Profile
Brand Sandoval
21 y.o.
5'4"
(Stealth) trans man (he/him), bisexual (also only really open about his attraction to men online or with people he's deemed safe- more complicated feelings towards men in general)
A sensitive fellow. Brand is soft-hearted, but not naive. Despite a past full of hardship, he's tried his best to stay kind, he's genuinely just a cool dude. He does have a hot temper, but does his best to hold back and not hurt anyone. Rather anxious and has low self esteem. He's very shy and always will be to some extent, but he can be a reliable friend- he has to be, with his coworkers trusting him to catch them 40ft in the air. He also likes to help people, and thanks to his upbringing can be almost parental, a true dad friend. Also has some 'Bro' qualities. Brand has a stutter which is worse the more uncomfortable he is, not so much like t-t-t-this but repeating words and rephrasing himself. If he finds people who don’t point it out he might be more willing to talk to them. He is fairly private about his life, and not very expressive when he speaks; although he's nothing but polite, some people find him insincere because of this. He does however cry easily, in response to most strong emotions, not just sadness, although he does his best to hide this. Brand sometimes struggles understanding people who don't speak straight- not that he's gullible, just a bit literal.
(This is a secret! Other characters would generally not know this about Brand)
Ran away from home and joined the circus at age 15 after attempting but failing to kill his abusive guardian, his uncle, who had resented being made to look after Brand when his parents vanished. He was forced to leave behind the two young cousins he had practically been a father/parentified to.
Brand had a habit of protecting his cousins or taking punishment in their places, but he was shook when the older boy told him, "You're not his real son. If you keep this up he's really gonna kill you someday." One of Brand's distinct childhood memories is being woken before the sunrise and driven out to a remote lake... for a one-on-one fishing trip with his uncle. Perhaps it was an attempt to connect, but all the young boy could do was sit there silently for hours that seemed like forever, terrified that his uncle had brought him here with no one else for miles to get rid of him. Brand is still not fond of open waters. It was the first time Brand caught his uncle beating one of his cousins that he snapped. He stole the man's gun, stood over him while he slept... and couldn't do it. He fired a shot into the wall, dropped the gun and ran. As much as it haunts him that he went even that far, he's more regretful that he left his cousins alone with that man. He often agonizes over if he should try to get them out of that house and in his care, but knows he’s not mentally nor financially able to do so at this point... and he's afraid they'll hate him for abandoning them.
Brand never did well in school because of being kept home frequently to do housework and look after the younger kids, so after running away he quit school entirely. This likely contributed to his poor social skills, but academically he knows enough to get by. He also got bullied throughout school for being "weird."
He works as an acrobat/contortionist in a traveling circus, and lives in a camper van. Performance may seem like an odd choice for someone so wracked with anxiety, but Brand finds being on stage completely different from conversation. Refuses to wear his glasses. Likes to cook, but only if he has friends to share it with. He’s actually an excellent cook, if you have a good spice tolerance, as well as a baker. Giving people food is how he shows he cares, and it happens often. It's also the only way he knows how to approach people he thinks are cool. Though since he doesn't express this meaning with words, it's easily taken for granted. Great at voice impressions and can always guess the time within five minutes. He‘s really not as edgy as he looks, but he is a punk.
He has a scar through his right eyebrow (the unpierced one), it's just usually hidden by his bangs. His dark eyebags aren't makeup, they're all natural.
I want him to have sick sleeve tats but I can't design them so I'm going with the in-world excuse that he can't afford them yet.
Note that while Brand is a regular human, there are supernatural elements to his world. Brand is fairly well-acquainted with this side, especially demons. (This is because he got isekai'd to hell once. Fun fact, he made such good friends with some demons there that they got together to pay for his top surgery. This is meant as more of a comedic footnote, nodding to his origin, than a serious backstory point) In fact, Brand has a track record of getting caught up in dangerous supernatural goings-on and coming out unharmed either by being kind enough to be spared, or being just so normal he was overlooked.
Miscellaneous-
- Has a collection of decorative knives, he gets them as souvenirs from places he travels
- Interested in reptiles; trying to figure out if he has space and money for a pet lizard
- Undiagnosed autism. He has no idea.
- Thinks he has a seafood allergy because it makes him throw up; it's actually more of a sensory thing.
- Voice is lower and growlier than you might imagine, he's been forcing it too low for years
Comments