Felicity Mendelssohn

Clare · July 01, 2021, 07:24:37 AM

Felicity Jane Mendelssohn
Clare

Age:

41 (Born 2478-04-19)

Gender:

Female

Primary Occupation:

XO

Secondary Occupation (optional):

Pilot

Appearance:

Hair:	Black with a lot of grey in it (when she forgets to dye it).
Eyes:	Green.
Height:	5' 9" (175cm)
Weight:	141 lbs (64kg).

Felicity has a straight-backed, upright stance that makes her appear taller than she is. Felicity is trim and very fit, however age and in particular and an overindulgence in alcohol has left her with a few more lines and wrinkles than normal for her age. As a consequence she appears to be in her late forties to early fifties, especially when she wears clothing that hides her shape.

On duty on the posher sort of ship she will wear full Executive Officer's uniform, including black shoes, white blouse, black jacket and slacks, epaulettes and cap. On the more casual ships she will still wear the blouse and slacks but might forgo the jacket, epaulettes and cap.

Generally Felicity is well groomed and dressed, favouring conservative skirts, slacks and blouses. However she will dress down if necessary to fit in with the rest of the crew of a ship she has been assigned to. When she starts drinking all bets are off.

Face Claim:

Claudia Black

Initial Personality:

Felicity has a natural presence, an assurance that is usually obvious when she enters a room. She is generally quietly but firmly spoken, a characteristic that lends an authority that shouting or talking loudly does not, though she is capable of raising her voice to ensure that she is heard.

Felicity always appears alert and attentive to her surroundings, analysing the people and the situation.

Felicity generally comes across as reserved and does not appear to have a sense of humour.

Underlying Personality:

Much of Felicity's apparent self-assurance hides a tendency to over analyse situations to the extent that at times she suffers from 'analysis paralysis'.

Felicity actually does have a good, if somewhat dry sense of humour though this is usually reserved for social situations. In a social situation where she feels comfortable, Felicity undergoes something of a transformation, becoming much more open and friendly, conversing freely. However, when she starts drinking she becomes at first garrulous, then loud and finally somewhat obnoxious. She also is inclined to be not very particular with whom she "sleeps"; being bisexual, she is available to more-or-less anyone.

Felicity does like to dress up on occasion and she rather likes to dance, especially Ballroom and Latin American; her martial arts skills help her in this respect.

She does not suffer from an over abundance of idle curiosity, being inclined to focus on what is required for a job and carefully overlooking things that don't quite add up. When discretion is required, discretion she has; even when drunk, there exists a natural inhibition about certain subjects. The nature of her duties, the odd things she has learned about her various bosses, and the ships she has worked on are prime examples. Her marriage and infertility are other things that she doesn't discuss, lying when necessary.

A poorly kept secret is that Felicity is a recovering alcoholic (see history). A better kept secret is that she is bi-sexual; the world tends to see her as heterosexual and that is the way she prefers as it is easier to fit in but she generally prefers women.

It is not just the alcoholism that keeps her apart from people - she has a deep seated fear that if she gets close to someone they will die. Although fundamentally a rational woman, it has happened too many times for her to believe that she is not the cause. It is a major contributing factor to her alcoholism.

Known History:

2478/04/19:	Born to Jane Mendelssohn, father unknown on Londinium. Mother died from complications during childbirth. Incarcerated in an Alliance Orphanage.
2483/04/19:	Released from the Orphanage to a foster family.
2483/05/20:	Returned to Orphanage; stated reason: Evidence of physical abuse.
2483/07/19:	Released from the Orphanage to a foster family.
2483/11/21:	Returned to Orphanage; stated reason: One foster parent developed cancer and died suddenly.
2484/01/12:	Released from Orphanage to a foster family.
2484/10/17:	Returned to Orphanage; stated season: Neglect; Felicity emaciated.
2485/07/30:	Fostered out.
2485/09/20:	Returned to Orphanage; stated reason: Felicity's bad behaviour and intractability.
2487/07/02:	Fostered out.
2487/11/02:	Returned to Orphanage; stated reason: Foster parents killed during a home invasion.
2491/04/19:	Released from the Orphanage into the care of Martha and William Adams. ((and this time it was to a good family though it took her a while to learn to trust them and it took longer to stop expecting something bad to happen))
2494/04/19:	Adopted by her foster parents.
2500:	Gained Commercial Pilot's licence. Passed Master, Deep Space Vessel examinations.
2500/11/30:	Graduated with Masters degree in Astrophysics.
2501/01/20:	Secured job as Second Navigator on a 3-Star Passenger Liner
2504:	Promoted to Chief Navigator on a 4-Star Passenger Liner
2504/11/14:	Adopted parents killed by a fire at a resort at which they were holidaying. It had been a present from Felicity to them to celebrate the major promotion. She had intended to go with them but was called back from leave because another bridge officer was unwell.
2505:	Promoted to First Officer of a 4-Star Passenger Liner
2506:	War declared. Not called to active service: stated reason: High class passenger ship of which she was First Officer, commandeered for hospital duty.
2507/02/12:	Married Michael Johnson. Kept her own name.
25011:	Promoted to First Officer of a 5-Star Passenger Liner
2511/06/13:	Michael died in a car crash. Police report shows that she admitted having a savage argument with her husband before he drove off. Both were over the legal limit for driving but as Felicity could prove she could not have been in the car and Michael was found behind the wheel, no further action was taken.
2512/04/14:	Pilot's License suspended due to alcoholism. Dismissed from Company.
2514/04/14:	Pilot's License reinstated after a three-month alcohol rehabilitation program
2514/11/03:	Employed by company supplying relief Captains, Executive Officers and pilots to ships. Company records show a variety of work from a few days to six months in a range of ships from small freighters to large passenger liners, and across positions from pilot to captain and everything in between. Felicity's employment records show a high degree of versatility and most of the reports from the ships show her in a favourable light. No ships have reported issues with her drinking on the job though not every ship reported on her performance.

Other History:

Felicity never knew her parents. Her Father had disappeared early in her Mother's pregnancy and her Mother died as a consequence of complications during childbirth. She spent the first five years of her life in an Alliance orphanage and was then in and out of foster homes until finally she was fostered to and then adopted by Martha and William Adams. It took her a while to learn to trust them and it took longer to stop expecting something bad to happen. Having learned to trust them and finally having learned not to assume that something bad had happened when they were a little late, it made their sudden death at a resort on a holiday that Felicity had given them as a present that much harder to bear. It was the start of the slippery slope though that would not be obvious until much later.

From a very early age, shortly after it became apparent that she was going to be much too tall for a ballet dancer, and as a direct consequence of, she took up martial arts. Felicity had a natural talent. Throughout her adult life she kept it up which helped her keep fit and the mental discipline has helped mitigate her alcoholism.

Felicity is a "recovering" alcoholic. She can generally resist the first drink reasonably well, particularly in a casual environment but won't go into a bar unless she absolutely has to. If she has more than one sip she is gone. She will wake up, sometimes several days later, having absolutely no idea what has gone on in the meantime. She used to drink a fair bit when younger but the drinking started in earnest after her husband was killed in a vehicle accident after they had had a vicious row and he had driven off in a rage. Their marriage was dead anyway but she still blames herself; he wasn't a bad man, just the wrong man. Part of their problem was that she couldn't conceive naturally and he wanted her to undergo fertility treatment. She was more interested in her career. It wasn't a major tragedy, just enough to tip her over the edge. Felicity was thirty-three and they had been married for a little over four years.

In less than a year she had lost her job as First Officer piloting large, exclusive, passenger ships for the elite of the Core, having been found intoxicated while on duty. Her Master's ticket was suspended for twenty-four months until she had attended a three month residential rehabilitation program and been alcohol free for a further twelve months.

Since then she has been unable and, to a certain extent unwilling, to get a permanent job, preferring to work for a contracting agency providing relief bridge crew. The work has been very varied and some of it rather on the interesting side. Most she has coped with but some of the more stressful and/or borderline legal positions have led to intermittent relapses. A few of the jobs were also "off the books" and these she found most stressful of all, usually resulting in her spending her leave afterwards, and most of the money she made from the work, on alcoholic binges.

Felicity has a weakness for fast ground cars and requires little encouragement to take one for a spin. When she is drunk she has been known to commandeer unattended vehicles and go for a joy ride. So far she has been lucky, neither having fallen foul of the law or the owner of the vehicle. She is a good driver and could probably race if she felt so inclined though she is probably too old to develop the reflexes to be truly competitive.

Skills and Strengths:

Deep Space Masters Ticket, all classes including passenger liners
Pilot. Felicity is a competent pilot without being flashy. She is more comfortable with larger vessels and tends to be conservative in her approach.
Astrogator. Felicity has very good navigation skills She can often do a good first estimate in her head which gives her a good head start on programming the flight plan.
Unarmed combat (defensive). Although not the easiest, Felicity chose Aikido. It's philosophy of defence while protecting the attacker from injury resonated with her people management skills around conflict de-escalation.
Pistol (range). She has not been in a firefight of any note so her combat capability is untested.
Ballroom dancing. Good amateur dancer.
Bridge & Whist. She is good at both and enjoys a decent session, with or without alcohol.

Weaknesses:

Alcohol (recovering alcoholic, prone to binge relapses). This is a serious issue.
Fast ground cars, especially if she has had alcohol. Don't leave the keys in the ignition and the vehicle unattended.
Combat. Other than defensive martial arts and some aptitude with a pistol on a range, she is not equipped for combat. She will endeavour to talk her way out of a situation even when it is clearly hopeless.
Analysis Paralysis (tends to overthink situations and second-guess herself)
Finds it very hard to get close to people, subconsciously fearing that they will die if she does. She is not at all antisocial, enjoying conversation and contact but she keeps people at a distance.
Mechanical, Electrical and Electronic - Don't ask Felicity to change a lightbulb, record a video or otherwise engage in maintenance activities.

Equipment:

Laptop with astrogation and ship management software
Formal clothing
Dress uniform
9mm automatic pistol
Book reader with large and varied collection of books
Music player with large and varied collection of music

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Felicity Mendelssohn

Clare

July 01, 2021, 07:24:37 AM Last Edit: July 01, 2021, 07:28:45 AM by Clare