❝ The role of the lover is exactly the same as the role of the artist. If I love you, I must make you aware of the things you do not see. ❞
B A S I C S –
Name: Blaze Roderick Knowles.
Nicknames: N/A.
Birthday: September 28, 1974.
Pronouns: He/Him.
Gender/Sex: Cis male.
Sexuality: Bisexual.
Occupation: Freelance celebrity interior constructor/designer, former HGTV show host.
P E R S O N A L I T Y —
+ Gracious, adventurous, steadfast. - Avoidant, neglectful, dishonest.
He's giving toned down Johnny Knoxville for HGTV, if that makes sense. He's a lover at heart and has always tried to support everyone, enjoying humanity for what it is and the time on Earth that he has. Lowkey kind of spiritual but also hates God if God is real. Unfortunately can charm your pants off, but he's a one-woman-at-a-time man and for the last few years he hasn't even had the heart for sex or romance.
A R R I V A L — ( SPRING 2021 )
Moved into his Aurora Bay Drive house officially in the spring of 2021, although neighbors may have noticed his infrequent presence and the sound of construction for the four years previous.
E X T R A B I T S —
– His catchphrase on Blazin Famous was, jokingly, "and that's the power of the flame." Very ridiculous energy.
– Blaze has suffered a range of injuries, including a broken femur, two broken fingers (each pinky one time), a broken foot, several sprains and fractures, four concussions, a chipped tooth (not including the one he chipped in highschool), and various cuts and scrapes at the hand of his job. He loves his scars, and he loves flirting with nurses.
– Although his vigorous job always kept him a degree of fit, he's very dedicated to working out, especially as he ages. He enjoys every ounce of his working body that he has.
– The dude's sweet tooth is ridiculous. He always has several boxes of Little Debbies on hand - mainly Swiss Rolls and Honey Buns.
C O N N E C T I O N S —
Xavier Matthews: client. Contacted to transform a cabin into a studio for his wife.
Cricket Campbell: personal chef. They do lunch and dinner a few times a week as a trial thing, but Blaze is so addicted to her food that he prays it becomes a long-term deal.
Bellamy Calvert: niece. Blaze has always hated her father, so he's been turning a keen eye to her reappearance and trying to take care of her when he can.
B A C K G R O U N D —
tw: illness/death, divorce, dui/drug use
- grew up in michigan
- honestly had a very chill childhood. his parents were normal and loved each other deeply. his mother had an ex-husband before blaze's father, but they were on good terms and had no children together to fight about. a positive view of love and multiple wives truly set blaze up for a lifetime of marriage
- has a half brother from his dad's crazy days. he's older, and they don't talk really at all. completely separate lives.
- blaze was normal and honestly kind of popular growing up. he was the kind of popular where he didn't act better than everyone, just respected everyone equally and did sports (hockey specifically)
- was pretty decent at hockey but only did it to have something to do in high school. he liked having a team and a jersey but knew it would never last beyond college, if high school.
- has had a steady string of girlfriends since sixth grade, most with non-toxic endings (although he made the mistake of dating a poor girl who couldn't handle heartbreak and ruined her life. on accident!) generally has not been single for more than a nine months to a year since then.
- his father did construction and also enjoyed doing carpentry around the house. he often built things for blaze's mom to make her life easier, as she developed muscular dystrophy when she was around thirty eight. this love of crafting and building plus a child-young adulthood of being his father's second in command left blaze with a lot of skills in making stuff with his hands, as well as an artistic eye.
- blaze's mom was a painter and a sculptor and a home chef and a tennis player and anything a non-working woman wanted to do, until her disease caught up with her. the last thing she was ever able to do was paint, and with nowhere near the finesse she once had. her last works are finger paintings
- married his sweetheart right out of high school and then went on to trade school. their connection was fast and hot and destined to burn out quickly. angela's father worked in entertainment and, after the two years of trade school, got blaze a job building sets on a production lot. only a few months after that job started, angela and blaze's marriage began to fall apart; another six months after that, blaze was on to another building job, this time with a divorce under his belt.
- after two years of various set-building jobs (and a brief stint doing faceless gay porn), blaze got wind of a developing hgtv show audition for a couple's house flipping show. now, yes, he was recently divorced and did not yet have a girlfriend to speak of, but for determined blaze knowles, that wasn't a problem. he found a background actor working on the same lot, pitched the concept, and then the two walked into the audition room with nothing but a dream and a couple of crossed fingers.
- their lies worked and blaze and his "longtime girlfriend" esme scored their show. turns out esme had a history in fashion and that transferred well to design; she also looked hot with a sledgehammer, which helped. through the process of faking an engagement, blaze and esme fell in love for real, and tied the knot after the first season of their show.
- seven solid years and ten solid seasons of Do It Dirty came to a screeching halt when esme was arrested for driving under the influence/possession of cocaine. headlines boasted not only of her use, but of her affair; although her sentenced was reduced to a year of jail time, Do It Dirty was cancelled and re-runs were scrubbed from the air. turns out, esme had another boyfriend as well. (it's ok, blaze was cheating too.) at thirty, blaze found himself once again jobless and divorced.
- with a fan base under his belt, blaze began doing celebrity appearances on other HGTV shows, and then a stint in the second jackass movie. yes, he did end up breaking his femur, but god was it worth it. this venture opened even more doors; now, three years later, blaze had an idea for a solo show.
- Blazing Famous was blaze's baby. with his odd celebrity connections, he would do a three-episode stretch on whatever his current project was. he'd show every detail of the project, whether it be total room renovation or backyard waterpark design, without mentioning who he was doing the job for. the fans could watch and guess which celebrity's house it was, getting their answer in the final half hour of the arc when blaze would tour his creation with the client. notable celebrities include: johnny knoxville, will smith, megan fox, anne hathaway, and even barack obama.
- Blazing Famous was wildly successful and aired from 2007 to 2020, ending solely because blaze wanted to step away from the limelight.
- three years into blazing famous' run, blaze met his third wife, rhea. they met at a grocery store in michigan when blaze was visiting his mother's grave and had an instant connection. at 38, blaze was beginning to feel the ache of settling down with someone, and rhea felt right. after only two years of knowing each other, they were married.
- rhea had a daughter from a previous marriage who was already 18 by the time blaze came into her life.
- rhea and blaze were happily married for five years before rhea asked for a divorce. she also had muscular dystrophy, and knew it would take her life eventually, and she said she didn't want blaze to be saddled as a widow forever. granting her wishes, they divorced, though they stayed a couple until her death a year later. blaze still privately considers himself a widow
- although Blazing Famous never dipped hard in ratings, there was a clear fall-off and less episodes per season in the last three years of the show.
- after the show ended, blaze moved out to a home he'd been renovating to be a retirement retreat for him and rhea in aurora bay. he had clients in the area and figured he could always count on their business or at least a good word of mouth to support himself - more out of needing to do something with his time than needing the money.
-"I don't know what I'm doing, I just know exactly what I want. There are now at least three Tony award winning scenic designers that have had to go to therapy after working it me."
If something wasn't to her liking Demi was never shy about voicing it. To most people that meant she was difficult, but Demi found she always got the result she was after.
"Try kitchen -- why is it so difficult to find inspiration for a kitchen that isn't farm-core or completely utilitarian?"
Just listening to this woman talk is enough to have that familiar thrill pulsing through Blaze. While he doesn't miss everything from his life of fame, he does miss the collaboration - doing his damnedest to fulfill the desires of his clients was always the best part of the job.
" I know that should be scary, but I'm just impressed. It takes a lot to get someone in the entertainment industry to actually go to therapy and not just spill all their feelings into scripts or catty brunches with the production crew. "
Blaze nods, agreeing wholeheartedly with lamenting about the lack of kitchen inspiration. " Farm-core is killing America. Look, I love a mushroom as much as the next guy, but J F'in C, if I have to look at one more shitty, cluttered kitchen full of fairy jars and goddamn moss or whatever, I'll lose it. What ever happened to rustic orange, you know? "
"I cannot promise you that that won't happen but I can promise you that if it does you can call me over and I will personally shoulder that burden and dispose of them for you instead," Louie assures him, waggling the clipboard in his direction.
"Don't make me break out my puppy dog eyes -- they're very effective."
" You're dedicated enough to shoulder the task of picking up every single pair of nasty swim trunks we find just to make some old guy volunteer? You must be the town's only defense against littering. "
Blaze considers for an extra few seconds before he deflates, taking the clipboard with defeat.
“Would it make you feel better or bruise your ego a little more if I tell you I don’t remember you?”
Camryn does, vaguely, though there have been plenty of faces she has seen come and go. She just isn’t about to take a guess at what he ordered. He might be back to try something new.
She finishes placing out the fresh tray of cookies and adds, "I don't think anyone would be judged for coming back. Sweet Nothings is definitely worth the second helping. What'll it be?"
" Honored, actually. I could use with some more anonymity around here. "
It isn't as though he's beating back fans or anything, but the world will always feel too small after spending so much time projecting his whole life on television. Blaze peers around the woman's body, hoping to find more pineapple upside down cupcakes, though he finds only disappointment in the form of an empty tray.
" Say, you wouldn't happen to have extra of those somewhere in the back, do you? " Hope laces through Blaze's tone as he points toward the sticky remains of the pineapple treat.
"Why would I need more of the same color? Like, I'll lose it or something?" Sage was thinking about repainting her apartment at Ocean Crest, so she'd ventured all the way to the hardware store so she could check out some paint colors. She had only picked up one so far but she was still looking. "There really are so many options though. How does anyone choose just one?"
" I always suggest grabbing a few so you can hang 'em up around the room that you're painting and see how the factors of your unique home effect the color. " He shrugs, eyes trailing over all of the choices. He's supposed to be picking one too, something calming for his office, but he's getting the urge to buy something ridiculous and pink just to get it over with. " You don't have to pick just one, unless you're only doing one wall. Even then, a mural isn't out of the picture. "
Jude was considering repainting pitstop to give him something to do with his time. No stranger to a hardware store, Jude had everything he needed in a basket. It was overflowing at this point, but he had too much pride to go and walk all the way to the counter to find one of those tiny trolley's. "Not gunna go with it." The mechanic taps his finger on the lid of the tin, "This shit will wear of the walls by next winter. Need the weather proof stuff for the sea salt."
Blaze's eyebrows twitch a little higher, thrown (though not offended) by the deep gruffness of the man's voice. It's nice to know people untouched by the valley-girl effect still exist in California. " Smart. I'm guessing you're not painting a bathroom, eh? " Motioning to the overfull basket that the man's holding, Blaze smiles. " What kind of renovation project are you doing? "
“ okay well why would i need that many of the same color?” Nelson replied back with an amused expression. He wasn’t sure why on earth anyone would need that many of anything the same shade but he loved hearing a pitch to see if his opinion would sway in any direction @ablaaze
" Not the same color, exactly, but similar shades. Unless you're painting a room that has the same lighting as this hardware store, that paint chip is going to look like a slightly different color once you get it back in your house. Just trying to save you a couple steps. "
Laurel looked up from the single, light blue paint chip in their hand, eyes narrowed at the unsolicited advice. They'd barely touched the interior of their house in the three years they'd lived there, but they figured, with the practice expanding, it could do with a few personal touches. "I'm failing to get the 'why' here. Connect the dots for me."
" Paint looks different when it's on the wall. There are a lot of factors: room size, room shape, light sources - both natural and artificial. You might bring that sucker home, " he says, pointing at the paint chip in their hand, " And find it looks completely different than standing in here under all these bright florescents. If you grab a couple in the same family, you can find one that works for the vision you have. Dots feeling connected now? "
" Sheesh, you're going right in it with the paint? I was only suggesting you grab the shade sheets. Hey, deliberation's not for everyone - impulse can be great. If you end up hating it, though, you'll just end up buying more paint anyway. "
"O-oh, okay! Sure!" She looks at the baby pink swatch in her hand then looks at the other choices. Truthfully, she'd had her heart set on this specific color, but she supposes it could be good to try others. "It's for a kids classroom, I'm going for pastels." She muses, finger tapping her bottom lip as she then reaches for a pastel green.
" Never done a classroom before, but I bet you're onto something great with the pastels, " Blaze affirms. He feels a little bad for stepping in, if only because a classroom likely requires less deliberation on a shade than, say, a tight-cornered dining room with no built-in light source. " It's cool that they let you do that. Can't remember my classrooms being anything other than eggshell or gray. "
Delilah startled, not having realized the man behind her in line was so close--and observant, apparently.
(She had been eyeing those pineapple upside-down cupcakes, though the thought of actually consuming one right then after the Galentine's brunch she'd just left didn't appeal as much.)
"I'm getting some pretty mixed signals here..." Her eyes narrowed playfully. "How do I know you're not just trying to ward me off so there's more for you, hm?"
Blaze sucks in a breath through his teeth, giving a little shake of his head. He pats his stomach. " I guess you're just going to have to trust me. Look, I'm limiting myself to just one, and I'm going to take it home and eat it by candlelight. If you want to sign yourself up for that kind of indulgence addiction by buying one, please, " Blaze teases, holding up his hands in surrender. " Be my guest. Just looking out for my fellow human. "
"So you're telling me I brought extra graham crackers for nothing?" Warren frowned as he held up his box of graham crackers, obviously he hadn't gotten the memo. "What's a bon fire without s'mores?"
Blaze scoffs, happy to have found someone equally as upset about this situation. " Not a damn marshmallow in sight. And you know what? " Blaze tugs out a chocolate bar from his shirt pocket, dairy-free printed across the wrapping. " I brought my own chocolate, too. "
"Anything in this town can be a couple-y thing if you gather enough people."
Like magnets for misery, there was no stopping the lovebirds of Aurora Bay and that made Ziggy hope that some of them would peck each others eyes out in the near future.
His perfectly intact eyes focused on the man speaking properly then, having to make himself refrain from doing a double take. Should he have been frequenting the pottery studio to find where the actual men were in a town full of insidious boys?
It seemed like it.
"He's turning up at twenty-passed never. What about yours?"
It seemed harmless enough to him to throw out a fishing line to see if he could get a bite from what he was assuming was a a heterosexual man.
( Knowing his luck, he was about to have to hear about 3.5 children and an enduring thirty year marriage to someone called Cindy or Mindy or Melindy that he would have to pretend to be interested in. )
Blaze hums with lazy agreement. Even with two marriages under his belt, he's never been built for the romantic life. While he draws the line at cynicism, he sure as hell doesn't love watching two grown people call each other pookie and lovebear in the middle of a public space.
The kid's question knocks one of Blaze's eyebrows up in a faint, curious arch. " I don't do boyfriends anymore. Or girlfriends, or husbands or wives, for that matter. " No one too young either, he promises himself, though he doesn't say it out loud because he's been known to break those sorts of promises. " Life is more fun without shackles, I think. Gives you the freedom to go to 'paint-and-sip' nights and get slammered without having to worry about anyone back home. Pass me the red, will you? This heart is lopsided as hell. "
closed starter for delilah carreño / @delilahcarreno
located at the bake sale
" Don't do it, " Blaze says ominously to the person in front of him in line. " I see you eyeing those pineapple upside-down cupcakes. Just don't. I've spent over $200 in the past three months eating those fuckers. I'm here for them right now. If you value your financials and current pant size, just skip them. "
" Me? No, I'm not participating. Just watching. I didn't know this was going on when I walked in and I figured eh, might as well take advantage of the free entertainment. "
