ᴅʀ. ᴊᴏʜɴ ʜ. ᴡᴀᴛsᴏɴ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
consultantsdoctor) wrote2017-01-05 11:18 pm
consultantsdoctor) wrote2017-01-05 11:18 pm
Entry tags:
OOC: Application for ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
tushanshu
Player Information:
Name: Xae
Age/18+?: 31
Contact: Tsukeru @ Plurk
Other Characters Played: None
Most Recent AC Link: N/A
Character Information:
Name: Doctor John Hamish Watson
Canon: Sherlock (BBC) (TV)
Canon Point: End of Episode 2.03: The Reichenbach Fall - as he's walking away from Sherlock's grave + 8 months inexitvoid
Age: 40
Type of Character: CRAU
Reference: Canon History
John's blog of his time on the Charon
John arrived on a rusted ship called The Charon which was under control by a company named COMPASS and their representive they had labeled the Project Head. There John witnessed the Project Head kill a woman via magical water sphere before the man continued on to talk about how COMPASS was a research organization who was currently studying fear. After the demonstration of the Project Head's power, John along with a group of other new arrivals were left to seek more information from their fellow prisoners. He met a few strangers and even a familiar face in Greg Lestrade but what was more important was the fact that Sherlock Holmes was there as well - someone John had believed to be dead. Understandably he'd been upset and quickly learned that it had all been some elaborate scheme to beat Moriarty but John got in one punch before he calmed down to focus on their more precarious situation. Sherlock then proceeded to fill him in on all of the details of the experiment they were unwillingly involved in. Later that same day, Sherlock took him down into the ship where the detective had commondeered a large storage container that had become his makeshift apartment. John was also introduced to a kid that his friend had taken under his wing - a boy named Conan Edogawa.
During his first week, John offered up his services to the medical staff on board the ship and familiarizing himself with the ship in general - absolutely being horrified at the fact that there was nothing but canned cream corn to eat. The second half of the week saw that everyone was invited to a dinner thrown by the Project Head that was actually mandatory. John refused to eat any of the food that was served and for his trouble it meant that anything he tried to eat or drink tasted like ash. It was the least of the trouble on the ship as the various meals had various side effects - both Sherlock and Conan ended up being physically stuck to other people to the point where skin would need to be ripped or cut off to separate them. He met a young woman name Alayne Stone who suffered from shadow burns - burns that appeared when she was in the dark and tended to them.
The second week was even worse than the first. Everyone woke up with a white number embroidered into their clothes - one that determined how many number of deaths they had gone through. Ones with high numbers became increasingly violent and were under the impression that they wanted to share the experience of death with others. John was almost a victim of one of those people and had it not been for Zelos Wilder, may have ended up dead that week. Even Sherlock was effected, having hurt Conan before calling John to come help and then later died before coming back to life. By the end of the week and into the next one John was certainly busy with the amount of injures coming through the clinic. He even invited a young girl named Maya Fey to stay in the Bakerstreet container after her injuries had been patched up.
While there was something important happening the third week it wasn't too terrible until John and Lestrade were down in the cargo hold fighting off some water monsters. They made it through the fight despite being completely and utterly normal against magical creatures but then someone took a shot at Lestrade and killed him instantly. Of course John's first call was to get somewhere safe and then call for Sherlock. It wasn't much of a murder case considering the detective had an idea of who had killed Lestrade. Though it was the first time that John heard the name Albert Wesker who apparently had some sort of grudge against Sherlock and was also an individual who worked in the ship's morgue. Definitely some place John did not want to end up if this was Sherlock's newest enemy.
The following week wasn't quite as bad as the ones before - another set of new arrivals appeared though some had to be retrieved from the water or other dangerous locations. It wasn't until later in the week that they experienced some real trouble. Their ghostly engineer had been bound for helping the captives in the past and therefore could not keep the ship running so they were dead in the water. All power to the ship ceased to function and they had to get creative with cooking, getting clean water and other basic needs. For John it was an opportunity to get closer to Conan and the boy decided to tell him the big secret. Conan confessed to really being a teenage boy named Shuichi Kudo who had been physically altered by someone dangerous, that he'd taken on the identity of Conan Edogawa to protect his friends and put an end to the people responsible. Dead in the water with not a cloud in the sky until the very end of the week when a serious storm set in. With the ship dead and a major storm there was little they could do when the ship started taking on water and sinking into the ocean.
Luckily there was a bit of land and a single lighthouse that had suddenly appeared in the distance so they all abandoned ship to head towards it. Inside the lighthouse there was some strange transportation that took everyone beneath the sea to a place called Rapture. If John thought the ship was a place to get a disease from the terrible food or unsafe environment then Rapture was ten times worse. There were needles filled with a substance called ADAM that could give people a wide range of abilities and the natives of this underwater city had definitely been shooting this new drug. While the substance was powerful it was also extremely addictive, the natives had gone mental from the usage and were extremely violent because of it. John tried to keep his friends from partaking of this new drug - especially Sherlock but failed and after fighting with his best friend, took off on his own. Due to how huge the underwater city was it seemed impossible to keep up with all of friends so John was pretty much on his own for the two weeks they were there.
He took the opportunity to scavenge for a wide variety of items that weren't available before - everything from food to medical instruments and even some extra clothes not just for him but for Sherlock and Conan as well. What was more interesting was that during the second week a group of new arrivals showed up and John was introduced to Joan Watson. Yes, that is exactly what it sounds like. John met a female version of himself mixed in with the new arrivals and helped her out a little bit. Eventually all of them were given the chance to get out of Rapture if they could help a set of children known as Little Sisters. Which is good considering the city was being filled up with water but most of them managed to escape before it went completely dark.
When they got topside it appeared as if the Charon had risen from the depths of the ocean. Literally. There was seaweed and wet mattresses and so much standing water that they spent a good portion of the week cleaning up the ship and even the engineer was back so the ship was on its way back to limping along the ocean. It wasn't just the ship that needed to get clean but also all of those who had become addicted to ADAM and Sherlock was one of them. John helped with that a little though it really came down to the fact that was no more ADAM to go around. In between cleaning and looking after his friends, John got to know a little more about Joan - talking about the differences in their worlds.
The quiet seemed to stretch into the next week even when two fictional individuals appeared - one Captain James Kirk and Commander Spock. Even if Spock mistook Sherlock for Khan and punched his friend in the face, John was still relatively excited to see them considering Star Trek had been something he had watched as a kid. He also learned that he and Sherlock were fictional to some individuals like Conan, was even shown copies of the books that involved their Victorian adventures. Near the end of the week everyone suddenly woke up in their assigned bunk rooms and were told they had to choose one individual to die permanently or the Project Head would start killing children. Everyone in John's assigned room volunteered to go but everyone began protesting after the first death and a fight broke out which caused the Project Head to flee the ship. The ship was theirs.
Finally the group of captives could work on the machine that had brought them all to the ship in the first place. While John couldn't help with that he could set up a first aid station for those who ended up hurt by the monster that lurked around the machine. They also began to prepare for the Project Head to return with reinforcements. Sure enough he returned with a wide assortment of monsters that had been seen over the Charon's journey including dinosaurs and the addicts from Rapture. The Project Head joined the battle by breaking himself apart into watery pieces that had to be destroyed. John left most of the fighting to others and stayed at his first aid station to help the wounded and emptying his gun into their enemy when necessary. Once the Project Head was defeated the other enemies seemed to fade and the ship was truly theirs. By that point they had figured out how the machine worked and people started to leave - all given the opportunity to go to whatever world they wanted. John and Sherlock made the decision to go to Conan's world in order to help him with his problem.
The three of them spent the next month in Beika, Japan with all of their memories of their time on board the Charon intact. John took on a job at a hospital with the help of some forged paperwork while Sherlock attempted to help Conan. Of course apparently in Conan's world the three of them could not go a whole week without running into a murder even when they took a week to go on vacation. Over the next month John continuously kept packing bags as he felt they would be dragged back into COMPASS' clutches. He wanted to be prepared this time and it happened two days after his 40th birthday. John and Conan both were snatched away from Japan only to find themselves at a train station in the middle of the night going from the end of July to the beginning of January. Gone was the ship he'd been familiar with and in its place was a city called Zelien. There were many familiar faces in the crowd, people who had been on the ship with them along with an assortment of new people too. One thing was missing - Sherlock. John and Conan left the station to head towards their new 'home' an old school dormitory, being careful to not disrupt their ghostly natives and holed up in a room together. This will be his last memory.
Setting Concepts:
Personality:
John is a practical and grounded individual. He’s very much aware of what’s going on in the world as he tends to keep up with the news and stays connected. Not only that he’s aware of what his responsibilities are and that they need money to survive in order to pay bills and buy food. Generally these are things that he has to remember because his flatmate won’t. This trait also makes an appearance during their cases as Sherlock tends to get over-excited about something he shouldn’t. He’s a man who keeps his feet on the ground at all times and tries not to cling to some fantasy. It helps that he’s seen terrible things and knows that life isn’t exactly fair.
This also makes him a bit of a skeptic, preferring to believe in things he can see and understand. Good for not going along with a lot of strange theories out there. It also helps him not to take the word of someone else and prefer to figure people out for himself. If he believed all the things he’d been told then he never would have stayed with Sherlock or thought a monstrous hound real when told. However when Sherlock lays things out for him, John can understand and generally believe it. While it’s all a bit fantastic (and does someone like that truly exist?) there’s no hesitation in John to question when something doesn’t make sense to him. So it’s not as though he stumbles along behind Sherlock blindly because he knows that the man is far from perfect.
If there’s one thing about John it’s that he’s not a pushover. It helps that he’s not easily intimidated by people who decide they like making power plays against him. Both Holmes boys have this way of looking down at other people and using words to push the wrong buttons (sometimes on purpose and others on accident). While sometimes it gets a little old having Sherlock think he’s an idiot or Mycroft’s cars whisking him off the street, John stands his ground against both them. Not hesitating one bit to point out their own flaws or even call them names. This is because of his strong morals and convictions, he knows where he stands and he refuses to let people persuade him one way or another. It also goes hand in hand with other things such as killing a man in order to save someone. He waited until the last possible moment to pull the trigger, wanting to give both parties the chance to make their own choices.
There are times when John could be considered brave, staring down complete strangers who wanted him to spy on someone or staying straight-faced with a bomb strapped to his chest. Though he might not always see himself like that. He does what he has to – it’s that simple. Whether he’s throwing himself into danger or the fact that there’d been nothing in his life at one point he’s very realistic about it all. Bad things happen and then you die. If he can save someone in the process then so be it. Though at this point he realizes just how alone he was before meeting Sherlock, how much he owes him and that he never got to say it when he was alive. One of the few things he’s ever allowed himself to be hopeful for is the safety and lives of those close to him. In the end Sherlock’s death is something he knows he’ll have to be realistic with but for a moment – a brief moment he allowed himself to want something more.
John’s therapist wrote that he had trust issues and he does. Most of the time he doesn’t instantly trust people, he doesn’t even like opening up to them. There are times he just holds back on himself and everyone around him (though it’s very hard with people who can see every little detail about him). John doesn’t even open up with people he’s friends with or even his own therapist and he’s certainly not the sort to cry. He’s the sort who’d rather suffer in silence then burden other people with his problems – his business is his business and he doesn’t take kindly to those who pry into it. The end. Yet on the other end of that there are some few who get his loyalty. Once earned it becomes pretty hard to break his trust, no matter what might happen. Sometimes its more fierce than his trust issues as he will rush to protect them and side with them over others. While he’s still not exactly jumping to share his life story there’s little he won’t do for them, including sacrifice himself.
He will literally offer up his life for those he trusts, especially if it will get a bad man off the streets. This is one area that he’s very selfless in. During his time in the army and on the battlefield John has faced death countless times – in the soldiers and in himself. John’s the type to lay down his life if need be, but that doesn’t mean he wants to die. No, far from it actually. Every time he survives a close encounter with death there’s always relief that follows. Despite everything he’s seen death is still not something he can just accept, not for himself and certainly not for those he cares about.
However his trust issues do not make John a cold bastard. Actually, he’s quite sympathetic with people who’ve suffered loss. This helps him with both his work as a doctor and while assisting Sherlock on cases. He knows to soften bad news or to tell Sherlock when something he’s said is not good. At the same time he also knows how to pull back from emotions in order to do his job properly. It’s a bit hard to work if he can’t focus on anything but sympathy for his patient. John’s pretty well-adjusted for a doctor, steady when he needs to be but soft at other times.
Speaking of work, John is hard worker. Whatever he does he does it with everything he’s got, whether it’s as a doctor or on a case. Sometimes it can get a bit hectic juggling both but he manages most of the time. It’s just a good thing that he can handle stress pretty well because doing both certainly can wear on a man (especially when one involves Sherlock). Generally he just sort of takes most things in stride and go along with whatever’s happened while still trying to keep a grounded approach on the situation. Of course there are just things he can’t stand at all and tends to get him in trouble.
When working/living/dealing with Sherlock in general, it’s a good idea to have a lot of patience. Thankfully John has some of this. Enough to not actually punch him in the face every time he might consider it. As the months rolled by he’s just learned to accept some of Sherlock’s stranger quirks that drive others completely barmy. Sure he might do things with a bit of irritation but he still considers Sherlock to be his best friend and stands by him no matter what the world says about him. Of course like all normal people his patience is not endless and there are times when he just snaps. A lot of the time his anger is just like a flash of lightning: bright, sharp and brief. It doesn’t last long once he’s made his point. However when he’s truly angry and hurt it’s sort of a quiet, festering cut. Those are the moments when he brushes people off coldly, as if he’s shut them out of his life, which might as well be true.
So it’s a good thing that John is pretty outspoken with people he’s comfortable with. Often expressing his opinions or displeasure or not afraid to point things out. It often helps with his patience levels when dealing with irritating things to vent about the smaller issues once in a while. At times he can also be reserved, choosing to hold his tongue and just watch the situation. Though he seems to have no issue waving about the cases they work on over the internet. While the fame was a bit amusing at first it grew out of hand when suddenly they were all over the papers as the media usually tends to turn on ‘celebrities’ and he didn’t want that to happen to Sherlock. He was right to be concerned.
John is also kind and caring in his own ways. While he can show strangers sympathy and a softer side those closer get to see something more. There are times he’s almost tender in his care or given gentle prodding to look after themselves better. And there are times when he completely fusses over them like a mother hen. He can basically be considered Sherlock’s keeper, searching the flat for drugs or hiding cigarettes. John even attempts to suggest things to keep the detective from staying bored (even if they aren’t enough). So it’s not enough that he often has to poke Sherlock out in public about his people-to-people skills and apologize on his behalf but he also has to look after him in their own home. Sometimes the man can’t even be bothered to get his mobile out of his own damn pocket. In the end, John’s usually the one taking care of things.
Still despite their differences and strange friendship they are exactly that. Friends. Sherlock impresses him quite often with his deduction skills and they both have a strange sense of humor. The detective’s dangerous lifestyle often leaves them laughing at the end as does his odd quirks. And John is well, his doctor, soldier and assistant all rolled into one. There to keep him from doing serious damage to himself, provided backup during dangerous situations and occasionally offer just that small hint (sometimes without realizing it) to help pull some of the pieces together. Some would say that their relationship borders on being a bit homoerotic with the way they seem so close or they’re so protective of each other though John will deny it.
John is just one of those people you’d call reliable. There when you want him, there when you don’t want him to be but need him anyway, always willing to do something if it helped. Sometimes it’s a bit of an annoyance just how much he inserts himself into someone’s life but in the end it’s all out of the goodness in his heart and generally for their own well-being. Of course, it doesn’t mean he isn’t awkward about it. Which he is. Awkward, in general. There are times when he just feels out of place in a situation and will stand in the background. And then of course there are his relationships with women – like he hasn’t dated in a while and doesn’t know how to go about it. It doesn’t help that Sherlock always seems to come first in John’s life and has this tendency to say truthful but cruel things.
Another thing to point out is that John has a therapist. At first it was one of those things to help him deal with the war and his psychosomatic limp. She diagnosed him with having PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and instructed him to keep a blog on his life. At the time he claimed that nothing ever happened to him so therefore there wasn’t anything worth while to post on it. Later Mycroft noticed that all of John’s issues seemed to disappear when he was under stress and stated that he missed the war and saw the battlefield when he walked with Sherlock. And after that, Sherlock seemed to have cured him of his limp. John stopped seeing his therapist because of it, though he did start writing in his blog about things. Eighteen months. Eighteen months and everything was fine until Sherlock left his phone call note and fell off a building to his death. That was when John ended back in this therapist’s office, though he still couldn’t completely open up to her. The loss of Sherlock hit him that hard, he couldn’t even go into their flat to go through the stuff left there. He’s angry and sad and wants so much for Sherlock not to be dead.
Also, he has rows with chip-and-pin machines in the grocery store. :D
Appearance: He is played by Martin Freeman
Abilities:
John has no magical or superhuman abilities. Though he is not without some skills. He's been trained to be a doctor and what's more an Army doctor so he's quite good at working under hectic and dangerous situations. What's more is that he's a trained surgeon, so capable of cutting people up, digging around in them and stitching them back up if need be. He's also been trained to handle firearms and is quite good with his handgun (better than Lestrade in Hound of Baskerville :P). While normally he doesn't like having to use it, John keeps damn good care of it and carts it around in case ofSherlock-sized emergencies. John's also good in a scrap, not the best surely but he knows how to disable someone in a fight and can throw decent punches if needed.
During his brief stint in Japan, John did have some cooking lessons and can therefore make a few easy meals and even couple of Japanese dishes.
Inventory: John was actually extremely prepared to be whisked away and had pre-packed a bag that he carried around constantly. Some items were removed already but most remained in his bag.
1x set of clothes
1x black jacket
1x pair of black sneakers
1x watch
2x cell phones
1x wallet: a few hundred bills, credit cards, ID, military ID, one fake Japanese ID
1x small pocket-sized flashlight: six triple AA batteries
2x pens: black
2x notebooks: small and large
3x set of keys: 1x to 221B Baker Street, 1x a flat, 1x an apartment in Japan
1x SIG P226 9mm handgun: four magazines = 14 rounds each
1x Swiss Army knife
1x Otherworldy Pocketwatch: will not have access to the intranet, runs via character energy, has a variety of basic features a phone does
Inside his emergency bag
1x pistol (36 rounds)
1x hunting knife
4x packs of cigarettes
2x lighters
1x light sweater
4x pairs of socks
5x disposable razors
1x basic first aid kit: 10x bandages, 1x bottle of aspirin, 1x bottle of vitamins, band-aids, disinfectant, scissors, small sewing kit
1x set of basic modern surgical tools: 1x forceps, 1x retractor, 2x scapels (30 various sized blades), 3x surgical scissors
1x stethoscope
1x box of assorted tea
Soul Gem: A worn, brown, leather wristband with the soul gem embedded.
Writing Samples:
Third Person: John on the TDM
Network:
[Back on the Charon John had only really made text posts, he was more comfortable addressing the network that. It had reminded him a lot of the way his blog had been run back on Earth. He isn't about to change that up now that he's in a new world even if he is still impossibly slow at typing.]
Good afternoon, my name is Doctor John Watson and I arrived to this world just last week. I'm a former Army doctor and had been working in General Practice. While I'm aware that there are a wide variety of clinics and hospitals here, I would like to say that you are welcome to contact me at any time if you need patched up.
On that note I am curious to learn about your opinions on the state of the hospitals and clinics - whether you prefer one location to the other and how you feel it's run and how the patients are treated. Seeing as how I'm new here, I am searching for a job preferrably where I can continue my medical practice and would like to know about the conditions of each location. My skills may lie along the scientific side of things but I've no issue working alongside those who use magic in their healing practices.
Also could do with some advice on where to get myself a flat somewhere. Technically I've got a place now but it's a bit crowded and we could do with something with more space. Preferrably without a lot of crime around but not too expensive either.
Thanks for your time.
Additional Information - CRAU Characters:
Game Origin:exitvoid
A company known as COMPASS has been bringing individuals from various worlds to a ship named the Charon in order to perform experiments on them based on fear. Some of the experiments were psychological in nature while others were physical.
CRAU Changes:
Physically: John hasn't changed a whole lot during his time with COMPASS, a few light scars here and there from various battles but he managed to keep himself safe during most of the fighting. Most of the wounds he did acquire were superficial and the ones that were relatively bad were healed via magic and didn't leave much behind in order to scar in the first place. John has lost a little bit of weight due to the lack of food on board the ship but his month long time in Japan has helped him gain some of it back. Nightmares have affected his sleep and made him look a little more weary than normal.
Personality: Honestly, there isn't a whole lot that has changed about John in this area either. His time on the Charon did not exactly help the trust issues he already had and in fact has put him on edge more than he had been - more like how John was shortly after returning to London after the war. However he has become more open-minded about a lot of other subjects. Coming from a world where things like magic and odd species is just a fantasy John quickly had to accept that this wasn't the case on board the ship. On his very first day he saw a man manipulate water in order to murder someone and accepted that other people could use magic to heal just as well as they could hurt them too along the way. It wasn't just that people could use magic - there were individuals who were a race that John had only ever seen in the world of fiction such as elves or even from old television shows. He couldn't deny their existence when they were standing right in front of him. There even came a point when John had to accept that he was a fictional character to some worlds. While this acceptance might seem a bit weird, it was just basically his realistic look on life. He couldn't rightly deny what he could see with his own eyes.
John's relationship with Sherlock is also a lot more complicated - more complicated than it had been. Upon first arriving on the ship, John had still thought that his friend was dead and it wasn't really something they actually got to talk over at length for a while. There was too much else that needed to be focused on, not to mention that there was an instance where Sherlock was actually dead for a period of time. After he'd come back to life, they had been able to talk on it a little bit and John had accepted the fact that both deaths were actually beyond Sherlock's control - the detective had done what he'd needed to. The relationship wasn't complicated just on John's side either, Sherlock had spent a while on the Charon before John ever showed up - long enough for him to lose a leg. Of course he was incredibly angry at his friend for getting addicted to ADAM and spent nearly two weeks not talking to Sherlock, though he couldn't quite leave it alone and did check up on the detective a couple of times. Sometimes, despite everything, there were things that were the same during their time on the ship - John went to work at the clinic, brought food back to be eaten, tried to keep Sherlock out of trouble, had their rows and they tried to avoid getting killed as best as possible.
In all honesty, he never expected himself to be looking out for a kid. For the first bit John believed that Conan Edogawa was a seven year old child - one who was like a miniature Sherlock is so many ways and he seriously struggled to take care of this kid. Especially considering he did believe there was someone so young trapped on a boat where people were constantly hurt and killed. While he liked the kid enough, Conan was also a source of slight frustration. Seriously, he was constantly wondering if this was how Sherlock would have been as a kid what with the way Conan got into trouble. John basically felt as if he and Sherlock had adopted Conan (unoffically) even before he knew of Conan's true identity. Any time the kid was sick or injured, John was typically the one who tried to take care of him. He also tried to get Conan to realize that other people did worry about him even though the kid was obviously extremely smart - tried to get Conan to be a little more cautious considering their situation. After Conan trusted John enough to reveal that he was actually a teenager who had been deaged, John didn't treat him like a seven year old so much. Sure he did treat Conan as a ridiculously smart kid but never like the teenager he actually was. That changed a bit after the reveal but at the same time, John was also aware that Conan might have the mind of a teenager but had the body of a small child - something that Sherlock tended to overlook sometimes (just as Sherlock often talked to empty chairs where John should have been). It was a pretty easy choice to go to Conan's homeworld when given the opportunity, not just because he didn't want to go back to a world where people thought Sherlock was dead and a fraud.
While John didn't necessarily open up to any of the people he met, he did allow himself to have allies and friends - individuals he conversed with regularly and tried to look after. He even let them look after him when it was needed though didn't hesitate to complain about it a bit. Everyone who was on the boat was technically in the same amount of danger no matter what their abilities might have been but John didn't think for a minute that everyone would or could be an ally. John is too realistic to believe that everyone could work together and wouldn't hurt each other outside of the experiments. Especially after Lestrade's death just because one of the other passengers had a grudge with Sherlock. Instead he merely gave people the opportunity and didn't get immediately dismissive until he had the chance to judge them for himself. John even had some people he would have considered his friends rather than someone that were his acquaintances.
Understandably John has a whole new set of horrors that haunt his dreaming state outside of the ones he used to have. He experiences nights where sleep is an impossible achievement or where he'll wake up after having a nightmare. This is not necessarily something new that he's dealing with but it certainly involves a lot more than just details of the war. During his time in Rapture John had to kill in order to survive and considering his position as a doctor that did affect him. Yes, he knew it was necessary in order to stay alive but he tried to do it as little as possible. Then there were the times when the people he cared about ended dead and the worry he experienced as he waited for them to come back to life. Not to mention the other crazy things he witnessed during his time spent under COMPASS' thumb. John has tried to not let the events that happened to become an outward manifestation and tends to keep a tight rein on it. On occasion it does make an appearance in little ways one might not notice unless they could read him such as when he gets irritated a bit faster or he's quicker to anger. Typically though John does have a good handle on it, especially when he doesn't feel as if he has to be as tightly wound as if waiting for the next terrible thing to happen.
Due to the fact that the Charon had little in the way of supplies, John has become more aware of all of the things he doesn't have. When such things like food or medical supplies are available to him John has developed the habit of getting whatever he can carry. Usually this only really includes items that are of importance as he mentally labels things as a priority or as a luxury. While he would like to be able to have a comfortable life, John is also focusing on the items that are necessary to survival. Even before he liked to be prepared and that's merely been heightened - hence why he took to carrying around a bag just in case he might find himself in some different place.
Name: Xae
Age/18+?: 31
Contact: Tsukeru @ Plurk
Other Characters Played: None
Most Recent AC Link: N/A
Character Information:
Name: Doctor John Hamish Watson
Canon: Sherlock (BBC) (TV)
Canon Point: End of Episode 2.03: The Reichenbach Fall - as he's walking away from Sherlock's grave + 8 months in
exitvoidAge: 40
Type of Character: CRAU
Reference: Canon History
John's blog of his time on the Charon
John arrived on a rusted ship called The Charon which was under control by a company named COMPASS and their representive they had labeled the Project Head. There John witnessed the Project Head kill a woman via magical water sphere before the man continued on to talk about how COMPASS was a research organization who was currently studying fear. After the demonstration of the Project Head's power, John along with a group of other new arrivals were left to seek more information from their fellow prisoners. He met a few strangers and even a familiar face in Greg Lestrade but what was more important was the fact that Sherlock Holmes was there as well - someone John had believed to be dead. Understandably he'd been upset and quickly learned that it had all been some elaborate scheme to beat Moriarty but John got in one punch before he calmed down to focus on their more precarious situation. Sherlock then proceeded to fill him in on all of the details of the experiment they were unwillingly involved in. Later that same day, Sherlock took him down into the ship where the detective had commondeered a large storage container that had become his makeshift apartment. John was also introduced to a kid that his friend had taken under his wing - a boy named Conan Edogawa.
During his first week, John offered up his services to the medical staff on board the ship and familiarizing himself with the ship in general - absolutely being horrified at the fact that there was nothing but canned cream corn to eat. The second half of the week saw that everyone was invited to a dinner thrown by the Project Head that was actually mandatory. John refused to eat any of the food that was served and for his trouble it meant that anything he tried to eat or drink tasted like ash. It was the least of the trouble on the ship as the various meals had various side effects - both Sherlock and Conan ended up being physically stuck to other people to the point where skin would need to be ripped or cut off to separate them. He met a young woman name Alayne Stone who suffered from shadow burns - burns that appeared when she was in the dark and tended to them.
The second week was even worse than the first. Everyone woke up with a white number embroidered into their clothes - one that determined how many number of deaths they had gone through. Ones with high numbers became increasingly violent and were under the impression that they wanted to share the experience of death with others. John was almost a victim of one of those people and had it not been for Zelos Wilder, may have ended up dead that week. Even Sherlock was effected, having hurt Conan before calling John to come help and then later died before coming back to life. By the end of the week and into the next one John was certainly busy with the amount of injures coming through the clinic. He even invited a young girl named Maya Fey to stay in the Bakerstreet container after her injuries had been patched up.
While there was something important happening the third week it wasn't too terrible until John and Lestrade were down in the cargo hold fighting off some water monsters. They made it through the fight despite being completely and utterly normal against magical creatures but then someone took a shot at Lestrade and killed him instantly. Of course John's first call was to get somewhere safe and then call for Sherlock. It wasn't much of a murder case considering the detective had an idea of who had killed Lestrade. Though it was the first time that John heard the name Albert Wesker who apparently had some sort of grudge against Sherlock and was also an individual who worked in the ship's morgue. Definitely some place John did not want to end up if this was Sherlock's newest enemy.
The following week wasn't quite as bad as the ones before - another set of new arrivals appeared though some had to be retrieved from the water or other dangerous locations. It wasn't until later in the week that they experienced some real trouble. Their ghostly engineer had been bound for helping the captives in the past and therefore could not keep the ship running so they were dead in the water. All power to the ship ceased to function and they had to get creative with cooking, getting clean water and other basic needs. For John it was an opportunity to get closer to Conan and the boy decided to tell him the big secret. Conan confessed to really being a teenage boy named Shuichi Kudo who had been physically altered by someone dangerous, that he'd taken on the identity of Conan Edogawa to protect his friends and put an end to the people responsible. Dead in the water with not a cloud in the sky until the very end of the week when a serious storm set in. With the ship dead and a major storm there was little they could do when the ship started taking on water and sinking into the ocean.
Luckily there was a bit of land and a single lighthouse that had suddenly appeared in the distance so they all abandoned ship to head towards it. Inside the lighthouse there was some strange transportation that took everyone beneath the sea to a place called Rapture. If John thought the ship was a place to get a disease from the terrible food or unsafe environment then Rapture was ten times worse. There were needles filled with a substance called ADAM that could give people a wide range of abilities and the natives of this underwater city had definitely been shooting this new drug. While the substance was powerful it was also extremely addictive, the natives had gone mental from the usage and were extremely violent because of it. John tried to keep his friends from partaking of this new drug - especially Sherlock but failed and after fighting with his best friend, took off on his own. Due to how huge the underwater city was it seemed impossible to keep up with all of friends so John was pretty much on his own for the two weeks they were there.
He took the opportunity to scavenge for a wide variety of items that weren't available before - everything from food to medical instruments and even some extra clothes not just for him but for Sherlock and Conan as well. What was more interesting was that during the second week a group of new arrivals showed up and John was introduced to Joan Watson. Yes, that is exactly what it sounds like. John met a female version of himself mixed in with the new arrivals and helped her out a little bit. Eventually all of them were given the chance to get out of Rapture if they could help a set of children known as Little Sisters. Which is good considering the city was being filled up with water but most of them managed to escape before it went completely dark.
When they got topside it appeared as if the Charon had risen from the depths of the ocean. Literally. There was seaweed and wet mattresses and so much standing water that they spent a good portion of the week cleaning up the ship and even the engineer was back so the ship was on its way back to limping along the ocean. It wasn't just the ship that needed to get clean but also all of those who had become addicted to ADAM and Sherlock was one of them. John helped with that a little though it really came down to the fact that was no more ADAM to go around. In between cleaning and looking after his friends, John got to know a little more about Joan - talking about the differences in their worlds.
The quiet seemed to stretch into the next week even when two fictional individuals appeared - one Captain James Kirk and Commander Spock. Even if Spock mistook Sherlock for Khan and punched his friend in the face, John was still relatively excited to see them considering Star Trek had been something he had watched as a kid. He also learned that he and Sherlock were fictional to some individuals like Conan, was even shown copies of the books that involved their Victorian adventures. Near the end of the week everyone suddenly woke up in their assigned bunk rooms and were told they had to choose one individual to die permanently or the Project Head would start killing children. Everyone in John's assigned room volunteered to go but everyone began protesting after the first death and a fight broke out which caused the Project Head to flee the ship. The ship was theirs.
Finally the group of captives could work on the machine that had brought them all to the ship in the first place. While John couldn't help with that he could set up a first aid station for those who ended up hurt by the monster that lurked around the machine. They also began to prepare for the Project Head to return with reinforcements. Sure enough he returned with a wide assortment of monsters that had been seen over the Charon's journey including dinosaurs and the addicts from Rapture. The Project Head joined the battle by breaking himself apart into watery pieces that had to be destroyed. John left most of the fighting to others and stayed at his first aid station to help the wounded and emptying his gun into their enemy when necessary. Once the Project Head was defeated the other enemies seemed to fade and the ship was truly theirs. By that point they had figured out how the machine worked and people started to leave - all given the opportunity to go to whatever world they wanted. John and Sherlock made the decision to go to Conan's world in order to help him with his problem.
The three of them spent the next month in Beika, Japan with all of their memories of their time on board the Charon intact. John took on a job at a hospital with the help of some forged paperwork while Sherlock attempted to help Conan. Of course apparently in Conan's world the three of them could not go a whole week without running into a murder even when they took a week to go on vacation. Over the next month John continuously kept packing bags as he felt they would be dragged back into COMPASS' clutches. He wanted to be prepared this time and it happened two days after his 40th birthday. John and Conan both were snatched away from Japan only to find themselves at a train station in the middle of the night going from the end of July to the beginning of January. Gone was the ship he'd been familiar with and in its place was a city called Zelien. There were many familiar faces in the crowd, people who had been on the ship with them along with an assortment of new people too. One thing was missing - Sherlock. John and Conan left the station to head towards their new 'home' an old school dormitory, being careful to not disrupt their ghostly natives and holed up in a room together. This will be his last memory.
Setting Concepts:
London: Relatively modern day London - essentially set during the year 2012 and everything is as it should be in a world much like our own except for the fact that the characters of Arthur Conan Doyle's books are not fictional.
John's Blog: After was discharged from the military upon being shot, John's therapist encouraged him to write on a blog but he essentially had nothing of interest to put on it until the day Sherlock Holmes became part of his life. He tended to write about the cases he went on with Sherlock but did also write a few things about his normal activities too. During his time on the Charon, John used the device they gave him to keep up with his blog but it wasn't posted to any network and remained personal to him instead.
Sherlock Holmes/Consulting Detective: A brilliant man who became not only John's flatmate but also his best friend. Sherlock is incredibly intelligent and has become the world's only consulting detective who not only helps out the police when they have a case they can't solve but also takes on clients on his own whims.
James Moriarty: Sherlock's biggest fan and opponent - someone who was interested in Sherlock before John came into the picture but mostly just watched from afar at first. In contrast to Sherlock being a consulting detective, Moriarty was a consulting criminal. An individual who helped others commit the perfect crimes whether they be theft or murder and who frequently pitted himself up against Sherlock until the detective was forced to fake his death even though Moriarty was supposedly killed.
Bakerstreet: The street where John and Sherlock lived in a rather large flat together. During John's time on the Charon it also became the name of the storage container where they holed up most of the time.
Bart's Hospital: The hospital where John attended as a med student in order to get his PhD in surgery. It's now the location where Sherlock constantly goes to in order to conduct experiments (that can't be done in their flat anyway) and the place where Sherlock faked his death.
New Scotland Yard: The place where their friend Greg Lestrade works and who is constantly bringing Sherlock a variety of cases.
COMPASS: A faceless company that is responsible for bringing John and an assorted bunch of individuals into a nexus-like world in order to run a series of experiments on them.
The Charon: Originally the ship where John spent the majority of his time while under COMPASS' thumb. A giant and rusted cargo boat staffed mostly by a small handful of ghosts.
Project Head: The COMPASS representive aboard the ship who oversaw all experiments that were performed. This individual changed on occasion though John only spent any time with one of them and even that was a small amount.
Rapture: An underwater city from the Bioshock series. Once meant to be a paradise it had fallen into chaos where many of the inhabitants had gone mental due to excessive drug usage. This was a place where John spent two weeks living rather than on the ship.
ADAM: The drug that was around Rapture that could grant the user a wide array of various abilities. This liquid came in easy-to-find needles and was extremely addictive, while long-term use saw the user becoming violent towards others.
Beika: A fictional city in Japan where John spent a month's worth of time living.
Zelien: A city that appeared to have come straight out of the 1920s. After the Charon was gone, this was the new experimental cage COMPASS had provided for their subjects. John didn't spend much time here at all.
Personality:
John is a practical and grounded individual. He’s very much aware of what’s going on in the world as he tends to keep up with the news and stays connected. Not only that he’s aware of what his responsibilities are and that they need money to survive in order to pay bills and buy food. Generally these are things that he has to remember because his flatmate won’t. This trait also makes an appearance during their cases as Sherlock tends to get over-excited about something he shouldn’t. He’s a man who keeps his feet on the ground at all times and tries not to cling to some fantasy. It helps that he’s seen terrible things and knows that life isn’t exactly fair.
This also makes him a bit of a skeptic, preferring to believe in things he can see and understand. Good for not going along with a lot of strange theories out there. It also helps him not to take the word of someone else and prefer to figure people out for himself. If he believed all the things he’d been told then he never would have stayed with Sherlock or thought a monstrous hound real when told. However when Sherlock lays things out for him, John can understand and generally believe it. While it’s all a bit fantastic (and does someone like that truly exist?) there’s no hesitation in John to question when something doesn’t make sense to him. So it’s not as though he stumbles along behind Sherlock blindly because he knows that the man is far from perfect.
If there’s one thing about John it’s that he’s not a pushover. It helps that he’s not easily intimidated by people who decide they like making power plays against him. Both Holmes boys have this way of looking down at other people and using words to push the wrong buttons (sometimes on purpose and others on accident). While sometimes it gets a little old having Sherlock think he’s an idiot or Mycroft’s cars whisking him off the street, John stands his ground against both them. Not hesitating one bit to point out their own flaws or even call them names. This is because of his strong morals and convictions, he knows where he stands and he refuses to let people persuade him one way or another. It also goes hand in hand with other things such as killing a man in order to save someone. He waited until the last possible moment to pull the trigger, wanting to give both parties the chance to make their own choices.
There are times when John could be considered brave, staring down complete strangers who wanted him to spy on someone or staying straight-faced with a bomb strapped to his chest. Though he might not always see himself like that. He does what he has to – it’s that simple. Whether he’s throwing himself into danger or the fact that there’d been nothing in his life at one point he’s very realistic about it all. Bad things happen and then you die. If he can save someone in the process then so be it. Though at this point he realizes just how alone he was before meeting Sherlock, how much he owes him and that he never got to say it when he was alive. One of the few things he’s ever allowed himself to be hopeful for is the safety and lives of those close to him. In the end Sherlock’s death is something he knows he’ll have to be realistic with but for a moment – a brief moment he allowed himself to want something more.
John’s therapist wrote that he had trust issues and he does. Most of the time he doesn’t instantly trust people, he doesn’t even like opening up to them. There are times he just holds back on himself and everyone around him (though it’s very hard with people who can see every little detail about him). John doesn’t even open up with people he’s friends with or even his own therapist and he’s certainly not the sort to cry. He’s the sort who’d rather suffer in silence then burden other people with his problems – his business is his business and he doesn’t take kindly to those who pry into it. The end. Yet on the other end of that there are some few who get his loyalty. Once earned it becomes pretty hard to break his trust, no matter what might happen. Sometimes its more fierce than his trust issues as he will rush to protect them and side with them over others. While he’s still not exactly jumping to share his life story there’s little he won’t do for them, including sacrifice himself.
He will literally offer up his life for those he trusts, especially if it will get a bad man off the streets. This is one area that he’s very selfless in. During his time in the army and on the battlefield John has faced death countless times – in the soldiers and in himself. John’s the type to lay down his life if need be, but that doesn’t mean he wants to die. No, far from it actually. Every time he survives a close encounter with death there’s always relief that follows. Despite everything he’s seen death is still not something he can just accept, not for himself and certainly not for those he cares about.
However his trust issues do not make John a cold bastard. Actually, he’s quite sympathetic with people who’ve suffered loss. This helps him with both his work as a doctor and while assisting Sherlock on cases. He knows to soften bad news or to tell Sherlock when something he’s said is not good. At the same time he also knows how to pull back from emotions in order to do his job properly. It’s a bit hard to work if he can’t focus on anything but sympathy for his patient. John’s pretty well-adjusted for a doctor, steady when he needs to be but soft at other times.
Speaking of work, John is hard worker. Whatever he does he does it with everything he’s got, whether it’s as a doctor or on a case. Sometimes it can get a bit hectic juggling both but he manages most of the time. It’s just a good thing that he can handle stress pretty well because doing both certainly can wear on a man (especially when one involves Sherlock). Generally he just sort of takes most things in stride and go along with whatever’s happened while still trying to keep a grounded approach on the situation. Of course there are just things he can’t stand at all and tends to get him in trouble.
When working/living/dealing with Sherlock in general, it’s a good idea to have a lot of patience. Thankfully John has some of this. Enough to not actually punch him in the face every time he might consider it. As the months rolled by he’s just learned to accept some of Sherlock’s stranger quirks that drive others completely barmy. Sure he might do things with a bit of irritation but he still considers Sherlock to be his best friend and stands by him no matter what the world says about him. Of course like all normal people his patience is not endless and there are times when he just snaps. A lot of the time his anger is just like a flash of lightning: bright, sharp and brief. It doesn’t last long once he’s made his point. However when he’s truly angry and hurt it’s sort of a quiet, festering cut. Those are the moments when he brushes people off coldly, as if he’s shut them out of his life, which might as well be true.
So it’s a good thing that John is pretty outspoken with people he’s comfortable with. Often expressing his opinions or displeasure or not afraid to point things out. It often helps with his patience levels when dealing with irritating things to vent about the smaller issues once in a while. At times he can also be reserved, choosing to hold his tongue and just watch the situation. Though he seems to have no issue waving about the cases they work on over the internet. While the fame was a bit amusing at first it grew out of hand when suddenly they were all over the papers as the media usually tends to turn on ‘celebrities’ and he didn’t want that to happen to Sherlock. He was right to be concerned.
John is also kind and caring in his own ways. While he can show strangers sympathy and a softer side those closer get to see something more. There are times he’s almost tender in his care or given gentle prodding to look after themselves better. And there are times when he completely fusses over them like a mother hen. He can basically be considered Sherlock’s keeper, searching the flat for drugs or hiding cigarettes. John even attempts to suggest things to keep the detective from staying bored (even if they aren’t enough). So it’s not enough that he often has to poke Sherlock out in public about his people-to-people skills and apologize on his behalf but he also has to look after him in their own home. Sometimes the man can’t even be bothered to get his mobile out of his own damn pocket. In the end, John’s usually the one taking care of things.
Still despite their differences and strange friendship they are exactly that. Friends. Sherlock impresses him quite often with his deduction skills and they both have a strange sense of humor. The detective’s dangerous lifestyle often leaves them laughing at the end as does his odd quirks. And John is well, his doctor, soldier and assistant all rolled into one. There to keep him from doing serious damage to himself, provided backup during dangerous situations and occasionally offer just that small hint (sometimes without realizing it) to help pull some of the pieces together. Some would say that their relationship borders on being a bit homoerotic with the way they seem so close or they’re so protective of each other though John will deny it.
John is just one of those people you’d call reliable. There when you want him, there when you don’t want him to be but need him anyway, always willing to do something if it helped. Sometimes it’s a bit of an annoyance just how much he inserts himself into someone’s life but in the end it’s all out of the goodness in his heart and generally for their own well-being. Of course, it doesn’t mean he isn’t awkward about it. Which he is. Awkward, in general. There are times when he just feels out of place in a situation and will stand in the background. And then of course there are his relationships with women – like he hasn’t dated in a while and doesn’t know how to go about it. It doesn’t help that Sherlock always seems to come first in John’s life and has this tendency to say truthful but cruel things.
Another thing to point out is that John has a therapist. At first it was one of those things to help him deal with the war and his psychosomatic limp. She diagnosed him with having PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and instructed him to keep a blog on his life. At the time he claimed that nothing ever happened to him so therefore there wasn’t anything worth while to post on it. Later Mycroft noticed that all of John’s issues seemed to disappear when he was under stress and stated that he missed the war and saw the battlefield when he walked with Sherlock. And after that, Sherlock seemed to have cured him of his limp. John stopped seeing his therapist because of it, though he did start writing in his blog about things. Eighteen months. Eighteen months and everything was fine until Sherlock left his phone call note and fell off a building to his death. That was when John ended back in this therapist’s office, though he still couldn’t completely open up to her. The loss of Sherlock hit him that hard, he couldn’t even go into their flat to go through the stuff left there. He’s angry and sad and wants so much for Sherlock not to be dead.
Also, he has rows with chip-and-pin machines in the grocery store. :D
Appearance: He is played by Martin Freeman
Abilities:
John has no magical or superhuman abilities. Though he is not without some skills. He's been trained to be a doctor and what's more an Army doctor so he's quite good at working under hectic and dangerous situations. What's more is that he's a trained surgeon, so capable of cutting people up, digging around in them and stitching them back up if need be. He's also been trained to handle firearms and is quite good with his handgun (better than Lestrade in Hound of Baskerville :P). While normally he doesn't like having to use it, John keeps damn good care of it and carts it around in case of
During his brief stint in Japan, John did have some cooking lessons and can therefore make a few easy meals and even couple of Japanese dishes.
Inventory: John was actually extremely prepared to be whisked away and had pre-packed a bag that he carried around constantly. Some items were removed already but most remained in his bag.
1x set of clothes
1x black jacket
1x pair of black sneakers
1x watch
2x cell phones
1x wallet: a few hundred bills, credit cards, ID, military ID, one fake Japanese ID
1x small pocket-sized flashlight: six triple AA batteries
2x pens: black
2x notebooks: small and large
3x set of keys: 1x to 221B Baker Street, 1x a flat, 1x an apartment in Japan
1x SIG P226 9mm handgun: four magazines = 14 rounds each
1x Swiss Army knife
1x Otherworldy Pocketwatch: will not have access to the intranet, runs via character energy, has a variety of basic features a phone does
Inside his emergency bag
1x pistol (36 rounds)
1x hunting knife
4x packs of cigarettes
2x lighters
1x light sweater
4x pairs of socks
5x disposable razors
1x basic first aid kit: 10x bandages, 1x bottle of aspirin, 1x bottle of vitamins, band-aids, disinfectant, scissors, small sewing kit
1x set of basic modern surgical tools: 1x forceps, 1x retractor, 2x scapels (30 various sized blades), 3x surgical scissors
1x stethoscope
1x box of assorted tea
Soul Gem: A worn, brown, leather wristband with the soul gem embedded.
Writing Samples:
Third Person: John on the TDM
Network:
[Back on the Charon John had only really made text posts, he was more comfortable addressing the network that. It had reminded him a lot of the way his blog had been run back on Earth. He isn't about to change that up now that he's in a new world even if he is still impossibly slow at typing.]
Good afternoon, my name is Doctor John Watson and I arrived to this world just last week. I'm a former Army doctor and had been working in General Practice. While I'm aware that there are a wide variety of clinics and hospitals here, I would like to say that you are welcome to contact me at any time if you need patched up.
On that note I am curious to learn about your opinions on the state of the hospitals and clinics - whether you prefer one location to the other and how you feel it's run and how the patients are treated. Seeing as how I'm new here, I am searching for a job preferrably where I can continue my medical practice and would like to know about the conditions of each location. My skills may lie along the scientific side of things but I've no issue working alongside those who use magic in their healing practices.
Also could do with some advice on where to get myself a flat somewhere. Technically I've got a place now but it's a bit crowded and we could do with something with more space. Preferrably without a lot of crime around but not too expensive either.
Thanks for your time.
Additional Information - CRAU Characters:
Game Origin:
exitvoidA company known as COMPASS has been bringing individuals from various worlds to a ship named the Charon in order to perform experiments on them based on fear. Some of the experiments were psychological in nature while others were physical.
CRAU Changes:
Physically: John hasn't changed a whole lot during his time with COMPASS, a few light scars here and there from various battles but he managed to keep himself safe during most of the fighting. Most of the wounds he did acquire were superficial and the ones that were relatively bad were healed via magic and didn't leave much behind in order to scar in the first place. John has lost a little bit of weight due to the lack of food on board the ship but his month long time in Japan has helped him gain some of it back. Nightmares have affected his sleep and made him look a little more weary than normal.
Personality: Honestly, there isn't a whole lot that has changed about John in this area either. His time on the Charon did not exactly help the trust issues he already had and in fact has put him on edge more than he had been - more like how John was shortly after returning to London after the war. However he has become more open-minded about a lot of other subjects. Coming from a world where things like magic and odd species is just a fantasy John quickly had to accept that this wasn't the case on board the ship. On his very first day he saw a man manipulate water in order to murder someone and accepted that other people could use magic to heal just as well as they could hurt them too along the way. It wasn't just that people could use magic - there were individuals who were a race that John had only ever seen in the world of fiction such as elves or even from old television shows. He couldn't deny their existence when they were standing right in front of him. There even came a point when John had to accept that he was a fictional character to some worlds. While this acceptance might seem a bit weird, it was just basically his realistic look on life. He couldn't rightly deny what he could see with his own eyes.
John's relationship with Sherlock is also a lot more complicated - more complicated than it had been. Upon first arriving on the ship, John had still thought that his friend was dead and it wasn't really something they actually got to talk over at length for a while. There was too much else that needed to be focused on, not to mention that there was an instance where Sherlock was actually dead for a period of time. After he'd come back to life, they had been able to talk on it a little bit and John had accepted the fact that both deaths were actually beyond Sherlock's control - the detective had done what he'd needed to. The relationship wasn't complicated just on John's side either, Sherlock had spent a while on the Charon before John ever showed up - long enough for him to lose a leg. Of course he was incredibly angry at his friend for getting addicted to ADAM and spent nearly two weeks not talking to Sherlock, though he couldn't quite leave it alone and did check up on the detective a couple of times. Sometimes, despite everything, there were things that were the same during their time on the ship - John went to work at the clinic, brought food back to be eaten, tried to keep Sherlock out of trouble, had their rows and they tried to avoid getting killed as best as possible.
In all honesty, he never expected himself to be looking out for a kid. For the first bit John believed that Conan Edogawa was a seven year old child - one who was like a miniature Sherlock is so many ways and he seriously struggled to take care of this kid. Especially considering he did believe there was someone so young trapped on a boat where people were constantly hurt and killed. While he liked the kid enough, Conan was also a source of slight frustration. Seriously, he was constantly wondering if this was how Sherlock would have been as a kid what with the way Conan got into trouble. John basically felt as if he and Sherlock had adopted Conan (unoffically) even before he knew of Conan's true identity. Any time the kid was sick or injured, John was typically the one who tried to take care of him. He also tried to get Conan to realize that other people did worry about him even though the kid was obviously extremely smart - tried to get Conan to be a little more cautious considering their situation. After Conan trusted John enough to reveal that he was actually a teenager who had been deaged, John didn't treat him like a seven year old so much. Sure he did treat Conan as a ridiculously smart kid but never like the teenager he actually was. That changed a bit after the reveal but at the same time, John was also aware that Conan might have the mind of a teenager but had the body of a small child - something that Sherlock tended to overlook sometimes (just as Sherlock often talked to empty chairs where John should have been). It was a pretty easy choice to go to Conan's homeworld when given the opportunity, not just because he didn't want to go back to a world where people thought Sherlock was dead and a fraud.
While John didn't necessarily open up to any of the people he met, he did allow himself to have allies and friends - individuals he conversed with regularly and tried to look after. He even let them look after him when it was needed though didn't hesitate to complain about it a bit. Everyone who was on the boat was technically in the same amount of danger no matter what their abilities might have been but John didn't think for a minute that everyone would or could be an ally. John is too realistic to believe that everyone could work together and wouldn't hurt each other outside of the experiments. Especially after Lestrade's death just because one of the other passengers had a grudge with Sherlock. Instead he merely gave people the opportunity and didn't get immediately dismissive until he had the chance to judge them for himself. John even had some people he would have considered his friends rather than someone that were his acquaintances.
Understandably John has a whole new set of horrors that haunt his dreaming state outside of the ones he used to have. He experiences nights where sleep is an impossible achievement or where he'll wake up after having a nightmare. This is not necessarily something new that he's dealing with but it certainly involves a lot more than just details of the war. During his time in Rapture John had to kill in order to survive and considering his position as a doctor that did affect him. Yes, he knew it was necessary in order to stay alive but he tried to do it as little as possible. Then there were the times when the people he cared about ended dead and the worry he experienced as he waited for them to come back to life. Not to mention the other crazy things he witnessed during his time spent under COMPASS' thumb. John has tried to not let the events that happened to become an outward manifestation and tends to keep a tight rein on it. On occasion it does make an appearance in little ways one might not notice unless they could read him such as when he gets irritated a bit faster or he's quicker to anger. Typically though John does have a good handle on it, especially when he doesn't feel as if he has to be as tightly wound as if waiting for the next terrible thing to happen.
Due to the fact that the Charon had little in the way of supplies, John has become more aware of all of the things he doesn't have. When such things like food or medical supplies are available to him John has developed the habit of getting whatever he can carry. Usually this only really includes items that are of importance as he mentally labels things as a priority or as a luxury. While he would like to be able to have a comfortable life, John is also focusing on the items that are necessary to survival. Even before he liked to be prepared and that's merely been heightened - hence why he took to carrying around a bag just in case he might find himself in some different place.