FULL NAME: Cristal Lai
NICKNAME(S): Crissy
AGE: 35 | January 4th, 1987
GENDER & PRONOUNS: Cisfemale, She/her
FACE CLAIM: Karrueche Tran
EYE COLOR: Brown
HAIR COLOR: Black
HEIGHT: 5′1″
OCCUPATION: Owner of the White Lantern Nightclub, former member of IN2OUCH (2004-2010)
AFFILIATION: White Snakes - Deputy Mountain Master
HOMETOWN: Reno, Nevada
Cristal Lai (nee Nguyen) was born into a life that many would call questionable. Her father was a kingpin in his own right, heading a crime organization by the name of the Jade Dragons in Reno, Nevada where he stayed with his children and wife. Drugs, death, she saw it all. Her major turning point in life was when she was ten years old. She could remember the day vividly. Her father packed all of her clothes, her favorite stuffed panda and a few snacks, put her in their black Cadillac SUV where their driver then took her to Las Vegas. The Lai family welcomed her with open arms, only to be met with confusion from her. *He said he would come back soon..* she repeated to herself for the first two weeks. Those two weeks turned into five months and she understood then that she was now a Lai. The process of adoption wasn’t hard, she went from Cristal Nguyen to Cristal Lai. Her once fluent Vietnamese was overtaken with fluent Mandarin and the heritage she’d come to love was now fading.
Cristal never hated her father for leaving her. Sure, she was confused, a little upset at the situation. But, she understood that he had to do what was best for her. He’d gone off to prison just months after she was taken away. The Lai family did their best to keep this news away from her, but when her own natal aunt brought that information to her attention, she was angry. Fuck the system. Fuck the system that took her father away and destroyed the bond she’d built with him. It didn’t damage her though. Not at all. Instead, she decided to use this new life to become the absolute best. She was now one of the Lai family members and she was going to become the family favorite. Being adopted was going to make that difficult, but she loved a challenge.
Throughout her school years, she excelled in the arts, spending hours mimicking the work of the greatest artists known to mankind. By the time she’d reached high school, she was able to replicate the Mona Lisa to a T. Her immense artistic prowess allowed her to become a valuable member of the White Snakes. But this was also the team she discovered that she had a singing voice on her, often using it to entertain the guests who visited the Lai home when she was younger. She never thought this was something she could use to assist her family, but that was where she was wrong.
Just when she was contemplating what university she wanted to attend, she was brought into a meeting with the head of I*terscope records, where she auditioned and became the last member of IN2OUCH, a burlesque style girl group where she would act as the second lead vocalist. This allowed for her to get in touch with many artists, forging their work for her family secretly and sending it off. Aside from that, she enjoyed the success, touring the world, garnering fans, but ultimately her battles with the lead vocalist would cause her to leave. She felt as though she wanted more out of her life than playing second fiddle to an ego-maniac. So, she left sunny Los Angeles and IN2OUCH behind, to work full-time for the Snakes as a member of the family. Be it blood related or not.
Returning home, she had life figured out for the most part. She moved up the ranks, she did the Snakes proud and landed where she is now. Deputy Mountain Master with plans to fully take over when it was her time… in due time.
In the meantime, she opened the White Lantern with the help of her family, deciding she could use this as a way to target upcoming artists to forge their art. It was the best way she knew how. A safe haven for adults to have fun with the enticing views for young artists.
LEVEL OF EDUCATION: Bachelors in Biology, Masters in Forensic Science, Other Certifications
OCCUPATION: Forensic Pathologist Assistant, Medical Examiner’s Assistant at LVPD
CRIME ROLE & AFFILIATION: Civilian pending affiliation to white snakes
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Judaism
HOMETOWN: Las Vegas, Nevada
CHARACTER HISTORY (TW: MENTAL HEALTH NEGLECT)
While the Sweetwine’s family business was mortuary, their household was always full of life with their twelve children running around. All of the children played their own role in helping the business, even if they took different paths as they grew up. When Blythe was born, however, the home wasn’t the same. His parents were burnt out and another child had come to them by a mistake. They were much older than they had been when they had their other children, but swore they could manage.
As an infant, he had been a godsend. He was never fussy and they rarely struggled. It wasn’t until he got older that they had complications. Blythe was neat and intricate with his help around the house, helping his father in the mortuary with a careful eye. But when he transitioned to middle school, things changes drastically. He presented behavioral problems, was up late at night creating a ruckus about the house, and the once organized boy found solace in a chaotic system only he could understand. He presented behavioral problems at school and the counselor suggested he get an evaluation. These results revealed that he had OCD, but it was rather mild. As soon as he received counseling, it was promised that they could ease his struggle with the transition and help his manage his disorder.
His parents refused to believe it and it took the involvement of his other siblings, who were nearly strangers to him, to help get the intervention he needed. They challenged their parents and the caved, but it wasn’t very helpful in the end. They found loopholes. He was taken to a family friend who prescribed him medication for the anxiety component of his disorder, but he was never informed as to why. His parents did their best to reshape his behavior but many compulsions remained. These were even reinforced as Blythe’s mother also had OCD. It was part of the reason she insisted that so much of his behaviors just came from him mirroring her and he would grow out of it.
Blythe excelled in academics, his attention to detail and rigor concerning tasks aiding him to graduate from high school at just sixteen and be offered admission to Duke University. When Blythe attended college to become a mortician and continue the family business, he realized he didn’t want to be bound to their dysfunction forever. He ended up pursuing a career in forensic pathology where he eventually interned for a variety of programs, but more importantly, an internship at Durham’s Medical Examiner’s office. His attention to detail was noted and his work in post-mortem decay and injury had caught the eye of an someone in the office who was paid to hold bodies in the morgue for a local organization. After a poor handling of a body, Blythe had offered help to cover up an injury by brushing the damage under a detailed explanation he added to paperwork. His talents were duly noted, as was his growing debt as he had taken on the mortgage of his parent’s home and funeral parlor, and he was offered the chance to breathe a little easier. Blythe initiated into a local crime organization who promised to pay for his schooling as long as he pursued his medical degree and would work for them privately.
While he moved quickly through his field with built up credits from dual enrollment, Blythe moved just as fast through friend groups. As the youngest, it was hard to find those who related to him but by his senior year, he found the one. Blythe had proved to be a challenge to her, and she liked it. What drove them closer was the mark they both shared after his initiation, and being the outlet for the heavy of the world they lived in together in the shadows, they grew even closer. By the end of his two and a half years at Duke, they were engaged. However, their engagement didn’t last long. They attended grad school together, an institute Blythe pushed for believing it would help his education rather than stall it, but problems soon arose.
PRESENT DAY [TW CHILD NEGLECT]
The engagement ended when Blythe’s OCD became more apparent and affected their lives daily. He blamed it on routine and learned habits from his mother but as he tried to ‘fix himself’ things only got worse. Blythe rejected that he had any problems and their engagement fell apart at his denial. His fiancé had decided this was not the life she wanted for them, and even less for herself.
The youngest Sweetwine that he left behind had seemed to fall through the cracks despite everything he did to ensure he was taken care of. With his mother’s memory struggling and the old age of his parents catching up to them, Cole Sweetwine had been indirectly neglected by being left at school hours after pick up, hungry from a forgotten breakfast, and careless left in the same clothes from the day before since no one wanted fight the child on the need to bathe. His brother had been taken in by Child Protective Services a year into grad school, and everything began to unravel.
Upon graduation with his master’s in 2018, the time for medical school was on the clock and his vow was in tow. He applied to a school closer to home to keep an eye on his brother where he can despite the foster family he lives with but he’s yet to actually attend. Blythe jumped at the chance to be the Medical Examiner’s assistant in his hometown of Las Vegas, but he’s been putting off medical school for nearly four years now. If he doesn’t attend soon, he’ll sow the consequences of what he’s reaped. For now, his attention to detail has been put to use where he does more than just alter the paperwork for the dead. With the right pay off, secrets get buried along with their keepers under arrangements only his hand has been able to craft.
Blythe’s brother, as of August 2020, is in the process of a closed adoption.
HEADCANONS
When Blythe was in high school, he assumed he was gay because if you liked boys, the only other option seemed to be that you were gay. Blythe was made to believe that bisexuality was just a cover-up for someone wanting to experiment, or someone who wasn’t ready to come out as gay. Blythe wasn’t very convinced, though, and when he went away for college he found not only acceptance from others but himself.
The first time Blythe met most of his siblings, aside from the few times they showed up to his birthday parties, was at a funeral when he was eight. Funerals seemed to bring the Sweetwine together more than joyous events. Even the birth of his little brother didn’t bring many of them flying back to Chicago.
Blythe met his brother Nathaniel at the Medical Examiner’s office in a body bag as his body had been found after an accidental overdose. The only reason he knew who he was had been because of the identification provided to him in the report.
Blythe is very religious and goes to synagogue services at least once a week, though he finds it difficult to stay for the whole service because he has trouble sitting still.
His OCD has number based obsessions and he tend to measure things in terms of three and five. He also follows a specific pattern that is one, two three, one, three, two, one, one, two, three that he typically taps with the coordinating finger.
He loves lemon. With everything. Be weary of stealing his water or a drink at a bar, because there’s always lemon in it.
He had a lip ring when he was in college and it was ripped out of his mouth when he was at a frat party There is a faint scar under his lips where it was.
Blythe’s ambition to join a crime organization came from desperation and the relinquishment of doing what is right because every good solution had turned on him. His family failed to protect his brother, the system failed him to get him back, and his fiance as well as his friends failed. Cruelty wins in the movies for a reason, and now he’ll take that chance.
WANTED CONNECTIONS
A co-worker connection, maybe even one with a potential past hook up
A neighbor who is aware of the strife in the Sweetwine family home
Someone affiliated with the White Snakes family who knows why he joined and is weary or supportive of his decision when he eventually joins. They provide some kind of shoulder to lean on, or they’re a pessimist.
The Medical Examiner
Friends at the LVPD
People who have paid him to make alterations to those in the morgue for pay, preferably crime organization affiliates
Everyone suspects JASON VANCE of at least one of the cardinal sins, but in Nevada, the worst sins are bound by blood and this is HIS: FOXES. HE rolled the dice TWO YEARS ago as a VYGYVTSYA. Under the desert sun, they claim the act of SECURITY FOR LOTUS HOTEL & CASINO. They’re often mistaken for DOMINIC SHERWOOD before those crimson colored glasses slide down their nose. JACE better get busy living, or they’ll get busy dying by the ripe age of THIRTY-TWO. There are no second acts in a marked life, and it’s measured out by the melody of NATURAL BORN KILLER BY AVENGED SEVENFOLD.
BASIC INFORMATION.
full name: jason michael vance
name meaning: the name jason is a typically masculine name that is believed to have greek and hebrew origins. jason is a classic and traditional greek name. in greek, the name means “healer.”
nickname / alias: jace
gender / pronouns: cisman / he, him
sexuality: bisexual, with a preference for men
age, birthday + zodiac: 32, January 17th, 1990 + capricorn
place of birth: kent, england, united kingdom
job: security for lotus hotel & casino // vygyvtsya for the foxes
song: natural born killer - avenged sevenfold
APPEARANCE.
faceclaim: dominic sherwood
height: 5′11
eye color: he suffers from heterochromia. one eye is pale blue while the other is blue/brown
hair color + appearance: blond, though his natural hair color is brunette + muscular, usually dresses in leather jackets and black jeans with boots
tattoos / scars: he has tattoos spread across his body. his organization tattoo is hidden inside of his tattoo sleeve / he has several scars from his time he spent over seas.
BIOGRAPHY.
TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR: Death, targeted killing, military training, sociopathy
“The darkest pit of hell has opened to swallow you whole.” For some children, their future is theirs to shape. As time progresses, children learn what they like and don’t like. They gain a personality all to themselves and in most cases, determine their own path. For Jason, he was never given that choice. Born into a military family, he spent a majority of his childhood on military bases where his father held rank as Regimental Sergeant Major after making a career for himself in the British Army after the National Service Act went into effect in 1949.
With his father active in the military, Jason was able to attend Duke of York’s Royal Military School where military traditions and discipline were instilled into his daily routine. For the next seven years, Jason remained at said boarding school and actively grew involved in the activities the school had to offer. He passed his GCSE with flying colors, graduated at the top of his class, and eventually met a recruiter to dig deeper into a future in the military. The only choice he’d need to make involved which branch he wanted to go into. Each branch had its potential as far as Jason was concerned and while he will never admit his father’s influence had something to do with his decision, he too picked the British Army. At 17, he officially signed.
He started at the bottom, but slowly climbed his way in the ranks. As someone who didn’t want to participate in the military simply because that’s what his father wanted, Jason did all he could to get out from under the shadow his father had created as a senior officer. He started off as an infantry soldier, mastering a number of weapons, completed undercover missions in Northern Ireland, and completed several tours overseas before his active sergeant pulled him to the side and asked him what he truly wanted to do with his time. When The Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR) was mentioned, Jason didn’t even hesitate. He applied for the position, but he didn’t hear anything back for what felt like months. Unknown to him, the SRR was insanely selective in who they picked and had no intentions on offering him a position immediately. It wasn’t until he had come back from his third trip overseas that he finally received an offer for this specific position. He was trained in various special forces techniques, including resistance to interrogation, escape and evasion, close-quarters combat, and high and low altitude parachuting. He was also taught to master intelligence-gathering operations.
He spent a good ten years with the SRR. He has learned to master several techniques, though he excels at following his targets on foot without being caught and he’s a pro at installing wiretaps and cameras on those unfortunate enough to be his target. While he will never straight up admit to killing anyone, there was a time he became so desensitized to his work that accidentally killing those at the wrong place at the wrong time got nothing more than a shrug from him. As time progressed, Jason’s behavior become more erratic to the point where formal discipline had to happen. After documents were uncovered proving he had eliminated several people not on his list while overseas, a cover up happened. While he remained in the SRR, the disciplinary action that followed took him out of active duty and put on the reserve list.
Moving to America was probably not the brightest idea he had, but for Jason, the change of scenery has been good for him. Nevada, though obnoxiously hot, is a place he couldn’t be happier in. He will be the first to admit he came across the Foxes on an accident, but given his former career and his ability to get intel, he can’t say he’s surprised there’s something lurking under the surface here. Initiation was unique and reminded him of the training he went through in the military, but like most things, Jason’s ego is bigger than most realize. While being hunted in the desert, he did what he did best. He fought back. He was able to disarm two of them and the third, he used their own weapon against them, leaving a mark that has probably scarred over.
He has been with the Foxes ever since, honing skills and making them better. Although he is not officially out of the military, he hasn’t been called to serve in almost three years. Instead, he is serving another organization. One that pays him better and offers him the freedom to be himself. An organization that doesn’t seem to care as long as he cleans up his messes.
Everyone suspects CHARLIE NAM of at least one of the cardinal sins, but in Nevada, the worst sins are bound by blood and SHE has yet to roll the dice. HER fixation on the neon lights of Nevada started TWO MONTHS ago as a HITMAN. Under the desert sun, they claim the act of CASHIER @ ELYSIAN MARKET. They’re often mistaken for PARK SO-DAM before those crimson colored glasses slide down their nose. CHARLIE better get busy living, or they’ll get busy dying by the ripe age of THIRTY-ONE. There are no second acts in a marked life, and it’s measured out by the melody of CAN’T STOP by RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS.
— written by morgan, 23, she/her, pst . . . player is a cis bi korean female.
trigger warnings: death, murder, violence.
TLDR; met her well-meaning parents in the middle when it came to her destructive tendencies. but she found an incredible outlet for her energy after a mercenary network recruited her post-college. however, after she realized how deep her employers’ treachery went, she played the long game to cut her losses. after three years of constant running, she was picked up by a hitman network. to this day, they’ve proved to be more transparent employers. their targets have transparently terrible reputations too. charlie is still suspicious of her new employers, but she can at least try to atone for her sins and gain protection through her work
prologue.
For what it’s worth, Charlie’s parents did their best. Despite being inundated with cultural shock and their daughter’s massive penchant for destruction, they tried to provide a balanced life. Of course, they didn’t really have much of a choice other than to put in that extra effort.
That aforementioned balance also needed to account for Charlie’s endless source of energy. As a result, she was an incredible student athlete — most notably in soccer, track and field, and gymnastics. She was also placed in hapkido classes, a choice her parents would regret later on when she’d happily use her skills outside of class.
CHAPTER I.
To demonstrate her appreciation as a daughter, Charlie graduated from Northwestern University with a mechanical engineering degree. Her university experiences also involved captainship of the women’s lacrosse team and employment in a hapkido studio as a teaching assistant.
Lupin, a mercenary network moonlighting as a food technologies corporation, lured her into their network during her senior year with a deskbound internship, promising a stable and well-paying job post-graduation. Little would she know that she’d quickly move on from analyzing blueprints to roughing up her knuckles.
CHAPTER II.
Charlie’s employers were never keen on spending extra expenses for long training periods. That’s a big reason why she was filtered for employment — her combat skills, natural knack for espionage, and a rare penchant for remaining relatively unruffled in the face of violence. After a two-year training period, she became a field agent. The details of her assignments weren’t too specific and she was trained to resist her natural spirit of inquiry. Their mistake was relying on that resistance, especially after she started following her gut regarding her workplace’s suspect political affiliations.
After a year of well-performed employment, Charlie copied a few threads of information evidencing Lupin’s treachery onto a flash drive. That felt short of her original plan, which was to get significantly more. Instead, her supervisors caught wind of her covert efforts and forced her to run. She expected it, of course. Even wanted it. Working for people like Lupin kept leaving her sick to her stomach.
But because of her employment’s premature conclusion, she soon had to use her temporary upper hand to feed the press a few headlines. This bought her just enough time to slip under the radar for three years.
CHAPTER III.
Three years is enough time for a girl to get some good hiding practice. It’s also a lot longer than most people achieve staying out of Lupin’s radar, especially when they cause enough trouble to make the news — even if they do so as unnamed suspects.
However, despite Charlie’s talent for hiding, she still attracted enough attention to land her into the protective arms of a separate hitman network. As far as they’ll let her know, they’re totally unnamed. Her instincts tell her they’re not working primarily as a corporation or a governmentally-associated body. Somehow, they also have enough power to let her out into the light without a muscle from Lupin at her heels. Their assignments were a lot more transparent and Charlie’s never expended any sympathy on the people she put in the ground on their behalf.
A whole lot of different details, and none of them make her feel at ease. She also doesn’t believe in miracles. Although she’s not currently in the mood to investigate, she’s smart enough to know that her guardian angels come with strings attached, even if she doesn’t know what those strings are just yet.
Nonetheless, her new employers do offer ample protection. It’s why she can eat at a fast food restaurant without getting sniped. So for now, she’ll simply do her job while figuring out her next step — or figuring out if she cares enough to formulate a next step.
epilogue.
Charlie’s latest assignment takes her to Las Vegas. Not the first time she’s been there, even for work. Maybe even especially so. The city’s penchant for clutter and chaos serves her well, offering enough anonymity for her to work in peace.
Eldest Bosnak daughter and she won’t let anyone forget that
Power hungry, vile and void of emotion, but can be truly soft underneath it all
Lost her child with Aydin and has been angry with him ever since, she also ended things with him due to it
Her patience is thin and she will let it be known when she wants someone to shut up
Agile, determined and relentless best describe Defne as a whole
She went through a bit of a boy crazy stage in her younger years, now she simply uses men and tosses them aside
How she feels about the other families of the Asena’s isn’t verbally said but the way she interacts with them is telling
The essentials to her existence are beauty products and variations of tea.. she can get incredibly grumpy without them
She has two purebred poodles named Ezgü and Ferdi which she has someone walk twice a day for her as well as having their meals prepared by a chef
BIO
A force to be reckon with since the day she popped out of the womb, Defne Osman had always been incredibly controlling. From a young age, she would tell everyone around her how she wanted to live life and that they would follow suit, even her own parents. Her earliest memory of causing havoc at her fifth birthday party because of the placement and color of the candles. She specifically asked for two purple purple candles, one yellow, a green and a gold for good luck. But no, someone got her five pink candles that were terrible placed. Instead of blowing the candles out, she smashed the cake viciously and looked up at her parents in utter disgust. From that moment on, her parents knew she would be a handful to take care of, but she was their princess and they wouldn’t have it any other way. Nor would she, if she were to be completely honest.
In middle school, she had a brush with fate, meeting one of her best friends. They were different in many ways, but she liked this about them. Whether it was the fact that she listened to all kinds of pop music and they were alternative, or that she felt somewhat of a weight lifted from her shoulders whenever the two of them interacted due to her not having to live up to a name with them, it was peaceful. Though, a distraction would soon come along in the form of boys. She was so boy crazy, from famous ones she never thought she could meet, to the ones who resided right down the street, she just wanted to be around them. Maybe it was Disney movies or the simple fact that she’d a likened herself to royalty, but she always thought that a princess deserved the perfect prince.
This boy craze followed her throughout high school, having fallen in love with one of the lower Asenas at the time. The two of them would spend time together in her room, just talking about the various ins and outs of life and what made her who she was. Why was she so evil? He didn’t see her that way, it came to her as an absolute shock. Why would anyone look at her, the stereotypical cheerleader with a knack for pulling men to the side only to sock them in the jaw for speaking to her wrong, was nice underneath it all? He won her over after that one conversation but she wasn’t going to let him get her that easily. It was a game of cat and mouse until they’d eventually fallen for one another.
Push come to shove, they were set to be parents at some point but it was sadly ripped away when Defne suffered a miscarriage. A miscarriage that also tore their relationship apart because she misplaced her feelings of sadness as anger toward him. Every time he rightfully included himself in the conversation, she would stress that his body didn’t go through what hers did and she sadly ended the relationship abruptly. She decided in that moment to fully return her reign of terror over the Asenas. She’d been named after Defne Arslan and it only felt right that she, Defne Bosnak remind everyone exactly why she was.
Occupation: Escort at the mirage (secretly a Full Stack Developer for Ahn Electronics)
Birthplace: Seoul, South Korea - moved to the US at the age of 14
TW: Organized crime, death, violent themes
QUICK FACTS
Born to Jinho Ahn, heir and CFO of Ahn Electronics in South Korea
Her mother, Constance Ahn is an entertainment lawyer in South Korea (she moved there during college and went back to stay after meeting Jinho)
Her father’s family has a long history of being involved in ‘dirty deals’ and this lead to her brother being killed when she was young and her family assumed it to be a White Snake
In result, Jaekyung was sent to Vegas to do further digging on the White Snakes
Moonlighting as someone who is not wealthy and has to resort to escorting to make her way which is why she never invites anyone to her real home, instead she’ll invite them to an apartment she only partially lives in
She was engaged to Blythe and unfortunately couldn’t find the patience to stick around; she has no idea he is in Las Vegas and has been unintentionally avoiding him quite well since her arrival
She is a con-artist, she will use her body or anything else necessary to get the intel needed for snooping on the White Snakes
She is well versed in coding and does contract work, hacking for the right price and delivering an encrypted flashdrive to the paying party
BIO
Jaekyung’s family was incredibly well off, her father being the oldest son and CFO to the Ahn Electronics Company and her mother being an entertainment lawyer. There were a plethora of expectations placed upon her by her father from a very young age. She had no idea that her family had been involved in organized crime since the dawn of time, everything was done with such precision she was simply oblivious to all of the issues happening behind the scenes. As a child, she took ballet lessons, classical opera and computer lessons, all set up by her parents who wanted to train her for the family business. Being the kind of child who went with the flow, allowing herself to be molded into the ideal daughter by her controlling parents, they had minimal issues with doing so to her.
As she grew into her pre-teens, it was evident that she had a knack for making people listen. Her parents immediately took notice and would have her distract their opposition while they stole information right under their noses. Without knowing it, she was officially involved in their organized crime ring and was being pushed to become more involved as time went on. She noticed, though, she had to. Her older brother was killed right in front of her eyes by the gun of someone the family assumed was a White Snake. The anger that boiled inside of her knew no bounds. This was when the family picked up and moved to San Francisco.
Learning English wasn’t absolutely difficult, given her mother spoke English to her often at home and her older brother was fluent in the language before his passing. On the positive end of the move, she realized she no longer needed to have her hair straightened at an attempt to fit in so desperately in the very homogenous society of South Korea. A small win, but a win she considered huge in her book. This was also when she dove deeper into her coding career, but using it to hack the backend of universities to assist her family in wiring money back to their business. Every day, she donned a completely new disguise, gathering information from anyone she could get it out of. She enjoyed it and she wasn’t sure why at all.
After high school, she decided to attend Duke University, majoring in Computer Science. Her focus was so deep on her studies, but her looks garnered attention from the men around her. What did she do with this attention? She used it for intel. The closer she could get to locating any of the White Snakes, the better her family’s life would’ve been and she would stop at nothing. But what was the distraction that came along? Blythe Sweetwine. He was handsome, tall and he seemed to be sweet. Sweet enough to nearly make her forget the mission she was on for her family. They genuinely fell in love, and her parents were supportive, but there were constant reminders to keep her head in the game.
The unfortunate demise of their relationship was her inability to deal with Blythe’s OCD. She felt bad that she wasn’t patient enough, but it was getting in the way of her moving forward in her ultimate mission. When she left him, she left the life she knew behind. Her target was found and she had to make the leap to Nevada. She had to figure out if her parents’ concerns were warranted, or she could let them know that they had nothing to worry about.
Everyone suspects RAFAEL QUINTERO of at least one of the cardinal sins, but in Nevada, the worst sins are bound by blood and this is HIS: THE ASENAS. HE rolled the dice THIRTY YEARS ago as a CLEANER. Under the desert sun, they claim the act of RESTAURANT OWNER/CHEF. They’re often mistaken for TOMMY MARTINEZ before those crimson colored glasses slide down their nose. RAF better get busy living, or they’ll get busy dying by the ripe age of THIRTY. There are no second acts in a marked life, and it’s measured out by the melody of BAD HABIT BY STEVE LACY.
tw parental death, tw fire
Rafael is the second child and oldest son of Fransisco and Maria Quintero, owners of a local Venezuelan restaurant named Moflete, located in the heart of Las Vegas.
Fransisco was Rafael’s idol growing up, in awe of the magic that his father created in the kitchen, and it was never a question that Rafael wanted to follow in his footsteps, even if his culinary skills did not come as easily.
Despite this, he snagged an acceptance to the Culinary Institute of America in San Antionio, Texas, where he attended for two years. There, his skills truly were honed, and the end of his two year associate program saw him off to New York to complete his bachelor’s and break onto the food scene located in the city.
His career in New York skyrocketed, and by twenty five, he was on the rise, having been labeled as one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs, all while working under some of the best chefs in the world.
However, this newfound stardom wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. In his father’s kitchen, he’d always relied on passion rather than skill to push him forward, but that passion had been smothered by the exhaustion and anxiety that came from working in such fast paced, high tension environments.
He knew he couldn’t turn back, however--and that was made even more clear upon returning home the year of the Food & Wine accomplishment, when a fight broke out between Rafael and his father at Fransisco’s refusal to allow Rafael into his kitchen.
Six years had passed between then and the fateful phone call of a year ago, where Rafael learned that Moflete had perished in a fire, and his father with it. It was also around this time that Rafael discovered that Moflete had been on the verge of going under, and it was only through many loans from Asena Bank that the doors had managed to stay open at all.
With the Quintero patriarch unable to pay back what he owed, the responsibility fell onto Rafael with a house visit from The Asenas, and a deed for a new building with his name printed neatly on the page. The message was clear: they’d be making their money back.
Fransisco’s opened barely a month later, serving up classic Venezuelan dishes in honor of the restaurants’ late namesake...and serving as a front for the Asenas to launder money through.
Details/wanted connections:
Heavily inspired by Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto from Hulu’s The Bear.
Can cook the most elaborate of dishes but literally lives off of pb&j’s, Nacho Cheese Doritos, Red Bull and weed when he gets home. If he’s off the clock, he will Not cook for you.
Has no curtains or real furniture in his apartment but most definitely has a $1400 knife used exclusively for fish.
x, x
Has two siblings, an older sister and a younger brother, that are up for grabs, and I would absolutely love to work either a failed marriage or engagement into his background, so both of those are definitely high up on my wanted connections list and open to any gender, as well as a sous chef or any employees of Fransisco’s. Some other wanted connections would definitely be childhood best friends/friends or exes, since he grew up in Las Vegas, frequent customers of either Moflete or Fransisco’s (or both), hookups/one night stands, members of The Asenas keeping an eye on him...
Everyone suspects BROOKS AMATO of at least one of the cardinal sins, but in Nevada, the worst sins are bound by blood and this is HIS: THE FOXES. HE rolled the dice EIGHT YEARS AGO IN NEVADA ago as a VYGYVTSYA. Under the desert sun, they claim the act of BARISTA AT AMBROSIA CAFE. They’re often mistaken for KYLE ALLEN before those crimson colored glasses slide down their nose. BROOKS better get busy living, or they’ll get busy dying by the ripe age of TWENTY-SEVEN. There are no second acts in a marked life, and it’s measured out by the melody of ECHO BY JASON WALKER.
Trigger Warnings: Alcohol/Drug Use, Addiction
BIOGRAPHY.
As the second son of the Amato family, soon to be the middle of the older children, Brooks lived in his older brother’s shadow for a long while. Even after his other siblings were born, he still felt like he was like a little puppy that followed their oldest brother around wherever he went. When he was younger, it was one of his more naive traits, leaving him to abandon any questioning of his brother’s actions when it came to protecting the family. Wherever the eldest failed, Brooks had to fill in and step up to the occasion to be there for the family and his siblings. He was never great at school, no matter how hard he tried. The booksmarts just weren’t there for him like they were for his siblings and he struggled a lot, often times turning to Julia for help with academics or daring to tread on their older brother’s territory by asking if he could help. Of course, his requests to the oldest Amato fell on deaf ears. He was waved off more often than not.
As an impressionable teenager, he was influenced a lot by his brother’s antics. He got into drinking and drug use at the ripe age of fourteen, starting fairly safe with just weed and a some casual drinking. Addiction, though, ran through his veins quite quickly and Brooks ended up being hospitalized at least twice before his senior year. He got so out of control so quickly that he ended up in rehab just two months before graduation, but their family didn’t really have the funds to keep him there longer than a couple months. When he was released at eighteen, Brooks was clean for a while. He was clean enough for his best friend to take note of and she offered him a spot with the Foxes in hopes of keeping him busy, keeping him clean and giving him something to look forward to or work towards. He was hesitant at first, mostly because he knew how dangerous the scene could be, but he eventually began training with them. His best friend led him up in the ranks during his first few years, showing him the ropes because she’d been part of the organization for about two years before him. It was a great support system… at first. This support system turned into a small group that had planned that of an uprising against the members of the Lysytsya family. His best friend’s union became the face of a rebellion against them, and Brooks was part of it all. He grew to despise the family’s reign, finding himself more in the background of it all, but still so very present.
Flash forward to after the rebellion, after the Lysytsya family had been cast off of their throne (Lav aside), after Brooks had established his loyalty and rightful place with the Foxes… Brooks fell back into old habits. One night out with the wrong people and he remembered what it was like to turn to old habits as a form of escapism. A year after the rebellion, Brooks was admitted into rehab again, this time having it paid for by his best friend. She was the one who suggested it, too. He was in and out of rehab for a while after that, only recently becoming fully sober and fully clean. He’s also proving he’s worthy of keeping his position in the Foxes now, trying to save himself from going back to a life that was nothing but hell for him.
BASICS.
CHARACTER FULL NAME: Brooks Amato
CHARACTER AGE AND DATE OF BIRTH: 27 / September 1st
CHARACTER GENDER AND PRONOUNS: Cis Man & He/Him
FACE CLAIM: Kyle Allen
HOMETOWN: Las Vegas, Nevada
CRIME ORGANIZATION AFFILIATION: The Foxes
CRIME ROLE: Vygyvtsya
FAMILY POSITION (IF APPLICABLE): N/A, filling the WC for Julia Amato’s Middle Older Brother
DAYJOB/OCCUPATION: Barista at Ambrosia Cafe
ARE THEY A MARKED AFFILIATE: Yes
