Clyde Miller

The Childhood Friend

18

Male

Clyde West Allis Miller, named for the city his parents married in. He tells everyone that his middle name is William.

• There was a point in middle school where kids would call him "Clyde Piper" (in reference to how he led Jude Revol on the trip into the woods that ended with Jude being mauled), but then everyone sort of collectively realized how ridiculous the nickname sounded and stopped.


• The town librarian Miss Hayes--knowing his interest in things related to his namesake--half-jokingly calls him "baby dumbbell" in reference to the nickname given to Clyde Barrow and his fellow escapees in a botched prison escape.

Uses his uncle's name whenever he needs a fake name.

Clyde

Warm, Friendly

Clyde

West Allis

Milwaukee County town named for Edward P. Allis

West Al-liss

Miller

One Who Grinds Grain

Mil-ler

Clyde's parents named him for the town he was born in (West Allis, WI), partly for sentimental value and partly because they didn't bother to think of anything else.

Human

Short and wiry

A bit below average

Light, some freckles

5'5"

Light brown

Brown

Tousled and a bit overlong.

During one trip to an abandoned building with Jane Finch, Clyde and Jane are nearly caught and end up hiding in the attic. The person below shoots up into the attic, and one bullet takes the big toe of Clyde's right foot clean off, leaving him with a limp and issues balancing.

• His height (or lack thereof)


• His ears (fairly prominent)


• Small stick-and-poke tattoo of a finch on the inside of his right ankle


• Has a faint scar on the left side of his head; it's covered by his hair for the most part though

Clyde is laid-back and clever, though he doesn't apply himself, and is generally easygoing. Has a tendency to brush off questions about how he's doing and derail the conversation so it doesn't go there. He has to fight for what he has and usually spends the night in abandoned buildings. He's used to fending for himself and not having anyone to rely on, save for Jane Finch, who was often states away. He's stubborn and fiercely loyal to his friends, often putting himself in harm's way to defend them. He's been told his entire like that he won't amount to anything and he's internalized that, giving him the mentality that most people don't care about him as a person and only care about what he can do for them and did the same with the idea that he brings bad luck to those around him. He sees himself as a burden and fears that others see him as a charity case, misconstruing genuine desire to keep him safe with people just wanting to feel good about helping the poor kid that they otherwise don't care about.
He's an outcast at school and at home, and all of his deepest fears are made true by his uncle, who routinely tells him that no one really cares about him and that he won't amount to anything, even going as far as to abuse him and then berate him for not feeling comfortable living at that house. He doesn't trust easily but when he does, he does so fiercely.
He has a lot of internalized homophobia; he was bullied in school for a few things (namely his father's poor reputation, what happened in the woods, his height, and being seen as "bad luck") but the biggest one was that when he was around ten he mentioned having feelings for Jane Finch, who had yet to come out and was still presenting as male (and, due to her shy demeanor, scrawny build, and long hair, was also assumed to be gay by her classmates). That one comment--plus the time he and Jane spent together--fueled nearly eight years of homophobic bullying that pushed Clyde much further into the closet than he would've been. His friendship and complicated feelings for Everett Monroe force Clyde to confront the fact that he's also attracted to men, something he initially struggles to come to terms with before accepting it. The tangled net of feelings between Clyde, Jane, and Everett is eventually resolved with a polyamorous relationship once Everett returns from his travels.

• Generally pretty lax stance, but he tenses up when he's on-edge or when someone bumps into/touches him out of the blue


• After losing his right big toe, he shifts his stance to be more left-leg heavy and has a limp


• Nervous tic of running his hand through his hair and pushing it back from his face

Repairing cars, breaking and entering. He thinks he's a good thief, but in reality people mostly turn a blind eye to him out of guilt. Speaks passable French.

To get out of Aden

Car repair, exploring the woods, doing odd jobs. When he has time to read, it's either superhero comics or nonfiction about well-known criminals (but hey, what else do you do when your dad names you after one of the most infamous bank robbers in American history?)

Stubborn, snarky, cocky. Oh, and the whole "thief" thing. He absolutely hates being seen as vulnerable and always feels like he's a burden on others. Internalized guilt over what happened to Jude Revol. Tends to expect the worst from everyone, especially the townspeople who suspected that he was being abused and didn't do anything to help, and doesn't trust easily. As seen when he gets a toe shot off, he'd rather risk bleeding out than rely on someone to take him to the hospital.

Generally wary of everyone. Specifically on-edge around people who he knows have bad tempers and men who bear a physical resemblance to his uncle (middle-aged white guys with beards and a scowl).

A ring that he found. He's been saving it for Jane Finch

• 
  Jane Finch

• 
  Jane Finch

• John Miller (uncle)


• Emma Miller (aunt)


• Phoebe, Thomas, and Ella Miller (cousins)

Ferrets

An old pistol that he snuck from his uncle

Technically a student, but he's in and out of school. Works part-time as a mechanic in his uncle's car shop.

Anarchist

Agnostic

Yellow

Literally anything, he can't afford to be picky

(Ignore this, Notebook is being weird and won't let me just delete stuff without putting in more words)

The son of a Texan man and his French-Canadian wife, Clyde Miller was born in Aden, Wisconsin, and mostly raised himself. His father was arrested when he was nine, and his mother left him to be raised by her brother-in-law, who couldn't care less about his nephew. He befriended Jane Finch, since they were both outcasts at their school. He and Jane would spend their afternoons exploring the woods, with Jude Revol eventually joining them, though the older kids tried to dissuade them. During one hike, Jude was attacked by an abnormally large wolf. Clyde and Jane managed to fight off the wolf, but Jude was badly scarred from the attack. Jane moved away with her mother, and Clyde was left alone. He soon had a reputation as someone who it was dangerous to be around, and internalized guilt about the attack, believing that it was his fault and that he was responsible for driving Jane away. He cut off all contact with Jude soon after. With Jane out of state and Jude recovering from their grievous wounds--not to mention his father being jailed for botching a car repair, a mistake that lead to the death of the family inside--Clyde soon gained a reputation of being bad luck for everyone around him. More of an outcast than ever, his only friend was Hazel Blake , who soon stopped associating with him after father died of cancer, believing the bad luck bit to be truer than she thought. He started to get into fights; some in self-defense and some not, but all involving boys who were much bigger than him. Even before the "Clyde Piper" and bad luck stuff started, he was a frequent target given his small size (and being perceived as gay due to his close bond with Jane, who hadn't come out before she moved), something that only increased as the "reasons" to bully him piled up.

He took up a job at his uncle's mechanics shop to earn money and pass the time. His uncle soon married, however, and whatever ounce of care he had for his nephew was replaced with distaste, more or less just keeping him around as a punching bag, a babysitter, and an extra pair of hands at the shop, though he barely paid him. Clyde soon turned to petty theft, never really taking more than he needed, and tried to minimize the amount of time he spent at home and ran away several times, though he'd always return. He kept up a relationship with Jane via letters, keeping her up to date with the developments in town, including the arrival of the mysterious Monroe family, although he left the details of his home life almost completely out, including his uncle's abuse, the extent of which he hid from everyone.

When Clyde was 15, his uncle let him borrow his car to take on a drive on the backroads so that he'd get used to driving before applying for a temporary licence. Since this is northern Wisconsin, Clyde accidentally hit a deer, damaging the car. John was enraged and saw it as a personal slight, dragging his still-shaken nephew into the garage and beating him, even striking him in the head with a wrench, which knocks him unconscious. Luckily Emma--his aunt--drives him to the emergency room, but refuses to tell the truth about what happened in fear of John's response. This was the final straw for Clyde, who refused to keep living with John. He often rotated between living in closed tourist destinations and on the streets, but after a year, he returned out of fear that John would turn his abuse on the much younger children. He compromised that he would still live there, but less frequently, and would often sneak in as opposed to interacting with John.

When Jane returns home for her senior year, Clyde becomes her closest friend in town, and the two team up to investigate the odd paranormal activities.

Not bad, but certainly not the best. He's in and out of school.

March 11th

William and Grace Miller (parents)
John and Emma Miller (legal guardians)

Art credit to the Adrisona maker picrew by Adriabun

https://www.pinterest.com.mx/ZooeySpring/clyde-miller/