app for deeringtonhall

IN CHARACTER

Character Name: William Byers
Canon: Stranger Things
Canon Point: Just post-the shed scene in 2.08

In-Game Tattoo Placement: This one, at the nape of the neck.
Current Health/Status:

Not Great, Dude

He's been possessed for a couple days at this point, and he's only slept when literally injected with drugs.

He's got bruises across his chest from being tied to a chair and straining against it.

Forget eating or drinking anything, either.

He'll also show up in nothing but a hospital gown -- no shoes, no socks, bruises and dark shadows under his eyes. He'll fit right into horrorville.

Apparent Age: He's much too small for his age, so he looks 10 or 11.
Actual Age: Almost 13
Species: Human

History: Wiki Link Here~
Hometown/World: Hawkins, Indiana, USA

Personality: Will Byers is very much a narrative tool, especially in the first season of the show. He's the innocent who is taken by the malevolent, and whose absence drives the entirety of the plot. You cannot care about Stranger Things and the main conflict if you don't care about Will Byers. So, even though he has a very small amount of screen time before being abducted, a few things are set up right away:

Will is sweet (he's seen playing and laughing with his friends)

Will is honest (he tells Mike about a dice roll that ended up being a moot point)

Will is a good kid (he's this innocent little guy riding on his bike after dark and you just want him to get home safe)

Of course, when Will doesn't make it home safe, the emotional crux of the show is put into motion. Will has a very minor speaking role in season one, and isn't even seen again until he has a heart-wrenching pleading encounter with his mother through an impassible barrier. It takes Eleven astral-projecting into the Upside-Down for us to see what Will's been up to. And the answer is somewhat surprising -- in this hellscape, being pursued by a monster which has already killed at least three people, Will Byers is still alive. He's a terrified, shivering, miserable mess, but he's alive.

That is, in a nutshell, what makes Will such an interesting character. He remains sweet, honest and a good kid, but he's also the only person who went into the Upside Down without any weapons or protective gear and came back alive. Season two delves into this a little more, with the first episode starting with Will trying to return to normal -- he's at an arcade with his friends, content to slip back into his role of the quiet one, letting his three louder friends have most of the dialogue, there primarily as that introverted, sweet-tempered support he was before. However, by the end of that first scene, it's revealed that Will has been suffering from visions of the Upside-Down that have destroyed his ability to sleep or eat or live without fear -- for almost a year. He's been hiding the full scope of it from his mother, enduring frequent trips to doctor after doctor, and still trying desperately to remain a normal kid.

Will has arguably been through the most trauma of anyone in Hawkins, but his goal remains the same through everything -- he wants to be a good friend, a good brother, a good son. He wants people to treat him like he's normal, he wants to support his friends when they need it, he wants to be strong and internalize the horrors inside his head. If that means breaking the friends don't lie rule, then so be it.

CRAU History and Impact: Will was in Deerington last year (s'up good to be back~), and I'm going to have him remember some of what happened while he was here. He'll remember the people he knew, and be very happy to see them again, and he'll remember a little bit of what was learned about Deerington in the couple months he was here. However, since he left before anything was really discovered (about Sodder, etc.) he's still going to be extremely disoriented and thrown off by all Deerington is. Which is pretty par for the course.

Personal Moral Codes: Will is riiiight on the border of Lawful Good:

He wants everyone to be taken care of

He wants everyone to be happy

He's not a rule-breaker or even a rule-bender

He generally follows the "party rules", which include "friends don't lie" and "help each other".

However, he also definitely has the people he cares about the most (his family and friends), and clearly doesn't care much about the rules if they end up hurting those people.

He'll lie or hide things from these important people in an effort to protect them

While it's never been tested, it's likely he'd choose their safety over someone else's

Ultimately it's his small circle of friends/family who are the most important and need to be protected.

Insecurities/Personal Demons: Hoooo boy.

It's heavily implied that Will was, if not physically, then emotionally/mentally abused by his father. As a soft-spoken, introverted boy who likes art and Dungeons & Dragons, his hyper-masculine father wasn't shy about what a "queer" he was.

Will is also heavily bullied at school -- he and his friends are social outcasts, the "nerds" who are disdained and looked down on for their interests. Will's perceived sexuality is brought up again and again in this context as well. Once he returns from the Upside Down, he earns the nickname "zombie boy", as he had literally been presumed dead and returned to life.

Despite having the most legit reason ever to demand attention, Will clearly does not want anyone to treat him differently. Ever. He downplays the effect his visions and nightmares are having on him, just barely alluding to feeling like he's "going crazy", and full-on breaking down once his mother finally calls him on what's going on.

Once Will is full-on possessed, the Shadow Monster working through him acts as a spy, finding out what the Hawkins folks are planning, and then using Will as a proxy to lure them into a trap. The trap works, and at least a dozen, likely more, people are killed -- soldiers, scientists, doctors and, most importantly, Joyce's boyfriend, Bob. This hasn't even remotely been unpacked in canon, but with Will's track record, this is almost definitely a huuuuuge personal demon and source of guilt for him.

Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses:

Will is your basic tweenager in midwest 1980's America. He doesn't have superpowers of any kind.

He likes to draw, and he's noted to have better than average skills for a kid his age.

He's also smart -- part of the school's AV Club, part of the Science Team and capable of engaging in a ten-hour D&D campaign without breaking a sweat.

Notably, while possessed by the Shadow Monster, Will is able to see the creature's "now-memories", which are revealed to be what the other parts of the monstrous hivemind are seeing. Since the Shadow Monster will not be travelling with him to Deerington, the absence of this ability might have Will a little thrown off at first.

Inventory:

Hospital gown

Radio with a mix he got for his 10th birthday inside.

Pad of paper

Handful of pencils in assorted colors
Writing Samples: Here and here~

OUT OF CHARACTER

Player Name: Jolie/Cee
Player Age: Olde
Player Contact: ceedawkes

Other Characters In Game: Nada~
In-Game Tag If Accepted: Will Byers: Cee
Permissions for Character: Here~
Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?: Absolutely!

What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?: God, you name it, I want it. I love monsters/body horror/transformations, I love spooky things lurking at the corners of your eye, I love environments that transform and change based on an individuals personal demons and psychology. I love it all.
Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?: Nope!
Additional Information: