NAME: Malcolm Renton
DATE OF BIRTH: July 31, 1987
HOMETOWN: Yorba Linda, California
OCCUPATION: Unemployed
Theodore Malcolm Renton III was born on July 31, 1987, to Theodore Renton Jr., an engineering executive, and Samantha Renton, a trophy housewife who made it her unofficial occupation to spoil her child silly. Little Teddy, as he was then called, was attention-demanding from the cradle. As anyone who knows him can tell you, things have not changed much, although his name has. Teddy turned into Todd turned into Mal, which he started going by in middle school when he decided that he didn't want to be another Theodore clone, and became the name that stuck. By that point, Mal had become one of Those Boys who got whispered about behind closed doors. If he was outside, he was probably sneaking out while grounded, and his parents were called in for so many parent-teacher conferences that they remained on each other's Christmas card lists for years after. The Rentons were far from a bad or broken family; as a matter of fact, they were known for having been fine, upstanding citizens for generations, and all the other Renton children were perfectly well-behaved. But that Mal was an inexplicable Bad Seed, and good little boys and girls who wanted to grow up to be proper young gentlemen and ladies would do well to stay far away from him, as parents continually warned their children. This, of course, made him quite popular on the playground.
Unsurprisingly, Mal took advantage of this, and spent most of his time partying and getting into trouble and hooking up with every other hot girl in sight than studying; he applied to and was accepted by only one school, the University of Pennsylvania, and he freely admits that this was based entirely on his family connections. He's a laid-back slacker who generally means well, but often has his laziness and/or lack of commitment get him into trouble. The only thing he takes seriously is a good time, and he puts having fun above everything else. He likes everyone, if only because he's too lazy to care enough to hold a grudge; besides, you love everyone when you're drunk, and he's drunk a vast majority of the time he's around large groups of people. He wants everyone to get along, as not to spoil the constant party that he makes his life, and he's nice enough, though often careless and thus occasionally offensive. His overall love for humanity is not always reciprocated, and though he's aware that not everyone's going to like him, he doesn't really care about that, either. Why bother with unpleasantness, or trying to change an inevitable truth? Mal is as aware of his flaws as he is of his strengths. And he is very, very much aware of his strengths. Perhaps the most obvious example of this? He blatantly, shamelessly uses his looks and charm to get what he wants. He's a big, big flirt. Huge. He hits on anything with a pulse (and occasionally some things without), even when not actually interested, just because he likes being adored. But that's all he does: easy hook-ups, one night stands, friends with benefits, never any actual relationships. He doesn't want to bother. He'll also flirt his way out of trouble, or perform sexual favors with no scruples, having basically no morals when it comes to sex. He's never cheated, but that's only because there's never been a commitment to cheat on, and sees no real issue with sleeping with someone who has one, as long as he's sure no one else will find out and disrupt the peace. (You'd think he would have figured out by now that the best way to avoid such complications is just not to surf and turf taken women.)
After quite a bit of hemming and hawing, Mal made the mistake of declaring in Theatre Arts, figuring it would be an easy B.A. Although he quickly realized this would not be the case, he also realized that he didn't mind, as it was kind of fun. Unfortunately, that didn't do him much good when he graduated with a middling GPA in an impractical field, with no job prospects or plans for his future. He couldn't get a normal job with an irrelevant degree and absolutely no previous work experience, and despite having enjoyed his undergraduate experience, had no particularly strong desire to seriously go into theatre for the rest of his life. Besides, he acknowledges that even if he were passionate enough about theatre to try to make a living out of it, it wouldn't work, as he's not talented enough. Not untalented, just not talented enough. Not that he even cares enough to be bitter, though, and not that this matters, as he has his family business to fall back on, and doesn't have to work at all if he doesn't want to, for that matter. College, much like everything else in his life, was simply something he did just because he felt like it.
The plan had been to return to California after graduation, but by then, Mal had fallen in love with Philadelphia, and didn't think he was ready to go home just yet. And while he's not sure if he wants to completely transplant his life and live here forever, he does want to stick around for a bit longer. (How much more of a commitment do you expect from someone who can't even make plans for next weekend?) So he called home, shipped some things back and sent some things over, moved into an apartment, and has been... doing nothing, pretty much, ever since. His apartment is surprisingly, uncharacteristically neat, thanks to his neurotic clean freak roommate, but he doesn't actually sleep there a whole lot, again thanks to his neurotic clean freak roommate, who is his polar opposite and with whom he does not get along very well. He does a few temp jobs here and there just to keep himself busy, but he's not looking for anything long-term. What he actually is looking for, though, is what he can't figure out, and could be anybody's guess.
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