Willem van Dijk

*This article is about Willem van Dijk, the character in Glory Hounds. You may be looking for William Adler from The Smoke Room.*

## Willem van Dijk

* Willem
* Mother Hen

### Aliases

Willie
Mother Hen (drag persona)
Charlene (drag persona's "real name")

## Physical Description

### Species

Gallus domesticus (Chicken)Breed: Welsummer

### Text Color

Text colorbox placeholder

— Willem van Dijk's character profile

**Willem van Dijk** is a character in Glory Hounds. He is the proprietor of De Halve Haen, a queer-friendly bar in Schippersburg that Alex has frequented for years.

## Appearance

Willem is a heavyset rooster with a prominent coxcomb on his head. He has yellow feathers on his face and head, and dark blue feathers on his arms. He dresses in a simple blue T-shirt and jeans and wears a fanny pack. He also has a large plume of green tailfeathers.

Willem speaks with a Cockney accent.

## Personality

Willem has a gregarious presence that Alex describes as easily filling a room. He displays some good-natured grumpiness but is also warm and supportive, and happily acts as something of an elder to the younger queer community of Schippersburg. He is a confidante for his patrons, and seems proud that his bar has become a safe place for so many. Thanks to his age, he readily offers advice from his own many experiences. Willem is somewhat old-fashioned, and tends to prefer to handle matters in his own way.

He smokes cigarettes, though his admiration of Alex for quitting might indicate he hopes to do the same.

## Story

### Prior to Glory Hounds

Twenty-five years prior to the story, in around 2010, Willem bought an abandoned church that the city had slated for demolition and, through a considerable refurbishment effort, turned it into De Halve Haen. The bar quickly became popular with the city's LGBT+ crowd, especially college students, in no small part due to Willem's personable nature. After a pride event one year, he met a downtrodden Alex, who was terrified to come out to his loved ones, and offered support. Afterward Alex and Lou became regulars of the Haen, and befriended Willem over the course of their visits. At one point, Willem hired Alex to work as a bartender for him.

Willem apparently started dating an unknown man some time shortly before the events of Glory Hounds, though he seems to be secretive about his identity.

### Issue #1

Willem reenters De Halve Haen after a smoke break outside and playfully teases Alex, who is unwinding in the bar with Lou. Willem mentions that his establishment's twenty-fifth anniversary will be held the coming week and invites them both to attend the celebration.

Shortly after, Willem takes another smoke break and finds Alex still outside, waiting for the rain to stop. He encourages Alex to open up to him, having sensed he is in a "rough spot," but Alex remains aloof. Willem decides to recount the day Alex came out to him to remind him that he shouldn't bottle things up. This encourages Alex to speak his mind, and he worries that his life is stagnating. Willem reassures him, pointing out that no one really has it all figured out and that there is no shame in Alex not knowing who he is yet, and invites him back to volunteer around the bar sometime.

After Alex stops a robbery at Mrs. de Bruin's corner store with help from a masked vigilante named Dawn Hound, Willem sees their heroics on the news and gives Alex a call to check in. When Alex casually expresses some offhand attraction towards Dawn Hound, Willem seems to pick up on it but does not press it. He also reminds Alex to keep Lou informed about what happened, and wishes him well.

### Issue #2

Lou is at the Haen setting up for the the anniversary party when Alex stops by to take them to Opgedoekt, and so Willem makes a brief appearance. He warns the pair to be careful, since the district is still in commotion over the attempted robbery of Mrs. de Bruin's store, and states that she will be his guest of honor at the party. After being reminded of his "Mother Hen" drag act, Willem rushes off to ensure his costume still fits as Alex and Lou depart.

## Relationships

### Alex

Willem tends to act as a mentor of sorts to Alex, and freely offers him advice when he is struggling. Willem was the first person Alex ever came out to, and assured Alex that he would always have a place to belong. He briefly employed Alex in some capacity to work behind the bar, and expresses that he's welcome to return to that position at any time. Years later, Willem still takes an interest in Alex's well-being and seems to have a good intuition for when something is bothering him.

### Lou

Lou is one of Willem's regular patrons, and the two have developed a friendship and playful rapport with one another as a result. Willem does not share Lou's interest in keeping up with social media trends and is confused by their taste for intentionally bad movies, though he appreciates their company overall.

### Maria de Bruin

Willem and Maria seem to be old acquaintances. Maria apparently has a habit of playfully flirting with him, given Willem's comment to Alex to "tell her [he's] taken."

## Trivia

* Alex refers to Willem as 'the Haen's namesake,' implying that he is the titular rooster in the bar's name.
* Willem performs in drag under the stage name "Mother Hen."

## Gallery

DefaultWillem smokingMother HenMother Hen holding a microphonePromo art featuring Willem illustrated by Shtar.
## References

1. ↑ Redd's CuriousCat
2. ↑ Redd's Twitter