FULL NAME: Mary Anne Catherine Spier. Catherine is her confirmation name.
NICKNAMES: MA, Anne. Bee calls her Mariana. And then: Annie, Anniebean, Mary Annie, Mary my Annie, Catie...all by Logan.
BIRTHDAY: September 22, 1992. Fifteen years of age.
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Virgo.
Strengths:Modest and shy. Meticulous and reliable. Practical and diligent. Intelligent and analytical.
Weaknesses: Fussy and a worrier. Overcritical and harsh. Perfectionist and conservative.

Well. That about says everything about Mary Anne in a nutshell. And who said astrology was for the birds.
ANCESTRY: Danish, Swiss.
CAR: She hasn't yet taken her driver's test, but she loves Logan's car a lot, even though it's the size of Alaska.
PETS: Tigger, a three year old cat who, ever since the fire, is an outside kitty; and Roo, a mixed breed puppy.

HEIGHT: 5'3"
WEIGHT: 86 pounds.
HAIR COLOUR: Brown, varying between chocolate and a light, brown sugar color depending on how much sun she gets.
EYE COLOUR: Big brown, doe-like eyes.
SKIN COLOUR: Extremely pale.
SCARS: None.
BIRTH OR BEAUTY MARKS: None.
ALLERGIES: None.

Considering that Mary Anne is in a major transitional phase? The essay on who she is can wait.

Suffice it to say, Mary Anne is a kind, gentle, sweet girl, innocent bordering on naive, though she has a firecracker side that she likes to indulge with some riskier fashion choices and a well-developed sarcastic streak. She can act like a little girl at times, though she has a preternatural maturity and calmness and a remarkable patience that has made her well-known for her listening ability and compassion. She is highly intelligent and was reading advanced books at a very young age (she had read all of the Bronte sisters by age 10), but her father has raised her with an almost stubborn humility and a sense of diligence and a fervent drive for perfection. Mary Anne would happily chop off a limb if someone else needed it; she constantly puts others ahead of herself, which has gotten her overwhelmed and overextended in the past. Her selflessness can be destructive. She loves deeply, is a massive romantic, and is almost giddy in love right now with Logan. Her father is the alpha and omega of her world, and she's still very shy around him; since the fire, she almost acts like she did when she was young, deferring to him constantly.

She is not perfect, though she so wants to be. She suffers from major depression, which can leave her exhausted, miserable, lethargic, and mute, crying for hours on end; it's manifested itself in anorexia, and Mary Anne is painfully thin. Mary Anne worries a lot about how people think of her; she is prim and slightly prudish in public. A total worrywart, she can be nervous and overly cautious. She can scold, though gently. She can be almost obsessive in her perfectionist streak, she can be a massive brat, passive-aggresssive, judgmental, and has an almost infamous silent treatment. The people who have seen this side the most are usually those closest to her. Mary Anne is so hesitant to tell people off who do wrong to her...unless she loves them. Then she can be a right...well...bitch.

But not often. This is Mary Anne, after all.

And that's enough...FOR NOW...to be continued and for crying out loud, EXPANDED and made pretty in the future...

RICHARD ERNEST SPIER [43]; Father. The son of a mailman and a cleaning woman, Richard was salutatorian of Stoneybrook High and won a full scholarship to the University of Connecticut, where he was a straight-A student and member of Phi Beta Kappa; he attended the University of Maryland for law school. Though he was in love with his high school sweetheart, Sharon Porter, her parents disapproved of their relationship, and they broke up when she attended college in California; he dated a bit in college, but his heart was broken for Sharon, and he never had serious interest in anyone. His second year at Maryland, however, he met a quiet junior at UM named Alma Baker and fell head over heels for her, marrying her during the Christmas break of her senior year, his third year; he clerked for a year in Washington, D.C., before taking a job in his hometown with Alma five months pregnant with their daughter.

When their infant daughter was only three months old, Alma was diagnosed with lymphoma, and she passed away only three months later, leaving Richard with a six month old infant and overwhelming grief. With no living family, he gave Mary Anne to Alma's parents to raise in Iowa while he battled through his severe depression; over a year later, he felt together enough to ask for his daughter back, though the Bakers were unwilling to return her, and he cut them completely out of her life for the next eleven years. Richard became obsessed with raising Mary Anne perfectly, to compensate for Alma's absence, rigid and uncompromising, emphasizing order and intelligence. It was a very cold childhood for Mary Anne, but Richard thought he was doing right by her, instilling discipline, courtesy, and a love of learning in his daughter, that her silence and shyness was example of her polite and unassuming nature. It wasn't until he met Sharon Porter again that he finally allowed her to grow past the rigid boundaries he constructed around her.

Richard is lead counsel to Allnation Insurance Company, based in Stamford. He is in charge of supervising all litigation nationwide, which requires a fair amount of travel, especially to regional headquarters like Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and the like, though never for long, unless he himself has to supervise a trial.

SHARON PORTER SPIER [43]; Stepmother. Sharon is an interior designer, a career she began after their first home was destroyed by a fire. Mary Anne never doubts that Sharon loves her very much...but it can get very difficult with Sharon sometimes...

DAWN READ SCHAFER [16]; Stepsister.. One of Mary Anne's best friends, Dawn's longing to return to California creates a lot of tension between the sister, as does the fact that they are incredibly different people and don't share spaces especially well. With Dawn, Mary Anne can be at her worst: cold, spiteful, and judgmental. There may be some real truth to the idea that Mary Anne's longing for a family her whole life has made unrealistic expectations that she unfairly feels are let down by Dawn's inability to make a life in Connecticut.

JEFF SCHAFER [13]; Stepbrother. Mary Anne doesn't know him very well; he has lived in California for the overwhelming majority of the time that she's known him.

VERNA ANNE BAKER [76]; Grandmother. Mary Anne only learned of her existence two years ago; widowed, Verna lives in Maynard, Iowa, on the family farm, though the fields and barn are rented out to the Randalls. She and Mary Anne talk once a week on the telephone; she hopes Mary Anne will go to the University of Iowa for college.

ALMA CAROLINE SPIER [deceased]; Mother. Dead at the age of twenty-four from cancer, Mary Anne's mother was quiet and sweet-natured, enjoying knitting and quilting and watercolor painting. She went to the University of Maryland because her favorite author taught there; she studied literature, specializing in 19th Century Russian literature, though all she ever wanted to be when she grew up was a mother.

BEST FRIENDS: Logan Bruno, Barbara Hirsch, Tess Swinhart, Angela Kajganich, Hannah Toce, Dawn Schafer.
FRIENDS: Stacey McGill, Claudia Kishi, Mallory Pike, Jessi Ramsey, Abby Stevenson, Anna Stevenson, Sabrina Bouvier, Shannon Kilbourne, Pete Black, Howie Johnson, Austin Bentley, Trevor Sandbourne, the Schillaber twins, Susan Taylor, Rose Marie Wilson, Bart Taylor, Ross Brown, Gordon Brown...and she's friendly with the majority of SHS. She's a friend slut, apparantly.
FRIENIMIES: Rick Chow. She hasn't dealt with him in months...does he even know why she's upset?
ENEMIES: Cokie Mason, Grace Blume, Dorianne Wallingford. And she has the distinct impression Ethel Tines doesn't like her at all. Lauren Hoffman isn't too nice, either, but Lauren hates most everything. And then there's Kristy...
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: Logan Bruno.
CRUSH: Cam Geary. So dreamy!
PAST RELATIONSHIPS: Logan in eighth; Bart Taylor's best friend Seth in ninth; a boy she met in rehab named John, a student at Rosemary Choate, also in ninth; Rick Chow in tenth.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Straight.
TURN-ONS: Sense of humor, a big smile, intelligence...athletes...blondes...
TURN-OFFS: Bad manners, rudeness, crudeness, bad hygiene.