Tristan Eric Hill || 18 || August 3rd || Bisexual || LA, California
Tristan's secret is a rather recent one, as he hadn't really gotten into drinking until he was sixteen or so, and it didn't spiral until around a year later. Ever since he was seventeen, the young man has had a serious drinking problem, something that actually runs in the genes, as the tendency to be easily addicted to things does. He is a frequenter of parties, and though he'll socialize with people and be generally charming, most of his time is spent within eyesight of the keg. Tristan knows that he has a serious problem, and this was never more clear than when he raped a girl while drunk, only to wake up the next day washed with complete self-hatred over what he had done. Unfortunately, it only prompted him to drink more, as though he could erase what he had done with booze. He didn't even know the girl, some poor freshman who never told anyone, but refused to let him explain afterwards.
Drinking
Parties
Soccer
The Beach
Hanging Out
Sour Gummy Worms
Girls with Freckles
Easiness
Pranks
Puns
Loyalty
Drinking
Himself
Tennis
Being in his parents' shadow
Competition
Feeling useless
Apathy
Isolation
Feeling Different
Bullies
Hurting Others
Fears
The Girl Telling Others || Heights || Being Alone || Himself
Tristan comes off as the sort of guy that everyone knows, and either loves or hates- there isn't much in between for the most part, to be honest, and that's because he is very much who he is, and isn't apologetic about it in the slight. If someone doesn't like who he is, he's likely to tell them to deal with it, because he's not going to. He's the kind of person who is easily pointed out in the crowd, because, as previously mentioned, he's the kind of guy who is recognized on spot, even if a person has only heard a description of him before. He comes off as incredibly confident, bordering but not reaching arrogance, and one would never guess that he has doubts and insecurities of his own. To others, he is the epitome of self esteem, the guy who walks around like things will simply work themselves out, believing in his own capabilities enough to be decisive and certain in all that he says and does. He is confident in what he can do, in fact, bit there might be a different story in regards to his self esteem, recently. Tristan has a self-loathing issue, one which can be traced back to when he first started drinking, that had a great spike when he committed an atrocity against a stranger. He hates himself for what he did, and for the fact that he has become more reliant on a substance than he ever wanted to be, mimicking his mother in her less than savory addictions. More than that, he is terrified of himself and what he is capable of when drunk, though he has been unable to even begin on the path to sobriety, because alcohol is something that he uses to cope with his issues. He keeps his concerns and issues on the inside, nursing a bottle instead of his wounds, and is unlikely to share concerns with others, because that would make it obvious how much he terrifies himself, and that would push people away- something he can't stand the concept of.
He is a very extroverted individual, after all, a social creature through and through. Tristan makes a point of constantly surrounding himself with people, because he craves interaction and the presence of others, regardless of who they are. The young man has difficulty when he is without others, and generally does poorly on individual projects and the like. He is very much a team player, able to work well with others and to be a leader with a charismatic smile and an air about him that draws people to the guy like a magnet. He can be very caring towards those close to him, and usually is, not the sort of person to flinch away from those in need, instead always giving a helping hand when asked, and aiding people even when they have made no move to request his help, because he believes that they are just proud. In fact, he has the tendency to take up 'cases', so to speak, like a kid who picks up stray cats to nurse them back to health. He tries to help people, even if they haven't asked for help, and this kind of fussy aspect of his personality is probably why some people dislike him- they view him as a busybody. Others say it seems as though he is trying to make up for something, and this is likely the case. The more good he does, the more he can stop hating himself as much as he does, after all.
Tristan has always had a rather goofy sense of humor, preferring puns and lame jokes over sarcastic retorts and the like, and many view him as being a big teddy bear because of this. He seems very intimidating from a distance, with a face that often appears to be brooding and a large, muscular body, but those who know him closely are very much a softie who has the sense of humor of a five year old, delighting in little riddles and classic but cheesy jokes, like why did the chicken cross the road and such. He isn't a fan of mocking humor or sarcasm, to be honest, because he dislikes jokes that run the risk of hurting others, something which fuels much of his personality, it should seem. He may prefer honesty to deceit, but he isn't the sort of person to directly tell them what he thinks about them if he views it as cruel. He lives by that old cliche: 'if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all', and is popular partially because he is able to see the good and others and isn't afraid to praise someone about a quality that he finds admirable. The young man will stop a stranger in the hallway to tell them that they have beautiful eyes, or that he likes their smile. Complimenting people comes naturally for him, because he likes to help others to feel good about themselves.
While he may seem like a generally good guy, if a bit arrogant at times, Tristan does have his darker side. For one thing, he has difficulty coping with things properly, and will usually react to problems by ignoring or suppressing them, because pressure isn't really his strong suit. Nor is dealing with people who are going through difficult situations, for that matter. If someone cries near him, the young man clams up immediately, and has difficulty talking to them, though he is unwilling to leave someone who is crying alone. Thus, he typically just ends up standing there, a useless log of a guy, waiting until they say something or tell him what he can do to stop the crying. He just gets really awkward in such situations. Besides, he's more of a party sort of guy, anyway, and though he is hardworking about many things, he is easily distracted by the idea of partying and hanging out with friends, weak to the temptations of such gatherings. Thus, his grades are fairly average, with a few higher things here and there, because he is pulled out to party and such by his friends, which are usually the partying sort.
Self-Loathing || Confident || Caring || Loyal || Goofy || Extroverted || Bad with pressure || Bad at Coping || Easygoing || Easily Distracted || Charismatic
"He was born of scandal."
Tristan comes from a very famous family, the sort that is intimately familiar with paparazzi and knows how to deal with people of all classes. He's grown up having stars of all sorts walking through the doors of his family's estate. His mother is a very famous director known for having several awards under her belt- her movies have made stars of nobodies and launched A-listers further into the stratosphere as far as influence and fame goes. She began as an intern on movie sets, and her brilliance helped her to work her way up, especially given that she had directed a small-budget film for a festival that was well received by everyone. She is hailed as a genius of her time, creatively at least. Tristan's father is an actor, an A-list star, who had starred in one of her movies when he was first breaking into the field. They had an affair, despite Tristan's mother being already married for three years, which blossomed to be a center of attention for the media. When she became pregnant with his child, she divorced her husband and married Tristan's father. He became known as an affair baby, a well known fact that he had been conceived of Tristan's father before the divorce. So, he was born into flashing lights, and a world as star-studded as a rural night sky.
While his parents were famous and often busy, they still made time for their son, and he was often seen on sets of his parents' films, quickly familiar with the world of movies and fame. He wore designer diapers, practically, and was held from famous stars and influential people from a young age. The young boy was oblivious to any life outside of this, and did enjoy the attention, growing up to be adjusted to a life where privacy was unlikely. As a little kid, he was taught to smile for cameras and to be as cute and sweet as possible with his parents' coworkers. Luckily, he was a good-natured baby from the beginning, and there was no need for much concern that the child would be labelled as a problem kid. His family was viewed, after the scandal settled, as the perfect famous family. There were no more scandals, his parents were very much in love, and there was no drama in his family besides the ones that she directed and he wrote. Life was good for the silver spooned kid, and that wasn't just because he was able to meet the characters he loved watching in movies and shows.
"Expected to ascend and be a star like the rest."
His early childhood had been rather relaxed, despite being set to a background of flashing lights and magazine photo shoots of the 'perfect hollywood family', as their reputation went. He was accustomed to attention, and grew to be quite the charmer, in fact, a favorite of his instructors and his parents- still their only child, of course, and doted upon quite a good deal. Great things were expected of the young man, child of two people who were considered treasures of the entertainment world, and from a young age he was in a few movies and TV shows. He became famous by his own right, but it was well known that he was standing on the shoulders of his parents. This didn't really occur to the young man much, as he loved acting and fancied himself good at it. He was good, of course, but there were still those who were better- he just had the connections to push himself forward even more, connections that most others were not fortunate enough to have. He didn't have the childhood that most kids do, losing the chance to do things like join the local baseball team or have a normal group of friends. He did have friends, of course, but they were mostly the children of his parents' friends- kids who understood him, as they were the sons and daughters of the stars as well. In this world, his crowd were demigods of sorts, their supernatural abilities being money and fame.
Still, there are terrible things to be said for growing up in such a blinding spotlight, for it could cast a very large shadow indeed, something which he feared he would be consumed by if he wavered for a moment. It was hard to resist things like googling himself, and harder still to ignore all of the bad things said about him. Imagine a ten year old boy, reading as strangers insult him over the internet and mock his family, his friends, and all of the people he'd ever known. One can say that he should have ignored it, as they were strangers who didn't know him, but that is a lot easier said than done, and he began to lose his love for acting as the pressure weighed down as though he were Atlas, trying to hold up a falling sky. The young man began to shrink away from pressure entirely, becoming far less serious than he once was. He was a child star who was destined to burn out, it seemed- luckily, he had a family to support him, and he was able to continue on. He lacked his prior ambition, unfortunately, and pressure was a terrifying thing to him. This became even more prevalent when he watched what the pressure did to his parents' marriage.
"Perfection only exists from a distance."
The perfect family began to crack, as they worked more and more and were apart from each other, the marriage drifted- starting with her father having an affair with a coworker, something that was caught by the press. They had a field day with this, reminding the public that this perfect marriage had been born through an affair as well. His mother took to drinking and spending long nights away from home, and his father took on projects further away from the house, often spending months away in foreign countries for blockbuster hits. Tristan, who had once possessed what seemed to be an ideal life, began staying at his friends' houses more, because he disliked staying in that oversized house by himself. The problem with his family was that a fight could be broadcasted across the world, and he could not have his family's strains take place in privacy- such a thing was unthinkable with the world breathing down their neck. After all, everyone loves to see the rich and famous fall, loves to finally see the flaws in what they had once painted as perfect. When he was at the end of middle school, his parents finally filed a divorce, launching into a large custody battle for him, the house, etc. To keep him away from it all, they sent Tristan to Everest Hill prep.
He couldn't pretend to be anyone else than who he was there, because everyone knew his face and his name already, after all. Instead, he just shrugged everything off and pretended it was no big deal, acting as he had his whole life with his inability to take pressure. The young man partied more, though, and developed a drinking habit to rival his mother's. Soon, he was addicted, an alcoholic who hid behind the excuse of wild parties and recreational drinking, keeping his problem a closely guarded secret. Mints are used to hide the alcohol on his breath early in the morning, making it seem like the lie is true- like he only drinks at parties. One party, he realized how terrible his problem had grown, as he woke up to remember having held down a crying girl and raped her. He found the girl, a terrified freshmen, and she told him that she wouldn't tell anyone, so long as he stayed far away from her. He agreed, both relieved and horrified at himself. Rather than taking this chance as motivation to change, he sunk further into his lies and his drinking problem, hiding a brooding and self-loathing side behind smiles and a life lived with a constant buzz. He still watches over that poor girl from a distance, a reminder of the monster he now sees himself as- a wolf in sheep's clothing.
