#thomasmaddox

BACKGROUND / BIO

triggering / sensitive content: abuse, alcoholism, death, parental death, fertility issues, homelessness

Tommy was born to a couple that could barely afford to get by on their own. Some days they’d say he was made out of love, the others they’d let slip he was completely unplanned, just like his sister born half a decade later. The Maddox siblings grew up knowing money wasn’t something you just came by - you worked for it and if you didn’t have it you found a way to find it. Growing up their lives were unstable, with moments of homelessness spotted throughout his youth when his alcoholic father wasted all their money on tin cans. School became a place of relief, there was always a meal and he could pretend everything in life was as normal as the kids next to him. 

That was until he returned from school one day to find his mother dead. You can’t pretend to be normal when something like that happens. You can pretend to be strong though, to put on a brave face for your little sister and prepare things no child should because his father is too unstable to handle it. He was only 16. 

After school Tommy didn’t go to college, he couldn’t afford it let alone had the grades to score some sort of scholarship. Instead he worked, pocketing paychecks for rainy days or whenever his sister needed something their father couldn’t provide. He picked up training from those around him, learning trades over the years like carpentry, house painting, electrical. He paid for his qualifications and slowly things changed for him - people paid to get quality work done after all.

Like most people do, Tommy fell in love. He married in his early 20s, eager to start a family all of his own that would know stability that he never had. Things between his wife and him started off well, they were happy until they weren't. Cracks formed when fertility issues occurred, paychecks going wasted on treatments that gave them no better outcome. Tommy’s drinking moved into familiar territory, carving out a spot that looked awfully like his father. When his wife came to him confessing to cheating it felt like the worst had finally happened, they’d just been waiting to find out what. They separated for several months, needing to work on themselves. They came back together stronger than ever, at least that’s what they told themselves. A couple of good years turned into history repeating itself as Tommy found comfort in a bottle, and she was in the arms of his best friend. The affair goes on for years as Tommy pulls further in on himself, forgetting important dates or being too drunk to bring a paycheck in. He’s 30 by the time the affair comes to light, their divorce is messy but it’s only the start for Tommy’s downfall.

There are three years that Tommy can’t quite recall. It’s all blurred together in alcoholic rage and depression. His benders were reckless, any money he had left lost to the bottle. Father and son could sit side by side and no one would be able to tell them apart. Housing became unstable again, he was forced to crash on couches of friends until they no longer wanted him around. Josh became his babysitter, called by the staff to take Tommy home. The staff at the police office knew him well, occasionally reserving a cell just for him to sober up in.

Eventually the fog cleared enough that fight seeped in. He didn’t want to keep wasting away. Pulling yourself up from rock bottom isn’t easy - people had to learn to trust you, you had to learn to trust yourself. Getting work again, finding good housing, it all took time. But he did it. He wasn’t exactly sober but his benders grew shorter, his mindset changing with help from the clinic. Goals in life started to form for him. He wanted to do things for himself.

Travelling wasn’t something he’d considered possible early on in life - only people with money could do that. Finding out he could apply for jobs overseas, meaning his travels were basically paying for themselves, was a wild revelation. He tried it once working on a farm, hated it but loved the differences between everything he’d always known and the othering of foreign lands. For the last five years, for a couple of months, he’d leave to work. When mining came across his plate Tommy hadn’t any idea what he’d signed himself up for. It wasn’t pretty work, it wasn’t easy, it wasn’t something he wanted to do. But, damn, did it pay well. A couple rounds of travel to Australia helped pull himself out of debt that built up during his dark years. What was left after that he invested in his future: a warehouse conversion in downtown Merrock. He returned most recently at the start of April, falling back into place with work in Merrock since.

face claim: Henry Cavill 

full name: Thomas Leon Maddox

nickname(s) / goes by: Tommy

pronouns & gender: He/Him, Cis man.

sexuality: bisexual

birth date: June, 20, 1983.

birth place: Merrock

arrival to merrock: -

housing: Downtown, converted warehouse

occupation: Handyman (carpentry, house painting, electrical)

work place: -

family: Father, mother (deceased), sister (in her 30s), exwife, Rue (dog 1 year old)