Julia Branchman

This is the remake of a 2015 drawing I did as an attempt at anime.
I also made a lengthy descriptive backstory to Julia here.

Name: Julia Branchman
Sex/Gender: Female
Age: 27 (as of 2004)
Height: ~7.5 feet tall
Weight: 190lbs
Build: (read biography)

Julia Branchman was born to a Botanist father and a florist mother from the Southern parts of the states. Despite her parents' clean DNA record and background, Julia was born with uncommon deformities. Her body is tall, stretched, and gangly like her twig-like fingers. Although this would raise concerns, Julia has very few problems walking on foot and is more than able to carry heavy objects with her naturally(?) long fingers. However, the most notable feature of Julia's anomaly is her hair, which consists of a merge of human hair and twigged leaves. Although ordinary leaves can crumble and detach easily, Julia's "hair" is as resistant as regular human hair (as long as it is cared for.)

Julia thought nothing about her condition at first. As a child, she believed that her hair and height made her look beautiful and exceptional to anyone. But Julia didn't know that these had made her a bullying target in elementary school. She was called names, pulled by her fingers and hair, being joked that her mother had an affair with a tree, her head forcefully shooked in an attempt to loosen her leaves, and once knocked unconscious and buried under a pile of leaves during the fall season. After being attacked by a scared custodian for waking up screaming just he was about to rake, the school got successfully sued by Julia's mother, leading her to homeschool until she completed high school courses. All while Julia's initially cheerful demeanor and social skills diminished and the ongoing revelation that her gifts felt more like curses. Most people saw her appearance as a freakish joke to point at and mock.

Julia used to take online college for an introverted career, but due to her crippling depression and self-doubt, she didn't make it before the first semester ended. She tried to apply for some jobs, but her appearance made it impossible to be accepted.

Julia was thinking of taking drastic measures and cutting off her hair. That was until a settled circus carnival from a long travel away had recently opened for people like her.

She applied to be a freakshow exhibit and manual laborer in the circus and had passed swiftly. She discovered her strength and utility through hauling cumbersome things on her own and reaching to grab items no other person can easily do. As a freakshow exhibit, Julia became one who stood out the most. Some of the other exhibits' oddities are mildly interesting in comparison like the man with hollow sockets or the rubber-mouthed woman.

Julia became so successful that she raked in millions for the circus carnival. More visitors came in and actually took the time to enjoy the shows, games, and rides. The establishment itself had expanded within years. Mobile homes and trailers were bought for most staff to live in, and the rent is cheap. And for the first time in her life, Julia is treated more than well by her fellow employees.

And despite all of this, Julia is still depressed if not downright suicidal. The last time she called her distant parents, her mother told her that her absent father had died from inhaling foreign chemicals. The guests still laugh at her, looking with gawking glee rather than amazement. She was forced by management to allow the audience to touch her long fingers and hair, risking being grabbed, having her leaves torn off as souvenirs, and catching illness.

This was the same for Julia as it was in elementary school. Still regarded as a twisted joke of nature rather than a wonderful miracle. For all the good things she did for the circus carnival, she felt that she was rewarded by having a tight leash around her long neck. It is near impossible to leave her workplace. And Julia knows that if she can somehow cut her contracts and live "comfortably," the circus carnival will likely reduce back to when she found it. And the coworkers who praised her would now see her as a joke on the inside.