Penny (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
anunluckypenny) wrote2013-05-18 04:19 am
anunluckypenny) wrote2013-05-18 04:19 am
Application
[nick / name]: Veda
[personal LJ name]:not_as_it_is
[other characters currently played]:
Justin Pendleton :: Murder by Numbers ::othersdie
[series]: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
[character]: Penny
[character history / background]:
Penny's childhood and early years aren't mentioned frequently, but she alludes to a sad past. A tie-in webcomic confirms that her parents both died when she was very young and that, in spite of her cheerfulness, she has never fully recovered from the loss.
Since then, Penny’s life has been a relatively normal--if somewhat lonely--one. She is devoted to improving the world in whatever small way she can and, to this end, served as a volunteer for the Caring Hands Homeless Shelter. When she wasn’t busy in the soup kitchen or hunting down wild signatures, Penny could occasionally be found at the local coin laundromat (but only on Wednesdays and Saturdays). Her life was relatively tame until Captain Hammer and Billy came along.
It would be more correct to say that Billy had been in Penny’s life long before Captain Hammer entered. They had been frequenting the same laundromat long enough for Billy to develop a clandestine crush on her (that wasn’t entirely unreciprocated). She didn’t meet him properly until she asked him to sign a petition to secure a new building for Caring Hands, unwittingly interrupting Billy—alias Dr. Horrible—in the midst of a wonderflonium heist. Penny secured his signature, but soon found herself in danger of being killed by a runaway wonderflonium-toting van. Fortunately for her, Captain Hammer swooped in and pushed her into a pile of garbage—an act that may have very well saved her life if Dr. Horrible had not brought the van back under his control. Penny, believing that she owed narcissistic Hammer her life, fell for the hero. Captain Hammer was more than willing to be distracted by an adoring woman and the two, much to Penny’s surprise, began what would be a remarkably short-term relationship.
After falling into Captain Hammer’s arms (and being stalked on dates by Dr. Horrible), Penny became friends with Billy over laundry and frozen yogurt. She treated Billy to an inspirational song, encouraging him to see his problems in a brighter light, just before mentioning that her beau would be dropping by. Hammer arrived before Billy could make his getaway. Penny missed the ensuing conversation between arch-nemeses Captain Hammer and Dr. Horrible thanks to the call of laundry.
Skip one uncomfortable conversation. Captain Hammer announced that he successfully secured the sought-after building for the Caring Hands Homeless Shelter, pleasing Penny immensely. As Penny prepared for the building’s dedication ceremony and pondered her relationship with the hero, Billy (who missed his usual trip to the Laundromat, leaving Penny with two melty frozen yogurts) was busy plotting Captain Hammer’s demise, spurred on by his nemesis’ possession of what he truly wanted.
At the new homeless shelter’s dedication ceremony, Los Angeles’ mayor called upon Captain Hammer to make a speech. Instead of delivering the inspirational speech prepared for him, Hammer launched into a song full of heartfelt praise for himself. Penny, already invisible behind Captain Hammer, left the stage after the hero shared the intimate details of their relationship with the better part of the Los Angeles area.
Before Hammer could finish his rousing aria, Dr. Horrible made a dramatic entrance, froze the hammy hero with his (now functional) freeze ray, and burst into a song of his own, condemning the sheep-like mentality of Hammer’s followers. Penny recognized Dr. Horrible as her laundry buddy, Billy, just as the freeze ray failed and Captain Hammer prepared to dispose of his arch-nemesis. In spite of Dr. Horrible’s warnings, Hammer fiddled with the freeze ray and the weapon exploded. Penny, unfortunately, found herself with a piece of metal shrapnel in her chest. As she died, she asked Billy/Dr. Horrible if he was okay and assured him that Captain Hammer would save them.
[character abilities]:
Penny is very human, and not a super-powered human at that. She’s not particularly strong or abnormally clever, but her enduring optimism sees her through the worst of times.
Her talents include an ability to function in very high high-heeled shoes, putting together quirky-yet-adorable outfits with only thrift store clothes at her disposal, and a unique penchant for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. She also has a nice singing voice.
[character personality]:
Penny is the sweet if slightly nerdy girl-next-door that every overly-protective mother would like her son to marry. She’s wholesome, giving of her time, and full of hope and a general—and possibly misguided—faith in the goodness of humans, collectively and individually. If there’s a cloud, Penny is determined to see its silver lining.
This determination to see good in everything and everyone isn’t the result of willful ignorance so much as Penny’s personal philosophy in action. She is aware of the evils in the world and she copes with this awareness by clinging to hope, helping others, and seeking the good within the bad. “Everything happens,” she tells Billy; everything might not happen for a reason, but it does happen and hope can be a sustaining force in the worst of times. With hope, Penny believes she can make the world a better place.
This optimistic outlook clashes with Billy’s cynical view of the world and with Captain Hammer’s self-centered and shallow mind. True to form, however, Penny manages to like both of them. Perhaps she neglects to take note of their less endearing qualities (Billy’s obsessive stalking and part-time work as a mad scientist, for example, or Hammer’s epic amount of self-adoration and unbearable cheesiness). Her ability to stick to her idealistic worldview is admirable.
Penny, aside from being a wellspring of hope and optimism, is also a vegetarian and a fan of doing laundry. She enjoys frozen yogurt, strolls outdoors, and romantic dinners at the soup kitchen, and there’s every chance that she knits and bakes in her spare time. She’s pretty in a natural and unselfconscious way, but far from stunningly beautiful; her wardrobe could be, at best, described as ‘quirky’ or ‘whimsical.’ Penny’s unremarkable appearance, shyness, and docile nature tend to render her invisible in a crowd.
If there’s a malevolent side to Penny’s personality, it’s very well-hidden. About the worst that can be said about Penny is that her eagerness to see the good in everything impairs her ability to see bad things coming straight at her (like unmanned vans). One also suspects that her character judgment is both unreliable and unrealistically optimistic.
In short, Penny is an incredibly and genuinely good person—the kind of good person who gives the only food in her run-down apartment to a sickly pigeon and hands her birthday cake off to a sleeping hobo. It’s a wonder she’s not constantly surrounded by chirping bluebirds.
[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: Penny will be dropping in immediately after her death.
[journal post]:
[Video]
[The network is treated to a nice shot of the cement in the City Square and a muffled voice.]
Are you sure it’s on? I don’t see the—oh! Thank you, that makes a lot of sense, actually. You have a good day, too!
[After a momentary blackout (caused, no doubt, by a hand over the lens), a pale woman with red hair comes into view. Her sheepish smile is largely overshadowed by the considerable amount of blood on her blouse.]
Hey there. I’m Penny, I’m not exactly sure what I’m doing, and I definitely don’t know where I am—which is completely okay because I think I just died…? [she shakes her head, flustered] I know, that sounds totally insane, sorry. I promise I’m not a crazy person, just… you know, kind of confused.
[She pauses, obviously thinking.]
Um. Does anyone know what’s going on? Or where I could get a new shirt, maybe?
[third person / log sample]:
It was Saturday in Los Angeles. Therefore, Penny was at the coin laundromat. Not that she was always at the laundromat on Saturdays. Duty—or, more specifically, Doris at Caring Hands—occasionally called, and Penny wasn’t one to shirk her duties to the city’s alarmingly large homeless population.
That particular Saturday, however, was duty-free and Penny was waiting for her load of laundry to finish drying. She never quite knew what to do with herself in that uneventful interval between transferring her clothes from a washer to a dryer and folding the clean laundry. There were always plenty of other people around, but she was hesitant to strike up a conversation. Without a petition in hand, Penny didn’t know where to start or what to say.
She stationed herself on an isolated counter and began people-watching. She loved watching people and making up histories for them in her head. The lady with the pinched mouth by the pinball machine, for instance, had come to LA with dreams of being an actress and ended up with an unsatisfying secretarial position. She never stopped dreaming, though, and encouraged her kids—three or four, Penny thought—to try out for school plays. The guy folding his laundry—
…Was looking at her?
He glanced away as soon as their eyes met, but Penny recognized him. She didn’t know him, exactly, but she knew he was a regular and was usually at the laundromat when she was. Penny hadn’t made up a satisfactory background story for him yet. She had, however, decided that he was definitely cute in an awkward kind of way. Someday she planned on talking to him.
Someday in the far-distant future. Between her part-time job and volunteer work, Penny barely had time to sleep and wash her clothes, let alone pursue a relationship. The last few boys she’d dated had further discouraged her from going out of her way to make time. There just wasn’t anyone out there who cared about things that mattered: the need to put a stop to the manufacturing of non-biodegradable materials; the heart-breaking conditions that people and animals alike lived in, even in America; the sad fact that the government was willing to throw money away on weapons of mass destruction but reluctant to help ease the burden of poverty. They all talked about hot actresses and video games and the doings of the local superheroes. Did those superheroes ever hand soup to a hungry child? Did they give blankets to the old men who spent their nights in alleys? Did they know what it was like to put a smile on the face of someone who had precious little to smile about?
Penny’s dryer buzzed. She moved her clothes to the counter, strategically placing herself in the general vicinity of the cute guy.
Someday, maybe, she would talk to him.
[personal LJ name]:
not_as_it_is[other characters currently played]:
Justin Pendleton :: Murder by Numbers ::
othersdie[series]: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
[character]: Penny
[character history / background]:
Penny's childhood and early years aren't mentioned frequently, but she alludes to a sad past. A tie-in webcomic confirms that her parents both died when she was very young and that, in spite of her cheerfulness, she has never fully recovered from the loss.
Since then, Penny’s life has been a relatively normal--if somewhat lonely--one. She is devoted to improving the world in whatever small way she can and, to this end, served as a volunteer for the Caring Hands Homeless Shelter. When she wasn’t busy in the soup kitchen or hunting down wild signatures, Penny could occasionally be found at the local coin laundromat (but only on Wednesdays and Saturdays). Her life was relatively tame until Captain Hammer and Billy came along.
It would be more correct to say that Billy had been in Penny’s life long before Captain Hammer entered. They had been frequenting the same laundromat long enough for Billy to develop a clandestine crush on her (that wasn’t entirely unreciprocated). She didn’t meet him properly until she asked him to sign a petition to secure a new building for Caring Hands, unwittingly interrupting Billy—alias Dr. Horrible—in the midst of a wonderflonium heist. Penny secured his signature, but soon found herself in danger of being killed by a runaway wonderflonium-toting van. Fortunately for her, Captain Hammer swooped in and pushed her into a pile of garbage—an act that may have very well saved her life if Dr. Horrible had not brought the van back under his control. Penny, believing that she owed narcissistic Hammer her life, fell for the hero. Captain Hammer was more than willing to be distracted by an adoring woman and the two, much to Penny’s surprise, began what would be a remarkably short-term relationship.
After falling into Captain Hammer’s arms (and being stalked on dates by Dr. Horrible), Penny became friends with Billy over laundry and frozen yogurt. She treated Billy to an inspirational song, encouraging him to see his problems in a brighter light, just before mentioning that her beau would be dropping by. Hammer arrived before Billy could make his getaway. Penny missed the ensuing conversation between arch-nemeses Captain Hammer and Dr. Horrible thanks to the call of laundry.
Skip one uncomfortable conversation. Captain Hammer announced that he successfully secured the sought-after building for the Caring Hands Homeless Shelter, pleasing Penny immensely. As Penny prepared for the building’s dedication ceremony and pondered her relationship with the hero, Billy (who missed his usual trip to the Laundromat, leaving Penny with two melty frozen yogurts) was busy plotting Captain Hammer’s demise, spurred on by his nemesis’ possession of what he truly wanted.
At the new homeless shelter’s dedication ceremony, Los Angeles’ mayor called upon Captain Hammer to make a speech. Instead of delivering the inspirational speech prepared for him, Hammer launched into a song full of heartfelt praise for himself. Penny, already invisible behind Captain Hammer, left the stage after the hero shared the intimate details of their relationship with the better part of the Los Angeles area.
Before Hammer could finish his rousing aria, Dr. Horrible made a dramatic entrance, froze the hammy hero with his (now functional) freeze ray, and burst into a song of his own, condemning the sheep-like mentality of Hammer’s followers. Penny recognized Dr. Horrible as her laundry buddy, Billy, just as the freeze ray failed and Captain Hammer prepared to dispose of his arch-nemesis. In spite of Dr. Horrible’s warnings, Hammer fiddled with the freeze ray and the weapon exploded. Penny, unfortunately, found herself with a piece of metal shrapnel in her chest. As she died, she asked Billy/Dr. Horrible if he was okay and assured him that Captain Hammer would save them.
[character abilities]:
Penny is very human, and not a super-powered human at that. She’s not particularly strong or abnormally clever, but her enduring optimism sees her through the worst of times.
Her talents include an ability to function in very high high-heeled shoes, putting together quirky-yet-adorable outfits with only thrift store clothes at her disposal, and a unique penchant for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. She also has a nice singing voice.
[character personality]:
Penny is the sweet if slightly nerdy girl-next-door that every overly-protective mother would like her son to marry. She’s wholesome, giving of her time, and full of hope and a general—and possibly misguided—faith in the goodness of humans, collectively and individually. If there’s a cloud, Penny is determined to see its silver lining.
This determination to see good in everything and everyone isn’t the result of willful ignorance so much as Penny’s personal philosophy in action. She is aware of the evils in the world and she copes with this awareness by clinging to hope, helping others, and seeking the good within the bad. “Everything happens,” she tells Billy; everything might not happen for a reason, but it does happen and hope can be a sustaining force in the worst of times. With hope, Penny believes she can make the world a better place.
This optimistic outlook clashes with Billy’s cynical view of the world and with Captain Hammer’s self-centered and shallow mind. True to form, however, Penny manages to like both of them. Perhaps she neglects to take note of their less endearing qualities (Billy’s obsessive stalking and part-time work as a mad scientist, for example, or Hammer’s epic amount of self-adoration and unbearable cheesiness). Her ability to stick to her idealistic worldview is admirable.
Penny, aside from being a wellspring of hope and optimism, is also a vegetarian and a fan of doing laundry. She enjoys frozen yogurt, strolls outdoors, and romantic dinners at the soup kitchen, and there’s every chance that she knits and bakes in her spare time. She’s pretty in a natural and unselfconscious way, but far from stunningly beautiful; her wardrobe could be, at best, described as ‘quirky’ or ‘whimsical.’ Penny’s unremarkable appearance, shyness, and docile nature tend to render her invisible in a crowd.
If there’s a malevolent side to Penny’s personality, it’s very well-hidden. About the worst that can be said about Penny is that her eagerness to see the good in everything impairs her ability to see bad things coming straight at her (like unmanned vans). One also suspects that her character judgment is both unreliable and unrealistically optimistic.
In short, Penny is an incredibly and genuinely good person—the kind of good person who gives the only food in her run-down apartment to a sickly pigeon and hands her birthday cake off to a sleeping hobo. It’s a wonder she’s not constantly surrounded by chirping bluebirds.
[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: Penny will be dropping in immediately after her death.
[journal post]:
[Video]
[The network is treated to a nice shot of the cement in the City Square and a muffled voice.]
Are you sure it’s on? I don’t see the—oh! Thank you, that makes a lot of sense, actually. You have a good day, too!
[After a momentary blackout (caused, no doubt, by a hand over the lens), a pale woman with red hair comes into view. Her sheepish smile is largely overshadowed by the considerable amount of blood on her blouse.]
Hey there. I’m Penny, I’m not exactly sure what I’m doing, and I definitely don’t know where I am—which is completely okay because I think I just died…? [she shakes her head, flustered] I know, that sounds totally insane, sorry. I promise I’m not a crazy person, just… you know, kind of confused.
[She pauses, obviously thinking.]
Um. Does anyone know what’s going on? Or where I could get a new shirt, maybe?
[third person / log sample]:
It was Saturday in Los Angeles. Therefore, Penny was at the coin laundromat. Not that she was always at the laundromat on Saturdays. Duty—or, more specifically, Doris at Caring Hands—occasionally called, and Penny wasn’t one to shirk her duties to the city’s alarmingly large homeless population.
That particular Saturday, however, was duty-free and Penny was waiting for her load of laundry to finish drying. She never quite knew what to do with herself in that uneventful interval between transferring her clothes from a washer to a dryer and folding the clean laundry. There were always plenty of other people around, but she was hesitant to strike up a conversation. Without a petition in hand, Penny didn’t know where to start or what to say.
She stationed herself on an isolated counter and began people-watching. She loved watching people and making up histories for them in her head. The lady with the pinched mouth by the pinball machine, for instance, had come to LA with dreams of being an actress and ended up with an unsatisfying secretarial position. She never stopped dreaming, though, and encouraged her kids—three or four, Penny thought—to try out for school plays. The guy folding his laundry—
…Was looking at her?
He glanced away as soon as their eyes met, but Penny recognized him. She didn’t know him, exactly, but she knew he was a regular and was usually at the laundromat when she was. Penny hadn’t made up a satisfactory background story for him yet. She had, however, decided that he was definitely cute in an awkward kind of way. Someday she planned on talking to him.
Someday in the far-distant future. Between her part-time job and volunteer work, Penny barely had time to sleep and wash her clothes, let alone pursue a relationship. The last few boys she’d dated had further discouraged her from going out of her way to make time. There just wasn’t anyone out there who cared about things that mattered: the need to put a stop to the manufacturing of non-biodegradable materials; the heart-breaking conditions that people and animals alike lived in, even in America; the sad fact that the government was willing to throw money away on weapons of mass destruction but reluctant to help ease the burden of poverty. They all talked about hot actresses and video games and the doings of the local superheroes. Did those superheroes ever hand soup to a hungry child? Did they give blankets to the old men who spent their nights in alleys? Did they know what it was like to put a smile on the face of someone who had precious little to smile about?
Penny’s dryer buzzed. She moved her clothes to the counter, strategically placing herself in the general vicinity of the cute guy.
Someday, maybe, she would talk to him.