Billy Kaplan-Altman. 22. Wiccan. Young Avenger.
Prince Consort and Court Wizard.
"I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine."
(Closed RP blog for Doomsday Rising)
An advantage of having a wide variety of allies across the galaxy was that there was always someone that would be interested in lending a helping hand – the downside in Billy’s case was that he was twenty years too early. He would have to plead his case over and over, hoping that at least a few of them would believe his story and understand the danger they were all facing. Not to mention the fact that he would have to do all that without messing up with the time-space continuum.
Better to start off with the nicest ones, then. A location spell was all he needed to get an idea of where to find one of them and he waited outside the building until he spotted a head of fiery red hair.
“Hi, hello, er...” Wow, such eloquence. Truly the proud dignitary of an empire. “Miss M’orzz, Martian Manhunter… wait, do you already go by that alias? Damn, that’s not off to a good start, let me try again. My name’s Billy, I’m… from the future. Sorry for this horrible introduction, I swear I sound much cooler when I’m back home.”
Alright, he had managed to make the most difficult part work – now he only had to deal with everything else. Clothes changed from his Court Wizard attire to an inconspicuous blue dress shirt and dark jeans – the regular fit, not skinny as he would have preferred – was the first rule to follow. The Magistrate was already working in these streets and if Billy knew anything about them it was that they prized for tradition – and he was anything but.
The second step was to get some coffee – which really said something about how homesick he was, that he was willing to drink whatever sludge they were serving at the nearest café, paid with magically crafted money. Oh well, he’d arrange for something more fitting later. He sat by the window and watched the people pass, planning his next move, when a familiar face outside startled him. He jumped from his seat, rushing out with his cup in hand.
— Vincent van Gogh, from a letter to Theo van Gogh (25 September, 1888)
[text ID: I have a terrible clarity of mind at times, when nature is so lovely these days, and then I’m no longer aware of myself and the painting comes to me as if in a dream.]
[ID: "The tremendous world I have in my head. But how free myself and free it without being torn to pieces. And a thousand times rather be torn to pieces than retain it in me or bury it. That, indeed, is why I am here, that is quite clear to me." End ID]
Character name/alias: William “Billy” Kaplan(-Altman) / Wiccan
Faceclaim: Omar Rudberg
Affiliations: Young Avengers
Birth date / Age: June 9th 2023 / 22
Species: Mutant
Identity: Secret
Powers and/or abilities:
His main power is reality warping. Billy considers himself a mage, even though his training in magic comes from a mix of sources and his most complex spells were developed from a self-taught mode of incantation where he repeatedly states what he wants to happen. He describes himself in the comics as having ‘magical powers that essentially come from wishing on stuff really hard’.
The source of his ability to manipulate reality at will is the Demiurge, an entity that exists beyond the time-space continuum. This gives Billy a wide range of abilities (and a terrifying power that could reach cosmic levels if he let himself go that far, which he vehemently refuses to). He can create, erase, summon, banish and transmutate any type of matter in this dimension.
At first, his powers manifested through electrokinesis, and discharging lightning/electricity keeps being his favorite form of elemental manipulation, although he can control every other as well. He also works with energy blasts, beams, fields and solid energy constructs such as projectiles. As far as transportation goes, Billy is well-versed in teleporting (for himself and others) and self-propelled flight. He’s also known to use solid energy disks or platforms to give his friends a ride.
As for weaknesses, physically, his body is mortal and has human fragilities. If he’s attacked by surprise and doesn’t have time to magically protect himself, he can easily get hurt/subdued. His powers are greatly impacted by his emotional state (the gods gave him depression and anxiety or else he’d be too powerful, as the meme goes). If he’s under stress or doesn’t really want something to happen, he has a harder time making it a reality. There’s one interesting weakness used in the comics which is to trick him into believing he’s not capable or that his powers don’t work – because his reality warping ability comes from wishing, it’s enough to set him back. He’s susceptible to mind control and possession. For more complex spells, he has to hear the words he’s repeating, so impairing his hearing also works against him, as well as muzzling him to prevent spellcasting – beware not to leave his hands free, however, he can still blast you across the room without saying a word.
Personality traits:
- Forgiving x Gullible – One of Billy’s most characteristic traits is his ability to forgive, no questions asked and not much explanation needed. He believes in second (and third, fourth...) chances because he understands that people can make mistakes when trying to do good, or be pushed to extreme conditions that impair their judgement. He tends to forgive others more easily than he forgives himself. As such, this compassionate nature coupled with his insecurities makes him fairly gullible, frequently accepting excuses for other people’s behavior and just as quickly doubting himself if someone preys on his bad thoughts.
- Passionate x Needy – Simply put, Billy doesn’t know how to be chill about anything he likes and never does anything halfway. He’ll go all out, throw himself into his interests, listen to the interests of people he cares about, and just generally let his emotions pour out. At the same time, he can’t help but expect a similar level of attention from others. He needs to feel like he’s being listened to and cared for, or else it adds more fuel to notions of unworthiness.
- Clever x Stubborn - For a long time, Billy only had his wits to get by. With his powers, he still needs to be able to come up with creative solutions on the spot, and he’s known for firing off smart quips as quickly as he can summon lightning. Sometimes, however, this leads to thinking that he knows better than the people around him and his stubbornness starts showing, as he convinces himself that his ideas are failproof even if they have obvious flaws.
Headcanons:
- Billy has always been superstitious, of the kind that follows traditions (from both his Jewish and latino background) to avoid the evil eye or any possible harm to his loved ones, as well as performing little rituals for good luck. He’s been known to keeping amulets around his room (or carrying them with him) but ever since he started understanding more about his powers, he’s become less attached to established traditions and more to personal lucky charms that make sense to him, given the fact that he’s the one who reshapes reality at will and only needs to feel grounded to use his powers. The one belonging he hasn’t dropped is the small Star of David pendant that he wears on his neck at all times, a reminder of who he is and what his ancestors have been through even if he calls himself Wiccan and has a godlike figure backing him up.
- As soon as the Kree-Skrull argument over Teddy happened in 2017, leading to the truth about the boy's alien heritage and royalty status, Billy sought out research about space politics and made a whole comprehensive map of the most famous races and what bits of their history are known to humans.
- It’s canon that Billy has clinical depression and anxiety, and I’m the first person to say that no one needs a supernatural reason for this to happen, but in his case, I can’t help but see it linked with the nature of his powers. I’m keeping most of the Demiurge lore for him, with many believing that he’s an alternate version or a kind of vessel for this reality-altering entity. For a long time, he didn’t know about this, but even as a teenager he’s always felt... displaced, tired, ancient. Sometimes he feels drained of all energy, or lacking in something that he can’t even explain. The anxiety sparked up after his powers manifested, in the fear of what he can do, but most of all, his greatest fear is losing his humanity. It’s giving in to the cosmic force that exists beyond his known world, and lose track of what matters the most to him. As it is, he clings to the relationships he has, to his mortal family, to art, to music, to the Earth, because he refuses to ever let Billy Kaplan go. The Demiurge can sit this one out, this body belongs to him alone – and well, to his husband too, but that’s neither here nor there.
Biography:
Westview, NJ, May 2023. A witch’s perfect little life, born out of a wish and created through an illusion. Once she realized her mistake, Wanda Maximoff undid the Hex and, with it, had to give up on her twin sons. Or so she believed. Powerful spells leave traces, and the life energy she had drawn from was still in the air.
New York City, NY, June 2023. It all started with a wish. William Kaplan was born into this world to a family that had prayed for his arrival. It was a miracle, a special kind of magic. Rebecca, née Perez, and Jeff Kaplan, a psychologist and a cardiologist, made sure that Billy was loved, cared for and safe in their Upper West Side home, and the boy grew up with the knowledge that they only wanted what was best for him. On his part, Billy tried to live up to the expectations of the life they envisioned for him... how hard could it be, after all?
Not too easy, it turned out, once he started noticing all the little ways in which the world considered him to be different. A couple decades in the future didn’t eradicate bullies from schools, and Billy tended to be an easy target. For some time, it felt like he had to hide from the rest of the world, shut himself out, fated to a life of loneliness... until everything changed.
It had happened too fast – he was pretty sure that not many people possess the ability to summon lightning and electrocute someone in a high school hallway when they finally stand up for themselves. The terrible accident almost cost the other kid's life and it left Billy with conflicted feelings about his newfound powers, as the sudden outburst had scared him, but it also qualified him to be the hero he had always wished to be.
The chance came soon after, as he was approached by a figure in metal armor. Before he knew it, he found himself in a small group of fellow superhuman (or just highly skilled) teenagers, dubbed by the media as the Young Avengers. They were all finding out new things about themselves, figuring life out together, when in a surprising turn of events, Billy met a boy eerily similar to him, with powers that matched the Scarlet Witch’s twin. Blood-related or not, Tommy became his brother and they stood by each other, just as they had friends they could count on while fighting against a threat that could very well end life as they knew it.
The Kree-Skrull Throneworld, 2045. It’s been months since Billy last visited the Earth, now ravaged by the Anti-Life. Taking care of intergalactic matters with his husband’s empire has put him away from his home planet, but they’ve never stopped trying to think of a solution for it. Now, with the Kree-Skrull Alliance worried about the virus spreading across galaxies, the time to take action has come again. Desperate not to let down the people that trust in him as Prince Consort and Court Wizard, Billy casts a spell that meddles with the time-space continuum… and ends up in 2025, a huge convergence point in the timeline, in the hopes that he can help the past generation of heroes change the course of the entire universe’s future.
