"You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment."-
Henry David Thoreau
Name;Tabitha Lee Ferguson.
Nickname;Tabitha. Tabby. Tabs. Whatever works.
Birth Date;February 3rd.
Age;Nineteen.
Zodiac Sign;Aquarius.
Gender;Female.
Sexuality;Pansexual.
Rich or Poor;Poor.
Trust Fund or Scholarship;Scholarship.
Major;Theater.
Minor;Education.
Occupation;Currently employed at the bookstore - Books of Hollywood University. Also pulls in some shifts as a waitress part-time at a sports bar near campus.
Social Status;Working Poor
Spending Habits;Frugal. Super frugal. Penny-pinching to the extreme.
In Depth Appearance;Tabitha, like many of our friends kissed by fire, has this fair skin that just loves to burn. But when it’s not all pink and peely, Tab’s skin is relatively clear and free of blemishes, save for the freckles what dot her face, neck, shoulders and chest. Her hair is a sort of red copper throughout with blonde highlights, with the underside having more of an auburn tint to it. Should she let it hang freely, her hair reaches down to just below her breasts. Sometimes she’ll pull it into a braid...but let’s be real: that’s a lot of hair and the laziness is real.
The girl’s face is rather angular, what with her defined jaw and chin, fairly high cheekbones, and prominent nose. Well groomed brows, usually hidden by Tab’s wild, angry bangs, sit above a pair of round eyes with irises on the smaller side of things. Unsurprisingly, she has light green irises.
As far as height goes, she’s not about to break any records at an astonishingly average five foot five. She is quite a bit on the thin side though. Rather underweight, to tell the truth, the result of a long struggle with an eating disorder. She’s currently on her way towards recovery though.
Clothing Style;While Tabitha does care about her appearance, she doesn’t exactly have the deepest bank account around. So she makes do with what she can. Hand-me-downs, thrift-store sales, flea-market finds, whatever works. As such, her wardrobe...well let’s just say it varies. She wears anything from sundresses to flannel button ups and jeans, from tees and hoodies to sweaters and shorts. She especially likes sweaters. Stylish, comfy, and warm. What more could she ask for? In any case, she has fun with it. That’s all you can do, yeah?
Likes;✔ Quiet Walks in the Woods.
✔ Cats. Really, any fluffy creature will make her swoon, but cats are just the best.
✔ Terrible Movies. Tabitha’s one of those people who get a sick thrill out of just the worst movies. Intentionally bad or otherwise, it’s all good to her.
✔ All Things Disney. Some people never outgrow their childhoods. Not completely anyway. Tab’s no exception.
✔ Alcohol and Cigs. Terrible for one’s health, but most fun things are.
✔ Running. Tab’s used to be an avid runner, but as she indulged more and more into the previous like, she spent less time running. Shame, that.
✔ Music, Dancing, and Singing. Any music will do.
✔ Bubble Wrap. ‘nuff said.
✔ A Sense of Humor. Life’s too serious, so have a laugh.
✔ Adventure.
Dislikes;✘ Snow. It’s too cold and miserable to drive in. No thank you..
✘ Phone Calls. Text or have a face-to-face conversation, please.
✘ Blood/Gore/etc. She’s squeamish.
✘ Driving.
✘ Boats.
✘ Swimming.
Habits;• Drums her fingers, bobs her head, or hums along with music.
• Wiggles her nose or grinds her teeth when frustrated.
• Notorious pen thief.
Hobbies;• Piano and Guitar
• Songwriting.
• Singing.
• Busking.
• Running.
• Hiking.
• Reading, particularly horror or fantasy.
• Gardening.
Fears;• Being buried alive.
• Being hanged.
• Drowning.
• Sharks.
• Dying with regrets.
• Literally anything with more than four legs.
Personality Traits;Passionate • Creative • Witty • Timid • Naive • Impulsive
Personality;The way Tabby sees things, any one of us could go at any time, so why not live life as fully as possible? Live in the moment and all that. Do whatever feels right at the time, consequences be damned. She’d rather do something and regret it than to regret having never done it at all. When one understands this, one can understand why Tabitha might choose to walk home instead of riding the bus. Why she might actually stop and smell the flowers or just gaze at the clouds for awhile. Life’s just a short race to the grave, really, so why rush through and miss the beauty all around? There’s just so much to experience.
But sometimes it’s not quite so simple. We’re only human, after all. Tabby knows that. Hell, she’s incredibly shy, truth be told. Now, one might think of a shy performer as a bit of an oxymoron, but it’s different when you’re on the stage. When it’s just you, your instrument, and the music, that’s all that matters. Doesn’t matter if the audience is as large as Madison Square Garden all packed to capacity or as small as a lone cat, music whisks you away. Away to somewhere familiar.
And It’s similar if she either has a friend or two with her or is just in a place where she’s comfortable. People and places have a way of anchoring you to reality, of getting you out of your head. If she’s got her anchor, Tabby can be her usual quirky self.
But boy howdy, if she’s alone around new people she kind of just clams up. Go figure. Now if somebody interacts with her directly, she’ll respond. And the more friendly they are, the more she’ll open up. Humor is a quick way to win her over, really. And don’t let her timidity fool you, she’s pretty quick on her feet and if she feels comfortable enough, she’ll jab.
Unfortunately, Tabby’s a bit too trusting. She takes people at face value, not really questioning their motives. Sure, doubt creeps in from time to time, she’s not completely oblivious after all, but she prefers to think the best of people. If somebody says something, she’ll take their word on it. Until she’s burnt. Tab’s not big on second chances. Granted, she might not hold a grudge, but she sure as hell will get cold and aloof.
Place of Origin;St. Albans, West Virginia
Background;The youngest of three born to Henry and Susannah Ferguson born in the small town of St. Albans just outside of the state capital. Henry worked in the coal mines and for a while he made some pretty decent money. Coating his lungs in coal dust, but he was willing to pay that price to make sure his wife and kids lived comfortably. Sure, they wouldn’t have the best of everything, but they wouldn’t have to go without.
But as you may know, coal went on the decline. The mines shut down and the men were put out of work. The state was devastated. It’s people even more. The family lived off Henry’s unemployment for a while, but eventually it became clear that the mines weren’t opening back up and Henry would have to look for work elsewhere. He got a job with a small-time construction crew and spent the next few years traveling the tristate area. More often than not, he would have to stay out of town for long periods of time.
Now Susannah tried to take care of the kids, but the sudden lifestyle shift was jarring to say the least. And she found herself suddenly a single mother raising three children, more or less. It was too much. So, like woefully so many others in the region, she found solace in pills.
So with Pops out of the picture more often than not, and Mother Dearest drawing deeper and deeper into her nose candy, the kids relied on each other. Things were not ideal and got a bit rocky for awhile there, but things could always be worse.
So, of course, they got worse.
Henry got injured on the job and blew out his back. He wouldn’t be able to return to that line of work, if he went back to work at all. By that point, the man was beaten. He threw in the towel and resorted to trying to find his purpose at the bottom of a bottle. The family again was uprooted, moving into a much smaller, less maintained dwelling.
That was breaking point for Susannah. She left, allegedly running off with her pill dealer. Tabitha hasn’t heard from her since.
Her older brother Billy, the eldest of the three, dropped out of high school and went to work to supplement Henry’s disability checks in supporting the girls. He and Henry clashed a lot during this time.The fighting was bad, and on more than a few occasions did it boil into violence. Still, Billy stuck around. He didn’t trust his father to not just drink himself to death and leave the girls up shit creek without a paddle.
Amanda, the middle child, ended up getting knocked up during her Junior year. Surprisingly, the boy stepped up and got a job to support them. Amanda did drop out, but she and her boyfriend ended up moving to North Dakota. He got a job on the oil fields. The baby was born happy and healthy, the two got married, and last Tab’s heard, there might even be another bun in the oven.
Tabitha, always a bit of a petite girl, developed her eating disorder towards the end of middle school. Life was hectic at the time. Her father and brother had gotten into worse and worse fights since Amanda left. It finally exploded. Billy beat Henry near half to death and left. She went with him. It meant changing schools partway through the semester, but that beat living alone with Henry. She hasn’t seen him since.
The new school was pretty rough and she made a ripe target for bullies. She felt insecure and like she had no control over her life. But that? Her weight? Her body? That she could control. Or so she thought.
Outside of that, high school went...relatively alright for the girl. She found an escape through music and really just poured herself into that. She had friends, did decent in her classes, and generally did average teenager things. But she and Billy had started their own bickering soon enough. He didn’t like the crowd she was hanging around, and definitely didn’t approve of her picking up smoking or, god forbid, drinking like Henry. Tabitha thought he was being too controlling, so she did it anyway. He said that if she kept it up, she’d get knocked up just like Amanda. She resented that.
They never came to blows though. By her Junior year, Tabitha’s disorder had gotten bad. She was in terrible shape. So she agreed to be admitted. She spent a month or so there before being released. It had occurred to her just how close she came to actually dying. And although she had thought about it from time to time before, actually being faced with it terrified her. There was so much she still wanted to do.
So she started the road to recovery, cleaned up her act a bit, and focused on living. Her grades had actually improved and on the behest of her guidance counselor she applied to a few schools. She also applied for a couple scholarships. She didn’t think anything would come from it, but...you never know, right?
So imagine her surprise when she not only got accepted to Hollywood Academy of all places, but was offered a scholarship that, when paired with a few others she had somehow gotten, would get her a full ride. She had an actual chance to get out. To expand her little world.
Tabitha parted from her brother on good terms. He was planning on getting his GED then perhaps getting into trade school. They promised to stay in touch, and with that, she went west. To the land of new beginnings.
To her very own second chance.
Extra;Tom Hanks. The man is a treasure.
