Get to know BENJAMIN “BENNY” SHIPPE who’s THIRTY-FIVE years old and works as a SPACE CAMP OWNER in town. They are from KANSAS and are often times mistaken for ADAM BRODY while others say they reminds them of BENNY from THE LEGO MOVIE.
about:
has been obsessed with outer space and spaceships since they were just a little kid. their dad got them a toy rocket ship and told him all about space and he was instantly hooked
for a good handful of years the only things he really ever said was “spaceship” over and over. sure he’d answer yes/no questions and could say other things - but for the most part he was always just talking about spaceships.
even as they got older space was the main topic they wanted to talk about. it made it hard to make friends in school because everyone just knew them as “the weird spaceship kid” but benny didn’t care. they had their spaceship models and books and movies and shows - and really, who needs friends when you can have spaceships?
going to space camp for the first time was a life changing event for benny. finally, they made friends that cared about the same thing as them. everything was awesome! he returned to camp every single year until he aged out of it
and even then, benny wasn’t done - oh no. he was quick to get hired as a counselor at the camp and continued to work there all through high school and college.
studied astrophysics in college and had landed an intern job after graduation with nasa. however one day they made a mistake so big that it ruined their career forever. he still wasn’t even fully sure what happened and it’s something he NEVER talks about, but somehow one of the test machines completely broke down because of him. and he was fired on the spot - both for costing so much in damages as well as showing incompetence. how could nasa ever send someone that would destroy one of their machines into space?
benny went through a tough time then - moved back in with his parents in kansas and just had no drive to do anything. until his friends told him about corona. it took a bit of time before benny was on board, but once he looked into the island he realized it was lacking something extremely important. a space camp! and so he moved there with everyone else and used his savings to open a year-round space camp.
a lot of parents use the space camp as a sort of “educational daycare” for their middle school kids who are “too old” or “too cool” to go to the regular daycare, but benny doesn’t mind. the parents are paying no matter what their reasoning and he gets to teach them all about space!!! it’s a win-win for him.
realized they were non-binary in college when they were enrolled in a women’s studies class for an elective (it’s also where they met lucy and through extension all the rest of their friends!) and one day when discussing gender the topic of being non-binary came up and just really hit them. it felt comfortable and right and after a bit of soul searching benny knew that was what they identified as.
uses both he/him and they/them pronouns.
very pansexual.
loves their friends with all of their heart - could not be here without them. quite literally. he has no clue what he’d be doing right now with his life if they hadn’t jumped in and practically rescued him.
loves pop music - everything is awesome is his JAM.
very easy-going and excitable! especially when space is mentioned!!!!
even though they’re grown now their brain is often still just: SPACESHIP SPACESHIP SPACESHIP
favorite color is blue
loves a good 80s aesthetic
connections:
space camp regulars - even tho it’s meant for kids any and everyone is welcome!! come learn about SPACE!!!!
space camp workers - far more strict on hiring than my other characters. expects his employees to have an understanding of what they’re teaching the kids as well as an ability to connect with them
friends! - he loves to meet new people and is very much open to making new friends! anyone who is friends with kitty or any of the other lego movie crew is automatically a friend of his as well in his book
an ex - maybe someone they dated for a bit or awhile since moving here. at first they would have been so focused on opening the space camp that they wouldn’t have dated anyone, but now that it’s established and running pretty smoothly benny is in a better head space and would be open to seeing someone.


















