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Name: Terrence Cornelius Jr.

Nicknames: Trace. (Please call him Trace. Terrence is just for, you know, official stuff. Or his mother.)

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Fav. Food: Grilled chicken

Hated Food: Okra, spinach, creamed cabbage... anything green and slimy, really. And he's really, really tired of popcorn after working in the movie theater for so long.

Gift: Trace is a tremendously gifted actor. He has been participating in theater since childhood, including taking voice and dance lessons, and intends to pursue it professionally.

Hobbies:

Being a font of useless movie trivia: Trace works at a movie theater. Trace works in the projection booth. If it's come out in the last year, Trace can give you a detailed plot summary and full cast list, and maybe point out some production errors. He's also a classic film buff, and can tell you all about anything Marlon Brando, James Dean, or Humphrey Bogart ever made. He has a magical ability for predicting the Oscars. Every single one, every single year.

Theater: He's in the drama club. He sings. He dances. He's playing Othello in the school play next month. He's already started writing his Oscar acceptance speech, although he's not quite sure what he'll win for or when, yet. Trace plans to make it big time in Hollywood someday, but right now he's limiting himself to the Barren Pines auditorium, and his classmates ought to be honored that he is gracing them with his talent, if he has anything to say about it. It ain't gay s**t, it's art.

Genealogy: Whether by his own free will or his mother's insistence that he know, Trace can recite his family tree back six generations on both sides, all the way to cotton pickers on a southern plantation before the civil war.

Virtues:

A True Gentleman: Ms. Cornelius raised her boy right. Trace is polite to a fault, mostly because he has the uncanny feeling that if he isn't, his mother will know, and will beat him upside the head with her pocketbook. Until such a time when he realizes his mother is not, in fact, omniscient, Trace will say "please" and "thank you," address adults as "Sir" and "Ma'am," hold doors, and never, ever hit a girl.

Make 'em laugh: Trace is a big black kid in a Barren Pines uniform. If anyone knows Trace looks silly, it's Trace. Alternately, Trace is a big black guy in street clothes, and if anyone knows Trace looks a little bit threatening, it's Trace. Luckily for Trace, he knows how to take a joke and he knows how to tell them. He's a natural born comedic actor (though he can do the dramatic bits as well) and if he can't make you laugh, then that's your problem, not his.

Never Back Down: Once Trace sets his mind on something, he will do it or he will die trying. He stands by his beliefs and it is very hard to get him to change. If he sets a goal, he will keep trying until he accomplishes it. "Impossible" is not in his vocabulary.

Open-Minded: You're poor? Okay. You're a member of a minority? Awesome. You live an "alternative lifestyle"? Cool. You have a physical deformity? Fine by Trace. The only reason he's not a member of the Young Democrats is because they're too conservative for him.

Flaws:

Have I Mentioned I am Heterosexual Today?: Terrence Cornelius Sr. died in a military accident when Trace was just a baby, and his mother never remarried. As a result, Trace has never had a father figure and his best estimation of "Appropriate Manly Behavior" comes from old movies. His mother taught him better than to be a brute, but when combined with his love of the dramatic arts, Trace's lack of knowledge about "appropriate masculine behavior" turns into sexual insecurity. When hanging out with the guys, he is known to go out of his way to make passes at pretty girls, make comments on their appearance, or just flat out reinforce that he likes women.

Manly like the Movies: When Marlon Brando is your role model, the fastest route to conflict resolution is often physical violence or the threat of it. Trace has spent more than a few afternoons in detention for his aggressive tendencies, but has so far managed to restrain himself enough that he hasn't landed at Hillworth. He knows that if he were to be labeled a delinquent, it would break his mother's heart, but he also knows that he is skating on thin ice with his disciplinary record. He just needs to make it through senior year and he'll be okay. He's sure of it.

Stick it to the man-itis: Trace has a problem with authority. Trace understands the point of directors/principals/police officers/etc, but does not always agree with their ideas. In situations where he honestly believes he can do better, he won't hesitate to go against the pre-established order, which occasionally lands him in trouble. His tendency to do this is less extreme in theater where he respects what the director is trying to do, but in general, Trace doesn't like it when the man tries to keep him down. The only exception to this? His mother. Trace is terrified of her.