Jennyanydots "Jenny" MacBeth ((Adoption))

[littlesongbird]

Name: Jennyanydots MacBeth

Aliases: Jenny to those close to her, Miss MacBeth to everycat else

Age: 45

Build: Jenny most decidedly would not be considered thin by any stretch of the imagination - but, considering she has a love for baking (and therefore tasting), it's no surprise that she's plump.

Origin: Scotland

Occupation: Schoolteacher (although, she's thinking about retiring soon)

Eyes: green

Hair: Her hair is cut in a no-nonsense style, one that requires a brief brushing before she leaves for the day. It's a lovely shade of red that's slowly fading to a lighter shade (it's commonly mistaken for a strawberry blond but she is quick to correct that)

Scars: There are a few on her front paws - but that was merely because she'd get distracted and forget to grab a cloth to rescue a hot tray out of the oven. Her growing affection for a certain tom has her forgetting what she's doing. One of these days, she swears she won't be as forgetful.

Fur/Markings: A soft creamy color with leopard spots (that are slowly beginning to fade as she gets older)

Attire: Jenny wears practical clothes, long skirts in dark colors, sensible shoes (with a low heel), blouses in either a dark color to match the skirt or a lighter color to offset the skirt, and if she's in the kitchen, a white apron to keep from getting flour on her skirt. If she manages to go on the rare night out, she probably would fish out a floor length skirt in MacBeth plaid, a white blouse and a dark bow. (you can see that plaid here: www.tartans.scotland.net/tartan_info.cfm@tartan_id=1975.htm)

Accessories: A rosary (though it's hung on a hook in the kitchen most of the time - rosewood beads and a hefty silver cross. She's lapsed, but she started using it again in recent years, especially when Skimble's working a difficult case. She only recently started to include that young Mister Hollister fellow that works for Skimble in her prayers, especially when he was working that horrid Brachen case.) The rosary was a gift to her from her father - who is currently unaware that his daughter has lapsed. ((Jenny doesn't actively practice, mainly since she rather not deal with the antics of the youth and their anti-Catholic nonsense. She doesn't quite understand it since they all worship the same God. She has gone to several Protestant services, mainly to understand what the fuss is with that particular division of the faith. She's quite unwilling to admit that she likes those services better since it's done in English and she does not have to worry about forgetting her Latin.))

WOC: A small ladies' pistol is kept in her purse, but it has never seen use. She's not even quite sure how to use it but it makes her feel better to have it, just in case.

Appearance: Jenny has reached the point in her life that while she doesn't put too much fuss into her appearence, she makes the attempt to look nice. Her hair is nicely styled and her clothes are clean.

Personality: Jenny is the kind of queen that would set you down at her table, place a large glass of milk by your paw, an even larger plate of cookies in front of you, and quietly allow yourself a moment to collect yourself before beginning to ask what's troubling you. She has the patience of a saint - even if the tom she loves tries it every now and again.

Jenny is typically an even tempered queen - but once her temper's riled, you better hope you can defuse her quickly because her anger burns very hot - there's an interesting stain on the wallpaper from where she threw her cup of hot tea at the wall, although she will never explain what caused that outburst. A clear sign that you've angered her is when her speech lapses completely into her native tongue and her fur gets all fluffed in agitation.

Her rosary tended to come down off its hook when she needed to pray, which seems more and more often these days, especially after the Brachen case. She never truly thought Skimble's job was dangerous until that case (it wasn't that she didn't know, it was more she chose /not/ to know).

Special skills: Always has a plate of fresh chocolate chip cookies on her table (and has been known to take some to Skimble's law firm to treat the youngsters.. and Skimble) - chocolate chip cookies are her speciality, although, she is able to cook just about anything.

Weaknesses: She only recently discovered that she needs to wear her reading glasses more then she normally did.

Fears: Losing the tom she loves before she has a chance to tell him that she loves him

Likes: a working oven, people who drop by to eat, and the weekend which means she doesn't have deal with her students (she loves her students, truly, but there are days she finds herself wanting nothing to do with them)

Dislikes: people not eating after "she worked so hard", students that don't apply themselves (unless there's a reason behind it - she will make concessions to students that are truly having a difficult time understanding what she's teaching. She'll arrange it with the student and their parents for a one on one tutoring session if they so desire. She truly wishes for all her students to succeed)

History: Jenny was born in the spring of 1891, the first born daughter of the MacBeths (Robert and Jeanne). There would be six more queens and ending with a set of twin toms. Growing up, Jenny would find herself helping to raise her younger siblings (instilling in her the desire to have a family of her own someday - but with a very limited number of kittens (two at the very most). The sheer chaos growing up made her shudder to think of having to have that many children). With the exception of the chaos of helping to raise her younger siblings, Jenny's youth was relatively quiet and free from any true drama. True, there were whispers about town about Scotland returning to Protestantism again, but Jenny didn't pay too much heed, not caring one way or another about how the Almighty was worshipped.

When Jenny turned twenty, she went and took her teaching exam, passing it with flying colors. She taught in one of the local schools for five years before she decided that she needed a change of pace and scenery. At twenty-five, she arrived in Felidae and stared in shock at what the town looked like - it most decidedly was not like anything she had ever seen before. Ten years later, and she still finds herself staring in shock most days (usually after reading the paper and seeing the latest bit of gang related violence. Thankfully, she hasn't seen any of her students in the obits... yet. Given this town, it's only a matter of time, she noted bitterly).

Somewhere around her 30th birthday, she encountered a young defense attorney, Skimbleshanks. While she professed that she wasn't head over heels in love with him - she's not the kind of queen that believed in love at first sight, but she definitely found herself intrigued by the tom. There was just something about him that drew her to him - and she hasn't figured out what it is yet.

Love Interest: she has a deep fondness for Skimbleshanks (she won't out and out say she's in love with him /yet/ but it's quite clear to everyone that knows the pair that she's in love with him.)

Quotes: none currently

Theme Song: The Parting Glass (she'll sing this to herself when she's in a melancholic mood - www.youtube.com/watch?v=1se8_-fcxZs); Tell me Ma (The Belle of Belfast City): www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DjGMOAjdQQ ((I know Belfast City is in Ireland, but it has a lovely beat to it)); Father, Son & Holy Ghost: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG-VZN0KJ60

Code:

[b]Color Code:[/b] [color=FF6A00]Jenny[/color] (pumpkin)

[victoriousscarf]

I quite like what you did here, weaving in Scotland and the start of her personality. While I like the allusion to Molly Weasly, her personality does need a bit more of expansion. For personality we do ask for generally at least two paragraphs.

This is a bit more of a nit-pick, but there were very few/if any shoes for women in the 20s that didn't have heels. Lower heels certainly but just about none with no heels.

The only concern beyond some expansion and a nit pick is that all the information on Skimble might pigeon-hole any player that wishes to pick him up later. I know being married, it's very integral to her character, but at the same time I wouldn't want to limit other players so I'm not really sure how to balance that bit out.

[littlesongbird]

Okay on the shoe part - I had only glanced briefly at the fashion book so I will confess to missing that part.

As for the Skimble stuff, if we get him, I'd be more then willing to change things so it doesn't pigeon-hole him.

Ah, the personality thing - what happened was I was starting to feel exhaustion sink its claws into me, which is why I stopped at the allusion to Molly ((that and it doesn't help that when I went looking Jenny/Skimble videos someone compared the pair to Molly and Arthur)) I'll fight with the personality and see if I could come up with something better.

And I'll see if I can come up with something in regards to Skimble being in her app. I'll be playing with this over the next few days to see what I can do. ((I promise Cohen's nurse is coming soon. I just need to sit down and get her history written))

[victoriousscarf]

Oh, I fully understand the exhaustion thing, but the personality really should be expanded. Also, while I totally get the Molly reference and understand it, I know Meadow has never read or seen Harry Potter, and there are others out there who have not as well, for which that reference means little. XD I mean, just think about how she reacts to anger, sorrow, or other situations and sometimes that helps to expand it.

[littlesongbird]

okay - I'll get that worked on as quickly as possible. Most likely it'll be done by tonight at the latest.

[victoriousscarf]

Alright, just let us know when you want us to take another look.

[littlesongbird]

okay, made some modifications - willing to make further changes if needed

[victoriousscarf]

I think this looks pretty good, but one last concern question: Is she Catholic? Because I know from my research Scotland is so terribly protestant, so I was wondering if you had looked into that at all. Also, even if she's lapsed there was so much prejudice against Catholics especially in the USA at the time. So I was just wondering if that was an issue you'd done any research into, or what you're reasoning there was, or if I just misread the app.

[littlesongbird]

Actually, I had read on that and found that Roman Catholicism was/is practiced in Scotland. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholicism_in_Scotland

In terms of her lapse, the most contributing factor was the baby being stillborn. It caused a massive crisis of faith (as in "How could a loving God allow me to carry a healthy baby to term only for it to die while coming into this world?") which she hasn't fully come to terms with yet.

((Or, I can claim that my brother was my inspiration for that. He's Protestant, like the rest of the family, but he carries a cross like rosary given to him by his girlfriend))

[littlesongbird]

Okay - updated Jenny for the third time. Hopefully, third time's the charm ::hopes::

will change anything that needs to be changed

[Meadowlark]

She's looking better. We're still a bit concerned about Skimble and the relation there. For your sake this time, we're concerned that if we never get a Skimble your character's going to be a bit trapped.

Also, in relation to the other characters on the board she's not that old. Cori's just about a year younger than she is, which makes Mac three years younger and Munkus five years (for examples). Just a thought.

[littlesongbird]

this is true - I was trying to stay close to what you established as canon as to her being married to Skimble. If push comes to shove, I can figure out how to work with a lack of Skimble.

If that last part is in reference to her needing to wear her reading glasses more often, I believe what I was going with was that she was often reading her students' homework far into the night, damaging her vision just a bit. ((I believe it was a common belief at the time that if you read at night by candlelight you were damaging your vision.))

[Meadowlark]

Actually the last comment was in regards to the fact that some of the descriptions you use make her sound much older. And though it's not unheard of, some of the aspects sound more suited to somecat in their 40s or even 50s rather than mid-30s. Or that's how it felt.

[littlesongbird]

Ah, I understand now. The age thing I can easily fix - the original app before this take on her had her in her forties. I had aged her down to make it easier on the romance end of things should we get a Skimble.

[Meadowlark]

Ah, quite alright, just wanted to get that cleared up. And if you think you can adapt her should we not get a Skimble then once the age is done I think she's good.