Vince Harris (OC) Application

[vinceh]

The Player.

Your Name: Chris
Your Age: 22
How Did You Find Out of Gas?: Through an Advert on one of the many boards I adverted on!
Previous Roles: Malcolm Reynolds is the only other Firefly character I’ve had, but – Every male from Buffy, Wolverine, Gambit, Pyro….etc etc
Contact Email: [e-mail]


The Core.

Full Name: Vincent Harris
Nickname(s): Vince, Vinny
Birthday: 2494, March 15th
Age: 26
Origin: Jiangyin
Location: On board the Firefly, passenger
Allegiance: Neutral
Occupation: Chef

The Appearance.

Eye Color: Blue-Green
Hair Color: Dirty Blonde
Height && Weight: 5’11”, 177 Lbs

General Description: Vince is usually trying to look comfortable, more then professional. He enjoys wearing a good sweater and sweat pants over a suit and tie any day. He had a spot of facial hair usually. He isn’t one to enjoy being too close shaven. He tends to look relaxed, and almost high at times. For some reason, sandals or flip-flops seem to be his best course of footwear, unless of course he’s being forced to go outside. His teeth are rather white though. And he can be seen having moments of uptightness. Mostly when he feels that nobody is around. An act, but one he hopes nobody is nonethewiser about.

The Personality.

Likes && Dislikes: Vince likes the simple things in life at this moment. He enjoys being able to sit around and talk with his friends. Sometimes a nice meal with plenty of jokes can be the best thing in the world. He does have a bit of a weakness for red-heads, though as long as they can give him that smile then he’s usually sold. Comfy beds are great too. And so is sharing them….

The young man dislikes anything pertaining to the Alliance. Also, anything that he deems is too cruel or unjust. He is far from a knight, but doesn’t think that many people deserve the fate of death. Also, dislikes the smell of dead things, along with his distaste for seeing anybody else bleed. Dislikes having to sleep in a bed by himself, but who doesn’t?

Interests && Hobbies: Vince loves to cook. He likes to see people enjoy themselves over a meal that he has created! Nothing gives him more joy then to know just how much they do enjoy it. Though he isn't exactly trained, just has had plenty of ingredients from working on the farm. And a willingness to figure out what works well. He likes to tinker with objects, and figure out how they work. Also, if there is some drinking games going on, count him in! He enjoys getting to know people like this, as there tends to be very little awkward moments.

Strengths: Vince is usually not too afraid of authority. He can keep a level head under most situations that aren’t life or death. Just jail or no jail! He can shoot a gun. Has seen a few ways to torture, though will only do it if he feels the person deserves it. He has a relatively sharp mind for someone born on a cattle ranch, only reason he was able to get into the Alliance training programs. A soft smile, that he’s used to get out of a couple of digressions. He also is a strong dancer. Not to mention that he has been known to drink just about anybody under the table. Also, he has a small knowledge about how engines work and what needs to be done to fix them. No where near Kaylee’s, but he’s been trying to round himself out to get work without many questions.

Weaknesses: He can be quick to anger if you try to corner him. A spot on the violent side as well if pushed too far. He has a weak stomach though, and can’t deal too well with human blood. It urks him somethin’ awful! He has passed out a few times from seeing a couple of surgeries on friends to patch them up. Math is just something, he wishes was never brought into the ‘Verse. Anything above simple multiplication and he’s at a loss. He also doesn’t know when exactly to back down. If you approach him and try something, and back down yourself he’ll usually continue it. For no reason more then he doesn’t like to be bested. He also can be very jealous of his girlfriends, or just people he’s slept with in general. He has a few issues from his parents not caring much for him, and this is one of those that stems off from that.

Secrets: He was trained to become a member of the Alliance, but after seeing some of the truths about them he ran away. He is a fugitive on the run! Trying to make himself useful to a ship and keep away from the Alliance.

Overall Personality: Harris can be the shy, quiet type at times. Especially when in a completely new situation to him. However, he can turn on the charm and push himself away from a situation as well though when he does this, he is not willing to share any personal information. This is rare though, and only when he knows that he's gotta do something to break the ice.

For the most part however, he's rather cool and laid back. He enjoys spending time with friends when he can. Just like anyone else would really. He is a joker type of guy, more willing to make fun of something then to talk serious about it. It takes grit, and determination to get him to open up too much. He's not used to anyone willing to try that hard anyway.

The Family.

Parents && Siblings: Mom and Dad, Mr. And Mrs. Harris is all he really knows them by. Since he has been on the run, he isn’t able to talk to them. He misses them, but just enough to let them know he’s not dead. He can only hope that they do miss him back.

Character History: Vince's early life was a rather boring one. He was an only child until he was twelve, and then was able to use school as a way to forget about the minor abandonment issues that kids that grow up like this tend to suffer. Though his parents didn't do anything purposefully, he was just used to the attention that being an only child got. But it did force him to take his grades very seriously, as a way to get praise from them. A little extra cherry on his little slice of pie.

Vince started a high level, top 10 in his class in any event. Though being from a cattle ranching planet, that was only so good. His math grades are what really brought him down from being one of the top one or two. He went to one of the top academies that he could possibly afford. After graduation, Vince was brought in by the Alliance to do security for some of there 'projects.' It didn't take him long though, to figure out what was going on and pack up his bags. It was at this time that he figured he would have to leave everyone, and everything of his life behind. There was no way that he could get out of this without having a permanent, and huge scar on his record.

Vincent knew that he had to leave. There was nothing that could keep him there. No amount of money, nor threats would let him witness these atrocities any longer. He fled from the base, and has been hopping ships ever since. Looking for a fleet that would take him in, and allow him safe passage. In exchange of course, for any service that he could possibly give. Maybe Serenity would be his last stop…

The Edge.

Something Unique: I like Will Smith…? O.o
Role Playing Sample:

This was the third ship in less then a month. Vincent was beginning to run out of money already. They were starting to charge a little bit more each time, and he could only wonder why. The Alliance was looking for him, but he was staying around the outer rims. And not staying anywhere for more then a few weeks. None of the crews seemed in a hurry to let him stay on board either. Even with his ability to do a good amount for little pay.

Seemed like word traveled fast. He made sure to try and call his parents, whenever he was just about to leave a world if he could. They'd never answer, knowing it was him but let him leave a brief message and explain that he was alright. "Mom, Dad...I'm still alive." That was all it usually had on it. And he could only hope that they understood why he was doing this. Even though he knew, they’d probably turn him in the second he told them exactly where he was.

Today was a little different though. There was a Firefly vessel, that had been ready to take on one or two passengers today. And they didn't seem to run the same type of background check that a lot of these types of vessels did. He wouldn't complain though. He really needed a ship to stay on, even if he knew they were up to some sort of illegal activities!

"Names Vince." He smiled as he saw the Captain of the ship. But was ignored, as he was yelling out orders to his crew. Just like all the other captains on every other ship he had been on tended to do. Though this one seemed to have a bit more emotion for everyone. Even if he was trying to hide it.

Face Claim: Jensen Ackles

[Lawman]

I'd like to start out with a howdy and welcome. Now on to the rougher patches of building a strong character.

It's a good start. you do meet all the requirements, but it feels a bit incomplete to me. I find myself asking questions that I don't think you asked yourself. So let's look at some of those.

1. The Alliance. It's the name of the government, not an organization. If you mean that he was training to become an officer, a 'lawman' as it were, someone who works for the government, then you need to clarify, as in, was he training to become military? An operative? What was it exactly that he was doing? You need to go into detail as to what it was exactly that turned him away. Just saying, "he saw stuff he didn't like" doesn't help you or me know about the character, and could be tricky later on to try and explain to a character when you role play, even if that's not for some time. Did he graduate and start working for them, only to find that their cruel and cold shoulder was something that turned his stomach? That they were ruthless? Or was he forced to kill someone who didn't deserve to die? What caused him to start hating the Alliance? This leads me into number two.

2. Why is it that he's on the run? In Serenity, when the Operative says that the Alliance knows that he is 'no longer their man' doesn't mean he went on the run, doesn't mean that the Alliance was going to hunt him down. The Alliance, if anything, is lazy. This is proven in Bushwhacked when the patrol is in the town when the medicine gets stolen, and instead of letting a few men stay to help figure things out, the uppers just sent everyone on their way, not helping at all. The only reason why River was pursued so heatedly is because her abilities were invested in by Blue Sun, and it was super-top-secret military. Since we can assume your character's not top military (since he came from Jiangyn, which is something else I'll cover in a second, and it would be sort of Gary Stu), then we know that there's not much invested in him and that the Alliance probably wouldn't pursue him. So, I'd suggest dropping that or creating something or someone else that would be looking for him. Maybe he borrowed money from the wrong people and couldn't pay it back, so they are after him; that would be more feasible than the Alliance chasing after him. (Also, that plot is kind of already baked by the Tams, and it's boring to play the same thing over and over.)

3. Jiangyn. It's a backwater world, keep that in mind. Yes, there are cities, and yes, there are places where there might be some civilized folk, but it's not a wealthy planet. Anyone who lives there probably would be considered lower-middle class toward the Core, even if they are considered wealthy on the planet. I'd assume he went to school on the planet and then probably worked a while to go to any school even near Persephone, let alone any actual Core world. Scholarships, the like, you should also mention those sorts of things.

4. His parents; I'm sure he would know his parents names, and even if he doesn't, you should. It's important to develop that part of a character because families are a very important factor in a person's life. If they were there or not, how kind they were, what kind of punishments were dealt, they all play a factor in the personalities of people. You also mention that he was an only child until he was 12 - what happened then? You didn't mention any siblings; what was their name, how did their birth affect him? Did they have fun as the other child grew up? Did his parents have any more kids after that?

5. Personality - you should really dive in. Right now it's weak sauce, doesn't have any impacting flavors or the like. Think about your own personality; yes, you may be nice some of the times, and other times you may just freak out, but what is the norm? Anti-social I understand, reserved I understand, but there are other things. Let's take myself, for example. I am very anti-social when the mood hits me, and sometimes that can also mean I am lazy. I sit around my house and do nothing but watch TV, play video games, and the like. I rarely clean my house unless I have to, but when I do clean it's a very, very bangup job. If I am in the mood to hang out with friends I am very giving, very kind, very compassionate and a great listener - but I also am selfish and have to have a lot of attention. What I am getting at is there are two sides to every coin, and then an edge around those sides; some coins have a rough edge, some have smooth, and some coins are worth more than others but lighter than the lesser. Your personality should be balanced, it should be inclusive of the person. The best suggestion I have for developing a personality is to just think of your character as a friend of yours, and to pretend that you're trying to describe them to someone else.

That said, you should also try and take into account that your history affects your personality - everything you do has an effect on how you react to others. I'm anti-social because I never played with kids when I was younger. I never played with kids when I was younger because I moved around a lot and my mom needed my help because she's disabled. The two are very entwined, so keep that in your thoughts when you write both the history and personality.

...

I think that should be enough for now. There are more points that I think you and I could cover, but I'd like to see what you can pull from this and then how you make your edits, and how the app turns out after that, then we'll see if there's anything more to discuss in building your character.