Work Text:
Name: Alexandria Adelaide Anderson (Alex, only her father [and Norman Osborn] call her Alexandria)
Faceclaim: Madison Davenport
Basics and cosmetic
Age? 21
Date of Birth? 18th April
Hair colour? Brown
Eye colour? Brown with flecks of green
Skin colour/nationality? Pale/American
Accent (if any)? A basic American accent, with a New York twang on certain words.
Orientation? Heterosexual
Height? 5’6”
Weight? 9.5 stone
Tattoos? None
Piercings? None
Birthmarks? None
Disfigurements? None
Scars? Many. Some from dancing or cheerleading accidents, but most of Alex’s scars come from altercations with her father. She has scars on her head from where her head has struck the wall, floor or doorframe, some on her arms from breaks or burns, and some on her chest.
Do they have any nicknames? Al or Ally, but only Harry calls her that.
Where did they come from? Alex is a born and bred New Yorker, and has grown up in Forest Hills, Queens.
How do they usually dress? Comfortably. Alex’s clothes are either hand-me-downs from her sister, or have come from thrift shops, so (aside from her dance-wear), nothing she owns is expensive. She likes to wear skirts or jeans with T-Shirts or flannel shirts and either combat boots or sneakers.
What do they wear to sleep? Usually pyjama pants or shorts with a baggy shirt.
Do they wear jewellery? Alex usually wears a necklace that Harry gave her for her tenth birthday, and a pair of stud earrings.
Is there anything about their appearance they wish they could change? Lots. Alex has very low self-esteem, and has never seen herself as pretty. While she wouldn’t say she was ugly, Alex has no confidence in her appearance, and would usually describe herself as ‘painfully average’.
Do they have an accurate mental picture of their appearance (how they see themselves versus how the world sees them)? Not really. Though she could never be a model, Alex is quite attractive.
Favourites and habits
What are some of your character’s hobbies? Dancing. Alex is a natural dancer; but she worries that being good at dancing isn’t really worth anything, and wishes she were more academically gifted. She is also a decent gymnast.
What do they do with their time? Alex spends a lot of time with Harry, who always makes her feel safe and happy. She is also on the Midtown High Varsity cheer squad, and so has practice for that along with her dancing. Given that she wants to be a journalist, Alex also spends time looking for things to write about, which can get her into trouble.
Favourite colour? Dark purple.
Favourite music artists? Anything she can dance to, whether this be musical soundtracks, classical, pop or rock.
Movies or TV shows? Her favourite film is ‘Legally Blonde’. She finds the concept of a girl wanting to be successful when no-one thinks she can very relatable. She also loves ‘The Princess Bride’, and other fantasy films. But, since she was a little girl, Alex has absolutely adored ‘Peter Pan’, and still has some of her old Peter Pan toys.
Books or authors? She likes non-fiction, whether it be books or articles.
What are some of their pet peeves? When people pretend to be stupid to get attention.
Favourite food? Alex isn’t a picky eater, but she especially likes junk food like pizza or take-out.
Favourite drink? Water or coffee.
What relaxes them? Being with friends (especially Harry), dancing, writing, sex, watching movies.
Do they have any bad habits? Aside from being very self-deprecating, Alex will run her hands through her hair when she is nervous. She also has to push her glasses back up her nose a lot, they slip down.
Biography
Alex has lived in New York for all her life. Her father, Michael, works for Oscorp, and is a close associate of Norman Osborn. Her mother, Sarah, is a surgeon in a major Manhattan hospital. Both of Alex’s siblings (her older sister, Cara, and her younger brother, Matthew) followed in their parents intellectual footsteps; Cara studies experimental physics at Columbia University, and Matthew attends an elitist Manhattan private school. Alex, on the other hand, has never been gifted academically. And both her parents, but particularly her father, resent her for this. Alex has few fond memories of her parents. Her mother often ignored her, preferring to focus on her other children, the ones with potential. But her father was so much worse. Ever since she was a child, Alex has been constantly shouted at by her father. He belittled her, insulted her, mocked her, told her exactly how ‘stupid, useless and worthless’ she was. But, what was worse was that Alex could never tell how he was going to be. Her father truly believed that what he was doing was for her own good, and could just as easily be as kind, gentle, and loving as he was cruel and brutal.
And then he began to hit her. When Alex was thirteen years old, she finally tried to stand up for herself, to fight back. And her father slapped her across the face. Seeing the effect it had, the way it shut her up, the violence became more and more regular. At first, he would apologise for hitting and yelling at her, telling her that he only did it because he loved her and wanted her to succeed. And, at first, Alex believed it, forgiving him each time and thinking that it wouldn’t happen again. But, after a year or two, Alex came to realise that his excuses were just that, excuses. It grew to the point where she was lucky to go one week without being hit.
Because of a mixture of how she was treated at home and her own terrible self-esteem, Alex is incredibly trusting towards people who are nice to her, and she does have a habit of developing attractions (whether romantic or platonic) quite quickly.
But Alex’s life hasn’t been all bad. At seven years old, she had to go to Oscorp with her father during a school break. During the day, she wandered off, and ended up in a side room. Where she met a seven year old Harry Osborn. The two of them bonded instantly, and became fast friends. They only became closer when they both began attending Midtown High School (where, through Harry, Alex also met and became friends with Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, and Mary Jane Watson). It was Harry whom Alex ran to the first time her father hit her, and he is currently the only outside person who knows of her father’s abuse. To Alex, Harry is like a brother, she’s closer to him than she is with anybody, and she will always put him above herself.
Another major source of happiness for Alex is dancing. Her first dance classes were a present from her grandmother on her fifth birthday. And, given that it kept her out of the house, and out of the way, her father continued to pay for them. Alex loves all kinds of dance, but is especially skilled in ballet, modern, acro, and ballroom. She has also taken gymnastics classes, and (seeing how she is naturally very flexible) she has a skill in that too. Both the dancing and the gymnastics helped Alex to gain a spot on the Midtown High Varsity cheer team (much to the annoyance of Liz Allen, who seemed to have it in for Alex).
Even if she had little success in school, Alex always knew what she wants to do for a career. She was desperate to get into journalism, any way she could. Unfortunately, attempting to come up with material for articles has often led Alex into trouble. Like the day she used Harry’s access card to sneak into the underground, secret Oscorp labs, wanting to know what they were working on. Where she found the Green Goblin costume. Where Norman Osborn found her. Threatening Alex with all sorts of awful things such as brutal violence, sexual violence, and harm to Harry, Norman let her go, confident that he had frightened her into silence.
Alex also knows that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Having cottoned on to the fact that Peter was never around when Spider-Man was, and vice-versa, and after seeing Spider-man near Peter’s home, she confronted him after school one day. And, when he refused to admit it, she followed Spider-Man one day, and saw him remove the mask, confirming her suspicions. Though he clearly wasn’t thrilled that she’d found out, Alex promised Peter that she wouldn’t tell a soul, not even Harry. A promise which she has kept, along with Norman Osborn’s secrets.
But it did lead to something great. Alex eventually convinced Peter, as Spider-Man, to let her interview him. The first exclusive interview with the vigilante. Alex submitted the article to The Daily Bugle, who, as a reward, offered her a paid internship once she had left school. She also managed to finally escape her father’s house. For a late eighteenth birthday present, Harry gave Alex something that he knew she desperately needed. He offered to pay her rent on her own apartment. It took a long time to convince Alex to accept the present, but she eventually gave in, giving Alex a small, but cosy apartment in Hell’s Kitchen, meaning that Alex now lives independently without having to worry about rent.
The abuse that Alex has suffered at the hands of her father has made her emotionally unstable. She is often paranoid, and does not handle confrontation well. She can become very closed off and frightened easily. If threatened, especially with an action such as a slap, Alex will panic, and is likely to experience flashbacks. She will probably beg not to be hurt, and may call her assailant ‘daddy’ – an attempt to stop her ‘father’ from hurting her. But, if she forms a connection or a positive relationship with someone, no matter the nature of that relationship, Alex will become attached and clingy. If a person shows her any kindness or goodwill, she will trust them easily and quickly.
Almost a year after graduating high school, Alex is still working as an intern for The Daily Bugle, hoping that she will soon be taken seriously enough to start writing official stories. But she still remembers the things that happened down in the Oscorp labs, and she is still terrified of Norman Osborn and the things that he threatened to do to her…