Max Guevara

i nailed my faith to the sticking pole;
It's always the quiet ones.

To be more thorough: Max as she appears in QCI is quite a different character than she is in her original canon, and this is mostly due to her having a much different upbringing than she did on the show (for example: no military training from infancy, no escape from the institution that created her, being raised in an abusive environment, and having an older sibling/parental figure to rely on).

She is tough but kind, and lets that kindness show more than she typically would in canon, but is still fluent in sarcasm and could probably still kick your ass.

i think i'm paranoid and complicated;
If you ask most of the students at QCI, they would probably describe Max as 'the nice girl' of her respected classes or groups, and this is true - she is generally friendly to everyone she talks to. This is a result of her learning at a very young age when to keep her head down and to keep quiet when necessary. She has a dry, somewhat sarcastic sense of humor and probably gets along so well with some of the more abrasive personalities at QCI because she can take what they dish out, but due to her family background, she sometimes mistakes jokes for insults or threats and does not react well when this happens. She is pretty indifferent to things like popularity and social status, but she absolutely hates the idea of someone she cares about being angry with her and tends to apologize too much when she thinks that someone is. She also tends to react badly to throwaway insults that are only indirectly related to her, or possibly not related to her at all. This does not mean she can't take what she dishes out, it is only in certain circumstances that she is bothered when people tease her (aka, when someone makes a joke that triggers memories about her past). She will joke around with people, but will only make jokes at people's expense if she's confident that they won't be offended by it.

She is kind, loyal, and a good listener, but it's very difficult for her to open up to people - she has bonded with quite a few people, but has only opened up to a handful of them since arriving at QCI, so while generally well-liked by her peers, she is somewhat of an enigma. Her defenses are thrown up as a default when she first meets people in person - she's aware of their body language, of how they interact with and react to other people, how close they're comfortable with getting to her, how much attention they're paying to her body and how much attention they're paying to the things she's saying when she's speaking. She tends to care deeply about the people she comes to care about and attempts to provide them with what they need when they need help - she doesn't mother people, but she tries to comfort or distract them.

There is a sassy, sarcastic, and cynical streak in her, but she tends to keep it hidden around people until she's comfortable enough around them to let it show. With complete strangers (say in a party situation), she will either keep her head down and try to avoid attention or she will mouth off until they leave her alone, and around authority figures she will behave as much as possible in an attempt to avoid punishment. QCI has not only offered her opportunities, but her sister, and since her sister gave up so much to take care of her and keep her safe, she wants to repay her however she can, so she doesn't want to rock the boat and get kicked out.

breaking down is easy;
Max was born to a sixteen year old girl named Cassandra, who got pregnant by her boyfriend and was essentially forced by her family to give the baby up for adoption, in spite of her own wishes. She ended up being adopted by Jack and Nancy Barrett, a young couple with a daughter of their own, named Lucy. They lived in a suburb about two hours outside of Seattle and for the first ten or so years of Max's life, her home life was pretty peaceful. The fact that she was adopted was never kept a secret from Max, but when she was younger, she didn't feel the need to look for her birth parents, and as she got old enough to really think about it and consider it, the situation at home rapidly began to deteriorate.

Jack lost his job and began drinking to cope with feeling like a failure. Unbeknownst to Nancy, he'd had a history of alcoholism as a young teenager that stayed with him into his early twenties. He gradually began to get violent, first with Nancy, then eventually with Lucy and Max. Nancy was terrified, but in denial, trying to hold the family together. She told Max and Lucy to do their best to stay out of Jack's way, that she'd handle what was happening, but she could only do so much to keep them safe. Late one night, when Max was thirteen and Lucy was sixteen, Nancy left, her only goodbye being a note to the girls that read "You're stronger without me". Nancy up and leaving them was a slap in the face to both girls, who now had no one to defend them from Jack's abuse. They learned how to stay safe by keeping their heads down and their mouths shut when they weren't avoiding him altogether - Lucy threw herself into schoolwork and an after-school job, Max joined as many after-school programs as she could (most of them being athletic in nature - dance, tae-kwon-do, etc). Things went on mostly as they had been until Max was about fifteen, and then she began to hear other people's thoughts. Which is when everything changed.

One evening, as Max was cleaning up after dinner, she began to hear thoughts from Jack about her that were very lewd and disturbing. They terrified her, but she managed to convince herself that she was just imagining things (the way she typically did when people's thoughts began filtering into her brain). But then it happened more and more, and with those thoughts came his justification in seeing her that way ('it's not like she's really my daughter'). Eventually, Max went from avoiding home to barely going home at all, crashing at friend's places, the school, or just staying out all night. Because she quickly learned to avoid him and always managed to stay one step ahead of him, Jack never followed through with what he thought about her (aside from watching her dress and undress and touching her in ways that were inappropriate but could be explained away as accidental), but in some ways this made it worse - the only proof Max has against him was in her mind, and since he'd stopped hitting her around the time he started seeing her as an object of lust, she had no physical evidence that he had ever abused her. It would just be her word against his if she accused him of anything, and she knew authorities would be more likely to believe an adult than they would her.

After about a year of max avoiding home as much as she could, Lucy came back from college for the summer. Her new behavior did not go unnoticed by Lucy - Max was much more withdrawn and quiet, had lost weight, and frequently seen with dark circles underneath her eyes from lack of sleep. Lucy was, understandably, worried about Max's change in behavior and general health, and cornered her in a park one afternoon, demanding to know what was going on. Max denied that anything was wrong at first, thinking that Lucy wouldn't believe a) what she'd been hearing and b) how she'd heard it but eventually broke down and told Lucy everything - about hearing people's thoughts and what their father had been thinking about her. Lucy was appalled and disgusted, and, deciding that enough was enough, told Max that they were leaving that night.

True to her word, Lucy packed her car with everything she and Max would need and late that night, they escaped into Seattle (where Lucy had been attending school), crashing with a friend of Lucy's for the first couple of months and eventually moving into a tiny apartment of their own. Things were very tight for a while, but both got jobs and managed to get by for the next year or so, both now going by the last name Guevara to make it harder for Jack (and Nancy) to find them. Lucy also dropped out of school to take care of Max - partially because it was becoming harder and harder to afford, despite her scholarship, and partially because she knew it was an easy way for Jack to find them. Max felt incredibly guilty about that - she knew how hard Lucy had worked to get into college, and she blamed herself for Lucy having to throw it away, despite Lucy's insistence that it was her choice.

Things continued steadily enough for the next year or so. Max's ability continued to prove itself useful to keep herself safe - there was an incident at a party where she overheard a group of boys intending to lead her into a secluded room and block her way out. She (understandably) panicked and asked another young man (who's thoughts did not involve wanting to hurt her) named Chris to take her home. Once they arrived at her empty apartment (Lucy was working late that night), Chris offered to stay with Max to make sure she was okay. This...ended with her losing her virginity to him, and though she liked him a lot, especially as she got to know him better (he ended up being a senior at her new high school), she was always too nervous to commit to them being anything more than friends with benefits. She eventually put an end to the sexual relationship, feeling that he deserved more than what she was able to give him.

One day, towards the end of her junior year, people from Quadrinity came to her and Lucy's apartment and told them about the school. They were upfront about what the school was and what their intentions were, and while Max was skeptical at first, she agreed to talk things over with Lucy and get back to them with her decision. Max was pretty eager to attend, but only agreed when Lucy reassured her that she would be fine - the school had offered her several opportunities as well.

if i should fail, if i should fold;
in-game history

heaven knows what a girl can do
Max's ability is receptive telepathy, which means she can hear people's surface thoughts and, if she chooses to push deeper (which she usually doesn't, unless she's in class), their deeper ones. Depending on how people think, she can sometimes see pictues or hear noise instead of words, and if she touches people she'll usually pick up on how they're feeling. This has led to a lot of migraines and some very messy situations, but she's getting better at putting up mental barriers. She's also recently developed the ability to project thoughts and images.

love me, like me, come ahead and fight me;

 * Noah Tessaro Noah is a fellow telepath, and the two have an almost sibling-like relationship - they've bonded due to their shared ability, and she knows he's someone she can trust.
 * John Constantine Max likes John a lot - he's blunt and funny and honest, and he has a way of not letting things affect him that she envies.
 * Lear Shapiro She doesn't hang out with Lear as much as Noah or Clara does, but it's not because of dislike - quite the opposite. She appreciates his kindness and how he's willing to listen.
 * Ethan Ford Ethan is her roommate's brother and Max appreciates the way he's so protective of Clara (it reminds her a bit of her relationship with Lucy) and finds him easy to talk to. She also appreciates that he'll try to keep her safe (like that night in the common room and that time they were running from the cultists) and has developed a bit of a crush on him.
 * Alec McDowell Alec is her roommate's boyfriend, so she's gotten to spend a bit more time with him, and she likes him well enough despite not knowing a whole lot about him. However, if he ever breaks Clara's heart, she's got second dibs on kicking his ass.

please me, tease me, go ahead and leave me;

 * Clara Ford Clara is Max's roommate and one of her closest friends at QCI, despite the headaches she's given her due to a) her temper and b) her ability. She knows that those things are not Clara's fault, and so she doesn't blame her for them. When Clara gets angry, Max is usually the first one to attempt to calm her down, and when she is happy, she tries to keep away forces that will interfere with that.
 * Lily Sloane Max cares a lot about Lily, and she worries about her - she doesn't want to pry too deep, but sometimes Lily says things or thinks things that set off alarm bells in her head. She does her best not to pry and to just be there for her when she allows it, but can understand not wanting to tell someone about what's bothering you.
 * Emily Koizumi She likes Emily well enough, despite not knowing her very well yet and finding her enthusiasm a bit exhausting at times.

prop me up with another pill;
soundtrack

as long as i want you, baby, it's all right;
Max is from the television series Dark Angel, which I do not own. I am also not making any money from my portrayal of her, and the lyrics used throughout are from Garbage's I Think I'm Paranoid. Also, the HTML was (lovingly) stolen from Liz. &hearts;