STARTING LINE.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE.

face claim: callum turner. hair color: dark brown. eye color: blue. height: 6′2″. weight: 183 lbs. build: slim, lanky. tattoos: an iridescent raven on his left forearm ( here ), a blue gradient snake tattoo on the inside of his right forearm ( here ), ellie's tattoo from the last of us part 2 on his left arm ( here ), his family’s initials on the inside of his right index, pointer and ring fingers respectively. piercings: a helix piercing in his left ear. distinguishing characteristics: the fact that he always seems to be smiling, the cane he uses to help him walk on days when his leg is especially sore, how easygoing he is.

PERSONALITY.

label: the eternal optimist. positive traits: adaptable, adventurous, articulate, charismatic, charming, clever, compassionate, confident, creative, eloquent, intelligent, passionate, resourceful, witty. negative traits: competitive, sarcastic. argumentative, decadent, haughty, hedonistic, impulsive, obsessive, possessive, rowdy, vindictive. goals/desires: to make people happy, to live in a way that makes him feel like he’s more than his trauma, to fall in love, to be happy. fears: athazagoraphobia ( fear of being forgotten ). hobbies: cloud gazing, people watching, doodling when he can remember to bring a sketchbook with him, writing, reading, gardening, going for walks when his leg isn’t bothering him, playing with his cats, meeting new people, hanging out with his sister, listening to music, playing guitar, anything that lets him be creative, baking, working with his hands, flirting with people when he’s in the right mood. quirks: he chews at the skin around his nails when he’s especially stressed out, he tends to hum some song or another he has stuck in his head while he’s working if no one else is around, he tends to go pretty sharply from being a huge flirt to blushing every time someone smiles at him just right, he can talk about almost anything he's into with almost no provocation, he has a habit of making little daisy chains and flower crowns if he’s spending a lot of time alone or he’s manic– just to put his energy into a productive habit. likes: pretty much every baked good he’s ever tried, the feeling of the sun on his skin, fantasy and historical fiction novels, nature documentaries, finding the best places to nap wherever he happens to be spending a lot of time, making people smile, hot chocolate on especially cold days, rpg video games, video games in general, finishing to-do lists, hanging out with his friends, surfing. dislikes: not being taken seriously, bigoted people in general, having to be patient for just about any reason, being referred to as ‘crazy’, intense cold, nightmares, fireworks, the smell of lit matches, the fact that he smokes regularly, being alone for long periods of time.

FAMILY.

father: thomas burnham. mother: mackenzie burnham née carson. sibling(s): adelaide burnham ( younger ). pet(s): he has a one year old maine coon named luna, a nine-month-old russian blue named lucas and a three-year-old burmese cat named lily. financial status: upper middle class.

BIOGRAPHY.

(TW: mentions of bipolar disorder, injury and amputation, mental health rehab)

Henry Burnham was born in Casper, Wyoming to Thomas and Mackenzie Burnham– his father was a US Marine and had been stationed in Germany shortly before Henry was born Stateside. Henry was their oldest child and he would eventually be joined by his younger sister two years later after the family had returned to Wyoming from Camp Pendleton on orders for his father. He was an incredibly easy going person even in childhood– his mother often told him stories about his temperament as a baby and the fact that he rarely cried or fussed or gave them any trouble at all with temper tantrums and things of that nature. He was quick to make friends and often spent weekends with friends when his parents allowed it.

By the time he was eleven he was well aware that he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the Marines– his father was reluctant if only for the fact that he’d seen war and knew first hand how it could change a person and he worried constantly about something happening to his baby boy. Still, when Henry turned eighteen he enlisted immediately and was sent overseas for his first tour of duty within a year. Military service was something he took to easily though he had a difficult time adjusting to the violence of it all and the deep suffering the people around him ( both those who served with him and the local populations he interacted with ) were experiencing. He’d always been an empathetic person and it tore him apart the slightest bit not to be able to help anyone or feel like he was overseas for anything close to the right reasons. Still, he served faithfully and returned for a second tour of duty without batting an eye.

It was during a patrol on his second tour that his convoy ran into a series of IED’s that had been placed between sweeps of the road between outposts often traveled. Though he was med-evaced and brought to surgery as quickly as possible the accident eventually resulted in Henry's right leg being amputated just above the knee before he was sent to a military hospital in Germany to recover properly. His family was there to greet him when he finally woke and though their presence was comforting to an extent Henry still fell into a deep depression that seemed to last months before it evaporated in an instant only to be replaced by a mania that his parents took notice of immediately. Several conversations with a psychiatrist later and Henry was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder– resulting in medical retirement from the USMC after his case was reviewed.

He was devastated by the turn his life had taken and he lived with his parents for nearly a year once he’d recovered enough to return to the United States. He relapsed several times in the first six months of being treated and wound up in a mental health rehab facility before he began to take his mental health seriously and threw himself into therapy and sticking to a medication regiment and doing everything in his power to take care of himself. During the course of his recovery he decided to pursue a passion he'd had since childhood and earned a degree in creative writing from USC with the intention of becoming a novelist - to share a part of himself that was so important and know that he was capable of putting something positive into the world. It was his his father who suggested he consider relocating to Providence Peak– where Thomas had grown up– to be in a calmer environment that might allow him more stability in terms of his mental health.