— BASICS Name: Daya Marie Ray Age / D.O.B.: 32 / February 4, 1991 Gender, Pronouns & Sexuality: Cis woman, She/her, & Bisexual Hometown: Chicago, Illinois Affiliation: Civilian Job position: Trophy Wife Education: GED Relationship status: Married Children Minor siblings of whom she is the legal guardian: Two Positive traits: Nurturing, Gentle, Generous, Perceptive, Obedient Negative traits: Self-sacrificial, Paranoid, Aloof, Passive, Evasive
— BIOGRAPHY TW: Mentions of drug use, parental abandonment, abuse, nongraphic allusions to marital r*pe, blackmail
Daya’s first core memory is of being four years old and finding her father passed out from a bad high in the yard outside of the tiny apartment they rented. It was the dead of winter, and she bundled herself up in her coat and hat, and dragged out her comforter to cover him, laying with him for an hour until a neighbor showed up to wake him up. The next day, both of her parents sobbed and promised that they would get clean for her, not that she understood a word they said. That happiness lasted for a little while, long enough for Daya to become a big sister to her brother Jakob. As happy as she was to have him in her life, to her parents, he was another mouth to feed when times were already lean.
Their parents fell off the wagon again when Daya was ten, which was effectively the end of her childhood. Even though their parents had stints of sobriety, she never again trusted them enough to care for their children. The twins, Freddie and Hanna, were born when she was 17, and the next time her parents came home high, Daya told them to leave. And they did without looking back. From that point on, she became her siblings’ unofficial guardian, dropping out of school and working under the table to make ends meet for them.
Daya fell into sex work at 19, catching the attention of a woman who had an eye for these things. She started on the streets and in seedy motels, and eventually worked her way up towards discreet encounters with the rich and powerful. It was through these connections that she met her husband. Handsome, charming, and older, with eyes that commanded attention from all who saw him. A celebrity known around the world for his history as a teenage heartthrob and roles in critically acclaimed films. Of all the women he could have chosen, he chose her. She was only 25, and with more responsibilities than she deserved, when she should have been living her life. He was her fairytale prince, and she missed every red flag until she was too far in.
It wasn’t all bad. For over two years, they were happy, a Cinderella story for the tabloids and social media to go mad over. They never hid the real story of how they had met, only spinning it into a happy ending whenever the cameras and microphones were hot. He doted on Freddie and Hanna, spoiling them with everything they wanted. Jakob was less friendly, already 18 and deeply suspicious of anyone who came into their lives, but even he conceded that things were easy for once and eventually let his guard down.
The first time he hit her was the night he lost out on an Oscar for his latest film. He had been the favored, supposed to finally get his moment after so many years, only for a surprise sweep to steal it all away. It was his reminder that there were many things outside of his control, and he started to tighten his grip around Daya in order to compensate. He controlled her appearance, her schedule, her body, and every other aspect of her life. If she dared to refuse, he would remind her that he had all the power in the relationship.
Jakob disappears as soon as he is able, with Daya’s urging and help. He’s reluctant to leave his siblings, but refusing to be a pawn that can be used against her. She hasn’t seen him in almost four years. She spends the next six months getting things in order to leave her husband, but things go awry when he learns of her plans. He threatens to take custody of Freddie and Hanna if she leaves, to use every resource at his disposal to ruin her life. So she stays, and is growing increasingly desperate to find a way out. — WANTED CONNECTIONS / PLOTS THE INNER CIRCLE - People who are close enough that they may or may not be aware of what’s going on in Daya’s marriage. This could be other celebrities/high net worth individuals, assistants or members of their teams, bodyguards, etc, anyone who is aware of the dark secrets of celebrity life. They could be allies for Daya who help her in ways they can, or people who look the other way because the money is good enough. They could even be former clients when she was an escort before she got married. THE UNDERBELLY - As things get worse in her marriage, Daya is starting to turn to more unsavory avenues for help. She’s probably going to be on the lookout for some kind of gun to protect herself, and hell, she might even be willing to splurge on a hit if she can find the right contacts. MEDIA - The media has a love-hate relationship with Daya and the feeling is mutual. With the last eight years of her life splashed all over social media, there’s some resentment on Daya’s end at how fake everything seems. People have not been shy about calling her all sorts of awful things, based on pure speculation or because of a bad photo, and she prefers to avoid them at all costs. However, in her struggle, she also wonders whether the media might be her best shot at getting someone to listen to her.
FRIENDS - Friendship with Daya is a tricky beast. It means never being able to go out in public without concern of being followed around by paparazzi. It means being lied to constantly whenever her husband feels like being a controlling dick. It means Daya always wondering whether people actually like her for her, or because of her body, her access, or the other material things she brings to the table. People who are willing to live with that will be cherished, but she will not ever reveal her full secrets to anyone.
