#privalene

ALÈNE MCINTOSH ➝ FIFTH SIBLING

I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN

❖ FULL NAME: Alène Christine McIntosh. ❖ PRONOUNS: She/Her. ❖ AGE: 18. (July 1st). ❖ BIRTH ORDER: Fifth. Adopted. ❖ GRADE: Freshman. ❖ MAJOR: Art, with a Painting concentration. ❖ SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Homosexual. ❖ ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Polyromantic. ❖ FACECLAIM: Kiersey Clemons.

I'LL FOLLOW YOU UNTIL YOU LOVE ME

[TW: child abuse]

Corinne Deshaies was born and raised in France and had full intention of living there for the rest of her life. This changed, however, when she studied abroad in America and quickly fell in love. She spent the entire semester with the man and it wasn’t until she was back in France that she realized that she was pregnant. They both decided to marry and the man convinced Corinne to move to America, which she did with reluctance. She gathered all of her belongings and money to move with the man. Their marriage, however, didn’t last more than two years before the man took all their money and left Corinne with nothing but their child, Ségolène.

Lène’s childhood started out normal enough, despite the fact that she was homeschooled by her mother who refused to teach her English. Her mother was often strict and Lène was never allowed to play with other children her age. When Lène was six, she began noticing flutters of colors all around her that fluctuated with her emotions and began to transfer these images into paintings with supplies she found in the attic of their home. She later found out that this was a form of synesthesia. One day, however, Corinne found her daughter painting in the attic and became enraged with her. After she tore up the paintings she grabbed the little girl and shoved her down the attic steps. From then on the cycle continued and got worse over time. Lène continued to paint, and Corinne would beat her for it. After receiving a call from worried neighbors, Child Protective Services came to the Deshaies household and found a bruised 9 year old girl with multiple broken bones and quickly pulled her from the home.

The next few years of Lène’s life were spent moving from family to family. She was almost always sent to a foster home where she was abused or neglected; she would eventually run away from them before she was caught and placed back into foster care. During one of these times, Lène found herself at a park watching a girl paint. The girl wasn’t much older than she was but she was obviously from a rich home. Lène tried to ask if she could paint with her, but she ended up using more hand gestures than anything as she still hadn’t grasped English, yet. She and the girl spent the day painting together until Christine and Gordon McIntosh came to take the girl home, wherein she begged her parents to let Lène come home with them. Christine at first adamantly refused to let her into her home, but her husband ultimately refused to let Christine throw her back in the streets. During the time that Lène stayed at the McIntosh household, Christine got the reputation of being a saint for saving a child from the streets and quickly decided to fully adopt her.

After the adoption was finalized, Lène was given her new name: Alène Christine MacIntosh. (She was slightly peeved that, whether Christine realized it or not, she’d been given the name that is the French equivalent to Allen and continues to go by Lène.) She was eleven when she was adopted and immediately thrown into the spotlight. Christine quickly hired Lène a tutor so she could learn English and introduced her to the rest of the family. Lène tried to get to know her new siblings but she couldn’t help but feel like an outsider. She mainly stuck to Alex, the girl whom she’d met at the park, and began painting again. Just as she was finally getting used to her new life, The Apple Never Falls Far From The Tree began airing. Lène tried to find quiet places to paint and be by herself but no matter where she went, the cameras followed her. This constant surveillance left Lène feeling claustrophobic and she began having panic attacks, most of which were embarrassingly aired on the show. She’d tried to plead with Christine to not air it, but she refused and claimed that it brought “drama” to the show. This cause a tear in their already strained relationship and Lène began doing little acts of rebellion to try to make Christine look bad and refused to conform to her idea of a perfect child.

As soon as Lène turned 18, she jumped at the opportunity to follow her siblings and go to Pacific State University. She didn’t intend to go to college seeing as she didn’t need a degree to paint, but it’s the only way, she feels, that she can paint in peace without her adopted parents, or the press, breathing down her neck.

BABY, THERE'S NO OTHER SUPERSTAR

During her rebellion against Christine, Lène shaved off all her hair and is currently letting it grow out, but it is still pretty short. She had also gotten her belly button pierced and a paint splatter tattoo on her wrist during this time. Lène stands at a modestly short stature but she refuses to let anyone underestimate her due to her height. As for clothes, Lène generally wears whatever is the most comfortable (sweats and leggings usually) and doesn’t usually put much thought in her outfits. Her style, when she decides to dress up, is pretty androgynous and with her short hair she is often mistaken for a guy. Almost all of her clothing are stained with paint and her fingernails are always caked with paint or oil.

YOU KNOW THAT I'LL BE YOUR PAPARAZZI

The McIntosh family have been in the spotlight from as far back as anyone can remember. Beginning most notably with their great-great-great grandfather, Peter ‘Pug’ McIntosh, who played basketball for the Peach Baskets in the late 1800’s. After retiring from the sport, he was inspired to purchase and grow his own orchard, Pug’s Peaches, which was passed down through the generations. All of his male descendants have been big sporting names, right down to Gordon ‘Gordie’ McIntosh, known by his fans and teammates as The Mac. Gordie started out playing baseball for the Boston Red Sox, before transferring to Los Angeles at his wife, Christine’s, request. He now plays for the Dodgers.