Gustavo Fring (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sangreporsangre) wrote2014-09-29 01:14 pm
sangreporsangre) wrote2014-09-29 01:14 pm
(no subject)
Name: Danni
Contact Info:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
reenact, khajixda @ AIM, purewhiteglastonbury@gmail.com
Other Characters Played: Travis Touchdown, Tony Chu; apping in Caesar Zeppeli this round.
Requested apartment: Somewhere where he can be alone, or with as few roommates as possible; if that won't work, anything will be fine!
Character Name: Gustavo Fring
Canon: Breaking Bad
Canon Point: 4x11, "Crawl Space"
Background/History: "I hide in plain sight, same as you."
Personality:
Gus’s story, while one of great success and hard work, is nothing out of the ordinary. Immigrating to Mexico in 1986 to escape Pinochet’s regime in Chile, he opened a restaurant, earned an entry visa to the United States in 1989, and turned the restaurant, Los Pollos Hermanos, into a chain. These days, he is also a community leader: much of his company’s profits go to good causes, and he has even donated funding to scholarships, the police department, and so on. A family man and a giver, Gus believes not only in taking care of his own, but in supporting those less fortunate. After all, everyone deserves the chance to succeed as he has.
Ambitious. Community-minded. Well-mannered. All in all, Gus Fring has nothing to hide. He is an average, upstanding, and kind man.
This is, of course, what he has taken careful pains to have the world believe.
In reality, behind the veil of generosity and legality is a businessman of terrifying ability; coolly strategic to the point of ruthlessness, Gustavo Fring rules over a border-crossing drug empire worth millions, even billions. All of this is under the nose of the DEA—whom he, by the way, donates to every year. Gus’ philosophy is that of hiding “in plain sight”: he moves like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, using this history of goodness and upstanding-ness to protect himself and establish a reputation that makes suspecting him for any of his true activities near impossible. Which also assures that Gus is incredibly reluctant to trust, even if he gives any sort of impression otherwise.
He’s careful enough to leave light tracks and to cover them up wherever he goes; it’s even implied that the erasure of his records prior to 1986 has something to do with a cover-up of his previous military history. Secret cameras, "meetings" where he never directly meets those he's speaking to, messages sent through proxy messengers or untraceable phones: surreptitiousness is the name of the game, and it is incredibly vital to ensuring that all of his business runs smoothly and without interference from anyone not in the know.
Gus is a man of ambition and pride. He seeks the best, aims to be the best, and is always aiming for improvement and excellence in everything he does, from his the quality of his product to the reliability of his employees. He is always aware of the way that he appears to others and is extremely conscious of his reputation; when it all boils down to its most basic elements, Gus is a businessman looking to make his company and its product as high quality and smoothly run as possible. He is also extremely neat and professional, even when working in the drug trade. He's fastidious, polite and well-dressed, and is all about-- well-- customer service, and ensuring that everything he does is satisfying as well as lucrative.
Rather than blind arrogance, however, Gus is tactful enough to know where and when to showcase his power. Contrary to, say, Walter White, who feels the need to continually assert his power, Gus does what he has to do in order to, in the long run, establish his power in a more solid, permanent way—including having to present himself as passive or subservient when he is really anything but. He is extremely comfortable working behind the scenes or crafting extensive, big-picture plans that stretch out over long periods of time: so long as it leads to eventual success, he can and will do whatever is necessary. Thus, he holds control over even situations where he’s strategically given control to another person; for example, he’ll allow people to talk over him in conversations and ask questions while he listens, if only to be able to discreetly direct the flow of their words. He's also willing to get his hands dirty, if necessary-- working on an individual level with employees in his restaurant, for example. In short, he doesn’t force people to acknowledge that he is in charge; it’s enough for him to know that he holds power.
In addition to his intelligence and mind for strategy, Gus possesses great emotional intelligence. Whether or not he’s legitimately expressing empathy for other people or is just very, very good at understanding their emotions and faking his compassion is another question entirely (and, in truth, it varies), but the fact remains that he knows exactly how to read people and often knows exactly what to say. This can often lead him to some very serious degrees of emotional manipulation, from the long-term and subtle (maintaining strategic friendships with high-ranking members of the police force to instill bias in the event he's ever suspected) to, again, the way that he presents himself-- his entire friendly neighbor persona is in itself a big manipulative scheme. He's even capable of constructing elaborate situations in order to do this in the short term: for example, he sent someone to "kill" Mike Ehrmantraut to allow Jesse Pinkman to save Mike, which not only emotionally validated him through his heroism, but gave Jesse incentive to continue to work with Gus and Mike and to slowly shift his loyalties away from Walt and toward Gus' cause.
This doesn't mean that he doesn't legitimately seek the best from people. As I've said previously, Gus expects the best from himself as well as from people whom he has employed. He says himself, "I like to think I see things in people"; Gus' agenda, though largely for the sake of his own cause, is also one of bringing out the potential of those who wouldn't otherwise have those parts of themselves fostered. While his scholarship is primarily a way to groom future meth cooks for his business, seeing others brought up through his own efforts is extremely satisfying for Gus to know he's had a part in. He does actually care, at least a little-- but his needs, of course, will always come first. After all, his allies must always be top quality. While his family is never seen in the series, it can be inferred that his own family is afforded the same care and grooming as his drug family.
Gus' patience and endurance shows through on all counts, but never more than in his capacity to hold a grudge that burns for years. Over the 20 years of building up both his drug and business empire, everything had built up to gradually, but completely, annihilating everyone and anyone connected to those who killed his business (and, though left ambiguous, possibly romantic) partner, Max Arciniega. Max was shot in the head before his eyes, and Gus was thrown to the ground and forced to watch the blood drain from his wound-- the trauma was powerful enough to send him on this quest for revenge (and in this canon point, he's finally achieved it). From allying himself with those he wanted nothing more than to destroy entirely to actually working and behaving on a friendly basis with them, there's almost no limit to the lengths that Gus will go to when he bears a grudge.
Furthermore, the lingering effects of this traumatic event are indelible. Where in his naivete he tried to negotiate with businesslike practices alone, Gustavo is now willing to go even further. He's ruthless, in short. But he's not sloppy about it: Gus exercises his own limitations and knows when to play his cards and when to keep his hand hidden with regards to the violence that he is capable of inflicting. He'll slit the throat of a trusted employee without flinching, and he'll go to great lengths to avoid violence depending on the situation-- but what's most important is that the difference is not a moral or an emotional one. None of it means anything to him. Violence doesn't overtly phase him, and neither does the concept of his own mortality. He actually seems to be even more anxious about his business being exposed than himself getting literally sniped. The only thing that matters is the security of his empire, and if he has to spill blood to protect it, he won't shy from it. This doesn't, however, mean that he's indiscriminate about who he kills or has killed for him. Everything is based on utility and practicality rather than whether it's a "good thing" or a "bad thing" to do.
His facade, while a huge asset, is also his most vital weakness. Gus, as focused as he is on his image and his empire, very rarely falters. He's so horribly detached from his real emotions that the vast majority of his persona is dedicated to things that would further his business or make his persona look good. He's typically very good at rolling with the punches, but if chaotic elements-- too hard to work around and too important to completely eliminate-- are introduced, then he does, however, lose his almost unbreakable cool. While incredibly rare, it's definitely possible, and Gus on his last nerve is someone to be feared.
Finally, Gus also views his role as a leader and a provider, as a personal obligation, connected to his pride as both a father and a man in general. Especially now, without the hovering promise of vengeance, caring for his empire has become his number one priority. Having left so much of his genuine warmth behind, it might also be said that it's his only priority left, with everything else revolving directly around it. It's a responsibility that he has created for himself, and as a man who pursues excellence in all things, whether he is thanked or not doesn't matter, so long as he is filling the niche that he has carved for himself.
Abilities/Powers: Gus is a normal human being; apart from his own intelligence, he has no extraordinary powers.
Items/Weapons: An extra pair of glasses and a box cutter.
Sample Entry: Post in the test comm.
Sample Entry Two:
A store bought platter of raw vegetables, placed carefully in the middle of the table: in spite of the reason (the restructuring of the cartel's borders, and their territory hedging into his own-- there'd been a death or two, so it'd been a reasonably irritating dispute, in the end) setting these out is still a habit. For the more important guests, at the very least. The cheap glue seal breaks with a tiny snap, and Gustavo's fingers, almost too practiced and neat for the mundane task, peel the cellophane away from the plastic tray.
Of course, he needn't offer them a damn thing. What does the cartel owe him, if not their blood-- after all they've done to him?
But that... that's not an issue for this day. For twenty years, he has bidden his time: he can take one more day (and yet another, and yet one more). In the meantime, he will deal with them, and he will be as polite to them as he is to anyone he's legally affiliated with. He'd never give anything less.
And why should he offer any less? Because, in the end, it is all business, isn't it? Stripped down to its most basic elements, nothing truly changes: a supply to give, a demand to meet, customers consuming. A product. Territory, fast food. Methamphetamine. The plastic crinkles in his fist as he balls it up and drops it into a wastebin on his way to the door.
And perfectly on time, too. Outside the portable building he's using for an office, gravel crunches beneath a single set of tires, and Gus tugs the hem of his sleeve up to look at his watch. They're right on schedule. As inconsiderate as the cartel is as a collaborator, they're at least punctual. When they need something, that is.
Gustavo's hands do not shake on the door's handle; his features do not contort in anger. He has been still and placid for years. It's one more meeting. It's one step closer to the completion of his vengeance. That alone is worth the wait of twenty more years.
He opens the door, spreads a hand in greeting, and grins wide, lips curling gently. He speaks in comfortably enunciated Spanish. He does not show his teeth.
"Welcome, gentlemen." With a nod and a gesture of his hand, he ushers the four men up the steps and into his office. "Please, come inside."
Contact Info:
Other Characters Played: Travis Touchdown, Tony Chu; apping in Caesar Zeppeli this round.
Requested apartment: Somewhere where he can be alone, or with as few roommates as possible; if that won't work, anything will be fine!
Character Name: Gustavo Fring
Canon: Breaking Bad
Canon Point: 4x11, "Crawl Space"
Background/History: "I hide in plain sight, same as you."
Personality:
Gus’s story, while one of great success and hard work, is nothing out of the ordinary. Immigrating to Mexico in 1986 to escape Pinochet’s regime in Chile, he opened a restaurant, earned an entry visa to the United States in 1989, and turned the restaurant, Los Pollos Hermanos, into a chain. These days, he is also a community leader: much of his company’s profits go to good causes, and he has even donated funding to scholarships, the police department, and so on. A family man and a giver, Gus believes not only in taking care of his own, but in supporting those less fortunate. After all, everyone deserves the chance to succeed as he has.
Ambitious. Community-minded. Well-mannered. All in all, Gus Fring has nothing to hide. He is an average, upstanding, and kind man.
This is, of course, what he has taken careful pains to have the world believe.
In reality, behind the veil of generosity and legality is a businessman of terrifying ability; coolly strategic to the point of ruthlessness, Gustavo Fring rules over a border-crossing drug empire worth millions, even billions. All of this is under the nose of the DEA—whom he, by the way, donates to every year. Gus’ philosophy is that of hiding “in plain sight”: he moves like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, using this history of goodness and upstanding-ness to protect himself and establish a reputation that makes suspecting him for any of his true activities near impossible. Which also assures that Gus is incredibly reluctant to trust, even if he gives any sort of impression otherwise.
He’s careful enough to leave light tracks and to cover them up wherever he goes; it’s even implied that the erasure of his records prior to 1986 has something to do with a cover-up of his previous military history. Secret cameras, "meetings" where he never directly meets those he's speaking to, messages sent through proxy messengers or untraceable phones: surreptitiousness is the name of the game, and it is incredibly vital to ensuring that all of his business runs smoothly and without interference from anyone not in the know.
Gus is a man of ambition and pride. He seeks the best, aims to be the best, and is always aiming for improvement and excellence in everything he does, from his the quality of his product to the reliability of his employees. He is always aware of the way that he appears to others and is extremely conscious of his reputation; when it all boils down to its most basic elements, Gus is a businessman looking to make his company and its product as high quality and smoothly run as possible. He is also extremely neat and professional, even when working in the drug trade. He's fastidious, polite and well-dressed, and is all about-- well-- customer service, and ensuring that everything he does is satisfying as well as lucrative.
Rather than blind arrogance, however, Gus is tactful enough to know where and when to showcase his power. Contrary to, say, Walter White, who feels the need to continually assert his power, Gus does what he has to do in order to, in the long run, establish his power in a more solid, permanent way—including having to present himself as passive or subservient when he is really anything but. He is extremely comfortable working behind the scenes or crafting extensive, big-picture plans that stretch out over long periods of time: so long as it leads to eventual success, he can and will do whatever is necessary. Thus, he holds control over even situations where he’s strategically given control to another person; for example, he’ll allow people to talk over him in conversations and ask questions while he listens, if only to be able to discreetly direct the flow of their words. He's also willing to get his hands dirty, if necessary-- working on an individual level with employees in his restaurant, for example. In short, he doesn’t force people to acknowledge that he is in charge; it’s enough for him to know that he holds power.
In addition to his intelligence and mind for strategy, Gus possesses great emotional intelligence. Whether or not he’s legitimately expressing empathy for other people or is just very, very good at understanding their emotions and faking his compassion is another question entirely (and, in truth, it varies), but the fact remains that he knows exactly how to read people and often knows exactly what to say. This can often lead him to some very serious degrees of emotional manipulation, from the long-term and subtle (maintaining strategic friendships with high-ranking members of the police force to instill bias in the event he's ever suspected) to, again, the way that he presents himself-- his entire friendly neighbor persona is in itself a big manipulative scheme. He's even capable of constructing elaborate situations in order to do this in the short term: for example, he sent someone to "kill" Mike Ehrmantraut to allow Jesse Pinkman to save Mike, which not only emotionally validated him through his heroism, but gave Jesse incentive to continue to work with Gus and Mike and to slowly shift his loyalties away from Walt and toward Gus' cause.
This doesn't mean that he doesn't legitimately seek the best from people. As I've said previously, Gus expects the best from himself as well as from people whom he has employed. He says himself, "I like to think I see things in people"; Gus' agenda, though largely for the sake of his own cause, is also one of bringing out the potential of those who wouldn't otherwise have those parts of themselves fostered. While his scholarship is primarily a way to groom future meth cooks for his business, seeing others brought up through his own efforts is extremely satisfying for Gus to know he's had a part in. He does actually care, at least a little-- but his needs, of course, will always come first. After all, his allies must always be top quality. While his family is never seen in the series, it can be inferred that his own family is afforded the same care and grooming as his drug family.
Gus' patience and endurance shows through on all counts, but never more than in his capacity to hold a grudge that burns for years. Over the 20 years of building up both his drug and business empire, everything had built up to gradually, but completely, annihilating everyone and anyone connected to those who killed his business (and, though left ambiguous, possibly romantic) partner, Max Arciniega. Max was shot in the head before his eyes, and Gus was thrown to the ground and forced to watch the blood drain from his wound-- the trauma was powerful enough to send him on this quest for revenge (and in this canon point, he's finally achieved it). From allying himself with those he wanted nothing more than to destroy entirely to actually working and behaving on a friendly basis with them, there's almost no limit to the lengths that Gus will go to when he bears a grudge.
Furthermore, the lingering effects of this traumatic event are indelible. Where in his naivete he tried to negotiate with businesslike practices alone, Gustavo is now willing to go even further. He's ruthless, in short. But he's not sloppy about it: Gus exercises his own limitations and knows when to play his cards and when to keep his hand hidden with regards to the violence that he is capable of inflicting. He'll slit the throat of a trusted employee without flinching, and he'll go to great lengths to avoid violence depending on the situation-- but what's most important is that the difference is not a moral or an emotional one. None of it means anything to him. Violence doesn't overtly phase him, and neither does the concept of his own mortality. He actually seems to be even more anxious about his business being exposed than himself getting literally sniped. The only thing that matters is the security of his empire, and if he has to spill blood to protect it, he won't shy from it. This doesn't, however, mean that he's indiscriminate about who he kills or has killed for him. Everything is based on utility and practicality rather than whether it's a "good thing" or a "bad thing" to do.
His facade, while a huge asset, is also his most vital weakness. Gus, as focused as he is on his image and his empire, very rarely falters. He's so horribly detached from his real emotions that the vast majority of his persona is dedicated to things that would further his business or make his persona look good. He's typically very good at rolling with the punches, but if chaotic elements-- too hard to work around and too important to completely eliminate-- are introduced, then he does, however, lose his almost unbreakable cool. While incredibly rare, it's definitely possible, and Gus on his last nerve is someone to be feared.
Finally, Gus also views his role as a leader and a provider, as a personal obligation, connected to his pride as both a father and a man in general. Especially now, without the hovering promise of vengeance, caring for his empire has become his number one priority. Having left so much of his genuine warmth behind, it might also be said that it's his only priority left, with everything else revolving directly around it. It's a responsibility that he has created for himself, and as a man who pursues excellence in all things, whether he is thanked or not doesn't matter, so long as he is filling the niche that he has carved for himself.
Abilities/Powers: Gus is a normal human being; apart from his own intelligence, he has no extraordinary powers.
Items/Weapons: An extra pair of glasses and a box cutter.
Sample Entry: Post in the test comm.
Sample Entry Two:
A store bought platter of raw vegetables, placed carefully in the middle of the table: in spite of the reason (the restructuring of the cartel's borders, and their territory hedging into his own-- there'd been a death or two, so it'd been a reasonably irritating dispute, in the end) setting these out is still a habit. For the more important guests, at the very least. The cheap glue seal breaks with a tiny snap, and Gustavo's fingers, almost too practiced and neat for the mundane task, peel the cellophane away from the plastic tray.
Of course, he needn't offer them a damn thing. What does the cartel owe him, if not their blood-- after all they've done to him?
But that... that's not an issue for this day. For twenty years, he has bidden his time: he can take one more day (and yet another, and yet one more). In the meantime, he will deal with them, and he will be as polite to them as he is to anyone he's legally affiliated with. He'd never give anything less.
And why should he offer any less? Because, in the end, it is all business, isn't it? Stripped down to its most basic elements, nothing truly changes: a supply to give, a demand to meet, customers consuming. A product. Territory, fast food. Methamphetamine. The plastic crinkles in his fist as he balls it up and drops it into a wastebin on his way to the door.
And perfectly on time, too. Outside the portable building he's using for an office, gravel crunches beneath a single set of tires, and Gus tugs the hem of his sleeve up to look at his watch. They're right on schedule. As inconsiderate as the cartel is as a collaborator, they're at least punctual. When they need something, that is.
Gustavo's hands do not shake on the door's handle; his features do not contort in anger. He has been still and placid for years. It's one more meeting. It's one step closer to the completion of his vengeance. That alone is worth the wait of twenty more years.
He opens the door, spreads a hand in greeting, and grins wide, lips curling gently. He speaks in comfortably enunciated Spanish. He does not show his teeth.
"Welcome, gentlemen." With a nod and a gesture of his hand, he ushers the four men up the steps and into his office. "Please, come inside."