Lavender Ripley

[MurderWeasel]

Name: Lavender Ripley
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Grade: Senior
School: George Hunter High School
Hobbies and Interests: Social justice, law, anti-bullying, student council, cheer, marksmanship

Appearance: Lavender is a tall, lithe young woman, standing 5'9" and weighing roughly 145 lbs. Her build makes evident her fitness and exercise regime. Her face is narrow and long, but her tendency to give full, genuine smiles prevents her from appearing dour. Lavender's teeth are bright and straight, and her lips are somewhat thin. Her nose is long but narrow, and her dark brown eyes are wide. Lavender's hair is dark brown and curly, and she keeps it short, at no more than a couple inches in length. Her complexion and posture are both good, and she moves with purpose and awareness. Lavender is mixed-race; her father is Caucasian with some distant Native American ancestry, and her mother's heritage is African-American on her father's side and Cuban on her mother's. Lavender's skin tone is lighter than her mother's, but notably darker than her father's.

Lavender is conscious of her fashion and is comfortable in a variety of styles. On a normal day she may be content in jeans and a well-fitted t-shirt, but when planning to go out with friends she'll vary things up and accessorize, dressing up or down as appropriate. On game days, she'll wear her uniform as part of spirit activities. She keeps her nails long enough for fashion but short enough for practicality, and often paints them to match her outfits. Her ears are pierced one apiece in the lobes. On the day of the abduction, Lavender was wearing tight jeans, a long-sleeved button-down shirt, and a black vest, as well as black flats, sunglasses, half a dozen simple silver bangles on her left wrist, and dangling gold earrings.

Biography: Lavender was born on Halloween, 1999, to parents Hannibal and Simone Ripley, both lawyers. The couple's status and careers allowed them to raise their only child well and in comfort, despite the lack of nearby extended family; Simone's parents live in Louisiana, and Hannibal's mother lives in Delaware, his father having passed away a year before Lavender's birth. Lavender was named to match the stress patterns claimed by Aleister Crowley to be most like to lead to fame (a dactyl succeeded by a spondee), the same as her father, who changed his own name from Mark at the start of law school.

Growing up, Lavender spent a good portion of her time being traded between various nannies, babysitters, enrichment programs, and families of friends, but her parents were always an active and constant presence in her life. They saw to it that Lavender was provided for and offered the opportunities that their position afforded, but also took care not to spoil her; as soon as she was old enough, she was given an allowance contingent upon the completion of certain household chores.

All of this instilled in Lavender a quiet confidence, which saw her through pre-and-elementary school well. She found little need for the validation of other students, making friends more from a series of shared interests and compatible demeanors than any loneliness. Academically, she also excelled, though this was to a large degree due to the assistance of her parents and later a number of private tutors. Lavender mostly spent her time outside school playing with friends or being ushered through a vast range of enrichment activities, with gymnastics being the one she found most enjoyable.

As the child of a mixed-race couple, Lavender did encounter a certain amount of prejudice, even from a young age. Her parents did their best to shield her from the brunt of this and to explain to her all that she did encounter. Lavender became very distressed by the idea that others could judge her based on factors beyond her control, and quickly latched onto stories about civil rights leaders, protestors, and others who challenge the unfair status quo. She also came to idolize her father who became entangled in a number of legal cases revolving around discrimination in schools, finding success more often than not. An issue this close to home made his work real in a very immediate way to Lavender, and she began to turn a more critical eye on her own school. This led to a series of brushes with other students and teachers, before she finally learned where the line of acceptable behavior lay and got a better handle on when it was worthwhile to cross it. Lavender was encouraged by her father in these pursuits, though he was always careful to impress upon her that even those who hold reprehensible ideas are human.

Lavender's interests and ideals held strong through middle school, where she also branched out somewhat. She took an interest in cheerleading, in part due to a general perception that she was in some fashion opposed to the school. By actively showing school spirit, Lavender hoped to prove that nothing could be further from the truth; she pushed against the school's rules and regulations at times due to a deep belief that it could be a better place. Cheerleading was a natural jump from her earlier explorations of gymnastics, and it also dialed Lavender into a popular social sphere. This, combined with her pleasant nature and academic success, allowed her to easily integrate with her squad members and soon she found that from this position of power it was easier to express her ideals to her peers; if athletes respected her, they'd be much more likely to pay attention if she chided them for problematic language.

Lavender at the same time became increasingly aware of the ways in which popular students could pick on others, and was quite distressed by this. She took it upon herself to intervene where she could, even if in so doing she drew the ire of some of her friends. Eventually, this led to most of those she cared about accepting her and playing nice, at least while she was around; Lavender had some trouble grappling with the awareness that some of her friends were not such great people when she wasn't around to hold them accountable, and felt guilty for a time, but eventually rationalized the situation to herself by noting that she was leading by example and that those around her would surely be worse were she not trying to work on them. All the same, she got involved with anti-bullying groups, in both middle and high school, and attempts to draw others in when possible; she views this as both a way to spread a genuinely good message and a way to constantly reaffirm her ideals and prevent herself from engaging in hypocrisy.

Entering high school was a further positive move for Lavender, carrying as it did further opportunities and responsibilities. She quickly got involved in the Student Council, partially from a desire to leverage what influence she could to see that George Hunter High School remains a safe environment, and partially as a microcosm for government in the wider world. Lavender is fascinated by laws and the legal system, and has something of a precocious understanding thereof; while her father is her main touchstone on social issues, her mother is very keen to help Lavender find success and is always willing to discuss particulars of the legal profession.

One hobby slightly at odds with Lavender's otherwise-progressive leanings is her enjoyment of shooting. This stems from her father; Hannibal grew up around guns and let Lavender tag along to the shooting range near the end of middle school. At first, Lavender was mostly interested as another way to get closer to her father, but she found that she enjoyed the activity in its own right; she finds it cathartic and empowering and likes it as a way of honing her discipline and hand-eye coordination. Her father taught her to treat firearms with respect and instilled in her a very healthy understanding of the rules of gun safety. She has practiced on rifles, shotguns, and handguns of various makes, and is a serviceable though not exceptional shot. Her gun experience has also led her to a more nuanced and broad understanding of politics; most of her political allies would not see eye to eye with her on her staunch defense of the Second Amendment.

In school, Lavender remains a strong student. She tends to get As in the bulk of her classes, though if the occasional B slips in she doesn't panic, just seeks to do better in the future. Lavender's favorite classes are classes that grapple with social issues or rules; she enjoys history, physics, and math. English is a mixed bag for her; she cares a lot about language, but can become frustrated with the amount of focus given to fictional stories with focuses she considers trivial. Lavender can happily delve into a book with an important lesson, but struggles to see the relevance of Jane Austen to modern society. In class, Lavender tends to contribute frequently and enthusiastically, and she gets along well with most of her teachers. If, however, something offends her sensibilities, she'll absolutely make it an issue, and this has led to certain teachers and the administration treating her with a certain measure of caution; her father's history of successful litigation is no secret.

Outside of class, Lavender is friendly but somewhat reserved until she really warms up to someone. She brings little of the enthusiasm and projection of her cheerleading to conversations with all but her closest friends, instead usually content to take a backseat and add quietly. Lavender listens very carefully to others, and always does her best to give genuine consideration to all but the most hateful opposing points of views, which has earned her a reputation as someone good to talk to. At the same time, if something or someone really does offend her morals, she'll take a stand and absolutely refuse to back down. Her quietness stems from confidence, not a lack thereof, and she is not overly concerned with the handful of enemies this has earned her.

Lavender has dated a number of boys—while she's strictly heterosexual herself, she's an ally to LGBTQ students and views their struggle as just another side of the overall civil rights movement. The relationships of Lavender's that have failed have done so mostly due to incompatibilities discovered over the course of dating, but she tries to stay on good terms with her exes and isn't the type to hold a grudge so long as she's not mistreated or insulted.

Lavender's relationships with her parents are good. She is in many ways closer to her father, but has more in common with her mother. Hannibal is boisterous, outgoing, always getting involved in something new. He's keen to share his interests with Lavender and involve her wherever he can, and his interests align closely with hers, but he's sometimes not sure what to make of her quieter nature. Simone, on the other hand, can also be a very quiet individual. While Hannibal is the one whose career centers more around civil rights, Simone is the parent with far greater personal experience with the subject, and this creates a certain unique connection and understanding with Lavender. While they don't spend as much time directly together as she and her father, Lavender is more prone to come to her mother when she's upset or hurt or really needs support.

Lavender works one day a week answering calls and helping out with unskilled office work at her father's practice—an extension of the childhood chores she had, and one for which she is paid fairly generously. Lavender owns a somewhat old car, and is usually willing to shuttle her friends around, especially to and from parties; Lavender rarely drinks and does not partake in drugs herself, which makes her a popular designated driver, especially since she does enjoy and participate in parties. Lavender hopes to ultimately follow her parents into law, and has applied to several colleges with a pre-law focus; she's still trying to decide where she's going to go, as she's received multiple acceptance letters.

Advantages: Lavender has actual firearm training and experience over a long period of time. She's also smart, social, and fit, leaving her well prepared to navigate a number of potential hurdles in the game.
Disadvantages: Lavender has a reputation among certain elements of the student body as a spoilsport, tattletale, or worse—students who don't hew vaguely to her political line are likely to have pretty negative ideas about her or bad past experiences. Furthermore, Lavender's sense of morality and personal responsibility is highly developed, to the point where she's very unlikely to turn away from somebody in need, even if intervening represents a major personal risk.