#* dante.

𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐬 !

FULL NAME.     daniel arcelio salazar espinosa PRONUNCIATION.   i’m not smart enough for this shit right now, figure it out. NICKNAME.     dante, dan, danny GENDER.     cis man HEIGHT.     6′0 AGE.     31 ZODIAC.     leo SPOKEN LANGUAGES.     english, spanish, some portuguese

𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 !

HAIR COLOR.     brown EYE COLOR.     dark brown SKIN TONE.     light brown BODY TYPE.     muscular but not bulky. ACCENT.     mix of chicano and standard inner-city LA inflection. VOICE.     on the deep, raspy side. DOMINANT HAND.     left. POSTURE.    lil bit of a slouch. a cool amount.  SCARS.     a scar on his right cheek, and a cut in his left eyebrow. bullet scar in his abdomen. a few surgical scars.  TATTOOS.   he has the god huehuecóyotl in the back of his left hand, and xochipilli on the back of his right hand. roses in his left foream and a sacred heart in the inner side of his right elbow.  BIRTHMARKS.  N/A   MOST NOTICEABLE FEATURE(S).     his hand tattoos, the stripe on the side of his head, his low-pitched voice and his laughter. 

𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 !

PLACE OF BIRTH.     crenshaw, los angeles HOMETOWN.     leimert park, los angeles FIRST WORDS.   "´áme!” (as in “dame” -- gimme! -- in spanish) SIBLINGS.    ramón and mariana salazar. PARENTS.   rené and pilar. PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT.  his parents were both full time workers, so for the few first years of his childhood, he mostly was left to be under his older brother’s supervision until the work day ended. still, they tried their best to help him with his homework and school affairs, watching over him and trying to keep him “on the straight path”  -- but he had still ample time to do whatever he wanted, considering how lax ramón was about everything as long as he did his homework and chores. time his little sister was born, his parents were a little older and had a little more time, and so dante suffered major middle child syndrome. with rené and pilar having to look after “the princess of the house” and ramón out in the streets wilding, he was kind of unsure of his position in the household. he couldn’t be the favorite, as that spot was already seemingly “taken” by the younger kid and only daughter, and he couldn’t be the “rebellious” one, as his brother already had that role down, seeing as he was in the beginning stages of joining a gang.

and then he got shot, and lost his foot, and then not much later ramón went to juvenile. and his parents truly pulled through during this portion of his life. looked everywhere for all possible resources to help him, made a bunch of calls and public appearances, took him to all his physical therapy sessions and psychology appointments, and just -- really took his trauma seriously. it helped his recovery in a tremendous way, and dante is very grateful for them. they pulled a 180 in a way, especially his mother, who became a bit of a helicopter parent during his late teens, but he managed to convice her he was okay. and he really was okay. and pilar begrudgingly accepted it and eventually let him go. 

he ultimately considers them to be good parents. not perfect, but very good. he still gets along really well with the two of them. 

𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 !

OCCUPATION.     he’s a musician. a guitar player, to be precise, though he also plays piano. used to be part of a fairly popular punk group called Cadejos, left out of “professional differences” with the lead singer. he’s also a songwriter -- he wrote half of cadejos’ discography. and he writes music for other groups. he even writes pop music sometimes.  CURRENT RESIDENCE.     an apartment in santa monica.  CLOSE FRIENDS.     used to be the people he started out cadejos with, but fuck those guys. currently, he’s good friends with la’rissa @streetsofsecrets​ RELATIONSHIP STATUS.     no strings. FINANCIAL STATUS.   he’s doing well financially, but he ain’t rich by any means. DRIVER’S LICENSE.     yeah.  CRIMINAL RECORD. cops stop and “mistake” him for someone they’re looking for all the time, but he’s never been arrested so far. VICES.        cigarettes, weed. did a bit of coke in his early twenties, but cut it short. 

𝐬𝐞𝐱 & 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 !

SEXUAL ORIENTATION. bisexual. ROMANTIC ORIENTATION. bisexual. PREFERRED EMOTIONAL ROLE.     submissive  | dominant |  switch. PREFERRED SEXUAL ROLE.     submissive |  dominant |  switch. LIBIDO.     medium-to-high. TURN ON’S.     confidence, neck kisses, biting, artistic-driven people. dirty talk. putting his fingers in your mouth.  TURN OFF’S.    people touching his leg stump, as it’s quite sensitive. it’s a sign of trust when he lets people touch it, but during sexual situations it’s uncalled for either way. any hardcore bdsm. LOVE LANGUAGE.    quality time. RELATIONSHIP TENDENCIES.     most relationships he’s had have been on the casual side, due to his transient lifestyle and being constantly on tour. he prefers that unless he’s really into the person. he’s been with a few overly jealous people and he’s realized he’s not into his partners being constantly on his business about where he is and if he’s got company, especially since he usually doesn’t do things to warrant mistrust, he’s just busy and most of his work is done during the night time and it involves going to bars, clubs, parties, and sometimes they can come with him and sometimes they can’t. overall he’d be okay with settling down, they just need to be okay these things. 

it’s also better if you don’t come on too strong right from the start. again hes okay with serious relationships, monogamy, etc -- he’s at the age where he “should be thinking about it”, according to his mom anyway -- but he’d like to start off simple. build things gradually. big conversations like that at the very beginning make him uncomfortable. 

𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 !

CHARACTER’S THEME SONG.     acción - la vida boheme HOBBIES TO PASS TIME.    reading. listening to music. videogames. boxing. driving his motorcycle on the highway.  MENTAL ILLNESSES.     treated PTSD. PHYSICAL ILLNESSES.    deals with phantom pain now and then. LEFT OR RIGHT BRAINED. right-brained. PHOBIAS.      none. SELF CONFIDENCE LEVEL.     high. VULNERABILITIES.     his family. 

things i learned by accident:

there are pop punk/rock/post-punk covers of reggaeton songs

▌real name: daniel “dante” arcelio salazar espinosa ▌single or taken: single ▌abilities or powers: [IMMA ADD THIS LATER] ▌eye colour: brown ▌hair colour: dark brown ▌family members: rené and pilar -- parents. ramón salazar -- older brother (37). mariana salazar -- younger sister (23). jason villalobos espinosa -- maternal cousin (39) ▌pets: he has none of his right now. but he used to have a dog, a mutt named patsy that he had his mother babysat once while he went on tour and they pretty much latched onto each other. he can’t say he’s mad, his mother could use the company.  ▌something they don’t like: he thinks stan culture needs to die. also, he feels like there’s something worthwhile in nearly every genre of music in the world, except one -- he doesn’t like the commercial country music of today. he does sure enjoy some dolly parton now and then but he can’t stand the kind of country that’s about trucks and cold beer and being a “patriot” and loving america, he can’t think of a more irredeemable music genre than that. it’s soulless and full of pandering to a demographic he’s not got friendly feelings for.  ▌hobbies/activities: playing guitar + piano (practicing), jogging, listening to music, boxing, playing poker/gambling, going to bars / music clubs around the city to drink and catch local artists/bands, dancing, collecting vinyls and guitars and guitar picks, riding his motorcycle. ▌ever hurt anyone before: yes. ▌ever killed anyone before: no. ▌animal that represents them: red lynx ▌worst habits: he eats while he’s cooking and by the time he’s done he’s usually not as hungry -- he has the worst patience. if he’s not fully thinking about it he will snap his fingers (sometimes more than once) to get someone’s attention. if he’s angry, you need to wait until he’s cooled off to get any words in, otherwise he’s not gonna listen to you. seldom will back down from a fight if you provoke him.  ▌role models: he has creative inspirations in the form of musicians like hendrix and santana and steve jones and t-bone walker and so forth, he listens to a lot of old blues and psychedelic rock and that’s the kind of guitar he likes playing most when he’s not going wild with his usual style of playing -- which is punk music. ▌sexual orientation: bisexual. ▌thoughts on marriage/kids: if it comes down to that, maybe, sure.  ▌fears: he’s not really afraid of much when it comes to himself, but he’s afraid of anything happening to his mother or sister.  ▌style preferences: relatively grunge. he’s all about worn, ripped band t-shirts and jeans and leather boots, layered with flannel shirts, leather jackets or shearling coats. black, gray, and overall dark colors.  ▌someone they love: he loves his mother and his sister unequivocally, whereas his feelings for his father or his brother are a lot more complex.  ▌approach to friendships: there’s an elusive air to dante that often keeps people from approaching him, thinking he’s mean or just largely above interacting with most people. this mostly because of his quiet demeanor and his talent. in truth, although he’s indeed blunt and a little crass, he’s very easy going, quick to joke and smile and invite you a drink. becoming friendly with him is easy, but turning into a friend is hard. he’s private and keeps his circle small. those friends he does have, he would go at great lengths for.  ▌thoughts on pie: he likes key lime pie.  ▌favourite drink: cognac, horchata, water. ▌favourite place to spend time at: he thrives around night life and that’s where he’s most comfortable, especially in bars and punk clubs, where he’s well known.  ▌swim in the lake or in the ocean: ocean.  ▌their type: he likes people that share his interest in music, even if they don’t go as deep as he does that’s okay. and he likes people that are more expressive than he is and that are passionate about their interests period, that are independent, and that are capable of having clear, straight forward conversations about difficult things and aren’t afraid of conflict.  ▌camping or indoors: camping -- voluntarily exposing yourself to the elements -- sounds like the dumbest thing in the world in his eyes, but he might be a little biased as a city slicker. 

dante was shot twice during a gang shootout in his neighborhood when he was 14. he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he was shot once in the abdomen and once in his knee, both stray bullets that had been meant for someone else. the first bullet nearly killed him due to the fact that it hit his stomach and led to infection and peritonitis, and though he ended up recovering, the second caused him to need surgery as well and ended up with him losing his leg below the knee. he had to spend several weeks in bed due to the peritonitis, and some more time worth of evaluations to determine whether he was eligible for a transtibial prosthesis.

in the end, he was. he went through several types of prosthetics, and different styles of suspension systems, from cheaper to slightly pricier, to find something that fit him, as well as physical therapy and gait training. much of this was funded through a nonprofit that reached out to his parents due to the high profile of his case. at age 28, he counts with two specific models: a semi custom made ESF prosthetic he wears in his everyday life, and a running blade-style SX prosthetic that he wears chiefly for his jogging, as he likes to lead an active lifestyle. it’s literally the two must luxurious things he owns, even more so than any guitars (which he tends to buy second-hand)

the whole experience with the shootout was traumatic for him on many levels. it was physically traumatic, with the pain from the peritonitis being some of the worst pain he’s ever felt to this day, and it was psychologically traumatic, due to the loss of his leg and the high-level stress he was put through at a young age. this all without mentioning his brother ramón’s involvement in the shootout  (given that he was a relatively known criminal/gangster in their neighborhood), who came out of it unscathed even though the bullets had been meant for him, which put a certain strain in their relationship that still hasn’t fully healed, though it has improved.