Profile
Mary Henshaw
gender: cis woman
pronouns: she/her
birthday: December 27, 1976
age: 29
height: 5'8
orientation: aroace/questioning
interests: bridges, engineering, math, photography
Physical Description
Mary has short, shaggy, light brown hair, brown eyes, light acne-scarred skin, a straight nose, and an unremarkable face. Her ears are pierced, but she only ever wears the same metal stud earrings. She never wears makeup, and usually dresses plainly in polos, T-shirts, khakis, jeans, that kind of thing. She also owns both a hi-vis vest and a hi-vis jacket (sometimes you need that extra sleeve visibility), as well as a hard hat. She wears those when she needs to go check out a bridge and not have anyone bother her.
Personality
Mary keeps to herself, so not many people know her well. She’s usually quiet and doesn’t initiate conversations. She doesn’t relate to other people much, and she doesn’t seek out social interactions or friendships. Her defining trait is her extreme passion for bridges. Mary loves learning anything relating to bridges, bridge styles, bridge engineering, and engineering generally. She’s a fast learner, and very good at math. She's intensely passionate, focused, even-tempered, and enduring. Has a sense of humor, but rarely jokes.
Her speech comes across to others as somewhat stilted and cold, but only because she never knows what she’s supposed to say in social situations. When she’s discussing her favorite subject (bridges) or anything else she’s passionate about, words come naturally to her, and she becomes much more enthusiastic.
Background
Mary was born and grew up in Arkansas. After graduating high school, her ambition was to work on bridges, so she went to study civil engineering at an in-state university. However, the pressures of university were too much for her, and she became overwhelmed and dropped out. After that, she had trouble finding work, owing to her difficulties during job interviews. But thanks to some nepotism, she was able to land a decent paying office job without much social interaction being necessary.
Story
In fall 2006, Mary is working a boring job and taking regular weekend trips around the state to look at various bridges. Bridges are her biggest interest and passion; she loves all bridges, big or small, extravagant or mundane. Visiting bridges is what brings joy to her life. So, after months of planning, she finally ditches her job and takes off on a road trip -- a bridge tour of the Midwest. Along the way, she meets various strange characters. One of them, Andrea, becomes her first real best friend, and joins her on her journey. But they get more than they bargained for when they find a mysterious bridge that leads them into a surreal dimension.
