Mariah is a fanmade character I have from the Sly Cooper video games.
Trigger warning: this character's backstory contains references to violence against children, trauma, and mental illness.
Mariah was kidnapped at birth and, for 7 years, was raised by her captors,
Jasmine Brennan & Bernard Sanders. When she was rescued, she favored non-verbal communication and was diagnosed with PTSD. Despite being slightly malnourished and underdeveloped for her age, no evidence of deliberate physical abuse was found.
She ended up in the
Happy Camper Orphanage , where the new headmistress
Felyera and her daughter
Sarah took a special interest in her, giving her love and the proper care that she needed. Since she was very skittish and tended to avoid people, including other children in the orphanage, it took a while for her to "warm-up" and start wanting to interact with people. Due to her sunlight sensitivity, she favored indoor activities, such as reading, drawing, and watching TV, and her favorite activity to do with the headmistress was to bake.
Eventually, she met
Murray , with whom she had an immediate bond. Shortly after, the headmistress convinced him to become her foster caretaker and Mariah moved in with him. Reassured by his comforting presence, she began experiencing going to public places such as hair salons, restaurants, parks, the beach, etc. It was during this period that the gang found out about her Mystic powers. Even after them accidentally finding out that
Sly was her brother,
Murray still undeniably remained the most important person in her life and the one she would always turn to for comfort, protection, or support but, for legal reasons and with everyone's blessing,
Sly eventually became her
special guardian until she finally emancipated.
- Age
- 7+
- Date of Birth
- 23rd of July
- Gender
- female
- Eyes
- brown
- Hair
- reddish brown
- Skin Tone/Pigmentation
- hazel brown
Appearance
Body Features
ectomorph body type
Identifying Characteristics
Usually carries around a plushie of
Murray, which she can use as one of her grounding techniques in case of emergency. If she's going somewhere where she doesn't want to be seen with the plushie (usually, a more formal situation), she usually takes a backpack instead, with an emergency kit inside (scented hands lotion, lemon drops, etc.).
Physical quirks
When she's insecure, she averts her gaze and starts biting her lip, playing with her hair, or poking her foot against the floor.
Apparel & Accessories
Mariah prefers not to wear any accessories aside from a pendant with the family symbol, that she wears under her shirt. She also favors baggy/comfy clothes, preferably in dark, discrete colors, as she hates being the center of attention. When it's sunny outside, she always wears a cap and, when it's cold, she'd rather wear a warm coat and a scarf than wear turtleneck sweaters.
Special abilities
For now, these are just some ideas for Mariah's powers. Will decide in the future which to keep and which to remove.
perceive other people's emotions and pain
intuitively tell when something is "off" (tell if someone is lying, notice unnatural breezes or temperature, sense the presence of spirits, etc)
see, communicate and interact with spirits
dreamwalk and astral project
move objects/creatures with her mind
deal a psychic attack to an enemy, causing them blinding pain and temporarily disorienting them
Mentality
Personal history
Time in captivity
Mariah was kidnapped at birth and rescued around the age of 7 after one of her captors,
Jasmine Brennan, asked for help from a gardener who happened to be working near their house, under the suspicion that the child was being physically abused by her other captor,
Bernard Sanders. When she was rescued, Mariah avoided people as much as possible, averting her gaze whenever someone tried to purposefully establish eye contact and favoring non-verbal communication, like pointing, nodding, or shaking her head. On account of having panic attacks and showing signs of having dissociative episodes, she was diagnosed with PTSD (it was inconclusive if she also had selective mutism). She was also slightly malnourished and underdeveloped for her age, but they were unable to find any evidence of deliberate physical abuse.
Time in the orphanage
She ended up in the
Happy Camper Orphanage -- where she learned that her real name was Mariah and not Margarett -- where the new headmistress
Felyera and her daughter
Sarah took a special interest in her, giving her love and the proper care that she needed. That's also when she started coming out of her shell a bit and it was found that she had more skills than initially evaluated, such as knowing how to read and write. However, she was still very skittish -- especially towards strangers -- and tended to avoid people, including other children in the orphanage. At first, she also didn't care for games that would interest other kids around her age and, when the children were allowed to go play in the backyard, Mariah would prefer to stay indoors watching them from a distance, as she was hypersensitive to sunlight. Since she was rarely outside, her main hobbies became reading, drawing, and watching TV, and her favorite activity to do with the headmistress was to bake.
Time with Murray and the gang
Eventually, she met
Murray, with whom she had an immediate bond. Shortly after, the headmistress convinced him to become her foster caretaker and Mariah moved in with him. Reassured by his comforting presence, she began experiencing going to public places such as hair salons, restaurants, parks, the beach, etc. It was during this period that the gang found out about her Mystic powers. Even after them accidentally finding out that
Sly was her brother,
Murray still undeniably remained the most important person in her life and the one she would always turn to for comfort, protection, or support but, for legal reasons and with everyone's blessing,
Sly eventually became her
special guardian until she finally emancipated.
Education
Due to the traumas caused by her past and her social anxiety, she ended up being home-schooled by a tutor, as school was just too loud and overwhelming for her. When she was younger, her classes pretty much followed the typical teaching model; she learned arts & crafts, how to read and write, and how to do basic math. Currently, her classes are split into 3 categories: traditional teaching, real-life applications, and freeform. In real-life applications, she learns things that she will have a use for in her everyday life (how to maintain a conversation with people, how to handle money, etc) and, in freeform, she is free to suggest wherever topic she is curious to learn more about.
Employment
Around the age of 13, she started writing songs and drawing as a hobby and, when she got older, eventually started making money off of it from commissions, which helped her win her emancipation. She also used to make some money by spending her late mornings and early afternoons helping Dimitri prepare the nightclub for the evening, but her first real job was working part-time in a pet store.
Failures & Embarrassments
More than anything else, she feels ashamed of her trauma "episodes" and feels guilty knowing they are distressing not only to her but also to the people who care about her. It is not uncommon for her to start apologizing (especially to
Murray) after coming back to her senses. These episodes are also very frustrating to her not only because they remind her of her past and make her relieve her trauma somewhat, but also because they sometimes make her feel like she's not progressing fast enough in therapy and that she'll never be able to have a "normal" life. She also feels ashamed that when she's feeling particularly vulnerable (usually after an episode or when she's sick), she still asks
Murray to cuddle with her for comfort, even though she's "all grown up".
Mental Trauma
Due to her past, Mariah developed PTSD and, consequently, she has what she calls "episodes" (dissociation periods, panic attacks, and, on rare occasions, flashbacks). She has done psychotherapy for several years and has since learned ways to better cope with those events, such as grounding techniques. When she was rescued, she was constantly having episodes because anything that made her uncomfortable or threatened was enough to potentially send her over the edge. Over time, with a lot of work and patience from her therapist and caretakers, she became less hyper-reactive and her number of triggers decreased, as well as the frequency of the episodes.
All her acquaintances are already familiar with grounding techniques and are qualified to help her if she starts panicking, having a flashback, or dissociating but, if things get too out of hand and she loses touch with reality, the only people who can help her during one of her episodes are her therapist and
Murray.
Intellectual Characteristics
Despite having spent a significant portion of her childhood in isolation, Mariah is a curious and smart kid, which makes her a fast learner, so she's slowly making up for the lost timer. However, due to her upbringing and lack of proper socialization, she has difficulty picking up on more subtle linguistic clues, such as irony/sarcasm, puns or just reading something between the lines. Her mental age is also younger than her biological one and she still displays some child-like behaviors, especially when she is under great distress and starts dissociating.
Morality & Philosophy
Mariah has a great sense of morality and, among other things, hates when people lie to her to speak between the lines because she just doesn't get the point. Since she recently found out that
Murray (and her
brother) were in a group of thieves, she is also currently learning that not everything is "black and white".
person.sexuality
aromantic asexual
Known Languages
English and French
Personality
Motivation
Her motivations include spending time with
Murray, learning new things, and helping others.
Quotes & Catchphrases
"Greasy sweet!" (to Dimitri, like all the time)
"Oh yeah? You and what army?" (to a juvenile street gang that was teasing Bentley for being in a wheelchair and threatening to assault him just for fun)
"So... you're not going to arrest them... are you?" (to Carmelita, after learning that Murray was part of a gang of thieves)
"But you are my family..." (to Murray, when she found out Sly is her brother)
"It's just... this sucks. I've wanted to find my brother my whole life and now I sorta wish I hadn't? I mean, we're supposed to be family, but I don't feel that way, and a piece of paper is not gonna change that. I mean, I barely know you... To me, you're just one of Murray's friends. Am I a bad person for thinking like that?" (to Sly, after finding out he is her brother)
"What the heck do you mean 'I don't consider you my friends?' You know what? You're right, you're absolutely right! I don't consider you my friends. Not anymore anyway. I consider y'all to be my family. And I honestly can't believe I have to spell it out to you. Ugh!" (to Bentley, after he provoked her on purpose during a group gathering, so see what her reaction would be)
"But what if I don't want to be emancipated?" (to Sarah, after she suggested Mariah was ready to be independent and no longer needed a legal guardian)
Savvies & Ineptitudes
When at home, she enjoys sitting or lying back on the arm of couches, rather than using the designated sitting area. She hates taking pills so you'd pretty much have to force her to take them, even if she knows that it's for her own good. As such, when she gets sick, it can take a few days for her to get back on her feet because she needs to take time to recover in a more natural way (lots of rest, comfort food, staying hydrated, etc).
Likes & Dislikes
She likes to spend time either by herself, with
Murray, or with her other acquaintances, preferably undergoing a calm activity. She doesn't like crowded, loud or bright places and, as such, avoids the cinema, music concerts, and large supermarkets. She's a very picky eater and doesn't like to try new foods.
Hygiene
When she is dissociating, she gets sensory alterations and sometimes finds it difficult to do some activities, such as brushing her hair or her teeth, because she becomes hypersensitive to touch. After particularly distressful episodes, she enjoys taking immersion baths, as one of her forms of self-care.
Social
Birthplace
USA
Current Residence
Paris
Contacts & Relations
Bentley (acquaintance)
Carmelita (acquaintance)
Catricia (acquaintance - police officer)
Dimitri (acquaintance)
Felyera (acquaintance - headmistress)
Guru (acquaintance)
Dr. Leto (acquaintance - pediatrician)
Murray (foster family)
Penelope (acquaintance)
Sarah (acquaintance - therapist)
Honorary & Occupational Titles
The Mystic
Family Ties
Sly (older brother/legal guardian)
Religious Views
Spiritual, not religious.
Social Aptitude
Despite her progress, Mariah is still very shy and highly distrustful of strangers. She tends to isolate herself and, during social interactions, avoid eye contact and speak in a whispered voice. However, if she's around people she knows and is comfortable with, she pretty much behaves like any child her age.
Hobbies & Pets
She likes to listen to music and sing, read, and watch TV (anything from cartoons to documentaries). She likes collaborative games (both board games and videogames) but is not a big fan of games where someone has to lose. She just recently learned about TTRPGs and wants to give it a try.
She prefers to avoid the outdoors (as a way to avoid having to deal with other people) but enjoys going for a walk in a park or the promenade. She also likes to go camping, but only in the Spring or Autumn, when the weather is a bit cloudy and the sun isn't shining as bright.
Speech
In terms of vocabulary, Mariah is pretty closed to what would be expected for her age (apart from more specific terminology that is thought in school) but she prefers to speak using simple words, typically in short sentences.
When she is dissociating, she can suffer from selective mutism and either speak solemnly in whispers or completely lose the ability to communicate verbally, finding herself reduced to only head shakes and nods.
Social
Birthplace
USA
Current Residence
Paris
Contacts & Relations
Honorary & Occupational Titles
The Mystic
Family Ties
Religious Views
Spiritual, not religious.
Social Aptitude
Hobbies & Pets
Speech