A hardened soul who finds solace in tinkering with cars and all sorts of machinery. Has spent his life running from the demons of his past and now finds himself in Briar Ridge, running out of places to hide.
STATS
- Name: Gabriel Braulio Vargas - Nicknames: Gabe - Neighborhood: Downtown - Occupation: Handy man & Mechanic at Kelly's Auto Repair - Age & Birthday: 35 years & apr 2, 1989 - Pronouns & Gender: He/him & cis-male - Ethnicity: Spanish-Chilean & Nicaraguan - Sexuality: Heterosexual - Hometown & Time in BR: Virginia, a few weeks
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BIOGRAPHY
trigger warning: alcoholism, drugs, child neglect, child abuse
CHILDHOOD:
Being the only child of problematic people who should never have brought a baby into the world was tough. Gabe was grateful no other child had to suffer what he lived daily, but he had always longed for solace in others to escape his “home.”
They were dirt poor and lived in a small two-bed apartment in a run-down complex. His father was an alcoholic who was fired from every job, and his mother worked as a grocer at the local supermarket, which just about covered the bills. Gabe learned to fend for himself young and not expect much from his parents. The further he stayed away, the less he felt the wrath of their problems.
He found a friend in Enzo Deluca, and the two young boys would run around the streets together, causing havoc and making up their little adventures. Gabe would soon turn to petty theft for candy and comic books, anything to make his miserable existence somewhat better and to impress Enzo.
When he started school, he found friendship with Benny Hellstrom. Benny lived on a ranch just outside of the city, and to Gabe, it felt so grand. “All the space in the world,” he exclaimed when he first saw it. The two young boys became inseparable, and Gabe spent more time with Benny than anyone. He felt safe there.
The problems at home only escalated into his teenage years. His mother began to self-medicate with OTC drugs and vodka, which led to more financial problems. His father grew more violent and abusive, angry that she was no longer providing for his addiction. Gabe was thirteen when his mother left. No note. No goodbye. Nothing.
That anger shifted from her to Gabe, and his father blamed him for everything. Gabe began to steal more valuable items to sell so he could impress his father. The young kid was the one paying the rent, but each month, it was a struggle. Once or twice, he was caught but escaped any real time in Juvie. The police were so overworked in the area that they didn’t have the time for a kid. However, he was known, and they watched him closely.
CHICAGO:
At sixteen, Benny suggested they run away together. Start a new life. Gabe jumped at the chance, and in a few days, the two found themselves in Chicago. Gabe was free, and you couldn’t have wiped the smile off his face.
They stayed there for a while. Gabe found a job at a local garage, where he realised he was very skilled with his hands. It was funny; as a kid, he loved to break things. Smashing old cars with rocks down at the waste yard or stomping on pumpkins sat proudly outside people’s homes on Halloween. Destruction was his release. However, the work of fixing up cars and tinkering with engines became a different kind of therapy for him. He had escaped his childhood home, so he no longer needed chaos to forget everything. Instead, he had an itch to fix everything, as if helping fix a cupboard door for a neighbour would help fix his past.
Gabe excelled as a mechanic and even started a side venture as a handyman. The money was good, and life began to really turn for him.
Despite the progress, the demons of his past did linger. Gabe liked to party… the problems he faced as a child of alcoholics didn’t seem to deter him. Unlike his father, he turned up to work and performed, but it still didn’t mean he didn’t have a problem. The weekends were spent wasted and hooking up with strangers. He never had time for rest, always on the go. Due to this, most of his twenties were a blur, and it only worsened when Benny left him.
One party weekend in Vegas, he was so drunk he swears he even married a stranger, but the two parted ways after the ceremony, and he has never seen her again. Life could be very messy for him. It was chaotic at times, and he understood it pushed some people away, but he had so much turmoil inside of him that he was too afraid to process. Partying was the easy way out.
BRIAR RIDGE:
It wasn’t until he was in his thirties and word got back to him about his father’s passing that he paused for a moment to consider his own choices. The partying eased up and was replaced with a search for spirituality: yoga and meditation. Sure, he still allowed himself one night a week to blow off steam, but he was slowly opening up to the idea of looking inward to deal with his childhood trauma.
He is still working on that today, and it is a slow process, but he’s trying.
After a few years of separation from Benny, he missed his best friend. Gabe needed his rock back. Gabe quit his job, packed everything he had into his truck, and left for Briar Ridge. He had no plan other than the need to see his old friend.
He’s been living in town for a few weeks in a rental and on his savings, which are quickly running out.
WANTED CONNECTIONS:
Buddies - gym, yoga, bar, and so on
Welcome wagon - someone who shows him the town and is super friendly
Neighbors - he’s in an Airbnb in downtown
Airbnb host - maybe they’re renting to him, and something strikes up between them? Friendship, Romantic, maybe they hate him??
Big brother - someone he grows protective of
Handyman - can fix anything, so after the recent storm, word gets around and he has helped or does help with something for your muse
Vegas Wife - The girl he married in vegas and has never seen again... messy but fun connect potentially. Are they still married??
“Seems like a married couple” but are not - they click instantly and give off that old married couple vibe but are strictly friends
TONIGHT YOU BELONG TO ME: MUSE A is MUSE B’s confidant and vice versa. for the most part, their interactions only happen after midnight. they run in completely different circles and their mutual friend count is low, but when the other sends an sos text at 12:45am the other is already getting dressed and willing to meet at their secret spot.
SMILING WHEN I DIE: MUSE A has lived, what many people may call, a pretty boring life. they never got to experience much growing up. now, they’re [ INSERT AGE ] and trying not to have a borderline mid-life crisis. MUSE B has a sense of adventure within them and is always inviting MUSE A along. they may not spend time together otherwise, but the two of them make lasting memories that will hopefully stick with them for awhile. — what if it's the type opf friendship where they tick things off a bucket list and do random shit together?????? Idk
WILL YOU COME FIND ME (AFTER THE PARTY?): a plot where MUSE A and MUSE B met at a friend of a friend’s party & instantly hit it off. MUSE A is immediately infatuated with MUSE B — they laugh, talk, drink; they even make an incredible beer pong team. at some point during the night, MUSE A decides to put the moves on MUSE B. however, after leaving to get them some drinks, MUSE A comes back to find MUSE B kissing someone else… and to make it worse? it’s their boyfriend/girlfriend/best friend/sibling etc.



















