I 'selflessly' turned us both into wanted fugitives.

Nǐ hǎo. This is Doctor Simon Tam, ship's doctor of Serenity. If you're with the Alliance, you'll want to speak with Captain Reynolds before you come near me.

If you're looking for me, leave a message or email ashavah dot jk at gmail dot com, and I'll get back to you.

[Howdy. I'm ashavah. I live in GMT +10 and work full time, but ping me and I'll get back to you when I'm available.]

Your name or online alias: JK Ashavah
Your email: ashavah.jk@gmail.com
Another preferred means of contact: ashavah or ashavah

Character's Full Name: Doctor Simon Tam
Character's Canon: Firefly
Character's Journal Name: osirian_doctor
What would you like your character's tag to be?: simon tam

In 300-500 words total, tell us your...
Character's background (their past and present): Simon was born in the 2490s on the wealthy Core planet of Osiris. His parents were wealthy and owned a lush, high-security estate. He had a life of privilege growing up, with his mother pampering him and his father pushing him to achieve, but what his parents offered in material comforts didn't make up for the lack of love and closeness between them and their son.

Of the family, Simon was always closest to his sister, River, some ten years younger than him. Simon was a gifted student, but River was a genius one, correcting his homework from the time she was very young. While Simon was naturally studious and serious, River had a lighthearted, playful side that brought the best out in her brother.

Simon wanted to be a doctor from the time he was a child, and he succeeded at an early age. He went to the best medical school on Osiris, and was in the top three in his class. He finished his internship in only eight months, and was soon working as a trauma surgeon in one of the top hospitals in Capital City.

When River was fourteen, she started attending an Academy-run school called the Academy. At first all seemed well, but then she began sending Simon strange letters, which he recognized as a call for help. It was a code, telling him that they were hurting her at the school and asking him to save her. It took him two years and cost him his relationship with his parents, his job, and most of his money, but he eventually made the contacts to infiltrate the Academy, pretending to be an Alliance official. He broke River out and smuggled her to Persephone in cryogenic storage. He'd become a federal fugitive, and the two of them had to go on the run.

He sought passage on what seemed like a disreputable ship, Serenity, hoping to keep a low profile. Unfortunately, an Alliance Federal agent followed him and confronted him, forcing him to reveal his secret to earn the crew's trust. He managed it, and the captain offered him a job as the ship's medic. He's been with Serenity for at least several months since then, becoming truly part of her crew. Most recently, the crew has gone into danger and even battle to help uncover and then make public a horrific Alliance coverup that River learned about.

Character's personality: Simon is reserved and quiet to a new acquaintance, often to the point of seeming aloof and snobbish. Part of this is his upbringing and his erudition. He's very focused on the manners and propriety of the society in which he was raised. To the people of the Outer Rim, this makes him stand out. This is also reflected in his neatly groomed appearance, his carefully enunciated accent, even his word choice and his refusal to swear except under very dire circumstances. He holds onto these things as mementoes of the world he knew before he became a fugitive. He also focuses more on manners and appearances when he's with someone whom he respects and wishes to show his regard to.

Simon is a loyal man, though it takes a long time to earn his trust, because he's a fugitive. He tends to relax more easily and loosen up on his strict adherence to propriety when he's comfortable with the people he's with. Once he's more comfortable with someone, he'll dress more casually and show more of his sarcastic sense of humour.

His first priority is always protecting River. He will abandon all other principles, including his ethical responsibilities as a doctor, if it is necessary to keep River safe. In his canon, he spends much of his time in the infirmary researching and developing treatments to help her recover from the Academy.

After River's welfare comes that of his friends and patients. He's a dedicated doctor and will do his utmost to care for anyone while they are in his infirmary, even if he personally dislikes them. If they're under his care, they're safe.

Character's skills/abilities/powers: Simon is extremely intelligent. He's also a brilliant doctor. He finished his internship in just eight months, and secured a position as a surgeon on one of the top hospitals on his planet, all while in his early-to-mid twenties.

He's bilingual in Mandarin and English, sometimes speaking a hybrid of the two languages, as is common in his world.

He also has some skill as a codebreaker and, when he turns his mind to it, a knack for bold criminal schemes.

Any special equipment your character is bringing along? This includes weaponry, magic items, etc.: Nothing!

Are you bringing your character to ten_fwd from another game? If you are, which game?: No.
If you answered yes above, briefly summarize how they were changed by and what challenges they faced in the climate of their previous game(s): N/A

Why do you want to play this character in Ten Forward, and what do you plan to do with them? I've played Simon in a sci-fi jamjar before and he was a lot of fun. There's a lot about this situation that would be good for him, especially the opportunity for him to work in medical in a situation that tests his skills with a larger crew and better-stocked and larger infirmary than the one he has on Serenity. I'm also really looking forward to the opportunity to play him against some of the other characters either here or coming in this round, particularly Kaylee, since I've never had a chance to play him with a Kaylee in-game before. Simon is one of my longest-standing and dearest muses and I'm excited to get the chance to come back to him.

I am hoping (after discussions with the person apping Kaylee) to intro him with a bang, bringing him in from near the end of Serenity, when he's just been shot in the stomach. Soooo ... we're going to need some modly assistance if that's okay for NPCs/medical personnel to help him and Kaylee out?

Writing Sample #1: This all seems so surreal. This whole mad rush from the moment Mal pulled River back onto Serenity after Simon was forced to knock her out though death and destruction to the horror of Miranda and now here, to a battle none of them were prepared for when this started. Reavers. Who knows how many of them, all bearing down on them. Shepherd Book, dead. Wash, dead.

And all for River.

All he'd ever wanted was to keep River safe. He'd have done anything to do it, but this ... this is so far beyond what he'd expected when he broke into that place to save her.

Now, sitting behind a makeshift barricade, Simon knows they're all just waiting to die.

Zoë said it herself.

They're here to die to give Mal enough time to get a message out about what they saw on Miranda. What River saw, and brought them to. What made this menace that's beating down the grating outside to get to them. He's a doctor, not a soldier, but he does his part, takes a gun, crouches next to Kaylee.

And finally, after months of trying, manages to say the right thing to her.

He has his regrets here. That his friends (even Jayne) will die. That he hasn't been able to save River. Not this last time, when it matters so much. And that he never did manage to break through with Kaylee, to tell her, outright, that their friendship is and always has been so much more than that.

Everything else, he's done his best. He's gone through hell with this crew, had them on his table, saved their lives, because that's what he's best at. And River. He's given up everything for her. He wishes everything could have been enough to save her.

But a regret? Yes, the one regret he has is that he could never say the words he needed to say to Kaylee before now.

Her jaw's set, her gun aimed, but Simon still sees no hope. What hope could there possibly be, but to die fighting?

And then it starts. Flashes and bangs, the sound of Jayne screaming for Zoë to hold the line, the chattering clatter of his machine-gun, the steady bang, bang, bang as Zoë advances, the sound of her scream as she's wounded.

It's time for Simon to step forward, medical kit ready for her, because he may not have faith in his ability to fight, but he's their medic. He will do every last thing he can to keep them alive.

Even if it's futile.

He bandages the slash across Zoë's back, part of his mind thanking the Maker or whatever else might be listening that the wound didn't harm her spine. But there's no time to concentrate, they keep coming, River's screaming, Kaylee's shooting, and then she shrieks, falling with a dart in her neck. Before he can do anything, Zoë's ordering them to pull back and they're dragging Kaylee with them, back through blast doors that won't shut.

He's only partly listening to what any of the others are saying; his eyes are on Kaylee, his fingers probing the spot on her neck where the dart struck. It's poison.

He turns for his bag, and that's when the horrible thought strikes.

He didn't bring it with him.

He's already standing before he's even thought about it, about the gap in the blast doors, about the danger.

The shot, the one to get through, rings too loud in the confined space, seeming to hang in too-sudden quiet, before it hits.

Simon hits the ground, unable to scream, unable to breathe, unable to do anything, for a moment, except clutch at agonizing pain in his stomach.

This is it.

Writing Sample #2 (optional): Test threads.