Manda Brooks

Madeline 'Manda' Raleigh Brooks, labeled as the Drama Queen, is a nihilistic, hedonistic, and extremely flirtatious party girl who has appeared in multiple fan made 'Total Drama' seasons. She is the daughter of a very wealthy lawyer and has received intensive schooling at the most prestigious boarding school said father could find, making her a force to be reckoned with. However, her lazy and prideful attitude usually counteracts said threat. Her downfall is always showing off and making herself a target.

Personality
Manda is a very charming actor who hails from Calabasas. She has a very small, very wealthy family of professional schmoozers and tricksters that have raised her to follow in their footsteps. Due in part to good breeding, but mostly to Manda’s own drive to have an ‘edge’ over other wannabe actors, she has trained and studied to become a great dancer, singer, actress, public speaker, swimmer, track star… Anything that can make you a celebrity, Manda has extensive training in.

Despite her immense talents and skills, Manda is a very lazy person and is prone to depressive spells. She craves affection and will pour her everything into a relationship if she is with someone she can look up to. She had a striking lack of authority figures early on in her life, as her father was always working and her other guardians all had to do as she told them, which led the heiress to crave that structure and authority in other aspects of her life.

Early Life
Madeline “Manda” Raleigh Brooks was born to Marcus Andrew Brooks and his maid, ‘Lucy’ Rinko Kuriyama. Lucy hadn’t wanted to have a child with Marcus in the first place, and his refusal to marry her only added to her shame. She carried the child to term and quickly fled without a trace, leaving Marcus to raise Manda on his own. Thankfully, he’d been a very private man prior to Manda’s birth, so the issue of her birth didn’t come up often. When it did, he would worm his way around a conversation to avoid talking about her mother.

Manda was primarily raised by an ever-changing array of nannies. Marcus would get involved with them, not having time to date and not WANTING to date anyone who he couldn’t dominate in some way (it’s easy to have power over someone who is under your employ) and they would either leave or be fired when he was finished. Because of this and her father’s hectic schedule, Manda never formed a strong bond with her father. She DID become extremely charismatic and bubbly from having to deal with so many different people, and mimicking them helped her acting talents to form even at an early age.

Manda’s grandmother, Perla Piccard-Brooks, took a liking to her. Even though she was every bit as cold and distant as Marcus, she recognized Manda’s performing talents and put her in as many classes and shows she could. She even managed to pull strings to get Manda into various movie rolls (though it was almost always as an extra or a character with one line).

Manda loved to visit her grandmother (widowed, and not interested in remarrying), though visits were mostly spent alone combing through her grandmother’s movie collections. Perla was obsessed with old Hollywood (she’d met several of the big stars), and that obsession went on to inspire Manda. Movies today are all about flash in their minds, and old Hollywood was SO dependent on the actor’s talents. It was so much more artistic.

Perla passed away just as Manda was starting grade school, and since the old woman was Manda’s most consistent caretaker she was beside herself. Marcus wasn’t sure how to deal with his daughter’s moods, but he knew he couldn’t just let her figure it out herself, so he planned to send her to boarding school with the children of some of his friends. She was homeschooled for a while (which included therapy sessions and continued her performing classes), and started at St. Mary’s Catholic Preparatory School in Texas at the age of 14.

St. Mary's Catholic Preparatory School
Manda attended St Mary’s up through 12th grade, living in a dorm on campus during the school year and returning home for holidays.

She joined every club possible, excelling at every opportunity and begging for after-school classes to keep herself busy. Manda participated in Glee Club, where quickly took a leadership role and helped her team to win several awards and honors.

Her acting, public speaking, dancing, writing, and other talents grew rapidly—anything she took an interest in, she did amazingly. But, Manda suffered from a lack of discipline and an excess of laziness. She couldn’t focus on any subject that she didn’t have a direct interest in and it showed in her grades. Marcus insisted that Manda find a solution on her own, and if her grades didn’t show improvement by the next marking period he would no longer pay for her extra classes. Manda was smart enough to find a tutor, and that tutor was the adorably nerdy Roberta Benson.

Manda, of course, fell in love immediately.

Manda never had any shame about herself or the people she surrounded herself with. She liked all people, and if people didn’t like her then she’d just find someone new to hang out with. Her confidence was off the CHARTS—boys liked her, girls liked her, everyone on every spectrum liked her. Robbie was the first person to make Manda really worry about how she presented herself and if she was likeable ENOUGH. Once Manda started spending time alone with her, they became incredibly close and spent all hours of the day with each other—even to the point where Robbie would accompany Manda home on vacations.

Robbie was also very, VERY deep in the closet.

Their friendship remained platonic for years until Manda started to realize that the way she liked girls wasn’t the way all her female friends liked girls. She’d never questioned wanting to be with girls the same way she wanted to be with boys until someone ELSE questioned it, as her father made a great show of dating all kinds of people and never once hiding it from his daughter. She’d even KISSED a few girls when she was younger, but it was all innocent and playful to her peers.

Manda had always been extremely blunt, so when she was around 15/16 she invited Robbie to spend the summer with her and she confessed her feelings. At the time, Manda had been dating and having sex for years, even with a few closeted girls, and Robbie was immediately intimidated by that. But, the two already had such a strong bond that she was willing to risk it. They spent the summer together and were extremely happy, but also extremely chaste. That was so new to Manda that it started to make HER uncomfortable!

When they returned to school, there was a lot of bickering and fighting over how affectionate they could be and whether they would come out and if they would have sex. Their relationships took a heavy toll, and Manda couldn’t understand WHY it would be so hard for Robbie to come out! In a CATHOLIC SCHOOL.

Roberta did not come to stay with Manda for their next vacation, nor the one after that. By the time Christmas came around, she decided to keep it Kocher and stay with her family, giving Manda a store-bought card and nothing more. They’d stayed together this long purely because they didn’t want to lose what they’d had before they started dating, but it was turning so bad for the two of them that Manda soon fell into another depression.

Manda and Roberta didn’t talk over their winter break. When they returned to school, they talked things over and decided that coming out wasn’t an option, but that Robbie needed to be more openly affectionate… which they decided to start off by having sex.

It was good. It was REALLY good. But, their relationship was already so tainted by that point, and Robbie had so many insecurities that she grew more distant instead of growing closer. She broke things off with Manda soon after.

Prior to breaking up with Robbie, Manda had been involved in a plethora of clubs. She was the star of her Glee Club, she was in various religious clubs (which she was laughing about all day long), she was on sports teams (her favorite of which was swim), she was involved in local theatre groups, and she even picked up photography. She quit everything after Robbie left her, and spent her last year isolated. Most of her friendships went cold, she didn’t date, and she spent as much time at home as possible. There was a silver lining however: her father introduced him to another friend’s daughter, Miss Helen Taylor-Singh (though she would only go by Taylor).

Meeting Helen Taylor
It might’ve had something to do with her rebounding from Robbie, but Manda was instantly smitten with her. Helen had been encouraged to help Manda apply for colleges, and to keep her from giving up on her schooling/acting during her depression, so they spent a good deal of time together. Helen had little patience for Manda’s rebellious spirit, and Manda LOVED teasing and taunting her about it. Their relationship was like the one Manda had with Robbie—Manda answering to and improving for the sake of someone she considered superior, but teasing and taunting them all the way. She was shockingly submissive when it came to people she considered to be intellectually superior.

They never dated.

On the contrary, Helen dated everyone EXCEPT Manda.

Helen was always so deeply concerned with her reputation, and with appearing as wholesome and conservative as possible (a direct contrast to her parents, who she distanced herself from for the sake of furthering her political aspirations). She spent a lot of high school years dating boys from Ivy League schools, and spent her college years dating boys who’d graduated with honors and went on to have fulfilling careers. She messed around on the side, desperate for something other than boring old men, but she never committed to anyone who didn’t AT LEAST come from a well-respected family. Manda was one of the people she eventually screwed around with, though she resisted for a LONG time.

Manda was yet again upset that ‘her girl’ wouldn’t commit to her, and she would constantly get in the way of Helen’s relationships. She figured that this would force Helen to legitimize their relationship, and it only got worse once they started sleeping together. Helen wouldn’t sacrifice anything for Manda, but she ALSO wouldn’t let her go… It was and continues to be a very toxic relationship for the both of them, which requires sacrifices they aren’t ready to make.

Party Girl Lifestyle
Manda attended college for a brief time, during which she mostly partied and had sex. Her desire to be with a woman who wouldn’t commit to her left Manda in an awkward place relationship wise. She wanted to commit, but she could only do so emotionally or risk becoming jealous of Helen’s partners. Helen would frequently refer to this arrangement as ‘polyamory’, and Manda agreed to it simply because she couldn’t bear the thought of losing another person she loved by being too inflexible.

As a result, Manda ended up playing the role of a playboy (playgirl?).

She seduced everyone, participated in group sex, had massive parties (which frequently included celebrities), and left a string of broken hearts in her wake. Manda would trade sexual favors for advancements in her academic career as a way to avoid working hard at things she didn’t consider worth her time. She would also sleep with her dealer (strictly pot, which was illegal at the time), Andy Dumas. Her sexual exploits led to an unwanted pregnancy just after she turned 21.

Manda has no idea who the father was, but Andy had taken a romantic interest in her and she figured he would be easiest support system. There was no way her father would be happy with her being a mother at this age, but the idea of an abortion scared her more than she cared to admit. Andy agreed to marry her, and the two went to Marcus.

Marcus did not accept Andy as a suitable husband for his daughter. Andy was a ‘dirty hippy’ involved in a great deal of illegal activities, not to mention he wasn’t… all there. He would have frequent hallucinations and believed in increasingly worrisome conspiracy theories. Manda was given an ultimatum: get an abortion and leave Andy, or be kicked out of Marcus’ house. She chose to stay with Andy, and they were married by one of his friends that very night.

Married Life
Andy and Manda lived in a large van and traveled around the United States. In addition to selling pot, Andy was an in-demand Elvis impersonator. He performed with a sitar and was considered a novelty, like a black Elvis or a female Michael Jackson. The travel, combined with her morning sickness left Manda in a horrible mood. She’d never had to struggle to take care of herself, and Andy’s mental stability was questionable at best. He was never cruel to her or harmed her, but Manda grew to hate him because of how flat-out STUPID he was.

After only a month of living with Andy, Manda was fed up. She left in the middle of the night without so much as a word and returned home to have her abortion. In a rare show of parental duty, Marcus went to the clinic with his daughter and personally looked after her during the recovery process (most of which was mental).

Andy continued to stalk Manda after she left him. He considered them to be a couple, and Manda was too ashamed and scared to confront him. They settled into an awkward—if creepy—friendship where he would show up unannounced in her home and they would talk about their days. Marcus was oblivious to their continued relationship.

Manda had no reason to remarry, and grew to have an almost paternal affection for Andy, so she avoided the subject of divorce for many years.

Alternate ‘Mad House’ Timeline
Note: it is debatable whether this relationship shows up in any other timelines, but it is considered canonical by the author.

After the events of The Mad House 2, Manda kept in contact with Je’Raldo and Deressa, eventually becoming very close friends. She and Je’Raldo (hereafter referred to as ‘Raldo’) moved in together first. Manda had taken it upon herself to become Raldo’s financial advisor, as she’d grown up rich and he tended to spend his money too liberally. They visited Deressa whenever possible, eventually asking her to move in. They begged and pleaded and told her that they missed her too much when they weren’t in Detroit with her. After a few months of this, she accepted.

From there, events are fuzzy. At some point the three of them realize that their friendship has become something more and they begin carrying on unofficially as a couple. Manda’s career begins to take off, and as she spends more and more time abroad the other two are made to realize just taxing it can be to date a celebrity. They are harassed, and it all becomes too much when an obsessive Manda fan comes to visit Deressa at work. After telling off the fan via social media, Manda returns home to comfort Deressa and properly proposes to both Deressa and Je’Raldo.

The planning for their wedding is hectic at best, and absolute insanity at worst. Finding a place where polyamorous weddings are legal, figuring out what kind of wedding to have, and planning to have it televised leads to a lot of stress that pushes the thripple to their limits. But, the wedding goes off without a hitch. Their television special is a smash success, and they travel the Europe for their Honeymoon.

Returning home, Manda finds it difficult to get hired. She had left a very promising film role on poor terms, and now no studios would hire her. This led her into another extreme depressive episode, which was NOT helped by finding herself pregnant again. It brought up bad memories and seeing the body she worked so hard on be ripped apart was pure torture. She would later look back on the pregnancy happily—the few times when she was happy during her time away from work all revolved around the life growing inside of her and the love she felt from her partners.

Appearances
Manda has appeared in several fanmade seasons, but few of them are important to her character. Only the ones that the author cares to acknowledge will be listed here.

The Mad House
Manda appeared in season 2 of The Mad House, where she was described as follows:

''Manda is described as a nihilistic, hedonistic, fun-loving and flirty Drama Queen who is impulsive to a fault. She is uninterested in winning competitions--despite being more than capable of dominating the game--only doing well by accident or for the sake of friends and allies. She is friendly, bubbly, and charming, but also has no filter and can go overboard when it comes to teasing. Manda is also very proud and loves to show off, but her showboating leads to her ultimate downfall.''

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