TJ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
arollingstone) wrote2014-09-30 05:45 pm
arollingstone) wrote2014-09-30 05:45 pm
Entry tags:
<EPIC || TJ History
For general information, his character section on the cast page can be found HERE.
TJ's (or James Louis Freeman's, though he hasn't gone by that name in forever) story is one full of gaps and vague pieces, but this is an outline of his basic history.
Born in a Fresno hospital in 1985 to a 19 year old mother. TJ's father was out of the picture before she even knew she was going to have a child. From there, he lived with his mother and grandmother in an evangelical Christian household (no music aside from gospel! Not that TJ didn't find ways around that once he got a taste for classic rock). His grandmother was a chainsmoker who worked long hours and his mother was flighty and irresponsible, but despite a lack of money and lack of structure, there was no lack of love. TJ knew it, too, and had a relatively mild childhood until his mother died of various health issues when he was 9 years old. His grandmother followed suit (lung cancer, go figure) when he was 11.
From there, TJ's life takes a lot of divergent paths.
After losing his grandmother, TJ entered the foster system for a time. It's implied that nothing stuck, but he did stay in a few foster homes that had quite a few children running around them. He left that life after a few years, though the means of leaving the system isn't known. He took a few odd jobs until he was 14, when his life took another twist. The hasma tattoo on his right deltoid has an 'N' in the middle where the traditional eye should be, so named for Norman, the man who (along with his partner, Michael) took him. He became the best caretaker that TJ would ever have and the closest thing to a father, though their caretaking relationship shifted sides as TJ grew older and Norman grew ill. He died when TJ was 16-17, at which point another large empty hole opens up in his history. Michael, Norman's partner, was wracked with grief and could not deal with the duel toll of losing a life partner and having to take care of a teenager. There's passing mention of a first boyfriend in this time -- an aspiring novelist named Jesse, the first person to ever return TJ's affections. They lost contact after Jesse went to college -- but other than that, TJ's life for some time remains foggy.
What is known: After leaving the home he shared with Norman and Michael, it is implied that TJ engaged in light sex work. Most notably, he recalls the first time he gave head: in the parking lot of an In-N-Out in exchange for a hamburger after not eating for several days. Considering TJ's breezy attitude about the incident, it's unlikely this haunts him too much. The creator confirmed that he didn't resort to sex trade too often, even after that.
Around 2005, he was living with a woman called Darby who worked as a peepshow girl by day and played bass in a band by night. They might've lasted 'if TJ hadn't fucked it up'.
At some point, TJ fell for yet another shitty individual, this one a drug dealer. In working for him, he acquired a blue spiral tattoo in the shell of his left ear, a heavy ring with a blue shell emblem, a nasty gash on his lower back (from a knife fight; which, ironically, he brought a gun to), and an impressive blooming burn on his left shoulder (from, in his words, "not keeping quiet"). He's scarred in general, dozens of little cuts and scars up and down his arms from work in kitchens, but those two stand out particularly starkly. It's in running from him and the
As far as 2008 goes, when our story takes place, TJ has lost a considerable amount of weight, grown dreadlocks, and found himself in the kitchen of an Indian kid he made a deal with in a bar. It's a pretty simple agreement: San Jose, CA to Providence, RD, cross country. TJ pays for everything; hotel, gas, car repairs, fuel for Amal's return trip. All Amal has to do is drive. Unscrupulous goddamn knavery (read: weed, rainstorms, Back To The Future, Goodwill debacles, and sex) awaits.
BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!
After arriving in Providence, getting the job, and getting the boy, TJ lives quite happily in his little studio apartment. He works in the tattoo shop by day and spends his free time running, meeting the locals, and chatting with his long-distance-boyfriend Amal, who moved back to California to finish his medical training at UC Berkeley. Things are going good for him, finally! Yay!
too bad he's getting sucked into the box
TJ's (or James Louis Freeman's, though he hasn't gone by that name in forever) story is one full of gaps and vague pieces, but this is an outline of his basic history.
Born in a Fresno hospital in 1985 to a 19 year old mother. TJ's father was out of the picture before she even knew she was going to have a child. From there, he lived with his mother and grandmother in an evangelical Christian household (no music aside from gospel! Not that TJ didn't find ways around that once he got a taste for classic rock). His grandmother was a chainsmoker who worked long hours and his mother was flighty and irresponsible, but despite a lack of money and lack of structure, there was no lack of love. TJ knew it, too, and had a relatively mild childhood until his mother died of various health issues when he was 9 years old. His grandmother followed suit (lung cancer, go figure) when he was 11.
From there, TJ's life takes a lot of divergent paths.
After losing his grandmother, TJ entered the foster system for a time. It's implied that nothing stuck, but he did stay in a few foster homes that had quite a few children running around them. He left that life after a few years, though the means of leaving the system isn't known. He took a few odd jobs until he was 14, when his life took another twist. The hasma tattoo on his right deltoid has an 'N' in the middle where the traditional eye should be, so named for Norman, the man who (along with his partner, Michael) took him. He became the best caretaker that TJ would ever have and the closest thing to a father, though their caretaking relationship shifted sides as TJ grew older and Norman grew ill. He died when TJ was 16-17, at which point another large empty hole opens up in his history. Michael, Norman's partner, was wracked with grief and could not deal with the duel toll of losing a life partner and having to take care of a teenager. There's passing mention of a first boyfriend in this time -- an aspiring novelist named Jesse, the first person to ever return TJ's affections. They lost contact after Jesse went to college -- but other than that, TJ's life for some time remains foggy.
What is known: After leaving the home he shared with Norman and Michael, it is implied that TJ engaged in light sex work. Most notably, he recalls the first time he gave head: in the parking lot of an In-N-Out in exchange for a hamburger after not eating for several days. Considering TJ's breezy attitude about the incident, it's unlikely this haunts him too much. The creator confirmed that he didn't resort to sex trade too often, even after that.
Around 2005, he was living with a woman called Darby who worked as a peepshow girl by day and played bass in a band by night. They might've lasted 'if TJ hadn't fucked it up'.
At some point, TJ fell for yet another shitty individual, this one a drug dealer. In working for him, he acquired a blue spiral tattoo in the shell of his left ear, a heavy ring with a blue shell emblem, a nasty gash on his lower back (from a knife fight; which, ironically, he brought a gun to), and an impressive blooming burn on his left shoulder (from, in his words, "not keeping quiet"). He's scarred in general, dozens of little cuts and scars up and down his arms from work in kitchens, but those two stand out particularly starkly. It's in running from him and the
As far as 2008 goes, when our story takes place, TJ has lost a considerable amount of weight, grown dreadlocks, and found himself in the kitchen of an Indian kid he made a deal with in a bar. It's a pretty simple agreement: San Jose, CA to Providence, RD, cross country. TJ pays for everything; hotel, gas, car repairs, fuel for Amal's return trip. All Amal has to do is drive. Unscrupulous goddamn knavery (read: weed, rainstorms, Back To The Future, Goodwill debacles, and sex) awaits.
BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!
After arriving in Providence, getting the job, and getting the boy, TJ lives quite happily in his little studio apartment. He works in the tattoo shop by day and spends his free time running, meeting the locals, and chatting with his long-distance-boyfriend Amal, who moved back to California to finish his medical training at UC Berkeley. Things are going good for him, finally! Yay!