“i’ll acquire expensive habits in the afterlife”
parallels: nathan scott, pacey witter, caleb haas, jake fitzgerald, jesper fahey, mark sloane
leo was basically born to the worst kind of people. literally. there probably isn’t two more selfish people in the world and thats saying something, so you can only imagine how well rounded leo turned out.
bradley harrison, leo’s father is the heir to a fortune made by his parents who are a huge branding conglomerate similar to sony or e-vil corp from mr. robot in that they literally have their hand (and brand) on just about everything. electronics, cars, cleaning tools, houseware, you name it and chances are they’ve found a way to market it and slap their name on it. naturally this has racked in a whole lot of money which inflated bradley’s already massive ego.
bradley always had huge aspirations to be a football star and was considered to be on a one way track to being drafted in the nfl. his high school games were legendary and his status only grew when he went to duke as star quarterback and led them on a winning streak like no other. he was what college football dreams were made of until he got himself wrapped in a huge scandal in which a girl from campus was sexually assaulted in his frat house and the ordeal was filmed. while bradley wasn’t in the /film/ he was somewhere in the house while it happened and it pretty much tarnished his rep with the school ... or it would have if his parents hadn’t payed off a pretty lump sum to the school that made the whole thing go away, at least on bradley’s end and erased any implication that he’d ever been there.
still, the school was 100% not going to let bradley continue with his football scholarship and so he was forced to transfer over to a new school and completely lost any chance at a football career. to this day, no one knows why such a promising player just up and left.
bradley, a manipulative man rode off his parents coat tails and with their money launched his first hotel which grew into three then seven then 10 and now he has hotels all around the world. he’s a huge hotel magnet and the harrison name is associated with wealth and power and they 100% value it over just about everything.
he married a debutante, a glorified pageant queen whose brain was more hairspray than anything else and the two combined their forces to create a carbon copy of themselves. leo was 100% a pawn in his fathers game, to fulfill the dreams and aspirations that his father couldn’t and from the age of three - football was basically shoved down his throat.
holly harrison, the ever bored house wife one day decided that snorting cocaine and walking around in lavish fur night gowns was struck by a idea that leo hadn’t suffered enough and what better way to fill up her time than capitalize off her only child. ‘life with leo’ wasn’t ever supposed to be taken seriously but with enough money and the right illustrators, holly made a fortune in her own right by exploiting her son at every turn.
it became an overnight hit that spawned a tv show and embarrassing merch and leo became somewhat of a household name to every child that could hold a book or turn a television on. the book was pretty much an open dissection of his life for where leo couldn’t succeed, book leo always seemed too. when leo was old enough to understand what was really happening, the resentment took root in him and he quickly distanced himself from anything that had to do with horrible book series.
while leo was being criticized in every publication, he was also being berated by his very cruel and impossible to please father who’d make dan scott look gentle. he was never content with anything leo did and would push leo beyond the point of exhaustion - making him train long and hard for hours on end till his muscles ached and he could barely stand. his fathers nagging voice in the background chiming in how at his age he had run faster or done more push ups or thrown further.
it scrambled up leo’s perception of the game to the point where he didn’t know if he truly loved it or if he did it because it’s what his father wanted but at this point in his life it was the only thing he was good at so he stuck to his guns. so while he wasn’t happy at home, he decided to lash out in other ways by portraying himself as a total fuck boy jock who partied hard, drank hard and fucked hard tbh. sleeping his way through a trail of woman was his claim to fame and when you have this much money, could you really expect any less?
he got through school by the skin of his teeth as while he was lowkey smart, he was berated (mentally abused) so often that he never really tried - convinced that he was too stupid to ever get good grades and that you didn’t need to be smart if you were good at football.
his natural skill as a quarterback was what earned him a scholarship at notre dame and on the one way to being the star that his father never was. he was a better player and far more respected by his peers for his dedication to the game and for one in leo’s life he thought, ‘maybe i can actually make something of myself. maybe i’m not as worthless as dad think’s i am’ but then as all things go, his good luck couldn’t last forever.
his friends stole a bus, wanting to prove something (though what could you prove besides that you’re big fat idiots but i digress) and it was all going well until they popped two tires and went toppling off a bridge into the rocky waters below. leo flew to the front of the bus and watched in horror as his friends started to panic and slowly started to drown. he tried to save them but the impact of being thrown across the bus fractured his spine and he was powerless to do anything as he watched from the one air pocket he had as they succumbed to the rapid waters.
in that moment he thought, what would be so bad about dying - how would he be able to live with himself after this and he closed his eyes, ready to just let it all end. he blacked out and when he woke again he was in the hospital, full body cast and the doctors hovering over him telling him that someone had watched the whole thing happen and had managed to pull him from the wreckage. he was lucky to be alive but he had damaged his spine to such an extent that they weren’t sure if he’d ever be able to walk again, let alone play football. the sheer look of disappointment on his fathers face was enough to make him wish that he had been left to die.
the newspapers that flooded in afterwards of the local tragedy - 9 teens dead, 1 suvivor, haunted him in the same way life with leo did. he saw their faces every time he closed his eyes and woke in panicked sweats, not sure if he was drowning or not. he was wheelchair bound for just over nine months before he was able to get back on his feet and it took another year before he could really walk right again but his football career was over.
things just continued to go downhill for him as he had invested all of himself in his career and now was left with no prospects and nothing that he was good at. he felt like a huge disappointment, his father couldn’t even look him in the eye and his mother was too drugged out to have an opinion. he felt aimless and unable to process where to go from here.
so he did everything in his power to avoid these thoughts - girls, liquor, lavish parties - all an escape from having to face reality, from having to face his pain.
he’s kind of a jackass now but it’s not really who he is as much as who he’s become to cope. he’s never serious about anything and is the person that will make a joke at the most inappropriate time at anyone’s expense. he’s a total hoe and he knows it but he can’t help but be lured in by beautiful women - it’s just the morning after when he’s like nah, i’ve gotta dip now. it’s been real.
leo acts like he doesn’t care and in all honesty, he doesn’t really care about much anymore. he’s pretty self absorbed and relies on banter and being a little shit to get by. he sometimes just says things to get a reaction and is 100% starting drama bc it’s the best kind of free entertainment.
he’s a total goon though and tends to bro out a lot bc despite having an affinity for drama - he’s pretty likable if you squint and turn your head a little. he’s got hopes that he can be better than this ... it’s just ... he’s never actually had someone believe he can be so he doesn’t try. why set himself up for more disappointment, ya feel.
despite having abs that dont quit, being 6′5 and unnaturally good looking - he’s very insecure and constantly fears that he’s not good enough for anything or for anyone. so while he covers it up with all this bravado about how he’s the best you’ll ever have and has the face of a god, he really just thinks he he’s only here for a good fuck or some sort of cash prize. he has no self worth and its kind of sad tbh.
JOKES ABOUT EVERYTHING. natural flirt who is really really charming when he sets his mind too it because you get as many girls as he does without some charm and just a little bit outwardly cocky. he constantly sells his intelligence short (being told you’re dumb your whole life kind of just sticks after a while) and can overall be a little obnoxious.
HE MEANS WELL DEEP DOWN, HE JUST DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO REALLY MEET HIS FULL POTENTIAL OR BE THE BEST HIM ALRIGHT.
he currently resides in marthas crest with his best friend (his lab) gunter who sleeps with him at night and has helped quell the night terrors. he pretty much shows this dog a whole lot more affection than he’s ever showed any girl and takes one too many pics with him. gunter might very well be his life partner but no one gives as good of a cuddle as gunter does, so he’s okay with that.
might have a heart of gold underneath all his bullshit but we just don’t know.
please don’t bring up life with leo. ever.
literally has nicknames for everyone. not sorry about it.