get to know brandon carter :
For the first part of Brandon’s life, everything was fine. He had parents that loved and cared for him, or at least that’s what it seemed like. They were a perfectly normal family living on one of the island’s right outside of Echo Isle. His parents had originally grown up on the Isle but had moved away when they started learning the truth about what the island had to offer. A life around magic and the dangers that might come with that wasn’t something they wanted their kids to grow up dealing with. They wanted absolutely nothing to do with any of that.
Which was why when their middle son suddenly developed magic of his own at the age of ten, well they still wanted no part of it. One night Brandon had been sitting in his room, wanting nothing more than an oreo mcflurry (his favorite food back then… and still his favorite to this day, tbh) when suddenly, next thing he knew he was in the middle of a Mcdonald’s kitchen, right in front of the ice cream machine. The workers totally freaked out and yelled at him for coming behind the counter - not understanding how he had gotten there in the first place or why he was in the store by himself without any adults and wearing minecraft pajamas. He was given the mcflurry while he waited in the manager’s office for his parents to come pick him up. At first they had been angry, thinking that Brandon had snuck out and walked all the way from their house to the Mcdonalds. But then… he showed them how it really happened. Turns out, once he knew he could teleport it wasn’t all that hard to control.
His parents freaked the fuck out over his newfound powers. Magic still wasn’t anything they wanted to deal with, not even in their own son. So they sent him to go live with his aunt on Echo Isle instead.
The hugs he gave his parents goodbye before leaving would be the last time he ever saw them. Despite their promises to keep in touch and come visit and that this was only temporary… he never heard from them again. They changed their numbers and never returned a single letter.
It had been hard at first, Brandon missing his parents deeply and feeling utterly abandoned. His Aunt Martha was actually his great-aunt and she was great, teaching him how to knit and cooking the best meals and watching game shows with him. But it was the next door neighbors that really helped Brandon get over his parents completely ditching him.
The Borne family lived right next door to Aunt Martha, and at first they just seemed nice enough. It was an older couple, probably around Martha’s age, with a bunch of kids that lived with them and even more grown adults that came over all the time that were apparently also their kids. How one couple could handle that many children - Brandon still doesn’t understand, but he respects it. They’re far better parents than his own ever were. It wasn’t until one night when one of their oldest kids came over, Oryan, that Brandon started to really take notice of the Bornes.
Maybe it was because Oryan saw something in Brandon himself or perhaps it was just because the guy seemed so fucking cool - but they connected from the moment Brandon first stood outside the Borne’s door and demanded he pay the “lolipop tax” if he wanted to go in and see his parents. It was that same day that he met Landon, who similarly just seemed so cool that Brandon was determined to become his friend.
The casino was already open by that time, but Brandon was far far too young to be allowed in. So he really just followed Landon around everywhere else and often visited the library a few streets down whenever the older boy was busy doing things in the casino. When Sadie came along, the same thing happened. Brandon found her to be even cooler than Landon and Oryan combined.
Though he’s a bit of an idiot, okay a lot of an idiot, he’s surprisingly well read because of those trips. Nothing that gives him any real advantage, he doesn’t do nonfiction or things like that - but he does enjoy a good book.
When he finally turned fourteen Oryan started letting him into the casino, at least after hours. It was around then that Brandon started learning different games, though he never cared for them as much as Landon does. What he really loved about the casino was the way it was built almost like a giant obstacle course for him to teleport all around, testing how fast he could jump from one place to another.
When Landon got his own place, the first of them to move out considering he was the oldest, it pretty much instantly became home for all three of them - even though legally Sadie still lived with Oryan and Brandon still was supposed to be with Aunt Martha. But they all knew they’d be living together eventually, so it just made sense to find a place as that could fit them all right off the bat. Sadie officially moved in next, with Brandon joining the lease a year after her. They live in an apartment close enough to walk to the casino but still a few blocks away to give themselves some kind of sense of a life away from work.
When he was legally old enough to start working, Brandon got a job at Mcdonalds - purely for the free and discounted food. It wasn’t a bad gig, but he knew it wasn’t going to be his life long career. Right before his 18th birthday he put in his two weeks notice and started working over at Oogie’s officially. He’s a bartender and a bouncer, depending which role is needed on the night.
Unlike Sadie and Landon, Brandon has never been approached by Oogie about any kind of opportunity to start learning more about the business side of the casino. But that’s totally fine by him. He knows he doesn’t really have the same call for numbers like they do - nor is he responsible for it. He understands and hardly feels upset about it. Especially because what Oogie has done instead is started telling him more about the different gangs and factions of the island that he has his hands in. He’s started working more with the men that owe Oogie money and has been shown the shadier side of things that doesn’t really involve needing to be school smart. Of course, Sadie and Landon are also shown these things from time to time, but Brandon likes to think this is where he can shine down the road while they handle the official stuff.
He’s always pictured that one day the three of them were going to take over the casino for Oogie and run it together. That’s kinda like his dream.
He’s very much kinda in love with both Sadie and Landon. The three of them hook up with each other, all together and in different pairs all the time - but none of them ever speak of feelings or anything like that. Whether the other two even actually feel anything for him or each other, Brandon’s not sure, which is why he’s never spoken on his own feelings. He figures one day they’ll figure it all out - because he can’t imagine a life that doesn’t have the two of them right by his side.
Because none of them ever commit to each other, he still sure does sleep and lightly date around. Nothing serious, though. Still knits all the time and has the kindle app on his phone and reads about a book a week.
Loves candy and sugar and sweet little treats. His favorites being lollipops, oreo mcflurries, double chocolate chip cookies, and caramel iced coffees with extra caramel drizzle.
He doesn’t really know why he’s called Barrel. He just knew that everyone else had a cool nickname they use in the criminal world so he decided to be Barrel. It went well with Lock and Shock, at least.
A dumb soft boy.
