[Name]:
Lynn
[Age]:
25
[Contacts]:
♦ DW: sepiaepiphany
♦ AIM: celia0sword
♦ Plurk: harlequindream
[Timezone]:
PST
[Other Characters]:
Kyouya Otori - Ouran High School Host Club - hostclubshadowking
Alex Tate - OC - oneofthelost
Marian Hawke - Dragon Age 2 - selfmadewoman



[Name]:
[Jonathan] Hollom
[Canon]:
Master & Commander: Far Side of the World
[Age]:
29
[Gender]:
male
[Canon Point]:
post-death

[History]:
Jonathan Hollom joined the crew of the Surprise, captained by "Lucky Jack" Aubrey, in 1805, just before the ship left Portsmouth to intercept the French frigate Acheron

After seven weeks, the Acheron appeared in the middle of the night and battered the Surprise. Jonathan, officer of the watch at the time that the ship appeared, was whispered about for hesitating on ordering a beat to quarters, leaving the order to the younger Midshipman Callamy.

After a second attack, Captain Aubrey managed to come up behind the Acheron... and the ships sailed into a storm. Jonathan was ordered to assist one of the crew with the sails, but before he could reach the man, the mast broke just above him. William Warley was lost to sea after the wreckage had to be cut away.

The waves stilled and the wind vanished. The exhausted crew started looking for something to blame, and the unranked men decided on the cause-- there was a Jonah on board. Someone among them had angered God, and there would be no good fortune until that person was dealt with. Unfortunately for Jonathan, superstition and a disregard for him made him the prime suspect.

Things came to a head when Joseph Nagel, a carpenter's mate, was drunk enough to not only knock shoulders with Jonathan and offer no apology but to fail to salute him. Captain Aubrey saw, though Jonathan would have ignored it if he could have, and ordered the man taken below. Nagel was marked as a defaulter, the punishment for insubordination was twelve lashes with the cat. Captain Aubrey tried to instill a sense of leadership in Jonathan and dismissed the man after a talk.

After Nagel was flogged, the crew made a show of saluting Jonathan, but following him as he went by in the lower decks. Outnumbered, Jonathan had a minor panic attack. Midshipman Blakeney fetched the ship's surgeon, the physician Stephen Maturin, who concluded that nothing was physically wrong with Jonathan. Outside the room where he was being allowed to rest, Jonathan heard the captain's voice. "Sailors can abide a great many things, but not a Jonah." The knowledge that even his captain thought him the cause of their troubles was too much.

That night, after overhearing whispers of the crew that his watch would bring the Acheron back again, Jonathan took his place on deck. After a brief conversation with Midshipman Blakeney, Jonathan picked up a cannon ball and, holding it in his hands, jumped from the ship.

[Personality]:
Hollom is a quiet man who would not generally draw much attention.
On a ship of three hundred men, he does not stand out, save by virtue of being an officer. However, he is ill-suited for the role, as his orders rarely sound like more than requests. The men do not respect him, and he does not have the force of personality to make them, nor does he seem particularly inclined to try. He wants the respect, but either does not see a way to demand it or does not feel that is appropriate. While he may not be happy with the way the crew views him, he seems, at least, content.

Hollom is content with a great deal, actually. Despite being a low ranking officer at an age when most men would much rather have proven themselves worth more, Hollom seems to like being a midshipman. He agrees when Aubrey says he can't plan to spend the rest of his life in that rank, but there is no weight behind the agreement. It is said because Hollom knows that is what Aubrey wants to hear, not because he actually thinks it.

Hollom is also prone to under-reaction. He takes taunts and bullying from his inferiors without word, ignoring both implicit and explicit insults. The only times anyone is scolded for their treatment of Hollom happen because a third party steps in to deliver the reprimand. (Aubrey shouts at Nagel from across the deck and Blakeney shouts at Calamy when Calamy mocks what appears to be a kind of panic attack from Hollom.)

Hollom loves music. He plays a Spanish guitar in a scene removed from the movie but added onto the features of the DVD, and he sings on deck during a moment of idle revelry amongst the crew. (The singing seems to only cause disdain from his fellows, as Hollom's voice has a very classical, choir-sound, while the rest are merely singing in the typical "shanty" style.)

[Abilities / Strengths & Weaknesses]:
Strengths:
Physical
Hollom is a sailor. He has been in the Royal Navy long enough to be a midshipman (whether he joined as one or was promoted is unknown) and to have taken his lieutenant's examination twice. (Aubrey mentions that he knows Hollom has failed it twice.) Between the two tests, there is a waiting period of at least six months, and Hollom does not seem the type to come off a failed examination with renewed vigour to take it again as soon as possible. Jack Aubrey even says, when attempting to tell Hollom how to better conduct himself as an officer, "You're not a bad sailor." While this is hardly shining praise, Aubrey is in no mood to be polite (bringing up only a few moments later Hollom's two failed examinations), so Hollom must be at least decent to warrant such a thing being said about him. He must be capable at climbing and fighting to have lived so long in the dangerous environment he lives in.

Mental
Hollom speaks, while not overly so, properly, which indicates a certain amount of education. He is also seen (in a scene removed from the movie but put onto the DVD as an extra) assisting the young midshipmen of the Surprise with writing letters home, particularly young Blakeney, who lost his right arm due to an earlier injury and is relearning how to write.

Emotional
Hollom is very kind to his fellow midshipmen, all of whom are much younger than he is. Shortly after Midshipman Blakeney is injured, he can be seen in Maturin's cockpit, asleep while leaning against Hollom, who was also injured during the battle, though not as badly. He also (in the removed scene of letter writing) attempts to pacify an argumenent between two of the midshipmen, just as Tom Pullings arrives to restore order. He encourages the men on his division, as a brief glance of him patting a gunner on the arm after a successful practice of the guns. He is also greatly grieved by the lost of Warley and the grief shown by Warley's friend, Nagel.
Hollom is gentle. He raises his voice only to shout orders so he can be heard. He is never seen to be angry, and most of his words are quiet.
Hollom seems to possess faith. He is praying at the start of the removed letter writing scene, and his prayers are fervent as he listens to the crew whisper about him late one night as he is trying to sleep. He is also familiar enough with the story of Jonah to do what the crew of the Surprise has not yet resolved to do (yet might have gotten to sooner or later, though fear of being charged with mutiny may have kept them from ever acting on it) and throwing himself into the sea in hopes of removing the "curse" he brings to the Surprise.
Hollom is not a coward. He does not stand up for himself, quickly backs down on any point when confronted, and can barely hold up under any scrutiny. However, in a crisis, Hollom is all action. When the Acheron shows herself and attacks the Surprise, Hollom is in charge of at least one of the gun crews below deck. Under fire, after a cannonball has blown a hole in the Surprise and taken out a gun that can only be one or two down from where he stands, Hollom shouts at the men "Hold your positions!" He is then echoed by Tom Pullings. He is not infalliable in a crisis-- he stops his climb and clings to the mizzenmast when sent aloft during a storm and the ship gives an uncertain rock-- but he is not rendered useless.

Weaknesses:
Physical
While not short, Hollom is not a physically imposing man. He is very lean and lacks any obvious muscle. While he has the strength to get by doing the tasks associated with keeping a wartime ship going, he has no great strength to boast of or protect himself with.

Mental
Hollom is prone to the same (or similiar) superstitions as most of the other sailors. He believes himself a Jonah and, after enough has happened to the crew of the Surprise, comes to share their sentiment that misfortune will continue to strike the ship for as long as he remains on it.

Emotional
Hollom is suggestible. He believes himself a Jonah, someone on a ship who draws bad luck and causes misfortune to others. The prevailing attitude around him is that he is such, and he adopts it. When the winds die and the ship is idle in the middle of the Pacific, Hollom is blamed by the crew. One night, Midshipman Blakeney tells Hollom that Captain Aubrey thinks the wind will return tomorrow. Hollom's reply is "I'm sure of it" before he leaps overboard with a cannonball in hand. While the bullying by the hands of the crew has reached fever pitch (including a moment where each of the hands stands as Hollom passes, saluting, yet follows him as he makes his way through, beginning to completely box him in before letting him dart away), Hollom also seems genuinely convinced that by killing himself, he can save the rest of the crew.
Hollom lacks confidence in himself. While he can act in a moment of crisis, he cannot make important decisions when he has time to think about it. Upon seeing the shadow of a shape in his spyglass on a foggy night, he deliberates for too long in calling the order to "beat to quarters"-- to summon all the hands and officers and prepare for a battle. Another midshipman must do it for him, despite the fact that Hollom was the senior officer on watch and had the obligation to make that decisions. He is sure he saw something and tells Aubrey as much when the man appears, but he hesitates when Aubrey asks him to be certain that of what he saw. He says nothing when he overhears crew members commenting on his lack of courage or suggesting that it is his fault-- by being cursed-- that misfortune continues to find them. Instead, he merely tries to ignore the malicious words and glances.
Hollom does not reach out to others. He does not go to any of his senior officers (or even confide in any fellow midshipmen) as the hands begin to whisper about him. He bears their indignation and disdain in silence and would have even let a blatant insult (a failure to salute as well as being knocked hard in the shoulder by a man passing him) had it not been for the fact that Captain Aubrey had seen the blow and called it across deck. He edges around the problem when he speaks to Aubrey alone ("The men have taken a set against me, sir. Always whispering when I go past, giving me looks") but he takes responsibility for it, rather than truly trying to confide in his captain. During the same conversation, Aubrey attempts (in a very misguided way) to give Hollom advice on how to improve himself as an officer. Rather than being candid, Hollom merely tries to say whatever it is that will get Captain Aubrey to let him leave.

[Limited Powers]:
n/a

[Other Important Facts]:
I don’t think there are any!

[Samples]:
♦ Thread:
April test sail
♦ Post:
[He found a Bible, battered and worn, and now Jonathan Hollom is back at sea and terrified. So, to comfort himself, he has taken to writing in the book.]

The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.
I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.
...
Salvation is of the Lord.
Jonah, chapter 2, verses 5-6, 9

Many of us ask much of God. We pray for wealth or other forms of prosperity. We pray for opportunity. We pray for aid when we find ourselves in danger.

Yet how many truly thank the Lord when He delivers his boons unto us, though we are quick to ask why he has set burdens on our back? Burdens we have often constructed ourselves.

Even when our prayers are granted, we do not always see them for what they are. I prayed for strength and the answer did not come how I expected. Yet, I knew it was God's will, and He delivered me, though I did not know He would.

But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.
Psalms, Chapter 66, verses 19-20

I find, then, that I can only ask He continue to guide me, continue to reveal to me what He would have me do. I am lost, beset by fears for which I have no strength to face, yet the Lord is with me. I know this.

Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.
Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.
Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving kindnesses; for they have been ever of old.
Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O Lord.
Psalms, Chapter 37, verses 4-7

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as [it is] in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.