Mareesa Williams - The Drama QueenName: Mareesa Ariala Williams (her middle name is never used) Nickname: Mary, May Code Name: Drama Queen Affiliation: The Brotherhood (at the moment… potential to get to Xavier’s *has grown fond of her while typing*) Legal Status: unregistered mutant;
criminal record including blackmailing, drug abuse and dealing, aiding and abetting of murder, murder
as of 2022 cleared of all charges, sudden deletion of criminal record except for some minor offences (youth crime, mild punishment, never executed) Occupation: showgirl, singer (mostly both at once) Place of Birth: New York City Marital Status: single but never alone Gender: female Age: 21 Birthday: July 15th Hair: varying, currently blond with black streaks flowing over shoulders Eyes: two, light turquoise-blue (the color of the sunlit part of the sea) Height: 175cm Weight: 53kg
Mother: Shawna Williams (alive, made-up) Father: Derrick Higgles (alive, made-up) Other Important Relatives: Patrick Williams (uncle, alive, made-up)
Powers:
Everything and nothing at all should be the best way to describe what she's able to do. For a better overview, I'll split it up although it's actually one and the same power...
Spotlight/Spotlighting
The ability to draw the attention of each and everyone towards her as if a fanfare had just announced her presence. If she concentrates hard, she might be able to limit this effect on one person or a certain group only.
This doesn't at all influence the "victims"' attitude towards her though.
When you imagine a small sports arena or the main hall of a shopping center, that's about the size of an area in which Spotlighting is effective (roughly shouting distance).
Big Show
Once people look at her, the Drama Queen is able to create illusionary forms and sounds around her (and only around her; from there, the effect can hover away for a few metres and then simply vanishes. Sounds can be heard as far as its natural equivalent) to either intimidate the other (e.g. by pretending there was a tornado whirling around her and then speeding towards the other whereas it would disappear when there is too large a distance between the illusion and her or the others close their eyes), impress or be silly (e.g. little glittery hearts swirling around if she wants to mock about someone... which happens quite often).
In any case, the Big Show is absolutely convincing unless she wants it not to be and if it is her will, even the most ridiculous things like whales coming your way in the middle of a desert can seem very real and frightening or on the contrary, charmingly beautiful and calming. Contrary to Spotlight, the Show can influence another's feelings but still not the attitude towards the Drama Queen herself.
Generally, light effects (like a glittering, blurry hue around her she calls “Marvel” and sometimes has an arousing effect at men) and related things are much easier for her to control than complex structures. A mirage of a herd of elephants for instance she wouldn’t be able to keep up for long.
The illusion (and thus the invoked sentiments) always ends for the enchanted person if s/he either closes the eyes or something contradicting the chimera occurs (e.g. the pizzaboy walking right through the gigantic, hungry alligator). This as well can be aimed at everyone in a room or certain people - basically everyone, she had forced to look at her via Spotlight before.
History:
Mareesa Ariala Williams was born to Shawna, the prostitute. One of her customers had insisted on unsafe intercourse and since the money he offered had been more than just right, she had agreed only to find herself pregnant and unable to get hold of the father-to-be. There was little she could do about it. An abortion she could not afford and killing the child with mere brutality would have meant to risk her health and beauty, two things she was dependant on more than anything else.
Eight months of pregnancy Shawna continued working. There is a market for every fetish and as sick as it felt even to her, there were more than enough men who paid even double the normal price to sleep with her. When she gave birth to her daughter, a part of the whore wished the uncomfortable state before had kept up longer for instead of earning more, she suddenly had to spend more money than before – something she had severe problems with. Yet she was young and realizing that maybe another source of income would improve her situation, she became a showgirl in her brother Patrick’s establishment where she unofficially offered “special services”, thus having her regular salary and extra cash. It had been quite a smart decision, so she thought.
Everybody is born alone and dies alone.
This simple truth Mareesa had to discover at early age growing up in a small apartment right above the strip club. There were no other children around and so she spent the most part of her time alone in her room, drawing or singing for herself or her teddy bears and other stuffed animals like a small child does. Her mother mainly kept to herself and rather bought her things when feeling unable to bear the sad looks those large, oceanic eyes silently gave her when Mareesa timidly asked Shawna to read one of the stories in her large, colorful book to her than giving her the attention and love that she needed.
Never the little one asked why there were strangers coming to their home in the evening and at night… why her mother’s door would be locked afterwards and what strange sounds there were penetrating to her own little world that was her room. It was a part of life, something normal, something she was used to since it had never been different. Once, Mareesa was seven at that time, she did ask and bluntly, her mother told her the facts of life, the plain truth and everything else a child of that age normally would not be faced with. Still, she was not shocked but nodded at everything said, although it would take another three years until she really understood what Shawna had been talking about. The idea of love though had never been included in her explanations.
It was about that time that the little girl began to stroll around on her own, wandering the nightclub but more often the streets and places close by in search of someone to play with. Most of the staff who had barely seen her in the past years took an instant liking to her polite and friendly way and she liked going to them. It was anything but boring and she subconsciously felt loved and cared for when the women in their free-time between the shows played “model” with her which basically meant that they applied the make-up Mareesa wanted on the young face. She would then wear one of the dresses or costumes all of which were far too large for her but still, she felt grown-up and somehow – probably due to the attention she got - more important, significant than without.
The children she met outside, those playing in the back-streets, those who had two parents that worked during the day – they rejected her. ”Mommy,” they would say with a condescending glare or mocking expression, ”told me your mother is one of them!” Then they would point into the club’s direction, maybe laugh and push her around or just turn and walk away, ignoring her. None of those children really had an idea who ”they” were, just imitated their parents and thus continued the chain with innocent cruelty.
Mareesa would never understand how they could be so mean. What was wrong with her home and the people there who treated her so nicely? Her mother had explained everything to her and it was so simple. She had to work so they could eat and live with a roof over them. And that was what she did… where was the difference to the others’ parents? Her confused tears always made them either treat her worse or quickly run away pretending they weren’t the ones to blame for the girl’s misery.
At the age of ten, Mareesa had blossomed. She was still obviously a child but a pretty one with long blonde ringlets hair that – together with her large bluish eyes and the nice though plain dresses she wore – gave her something of a doll. Despite her young age, she was already wearing skillfully applied make-up most of the time, sometimes done by the showgirls like when she was younger but mostly by herself. It made her older, made her feel better although it was by far not enough to lure people into believing she was older than thirteen. However, it was this fact that Patrick, her uncle, and his lawyer used as defense during the trial years later. Years in which he had raped his niece repeatedly.
The first time was after Mareesa once again returned from the streets in tears that drew dark pathways over her face. She had once again tried to get in closer contact with the other children, fruitlessly. It was not as if she was just walking up to them. She had plans, every time another one… but none was ever working.
When seeing her, the by far older man found himself sickly aroused by the small, dollish creature and took her to his rooms in promise of “a nice surprise”. It wasn’t nice at all.
When he was done with her, Mareesa didn’t dare to move. She had kept quiet, only a low whimpering revealing the pain she was enduring at such a young age. Patrick had kept on telling her that what he was doing was normal… that it was done to every child… that it couldn’t be wrong because her mother did the same. And she had believed his lies for – in her mind – it was true. Shawna did take strangers to her room and what her uncle had done was exactly what her mother had described to her years ago. In addition, wasn’t it even more legitimate because Patrick was a relative? He had said it was his right, his payment for allowing them to life in his house and so she accepted it although wondering how her mother could bear the pain.
Five years passed. Again with the help of the women who were caring for her like the mothers they were not, the girl who had never attended school had at least learned how to read and basic mathematics. Mainly to do something, Mareesa was working as a barmaid in the same club where her mother was still having her shows although Shawna was slowly getting too old for it – in most of the customers' opinion anyway.
It was an article about a child rapist being caught that confused her a little. She asked one of her older, motherly friends about it and so one led to another in the end of which Patrick was sentenced to two years of prison. Mitigating circumstances.
As his sister, Shawna retired from her active participation in the show and changed backstage, managing the club.
The events seemed odd to the girl who had calmly, nonchalantly even reported to the court. Why her uncle had been imprisoned she needed a while to understand, too familiar with the perverted thought.
One year later, Mareesa was sick of the lack of attention. She knew she could sing although hardly anyone had ever heard her before and so she decided be a brave girl and finally enter the stage instead of only looking up to it. The attention she got from the staff had waned the older she grew and a substitute was needed. Her mother didn’t object when Mareesa offered to take over for a showgirl who had become sick and so she had the first performance of her life.
To say it was good would have been flattery… it was acceptable. Still, nobody of the audience, in fact not even those behind the curtain felt able to take their eyes of the young woman that sang with a passion while her slender body imitated what she had seen for the most part of her life. It was not this though that enchanted the people. It was her mutant power that had begun to show.
Some of the staff suspected the true reason for the unusual silence of the crowd that repeated itself every time Mareesa entered the stage but they didn’t mind. Who were they to cast others out? They were the ones being neglected by society and so they shied away from doing to this girl they knew and liked what people had done and were doing to them.
Mareesa herself discovered her mutation, its full extent, rather by accident. With her mind set to – after some months - give it a last try, she went out to meet the some people her age in a small club where there were pool tables and other entertainment facilities for everyone free to use. Those she found happened – by a strange twist of fate – to be the same that had kept teasing her for years of her life and probably out of habit, they simply ignored her. Contrary to all the other times when she had been devastated to be unwanted, disregarded, she got angry. Fury flamed up inside of her and so she did the only thing she felt like doing. ”Look at me!” , she yelled and much to her own surprise, their heads turned towards her immediately. Yet not only those of the small group, everyone’s attention focused solely on her which, since this wasn’t what she had intended, made her have a quick escape. This was the beginning of her self-discovery; when she began to find out about how her mutation worked, what it was capable of… and what not.
Yet since Mareesa’s powers couldn’t hide the fact that she needed training regarding her new job as a showgirl, it was decided that this was what she should get. What she already knew from watching proved to make her a quick learner, one that made her one of the best, better than her mother had ever been, one of the stars of the “Silvery” as Shawna had renamed the club after having bought it from a crushed Patrick. She didn’t feel the slightest regret for paying not even half of what it was worth for although not really loving her daughter in the strictest sense (she was only beginning to finally spend some time with her, even if it was just for business reason), the ex-showgirl felt a certain responsibility towards her.
However, it was actually Mareesa’s own mother who told her of this not fully legal way of earning more morning with those customers who came to see the show. And this as well was something the mutant to be known as the Drama Queen proved to be better at, finding ways of blackmailing those men she had pleased in more but just the visible way. The Silvery’s reputation had improved immensely after the change of ownership as had service, location and ambience which led to more influential customers visiting the club on a regular basis – a fact that helped Mareesa to sophisticate her techniques, her tricks and twists to get what she wanted and more.
She knew how to strive for her aims in the way promising the most success and so she acted quite quickly after having heard of the Brotherhood. It was so simple, as desperate in need of members as they were, all that was needed turned out to be a meeting… and she was in. Why? Indeed, she had never had something against humans since for the most part of her life, she had thought to have been one and no one had ever discriminated her for her genes but rather her home. Still, such a club could turn out to be helpful in many regards and if they were not… well… she could always dispose of them as those once wealthy businessmen or the high-ranking official that had cleaned her criminal record of all charges for there was a lot she had been caught for doing… yet much more for which nobody had ever thought of accusing her. She wasn’t stupid… in fact, although never having attended school, Mareesa had a dangerous cleverness to her that made her unpredictable save for the fact that in the end, her manipulative ways would turn the events to her advantage.
And this was how the once innocent, doll-like girl had become a seductive, reckless beauty – the Drama Queen.
Personality:
The most important person in her life, that’s she herself… and that attitude is what everybody else better had adopt soon if they don’t want to risk her wrath. Not that she could do much physical harm, yet there are several… acquaintances of hers that can or are able ruin a life in several ways. Mareesa knows of her influence and doesn’t hesitate to use it although she is smart enough to not always turn to the same person so he could get annoyed of and/or turned against her (she blackmails some of them with secrets she discovered).
The Drama Queen knows of her tempting, very sexual appearance and has not the slightest moral reservations about using it to her advantage. She is manipulative, every means is right and justified as long as it serves her will and helps her to achieve whatever aim she has. Other people are nothing more than marionettes, pleasure toys or cash points to her… or all at once and if she appears as being interested in their feelings and lives, it’s only to get what she wants or to have someone paying attention to her problems for although having her troubles with understanding the necessity of some institutions of social life like maudlin romance etc., Mareesa does see the reason why people may need others that listen to them. However, normally there is an admirer/affair of hers close by anyway which has the big plus of not having to pretend she actually cared for him.
Mareesa is cold-hearted, uninterested in everything not directly concerning herself and beyond cynical. The types of laughter she is capable of range from coldly-humiliating over artificial to amused and mocking but never is there true happiness to be heard in it since there is mostly a negative touch to it. Her sense of humor is a little… bizarre, sometimes, and the only people she respects are independent souls like her own.
If a man is to catch her interest and actually be respected, he as well should possess that quality and – as strange as it sounds – not care about her like a lover. She wants someone to be reckless with, someone who wouldn’t mind hurting her for his pleasure but still holds a weird kind of faithfulness and cruel affection towards her – hence, her male counterpart.
Likes:
Money: It can buy her things… which is good since despite of her many sources, she is constantly bankrupt.
Sex: A past-time that makes her feel good… which – obviously – is good as well. Mareesa can’t see why people are constantly babbling about love in connection with it and wonders what that weird thing is supposed to be anyway.
Attention: The Drama Queen knows what she's got. She is proud of her body and loves to show it off. When men stare at her like drooling fools but can’t reach her (… since she is on the stage, guarded – or because she treats them so coldly and arrogantly, they don’t dare to approach her), she feels wanted, adored and alive.
… soooo her profession couldn’t match her better…
Dislikes:
The lack of anything of the above, as well as…
Goodie-Do-Gooders: They are just pathetic with their oh so impressive morals and fancy lines while going out to save the world in their free-time. Every time she hears about the X-Men having saved yet another group of humans who would love to see them dead, she just gets nauseous… or starts roaring with laughter about such idiocy.
Being analyzed: There are parts of her mind she doesn’t want to know anything about, let alone others messing with it.
email: CrimsonSmirk@aol.com
Sample Post:
*uses Loza as a living shield to get past the sample-posting-border* ... HA! I so outsmarted you all! *jumps out of hiding right into the light of the guards, alarm going off* ... .. *blinks* ... WHAAAAAH!!! *runs circles, against a wall and then finally inside and out of harm's way*… HA! But NOW I outthingied you! *voice muffled by the curtain he’s hiding behind*
The most convincing lie is one we believe Ourselves.
HA! I so outsmarted you all! *jumps out of hiding right into the light of the guards, alarm going off* ... 
.. *blinks* ... WHAAAAAH!!! *runs circles, against a wall and then finally inside and out of harm's way*… HA! But NOW I outthingied you! *voice muffled by the curtain he’s hiding behind*
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