remy frankly couldn't figure out why they deemed it worthwhile to hang around the mall when they didn't have to be there in the first place. but they were here regardless.
"i feel like i've explored every inch of this damn mall," they sighed, casting a sideways look at their companion. "are we sure this isn't some psych experiment?"
josie liked the tradition, partly because she came from a family where traditions were important, and even though her relationship with her family was complicated, it didn't mean traditions weren't still important to her. but also, as the kind of person who loved to prepare and organize things, it was actually helpful and sometimes even calming to go through inventory and make sure everything was in its place.
"if it were a psych experiment, i feel like they would add more things. like...i don't know, a competition element or something. i think it's just to prep."
"you're kidding, right?" aisha asked with a brow raised and hand on her hip, standing back to take in their decorating skills. while she technically admonished her pseudo-coworker, it came out in her signature teasing tone. "i've never seen something so crooked. you need serious help." she stepped forward, gesturing for them to pass the poster in their hands.
josie furrowed her eyebrows. she wasn't sure what aisha was talking about because as far as she was concerned, she had put the poster up perfectly. she was usually good at that sort of thing but now she was questioning herself. "are you sure it's crooked?" nevertheless, josie handed the other the poster because it wasn't worth getting in an argument over. really, to josie, nothing was worth confrontation or conflict. "is there a ruler around here or something? maybe that could help."
❛ [ ☼ ] : ( halle bailey , cis woman , she/her/hers ) omg … was that BETTY COOPER i just saw clocking in?! no ?? oh, i guess it was just JOSEPHINE 'JOSIE' FRANKLIN then. they’re THE GOLDEN GIRL i was telling you about … you know, the TWENTY TWO year old JUNIOR, who’s been away studying COMMUNICATIONS at STANFORD ? word around town is they’re back home for what’s apparently their FOURTH summer working at sunset plaza — not counting the one where WHEN SHE GOT DRUNK FOR THE FIRST TIME AND THREW UP IN FRONT OF HER CRUSH. this time around, they’re working as a CASHIER at NEON VINYL while trying to save up some extra cash for HER OWN PLACE, but you didn’t hear that from me … from their interview, you’d probably guess they’re POLITE and SOCIABLE, but anyone who’s worked a closing shift with them knows just how GULLIBLE and ANXIOUS they can get after spending all day listening to SPICE UP YOUR LIFE by THE SPICE GIRLS looping through the sunset’s speakers. though, with the way employees have been disappearing lately, let’s just hope they survive the summer long enough to make it back to campus.
basics
full name: josephine aubrey franklin. nicknames: josie, jo. birthday: september 13. zodiac sign: virgo ( taurus moon, cancer rising ). gender: cis woman. pronouns: she/her/hers. orientation: pansexual.
father: michael franklin ( pastor ). mother: brenda franklin ( nee deville, homemaker ). languages spoken: english, french, asl. religion: baptist. ethnicity: black.
personality
positive traits: sociable, polite, reliable. negative traits: self-critical, gullible, anxious. myers briggs: esfj. enneagram: 9w1. moral alignment: lawful good. character parallels: betty cooper ( riverdale ), natalie goodman ( next to normal ), monica geller ( friends ), rory gilmore ( gilmore girls ), riley matthews ( girl meets world ).
favorites
season: spring. music genre: pop. musicians: the spice girls, abba, mariah carey, madonna. tv shows: the young and the restless, sabrina the teenage witch, full house, dawson's creek. films: clueless, sixteen candles, footloose. drink: chocolate milkshake. food: macaroni and cheese. hobbies: volunteering, playing piano, watching television, talking on the phone with friends. likes: pink, old movies, animals. dislikes: horror movies, confrontation.
biography (abridged).
josie was born to a pastor and a homemaker and throughout her life, she was taught that image was everything. this was done mostly implicitly by how she watched her family push everything under the rug and keep up appearances.
growing up, josie was (and still is) mostly concerned with how people saw her but she never felt like she was doing enough and strived for perfection.
personality wise, josie can be kind of confusing. because she had always been told she was mature for her age and incredibly poised but she was also always so doe eyed and naive. she might have her entire life mapped out on vision boards and binders but she really has no idea what she's doing.
her parents didn't exactly praise her growing up for getting good grades because they told her that was something to be expected. while her friends had art and report cards on their fridge, her family fridge lay empty because her parents simply thought it wasn't a triumph to get her 100th a.
in high school, josie became captain of the cheerleading squad. it was natural because not only was she good but she was the most liked. the only problem was that despite being made the captain, she was rarely invited to the fun parties people were having because everyone thought she would go and tattle to her pastor papa and maybe they were right.
she realized in high school though that the pushing she got from her parents didn't make her grow like they said and like she was brought up to believe. because she wasn't growing organically or in a way that she had a choice in which way she wanted to grow.
her senior year of high school was when things started to crack. the mask she wore all of the time started to show signs of coming off, despite everything she was doing to keep it on.
during her senior year, while applying for colleges, she realized that she wasn't sure what she wanted to do and that she had let everyone decide her life for her. she declined nearly all of her college acceptances except for one which she deferred and she kept all of this a secret from her family because she knew they would never understand.
and she was right because when they found out, it caused a huge rift between them and one of their biggest fights to date. they berated her to tears but also to a turning point where she realized she could not simply be the perfect daughter they wanted or the perfect student or the perfect anything that anyone else was expecting her to be.
taking a gap year in the 90s was basically unheard of but she knew that she had to do it and eventually she went to the college that she had originally deferred, stanford, where she chose a major of communications with a minor in early childhood development.
being a good student wasn't hard for josie. even at stanford where she wasn't at the top of her class anymore and was somewhat of a small fish in a big pond compared to clayton. she excelled in her classes but she struggled a bit to find what she truly wanted to do.
josie is the kind of person who tends to mold herself to other people's personalities, always trying to be what they want her to be and what they expect her to be, without giving much thought of who she wants herself to be. and while she's definitely grown since high school, old habits die hard.
links
pinterest / playlist / full biography
wanted connections
bad influence: it's such a cliche and simple wc but with josie it's really so needed! growing up as a pastor's kid, you don't really get the chance to rebel and certainly not in the way that most other kids do when you're josie. she needs someone to convince her to act out a bit more and be a little messy!
sibling: could be a half or full sibling if they're black or they could be adopted. i think it would be kind of neat if the franklins adopted a "troubled" kid for the appearance of looking altruistic and josie became attached to them because she doesn't really have ulterior motives unlike her parents.
ex friend: josie prides herself on being a great friend to everyone and really tries to show up for her friends. so a falling out would really bruise her ego and hurt her a lot. totally open ended as to why the falling out happened!
family feud: not the game show but an actual feud! for some reason or another, their families can't stand each other and josie and your muse were caught in the middle of it. maybe because josie was angry at her parents for letting her be so sheltered and confined by their expectations that she started warming up to them just to prove that she wasn't just her family.
ex: a very simple ex plot that is super open for interpretation. i also feel like i would reaaaally love a plot where it's josie's first wlw relationship and it's kind of like this scene from the incredibly true adventure of two girls in love with josie being evie of course!
secret sibling: it's very possible that josie's dad had an affair and that no one, including josie, knew about it. so they go about living their lives unaware of the fact that they share 25% of their dna.
annoyance: josie can seem a bit overbearing to people and is very extroverted meaning that she wants to be everyone's friend. and maybe your muse just isn't feeling her for whatever reason, views her as annoyingly naive and doesn't want to deal with the whole pastor's daughter thing.
first kiss: basically what it says on the tin. i think a first kiss plot could be so cute because josie was probably a late bloomer in the sense that because she was so restricted growing up that she didn't think romance was on the table for her like it was for her other friends in middle school and high school.
