Maëlle Williams | Canada

[Maëlle Williams]

Maëlle Émilie Williams “I know what it's like to be growing up, called 'deaf and mute' and 'deaf and dumb.' They're words that are very degrading and demeaning to people who are deaf and hard of hearing. It's almost... it's almost libelous, if you want to say that.”

CODE NAME: Hawkeye

Female

24

Heterosexual

Canadian

Video Surveillance

Government

Physical

157 cm

46 kg

Dirty Blond

Violet

Fair

Petite

Personal

Maëlle Williams is, in a nutshell, a gentle soul with a heart of gold and sweet intentions in life. Her first and foremost quality that anyone notices the gentle expression that she almost always wears: soft and an encouraging smile with the occasional nod. Stranger or not, Maëlle greets anyone and everyone with a cute little grin as she may point out the small, unnoticed roses on a stressful day. She’s the embodiment of the small, unnoticed things in life that are often taken for granted. Maëlle’s gentle tendencies often result in her being stepped on and pushed around. Her positivity and willingness to please are often faults, especially for a disabled woman. Throughout her life, she has struggled with fitting into cliques of friends, coworkers, and students. Maëlle’s disabilities isolate her socially, physically, and at times, mentally. She was often a doormat in her early educational years, a victim of torment and the mule to do any of the things the other students did not want. Cleaning? She was asked almost daily to take over punished students community work. Lunch? Maëlle would give away or trade any appetizing snack in her brown paper lunch bag when asked. Homework? Students would crowd around and whisper to copy her work, and with her gentle smile and yearning for friendship, she always said yes. Although Maëlle has matured from her childhood mentality of helping people enough that her company would be wanted, she still holds part of that willingness to please. Jobs that she is educationally qualified for are hard to obtain, as companies are hard pressed to hire disabled individuals. Maëlle is entirely deaf in both ears and is a bilateral below-the-knee amputee – she needs certain aids that workplaces are unwilling to deal with. Any jobs that she did have before London had long hours and she was paid significantly less than her coworkers. Although benevolence oozes from Maëlle’s visage and language, she struggles occasionally with her own self-image. Life has been difficult, a long and difficult road with little improvements in sight can wear down at even the most determined people. She has her days when, despite her entire acceptance of her outward appearance and inability to hear, she doubts her position. She yearns for equality and fair treatment. She wishes that people would act around her as they would anyone else. She improved her oral English through speech therapists, to the point that she can usually be understood by native English speakers. Injustice was something Maëlle never enjoyed seeing as a child, which laid the foundation for her study in criminology. She followed the accounts of another deaf individual, Sue Thomas, who was able to work for the FBI by lipreading conversations that could not be bugged or sound recorded. A long held dream for the girl, Maëlle’s lipreading skills are exquisite; she can recognize sentences and individual words and hold a regular conversation with most people (facial hair impedes her abilities, and of course women who have head accessories are out of the question). While field work is out of the question for a girl with amputated legs, Maëlle directed her attention into government work. She studied criminal psychology, activity, and the legal system. She graduated with honours, a high but not exceptional average on her degree. Unfortunately, it was not outstanding enough to get her a job, as she jumped between menial jobs at a desk, filing information. It was only after a few years and a stroke of luck that she landed a job in London with the English government. Despite achieving her goal and working in a position that maximized her talents, she struggles with making quick decisions. She handles situations calmly and appropriately, but she is indecisive and requires a lot of time to decide the best course of action. Maëlle does not work well under pressure; she tends to stumble over her tongue and freeze up.

Likes

Dislikes

♥ American Sign Language – As nice as it is to communicate and understand English speakers, Maëlle holds a special place in her heart for speaking ASL. It is her culture, a part of her that she loves and treasures. In England, it is difficult to grasp BSL (the languages are entirely different and she understands very little), but she is working on learning it in order to sign with the local deaf people. ♥ Dogs – Maëlle could never afford a hearing dog, but she loves dogs in general and often asks people if she can pet their furry companions. She loves dogs so much and is saving her government salary for a hearing dog to help her around London. ♥ Chocolate – Maëlle possesses a weakness for the decadent dessert. Whether it be a small chocolate square, a piece of a bar, or a handful of chocolate chips from the baking cupboard, Maëlle indulges herself every once and a while when she gets a strong craving for something sweet and savoury. ♥ Maple – The other sweet that Maëlle heads for on a bad day. She has a surplus of it that she brought to London when she flew over, and she receives care packages every once and a while from her parents. Fudge is a treat, but she regularly uses the syrup on pancakes and in her tea and coffee. ♥ Salads – 98% of the time, Maëlle isn’t indulging on sweets. She has a green thumb and a ‘green’ tooth, as she regularly consumes salads of every variety. Vegetables are something Maëlle was never forced to eat, and her diet overall is quite healthy. ♥ Books – Maëlle escapes from the reality of her world when she opens a hardcover novel and flicks through the pages. Being a bookworm of sorts, she favours the terrible romance section of the library, as well as the mystery-fiction. ♥ Beds – Say what you will, but there is nothing more satisfying than flopping on a plush bed after a long day of work. Maëlle likes snuggling into a mountain of pillows and blankets with hot chocolate and a book on a cold or rainy day.

✖ Movies – Maëlle doesn’t hate movies per say (in fact, Lady and the Tramp is a regularly played VCR tape in her apartment), but she doesn’t like movie theatres. Movies can be hard to follow without captions, and she generally feels like she’s missed something while watching one. ✖ Rain and Pressure Changes – While Maëlle is used to colder temperatures, she doesn’t like fluctuations in the weather. Storm systems tend to make her stumps ache for no reason, and it’s an irritation she commonly experiences in London. Rain makes her prosthetics wet and causes malfunctions in them if they’re thoroughly soaked. ✖ (Red) Meat – Maëlle is a vegetarian and tends to make a face at the ‘Bacon wrapped bacon triple cheeseburger’ signs that decorate billboards. She however will eat eggs, dairy products, and fish. ✖ Parties – Maëlle lipreads, and to lipread, she needs to focus on one person at a time. Engaging in conversation in a group is not that difficult, but throw in 20 or more people and it becomes very difficult to orient herself to who is talking to who. Which leads into her next displeasure: ✖ Alcohol – Alcohol, commonly accompanying the party vibe, makes it hard for Maëlle to focus. She doesn’t have a high tolerance to the substance and because she doesn’t hear her words, she tends to mispronounce them more readily. After intoxicated, it’s very hard to understand her (and vice versa). ✖ Water – Maëlle cannot swim well, and she acknowledges that. Water is difficult because she has to remove both prosthetics that she is used to in exchange for swim legs (that possess a hollow cavity that can fill up with water for swimming under the surface). In combination with water splashing in her face and eyes, she can’t admit that she enjoys the activity. ✖ Violence – Maëlle doesn’t like confrontation and fights. She, if she has to, would rather talk things over calmly instead of throwing harsh words followed by coiled fists. She is far more of a flight person than a fight person, and the thought of her wanting to physically hurt someone mortifies her, so she avoids martial arts classes and training. Maëlle knows absolutely no self-defence. ✖ Lying - This petite blond cannot tell a lie even if she desperately wanted to. Her poker face is terrible and she can't convince anyone of anything but the truth. She is an honest individual and lies and fibs are uncharacteristic of her. ✖ Mocking her accent - While Maelle doesn't mind a comment or two over her slight pronunciation issues, excessive remarks about it tend to make her self conscious and reserved. Sheer out mockery bothers her a lot, and she avoids people who have poked fun at her troubled tongue.

Dreams

Fears

☆ Work for a government organization – Technically Maëlle has already filled this dream, but she would like to continue carving a path for disabled individuals in the workplace. ☆ Find someone – Maëlle isn’t entirely sure who or what she’s looking for in a relationship, but she would like to experience it one day. She’s never had a serious relationship, only a few dates that went very poorly, but she has hopes that one day she’ll find someone like herself. ☆ Own a dog – Maëlle hasn’t had the financial or regional stability required to own a dog. Sure, she could go to a pound and take one home, but it’s only been recent that she’s been in one place for a longer period of time. If she solidifies her job in London and saves enough, she’d like to bring home a hearing services canine.

☠ The dark – Maëlle is afraid of very dark places. She relies almost entirely on sight and touch. Cold, dark places like cellars and basements frighten her, and she avoids them if she can. Her apartment is spotted with nightlights that flicker on at night, and her room is partially illuminates by a lamp in the corner when she sleeps. ☠ Rats – Rats and mice utterly petrify Maëlle. She just panics when she sees their beady black eyes and whiskers, and that long hairless pink tail. There have been a few times that the blond has let out a terrified shriek when they’ve infiltrated her living quarters. ☠ Public speaking – While Maëlle speaks well for a deaf woman, she is aware of her accent and difficulty with certain syllables. While this doesn’t bother her much talking with coworkers and friends, she fears the day where she’d have to be on television, or in front of a crowd.

Background

Maëlle’s roots start out far less cheerful than her warm personality. She was born in a rural town in Southern Ontario, where her father owned a maple tree plantation. She was born slightly premature and underweight, but remained in hospital while she stabilized and became healthier. However, only two days after she was released from hospital, she became irritable and developed a high pitched cry that would last for hours. A week passed before she developed a fever and her legs were cold to the touch. She was rushed to an emergency hospital and flown to Toronto after being diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis. Maëlle was subjected to a high dose of antibiotics and a respirator, but she eventually lost blood supply to her feet and calves and requires a bilateral amputation (removing both legs). She was hospitalized for months before she stabilized and they deemed her immune system strong enough to handle the natural environment. It was also at this time when they discovered her deafness – she wouldn’t respond or look towards loud noises or calls from either parent. It is unknown whether Maëlle was born deaf, or if the meningitis caused it. Maëlle’s early childhood was harsher on her parents than on herself. She had never really experienced walking or running, nor had she any hearing to miss. Instead, both parents immersed themselves in sign language in order to properly communicate with her. Maëlle was taught by an audiologist, and she learned to babble orally with the same woman. By the age of 6, Maëlle was bilingual in both ASL and English, but she struggled to master the fine art of lipreading far into her late teens. Maëlle was not raised near a deaf school, so she was integrated into the local public school when she was 7 (her first two years were done through homeschool). When she was first introduced to the other children, they were all eager to approach and befriend her. She was different and novel, something they hadn’t seen. Some learned a few signs in ASL to speak with her, but eventually, the excitement wore into annoyance when the class had to stop or approach a test in a different way because of the blond. Excited handshakes turned into shoves, and Maëlle experienced bullying after her first year. Maëlle had very few close friends growing up, and any that were considered were often manipulative and abusive. Maëlle was taken advantage of many times throughout junior high and middle school before she switched schools and started fresh elsewhere. There was where she began to form stable friendships, and people were beyond bullying at that point. Maëlle began tightly entwined with an outgoing blond girl named Abigale, and they still exchange letters back and forth today. University posed a new struggle for Maëlle; she was not given any special attention or aid from the professor, and she often could not see his face when he was speaking. Abigale, who was in the same program field as Maëlle, helped her test the waters of the legal system and sharing notes between the two. University was otherwise uneventful; she and Abigale roomed together and spent countless hours crying over exams and papers, like any other student. Abigale graduated and moved to work in America while Maëlle struggled to find work. As a deaf woman with handicap issues from her legs, work was hard to come by. Most places that Maëlle worked were temporary placements and a company attempting to fill a disabled person quota. Like aforementioned, she worked entering data and information into computers, nothing that required any form of thought. Honestly, a monkey could have done the same work that Maëlle had, and the fact bothered her. No law firm would consider her, and her hopes of following in the footsteps of Sue Thomas seemed like a lost dream. That dream became an abrupt reality when Maëlle ‘overheard’ a conversation between two men. It had been a casual day, nothing out of sorts. She had stopped to feed a stray dog that often came to her for food when she glanced up and noticed two men across the street. It wasn’t a particularly nice neighbourhood, a bit of a slum, and she watched one pass an envelope to another, along with a phrase of “I planted it under the bureaucrat’s car. No witnesses.” Maëlle returned her attention to the dog as the two parted ways quickly. She felt something strange about the ordeal and made her way quickly to the police station, where she explained what had happened. Her claims were immediately doubted, and one officer threatened her as if she were telling a joke. Maëlle insisted that they check the cars for all government politicians, and after great persuasion, they agreed. After the 43 car, they found a bomb. Maëlle was thanked profusely by the police, and by the English representative that would have had the fatal encounter with the explosive. Maëlle was also able to provide a sketch of the males, and they were soon caught and arrested. This showcasing of skill attracted attention, but especially that of the English man. He met with Maëlle for a dinner (one in which he insisted, as she had saved his life) and he offered her a position in his country. After explaining that England, and London particularly, had the best surveillance in the world, he suggested that she would have full employment to track and watch targeted individuals and the exact words they exchanged with others. Maëlle accepted without a second thought. Maëlle has been working steady in London for 4 months now, in a government building where she spends her days analyzing camera footage and writing scripts of conversations between people that otherwise couldn’t be recorded.

Role-Play Sample

Maëlle leaned backwards as she pressed the save command, sealing the transcript conversation that she had spent the past two days deciphering. There were cameras stationed outside a seedy pub that recorded a long conversation between a suspected criminal and a potential gang member, but Maëlle had to switch viewpoints many times as the two shifted repeatedly as they socialized. A yawn threatened her lips and she patted her mouth with her palm, giving her arms and back a long stretch. Her eyes glanced over to the clock on the wall before they practically popped from her eye sockets. It was 11:38 pm. Wide violet eyes and clumsy tired fingers scrambled to pull out a bus schedule. When she did fumble the paper into her hands, she grimaced. The last bus departed well over an hour ago. Maëlle sighed as she tucked the paper into her purse. She could try to signal a cab? Except… cabs didn’t drive down this street at this time, and calling one on a cellphone was not an option for her. She quickly packed up her purse and took her coat, silently moving to the elevator. Save for her desk, the entire office section was dark and she hadn’t noticed the time slipping away. Normally Maëlle worked late, but this was exceptionally bad, even for her. Maëlle punched her card out once she hit the main floor and headed for the main desk, but the guard on duty wasn’t present. Maëlle’s heart sunk a bit; she had hoped to ask him to use the telephone for her. She sighed and wondered if he was in the bathroom or something. Maëlle waited there for ten minutes before staring out onto the darkened street. Truth be told, her apartment was only a 30 minute walk from the government building if she cut through a few alleyways. If she took the long way, it was over an hour. Maëlle glanced back to the vacant security desk, then back outside. Although the Government area had police presence, she knew some of the alleys did not. However, a walk on the street past midnight on prosthetic legs didn’t seem pleasant, plus her stumps were aching due to the storm that was moving in. If she hurried, she could get home before the rain. Maëlle glanced back at the desk one last time before swiping her card to unlock the door. Firmly tucking her purse against her side, she set out on her night commute down the quiet street.

OOC Information

Tori

PM preferred

Stealing someone’s coffee is called ’mugging.’

Member told me about it

made by CAPTAIN of BACK TO NEVERLAND

[Worldie]

APPROVED

Welcome to TND. Your application has been accepted. Hi, we're so glad to have you here! Your idea with Maëlle is wonderful, and it's really great to see how well you've incorporated her disabilities. They're definitely not something that can be easily ignored in day-to-day life, but they don't dominate your app/her life either. I also enjoyed reading your characterisation, particularly as Maëlle's benevolence is both a strong point and a weakness, which creates a good contrast and definitely a degree of complexity. I like her rejection of injustice as well (it's also kind of cute to see it shared between 'siblings'). She's a well-thought out and thoroughly-written character, and after seeing you on some other forums, I'm also looking forward to watching your muse in action here. With that, I'd like to welcome Maëlle to London—may she excel here, and if not, then avoid the worst of the consequences. The name is Williams. Maëlle Williams.

made by CAPTAIN of BACK TO NEVERLAND