Post by Lori on Sept 27, 2016 20:05:37 GMT
Full Name
Willis Ellis Dillis
Nicknames
He's literally heard them all, from friends to colleagues to students. Will, Willy, Wills, WD, Will Dill, Dillis...you get the point.
Age/Birthday
37/July 5
Zodiac
Cancer
Job
Willis' primary job is an creative writing teacher at Metric College, using his...erm..."unique" ways of pushing students out of their comfort zone. He considers blogging a second job even though he doesn't get paid and he only does it in his free time.
Willis Ellis Dillis
Nicknames
He's literally heard them all, from friends to colleagues to students. Will, Willy, Wills, WD, Will Dill, Dillis...you get the point.
Age/Birthday
37/July 5
Zodiac
Cancer
Job
Willis' primary job is an creative writing teacher at Metric College, using his...erm..."unique" ways of pushing students out of their comfort zone. He considers blogging a second job even though he doesn't get paid and he only does it in his free time.
School/Class
Willis is a creative writing teacher at Metric College, though he is technically an English Professor.
Subject/Age Group
While he does teach a couple of creative writing courses that are available to all students as an elective his focus is specifically for English majors, particularly those with a writing concentration. Writing Fiction and Playwriting (the latter of which is for Theater majors as well as English) are where he really shines. Students can take Writing 101 at any time during the year but his basic writing classes are typically in the fall and his advanced classes in the spring.
Friends
Willis isn't exactly like most professors at Metric, except for probably Susan Summers. She is probably as big a goof as him, so is one of the few who really 'gets' him. He is somewhat aware she follows his blog so he asks a lot what she - and her daughter - think of his work. He wants to please kids, too, after all!
He also loves the kids who take his classes even though they're not English majors. The fact that they just want him as a teacher is validation that he knows what he's doing.
Enemies
Dillis is pretty sure he doesn't have any enemies, except for maybe the teachers who don't like him and don't bother saying it to his face. Really though, Willis personally just doesn't like anyone who doesn't want to have any fun.
As far as students go, he just doesn't like the ones that don't try or don't show their full potential. And that means he really has to think about the grades he gives them. Dangit those meddling kids!
And then there's also the students who are just a bunch of killjoys (they know who they are!).
Interested in
Gummy bears. Oh, you mean humans. Women.
Relationship Status
Technically.... Single.
Willis is a creative writing teacher at Metric College, though he is technically an English Professor.
Subject/Age Group
While he does teach a couple of creative writing courses that are available to all students as an elective his focus is specifically for English majors, particularly those with a writing concentration. Writing Fiction and Playwriting (the latter of which is for Theater majors as well as English) are where he really shines. Students can take Writing 101 at any time during the year but his basic writing classes are typically in the fall and his advanced classes in the spring.
Friends
Willis isn't exactly like most professors at Metric, except for probably Susan Summers. She is probably as big a goof as him, so is one of the few who really 'gets' him. He is somewhat aware she follows his blog so he asks a lot what she - and her daughter - think of his work. He wants to please kids, too, after all!
He also loves the kids who take his classes even though they're not English majors. The fact that they just want him as a teacher is validation that he knows what he's doing.
Enemies
Dillis is pretty sure he doesn't have any enemies, except for maybe the teachers who don't like him and don't bother saying it to his face. Really though, Willis personally just doesn't like anyone who doesn't want to have any fun.
As far as students go, he just doesn't like the ones that don't try or don't show their full potential. And that means he really has to think about the grades he gives them. Dangit those meddling kids!
And then there's also the students who are just a bunch of killjoys (they know who they are!).
Interested in
Gummy bears. Oh, you mean humans. Women.
Relationship Status
Technically.... Single.
Body
Willis is pretty tall at 6'2. Is he supposed to check his weight, too? Oh. Hm...170something? Maybe? Yeah. Pretty good shape overall; he's got a little bit of a six pack going. Kind of a hairy chest though, but no one really needs to know that. Other than that, he's pretty clean shaven.
Eye Color
Brown. Or hazel? Who even checks their eye color anymore? It's not like he can see his own eyes!
Hair
Dillis has floppy brown hair, kind of like a mop or something. It's pretty thin and goes down to his chin. He probably could do a man bun if he wanted, but that's not Willis' thing. He just tries to keep it out of his face.
Style
Let's just say he doesn't exactly dress like a teacher. Willis is more of a casual guy. The most serious thing about him is if/when he wears glasses. He doesn't technically need them, he just wears them to look more serious and for dramatic effect.
Playby
Jerry Trainor
Willis is pretty tall at 6'2. Is he supposed to check his weight, too? Oh. Hm...170something? Maybe? Yeah. Pretty good shape overall; he's got a little bit of a six pack going. Kind of a hairy chest though, but no one really needs to know that. Other than that, he's pretty clean shaven.
Eye Color
Brown. Or hazel? Who even checks their eye color anymore? It's not like he can see his own eyes!
Hair
Dillis has floppy brown hair, kind of like a mop or something. It's pretty thin and goes down to his chin. He probably could do a man bun if he wanted, but that's not Willis' thing. He just tries to keep it out of his face.
Style
Let's just say he doesn't exactly dress like a teacher. Willis is more of a casual guy. The most serious thing about him is if/when he wears glasses. He doesn't technically need them, he just wears them to look more serious and for dramatic effect.
Playby
Jerry Trainor
Positives
Interesting; Enthusiastic; Cheerful; Spontaneous; Forgiving; Dedicated; Social; Casual; Tolerant
Negatives
Forgetful; Indulgent; Casual; Odd; Rowdy; Quirky; Weak; Uncritical (for teaching standards)
Likes
Gummy bears; Star Wars; Blogging; Happy students; Lunch breaks; PacMan; Soft things; Bubble wrap; French fries; Not getting in trouble; Giving good grades; Kids
Dislikes
Cleaning; Jolly ranchers; Snakes; Giving bad grades; Suits; Yoyos; Failing students; Googly eyes; Getting scolded; Too much work; His boss - but don't tell him that!; Adults who have no fun
Interesting; Enthusiastic; Cheerful; Spontaneous; Forgiving; Dedicated; Social; Casual; Tolerant
Negatives
Forgetful; Indulgent; Casual; Odd; Rowdy; Quirky; Weak; Uncritical (for teaching standards)
Likes
Gummy bears; Star Wars; Blogging; Happy students; Lunch breaks; PacMan; Soft things; Bubble wrap; French fries; Not getting in trouble; Giving good grades; Kids
Dislikes
Cleaning; Jolly ranchers; Snakes; Giving bad grades; Suits; Yoyos; Failing students; Googly eyes; Getting scolded; Too much work; His boss - but don't tell him that!; Adults who have no fun
Family
Father - Dallas Dillis, Retired - Dallas made his living as a pharmacy technician. He spent a lot of time working, putting in long hours and saving up money so that his only child could go to a good school and become something like a lawyer or doctor. Something 'worth while'. While it seemed unlikely with Willis' grades growing up, Dallas never let go of the faith that his son would make something good of himself. The pressure put on Willis is one of the things that probably caused the slightly strained relationship between them. That, and the fact that Dallas never understood Willis' creativity. Dallas never believed Willis could make a good enough living off of some creative junk. Willis only slightly proved him wrong when he not only finished college but earned his Master's Degree and officially became a teacher. Seeing his son work at such a prestigious school restored Dallas' faith in Willis slightly, though he still thinks there's more out there for his son. Dallas is retired as of two years ago due to a heart attack. While he fully recovered and is still as healthy as he can probably be for someone his age, he never returned to work, not even for part time. He has been trying to make a little extra money off the internet.
Mother - Phyllis Dillis, Dental Assistant - Phyllis worked part time until Willis was in middle school, wanting to be part of all the major milestones in his life and making sure he was doing everything he was supposed to. Like Dallas, Phyllis held great expectations for her son. She spent a lot of time when Willis was young looking over his grades and, to an extent, helicopter parenting, to make sure he was doing the best he could possibly do. He always had such problems with subjects like Science and History, which Phyllis never understood. She didn't believe his creativity would allow him to amount to much and was also hoping he'd earn a degree and get a job in a 'better' field. Between that and constantly asking him when he's going to settle down and have a family, do the things that a man his age 'should' be doing, Willis' relationship hasn't recovered as much as it had with Dallas. She is currently the only breadwinner in the household, not living anywhere near her son, and although she cannot drive for much longer is terrified to retire because as great of a school as Metric is, there is no way that Willis could possibly support both of his parents.
Backstory
Willis grew up in a small town in South Dakota where pretty much everyone knew everyone. It wasn't hard with his name either; with his parents having similar names they wanted to keep the tradition going with Willis. As a result he's heard numerous nicknames throughout his childhood. Willis didn't mind the town and he liked it there, but to him it felt like pretty much everyone had a purpose. What was his purpose other than to go to school and snack on gummy bears?
Since his parents had pretty simple careers, they expected a lot more from Willis. And since it was a different time, when people were just starting to be more open about different ideas, Phyllis and Dallas thought Willis should be doing so much more. They were very much stuck in the old school ways. You're only healthy if you're chunky. The Beatles are such rebels. Don't look at that Elvis swinging his hips! Don't kiss a boy, you might contract AIDS! If it wasn't obvious, Willis' parents had him when they were much older. And, unfortunately for him, growing up a lot of those ideas were pushed on him. As creative as he was growing up, it wasn't something his parents encouraged and tried very hard to shut him away from. And with Phyllis home to make sure of that, Willis never really did get to become his own person.
As hard as the 'normal' classes were for him, despite his parents he really did excel in classes like English and Art. He even got extra credit in forth grade for writing a short story and got to read it to his class. Willis kept that going through middle school, though it was to a much different extent. While he would be in a class like Health or Social Studies, he'd be doodling between notes and creating a story based off those doodles during free period. There was one instance in sixth grade, some kid who thought he was so cool ripped one of the pages of doodles out of Willis' notebook. Willis was yelling, "be careful with that! If you rip Corporal Space Dog in half he's not gonna be able to fight the evil Lord OverLord and find the magic Space Lime Ball to save a sinking generation of Powder Cats!" The kid was so confused at first until he sat down and Willis actually told him the entire story he came up with. At some point a few other kids crowded around to listen in. The rest of that year, during free period, the same kid would go to Willis and ask what stories he had that day. It never quite made Willis popular, but it was the first time he was consistently encouraged to be creative and share his ideas. While Willis loved the attention and sharing his stories, he never quite got that encouragement at home.
Willis' grades as a whole were never the best, but he was good with stories and he was very good with people. As a senior in high school, for extra credit, he got to meet with the freshmen throughout the first year and share experiences with them. Some students who really needed help or had a hard time adjusting, he even wrote a couple of short stories about them to cheer them up. It worked - for the most part. For Willis, it was actually the first time someone told him he was wrong with his thinking. There was this one shy boy who had the hardest time adjusting to high school. One day when Willis met up with him, he shared a story he wrote for the kid, about these evil men who created a gay ray to make all men love each other and eliminate women, and the kid was the only one who could save the day. The poor kid burst into tears; he had actually been bullied because he was in the closet. Willis' stories had never gotten such a depressing reaction from anyone before. He ended up changing his story right on the spot, as nerve-wrecking as it had been. "Did I say gay ray? No see...I never got to tell you what that stood for. G...Glowing...Alarm...Yam Ray. Yeah. It's a ray that shoots these radioactive yams and they wanna eliminate women because on their planet there's no such thing as women and they're miserable, completely miserable. So they wanna make the men on Earth miserable, too, but it backfires and everyone loves each other. But you still have to save the day because no women mean no moms. And...we need those." It was extremely awkward and uncomfortable for Willis but it made the freshman feel better. That was when Willis realized he needed to use his creativity for good. Even better than good. If his stories could help make one freshman feel better about his whole experience, maybe Willis could help other kids come up with stories, too.
When he told his parents he wanted to go to college to become a teacher, they were less than thrilled. Dallas and Phyllis expected more from their son. "Teachers don't get paid well," they said. "They're out of work for three months," they said. "They have to deal with kids like you, it's extremely challenging and not rewarding enough," they said. Willis hard no idea how the hell they ended up agreeing with him. Maybe he threatened to join the circus or go to clown college or just become a barber or something. Whatever he did worked. He went to college out in California, where the distance proved to be good for him and his family. He actually interned as a student teacher at Salem High, which was almost an hour away from the college he was attending. While interning and ultimately substituting part time there straight out of college, he started keeping a blog of his teaching experiences.
Well, that's a bit of a stretch. He changed a lot of the details in his blog. He was actually writing down about an intergalactic space traveling teacher named Mando who was teaching all these different classes throughout the galaxy. It didn't earn him anything extra; it was just something he liked to do in his spare time. Ultimately it was a blog he kept going for a few years. The adventures of Mando got a little boring after a while.
Unfortunately Willis could only keep the substituting going for so long. It was great that he could keep it going during grad school, but sometimes the work load was too much. Not to mention the school got kind of...well, boring. He started looking for other teaching jobs which was much harder at some points during the year. He first applied to Metric when he was 29, just after earning his Master's. He made it past the first interview and he was getting called back for a second interview. Unfortunately that was when Dallas had his first incident pre-heart attack. Willis had to pretty much say screw Metric and fly back to South Dakota to help his family. After the first year back, realizing that he'd have to help his father drive to work and take him to doctor appointments when his mother couldn't, he started looking for teaching jobs in South Dakota. At first all he got was some entry level position at the local community college. From there, he ended up just doing secretary work at another school. Willis was there for about three years, until he moved back to California when he was 33. Upon moving back he heard that Metric was looking for a new writing professor. Willis took a chance and applied again.
Fortunately for him, the human resources department had changed during that time and it wasn't until he got towards the final step in the interview process that they realized he had applied once before and backed out. They let Willis explain that it was for a family emergency and that with everything cleared now he wanted to find a job he could settle in and stay at for as long as possible until retirement. He was taken around the campus and Willis seemed to get on well enough with most of the other teachers. As for his mock lesson plan it was...unique, to say the least. But it was different. At that point Willis was willing to show his blog posts - the more recent ones, anyway. His writing had improved greatly since he started the blog. He was now writing short stories and posting them to Tumblr based on something someone said or a picture he saw in the hallway or, still, on doodles he created during his breaks. The stories were still quirky, but they backed up his lessons and standards. Metric decided to take a chance on the manboy professor.
Willis' first year teaching at Metric went off without a hitch. He started with just a couple of classes, Creative Writing 101 and Writing Fiction. Overall he seemed to hit it off with the students and - as much as Willis didn't always like it - he was easy to access. Unfortunately, during the summer after his first year he had to return to South Dakota to help his father after the heart attack. Willis was there longer than he wanted to be and did need a substitute for the first two weeks of the school year. But once he returned, he gave his classes all he had. He gave his students his undivided attention and did whatever he could to bring out the best in them. His methods could be seen as questionable by some and he was an oddball in the faculty; but he got the job done and he clearly loved what he did.
Going into his third year at Metric Willis was given the responsibility of more classes. It meant less time to relax and more things to grade, but if the school thought he could handle it who was he to turn them down? As much as he still gets calls from his parents bugging him about his job or questioning when he's going to settle down, Willis has learned to pay less attention to it over the years. He has his blogging and hobbies to keep him sane. Or, as sane as a manchild could possibly get.
Father - Dallas Dillis, Retired - Dallas made his living as a pharmacy technician. He spent a lot of time working, putting in long hours and saving up money so that his only child could go to a good school and become something like a lawyer or doctor. Something 'worth while'. While it seemed unlikely with Willis' grades growing up, Dallas never let go of the faith that his son would make something good of himself. The pressure put on Willis is one of the things that probably caused the slightly strained relationship between them. That, and the fact that Dallas never understood Willis' creativity. Dallas never believed Willis could make a good enough living off of some creative junk. Willis only slightly proved him wrong when he not only finished college but earned his Master's Degree and officially became a teacher. Seeing his son work at such a prestigious school restored Dallas' faith in Willis slightly, though he still thinks there's more out there for his son. Dallas is retired as of two years ago due to a heart attack. While he fully recovered and is still as healthy as he can probably be for someone his age, he never returned to work, not even for part time. He has been trying to make a little extra money off the internet.
Mother - Phyllis Dillis, Dental Assistant - Phyllis worked part time until Willis was in middle school, wanting to be part of all the major milestones in his life and making sure he was doing everything he was supposed to. Like Dallas, Phyllis held great expectations for her son. She spent a lot of time when Willis was young looking over his grades and, to an extent, helicopter parenting, to make sure he was doing the best he could possibly do. He always had such problems with subjects like Science and History, which Phyllis never understood. She didn't believe his creativity would allow him to amount to much and was also hoping he'd earn a degree and get a job in a 'better' field. Between that and constantly asking him when he's going to settle down and have a family, do the things that a man his age 'should' be doing, Willis' relationship hasn't recovered as much as it had with Dallas. She is currently the only breadwinner in the household, not living anywhere near her son, and although she cannot drive for much longer is terrified to retire because as great of a school as Metric is, there is no way that Willis could possibly support both of his parents.
Backstory
Willis grew up in a small town in South Dakota where pretty much everyone knew everyone. It wasn't hard with his name either; with his parents having similar names they wanted to keep the tradition going with Willis. As a result he's heard numerous nicknames throughout his childhood. Willis didn't mind the town and he liked it there, but to him it felt like pretty much everyone had a purpose. What was his purpose other than to go to school and snack on gummy bears?
Since his parents had pretty simple careers, they expected a lot more from Willis. And since it was a different time, when people were just starting to be more open about different ideas, Phyllis and Dallas thought Willis should be doing so much more. They were very much stuck in the old school ways. You're only healthy if you're chunky. The Beatles are such rebels. Don't look at that Elvis swinging his hips! Don't kiss a boy, you might contract AIDS! If it wasn't obvious, Willis' parents had him when they were much older. And, unfortunately for him, growing up a lot of those ideas were pushed on him. As creative as he was growing up, it wasn't something his parents encouraged and tried very hard to shut him away from. And with Phyllis home to make sure of that, Willis never really did get to become his own person.
As hard as the 'normal' classes were for him, despite his parents he really did excel in classes like English and Art. He even got extra credit in forth grade for writing a short story and got to read it to his class. Willis kept that going through middle school, though it was to a much different extent. While he would be in a class like Health or Social Studies, he'd be doodling between notes and creating a story based off those doodles during free period. There was one instance in sixth grade, some kid who thought he was so cool ripped one of the pages of doodles out of Willis' notebook. Willis was yelling, "be careful with that! If you rip Corporal Space Dog in half he's not gonna be able to fight the evil Lord OverLord and find the magic Space Lime Ball to save a sinking generation of Powder Cats!" The kid was so confused at first until he sat down and Willis actually told him the entire story he came up with. At some point a few other kids crowded around to listen in. The rest of that year, during free period, the same kid would go to Willis and ask what stories he had that day. It never quite made Willis popular, but it was the first time he was consistently encouraged to be creative and share his ideas. While Willis loved the attention and sharing his stories, he never quite got that encouragement at home.
Willis' grades as a whole were never the best, but he was good with stories and he was very good with people. As a senior in high school, for extra credit, he got to meet with the freshmen throughout the first year and share experiences with them. Some students who really needed help or had a hard time adjusting, he even wrote a couple of short stories about them to cheer them up. It worked - for the most part. For Willis, it was actually the first time someone told him he was wrong with his thinking. There was this one shy boy who had the hardest time adjusting to high school. One day when Willis met up with him, he shared a story he wrote for the kid, about these evil men who created a gay ray to make all men love each other and eliminate women, and the kid was the only one who could save the day. The poor kid burst into tears; he had actually been bullied because he was in the closet. Willis' stories had never gotten such a depressing reaction from anyone before. He ended up changing his story right on the spot, as nerve-wrecking as it had been. "Did I say gay ray? No see...I never got to tell you what that stood for. G...Glowing...Alarm...Yam Ray. Yeah. It's a ray that shoots these radioactive yams and they wanna eliminate women because on their planet there's no such thing as women and they're miserable, completely miserable. So they wanna make the men on Earth miserable, too, but it backfires and everyone loves each other. But you still have to save the day because no women mean no moms. And...we need those." It was extremely awkward and uncomfortable for Willis but it made the freshman feel better. That was when Willis realized he needed to use his creativity for good. Even better than good. If his stories could help make one freshman feel better about his whole experience, maybe Willis could help other kids come up with stories, too.
When he told his parents he wanted to go to college to become a teacher, they were less than thrilled. Dallas and Phyllis expected more from their son. "Teachers don't get paid well," they said. "They're out of work for three months," they said. "They have to deal with kids like you, it's extremely challenging and not rewarding enough," they said. Willis hard no idea how the hell they ended up agreeing with him. Maybe he threatened to join the circus or go to clown college or just become a barber or something. Whatever he did worked. He went to college out in California, where the distance proved to be good for him and his family. He actually interned as a student teacher at Salem High, which was almost an hour away from the college he was attending. While interning and ultimately substituting part time there straight out of college, he started keeping a blog of his teaching experiences.
Well, that's a bit of a stretch. He changed a lot of the details in his blog. He was actually writing down about an intergalactic space traveling teacher named Mando who was teaching all these different classes throughout the galaxy. It didn't earn him anything extra; it was just something he liked to do in his spare time. Ultimately it was a blog he kept going for a few years. The adventures of Mando got a little boring after a while.
Unfortunately Willis could only keep the substituting going for so long. It was great that he could keep it going during grad school, but sometimes the work load was too much. Not to mention the school got kind of...well, boring. He started looking for other teaching jobs which was much harder at some points during the year. He first applied to Metric when he was 29, just after earning his Master's. He made it past the first interview and he was getting called back for a second interview. Unfortunately that was when Dallas had his first incident pre-heart attack. Willis had to pretty much say screw Metric and fly back to South Dakota to help his family. After the first year back, realizing that he'd have to help his father drive to work and take him to doctor appointments when his mother couldn't, he started looking for teaching jobs in South Dakota. At first all he got was some entry level position at the local community college. From there, he ended up just doing secretary work at another school. Willis was there for about three years, until he moved back to California when he was 33. Upon moving back he heard that Metric was looking for a new writing professor. Willis took a chance and applied again.
Fortunately for him, the human resources department had changed during that time and it wasn't until he got towards the final step in the interview process that they realized he had applied once before and backed out. They let Willis explain that it was for a family emergency and that with everything cleared now he wanted to find a job he could settle in and stay at for as long as possible until retirement. He was taken around the campus and Willis seemed to get on well enough with most of the other teachers. As for his mock lesson plan it was...unique, to say the least. But it was different. At that point Willis was willing to show his blog posts - the more recent ones, anyway. His writing had improved greatly since he started the blog. He was now writing short stories and posting them to Tumblr based on something someone said or a picture he saw in the hallway or, still, on doodles he created during his breaks. The stories were still quirky, but they backed up his lessons and standards. Metric decided to take a chance on the manboy professor.
Willis' first year teaching at Metric went off without a hitch. He started with just a couple of classes, Creative Writing 101 and Writing Fiction. Overall he seemed to hit it off with the students and - as much as Willis didn't always like it - he was easy to access. Unfortunately, during the summer after his first year he had to return to South Dakota to help his father after the heart attack. Willis was there longer than he wanted to be and did need a substitute for the first two weeks of the school year. But once he returned, he gave his classes all he had. He gave his students his undivided attention and did whatever he could to bring out the best in them. His methods could be seen as questionable by some and he was an oddball in the faculty; but he got the job done and he clearly loved what he did.
Going into his third year at Metric Willis was given the responsibility of more classes. It meant less time to relax and more things to grade, but if the school thought he could handle it who was he to turn them down? As much as he still gets calls from his parents bugging him about his job or questioning when he's going to settle down, Willis has learned to pay less attention to it over the years. He has his blogging and hobbies to keep him sane. Or, as sane as a manchild could possibly get.
øAlmost any nickname you could possibly think of for Willis, he will more than likely answer to.
øHe'll have no problem sitting through almost any cartoon, even if it's for three-year-olds.
øNo matter what, Willis' favorite time of the day is lunch. He likes going to fast food places once a week so expect to see him with a bag of something, most likely french fries.
øHe also has a small collection of kids' meal toys.
øWillis is not afraid to call out any of his students for lacking creativity and will pull anything out of his butt just to get them to pull something creative out of their own butts.
øHe thinks butts are also funny.
øIf he ever has any pets (or kids, god help the woman) he refuses to name them anything that sounds like or rhymes with Dillis. Oh wait...unless it's Dylan; Dylan Dillis actually sounds pretty cool.
øA lot of his childlike personality is based off characters Jerry Trainor played.
Music
øStar Wars Theme
øIt's a Small World After All
øSpace Unicorns - Star vs the Forces of Evil
Music
øStar Wars Theme
øIt's a Small World After All
øSpace Unicorns - Star vs the Forces of Evil