Penelope "Penny" Franklin

[CondorTalon]

Name: Penelope "Penny" Franklin
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Grade: 12
School: Saint Editha Academy
Hobbies and Interests: Programming, electronic music, mycology, herpetology, arthropodology

Appearance: Penelope is a thin girl of average height, coming in at 5'4" and 117 pounds. A lack of any exercise adds further emphasis to her bony frame, with little fat and muscle. Her Irish heritage is evident in her white skin and bright red hair, which she keeps cut fairly short (down to her shoulders) and in a ponytail. Her face is round. She has green eyes that hide behind a pair of thick-rimmed glasses, which she uses to treat her astigmatism. Her nose is somewhat long, but narrow, and covered with freckles. Her mouth is wide, with braces covering her teeth. Penelope's complexion is quite pale, and a few blemishes are visible on her face.

Penelope's clothing style is quite eccentric; she can easily be found wearing bright, often clashing colors. Many of her clothes make references to geek culture, mainly programming humor or logos of her favorite musical artists. On the day of the abduction, Penelope was wearing the school uniform, as well as a black hairclip with a neon blue hexagonal design.

Biography: Penelope was born as the only child of Rhys and Lucy Franklin on May 5th. Penelope is a fourth-generation Irish immigrant, her ancestors moving from Ireland in the 1920s. Her parents both work in technical fields; Rhys works as an IT technician for a bank, and Lucy is the system administrator for a hospital. Because both parents work in highly advanced fields and have only one child to look after, the Franklin household is rather well off, though their busy schedules usually mean that Rhys and Lucy don't have much time to look after Penelope. To remedy this, they've gotten Jane Blythe, a family friend and neighbor, to look after Penelope in their stead. Because of this, Penny is not particularly close with her parents, even though she admires them. Penelope considers Jane to be her primary parental figure in her life, and is very close with her. Even as Penny has gotten older and more independent, it is usually Jane that she confides her problems in, and not her parents.

Early on in Penny's life, it became clear that she was not like most other girls, generally preferring to hunt down bugs with some of the other boys than play with the girls. Penny was always interested in creepy-crawlies, whether they be bugs or lizards or frogs. This interest in these type of animals never went away, and she went from simply observing them casually to wanting to learn more about them. As she grew older, and she had greater access to information, she began to study them more and more. Currently, Penelope considers snakes her favorite animal, though what she considers her favorite changes every couple of months, usually when she learns an interesting fact about another animal that elevates said animal into her favorite spot. Penelope has a pet ball python named Betsy.

Penny spent a lot of time at home tinkering with various things around the house. She enjoyed taking apart her toys and seeing how their inner workings functioned. More importantly, she enjoyed seeing if she could put them back together. At a younger age, the answer to that question was usually no, but as she grew older, learned how the mechanisms worked, and learned better problem-solving skills, she became more and more adept at it. Her parents, noticing this, decided to get her her own computer at age 10. Her parents wanted to steer her toward programming and computer science so that she could follow in their footsteps. Although they gave her the computer at 10 years old, Penny didn't really get into programming until she was 14. At that point, she took to it rather quickly. It took her back to her days of tinkering with her toys and solving problems, except this time it was easier to undo mistakes.

At about the age of 11, Penny got into electronic music. She had never actively sought out music before, but she had read somewhere that listening to music while studying could actually increase productivity while studying. As she listened to various songs, she quickly found that she loved electronic music. Penny enjoyed electronic music because of the simple, steady beat above all else, but also because of the range of melodies that electronic music had. She now listens to electronic music often on her computer, usually while programming.

Penny generally never spent a significant time outside to do anything other than her research, which she generally did in the woods near her home. There, she would look for more insects and other cold-blooded animals. A few of those times, she would also stumble upon a colony of mushrooms. The more times she did, the more fascinated she became with them. She analogized mushrooms to the cold-blooded animals she was so fond of, compared to regular plants and warm-blooded animals, respectively. Penelope now enjoys learning about mushrooms the same way she does insects, reptiles, and amphibians. She even uses the family shed to grow a small colony of them.

As Penelope grew, she began to interact with people less and less. Many of them didn't share the same interests as she did, and she couldn't really connect with people that she couldn't talk about those things with. She began to be known as a weird girl, mainly due to her interests. She didn't make many new friends as she entered high school, and many of the friends she did have from her early years began to grow more and more distant. While her parents did initially show a bit of concern over this, they realized that they had been like this when they were younger. They figure that, as Penny enters college and finds more people with which she shares interests, she will go out of her comfort zone more often and make more friends, like they did.

Penny still admires her parents, and still wants to get a career in a technical field like them. Her parents understand that she is a very curious girl, even if some of those interests are things they do not share, and so are generally comfortable to let her act on her own, and don't get too involved.

In school, Penny is generally considered a good student, getting As and high Bs across the board. Penelope's favorite subjects are science, especially biology, and computer science. On the other hand, Penny does not enjoy more open ended subjects like English. Penny likes to view her homework as a set of problems to tackle that have a single solution, as she mainly enjoys the process in arriving at said solution. Subjects with open ended problems without explicit right or wrong answers cause her to struggle. Penny has a good work ethic, so she's able to get Bs even on these subjects, but she has no enthusiasm for them.

Advantages: Penelope is intelligent and studious. She is used to problem solving, and her programming experience allows her to think about things from multiple viewpoints. Penny generally keeps to herself and doesn't have many enemies.
Disadvantages: Penny doesn't have many friends, either. She is considered a weird girl and may have trouble finding allies. Penelope is also extremely unathletic; she has almost to strength or stamina to speak of.

[Cactus]

Hey CondorTalon! Cactus here, and I'll be the one rolling through your profile with my Footnotes of Doom™. Don't fret - it should be a mostly pleasant experience. Penny looks pretty good, but there are a few things we need to address before I can send her through.

For reference sake, I ping any grammar or typo sort of things in green and anything I'd like to see elaborated in yellow.

To the Doom™!

Name: Penelope "Penny" Franklin
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Grade: 12
School: Saint Editha Academy
Hobbies and Interests: Programming, electronic music, mycology, herpetology, arthropodology

Appearance: Penelope is a thin girl of average height¹, coming in at 5'4" and 117 pounds. Her Irish heritage is evident in her white skin and bright red hair, which she keeps cut fairly short (down to her shoulders) and in a ponytail. Her face is round. She has green eyes that hide behind a pair of thick-rimmed glasses, which she uses to treat her astigmatism. Her nose is somewhat long, but narrow, and covered with freckles. Her mouth is wide, with braces covering her teeth. Penelope's complexion is quite pale, and a few blemishes are visible on her face.

Penelope's clothing style is quite eccentric; she can easily be found wearing bright, often clashing colors. Many of her clothes make references to geek culture, mainly programming humor or logos of her favorite musical artists. On the day of the abduction, Penelope was wearing the school uniform, as well as a black hairclip with a neon blue hexagonal design.

Biography: Penelope was born as the only child of Rhys and Lucy Franklin on May 5th. Penelope is a fourth-generation Irish immigrant, her ancestors moving from Ireland in the 1920s. Her parents both work in technical fields; Rhys works as an IT technician for a bank, and Lucy is the system administrator for a hospital. Because both parents work in highly advanced fields and have only one child to look after, the Franklin household is rather well off, though their busy schedules usually mean that Rhys and Lucy don't have much time to look after Penelope. To remedy this, they've gotten Jane Blythe⁶, a family friend and neighbor, to look after Penelope in their stead. Because of this, Penny is not particularly close with her parents, even though she admires them.

Early on in Penny's life, it became clear that she was not like most other girls, generally preferring to hunt down bugs with some of the other boys than play with the girls. Penny was always interested in creepy-crawlies, whether they be bugs or lizards or frogs. This interest in these type of animals never went away, and she went from simply observing them casually to wanting to learn more about them. As she grew older, and she had greater and greater access to information, and she began to study them more and more. Currently, Penelope considers snakes her favorite animal, though what she considers her favorite animal changes every couple of months, usually when she learns an interesting fact about another animal that elevates said animal into her favorite spot. Penelope has a pet ball python named Betsy.

Penny spent a lot of time at home tinkering with various things around the house. She enjoyed taking apart her toys and seeing how their inner workings functioned. More importantly, she enjoyed seeing if she could put them back together. At a younger age, the answer to that question was usually no, but as she grew older, learned how the mechanisms worked, and learned better problem-solving skills, she became more and more adept at it. Her parents, noticing this, decided to get her her own computer at age 10. Her parents wanted to steer her toward programming and computer science so that she could follow in their footsteps. Although they gave her the computer at 10 years old, Penny didn't really get into programming until she was 14. At that point, she took to it rather quickly. It took her back to her days of tinkering with her toys and solving problems, except this time it was easier to undo mistakes.

Sometime around then,² Penny got into electronic music. She had never actively sought out music before, but she had read somewhere that listening to music while studying could actually increase productivity while studying. As she listened to various songs, she quickly found that she loved electronic music. She now listens to electronic music often on her computer, usually while programming.

Penny generally never spent a significant time outside.³ The few times she did, she generally did in the woods near her home. There, she would look for more insects and other cold-blooded animals. A few of those times, she would also stumble upon a colony of mushrooms. The more times she did, the more fascinated she became with them. She analogized mushrooms to the cold-blooded animals she was so fond of, compared to regular plants and warm-blooded animals, respectively. Penelope now enjoys learning about mushrooms the same way she does insects, reptiles, and amphibians. She even uses the family shed to grow a small colony of them.⁴

As Penelope grew, she began to interact with people less and less. Many of them didn't share the same interests as she did, and she couldn't really connect with people that she couldn't talk about those things with. She began to be known as a weird girl, mainly due to her interests. She didn't make many new friends as she entered high school, and many of the friends she did have from her early years began to grow more and more distant.

In school, Penny is generally considered a good student, getting As and high Bs across the board. Penelope's favorite subjects are science, especially biology, and computer science. On the other hand, Penny does not enjoy more open ended subjects like English. Penny likes to view her homework as a set of problems to tackle that have a single solution, as she mainly enjoys the process in arriving at said solution. Subjects with open ended problems without explicit right or wrong answers cause her to struggle. Penny has a good work ethic, so she's able to get Bs even on these subjects, but she has no enthusiasm for them.

Advantages: Penelope is intelligent and studious. She is used to problem solving, and her programming experience allows her to think about things from multiple viewpoints. Penny generally keeps to herself and doesn't have many enemies.
Disadvantages: Penny doesn't have many friends, either. She is considered a weird girl and may have trouble finding allies. Penelope is also extremely unathletic; she has almost to strength or stamina to speak of.

Appearance:

1: This is mostly great, but I'd like a little bit of elaboration on her body type. In saying she's thin, does that mean that she tends to look pale and gaunt? Is she more skin and bones, or just a teen who puberty only brushed with a gentle touch? Just a sentence or two of elaboration on this would give me more of a picture of her in my mind's eye as far as her body type is concerned. Everything else is great.

Biography:

2: I'd love a more specific age range, just to make it seem a bit more formal. I'd also like just a wee bit more on what she enjoys about electronic music. Is it the beat? The composition? The weird funky sound?
3: This contradicts her childhood investigation of bugs and creepy crawlies? Can you clarify this as maybe being something that she grew out of when she was older, or just clear up the disparity between these things?
4: This is a total aside but I have a sort of half-phobia of mushrooms so I am super creeped out. EWWWWW. This is purely an editorial comment so disregard it.

Other:

5: I'd like to see just a little bit more on how her relationship with her parents evolved when she got older. Does she still admire them? What do they think about her slightly unusual interests? Are they concerned about her lack of social interaction with her peers? Is she closer to one parent over the other? Are they hard on her or do they still remain a bit lax?
6: On a similar note, Jane Blythe is named in the profile and then never mentioned again - does she have significance to Penny's life as a whole or was she just someone who helped the family out? What is her relationship like with Jane as she's gotten older? Is she still around?

Hit me up when you've gone through the above! Cheers!

[CondorTalon]

Edited!

[Cactus]

APPROVED