xxxxX WILLIAM GRAVES xxxxxx xxxxxxAge - 30 xxxxxxFace-claim - Alexander Skarsgard xxxxxxAdaptive. Authoritative. Uptight. Overprotective. Mercurial. Kind. xxxxxx"If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do."
Updated - mm/dd/yyyy Accepted by - (crew signature) Updates accepted by - (crew signature)
Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2019 9:45 pm
xX BASICS xxxxxx
Nicknames - Liam Birthday - 05/15/1989 Age - 30 Hometown - Dallas, TX Gender - Male Blood Type - O Positive Body Type - Tall, Lean, Athletic build Notable Traits - Various scars from boating/camping/hunting accidents, mostly on his hands Inventory - Harbor 30 Sailboat w/accommodations. Fishing supplies. First Aid kit, half stocked. Assorted canned goods (some with missing labels). Small chest freezer hooked up to generator. Frozen meat (mostly fish). Bulk packages of various batteries. Hunting knife and rifle. Portable DVD player, various DVD's. Various board games. Various books, mostly on philosophy or history.
xX ABOUT ME xxxxxx
Education and Employment x■ Graduated high school 2007 x■ Attended Rice University, earned PhD in Moral Philosophy, graduated 2014. x■ Professor of Moral Philosophy - UTD Hobbies x■ Boating x■ Karaoke x■ Camping x■ Debating Likes x■ Theater x■ Mexican food x■ Thunderstorms x■ Autumn x■ Getting out of the city Dislikes x■ Loud music x■ Being too hot or cold x■ Intro level courses x■ Being indoors x■ Teenagers
xX RELATIONSHIPS xxxxxx
Sexuality - Bisexual Status - Widowed in the outbreak Family x■ Younger brother Daniel Friends x■ Enemies x■
ADAPTIVE - William always prided himself on being able to deal with whatever came his way. He watched the world around him, watched how people lived in it, and determined which courses of action would benefit him most in any given situation. He had the privilege of growing up in an upper middle class family, and so had plenty of resources to pull from. He also had a father who had not come from an upper middle class family, and taught him to appreciate what he had, because it could all vanish in an instant. Luckily for him, that lesson led him to teach himself to be pretty self-sufficient, which has served him well since the outbreak happened. He can fish and hunt and cook, and is accustomed to spending time out on the open water rather than land.
AUTHORITATIVE - William was the oldest of three siblings, with a significant age gap between them. He was already ten when his middle brother was born, thirteen when the youngest was. He was also the oldest among his cousins, some of whom were closer in age. However, none were so close that he wasn't expected to be the responsible party in any given situation, and so he learned early on how to take charge and command a situation. He's hesitant to come across as cruel or demanding, but if it's what it takes to make people listen to him, he will. For the most part, he maintains a cool head and a steady voice, finding that the thing most likely to make people defer to you is to act like you know what you're talking about in any given situation.
UPTIGHT - William tends to overthink things, and when he overthinks things, he gets a little anxious. An anxious Liam is a particular Liam, who wants things to be done exactly how he specifies, with no room for deviation. He's thought it all out, you see, and if he's decided it should be done a certain way, it's for a very good reason. He tends to blame himself for everything, because if his plan goes wrong it was a bad plan, and if someone else doesn't listen to the plan, he should've done more to make them listen.
OVERPROTECTIVE - William is used to being the responsible party in any given situation. Throughout his youth, he got used to being seen as an authority figure, which led him to act like an authority figure, which more or less created a feedback loop where people tended to listen to him so he tended to take charge. He firmly believes that a strong leader is the backbone of any team. Therefore, he considers anyone who is underneath his authority, be it a student, a younger sibling, etc, to be someone he is expected to take care of. He is always in people's corners and quick to jump to their defense once he's laid a claim to them. This can, at times, result in him overdoing it; sometimes he assumes he knows better than them what's best, and acts accordingly.
MERCURIAL - He's a very passionate man, with a quick mind and sharp focus. As a result, he can at times seem a little all over the place. His moods can seem to change at the drop of a hat, often because he's gotten lost in his own head and is reacting to something he's anticipating, rather than what's actually happening. It can at times be difficult to keep track of his thought patterns and feelings, because while he does tend to get lost in his own head, he's not one to keep anything inside of it. He's very excitable, and reacts quickly to stimulus, sometimes unpredictably so.
KIND - Despite at times coming across as brash or bossy, William is, at his heart, a good person. He believes in doing whatever he can to help other people, and tries to see the best in them. If he hesitates to offer help to another person, it is only because he has nothing left to give except a piece of himself, and he knows you cannot offer water from an empty well. He puts himself first only when he knows he must in order to remain capable of helping others in the near future. If he has the ability to help someone, he will do it.
Strengths and Weaknesses x■ William's quick mind and strong heart make him an extremely compassionate person, but also result in a short temper that can go off seemingly without cause or warning. x■ He's a very intelligent person, but this often results in him losing people because he leaves out important information he assumes they should already know. x■ His authoritative nature makes him a strong leader, but also makes him butt heads with people who question him. Fears x■ Being alone x■ Freezing to death x■ Being trapped Special Skills x■ Fishing x■ Hunting x■ Cooking x■ Survivalist training
Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2019 10:53 pm
xX BACKSTORY - PRE-OUTBREAK xxxxxx
spaceThe marriage of Liam's parents was something of a shock, at least to his mother's family. Violet Graves (nee Caldwell) was the only child of a reasonably well-off family, top of her class in high school and destined for 'great things'. Her parents generally assumed that Samuel Graves was little more than a college fling, someone she'd mature beyond by graduation. Instead, she eloped with him during her first year of undergrad. Years later, she had a doctorate and a lucrative career, while her husband made a little money on the side doing odd jobs for neighbors in a respectable middle class neighborhood that didn't quite know what to do with him. Samuel himself was a little rough around the edges, but a good man, who took good care of his wife and his house, and didn't pay any attention to the talk about Violet marrying beneath her.
spaceA few years after Violet's graduation, William was born. It had taken them a while to conceive, and they weren't positive they'd ever manage to again, despite wanting a large family. Between his parents, there was all the knowledge and experience needed to ensure that their son was a well-rounded, intelligent, good-hearted person. He joined the boy scouts and took to it like a fish to water (he also took to water like a fish to water), learning early on that he liked being outdoors far more than in. In school, he performed quite well, and his parents were always patient with him when he needed help. As a result, he tended to be one of, if not the, smartest kid in class. He was something of a loner, because many of the kids were either intimidated by or jealous of him. He tried not to let it bother him, but most of his social interactions were confined to group projects, during which he tended to take charge for the sake of efficiency, a tendency that only got worse when his parents did eventually have more children, two younger brothers, Michael when he was nine, and Daniel when he was twelve.
spaceBeing that he was so much older than both his brothers, Liam often felt less like their brother and more like their caretaker. He was frequently left in charge of the two younger boys. Had he more of a social life, he might've resented it, but as it was he mostly just wanted them to get old enough that he could at least have fun being silly with them. By the time they were actually old enough to do much of anything, his schoolmates had more or less changed their tune with regards to his social standing. It helped that puberty was exceptionally kind to him. Once he got past the most awkward of his teen years, he suddenly found himself very popular, though he didn't date much. Still, it was a far cry from having no friends, so he spent less and less time with his family as he drew nearer to graduation.
spaceLiam graduated top 10% of his class, with plenty of opportunities and college offers. He attended Rice university, and fell into his eventual career path somewhat on accident. He took an intro level philosophy course to fulfill a humanities requirement, and because he'd always found the subject interesting, in an intangible sort of way. He liked his professor so much that he continued taking courses, until it became apparent that he was on his way to a full degree. He ended up TA'ing for that very same professor, which was how he met his wife Carol. She, too, had taken the intro course to fulfill a BA requirement, and though she didn't take to the subject like Liam had, she was clever and inventive enough to catch his eye. To avoid any misconduct, he waited until the semester was over to ask her on a date. They dated for a year before getting married, and proceeded to drag their heels on an actual wedding.
spaceBy the time they actually got around to it, Carol had finished her BA, Liam had his PhD, and they were both unable to continue using school as an excuse to put of the planning. If they could've gotten away with eloping, they likely would have. Carol's family wasn't one to skip such an event, however, which was part of why they'd taken so long with it in the first place. Planning the event was a nightmare, second only to the invasive question about when they planned on having children that began the second they said "I do." It wasn't that they were opposed to having children, exactly, they just weren't overly concerned with it, either. They found that they enjoyed their lifestyle, especially after Liam managed to purchase a boat and they were able to spend their weekends out on the water, or camping out somewhere on the lake. They'd only just begun to discuss the possibility seriously when the outbreak occurred.
spaceThe early days of the outbreak didn't seem particularly notable to Liam at the time. Hindsight being twenty/twenty, he would later come to regret not paying closer attention. He found the news stories, few though they were, interesting enough, if strange, but never worried overmuch about the future. It wasn't until the attacks became widespread that he began to really worry. He began planning for a worst case scenario, but even his imagination couldn't tell him just how bad things would be. When the schools all began to shut down, he began planning how to get away from the thick of things, figuring that he and his wife could manage on their boat until things were under control. Unfortunately, his timing left a lot to be desired. He was never really sure how it happened; he left home in the morning to prep the boat for a long stay, telling his wife to meet him there after she'd secured their home. He missed the outbreak of chaos in town, missed the moment things went from bad to worse to worst. All he knew was, he was getting the last of the supplies on board when his younger brother came barreling down the pier, screaming that they had to leave, now. Liam was unwilling to go, not sure where Daniel had come from or what he was so afraid of, but he said he wouldn't leave without Carol. The decision was taken from him, however, when the chaos reached the harbor. People, living and dead, suddenly crowded the shore, some headed for the piers, and Liam hesitated only a second before taking off. Once they were far away from land, Dan broke down. He couldn't manage to share any details of what happened. He only said that he'd gone to Liam's home, hoping to be safe with him, and that as he and Carol had begun to make their way to the lake, something had happened, and she was "gone".