Ingrid "Ivy" Briar

[Cicada]

Name: Ingrid “Ivy” Hyacinth Briar
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Grade: 12th
School: Southwest Red Rock High School
Hobbies and Interests: Hip-hop dance, 90s and 00s music, choreography, cheerleading, yearbook, fashion, thrifting, pencil and charcoal sketching, people watching

Appearance: Ivy is 5’4” and is a woman of Caucasian-Jamaican descent with dark olive, warm-tone skin. She has an athletic rectangular body with a strong core and long and lean legs, and weighs 130 lb on average. Ivy has a heart-shaped face with a gently pointed chin and low hairline. She has high rounded cheekbones, large hooded warm brown eyes, and a Nubian nose. She has full, shapely lips. Her hair is honey blonde and textures as type 2B waves. Her hair falls to her shoulders, and she typically wears it in a bun updo with bangs. She has measured body language, using small gesticulations, and her gaze has a subtle piercing quality. She is naturally soft-spoken, with an androgynous and articulate voice high in pitch. She can speak Jamaican Patois to the extent that she would pass as a local.

Ivy has a good sense of fashion, is skilled with makeup, and focuses on being budget-conscious. She generally strives for femme sporty aesthetics, preferring to show off her legs. She prefers earthy tones. She does not use accessories regularly, save sunglasses. She has double lobe piercings.

On the day of the abduction Ivy wore an oversize white tee from the brand Katydid, with a stylized XOXO in red over the chest. She wore distressed clay red high-waisted shorts, and mid-calf black military-style boots. She wore a trendy grunge-inspired style with heavily blurred dark purple and black eyeshadow and nude lipstick, and wore gold double-piercing chain earrings, along with red-lensed aviators. She also wore a bracelet with three charms in Red Rocks colors: a ‘21’, a Ronnie the Rattlesnake, and a ‘25’ in that order.

Biography: Ingrid Ivy Hyacinth Briar was born on March 3rd, 2007. She is an only child. Her father Farley Briar is a serial entrepreneur, her mother Sheila Galen Hyatt is a first generation immigrant from Jamaica and a teacher. Farley was career oriented and deprioritized his family. Ivy’s parents have a stable but increasingly loveless marriage. They primarily stay together due to being tied down by an expensive mortgage for a home in Silver Springs bought prior to Farley losing his income. For most of Ivy’s childhood the family was lower middle class, with Sheila having a good salary from working in a private academy for well-off children but Farley often being a financial liability.

Ivy was a naturally introverted child, who only had a small amount of close friends in her first few elementary school years. She enjoyed sketching, and teachers noted that she had a good eye for composition and could recreate landscapes with impressive detail. Ivy often spent lunch quietly drawing, and her friends for all of elementary school were those who preferred similar quiet activities. Ivy was average at academics, with her natural intelligence hindered by her lack of focus and motivation.

Farley’s recent business, a deli, had failed due to the recession, so he was relegated to the role of stay-at-home parent and making an inconsistent salary off resume editing. He was emotionally stony and awkward with his daughter, preferring to leave her to her own devices. Sheila was, as a teacher, suspicious of raising children with unfettered access to gadgets so Ivy’s tablet time was limited.

Ivy spent a lot of time entertaining herself with her parents' music collections. Ivy was most attracted to her father’s taste in rap and RnB, and her favorite music to this day is that with the sonic qualities of The Neptunes and Timbaland production, including tracks from Missy Elliot, Clipse, and Justin Timberlake. Due to how bored she was at home she listened and relistened to a lot of music and her tastes are generally broad: she also likes pop-punk, grunge, and has a soft spot for bands like Nickleback and Creed.

With all this music Ivy was drawn to dancing. She used her limited internet time to memorize YouTube tutorials of hip-hop dance routines and warm ups. Her strong observation skills and ample practice time translated into her developing her athleticism at an advanced pace. By the time she was in fifth grade she could enter a talent show on a whim, where she put on a performance to Say It Right by Nelly Furtado that impressed adults in the audience. She was encouraged by her teachers to join dance competitions, but she disregarded the encouragement. She felt intimidated by the idea of investing a lot of time into something her small social circles wouldn’t have much interest in, and reasoned that she would feel lonely. Her parents also pointed out they would have difficulty affording the expenses when Ivy explored the idea with them.

As she went through puberty starting in the fifth grade, Ivy began to develop an interest in improving how she looked, not for attention but to further experiment with her aesthetic curiosity. There wasn’t much money, as Farley was still struggling. She developed a good eye for thrifting, using her talent for visual composition to put together affordable looks that could win the casual approval of her peers.

When Ivy joined middle school, observing her classmates going through puberty and becoming colorful characters fascinated Ivy, and she found she was drawn to observing the vulnerability and cringe of her peers in depth. She would often sit around her middle school, working to memorize funny and profound moments and sketch them in a private setting. She stuck to uncolored depictions as she found the level of abstraction from reality aesthetically better, but after some experimentation she added charcoal to her artistic toolset.

Ivy began to socially open up with her curiosity in her peers growing. She integrated into a broader friend group, and she started to socialize more actively. She was a follower and a subordinate, going along with the plans and conversational topics of more dominant personalities. Ivy was invited to casual parties, where she became known for her dancing skills and intelligent demeanor. Over time Ivy became comfortable with friend groups that were larger, more active with going out and partying, and she would leave her quieter friends behind over the course of middle school.

Her close friends, impressed by her athleticism, encouraged her to try out for a sport. Her close friend and fellow party-goer Clarissa Shoemaker specifically proposed they join the school’s cheerleading team. Ivy’s parents were concerned about the associated fees, but the friends Ivy had made all chipped in to help her join. It was a very emotional and meaningful moment for Ivy, which reinforced an understated but strong sense of loyalty to the people she considers close that remains prominent in her psyche to this day. Ingrid developed quickly as a cheerleader. She alongside Clarissa were the most motivated members of their middle school cheer team and practiced a lot together in their free time.

The brief COVID pandemic finally gave her father a business opportunity, as a small investor was intrigued in his food truck idea that would be integrated with food delivery services, and the two went into business together. Low overhead and good timing with the widespread rise of using food delivery services meant the business was stable and lucrative by the time Ivy graduated middle school.

The family now had solid middle class income, and while there were still debts Ivy could buy some nicer clothes, and afford to continue with cheer activities using her own family’s money when she entered high school. There was enough money for Sheila to start taking her daughter on summer trips back to Jamaica, where she got to meet family she’d only seen on video calls before. Ivy’s extended family took to Ivy quickly. Ivy felt very welcomed, exchanging a wealth of stories and experiences. There was culture shock, however, and while Ivy welcomed every summer trip to Jamaica she’d take during summers she would find herself severely homesick only partway into each trip.

Ivy easily passed her tryouts for JV cheer, alongside the friends she had carried along from middle school. Ivy’s well developed athletic talents made her a natural fit for the team, and she developed into a variety of roles in the team, consistently being considered one of its best. Her sharp eye and physical alacrity made her a good back spotter, and she otherwise was a good tumbler and dancer. As there was another Ingrid in the team, she introduces herself exclusively as Ivy to most of her high school peers. Ivy will respond to either name, but it is rare for Ingrid to be used except at home and by a few Red Rock students who knew her in middle school.

As a back spotter in particular she had to develop trust and rapport with the other girls on the team, and over time she would count many of them as her closest friends. Ivy had a unique social profile due to her relaxed and observant personality, where she could satisfy more dominant personalities while nurturing and giving social space to quieter girls. Ivy developed a good sense of how to tease without pushing boundaries, and how to comfort others and be a confidante without overstretching herself.

Ivy also focused on getting solid grades. A number of the closer friends she developed in the cheer team were motivated academically, and she felt the need to perform better in classes to fit in. Ivy had the natural intelligence to shape up into a student with mostly As and the occasional C in a subject like calculus or physics as long as she puts in study hours.

Ivy would focus on cheer for the rest of high school. The Red Rock cheer team generally opts out of competitive events. As a result Ivy elected to do competitive cheer outside of school. She passed the tryouts for a gym in Las Vegas that could meaningfully compete on a national level. Though she has been joined on occasion by peers from Red Rock her competitive cheer experience has mostly been a solo exploit.

Her main motivation to participate in competitive cheer is adding acheivements to her resume. Since she had the natural skill to excel in a competitive environment, she wanted to take advantage of this for her future college ambitions. The team is a highly successful one that has consistently had top finishes in the NHSCC, with Ivy considered one of the team’s most skilled members. She is more guarded and socially detached around her competitive cheer teammates.

To maintain her position as being trusted and liked by most of her teammates Ivy downplays her own actual skill as a member of the Red Rock team, refusing to compete for the best roles despite being perfectly capable of doing so.

She began to take on choreography duties for her competitive team, which came naturally to her at the intersection of her kinesthetic and visual sensibilities. She would bring this back to the Red Rock cheer team, working with Coach Harper on choreography for both her team and the JV team. She takes music suggestions from the other girls, and has the observed knowledge of the other girls' capabilities to make them look their best. She also has started to enjoy incorporating retro songs from her personal library as they have come back into pop culture. Famously, when Skibidi Toilet brought Timbaland’s Give It To Me back to prominence, Ivy created a routine incorporating the associated TikTok remix that became a crowd favorite.

At the suggestion of her friends, who encouraged Ivy to get some extracurriculars for college applications, Ivy joined the yearbook club in junior year. She has some natural skill for camera work, does digital page art and plans layouts. Since some of her peers from cheer were also in yearbook she felt comfortable slowly letting down her guard in the club’s environment. She enjoys the opportunity to have a social outlet where her drawing and sketching skill set sees use, though she doesn’t care for photography and digital art due to the lack of tactile feedback, and does not do either outside of yearbook.

Ivy has an excellent portfolio as an artist despite her focus on her cheer activities. Her natural skill means she can coast by in the bevy of art classes she takes and still develop a rapport with her teachers with her social skills and impressive output, and these connections have been a considerable help to her in her college application processes. Ivy has participated in art contests aimed at her age group like Scholastic Art and Doodle for Google and consistently produced quality work that impressed judges even if she didn’t win.

In the summer before her senior year the family finances declined, as Farley overextended and tried to start another venture making a line of snacks branded by a Vegas-based influencer. The money tightened up and the annual trip to Jamaica was cancelled so Ivy could afford cheer competition trips and college application fees. New wardrobe pieces for her senior year were mostly thrifted in her free time, or gifts from friends. Ivy remains close to her mother and extended family, but feels her father only shows himself around them out of obligation and is uninterested in her life. It is openly discussed that Farley and Sheila will likely divorce after Ivy is in the workforce and the home is fully paid off, with Farley keeping the home and Sheila intending to return home to Jamaica.

Ivy is withdrawn outside of her core social groups, involving herself in conversations but being guarded unless one of her close friends is also involved. Ivy, when not busy and not at home, is often seeking out casual conversation with peers she is not well acquainted with, but to observe and not to make friends. She can be casually mean spirited and cutting with her observations, as long as the target is one her close friends also don’t care for. She continues to sketch her people watching highlights when relaxing at home, but it is not a priority for her with her current busy life.

Her sexuality is mostly unknown to her peers, she has only gone on a few dates arranged by friends that went nowhere. She does not identify with a label but has had strong crushes on people of all genders. Following a brief period of experimentation in middle school Ivy has been uncomfortable with anything involving romantic interests beyond fantasizing, and she keeps them to herself.

Ivy wants to get into a good school so she can get a good job and support her mother. With her overall resume as a very well-rounded student Ivy has had a good time with college applications. She built rapport with a number of athletic recruiters and art department heads, and she has received several generous scholarship offers that would lower the burden of college on her parents to manageable levels even if Farley’s financial irresponsibility continues. Among the schools she has heard from, she and her parents have worked out plans that would allow her to feasibly attend Stanford, UCLA, MIT, and NYU, along with a number of less prestigious but still well accredited universities.

Her college applications have been guided by an unconscious hope of sticking with at least a few of her most cherished friends after graduation. To this extent she has not settled on a school she will be attending.

Advantages: Ivy has a very sharp eye for detail and strong visual memory so she will often remember details of conversations and environments her other peers will miss. She is in very good physical condition for her age, with above average stamina, kinesthetic sense, and agility.
Disadvantages: Ivy is passive and biased to observing situations unfolding as opposed to actively influencing them. Ivy is also reclusive, outside of her few trusted friends on cheer and yearbook she will have strong difficulty trusting others and feeling safe in alliance situations and her coldness might backfire on her. She has a codependency for her close friends that she is not self-aware enough to notice and mitigate, that may cause her problems when these friends are hurt.

[Gundham]

Hello, it's me! Gundham! Here's a critique I did for you.

Ingrid is looking great, but she's Not Approved Yet pending a few minor grammar tweaks and one or two things that I'd like a bit of expansion on. Let's get to it!

Ingrid has a heart-shaped face with a gently pointed chin and low hairline.

When using a compound phrase as an adjective, you need an adjectival hyphen.

Her hair is honey blonde and textures as type 2B waves.

Both spellings are technically correct but most formal writing uses "blonde" for female characters. And the B is capitalized in the name of the wave style.

She wore distressed clay red high-waisted shorts,

Adjectival hyphen again.

She wore a trendy quiet grunge style

Trendy quiet grunge style of... what?

along with red-lensed aviators.

Does "red lens" refer to a specific brand of aviators? If not and you're just telling us what color the lenses are, then it should be "red-lensed."

Ingrid Ivy Briar was born on March 3rd, 2007.

When writing dates, you need a comma between the day and the year.

Ingrid’s parents have a stable but loveless marriage maintained due to still paying off the home.

This is a very awkward way to phrase this.

with Sheila having a good salary from working in a private academy for well-off children but Farley often being a financial liability.

Adjectival hyphen.

By the time she was in fifth grade she could enter a talent show on a whim, where she put on a performance to Missy Elliot’s Pass That Dutch

I'm pretty sure that the school would not allow that song to be played. The title is literally about drugs, and it's got some pretty explicit lyrics.

She was encouraged by her teachers to join dance competitions, but she disregarded the encouragement.

Why?

Ingrid began to open up with her curiosity in her peers growing and her work becoming majority portraits over landscapes.

"Majority portraits over landscapes" is an awkward way to phrase this, find a way to revise.

Her close friends, impressed by her athleticism, encouraged her to try out for a sport.

Ingrid didn't do this, as evidenced by her doing it for the first time in high school. Is there a reason she didn't take this encouragement at the time? It's hinted later that there may have been financial reasons, but it'd be good to clarify it in this paragraph.

As there was another Ingrid in the team, Ingrid has allowed others to use Ivy, the name most of her family in Jamaica uses for her, and Ingrid will respond to either name.

If Ingrid goes socially by Ivy at school, and/or will be called that by her peers, then it'd be better to change the name in the profile to Ingrid "Ivy" Briar.

Ingrid also focused on getting solid grades, improving her academic performance as a number of the closer friends she developed in the cheer team were similarly motivated academically.

Bit of a run-on sentence here, find a way to trim it down a bit.

he can be casually mean-spirited and cutting with her observations, as long as the target is one her close friends also don’t care for.

Adjectival hyphen.

for athletic scholarship offerings from a number of schools, including a few of the big name universities her friends have applied to.

Feel free to list the names of any friends she might have in the cast when you're talking about them. If there aren't any specific ones/other characters, that's fine. Please do give some specifics about her university choices, though.

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That's all I've got for you on this pass. Feel free to reach out via DM or PM if anything needs clarifying, I'm always here to help. Otherwise, post here when the edits are done and I'll take another look!

[Cicada]

Thanks muchly for the critique! Beyond the edits you've asked for I also made a few notable adjustments and expansions to Ivy's character that I believe make her a bit more congruent. I'll describe them for your convenience:

- I shifted Ivy starting cheerleading into her middle school years and added 'her friends helped her financially' to account for the money issue. It makes her skill level coming into high school make more sense, and I think gives a concrete example of why she might have an understated codependency on close friends.
- The Red Rock cheer team doesn't do competitive events, or at least a majority of handlers involved agreed to this OOCly, and I'm going to honor that. Ivy now does competitive cheer with an extracirricular team, and I've shuffled some of the details of her cheer career around accordingly. I think this change also adds a dimension to her character by giving her a team she competes with but doesn't have the same deep rapport as she has with her peers in Red Rock.
- I expanded on what she does with her art in school and note that she impresses art teachers and has taken part in high school art competitions, so on. I think this helps justify why competitive schools would consider her.

Here's a document with most/all changes highlighted for your convenience.

[Gundham]

Okay, let's do this.

She has high rounded cheekbones, large hooded warm brown eyes, and a Nubian nose.

"Nubian" should be capitalized.

Ivy will respond to either name, but it is rare for Ingrid to be used.

Does she go by Ivy at home, or just at school?

A number of the closer friends she developed in the cheer team were motivated academically, and she felt the need to perform better in classes to better fit in.

Delete the second "better" here, since it's redundant and messes up the sentence flow.

The Red Rock cheer team generally opts out of competitive events due to the philosophy of Coach Harper that many of the other cheer members agree with.

"the philosophy of Coach Harper that many of the other cheer members agree with" is a very awkward way to phrase this. You could probably just end the sentence after "events" or just say that the they opt out due to general agreement, or something of that nature.

She is extrinsically motivated by goals to build an athletic resume.

This is worded a bit confusingly, and I'm not sure what you're trying to get across. "Goals" is a vague term that isn't clear from context. If the goal is to build an athletic resume, why?

In general, Ivy has an excellent portfolio as an artist despite her focus on her cheer activities.

The phrase "in general" doesn't really fit with the sentence, so I'd suggest either deleting it or saying that Ivy "has a generally excellent porfolio."

That's it, that's all, make those few tweaks and you're good to go.

[Cicada]

Lets go!!!!!

No changelog because changes super smol. Heres the changes I made where you asked for a little more detail or a full rephrasing:

Ivy will respond to either name, but it is rare for Ingrid to be used except at home and by a few Red Rock students who knew her in middle school.

Her main motivation to participate in competitive cheer is adding acheivements to her resume. Since she had the natural skill to excel in a competitive environment, she wanted to take advantage of this for her future college ambitions.

[Gundham]

Hey, it didn't take a month this time! APPROVED