titanic au; william byers

william byers 3rd class passenger on the rms titanic

completely amnesia'd re: deerington & his actual canon

traveling with his older brother jonathan and two of their friends -- richie and billy -- from london to new york

born in 1899 in indiana, to an absentee father and a mother who died when he was little (barely remembers either of them; not really bothered about it)

traveled to england with jonathan, has spent most of his life there living where-ever they could afford -- boarding houses, spare rooms, squatting in abandoned houses, etc.

at some point met up with billy and richie, because four pooled incomes is better than two. billy and jonathan do their best to find honest work, but it's often easier to rely on pickpocketing and petty theft to survive

as a result, will has very few scruples about stealing, especially from people who have more than they know what to do with. this version of will is much pricklier and standoffish, because Hard Knock Life, and has no qualms about playing the sweet innocent to get close enough to swindle someone

still genuinely enjoys drawing, but it's usually done with an eye towards making money, like jonathan does with his drawings

deep deep down he wants to be a regular kid with a home and a family and friends, and he still has a strong sense of right and wrong and justice vs. injustice, it's just been heavily tainted by an entire lifetime of struggling to survive

if someone is genuinely kind to him, he won't know what to do with it, because he's had it reinforced again and again that the only person he can 100% trust is his brother.

he'll likely end up drawn to the glitzy, shiny, sparkly world of 1st class, because he's basically a kleptomaniac magpie in this au. hold onto your jewelry, folks.

and yes, living in england for the most of his life means tiny cockney accent

"u wot m8"

© tessisamess