William Springfield

[Dogs231]

Name: William Springfield
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Grade: 12th
School: John Endecott Memorial Academy
Hobbies and Interests: Survival of the Fittest, academic study, probability and statistics, strategy and tactics, logic, observation

Appearance: William is taller than average, at 6'0". In addition, he weighs about 160 pounds. His body is rectangular, and different parts of his figure have an alignment. His posture is faultless. His build is gracile, with little fat and some defined musculature, though not enough to convey a facsimile of power. His complexion is pale, owing to his English heritage, and free of marks.

He has an average-sized head and face with a long, triangular shape. His features are angular—as if constructed from polygons. In all, he looks rather gaunt. He has hooded eyes, always attentive; their color is a cold gray. He has a long, straight nose. His cheekbones are sharp, and his cheek skin is drawn and tautened. He has a thin jaw and a pointed chin. His facial features are all symmetrical.

William has dark golden-blonde hair. It is cut, with precision, into a formal but stylish rightward side part, somewhat short. His eyebrows are thin and neat, the same color as his hair. He shaves regularly to maintain a clean-cut and professional appearance.

His style is rather prim, confined to his rigid view of formal dress; there is minimal variation in his wardrobe. All his clothes are fitted to his form and kept rigorously cleaned and ironed. On the day of the abduction, he wore a black suit jacket, a black waistcoat, a white buttoned shirt, a black tie, a pair of black slacks, a black belt, black socks, and black dress shoes.

Biography: William Springfield was born in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, in the United Kingdom. His father is James Springfield, an esteemed professor of algebraic topology. His mother is Anne Springfield (née Grace), an analytical scientist. At the time, the two lived and worked in the Silicon Fen region; James Springfield served at the University of Cambridge, and Anne Springfield worked for AstraZeneca.

Later, though, James Springfield would receive the offer of a tenured, lucrative, and prestigious position at Harvard University. It was an offer too good to refuse, and the family relocated to the vicinity of the other Cambridge across the sea. They ultimately settled in the Gallows Hill neighborhood of Salem, Massachusetts. The commute to the nearby town was swift, and the area was historical and prosperous.

Thus, William spent much of his childhood in a foreign land—though it would not remain foreign for long, as his parents later pursued naturalization—and grew up surrounded by American culture. Over time, as he spent less time at home and more at school, aspects of his home country would disappear. His accent would fade, and he would learn to spell in the American manner; "grey" became "gray," and "colour" became "color."

In the education system, he shined. He excelled in every class and took to each with the same vigor and excitement. For William, the process, not the subject, fascinated him. It was the act of studying and learning, not what he had learned, that he truly valued. As such, he devoured tomes of literature, science, mathematics, and history with a desire to know and understand everything. Such a fascination continues to this day.

At the same time, William did not fare as well in social circumstances. He could—and did—socialize with others, but it never seemed to catch his interest the way textbooks did. They existed, but only just; background details, unimportant to him. He preferred to read about the things that made up a person than to talk with one. His parents never thought much of it at first.

Over time, though, something was made clear; a rift had formed, one separating William from his peers. Academically, he rose above them; socially, he fell further and further behind. His parents grew somewhat concerned and tried to coax William into further socialization, but he remained distant. Eventually, they pushed him further, and he relented, but only so much as to satisfy their wishes; once he had sated their concerns, he again retreated into himself.

As he entered middle school, things remained static. He continued to perform admirably in his academics and was a constant fixture of the honor roll. At the same time, he remained socially disconnected, though he interacted enough to slake the attention of his parents or teachers. This pattern would continue throughout this time and into the future. At times, some would raise the question of academic acceleration to the Springfield family. Their son, no doubt, was able; at the same time, they had reservations about the matter. William, for his part, was uninterested in the idea; it didn't matter to him what grade they placed him in. Ultimately, his family decided not to accelerate him.

Late in middle school, with a surfeit of free time on his side, William began to pry deeper into subjects. In particular, one of these subjects was the field of mathematics and, in particular, probability and statistics. He enjoyed analyzing and predicting things. The first area he applied this new hobby to was sports, crunching numbers to try and predict the winner. If wrong, he would look at his formulas and correct them for details; if right, he tested them again for a better sample size.

Another interest he had was in strategy and tactics. He had read about all sorts of military conflicts in history textbooks and found himself interested in them and how the decision-making that governed them occurred. He would later read books about the subject and gather more and more knowledge on it. His interest in the subject is purely theoretical, and he has no way of applying it in practice.

Entering high school, William continued his general trend of strong academic performance and personal isolationism. However, this isolationist policy would soon fade. At some point, he talked with another peer and decided to observe as much as possible in one conversation. He had no real reason behind it, but it made conversations something interesting rather than an obligation to be fulfilled. It became a game for him to learn as much as possible about his peers and write down what he discovered.

Another interest he found in high school was logic, the study of correct reasoning. He simultaneously enjoys formal logic—the science of logical truths—and informal logic—fallacies and critical thinking—as fields of study. He finds it thought-provoking and challenging, and that is part of what drives him to understand it further. To this end, he reads various accounts regarding the subject, spanning the time from Antiquity to the Modern Era.

In 2018, he discovered a darker interest, one not socially acceptable; Survival of the Fittest. He had heard the name before from peers and parents or the media. It was not until the seventh iteration of the terrorist act had occurred, though, that it piqued his interest. He decided to investigate further and stumbled across scattered pieces of footage. He found it interesting and wanted to know more; more about the people who had died and the terrorists who had killed them, and why it had occurred.

To this end, he found a dearth of information. He found himself in disagreement with much of the contemporary discussion of the topic, especially conspiracy theories; he found much of them to be illogical and to have an insufficiently thought-out rationale. He still seeks to unravel some of the mystery of the topic but knows that it is wrong to pry further; still, he has chosen to familiarize himself with the game and generally prefers written summaries, as he finds the gore and violence distasteful. Nobody else in his life is aware of his interest in Survival of the Fittest.

Academically, William shines. He has high grades and does well in all his classes. At the same time, William has a distant relationship with his teachers, rarely coming to them for help or advice, preferring to teach himself and structure his learning with periods of study in the afternoon. He does not act out in class and has never received any disciplinary actions during his time at John Endecott Memorial Academy. William, by and large, is considered a model student. In addition, he is a member of the school's newspaper and the yearbook team, mostly to pass the time. William has decided not to attend the annual senior class trip to Whiteface Mountain Ski Resort, citing a lack of personal interest.

Socially, William is disconnected. The word antisocial—having an antagonism towards others—does not describe him, but the word asocial—having a lack of interest in others—does. He is cordial to others and amenable to dialogue but does not have and does not seek a deeper connection with others. When it comes to his family, he is close but not very involved. As for non-platonic relationships, he is aromantic and asexual, though he does not associate with those specific terms.

As for the future, things seem bright for William. He plans to attend Harvard University and has applied there. He is likely to also apply for merit-based scholarships and will probably receive them, as his grades qualify him. He has not determined what to study but knows he has plenty of time to decide.

Advantages: William is analytical, logical, and intelligent; he is likely to be able to apply all of these traits to life inside of the game. He has a knowledge of strategy and tactics, which may prove helpful if he can put them into practice. William has prior knowledge of Survival of the Fittest and may be able to apply that knowledge in the future. In addition, he is emotionally disconnected from his peers and is unlikely to be phased by their troubles. William knows a lot about other people—their names, personality traits, and behaviors—and may be able to use this to his advantage.
Disadvantages: William's knowledge is purely theoretical; only some—or none—of it may apply in practice. In addition, he is not strong, with a lean build; this will not help him in a physical conflict. Nobody is particularly attached to William; nobody will put their neck on the line for him.

[Ruggahissy]

Whoa

it's me

a moderator

time to moderate

Hobbies and Interests: Survival of the Fittest,

-Let's put a pin in this one and remember for later. Also for "observation."

His body is rectangular, and different parts of his figure have an alignment.

- I don't know what "parts of his figure have an alignment" means.

His build is gracile, with little fat and some defined musculature, though not enough to convey a facsimile of power.

- Dunno what "convey a facsimile of power" means. You can cut that out.

His features are angular—as if constructed from polygons.

-This makes it sound like his face is made out of those wood blocks I used to learn how to identify shapes when I was a kid. You can just say his features are angular, readers will understand. Cut.

The commute to the nearby town was swift, and the area was historical and prosperous.

- Don't need this. State of the world will tell people about Salem. Cut.

- What does his mother do for work post-move?

- How old is William when they move to America?

Thus, William spent much of his childhood in a foreign land—though it would not remain foreign for long, as his parents later pursued naturalization—and grew up surrounded by American culture.

- Tone, the terrorists are a bit more cut and dry and you can just start this with the bit about his parents seeking citizenship. Also "and grew up surrounded by American culture" after the bit about parents makes it sound like the parents are growing up surrounded by American culture.

he would learn to spell in the American manner; "grey" became "gray," and "colour" became "color."

- Fine to mention his accent fading, but we don't need the rest of this. Cut.

He preferred to read about the things that made up a person than to talk with one.

- We got this information in the preceding line. Cut.

Eventually, they pushed him further, and he relented, but only so much as to satisfy their wishes; once he had sated their concerns, he again retreated into himself.

- How? What did he do to satisfy his parents that he was socializing and making friends?

At some point, he talked with another peer and decided to observe as much as possible in one conversation. He had no real reason behind it, but it made conversations something interesting rather than an obligation to be fulfilled. It became a game for him to learn as much as possible about his peers and write down what he discovered.

- This section is strange because observing people in a conversation and trying to learn about people is just what having a conversation is. I know that this is in service of your goal of setting up his traits for doing the other student roster, but I feel like this is obvious stuff about just conversing with people. Being observant can be a personality trait, but I don't think this is hobby territory. So I don't think there's enough for "observation" as a hobby, and I don't think that it's remarkable to try to observe and learn about people during a conversation.

- This section on Survival of the Fittest also strikes me as not enough to qualify as a hobby or interest. It sounds like he did research on the topic, learned, disagreed with conspiracy theories, and that's it for now. There's no continuation of this as something that takes up his time. I'm fine with leaving the section, but as said, would say it wouldn't be a hobby or interest.

He does not act out in class and has never received any disciplinary actions during his time at John Endecott Memorial Academy.

- This is a given for students unless otherwise noted (people who do cause trouble). Cut.

In addition, he is a member of the school's newspaper and the yearbook team, mostly to pass the time.

- Newspaper and yearbook are not called teams. They would be clubs. Also, do these not qualify as hobbies or interests?

The word antisocial—having an antagonism towards others—does not describe him, but the word asocial—having a lack of interest in others—does.

- No interest in things that he is not. The things that he is and how he relates to people are described after this. Cut.

He is likely to also apply for merit-based scholarships and will probably receive them, as his grades qualify him.

- Seems odd since his parents have jobs that pay quite well and his father is even a professor at this school. Dunno what mom does, but she was formerly in pharmaceuticals.

That's about it. Mostly this is about improving the readability of this one because the terrorists are fairly cut and dry and this is a profile for the purpose of getting information out about the kid.

Let me know when edits are done! Thank you!!

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This character biography has had no alterations for more than two weeks and has been put in the abandoned characters forum. This profile is eligible for resubmission in a future version with appropriate changes.