Santiago at a Glance
“Music is medicine”
NAME: Santiago Luis Ayala
ALIASES: Artist name: Arlo. Santi by family and whoever he’s dating
AGE: 35 [Born October 24th]
GENDER/PRONOUNS: Cis Male, He/Him
SEXUALITY: Heteroflexible, demi-homosexual, but will swear he's straight
ARRIVED: February 2023
CLASS/HIERARCHY/ADDITIONAL: Vice Diamond, Alice
OCCUPATION: Mexican EDM artist mostly @ The Church, though he's been known to pop up in other venues from time to time
HOUSING: Virgil's Hymn, unit 1 w/ Carmen and Donovan
GOOD: Passionate, Reliable, Sentimental
BAD: Envious, Hedonistic, Impulsive
QUIRKS: A massive mama’s boy and proud of it. Has a few covered up tattoos from his cholo days. Also has his ex's name tattooed on him and probably should have gotten it covered up by now, but alas. Is a major dumbass and will be the first to admit it; doesn’t stop him from talking out of his ass. Sometimes struggles to say words in English, or will say something in Spanish and think he said it in English. Struggles to stay still for long periods of time.
BIOGRAPHY
To say his family was poor was an understatement. They lived in a small two-bedroom house containing Santiago, his widowed mother, and three sisters. At a young age he took on the responsibility as the man of the house, especially with Mamá always working tirelessly to support their family. At 12 he joined the Logan Heights Clicka, both as a way to guarantee protection for the women in his life but also as a way to make money as a scrawny nothing. This got Santiago in a world of trouble growing up, with a juvenile record and a splattering of scars to prove it.
At 17 he had a massive wakeup call when a judge threatened to transfer him up to adult court. It was only through the pleading of his mamá that kept Santiago from going to prison. He vowed to work on his act, parting ways with the gang in a surprisingly clean break. But with his history and reputation in the neighborhood, it was hard for Santiago to find a new way to support his family. He took odd jobs anywhere he could. Even managed to get his GED just to make his mamá proud and hopefully open up a few more options.
It was in his early 20s that a friend showed Santiago the genre of EDM. He was instantly hooked. With a bit of research he found that not only was it fairly easy to get into as an artist, but he was pretty fucking good at it too. He found it as the perfect way to express himself, the outlet he always needed but could never really find. With his talent and determination Santiago was able to begin touring fairly early on in his music endeavor. With this new career he was able to send checks regularly to both his mother and sisters, finally able to provide for them the way he always wanted to.
At 27 he was working a festival in New York when he met a booth babe named Cole and instantly fell in love. It didn’t take long for Santiago to move his entire life to the northeast just to be with the beautiful spitfire. Cole quickly became his everything. It was the first time Santiago had every felt so strongly for someone. She was his muse, his heart, his life. Not surprisingly, this made their relationship very tumultuous. After five years in a rollercoaster of emotions and trust issues, exacerbated by an intense party lifestyle, she had had enough. Cole made it abundantly clear that she wanted nothing to do with Santiago, that he only made her miserable.
Heartbroken and devastated, he moved back home and became a shell of himself for a year, barely leaving his mamá’s couch, much to her dismay. It was almost by chance when Jonah, Santiago’s childhood best friend, came by for a visit 2 years ago. Seeing how shattered his friend was, Jonah suggested he come with him to the City they once visited as kids.
Before Santiago's dad passed in a workplace accident, he and Jonah were practically hermano. Completely inseparable as kids. Santiago pulled Jonah out of his shell, and Jonah kept Santiago more grounded. Once he joined the clicka, however, the two friends slowly grew apart, each getting caught up in his own life.
Feeling like he had nothing better to do, Santiago agreed to leave with Jonah. He told his family where he was going and how to find him, so that they wouldn’t have to worry. Coming to Hiraeth was the change he needed. Santiago felt the muse come back to him and decided to pick back up performing. His popularity caught on quick, just like it did in his home world, and before long he was assigned a personal bodyguard, Don.
At some point they agreed to move in together, making things easier for the both of them. They became fast friends, finding their personalities meshed well. Santiago was reclaiming his former self, the hurt he held for that long year finally healing.
Santiago often visits home still. He can’t provide for his family like he used to, the credits of Hiraeth not transferrable to an outside currency, so every time he’s home he begs his family, especially his mamá to come be with him. That he can provide everything they will ever need, just as he’s supposed to.
