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When heir to a business fortune Maxwell Porter met free spirited Gemma Sharppe, he fell madly in love. Raised in a household where rules were strict, futures were planned well in advance, and there were no surprises, Gemma offered another way to see the world. She wore flowers in her hair and danced with wild abandon, unabashedly embodying exactly the person she wanted to be, and Maxwell was intoxicated by her very existence. They met during their junior year at Cleveland High School in Portland, Oregon shortly after Maxwell moved there from Bellevue, Washington, and by graduation, the two were engaged, much to his parents' chagrin. Two short years later, the couple welcomed what would be their only child, a son who's name would be a hot topic of debate between the two until nearly two weeks into his existence. Gemma wanted a strong name that was unique, embracing Rainier, while Maxwell preferred something more standard that wouldn't invite the teasing of other children, his choice being that of Joel. The official name that soon read on his birth certificate was a compromise in the form of Joel Rainier Sharppe-Porter, though Gemma insisted on calling him only Rainier, which came to stick. As a child, Rainier took after his mother, who stayed at home to raise him while his father worked long hours, in the same free spirted way and he soon discovered a love of all things artistic. He avidly read comic books (DC made many of his favorites), drafted up fantasy stories, and created his own graphic tales which he illustrated to perfection. However, as dedicated as he was to his outside endeavors, academically he struggled and dragged his feet every step of the way. His worst subject was math, requiring extra outside tutoring to achieve grades of even decent level to pass to the next year. Gemma didn't want to force him, feeling he needed to find the drive inside himself, while Maxwell believed there was some degree of forceful encouragement required to properly raise a functional person. This was the beginning of the end of their marriage. Arguments became more frequent, turning their quiet sanctuary of a home into a battlefield, where land mines of baited arguments were peppered throughout. His parents weren't kids anymore, and the realization hit them both like a ton of bricks, causing the cracks in a relationship they had thought indestructable to grow and push them further and further apart. By the age of seven, Maxwell was given the opportunity to open his own branch of the business on the East Coast, an office building purchased and waiting for his guidance in the distant city of New York. This, as it turns out, was the perfect excuse to get the divorce that neither of them wanted to ask for. Soon, Rainier was sat down for a very difficult conversation, one that ended with his belongings packed up and shipped across the country where he was to follow, and his mother moving to her own home in the comfort of Portland. Rainier spent the summers in Portland, but struggled to adjust to the culture of New York, feeling a distinct distance from his father as he threw himself into his work to avoid dealing with the emotions that came with the splintering of his family. However, shortly after his son's tenth birthday, he met Annette and the light that had been missing slowly came to glow again. An ambitious woman who shared many of the same values as Maxwell soon cemented her position as his true soulmate, making a bond with Rainier that provided a good balance of structure and affection to help put him back on track. They wed when he was eleven years old, and Annette's three children -- two sons and a daughter -- came to live in the same home. As an only child for all those years, Rainier didn't adjust as well as expected, and his grades suffered while he took an interest in rebellion and smoking weed with his friends. As high school progressed, Rainier settled down some, making an attempt to bring up his grades to ensure graduation and growing more comfortable with the rambunctious surroundings that came with such a large family. He realized how much more enjoyable holidays could be, and felt he was part of a carefully constructed web of connections. However, as well as he was getting along with his step-siblings and new half-siblings that occupied their large home property, Rainier continued to butt heads with his father. There was a loyalty to his mother that burned hot inside him, and upon turning eighteen, he shortened his hyphenated last name to that of only his mother's. This choice shoved the wedge even further into the crack of their father-son relationship. Aside from that, life was good, and post graduation, it got even better. Rather than head straight for college as some of his other siblings and friends, Rainier sought out an apartment in Brooklyn with three other similarly unambitious people, living the college student experience without the worries of studies. It was where he lived out some of his most outrageous and arguably most fun years. It wasn't until his mother asked him to seek a counselor just shy of his twenty-fourth birthday that he even considered furthering his education. His means of income had been off the books, selling his artwork on craigslist or in a booth at the saturday markets which he shared with one of his roommates. Maxwell and Rainier came to an agreement by the fall of 2012: his father would pay for the bulk of his tuition as long as he would seek out a degree. In the end, Rainier decided to do so, enrolling at Iona University in the education program. One year later, his grades were high enough that he qualified to study abroad for a year in Europe. With one of his closest friends and fellow classmates coming along, the two spent the span of a few months at a time in various countries including Italy and France, frequenting museums and wholly soaking up every morsel of culture. Had he not gone to college, he may never have seen the beauty in travel, and for that, he returned to American soil with an olive branch prepared for his father. With his familial relations in good standing and feeling good about his college career, Rainier sought out a job on the side to help bring in some extra funds. He took a number of jobs during the next year, between a server, a cashier, and a checker at the local market, but the first meaningful position he could secure came in the form of an administrative assistant at a comic book production company. As an avid doodler, he proved himself, albeit accidentally, to his manager to have a real talent for that style of artwork and was given a promotion into a colorist position where he would remain for the next two years. Rainier is still at this position, now the longest standing job he's had, and he loves it. He hopes to one day advance to a chief artist, though he knows it's a long way off. In June 2014, Rainier decided to take a break from college to focus on his job, feeling the unfamiliar sensation of ambition well up inside. He wanted to focus wholly on his job, though his father wasn't particularly pleased with his choice. There are still a lot of hurdles that both Maxwell and Rainier need to overcome, but their relationship is in the best state it perhaps has ever been. |
facts parents Maxwell Porter [father] Gemma Sharppe [mother] Annette Montgomery-Porter [step-mother] siblings Ben Porter [step-brother] Tad Porter [step-brother] Sarah Porter [step-sister] Lindsay Porter [half-sister] Tyler Porter [half-brother] transportation 2009 black honda civic |