emmanuel-dresner

[emmanuel-dresner]

Emmanuel Adam Dresner

FC: Daniel Brühl

Age: 39

Positives: Resilient, Observant, Self-disciplined, Focused

Negatives: Short-tempered, Impulsive, Inhibited

Bio:

Emmanuel grew up as the only child of Ulrich and Angela Dresner - poised to take over for his father someday as the pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran church in their small town in Tennessee.

To the world at large, Ulrich was the poised, polished, devoted head of the congregation - standing proudly at the head of each and every fundraiser, church lawns manicured perfectly for every photo-op. Angela - his young, beautiful wife - always stood behind him - on display, but out of the way.

Emmanuel grew up at the hands of a different version of his father - the one who drank heavily, who went on increasingly concerning rants about the future of America as he scowled at the evening news and downed another, whose expectations his son would never - could never - meet.

As Emmanuel grew up, he became more resentful of his father’s hypocrisy, and of the expectations placed upon him by both his parents and the church. The congregation saw the future: a second generation pastor, born and raised within their ranks - despite the trouble he always seemed to find himself in, they laughed it off - boys will be boys! - he would grow out of it soon, surely, and this would be a funny memory to look back on one day. Emmanuel wanted no such thing - he knew his future wasn’t in Tennessee.

When he was 17, Angela overheard a phone call between Emmanuel and his supposed math tutor - his boyfriend, he confessed, not meeting her eyes - and that was it—

Emmanuel was on the bus to a residential conversion therapy program in Memphis by the end of the month. The stream of reprimands - stand up straight, look me in the eyes, shake my hand like a man - came night and day. Watchful staff were always on the look-out for a handshake (the only permitted contact between members of the same gender) that lasted just a hair too long, or glances that lingered - determined to break the will of this new group of souls in need of saving.

By Emmanuel’s 18th birthday, he had withdrawn further into himself. Gone was the loud-mouthed boy who arrived in Memphis, and in his place - a repressed, restless young man seeking an escape. He had checked himself out by noon on his birthday - just long enough to grab his belongings - and that was that. He was on the bus to New Orleans and towards his new life.

Despite arriving in the city with very little, settling into the Bywater neighborhood went faster than Emmanuel had expected - he filled his nights with shifts as a bartender or bouncer at dive bars and clubs alike, single-mindedly focused on scraping together enough cash-in-hand to rent a room.

After a couple of years, though, he ended up in the right club on the right night, and his life changed - when he was approached by a member of the mafia on the lookout for talent. He had taken note of Emmanuel’s sharp-eyed attention to the environment around him, emotions carefully controlled under the surface - ready to be allowed out in measured bursts when the situation called for it. Yes, he thought, we’ll make something out of you.