My Blood Meridian Headcanons Masterpost, order of appearance
Under the cut, see here for my collection of every physical description (or lack thereof) for each major character
The Kid
refuses to shave his shitty teenager mustache wispy silliness and is in denial about how unfinished it is (except for the one time he was kind of made to for a formal occasion)
never can really grow a proper beard, even in middle age, always patchy
bites his nails
light brown, mouse-colored hair
blue eyes
freckles
never had a proper haircut til Chihuahua due to childhood neglect
matted hair before and later after
5.1ft/1.55448m (childhood malnutrition)
Holden
abnormally unaffected by alcohol but consumes it anyway as a social thing
walking around naked was initially a result of him just being incalculably ancient (pre-clothes) and having no internalized sense of modesty due to this, but this soon became a power play similar to Lyndon Baines Johnson's behavior (look up LBJ Jumbo)
everyone's teeth are pretty disgusting, except for his, which are unusually pristine
he maintains his teeth with chewing-sticks and rinses with urine (both of these are ancient practices that are proven to be effective, albeit repulsive to modern sensibilities)
every item of clothing he wears is tailored (otherwise, how would anything fit him?), and his footwear is custom-made (meaning they have distinct lefts and rights to begin with, unlike many premade and military-issued footwear at the time, which had to be broken in and developed lefts and rights over time being worn)
files his nails meticulously and often, keeping them uniformly oval
has gone by the forenames Abernathy and William at times
knows classical Latin not just in the phrases he uses but to the extent of fluency, as well as classical Greek and Hebrew (common scholarly pursuits for men of means at the time)
red-pink eyes
Toadvine
surprisingly low alcohol tolerance
limited mobility in the areas of his face near where he was branded, the skin just doesn't stretch, resulting in limited expression
the sides of his head are not completely flat, he has lumpy bits of flesh and cartilage where his ears were unevenly cut and burn scars from when the wounds were cauterized
due to the burns from cauterizing, his hearing is slightly affected, but generally clear, and he makes up for it by being observant to the slightest sound
he only grew his hair long after his ears were docked, more to push it back and jumpscare people with his ear stumps than out of any insecurity (ego death long ago)
from Kentucky (the surname Toadvine is most common there, and he has canonically never seen the sea until the chapter where he visits California)
black-brown eyes
6.1ft/1.85928m
born 1821
Glanton
files his nails carelessly and somewhat square just so they don't get long and break
knee problems that he just tries to tough out, but he massages them at night when he thinks no one sees
Irish ancestry (his surname is most common in the US as well as Ireland, where it is rare and held only by Catholics, according to census data)
from Georgia (his surname is most common there)
long eyelashes
5.5ft/1.6764m
born 1804
White Jackson
Cajun, looks down on Creoles of color, valuing his culture higher and fearing being lumped in with Creoles of color (Cajuns in Louisiana are Creole, but not all Creoles are Cajun, Cajuns are a White, French-speaking ethnic group descended from settlers in Acadia, Canada from primarily West-Central France who were forced out of Canada by the British, many eventually resettling in Louisiana)
his name at birth was Jean (French variant of John), but others say it as John
his family was poor, and he was looked down on for being Cajun
his aggressive racism is a result of deep insecurity and a need to feel superior (NOT JUSTIFYING, JUST THEORIZING MOTIVATION)
from Louisiana (his surname was most frequent in the US there according to 1880 census data)
thick, dark brown hair
medium brown eyes
5.7ft/1.73736m
born 1824
Black Jackson
self-emancipated at a very young age by escaping to the West
he was given a stupid, humiliating literary name (common at the time) and was unimaginative, so he changed it for John
gave himself his surname too, ironically out of admiration for Andrew Jackson, who he knew little about but he had heard propaganda about him and did not know Jackson had a plantation, having heard of him as a rugged man of the people from the frontier and the scourge of Natives, nothing more
you just know he was ashy and unmoisturized and didn't know how to take care of his hair, so he just cut it short
resents Christianity (see: his drunken threat to shoot the ass off of Jesus Christ) due to it being used as justification of slavery, and the Bible being used to sell the idea that being Black was the mark of Cain or something
never talks about his past, as it would just be used as ammunition against him
illiterate (as per Southern law), too proud to admit it, let alone ask anyone to teach him
whip scars, though not as severe as some well-known images
5.8ft/1.76784m
born 1828
Bathcat
surprisingly low alcohol tolerance too
cuts the whites of his nails with a knife, which is careful and practiced, never bleeds from it
bi, see that one scene where he was asleep with his arm around one of the musicians
ear necklace made Toadvine flinch just slightly before he could catch himself when they first met
Bathcat, noticing Toadvine's lack of ears, torments him with it initially but gives up when Toadvine shows no reaction after the first
the offense he was sent to Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania/Lutruwita) for was S/A or similar
his hand injury is from unsafe working conditions when performing unpaid prison labor
his eye injury is the result of violence from another inmate
realized he was into men too in prison and just saw it as a natural result of separation from women
tonedeaf (cannot distinguish musical notes by ear or repeat/carry a tune)
knows some Welsh from his childhood, mostly songs and expressions
naturally thin, blond hair
grey-blue eyes
5.7ft/1.73736m
born 1807
sent to Van Diemen's Land 1829
Tobin
raised as a charity case by the Church rather than by family at times
former choir boy, still sings and hums when he thinks no one can hear
quit seminary due to struggling with celibacy and certain moral things justified in the Bible that seem contradictory to restrictions for Priests, as well as the Bible being used as justification for slavery
closest thing Black Jackson has to a friend in the gang
bad back
after he disappeared from the narrative, he returned to ministry
he no longer believed after everything he had seen, but wanted to provide aid and comfort regardless
from Massachusetts (his name is most common there in the US)
greying, balding ginger hair
blue eyes
needs reading glasses
5.8ft/1.76784m
born 1803
David Brown
from what became Arkansas (canonically never saw an ocean before he went to California)
blond
hazel eyes
nearsighted (things that are further are less clear)
5.6ft/1.70688m
born 1818
James Robert Bell
severe Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, his older brother has a more mild form which is visible in subtle features but not significantly disabling, their mother's alcoholism worsened by the time she had James
his mother died as a complication of alcoholism
his consumption of fecal matter is a result of having been starved in the past (see: Blanche Monnier)
his brother trimmed his nails for him so he wouldn't hurt himself or others
Holden did not, but watched Bell at all times for entertainment, as Holden did not sleep, and would physically prevent severe harm (to prolong his entertainment)
muscular atrophy due to being kept in a cage, resulting in posture and movement difficulties, as well as exhaustion (see: the "Genie" child neglect case)
his being drawn to the river and to fire was not mere curiosity but a desire for death
The smartest thing Davy had done in BM is when Tobin is telling the kid on how they encountered the Judge for the first time and Tobin says that Davy said they should have left the judge there and not taken him with them. Should have listened to Davyyy.
After Charlie left the gang I can't begin to concieve how pissed off Davy must have been whether Charlie chose to tell him in person or silently drift off just because of his brother's temper (He wouldn't even go near him when he had that arrow in his leg)
A small HC I have is right after Charlie left the gang, he found himself a some what normal life in Tuscon and sooner down the ladder began to write to Davy, sending them in hopes that one day David might see them. But deep down he knew they'd go unread since the Gang never stays in one place for more than a second lol. He had drafts of letters never sent, that being he gave up or couldn't find the right things to say.
I'd like to believe that Charlie did have some ounce of care for his brother in some aspect. I wonder if he knew of Davy's hanging.
