F17: WATANABE, JULIET [DECEASED]

#1

DECEASED

Name: Juliet Watanabe
Gender: Female
Age: 15
Hobbies and Interests: Dancing, Japanese, Anime, not getting arrested

Appearance: She's 5'7", 133 pounds, blue-eyed, black haired, wide-eyed, Japanese, dancer's body, well-muscled and beautiful. Her face is a synthesis of Japanese and Caucasian; slanted, wide blue eyes, arch brows, thin nose, blue-black hair cut long and feathery, and a small, mobile expressive mouth. She dances, and her body is rangy and muscled; her hands are overlarge, and her expression is often wistful. Her dress tends towards light-colored linen pants and t-shirts on more casual days, or, often, old-fashioned replicas of military jackets (more ceremonial than functional--think redcoats or civil war, not camo) over button-down shirts and linens or khakis. Occasionally she will break out a dark short skirt under a button-down blouse, in a reference to the "Japanese schoolgirl" trope.

Biography: Pamela Banks was a dance instructor finishing her PhD in political science. Atticus Watanabe was a well-respected young historian. Watanabe was of Japanese descent, yes, but some immigrants were allowed to stay, and when the General came to power, it was ruled that this couple seemed like a safe bet.

They were not a safe bet.

Pamela and Atticus didn't approve of the General's takeover at all. And though they were wise enough to keep their heads down when the first round of culling was going on--figuring that the leadership would mellow post-coup, as regimes often did--they quickly joined the American Underground, and began writing "radical" political treatises and helping smuggle in treasonous international media, specifically anime. It was only a matter of time until they were caught.

Juliet Watanabe grew up with the best parents possible--a laughing, spunky, hard-drinking mother who taught her how to dance, and a father who sat her on his knee, taught her a "secret" language and told her stories of times long ago and strange countries far away. She had been told she would be bullied because of who she was and who her parents were, and took it in a stride; she had a natural thick skin, and nasty comments rolled off her like water off a duck's back. Though her occasional subversive essays and inconvenient fact-finding kept her History and Social Studies teachers on edge, she learned not to care. And when her friends, attracted to her spunk, began to slip away, sensing the danger--well, she took that fairly well too. She had her older brother, Simon, and she was the apple of his eye. He taught her the thrilling danger of what they were doing, made explicit (when their parents wouldn't) the tyranny of the government, and helped her believe that she was living an adventure--she and Simon and her invincible parents against the world.

When she was thirteen, her parents were arrested. They were never seen again.

Seven days later, her brother went out to look for them. He disappeared without so much as a notice from the government. Quick as smoke, Juliet was sent to live with her conservative Aunt, who, with three fussy little boys of her own, had no time for her doomed niece.

Juliet's behavior grew ever more rambunctious following her parent's disappearance. Her essays grew sharp, her catty comments in history and social studies more frequent; where before she had just ignored her tormentors and other racists and numb-minded patriots in her school, now she took especial pains to tear down. Bullies, perhaps sensing her increased vulnerability, or perhaps just enraged, took to physical abuse when nasty comments failed to work. Juliet lashed out at her tormenters--using her mother's dance training to create a makeshift martial art--and was sent to the principal's office. For three days she was suspended. On the fourth day, she was cornered behind school, after class, by several of her past tormentors and others wanting to join the fun. She had her leg broken in several places, and was beaten into unconsciousness.

When she came back from the hospital, she was different.

Her sharp comments came less frequently, but were more bitter, more obviously subversive. Though she would occasionally defend herself from physical violence, she never attacked, and mostly took the beatings with little protest. She experimented with sex, and started kissing and sleeping around with some of the more dogmatic or manipulative people in her class (men and women both), giving herself a precocious reputation as the class whore. She deliberately kept a pattern of saying something a bit too sharp near someone with impetus to report it, and then offering sexual favors to them in exchange for "not telling". Why she did this was a mystery to even herself--some amount of self-hatred and survivor's guilt, plus a perverse desire to take the pain the world seemed determined to give her on her own terms. Juliet, troubled, fifteen years old, enjoyed the danger and ugly thrill of building herself a house of cards, and looked forward, perversely, to the day when it fell--but enjoyed more knowing that she could delay its inevitability by doing the sweet and nasty with America's self-proclaimed protectors.

The one thing she still seemed to care about was the Underground and, more specifically, her Japanese media. She had been helping her family subtitle anime since she was young, and at this point can go through a full 64-episode series in a little less than a fortnight. The anime is smuggled in via internet, by Juliet's Underground mentor, an aging, unhygienic computer-hacking hippie named Al. Currently Al is the only thing she'd consider family left--although she's recently realized that she has a crush on Marilyn Williams, a crush that has nothing to do with sick self-loathing. This sparks a bit of hope; she's not sure she could ever be not fatalistic, but she likes the idea of caring about someone again, and Marilyn, in particular, brings out the protective streak in her. Still, associating with a girl likely marked for death is probably not something Marilyn wants to do, and Juliet has been waffling as to whether to approach her...

Advantages: Physically fit, with a fierce personality, sharp mind, and quick temper, Juliet's history and current problems at school means she may have less reluctance than many to off some of her nastier classmates. Moreover, she has dealt with dramatically bad things happening to her before, and is unlikely to simply panic and be killed in traumatic situations. Most importantly, Juliet has had experience fighting before--and though no weapons were used at the time, she has the instinct for it, as well as the uncanny grace imparted to her by her mother.
Disadvantages: A known subversive, Juliet is disliked or feared by many of her classmates for this. Currently, she can be a little obnoxious, but she may become outright strident in a situation where she no longer has to conceal her dislike of the government. Moreover, she may shun alliances of convenience for reasons of principle. A fatalistic streak will almost certainly breed recklessness, and her crush on Marilyn could be used to cripple her.

Designated Number: Female Student #17

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Designated Weapon: LeMat Revolver
Conclusion: There is a possibility that F17 may be another of those 'revolutionaries' we see on The Program every so often. They never succeed.

DECEASED