Application for betenoire_rp
2. Character Information
Name: Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Livejournal Username: doctornota
Fandom: Star Trek XI
3. Character Information II
Age/Appearance: McCoy is thirty-one years old, standing about 6'1", with short dark hair he usually wears parted to the side, and dark eyes. Due to Starfleet's stringent appearance standards, he shaves daily, but when he's on shore leave, he tends to let a bit of stubble grow. He's leanly built, and stays in shape (as evidenced by the way he keeps up with Kirk running through the halls of the Enterprise). On duty, he is rarely seen out of his Starfleet uniform: a black undershirt, black slacks, and black boots, with a blue overshirt that denotes he's science staff, and gold stripes on the wrists that indicate he's a lieutenant commander. On shore leave and when off duty, he prefers more casual clothes, like jeans and t-shirts.
History: Leonard McCoy on the Memory Alpha and Memory Beta
Personality: The first word that comes to mind when it comes to describing Dr. Leonard McCoy is "cranky," and it's true, he is. He's sharp-tongued, skeptical, a little foul-mouthed, and he won't hesitate to speak his mind, no matter how unpopular or controversial of an opinion he might be voicing. However, while it'd be easy to write him off as a crotchety old man who's set in his ways, it simply wouldn't be entirely true.
McCoy is, obviously, very smart. He graduated from medical school and successfully enlisted in Starfleet, despite being somewhat older than the usual recruit. He has a near-encyclopedic knowledge of various vaccines and their side effects, and knows precisely what hypospray to follow up with to minimize the chances of a negative interaction. He can pull up this knowledge at a moment's notice - while, quite literally, on the run. He's got a sharp mind for recognizing patterns in symptoms and quickly analyzing what that might mean and the best way to treat it.
While he's undoubtedly cranky, cynical, and jaded, he's got his reasons for being so. McCoy's one goal in life was to be a country doctor in a small town where everyone knew everyone else's name, and he married, had a kid, and things were on track. Then the marriage fell apart, and like most things, it took two to tango. While it's true that she cheated, he could have been more attentive, and the memory of that haunts him. It's clear the divorce took a lot out of him: he likely lost his house, a good deal of money, and custody of his daughter, hence why he's willing to go somewhere that terrifies him. Even though he couches it in sarcasm, it's his optimism that sends him into Starfleet: he has nowhere left to go but up. The snark is partially a defense mechanism - if he doesn't let anyone get close, no one will hurt him like that again - and partially because he's just so damn disappointed in the world. As shown by his wonder when he and Kirk first saw the docking ship for the shuttles and his continued work in the medical field, McCoy is an optimist (though he tries to hide it). Optimists often are the bitterest, since they're the ones with the highest expectations. It's also why he drinks so much, why he likes to face the world half-cut: it's easier to gloss over the disappointments when they're blurry around the edges.
McCoy also respects the rules and authority, but he's not afraid to bend them when his gut tells him to. He's willing to follow the letter of the law when it comes to sneaking Kirk onto the Enterprise. After all, there's no way the rule about a doctor keeping his patient near could be abused. No way at all. When he wants to give Spock a piece of his mind, he's sure to ask for permission to speak freely first. When he's given that permission, he goes off - though he's careful to keep his voice down to keep from bothering the rest of the crew.
Though McCoy has very few close friends, due to his prickly nature, those that he has, he is extremely loyal to. He's willing to bend the rules for them: in the Starfleet Academy novels, he talks with Kirk and Uhura about a classified case, though he's really not supposed to, and in the movie, he's willing to risk big trouble to get Kirk on board the Enterprise. His loyalty likely stems from the fact that he has been burned so badly, so when someone proves themselves worthy of his time, he'll do whatever he has to to pay them back. He's also likely so loyal to Kirk, specifically, because he embodies the optimism and gung-ho that McCoy's own nature won't let him display, but he feels deeply.
Sexual Preferences/Orientation: McCoy is mostly straight. He's been married, he has a child, and in the Starfleet Academy novels, he's shown as hitting on girls when he and Kirk go out to a nightclub, so he clearly doesn't have a problem with sex. However, when he drinks too much, that heterosexuality gives way to a little bit of - well, let's call it Kirk-sexual. It's not even that they've done anything together, or even that he's even trying, but damned if the man isn't really, disgustingly attractive, and he's got that charisma and that smile and … well, he can make a really drunk straight man question himself.
Powers: EXTREME BITCHING POWERS. McCoy is a human being with no special powers.
Reason for playing: I really enjoy McCoy's character - he's such a cranky bundle of contradictions. I do believe he's inherently an optimist, as his continued work in the medical practice proves: a pessimist or a realist wouldn't constantly strive to improve the human condition. So, dropping someone who is an optimist into this awful city, surrounded by people whom he knows and does not know at the same time - it could make for some very interesting character development.
5. Samples
First-Person: Dear Mun post
Third-Person: McCoy peered blearily at his surroundings as he leaned heavily against a building, staring up at the sky. Even as drunk as he was, he didn't recognize those constellations … at least, well, he didn't think he did. Everything was running together and blurring. He had definitely had way, way too much to drink. What planet were they on again? Somewhere in the Omicron Delta region, he was fairly sure, which would explain why he didn't recognize the constellations. But … still. He was fairly sure the rest of the planet had been brighter than this. There had been a lot of neon signs in the area where Kirk had dragged them. Where the hell were they now? Why weren't - why had it all gotten so dark?
Lifting an arm, he dug his communicator out of his pocket, making an attempt to raise the Enterprise. "McCoy t' Enterprise," he slurred. "McCoy t' - d'you read me, Enterprise?" Nothing. Maybe he hadn't spoken clearly enough. He tried to straighten up and spoke again. "McCoy to Enterprise," he got out, more clearly this time. "Enterprise, do you read?"
Silence. Not the silence of being ignored, or the silence before the hail was answered - just dead air. A shock of fear ran through him, making his head clear up a little, and he looked around with newly clarified vision. This was nowhere like they'd been planetside - even the seedier parts of the city didn't look this bad.
"Fuck," he whispered, reaching for his phaser and realizing - civilian clothes. He didn't have it. "Fuck." He was a sitting duck out here. Glancing around, he realized the buildings were probably blocking the signal, so he had to find an open space, raise the Enterprise, and get the hell out. Setting off at a quick clip, he kept a blurry eye on his surroundings, and grimly decided that if he got out of this alive, he was going to stick Jim with a few unnecessary hyposprays next time he had a physical.
Just on principle.
Third-Person #2: The hand claws impatiently at his pants, trying to get the button undone; McCoy's head is still spinning from drink and the rough handling, so it takes him a second to figure out what's going on. His shoulders are resting against something hard and rough, there's a cool breeze across his face, and Jim Kirk is trying to get his pants off.
"Fuck, Bones," Jim comments, frowning at his hands like they're the problem, "you wear really tight jeans, you know that?"
"Jim, what the hell - ?"
With a little noise of frustration, Jim moves forward, cupping McCoy's bulge through his jeans, and kisses him hard, tongue pressing into his mouth. Leonard groans into the kiss, hips moving forward helplessly, hands coming up to move into Kirk's short blond hair. After a moment, the warm hand moves up, and the button comes undone easily.
"There we go," Kirk breathes against McCoy's mouth, sounding breathlessly smug, "just had to attack the problem from a different angle."
McCoy rolls his eyes and is lining up a really scathing retort when suddenly Kirk's on his knees and oh jesus h christ it turns out that mouth is good for something else besides pissing McCoy off. He lets out a shaking moan and his hand buries itself in Kirk's hair again, less dragging him where he needs to be and more as an anchor so McCoy doesn't go falling off the world. Didn't even think I liked guys, he thinks blurrily, though the way his hips move against the wet heat says otherwise, as does the way he cries out as Kirk swallows his release, looking like the cat that ate the canary.
It won't be until later that McCoy realizes that he's not attracted to men - just Kirk. And this, McCoy thinks, propping his forehead in his hand to ward off an oncoming headache, is why we can't have nice things.