* cha eunwoo, cis male + he/him | you know ares blackthorn, right? they’re twenty-four, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, three years? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to nobody speak by dj shadow, run the jewels like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole death-touched, leather jacket, gold leaf thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is november 29th, so they’re a sagittarius, which is unsurprising, all things considered.
trigger warnings : death, alcohol, hallucinations / breaks with reality (implied) and/or ambiguous supernatural / horror elements (depending on interpretation).
ares’ parents die when he’s seven months old, and he is whisked away in the hands of his caretaker to the vast blackthorn estate. he is set to inherit his family’s gangnam district home, as well as their winter estate in california, when he turns eighteen. at the time of their deaths, his late parents’ pharmaceutical company is still thriving. he is adopted by the blackthorns, who were close with his parents. their progeny are allegedly cursed – only one of seven children of each blackthorn generation generally survive. then again, eventually everyone’s survival rate drops to zero. an older ares will find he isn’t very picky about the when, the how, or the why of the inevitable.ares seems to inherit the blackthorn family luck simply by guilt of association.
his best friend at his private boarding school is killed the summer of their senior year. ares is emotionless at the funeral. it feels as if the permanence of the situation simply hasn’t occurred to him yet. he remembers smoking a cigarette outside the church in which the funeral took place, wishing he was back in his dorm. lethargy grips him throughout the day, until finally he is allowed to fall into a dreamless sleep. his only other close friend at school, mary, is disturbed by his lack of reaction. he doesn’t know how to explain to her that the entirety of his reaction is internal, and besides, it hasn’t hit him properly yet. but he thinks, at the time, that it must eventually. that someday it will feel perfectly real that he will never see jacques again.
ares isn’t particularly close with his adoptive siblings. he gets along alright with them all, but there’s always a general awareness that if curses are real – and ares feels he may as well believe in them, because they do make life seem more interesting – that most of them may be dead eventually. he wonders – again, if curses are real – if he’ll be among the dead. if adoption is enough to bring him in. he’s been a blackthorn for a very long time. he was named after a blackthorn, too. indirectly named for a greek god, but that doesn’t really feel like the sort of loophole that might wrestle one free of a curse.
ares and mary are married when they’re both nineteen, and they move into ares’ penthouse suite in one of the buildings bequeathed to him. mary’s parents are not happy about the union. mary, raised catholic, was supposed to marry a catholic. ares is not a catholic. mary and ares do not plan on having children. they plan on partying like there’s no tomorrow, because, for all they know, there might literally be no tomorrow.
mary gets a bit fed up with this after a year and a half, and they undergo an amiable divorce. ares is becoming more and more detached from her. he thinks he can see the faces of his parents, following him through the city. he leaves, but there they are again, in paris, and in prague, and in hong kong.
he chooses a random place on a map of the american continent. then he chooses another random place, because he refuses to go to florida. north carolina wins out. irving sounds like just the sort of place to relax and recuperate and stop seeing the faces of the dead.
on the flight over to his new home, he sees himself, sat several aisles down in business class. he returns to his seat in first, trying not to overreact. he’ll see about finding a psychiatrist when he lands.
he doesn’t bother. whatever it is that he’s seeing, why ever it is that he’s seeing them, it changes nothing. besides, while he doesn’t actively believe in curses, or omens of death, he doesn’t not believe in them.
he sees his own face in irving sometimes, when mirrors are nowhere to be seen. after a while it stops being unnerving and crosses into distraction. he sees jacques the first winter he spends in irving, watching him in a shop window. ares waves at him. jacques doesn’t wave back, which ares supposes is fair. social cues probably don’t apply to the dead, or to hallucinations.
he spends much of his time in irving relaxing, going to the gym, drinking, etcetera, though he occasionally has zoom call meetings with the board of his parents’ – now his – company. he doesn’t care for business, doesn’t have the head for it. the company is involved in a major scandal when ares is 23, but he’s achieved enough anonymity and is detached enough from the company that he’s not bothered over it. nobody knows where he is; he intends to keep things that way.
half a year later, his family’s company goes bankrupt. he gets out while he can, and finds that, for the first time in his life, the contents of his bank account are finite. and instead of reaching out to the blackthorns, he accepts this. he keeps his apartment in irving and finds a job he’s vaguely qualified for. he cuts off all communication with the people in his old life.
did someone say bring in a depressed stoner who also thinks he’s funny??? no?? oh ok.
Look at them, they're just staring at me
Like come and watch the skinny kid
With a steadily declining mental health
& laugh as he attempts to give you
what he cannot give himself
MEET JEREMIAH.
tw . mental health, depression, drugs
his biological parents were young and incredibly immature, and after far too many visits from social workers he had been placed in foster care. at approximately NINE years old.
then there’s Charlotte and Shanice Banks, two amazing, strong ass women who longed to have their own children after they’d been together for thirteen years already. shanice, a lawyer, and charlotte a school teacher. charlotte was jeremiah’s fifth grade english teacher, he was a class clown, she noted, he got a kick out of making the other students laugh. all in all, he seemed to be a very positive kid and was quite surprised to read his file and learn the horrific details surrounding his childhood.
it didn’t take much for them to decide to make jeremiah the newest addition to their family. he was officially adopted at the age of 13. he loves his moms so much and would fight lit anyone for them. truly a momma’s boy but “in a sexy way” as he’d say.
however his childhood and mental health eventually caught up to him when he was sixteen which led to some bad shit, causing his parents to send him to a psychiatric hospital for a few months. “you’d go to a hospital when your not feeling well physically, you can go to when you’re not feeling well mentally as well,” is how they convinced him when he protested.
he was diagnosed with manic depression and has to take his medication pretty regularly and he.... usually does.
started selling bud when he was eighteen to preps, he managed to become a pretty reliable drug dealer. his moms would be so proud if they knew.
PERSONALITY
his mothers raised him teaching about toxic masculinity and the importance of feeling and showing his emotions so he’s not afraid to cry watching a nicholas sparks film or go on womanist rants. and, per him, “womanist is more inclusive than feminism”
self deprecating humor because he truly ! hates himself sometimes ! but he hides it behind “haha jk ;)”
A LOSER!!! a sarcastic asshole!! he’d technically be considered a nerd because of how lame he is but his grades never backed him up with that.. also always gets yelled at for skateboarding in places he shouldn’t. like why are you skating in a library, jeremy?
is truly sad a lot of the time but also could never really be taken seriously because he’s always joking.
dressed up as hermione granger to impress a girl once, has never seen harry potter. dressed up as kim possible a few years later because he really wanted to wear a red wig.
he’s high 80% of the time.
CONNECTIONS
adopted siblings ?? - he has two OTHER siblings ! younger or older doesn’t matter ! also adopted?? up to you!
the yin to his yang - a best friend! gender doesn’t matter, but his parents probably depend on this person to sort of watch over him. they love them as if they’re also one of their own kids!
unrequited crush - pls let him be all heart-eyes, kindergarten crush over this specific muse. the one he dressed up as hermione granger for.
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL DRUG DEALER - hi !! he sells !! he needs clients !! it would be fun if he’s a concerned drug dealer as well, cutting your muse off if he
someone he knew from his hospital stays - pretty self explanatory!
EX GIRLFRIEND - this one will be kinda sad. anyway they were head over heels for each other but he cut things off / ghosted abruptly after he went through his episode. this person doesn’t know he stayed at a psychiatric hospital and probably thinks he just abandoned their relationship. COULD TIE INTO UNREQUITED CRUSH AS WELL.
* nico hiraga, cis man + he/him | you know owen murase, right? they’re twenty-five, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, their whole life? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to swim and sleep (like a shark) by unknown mortal orchestra like, a million times this year, which makes sense, ‘cause they’ve got that whole laughing to the point that the joke’s never been told properly, talking pensively on the roof of your family home until your mother calls you back inside, novelty caps with witty remarks embroidered on them thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is april 13th, so they’re a taurus, which is unsurprising, all things considered.
hi it’s cee … again… bet ya getting sick of me now huh….
AESTHETICS.
too-sweet orange sherbet, the only light source in the middle of the night being a measly desk lamp, a beanie well-loved enough it threatens to fall apart, childhoods spent talking to your friends next door across the backyard fence, nineties nintendo games, skate decks fractured clean down the middle, eyes glued to a television, lips chapped with ocean water, vintage stripe shirts, perfectly clear midsummer skies
CHARACTER INSPO.
zach taylor ( super dark times ), alexis rose ( schitt’s creek ), robbie ( angus, thongs and perfect snogging ), casey ( atypical ), francis abernathy ( the secret history ), gordo ( lizzie mcguire ), troy barnes ( community )
BACKGROUND.
it’s an idyllic spring day when you’re born. there’s a gentle chill that soars off the quivering ocean, a warmth from the sun that brings a flush to the cheeks. the youngest of two boys, you are adored, loved. the apple of one’s eye.
your mother makes sure you never forget who you are. without fail she packs your lunch each day ( you love it despite the odd looks of your classmates ), japanese school saturday mornings, family visits to morioka in the summer where cicadas seem to buzz within your head. it’s not easy for her despite the understanding of your father, durham born and raised. you don’t realise it until much later. it only seems to sink in once she’s flown back to japan to care for ailing grandparents when you are twelve. you hate the way a peanut butter and jelly sandwich glues to the roof of your mouth. you miss how she would force a hat on your head seconds before you left for school every morning.
the loneliness is more pronounced when your brother leaves for college three years later. he’s not far, but there’s a hollowness in the room that makes living with your father hard sometimes. he takes you to little league. you take to little league a duck to water. there’s less shouting matches, less ‘ i hate yous ’ and acting out. learning to forgive the world is less a big stride and more short steps, sometimes one backward.
you graduate the golden boy. everything is at your fingertips, it seems. varsity baseball, prom king, an ivy league sports scholarship on the horizon. your mother comes back home for it. your brother does, too. your breath is quick and sharp when you hold back hot tears on stage. your breath stops when the boy you’ve admired for the last year and a half walks past to you to shake the principal’s hand. your girlfriend never knew. you’re grateful for the calm in you when you return to japan that year, a little sunburn across the bridge of your nose, sweat beading on your forehead and nights spent listlessly gazing upward to stars.
INJURY & NEEDLES MENT. CW college is a blow out. so’s your arm. halfway into your freshman year and a sports med degree, your elbow won’t get better, no matter how many needles are poked in it, no matter how many times you ice it religiously. surgery isn’t enough, either. the scholarship and your place as pitcher are no longer yours and for the next few months, you’re home again in irving with your tail between your legs. your father isn’t angry so much as he’s disappointed for you. your brother’s made it to law school now, and here you are watching daytime reruns of judge judy and admiring the grass stains on your white sneakers, eating froot loops with far too much milk. CW END
it’s hard to get past the searing embarrassment on your cheeks when you return to college the next year. you liked writing, although it comes as a surprise to your family. at the very least, your father wonders, weren’t you going to go into a science degree and not literature?
you pay no heed and write until your eyes turn square at four in the morning. you are the best student in the course, the professor says. that hard work will pay off, the professor says. and it does. after your degree, the culmination of your work falls into three-hundred-and-something pages of a novel that a small publisher in charlotte seems to adore. your father pulled some strings to get it there. within a year, it’s a new york times bestseller. it’s a shock, but not really. the way you grit your teeth, the way you steeled your resolve, made you something, just like you promised your mother when you were seven years old and eyes shining.
PERSONALITY & QUIRKS.
goofy ass
bilingual :P
the family home in delphinus heights is too big for one person after his father went back to durham, so he chose to find his own place instead. he has a cute little studio flat on dorado road on a block behind a retired couple that sometimes invites him over for early dinner.
has no pets but there’s a bird that squawks outside his back door each morning until it gets a bit of toast from him
never wakes up early enough to see the sunrise over the sea, though
currently works a few days a week at a surf shop near the pier to make ends meet. writes and coaches little league in his spare time
owen’s first publication was a sci-fi novel. after excelling in most subjects, he puts math and science to good use for his work
tends to hang around you more if you’re a good source of inspiration for his writing
surfer babey …. his hair is disgusting. coarse n horrible n sun bleached like a mangy dog. it’s almost long enough to tie up the whole thing. occasionally lets someone put them into pigtails at a party
voted most likely to bust his wrist fucking up a skate trick
ur typical boy next door. very approachable, not a mean bone in his body, although in recent years he’s shown more anxiety than he’s ever been used to. sucks having to cook for urself everyday n pay bills like an adult :/
pansexual. leans a lot more towards masc presenting folks
has a collection of old, sun-faded shinkansen ticket stubs. sentimental like that
also very protective of his music vhs tape collection
not too fond of social media. his last post on insta was from like 2018. has no profile picture on fb. instead, he updates his ig story ten times a day and quadruple texts you on imessage like a heathen
chronic people pleaser. rarely says no and is shithouse at setting boundaries with others
loves all kinds of creepy shit, aliens especially
bit of a pisstake really
WANTED PLOTS.
all da friends. family n childhood friends, someone he would goof around with during shifts in his high school job at the local mini mart, skate / surf buddies, anything and everything
a fan of his book
someone who witnessed owen stack it on his skateboard once n had to help get him to the hospital for a near miss broken bone SKGNSLDGDKSL
a writing muse he’s too scared to tell them IS his muse
a failed relationship from his few months in irving between college degrees. it was definitely him, not you
* DYLAN O’BRIEN , CIS MALE + HE / HIM | you know CALEB MONTGOMERY , right ? they’re TWENTY SIX , and they’ve lived in irving for , like , A COUPLE MONTHS AT MOST ? well , their spotify wrapped says they listened to WAVES BY DEAN LEWIS like , a million times this year , which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole RUBBING GLITTER ON SCRAPES , SITTING CROSS LEGGED IN A SMOKE CIRCLE , SCREAMING SONG LYRICS ON A STRANGER’S ROOFTOP thing going on . i just checked and their birthday is AUGUST 3RD , so they’re a LEO , which is unsurprising , all things considered .
TW INCLUDE drugs, addiction, rehab, alcohol, drunk driving, depression
AESTHETICS :
rubbing glitter on scrapes, sitting crossed legged in a smoke circle, screaming song lyrics on a stranger’s rooftop, inciting riots and running from your own shadow, sweaty dancing, hanging out the sunroof of a moving car, pretending to be someone else, accessorizing eyebags and sweatpants with feather boas, a coming of age movie soundtrack, liquor stores and afterparties, a map without directions, ashtrays filled with
CHARACTER INSPO :
huckleberry finn ( the adventures of huckleberry finn ) , seth cohen ( the oc ) , klaus hargreeves ( the umbrella academy ) , elliot goss ( search party ) , charlie kelly ( it’s always sunny ) , hamlet ( hamlet , don’t ask about this one but the connection is there ) , a series of strange headcanons i’ve developed over that years that can’t be accurately put to words
GENERAL STATISTICS :
full name : caleb augustus montgomery
age / dob : twenty six / august 3rd
gender : cis male
pronouns : he / him
faceclaim : dylan o’brien
orientation : homosexual homoromantic
residence : literally everywhere
occupation : drug dealer / mooch
pinterest : HERE !
BIOGRAPHY :
caleb was born in new york city ( the upper east side ) to two doctors, his lovely but hollow mother and his cold and distant father. when he was a baby his father had an affair with another married woman resulting in the birth of his half sister, lydia montgomery, but they never grew up so much as knowing the other’s name.
he played lacrosse at his private preppy annoying rich kids high school, and surprisingly was really good at it, but he quit after a series of unfortunate events that would ultimately lead to his first stint in rehab.
he’s a dealer. he’s been a dealer since he was a freshman in high school, when he realized he could use the money to stop relying on his parent’s income and his inheritance that he was positive he would sooner be murdered for than ever receive.
at first he didn’t even do the drugs that he sold, he just pocketed the money and had a little hustle, but he inevitably started smoking the weed, and when he widened his range of inventory ( he called it diversifying his assets ) he took a lot of everything else as well. it meant he didn’t have to sit in his numbness anymore so alright baby!
heavy partier, heavy drinker, heavy user. his grades and his performance on the field dropped drastically. he slept around a lot ( tried to. he’s very much Gay but that realization didn’t come for a long time ) and pretty much turned into a giant dickwad.
DRUNK DRIVING TW. REHAB TW. he crashed his dad’s lamborghini one night driving blackout and when he woke up in his hospital he found his parents had packed his bags and enrolled him in rehab.
he doesn’t talk about it.
boarding school came next, and old habits die hard, but he managed to graduate. he went to college and got a degree in chemistry because he’s surprisingly smart but he’s never learned how to work an honest job and he doesn’t plan on it.
he put himself in rehab sometime between his freshman and sophomore year. he talks about it sometimes. not ashamed of it and it actually helped him quite a bit. still has a problem but has matured a lot.
chose to travel around aimlessly after graduation because he could sell drugs anywhere and his mom tagged along with him eventually. she wouldn’t admit it but she was desperate to get out of their apartment in new york. neither of his parents will settle on the terms of a divorce so. they’re still together or whatever but mrs. montgomery is a free woman. milf. shove it up ur ass christian montgomery.
wound up in irving after a bender and he liked it so he’s been crashing on couches ever since. he doesn’t really know how long it’s been so i do not know either <3
MISCELLANEOUS :
he’s still a dealer. marijuana, pills, powder, miscellaneous concoctions, he’ll sell you anything. not really concerned about it because him and his mom are working on deliberately draining his father’s bank account.
he’s really depressed. he’s always been really depressed but he’s. on the up right now. has an issue with letting people know when he’s not doing good so will overcompensate by pretending to be Too Okay.
never not wearing sweats. pretty bad at remembering to shave. a man of culture! still will find an excuse to dress up for theme parties which are his secret lifeblood, especially if they’re stupid.
lives to torment others, can’t take anything seriously, and genuinely a puppy of a person. quite frankly extremely annoying in the wrong crowd.
tall and lanky and scrappy he has a lot of anger the kind of person who probably bit a lot of people as a child. unapologetically chaotic.
he’s intelligent but he’s also super unmotivated. he straight up did not attend class and scraped by literally by the grace of some god. he doesn’t use his brain much at all.
lazy. hates labor. crude sense of humor.
a really fucking good time <3 he will invite himself to parties he does not need to be asked he somehow just knows. he calls it a sixth sense for sniffing out heathenism.
likes almost everyone but also dramatic. sleeps around. lives for causing chaos and being the center of attention and unapologetic about it.
for some reason he reminds me of the color blue and just like.. all shades of blue. sometimes he’s aquamarine. sometimes he’s tumblr dashboard blue. duality of man.
kind of at a crossroads where he is pretty sure he should be doing something with his life and a desire to hold onto eternal youth.
WANTED CONNECTIONS :
couches he crashes on.
hookups. he may call you back but only if he’s lonely. actually has a good heart but where has that ever gotten him?
friends. a whole friend group please. messy. let’s start drama.
people he sells to, people he buys from, other dealers that don’t like that this dude who somehow always has good shit has landed themselves in town and is making himself a Presence.
someone he met while singing a duet at the bar and now they’re attached at the hip. stealing from karaoke night theme because i think this is how he would genuinely make friends.
someone who doesn’t like him and he’s so self absorbed he hasn’t noticed at all.
people who live in abernathy creek and are literally like what the fuck are you doing here. you stole my bed. and he says i’m sorry <3 do u want to get a drink?
people who do not want him to leave town and every time he says i must be going say .. no please don’t.
party friends bad influences willing to turn a blind eye if he was out the last 3 nights and wants to hit the town again. keep up.
um i don’t know i can come up with a million random scenarios for him i’ll put out a plot call and come up with more if none of these work?
TLDR. too many mommy issues. reformed piece of shit who used to be a high school bully but is now 64% angel, thinks she’s funny and her best friend is her dad.
* taveeta szymanowicz, cisfemale + she/her | you know DAYANA DEVINE, right? they’re TWENTY-FOUR , and they’ve lived in irving for, like, TEN YEARS ? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to SEASHORE BY REGRETTES like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole ( velvet red mini skirts hiding insecurities, a smirk worn to suppress mean words, the faint taste of liquor on her lips ) thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is JANUARY 11TH, so they’re a CAPRICORN, which is unsurprising, all things considered.
A LITTLE ABOUT GROWING UP .
tw. alcohol, bullying mention, very short mention of verbal abuse. anything else i forgot to add just yell at me !!
she grew up with her father after her mother abandoned them without blinking an eye which turned out to be for the best since her mom was a raging alcoholic who spewed words of venom often. her father worked his ass off to provide for the two of them in irving, they struggled for quite a few years; eviction notices, threats of their electricity getting shut off, splitting frozen lunch meals, until he finally found a steady good paying job to provide for them.
still, dayana felt incredibly powerless. control is something a lot of teenagers yearn for and she found it incredibly challenging to have when the universe stacked all their cards against her. until high school ! where she finally allowed her mother’s killer instincts kick in, and found herself on top of the food chain rather than being stomped on like she’s used to. truly , an evil little bitch . dumping milk on her fellow classmates’ head to get a laugh, taking unflattering photos and uploading them online, emitting poison from her lips for the sake of doing so. she didn’t necessarily enjoy it, no matter how it looked, every time she’d look at herself in the mirror she’d see her mother staring back at her but, to her, it was survival. in that lame-ass cliche high school sort of way.
her reality check didn’t come into play until her second semester of college, where she decided to work through her mommy issues with a therapist in an attempt to redeem all of her wrongdoing. she knows, however, that the damager she caused for others is likely still present and is doing her best to make things rights.
PERSONALITY .
she can still have a mean streak though! she is REFORMED BUT NOT TAMED. she’s usually quite good at biting her tongue but sometimes judgement and cruel words slip out unintentionally, it’s a work in progress. but seriously she’s 5′4 like just push her down
as for the rest of her personality, especially now that she’s older, she’s loyal as fuck ! gives the best hugs since touch is her love language! will cut off her arm to make her friends smile! drinks tequila like it’s water on the weekends and will always be your bad influence to encourage you to do the drugs she’s too pussy to take.
an absolute flirt !!! boys, girls, she can’t help it baaaaby.
she understands she’s not perfect and has done some pretty fucked up things
TYPE 3 WITH 2 WING AKA PLEASE ACCEPT ME. SHE WILL DO WHATEVER POSSIBLE FOR PEOPLE TO BE PROUD OF HER.
super arrogant but super insecure. make it make sense.
thinks she’s funnier than she is. quotes way too many memes.
WANTED CONNECTIONS.
exes / previous high school sweethearts / fwb & the usual . we can talk about whether it’s on good or bad terms !
former best friend . think of heathers , her as heather duke and her friend as heather chandler ! after she got reformed , talked shit out in therapy , she unfortunately cut this person off , no matter how close they were.
prior victims. as i said, she used to be hella mean , maybe they’ve talked since then , maybe they haven’t. perhaps this person still hasn’t forgiven her ( we can talk about how bad it was , but probs v bad ). either way let her kiss ass to make things right .
ROOMMATES X
idk she could have been the villain anyone needs in their story .
ANYTHING !! gimme connects pls ! that one person who bumped ur muse on a train in the 1800s idk idk anything
* charles melton, cis man + he & him | you know harrison “harry” cho, right? they’re twenty eight, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, one month? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to american money by børns like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that barely - used furniture gathering dust beneath linen sheets, eight - car garage full of vintage relics from all over the world, a helipad - sized chip on one’s shoulder thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is december 15th, so they’re a sagittarius, which is unsurprising, all things considered.
o hey, new sam muse just dropped ! from the makers of solo brain cell surfer boy comes : i hate my dad but make it Expensive ™. this got way too long but fear not <3 there’s a tldr at the end
tw : parental neglect, plane crash, death
let’s get one thing straight : harrison cho is no stranger to the lap of luxury. his formative years were spent within the walls of a manhattan fortress on what would come to be known as billionaire’s row. being a cho meant many things, but this above all else; perfection was not just expected --- it was essential for survival. like his two brothers before him, he earned top marks at the best private schools in the city, in no small part to the throng of ivy - certified tutors on the family payroll. columbia undergrad, a grueling two years at stanford for his mba --- he could never stand to be away from the city for too long --- and finally, a nepotism - won spot at cho international, a real estate developer responsible for hundreds of skyscrapers all over the world.
it’s all disgustingly cliché. poor little rich boy with the world at his fingertips, yet all he yearned for was his father’s love. in his mother’s eyes, harry could do no wrong. ava was an art curator, constantly traveling the globe, seeking the priceless. ewan was the opposite --- everything had a number, a ranking, from the highest - earning property in his arsenal, to the general competence of his three young sons. from the very start, it was clear there was never a paternal bone in his body, but for his wife, he tried.
harry grew up thinking his parents were hopelessly in love. despite his shortcomings as a father, ewan doted on his wife. he showered her with gifts --- one - of - a - kind pieces from his contacts at cartier, purple azaleas flown in from the hwangmaesan mountains. they graced the covers of forbes and fortune, a refreshing foil to the loveless marriages typical of high rolling power couples. and while they were frequently on opposite hemispheres for their respective careers, they never missed an anniversary.
and then there were the summers, when the cho’s would swap their pristine penthouse for an equally pristine estate in none other than irving, north carolina. the sprawling, aquila drive property with its famous underground garage stood stagnant for three of four seasons, but for two months out of the year, it was --- not exactly teeming with life, but occupied. every year, harry’s parents vowed to put work on the backburner, and while ava at least attempted to keep her promise, ewan spent most of his time behind closed doors, whispering in hushed tones. vacation was supposed to be relaxing, but he seemed even more high strung than usual in irving.
still, harry had no trouble finding ways to keep busy, even in a small town like irving. he assembled a gang of summer friends, usually out - of - towners with similar backgrounds. he’d party in their dorado road beach homes, cruise around the harbor in their boats, flirt shamelessly with the locals --- usually by offering them a spin in his 60s jag or a ride in the family jet.
but in august of harry’s seventeenth summer, tragedy struck, and things would never be the same again. ava got a lead on an original rembrandt and broke the no - work vacation rule for the first time in history to attend an auction for the piece. but she never made it to dubai. long story short, the jet malfunctioned somewhere over the atlantic and went down, with harry’s mother inside. and so, the remaining chos packed up their belongings and left the beach house, never to return. at least, not for ten years.
remember when i said ewan at least tried to be a father, if only for ava’s sake? well, that went right out the window after he buried his wife, subsequently burying himself into his work to cope with his grief. only this time, he was not just neglectful. he was cruel. harry’s brothers, both already immersed in the family business, soon learned not to engage. they had an unspoken agreement to think of their father as a boss alone --- it was the only way to make it through the day.
but harry couldn’t help but nip at his heels, begging for scraps of approval. all through undergrad, he’d stop by cho international with dinner. but ewan didn’t want steak, he wanted italian, and christ, harry, would you shave that small rodent off your upper lip already?
his time on the west coast actually did him a lot of good. though he hated california with a burning passion, the distance from his father helped harry realize he’d never be the man he wanted him to be --- just like ewan would never be the father he wanted him to be. when he took his place at cho international two years later, he was transformed : confident, silver - tongued, with the sort of easy charisma that made every prospective client feel like he was their best friend.
four years later, ewan cho died alone in his office. he’d been neglecting himself since ava, working himself to the bone and ignoring every doctor’s plea to slow down. he had a heart attack, and harry and his brothers didn’t even know he was sick.
six months have passed since his father’s death, and with his brothers at the helm of cho international, harry was charged with the task of combing through his father’s assets and finances. that’s how he wound up in irving for the first time in a decade. he’d forgotten about the old beach house, but when he stepped inside for the first time, it was like no time had passed. it was comforting in a way --- he’d gotten older, but the house had stayed the same.
one afternoon, while going through his father’s desk - away - from - desk, he came across a locked drawer. he had to call out a locksmith to pry it open, and when he finally got inside, he stumbled upon another life. pictures, report cards, bank statements from accounts he never knew existed. it didn’t take much to put two and two together : the bastard had a whole other family in irving.
he’s yet to tell anyone about his discovery --- not even his brothers. harry has half the mind to dump the evidence in a trash can, set it on fire, and pretend it never happened, but the little boy in him can’t help but ask what if.
in the meantime, he’s taken on a bit of a passion project here in irving. the old poseidon hotel. shuttered in ‘99 after suffering severe hurricane damage, harry has purchased the building and has plans to restore it to its former glory --- more or less. it’s been a decent distraction while he decides whether to reach out to his half sibling, but distractions only go so far when your whole world’s been turned upside down.
TLDR : harry cho, manhattan native and son of real estate tycoon ewan and art curator ava. the cho family summered in irving back in the day, they actually have a summer home on aquila drive that’s been abandoned for the last ten years. more recently, his bastard dad ( dad-stard ) kicked the bucket, and harry’s back in town to go through his things and get this : he stumbles across evidence that ewan had a whole other family in irving. he’s been here for about a month, living in the old beach house, restoring an old, hurricane - damaged hotel, generally being a high - functioning disaster in really sexy clothes <3 love him
headcanons !
despite having grown up in the city, harry’s big into cars. his father’s collection of vintage sports cars has been gathering dust at the beach house for ten years, and harry’s been fixing them up. he’s a pretty decent mechanic for someone who uses la mer hand cream !
not afraid to get his hands dirty ! he’ll be at the hotel, sifting through drywall in his three hundred dollar chinos, micromanaging everyone. the workers wish he’d just go home --- he’s an actual terror to have on a construction site.
dated a masterchef finalist a few years back and picked up a few things. the relationship didn’t last but his passion for cooking did ! could absolutely see him throwing dinner parties in his huge empty house simply because he can’t stand to be alone.
has hated flying ever since he lost his mom. he kind of has to suck it up for work, but it makes him anxious and crabby and he’s fucked up for the whole week beforehand.
lifelong rich boy has no idea how much things cost. see below :
hello, it’s nora again…. hitting u with another child (i cnt resist). this is rory, a he/they local indie softboi who is the definition of tender. has a burner phone and doesn’t use social media. does techno dj sets. plays the synth loudly through the night if u live in port apartments his room always sounds like a space ship just landed. deals weed around the seafront on his rollerskates (high five gays and gals). hates that he can’t get new light up wheels on ebay because ana coto made rollerskating cool again. as is tradition, here’s the pinterest board. this intro is recycled?? so if there’s mistakes, idc sue me??? and be sure to like and subscribe for more unboxing content x
CLICK ANYWHERE ON THIS SETENCE FOR SEXI GOOGLE DOC VERSION!!!
application.
* TIMOTHEE CHALAMET, DEMI-BOY / GENDERFLUID + HE / THEY | you know RORY BERGSTRÖM, right? they’re TWENTY-THREE, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, TWO YEARS? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to STAR WARS THEME / CANTINA BAND (12″ DISCO MIX) BY MECO like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole BED HAIR FROM A PERMANENT STATE OF SLUMBER, CALLOUSED FINGERTIPS FROM STRUMMING BASS INTO THE EARLY HOURS AND DJING INTO THE BLACKLIT NIGHT, SELF-HELP BOOKS THUMBED ONCE AND THROWN BENEATH YOUR BED, thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is MARCH 5TH, so they’re a PISCES, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( nora, 25, gmt, she/her )
aesthetics.
bed hair from a permanent state of slumber, calloused fingertips from strumming bass into the early hours and djing into the blacklit night, self-help books thumbed once and thrown beneath your bed, battered copies of choose your own adventure books, spliffs passed half-arsed across rooftops while light pollution obscures low-hanging stars, marxist literature in stacks against your bedroom walls, a burner phone twice-shattered and a stash of replacement sim cards.
tw ocd, anxiety, drugs
half-swedish, half-british. the swedish is on his mother’s side. he’s bilingual but thinks in english. only really speaks swedish around his mother. only child, and kinda put a lot of pressure on himself to be the perfect kid when he was young, but his parents are honestly, quite decent? and just want him to have a nice life, they don’t care if he isn’t successful or rich or anything, they’re honestly rather solid. (wow imagine having nice parents, a first for all my characters, im literally this meme)
grew up in peckham, a suburb of london. growing up, his mum was a model / actress / waitress who later retrained as a speech therapist and his dad worked in her majesty’s service at buckingham palace. his dad wasn’t allowed to tell his family what his job entailed but rory suspects it’s probably very boring and just involves a lot of…. logistics n security.
was bullied a lot at school. [cole sprouse voice] he didn’t fit in and he didn’t want to fit in. unironically wore a trenchcoat covered in badge pins to school every day of his life. spent most of his lunchtimes in the library because it was his safe space. as a result he knows…. loads of useless information because 30% of his school years were spent reading anthologies on space and the vikings etc. would be good on a game show. obsessively recorded every episode of university challenge as a child.
rory is obsessed with greek mythology (queer allies, i hear u and appreciate you)
middle-class and lowkey quite wealthy but rarely talks about money, one of those well-off people who still wears really old shitty shoes and only spends money if they absolutely have to
into star wars, not into the big bang theory. feminist. can’t watch horror movies
favourite film is where the wild things are. also loves the florida project. thinks kids are the sweetest thing and can’t wait to be a dad to some. right now is dad to one cat, whose name changes on a daily basis (identity is constantly shifting, duuuuude), but they were originally named ‘wheezer’. currently the cat is called thomas o’malley after the alley cat in the aristocats / rory’s first crush
rory's been musical for as long as they can remember. first picked up guitar because he thought it would make this girl esther who he was in love with like him, but he just ended up falling in love with music instead.
formulated several different bands as a kid but ultimately had to give it up cos he was quite controlling and got fixated on making a certain sound so it wasn’t really fun for the others. got into electronic music because it was something he could do basically on his own and keep tweaking until he got it perfect
always drumming their fingers or strumming invisible guitar strings. tends to avoid parties bc he has quite has specific tastes when it comes to music and doesn’t like listening to r&b for eight hours while people throw up into plastic cups.
a techno connoisseur. has been making electronic music since he was about twelve.
after his parents divorce, when he was fourteen, rory & his mother moved to run-down suburban neighbourhood, pittsfield, massachussets.
big into photography. he mostly uses a canon 35mm camera, but occasionally uses disposable ones when he wants that more rustic feel.
moving to the states, their photography became more focused on suburban neighborhoods and are often quite dark and cinematic (think gregory crewsden). here are some shots of pittsfield i really like which rory has on his wall [1] [2] [3]
falls in love 12 times a day. never had a girlfriend or boyfriend. gets sweaty when someone cute looks at him. flirting?? what?? would prefer to idealise them from a distance
gender??? hm. rory doesn’t really know where they fit just yet, sometimes rory feels like a guy and sometimes they dont feel like anything at all. identifies as genderfluid / non-binary but pronouns within that shift a lot. isn’t really bothered, cos they think it’s a social construct anyway. uses he/they pronouns interchangeably, but feels like ‘he’ is more fitting. won’t necessarily pull anyone up on it cos he knows having an identity that’s constantly…. in flux.. can be annoying for others … and doesn’t want to be a burden even tho it isn’t at all?? rory internalises guilt
everything is socially constructed. mirrors let you move through time. the whole thing’s a metaphor. he thinks he’s got free will but really he’s trapped in a maze. in a system. all he can do is consume. people think it’s a happy game. it’s not a happy game — it’s a fucking nightmare world, and the worst thing is, it’s real and we live in it
has ocd. tries to let it affect his life as little as possible, but obviously it’s incredibly hard to control a compulsive disorder. was teased for it at school when other kids started to notice. he was obsessed with the number five, would wash his hands five times, count stairs i groups of five, he could only use the corridors in one direction and always had to keep his hands busy. it manifests itself in hyper-fixations (trains when he was a child – specifically steam engines – then later he became obsessed with space and the patterns of constellations, and now he’s obsessed with synthesizers) and repetitive behaviours like counting stairs. doesn’t really affect his social life at all, he can jst get a bit locked-on n hyper-focused sometimes.
has insomnia. barely ever sleeps. finds it hard to switch off from work / writing / gaming / whatever’s preoccupying him in that moment. he’s always awake at 5am and quite often sleeps in late so you’ll see him on the way to get groceries at 12pm still in pyjamas
secretly a small-scale drug dealer, only does weed n some party pills. rollerskates around irving dealing cos they dnt have a car
likes: techno, the webpage cats on synthesizers in space, allen ginsberg, vintage gramophones, floating points, lcd soundsystem, marijuana, soft dogs that let you pet them, late-night strolls talking about the universe, independent films, cigarettes, herbal tea, gallows humour, long showers, brown eyes, tchaikovsky, dr. seuss, constellations, photography, late night jazz, vintage game boys and girls who could rip his still-beating heart out of his chest and use it as an ashtray. dislikes: weddings, funerals, formality, button-up shirts that people actually button-up, bananas, hot coffee, social media, people who watch and play sports, rap music – especially of the misogynistic variety, indie wankers in wire-framed glasses that play ed sheeran songs at open mic nights.
plot ! with ! me ! i’d say all the usual “exes fwb hookups spiel” but rory… is very tender and tame… i feel like a deer in the headlights of love……. so give me
skate gang skate gang m*therf*ckin skate gang - rory is tryna get better at skateboarding but basically moved to irving for the beach skating scene
rory’s only been here 2 years they moved after they dropped out of art school but i think they’d have some friends, maybe the friend who originally persuaded them to come to irving cos rory’d just dropped out and was feeling shitty n they were like hey dude come chill on the beach with me
people who are also into techno and are music snobs about it,
people who love all kinds of music,
people who are in bands that maybe rory’s recorded and produced stuff for,
people he actually jams with (he plays bass and synth)
ok so rory used to have this band called dogs die in hot cars, he was the bassist, there was also a lead vocals /guitarist and a drummer. this is super lame but i made a playlist of the kinda songs they’d make a few years back, u can listen to it here, if ur character is musical and they’d vibe with that and u think they’d be a good fit hmu x
honestly i want some nerdy as fuck DND campaign group. maybe he even used to LARP and now tries to hide that part of himself to be ‘cool rory’
an anime comic book group or some shit
people rory knows from open mic nights and gigs n they literally don’t even know each other they just nod and say hey buddy how’s it hanging and that’s the extent of their relationship
library girlfriends / boyfriends that he stares at longingly while paging through leatherbound volumes
gamers !!! social recluses !!! hermits !!
people he deals weed to on his rollerskates (why r all my characters obsessed with rollerskates)
hm i used to say NO HOOK UPS but now that rory has !Evolved! ig we can do hook up plots if u want but he’s not tht good at divorcing sex from emotion?? like he hooked up w teddy once (rip) n felt hopelessly in love so..... if u want soft plots b prepared for crippling sadness.......
discord me for plots u know the drill. rip diana babycakes you would’ve loved the disco remix of star wars theme cantina band x
LEAVING ON AN JET PLANE IN THE NIGHT , PULLS UP THE SHADES TEN THOUSAND MILES IN THE SKY . HANGING WITH THE STARS AND WONDERING WHY THEY’RE SO HIGH UP BUT YET SHE’S FALLING INSIDE WITH EVERY SCENE . MAYBE THERE’S A PRICE YOU CAN SELL IT ALL BUT YOU CAN’T BUY BACK THE TIME ..
