Bit late at making my introductions here, sorry, forum registration took a bit longer than expected.

Vanessa was born and raised in Trenton, PA, only child to a Latino mom and Chinese American dad. Pretty early in her childhood, it became apparent she was suffering from some degenerative retinal disease, by the time she finished kindergarten she was legally blind, and shortly before her 10th birthday all light disappeared from her world forever. Around that same time, her father left the family, not ready to put up with a disabled child, but even less so with a wife that turned into mostly a nurse/caretaker and otherwise nagging bitch, blaming him and his rotten genes for her baby's misfortune. (one of his sisters had developed a similar condition)

Regardless of the divorce, her mom decided Vanessa should stick with her dad's name, partly because she didn't want all her school files altered, partly because she thought she'd fare better as a Chen than as a Gonzales.

Despite those low blows in her early childhood, Vanessa grew into a bright and happy girl, determined not to let her handicap hold her back in any way, she already had an overprotective mother for that.

After graduating High School she went on to become a massage therapist, somewhat stereotypical maybe but still a great way to do something beneficial to people.

The older she got, however, the stronger her need for more independence became and the more obvious the fact her mother was unwilling to let go. Thus, shortly after completing her job training, she decided to take matters into her own hands and started sending job applications to Hathian, planning to move here because she was hoping to finally hook up with her old bestie from High School, whom she had a huge crush on back then already and who went to study at CU.

Alas, within 24 hours of arriving here, she found her plans crumbling to dust. Her designated Girlfriend-to-be she found 5 months pregnant and engaged to a guy, and the job she signed up for in advance... well... admittedly it never occurred to her to ask exactly WHAT kind of a massage salon that was, but then again, her application clearly stated her qualifications so who would've guessed that?!? In hindsight, the request for a Bikini shot of hers seemed a bit odd, but back then she thought nothing of it.

However, her only alternative being to admit defeat and come crawling back to mom, she decided to put up with it for now for lack of employment alternatives. Her only other job offer so far was that of a stripper, and being completely blind she's very prone to motion sickness, thus swinging around a dance pole sounds even less appealing. Instead she now plans on enrolling at CU eventually, if she can gather the funds necessary and with any luck obtain a law degree and enter the public defenders' office eventually.

OOC Info on my char here: I'm using a hud overlay tool that simulates blindness in such a way that I only can make out shapes within a few meters of my ava but cannot see any textures, colors, or floating text. Other avatars appear as shapeless grey blobs to me until they get so close to me I can look at them my way, i.e. feel them. For those interested, this here is what Vanessa's world looks like. But despite living in eternal darkness, she's a bright and happy soul.