eventually leaves, Sherlock and John remove the bomb, laughing with relief -- and then Moriarty shows up again, saying he just can't let them live after all.
While John looks on, Sherlock aims his gun at the bomb, threatening to blow them all up in order to stop Moriarty...and the episode ends on this cliffhanger.
Personality:
John Watson is the quiet, sane one in the partnership. He has a reserved demeanor, and he's usually good-natured and easy to get along with. He has occasional outbursts of anger, but he seems annoyed at himself for losing his temper and usually apologizes quickly.
Watson has a great deal of confidence in himself and his abilities. He may not be capable of amazing deductive reasoning like Sherlock but he's learning, and he provides his own insights to their investigations. He definitely doesn't sit around waiting for Sherlock to give him orders. If John sees something that he thinks needs to be done, he'll do it. When he finds himself in an unusual situation, he doesn't spend a lot of time boggling at it. He just figures out what his course of action needs to be to deal with the situation. The only time he loses his cool is when Sarah is threatened and he's helpless to save her.
Watson is obviously taken aback by some of Sherlock's eccentricities, but he takes it in stride. They have the occasional argument about who is going to do the shopping (usually John), why Sherlock is shooting holes in a wall of the flat (because he's bored), or why there's a human head in the fridge (it's an experiment), but overall John seems to get along with Sherlock. Watson is warned about associating with Sherlock by various people, with varying degrees of seriousness (one policewoman thinks Sherlock is one step away from becoming a killer himself) but John seems determined to judge Sherlock only from his own experiences with the man.
Unlike Sherlock, John doesn't lose sight of the human element in the crimes they investigate. He often reminds Sherlock that it's not just an intellectual exercise, there are people dying. That doesn't mean he's always serious though. He enjoys the adventure and excitement almost as much as Sherlock does, although he doesn't show it as often. In fact in the first episode, it's suggested to him that his PTSD symptoms were not due to stress from the war, but due to stress because he was no longer at war. He missed that kind of dangerous and challenging environment. Since his symptoms disappear once he's involved in Sherlock's cases, that theory would seem to have been true.
As a former soldier, he has a strong sense of honor and duty. When Sherlock is ignoring a case that they're told involves the security of the country, Watson takes it on himself to investigate. He's a good shot with a gun, and he also has a soldier's attitude towards killing - as long as it's in defense of someone, John isn't going to let it bother him if he has to take a life. He was also willing to sacrifice himself to stop Moriarty and save Sherlock.
Why should that character be in this game: n/a
Why do you want to continue their history here: n/a
For applicants considering an alternate version of a character already in game, please use this as your chance to explain the key differences between your character and the one already in play: n/a
Have you read up on how the game works?: Yes. The plug-in is called FlamingFerret. Characters can earn money by going on missions/working a job, by mooching off other characters, or by stealing.
1st person sample:
[Text]
I'm not sure I've got the hang of this technology yet. It looks like there are audio and video options, but I think for now I'll stick to good old-fashioned text.
So, here I am, stuck in an unfamiliar situation due to circumstances beyond my control, wondering what I'm going to do next. It's odd, but this is the one thing that feels familiar. So I might as well do what I did last time, and start writing about it. (Ella, if you're out there somewhere, you were right, it did help.)
Where to start? I've got a room assignment, some kind of alien technology e-book, and a towel. (Why a towel? And why does that feel like deja-vu?) I've got no idea where I am, or rather, where the ship is. I'm not entirely sure what happened to bring me here, and I've got a cramp in my hand from filling out forms.
Oh, and I've got a fish in my ear.
Almost makes me long for the days when I could type "Nothing happens to me" and leave it at that.
3rd person sample:
An out of the way spot was difficult to find on the ship, but Watson managed it. He needed some time by himself, to think.
He read the entry in the Guide for what felt like the hundredth time. "Earth - destroyed." He still couldn't wrap his mind around it. It was too big to comprehend. Everything he'd known, everyone he'd cared about, gone in a flash. And yet somehow, he'd survived. He'd been rescued, against all odds, and brought to safety.
Why him? Of all the billions of people on the Earth, why pick him? The list unscrolled in his mind again: Harry, Sarah, Mrs. Hudson, Bill, Mike, Lestrade, on and on, faces, names, people he barely even knew. All gone. All dead. The driving need to do something about it was pounding in his brain, but there was nothing he could do. Not even the amazing deductions of Sherlock Holmes would be able to solve this problem.
His left hand twitched. Watson looked down at it in annoyance, then stood up. Right, time to stop feeling sorry for himself and get on with it. Even if he had no idea what "it" was just yet. He headed back towards the room he'd been assigned, walking briskly. Earning a living was a start. Whatever came after that, he'd deal with it.
Questions?: not at this time
Did you put your characters name and fandom in the subject: will do!