| Tamara Brooks | |
 |
|
| Portrayed By | Rachel Hurd-wood |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Date of Birth | March 4 |
| Age | 16 |
| Zodiac Sign | Pisces |
| Aliases | Tam |
| Place of Birth | New York City, NY, USA |
| Current Location | New York City, NY, USA |
| Occupation | Stray |
| Known Relatives | parents, two siblings (Marcus, River) |
| Known Abilities | None Known (Precognition) |
| First Appearance | Not all Broken is Fixable |
Tamara is an eccentric teen with a knack for showing up unexpectedly and in most unlikely places, and also for confusing the heck out of other people when she speaks. She is on the NYPD missing persons list, and a slightly out-of-date picture occasionally makes rounds on all the places missing persons posters go up.
History
Tamara grew up in a household consisting of her parents, her two older siblings, and one cat. Her parents were fairly typical modern American workaholics, always doing something or going somewhere — whether it was their own work or taking their oldest to soccer practice or what have you. It was perhaps not the most staid of homes, but it was a good one. She and her siblings were best friends and best rivals; not always close, each being about two years apart from the next, but not distant from one another either. It was the sort of household that exists within its own little circle of friends and acquaintances, little concerned with or touched by the many great issues and controversies of the world at large.
Her brother, Marcus, moved out at the beginning of Tamara's high school sophomore year, leaving home to attend college. Soon afterwards, she began to act strangely, just in little ways; but over time, her actions and behavior became less and less explicable — even by Tamara herself. She was sent first to the school counselor, then to an outside psychiatrist her parents hired. Both wrote it off with the same explanation — stress from school, her brother moving out, adolescence; just a combination of factors adding together to create a phase. It'll go away.
Her family wanted this to be true, so they believed it. They believed, and chose not to see the signs that what Tamara was going through was nothing so benign; that it was no more and no less than a slow, inexorable descent into madness. It was the inevitable and irreversible loss of a child who had been gifted in her way — not a virtuoso at any one thing, but one of those who can turn their hand to almost anything and do at least better than average.
They were blind until the night she walked out the front door of their house and did not return, leaving it gaping wide open behind her. Now they have missing posters up around the city, and badger the cops every few weeks, asking why they haven't found one little girl yet. But Tamara shows no signs of venturing back.
Abilities
Tamara is a precog who perceives all possible actions and their potential outcomes — both her own and of others around her. This makes her virtually impossible to surprise or catch. It's also why she's not exactly sane.
Wanted!
- The parents of Tamara and Marcus are available for play, if anyone wants an older character with PC relatives. About the only thing determined is that both are (probably) human, but even that — like most else — is open to suggestion.
- I am more than happy to contribute Tamara towards any plot or character development, on any scale. Feel free to page if you want to arrange something.
Timeline
September 2006: Marcus moves out of the Brooks household.
October 2006: Tamara's ability makes its first small and occasional appearances.
December 2006: Choosing insight over sanity, Tamara vanishes into the sea of humanity that is NYC.
| Jul. 10 | Tamara meets another wayward teen. | Rafe, Tamara |
| Jul. 16 | Ali starts to figure out why Tamara's so odd… | McAlister, Tamara |
| Jul. 17 | …but, the very next day, misses the more dramatic demonstration of Tam's abilities. Kitty, on the other hand, connects the dots. |
Aileen, Elle, Felix, George, Jane, Kitty, McAlister, Tamara |
| Jul. 20 | Mara comes to say goodbye, along with other things Tam already knows. | Mara, Tamara |
Dark Future (July — ?? 2009, alternate timeline)
Despite the potential benefit her ability could be to the resistance factions, Tamara chooses not to work directly with them, either during the war or after it. She agrees with their goals, so much as she can agree with anything, but opts for quieter actions — not flashy or dramatic, no fighting or desperate rescues, just a succession of little benevolent deeds, reminding the people caught between that there is still good in the world. She takes up nearly permanent residence with Judah, hiding her ability behind her madness, to most appearing only as his mind-damaged ward. To most who knew her, unless they have much contact with Judah, Tamara has vanished; possibly dead, definitely gone this last year and more.
Associates
- Alyssa McAlister: A kindred spirit, after a fashion; she may be more coherent than Tamara, but they're not dissimilar. She's also very accepting of Tamara's oddities; this is something Tam' always makes note of.
- Desiree Russo: Although it's been a while since they last spoke, Desiree and Tamara share a gift; Tamara hasn't exactly forgotten that.
- Jack Derex: Jack has a grasp of Tamara's power. That makes him someone she can talk to. He's also helped her before, so has a positive connotation in Tamara's perceptions.
- Jane Forrest: Jane has benefited from Tamara's foresight a couple of times now.
- Judah Demsky: Judah is as close to a friend as Tamara could claim; not so much because of past history, but because she knows she can trust him and because their possible futures are often closely connected.
- Mara Damaris: Though Tamara trusts Mara as a person, the woman gets into too much trouble for her to be someone Tam' relies on often.
- Marcus Brooks: Brother. Company employee. The latter outweighs the former by a lot, these days — but as long as she can walk away in the end, Tamara can tolerate it.
- Namir Dayan: Namir knows what she sees. He also knows people Tamara may someday need to talk to. Now that they've agreed Tamara can look after herself, it's an association that works well.
- Rafael Ayana: Two peas in a pod, Tamara and Rafe are; two stray teens driven mad by abilities beyond their control. They even get along.
Quotes
The present moment comes to us through unnoticed actions of the past — too many to count, mostly unknown and unnoticed, and sometimes unavoidably terrible. We give ourselves up to the future, one drop of blood at a time, whether we choose to do it or not. (Water Logic, Laurie J. Marks, p 329)
- "People stand in the river without seeing it, but it touched everything. All the tangled threads of the shadows, the drifting ghosts."
- "Best intentions need to be watched carefully; they escape when you're not looking."
- "The mirror can always find you."
Lyric Snippets
Note: Songs are not complete; these are the pieces most applicable to Tamara.