Desiree Beck (art by Yonagoda)
Name: Desiree Beck
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Grade: 12
School: George Hunter High School
Hobbies and Interests: Video games (specifically Minecraft and Fortnite), classical and orchestral music, mystery novels
Appearance: Desiree stands at 5'6" and weighs 115 lbs with a somewhat small frame. Her features are rather plain. She has a round face with a small, round nose and thin lips. Her monolid eyes are small and brown. Her straight black hair is shoulder-length and is styled into a basic bob. Her skin is clear of most blemishes and is a light hue due to her Chinese ancestry. She normally looks tired and tends to slouch while sitting down or even standing. Her voice, if she even speaks, is monotone and devoid of emotion, and she never makes eye contact with whom she is addressing.
Desiree’s effort for fashion is minimal; she usually just wears whatever is on hand and is approved by her mother, so her style is rather conservative. She wears contact lenses to correct her near-sightedness, though sometimes she also wears a pair of black square glasses. On the day of the abduction she was wearing a white-and-purple plaid long sleeve dress shirt with a chartreuse cross tie underneath a khaki waffle knit sweater, black ankle-cut slacks, and brown boat shoes.
Biography: Desiree was born on June 13th, 2000 to Lemmy and Marisa Beck and is an only child. The Becks are financially well-off with Lemmy as an architect and Marisa as a commercial real estate agent. Lemmy is a second generation Chinese American who met Marisa while studying overseas in Wenzhou in the Zhejiang province of China. The two hit it off and when Lemmy returned to the U.S., Marisa came with him and they settled in his hometown of Chattanooga, TN. Several years later Desiree was born.
Even as a child, Desiree would keep to herself and did solo activities like work on puzzles, both by her own choice and due to her parents never putting in an effort to socialize her with kids her own age. The only social activity that ever interested her was games. This love for games started with stuff such as chess or card games that she played against her father or babysitter. She loved playing games due to the strategies they required along with the satisfaction of winning and beating someone else.
Eventually this love of games turned into an adoration for video games, specifically after being exposed to them by watching her father play. After getting her own computer in the 3rd grade, she first played simulation games such as The Sims 2 and the Anno series. When she discovered Minecraft, though, it was all over for her. She was drawn to the near-limitless building possibilities and fell in love with the game, actively keeping up with updates and following YouTubers devoted to the game religiously. Recently she has also dug deep into Fortnite as it scratches that competitive itch instead of being more open-ended, but Minecraft remains her favorite game of all time and she still devotes many hours afterschool to the game's Creative mode just building whatever suits her fancy.
When she wasn't playing video games, Desiree also enjoyed reading. From a young age she has enjoyed mystery novels most of all, starting with the iconic Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys and moving up to Agatha Christie's novels after those stopped being stimulating. While it never gave her the same rush she got from playing games, the thrill of guessing everyone's role or even how the plot gets solved kept her coming back.
Lemmy was invited to a classical concert by a colleague and took Marisa and Desiree along when she was 10 years old. Desiree never cared much for music or anything playing on the radio, but hearing the complexity of the moving lines mixed with the bombastic horns and strings really affected her. She started to look up recordings on the internet and asking for CDs and to be taken to more concerts. She tried to learn viola for a couple of weeks, but after realizing how much effort it would take to learn it she gave up and was satisfied with just being a listener.
After coming home with her first C-grade ever in the 7th grade, Desiree’s parents began fearing for her future and her apathetic attitude towards education. Marisa especially became even more strict, forcing her to join extracurricular activities like the math club and getting her tutors to get her ahead in all of her subjects. Desiree rebelled and purposefully dragged her feet doing assignments, and it became a nightly battle over her finishing homework. Eventually Marisa would win out, but Desiree always made sure to do the minimal effort possible to get an acceptable grade.
Normally Desiree did well in school without having to study or without the help of tutors, especially in math classes where she particularly excelled. However, her one particular weakness was in the sciences where she just couldn’t understand the concepts and her previous tutors were no help. Believing that studying was futile along with developing slight test anxiety due to pressure from her parents to do well in school, she turned to cheating on assignments and even during tests. She never got caught but after a close call when fellow classmate Cecil Salazar-Loveless called her out and got the school administration involved, she was forced to stop. After this event she began being tutored by classmate Parker Green and with his help has managed to achieve considerably high marks in the sciences.
Desiree has a mixed yet quiet reception in school. She has very few friends or even people she acknowledges to the point of engaging with, and most of those who even know she exists are put off by her negative attitude and behavior. The kids she does engage with tend to be either due to circumstances or have a similar antisocial demeanor to herself. She has an A record with the occasional B once every few grading periods. She is in the math club by force, and she puts in the minimal amount of effort and participation possible to appease her parents. She otherwise doesn't have many goals or any real after school hobbies outside of video games, instead being satisfied with just isolating herself as a form of escapism from societal pressures placed on her by others.
She has been accepted into Middlebury College with a major in mathematics; because of its reputation as one of the top liberal arts schools in the country, she was able to use this leverage on her parents to convince them to let her travel so far away, along with using the DC trip as a sort of trial period. However, she has no clue what she will do after completing her undergrad and just wants to use the opportunity to physically get away from her parents' social and academic pressures.
Advantages: Desiree’s general distrust of others and their intentions may help her avoid being deceived. She has few known enemies and is quiet, which may help her survive the early stages of the game by just staying out of the way of bigger targets.
Disadvantages: Desiree does not have many friends to begin with, and she may struggle to develop alliances in the early game due to her antisocial tendencies. She is stubborn and may lash out at being told what to do or how to think; other participants may see this as a lost cause if she is wrong or a reason to target her should a heated confrontation arise.
Designated Number: Female student No. 020
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Designated Weapon: Water Pistol
Conclusion: A nerd after my own heart... is what I would say, if the fact that you're super into Fortnite wouldn't remind me of just how far removed our generations are. Man, back in my day, the super casual fun shooter was Team Fortress 2. Now you KIDS have your battle royale games. Not so much fun anymore, is it? Maybe we should sue Epic Games, they obviously got the idea from us... - Dennis Lourvey
P.S. You're back in my good graces for playing Minecraft, but Survival > Creative. Though, survive, and you can play on my server for a little while.
The above biography is as written by Jilly. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.
Evaluations[]
Handled by: Jilly
Kills: None
Killed By: Erika Stieglitz
Collected Weapons: Water Pistol (assigned weapon, lost)
Allies: Thomas Buckley, Sean Leibowitz, Lucas Diaz
Enemies: Teresa Rojas, Reuben Walters, Erika Stieglitz
Mid-game Evaluation: Desiree was woken in a wilderness area by the drool of a wild goat splashing on her face. She was approached by Teresa Rojas, who offered help, but the sudden appearance of Reuben Walters seemed suspicious and Desiree kept up her guard. Quickly their intentions were revealed- though sloppily so, as it didn't seem like the two of the would be players had agreed on killing or robbing. Desiree began to back up, getting some space from an advancing Teresa with the distracting appearance of onlooker Terra Johnson. Desiree made her move, she hurled a rock right at Teresa's face and bolted. Teresa's chase was stalled out by Terra jumping between them- Desiree in her panic was only able to scoop up one bag before she escaped.
She'd lost most of her supplies in the process, so as she ran into the lower wilds area she determined she needed allies of some sort. She found Thomas Buckley post-cry, and the two got off to an awkward start. They were approached by Lucas Diaz and Sean Leibowitz, both of whom Desiree recognized, and discussions began. Being put off by Lucas' trollish demeanor aside, everyone revealed weapons, Desiree discussing what had happened to her own and her run-in with Teresa and Reuben. Desiree argued they all stick together, and despite some friction between Thomas and the others they were able to come to a sort of accord to at least group for a while, as 'the clout gang'.
Desiree was the one who needed them to stop when they reached the yacht- she tired out faster than she thought she would. Lucas, at least, seemed interested in exploring, and entered along with Thomas. Sean pointed out someone stay on guard- Desiree promptly brushed him off and left him to do it by default while she searched for a place to rest. A few minutes of idly wandering the boat later and she called Sean up to the deck, if he was interested. He was not, Desiree found a secluded place to eat snacks she'd brought on the trip, and offered Lucas some when he stumbled onto her, trusting him with her preciously limited supply of Cool Ranch. And only him exclusively. They moved on after that, electing to continue with their original plan to get to the infirmary.
The whole evening was wasted, such that announcements sounded before they finally reached the infirmary proper. Thomas found a dead body as the first person to go in, and Desiree recognized it as the familiar Violet Quinn, she immediately covered the body with the blanket that had been left over it. Sean and Desiree were left inside with the solemn atmosphere, while Lucas and Thomas kept watch outside. The two of them decided to search for anything useful. While Lucas and Thomas held off Zachary Beck and his less than welcome presence Desire found a treasure trove of pens.
She was then, very suddenly and unceremoniously, gunned down by a killer not even present in the building.
Post-Game Evaluation: Dude. The seed to my realm was BOOMHEADSHOT. I'd like to think I was a part of this death. - Dennis Lourvey
Memorable Quotes: "By the way, I... uhm.... I like your sword." - Lucas getting clout
"If you want any more, it's okay. But don't tell the others I'm holding out." - Hitting Lucas up with the Doritos
Other/Trivia[]
Threads[]
Below are a list of threads containing Desiree, in chronological order:
The Past:
V7 Pregame:
- Future Loves Me
- Walk Without Rhythm
- Bargain Basket Baller
- Generation Loss
- Say Yes! To T!nn!ss!!
- We're Milling Through The Grinder, Grinding Through The Mill
- Lights, Camera, Laughter!
- The Good in Everyone (#SwiftBall)
- Senior President Election
Prom:
The Trip:
V7:
- LMAO they made Fortnite into a real thing!
- My Balls Are Concrete
- Why? I don't like you.
- Right Turn at Albuquerque
Your Thoughts[]
Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Desiree Beck. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!
- Desiree was, above all else, unique. This was clear from her first wonderful and unusual appearance, still under RC's stewardship, and Jilly did a good job tapping into the magic and reinterpreting it into new situations. Desiree's concept is one that can be really difficult to wring dynamic scenes out of—she's mostly pretty quiet and passive, and is in many situations willing to let things just slip past her—but Jilly helps contrive ways to force her out of that (as when her mom is along at the coffee shop behaving in a humiliating fashion) or else leans into it and makes it a character beat. And of course, the biggest, wildest, weirdest thing Desiree is involved with is the seance with Violet Schmidt in which the girls attempt to contact the spirit of Desiree's dead chinchilla and instead experience some seriously spooky stuff. It's the sort of concept that needs an incredibly deft hand to come out well, but Jilly and MethodicalSlacker pull it off, and the result is a singular sequence that leaves a lot open to interpretation in a fun way.
When Desiree hits the island, her style stays very stable, as an unfortunate meeting with a couple of robbers sees her fleeing without much of her gear rather than risking more direct conflict. Fortunately for Desiree, she links up with the very first incarnation of the Clout Gang, and the excellent chemistry between her, Lucas, Thomas, and Sean makes for a dynamic that is, if not always perfectly functional, consistently entertaining to read. I especially appreciated the way little mundane moments of compassion and connection were so key, with something as simple as sharing some chips forging a deep bond between her and Lucas (at least from one side). And, of course, it is this bond that sends him off on his path following Desiree's death.
Speaking of, her death is one that's on the one hand perfectly thematically appropriate and on the other really grim and crushing. Desiree will probably always be remembered for kicking off Erika's spree by getting head-shot from another thread, but the great thing is, like so many parts of Desiree's life, she's not even the intended recipient. Her time is cut short through a fluke, a mistake, and there's no real closure. She's there, and then she's not, and despite her quiet presence, her loss is deeply felt. I have to say, I was pretty surprised that Jilly didn't Swap someone for her at the time, and I think there was tons of room for her to go further, but at the same time I'd never insinuate that she went out at the wrong place. Desiree's story is a strong and well-crafted one, and very much worth a read. - MurderWeasel