#freebat

Billy is homeless by choice. Mostly due to being almost constantly adopted into bad families (boy just has the worst luck). Billy prefers to remain homeless out of the fear that at some point he won't be able to get away from an abusive family. And is absolutely terrified of cops because they tend to take one look at him and toss him in the system or call him a lost cause and try to send him to juvie. Billy does work for Wiz Radio mostly as a result of magical shenanigans i.e Wiz is run by the magical community of Fawcett City. Oh, Billy isn't a big fan of being Cap, I don't know how else to describe it as other than Uncanny Valley for the kid and the fear that he'll end up like Black Adam.

He and Freddy aren't even remotely related familially! Freddy is just some random kid his age that he became close friends with due to mutual loneliness and love of causing problems. Freddy's disability was a result of parental abuse were one of them broke his leg and it was just never properly handled so it just didn't set right. A teacher noticed this and had him placed into her protective custody until his parent was arrested and he had to be placed in foster care due to her inability to meet his needs. He currently lives with Victor and Rosa's family. The other family's backstory remains mostly the same.

Tawky Tawny is a fae trickster two pulled a prank on the wrong person (Titania) and as a result was cursed into the form of a stuffed tiger keychain. Currently he's Billy's familiar as a sort of parole/attempt to prove he's learned his lesson. He was a close friend of The Wizard for a few centuries and is teaching Billy the ins and outs of his inherited role as the Champion of Magic.

Magic lore

The Shazam acronym is as follows:

Sovereignty of Hera

Guidance of Hecate

Council of Athena

Power of Zeus

Fury of Ares

Momentum of Hermes

I always thought it was weird that Capt. Marvel got his power from multiple theological origins unlike Black Adam who was exclusively Egyptian. It was also weird that The Champion of Magic didn't have Hecate as one of his patrons, given her authority as the goddess of magic. I also like the idea the that Billy is beloved by the gods and has multiple blessings outside of the Champion. Like Artemis gave him an understanding of wild creatures and Dionysus making his mind harder to read. Billy is essentially a cryptid due to this, but with magic and a desire to start shit for the hell of it. I have this idea that each member of The Council of Wizards had their own champion and pantheon to draw from. Shazam obviously has the Greek pantheon, but the others had the Norse, Egyptian, Shinto, ect.

Capt. Marvel's duty is less about fighting bad guys and more along the lines of diplomacy, fixing what Black Adam caused. Helping magical communities to coexist and preventing magical threats that could potentially harm both the normal and mystic communities. Also the whole custodian of the Rock of Eternity thing. The Rock itself being a multiversal conduit for all magic does possess a limited form of sentience and will send members of the Shazamily to different realities for various reasons. The Rock tends to send them to those that aren't magically inclined often so a problem gets solved before they are able to return. It's next to impossible to open gates to The Rock in a reality that isn't magically inclined it becomes more difficult at best to return. The same it true for attempting to enter any other dimension i.e The Fae Wilds. I've always enjoyed the nuance of 'my job isn't to punch people, it's to help them.'

The Council of Wizards imposed rules on the Rock's interference;

1)The Rock is forbidden to speak.

2)The Rock is forbidden from taking physical form.

3)The Rock is forbidden to reveal any knowledge unknown to The Champion in any form.

4)The Rock is forbidden from most forms of physical interference (No moving doors)

This can only be rectified if the Council no longer holds control over the rock. Disbandment, forcible removal, or death without an heir.

Physical appearance HC

Billy has lichtenberg figure scars that are weirdly localized, the entire Shazamily does, Billy just has the most. The largest one is on his back starting from the nape of his neck and spreading out at his shoulder blades, he shares this scar with Mary. Freddy and Billy share a scar on Freddy's bum leg, this one going up from the foot to the knee. Darla's scar is on his right hand rising from the palm to the elbow. Pedro's is the left, it starts at the shoulder and ends midway to the hand. Eugene's is on the right leg starting at the mid thigh and ending at the achilles heel. The first scar Billy got is a circle around his heart that spreads across his chest like tree roots, it has no match.

The Champions all share variants of the same costume design (with one exception). Togas with pants, golden braces and boots. They still have the capes (I like those) and the togas match the color scheme with some extra personalization (sans Billy). Mary has the favor of Athena so her's is more armored than normal (and white). Freddy has Hermes so he has sandals instead of boots and his cape is smaller. Eugene is in full on spartan battle armor (Oops all Ares). Darla has a tiara and a longer skirt section. Pedro has the favor of Zeus so his outfit has streaks of charring similar to lightning. They all still have the thunder bolt thing in their chests it's just more obvious that it's a physical part of them.

Now on to my personal fav. Billy is transmasc. I don't know why but I like it. Additionally, Billy is pansexual and has had a lot of boyfriends and girlfriends none of them ended up being what he wanted, leading to a feeling of something being wrong with him. Freddy is gay but thought he was straight for the longest time. I'm just gonna preface this by saying Billy and Freddy being foster siblings is new and they used to just be friends and that is more interesting to me than just siblings. I don't have any strong feelings about the ship, it's fine, I think the potential of a close friendship developing into a close romantic relationship is much more interesting than enemies to lovers. So that's my standing.