Dr. Joan Watson-Morstan
Doctor Joan Harriet Morstan- Watson (a.k.a. Harriet, Harry, Watson, Doctor)
Physical Description
Identifying Characteristics
- Mild smattering of freckles, especially on her upper back/shoulders
- Two scars related to wounds received during her service in Afghanistan: one to the shoulder, one to the leg, which still causes her some discomfort (that Holmes considered psychosomatic)
Physical quirks
Watson continues to have a lingering limp related to the injury to her leg. She sometimes utilizes a parasol cane while out of the house.
Special abilities
- Crack shot (better than Holmes)
- Vast medical knowledge;
- Exceptional doctor and surgeon;
- Quite bright and insightful in her own right.
Apparel & Accessories
Watson tends towards simple styles of dress that don't get in the way of working, those is fond of well-made and fitting clothes. She takes pride in her appearance and focuses on it. She adds frills or extravagances in accessories, like a lovely pin or necklace, a waistcoat that adds a bit of color and shape, or a fanciful parasol. She leans to simple, more masculine styles in hats, preferring a Derby over some flower and feather-covered thing. Her boots are usually clean and polished.
When seeing patients, she usually prefers trousers, a simple blouse, and an appropriately feminine waistcoat and matching tie.
She wears slim-rimmed glasses, bronze colored, to correct a bit of farsightedness.
Specialized Equipment
- Medical Bag
- Glasses
- A parasol cane that is actually a sword stick umbrella
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Joan Watson had a very simple trajectory planned, all based on a very simple truth:
She was born to help people.
It started innocently enough. She told her parents, one rare sunny day while on holiday to visit distant family in Edinburgh, that she wanted to be a doctor. She was seven at the time. Her mother said she was being quite silly, because pretty girls with good prospects got married, they didn't become doctors. Her father, who desperately wanted his son to follow in his footsteps into a surgery, told her women usually became nurses, but he bet she could be a doctor if she put her mind to it.
She studied to become a nurse, hoping it would satiate the need inside her. She spent most of her time at St. Thomas's wishing someone would just give her a bloody scalpel. She tried, desperately, to get admittance to medical school, a proper medical school, but she was blocked every way she turned. Not even her father's alma mater would take her.
The scheme she hatched was, in retrospect, doomed to potential failure and a bit convoluted. But it was the option in front of her. It was simple -
1. Harry did not want to be a doctor.
2. Harry did not want to join the army.
3. If she cut her hair and bound her chest and pitched her voice down a bit, she thought she could maybe pass for her brother long enough to get the training she wanted.
She might have forgotten the part about war being...well. War.
In her defense, she lasted two years before she was found out, and she lasted that long as well before she got wounded. She saw plenty of others cut down, though, before she fell to a bullet and a blade in Maiwand. It wouldn't have been so bad, being discharged and sent home and dishonoring her family name, if she also hadn't gotten dreadfully sick from an infection she caught in hospital. That sent her down and left her a pale and pathetic mess; the dishonor left her alone in London with very little but a pity monthly stipend that barely kept a dog alive, let alone a human. And that was the person who crossed paths with Charlotte Holmes one chill, rainy day while answering an advertisement for relatively cheap lodging near Regent's Park.
Suddenly, she found herself practicing medicine slightly illegally out of a room in a lodging house, while also helping her landlady's niece solve mysteries and crimes the Met seemed incapable of getting a hand on. Yet, it was not Holmes' habits, peculiarities, penchant for trouble, or tendency to buck convention at every turn that caused the most problem with the pair's cohabitation, or for Watson directly. It was that, somehow, the two managed to become lovers.
Fall in love.
It...was not anything either of them expected. Or knew how to deal with in a mature or healthy way. When it began to become complicated, Joan's method of coping became secretly seeing a gentleman they met over the course of a case. Martin Morstan seemed a sweet and kind man while they helped him uncover the truth of his father's time in India; he was lovely while they courted, and even after Holmes reacted so tragically to the announcement of their marriage. It wasn't until after, when the money began to run out and he had her firmly to himself that the monster beneath began to dig his way out.
Now he's dead, and Scotland Yard seems to think she's the cause. Holmes is her only hope.
It'll be a miracle if she helps at all.
Gender Identity
Joan has a very 1800s understanding of gender. She has also spent at least two years in the not-so-distant past living as a man. There were some aspects of presenting in a masculine way that she enjoyed, even beyond the simplicity of being listened to and treated as an equal. Men's clothes were far more comfortable, for one. She continued to incorporate some of them in her wardrobe, until such time as her husband forbade it.
Sexuality
Watson is bisexual, as odd a concept as that might have been for genteel society to wrap their brains around. Holmes was her first female lover, but not her first female romantic interest.
Education
University of London (graduated 1878 trained as an Army doctor after finishing school; using her brother's credentials, she served as an Army Field Doctor in Afghanistan until she was injured in the Battle of Maiwand in July of 1880 and her true gender was revealed. (Service notes: 5th Northumberland Fusiliers, then the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot)
Employment
Nurse, practicing as a physician (because she's been trained as one, damn it all). Until recently, she has been 'volunteering' at the Clergy Orphan Society.
Previously, she served as an army field doctor in Afghanistan as Dr. Harry Watson, Jr..
Before that, she worked as a nurse and instructor at St. Thomas's in London.
Accomplishments & Achievements
- Finished Nursing school at St. Thomas's
- Achieved medical training as an Army Field Doctor
- Fooled 5th Northumberland Fusiliers and the 66th Berkshire Regiment of the Foot for 2 years.
- Has assisted Holmes in solving a number of mysteries and crimes over the course of their association.
Failures & Embarrassments
- 27th July, 1880. Her 28th birthday. She was injured in the course of the Battle of Maiwand. Her orderly, Murray, dragged her from the battlefield, likely saving her from capture by the enemy, and it was in the process of trying to stabilize her shoulder wound that her deception was unveiled.
- She then caught enteric fever in the hospital and was sent home shortly after.
Mental Trauma
- She still suffers from the occasional nightmare due to things she saw in battle.
- The trauma of the abuse she has suffered for three years has only exaceserbated her pre-existing issues.
Intellectual Characteristics
Watson is an amiable, light-hearted woman in general, though she has had to work to regain both of those traits since returning from the war. Holmes is convinced half of the discomfort Watson feels from her leg wound is related to issues she will not discuss related to her time in Afghanistan and not specifically physical. The topic of the war does bring on a darker mood, but even this is considerably lighter than her companion's melancholies. She is less suspicious than Holmes, but is not silly enough to be convinced that all people are intrinsically good. She enjoys a good drink, a good adventure, and a bit of gambling, but is content enough with her level of vice not to condemn herself for them. Her association with Miss Holmes, however, does cause her the occasional moment of guilt.
Morality & Philosophy
All of her beliefs could be wittled down to one simple thing: First, do no harm. She was trained as a doctor, she has operated as a doctor, and she strictly believes it is not her job to do physical harm to another living soul - unless her life or that of another is at risk. She had to learn that addendum in war, and has unfortunately has had to continue to embrace it in civilian life.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Convince Holmes to assist her in proving her innocence and avoiding the gallows.
Vices & Personality flaws
- An almost obsessive need to record the adventures she and Holmes find themselves involved in.
- She drinks, smokes, gambles, and swears.
Social
Family Ties
Parents - Francis & Sarah Watson; Siblings - Lucy (sister), Harry (brother)
Relationships
Legal Status
Legally married, right up to the moment of his death
Age
33
Date of Birth
27 July
Birthplace
Edinburgh, Scotland
Spouses
Charlotte Holmes
(Former lover)
Martin Morstan
(Husband)
Siblings
Children
Current Residence
11 Hyde Park Garden
Pronouns
she/her
Sex
Female
Gender
Woman
Presentation
Mostly feminine, but she does enjoy a nice waistcoat and pants now and then
Eyes
Blue
Hair
Red
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Pale
Height
5'7"
- English
- French
- Sporadic Arabic picked up while in Afghanistan
Ruled Locations
Comments