Love DoveAppearance: Joseph Thawne is a middle-aged male with dark brown skin, and soft grey eyes. Due to lack of shaving supplies he has grown a somewhat short salt-and-pepper beard, and his hair - which he used to shave bald - has now become a short black and grey buzzcut.
Size: 6'1, 152lbs
Physical Shape: Joseph is an African-American male of about medium height (6') for a man his age. He is not overweight, though nor is he underweight, being only average in the weight department, although he used to be heavier before the outbreak. His body is not really fit apart from the occasional necessary exercise - such as running and climbing away from infected or more hostile survivors. He is not some musclebound he-man, yet he is not all skin and bones either. He eats when he can, and all of the running has given him some stamina.
Name: Joseph Thawne
Age: 38
Personality: Joseph is usually a compassionate and kind-hearted man, but due to the terrifying events of the past couple of months, is capable of detachment and distrust towards strangers whom he believes to be a threat to himself and others close to him. Though he is able to keep calm and collected in the face of latent panic, when the situation becomes frighteningly disastrous, Joseph might take the back seat when in a group environment as his state of mind is often seen to devolve into panic and will defer the decision-making to a more confident person. He can generally handle fear or danger with a sense of duty and motivation rather than freezing up.
Despite it being an apocalypse and everyone seems to be out for themselves, he finds that helping others is the only way to fight against it. However, if someone is out of line or is doing something that he views as unjust, he will speak out against it.
Occupation: Surgeon
Equipment: Joseph usually wears a loose-fitting, pale grey hooded jacket, over a cream t-shirt, both of which have been rendered darker due to dirt and the occasional dried bloodstain. The jacket itself is lined with a multitude of pouches and pockets on the front which has often came in handy with containing smaller items such as food and ammunition. Currently he has the pencil, the pen and the journal stuff in a pocket each. Joseph also wears dark brown trousers which has been rendered a dark olive-grey colour due to weeks of wading through mud and dirt. Additionally Joseph wears light brown hiking boots as well as black woolen fingerless gloves.
Inventory: The backpack he wears contains one large bottles of water, two cans of tomato soup, one can of sweetcorn, a can opener, half empty bottle of toothpaste, toothbrush, one sketching pencil, one black pen, a single quarter-filled journal in which he writes about the virus and the infected (symptoms, behavior, sketches, etc.), two medical textbooks, two scalpels, one unopened empty syringe, an extra pair of underwear and a t-shirt.
Weapons:
- Hatchet
- Joseph's primary weapon is a small metallic Carpenter's hatchet with a rubber grip. The hatchet is especially effective as it is easy to pull out after sinking into craniums, preventing it from getting stuck.
- Claw Hammer
- Joseph also carries a regular claw hammer with a steel head and a wooden grip. Joseph only uses this as a backup as it is not as successful as destroying the brain as the hatchet, often requiring several blows before penetrating the skull.
Background: Before the beginning of the crisis, life was going relatively well for one Joseph Thawne. He was an experienced and skilled surgeon, in the city of Arkansas, working with his beautiful wife, and with an intelligent son. Long before this, Joseph grew up as a middle-classed child back in the suburbs of New Orleans, raised by a hardworking house mother, and a construction worker of a father. Growing up, he was expected to take after his parents; be hard-working, and grow up to be an honest, legitimate man. He was always an intelligent young boy, garnering above-average grades in each of his classes, with a specifically perfect GPA in his mathematics and sciences. He was in track back in high-school, although his career in the sport didn't go anywhere, and he ended up dropping it once he graduated as a senior. He moved into college at the age of nineteen, having spent a few of his free months helping out at home.
His father had hurt his spine at his construction job, being in his early fifties, and the housework and funds needed more attention than before. To help with this, Joseph took his college work seriously, dreaming to be an accomplished doctor or surgeon to bring in the funds necessary to support his family. During his years in college, he achieved the Dean's list numerous times, and went through the classic breakups and dates that most young men went through. On his last year there, before he went into his official medical training to become a professional surgeon, Joseph met a beautiful woman; Diane Simmons. Diane was the one, he knew this when they went on their first date, after meeting in Advanced Chemistry that one faithful afternoon.
True enough, they stayed connected, even after Joseph moved out of New Orleans, and to Arkansas, to further his career as a surgeon, staying connected through emails and letters. Joseph finally achieved his official, professional license at the age of 31, which, at that time, Diane had moved to Arkansas with him, and they were happily dating. In that same summer, they became married, and were expecting their first child, one James Thawne. Months passed, and little James was finally birthed. The pregnancy went as smoothly as could be, and it seemed as if the happy little family would continue to be just that...a happy little family. James went to school, they had a wonderful home in the nicer parts of Arkansas, and his mother and father were put into the best senior homes Joseph could afford.
Years passed, with Joseph developing in his chosen career, James growing honestly, and Diane staying as faithful as ever. That's when the Outbreak began. At first, they were cautious, but continued on with their lives. Nine year old James joked often about how nothing was wrong, and Joseph and Diane was liable to believe the naive thoughts. And then the virus began spreading, and the riots began. The first of his loss happened on the twenty second day of the Crisis. James perished. Diane and Joseph had been calmly walking home that evening, when the smell and sight of smoke spurred them on. They had only been at the park, which was a few blocks away. What could have happened in that time? They had kept James with a highly trusted family friend, and babysitter. Did a fire happen at a neighbor's home? Joseph would never get to know.
Even the memory still hurts his heart to this day. Every home on their block was on fire. They rushed through the smoke and police tape, just in time to see a small child's body being carried away from their burned, destroyed home. People were restless; screaming echoing down the block, and chaos quickly developing. Joseph rushed forward, pushing everyone out of the way. He pulled away the sheets, ignoring the medics' yells of outrage.
He promptly broke down right there.
Days, weeks, then eventually, months passed. Groups rose and fell, different military safe camps being erected and destroyed. Eventually, Diane fell to infection, and then, for the second time, to his hatchet. It was a tragic, heart-wrenching moment, but he had to continue, if only for what was left in the memories of his fallen family.
Awe he's got such a sad story. I feel for him, really.
