Name: Waylen "Way" James Markham
Age: 24
Gender: Cis man
Sexuality: Bi, tends to prefer men
Appearance: Waylen is about 5'6", so while he is nowhere near tall or even average, he also isn't super tiny. He has dark brown, wavy hair, that is often left unstyled to hang into his forehead. It isn't very long, though it used to be much longer. He is usually clean shaven, but occasionally has a bit of scruff on his jawline and chin. He is white, with a light tan and faint freckles on his cheekbones and arms. His eyes are a hazel green tone, usually looking more green, but sometimes brown instead, depending on the lighting and what he's wearing. He has a tattoo sleeve on his left arm, and a few other tattoos scattered around his body. His ears are pierced, and he also has a cartilage piercing on his right ear, and an eyebrow piercing. His clothing style is definitely more grunge than anything else, though he can clean up nice if he wants to. Has a scar just below the right side of his ribcage from when he got stabbed by a knife in a fight. Has an old scar in his left shoulder where he was shot as a child.
Personality: Tiny asshole man. Okay, just kidding (kind of?). Waylen can definitely be very stubborn and competitive and willful, and will often dig his heels in and refuse to do something out of pure, unadulterated spite. He is kind towards some people, but mainly is a prickly cactus a lot of the time. Has a lot of stage presence, and smiles easily. Also fights easily, though, so I guess it balances out. Can and will hold a grudge for years. Loves music, and will often hum under his breath, or tap out a beat with his fingers. Often writes scraps of songs on whatever he can get his hands on, and his music composition book is full of pasted-in scraps. He smokes when he's anxious/worried/upset.
Strengths: Can and will fight you (is that a strength? Or a weakness??). Good at reading a crowd.
Weaknesses: Needs reading glasses but, being the stubborn ass that he is, refuses to wear them around anyone else. Can and will fight you.
Likes: Warmth. Music, both playing it and listening to it. Exploring/wandering. Cuddling. Sex. Cigarettes. Alcohol. Shakespeare.
Dislikes: Expectations. Gunshots. Being cold. Being lied to. Thunder. Fireworks.
Background: Waylen is the youngest of three, with an older sister and an older brother. He comes from a pretty wealthy family, with very high expectations for their children. Waylen is definitely the wayward son, in this family, and he knows it. His sister is a very successful lawyer, while his brother is well on his way to becoming CEO of a company, while Waylen is barely scraping by, with a "useless" degree in music and the arts. Waylen is technically only a half-sibling to his older siblings. His mother, Marie Grace (she kept her maiden name through all of her marriages) was married first to one man, Connor Townsend, and had two children with him; Hannah and Markus. Connor died in a car accident, and two years later, Marie remarried, this time to a man named Thomas Markham. Waylen was born a year later, and for a while, everything was fine. One summer, though, Hannah and Markus had been sent to live with their paternal grandparents. These grandparents had not invited Waylen along since he wasn't Connor's son; he didn't care. It just meant he got more attention from his parents, now that he didn't have any older siblings around to steal their attention. Thomas Markham, however, had struggled for years with his mental health. Waylen, at five years old, was unaware of this. All he knew was that he loved his father. But this summer, Thomas snapped, threatening Marie with a gun and holding Waylen hostage in the family's penthouse for nearly a week after forcing Marie to leave. When one of the bodyguards tried to get to the little boy, Thomas shot the bodyguard. Thankfully, the man survived, but Waylen had been watching when it happened. Had been watching the whole time. When the police finally managed to get in, Thomas shot wildly, and one of the stray bullets hit Waylen in the shoulder. Ever since then, the sound of gunshots brings back a lot of terrifying memories of that time. Thunder and fireworks sound very similar to gunshots, and so he avoids those too. Thomas committed suicide rather than allow the police to bring him in, shooting himself in the head with the same gun he had been using throughout the week. After that, the family sold the penthouse and moved somewhere else. Waylen has been in therapy since then, as he still has repressed memories from that week that he can't quite remember, and isn't sure he wants to, either. As he got older, he started to get into fights with other kids, much to the anger of his mother. He was at first encouraged in his pursuit of music, since both of his older siblings had done it as a side hobby while pursuing their respective professions. For Waylen, however, this "hobby" soon became his passion and the only thing he pursued, pouring more and more of his time and concentration into it, which led to his grades in other things suffering. He didn't care, though, Marie, his mother, did. She tried everything she could to get him to devote more time and attention to other things. She remarried when he was 10, and this husband never liked Waylen all that much, since Waylen was always so much of a problem child. As a result, this husband, David Arkham, encouraged Marie just to cut him off. When Waylen came out to them as bi, he was told that while some curiosity about other men was perfectly fine and normal, he would not be allowed to engage in a relationship with another man while living under his family's roof. When he told them he was going to go to college for music, they (his mother and David) told him that they would not pay for such a frivolous endeavour. So he moved out and paid his own way through college, and hasn't touched a cent from them since he was 17. Both he, and they, would view it as him surrendering to their expectations, which would mean stifling both his sexuality and his music. He'd rather make barely any money and scrape by than surrender to their expectations. He has little to no contact with anyone in his family, except for Hannah, who occasionally calls to check in on him and make sure he's alright.
Other: ~
(I hope he's alright?)
