application.

[notarat]

This application contains spoilers for The Terror. This is also a content warning for discussions of: sex, murder, period-typical homophobia, mutiny and fake sexual assault claims.

PLAYER INFO

---

• Player Name: Jelle
• Player Contact: queeningsquare
• Player Age: 31
• Permissions: Here.


CHARACTER INFO

---

• Character Name: William Gibson (no one ever calls him William though, always just Billy..)
• Character Age: Historically he would have been 25. He definitely looks way older than that, so do with that what you will.
• Character Canon: The Terror (AMC's version, not the book.)
• Canon Point: Episode 9, while getting stabbed by Hickey.

• Character History: Here is a link to what we know about the historical William Gibson's life before the Franklin Expedition: we don't know too much, this is what happens when you're not all that important! The most important point to touch on is the fact that Billy was already experienced with naval life, as you can see in that link, which will be touched on later. The fictional canon events that happened during the expedition are listed here.

• Character Personality:

— Negative Trait: It's the easiest to start off with the trait anyone might notice the easiest about Billy - and that's the fact that he's incredibly withdrawn. On a ship where quite a few people just seem to love talking and hearing the sound of their own voice, Billy is constantly a man of few words. Sure, we see him talk, but he's never saying too much - mostly sticking to what's necessary. He comes across as extremely taciturn, and the fact that he's a steward on the ship doesn't really help much with that, considering that going unnoticed while accomplishing your work is generally seen as a good trait for a steward - and one Billy seems to have mastered. But even though - on a professional level - this may seem like a positive trait, it's actually a negative one in the end, since keeping to himself so much makes Billy have a hard time actually connecting with other people. Especially since that withdrawn attitude about him isn't just his personality. When we see him with someone he actually trusts, so in scenes where he's just with Hickey, Billy is actually a lot more talkative. And not just that - he even outright emotes, whether it's seeming agitated, angry, or even actually laughing.

And he has good reason to only open up around people he trusts. After all, Billy works in the navy, constantly being out on ships full of only men, and yet.. he is a queer man in a time period where such a thing is not accepted in the slightest. It's exactly because of his naval experience that he knows exactly how hard it is - even harder in the navy than it'd be back on dry land since there's nowhere to go, not to mention it's also actively punished - and it definitely explains why he keeps so much to himself, afraid that anyone will discover his secret. The only way to protect himself is by never being open, never saying too much.. just being a little clam of a man, only opening up around the right people. (Or, you know, the wrong people, considering how Billy died.)

— Positive Trait: Not to mention there are a lot of other things people might never notice about Billy exactly because he tends to keep to himself so much. For example, he's actually pretty smart! It's mentioned in the latter half of the series that Billy can actually read maps reasonably - not a skill everyone possesses, not even in the navy - and in a Q&A one of the creators of the series actually describes Billy as imagine knowing you are good enough to attend university, just as much as anyone else who is attending, and knowing that you're never going to get that opportunity. Sure, Billy is not the biggest genius around, but he is a lot smarter than people might assume from him. He's also described as being well-matched intellectually with Hickey, and he did help plan an entire mutiny. I'd say Billy's knowledge isn't necessarily on a level of book smarts, but he's very good at reading people and situations-- as shown by him having a better grasp on Hickey's personality and thoughts than pretty much anyone else in canon, despite Hickey being such an odd, odd guy.

— Negative Trait: Do you know what else happens though when you're pretty insightful when it comes to other people? You tend to get judgemental. And boy, oh boy, is Billy ever petty. As said before, he is incredibly withdrawn, which means he will keep most of his thoughts to himself, so he won't ever voice most of his judgmental thoughts.. but just going by what he does voice, there's so much pettiness that can fit inside this stickbug of a man. He doesn't even hesitate to judge his superiors, calling lieutenant Irving an anchorite without hesitation - and not in a good or admiring sort of way.. Not to mention that he's frequently shown arguing with Hickey, who is also the person Billy trusts the most on the entire ship. He will clearly not hesitate to be petty about anyone when it's warranted, though he will keep the pettiness on the inside unless he trusts you enough to show it. (Fun...) And since he is smarter than one might assume, his petty quips can actually be kind of witty! (F-Fun...? Maybe less fun when you're the one on the wrong end of them, really.)

— Positive Trait: As one might be able to tell from all the above, Billy is above else practical. He's never shown skipping out on his job, despite the fact that said job can't exactly always be the most pleasant - having to attend to the every whim of three men isn't exactly ideal, especially when there are factors making it all worse, like being stuck in the Arctic, or the captain withdrawing with his steward for a good while and suddenly that means you're saddled up with even more work, or one of the three men you are supposed to attend to all the time being very openly homophobic.. But if Billy has any complaints, he is - as described - very good at keeping those down and just continuing to do his work. He can do hard things without complaining as long as he can see a good outcome to it in the end. Capitalism would love him!

Not to mention that this practicality also makes Billy pretty quick to adapt to things. He doesn't necessarily need things to be ideal - it'd sure be great, but he can make do with what he can get in the meantime. This is how you end up having quick sex in the orlop, which is cold and uncomfortable, but also pretty much the only way you can have sex in the first place as a gay man on a busy ship.

— Negative Trait: Unfortunately.. Billy is also practical. In the negative sense. After all, he's smart. He's insightful. He can see how situations are unfolding, and if he doesn't like the way it looks like they're unfolding, he won't hesitate to do something about it if it gets really bad.

There are two clear examples of this in canon: first the mutiny itself, which is actually Billy's idea, even if Hickey - in classic Hickey style - takes charge. Once they leave the ships, it's Billy who first brings up that they're never all going to make it across land with this many people. That they'd be too slow. He's analyzed the situation, and since Billy himself must also already be aware that he's sick at that point since he looks like a zombie, he knows that he's not going to make it if they all stick together. He chooses to live, even if that means instigating a mutiny.

The second example is when Billy and Hickey's relationship is found out by lieutenant Irving catching them in the middle of an orlop quickie. Hickey tells Billy to not panic and that Irving won't tell anyone about it on account of him being too scandalized to speak of it, but Billy - who is shown clearly panicking about it as Hickey tells him that, one of those rare displays of emotion on his end - can't just accept that thought, most likely due to his longer experience with naval gay discovery panic making him more paranoid, not to mention that he has to actually face Irving every day and be around him while knowing the man knows. He goes to Irving and lies to him, telling him that Hickey actually forced him into sexual acts, even though it was actually completely mutual. When Hickey confronts him about this, Billy tries to blame it on Hickey and breaks off their relationship.

Point is: if it's really necessary, Billy is very much willing to do bad things to avoid an even worse outcome.

— Positive Trait: But it's also not like Billy is completely without morals. He isn't uncaring, despite the points above. In fact, for both examples of the bad kind of practicality Billy shows, there's a more caring side to it that also shows.

For the mutiny it's the moment right before Billy's death. Billy has been getting more and more ill, and as he asked Goodsir about how things were looking, Goodsir actually started explaining in detail as to how much Billy was going to suffer. But despite that rare show of unkindness on Goodsir's end, Billy never blames the man for it. In fact, he even tells Goodsir that he completely understands why the man wouldn't comfort him in this moment. Billy may have done a bad thing in instigating the mutiny and helping carry it out, but he's aware that it's a bad thing, and therefore doesn't expect to be treated with kindness in return about it. Billy never maliciously wanted to hurt anyone in the process. He just wanted to save his own skin, and he won't blame anyone else for trying to do the same, or acting out because they're in a bad situation.

And when it comes to the entire situation with Hickey after getting discovered by Irving-- despite throwing Hickey under the bus and being rather short and petty about it with Hickey afterwards during their argument, it's not like Billy doesn't care for him. You practically see Billy losing his resolve - the script even calls it out. He tries to make Hickey explain through their common values - "My standing with command is more valuable than my standing with you. I know you of all people understand that." - and even saying that he did it to keep both of them safe, seeming less angry and instead much more soft than a few moments before. Same goes with a later scene where Hickey gets bodily punished for insubordination and Billy actually looks worried about him, or an even later scene where Hickey gives him a ring and Billy actually smiles about it. He is fully capable of caring about people once he's chosen to trust them and let them in.

.. which, at the same time, is the exact problem that leads to his death. The mutiny was about practicality, about it being his only shot at surviving, but the same Q&A as mentioned above also confirmed that part of the reason Gibson went along with the mutiny was the hope of making things up with Hickey, like his lies to Irving have been haunting Billy enough to want to do so. Imagine trying so hard your entire life to hide away yourself, afraid caring will give you away and then hurt you, and then caring too much is directly what leads to your death.

Tough luck, Billy.

• Character Skills:

• Sewing & mending
• Cleaning
• Washing clothes
• Really, imagine any household chore that would already exist in the first half of the 19th century, and Billy would know how to do it.
• Experience in dealing with cold climates. Not that he has a huge amount of knowledge about it, but he's dealt with it before. This isn't his first rodeo!
• Some faint gun experience from the mutiny, but don't expect him to do well there.

• Character Inventory:

— ITEM ONE: The ring Hickey graverobbed gave him. It's on a string around his neck.
— ITEM TWO: His little mirror. It's not even fully face-sized, but it does have a loop on it so you can hang it somewhere.
— ITEM THREE: His beard scissors.

• Important Notes: Mostly for my own reference: I am going to have it so arriving in the game will have cured his scurvy, since otherwise he will just be dead in the game after a week.. Billy loves speedrunning scurvy too much.. He will still have the after-effects of not looking his best from having suffered the scurvy back home, not to mention the lead poisoning is still there all the same. Fun times.

• Writing Samples:

— SAMPLE ONE: Here
— SAMPLE TWO: Here