A Closer Look
-
"Keep your face always toward the sunshine,
and shadows will fall behind you."
― Walt Whitman
CEDRIC
Masculine | Love | EnglishVALERIAN
Masculine | To be strong | RomanBELMONT
Location | Beautiful mountain | French -
B A S I C S
◖BIRTH NAME◗
Cedric Valerian Belmont, a name easily recognised, both from his parents and the Washington tabloids.
◖NICKNAME◗
Quite a few call him mr. Belmont, which he hates - that's his father, not him - but most refer to him as Cedric or Ced. His parents have a habit of calling him by his full name.
◖ALIAS◗
None, he has no reason to hide behind an alias.
◖BIRTH DATE◗
28th July 1999.
◖AGE◗
20 years old.
◖OCCUPATION◗
He's a sophomore at Georgetown University, majoring in Government, just the major for his parents. He's considering doing Classics as his minor.
◖RESIDENCE◗
Washington D.C., at his parents home, desperate to get his own place. It's not like he - or rather his parents - can't afford it, they are just not comfortable with him living unsupervised.
◖ALIGNMENT◗
Himself and those close to him.
◖BIRTHPLACE◗
Washington, D.C.
◖NATIONALITY◗
American with French heritage.
◖RACE◗
Human.
◖ABILITIES◗
Multiple, according to himself, though none supernatural. He's physically fit and rather capable of taking care of himself and he has built a rather impressive skill set over the years.
◖HEIGHT◗
1,78 m.
◖BODY TYPE◗
Tall, fit, slightly muscular and defined.
◖EYES◗
A deep dark brown.
◖HAIR◗
Thick and healthy, dark brown in colour.
◖COMPLEXION◗
White.
◖TATTOOS◗
None, though he has thought of many. His parents would probably do anything to stop him from getting them.
◖SCARS◗
He has a few scattered around his body, though nothing major.
◖HANDEDNESS◗
Right-handed.
◖ZODIAC SIGN◗
Leo.
◖SEXUALITY◗
Homosexual and rather open about it, even if his parents would prefer him to keep it a bit more quiet. They don't disapprove, they would just prefer him to be less loud.
◖RELATIONSHIP STATUS◗
Single, fooling around.
◖LIKES◗
Speed and adrenaline, never sitting still and keeping busy, working out and playing sports, fast bikes and cars, hanging out, staying up until late and partying with friends, fooling around and just being young and naive, boys & men, fairy lights, warmth, sunny days, stargazing, travelling, history, getting his homework done, socialising, hugs and physical touches, the country side, feeling the wind in his hair or fingers running through it.
◖DISLIKES◗
Living at home, his parents to a certain degree, at least the life they want him to live, long, boring lectures, tabloids and paparazzi, cigarettes (even if he has smoked once or twice), bitter foods, judgemental people, politics, rumours, dinners and cocktail parties, as they are often fake and overly polite just to kiss other people's asses, cold weather.
◖FACECLAIM◗
Charlie Rowe. -
B A C K G R O U N D
DAREdevil
noun | dare·dev·il | ˈder-ˌde-vᵊl
1.
recklessly and often ostentatiously daring: a recklessly bold person
Cedric Valerian Belmont was born as the only son to Hector and Vivienne Belmont, who at the time already had a strong presence in the political scene in Washington D.C. While both parents had law degrees, his father had went into politics early on for it to become his full time profession as a leading political member of the Republican party, while his mother worked for her father's law firm, which she would soon inherit and run with same ruthlessness as Cedric's grandfather. They never planned to have more than one child, so they did everything they could to raise Cedric into their prodigy, someone to carry on their legacy within the courtroom as well as the political scene. His childhood was in that sense filled with private teachers, travelling, dinner parties, and political friendships, while he could only truly play with his cousins, which even then was dominated by strict rules. He knew from an early age what he was supposed to do with his life, since his parents told him the two choices: Inherit the law firm or go into politics with the presidency as the final goal. Nothing less could do it and Cedric was more or less comfortable with this from the start. He knew nothing else and went ahead with it. At school, one of the most prominent private schools in the city, he thrived from the beginning, being naturally charismatic even at such a young age, drawing people in, while showing remarkable skills within academics, both in terms of languages, sports, and social sciences - and if he met an obstacle, he could easily talk his way out of it. He was engaged in social clubs such as debate clubs, extracurricular writing classes, swimming, lacrosse, you name it, only by the age of 8. He enjoyed the attention, loved the fancy suits his parents made him wear every day, and never got tired of people telling him what a bright future he had ahead of him. His parents rarely showed affection towards him, though, besides academic praise and pats on the head, which he realised was strange as soon as he started school and saw how the other children interacted with their parents. He tried mimicking it from time to time, but never had any succes. Everyone else gave him attention but his parents and while he excelled in school, he was typically alone from the moment he came home. Loneliness was normal to him, until he realised that something was wrong.
Just as he turned 10, Cedric became ill. It came suddenly: He lost his energy and was tired all the time, he became prone to passing out and felt cold all the time, while he didn't have an appetite, he couldn't participate in the most simple of tasks because he had a hard time breathing and his body started to ache, and he kept getting fevers. Since there had been no signs of illness, his parents worried from a very early point; Cedric had always been a very honest child being taught how to lie at only the convenient times, and as they could very literally see him falling more and more ill, they quickly took him to the doctor. This was the beginning to years of medical doctors and hospitals, even if it didn't seem like anything to begin with as the doctor checked him. He had never seen his parents as worried as when they came out from the doctor's office. Next, the blood tests came. Then they went to the hospital and had his first bone marrow aspiration and biopsy, before he was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. It all went so quickly, yet it felt like ages. He couldn't really understand what was going on until the doctor actually used the word cancer. From that moment, Cedric became numb. His parents pulled him out of school and the public eye and he more or less lived at the hospital for the next four years of his life. The first year, even just the first few months, were the worst. He's not even sure how many different pills and medications he had to take daily as he began his chemotherapy. He felt drained and sick, he threw up all the time and had infections, lost his hair while he just stayed in bed most of the time. He didn't understand it at the time, but he as he was placed in a high-risk group, the chemo kept on going. This didn't feel brief, it felt like eternity and even if the doctors told him - or most often his parents - that the odds were good, he still felt like he was dying. He saw himself disappear, he saw how people looked at him, how his parents looked at him. If he wasn't dying, he was already dead. He hated looking at himself, he hated chemo, he hated the sickness that followed. Slowly, it got better though, and by the age of 14, Cedric was declared cancer-free, but he was never the same afterwards.
With the help of an after care physician, Cedric came back rather quickly. He became determined to rid himself of the after effects and did everything he could to get into shape, to get healthy, to make people stop looking at him like he was a ghost. He had studied while hospitalised and managed to keep up, when his parents finally allowed him to go back to school at 15. He had gotten most of his hair back, at least enough for people to not ask questions, and his daily rutine returned, but he still struggled with the numbness. He needed to feel alive, since it still felt like death was occupying his body. Before anyone noticed, Cedric became reckless. He began testing limits - his own, society's, mostly his parents' though. How far could he go? He quickly became addicted to speed and got his driver's license as quickly as he could. While maintaining a perfect GPA, extracurricular work, being class president, and being rather popular at high school, he began staying out late, partying, experimenting. He had had a feeling since he was young that he wasn't like anyone else, but at the age of 15, he game out as gay. It was really the beginning of this reckless phase. He saw how his parents reacted when he told them, the surprise, the lingering feeling of brief disgust, before they just shook their heads and told him that he would get over it: And he had to show them that that was not the case. As soon as he could party, he did and that also meant meeting boys like him. It gave him the necessary adrenaline rush, the danger, doing something that his parents would forbid as they could no longer control him, just like his illness couldn't. It was definitely not just a phase, he had no interest in women, just like he had no interest in relationships. He was in it for the adrenaline and he got that. The chemo didn't do anything to his looks and as he quickly left the sickly, pale child behind, he grew into a rather handsome, young man, which only made picking up men easier.
Still, he returned to his parents' plan for his life, even if he now had little interest in following their advice. He got accepted to study Government at Georgetown, just like his parents wanted, even if he didn't care much about it. He was good at it, so why not? It was also around this time at one of his regular check ups that his doctor told him that he was infertile - that he, no matter how much he wanted it, would never have children. This hit him harder than he thought it would. He wasn't more than 18 when a future with children was crushed, even if his parents saw it as an explanation of his sexuality, using homosexuality as an escape from the fact that he would never be able to give a woman what she truly desired, ignoring the fact that he came out long before he knew about his own infertility. In general, he worries about his health, fears that the cancer might come back. He was lucky, only having infertility as a side effect, even if he is still more prone to passing out or feeling sick, but that he can do something about. He is not even old enough to consider children, but that has been taken from him even before he got to make the decision himself - even if he's gay. He tries not to think about it, emerges himself into his studies, his friends, his parties, his motorcycle. He likes to just get on his bike and drive into the night, forget everything around him and ignore the circumstances of the world. He tries to live every day as if it was his last, making him extremely outgoing, which only works wonders with his natural charisma and brilliant personality. As he has grown older, he has also realised what kind of people his parents really are, and while he's following their lead, he knows that he will never be anything like them if he gets to live it out. He's not sure where the world will take him, but he's ready for it. -
C O R E T R A I T S
➣ D A R I N G
adj. | dar·ing | ˈder-iŋ
Cedric always wants to go as far as possible, whatever it takes, there's really no limit. If there's a risk in it, he takes it, even if there's a safer route. It's not only to test himself, it's to test those around him, and he's prepared to take the risk of them leaving if he crosses the line. He's always searching for this, the line that cannot be crossed, and in the search he has become somewhat of a adrenaline junkie. He wants the rush, needs it to feel anything at this point. He cannot sit still for long, which often means that he makes foolish decisions, but he's prepared for any repercussions at this point, since he rarely gets punished either way. If you dare him to do anything, he'll most likely do it - though he still has a slight sense of responsibility.➣ C O N F I D E N T
adj. | con·fi·dent | ˈkän-fə-dənt
Cedric carries himself with utmost confidence and it's not just for show. He's as confident as they come - confident in his looks, skills, himself. He's well aware that he's also rather full of himself and probably rather annoying, but he doesn't care what other people think. If he had to worry about that, he wouldn't be able to get up in the morning. Everyone seems to have an opinion on him and the best way to live his life is to be prepared for anything, any opinion, any rumour, so he holds his head high and takes everything in. He knows he's no joke and that people want to be him, want to be with him: And he loves it. He loves the attention, he loves how people turn when he strides down the hallway, oozing of confidence. He loves himself and so should everyone else, he's just great.
➣ H O N E S T
adj. | hon·est | ˈä-nəst
His parents taught him to be honest, but Cedric has taken it to a new level, really. He knows that people are not honest with him, so just like his confidence, his honesty is a measure to be one step ahead of others. He has no reason to lie, but maybe he should sometimes hold the truth back, but he rarely does so. He tells it like it is, in that way nothing can hurt him, no surprises, nothing. Honesty always surprises people, sometimes they might even be spooked enough to tell him the truth. He prefers to have everything in the open, since the press seems to figure everything out anyway, so why try to stay hidden, when his life is for the public to know about anyway. It's just easier.➣ S T U B B O R N
adj. | stub·born | ˈstə-bərn
With all that confidence, honesty, and boldness, Cedric can be incredibly stubborn. He doesn't give up, even when he should - he knows what he wants when he wants it, and he will do anything to achieve it. He stands his ground and is a hell of a person to have a discussion with, which makes him excellent at his major and all of his extra curricular work - and probably the only trait that his parents really like. Otherwise, he's a bit too much all around. It's a dangerous mixture, taking risks and not backing down, but it hasn't done him any bad so far. He will do anything to go the extra mile to reach that adrenaline, piss someone off, make someone happy, just because he's extremely stubborn.
