6I App

[quinientos]

BASICS

Your name or nickname: Manda
Your year of birth: 1985
A reliable DW account the mods can PM to reach you: andrealyn
Link to your hold comment: Here
Referral: n/a

Character name: Vasquez
Character type: CR AU
Fandom/Canon: Magnificent 7
Character DW journal: quinientos
Does this character have previous CR?: Yes. Vasquez is arriving from Cuddle City; there are no other characters in the game played by the same people, but he will recognize familiar faces such as Claire.

HISTORY

Vasquez’s family hails from Mexico, where there were rooted for generations. Unfortunately, history and greedy hands meant that the border crossed their lands, rendering the Vasquez family “Texicans” to other Americans. His family fought against it, with Vasquez bearing great pride for his grandfathers’ feats in the Texas Revolution as one of the Toluca Battalion. After that battle, the climate wasn’t a warm one for men of his background and Vasquez had limited options as to what he could do with his life, especially when he lost the last of his family and he was left with nothing but his own two hands. He learned how to ranch, grew skilled with a lasso and guns, and tried to do his best to work for a country that wanted to hold themselves as better than a lowly vaquero like him.

Everything changed when Vasquez let pride and anger overwhelm him. Not all lawmen are paragons of goodness, which Vasquez discovered when he ran aground of a ranger in Texas that he clashed with. His decision to kill the man wasn’t without consequences. It didn’t matter if a ranger deserves to die or not, because in order to serve justice, a bounty comes about. After pulling the trigger, Vasquez now had to deal with a $500 bounty on his head. He took to hiding where he could, stealing what he needed, living with corpses and constantly running to avoid being found. Sam Chisholm found him despite his attempts to hide away and lured him into helping to save Rose Creek with the promise that if Vasquez did, then Sam wouldn’t be one of the warrant officers after him. Vasquez knew of Sam’s reputation and that the bargain was a good one, but also knew he had little else to do and threw his hat into the fight against Bart Bogue, another wicked man. While he didn’t necessarily get along with all of the Seven at the beginning, taking back Rose Creek from the Blackstones helped to develop a bond that continued as they prepared for the ultimate fight for the town.

Vasquez had nowhere else to be, but he also didn’t want to leave the town’s innocents to fight alone. Despite all the force that Bogue threw at them and the casualties the town suffered, Vasquez survived with only a shot to his arm from the Gatling gun, though he watched four of his brothers in arms fall. With Bogue defeated, Vasquez had held up his part of the bargain and knew that Sam wouldn’t turn him in. Unfortunately, Vasquez was still a wanted man and though he’d found a town of people that would have treated him as a hero for staying, $500 was still more than enough to motivate plenty of people to come looking for him. He had to keep moving, which meant leaving Rose Creek behind.

What is your canon exit point?: Vasquez arrives from the very end of the movie, departing Rose Creek.

PERSONALITY OVERVIEW

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PERSONALITY QUESTIONS

What skills does your character bring to the situation? Through hiding from a bounty, Vasquez has prioritized selfishness to a degree that's turned him into a survivor. It's heightened his tolerance for shitty situations and allowed him to put aside some of the baser human needs in order to survive, which means he'll be able to tolerate a lot of stress. Underneath that selfish need to protect himself, he will make sure that his situation is beneficial. If there are people in the village that can help him, he'll help in turn in a barter-trade situation that will allow him to call in favours when necessary, but also to keep himself well-fed and alive.

Vasquez will also be very helpful with the farm animals, as he has extremely strong lasso skills. He's skilled in woodworking and hard labour and when the situation calls for it (ie: when it benefits him in the long run), he'll be willing to pitch in. Though there won't be any guns for him, his showmanship and skill with them can transfer to many other aspects as he's very quick and good with his hands (and if anyone wants a free show, he can do a lot of spinning).

Why did you choose this specific character for 6I, and how do you picture them fitting into the game? I was looking for someone that didn't fit the molds that I already played in and Vasquez is a loud voice that fits very well. Given that he's a character out of time, some of that awkwardness will be hedged away by the fact that he was in Cadelle and has been versed in modernity enough that he'll recognize it, but not enough that he's comfortable with it. I also like the challenge of a gregarious character who likes socializing and is friendly, but is inherently self-focused and not as community-minded as Peggy and Ravi.

Giving him the opportunity to deal with a community of ragtag misfits the way he had in Rose Creek will allow him to open up a little more, possibly driving him closer to being responsible for something or people in the way that he's always feared deep down. That ability to grow in a personal way is something I enjoyed with Johanna until her main CR departed and I want to develop that again with a new character.

How do you imagine your character will survive in 6I, and in what ways will they contribute to the settlement, if any? Vasquez will be looking out for himself, first and foremost, but he'll recognize that in order to do that, he needs to make sure that the village is secure and in good shape, that he needs to help with the farm animals and the milking/caring if he wants to eat/drink, and that if there's any danger, he needs to be out there to make sure it's not going to bite him in the ass. While his motivations might be far from pure, he will still end up contributing, even if he'll probably be first in line to reap the rewards of that help.

How will your character react to...

Being separated, possibly permanently, from loved ones and their previous life, including loss of powers, if applicable? Vasquez has never had anyone in his life that he loved other than his family, who he hasn't seen in years. For him, being separated isn't something that he needs to fear or cope with. It's just another day in the park. He's never had anyone or anything to feel close to. While in Rose Creek, he'd started up some friendships, but losing more than half of them had felt like an inevitability that no matter how far you try and run, death always catches up. He has no special powers, but what he will struggle with most is the loss of his guns. While he still has skills with a lasso, he defines himself to a degree as a gunslinger and even in Cadelle, he had the gun range so he could still indulge. Here, he'll need to find new ways of feeling capable and strong.

Their environment being manipulated, possibly in strange or extraordinary ways, and possibly in ways which restrain them? Vasquez has been in a self-imposed restrained situation in order to stay alive by hiding with a corpse, so to him, the only frustration will be that he's not the one who chose to be stuck in a place. The environment being manipulated will bring a wariness out of him, though he won't have ever been able to control it, so he'll mainly try to roll with that punch as much as he can. To a degree, he won't even notice unless it directly impacts him. If it were to, then he would likely bitch and complain, but not actively do anything about it other than complaining that his life has been impacted.

Being physically and/or mentally manipulated, such as having hallucinations or suddenly possessing special abilities they did not have before? Vasquez is much more used to dealing with physical threats, so to have something happen to him that isn't able to be defended or fought physically will bring him a great deal of stress and manifest in him taking it out with violence or some of his vices. He won't ever accept these things happening to him, but he'll tolerate them with a low current of frustration that he constantly feels (even if it will probably lead to a great deal of stress smoking/eating/fighting in order to try and deal with it).

If he were to suddenly possess special abilities that benefited him, he would be delighted and likely take advantage of them with every chance that he got. If they were to stress or strain him somehow, then he would still use them, but in a more vindictive way, as if trying to prove to the Observers why they made such a mistake giving him such a power.

POWERS & SPECIAL ABILITIES

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WRITING SAMPLES

SAMPLE 1
Why did you choose this sample? Sweeney is a character Vasquez gets to be mostly himself around, even in a modern context. The theme of the thread is something that might be similar to 6I (murder, hard work, secrecy) and shows how Vasquez has been merging modernity with the skills of his past
Link or text: Mad Sweeney & Vasquez bury a body

SAMPLE 2
Why did you choose this sample? This is an example of Vasquez coping with being handed a 'magical' forced truth telling situation and how he reacts to that with his frustration and an attempt to get around it. It's similar to what he'll have to deal with in the village.
Link or text: Truth telling