Bree Jones

[KamiKaze]

Name: Bree Jones
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Grade: 12th
School: George Hunter High School
Hobbies and Interests: Video games, swim team, kayaking, marine biology, fishkeeping, hairstyling, chick flicks

Appearance: Bree's hair is a cinnamon brown color, with red undertones. She is proud of her hair, and has grown it to around shoulder blade length. Because of its wavy texture, Bree finds it easy to either straighten or curl it. She usually keeps it well-combed and taken care of. Because she enjoys experimenting with it, she rarely sticks to one hairstyle. Some days she wears a high ponytail, others she styles it into a bun with a hair pick or ties it into low pigtails.

Bree is Caucasian, with a warm skin tone. Also, she tans easily, partly due to spending a lot of time outside. She also has a smattering of freckles across her cheekbones, nose, and arms. Bree's face shape is rounded. She has downturned amber brown eyes, that look almost catlike. Her nose is a smaller, upturned shape, while her lower lip is heavier than her upper. Bree's eyebrows are naturally arched, and roughly the same color as her hair. Bree usually applies makeup; her favorite way to style her eyes is to line her upper eyelid with winged dark eyeliner, with a light shade of shadow above it. Her lips are usually accentuated with warm pink lipstick. On days when she feels like it she applies more makeup, however.

Bree's build is more bulky, at 5'6 and 186 pounds. While she is obviously plus-sized, her athleticism is apparent in the shape of her limbs and torso. When she was younger, she was self-conscious about her bigger figure, which wasn't helped by her developing curves much earlier than many of her classmates. However, she soon grew out of it, and dressed to accentuate her looks. Bree is fond of shorts and tank tops, liking how they look on her while being fairly casual and easy to pull off. While she doesn't admit it out loud, she is proud of her bust, and has sometimes worn things to draw attention to it, though staying within dress codes on campus.

On the day of the trip, Bree wore blue jean shorts and a yellow halter tank top with thick straps. For footwear, she wore wooden wedge sandals with brown straps. She styled her hair in a loose side-ponytail.

Biography: Bree Jones was born to Joe and Marlene Jones in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Joe was an architect, while Marlene worked as a systems programmer. They had met during a speed dating event when they had just entered their twenties, and had hit it off. She would be an only child, but her parents had plenty of friends with children that she grew up with.

One of Bree's earliest memories was of playing computer games. Around when she was 7, she started playing Petz 3, a game that her parents found for her when a family friend was clearing out their possessions and let the Joneses take some items home with them. Since Bree was already interested in animals, they felt that she would enjoy such a game. Sure enough, Bree enjoyed taking care of the virtual dogs and cats, and found their in-game behaviors funny. Both Bree and her mother enjoyed playing together, as, although the game was child-friendly, it had appeal for adults as well. Usually, Bree was allowed to play it when she was done with chores and homework. Because of her early interest in animals, she would sometimes ask for a real pet. However, her parents were uncertain of the responsibility it would bring.

While Bree has always loved animals, her interest in marine biology started when her first grade class took a field trip to the local aquarium. There she learned about various animals that lived in the Tennessee River and other areas.  She'd asked her teacher and the employees all sorts of questions about the animals. Shortly after, she started reading about various aquatic animals. Many of Bree's evenings were spent reading a book about ocean animals and river creatures before bed. She also fondly remembered watching documentaries about animals that lived in the ocean. One of her favorites was one about sharks.

Because of Bree's interest in marine biology and her asking for a pet, her parents decided to let her have a fish to take care of a year later. Her first pet was a feeder goldfish won at a fairground that she named Jaws, and she had adored him. Unfortunately, he passed away a year after she got him. Looking back years later, she realized that the tank wasn't appropriate for a goldfish, which has given her some guilt. But she still loved aquatic pets. After Jaws passed away, she started researching different types of freshwater aquarium fish and how to take care of them. Around third grade, her parents let her have pets again. This time she decided on keeping a betta by the name of Butters, after his light yellow color. Because Bree had read plenty of books about bettas before her family shopped, Butters was healthy and well-taken care of. He lived for 4 years until he passed away of a kidney disorder when Bree was in seventh grade. Nonetheless, while Bree was devastated by his death, her experience with him and Jaws fueled her interest in fishkeeping.

An unfortunate part of Bree's childhood was that her parents argued a lot as she was growing up. Part of the reason why was because they felt they rushed into marriage too quickly. While the marriage was steady at first, living together showed that there were significant personality clashes that weren't immediately apparent at the time. This lead to them getting frustrated with each other easily, due to their differing opinions on various topics. Also Bree, having been born a year after the marriage, was unplanned. The Joneses had just entered their twenties when they had her, and were more uncertain about how to raise a child as a result. While Bree had plenty of happy memories growing up, she also remembers them being on edge with each other.

It didn't help that a few times, her father would lash out at her out of frustration. As an example, around fifth grade he started becoming critical of her weight. Bree had always been thicker than other girls her age, which wasn't helped by her hitting puberty more quickly. While he wasn't outright insulting about the subject, Joe kept telling her she needed to lose weight. He'd question what she ate, and told her outright that she was going to be picked on because of her being overweight. Being self-conscious as a result, Bree tried to diet and exercise. One of the major things she did was that she regularly started swimming. She'd previously taken swim lessons, but she also found that swimming was most enjoyable to her as a form of exercise as she like how water felt on her skin. Bree also found she enjoyed swimming in nature, as she liked seeing wild and plant life around as she was exercising.

Unfortunately, Joe and Marlene finally decided to divorce when Bree was in 7th grade. Bree wasn't too surprised, but it did stress her out. The arguing got worse as they discussed arrangements such as housing, childcare, and finances. Tensions rose when it was discovered Joe started dating again during the divorce process. It didn't help that sometimes, her parents would vent directly to Bree about their problems. Often, she would have to leave the house just to avoid their arguments. Usually, she went to a friends' or places to swim.

Sometime after, Bree went to live with her mother, and the two of them moved into an apartment. She still saw her father from time to time, but didn't feel like she could trust him as much due to his moments of criticism and his role in the divorce. While he tried to reach out to her with various outings, she never really felt comfortable around him. Her mother would sometimes still talk to her about the divorce, further making her at unease.

To cope, Bree started to throw herself more into athletics. She joined her school's swim team, and excelled. There was a bit of frustration in that while she toned up and lost some weight, she still had a thicker build. That said, she found she did well during the events. As a competitive swimmer, she prefers breaststroke, as she feels she does the best at it. It's remained one of her stronger events in general, both on its own and as part of relays.

She also started to learn to kayak. When her parents were packing and looking through things during the divorce, her mother's kayak was found. While at first they were planning on selling it due to Marlene not using it as much since Bree was born, Bree decided that she wanted to try it. Bree felt that she could get something out of it along with swimming. While she was hesitant at first, Bree's mother decided to let her, and coached her in a shallower area of a waterfront. Later, Bree started having official kayaking lessons from an instructor. She took to it easily, and still kayaks when possible. It's helped that Chattanooga has an active kayaking culture, so she's met plenty of people from it. She goes to kayaking events in the area whenever possible, and enjoys the community from it. Like the swimming, she enjoys being out on the water, and seeing animals and plantlife from the boat. Bree also thinks it's good stress relief, as she finds the motion of paddling relaxing.

When Bree and her mother were moving in, the landlady mentioned that while dogs and cats would cost extra, animals in a tank or cage were freely allowed. This later led to discussion between the two on whether Bree would want another pet. After doing some research, she decided she wanted to start a community fish tank. For much of Bree's eighth grade, she tried to quell any remaining doubts her mother would have about the subject. She proved she did research on fishkeeping, did as many chores as she could, saved up money for fish supplies, and helped with a friend's tank when they went on vacation for about a week. Eventually, her mother agreed, and helped her go shopping for fish and tank supplies. They found a reasonably sized and well-priced tank on Craigslist, and stocked it with live plants, decorations to hide in, and fine sand. The current occupants, as of Senior year, are a group of harlequin rasboras, a group of pygmy cory catfish, a zebra snail, a clown plecostomus, and a male betta fish. She was particularly cautious about the betta, as they are known to be both aggressive and have their fins nipped by other fish. But, after watching the tank closely after he was introduced, she found he adjusted nicely. She gives each of the animals with recognizable features names; the betta is named Sushi, the plecostomus is named Krusty, and the snail is Marty. She keeps the tank in the living room, so that guests can see them when she has them over. The reason why Bree loves fish is because she feels they have interesting habits and more personality than a lot of people think.

Bree continued to have issues related to her weight until the summer before high school. She still tried to diet and exercise, but while her body toned, she still had a thicker build than she would have liked. Eventually, she realized that she didn't need to look like what she saw in magazines to be seen as attractive. What inspired her was some body-positivity posts on social media, which helped me to be more comfortable with her body. Instead of hiding her curves and thicker appearance, she instead dressed to accentuate it. Bree looked through catalogs and websites for outfits for plus-sized women to try, and began experimenting with it. While it took her a long time for her to fully accept how her body looks, Bree, as of senior year, is now confident in her appearance. She still exercises and watches her diet, but her reasons nowadays are more that she wants to keep healthy and fit for swim meets.

One of the things she experimented with was her hairstyle. One of the things she discovered was the way a simple hairstyle change could alter someone's appearance radically. This was something she enjoyed about hairstyling in particular. So, she changed it up each day. For example, one day she would wear her hair in a bun with hair picks, while other day she'd put it into a braided half-up style. Bree isn't so much into cutting her hair as she is into styling it into braids and updos. She's fond of complex hairstyles, but she tries to go for simpler, less fussy styles in her casual everyday look. Because she enjoys working with her hair so much, she tries to take good care of it. Additionally, she likes to style others' hair with their permission. She's been known to braid her friends' hair during visits to her house and similar.

Bree is still interested in video games. She's more interested in simulator games such as the Sims series. She has a copy of The Sims 4, that she occasionally plays in her spare time. Additionally, she still owns her copy of Petz 3 , and has had her friends borrow the CDs so they could play. The type of sim game she's interested in generally involve animals either as a focus or gameplay mechanic. She's also played Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis, Insaniquarium, and the Zoo Tycoon series. She does have a slight preference for nostalgic, retro games in particular, but she has played recent games. Bree is particularly fond of the Sims series because of its easily customizable nature and quirky tone. Lately, she's tried livestreaming while she's playing a game. She's not particularly interested in gaining a large amount of viewers or becoming famous off it. Bree is more interested in sharing what she's playing and seeing others' reactions. Usually she plays the game straight, but sometimes she has a specific task to work on during the stream. For example, she has made custom house in the Sims based off a recent video game that's become popular on YouTube. Occasionally she's done blind runs of recent popular video games, too. She's done Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning, Doki Doki Literature Club!, and the Five Nights at Freddy's series, as examples.

One of the things she's also fond of is movies. Bree has admitted to liking chick flicks as a guilty pleasure. Some of her favorites are Legally Blonde, Easy A, and Breakfast at Tiffany's. Additionally, she likes the Twilight movies, though more for their wish fulfillment aspects and less for their actual writing. Wish fulfillment, in general, is partly why she enjoys this genre in particular. The plotlines focusing on romance and friendships, along with problems that are usually resolved by the end of the movie, are relaxing to her. She also thinks many of them are legitimately more entertaining than people give them credit for. Usually she enjoys watching them with a friend, and has planned movie nights around them before. For example, she didn't want her past two birthdays to be too extravagant or planned out, so she simply organized a sleepover movie night for both of them. For her 17th, it was The Princess Bride, and the 18th was Heathers. That said, while she refers to them as a guilty pleasure out loud, she actually doesn't like the fact that they tend to be seen as low-brow by some. She feels the label is wholly undeserved.

Bree is nowadays considered popular by her classmates. She is still a member of the swim team, and has gained enough skill and respect to become the Swim Team captain. Additionally, she is also academic. She does well on most of her assignments, and is particularly passionate about sciences, especially Biology. Also, she is seen as confident by her classmates; she can be blunt in her opinions, but she is someone who is self-assured and steadfast in her beliefs. Because of her confidence, she is willing to dress to flatter her appearance, making her seem more assured to others.

However, she can be blunt and sometimes cruel in her opinions. While Bree isn't the kind of person who'd intentionally go out of her way to bully someone, she is someone who states her mind easily. To some extent, she is impulsive, in that she sometimes says things without thinking too much of the consequences. It doesn't help that she has a tendency to phrase things in a mean-spirited way, sometimes without intention. She has somewhat of a self-serving personality, in that she occasionally doesn't think too much about whether her actions affect others or that they might be seriously hurt by something she said. Bree can be moody when she thinks things haven't gone her way. Usually, when she does, she tends to sulk and mope about the subject for a while, making her more irritable. That said, she can be easy to read, and thus it's not difficult to feel how she feels about someone. While she'll get snippy and sometimes insulting towards people she doesn't like, she can be sweet and affectionate towards those she does.

Bree's relationship with her parents is still a touchy subject with her. Nowadays, she's on relatively good terms with Marlene; while there's still a bit of snippiness directed at each other, they tend to usually get along. However, she still feels some resentment towards both her parents for getting a divorce, despite knowing the reasons for it. Most of her resentment, however, is directed towards Joe, as she feels his role in it was worse. She usually doesn't talk to him, even when he tries to be amicable,  since she still remembers that he used to be judgemental of her when she was younger. The subject of Bree's family is something she's sensitive about. While she usually doesn't take insults about other subjects too seriously, she's been known to lose her cool when her family is targeted.

Bree's goals after high school is to go to college and gain a degree in Biological Sciences. She is still heavily interested in Marine Biology, with a particular interest in ichthyology. She has strong opinions on marine wildlife conservation and related subjects. For example, she's gone into detail about her distaste for how cetaceans are treated in captivity, even recommending the documentary Blackfish on the subject. Much of what she posts on social media features videos and pictures of various aquatic animals, as well as pictures of her own community tank. Aside from the swim team, she is also a member of the school's Biology club. Because she is passionate about animals as a whole, she's also volunteered at an animal shelter and worked a part-time job at a pet store. While at the shelter she usually walks the dogs, feeds the animals, and cleans up their enclosures, the pet store is where she illustrates her knowledge of fish to potential customers. It has also helped to get a paycheck, as sometimes money can be tight at her home and some of her hobbies, such as fishkeeping, can be pricey. However, she hopes to dedicate her life to researching marine animals and improving their lives.

Advantages: Bree knows a lot about marine biology, and might know some information about the kind of aquatic wildlife on the island. She is confident, and has a strong-willed personality. She is athletic, and has good upper body strength and stamina from her participating in sports. Bree is part of the popular crowd, which might make it easier to find allies.
Disadvantages: She is impulsive and rash, so she could easily do something without thinking. Bree has a mean-spirited, selfish side to her personality, which can put others at odds with her. She can be moody when she doesn't get her way. While she has since recovered from her parents' separation, the game may bring some emotions back to the surface. Bree is passionate about animals, which influences how she would feel about hurting one should it come up.