PHOEBE RENEE CLARINGTON
AGE: 29
BIRTHDAY: August 7th, 1995
RELATION: Full sibling
TYPE: Solo
GENDER: Cis woman
PRONOUNS: She/her
ORIENTATION(S): Pansexual
FACE CLAIM: Madelaine Petsch
JOB/SCHOOL
JOB: Owner of Second Chance Animal Rescue
ALUMNI?: Alumni
ABOUT
By the time Phoebe was born, her parents’ marriage was well and truly on its way out the door. She’s heard from various family members that they used to be in love, but the few memories she has of them together involve shouting matches that would otherwise warrant an Olympic medal. During these times, Phoebe recalls hiding in the hallway or shuffling into her siblings’ rooms in some attempt to feel safe. While there was never any physical violence, she learned from a young age to tiptoe around her parents’ moods, lest they decide that yelling at each other wasn’t enough. She would never say it out loud, but her mother leaving was probably the kindest thing Monica could have ever done. Sure her dad became angrier, and the house felt significantly emptier. But it was better than the alternative.
Her grandmother became an active presence in the Clarington children’s lives just before Phoebe’s 7th birthday, and her world only improved because of it. She can’t speak for any of her siblings, but Phoebe’s grandmother is the most important person in her life, the first adult who made her feel like she was allowed to exist as a person and not just a familial accessory. She encouraged all of Phoebe’s interests, including the passion for animals that she had displayed her entire life.
She would stop to pspspsp at every stray cat they saw, ask the owner of every dog on the street if they were friendly enough to pet. She begged their dad for horse riding lessons and then spent most of the time back at the stables brushing coats instead. On one notable occasion, she kept a squirrel hidden in her room for a week after finding it half starved outside of the family home. Her dad and grandma found out and made Phoebe take it back outside, but joke’s on them because that squirrel continued to visit her on a weekly basis for the next four years. As they got older, to deal with her father’s absence and her mother’s occasional reemergence, Phoebe dedicated her time to volunteering at local shelters, racking up community service hours and learning everything she could about proper care.
She had originally wanted to pursue veterinary sciences, but changed her mind after looking into the mental health crisis within the field. College was more draining than psychologically rewarding, but after six years Phoebe got exactly what she set out for: an MBA. From there, she used her family’s privilege to start up their own rescue. For the Love of Juno, named after her childhood cat that passed away at the age of 15 during Phoebe’s second year of college. As the rescue grew and they obtained space for a proper shelter, she renamed it to Second Chance, although there is still a portrait of Juno hanging up when you first walk through the front doors. Their primary mission is to help connect senior animals to their forever homes, but Phoebe will be damned if she doesn’t do everything in her power to give each animal a fighting chance.
These days, Phoebe is not quite living her best life, but she’s certainly working towards it. Her father probably couldn’t tell you what she does for a living, nevermind the fact that she is excelling in an area she loves. As for her mother, every time she comes back around, Phoebe hopes that this is the time she’ll stay. All this does is result in her breaking her own heart every couple of years, wondering what about her isn’t enough for Monica to want to be in her life. Phoebe wants to be angry, and on multiple occasions, she has bitten back the urge to show that she is her parents’ daughter. But Phoebe also remembers what it feels like to be scared and powerless, and she’s promised herself she’ll never make another person feel like she once did. She wakes up every single morning and chooses kindness, in spite of her upbringing. She has her siblings, her grandmother, her friends, and hundreds of adoptions under her belt that prove to her that the world is in fact worth loving.
