Place of Birth: Greensville, North Carolina, United States
Current Location: Barton Point, Maine, United States
Positive Traits: Patient, Responsible, Scholarly
Negative Traits: Reclusive, Rigid, Timid
[TW: bullying, homophobia]
Justin was born to a single mother, Daniela Vidal, in the small town of Greensville, North Carolina. Daniela runs a small business out of their home reading palms and tarot cards. Most are turned off by the idea, but Justin embraces it. Growing up, he aspired to follow in his mother’s footsteps, spending much of his free time trying to learn everything about the occult and unlock his own abilities. However, his beliefs in psychic abilities and the supernatural caused him to be a major target of bullying in school.
Due to his experiences in bullying and his own personal skepticism, he doesn’t let just anyone into his circle of friends. He didn’t have many friends growing up, but gained a few in his teenage years. It was also in his teenage years that he discovered his sexuality, which only made the target on his back even bigger. However, the bullying eased up when he began dating a star football player in his junior year of high school. Even though the two boys couldn’t be any more different, they found comfort and love in one another. However, once Justin entered college, he began reevaluating himself. He found the field of philosophy and became engrossed in it, even going so far as to make it his major. In junior year of college, he signed up for a study abroad program and spent the entire 2019-2020 school year in Rome.
After spending a year apart from his boyfriend, Justin realized that the two barely knew each other anymore. Still, they tried to make it work for another year. By the end of his senior year, he broke things off. Justin entered graduate school alone; his favorite cousin left the state over the summer and he ended up drifting apart from what little friends he had left. This loneliness, combined with homophobic harrassment from his colleagues, caused him to drop out of school and leave his hometown. In November 2021, Justin moved in with his cousin in Barton Point, trying to recollect himself and figure out where to go from here. Now he’s grappling with whether he should stay true to himself or hide who he is to fit into this new town.
Justin facetimed his mom once a week at her behest. This week's call happened to occur while Justin was over at the Martinez household for dinner in their bathroom. He was trying to hurry the conversation along, but his mom, in typical fashion, had a million things to say. "Hey, mom. Can I call you back later? I'm in the bathroom... I'm at Savannah and Marissa's house... Yes they're doing well... Yes, I'll say hi for you... Yes, the boutique is doing well. It'd be a little easier if she was there more, but, y'know, the twins come first... They're doing well too... I-I don't know what they're naming the new baby yet... Moooom, can we please continue this later?! Yes, yes, I love you too." And with that, he ended the call and finished his business.
"I know...I've been thinking it's a cover name. But for what? Maybe he's undercover, just scared to ask because hello he's freakishly tall and could probably deck me--I have no fighting experience." Jakob pulls out onto the highway now and out of town. "Maybe I'll lose one. Thanks. And thanks for tagging along by the way. Carina's busy and my coworker is sick."
“No problem.” Justin didn’t need anything specific, but while they were out, he managed to find himself a nice jacket and a new pair of sneakers on sale. The two split up briefly. When they met back up, Justin asked him, “You find what you wanted?”
He's gay. That was a relief. It meant that he wasn't completely repulsed by them and that made them happier than they'd been the past couple of months. Hester forces a small smile, nodding. "That is most pleasant to hear. Not that she failed to mention I was not a man..." Hester trails off, feeling sorry for him now. "Nothing terrible comes from friendship...?"
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure she knows I’m gay, too. Not that I’m exactly doing well in the dating field, but I don’t exactly hide my sexuality.” Nobody at The Armoire expressed any negativity towards the LBHTQ community, especially given Savannah, the owner, being a lesbian. “So while we’re here, we might as well order food.”
"Oh, those are my New York pals. Jade and Agathon. Jade's my best friend - really couldn't go without her, like I was struggling when we were on the outs awhile back. And Agathon, well, frankly I think he puts up with me but we've been friends for awhile now so I think we'll be friends forever now." He chuckled. "...wait, should I leave them out? Probably, right? But I want to seem like I have friends and that I'm not some douchebag just looking to smash..."
“Agathon is… an interesting name,” he remarked. “I mean, I can’t tell you what to do, but I’ve heard people say that too many group photos aren’t good. One or two probably won't kill you.”
"Okay, since we've got time, help me with my Hinge profile." Jakob said to his friend who had just sat in his vehicle. They were going to Banghor for the day to shop and he was driving. "Are these - " He shows ( x x x x x ) the photos he'd chosen, "-...alright?"
Despite not being big on dating apps, he took a look at the pictures. “They all look nice, but who are those other people with you in the second and fourth pictures?”
Sitting next to the person, Hester has their hands in thier lap. They weren't feeling like leaving or spending another night at their place, that their nerves weren't festering... yet. "Royce set this up... If you do not want to be here you are free to walk away." Hester says as they look over at them. Even if nothing came of this, Hester was getting themself out there again and somehow that was probably why Royce set this night up.
When Justin’s coworker said she was setting him up on a blind date, he wasn’t expecting this to be his date. It was nothing personal to them, but they weren’t his type. Still, it wouldn’t kill him to make a new friend. “No, no. I’m sorry. It’s not anything you did. I’m just… I’m gay. I’m sorry. My coworker said a friend of a friend was single and looking to date. She just failed to mention that you’re not a man.”
Yeah, I met them when I was sixteen. One older, two younger. I'm closest with my older brother. My younger brother and sister... we know each other, but there's definitely tension between us. The oldest was the product of a fling between two high schoolers left to be raised by our paternal grandparents because no one else would step up to the plate. I was the product of a one-sided relationship between two college students raised by a single mother. The youngest two were the products of a marriage... I really don't know if it was a loving marriage. He claimed to love them, his ex-wife and two legitimate kids, but it's hard to say how true that is. They also turned a blind eye to a lot of things until it directly affected them.