From SuspireWiki

Lineage

• Conrad Monroe
  • David Greenburg
    • Violet Townsend
      • Addison Whitfield
      • Damien Reese
        • Deangelo Bell

I remember the first time I ruined another person’s life. It’s amazing, really, how quickly and easily it can be done. There are so many things worse than death.

His name was Michael Wentworth and he was some upstart yuppie fresh out of Harvard; he thought he was going to get the Vegas transfer. I suppose in hindsight he was maybe just as good as me on paper and probably should have had just as good of a shot, but he hadn’t spent months working on promoting the latest shitty club or working scrupulously to spin the senator’s newest sex scandal. Where was he when Travco International’s union went out on strike? I don’t think he was the one telling the public their working conditions were fine and their contract competitive. He wasn’t the person whose last date was with a telephone and last conversation an angry tirade at a computer that periodically deleted e-mails. I felt like I hadn’t slept in days and I certainly hadn’t had anything to eat in a few. No, he hadn’t sacrificed all I had to accomplish what I did. He wasn’t the best candidate and he wasn’t as good as me. I probably could have let it to go, too, and let the dice see where they fell if he hadn’t called me a faggot.

Michael Wentworth forgot a very important lesson about our business, you see. In order to to give good publicity to something we must first make something else look worse. We always need to have something waiting in the wings -- some juicy bit of gossip to send the tabloids spinning elsewhere, a health code violation for the competition or a labor organizer’s dirty pockets. He failed to remember this cardinal rule, so when pictures of him getting a blowjob on a street corner for a rock appeared in the office he was surprised. He was even more shocked when the VP of Entertainment Development called him into the office to discuss his dropped rape charges from his years in the crimson tide, which he failed to mention during the hiring process. And he was downright horrified when a taped conversation of him badmouthing a client’s new club ended up being played over the club’s speakers on opening night. Shocked! Surprised! Horrified! Ruined? Imagine that? Some faggot, huh?

1995

Addison secures his transfer and promotion to the Vegas branch of his PR firm. It seems to his coworkers that he thrives even more in the new city and rumors circulate it's because he likes being the big fish in a little pond. Either way, he's respected but he totally throws himself into his work and ignores many of the other appealing social ventures the city of sin has to offer. However, there is some discord amongst the ranks of the small company as Addison clearly goes out for the best cases and almost always gets them.

1997

After two years of growing the company's accounts and establishing for it a good reputation in the City, Addison slowly begins to try to have a social life.

1999

During one of his "breaks from the office" Addison meets Violet Townsend at a local club. The two share a brief courting period where they meet periodically for social time. It's clear in Addison's correspondence with his friends (what few he has) that he's somewhat smitten by the new woman in his life. In actuality he's more just excited that a woman like her would take an interest in him. Previously he tended to either be hit on by men or by women who usually hit on men who like men. They'd always tell him how soft his skin looked or how impressed they were with just how put together he was.

"Are her eyes really that color? They must be contacts. Why is that all I'm thinking right now? Order. Everything in its right place. Focus on a small detail to keep your cool. What the fuck is happening? Breath. Wait, no. You can't. Fuck fuck fuck. Keep it together. Focus. Violet eyes. Small detail. Control your face."

Addison is kept away from Kindred interactions for the first couple of weeks of his embrace. During this time he studies religiously whatever information Violet shares with him about his new existence and appears to be an adept, and maybe too overzealous pupil. He is allowed out shortly after and attends Elysium for the first time without the presence of his sire. The attendees of Elysium are definitely interested in what Violet's new childe will be like and are shocked to find someone quite different from Damien Reese. During this first interaction at Elysium Addison is extremely polite and passive, which begins to earn him the reputation of being the "soft" childe of Townsend. Ephemeral Deville takes a special interest in him that night and Addison seems to respond graciously to the extra attention. He appears to be pleased with the fact that someone could be "so kind" to him on his first night out and ignorant to the idea that someone might not be as altruistic as they seem.

2000

Addison officially resigns from his position at his PR firm and then purchases the majority of the company's holdings. In one day he is transformed from a cog in the machine to the man behind the curtain. Officially, he uses a newly acquired retainer to publicly administer the company, but he remains heavily involved in the night-to-night operations and direction of the enterprise.

During this time he also works increasingly on what he calls "his preparations."

"Now, tell if you see any changes in my face," he says evenly as he stares point blank at his retainer.

He reaches around his back and slowly pushes a dagger into his bare flesh. It takes a little while to give way, but eventually it does, sliding in through the toughened flesh. RETAINER stares blankly at him for a few minutes, attempting to hide his disgust and his desire to stop his domitor from inflicting such pain on himself.
"Well?"
"I think you winced a little when it first went in."
"Then we do it again. I want to know if I lose it at all."
He yanks the dagger out, jabs it into a new spot, and twists.

Rumors continue to circulate that Violet's new embrace is soft, fruity and maybe just too delicate for his Requiem. When embracing is declared illegal, the Carthian dissenters point to him as an example of the Invictus trying to stack their numbers before outlawing it for everyone else. Michelle Costillo in particular directs her attention on him for such a reason and periodically tries to goad him in Elysium.

2001

Addison is formally released into Kindred society and manumitted into the Invictus. Shortly after he goes through manumission he enters into an Oath of Service to his sire, Violet Townsend, for a term of one year and amongst other tasks begins to work on further developing her relationship with a patron. She informs him that performing such tasks are an important, valuable and useful part of the boon trade. He carries this lesson with him into many of his future dealings.

It is also during this time that he seeks to train for the function of Interpreter. Franco Martinez offers to coordinate an introduction between him and the Meister of a Guild of Interpreters in LA (for a fee, of course).

2002

"I hope I remember their faces for eternity. I know that twit Michelle Costillo totally didn't see it coming. I don't think anyone in Elysium did. What, the soft spoken and polite Addison Whitfield has a silver tongue? Who saw that coming? No one. That's the point. Sure, Cha jumped in and coerced a small boon out of me, but that's easy enough to make disappear. Publicity is what it's all about. They'll be whispering something else for awhile, now."

Addison shocks pretty much everyone in Elysium one night during one of Michelle's poke sessions at him he actually speaks up. Not only does he speak up, but he seems to excel at engaging in verbal sparring. The thing that probably got most people talking was just how calm he was during it, which probably made his arguments even more effective. Many speculate that he was waiting for just the right moment to reveal that he's maybe not so passive afterall. After Addison pays off his small debt to Michelle, he continues to sporadically spat with her, often just letting the subtlest of insults hang in the air. The pair continue these types of interactions for several months, but then seem to abruptly cease fire. Quietly he shares his newly gifted toy, a Crassus ghoul, with his sire. When asked privately about the squabble all he states is "I got what I wanted. Time for the tyranny to end."

2003

"No, no, no. That's all wrong. I don't understand what's so difficult about following the simplest of instructions. Do I need to do everything myself?"

The end of the feud between Addison and the Carthian is made public (to everyone's surprise!) when the pair announce their intentions to host a party together. It's quickly revealed to Michelle just how neurotic and type-a Addison really is. He's meticulous in every detail of the party and is observed by her as putting immense pressure on his retainers during the preparations.

Need to flesh out this section further with kink. Looking for some character ties here. How did you character behave at the party? Would anyone have made a stink? Did you show? Was it pointed that you didn't?

2004

It has always been a matter of speculation that Violet Townsend's two childer did not get along well. They interacted extremely infrequently in public and when they did it was always excruciatingly cool. The rumors went that perhaps their two egos were too much for one another, or that maybe Damien had become insanely jealous when Violet embraced again, or perhaps they were just too different from one another to have anything in common, or maybe they were just too damn similar and didn't like to have their foil talk back to them. Whatever the case, though, the pair were never seen in public squabbling with one notable exception. One night outside of the Artisan Hotel Damien and Addison were clearly engaged in some sort of an argument and it was obvious to any Kindred coming and going just what was transpiring. Whenever someone got close enough to actually hear what was going on the pair ceased any conversation until they were out of earshot, but tension was palpable in the air. Rumors went that maybe Damien had undermined some of Addison's holdings, that Addison had banned Damien from most of the clubs on the strip, or perhaps Damien had thrown some slur Addison's way. Whatever the truth might have been, or whether asked directly or indirectly, Addison would never comment on the altercation.

- - -

Addison swears an Oath of Fealty to Violet Townsend.

2005

Addison begins to host a series of parties, all of which are meticulously organized and with attention clearly spent on every minute detail. Some begin to speculate that he's doing it for the sole purpose of deeply entrenching himself in the Kindred social sphere or that he's trying to prove his worth, but whatever the case may be he continues to host gala after gala. Whenever he is asked why he's hosting some many gatherings he simply replies "Someone needs to do it." Most of the parties go off without a hitch, but there's always a few bumps along the road. Bumps he is not likely to quickly forget or let go.

Looking for some character ties here where characters either pointedly do something to disrupt a party, get into some sort of "unbecoming" argument, or purposefully do not attend.

2006

"I thought she was supposed to be a vitae addict," he thought quietly to himself as he stared blankly at the woman (Cha) laying naked in his bed. "Perhaps something was unconvincing in my performance," he mused again, and glanced casually towards the slightly ajar closet door, behind which one of his retainers secretly observed and chronicled the entire event for later study. He made a mental note to ask about it later, before returning his attention to the Carthian. He considered, for a moment, how it was possible to salvage this little excursion into the South American jungle.

"You realize I'm quite gifted at training retainers, you should seek out my services."

And so that was how it became that Cha owed Addison a medium boon, a favor he had repaid in kind by having her work with the Crassus her childe had previously provided him. In the end everything comes full circle. Always.

2007

When The Prince threw the table in Elysium, Addison started to pay attention very quickly, and there might have even been a moment where his delicately crafted mask dropped and he displayed some actual fear. He had been listening half interestedly in the conversation about the diminishing vitae, but now his attention was entirely fixed on the Prince and his sire. He had remained extremely quiet about the "unfortunate incident," and he glanced around carefully to study any Kindred reactions. Damien had finally proven what a terrible mistake he had ever been to be gifted with vitae and the whole ordeal only further convinced him that he was right and the best childe.

After the Prince left, Some character made some flippant remark to Addison about how he must be "thankful" for the disgrace of his sibling, a comment which caused Addison to verbally slice into the Kindred and go into an almost rant questioning why he would ever be thankful to have his Grace's laws so blatantly disobeyed and for such a poor choice of a childe with whom he now shares a common lineage. This would be the only time he openly commented on the matter.

2010

There have been few moments, really, when the Kindred of Las Vegas have seen Addison lose control, but when Damien Reese's bastard childe Deangelo Bell barges into Elysium and dominates him to "Shut the Fuck up" those in attendance that night witness such an event. Once the effects of the dominate wear off, it becomes completely clear that Addison is on the verge of near frenzy. Though he manages to hastily move towards the elevator, before it starts its descent many of those gathered hear the most foul, hate addled speech screaming from behind the closed doors. Addison does not return to Elysium that evening.