| Emilio Gonzalez | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Character Information | |
| Birth Name | Emilio Angel Rodriguez Gonzalez |
| Other Names | El Jefe de Cocina |
| Species | Vampire |
| Clan | Brujah |
| Age | Neonate |
| Gender | Male |
| Orientation | Straight |
| Ethnicity | Mexican |
| Birth | July 29, 1956 Waco, TX |
| Embrace | June 1, 2005 Washington, DC |
| Occupation | Pastry Chef |
| Languages | English, Spanish |
| Powers and abilities | Celerity Potence Presence |
| Connection Information | |
| Sect | Camarilla |
| House | None |
| Relatives | Jesús Gonzalez (son) Velvet (sire) |
| Retainers | None |
| Background Information | |
| Player | NPC |
| Chronicles | DC Chronicle |
| Character Sheet | DC Sheet |
| Archetypes | Champion & Jester |
| Astrological Sign | Leo |
| MBTI Personality | ENFP |
Emilio Gonzalez is a neonate Mexican-American Brujah vampire living in Washington, DC. A member of the Camarilla, he respects his Primogen Bjorn Garinson and occasionally does odd jobs, shakedowns, and intimidations for him, but generally keeps to himself otherwise. He can often be found at Purgatory, where he enjoys drinking and spending time with longtime friends Velvet and Big Keith. He has a reputation as a frightening bouncer and bruiser, something he cultivates intentionally in spite of his easygoing personality.
Biography
Mortal Life
Born in Waco, Texas to immigrant parents from the Yucatan, Emilio did odd jobs from age ten in order to help support them in their farming jobs, becoming well-known in the local community as the one to come to for help. Unfortunately, his parents were deported after a raid on the low-income Latinx neighborhood in which they lived, while the teenage Emilio was left behind due to being at work at the time. With Waco hostile and no opportunity to find or communicate with his parents, he left for Houston, the big city where he hoped to find a meaningful life. It didn't take him long to realize he needed to go to school to have any chance of doing anything he cared about, but with no money and only half his high school degree, even the trade schools seemed out of reach. He told himself he didn't care until he saw an advertisement on the side of a bus for the International Culinary Schools local classes, featuring a smiling woman making empanadas that reminded him powerfully of his mother.
Now Emilio had a goal, and every odd job, supermarket gig, and construction project went toward it. He scraped and saved, first to get his GED, then to get into the school, trying out recipes in his tiny one-room apartment until he was confident enough to apply. The school's staff were confused and distressed by the intimidating tattooed man on their doorstep, but his miguelitos did the talking for him, and he managed to score nearly a full ride, enough to just barely make ends meet.
The two years Emilio spent at the International Culinary School were some of his happiest, but his dreams stayed out of reach, this time because his scholarship ran out and he was no longer able to afford classes, let alone all the materials he needed. Forced to drop out and disconsolate about it, he left Texas and traveled across the country, eventually ending up in Washington, DC, where he began to work as a bouncer and bodyguard. The decades he spent there weren't exactly happy, but they weren't miserable, either, until his casual girlfriend Consuela told him that she was pregnant. He did not take the news well, and spent most of the night getting wasted in a seedy bar... which is where he met Velvet.
Embrace
Emilio was flattered by Velvet's interest; after all, she was tall, jacked, beautiful, and definitely not intimidated by him. Unfortunately, she was looking for a meal, not a love interest, and didn't care about his troubles until she became one of them. Velvet accidentally overdrained him and was forced to Embrace him to keep him from dying. Emilio woke up the next night confused and disoriented and ravenously hungry, but the only clues were an upside-down anarchy symbol drawn on his bathroom mirror in his own blood, and a note that said "Go back to Purgatory."
At Purgatory, a monster of a man named Bjorn Garinson took Emilio in and extremely grudgingly explained what was going on, and the rest was history.
Life in DC
Undead life was an adjustment; Emilio didn't take to having to drink blood and occasionally kill people by accident as easily as some of the other Brujah he met, but it wasn't too different from being a scrappy kid in a lot of ways. Velvet turned out to be a lot of fun to spend time with, and their friendship cemented when she found out (after a very drunk night at Purgatory) about his pastry chef dreams. The next night, he found a wrestling mask full of tuition money in his apartment along with a very mocking note in Spanish. It was enough to get back into the International Culinary School's Arlington branch. Many of the other students thought of his getting a job as pastry chef at a local restaurant as unambitious, but it was finally right where he wanted to be.
Emilio survived the Sabbat conquest of the city, mostly by lying low with Velvet and several Anarchs, the group banding together to fight off packs until the Prince's double-cross regained the city. He avoids Camarilla politics when he can, but is quietly supportive of the Prince, who he respects as someone who clearly has the power to keep things running and seems to care about taking care of his followers. These nights, he splits his time between creating perfect pastry confections at Un Je Ne Sais Quoi and running errands for Bjorn, usually casual intimidation or beat-up jobs.
Personal Life
Although the timing of his Embrace was unfortunate, Emilio still keeps up with his ex-girlfriend Consuela and his biological son Jesús, now eleven years old and completely unaware that his father is one of the undead. Spending too much time with them runs the risk of a Masquerade breach and Emilio worries about putting them in danger, so he is extremely cautious about visiting and never tells any other Kindred that they exist. While Consuela and he are no longer together, he still gives her a little money every month to make sure that she and Jesús are safe and comfortable.
Among the undead, Emilio has many friends but few real romantic prospects, finding it difficult to trust other undead monsters with any kind of vulnerability. He and Velvet have settled into a comfortable jibing friendship and he is glad to keep it that way. Apart from a few one-night stands with other vampires and the occasional human meal, he's found that he's happy with his life the way that it is for now.
Abilities
Emilio is every bit as physically formidable as he looks, although anyone assuming he has no other skills is likely to be unpleasantly surprised.
Skills
Emilio specializes in Mexican pastries and desserts, but he is also well-versed in French patisserie, filled donuts, and cakes. In addition to his work at Un Je Ne Sais Quoi, he also makes custom wedding cakes and cupcakes, churros and donuts for local events, and breakfast pastries for the other tenants in his apartment building. He generally makes them for low cost or even for free if he thinks it would help the locals out; rich people can pay him through the nose at the restaurant instead.
In addition to his prized, expert skills at baking and pastry-making, Emilio is also skilled in motorcycle riding, mechanics repair, and firearms, all skills that he uses regularly in his underworld errands for Bjorn. He also has more than a passing familiarity with immigration law out of necessity, which he has been known to use on behalf of any Latinx community members who might need his help.
Powers
Emilio has only the in-clan Brujah Disciplines of Celerity, Potence, and Presence, although he is extremely skilled in all three. He uses the first two liberally when performing Brujah clan business, the third less often, usually when he's hunting for a meal or avoiding consequences from law enforcement.
Emilio also has the Berserker Merit, which allows him to ignore his physical injuries as long as he's conscious and has the adrenaline pumping, and to enter Frenzy intentionally if he wants to. He seldom uses this skill for obvious reasons; as a Brujah he already has more than enough opportunities to let the Beast take control.