Sawyer Gleason for @pansimic‘s Kaz Thornweld
Leader of the Pack | Self-Assured - Goofball - Athletic Young Adult | Farmboy | Washed-up Jock
private dl as always if chosen
If ever there lived a family that was made up of hard-working, salt-of-the-earth folks, it was the Gleasons. Sawyer Gleason was born on the family farm around the outer limits of Windenburg. The land belonged to Gleasons five generations back and as far as Ma and Pa were concerned, it would always belong to a Gleason.
Sawyer, the oldest, was sunny from the get-go. He spent his days as a boy racing around the warm, ducks waddling after him honking and flapping. He clambered over hay bales, splashed around in the pond, got his hands dirty and held the flashlight over the tractor while his dad cursed and smoked within.
The twins were born next, two hellion boys that would keep their parents fit by forcing them to chase the two all around the farm. But the youngest, the only Gleason girl, was born with a heart defect. She spent the first weeks of her life in the hospital, visible to her family only through the plastic shield that kept her safe. The twins were too young to understand, but Sawyer would never forget the sight of her in there, too small and always crying.
Sawyer took his role of big brother on with more seriousness after Jenny was born. If the kids were out in the fields, Sawyer was with them. If the twins were climbing, he was there in case one of them fell. With such active older brothers in the twins, Jenny was always struggling to keep up; it was on Sawyer’s shoulders that she spent a great deal of her youth on the farm.
As far as Gleason boys went, Sawyer was a fine example of a young man. He grew up big and tall, strong and sturdy. Working the fields with his parents made him tough, and his siblings(who would always be smaller than he was) climbed him like their own personal jungle gym. He worked hard, he worked long hours before and after school. But his academic pursuits were less favourable.
The truth was that as strong and strapping and hard-working as Sawyer was, booksmart he was not. A C was a grade worth cracking open the chocolate milk over and his report cards were never favourable. ‘Sawyer works hard but doesn’t seem to fully take in the concept,’ ‘Sawyer needs to spend more time on his homework,’ his teachers cited over and over throughout all of his school years.
It wasn’t until high school that things started to look up(although truthfully his studies never did). Recruited early onto the football team, Sawyer was valued for his chipper attitude, his drive to improve and his eagerness to support his team. What he lacked in booksmarts he more than made up for in spirit, and his rise to popularity was quick.
Surely it helped that he was a handsome farmboy with a country twang and a winning smile.
But high school doesn’t last forever, and when it was all over he felt a bit... lost. Now a couple years out, he’s still working on the family farm but it feels like something is missing, or like... like he missed a step going up the stairs, his gut dropped out from under him. He clings to his high school accomplishments and the friends he made there, but surely there has to be something more. Surely he wasn’t meant to toil away the rest of his life on his daddy’s farm... right?
Now here the farmboy is, auditioning to be on TV mostly because Jenny thought it would be funny to see her big brother make a total ass of himself on television.
Personality:
Protective. Sawyer looks out for people and has a soft spot for folks less able than himself like his sister was growing up. He’s always looking to lift up the underdog.
Cowboy. YEEHAW.
A little bit of jock brain. As good and warm as Sawyer is, he was definitely a high school jock and that hasn’t changed.
After doing poorly in the school system for so long, Sawyer’s come to the conclusion that he’s a big dummy(he’s not, but the education system isn’t really his type of intelligence). He tends not to spend too much time thinking and has been known to stare into space like a blockheaded goof.
He has a surprisingly good singing voice, but will only sing country songs. Beware.
Always cracking jokes, but his sense of humour is pretty wholesome. He’s not much of a scoundrel, though he’s not a prude either. Gentlemanly is probably the right word.
Also, dad jokes. Ugh.
