S047 - Fitzroy, Russell "Fitz"

[Ruggahissy]

Name: Russell "Fitz" Fitzroy
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Grade: 12th
School: John Endecott Memorial Academy
Hobbies and Interests: Ghosts and the supernatural, conspiracy theories, antique doll collecting, roller skating.

Appearance: Fitz is very tall and skinny, standing at 6'2” and 134 lbs. He is Caucasian with milky white skin that has a pallid tint due to late nights and a lack of sunlight, broken up by a large amount of dark freckles. His hair is pale blond, thick and sticks up in every direction. Fitz has large ears, a stubby, round nose and noticeably large, crooked teeth. He has sleepy, dark brown eyes with noticeable shadows underneath due to unhealthy sleeping habits. Fitz possesses a slouched posture, and a tendency to fidget with anything within reach.

Fitz dresses in loose, comfortable clothing. He is rarely seen out of a hoodie, even in the summer, and the rest of his clothes consist of either oversized t-shirts and plain skirts, or knee-length dresses. Fitz wears Velcro shoes and often mismatched socks. If Fitz has been roller skating, he also wears knee pads and bike shorts under his skirts or dresses. The colours of his clothing are random and have no consistency, and Fitz doesn’t utilize accessories or jewellery. The one part of his appearance he puts effort into is painting his nails, which are immaculate and painted dark shades, usually blue or purple.

On the day of the abduction, Fitz was wearing a pale yellow t-shirt underneath a baggy, olive green hooded jacket with numerous large pockets, and a brown scarf with white diamond-shaped patterns near the edge. He wore a black, knee-length skirt and galaxy-print leggings underneath for warmth, as well as white velcro sneakers. He had grey woolen fingerless gloves, and his nails were painted dark blue. He had a grey, knitted beanie with earflaps, which had a pink stripe near the brim and a matching pink pom-pom on top.

Biography: Fitz was born 2nd of April, 2003, to Elwin and Ariel Fitzroy. He is the middle child of three siblings. He has an older sister, Elaine, who is three years his elder, and a younger brother, James, who is seven years his junior. He has lived in Salem since birth, in a three-bedroom apartment in West Salem.

Ariel has served as the more consistent breadwinner for the family, working as a professor at Salem State University and teaching classes relating to IT and cybersecurity. Elwin has a background in education as well, having once been a high school history teacher, but retired from doing so before Fitz was born and instead embarked on an extensive career in working as a tour guide, working at many museums and attractions in Salem, due to a lifelong interest in the history of Salem and in the occult.

From a young age, when possible, Elwin brought Fitz into exhibits and tours he was working and told him about them. Elwin had a poor sense of the appropriate details to tell a preschooler, and was happy to share grisly details of rumored ghosts and witch hunts. This enthusiastic introduction to the topic would result in Fitz developing his own lifelong obsession with ghosts, the idea of the supernatural, and looking beyond the hard reality of science. Elwin shared opinions that were hard for a preschooler to fully grasp, such as blaming corrupt priests for the Salem trials and the sociopolitical reasons behind it, but Fitz did grasp that sometimes people lied and got away with it because other people got swept up in it without questioning it.

Fitz, upon entering school, started his school career by eagerly trying to bring up everything Elwin had shared with anyone who would listen. His teachers discouraged it, particularly after Fitz brought up witch burnings three classes in a row. Fitz's parents were called in regarding the graphic nature of Fitz's interests, since Fitz had outed his father as the source of his knowledge, and Elwin was pressured into not talking to Fitz so often about witch burnings or ghosts. Elwin, albeit with heavy persuasion himself, convinced Fitz to quiet down about these interests. Fitz agreed, partially because other children were tiring of him talking about the same thing on repeat. After his first year, Fitz was noted by his teachers as a quiet and well-behaved child, because he lacked other topics to talk about and wasn’t good at small talk, and this resulted in him getting through most conversations primarily by nodding.

Fitz often followed around his older sister, Elaine, wanting to be involved in whatever she was doing. Elaine would allow it if he participated in her form of playtime, which involved make-up, dresses and make-believe tea time. Fitz enjoyed the dresses, as he found them more comfortable and liked the patterns and colours, and started to wear them of his own volition. Ariel often intervened to try and get Elaine to stop applying makeovers to Fitz, or to stop him from running outside in skirts, worried that Fitz would be bullied and disapproving of him wearing clothing for girls. Fitz failed at grasping the objection, but agreed to only wear Elaine’s old clothes indoors as a compromise.

When he was seven, Fitz became friends with another boy called Russell, their shared first name being both a bonding point and why Fitz now goes by a nickname. Russell also shared his fascination with ghosts, and never tired of Fitz talking about it. Russell became one of the few people outside the family to which Fitz was talkative and open with, and they were inseparable.

Fitz’s interest in ghosts and the supernatural resulted in him spending lots of time in the library or on the home computer, in order to look up various topics. Many articles and sites included mentions of haunted dolls, spurring Fitz to go to second-hand stores and see if he could find any haunted dolls of his own, starting at the age of nine. What began as an attempt to find ghosts became a genuine interest and attachment to finding dolls for the sake of collecting and for admiring the craftsmanship. Fitz appreciates in particular any dolls that are either particularly well-made, or particularly rundown and weird. He couldn’t afford many while younger, but any doll he collected has been hoarded in his room, and has become an extensive collection over the years. It has occasionally expanded to puppets and mannequins.

Another interest that spurred from Fitz’s interest in the supernatural was that of conspiracy theories. Watching YouTube videos about ghosts resulted in the related videos giving him other informational videos about the Illuminati, the Men in Black, and other conspiracies about the government. He was receptive due to many of them merging with the established idea of people in power lying for their own gain. It lead to him inspecting his surroundings more thoroughly. His focus on looking for that which science said wasn’t there shifted over to living beings and more mundane situations, and many theories seem probable if not definite to him. Many nights have been spent looking into one theory or another, and trying to find research to back them up. More often than not, looking for too long into one theory only leads Fitz to another theory, and he gets distracted following that instead. Because of this, his precise theories vary by the month.

While looking up this new interest of his, twelve-year-old Fitz had his first encounter with Survival of the Fittest. He had heard of it beforehand, but been too young to understand or fear it. The sixth game went up while his interest in conspiracy theories was new, and SotF was a topic that had many revolving around it, particularly concerning what the terrorists wanted or why the government was so ineffectual at stopping them. Fitz read some of the theories, opened one of the streams and witnessed a fight that resulted in a student murdering another with a screwdriver. Horrified, Fitz closed all the webpages relating to it and didn’t look it up again until long after the version was over. He would still read theories relating to SotF, but steered clear of any footage.

Until this point, Fitz and Russell had remained friends. By the age of fourteen, they were regularly visiting locations in town rumored to be haunted, including wandering the various hills by Salem in hopes of finding ghosts at the one that the witches of the Salem witch hunt had been buried at. Fitz firmly believes he's seen signs of ghosts, taking various sensations and noises as signs.

As they neared their last year of middle school, Fitz realised that he was bisexual. Fitz immediately told Russell, assuming that since Russell was fine with him talking about conspiracy theories and ghosts that something so small wouldn’t matter to him. Russell took the news poorly, falsely assuming that Fitz’s tendency to be more talkative around him was the result of a gay crush and becoming uncomfortable, and distanced himself. When Fitz confronted him about it a loud argument occurred, after which half Fitz’s middle school class knew about his appreciation for boys. Few of them cared. This incident brought an end to Fitz and Russell’s friendship, as middle school ended shortly after and they went to different high schools.

Fitz, through this incident, realised that anyone could turn against him for any quality of his no matter how inconsequential it was. This led to Fitz deciding not to adjust his own behavior for the sake of other people, and deciding that him making others uncomfortable was their problem, not his.

Fitz’s behavior shifted towards the other extreme. Fitz embraced the parts of himself that weren’t acceptable by society’s metric to a stronger degree than he would have naturally done so, to make sure no-one got surprised by it later on. This is a defence mechanism against losing another friendship so far in. He is open about gender not being an issue regarding attraction, and will take any chance to bring it up in conversation. Since his mother expressed concern about his preference for skirts and dresses getting him bullied, Fitz wears them in public constantly now, abandoning the compromise.

This extended not only to his presentation and orientation, but also to his hobbies. Fitz’s interest in ghosts and the supernatural isn’t unique, but it is rare that he talks about anything else, and his newer interest in conspiracies has resulted in him coming off as obsessive and delusional if he was allowed to talk for too long.

As a continuation of his defence mechanism, Fitz has started layering extra conspiracies and beliefs that he doesn’t believe in over the ones that he does. He believes that if he tells more inane theories and people don’t avoid him for it, that they’ll then be okay with anything else he says. Though he couldn’t lie without laughing at first, he practiced on his little brother--seven at the time--as well as other classmates, and developed a knack for lying with a straight face.

When Fitz was in freshman year, Elaine was in her senior year at John Endecott. This coincided with the year after SotF V7 occurred, and with it came another series of conspiracy theories. Now in high school himself, SotF started to become an actual anxiety in Fitz’s mind, particularly since his sister was in the grade so often targeted. Fitz read multiple accounts of the game, though he continued to avoid actual footage, and obsessed over the possibility. After a sleepless night of reading many SotF theories and accounts, Fitz rode the bus to school with his sister. He started to drift off from lack of sleep and his mind went to the possibility of being put under. Fitz tried to open the top window of the bus, but it got stuck, so Fitz tried to break it open with his shoe. Before he could attempt more than a couple of times, Elaine grabbed his arms and made him sit down but the physical force, even from Elaine, aggravated the hysteria. He wouldn't stop being a disturbance until the bus stopped and opened the doors, delaying the commute of many kids.

Fitz received detention for the incident, but the school recognised it as an emotional meltdown of some kind and insisted he sit through several sessions of therapy. Fitz made little progress with the school counselor at first, admitting that his reasoning had been distorted by sleep deprivation, he still believed the root cause of the anxiety was just. Fitz told them that he wouldn’t stop being wary of the possibility until the government actually succeeded in preventing an incident of SotF. Because of Fitz being stubborn and not forthcoming with the therapist, he sat through several sessions longer than what might have been necessary. There were briefly considerations by his parents about sending him to a therapist outside of school instead.

The sessions didn't help much on their own, but the anxiety was ultimately soothed by his fellow students. Although Fitz’s action was considered abnormal, he wasn’t the only student that was concerned about the possibility of SotF. There were some whose fears equaled or even exceeded his own, resulting in an unofficial group called the “Student Disaster Preparedness Association.” Although part of its purpose was to prepare for incidents like SotF, in practice the group consisted mostly of socializing, playing games and watching movies. The fact that it existed at all, however, calmed Fitz’s anxiety almost entirely, as he believes that those who run SotF would target those who don’t expect it.

This combination of the friend group, a natural tendency to lose interest in conspiracies in favour of other ones, and listening to the therapist enough to set out a set of guidelines on how to behave next time he felt sleepy on a bus, dulled Fitz's anxieties enough that the therapist deemed him well enough to complete his therapy. Fitz still occasionally obsesses about the topic, but it is an obsession that rises and falls regularly, and he hasn't had another meltdown since.

Fitz didn’t change his routine much during COVID, as his hobbies primarily consist of sitting in front of a computer. He shifted most of his focus to the internet and spent days at a time locked in his room, with nothing else to distract him. This became a concern to his parents, who at least wanted him to get some sunlight. After some persuasion towards finding a hobby he could do outside and alone, and trying a few things but losing interest in them, Fitz started roller skating. This proved to be the only one that held his interest, and practicing each morning during the epidemic has left him skilled enough to travel in them. He now skates to school, which has further eased his anxieties about SotF since he no longer rides the bus there, and sometimes practices doing spins and tricks, none of which he is competent at.

In his final year of high school, Fitz’s nerves about SotF are rising again but haven’t reached the same pitch as they did in his freshman year. Combined with his friends easing his worries, Fitz believes that the recent COVID epidemic would have delayed terrorist activity into starting another game, since it disrupted every other aspect of society. He still looks up conspiracies on the subject, but is now more concerned about researching COVID and international relations to find evidence for his personal theory that the spread of COVID in the US was caused by the US government trying to justify a war with China.

Fitz isn’t good at focusing on study, but has the brightness to hover between B’s and C’s with little effort. His grades sometimes reach A’s in history, but only when they’re covering a topic he finds interesting. The exception to his lack of effort is Latin, because Fitz enjoys learning it due to it being an old language that often hooks into his research into the supernatural. His Latin grades are always A's because of this. Fitz has a strained relationship with his teachers due to a lack of commitment to school work and a distrust of authority, but he’s not considered disruptive as he’s since learned that teachers only ignore him or send him to the school counsellor if he’s too free with his words.

His parents have been encouraging him to think more seriously about college, but Fitz would rather continue focusing on his hobbies instead of a career. Fitz has a very cynical view of the world, due to the years of terrorism, disease and systematic brutality, as well as his own beliefs about a secret government controlling things behind the scenes, and has a fatalistic view that he is too small to do anything about it and that the world will plummet to a terrible state no matter what he does. He prefers the idea of doing something he enjoys and letting the world fall where it does.

Fitz works part-time at a small second-hand store in Downtown Salem that specializes in selling haunted or occult items to tourists, getting the position because he visited so often over the years that the owner knew him by name. He took the job in the last two years, and he has a talent for either discussing knowledge he has on items or spinning stories about ones he doesn’t, both of which often work with tourists. Though it doesn’t pay well, and most of that money goes towards buying odd trinkets, Fitz is content in the job and is considering remaining there once high school is over.

Out of his parents, Fitz is much closer to his father due to their shared interest in ghosts, the supernatural and the various exhibits around Salem. Although Elwin dialled down his interest around Fitz after the incident in elementary school, once Fitz became an appropriate age again they returned to discussing ghosts and local history. Because Fitz and Elwin share interests, awkward silences are rare between them and they find it easier to converse. Elwin is also more easygoing about Fitz’s tendency towards skirts, his bisexuality, and his conspiracy theories, though with the last one he keeps an eye on it in case any of Fitz’s ideas result in more attempts at property damage.

Fitz has a more strained relationship with his mother because Ariel attempts to be more controlling of his hobbies, clothing and preferences in partners. She doesn’t outright condemn his bisexuality in conversation, but awkwardly skims over any mention of his male crushes while showing far more interest regarding girls he mentions in any context, friendship or otherwise. Ariel believes that, since Fitz started being more open about his conspiracy theories at the same time as the bisexuality and the feminine clothing, that the three qualities are somehow linked, and tries to discourage them as a package deal.

Both Elwin and Ariel have regular concerns about Fitz's conspiracy theorizing, but have different methods of dealing with it. Ariel tries to shut it down with logic, but this only ends up with her arguing in circles with him. She pries into his phone and computer on occasion if he leaves them unattended to ensure he's not looking up anything dangerous. Though she has noticed his continued research into SotF and harbors some concerns about it, she talks about it less because she has noticed the concern is less than it was during his breakdown and assumes he'll move on from it once he leaves high school. Elwin, on the other hand, looks at Fitz's openness regarding his theories and believes that he'd know if Fitz was veering into dangerous territory, and listens to Fitz when he talks to him. Elwin shares Fitz's tendency to fixate, just on different topics, and doesn't see anything wrong with it as long as Fitz gets some sun every now and again.

Fitz has a positive relationship with his older sister, Elaine. They’ve always gotten along and Elaine is, if not able to always follow Fitz’s talking, generally willing to listen to it. Their relationship has been more distant lately, due to Elaine going to college in another state followed by coronavirus occurring meaning they haven’t seen each other often in the last couple of years.

Fitz and his little brother, James, have a more antagonistic relationship, because Fitz spent most of James’ early years testing conspiracy theories on him, and at least once gotten James into trouble by proxy because James spread them around the school in turn. James has reached the age where he has learned to be more skeptical about what Fitz says. There is no bitterness between them, only annoyance.

Fitz doesn’t have a large amount of close friends, since his friendships heavily rely on shared interests, and Fitz often tries to drive people away rather than have to lose a friendship later. Despite this, Fitz manages to maintain a large amount of acquaintances due to being easy to get along with on a superficial level. He is easygoing and non-judgemental, as long as people don’t try to make him behave in a more palatable way. He can handle people disagreeing with his ideas, and enjoys a good debate on the topic, as long as the people involved can accept his behavior. The friendlier Fitz is with someone, the less likely he is to lie about stranger theories. He has quite a few friends amongst the “Student Disaster Preparedness Association” as many of them have similar concerns to his own or are otherwise considered odd.

Fitz is open about his bisexuality, having never bothered to do otherwise since he told Russell. Gender is largely irrelevant to him, either in himself or others. He has had a few brief flings or relationships over his high school years, though none of them have lasted long or gone anywhere. Though Fitz briefly considered if either his inclination towards dresses and his interest in dolls, traditionally feminine interests and qualities, meant anything regarding his gender identity, he has never identified as anything other than male.

Advantages: Fitz has a sizeable amount of knowledge about SotF which will benefit him in avoiding obvious pitfalls, such as being aware that killing too early brings negative attention from other students, and his knowledge of the rules and mechanics combined with his paranoia about it occurring has led to him considering ahead of time what he'd do in the game, enabling him to think of a course of action quicker than most once in it properly. Fitz is good at keeping a straight face while lying, and unlikely to trust others on a whim.
Disadvantages: Fitz is underweight and has few physical hobbies, and will be at a disadvantage in any situation that requires physical activity or outdoor travel. Fitz comes off as either delusional, a liar or both, which decreases the chance of people trusting him. He’s unlikely to find many allies due to mutual distrust. Fitz is not prepared for the reality of SotF, and ill-placed confidence that he knows how to respond to the situation is likely to backfire on him.

Designated Number: Student No. 047

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Designated Weapon: Walther WA 2000 (sniper rifle)

Conclusion: He's pale because he doesn't go outside, blonde. Maybe he'll be a perfect sniper if he lays down in the snow - Abby Soto