Brody Duke Calson
Nickname:
Cal
Age:
16
Birthday:
January 3
Sexual Orientation:
Heterosexual
Hometown:
Oahu, Hawaii (0-11)
New York, NY (11-Current)
Face Claim:
Jay Alvarrez
Dialogue Color:
#2D31DD
Residence:
325 E 80th St APT 5F, New York, NY 10075
Personality:
Brody might not be the most brilliant person on the planet. He's not exceptionally intelligent, and doesn't put a whole lot of work into changing that. A lot of people assume that he must be on a scholarship, given that his family sits comfortably in the upper middle class, but nowhere high enough to afford the tuition of St. Jude's without breaking the bank. He's not into sports or music, and not genius level smart though, so that's not the case. He actually got accepted into St. Jude's through a connection that a colleague of his father's had. His family still pays full tuition, but his maternal grandparents pay half of it, so it's not as much of a harsh burden on his father's shoulders as it could be. For someone who many would view as being very lucky to be able to attend such a prestigious school, Brody is pretty lax about it. He doesn't think that he needs to feel grateful, because in truth, he'd much rather be back at the public school in Hawaii that he was supposed to be going to. That probably makes him sound bitter, and maybe internally he still is, but he's not the kind of person who lets people know that, or walks around with a frown on his face all of the time either. He's not ungrateful, and even more than that, he's not the type of person to complain about his situation. He rarely complains about anything ever, actually. He's not hard to please and tends to be a go-with-the-flow, chill kind of vibe. He laughs things off easily and doesn't take much seriously, because most of the time, whatever everyone else is getting hyped up about isn't that serious.
While he isn't Albert Einstein in the classroom, Brody definitely has enough street smarts to get him by. He's business savvy and has a mind that works quick and fast when it comes to making money. He's by no means the most moral person in any room, and he would never claim to be. In fact, he's pretty open about being a selfish person who puts his own needs and desires above other people's. He thinks that that's how everyone should be, and just how he won't coddle anyone else, he doesn't expect to be either. He's independent and prides himself in being able to make his own money and buy himself the things he needs and wants without rich parents to do it for him. He's capable, strong, witty, and has the mind of a businessman. The only time that he caters to people is when they're clientele, and only when he knows that he's going to get something out of it. He's not a bad person and he's not antisocial, as much of his business revolves around making connections. He does have a cynical side, and his sense of humor is pretty dirty and dark when he doesn't filter himself, but he's not bad enough where you would expect him to be friendless.
Overall, he's a pretty simple guy. He works for what he has, doesn't expect other people to pick up his slack, and is pretty upfront about who he is, and what he has to offer you. His sense of humor and blunt nature sometimes rub people the wrong way, but he's also not actively looking for enemies, and is pretty easygoing in most situations. He's struggled enough in his life emotionally to not be very open or loving, but he's friendly enough to make business-related friends, and a few genuine ones too, even if he doesn't open up to them in the way that normal friends open up to each other. He likes to think of himself as just being more of a private person.
History:
Brody had a unique childhood. He was born in Hawaii, into a loving but small family, as he grew up as an only child. His father worked as a wildlife photographer and his mother as a dentist. They lived comfortably, though never in an exquisitely lavish way, simply because they didn't make that much, and Hawaii was an expensive place to live. Regardless, Brody could never-- and would never-- complain about his youth. Living on Hawaii was just as much of a dream as it sounded like. Though his father was often travelling globally for work, Brody and his mother were quite close, and he also had so many friends on the island, that he never had to wish for siblings, because they were basically that to him. He grew up with kids that he would go surfing and exploring with every day after school. He spent so much time outside and in the water, that every one of his childhood dream jobs revolved around it. At some point he was certain that he was going to join the navy, then it was open his own surf camp, become a marine biologist, captain a yacht, and so on. He really and truly loved Hawaii, and that was why it was so heartbreaking when his parents announced that they had to move, when he was eleven years old.
Leaving the island that raised him, and the friends that had become family wasn't even the most heartbreaking part about the move, but Brody didn't realize that until about a year later. His parents had done a good job at hiding the fact that his mother had been diagnosed with cancer, and that the move to New York was made to ensure that she was receiving the best possible treatment available. He suspected that something was up with his mom, but she was undergoing new treatments that were only in the clinical trials, and didn't start chemotherapy right away. Once that was implemented into her treatment plan, and she began to lose her hair, his parents finally came clean to him that she wasn't in bed so much because she was tired from work, and all of those sometime week long disappearances weren't for further education, but actually, hospital stays.
His mother passed away when he was fifteen, and thinking about her to this day, still is enough to invoke a lot of raw emotion in him. She had been such a good woman, and such a good mom, and it just felt so unfair that it had to happen to her... and to him, as her son. He and his father never grew very close, and especially after her death, seemed to drift apart further. There was never any fighting or animosity between them, but his father had grown just as depressed as he had, and they both kind of just did their own thing. They didn't grieve together, and Brody's not sure if he even wishes that things were different. He appreciates that his dad gives him space and respects that he's capable of taking care of himself. He was never a spiteful child either to the woman that his father remarried last year. He knows that no one will ever replace his mother, and he doesn't attempt to have much of a relationship with his stepmother, Mary, but he also understands that his father needs a companion. It is what it is. If life was perfect, his mother never would have gotten sick to begin with, but Brody learned as a kid that life isn't perfect, and so now, he takes things in stride. He doesn't take things for granted, and he doesn't invest in people very easily, out of fear of losing them. He's grown into an independent young man. It's clear through his behavior and lifestyle that he doesn't have much guidance or supervision at home, but it's also clear that he's mature and smart enough to not necessarily need it.
Brody stands at six feet flat, and has a physically fit physique. Even though he had to trade his outdoor-oriented life for the hustle and bustle of the concrete jungle when he was only eleven, Brody still remained active. He struggled to really get into loving the gym, but he is forced to trade exercising outside for that in the colder months. His appearance definitely reflects growing up in Hawaii, from the tanned skin (that does pale significantly in the winter, but he normally makes a couple trips to Hawaii during the year to help prevent his skin from craving the sun too badly), to the messy, and longer than typical hairstyle. To fit in with St. Jude's standards, he normally ties it back into what people call a man bun, since it seems less noticeably offensive against the hair regulations that he's sure are in the dress code, than leaving his messy curls out. He likes his hair's volume, but truly, part of why it's longer than most guy's is traditionally, is because he's just lazy when it comes to getting it cut frequently enough to maintain a shorter style. Since the legal age to get tattooed is 18 in New York, he doesn't have any yet, but would like to get at least one, somehow related to his mother, once he is of legal age.
