ooc; application for singularityrpg

[deducing]

Player Information ;
Your Nickname: Ammay
OOC Journal: democracy
Under 18? Nope.
Email/IM: aim: death but once
Characters Played at Singularity: Thor Odinson ( thundering )

Character Information ;
Name: Sherlock Holmes
Name of Canon: Sherlock Holmes 2009
Canon/AU/Other Game CR: Canon
Reference: General Character Page & 2009 Movie
Canon Point: Post the First Film

Setting:

Sherlock Holmes takes place in Victorian England, early 1890s. The world, much like our own, is chugging along with industrialization at a fascinating pace, Great Britain is an empire to be reckoned with, Germany is starting to build up a sizable navy, France is doing what France does best (mope and wish for the days it was actually an empire), and Russia is having issues industrializing at all ( just ask the tzars how that's working out for them). The entire world is increasingly balancing on a knife's edge, waiting for the final push to send it over the edge into the first World War.

London, too, is vastly similar to the historical one. Or would be, if not for the creative liberties that make it exciting rather than a horrible cesspit of poor, the emerging middle class, and the rich that no one with half a sane mind would consider making the backdrop of that winter's action flick. Everyone has something to hide, there are secret orders and corrupt government officials. Everything is connected in some way - from anarchists to a highly skilled doctor - you just have to posses the intellect to look for it and find it. Which is how Holmes finds himself in the world - he's the world's most brilliant detective (as Moriarty finds himself more comfortable in criminal actions and Mycroft would rather just not be bothered at all) and it falls to him to discover and use all these connections as the world's only consulting detective. But make no mistake, the London of Sherlock Holmes is far more exciting and engaging that it was in the past.

The movie also takes a bit of a steampunk approach to the Victorian Age (because it's hard to have an action movie when Holmes can figure everything out from his sitting chair, or close to it) with inventions such as a taser and cars appearing on the streets much earlier than they would in our world. Military weaponry as well is boosted - most of the developments and advancements that would come with WWI seem to have already been made in Holmes' world. Due, in part, by the scheming mechanics of Moriarty and his desire to profit off the boiling tensions. Everything seems a bit closer to the boiling point of world war in Holmes' world than it was in ours in the same decade - putting dash of urgency into everyone's actions.

In short - Holmes' world is not so different from our own that it cannot pass as it without further inquiry into the mechanics. Things are more action oriented, a bit grittier, than actual history, but that's what turning detective stories into action movies will do to a setting.

Personality:

tl;dr - Sherlock Holmes is an incredibly brilliant, difficult individual with little care for proper interaction with other people.

Long version?

Holmes abhors inaction, of sitting alone with just his mind to keep him company. He requires a case to keep him focused, to give him a reason to venture outside of his rooms and to interact with those beyond his incredibly narrow normal sphere of individuals. Without a case he turns to experiments, to simple mysteries that let him keep himself busy ( and to cocaine ) - it may appear that he is doing nothing but languishing alone in his room but there is always something going on. Whether it be making a device to muffle the sound of a gunshot or experimenting with different ways to survive a hanging - he needs to always be doing something. Normally a trial to get along with, a Sherlock Holmes without a case becomes absolutely insufferable - he is ill appeased by trivial problems and will always long for something substantial to sink his teeth into.

At the same time, part of the reason he doesn't like spending time around people without something to keep his focus is because his brain is always working, always giving him information and data - overstimulation is a high possibility when he can't just block out anything that isn't relevant. Holmes is not the sort of person who would go for a walk to enjoy the air and the company of people on his own; he'd be overwhelmed in short order. With a purpose to the walk, however, it becomes a completely different matter - there's a drive there for him to focus on. The fact the baker is cheating on his wife with the butcher is insignificant in relation to the different types of clay that signify where someone had been before walking over the cobblestones.

What follows is his inability to actually deal with other people. This is partly because of his rather enormous ego and an unrelenting frustration that people simply cannot keep up with him mixed in with a general dislike of interaction that isn't on a strictly business level. It's not that he's incapable of making his way through day to day life - due to his ability to read people he can blend in when need be ( adapting different posture, vocabulary, and so on ) but it's not something he prefers to do on a regular basis on a social basis. Cases are, of course, an entirely different matter. In his perfect world, Holmes would have an endless amount of interesting cases and his close friends by his side at all times.

Or rather his close friend. Doctor John Watson, physician and ex-military. He has the distinct honor of being the only person Holmes absolutely trusts and cares for beyond himself. While it's true that he fails spectacularly at articulating and showing such, Watson is his dearest friend and confidant. There is no one that Holmes would rather have by his side - and while they may banter like an old married couple and have one or two spats that spiral down into yelling at each other they are the best of friends.

Except that nothing is ever perfect with Holmes, and Watson is no exception from his inability to actually get along with people. Perhaps he even has it worse because Sherlock knows that Watson is more than capable of handling his moods and idiosyncrasies. Who else will he drag along with him, get into trouble, nearly get him killed, and yet still expect to have him constantly by his side? So Watson normally sees the worst sides of Holmes - such as the addict and the recluse - that are normally hidden away from the public eye. It's that fact that makes Watson such a dear companion to Holmes that it borders on near dependency. A life without John Watson is one that Sherlock hates the very idea of and the impending marriage of his friend is just another reminder of the looming possibility that he might lose the only person he can connect with.

Simply they really are brothers, if not in blood then in bond.

Continuing from earlier, however, is that Holmes delights in a challenge (hold on, this has a point belonging right here). The bigger, the more complicated, the better. And while this holds true especially for cases, it also applies to people such as Irene Adler and her mysterious employer - Professor Moriarty. Irene, of course, is the only person to have bested Holmes and he refers to her as the Woman for that very reason. It's not a slur, rather a term of respect and endearment as, to him, there is only one woman - all others pale in comparison. Maybe he loves her. He probably does, but either doesn't recognize it for what it is or just flat out refuses to admit that he feels that way for her. But considering she's more than capable of making him act the fool - it's more than obvious that he feels something for her. Be it deep respect and admiration or something close to love. But challenges - those are something he can't pass up. Not ever. Not with Irene and not with this Professor Moriarty.

All that said, Holmes has the emotional capacity of a teaspoon. He is notoriously bad at expressing any heartfelt emotion under any circumstances other than dire. And even then it takes great effort to actually get it out. That's not to say he doesn't feel them - because he does, he just locks them down and refuses to acknowledge feeling anything of the sort. Which makes those emotional moments all the more telling.

Abilities, Weaknesses, and Power Limitation Suggestions:

Other than the ability to be an obnoxious egotist? Holmes has the uncanny ability to know things about people, places, events, just by his immense powers of deduction. He can read human behavior and notice the small details of a person to put together a nearly accurate pictures of who they are and their past. It borders on the supernaturally uncanny - though quite visible when he's asked to explain it. It is, on the other hand, quite possible to overstimulate him if he's not given a single thing to focus on. It's why, when he doesn't have a case, he sequesters himself even though he hates that as well.

He's also reasonably decent at hand to hand combat - his observation skills give him a definite edge over the competition; yet it's not impossible to best him in combat.

As for power limitations - none, but I will make a permissions post for letting Holmes divulge intrusive details about a person that I will do my best to explain how he could possibly get those details.

Inventory:

- Dogeared fedora, overcoat, and three piece suit
- Sunglasses
- A lock-picking tool kit

Appearance: A filthy hobo.
Age: Unknown, but probably 30-35.

OC/AU Justification ;
If AU, How is Your Version Different From Canon, and How Will That Come Across?
If OC, Did You Run Your Character Through a Mary-Sue Litmus Test?
And What Did You Score?

Samples ;
Log Sample:

He was going mad. Holmes could find no other conclusion for his current state of mind -- there was the usual (limps slightly to the left, lack of scars indicate a sports related injury -- three weeks, three and a half; smells of smoke despite the lack of any tobacco -- heavy smoker) that was the familiar background buzz and what he found himself falling back on more and more.

It was not his fault that he'd arrived without his violin or, as was just as pressing, any amount of cocaine. Keeping himself busy was the key -- and not impossible -- for if he slowed down for a moment he would find himself twitching (drumming a patter of four against any surface thumpthumpthump thump). A laboratory would not be hard to come by, but he was so used to the things he'd created on his spare time to find much use in what this… space station could provide.

He'd searched the Junk Yard, of course, and managed a motley collection of things that could come in use. And use it he would, if the alternative was to live out a long and boring existence in space. Not that he intended to - finding themselves here meant that there had to exist a way to return, no one had simply found it yet. Impossible, they'd said, but this entire venture was supposedly been unthinkable.

So Holmes was going to find one, or at least find the people required to find one. And hopefully along the way find a few cases to keep him going. Watson might complain about turning their room into an office, but there was very little that he wasn't complaining about (Mary, he had a wedding, the fact that Holmes had refused to be his best man) but Holmes knew that he was just as restless as he (the turning of his cane in his hands before he said something, the movement of his fingers like he expected a newspaper to be in easy reach) and that he'd hardly complain if something came there way.

Or, if he did, it wouldn't matter in the end.

Network Sample:

It seems I am blessed to never have to get a breath of fresh air again. Perhaps Watson will be less persistent in his demands that I go outside now that, for all intents and purposes, it is impossible to do so. But nothing is ever truly impossible -- all can be explained with a careful examination of facts and the proper application of logic. A suit of some kind, perhaps, to prevent exposure to the elements.

And then there is this matter of an 'impossible' return to our own homes - my feelings on the matter made quite clear previously. However, has any here bothered to ask why we all have been brought to this place? There exists an answer, and we simply have to find it. But first, before I apply my by no means incapable mind to this matter, I would ask that someone supply me with a violin. I fear I may go mad.