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| Chris Barstow-Carson | ||
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| Status | Active | |
| Focus | Civilian | |
| Biographical Information | ||
| Date of Birth | 1994-08-06 | |
| Age | 28 | |
| Place of Birth | Liberty City | |
| Nationality | American | |
| Gender | Male | |
| Pronouns | He/Him/His | |
| Licenses | Driving License
Weapons License
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| Residence | Alta St. | |
| Physical Attributes | ||
| Eye Color | Blue | |
| Hair Color | Blonde | |
| Relationship Information | ||
| Marital Status | Single | |
| Sexuality | Straight | |
| Relatives | Johnathan Barstow (Father), Sarah Carson (Mother) | |
| Employment Information | ||
| Occupation |
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| Role-Player Information | ||
| Played By | [[NotTheStig]] | |
| Other Characters | Mikhail Boskovic, Daniel Weller | |
Description
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Background
Parents and childhood
Christopher Barstow-Carson was born in August of 1994 in Washington D.C. to Johnathan Barstow and his wife Sarah Carson. At the time Jonathan was studying for his Ph.D in post-modern literary analysis at Georgetown University, but after completing his Doctorate accepted a teaching position at Columbia University as a professor of Contemporary Literary History. After accepting the position, Jonathan moved his family to Liberty City to stay close to the campus. Jonathan met Christopher's mother, Sarah Carson, while studying for his Masters. Sarah was an Art History student at the time, and the pair bonded over a shared interest in bygone eras. While Sarah enjoyed the academic world, in her Senior year of her Bachelors degree she got accepted into a prestigious internship at The Smithsonian which launched her career in the art world, and the excitement of the real world kept her away from further academic life.
The couple were caring and attentive parents to Christopher, aided by him being an only child, but they had their fair share of differences, which reflected in Chris's upbringing. Rather than being attached to either of them in particular, he adopted elements of both of them. His mother was fairly liberal and free spirited, which rubbed off on Chris quite a bit. He loved a good adventure, and was very much his own person. His father on the other hand was far more conservative. While Jonathan imparted his enthusiasm for stories, writing, and critical thinking, Chris felt that his dedication to academic pursuits left him blinded to what was really happening in the world. One things his parents both left with Chris, however, was a strong set of principles, and understanding of ethics, and solid moral code.
Teen-age Life
In high school Chris really began to become his own person. Around the same time he started high school, the 2008 financial crisis started taking it's full effect. Being in a private school among some of Liberty Cities more wealthy families he saw the consequences of the recession first hand with immediate effect. He started paying attention to the multiple news outlets that covered what happened, from opinion pieces to deep investigations. Very quickly he realized how messed up the world around him was, and that the only people doing anything about it where the reporters telling the stories. Pretty soon the news was his life. Every day before school he would swing by the local news stand and pick up all the big papers he could. The Times, The Journal, The Herald, Weazel News, even the smaller local publications. He no longer trusted the systems around him, and he wanted to read everything he could about what was going on. It was like a train wreck, as terrible as it was he just couldn't look away. These reporters became his idols, and some of the biggest names became his heroes.
In his Sophomore year of high school he joined the school paper. His eyes were bigger than his head though, and quickly found himself butting heads with the senior editors because they weren't doing big enough stories. As much as he wanted to break some big corruption conspiracy, his enthusiasm was his own worst enemy.
Chris's growing passion for the press acted like an axe between him and his father. Being the conservative academic English major that he was, he saw most journalists as a plague who sullied the literary world with their fast paced, cut throat, attention seeking behavior. True knowledge, he believed, lied in books and papers, not on the front page. When Chris announced he was going to Boston University to study in the Journalism major it drove a rift in their relationship that was never mended. While they still occasionally talk, there is an energy in the air of words better left unspoken.
College and Early Life as a Journalist
College was a time of personal growth for Christopher. During high school he discovered his real interests, but he lacked focus. Caught in the angst of being a teenager who was angry at the world, he failed to learn real self-control. Moving out from under his fathers thumb though, and being liable to only himself, he finally found the freedom he had been yearning for for so many years. Learning at the best journalism school in the country, and getting to focus on his passion, he finally felt like he could express himself the way he had wanted to. Yet again he joined the school paper, but without any references from his high school paper since he had burned all of those bridges, he was left with small fluff pieces. Without the pressure of his father though, he was oddly more comfortable taking on these stories. He still wasn't happy about it, but his time in high school showed him that he wasn't going to get anywhere in this career by butting heads with his superiors. All he could do was put his head down and wait for something to present itself.
Academically Chris was an average student. He had the smarts to really excel, but classwork was always a bore to him. He did what he had to to maintain a reasonable GPA, but he knew deep down that the real skill came in the field. With a degree from Boston University he knew his prospects were secure basically anywhere. This complacency didn't earn him many points with his professors. During his Junior year this stubbornness led to a dispute with a particularly prickly professor, and Chris was subsequently kicked out of the class. It was very likely he was going to be expelled, but his father pulled a few strings and Chris made off with an Incomplete for a final grade. As much as Johnathan detested Chris' career choice, he wasn't about to have his son tarnish his reputation by being expelled from a top university.
Ashley Carter
While at college Chris would go through a number of partners, but none meant as much, and none hurt to lose so much as Ashley Carter. Ashley was a theater arts - performance major with a minor in philosophy. The two met at a mixer in the Fall of their Junior year but at the time both Chris and Ashley were in relationships, Chris' more of a fling, but Ashley's was a committed relationship of three years. Chris immediately warmed up to Ashley, she was intelligent, interesting, beautiful, and understood Chris' passion for storytelling. In a room full of aspiring nobodies she radiated a glow that nobody he had met before could match. He only had eyes for Ashley, and broke up with his current girlfriend within the month. Ashley however took longer to come around to Chris. She enjoyed his company, and throughout the year would keep seeing more and more of each other through social events, but it wasn't until a party before Spring term finals with both of them sufficiently inebriated on cheap booze that something changed her mind. Over the Summer the two grew closer, and by the beginning of the next school year Ashley had broken up with her boyfriend, and the two started officially dating.
After that they spent more time together than they did apart, and after graduating they found a cheap apartment in a questionable part of Liberty City and moved in together. While it was no fairy tale relationship, they were both happy and supported each other, often staying up late into the morning analyzing book passages over cups of crappy coffee. It was the longest relationship Chris had ever had, and he couldn't help but pour out his soul to Ashley. Through thick and thin they stood by each others side. Chris pushed Ashley to always make the characters she played her own, and never questioned the roles she took, even when he knew playing the ditzy school girl from uptown wasn't going to help her career like she thought it would. Ashley always got on Chris when his cynical and stubborn behavior was going to get him into trouble. Upon the realization that he couldn't imagine his life without her, he began ring shopping in order to propose on their fifth anniversary. After a month and a half of looking for the perfect ring, he found what he was looking for, a beautiful 1.5ct marquise cut diamond of exquisite color and clarity, flanked by two opals, set in a 22ct gold band. As excited as Chris was, watching as the salesman carefully wrapped up the ring, nothing could have prepared him for what awaited him when his phone rang from his pocket.
Rachel, a castmate and close friend of Ashley from her latest theater production yelled at Chris as soon as he answered, telling him he needed to get to the downtown hospital immediately through poorly veiled sobs. Chris tried to ask what was happening, but all he heard was traffic and distant voices shouting, followed a few seconds later by the call disconnecting. Without thinking Chris bolted out of the store and ran into the middle of the street looking for a taxi, credit card and wallet still sitting on the glass display case. The salesman tried to catch up with Chris to return his wallet, but by the time he made it out of the store, Chris was already in a cab ordering the driver to get to the hospital as quickly as he could, laws be damned. The rest was a blur for Chris as he frantically tried to call Rachel back, or get in contact with any of her other cast mates and friends as the cab feverishly weaved through traffic, but it was to no avail. When they finally arrived at the hospital, before the vehicle had even come to a stop Chris jumped out of the taxi and ran inside, with the cabbie yelling behind him about his fare. Just as Chris got the room number from a receptionist the driver caught up and grabbed Chris by the shoulder, shouting "Where's my money you son of a-". That was all the driver managed to get out as Chris swung around, landing a fist straight to the drivers jaw, knocking him to the ground like a ragdoll, as the receptionist let out a scream. Before the security guard standing by the entrance knew what was happening Chris was already bashing his way through the hallways of the hospital before finally bursting into the he was told.
In an instant, time stopped, and whatever color was left in Chris' face vanished. He saw in front of him Ashley, the woman who was just about to propose to, who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, laying in a hospital bed, motionless, with wires and tubes across every part of her body, covered in large cuts and bruises. Slumped in a chair next to the bed as Rachel, staring up at Chris, eyes puffy and deep red, tears streaming down her flushed cheeks. A man in a white lab coat stood facing the foot of the bed, turned around to see Chris frozen like a marble statue at the frame of the door. Time jumpstarted back into motion, and the next thing Chris knew he collapsed to his knees beside Ashley next to the head of the bed, draping himself over the side of the mattress. As he ran his hand through her hair he tried to whisper her name, but nothing came out. Ashley did nothing. She didn't look over to Chris, she didn't tell him that everything was going to be okay, she didn't raise her arm to hold him as only she knew how to comfort him, she didn't smile with her smile that illuminated even the darkest rooms. She did none of those things, not even a flinch. Rachel reached out to put her hand on Chris' shoulder and he looked over at her, the only emotion on his face asking all the questions he already knew the answers to. Rachel gently shook her head, and he broke down in a helpless cry. Even though Chris couldn't hear anything but the pounding in his chest, he knew how silent the room was, and that the sound he needed most, the constant beep of a heart rate monitor, was missing.
It was days before Chris could find the strength to ask what had happened. Rachel explained to him that she and Ashley had been in a taxi heading to Ashley and Chris' apartment after an afternoon rehearsal to unwind before the show later that night. Five blocks from the theater a beverage delivery truck ran a red light and t-boned their cab at 40 miles per hour, hitting Ashley's door square on, and pinning the cab between the car that was in the lane next to them. Ashley survived the crash, but was trapped inside taxi, partially crushed. It took fire and tow crews nearly 20 minutes to extract her from the taxi, where she was rushed to the hospital, losing consciousness during the ambulance ride. 10 minutes after they arrived at the hospital Ashley passed away from excessive traumatic injury to the majority of her vital organs. There was no way she could have survived. It was later ruled that the truck had a brake failure which is what caused that accident. Because Chris and Ashley had not yet been engaged the entirety of the settlement from the brake failure went to Ashley's parents.
Aspirations
While Chris doesn't aspire to any form of fame or fortune, and is ultimately a man of simple means, he is not without ambition. His ultimate goal to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for some form of investigative journalism. To Chris, this award would not be about the fame, but a vindication that the work he did as a journalist meant something. With the rapid pace of the news cycle, he wants to know that his dedication to the craft made a difference.
He also wants to control a successful media and publishing company. For Chris it's not about getting rich, or building a name for himself, but to promote the untold stories and to share his passion for the crafty of impactful storytelling.
Appearance
Roughly 6 feet tall, average build, dirty blonde hair, deep Caribbean sea blue eyes. Has a single piercing on their right ear, keeps a well trimmed close beard, and designer prescription plastic frame glasses. Is typically wearing some form of fedora to harken back to the old school journalists they idolize. Fashion choices are typically casual but trendy, with muted palates. Avoids wearing dress clothes unless absolutely necessary, usually only for strictly professional events. A modern art pattern sleeve tattoo is on their left arm, and a large tattoo of a head with a record disc through the cranium is on their back.
Trivia
- Oddly lacks any form of East Coast accent, despite spending most of his life on the East Coast
- Is the most published reporter in Los Santos
- Does not like when people hide information, lie, or twists the truth, particularly reporters
- Does not hide his distaste for dishonest reporters or people he considers to sully the integrity of journalism, namely George Sinclair, Dick Richards, and to a lesser extent Jay Walker