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= Phillip Hilliard = Phillip Warren Hilliard is a well known author of biographies and histories, the heir to the Chicago based Hilliard crime operation, and the husband of Malachi Bird. He is known for his focus on figures either relatively obscure or previously unwritten upon.

Hilliard was born in Chicago, and studied at Meador Academy, where he met Malachi Bird. He began traveling with Bird after graduation, serving as an accomplice to a number of Bird's art thefts. At the age of twenty, he published his first biography, American Prince, which described the rise to power, and offered theories on the early life of, Jehan Desjardins, the current crime lord of the Saint-Romain ring.

Since then, he has published three more biographies. He is a wanted criminal for his connection to the Hilliard ring and as an accomplice to Malachi Bird's art theft. Nevertheless, he appears regularly at conventions of biographers and historians, especially biographers of famous criminals. Though there is some controversy within the historian community over whether Hilliard, considering his numerous criminal connections, and the tangled nature of the criminal community, has any chance of serving as an appropriately impartial journalist.

Early Life
Phillip Hilliard was born in Chicago on August 22, 2018 to Arlette and Milton Hilliard. There is some question over his actual parentage, given speculation about the relationships between Arlette Hilliard, Milton Hilliard, and Claude Hilliard, Arlette's brother and the Hilliard crime lord. Phillip spent the first twelve years of his life in almost total seclusion on the Hilliard estate. Little is known about his early life and education, though he has confirmed in interviews that he was tutored by Milton Hilliard, and his aunt, Sophie Dunne. Sebastian Siska, his cousin, also lived with the Hilliard family throughout Phillip's childhood.

At the age of twelve, Phillip started school at Meador Academy, a boarding school in Los Angeles which caters primarily to the children of criminals. It was there that he met Malachi Bird, his future husband. According to fellow students, Phillip and Bird did not get along at all at first, and, until the age of sixteen, were prone to frequent arguments and occasional, if very unmatched, physical fights.

Phillip and Malachi Bird began dating at sixteen and seventeen, respectively. After graduating from Meador Academy, Bird took a position as ambassador for the Idreis ring, owned by family friend Adel Idreis. The position required extensive traveling, and Phillip went with Bird. While traveling, he researched and wrote his first biography, American Prince, research which included a visit to the Saint-Romain ring itself, and interviews with Desjardins, as well as his husbands, Audric Ackerman and Kiefer Marsden. These interviews, as well as the extensiveness of Phillip's research, and the fact that there were few preexisting biographies of Desjardins, contributed to the instant popularity of the work, which earned Phillip a reputation as a biographer.

Criminal Record
Though Phillip Hilliard is a wanted criminal, he is wanted primarily in connection with the Hilliard family and with Malachi Bird. The Hilliard families crimes are mostly financial, and there is not known to be any evidence linking Phillip to them. Similarly, though it can be proved that Phillip Hilliard was traveling with Malachi when he committed several of his most notable art thefts, it can not be proved that Phillip actually knew of or participated in the heists. This would presumably make it difficult to form an actual court case against Phillip Hilliard if he was apprehended, but he is listed as a person of interest by both the FBI and the Chicago Police.

Phillip is set to take over as crime lord of the Hilliard ring, after the death of his cousin, Sebastian Siska, at which point he will, presumably, commit verifiable crimes.

American Prince: The Life of Jehan Desjardins and the Future of Vampire Crime
Phillip Hilliard's first work was the biography American Prince: The Life of Jehan Desjardins and the Future of Vampire Crime, detailing the life of Jehan Desjardins. The book was published in 2038, and began with a comprehensive summary of the rise of the Saint-Romain ring under Achille de Saint-Romain. It went on to discuss Saint-Romain's abduction, murder, and turning of Jehan Desjardins, using an interview with Desjardins as primary source. In this way, American Prince was able to become the first biography to confirm Desjardins origins. The book detailed Desjardins' early life in the Saint-Romain ring, his time with the Los Angeles branch of the Hunters, under Maya Verkaik, and his rule of the Saint-Romain ring following Achille de Saint-Romain's death. It contained interviews with Desjardins, Audric Ackerman, Kiefer Marsden, Pip D'Orléans, and Salome Akhtar. It established Phillip's credibility as a biographer and historian, and was a landmark work in the field of crime history. If the book had not been so groundbreaking, it is extremely unlikely that Hilliard would have been admitted to the field, given the conflict of interest brought up by his family connections.

The Queen's Librarian: On the Longest Surviving Member of the Clarence Ring
The Queen's Librarian, Phillip Hilliard's second published book, is a combination biography of Henry Byrne, who served as advisor to Anna, Gerald, and, very briefly, Fitz Clarence, and history of the Clarence ring. The biography is divided into three parts, the first describing Byrne's early life and employment under Anna Clarence, the second detailing his employment under Gerald Clarence, and the third describing his week long career under Fitz Clarence, and the rest of his life, each part also describing in great deal the state of the Clarence ring and the surrounding crime world at the time. The Queen's Librarian relies mainly on records kept by Byrne himself, obtained through Clarence employee Maria Herrero, interviews with Herrero and with Byrne's daughter, and first hand accounts of the Clarence ring, mostly in letters, as primary sources. The book was generally well received within the historian community, but was notably less popular than American Prince. This is mostly attributed to its more obscure subject matter rather than any fault in Hilliard's writing.

The King Is Dead: The Life Of Charles Innis And The Changing Landscape of Los Angeles Crime
The King is Dead focuses on the life of Charles Innis, with a secondary focus on the radical change that the Los Angeles crime scene underwent in the 50s and 60s. While the Innis family has been written on a great deal, The King is Dead is the first biography since the family's downfall to focus on the Innisses themselves rather than the family as a factor in the rise of the, generally more compelling, Anna Clarence or Angelica Murdoch, though Phillip also discussed the rest of the Los Angeles crime scene in extensive detail, devoting several chapters to it after the death of Charles Innis.

Phillip's third book is generally considered to be the least well put together. Many critics believe this to be due to the fact that he was kidnapped halfway through the writing progress, suggesting that the experienced destabilized and distracted Hilliard. Phillip was kidnapped while in London with Malachi Bird, and retrieved after three days in captivity, by way of an extremely violent rescue on Bird's part. Brief as it may have been, the experience seems to have skewed his writing of The King is Dead. As one reviewer writes, "At best, The King is Dead reflects the disorganized, emotional, and occasionally panicked work of a young man not yet recovered from a deeply upsetting ordeal. At worst, it is the last effort of a once promising historian divest of his writing prowess and, perhaps, the better part of his sanity."

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi: The Fall of the Levine Ring
Phillip's fourth book took on the Levine family and its collapse, differing from his previous biographies in that it focused on the family rather than a single person. As opposed to The King is Dead, Hilliard's biography of the Levine ring was praised for its organization and accuracy in taking on such a complex topic. It appeared on several best seller lists for a period of months, and is generally believed to represent a sort of comeback on Hilliard's part.

Siska Biography
In 2039, there were several reports of Phillip Hilliard searching out letters and records from the Siska crime ring. The Bélanger Insider reported on it and suggested that it was inappropriate for Phillip to be writing on a family so closely connected with his own. No biography was ever published, and it has been theorized that the work was either a family project or was dropped in the face of backlash.

Upcoming Work
Hilliard is known to be working on a fifth biography, though the subject matter of it is unclear.

Journalistic Integrity
Phillip Hilliard has numerous criminal connections. He is the son of Milton and Arlette Hilliard, the nephew of Claude Hilliard, and heir to the Hilliard crime operation. He was raised in the same house as Sebastian Siska, formerly second in line to the Siska ring, and Sophie Dunne, who was raised and worked for years as an advisor in the Brar crime ring. Phillip was educated at Meador Academy, a school for the children of criminals, where he would have met and potentially befriended children from a multitude of rings. His most significant criminal connection is generally considered to be his relationship with Malachi Bird, who he has dated since high school, and married this year. He was able to obtain the interviews he used to write American Prince because of a connection of his cousin, Cassandra Braddock's.

Many critics feel that Hilliard's numerous close criminal connections make it impossible for him to write unbiased accounts of any part of criminal history. "Though Hilliard appears to select topics unrelated to his family," writes one critic, "thus preserving a semblance of journalistic integrity, the criminal world is webbed together so closely that it is impossible for a person involved with it not to be involved with all of it. Hilliard was raised with Sebastian Siska, who's sister Melissa Siska married Lynette Braddock, who's niece, Cassandra's work for Libby Clarence both connects Hilliard to the Clarence ring and allowed him to obtain interviews with the Romain-Orleans ring, a close contact of the Clarences since its takeover by Jehan Desjardins."

Defenders of Phillip Hilliard's biographical career insist that, while the potential for bias certainly exists, even the harshest reviewers have yet to be able to find evidence of it in Phillip's work. In fact, "Hilliard's work is generally cited as some of the most objective, fact-based, and detailed writing of this century."

Relationship with Malachi Bird
For some time, the exact nature of Malachi Bird and Phillip Hilliard's relationship has been up for debate, especially amongst tabloids. The most popular theories include either a traditional relationship, high school sweethearts developing into into an eventual marriage or a marriage arranged by Claude Hilliard and Adel Idreis. However, there are other theories, including that Malachi Bird and Phillip Hilliard ran away together without their families permissions, and that the Hilliards and Idreises both moved to cover it up to avoid damage to their reputations, and even that Malachi kidnapped him and they later fell in love. Other theories state that Malachi seduced Phillip in an attempt to get the rest of the Hilliard land for his family, or to use his biographies as a sort of propaganda.

Most of the confusion about their relationship stems from how poorly matched Malachi Bird and Phillip seem to be. Malachi Bird is known for his criminal talent, beauty, and charm, appearing often at parties and events in connection with both various cultural scenes and his family. Phillip, by contrast, is introverted, not particularly charismatic, and hardly involved in crime at all. This has caused a great deal of speculation about what could have attracted Bird to him, and kept him loyal for so long.