Billy DeFeo

[Billy]

NAME: Billy Robert DeFeo.
NICKNAMES: Bill is one of the only names you can really derive from his given name, and he isn’t a fan of it in the least. He hates being called William, since he was called Billy by his mother at birth and some people just don’t seem to grasp that simple concept; he’s quick to correct if anyone tries to call him William. He responds to his surname just as readily as he does to his given name, and in his line of work that’s a frequent occurrence. He has a small collection of other, more quirky nicknames, relating to anything from his extensive knowledge of movies and trivia to his collection of cameras.
RACE: Werewolf; pureborn.
OCCUPATION: Rogue; indie filmmaker, and freelance cameraman. Billy will work for others if he likes the sound of the project, but mostly he focuses on his own ideas. He makes short films and has a few full-length features to his name, and he’s even shot a few documentaries and commercials in his time. He’s not a big name in the industry, and honestly he likes it that way. It means he can continue to do what he likes and not feel pressured in any way.
GENDER: Male.
SKIN COLOUR: Caucasian with an olive hue that hints at European roots somewhere in his bloodline.
NATIONALITY: American.
AGE: 175 years old, but physically he looks to be in his twenties; really it depends on what he’s done with his hair at any given time, and what he’s wearing, as to just how old he could pass for.
CLOTHING: Casual is the best way to sum up Billy’s style, and so long as he’s comfortable and he can move around freely and easily then he’s good to go. He doesn’t really go in for anything too tidy or elaborate, and while he wears colours and clothes that compliment not only his lean frame but also his colouring, that doesn’t mean he puts a lot of thought into his attire at any given time. He’s just as likely to pick yesterday’s shirt off the floor as he is to dig something out of his closet, and some days he’ll lounge around his apartment for hours in whatever he went to bed wearing. All this aside, Billy manages to look reasonably well put together at any given time; he never looks sloppy even when he’s wearing a t-shirt and loose button down over the top. He’ll wear sneakers or scuffed boots, and he owns several pairs of both; you’re much more likely to find him in full pants than shorts, but these vary just as widely between jeans and slacks and cargo pants; he never really needs to wear sweatshirts, but he has more than a few hoodies in his closet that he’s fond of, but he’s just as likely to wear the aforementioned t-shirt-button-down combo, just a t-shirt, or even a button-down by itself if he’s feeling particularly tidy on any given day. Many of his t-shirts have slogans or bands on them, and he has a wide collection of movie shirts. For those rare times when Billy needs to be presentable, he has suit pants and jackets, and even a few ties; he’s not fond of dressing up this way, but sometimes there’s just no getting around it; he cleans up pretty well, but that’s just not who he is normally. Jackets aren’t really as important for lycanthropes as they are for humans, but Billy has a few different ones, from the simple zip-up variety with pockets and a hood, to a black leather jacket.
HEIGHT: 5’10.
WEIGHT: 165lbs.
TATTOOS: None.
PIERCINGS: None.
JEWELLERY: Around his neck Billy wears a black cord necklace with a wolf’s head pendant; he never takes it off, and after so many years wearing it he would feel more than a little lost without it. He also wears a simple wristwatch most of the time, though when he’s in the comfort of his own home it isn’t unusual for him to remove it.

BODY MODIFICATIONS: Billy isn’t the type to engage in physical altercations if there’s another option available to him. As a result of this he has very few scars, certainly none worth any sort of attention. What few he does have are small and Billy can’t remember how he acquired them.

WOLF FORM.

BUILD: Billy’s animal form is built very much like that of a wolf in the wild, the proportions are similar and at a quick glance he could even be mistaken as such. His back legs are a little stockier than that of a regular wolf, his front similar in shape to a man’s on close inspection, his ears are taller and slimmer, and his tail is more like that of a tiger or other large cat instead of bushy and brush-like. Compact and short-snouted his head is very similar to that of a wild wolf, his jaws packed with sharp teeth. His wolf form is toned and built more for speed and agility than it is for strength, he has to rely on his manoeuvrability and his reflexes in order to get him out of trouble, but like all wolves he can throw his weight around. He just doesn’t have a lot to throw around. His forepaws are more like human hands than they are an animal’s paws, there’s more dexterity there and even a thumb-like digit to help him with his grip. His hind paws are larger and stronger, along with his muscular hind legs they give him a lot of power for running and launching himself forward or upward, whether it be in fight or flight. Because he lacks the joint and length in his hind legs to facilitate bipedal movement, Billy’s wolf form is strictly quadruped, a limitation he more than makes up for with his speed and agility.
HEIGHT: Quadruped; 4’3.
WEIGHT: 247lbs.
HAIR: Covering his entire body in a relatively short coat, Billy’s fur is mostly grey, though the shades vary throughout. Across his back and down the front of his forelegs he has black stripes, not unlike those found on a tiger; they also mark his ears and the top of his neck, and run the length of his tail. His underbelly and the underside of his throat are covered in white fur, as are the insides of his legs. His most distinguishing feature are the hackles that line his back, standing much taller than those found on most wolves and making him seem much larger; they spread to around a third of the way down his tail and reach up to between his ears. Billy also has rings of darker fur around his eyes, making his wolf form very distinct and unmistakable.
EYES: Near-white in their entirety, an eerie and unsettling effect at best.
DEFINING MARKS: His striking colouration and tall hackles, his long and thick tail, and his human-like forelegs and hand-like paws.

PACK.
PACK: None.
POSITION: None.
TERRITORY: None.

HAIR.
LENGTH: Several inches at its longest and a centimetre or two at its shortest, Billy’s hair is what most would call long for a male. When hanging freely it frames his face at the sides and could easily fall in his eyes if he didn’t push it back. In the past he has allowed his hair to grow long enough to brush his shoulders, but he has never let it get any longer than that. It brushes his neck at the back and covers his ears at the sides, unless he tucks it back to keep it out of the way, which he does frequently, usually without thinking. In the past he has cut it short, seemingly on a whim, and there is nothing to say he won’t do so again in the future if the urge strikes him.
STYLE: Loose and somewhat scruffy, Billy’s hair is rarely tamed or well-presented. Usually he just runs a brush through it in the morning -- or his fingers -- and goes about his business without a second thought as to how it looks. There is the faintest trace of a curl to his hair, but it is so loose that most people don’t even notice it.
COLOUR: Black. Under bright lights it can look brown, but in general it is much too dark normally.

FACIAL HAIR.
LENGTH: A few millimetres at most, rarely more than the bare minimum after a couple of days without shaving. A majority of the time Billy prefers to remain clean-shaven. It’s less hassle to shave every day as opposed to maintaining some sort of style when it comes to facial hair.
STYLE: When he has any, it’s only really stubble around his jaw, chin, and upper lip. Usually he’s clean-shaven.

EYES.
COLOUR: Brown.
ODDITIES: Like all werewolves, Billy can change the colour of his eyes from that of his human side to that of his wolf whenever he chooses to do so, whether to tease, taunt, or intimidate, or to prove that he is no mere mortal. This change can also be provoked by heightened emotions, whether they be shock, pain, or anger, or anything in between.

PERSONALITY: When people get their first look at Billy they tend to underestimate him. A lot. He isn’t much physically and he tends to have hair a little longer than the norm and wear clothes that you wouldn’t be caught dead wearing to any sort of high-end establishment. Most people take him for an uneducated and unmotivated youth, the type who will never really get anywhere or accomplish anything. Billy doesn’t care in the least if people see him this way, he’s laid back and indifferent enough about the opinions of others that he doesn’t even see or hear such criticisms about his appearance. He’s not here to make that sort of impression, at least that’s the way he sees it, at the end of the day it’s his films he wants people to see, not him. That’s why he prefers to be on the other side of the camera. He isn’t shy or meek or embarrassed in the least, he’s simply about as far from vain as you can get, he doesn’t get caught up in impressions the way others might. Billy has gone through life not letting the thoughts and opinions of others get him down and he’s not about to start now.

Much smarter than he looks and deeply insightful, Billy tends to see things that others might overlook and that gives him something of an edge. He has a good eye for detail and keen observational skills, he isn’t the sort to miss the little things that others might write off as unimportant. When it comes to his films and the entire process he leaves no stone unturned essentially, he takes care of as much of it all as he can by himself. It isn’t that he doesn’t trust others, simply that he has been independent and self-sufficient for so long that he trusts himself more than he trusts anyone else. It’s never anything personal, Billy isn’t the sort to be spiteful or childish, and while he can hold a grudge if he has been wronged he understands the way the world works and has long since come to accept that some things simply cannot be put right or taken back. Realistic and sensible, with a good head on his shoulders, Billy sees the world for what it is and doesn’t give in to flights of fantasy or senseless naïve optimism. Just because he has a very colourful and vivid imagination that doesn’t mean he’s ignorant to reality, he doesn’t make films to escape the real world but instead to put something good and beautiful back into it any way he can, if possible.

Creative and curious, intrigued by patterns, shapes, colours, and interesting lighting in any space at any time, Billy is also somewhat stubborn. Once he’s gotten started on something he has a hard time letting go before it’s finished, he has to see things through and once he gets his teeth into something complex then he absolutely has to work it out. He’s like a dog with a bone in this respect, he cannot let go of things, leaving things half-finished is unbearable for him and many times over the years he has worked clean through the night and into the early hours of the next day just to finish editing or cutting or any other task related to the filmmaking process. On some level he always has to be busy, thinking through the next challenge before it has even presented itself or already coming up with his next project while still halfway through his current one. Billy hates having nothing to do and he isn’t all that big a fan of sitting still and doing nothing. If he’s watching a movie then he’s perfectly content to sit still but otherwise he at least needs to have something to engage his mind and as such it isn’t all that unusual to see him with a notebook and a pen so he can scribble down thoughts and ideas or anything else that might occur to him at any given moment.

Loyal and compassionate, Billy is a good friend to have at your back if things go awry, he goes out of his way to help those close to him and he hates to let people down if he thinks they need him. As it is Billy doesn’t have friends so much as he has associates and contacts in the filmmaking world, he has been building a network for years now and there’s always someone he can call if he needs help with any of his projects. Billy doesn’t have the easiest time bonding with people despite that deeply rooted sense of compassion and loyalty, wolfen traits that have been with him since birth. He has been on his own for so long now that he has gotten used to it in a way, he has learned how to take care of himself, how to get by in a world that is always changing and evolving around him and will continue to do so for the rest of his life. Billy is adaptable and resourceful, good at using his initiative and most certainly creative enough to get himself out of any jam he might find himself in the middle of. It has occurred to him in the past that he could always join a pack but he has never been in one and it isn’t so much distrust or wariness that keeps him away as much as it is a sort of desire to maintain his independence and self-sufficiency, two traits that have been serving him well for a long time now. Why change that?

WEAKNESSES: Silver is a werewolf’s greatest weakness and Billy is no exception to that rule, in close proximity it will nauseate and weaken him, contact with the metal will burn and potentially scar his flesh, and should the metal find a way into his bloodstream then he would essentially be poisoned, possibly fatally if the infection reaches his brain, heart, or lungs. Given that he has always been more about evading and using his agility than direct confrontation, Billy is far from the most experienced fighter you will ever come across, leaving him at a distinct disadvantage should things turn violent. He’s much more likely to rely on his wolfen speed and manoeuvrability than any sort of ferocity he has at his disposal. He’ll throw a punch if he has to, even resort to using his claws and fangs in wolf form, but he doesn’t have the experience to really do any lasting damage or overpower an opponent who is anything other than mortal. Even then Billy doesn’t have much in the way of weight to throw around, he isn’t a big guy and as such doesn’t have a great deal of muscle on his side.

Some might call his status as a rogue a weakness, he has no support system around him, but Billy doesn’t see it that way. The fact that he doesn’t have many legitimate friends to his name, on the other hand, could be problematic should he need help. He has one friend he would trust with his life but that’s it, there’s only that single person he could rely on in a crisis and while people might wonder where he disappeared to should the worst happen there aren’t many at all who would genuinely miss him. That one person he trusts, Mia Gillespie, is a weakness in her own right, Billy cares about her a great deal and would do anything for her if she needed him, in whatever capacity. Mia is the only person he has truly connected with in a long time and he has grown so close to her now that the idea of losing her fills him with a cold kind of terror.

Billy is a curious and driven individual, not the sort of person to easily let go of things once he’s gotten a taste of something interesting. This tenacity has gotten him into some close calls before and will very likely do so again in the future. Billy simply cannot drop something if he’s picked it up, he has to see it through to the end regardless of any risk that might be involved. His curiosity and keen observation combined with his intelligence make it very easy for him to pick up on things other people miss or overlook and write off as unimportant, Billy can pick up on little tells in people that they don’t even realise they possess and that could get him into trouble with dangerous people if he isn’t careful. Despite the fact that he isn’t at all suited to self-defence, Billy isn’t a coward. Even if he was backed into a corner with no hope of getting out of a situation he wouldn’t roll over and give up. He’ll try to find some way out even if it ends up being futile, little more than wasted time and effort. His mother taught him that giving up is never the answer and he certainly took that lesson to heart. Billy doesn’t give up, no matter the odds.

ABILITIES: As a werewolf Billy possesses all the same perks as the others of his kind: heightened strength, speed, stamina, endurance, pain threshold, and agility; enhanced senses and healing factor; he can leap to, from, and across great distances without penalty so long as he braces himself; and of course he can transform into his animal form at any time. At his age Billy has control of his wolf side during the peak of the lunar cycle, though there are times when that control is a little shaky. He worked very hard to get control but it isn’t perfect yet. However, he’s a calm and composed individual, not the sort to lose his cool easily, he can keep his head in a crisis and he thinks things through very well, all of which help towards keeping his animal side contained where it might otherwise rise up and take charge in order to see him through a tough situation.

Obviously, as a filmmaker, Billy is very creative and artistic, he has a good eye and a way of seeing things others do not. If he’s not scribbling down notes and little details and ideas then he’s roughly sketching something out. He’s much more talented when it comes to moving pictures, obviously, but he isn’t too bad when it comes to handling a pen or pencil and creating a rough outline of things. He’s very tech savvy, he can cut and edit and tweak his own films himself in the comfort of his own home and he has a fair amount of complex and intricate equipment in his apartment that would completely baffle most people when it came to its use and function. Billy is just as skilled when it comes to still photography and before the technology was created to allow for films he made a living from the pictures he could get with a still camera. Just because he prefers making films that doesn’t mean he has moved completely away from photography, he still dabbles and experiments and is usually carrying a camera with him wherever he goes. Before making a name for himself as a filmmaker Billy worked as a cameraman and he is extremely familiar with their workings, whether they be the standard that can be carried on the shoulder or set upon a rig for stability, or a Steadicam. Suffice to say Billy knows his way around cameras and their workings and you’d be hard pressed to find one he can’t operate.

Some years ago Billy picked up playing the guitar as a hobby, a way to keep his hands and his mind busy when he didn’t have anything else to occupy his time. Over the years he grew increasingly fond of it and nowadays he always has one in his apartment within easy reach should he need to distract himself and take a break from his work. That doesn’t happen often but sometimes he just likes to play to pass time. He can also sing, and well at that, with or without music to accompany him. Obviously considering he has lived along for so long Billy is very good at taking care of himself, highly independent and self-sufficient, able to cook and carry out household repairs, even sew should the need arise. Outside of a domestic setting he can take care of himself just as well, his mother saw to it that he could build a fire and catch his own food should he ever need to.

WEAPONS: Billy doesn’t believe in carrying weapons, he isn’t really a fighter so would much rather avoid confrontation. If a situation turned volatile and he had no other choice he would rely on his wolf form to defend himself.

PRIZED POSSESSIONS: The necklace Billy wears was given to him by his mother when he was young, and belonged to his father before he was killed; it means a great deal to Billy as a result, and he never goes anywhere without it. He has an extensive collection of cameras spanning many decades, and a great deal of them still work; some of them are still photograph cameras and others are for recording films. These cameras, and the films to go with them, are probably worth a small fortune, but Billy would never dream of selling them. His chosen vehicle might strike some as a little strange, but in the city of Los Angeles there are no doubt much more peculiar modes of transport. Billy owns a VW bus, which is normal enough in and of itself, but the paint job is another story; some time ago Billy decided to get the vehicle painted like the Mystery Machine of Scooby Doo fame, and he’s never looked back. Sure, he might get some strange looks when he parks in a busy lot, but as it turns out a lot of people actually appreciate the sight.

HOME(S): Billy owns an apartment on Isabella Valdez’s side of the city. Like most of the werewolves in Los Angeles, Billy is well aware of the territory lines. The second bedroom in his apartment has been converted to a sort of studio in which Billy personally does the majority of his cutting and editing -- and any other post-production -- work.

HISTORY: Billy was the only child born to Raina DeFeo, a lone she-wolf, in Barre, Vermont. Raina had lost her mate during her pregnancy to hunters who had been trailing the pair. Robert had doubled back in order to lead them away from his mate and never returned. Raina never saw him again and knew better than to risk the life of her child after her mate had sacrificed himself in order to ensure both mother and baby would have a fighting chance. Raina managed to reach a town before her son came and as such she wasn’t alone during his birth, though she didn’t stay among the humans for long after getting some much-needed rest. She and her newborn son needed to keep on the move and even though she knew she was taking a risk in travelling so soon after the birth she had to put more distance between herself and the hunters who might still be on her tail. It was weeks before she felt comfortable enough to slow down and even try to settle but eventually she did, finally allowing herself to focus on raising her son as well as protecting him.

Growing up without a father never struck Billy as strange, his mother told him all about Robert and though he was raised with a keen understanding of the older male and just what he had given up to ensure his son’s survival, the young boy could not mourn for someone he had never known. It only pained him to see his mother upset when his father came up in some sense, and Billy would always do anything and everything in his power to keep her mind off those sorts of things, much preferring the sight of her smile and the sound of her laugh.

The pair remained in Vermont for some time, occasionally picking up and moving to another town or at least the outskirts of one where they felt safe and comfortable. It wasn’t until Billy was around forty years of age that the pair decided to cross the state line altogether and finally leave the place behind them once and for all. There was no great catalyst for the change, Raina simply decided it was time to move along and so they did. Billy didn’t argue with the change, he was curious about everything and the chance to see new things and meet -- however briefly -- new people intrigued him too much to pass up. So he followed his mother as they moved around, though this time the distances they travelled between new residences was greater, they put even more distance behind them each time, and it wasn’t for several years that Billy picked up on why.

Someone was following them. Raina became increasingly restless and agitated, even borderline paranoid, and quite without warning one day she simply disappeared. Billy waited for hours for her to return but she never did, he waited and waited to no avail until finally he couldn’t take it anymore and he ventured out of the safety of their little house and into the woods not far from their home. Tracking her scent was easy enough at first but the further into the woods he got the more confused the trail became, crossing itself and seeming to disappear altogether in places where Raina had seemingly climbed a tree and used the higher branches to leap from perch to perch in order to throw someone off her scent. In the distance Billy heard the baying of hounds and it was towards this sound that he picked his way through the woods until he was close enough to see and hear without been seen and heard in return, making sure to stay downwind so the dogs wouldn’t pick up on his scent.

Being downwind allowed him to pick up on their scents well enough, the dogs and the men who handled them and whatever it was that had them all so fascinated. It was the scent of his mother, more specifically his mother’s blood, that made Billy realise what had happened. Raina had made sure her son knew all about the dangers of hunters when he was younger, Billy knew they had been responsible for his father’s death, knew that there was every possibility they might be tracked down again. Rogue wolves were much easier to pick off than pack wolves, they had moved from place to place hoping to throw off anyone who might pick up on the little signs that they were anything but human. It had worked for them for so long that Billy had allowed himself to believe they were okay, that his mother would not lose her life as his father had, that they could just go on living their lives peacefully and quietly. That was the last time Billy allowed himself to be so ignorant.

His mother was dead. Even without getting close enough to see her body with his own eyes Billy knew that much, there was no doubt about it with the men’s behaviour and the amount of blood he could smell on the air. Before they could catch sight or scent of him as well he turned and fled back to the small home he had been sharing with his mother, wasting no time in doing so and gathering only what he needed before he left the area completely. For days on end he travelled without stopping for more than a few hours at a time, hitching rides with other travellers as and when he could and taking shelter only when absolutely necessary. It exhausted him, so much travel and so little rest, even werewolves needed sleep and food and soon enough Billy found he simply couldn’t go any further. So he stopped, even let himself settle somewhat, taking the time to recover from the loss and the tiresome journey that had come in its wake.

For several years Billy only stayed in one place for a short amount of time, picking up and moving along after a month, two at the most, and repeating the whole process all over again. It was tiring and lonely, Billy had gotten so used to his mother’s company that being alone was jarring and uncomfortable for him but he had always been able to adapt to new surroundings and other changes in his life and he would simply have to do so again. After a time he was simply going through the motions, living from day to day on little jobs wherever he could find them without forming attachments along the way. It suited him well enough, the nomadic lifestyle, but as the years went by he began to spend more and more time in one place before packing up and moving along again. Slowly but surely Billy was losing the will to travel so much, growing tired of it, on some level simply wanting a place to call his own. To call home.

It was in New York that Billy fell in love with photography, and from there the art of filmmaking. One inevitably -- and understandably -- led into the other. From the first time Billy held a camera he was fascinated, unable to stop dabbling and experimenting, picking up new trends and tricks as time went on, changing with the industry and falling deeper and deeper in love with the process along the way. Before long he was well and truly obsessed, always wanting to try new things, learn more and evolve as the technology did. Every time something new came out he was quick to try it, adapting it to suit his needs or setting it aside if he didn’t like it, which was rare. Billy was resourceful, he could find a use for just about anything if given the time and space to be creative.

Billy continued to move from place to place but after finding a passion, a career, it was only when he needed to cover his lack of aging that he did so, when he had been in one place so long that people started to notice he wasn’t changing physically. That allowed him to put down roots in different places over the years as he went from job to job, from photographer to cameraman, starting out in television when news stations started to rely more and more on-site reporting. It was only a matter of time before he started experimenting in the production of his own films and that was when Billy really fell in love.

When he started making his own films, starting out sensibly in short films as independent filmmakers usually do, it made sense to move somewhere better suited to the process. Los Angeles was the only choice really and for years now Billy had been intrigued by the place anyway so it was the smartest move. It was in Los Angeles that he really hit his stride and started to make a name for himself in the indie circuit, impressing the right people and attracting much more positive attention than bad. There was interest and good feedback and Billy became increasingly comfortable and confident, building a network of other like-minded people around him, always working on one project or another.

It was through filmmaking that he met Mia Gillespie, another rogue wolf who seemed to have no intention of joining either of the large established packs in the city. Quite by chance she happened to stroll into the background of one of his shots and at first he had every intention of asking her to move along but soon enough they were talking instead, each one interested by the other. There was a wariness to her that was to be expected, rogue wolves had to be careful as he knew full well, but there was something about her that intrigued him. So, naturally, when their paths crossed again, this time on set in a busy building in the heart of the city, he was pleased to get the chance to talk to her a little more. Their second encounter was much more comfortable, with a purpose -- she had come in to deliver a package and drawn plenty of attention in doing so; standing on a polished table and announcing her presence and the intended recipient of the package she held loudly and boldly is bound to turn a lot of heads -- she seemed much more relaxed and the two started to hit it off in earnest.

Things progressed from there, naturally and comfortably, and Mia soon became one of the only people in Billy’s life he could call a true friend. In a way each of them filled a hole in the other’s life, wolves are not solitary creatures by nature and on some level they craved the company of their own kind. They had each other now, at least, and that suited them just fine.

Billy has been in the city for several years now, making more of a name for himself and by now he has more than established himself as a talented filmmaker and cameraman, always willing to try new things in the industry and work on whatever projects catch his interest, whether they’re someone else’s or his own.