{ricky whittle, thirty-nine, cis man, he/him} || mark jensen is a mutant with the ability of snake magic (snagic). they’ve been in new york for twenty years where they spend most of their time as a televangelist. when i think of them, i think of lies on the tip of a forked tongue, evil expelling from the chest, country roads turning to cityscapes as hymns turn cacophonous. they are affiliated with the brotherhood.
omg 6′5 ? omg 6′5 ! <- i wrote this when his fc was casey deidrick and it became a bit™ so just pretend that he’s still 6′5.
QUICK FACTS:
full name: mark thomas jensen
date of birth: april 18th, 1959
zodiac big three: aries sun, scorpio moon, taurus rising
gender & pronouns: cis man & he/him
sexual orientation: bisexual
enneagram: 8w7
mbti: istj
temperament: choleric-phlegmatic
alignment: neutral evil
ability: snake magic (snagic)
affiliation: the brotherhood
alias: leviathan
BACKSTORY:
triggers: a lot of fuckery with religion ( christianity pentecostal, to be specific ), briefly implied abuse
born and bred in hancock, west virginia, mark had a steady community, found both within his family unit and the many folks who lived around him. for all he knows ? it was either unique in that there were no other mutants, or all other mutants feared themselves and concealed it with their entire being.
however, his family was heavily into pentecostalism. there were the gatherings, then there were the ceremonies that they were paired with. miracle healing ( of which, even mark heard a few confess their doubts of ), baptism of fire ( speaking in tongues ), and the one that could not be faked: serpent handling.
the latter of the three was treated as a fun celebration, of sorts. they would pass the venom of a snake around and drink from it while tempting the beast to bite them through their handling. and... a lot of people were bitten. a test of their faith, a test of whether or not their Father would save them...
mark’s family thought of each ceremony like a party, but he began to grow anxious during the serpent handlings. he couldn’t place his finger on why. it seemed the snakes were unhappy, but he had always seen them as this being that did not so much deserve any pain as it did simply not feel any. these were simple odd feelings, though, correct ? he never spoke on it.
but when he was ten, an unspeakable pain behind his ribs began developing. it was like something was trying to break his ribs from within.
and, wouldn’t you have it ? during one of the snake handling ceremonies, he began feeling that same terrible pain behind his ribcage. concerning everyone enough to stop the ceremony, it took five minutes until he contributed his very own beings to it: snakes broke through his ribcage, through the flesh of his chest, slithered down him, and commingled with all the other serpents in the room. then, as if nothing had happened, his ribs repaired and his chest stitched itself back together, no scars or residual pain.
obviously... that was very confusing. but, given the circumstances and what had protruded from within him, the parish began looking upon him as something given directly from God. evil had expelled itself from within and began to obey him, slithering around and over him, but never -- never -- harming him. never even acting like it would consider it.
you know those faith healer kids ? that was mark, but with snakes.
...up until something new and much worse happened when he was 13. instead of taming evil, evil being expelled from within, or anything of the sort, he turned into the face of the devil, unwillingly taking on the form of a snake. snake physiology, besties. snisiology.
the soul of the snake entering his body, he, in his much larger form than the other copperheads. the ire he held as their thoughts became his own, he bit into a good half of the parishioners before transforming back into himself. their admiration turned to fear, the ones left unscathed forced him out of the house. and the family members he had left unharmed treated him with terror at best, with violence of their own at worst. he left by his own accord at 14, but had he thought himself able to stay ? he would have.
from ages 14-17, he found himself wandering various streets and roads, having to break various commandments to keep himself alive. he stole, he developed a violent streak, he became more in touch with the snake within.
it was not by choice so much as it was by coincidence -- by sign -- that he wound up in new york city. a preacher found him and offered him shelter. in the cold, still not fully in control of his physiology ( snisiology making him weak in the cold ), he found a reluctant acceptance. and this preacher became the pipeline to his career. he would prove himself by reciting all he still knew, even as his faith dwindled, with an unparalleled passion. although the denominations were not the same, the preacher told him that he had connections he could use to set mark up with this booming career. he would need some favors in return, but mark would be better off for it.
he was good on his word... both his connections - political, of course - and the favors he was looking for. but mark turned him into exactly what he was: a snake. ( but, like, not the cool kind ! not his buddies ! )
but 18 brought with it an actual career -- unexpected. but the younger, the better ? it began as a load of shit, believing maybe 1/10 of what he preached. it was more a way to make fast money from the gullible. ‘god this, jesus that, send money!’
however, as he became acquainted with the fact that there were other mutants out there -- many other mutants, in fact -- all of whom, including himself, had been and were being fucked over by everything from the government to the home, he began to slowly alter the course of his ‘sermons’ to have... an actual message.
essentially: man has been made in the face of God. his soul runs through our veins. but mutant has been made in the face of Jesus. mutant is the second coming, and God has made no mistake. they heal the weak, they come back from the dead, they may even turn water into wine. -- you get the point. of course, it started off much less obvious... and just grew.
at 25, somewhere in the middle of his hidden message and his overt message, he found and joined the brotherhood, picking the codename leviathan and killing the ‘kinder’ family members of his, turning the more violent ones into snakes.
more years stripped him further of his faith until the only thing he said that he believed was that mutant was superior to man, the next step in God’s plan for the great, green earth. ( mutant will replenish it, yada yada )
which brings us... twelve years later, to today. he knows all that he is capable of, even if he has yet to fully control the two most powerful aspects ( more on that in his task ) ; he feels the wrath that those snakes felt so many years ago often ; he speaks when necessary... overall, a stone of a man.
also. total side-note to say that he’s made a point to keep his accent. some of the slang - like ‘tote’ instead of ‘bag’ - has been blended together though and he 100% accidentally alternates between ‘proper’ english and mountain speak.
TIMELINE:
BORN -- in ‘61 to a tight-knit community in hancock, west virginia.
AGE 3- -- began regularly attending pentecostal ceremonies with his family. faith healing, baptisms of fire, snake handling...
AGE 9 -- felt an inexplicable connection to the serpents during the ceremonies. they were unhappy, to say the least. thought of it as just... a passing feeling, never said anything of it.
AGE 10 -- after weeks, if not months, of feeling like something was trying to break his ribs from within, snakes burst forth from his chest during a ceremony.
AGE 10-12 -- he was treated as a gift of sorts. the snakes, the evil, had expelled themselves from him and would never dare bite into him.
AGE 13 -- out of his control, he transformed into a large version of a copperhead. he bit, thus gravely injuring, half the parish.
AGE 13 -- he was cast out of the church. the better portion of his family treated him with fear, the worse portion treated him with violence.
AGE 14 -- he left of his own accord.
AGE 14-17 -- he wandered around the states, breaking commandments to survive.
AGE 17 -- he was taken in by a preacher in new york city. the preacher promised him a career in the booming business of televangelism if he would repay him with unspecified favors.
AGE 18 -- the preacher made good on his word, using political connections to get mark a slot. but mark turned him into a snake when he learned of the favors he was looking for.
AGE 20- -- turned his bullshit sermons, all made with the simple intent of getting money, into something covertly pro-mutant.
AGE 25 -- joined the brotherhood. took on the codename ‘leviathan.’ killed the better part of his family and turned the worse part into serpents.
AGE 27-PRESENT -- turned his sermons into something much more overt in their nature. mixed reception at first, but gained long-term followers. who were humans.
AGES 14-29 -- really had to work on deprogramming himself !
CONNECTION IDEAS:
guest stars ! mutants willing to face possible scrutiny by coming on his broadcasts and showcasing their ability -- the ‘miracles’ they can work.
folks who only know him as a televangelist ! idk it would just be funny to me if they knew his name ( since, like... televangelism really was an oddly big thing in the ‘80s and ‘90s ), but didn’t know anything about the content of his sermons. ‘so you’re that religious weirdo...’
folks who helped ‘deprogram’ him ! for example, samson falls under this category in that he was his first m/m experience. this could be anything from the first person he had sex with ( he thought masturbation was a sin, okay ) to someone who indulged him in his violent tendencies -- as in, violence for the sake of violence.
evil buddies ! be hot, do crime.
folks who just get the short end of the stick ! aka, mark does not like them... which can, indeed, lead to violent outbursts. it’s what he knows best <3
folks who are helping him with the two super powerful sub-abilities ! he largely trains himself, preferring the comfort of isolation to the help of others, but these two could almost make him op ! therefore, if nothing else, i can see folks wanting to help -- so... probably exclusive to the brotherhood.
new recruits ! ( derogatory ) this man is not going to trust any recruit unless they’ve been there for at least a year... let him suss your muse out <3
anything and everything else ! from fwb to neighbors to ppl who are like ‘did that snake just come out of ur chest wtf’
@c23intros
