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hippocraticalPLAYER
Player name: Ty
Contact:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
autumnleaving
Characters currently in-game: None, just dropped Kamina
CHARACTER
Character Name: Simon Tam
Character Age: 28
Canon: Firefly
Canon Point: post-series, pre-movie
History: wiki woo
Personality: In order to fully understand Simon, there are three separate people to consider: Simon the man, Simon the doctor, and Simon, River's brother. They aren't completely separate; each of them influences the others, but it's easier if you explore those influences one at a time.
Simon the man is highly intelligent, passionate, ambitious and driven. He has no patience for stupidity, no patience for people who cannot follow his train of thought and keep up. He entered one of the most prestigious medical academies on his home planet of Osiris at age 17, and by 23 was a surgeon in one of the top hospitals on the planet. By 26, he was looking at one of the brightest careers ever seen, possibly a future on the Medical Board, even. True, he did have some notable advantages; coming from a wealthy family, Simon had a dedicated source box, the best tutors and texts money could buy, pull with people in high places, but you don't achieve something like that with money alone. None of that would have been possible if Simon didn't have the perseverance and brilliance to support it. That very same intelligence has its drawbacks, though, meaning Simon is also heavily prone to overthinking situations. He learned social norms and cues, the typical rituals expected of one in his position, the same way he learned his textbook lessons; watching, taking notes, and prepping like there was going to be a pop quiz afterward. This behavior doesn't make him very flexible; he's horrible at ad-libbing, at reacting adaptively to situations, and clings to manners and civilized behavior like a drowning man clings to a life preserver. In a way, that analogy isn't far off. He tells Kaylee in Jaynestown that he thinks manners are even more important out in the black, on the edges of humanity; that those behaviors, his politeness, is the only way he has of truly showing her respect, showing that he likes her. To Simon, behavior is everything; it's who you are, it defines you in a way that your circumstances do not. He might be on the run, hiding from the Alliance after breaking a thousand laws, but he is still a civilized man, and everything he has done he has done for the right reasons. He doesn't like being this far out on the fringe of things, as his occasional acidic remark will show, but the frustrations are worth his moral certainty.
The first we really see of Simon the doctor is in Safe. Despite being kidnapped by hillfolk, despite him and River both being dragged off into the woods, the second he sees the sick and injured he gets to work. "Sometimes you just need a doctor," he says, half to Doralee and half to himself, but it reaffirms to himself exactly what he is. He is a healer, he is a doctor, and he took an oath that he still holds in the highest regard. Even while arguing with Doralee about the rightness of their kidnapping, arguing about whether or not this tiny village is home now, he is still checking on a patient, still doing his job--not because it's his job, but because it's his calling. It's who he is. We see this again in Ariel; despite being undercover, and despite the risk it might pose to their mission, when a man near him undergoes heart failure Simon leaps into action, correctly diagnosing what caused the lapse in under twenty seconds, saving the man's life and ripping the doctor a new one for his negligence. He has no patience for physicians who don't take the same care he does, no sympathy for those who don't appreciate the weight of peoples' lives in their hands and who don't hold those lives with the same care and delicacy that he shows. River appreciates this better than anyone, as shown by her urgency in telling him that he has to help that man; she understands what he is, who he is, maybe better than Simon himself.
Which brings us to Simon, River's brother. River is, hands-down, the most important person in Simon's life. Despite a ten-year age gap, they have always been close; two people with minds leaps and bounds above those around them, even their parents. River is leaps and bounds again above Simon in this regard, but unlike many people (including their parents) who didn't understand River's eccentricities, who didn't even try, who were always vaguely proud but also bothered by their daughter, Simon has never been anything but proud and encouraging, fascinated as he follows her as far as he can, treasuring her every success. Even during spats, typical sibling fights, the distance that comes with age and changes in life, River has always been a key part of Simon's life. He's the one that noticed when her letters from the Academy started to change. He's the one that noticed the code, her secret way of telling him that something was wrong. His parents laughed it off, dismissed it as yet another game, but Simon has always taken his sister seriously. He knows her, and he knew that when she started purposely making those errors, making them more and more obvious so even their parents should have noticed, that something was truly wrong. When he finally cracked the code, when he realized that River was telling him that they were hurting her, asked him to get her out, he didn't hesitate. He went places he shouldn't have, associated with people that would kill him socially and destroy his career. He was arrested multiple times, and when his father gave him an ultimatum--to stop this nonsense, or be cut off--Simon didn't even hesitate. He would always choose River, over his career, his money, even his parents. Ultimately, he spent every dime of his fortune getting her out and getting them away. He gave up his career, gave up his future, just for his little sister. This can make him a little myopic; given that they're fugitives wanted by the government and that River is not entirely stable, Simon's first and foremost concern always is keeping River safe and away from the Alliance that wants their little science project back. He will trade money, his own social standing, his own wants and desires for this. Nothing matters as much as keeping River safe.
Does he resent the loss of his previous life? Yes. Of course he does. Simon loved being a doctor, loved being needed, loved the pace of the Core; he believed firmly in the Alliance and the good it could do for mankind as a whole. Is he bitter about having to leave it? Yes. But does he blame River for any of that? The answer will always be a resounding 'no.' River is not to blame for any of it; it's the Alliance, what they chose to do with a beautiful, brilliant girl who could have changed the world, and he will destroy all of them if he has to to make her better again.
Inventory: On his person, Simon has his personal bag and his medical bag. Personal bag holds a couple changes of clothes, his journal, and two hardcover books on the human brain and trauma; the smaller medbag holds basic medical supplies, the proverbial kitchen sink. Triage equipment, wound sealant, scanner, a variety of antibiotics, anti-fungals, and antivenins along with a wide variety of painkillers and anaesthetics. Obviously these supplies are very limited, but all the more precious for it.
Abilities: Simon is highly intelligent and a gifted doctor. He graduated in the top 3% of a very prestigious med school and finished his internship in eight months, going on to become a well-known trauma surgeon on Osiris. Patching wounds, setting bones, diagnosing illnesses, neurological analysis--if it's dealing with the human body, chances are Simon's got a head start in handling it, and can use whatever supplies are to hand. He's not well-trained in hand-to-hand combat, but he's in good shape and can throw a punch, and his knowledge of anatomy gives him the upper hand in situations where his opponent is larger and slower.
Flaws: While he has done plenty of selfless things, by his very profession alone and not even counting what he's done for his sister, Simon is still a very inherently selfish person. His worldview tends to be limited and self-absorbed; if it doesn't enter the orbit of River or himself, it's a secondary concern at best, and this attitude has hurt feelings and even resulted in injury to others in the past. Simon comes from a very affluent family, and as such grew up a little spoiled; he still struggles with close-mindedness regarding people from different social classes and life experiences, making him more often than not judgmental. Being on Serenity has helped some, but not much. As a young adult, he was a rising star, a surgeon at one of the top trauma hospitals on the Core planet Osiris, accustomed to attention and acclaim, and shows tendencies of wanting recognition, if not fame; in Jaynestown, he gripes to Kaylee about saving a girl's leg and only getting a hamster named after him, while Jayne accidentally dropped a box of money over some people and got a town named after him. His intelligence is as much a hindrance as it is a boon; he's often impatient when other people can't keep up, when they insist on getting in the way of what he "knows" is the right solution to a problem, and can come off as incredibly arrogant. Honestly, he knows he's better than most people, it's just simple fact. He is fastidious, verging on fussy, overly concerned with appearances and what people think; River is the only exception to this rule. He's also an awful liar and probably the biggest enactor of foot-in-mouth syndrome you'll meet this week.
SAMPLES
Action Log Sample: a thread with River and a TDM post.
Player name: Ty
Contact:
Characters currently in-game: None, just dropped Kamina
CHARACTER
Character Name: Simon Tam
Character Age: 28
Canon: Firefly
Canon Point: post-series, pre-movie
History: wiki woo
Personality: In order to fully understand Simon, there are three separate people to consider: Simon the man, Simon the doctor, and Simon, River's brother. They aren't completely separate; each of them influences the others, but it's easier if you explore those influences one at a time.
Simon the man is highly intelligent, passionate, ambitious and driven. He has no patience for stupidity, no patience for people who cannot follow his train of thought and keep up. He entered one of the most prestigious medical academies on his home planet of Osiris at age 17, and by 23 was a surgeon in one of the top hospitals on the planet. By 26, he was looking at one of the brightest careers ever seen, possibly a future on the Medical Board, even. True, he did have some notable advantages; coming from a wealthy family, Simon had a dedicated source box, the best tutors and texts money could buy, pull with people in high places, but you don't achieve something like that with money alone. None of that would have been possible if Simon didn't have the perseverance and brilliance to support it. That very same intelligence has its drawbacks, though, meaning Simon is also heavily prone to overthinking situations. He learned social norms and cues, the typical rituals expected of one in his position, the same way he learned his textbook lessons; watching, taking notes, and prepping like there was going to be a pop quiz afterward. This behavior doesn't make him very flexible; he's horrible at ad-libbing, at reacting adaptively to situations, and clings to manners and civilized behavior like a drowning man clings to a life preserver. In a way, that analogy isn't far off. He tells Kaylee in Jaynestown that he thinks manners are even more important out in the black, on the edges of humanity; that those behaviors, his politeness, is the only way he has of truly showing her respect, showing that he likes her. To Simon, behavior is everything; it's who you are, it defines you in a way that your circumstances do not. He might be on the run, hiding from the Alliance after breaking a thousand laws, but he is still a civilized man, and everything he has done he has done for the right reasons. He doesn't like being this far out on the fringe of things, as his occasional acidic remark will show, but the frustrations are worth his moral certainty.
The first we really see of Simon the doctor is in Safe. Despite being kidnapped by hillfolk, despite him and River both being dragged off into the woods, the second he sees the sick and injured he gets to work. "Sometimes you just need a doctor," he says, half to Doralee and half to himself, but it reaffirms to himself exactly what he is. He is a healer, he is a doctor, and he took an oath that he still holds in the highest regard. Even while arguing with Doralee about the rightness of their kidnapping, arguing about whether or not this tiny village is home now, he is still checking on a patient, still doing his job--not because it's his job, but because it's his calling. It's who he is. We see this again in Ariel; despite being undercover, and despite the risk it might pose to their mission, when a man near him undergoes heart failure Simon leaps into action, correctly diagnosing what caused the lapse in under twenty seconds, saving the man's life and ripping the doctor a new one for his negligence. He has no patience for physicians who don't take the same care he does, no sympathy for those who don't appreciate the weight of peoples' lives in their hands and who don't hold those lives with the same care and delicacy that he shows. River appreciates this better than anyone, as shown by her urgency in telling him that he has to help that man; she understands what he is, who he is, maybe better than Simon himself.
Which brings us to Simon, River's brother. River is, hands-down, the most important person in Simon's life. Despite a ten-year age gap, they have always been close; two people with minds leaps and bounds above those around them, even their parents. River is leaps and bounds again above Simon in this regard, but unlike many people (including their parents) who didn't understand River's eccentricities, who didn't even try, who were always vaguely proud but also bothered by their daughter, Simon has never been anything but proud and encouraging, fascinated as he follows her as far as he can, treasuring her every success. Even during spats, typical sibling fights, the distance that comes with age and changes in life, River has always been a key part of Simon's life. He's the one that noticed when her letters from the Academy started to change. He's the one that noticed the code, her secret way of telling him that something was wrong. His parents laughed it off, dismissed it as yet another game, but Simon has always taken his sister seriously. He knows her, and he knew that when she started purposely making those errors, making them more and more obvious so even their parents should have noticed, that something was truly wrong. When he finally cracked the code, when he realized that River was telling him that they were hurting her, asked him to get her out, he didn't hesitate. He went places he shouldn't have, associated with people that would kill him socially and destroy his career. He was arrested multiple times, and when his father gave him an ultimatum--to stop this nonsense, or be cut off--Simon didn't even hesitate. He would always choose River, over his career, his money, even his parents. Ultimately, he spent every dime of his fortune getting her out and getting them away. He gave up his career, gave up his future, just for his little sister. This can make him a little myopic; given that they're fugitives wanted by the government and that River is not entirely stable, Simon's first and foremost concern always is keeping River safe and away from the Alliance that wants their little science project back. He will trade money, his own social standing, his own wants and desires for this. Nothing matters as much as keeping River safe.
Does he resent the loss of his previous life? Yes. Of course he does. Simon loved being a doctor, loved being needed, loved the pace of the Core; he believed firmly in the Alliance and the good it could do for mankind as a whole. Is he bitter about having to leave it? Yes. But does he blame River for any of that? The answer will always be a resounding 'no.' River is not to blame for any of it; it's the Alliance, what they chose to do with a beautiful, brilliant girl who could have changed the world, and he will destroy all of them if he has to to make her better again.
Inventory: On his person, Simon has his personal bag and his medical bag. Personal bag holds a couple changes of clothes, his journal, and two hardcover books on the human brain and trauma; the smaller medbag holds basic medical supplies, the proverbial kitchen sink. Triage equipment, wound sealant, scanner, a variety of antibiotics, anti-fungals, and antivenins along with a wide variety of painkillers and anaesthetics. Obviously these supplies are very limited, but all the more precious for it.
Abilities: Simon is highly intelligent and a gifted doctor. He graduated in the top 3% of a very prestigious med school and finished his internship in eight months, going on to become a well-known trauma surgeon on Osiris. Patching wounds, setting bones, diagnosing illnesses, neurological analysis--if it's dealing with the human body, chances are Simon's got a head start in handling it, and can use whatever supplies are to hand. He's not well-trained in hand-to-hand combat, but he's in good shape and can throw a punch, and his knowledge of anatomy gives him the upper hand in situations where his opponent is larger and slower.
Flaws: While he has done plenty of selfless things, by his very profession alone and not even counting what he's done for his sister, Simon is still a very inherently selfish person. His worldview tends to be limited and self-absorbed; if it doesn't enter the orbit of River or himself, it's a secondary concern at best, and this attitude has hurt feelings and even resulted in injury to others in the past. Simon comes from a very affluent family, and as such grew up a little spoiled; he still struggles with close-mindedness regarding people from different social classes and life experiences, making him more often than not judgmental. Being on Serenity has helped some, but not much. As a young adult, he was a rising star, a surgeon at one of the top trauma hospitals on the Core planet Osiris, accustomed to attention and acclaim, and shows tendencies of wanting recognition, if not fame; in Jaynestown, he gripes to Kaylee about saving a girl's leg and only getting a hamster named after him, while Jayne accidentally dropped a box of money over some people and got a town named after him. His intelligence is as much a hindrance as it is a boon; he's often impatient when other people can't keep up, when they insist on getting in the way of what he "knows" is the right solution to a problem, and can come off as incredibly arrogant. Honestly, he knows he's better than most people, it's just simple fact. He is fastidious, verging on fussy, overly concerned with appearances and what people think; River is the only exception to this rule. He's also an awful liar and probably the biggest enactor of foot-in-mouth syndrome you'll meet this week.
SAMPLES
Action Log Sample: a thread with River and a TDM post.
