false pretense

BACKGROUND

Born in King’s Head Harbor to Donovan Blackwood and Dr. Abigail Trent. Donovan was part of the high profile Blackwood family, being the younger brother of Raymond Blackwood. Abigail hailed from a lower middle class family in Chicago and had just completed her doctoral degree at Princeton, determined to have both a career and a family. She shook things up with the Blackwood family a bit, including the refusal to change her last name after marriage, and so did Will when he came along.

The Blackwood brothers were always in competition, with Donovan being the spare to Raymond’s heir, and that was passed on to their sons. Will often competed with Nate, trying to prove that he was better than his older cousin and that the Blackwood heir was undeserving of the privileges that he had. Every time Nate messed up, Will was there to relish in it.

Abigail and Donovan mutually decided to divorce, with Abigail getting custody of Will. They relocated to Chicago when Will started high school, with her getting a tenured job at Northwestern University and Donovan remaining in Rhode Island and seeing Will on the holidays. She thought that it was healthy to separate Will from the other Blackwoods, as she saw how toxic they could be and how her ex-husband’s bitterness towards his brother was manifesting in Will’s feelings towards Nate.

Will maintained a fairly healthy distance from the Blackwood family, attending MIT and graduating with a degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering. But he didn’t ever feel like he truly belonged among his wealthier peers, so he tried not to. Instead he made some lifestyle changes so that he could relate to his less wealthy ones, such as taking up a barista job in college to “make extra money” and wearing generic clothing. But slowly, it became so much of his reality that it was how he ended up living. He did benefit from his father’s connections when it came to getting coveted internships and job offers, but he chalked it up to pure luck whenever a friend asked.

After graduation, Will got a job working as a junior software engineer for a major tech company (think Google, Amazon, Facebook etc). The pay was great, but it wasn’t something he felt fulfilled doing. After three years, he moved on to a smaller company, an environmental technology firm with an emphasis on sustainability that was based in Cambridge. It was a cause he felt connected to, and he really helped drive the company forward.

He was enjoying the life he was building for himself, at the helm of his company and pursuing a relationship with a woman who seemed like a great match for him. He heard news of Nate’s scandals back home, but was far enough removed to not care - until he wasn’t. Until Nate was named COO of Blackwood Industries in spite of everything. Even more surprising? There was a position in leadership waiting with Will’s name on it. So now he and Nate are working together and that’s going... as well as you can expect.

MISCELLANEOUS

Hates Apple products

Goes by his mother’s maiden name sometimes, even though legally he is still Will Blackwood. He’s committed to his method acting, but not enough to spend hours legally changing his name

Enjoys a whiskey neat, but also down for beer

Lives in a one-bedroom apartment in Bayside Bluffs that is in desperate need of some TLC, but he finds it charming

A regular at Keysmash, whether to enjoy drinks or challenge someone to arcade games

Trashy reality TV is his guilty pleasure

Surprisingly good at archery

WANTED CONNECTIONS

Girlfriend - I’ll probably put in a wanted connection for this one hehe but it’s a new relationship, they made it official just a couple months ago. She doesn’t know exactly who he is though, and Nate may be a little too eager to get his cousin back for years of tormenting him by sabotaging this relationship and letting this woman “meet the family” in a way of his own...

Coworkers - Will works in tech, he used to work in greentech and now he works for Blackwood Industries. If your muse may have worked at either place, that’s an option!

Schoolmates - Will went to high school in Chicago, and then to MIT

Neighbors - He lives in the bluffs despite being able to afford Winter Pearl Bay. But of course, not many people know this about him