Post by Vash Zwingli on Jun 23, 2011 21:37:52 GMT -5
♦Vash Zwingli♦
((I have come to the conclusion that the single hardest thing to do is find solitary pictures of Switzerland that I like. If you would prefer one of just him I have a back up.))
Basic Information
Character Name Vash Liridon Zwingli
Age 23
Gender male
Country The Swiss Confederation (Switzerland)
Hometown Bern (de facto capitol)
House Position and Job Negotiator/hitman. When he’s not working for the Family he has a garage that he runs where he fixes up and modifies cars. On the weekends and when he gets free time he can often be found in the park acting as a portrait artist
The Whole Story
Looks Don't Mean Everything Vash is a small man—he’s on the thin side of average (if that) and just shy of average height (coming in at somewhere around 5’5”). What weight he has is lean muscle—much of the strength of which is in his arms. His fingers are long and dexterous, perfect for detail work, and the calluses on them mark them as a worker’s hands rather than those of an artist. His yellow-blond hair hangs in his light green eyes half the time, and he’s constantly shaking his head or brushing the hair aside to clear his vision.
He dresses with precision, though not in the latest styles and fabrics. He’s thrifty and so he hasn’t had a new suit in quite a while, but the mending to his current suits is subtle enough that it’s nearly invisible. Vash owns three suits—one white, one black, and one dove-grey. He has a white fedora that he wears out and about-he has a black one as well, but prefers the white one with a red feather in the band. He also has a pair of coveralls to wear in the shop.
He will often forgo his suit coat, taking the heat into consideration, but makes sure to wear one to any professional meets. Even when he’s not wearing one he’ll be sure to carry one. He has a green vest he likes to wear, often with his dark slacks and a pristine white shirt. He wears a cross pendant uner his shirt—the only reminder he has of the religion he practiced growing up.
But Some of Us Are Ugly On the Inside, Too Vash prefers time spent working with his hands to social interaction. He’ll talk with people as work demands, but far prefers remaining silent and observing—the exception to this is during negotiations. He tries to avoid being too nice, preferring the idea of no friends to losing friends. He likes predictability and though he does have a temper he would rather not get caught in a fight (especially if it isn’t “his.”) The one exception to his un-written rule is if and/or when anything happens to his little “sister.” Vash’s motto seems to be, let others to their own business, but if they touch Lili they don’t walk away without at least a black eye and a bruised rib. This is not a man who regularly shows emotion, besides irritation or anger (Lili again being the exception to this rule), but when he does be assure it’s genuine.
The Swiss likes to keep himself to himself and has no time for busybodies. To avoid too much inquiry into his life (by friends or enemies or strangers) he makes sure to put up walls and appear cold. It takes a lot of time and effort, but if you can gain his friendship he is loyal to a fault. Don’t break his trust though. If you do you have a snowflake’s chance in Hell of gaining it back. If he does let anyone past his cold exterior he’s really very gentle—when he wants to be.
He can be very blunt when he gives his opinions, which he isn’t always willing to supply. He’s sarcastic in his critique of others and is aware of how cruel it can be, but really has no desire to change his practice. If you can’t handle it, he doesn’t see a point to continuing his interactions with you. He’s a man of few words, but what he does say he (almost) always means.
I Have a Past: Vash was born in Bern, Switzerland on August 1st 1924 to a mechanic and his wife. They weren’t well-off, but they were pretty comfortable thanks to their frugality. They lived a rather peaceful life until the Second World War broke out. He had made friends with a boy of approximately his age during a trip his family had taken to Austria, but they fell out of contact at the dawn of the War. His father was called up as part of Switzerland’s defense against potential invasion, but came down ill and was sent home when he didn’t grow better. He died in the winter of 1940, leaving his widow and their 16 year old son to survive as best they could.
Vash tried to keep his father’s shop running, but the debts it accrued were more than the income it gained them and it had to be sold. His mother insisted he continue to go to school and the boy consented. Or at least he consented on the surface. He began running for a small-time mob in the city during the time he should have been in class. He was able to quietly pay off most of their debts, but could do nothing to help pay for his mother’s medicine when she came down with tuberculosis when he was 19. He watched her die slowly and painfully and vowed he wouldn’t let that happen to anyone else he cared about—not that there was really anyone on that list at the time.
Just after the end of the War in 1945, Vash was on his way back to his apartment one evening and came across a small girl, looking extremely malnourished, in a back alley. He took her back to his apartment and nursed her back toward health, treating her gently and kindly. He found himself growing fond of her, and offered her a place to stay. She became his sister—they looked just similar enough that they could pass as siblings if anyone asked and he was careful to keep his illegal ties hidden from her for a while. It eventually came to light and he was surprised at the relief he felt when it didn’t change her opinions of him.
They moved to Hawaii to escape some trouble he’d run into within the mob he’d been working for and Vash quickly found himself a place within the German Family’s mafia. He was proficient in the use of firearms and was quick in whatever work he was given. His fluency in so many languages assisted with negotiations and he rapidly worked to where he is hardly a year later.
Other Vash is fluent in German, French, Italian, and English thanks to his national country and the constant traveling through it that his family did when he was younger. He’s also attempting to learn Russian, but it’s giving him a bit more difficulty since he didn’t learn it when he was a child.
He has a tendency to mutter in languages other than the ones the person he’s irritated with speaks.
Always has at least one gun on his person—an underarm holster, and one on his ankle, and sometimes a more obvious one on his hip as well—also carries a switchblade in his pocket though he doesn’t feel as confident with his capabilities with the knife.
Vash is often found sleeping during the middle of the day—due to his activity at night and the amount of time he spends pretending to earn an honest living during the day.
Give Me More:
• Chocolate—though nothing he can find in this hellish heat compares to the chocolate of his home country.
• Snow—not all the time, but enough to cool him down, and there is nothing quite so beautiful as the Alps in the winter—nor so dangerous, in his opinion. He isn’t often homesick, but when he is it usually has something to do with snow or the Alps.
• Firearms—there’s something about the destructive power of them that he respects. The fact that something so small can cause so much damage is an intriguing idea to him and he’s always careful to take care of his.
• Music—he can’t play it, and doesn’t have the patience to learn, but he does like to listen to it.
• A well crafted argument—Vash can argue, and nothing is more frustrating to him than entering a battle of wits with an unarmed man.
• Good art—nothing is worse than someone who claims they can paint/draw/sculpt and then can’t.
• Fast cars—you want to see Vash in an environment where he is relaxed and all but laughing? Put him behind the wheel of his modified car and give him a stretch of empty road—especially if there’s an opportunity to show it off in comparison to someone else’s.
I Could Live Without:
• Busybodies—his business is his own, so stay out of it. This isn’t to say that he won’t pry, he just has very little time for others trying.
• People trying to drag him into their fights—This doesn’t include the Family of course, but otherwise. Don’t expect him to back you up in a fist fight.
• People thinking they’re better than he is—He knows where he belongs in the hierarchy but doesn’t need it rubbed in his face, and he certainly doesn’t need to be dealing with snobs from other Families as well.
• Reading—this isn’t to say that he won’t, he just has other things he prefers.
• Being told who he can and cannot work with when he is working outside of the Family business—he’ll draw portraits of whoever pays him to do so, be they German, French, Russian, Mediterranean, Roman, English, whatever. As long as he gets paid and they don’t interfere with the Family business he will draw for them. And he’ll work with whoever brings a car into his shop—though he’ll charge through the nose if they aren’t referred by the Family.
Roleplay Sample:
Vash leaned against the wall quietly, surveying the car in front of him. It was a gorgeous car and the idiot who’d brought it in had ground the gears until they were so shot it would take ages to repair. He could do it, but for the trouble of dealing with someone who treated a car this nice like a piece of junk and didn’t come with a referral from the Family, he was going to make sure they paid his steepest prices. The Swiss pushed away from the wall and got to work, the weight of the gun at his ankle reassuring.
He looked up at the sound of gunfire a few blocks away, his mind immediately going to Lili. He couldn’t recall where she’d said she was going to be that day and a dull sense of worry settled in the back of his mind. He set his tools aside, wiping his hands off on a rag nearby and shrugged out of the coveralls, picking up his suit coat and second gun, turning the store sign to “closed” and exiting to locate Lili. He knew he wouldn’t be able to focus on work without making sure she was alright.
Out of Character Information
Name Meadow, Meadowlark, Lark, ML, Hey You, etc.
Age 20
Time Zone GMT -8 (Pacific Coast U.S.A)
ContactsWould rather leave this to my own discretion.
Anything Else? Here have a gif
Here, have another
Okay, so I may be heading toward a tad re-obsessed with the X-men fandom, but OH GOD THAT MOVIE.
((And I appear to have posted my app before an approval on my reservation. Ah well))
