So, my character is completed now. I'm expecting to need to amend some of the details as the other character sheets come in (espoir's in particular), but someone's got to go first, so it might as well be me!
[fieldbox=Brad Halliday, lightsteelblue, solid]
Name: Brad Halliday
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Occupation: Van driver, muscle, equipment maintenance
Spiritual identification: Stone
Appearance
Brad is by no means a bad looking guy, but he's not the sort to catch many second looks. He's about 6'2" and reasonably built, with dark brown hair, dark brown eyes and a goattee. Brad usually appears a bit scruffy and understated, preferring practical and comfortable clothing to anything all that flashy or showy. Given that he does most of the lugging and the maintenance for the group, he's used to ripping his clothes or getting them covered in dirt and oil.
Personality
Brad doesn't believe in any of this stuff. Possibly because he can't experience it in the same way that the others can, but possibly just because it's not in his personality to be open to such ideas. Ghosts and ghouls are just make-believe as far as Brad's concerned and he's determined to prove it. He can be a bit abrasive and clashes from time to time with the more spiritually sensitive members of the group, and he'll often make jokes or sarcastic comments about things being from movies or TV shows. Expect a few Scooby-Doo references to "It's probably just Old Man Jessop, trying to scare those damned developers away."
Away from the spiritual stuff, Brad is a qualified mechanic, so he's in charge of the van (or "Mystery Machine" as he calls it) and its maintenance. He tends to look after the lights and cameras, too and can turn a hand to most problems. He's a joker above all else, though, and he rarely takes anything seriously, so he's probably the group member most inclined towards playing pranks, especially if his younger sister is the butt of them. He can be quite immature, his sense of humour being particularly immature sometimes, but he's capable of being serious when he needs to be. His lack of experience with the supernatural tends to leave him more clear-headed than some members of the group, so he can make more practical choices without worrying about spiritual energy and the like.
Biography
Brad made his way through life by taking the easiest options and making the minimum amount of effort required. He went through school with poor-to-average grades, spending more time hanging out with his friends and playing with his band than he spent studying. When he finished, he enrolled as a mechanic's apprentice and learned his trade. This is Brad's main source of income, as ghost-hunting rarely pays and, when it does, it certainly doesn't pay well.
He's still a slacker, but he's got a steady job and rents his own place in the city. He's got a girlfriend, Diana, whom he lives with, though she's an even bigger cynic than Brad about anything supernatural and has never come along on any of their hunts before as a result. The two of them get along well, but Diana can be rather biting with her sarcasm and she has a habit of rubbing people up the wrong way, so it probably suits the group that she doesn't tag along.
Brad's sister has always been the one with an interest in the paranormal, so when she and her friends needed a lift to a haunted house outside of town, she asked Brad if she could borrow his van. Not one to trust his sister's driving, Brad refused to let her take the van alone, insisting on driving it for them and feigning interest in the supernatural enough to get involved. He was just looking for a story and a few laughs and at first, that's all it was, but he's now a regular member of the team, having found his place as the level-headed cynic, even if he's never actually experienced anything supernatural so far. Brad doesn't buy into any of it, frequently calling it mumbo jumbo and comparing it to bad horror movies and cartoons, but deep down he would like to encounter something supernatural for real, just for the sake of it. He wouldn't admit that in front of the rest of the group, though.
Relationships
Kat Lawson - Younger sister and chief prank victim
As is to be expected, Brad and his younger sister have a good, strong relationship. She dragged him into the spirit hunting game when she needed some help getting started and he's hung around ever since to keep an eye on her. The two have their share of in-jokes and shared memories, and their bond is very strong, but Kat does try to boss Brad around sometimes, and he's not one to take it lying down, so he makes up for it in pranks and jokes to get his own back on her.
Darius Sampson - Destroyer of equipment
Brad and Darius clashed a bit when they were first starting out, mostly due to Brad's cynicism and Darius' idealism clashing. The two have gotten past that, even if they still don't always see eye-to-eye. As the van driver and equipment manager for the team, Brad plays an essential role in making sure that Darius doesn't touch or break anything expensive.
Sonny Rae - "Opposites attract" friend
The relationship between Brad and Sonny doesn't really make any sense. She's a very sensitive, spiritual individual and he's a stone, but rather than clashing, like he did with Darius, the two seem to get along so well because of their opposite natures. As Brad doesn't give off anything for Sonny to pick up, the two have built up a normal, healthy relationship, out of talking to each other and picking up on things like body language, rather than auras and psyches. It's a bit weird, but the two just seem to click. It probably helps that Brad finds her attractive, too. Unfortunately, Diana has recognised this too and doesn't trust Sonny, believing that the girl is trying to steal Brad away, even if nothing of the sort is going on.
Wyatt Cormen - Brother from another mother
There is some serious bromance going on between Brad and Wyatt. The two bond over Casper, equipment and music, but there's so much more to it than that. Wyatt is often the butt of Brad's jokes or pranks when Kat isn't around, but there's a solid friendship beneath all of that, and even if Wyatt is a complete and utter dork, there's no way that Brad would let anyone push him around. Even if they antagonise each other from time to time, it's only ever done out of fondness and sometimes boredom and never with any malice. If anything, it's Wyatt that Diana should be worrying about, because this is the real deal.
Wren Cormen - Silent, sassy friend
Brad's seen enough of Wren to know that she can be dark and sarcastic, and even sassy, but she's got a wicked sense of humour and a rational mind. With so many of the more spiritual members of the group being quite excitable, Brad's happy to have someone else there that's trying to be the voice of reason. The two don't spend much time together, as they have very different interests, but there's a lot of mutual respect for their dedication; Wren to her books, research and knowledge, and Brad to the equipment and technology. They both fulfil a role within the group that's quite niche, and it gives them a strange sense of camaraderie.
Casper the dog - Man's best friend
Brad's not a big animal lover by any means, but he's taken a liking to Casper, even if he does insist on calling him "Scoob" and doing his impression of Shaggy when talking to the dog. Despite others in the group being more enthusiastic about animals, Brad somehow seems more attuned to Casper, with only Wyatt having a stronger link to the dog than he does.
Maxine Marsh - Hit-and-miss hippie
Brad and Maxine have a few similar traits and have formed a very casual friendship on the back of that. They'll have each other's back should it be needed, and when they hang out, they get on pretty well, but there isn't the same connection that Brad's found with Sonny or Wyatt, leaving them slightly distant. They don't know a whole lot about each other beyond the group and it would be very unusual to find them meeting up for coffee. Even though there's nothing untoward between them, they just don't seem to click, leaving things a bit flat between the pair.
Oren Blair - Suspicious Charlatan
Brad and Oren do not see eye-to-eye. In fact, Brad doesn't trust Oren at all, and doesn't really see why he has a place within the group, or why Darius would even welcome him into the fold. In Brad's eyes, Oren is a fraud and a phoney, with a ridiculous backstory he's made up for whatever reason. Brad doesn't buy any of it and tends to keep an eye on Oren, to make sure he isn't up to something. If left alone together, sitting in silence is the best possible outcome for these two.
Additional information
Brad's an accomplished guitarist and has a collection of acoustic and electric guitars back home. He usually brings one of his acoustic guitars with him and does play it during the group's downtime, even when on-site.
Also, to clarify, I'm not trying to turn this into a Scooby-Doo roleplay, but seeing as Brad's sarcastic and doesn't buy it, that's how his character reacts. He might even call the dog "Scoob" from time to time.
Brad's greatest fear is probably encountering a real spirit and being terrified by it. He's the joker of the group, and he's usually so laid back about everything that he'd want to be cool about actually encountering a spirit, but having never really experienced it, he's not sure how he'd react. It'd really screw with his pride if he was genuinely scared by a ghost.
Brad smells like a mix of grease/motor oil and cheap aftershave/deodorant (I'm thinking Lynx Africa/Axe Kilo specifically).
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