Application for Tramitem
May. 19th, 2020 07:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
not_as_i_doAPPLICATION - TRAMITEM
Player Information
Age: 37
Time Zone: EST
Email: hopepunk918 at gmail
Other Contact Info:
Prefered method of contact: Plurk
Current Characters at Tramitem: None.
Reserve: Right here!
Character Information
Nicknames: The Surgeon
Canon: Prodigal Son
PB: Michael Sheen
Journal:
not_as_i_do4th Walling: No, thank you.
Canon Point: He will be able to receive memories up until the end of Season One, during the riot at Riker's.
Canon Information
Personality: Confirmed psychopath is just a jumping off point to Martin's many layers. He is, in actuality, also a very skilled surgeon: even from solitary confinement he consults on specialized cases and keeps detailed research journals. His intelligence and instinct are razor-sharp, and he can read a person's mood and motivations just as easily as he can read symptoms of the human body. Most people - with good reason - suspect him of using that wit and insight for sinister motives, but in canon he is mostly seen using them to garner as much attention as possible from his family members. He is a textbook narcissist, wanting everyone's eyes on him because he is very aware how intelligent and unique he is. Some of his more savage tendencies and his temper stem from the moments when that does not happen: on one occasion, he stabs another inmate during group therapy when they call him "just a sad little old man". But Martin's master manipulation is at work there, too: he provokes the inmate into trying to stab him first, takes the knife in the shuffle, and gets the rest of the group to agree that the other man fell on it. Martin's skill at getting into other people's heads and putting them under his thumb is so acute that even the group therapist goes along. Along with that narcissism comes a dogged ability to dodge questions and avoid topics if and when he wants to, turning them effortlessly around to the questioner to make them feel guilty for asking, uncomfortable about the subject, or wrapped up in a new topic so that they forget what they really wanted to talk about.
Martin is not a braggart when it comes to his criminal past, but nor will he apologize for it. He simply acknowledges that it is a part of who he is, in the same way most would admit that they are spoiled, or picky eaters. He is also a notorious perfectionist, something that lent itself well to becomning a surgeon, and then THE Surgeon, and kept him from being caught until Malcolm called the police on him on that fateful night.
In less negative ends of his personality, Martin does truly care about and love his children, even if his psychosis has warped that considerably. He is constantly checking in on them via media and telephone, tracking their career progress, encouraging them, wanting sincerely to see them both succeed, and eager to give them advice and suport whenever they might seem to need it ... even if that advice isn't the sort of thing one might always see in a column or on Mr. Rogers. He is not prone to get emotionally attached, but those he does attach to, he cares for and protects fiercely, even when he is angry with them or when he feels they've wronged him (his ex-wife Jessica is a particular case in point). When he believes Malcolm is dead at one point during the season, his grief is inconsolable, to the point where he has to be placed under heavy sedation for a while.
Underneath all of his mental health problems and his murderous streak, Martin is amazingly good at coming across as The Perfect American Dream Father Figure, right down to his love of fuzzy sweaters, 70s easy listening music, and vacationing in the woods for fishing and camping ... even if that last one was a very convenient cover for his "hobby". He can be disarmingly lovable and sweet, and uses it to stunning effect. Whether or not he actually means it or it's a complete act depends entirely upon the situation. He does seem to truly believe that Malcolm should follow in his footsteps, having a strong belief in the concept of a father's legacy and the way that it can tie a father and a son together.
CR-AU: N/A
Physical description: Martin has been in solitary confinement since 1998, which means that the overall fit physique he once had has gone a bit soft around the edges. He has curly salt-and-pepper hair that forms a cloud of artfully unkempt fluff around his head, and a full, short and equally fluffy beard. Claremont Psychiatric limits him to white scrubs over a simple t-shirt and slippers, though he's allowed his favorite oatmeal-colored cable-knit open sweater, which he often uses to cover up his cuffs when he has visitors and give an illusion of normalcy. He has bright, expressive blue eyes and a dazzling, well-maintained smile. His shoulders are broad, but not muscular, and he shows his age in lines on his forehead and around his eyes.
Meta Powers N/A
Notable/Unique Needs: In one canon webisode, he is shown receiving a routine benzodiazepine injection, which can mean many different things. The most prominent OTC use is anxiety, so this dovetails well enough with his Tramitem alternate life. I'm not sure if this counts as a "unique" need, but I felt it notable enough to put here.
Earth AU
Earth AU Age: 51. Until canon gives one, I am giving him the same birthday as Michael Sheen (2/5/69).
History: The Whitlys had been a military family since World War I. The latest generation, Martin and his younger brother (whose details I will leave more to Ainsley's player), grew up hearing tales at their grandfather's knee of World War II, and their father served in Vietnam. This instilled a deep sense of patriotism in the Whitly boys, but also a concept of family legacy: that what the fathers did was passed on and instilled in their sons ... that certain things were just carried over in the blood and knit into the spirit. As such, the two enlisted in the Army as soon as they were old enough, and went through Basic Training. Martin was on track to enroll in the Army's AMEDD medical training program when their father suffered a fatal heart attack. The experience - and the guilt at having been away at the time - was definitive, and Martin left the Army to take his knowledge and skills into the public sector. His brother remained in the military, moving up in the ranks to add to the prestigious history and lineage of the Whitlys.
By 1998, Martin had established himself in a Manhattan clinic as a cardiothoracic surgeon, and quickly made a name for himself as a man of skill and great intelligence. He made his career his greatest focus, remaining a confirmed bachelor with the exception of the occasional date or fling here and there, and prided himself on developing stellar rapport with his patients. For some, especially the lonelier senior patients, he became not just their caretaker but a confidante, and walked the tightrope of professionalism nimbly.
Martin's break from the military only caused a temporary rift between him and his brother, which led to issues with anxiety and depression severe enough to put him on medication. It was the birth of his nephew and niece that truly served to bring Martin and his brother back together as close as they had been before their father's death, though a certain amount of careful emotional distance remained in place. Martin saw his brother's children on a somewhat regular basis until they both reached college age and started to pursue their own paths.
Martin makes a very good living as a cardiothoracic surgeon, and has made a name for himself by writing several articles for medical journals and consulting as a specialist for hospitals across the country, and even a few in other countries. He has several high-profile patients, but never lets their prestige color how he treats them. He has his own office now, and a very nice bachelor pad in Manhattan which he keeps reasonably tidy and always open to visitors.
He has had one or two New York mayors, Broadway producers, and high-tier stock brokers on his patient roster, and this gives him an in to social circles, which he indulges in occasionally, being a bit of a partier when the mood strikes to alleviate the stress. On rare occasion will he drink to excess, but when he does, his benders are the stuff of legend, manic and wild. One colleague even jokingly dubbed him "Dr. Feelgood" after he was able to calculate, while thoroughly inebriated, just how much other partygoers could safely imbibe or consume in terms of various substances based on what he knew about their health. It was the sort of thing Texts From Last Night Memes were made of, and the closest he ever comes in this particular reality to being a danger to others... for now...
As of game start, if it's worth noting, he's about to be given a transfer patient: one Alec Crowley.
Personality: As I mentioned in his history section, Martin's AU self has a strong sense of family legacy instilled in him by way of the Whitlys' military heritage. Even though he is no longer involved in the military, he still feels that he has to do something with his life worthy of being remembered for: it is the least he can do for his father's memory as a Whitly, to Be Someone Important. Part of that is what may have given way to the ego he exhibits from time to time: he knows that professionally, he is very good at what he does, and has no problem tooting his own horn. He does not take it to the point of obnonxiousness, but he knows that he is worth paying attention to, and being listened to. Similarly, he accepts compliments and positive feedback very easily, but bristles at constructive criticism if it is not carefully given, prone to getting easily annoyed and snappy with people if rubbed the wrong way.
The Big Dad Energy from his original self carries over more into his friendships than anything else, and Martin prides himself on being the ear and the shoulder when out with his social circle ... though it also shows up quite strongly when he he mentions his brother's children. He has a certain fierceness of affection for them that sometimes startles him, given the careful emotional distance he keeps with their father since his own father's death. A part of him explains it away as simple compensation, of course.
His intelligence and keen observation are just as sharp in this reality, but Martin's manipulation comes out in full force more when it comes to his patients, and ensuring that they do what is best for them physically. If they seem hesitant to undergo a certain procedure, or fears, phobias, or past traumas get in the way of proper treatment, he gets to know them - either directly or through questioning family members about notable incidents (heart attacks, particularly, or other inciting events that could have caused them to seek the attention of a specialist) to learn what might be keeping them from acting in their own best interest. He uses the knowledge as careful leverage to coax them slowly into whatever treatment regimen he might recommend. On one or two occasions, he may have used it in social circles to hook up a friend or two, but isn't that what friends are for?
Above all, he's never been diagnosed with a single thing stronger than anxiety and depression, and he puts a great amount of stock in the Hippocratic Oath... which is going to make things all kinds of interesting, the more his true memories start to resurface. Basically, I'm really looking forward to "breaking" him: or "fixing" him depending on how you look at it.
Physical description: Same, though more fit from not actually being in, you know, solitary confinement. He dresses a bit less like a serial killer Mr. Rogers and a little more relaxed, prone to jeans and polos or henleys under a casual blazer on days off from working at the clinic (though he does still have a couple favorite comfy sweaters in the fall and winter months). At work, when not in scrubs, he favors button-down shirts, dress slacks or corduroys, and the occasional simple, elegant necktie.
Your Character's 'Event Memory'? This video clip, from 0:40 through 1:08.
Anything else? At some point, once he's accumulated enough memories to turn the tide, he will try to kill someone again, but this is something I will definitely be reaching out to the mods for to use as a game plot, and would not instigate without discussion or permission. I am aware of any in-game consequences and would see him being re-incarcerated as a natural extension of his character arc.
Writing Samples
