[GRIM RENAISSANCE] BRANDON BENEVIDES

- Also called Brand, or Benny.






Appearance:
- A short, strange young man with black eyes that are said to showcase the darkness within his soul. Often displays a smirk. Prefers his reddish-brown hair cropped short in a buzz cut and covered with his fedora. Dresses in dark clothes such as his usual black button up shirt, navy-blue pants, and black leather shoes. Sometimes engages in a confident, hawk-eyed stare along with his smile whenever someone locks eyes with him. He is hardly seen outside, which explains his pale skin.


Background:
- Brandon has a history of no trouble and hardships in his life, and cannot ask for more, even as an orphan. But Brandon is a lot more complicated than an initial glance at his lifestyle would divulge, and a peaceful background doesn’t always give telltale signs of internal turmoil. He is a staunch believer in destiny, fate, and dreams, and would fight for these beliefs if anyone would try to prove him wrong. Not long after he got into Fractal and flame-styled Artwork (and started to do rather well with his method of stress release) Vidan found him and got him involved in the Lesser Grim Renaissance. How that ordeal went about is currently unknown.


Personality:
- Brandon is a hard character to gague, as he is usually a chill, casual type of person, but he could also take on a serious or goofy attitude when appropriate.
- His personality can change swiftly in situations that carry dire consequences, like instances where he is mortal danger. Once his façade of calm is forsaken, Brandon carries himself about without restraint, and what he does then can seem startlingly dangerous to those who haven’t been around him for very long.
- Does whatever he feels like; doesn’t take kindly to being bossed around.
- He appears to be absent-minded, as he does not pay attention to things that don’t concern him in any way, but this can simply be attributed to his carefree nature.


- He is a High-Rank Apprentice, meaning that he is ready to graduate into the Dilettante Class. This hints at Brandon's natural talent; he has blasted past the Apprentice stage of his career, much to the envy of Dilettantes like Josh who needed a lot of effort and time to get to where they are now.


Grim Art Type:
- Brandon is a Soul Artist. His mental existence will be jeopardized in exchange for his Art's own.


Art Costs:
- It is unknown what specific costs are inflicted on his psyche by his Grim Art, making his expenses tricky to use against him. However, it has been observed that they are generally sanity-oriented.
- Whenever Brandon faces off against Grim Artists stronger than him, he doesn’t hold back, which means his Art Costs tend to pile up quickly. When facing an equal or an inferior, he uses the lowest Costs on his abilities as much as he can, knowing that the odds are heavily in his favor, but there is the slightest risk that he might go overboard.


Grim Aesthetics:
- Overall, Brandon is a strong Artist, and he uses Painting and Inspiration Aesthetics skillfully as proof of that, even able to come up with brand new Techniques on the spot. He is inexperienced with most other Aesthetics though; employing anyway them despite his inexperience can tire him out.


Grim Devices:
- Brandon wields a meter-long paintbrush called The Myth. It is a black-colored paintbrush, carved out of dark Oakwood, and topped with white horse hair bristles. The Myth is special in it is based off the design of an undisclosed relative’s own Paintbrush. Thing is, said relative is rumored to be a Virtuoso Class Artist. This holds the implication that Brandon could be swinging around a Grim Device that hits way above his rightful Artist Class.


As an Artist:
- Being a fledgling Grim Artist, Brandon is still in the process of ‘finding himself’. When he first started, he made Art simply to alleviate his boredom, but then his imagination expanded rapidly, and he became more and more invested in making surreal images. Brandon believes that this path will make him famous one day, and the only way he feels he can stay on that path is to keep churning out art.
- When Brandon works as an artist, he lets his imagination be its own source of inspiration, as well as the guiding force behind judgments, like when or if he should reveal a piece Artwork or not.
- So far, Brandon has not forged any close connections with people, and nobody in Vidan’s group shares the same passion for Fractals as he does.


As a Grim Artist:
- Brandon is one who lets his intuition take charge. His style of fighting doesn’t agonize over the specifcs, and he improvises based on the situation at hand. Factors and variables range from what the usage of his Techniques has yielded to how he has decided deal with an opponent. In all cases, once the fighting starts, Brandon focuses on first thing that comes to mind, mostly fantastical or surreal concepts. It is not in his best interest to drag on a fight, since the more his Soul Art Costs are enacted, the more reckless he might become.
- Owing to his loner-type outlook as a person and as an Artist, Brandon prefers to fight solo. 



Myth-Warp Modification
- [Form-Shift, plus Inspiration-Prerogative-Painting Technique-Aesthetics Concurrence, plus The Myth Item Conjunction]
- Using his brush, Brandon can twist and tweak any kind of shape or form he Paints on. For example, distorting the air would make a certain spot look blurry.
- A Rare Technique, mostly because its foundational Technique (the Form Shift) is focused through a trio of Aesthetics and an unusual Grim Device to accomplish something well beyond its normal trappings.
- This is a Dilettante Class Technique, bordering on the Savant Class, and further proof that Brandon is ready to leave the Apprentice Class behind.
- Note that Prerogatives apply to their respective Aesthetics. Crafts Artists still exert more control over their contraptions, allowing granting them resistances or immunity to being easily manipulated by non-Crafts Artists and/or Techniques.

Myth-Reign Dreamer’s Command
- [The Myth, plus Inspiration-Prerogative-Painting-Drawing Item-Aesthetics Conjunction]
- Invented during training, this Technique caused Brandon’s brush to glow as he paints an image onto any available mediums; that image is then attuned to reality. Basically, Brandon could make anything he wants with this Technique. Pitfalls, falling rocks, walls: anything he can think of will be manufactured.
- Not to be confused with basic Drawing Techniques, this is predominantly a Painting Technique that can be channel to Draw as well.
- It's hard to empower creations with sizable amounts of Prerogative when they come from such a Generalist-Type Technique (which is a Technique that sacrifices raw potency for sheer versatility, as opposed to a Specialist-Type Technique, which is limited in what it can do, but is extremely effective at its intended purpose) and as such Brandon cannot simply paint the picture of a legendary weapon and have it work the way he has envisioned it just like that.
- That being said, this Technique is a testament to Brandon’s alarmingly-high prowess. Not many Apprentice Class Artists can claim to be this advanced so early into training. Yes, the power of The Myth’s contribution to this Technique’s power cannot be discounted, but it’s Brandon’s ingenuity that lets him take advantage of such a resource.
- Outside the Renaissance, this Technique is absolute, for all sakes and purposes. Due to the lack of Prerogative limitations imposed by a Grim Renaissance Realm, if Brandon wished to create an entire pantheon of Higher Beings with his Myth-Warp Dream Tear, then it will be so.

Myth-Tear New Worlds
- [Inspiration-Painting, plus Realm Mechanics and The Myth Aesthetics-Items Collaboration
- Brandon uses this Technique to paint a line anywhere he chooses. Then puts his hands into that line and rips it open into a space-time rift of sorts. Within that rift is an endless painted landscape of a singular type, be it an open plain, a canyon, or even outer space.
- This Technique is essentially a gateway into a Painted Scene. It can also function as a portal to another place Brandon has been to; in such a case, a ‘portrait’ of a pre-existing place is painted by Brandon, as opposed to one that he cooked up. Once he enters his portal, and the ‘teleportation’ is instant, but this Technique only works with Brandon; he relies on a different one when involving others.
- A Rare Technique. Even when many other Rift-Oriented Techniques exist, a Painted Rift is somewhat harder to come by than a Drawn or Written Rift.

Dreamer's Terrestrial Creation
- [Myth-Tear New Worlds, plus Inspiration Technique-Aesthetic Concurrence]
- This Grim Technique takes the Inspiration Aesthetics and uses it to empower an already complex Technique. This allows Brandon to open portals capable of affecting Grim Artists besides him. If he succeeds in getting them to enter, they will find themselves trapped in a world where he controls everything, a world that can be reshaped however he sees fit.
- For an Apprentice, this is a huge rarity in the Forgewater Grim Renaissance, and is actually unique to Brandon in the undisclosed Grim Renaissance where he truly hails from, being a visitor to the latter. While many 'World-Manufacturing' or 'Pocket-Universe Creation' moves exist everywhere, something of this gestalt being in the hands of an Apprentice Class Artist is nearly unheard of, another hint as to just how much potential Brandon contains.
- An obvious weakness to this Technique is the fact that the portals it opens are stationary. Brandon has to figure out a way to maneuver opponents into his rifts. Skilled Artists could find ways to dodge, manipulate, or destroy the rifts themselves. Furthermore, just because someone does enter, it doesn't mean they are immediately helpless; Brandon controls the landscape, not his opponents. Artists specializing in the Prerogative Aesthetics are especially tricky to contain with this Technique. When teamwork is involved, the potency of this Technique increased dramatically. It’s biggest weakness, however, is that these Worlds can be altered by Landscape Artists; their Prerogative over any terrain is unmatched wherever they go, leaving Brandon with no viable advantage when facing them.
- Once again, it cannot be stressed enough that Brandon created this Technique as an Apprentice Class Artist. One can only imagine what it will be like when he becomes a Savant.

World of the Silver Sands
- [Subset Variant of the Dreamer's Terrestrial Creation Technique]
- A rift acting as the portal for this Technique will lead an opponent into an open desert of glowing white sand under a jet-black sky. There are many hazards to watch out for here. Violent sandstorms happen at random. The very ground itself is a danger; it's incredibly easy to sink into the sand, so people must stay on the move. None of the hazards mentioned affects Brandon. Unlike the more commonly-known deserts, where it is hot, the World of the Silver Sands is exceptionally cold, like the Arctic; it's nearly twenty-five degrees below zero. The merciless, frigid atmosphere can inflict a crippling effect on wielders of Combat Aesthetics, slowing and weakening them.
- Despite this world being a beautiful but lethal refrigerator, it does have features that opponents can take advantage of, and even Brandon must be wary of those. Attacks oriented to the elements of Fire and Ice are twice as strong within the World of the Silver Sands, for example. The grains of the deserts ‘sand’ are actually tiny rocks of frozen water, so they can be used as a source of fluids.
- Artists who love wintery seasons are resistant to the cold temperatures, as Josh discovered when he had the misfortune of falling into this Technique’s entrance during a sparring session. Even with this slight reprieve, it took the Dsiorpov great effort to escape; he found it quite terrifying that an Apprentice was able to give a Dilettante so much trouble.

World of the Windy Vale
- [Subset Variant of the Dreamer's Terrestrial Creation Technique]
- A rift acting as the portal for this Technique will lead an opponent into a valley-like fracture cut into the earth, and it is a pit with no bottom. True to its name, the Windy Vale is like the middle of a hurricane. Powerful gusts continuously blow throughout the place, sometimes strong enough to strip unguarded flesh from bone. There is no way to maintain balance on the valley walls itself, and almost no way to find a foothold on the jagged rocks, making Combat Aesthetics useless if one tries to engage from the ‘ledges’ of this place. However, skilled Artists can ride the wind itself, just like a skateboarder or surfer, allowing use of Aerial and/or Acrobatic Combat Techniques.
- Perfume Aesthetics can be used to infuse the wind with an aroma, wresting away some control of the wind away from the Technique user. Brandon's dominion over the gusts will still be more dominant, however.

Elemental Infusion, Fractal Variant, Attack-Oriented
- [Painting Aesthetics, Fractal Art Subset Discipline]
- This is a common move that uses Brandon’s Elemental Paint to amplify an ally’s attack. This Technique can alternatively be used to ‘taint’ and impede an opponent’s moves.

Fractal Mutation, Digital Paint Variant
- [Painting Aesthetics, Fractal Art Subset Discipline]
- A Technique with chaotically-random effects and forms. Brandon focuses on any form of matter around him and coats it with his paint. The paint-infused target then experiences a variety of results, such as turning into an elemental creature or construct. Flowing water might be transmuted into flowing lava, or vice versa. Raindrops might transform into rocks, and so on. Outcomes are as unpredictable as they are extensive and impressive, but collateral damage can be a problem if Brandon has not synced up his Prerogative to any nearby allies. This is a Rare Technique, but it isn’t too difficult for him to pull off.
- The Fractal Mutation Technique is easier to implement within Dreamer’s Terrestrial Creation pocket dimensions. Outside of those, a huge dosage of Prerogative – or the Prerogative Aesthetics themselves – might be needed to actualize the effects of this Technique.

Dreamer’s Ascension of Pride
- [Unknown Aesthetics-Techniques Collaboration, plus unknown Technique-Aesthetics Concurrence, plus possible The Myth Item Conjunction]
- A potential Obra Maestra in the making, one secretly learned and scarcely used by Brandon for it carries the deadliest of risks when used in battle. To initiate the Technique, he writes a sentence of strange glyphs of his own design all over his body, and then he lets loose a roar so strong that his surroundings quiver. Immediately after that, Brandon's soul separates from his body.
- The disembodied soul takes the form of a shapeless entity made out of glowing smoke, and with liberal usage of The Myth, it can take shape of characters that Brandon has created in his secret writings. Shapeshifting is not the crux of this Technique, though. One of its core caveats is that all the other Techniques in Brandon’ repertoire become at least twice as strong.
- The Ascension of Pride is Brandon’s trump card, albeit one that can’t quite be Classified as an Obra Maestra just yet.
- The specter born out of Brandon’s soul has deep symbolism in relationship to him: it is the very manifestation of his pride and imaginative strength, an ‘avatar’ of Brandon’s inner self. It is for all sakes and purposes, the 'God' of his personal Canon.
- Such a powerful Technique does not come free of charge. There is a ninety-percent chance of death for Brandon if he manages to release his soul’s spectre without the proper setup. In the worst-case scenario, where his body dies as soon as its soul departs, the Technique risks being used in vain. Without a home for it to retreat into, Brandon’s soul would cease to exist.
- Even if this Technique were a success, a high amount of expenses will be exacted on Brandon; without the proper rest and food, it’s likely this Technique would eat at Brandon’s mind until he ended up a raving lunatic.
- Why Brandon would dare to experiment with (much less try to perfect) such a ridiculous Technique is beyond anyone. Furthermore, this is a case of an Apprentice trying to attain a Savant Class Technique, and while it has been done in the past such an event is a massive exception to the rule. His attempt to force himself to rise past power levels normal to his Artist Class is considered by Josh as worrisome evidence that his colleague might be a little bit insane, even without his Soul Art Costs getting involved.
- According to diaries that Brandon wrote (uncovered by spies and busybodies) it was revealed that he is a lot more emotionally fragile than he looks. Hearing what people would say about his Artwork (some critics being pointlessly cruel) forced him to cover up his sadness with a fake smile. But, as Josh knows only too well, that does not make the hurt go away. Josh fears that if Brandon continues to dwell on discontentment, he might just wind up learning the Letzte Anzeigen, and worse, using it.


Trivia:
- Really loves chocolate
- People regard him as crazy for believing that dreams hold prophetic meaning, but he hardly seems to care. In certain Grim Renaissances, dreams are potentially more than fleeting brain shenanigans, so Brandon isn’t exactly wrong for taking the tales his colleagues tell about their own dreams seriously.
- He feels more at peace when he is alone
- Rumor has it that he has started to take up Writing.
- He thinks the Grim Artist Class System is really stupid, as he would prefer to fight whoever he wants just because he is bored, regardless of rank or skill.
- Brandon is a Christian of an unknown denomination, hailing from a Grim Renaissance where such a Faith Sect exists, and he wears a wooden cross under his shirt.





GRIM RENAISSANCE ARCHIVE:

(List of links to be rebuilt)

THE DEVIANT FEATURED IN THIS ROSTER IS:
- Edits have been made to the original draft in order to fit into the setting, and/or for reading purposes.