Monica+Childs+-+Monique+-+a+villain

Note: this character is designed to be a villain. A flawed and possibly sympathetic villain, but a villain none the less. And yes, this was partly inspired by the existence of a very exploitative show - Toddlers & Tiaras, which documents a very ugly facet of American life.

Name: was Monica Childs, but now goes by Monique (no last name) Template: Focused Practitioner

High Concept Aspect: Tragic Mystic Model Agent (That might need work...Maybe: Mystic Former Toddler Queen? Mystic Reject of the Cult of Beauty? Something along those lines.) Trouble Aspect: I Used To Be Pretty! (the scars dominate most of her life)

Background: Most of Monica Childs' early memories are of walking on a stage and shaking her little booty for the judges. A veteran of the child beauty queen circuit, Monica won her first pageant when she was eight months old and entered her last when she was 10. During this time her mother taught her that beauty and winning were everything. Monica sometimes like to compete and always loved to win, partly because winning meant that she didn't get a sore bum for not doing her all to win. Losing always meant a hard spanking because someone had to take the blame for the loss and that somebody wasn't going to be Monica's mother (Jennifer Childs). The spankings never happened where one of the other contestants or mothers might hear it, and Monica always assumed that it was something that happened to all the losers.

All of this motivated her to always do her best - at least for the contests. Her school work might have been neglected during this time, but she learned how to smile and flirt with the judges - even when her dog had died the night before and all she wanted to do was cry. She learned that all that mattered was to be perfect for the judges.

Phase Aspect: Is Always Perfect When It Matters

Rising Conflict: When Monica was ten and "too old" for the child beauty pageant circuit, Jennifer Childs lost interest in her daughter. The shock of going from "everything we do is to make you pretty so you can win" to "stop bugging me - don't you have homework or something" left a lasting scar. No longer told how pretty she was, Monica realised that she must be ugly. She tried makeup, diets, clothes, and everything she could think of, but it slowly dawned on her that it was just that she was no longer "cute". She might not be the ugliest kid in the world but she would never make it as a tween model or actress. That being average meant she wasn't one of the "beautiful people", all of which left a deep emotional scar (See Trouble).

As she was accepting that she would never be perfect, Monica stumbled over the fact that most tots didn't get spanked for losing. This double betrayal (her mother's losing interest in her and realising that she had probably been abused) sent Monica away from Jennifer. If her mother thought that beauty was everything then Monica would be a brain. She went from being a C or D student to an A student - excelling in a way that she knew would never win her mother's approval (and it didn't - Jennifer barely noticed Monica's grades), but in some ways it didn't matter. Monica couldn't shake all those times she had been told 'to be perfect' and if her body couldn't be perfect than her mind would.

As a teen, her fragile self-image, the need to excel academically, and her budding power attracted the wrong sort attention. She caught the eye of a minor practitioner who was only this side of being a warlock. The creep was in his mid 20s and called himself Magic Man, after the classic Heart song ("Come on home, girl" he said with a smile / "I cast my spell of love on you, a woman from a child!"), and while Monica's body might not be perfect it was good enough (and young enough) for him. At first she was with him to get back at her parents, but Monica's parents didn't seem to notice (or care) what she did. Then she was with him because Magic Man convinced her that only he could unlock the True Power within her.

He enjoyed hitting her, but the physical side of the relationship was the least abusive part. Soon Monica was accepting consequences anytime the Magic Man's rushed Thaumaturgy spells produced a backlash. Often these were mental blows but sometimes they were social ones (i.e. social consequences like 'Emotionally Numb' or 'Unfeeling') which served to further isolate her from her peers.

But all the while, Monica was learning. Learning more than Magic Man knew (he never planned on teaching her everything she needed to know). The need to be perfect was still there.

Phase Aspect: Mentored Through Pain.

The Story: Monica's New Hope Things came to ahead on Monica's 18th birthday. Magic Man used a stick to give Monica her 'birthday spanking' and seemed to think she was in her 30s. Then he had a good time rolling around on her, snorted some smack (he always told himself if he didn't inject then he wasn't an addict), and passed out. Looking at her strung out mentor lay there barely able to breathe, it occurred to Monica that she wasn't perfect. That realisation, more than the beating, caused what happened next.

It took Monica hours to put the rite together, and a while to make it work, but when she was done Monica was looking at the naked body of a beautiful woman. Perfect face, perfect butt - everything about her looked perfect. Monica smiled, knowing that even if she couldn't be perfect she could make someone that way.

When Magic Man woke up and found that he had gone from being a slovenly man to a beautiful woman, something snapped inside him. Snapped hard. Not that he was all that stable to begin with (let's say he had an extreme mental consequence - which explains why he was such a creep) but this was too much for his brain to deal with. If he'd been sane then Magic Man would have started working a counter spell, but instead he jumped out the window of his loft. The spell wasn't permanent - it wouldn't have survived the sunrise - but it lasted for all five floors that he fell. The paramedics were a bit surprised to discover the "naked hot chick" who reported to have jumped was really a puggy naked dead man, but they put that down to wishful thinking on someone's part.

Armed with Magic Man's books and her occult skills, Monica branched out on her own. The first thing she needed was money and she knew how to get it - by temporarily turning straw (average looking women) into gold (beautiful ones). Her first 'clients' were prostitutes, but Monica didn't have the muscle to deal with possessive pimps. Monica turned her back on her clients, ripped off a couple of pimps, and used the money start up 'Models by Monique'. Reinventing herself the easy part; Monica ended up bringing someone to help run the business (book the talent, handle the books, make sure that state and federal withholdings happened, and all of the other day to day bits) while Monica (now Monique, no last name) recruited the girls.

Knowing that the magic doesn't really make you beautiful (or she would use it on herself) and hating the insecure girls who flock to her, Monique makes them pretty but not Perfect. They look good enough for local jobs but will never grace the cover of a fashion magazine. Monique tells herself that she does that to keep a low profile, but inside she knows that it's from her contempt of the culture of beauty.

After a lifetime of being a pawn, first her mother's then Magic Man's, Monique finally feels that she in charge of her life. (Note: Yes, I know there's no guest star here - but it could be adjusted to include one. Maybe her business partner, maybe a criminal type (pimp), maybe one of Magic Man's acquaintances or former students - the links are there to be had.)

Phase Aspect: Now I'm The Boss

Guest Star: Whose Path Have You Crossed?(Details to be filled in later) Link her to whatever villains (or other dark forces) you want to. She could easily link to Red Court or White Court as Monique doesn't really care about the survival of the girls she works with - and sending them there could tie up loose end ('relatives come looking' type loose ends). The rest of the magical community either doesn't know about her or sees her as Magic Man's jail bait girlfriend (unless you want to link her to them) and she doesn't know much about them. She doesn't know much about the Council but knows enough to keep away from them.

In one of her guest roles, Monique encountered her family (while aiding the other character) and used the opportunity to take revenge on her mother. Jennifer Childs permanently became Jenny, a confused three year old. Between the shock of the change and differences between adult and toddler brain structure, Jenny is viewed as either confused or developmentally delayed (with possible psychiatric issues). The toddler is currently being bounced around between foster care and group homes. Monique is keeping an eye on her mother, but isn't sure where to take her vengeance next. Part of her wants to make Jenny a little beauty queen, but that would mean coming face to face with some old issues so Monique is leaving her mother in the hands of the state. That story gives Monique a Law Breaker Stunt and the Aspect: I Always Get Revenge

Power Level: Up to Your Waist Skill Cap: Great Skill Points: 25 Starting Refresh: 7 Adjusted Refresh: 2

Skills Discipline: Great (it would be higher if her skill cap was higher - all those years of beauty pageants left her with rock sold control for when she needs it) Resources: Good (her business partner takes the rest of the money from the agency) Deceit: Good (from the beauty pageant training) Lore: Fair Performance: Fair (took talent, music, and dance lessons until age 10; took belly dancing as a teen; often finds herself playing a role) Presence: Fair (those comportment lessons were never forgotten) Scholarship: Fair Alertness: Average Athletics: Average (she keeps in shape) Contacts: Average (mostly connected to the fashion world) Conviction: Average (representing her problems with her self imagine) Endurance: Average (represents her stamina) Intimidation: Average (mostly in social situations; think Alpha Girl, not Bruiser) Stealth: Average

Stunts & Powers

Channeling (-2) - Air Only

Ritual (-2) - Transformation and Disruption

Lawbreaker (-1) - Second Law. Only the once (so far...)

Wizard’s Constitution (0) - ironically Monica will keep her looks far longer than most women.

Items: Channeling:

Diamond Ear Stud (Conviction (Power) +2, both slots) When Monique tugs this ear stud it increases the power her spells. Sometimes it makes her feel a bit like something out of Bewitched, but she usually needs the juice it gives her.

Ritual Focus Item:

Mystic Brazier (Lore +1) It's not convenient to lug around, but Monique has found that when she burns something (incense, potpourri, leafs, anything) in this brazier it opens her mind and expands her Lore. It used to Magic Man's, and he generally burnt weed in it, but Monique uses nicer smelling things.

Ring of Monique (enchanted item) When she reinvented herself, Monica decided that Monique had to look slightly different. From the back they look mostly the same (and each could wear the other's clothes) but Monique's face and body differs slightly from Monica's. Monica doesn't realises it but Monique is slightly better looking. In theory, if things get too hectic, Monica ditches the ring and becomes another average looking girl that was taken advantage of by the Evil Sorceress Monique.

Note: this would be better as a Veil, but Monique doesn't have access to Veils so has to produce subtle changes in her form. - 1 step for effect (effectively a maneuver giving her the aspect: Looks like Monique), 3 for duration (taking it from 15 minutes to a few hours). Monique is often down a level of mental stress from reactivating this item.

Potion of Jane Doe Monique's other enchanted item slot is given over to a potion, usually a potion of Jane Doe. It's more or less the same effect as above, but turns the drinker into someone who doesn't look like Monica or Monique.

Rotes:

Phantom B-Slap It feels like the air just slapped you. It's a weapon 1 attack that needs to be targeted. It's not very effective in combat but it gets her point across to uppity models.

Goose: Linked to her ear stud, this rite is a Power 3 maneuver that gives the social Aspect 'Goosed' as the air squeezes an inappropriate part of the target's body. If the target is unaware that he/she is the subject of a magical attack then the target will often blame the person next to them for the inappropriate touching.

Note: Sometimes Monique will change her appearance and pull this one during "Miss Teen" style beauty pageants or while her own girls are modelling - just to throw the victims off when it's their turn to walk across the stage. She can be nasty that way. She doesn't use it at child beauty pageants because A) she can't face going to them and B) she can't picture tweaking a child like that (and if you don't believe in what you're doing then you can't do it with magic).

Spells

Monique's Model Maker: Effectively, this is a Transformation and Disruption maneuver. Since the change isn't permanent the target doesn't have to be taken out. That's the good part. The bad part? To make it last a week it needs 7 shifts for duration. Added to that is the base effect. The Aspect of "Looks Good Enough To Model" is probably 2 or 4 shifts. I'd probably view the increase in looks on the same scale as consequences with "a bit better" being mild, "a lot better" being moderate, and "this woman now owns the cover of every magazine in the world - someone get her an acting role!" as extreme. That's 9 to 11 shifts for preparation and Monique base is only 3.

That means that a big chunk of the income each model earns goes to buying things and otherwise making preparations for this spell. Sometimes they'll even take a mild physical consequence to help get the spell going. (Monica was raised with pain, trained with pain, and now Monique has no problems with sharing a bit of pain with those worthless girls who worship at the alter of beauty. As long as the bruising fades before the next modelling gig or are somewhere no one can see them then it's all good in Monique's eyes.)

Note that this maneuver doesn't add to Presence or any other social skill and it might cause a bit of a drop in Conviction over prolonged use. After all, thinking "I only matter when I look good and I only look good because of that spell" isn't good for the old self image.

Additional Notes: Could Monica / Monique, with the right training, make it to full wizard status? Probably not. She doesn't have the Sight or Soul Gaze. Maybe she could upgrade her skills, but not by a lot.

Should the Council take notice of her they will probably be a bit disgusted but leave her (and her business) alone - the changes aren't permanent and the subjects are more than willing. The more sexist members putting her actions down to 'the vanity of women'. Training her won't be their top priority. Of course they discover her mother's fate then Monica would be treated like any other Warlock, but until then they would see her as a distasteful minor sorceress making money in a disreputable way.

Ways to tie her into the story: A mousy girl that a PC knows is now modelling. A make over is one thing, but how can she look so different?

A friend or relative of one of the models looks for help.

The PC's discover that some monster (Vampire, ghoul, whatever) was feeding off a model - and it's one of Monique's discards whose beauty fades as the PC rescue her.

Treat it like a new drug - the drug of beauty. If you want it bad enough you can see the woman, make the deal, then earn her money as you live the life of a beautiful person. At least until she tires of you.

A model approaches the PCs trying to have them make the effect permanent.

Monique loses it and trashes a "little miss " pageant. There's no real violence but the pageant is ruined. No, this does not make her a hero.

You don't mention much to the PCs, but every time they pass a store/car dealership/display you mention something about the nice looking model/booth babe working there, until it slowly dawns on them that there is a steady stream of girls who have had that job.

Someone stumbles over Jenny and Sees what was done to her. If they do research they might be able to see the resemblance between Monica (as a child she made the newspapers a bit) and trace Monica down from the family connection.

Part of her past comes back to haunt her - one of the pimps she ripped off or a hooker she set up comes looking for vengeance and the PCs get dragged in.

The PCs are at a local teen talent show/battle of the bands/beauty contest and notice some of the prettier contestants getting Goosed. They might be surprises to find a woman doing it and might even buy Monique's explanation that she's trying to teach those girls that beauty is only skin deep.

A PC stumbles over Monique (using any of the means above), learns her story, and tries to redeem Monica Childs. To turn her from a bitter woman to a slightly better adjusted sorceress.

That magic talent might be in the blood. A relative shows up and tries (belatedly) to help her - enlisting the PCs in Monica's reformation.

That magic talent and her viciousness might be in the blood. A big baddy shows ups. The bad guy is related to her on her mother's side and he/she/it (could be from the Nevernever - making Jennifer a scion) shows up and tries to help enslave or otherwise dominate her. Will the PCs save a nasty villainess from an evil villain? Alternatively they might not know about her - and the middle of fighting the big bad nasty some models rush in and do kamikaze attacks on it - alerting the PCs to Monique's existence.