John Smith

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This article is about John Smith. For other characters, return to the full character list.

This article is canon divergent/AU and as such contains deviations from expected canon.

John Smith (born September 8th) ^{[citation needed]} is the best-selling author of the Time Shards series - a set of books focusing on a group of characters that travel throughout time and space, fixing problems and fighting evil. Each book focuses on a different character and their travelling companions. Currently, John is writing the 12th book in the series, which is set to be the final instalment.

At night, John keeps having strange dreams. This isn't unusual - he's had these dreams of adventure and alien worlds all his life, and he used a lot of them to inspire his books - but recently elements of them have been leaking into his real life. Sometimes he is convinced of facts that he later realises that he must have made up in his own head, and sometimes he thinks he hears familiar voices and the sound of a strange siren screeching...

His memories are strange too. John doesn't like to think about this too much because when he does, he realises that there are gaps and inconsistencies. This scares him, and he tells himself that maybe it's because of his time in the army ^{[citation needed]}. Maybe it's just some kind of PTSD, or perhaps he got knocked on the head one too many times in a battle.

Unbeknownst to him, these unusual things are occurring because John was not always human. Originally, he was the Doctor. Using the Chameleon Arch - a piece of Gallifreyan technology that can modify the biology of the user - he turned. himself human. The cellular data to turn him back into his real self is stored within a fobwatch.

Biologically, he is now completely human and no test would say anything different. His past memories are blocked but because of how long he has been human and how many reminders of his past life he sees in London, they have started to leak back into his subconscious.

John is a slender, 62 year old man with grey hair and blue/grey eyes. His hair length can range from short to beginning to get a little overgrown - sometimes even worse if he's been particularly distracted and has forgotten to go and get it cut for a while. While he is usually clean-shaven, it isn't unheard of for him to get a burst of inspiration, spend all his time writing for a week or so, and then emerge with a light beard. He has a strong Scottish (Glaswegian) accent.

When it comes to clothes, John generally dresses with little thought. He likes casual clothes and novelty t-shirts. He often gets sent prototypes for clothing merchandise for his novels, so he can sometimes be seen wearing these. Sometimes, fans give him t-shirts they've made as gifts, all of which he'll happily wear (assuming, of course, that they're not indecent in any way).

Of course, sometimes he is required to dress up a little, and John does own some nice suits for these occasions. He also owns some bolder and/or eccentric suits too, for when he needs to dress up but can get away with a little pizzazz. Being Scottish and proud of it, John does own a kilt too.

Knock on his door in the morning and it isn't unusual for him to answer in boxers and a t-shirt, his favourite mug in hand as he tries to wake himself up with a strong up of coffee.

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John was born in Glasgow to Jack and Mary Smith.^{[citation needed]} He doesn't remember much about his childhood, though he is not concerned about this - after all, it was over 60 years ago! He does remember that his father used to collect watches (John inherited them all when he died), and he has a vague memory of a cousin that used to be like a brother to him but that he has not seen in a great many years.

He wasn't very good at school.^{[citation needed]} This wasn't because John wasn't smart, but rather because he simply didn't have the attention span for anything that didn't interest him. When he was 16, he was advised not to go into further education.^{[citation needed]} Following that advice, John left school and joined the army instead.^{[citation needed]}

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His time in the army is something else that John does not remember particularly well. He knows that he joined when he was 16.^{[citation needed]} By the age of 25, he was a Corporal.^{[citation needed]} Unlike his teachers at school, his superior officers actually seemed to be happy with his work and they encouraged him to apply to become an officer. When he left the army after nearly 40 years of service, John had worked his way up to the rank of Brigadier.^{[citation needed]}

The details of this stage of his career are blurry. John has spoken to a doctor about it before and it has been suggested that perhaps he has some form of PTSD. This would make sense - he can only assume that he must have seen some terrible things after such a long time in service - but he doesn't have any desire to investigate any further. He is more afraid to prod at his memories than he is to have forgotten in the first place, and every time he considers giving it a go anyway he feels a terrible sense of dread that puts him completely off the idea. What John does know is that he definitely fought in multiple wars, and that he lost a great many people who were dear to him.

Around ten years ago, John began to write. This originally started as him scribbling down dreams and ideas, his notes growing into stories, and those stories later growing into novels. By the time he approached a publisher, he had already written the first three novels in his series, Time Shards - no easy feat, as they are not short books at all! It took some time but, by the time his fourth novel was halfway done, somebody finally agreed to publish his work.

Since then, Time Shards has become incredibly popular. Each novel is an instant bestseller, and there are constant fan demands for adaptations. Audiobooks have already been produced and John is currently in the middle of talks about a television series.

Currently, John is writing the 12th book in the series. He is taking far longer with this one than the previous novels. While the other stories seemed to flow onto the page with ease, this one is proving difficult. He had managed to start it fine, but he can't quite decide how it should end...

Main article: Book Headcanons

To date, John has written 11 novels and is currently working on his 12th, Striking Twelve, though he is finding his latest novel harder to write than his previous ones.

The series is about an organisation named the Time Keepers. After the invention of time travel, time itself began to shatter. The Time Keepers were formed to attempt to stop this phenomenon. It is their job to prevent the misuse of time travel, both by stopping it from happening in the first place and by reversing any changes to the history of the universe. However, the great secret of the Time Keepers is that the act of time travel itself is what is smashing the space-time continuum to bits, and every time somebody leaps back or forth - even if they are not misusing the technology - it punches a hole in the fabric of time that sends ripples out, cracking the entire thing even more. Their leaders know this. If they cannot find a way of fixing the damage, time itself will eventually be destroyed. In the meantime, all they can do is attempt to slow the situation before it becomes too serious.

Each book in the series focuses on a different member of the Time Keepers and their companions. There is a large list of characters, and while they are typically constrained to a single book, some do appear in multiple stories - that is, assuming they survive the stories they were in beforehand. Those that do not feature in more than one novel are occasionally referenced, as are past enemies and adventures.

The books are not short - approximately 1,200 pages each. They are aimed at adults, though the series does have many young adult fans too. Time Shards has won numerous awards, and ongoing talks are occurring about the potential for a television show.

John has stated that the 12th novel will be the last in the main series. He does, however, plan to continue the universe through other stories.

#	Title	Featuring	Description
1	The Time Keepers	Doctor Charles Scott	Doctor Scott Joined the Time Keepers thinking it would be a nice, relaxing job - a change of pace from his previous life as a nuclear physicist. However, when time itself begins to fracture, he's thrown into a world full of madness and adventure.
2	A Space Jester	Victoria Knight, Eva Fletcher	Victoria Knight has a bad temper. She's famed throughout the Time Keepers for this, but if you listen to her companions then you'll hear an entirely different story. She's kind, passionate, and a real court jester from time to time. That must be something they're grateful for - because when you're gallivanting through time and space, you really don't want to be getting into arguments with the designated driver.
3	The Blockade	Felix Grey, Killian Mason	Felix Grey can't remember. He knows there is something important that he should be doing, but it's like a wall has been built between him and his memories. But when the past starts to catch up with him, Felix soon realises that perhaps he doesn't have time to sit and wait for his amnesia to go away on its own…
4	Unstoppable	Matt Booker, Eva Fletcher	Sometimes time travel sent you insane - and there is not a better example of this than Matt Booker. That won't stop him though. A mad glint in his eye, and a love of adventure in his heart, Matt is going to continue roaming time and space until it ends up killing him.
5	Cricket Whites	Alice Williams, Eva Fletcher	Alice Williams has never been a big fan of technology. With that in mind, why she joined the Time Keepers is a mystery, but she's still one of their best agents. Still, that doesn't mean she's perfect - something the Time Keepers learn when Alice runs away to find her own adventure.
6	Judgement of Time	Peter King, Doctor Charles Scott	Peter King is on trial. He has been accused of meddling with the fabric of time - something the Time Keepers cannot forgive, especially now time is breaking into pieces. He's innocent though, and he needed to prove that before the council declare him guilty and sentence him to death.
7	Nitro-9	Professor Vernon Rook	Professor Rook was once an expert in the time-space continuum - now he's worried that he's a glorified babysitter. Asked to work with an agent in training - a young girl with a fondness of explosives - he's sent out to show her the ropes with a few simple tasks. Things soon become more complicated than expected, though, and they'll have to work together in order to survive.
8	The Drums of War	Lester Smith, Eva Fletcher	War is on the horizon. Lester Smith doesn't want to fight and so is running through space and time in order to avoid it. While he continues to aid the effort to glue time back together, tensions increase and the enemy only grows in strength. The fight is becoming more and more inevitable and, eventually, Lester will be forced to face it.
9	Mourning the Dead	Victor Quinn, Lester Smith, Captain Griffin “Snakebite” Hades	Getting over the death of a loved one is hard. Getting over the destruction of your planet and entire species, however, is even harder. Victor Quinn struggles with this burden every day, and it's not getting any easier for him. What he needs is something to take his mind off the events playing through his mind - something like the Time Keepers, for example.
10	The Oncoming Storm	Archie Riggs, Isbelle Zavor, Jasmine Crawford, Tira Mathis, Eva Fletcher, Captain Griffin “Snakebite” Hades, Hector Bennett	Loveable rogue Archie Riggs is famed for his good looks and boyish smile. He has admirers across the universe, but he only has eyes for one girl. She's trapped in another universe, though, and he has no way of getting to her. But that won't stop him - Archie has always believed that he can do anything if it puts his mind to it, and if he has to tear the universe apart to get to her, so be it.
11	Visible Cracks	Alex Snow, Doctor Charles Scott, Felix Grey, Holly Richards, Caitlin NicCrain, Roranicus Nepius Rex, Captain Griffin “Snakebite” Hades	Despite the best efforts of the Time Keepers, time continues to splinter. The situation has got so bad now that physical cracks in the universe have started to appear. Alex Snow is in no way an expert in these cracks, but he's the best they've got, and so he's sent to investigate them.
12	Striking Twelve	Unknown	Unknown

John is a well-known author. He is best known among sci-fi and fantasy fans, but it is not uncommon for people that have not read his books to have heard of him too. He is recognised on the street reasonably often and is usually happy to stop and give his autograph to anybody that asks.

Most of John's interaction with the public happens during conventions. He has a good reputation among attendees, so he's a popular guest to invite. John often gives talks at these conventions, usually consisting of a discussion about the lore of his universe and the intricacies of it all, a few questions from the audience, and a song or two being played on his guitar. He will also sign autographs, usually chatting with fans a little too much as he does so, and he enjoys seeing the creative things (cosplay, art, etc) to do with his stories that his fans show him during the events.

In addition to conventions, John goes on book tours and signings, gives interviews in various different formats (in print is his favourite, though he's not opposed to radio or television interviews), and does charity work (mainly with dog shelters and libraries).

In general, John has a reputation for being friendly, honest, and always having something interesting to say. He also has a reputation for rambling and going off-topic, but his fans tend to enjoy this because it means he ends up telling all sorts of stories that they wouldn't otherwise hear. Interviewers, on the other hand, have been known to find it a little irritating.

The most important thing in John's personal life is Clara, his dog. She is a six-year-old Cairn Terrier that is almost always at his side. If she is not near him, it is because he was not allowed to bring her with him, usually because he's attending some kind of public event that does not allow dogs or because he's abroad on a book tour. Clara is sweet but also known to be a little naughty, sometimes refusing to pay attention to John in favour of doing something more interesting to her. She enjoys attention, treats, and chasing squirrels. John loves her more than anything.

Other than Clara and writing, John's hobbies include playing guitar and looking at the stars with his telescope. He tends to go through phases of being interested in one thing and spending a lot of time doing things related to it, then moving on to something else. This includes his writing. Sometimes John will write for a week straight without breaks, sometimes he won't write a single word for days. However, even when he isn't writing his books, he will always spend some time every day scribbling down notes or sketching ideas for his stories.

John doesn't have one particular source for his story ideas. He is inspired by the world around him, things that he has experienced, and his dreams. He has a lot of strange dreams, and he has pages and pages of notes from them. One reoccurring dream he has includes him being followed by an unrelenting monster. This dream has caused him to develop a fear of unknown footsteps - though, his doctor suspects that this may be a symptom of PTSD caused by his career in the army.

Another thing that his doctor believes may be a symptom of PTSD, as well as potentially ADHD, is his foggy memory. The past is blurry for John. Sometimes he doesn't remember things at all, and sometimes he does remember things but he gets the little details wrong. He is easily confused, especially about any events prior to him beginning to write his novels, though John tries not to be concerned about this. He worries that if he thinks about it too much, then he will become upset about something that he cannot change.

Main article: Chameleon Arch Headcanons

The Chameleon Arch is a piece of Time Lord technology that can modify an individual's biology, allowing them to hide in plain sight should they ever need to escape detection. However, in addition to changing the user's biology, it also removes their memories and stores them in another device, often disguised as a fobwatch. This is both another layer of security (meaning that they can also avoid detection via their thoughts), and a protective measure to ensure that the disguise's mind is not burnt out by the weight of memories that the new species may not be adapted to experiencing.

The process of using the Chameleon Arch is incredibly painful. The individual's cells are literally torn apart and reformed, their body being reshaped into something new. In John's case, he went from Time Lord to human, meaning that (among other things) his two hearts had to compress into one, his respiratory bypass system had to be completely removed, and his body temperature had to increase significantly.

In addition to the physical changes, the Chameleon Arch builds a new personality and life for the user. In order to help them fit in with their chosen hiding, a Time Lord does have the option to program in some predetermined factors, but the personality and new memories do not fully develop until a few weeks after the new persona has been created, rapidly moulding to fit the situation they find themselves in, meaning that the Time Lord can never have full control over what is created.

While mnemonic-blockers are used to block the Time Lord's memories, these do eventually begin to break down. The Chameleon Arch is not meant for long term use. There is a safe maximum period of approximately 50 years on average (which, for a Time Lord, is not long at all) before the blockers begin to break down. However, this assumes that the individual has found somewhere safe and away from their previous life to settle. When this is not the case and they find themselves surrounded by danger stimuli and/or reminders of their previous life, the blockers break down after closer to 10 years.

The reason why the mnemonic-blockers began to degrade is due to the individual noticing inconsistencies and gaps in their memory. They start to see things that seem familiar but they're not sure why and, eventually, the blockers are worn down so much that memories begin to leak through. When this happens, the individual may start to imagine they are hearing things, as well as potentially becoming incredibly confused and paranoid. If the blockers are left to degrade completely, the individual will go completely insane before eventually their mind is burnt out.

The Chameleon Arch is the reason for John's strange dreams and foggy memory. It is why he sometimes knows things that he should not, and why he occasionally talks about unknown places and people as if they were common knowledge. He has been a human for around ten years now, living in London for the majority of that time (including living through some of the alien invasions that the Doctor stopped in the city), meaning that he has reached the stage where he is at risk of his memories beginning to leak into his consciousness.

For John to become the Doctor again, all that needs to be done is that his fobwatch needs to be opened. However, he will never do this on his own. Another safety measure of the Chameleon Arch is that it installs perception filters (more or less a prompt for the brain to ignore something specific, such as a person, object, or event) that prevent him from paying any attention to the watch, as well as any other strange occurrences that may trigger Time Lord memories. In addition to this, there is the potential that he has lost the fobwatch. It was a part of what he believes to be his father's watch collection, but the collection is in a box in his attic and he hasn't looked at it in years. For all he knows, the watch may have slipped out and gotten lost when he moved down to London from Glasgow!

This article describes common pre-established verses. Other verses are available but must be discussed prior to any threads. Individual interactions occur in their own separate universes unless otherwise discussed. Please send an IM if interested in plotting any interactions.

John follows the majority of information described on this page.

When the Doctor used the Chameleon Arch, the process also reduced his physical age and turned him into a child. UNIT were alerted after he stumbled out of the TARDIS and they picked him up. Though they did not recognise him, it was clear to them that he was something to do with the Doctor. The fobwatch was found in his pocket and, thanks to information recorded by Martha Jones, it was quickly determined that the boy was the Doctor. Unable to remember anything apart from his name, a couple within UNIT adopted John while the organisation began work on determining whether or not it was safe to return the boy to his previous self.

Born in Ancient Rome during the reign of Augustus, John (born Julius) still isn't sure how he ended up in the modern day. He knows it has something to do with his father, Janus, but whether the time travelling incident was the god's fault or his own, he doesn't know. John doesn't know if he'll ever be able to go home but, to be quite honest, having begun to grow used to modern technology and culture, he's not sure he wants to.