I imagine Sandy as a woman who spent most of her life pre-transition being uncomfortable with being known. She had a lot of people in her life growing up but she never felt close to anyone, not her parents, not her friends, not her girlfriends, and she never understood why. They all liked bits and pieces of her, but she didn't know how to be a completely honest version of herself. She couldn't take it, and at the first opportunity, she followed a whim out of high school and joined the navy and later a merchant trader.
Life on the Gem Sea meant she could breeze through her day-to-day without feeling misunderstood by people who wanted to know her, who meant well, but couldn’t do it because she didn’t understand herself. She essentially spends some time passing through the world as a spectre, giving her the breathing room to reflect on what is “wrong” with her.
I know it sounds like Sandy just ghosts her life as a young adult, and that might be somewhat true, but I imagine that as she grows her internal sense of self, she reopens those channels and starts communicating with the important people in her life.
In the navy, she happily participates in the satirical drag culture of military men putting on wigs and feather boas and lip syncing to bouncy, sultry tunes. She was making her comrades laugh, but it felt right. It felt comfortable for the first time in her life. Drag gives her a glimpse into how she wants to feel different from some people while still being accepted — feeling charming, sexy, confident, delicate, capable and familiar. “Sandy” was coming to the forefront as who she wanted to be all the time. When her tour ended, she took up more work as a merchant sailor, with more shipmates who didn't know who she used to be. With each new port, she kept reinventing herself, until everything felt right. She returns home unrecognizable: long, dyed hair, makeup, stylish clothing, but also, most importantly, happy.
I imagine we, the player, find her in Calico Desert because she might’ve faced some harassment back where she’s from. I think the trauma from the prejudice might have affected her decision to choose a place that remote; technically, she is hiding, but she’s not reverting out of fear into a version of herself she outgrew. So I’m proud of her 🩵🩷🤍
If we got more Sandy content in-game, I think it would be convincing her to move in with us, or at the very least moving somewhere in Pelican Town. Maybe Pelican Town is where she grew up and where she faced harassment for coming out (that would be better, narratively, but wouldn’t make much sense in canon) but that’s less important than making sure she knows there are people who can love her and support her, or at the very least treat her with dignity. I can imagine Vincent coming up to her in a 10-heart cutscene and saying “Wow you’re the tallest lady I ever saw!!” And Jody being mortified and apologizing, but Sandy loving the affirmation. I imagine a cutscene where Sandy visits Emily at her home and Sandy talks to the player about how she has Emily make a lot of her clothes by hand because stores don’t always carry clothes made for women of her height and build. Maybe this is where she comes out to the player explicitly, where before there was only subtext that a lot of players might miss.
I could go on forever, honestly, and if you’re still reading for some reason, bless your heart. The original comment was actually asking about the tattoos, so here’s that — I just really REALLY wanted to dump my headcannon for the character somewhere. So if you’re still here, please enjoy the tattoo breakdown.
Nautical tattoos have a fascinating history spanning back to the 1500s ish. Half-superstition and half-boasting, the tattoos were a shorthand to communicate the sailing experience of the tattooed to other sailors. Keep in mind that a lot of this is kind of subjective, with several different agreed-upon meanings spanning several generations of sailors. Also, I think I read somewhere that tattoo pigment was usually made from gunpowder which is the most badass thing I’ve ever heard, if true.
Starting at the collarbone, swallows are tattooed for every 5,000 nautical miles a sailor has traveled by boat. At 10,000+ nm that's not nearly as much sailing as I imagine Sandy has done in her life (that's about the length of the pacific ocean, if I'm not mistaken), but I didn't want to repeat the tattoo more than once.
Coming down to her arms, I’m not gonna lie, I'm really glad I get to share the story behind this tattoo because there's no way it comes across with how small the image is on her skin. After crossing the equator, a sailor will get a tattoo of King Neptune holding his trident; Sandy got this same tattoo, but after transitioning, she had the beard and masculine feature covered up and redone to look like a traditional mermaid. 🧜♀️🩷
Her left bicep is also a fun, trans-affirming story. It’s a symbol of her resolve not to change herself to please people. She doesn’t care who she becomes so long as it’s her decision and not a decision made under the pressure of social stigma. I imagine Sandy having a habit of holding herself when she’s feeling overwhelmed, so she put a tattoo where her hand would naturally fall when she’s stressed. The feeling of the scar under her fingers reminds her that she can be resolute, she can be unwavering, even when it doesn’t feel like she has it in her. It’s also the only tattoo Sandy applied herself, thus the reason it’s so simple.
The rest of her arm tattoos are pretty cut and dry. An anchor represents the merchant marines, the rope on her wrists represents the time she spent as a deckhand, “Hold Fast” across her fingers is a good luck charm for sailors in charge of the rigging.
Normally a harpoon would mark her as a whaler or a fisher, but I think it would be cute if “Fisher” was her last name, so it’s just a tattoo to remind her of her parents and family. If I was feeling really sappy, I’d say one or both of her parents has the same tattoo.
The rose and dagger are perhaps the most contentious addition: it normally marks a very loyal, cutthroat sailor. Someone who’d confront and attack anything if ordered, even a rose. I imagine this is one that Sandy got when she was still figuring herself out — perhaps leaning hard into masculinity to try and fake-it-til-she-maked-it. I can’t see her doing anything unforgivable, but I can maybe see her doing things she regrets. I like to think part of her love of flowers is in atonement for that part of her life, even if only symbolically. She takes care of flowers because she isn’t that person anymore, and she keeps the tattoo because she never wants to forget, like her actions didn’t matter.
Finally, the pig and rooster on her feet! I think this is the most well-known nautical tattoo — it’s the reason Moana has Pua and Hei Hei as companions in the Disney movie. In ship wrecks, animals like pigs and chicken would usually survive because of the wooden crates they were kept in, so sailors would get this tattoo as a good luck charm against the threat of drowning. This is one I really want for myself, actually.
And that’s all of them! For all 1.3 of you that made it through all two and a half pages of this, thank you. And thanks to @pigeons-paintbrush , the original commenter for giving me permission to vomit this onto the internet! I’m very self conscious about posting anything original, so this was actually very nice 😁 k thanks bye
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