Storm

[Storm]

Member Application

Hi! My name is Storm and I am 45+ years old. Please use she/her pronouns when referring to me!

What do you hope to get out of being a member of Birchwood Isle? More than absolutely anything else I want to get what we once had back again. It's going to be a road, for sure, especially with the way the internet has changed, but I'm looking forward to the freedom that Birchwood Isle once gave River and me, and I can't wait to see who else might join us here!

Did you come here looking for someone to care for your inner kid(s)? No. I already have someone to care for them. I do expect River to keep up with those responsibilities, of course.

What will you do if you post a thread for your inner kid and nobody replies to it? I'll talk to River about it, since she's my primary partner in this.

What will you do if an adoption falls through for your inner kid? It won't, but hypothetically if it were to, I'd accept it and return them to the Orphan Village (or St. Jude's Academy) to try again.

If you are playing an adult character, what will you do if you find an unanswered thread in which a child or adolescent is acting out? I'm kind of a "jump right in" kind of person. If it's an open thread, I'll reply straightaway with the necessary discipline. If it's been tagged for a specific person, I will check to make sure that person is inactive before I reply to it, but either way, the child player in this scenario won't get a say in what happens provided that whatever happens is within the bounds of their character.

If the site needs it, are you willing to play an adult? I'll be starting with an adult and hope to keep quite a reasonable ratio of no more than 5 youngsters for every adult I play. That might not last, but I'll play enough adults to be reasonable.

Is there anything you want us to know about you? Almost all of the people I post have real, rich lives inside my head, with relationships, preferences, hobbies, and activities. I'm starting with some new characters here on Birchwood Isle just to help flesh out the worldbuilding, and while they might start out fairly simple, in the end they are likely to be as real as any of my other inners. Please treat them with the respect they deserve.

Link to your discipline sheet: click here ✅

[Grace Amelia Morrow]

Adult Application

Hi! My name is Grace Amelia Morrow and I am a co-head of Oak House. I am 39 years old. Please use she/her when referring to me!

Basic Information

Where do you live? Orphan Village
Are you married? If yes, to whom? Yes. I am married to Hermione Morrow
Do you have any children? If yes, list them. No children yet!
Is your family open to adopting children or adolescents? We would love to adopt a child or adolescent. Probably no more than 2, but you never know!

Appearance

Height: 5'6"
Build: slight
Hair Color: medium brown
Eye Color: brown
Distinguishing Features: a slightly crooked right upper incisor
Brief Description: Grace is of average height and very slender, almost to the point of being skinny. She has medium-brown hair that hangs to just past her shoulders and warm brown eyes that smile even before the smile reaches her mouth. Her frame suggests that she isn't particularly strong, and this is an accurate assessment of her physical ability. What she lacks in strength, however, she makes up for in speed and agility! Her face is slender and angular, and some people have accused her of having an RBF, but most of the time those are the people she genuinely doesn't like! She doesn't wear a lot of makeup most of the time because she feels that it's silly to wear makeup when women are, in her opinion, naturally beautiful. Similarly, she prefers to wear blue jeans and t-shirts and she doesn't dress up except for on special occasions. There are a lot of those in Oak House, but she tries to reserve her dresses for the same occasions they have the children dress up -- like Christmas or Easter.

Personality

Strengths: steadfast; patient listener; skilled at building routines; practical; emotionally resilient; inclusive; reliable under pressure; skilled mediator; remembers details

Flaws: slow to trust outsiders; stubborn; overburdened; over protective; dislikes sudden changes; finds it hard to admit to vulnerability; holds grudges over breaches in trust; overly nostalgic; holds impossibly high standards for herself; avoids asking for help

Likes: family-style dinners where everybody gathers at the table; baking with the children; seasonal traditions; board games on rainy days; big family celebrations; handmade crafts she can keep; refrigerators plastered with childhood pride; early mornings before the rest of the house wakes up

Dislikes: wasting perfectly good food; phones at the dinner table; distracted children and adolescents; broken promises and the people who break them; senseless conflict between roommates or siblings; littering or disrespecting nature; perfectly tidy living spaces that don't look lived in

Vices: Grace hoards old seed catalogs
Fears: house fires, getting snowed in and not being able to leave the island if necessary
Personality: Grace is not a naturally friendly person. She's standoffish to the point of being rude, she doesn't trust people easily, and she is slow to accept people into her personal sphere. What she does have going for her is a genuine warmth for struggling adolescents, and she opens up almost immediately when she encounters young people who truly need her. Nothing means more to her than being needed and the moment she feels certain that she can help someone, Grace transforms from "ice queen" to "warm mother hen." It's important, then, to recognize that while she is not friendly, she is certainly kind, and if she discovers that someone is in need or in distress, she will bend over backward to do whatever they need to make them feel safe, comfortable, and confident. You absolutely cannot take her at face value, and while first impressions die hard, they are not the most valuable impression you will form of someone like Grace Morrow.

Relationships & Discipline

How do you normally get along with other adults? Honestly, Grace is distrustful of most adults and it takes a while for her to warm up to people. She's seen the way modern adults treat their children, all while claiming that their way is "better" because they don't "hit their children." What she sees is parents who are highly neglectful and who want to pass their troubled kids off to somebody else instead of dealing with the mess they made themselves. Until you have won her over, she can be quite aloof.

How do you normally get along with teenagers? Grace gets along well with teenagers because she spent the majority of her career picking up the pieces of their broken hearts. She's good at earning their trust, explaining consequences to them, and helping to lead them toward making better choices. She didn't think much about becoming a mother until recently, and now that she's over 35 her preference is to adopt an older child or teenager. That says a lot about how she generally gets along with them.

How do you normally get along with children? In contrast to her relationship with teenagers, Grace is a little bit aloof with children at first because she has a lot less experience with them. She's working on improving the way she handles them, and she is quickly warming up the more children she has the opportunity to get to know at Oak House.

Link to your discipline sheet: click here ✅

Orphan Village

What is your role at the Orphan Village? Co-Head
Which house or building do you work for? Oak House
Do you live in the Village or commute? Lives at Oak House
Do you have any special training, certification, or skills relevant to your role? Grace has a Masters of Social Work and spent years working with troubled teenagers at risk of being placed in residential treatment centers.
Do you prefer to work with a particular age group? Which one? Teenagers in particular, but also older adolescents
Do you struggle with a particular age group? Which one? Yes. Younger children.

Briefly describe your caregiving or mentoring style. Grace looks for situations in which she can bring together groups of people, and she especially enjoys opportunities to praise one of the children or adolescents she mentors in front of a group of people -- whether their peers or other adults. If someone does especially well on a test, or if they go out of their way to draw her a picture, she makes sure that page has front-and-center attention on the refrigerator where everybody can see it. In this way she is incredibly encouraging, but she can also be somewhat self-centered in her mentoring style; Instead of giving youngsters the opportunity to express the ways in which they are proud of their own work, she tells them how she's proud of what they've done. It works, but she's leaving wide-open an area of opportunity that many of the children at the Orphan Village would benefit from.

Describe how you see your role in the village. Grace sees herself first and foremost as an interim parent to children and adolescents who don't have one. It's actually hard for her because, when she does become attached, she becomes very attached, and the idea of letting any child or adolescent go with adoptive parents is painful for her. Because of the way she views her role, she doesn't often venture outside the sphere of her home (though she does move beyond the walls of Oak House and its grounds, of course!). Specifically, she doesn't try to take on any parenting or "adulting" duties with children or adolescents who aren't assigned to her.

Is there anything else we should know about your role in the Village? If Grace could, she would adopt every single one of the Oak House kids. (Writer note: This assumes that the children and adolescents who choose to join Oak House are suited to Grace. Peep her discipline sheet to see what conflicts might look like.) At the same time, she has significantly less interest in children and adolescents outside of Oak House, and is most likely to send them back to their "interim parents" if she spots them misbehaving or out of bounds. Unless she has a very specific type of relationship with children or adolescents from other houses, she won't interact much with them.

Background

Education: MSW
Work History: Prior to coming to Birchwood Isle to work for the new Orphan Village, Grace worked as a therapist with troubled youth
Current Goals or Challenges: Establish a strong sense of family within the Oak House and help the youth living there feel that they belong.
Reason for Living on Birchwood Isle: Burnout. She was tired of watching disinterested parents discard their teens to programs or refuse to engage with them emotionally or intellectually. Somewhere along the line she decided she believed that corporal punishment was better than ignoring the youth and the island's mission won her over.
Brief History: Grace was born to cold parents who wanted to do what was right for their daughter, but didn't have the warmth of personality for genuine caring. She spent most of her youth doing whatever she had to so that she could get their attention, and in time it led her to serious mistakes that would have cost her in the long run if it wasn't for her grandparents stepping up to give her the support she'd always needed. They were stricter than her parents, and she had to answer to them at the cost of a stern hiding if she broke their rules. For a long time, Grace hated it. Her career in social work taught her that corporal punishment damaged kids, but in the back of her mind she could never quite rectify that with her own experience. Corporal punishment from her grandparents felt more caring than the emotional neglect from her parents.

In the end, she decided on social work because she wanted to help teenagers who were like she had been when she was in her teens. She left school with big hopes that she could make a genuine difference in the lives of young people growing up with "modern parents" like the ones who raised her in the era of Dr. Spock. And she did make a difference! She was able to help increase the confidence in the teenagers she worked with and instill in them a belief in themselves. It was good enough until they went home and their parents disregarded their accomplishments, spoke down to them, and started the cycle all over again. About a third of her clients wound up in residential treatment programs and some of those died or were lost in the system.

Thanks to her grandparents, Grace decided to try something different. Hoping for real change, she moved to Birchwood Isle and accepted the position at Oak House, with her wife, as soon as it was opened to her.

[Karin Iris Rubio]

Adult Application

Hi! My name is Karin Iris Rubio and I am a co-head of Maple House. I am 36 years old. Please use she/her when referring to me!

Basic Information

Where do you live? The Orphan Village
Are you married? If yes, to whom? Yes, to [TBD]
Do you have any children? If yes, list them. Not yet!
Is your family open to adopting children or adolescents? Absolutely would love to adopt! Her husband might be less enthusiastic.

Appearance
Height: 5'4"
Build: athletic
Hair Color: ginger
Eye Color: hazel
Distinguishing Features: a very light spray of freckles across her nose
Brief Description: Karin is an athletic ginger with a big, cheerful smile for everyone she meets. She can typically be found in the type of clothing that makes it easy for her to move around a lot, usually with her hair tied back into a bouncing ponytail. You won't often find her when she doesn't have a smile on her face, and when she's frowning, you know you'd better watch out! Although she is petite, her personality packs a lot of power into her small frame. Most of the time she's wearing sneakers, jeans, and a t-shirt unless she's actively working out. Then you'll find her in sweats!

Personality
Strengths: organized; cheerful; devoted to her work; involved in the community; social; loving; encouraging; active; athletic; great mentor
Flaws: critical of herself; gets lost in the sense of teamwork and forgets individual needs; easily loses track of time; obsesses over fixing problems; struggles with other people taking care of her; expects a lot from people; shows disappointment as easily as pride; proud
Likes: early morning jogs before the kids are up; participating in sports; teamwork; coaching; winning; community organizing; dogs; roller coasters; praise; smiling; Christmas movies
Dislikes: losing; herself sometimes; showing emotions in front of other people; tea; blankets that have holes in them; the impact screens have on kids; being left out of the planning process; sore losers
Vices: coffee (caffeine, and using it to keep her going at a high energy level)
Fears: rodents, serious illness
Personality: Karin is the type of person who just shines. Unless she is deeply lost in thought (which happens rarely, but it does happen!) she is smiling and animated, always cheering "her kids" on and encouraging sportsmanship, teamwork, and active involvement in their community. She is absolutely dedicated to the work that she does, but she also carves out a significant amount of time for her own community involvement and social pursuits. As much as she loves the kids she cares for, she also participates in activities outside of the Orphan Village and is part of a Birchwood Isle softball team that plays every summer, a member of Blood, Sweat, and Tears, and she takes classes at Fortitude Martial Arts. She's always on the go, always organizing something, setting up fundraisers, and looking for ways to get the Maple House kids involved in activities, as well. Karin never stops going!

Relationships & Discipline

How do you normally get along with other adults? Brilliantly! Karin assumes that people are wonderful until they prove her otherwise, and it makes it easy for her to make friends. She is active in the community and has tons of opportunities to get to know other people who live on Birchwood Isle. She's incredibly helpful and cooperative and that also helps her to establish relationships with other people.
How do you normally get along with teenagers? A lot of teenagers find Karin kind of "cringe," but that doesn't stop her from bending over backward to befriend them. After a period of time she's successful about 70% of the time, with the other 30% of the time being especially difficult teenagers (which she's not used to working with). Unfortunately, those who don't like her aren't likely to change their view because when she senses real dislike, she sometimes quickly turns on them and can become a lot stricter with those teens than she does with those who do like her.
How do you normally get along with children? Really well. Karin's great with younger children and they generally soak up her energy. She feeds off younger children and they feed off her as a result.
Link to your discipline sheet: click here ✅

Orphan Village Supplement

What is your role at the Orphan Village? Karin is a co-head of Maple House
Which house or building do you work for? Maple House
Do you live in the Village or commute? Karin lives in the village with her husband
Do you have any special training, certification, or skills relevant to your role? Before she came to Birchwood Isle, Karin was an elementary school teacher
Do you prefer to work with a particular age group? Which one? Younger children are Karin's preference. She feels they get harder the older they get
Do you struggle with a particular age group? Which one? The teenagers sometimes find Karin "cringe" because she's so cheerful most of the time

Briefly describe your caregiving or mentoring style. Karin is an encourager. She doesn't look for reasons to praise "her kids" so much as she looks for ways to push them to try new things, try harder things, and to reach new heights. She does not accept the word "can't" from one of the Maple House kids. They absolutely have to at least try before they are allowed to ask her for help.

Describe how you see your role in the village. Community organizer through and through. If something within the community needs to be planned or organized, Karin is all over it! She participates in planning projects throughout the Orphan Village and doesn't just focus on Maple House. She's currently hoping to build a couple of soccer teams to compete during the fall.

Is there anything else we should know about your role in the Village? First of all, Karin considers the kids at Maple house "hers." As far as she is concerned, they are as much her children as if they had come from her own body or if she had adopted them. She hates the idea of them being adopted outside of her care, but at the same time it thrills her to think of them finding permanent, lifelong families to care for them. This is the only way in which she differentiates between Maple House kids and the other kids living in the Orphan Village. She is quick to encourage or correct children from other houses even if she has no relationship with them, making her popular among most children and adolescents living in the village. Teens from other houses may, in fact, like her more than the teens from her own house!

Background

Education: Masters of Education
Work History: Previous elementary school teacher. Camp counselor as a teenager. Has also coached city teams.
Current Goals or Challenges:
Reason for Living on Birchwood Isle: Karin is deeply frustrated with the state of the world today. Teaching, even elementary school kids, became too much for her when she became not enough for her students. She was working too hard, burning the candle at both ends, and not seeing the results that she put the effort into producing. Birchwood Isle offered a refuge for her and her husband, and so they came to the island hoping for a better life. As far as they're concerned, they found it, and she loves what she does!
Brief History: Karin has always wanted to work with children, and she dreamed of having a large family. She went to college so that she could become an elementary school teacher and she went into it with all of the enthusiasm one would expect. By the time she reached the classroom, however, children had begun to change, distracted by their devices to the point of addiction and unable to focus on their lessons. Karin did the best she could, but, recognizing the signs of burnout, she decided it was time to quit.

Shortly thereafter, she and her husband found out they would not be able to have biological children. Karin was devastated. Between the loss of her career (because she was determined that she could not go back) and the loss of her fertility, she fell into a deep depression until her sister, Sonia, told her about openings on the island where she lived and invited Karin to come and check it out. Once they set foot on the island, Karin and her husband fell in love with it and its principles and quickly applied for a role leading Maple House.

[Amber Diane Nolan]

Adult Application

Hi! My name is Amber Diane Nolan and I am a co-head of Willow House. I am 37 years old. Please use she/her when referring to me!

Basic Information

Where do you live? The Orphan Village
Are you married? If yes, to whom? Yes, to [TBD]
Do you have any children? If yes, list them. The Willow House children are my children
Is your family open to adopting children or adolescents? We'd love to

Appearance
Height: 5'7"
Build: slender
Hair Color: dark brown
Eye Color: brown
Distinguishing Features: slight dimples in both cheeks
Brief Description: If a person's appearance could be calm, Amber has a calm appearance. Her skin is very fair with a smattering of freckles across her nose, her mouth curves gently upward even at rest, and her skin is mostly unlined even in her late thirties. Soft dimples appear in her cheeks when she smiles, but her eyes almost always hold a hint of seriousness that some people find confusing or even off-putting. Amber usually wears her dark brown hair loose and waving to her shoulders, but sometimes she twists it into a thick braid.

Personality
Strengths: slow to anger; aware of her surroundings; deeply loving; very affectionate; responsive; patient; astute; understanding; kind
Flaws: stubborn; closed-minded; rational; slow to act; critical; high expectations; pushes too hard; doesn't handle discomfort well; disconcertingly quiet; judgmental
Likes: horseback riding; thunderstorms; journaling; fireplaces; camping; one-on-one time; long paperback novels; peppermint candies; holidays; snow
Dislikes: loud noises; fluorescent lighting; rushing; recklessness; carelessness; tardiness; mouth breathing; loud chewing; excuses
Vices: hard candies
Fears: deep water; ice;  high bridges; loud noises; miscarriage; blood
Personality: Amber is the sort of person you wouldn't expect to have great reflexes, but who constantly watches what happens around her and therefore is able to catch everything before you even realize it's happening. She's highly observant and very aware of everything that happens in Willow House. It's almost impossible to lie to her because she is so conscious of other people. She treats the people around her with incredible love and affection and she is generous with her time, affection, and her resources. At the same time, she is very slow with her praise and does not offer it lightly; you know that when she does offer you praise, she is sincere. Instead, she focuses her energy on helping the children and adolescents for whom she cares to discover things about themselves to be proud of. Many say she'd make a great therapist. She just smiles and accepts the compliment. Once upon a time, she was one!

Relationships & Discipline

How do you normally get along with other adults? Amber is... not everybody's cup of tea. Most people of all ages have conflicting feelings about her when they first meet her, and for a lot of adults that doesn't go away over time. She's warm and kind, but there's something aloof about the way she interacts with other adults that some people find disconcerting. She can work with other adults without having problems with them and she communicates well, but a lot of adults feel judged by Amber (even when she's not judging them).
How do you normally get along with teenagers? Depending on your perspective, Amber either gets along very well with teenagers or not at all with teenagers. She isn't strict, but when you cross her boundaries, she is an incredibly harsh disciplinarian, and those who have recently met her find it hard to get a good read on her. It can be especially hard for them to understand when she quickly returns to being incredibly loving, kind, and soothing when the punishment is over. This takes a lot of getting used to, and while teenagers are getting a read on her, they often don't feel like they get along with her at all. Once they come to an understanding, however, most adore her and advise others to give it time before judging her.
How do you normally get along with children? Relationships with children are reasonably good for Amber, mostly because they aren't looking to catch her behaving out of character and most see the good in her. She responds well to this, which is why her best relationships are with children or teenagers who have come to know and understand her. Amber gets along fine with children.
Link to your discipline sheet: click here ✅

Orphan Village

What is your role at the Orphan Village? Co-Head of Willow House
Which house or building do you work for? Willow House
Do you live in the Village or commute? Amber and her husband live in the village.
Do you have any special training, certification, or skills relevant to your role? Before coming to Birchwood Isle, Amber was a therapist (for adolescents and adults)
Do you prefer to work with a particular age group? Which one? No preference
Do you struggle with a particular age group? Which one? No

Briefly describe your caregiving or mentoring style. Simply put, Amber is watchful. She sees basically everything. Not much gets by her. She's not particularly strict, but she is incredibly harsh. This means that she goes out of her way to stop kids from doing something that will require punishment before they can get to that point. It's the "it would be a bad idea to walk out that door right now" spoken as a child is about to leave the house after being told not to; it's realizing that a teenager is considering sneaking out of the house because of peer pressure and nipping the source of the problem in the bud before the teenager sneaks out their window; it's steering a little child back in the right direction just as they begin to wander; it's knowing when a young adult is most likely to blow off their responsibility and reassigning the responsibility before they can.

Describe how you see your role in the village. Amber is a mother in the village. It's that simple, as far as she's concerned. She lives in this house with her children and she takes care of them. Outside of Willow House, she doesn't see any responsibility at all -- which is not to say that she won't act if she sees children behaving poorly, regardless of where she is or to whom they belong.

Is there anything else we should know about your role in the Village? Amber takes her role seriously and she has serious disdain for any adult in the village who does not take their role as seriously as she does hers. While she doesn't see herself as responsible for children and adolescents from other houses, she will speak up if she feels that another adult is not demonstrating responsibility for their own.

Background

Education: MSW
Work History: Amber worked as a therapist for adolescents and adults until three years ago, when she stopped due to her first marriage ending
Current Goals or Challenges: Amber's first husband has been stalking her, which is one of the reasons she came to the island
Reason for Living on Birchwood Isle: To protect herself and her family from her first husband.
Brief History: Amber had a difficult home life as a child. She was always quiet but also naturally inquisitive. Although she rarely behaved in ways that most adults would have considered bad, her mother had little patience with developmentally-appropriate curiosity, and she yelled frequently. Amber's father drank too much, and some nights they yelled at one another, other nights they both yelled at her. Sometimes her father struck her in the face and he often left bruises on her or her mother.

She ran away when she was 14 and met Brad. The two of them married as soon as they were legally able. Amber became pregnant, and Brad became violent. She lost three pregnancies before she gained the courage to press charges against him, then file for divorce. Her current husband helped her through the process, and while they worked together, they fell in love, marrying almost as soon as the divorce was finalized. Since then, Amber's first husband has been released from jail and has been stalking Amber through her therapy practice. She had to quit her job to protect her clients. When she and her current husband discovered Birchwood Isle, it seemed like the perfect place to escape because of its vetting process. Now that they are on the island and have stable jobs working for the Orphan Village, she is finally starting to relax.

[Houston Emmanuel Fletcher]

Adult Application

Hi! My name is Houston Emmanuel Fletcher, and I am a co-head of Cedar House. I am 47 years old. Please use he/him when referring to me!

Basic Information

Where do you live? Orphan Village
Are you married? If yes, to whom? Yes, to Adam [surname TBD]
Do you have any children? If yes, list them. Ian James Fletcher (24), Derek Anthony Fletcher (17)
Is your family open to adopting children or adolescents? Possibly in the future

Appearance
Height: 6'1"
Build: athletic
Hair Color: dark blonde
Eye Color: blue
Distinguishing Features: deep dimples
Brief Description: The first thing most people notice about Tex is that he smiles. A lot. His teeth are white, his smile shows dimples, and he oozes charm in a way that's almost physical. His hair is long, cut to his chin, and he wears it loose most of the time. He doesn't shave often and he almost always has at least a five-o'clock shadow, if not a little bit of a beard (which he does not keep trimmed). His style of dress is almost always country casual and he often wears a cowboy hat and boots. You'll almost never find Tex without his signature belt.

Personality
Strengths: charming; confident; cool under pressure; approachable; accessible; great listener; good with his hands
Flaws: controlling; arbitrary; explosive; impatient; surprisingly reserved; hot-tempered
Likes: horses; animals; smooth cigarettes; long baths; Sunday lie-ins; flying planes; working with his hands; whittling; a good knife
Dislikes: snow; traveling over water; the sound of dogs barking; shoddy workmanship; long car rides; running; exercise; gyms
Vices: cigarettes/smoking
Fears: snakes; plane crashes; dead bodies
Personality: Tex has a smile that lights up a room. He shines. His confidence enters the room before he does, and instead of making people uncomfortable or instead of him coming across as cocky or arrogant, it always seems to set people at ease. He's very quick with a compliment, which helps his cause. He knows just the right thing to say to a person to make them feel like the most important person in the room. In short, Tex has remarkable social skills for a former cowboy who has spent a lot of his life and time alone. The truth is that he enjoys being liked and works hard at it. Learning to be the person his own kids sometimes dislike has been challenging. He has to push himself to be the bad guy sometimes, but Tex has found that, like a lot of things... Well, he's good at it.

Relationships & Discipline

How do you normally get along with other adults? Great. Tex is charming. Most other adults like him a lot. He's genuine and it shows.
How do you normally get along with teenagers? Normally pretty well. He sparks curiosity in a lot of teenagers, and especially in teenage boys. Heterosexual teen girls and homosexual teen boys crush on him, and heterosexual boys want to be him. In general, he engenders trust in teenagers the same way he does in adults.
How do you normally get along with children? Tex is a little bit wary of younger children because he worries that he's going to break them. He's still learning how to be a good father and since he's learning on his own boys who are 17 and 24, he's missed a lot of years being a father to them when they were younger. His wariness around younger children doesn't seem to affect the children at all, though.
Link to your discipline sheet: click here ✅

Orphan Village

What is your role at the Orphan Village? Co-Head of Cedar House
Which house or building do you work for? Cedar House
Do you live in the Village or commute? Tex lives in the village
Do you have any special training, certification, or skills relevant to your role? ...no. None.
Do you prefer to work with a particular age group? Which one? Teenagers
Do you struggle with a particular age group? Which one? Younger children

Briefly describe your caregiving or mentoring style. Tex is extremely hands on with the kids. Cedar House is all about hands-on learning and making things, and Tex has just jumped into that role with both feet. He believes firmly in the "See one, do one, teach one" model of teaching, and so he always starts out by demonstrating what he wants someone to do, then observing them doing it, and then having them teach someone else how to do it, passing on the skills. He's quick to express pride when one of the people he mentors gets it right.

Describe how you see your role in the village. To be honest, Tex is a bit all over the place and he's still figuring out where he fits in within the village. He loves kids more than he ever thought he could, but he's not exactly sure what his place is. It makes sense to him that he's there to parent the kids at Cedar House (and his own two boys, of course) but he's not really certain where the boundaries are elsewhere in the village. Most of the time he doesn't act when he thinks he should, then beats himself up for it later on. He's still figuring everything out.

Is there anything else we should know about your role in the Village? Because he startles easily, Tex can be... a lot for some people. If he's triggered, he may lash out, even if the child or adolescent he's lashing out at isn't in his house.

Background

Education: high school
Work History: former army; former cowboy; former pilot
Current Goals or Challenges: Tex is dealing with PTSD
Reason for Living on Birchwood Isle: initially, communion with other veterans, since there are a lot of them living on the island; he stayed for the culture -- and his hubby
Brief History: Tex spent the majority of his life planning. For a bigger life, for a bigger impact, for something that would make him a star. Most of his life, he didn't take the time to live in the moment he was in. So when his wife became pregnant on his first military leave, he didn't know how to stop his momentum. Their marriage was convenient. He'd never loved her, but he was instantly taken with his son. Seven years later, during another leave, Maggie became pregnant again and Tex knew it was time to go home. He had a plan, of course. When his tour ended and he was given the chance to retire from the Army, he did. He moved back home to Texas and took up a job working as a cowboy on his cousin's ranch. That was the plan he'd always had in mind.

But then Adam happened. He was a couple of years younger than Tex, convicted of a set of beliefs Tex was quick to dismiss with a snort. But Adam talked about the future like it mattered while somehow keeping Tex rooted in the present, and before he knew what was happening, Tex was falling in love with Adam. The divorce was brutal, but Tex and Adam were married almost as soon as the ink was dry on the divorce. He got to see his kids every other weekend and on holidays, and that was fine for him; He'd been in the military most of their lives anyway.

It didn't last that way. Maggie, who had always been the type to live in the past, "found God," or religion, or the new age or something. The boys were a burden to her, she said as she rode off into the sunset on the back of her girlfriend's motorcycle. The next thing Tex knew, he was taking care of a sixteen-year-old and his 23-year-old was moving in with him because he couldn't find anywhere to work following college. Adam was the one who suggested Birchwood Isle. Tex had no plan, but when he learned of the strong military support on the island and the opportunity to make a difference with kids, he leaped at it. Thanks to Adam's background, they were both hired on quickly at the Orphan Village, where they now work as heads of the Cedar House.

[Vance David Schmitt]

Adult Application

Hi! My name is Vance David Schmitt and I am a co-head of Birch House. I am 44 years old. Please use he/him when referring to me!

Basic Information

Where do you live? The Orphan Village
Are you married? If yes, to whom? Yes, to [TBD]
Do you have any children? If yes, list them. Yes. 18 year old Owen and 16 year-old Meghan.
Is your family open to adopting children or adolescents? Potentially

Appearance
Height: 6'2"
Build: muscular
Hair Color: blonde
Eye Color: blue
Distinguishing Features: always has a slightly scruffy beard
Brief Description: Vance could win the award for "best dressed man in the Orphan Village" if there were such a superlative competition. Somehow he makes even blue jeans look like designer clothing, but he also enjoys dressing up. His fashion sense almost seems to contradict the slightly scruffy, mussed look of his personal grooming, his blonde hair always a little bit ruffled, almost always sporting a five-o'clock shadow even with a jacket and tie. His face is warm, his blue eyes close-set, his mouth always seeming to curve into a smile, even when it doesn't quite reach his eyes. He exudes a sense of relaxed calm in almost every situation.

Personality
Strengths: purposeful; intentional; calm; intelligent; wise; excellent mentor; motivated; practical; centered; spiritual
Flaws: impatient; distracted; money-minded; superior; prone to depression; cares more for others than himself; blunt
Likes: dogs; swimming; crossword puzzles; the first cup of coffee in the morning; long, hot showers; the house before the kids wake up in the morning; date nights with his wife; getting dressed up; the theater
Dislikes: pharmaceutical medications; live sporting events
Vices: coffee
Fears: freezing to death; breaking a bone; dental work
Personality: At first glance, Vance is a terrible fit for Birch House. He doesn't enjoy sports, and while he's a calm and excellent mentor, he doesn't praise children and adolescents for physical achievements, but for mental ones. Often, he answers sports or activity related queries or stories with a grunt, and doesn't show a lot of interest in the active lives of the kids he cares for. He'll be the first to tell you that's what his wife is there for. Without her, this place wouldn't run. He'll answer this with a wink, a dimpled grin, and a nod of acknowledgement, then separate himself. His role at Birch House is the oft-overlooked spiritual and emotional side of wellness. This is where Vance most excels, and he focuses on what he already knows he's good at.

Relationships & Discipline

How do you normally get along with other adults? Vance typically has good relationships with other adults, in large part because he has good boundaries and enforces them. If he doesn't like someone, he doesn't seek them out or engage with them.
How do you normally get along with teenagers? He's the father of two teenagers who, while they sometimes drive him bonkers, he adores. Vance gets along well with most teens.
How do you normally get along with children? Having raised two of them into reasonably well-adjusted teenagers, Vance gets along quite well with children who are old enough to reason. The very young ones he often leaves to his wife.
Link to your discipline sheet: click here ✅

Orphan Village

What is your role at the Orphan Village? Co-Head of Birch House
Which house or building do you work for? Birch House
Do you live in the Village or commute? Vance lives in the Village
Do you have any special training, certification, or skills relevant to your role? Not especially. Vance has a medical doctorate in sports medicine
Do you prefer to work with a particular age group? Which one? School-Age children are the easiest age group for Vance.
Do you struggle with a particular age group? Which one? Pre-School children are tough for him.

Briefly describe your caregiving or mentoring style. Vance is generally exceedingly calm. He's not especially strict and never looks for reasons to punish the children he cares for. (He finds it odd that some adults in the Village do seem to look for reasons to punish!) However, when punishment becomes necessary, a lot of kids feel like they didn't see him coming until he was lighting their ass on fire. Whenever possible, he tries to teach without imposing consequences, which means that natural consequences happen a lot around Vance -- and he lets them, even when they are painful! But when he does decide it's time to punish, he comes down hard, imposing multi-layered punishments that don't end for quite some time -- regardless of the age of the child or adolescent being punished. He's not an adult you want to cross! Adolescents should also be warned that he is willing to impose "baby punishments" if he feels that their behavior is juvenile. This means that not only will he warm their bottom until they are well and truly sore, but that he will also wrap them up in a diaper, restrict their toilet privileges, and that their food privileges will be restricted to pureed foods, their bedtime set to 6:30 p.m. seven days a week, and that they are not allowed to be out of his sight until the term of their punishment is over. He's not strict, but he's sure harsh!

Describe how you see your role in the village. Vance views himself more as a mentor than he does as a parent to the children and adolescents in the village, although this is prone to change when it comes to the kids living in Birch House with his wife and him. He is willing to provide mentorship and a solid adult presence for any child in the village and doesn't see the children and adolescents in Birch House as any different from the other kids in the village. Over time, this is likely to shift to a preference for Birch House children and adolescents, however, and when that happens, the shift will be extraordinary, with an extreme preference shown toward those he works most closely with.

Is there anything else we should know about your role in the Village? It seems that Vance is something of a "recruiter." If he gets close enough with a child or adolescent who is not part of his house and there is available room in his house, he will encourage that child or adolescent to switch houses to Birch House so that he can provide more close contact for them and keep a closer eye on their needs. He bonds very intensely with the people with whom he bonds.

Background

Education: MD in Sports Medicine
Work History: Vance worked as an orthopedic surgeon for a long time before he decided it was time for a change in 2020.
Current Goals or Challenges: It's been hard to convince some people in the Orphan Village that he's right for the job he's doing.
Reason for Living on Birchwood Isle: When Covid hit the world, Vance was looking for somewhere isolated to take his family.
Brief History: His whole life, Vance knew that he wanted to be a doctor. Helping people meant more to him than anything else in the world. As a young child involved in as many physical activities as his parents would allow him to take on, he developed an acute understanding of the importance of medicine in keeping the human body working the way it was intended to. He very deeply believed in the science of medicine, went to college on a sports scholarship, and headed off to medical school, everything aligning with his plan. He was matched with a residency program at Mass General, where he thrived in spite of the long hours. His poor, patient wife -- a social worker who he met while he was in university at Harvard -- had the patience of a saint. When she fell pregnant, her parents helped with the pregnancy, then with their son Owen when he was born. He made chief resident in his final year of residency and accepted a prestigious fellowship for sports medicine the following year.

Vance's life was on track, and he loved every minute of it. It left him without much time to play, but it kept his finger on the pulse of the world of sports and Vance was high on the impact his new career had on him. He encouraged his children -- two of them by the time he finished his fellowship -- to get involved in sports, to play, practice, and do their best while teaching them that their best was all it took to succeed. Even if they weren't winning games, they were winning life by learning how to set goals for themselves and push their bodies to their limits. Between him and their mother, they encouraged their children to focus as much on their minds as on their bodies, maintain a 4.0 GPA and fight for everything they wanted to have in their lives, because the fight was worth the prize in the end. After all, wasn't Vance living proof?

Then a pandemic rocked the world. Physicians quit in the aftermath, burned out and exhausted. Vance worked to fill the gaps where he could, but the pandemic left him scarred and scared. For more than a year, he was paranoid about his health and his children's health, but he was devoted to putting in the man hours to help see the nation through the crisis. When the spread and the devastation finally slowed, the Covid shot taking its effect, Vance crumbled. He was hospitalized for five days for a nervous breakdown, and when he got out of the hospital, he proposed to his wife that they move to an island he'd heard about while researching during the pandemic. It was safe there, he told her. Their children wouldn't get sick. They could get a better education than they'd gotten for the pandemic period. They could stop being afraid all the time. So Vance and his wife moved to Birchwood Isle just as their son was turning 18 -- ready to be a man, but forced into the legal standing of a child again. He refused to practice medicine, denouncing it at first out of paranoia, but then because it no longer felt like him anymore. For four years he did odd jobs until finally Orphan Village opened in 2026 and Vance and his wife applied for the position of head of Birch House and were offered the job. Now they live there with their two children.

[Christian Andrew Kearney]

Adult Application

Hi! My name is Christian Kearney and I am a psychiatrist. I am 51 years old. Please use he/him when referring to me!

Basic Information

Where do you live? Northern Isle
Are you married? If yes, to whom? No
Do you have any children? If yes, list them. ...Not yet
Is your family open to adopting children or adolescents? A couple in particular.

Appearance
Height: 5'3"
Build: muscular
Hair Color: black
Eye Color: brown
Distinguishing Features: ears that stick out, facial hair cut into a short goatee, very straight eyebrows
Brief Description: Christian looks like a man worn down with time, older than he actually is and worn out. In spite of the time he's spent indoors, he's well-muscled, but his skin will be quite fair until he has a chance to warm it up with the sun. He wears his black hair in a short haircut without it being buzzed and keeps his goatee well-trimmed. You'll usually find him in a pair of jeans with a thick leather belt and heavy buckle, cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat from his rodeo days.

Personality
Strengths: funny; family-oriented; giving; forgiving; kind; devoted; loving; passionate; animal-lover
Flaws: impatient; abrupt; blunt; volatile; angry; traumatized; lacks follow-through
Likes: horses; country music; dogs; craft beer; bonfires; time in the outdoors; kayaking; amusement parks; pickup trucks; fishing
Dislikes: runny noses; electronic devices and toys; people who litter; his own temper; warm beer; dressing up; licenses for everything; disrespectful kids; cleaning up other people's messes
Vices: beer -- sometimes to excess; anger
Fears: blood, especially when it's on his own hands; police; being arrested again
Personality: Christian -- Christy -- comes across as easygoing, open, and kind, but he's hiding a whole world of secrets behind the façade. His temper is a thing of legends, and while he's learned to control it to the best of his ability, he is constantly aware of the potential to lose it in a big way if the circumstances are right. He has to work very hard to control his emotions around other people because the risk, for him, is monstrous. Sometimes he thinks of himself as a monster, but most people who know him think of him as funny and a good person to be around. As much as he tries to tell himself that's enough, it isn't always.

Relationships & Discipline

How do you normally get along with other adults? Christy generally gets along well with other adults.
How do you normally get along with teenagers? In most cases, Christy gets along well with teenagers. He understands them better than most. Usually, they also understand him.
How do you normally get along with children? He tries. Boy does he try. But he doesn't get children, and they often find him to be too much, too.
Link to your discipline sheet: click here ✅

Background

Education: MD in psychiatry
Work History: before his arrest, Christy worked as a psychiatrist for a clinic in North Carolina; he has also, at times, worked as a rodeo clown
Current Goals or Challenges: Christian has just been released from prison in the US. He's struggling to adjust.
Reason for Living on Birchwood Isle: It's complicated.
Brief History: The most important thing you need to know about Christian is that he has spent the past several years in prison for manslaughter. His crime occurred on the US Mainland and he did his time there, but he was a resident of Birchwood Isle prior to that and this is where he returned to when his time had been served. He's been through a lot, not only during his sentence, but before it. So while he presents as fairly jovial, fun-loving, and good to be around, he is dealing with a lot internally.

He lost his wife when she was giving birth to his son, who died shortly thereafter. That was 23 years ago and a lot has happened since then, but he still lives with that trauma every day, and the fear that if he ever allows himself to love another person again, that he will lose that person. He's been convicted of manslaughter twice now, the first time for involuntary manslaughter and the second time for voluntary manslaughter. This will never leave him, and he has a hard time trusting himself as a result.

But he came back to Birchwood Isle for Bryn. Right now, she's what keeps him going.

Other Information

Is there anything else we should know? Christian is spoken for, as far as children he may choose to adopt. It's easy to overload him and he has a hot temper. He's... unpredictable, and it's important that you know that and preferably not approach him for discipline if you aren't very prepared for everything he is.

[Orlando Luciano Esposito]

Adult Application

Hi! My name is Orlando Luciano Esposito and I am the Director of the Orphan Village. I am 42 years old. Please use he/him pronouns when referring to me!

Basic Information

Where do you live? The Orphan Village
Are you married? If yes, to whom? Currently Single
Do you have any children? If yes, list them. No
Is your family open to adopting children or adolescents? Lando would absolutely love to adopt

Appearance
Height: 6'0"
Build: athletic
Hair Color: black
Eye Color: blue
Distinguishing Features: deep dimple in his right cheek, shallower one in his left, an Italian accent, and a big, inviting smile
Brief Description: Somehow Lando manages to look laid back even in a three-piece suit (which he doesn't wear often!). His style leans toward a pair of blue jeans, a thick leather belt, and a sports jacket, sometimes with a tie and sometimes without. He has thick, wavy black hair, blue eyes that always seem to be smiling, and a white-toothed grin that always seems to appear when he encounters a young person. Lando is generally considered to be very handsome. Quite a catch for any single folks!

Personality
Strengths: active; involved; sensitive; organized; generous; kind; playful; child-centered; loving; verbal; easygoing; laid back; charming
Flaws: easily distracted; self-deprecating; traumatized; sensitive; manipulative; judgmental; second-guesses motives; overly-relaxed; emotional
Likes: young people; taking care of people; viewing artwork; traveling; well-fitting shoes; American culture; Harry Potter; the smell of libraries; cats; late-night phone calls; hot showers; the smell of the ocean
Dislikes: being alone; smarmy women; men who don't know boundaries; people who abandon children; the need for the Orphan Village; writing reports; ringing phones; saltwater in his hair; long boat rides; ferries
Vices: Lando can be quite vain
Fears: being abandoned (again); falling in love with someone who doesn't love him back; snakes; spiders
Personality: Lando is warm, friendly, and charming, but the emphasis here is on his warmth. It's the first thing most people notice about him. He's quick to introduce himself to any young person he encounters, slower with most adults, and willing to get down on a child's level to introduce himself to them. He assumes the best in other people before there is the opportunity for them to prove him wrong, and he persists in insisting that people are good even when they try to prove him wrong. More than anything, Lando believes that people are a product of the history that made them and that young people need to feel that they are understood in that context. If someone has been abandoned, you can't expect them to feel important. If they've experienced emotional abuse or neglect, you can't expect them to feel secure. If they've been physically abused, you can't expect them to feel safe. Everywhere in his life, Lando approaches youth with this mindset, though he has a hard time extending the same to the adults, who he views as the abandoners, neglecters, and abusers in almost every case.

Relationships & Discipline

How do you normally get along with other adults? Lando struggles with other adults because he is always second guessing their motives. This lack of trust impacts those relationships and it takes a lot longer to get him to warm up internally to adults he meets. It is worth noting, however, that he is externally as warm with adults as he is with youth.
How do you normally get along with teenagers? In general, Lando gets along well with teenagers because he makes them feel seen and understood. On the other hand, he holds a degree of distrust for those who are moving into adulthood (as he sees adulthood) and is most likely to attach to teen parents who are making the effort to parent. The more of this he sees, the better Lando feels.
How do you normally get along with children? Spectacularly. Lando knows how to get down on their level and talk to them like humans and not like children.
Link to your discipline sheet: click here

Orphan Village

What is your role at the Orphan Village? Administrator
Which house or building do you work for? The whole village, not a single house. Orlando oversees everything.
Do you live in the Village or commute? Orlando has his own, private home in the village -- with enough room for him to adopt several children and still have room left over.
Do you have any special training, certification, or skills relevant to your role? Before moving to Birchwood Isle, Lando was a teacher.
Do you prefer to work with a particular age group? Which one? School-Age Children
Do you struggle with a particular age group? Which one? Not really. Maybe young adults.

Briefly describe your caregiving or mentoring style. Lando is incredibly down-to-earth with the kids. He speaks to even young children as though they are full people, doesn't talk down to them, and communicates in a very direct, grown up language that acknowledges their autonomy and the reality of their emotions. He's careful to make space for the way kids think and feel, and he is an excellent listener when they have a problem. He's not the type to give them their way -- the adults in charge of their house are allowed to set their own rules and enforce them in the way they feel is best -- but he will always provide an ear and a hug if they need it. He makes space for the kids who live in the village, and for many, that is the most important thing a grownup can do.

Describe how you see your role in the village. Orlando oversees everything in the village. That's his job. He signs the paychecks, makes the rules everyone must follow, and ensures that youth are both moving in and being adopted out. He's also a big part of the organizational team that sets up things like adoption festivals and fairs.

Is there anything else we should know about your role in the Village? He's very hands-off with the adults (allowing them to govern their houses or organizations as they see fit) but very hands on with the children. Lando will absolutely, without question, stop and discipline a child he finds misbehaving in the village, even if they aren't a village resident. His discipline is generally gentle, and if he can opt to do anything other than spank, he will. Unfortunately, his position makes it difficult for him to issue lasting consequences like grounding, and therefore his hands are often tied, making corporal punishment a virtual necessity if time-out isn't indicated.

Background

Education: Masters degree in European History, Masters degree in Secondary Education
Work History: Orlando worked as a teacher before he moved to Birchwood Isle
Current Goals or Challenges: Lando is in therapy working on his own trauma so that he can remove the blocks he has to communicating well with other adults
Reason for Living on Birchwood Isle: He learned that this island took in abandoned children -- like him -- and he wanted to help
Brief History: Lando was found abandoned on the side of the road when he was only a few weeks old. He doesn't even know his true birth date, and has always celebrated his birthday on the anniversary of the day he was found, rather than on the day that he might have been born, according to his modified birth certificate. Although he was adopted by the time he reached the first anniversary of his founding, he always knew he didn't fit in with his adoptive family. He was in his mid-twenties before he learned the true story of how he came to live with his family, and it explained so much. But it also came with a fresh set of abandonment issues that sent him on a trek around the world that ended, at least for a time, at Cambridge, where he earned his first degree (in European History) and then his second (in Education). From England, he moved to the United States, where he worked as a high school teacher. Students seemed to enjoy his thick accent and his charm.

He loved his job, and he wouldn't have left it if he hadn't heard about Birchwood Isle, the "Island of Misfit Toys," where abandoned children went to maybe rehabilitate. Wanting to be part of that, Orlando took off for the island and simply never returned to the United States or the job he left behind. At first, he intended to be a teacher at St. Jude's, to help support those who needed him the most. He took the job and held it for four years, but then three strange things happened at the same time.

First, the story of his founding went viral when the woman who would have been his mother came forward with her story. The media sought Orlando out, and as he began to provide his story, the offers went wild. A book deal. A movie. Money coming from sources he'd never dreamed might belong to him. Then his adoptive father passed away and left him a mountain of money he'd been hoarding for decades. In spite of Orlando having seven brothers and sisters, all of the money went to him, along with a sort of an apology. Finally, the original set of children's homes dedicated to supporting orphans on Birchwood Isle dissolved due, in part, to the administrator's burnout, but also because the system they'd had in place wasn't working. Orlando had the means, the opportunity, and the passion to set up the Orphan Village and so he sought the island's support, taxpayer funding, and finally the land rights, and built the Orphan Village from the ground up. Now he lives there and handles all of the top-level responsibilities, overseeing the entire village while letting his staff run it.

[Torrin Flynn Hopkins]

Adult Application

Hi! My name is Torrin Flynn Hopkins and I am a therapist at Cedar House. I am 38 years old. Please use they/them when referring to me!

Basic Information

Where do you live? Northern Isle
Are you married? If yes, to whom? No
Do you have any children? If yes, list them. An Infant daughter named Daisy
Is your family open to adopting children or adolescents? Possibly if the right kid comes along

Appearance
Height: 6'2"
Build: slender
Hair Color: dark blonde/light brown
Eye Color: hazel
Distinguishing Features: serious, intense gaze; a mouth that's almost always smiling; laugh lines
Brief Description: Torrin is tall with exceptionally long legs. They wear their hair shoulder-length (so it just brushes their shoulders). Their face is angular, with high cheekbones and a well-defined jaw, eyes seemingly always ready to smile, and a thin mouth that curves up at the corners. Their style of dress varies from day to day, some days a pair of jeans and a tank top, other days a pair of jeans, Oxford shirt, and a sports jacket. They rarely wear makeup, and alternate days on which they wear a binder beneath their clothes, so some days they present more feminine and other days more masculine. Some days they wear loose clothing and other days they prefer tight clothing. Their hairstyle changes frequently but the length generally remains the same. The one true constant is their smile.

Personality
Strengths: straightforward; soft-spoken; considerate; great listener; tolerant; accepting; creative; curious; authoritative
Flaws: fickle; stubborn; stuck-up; heavy-handed; distractible; shy with strangers; tires easily
Likes: watching the sun rise; long naps in the afternoon; sipping tea by the fire; summer afternoons; snow storms; roller skating; skateboarding; listening to music; playing guitar; breakthroughs
Dislikes: people as stubborn as they are; people who drive too fast; balloons; the color red; dress shoes; dressing up; opera; cats; ice skating; coffee; being woken up
Vices: sleep
Fears: spiders; being forced to do things they don't want to do; gender-affirming surgery
Personality: Torrin is the type of quiet observer who feels "off" to the wrong sort of person. They see everything, including the things people don't want them to see, and a lot of people feel observed when in their presence. Their soft-spoken way of speaking makes people listen up when they speak because it forces them to quiet down, and Torrin uses this to their advantage. While they are incredibly tolerant of a lot of things, Torrin absolutely will not abide bigotry, and this creates conflicts with people who don't understand Torrin's approach to things because they will not back down when they believe in something and may become defensive if they feel confronted. Torrin also tires easily and therefore walks away from arguments that they know they can't win, which some people find offensive.

Relationships & Discipline

How do you normally get along with other adults? Other adults can be a struggle for Torrin because many adults are set in their ways and they see Torrin's gender identity as a "fad." The fact of the matter is that, in general, Torrin agrees with them. A lot of American kids are adopting nonbinary identities as a way to stand out among their peers and don't have gender dysphoria or other qualities common to trans people. Torrin views this as a degree of appropriation, but they will not tolerate adults who refuse to affirm their child's gender identity. Because of this phenomenon, many adults also have a hard time accepting Torrin, which means Torrin walks away from a lot of arguments with adults who invalidate them.

How do you normally get along with teenagers? It really depends. Torrin focuses on validation, especially in teens, but they struggle with how changeable teenagers can be, switching from one thing to another when the next thing is more popular than the first. They struggle with trusting teens a lot of the time and it can take a while to earn their trust sufficiently that they are willing to open with you. On the other hand, Torrin is an excellent listener who validates as much as they can. Teens often appreciate this, but should not take validation for acceptance. Acceptance, for Torrin, comes with accountability and long-term sustainability.

How do you normally get along with children?Torrin loves the freshness of children. They generally get along great with kids over 6 years old. Younger kids can be a challenge.

Link to your discipline sheet: click here ✅

Orphan Village

What is your role at the Orphan Village? Dedicated Therapist
Which house or building do you work for? Cedar House
Do you live in the Village or commute? Torrin lives in the community, in the Northern Isle
Do you have any special training, certification, or skills relevant to your role? Medical Doctorate in Psychiatry, now working as a therapist and prescriber
Do you prefer to work with a particular age group? Which one? Mostly with school-aged children
Do you struggle with a particular age group? Which one? Pre-school-aged children and teenagers.

Briefly describe your caregiving or mentoring style. Torrin is a careful listener. They spend a lot of time listening, asking probing questions, and getting all of the answers before they decide how to handle something -- most of the time. Because at the same time, they are quick to act when action needs to happen quickly. There is also an ironic middle ground, where they will let a fight start to play out before they pull the more successful child off of the less successful child. They are incredibly hands on with kids, which is one of the reasons they chose Cedar House. One-on-one time is essential to their occupation, but they also spend extra time at the house mentoring the kids when their energy levels allow for it.

Describe how you see your role in the village. As far as Torrin is concerned, their role is to get to know 12 kids as deeply as they possibly can, and to serve those 12 kids to the best of their ability. They are not about dealing with the village on the whole, even though they are also among the first to say that it takes a village to raise a child. They're willing to be part of the village, but not to be part of the village for the whole village, if that makes sense.

Is there anything else we should know about your role in the Village? Torrin tires easily because of chronic illness (Lupus). They have good days and bad days.

Background

Education: MD in Psychiatry
Work History: Worked as a therapist for 10 years before moving to Birchwood Isle
Current Goals or Challenges: Torrin is dealing with Lupus
Reason for Living on Birchwood Isle: They had to get away. The schools in the US were filling up with people claiming trans identity without processing their identity and it felt confining and tight for Torrin, rather than inclusive. They were confused and looking for somewhere else.
Brief History: Torrin has always been a serious person, all the way from childhood. They are analytical and need to understand the way things work. It started out as asking why about everything (starting with "why do I have to wear skirts?"), then expanded into taking things apart and putting them back together. One of the earliest questions Torrin asked about the world around them was why some people had to be boys and other people had to be girls. Their parents couldn't answer that for them, but they did support them in exploring their identity on their own, which led to Torrin's confidence and firm convictions on the way children should be treated in relationship to their gender identity. Their own parents were good, so they approached the world expecting more of the same and... didn't find it.

What they did find, albeit many years later, was that while trans people were dying for their right to exist, young adolescents were declaring themselves "transgender" in record numbers. At first, Torrin quietly celebrated, but over time, they began to feel that this behavior was an appropriation of something that was, to Torrin, very real. In every generation, they realized, there is a popular way to stand out among your peers. Where once the halls of a school might be filled with Goths or Scene kids, now they were filled with young people declaring themselves trans and nonbinary. While counseling adolescents, they discovered that many of these people didn't experience gender dysphoria and a large number made no effort to publicly present as the gender with which they claimed to identify. Teenagers claiming "nonbinary" identity while wearing dresses that showed their cleavage or "trans girls" who proudly wore long beards. It was hard enough for Torrin to accept that they enlisted the help of a therapist themselves.

In the end, it was their therapist who encouraged them to get away from it all. Take a break, work on their own identity. Torrin reached the conclusion that they were personally hurt -- no, harmed -- by the casual adoption of trans and nonbinary identity by those who made no effort to live with the effects that identity had on those who came before them.

Additional Information

Torrin takes testosterone injections and therefore their voice is deeper than many people expect. While their appearance is quite androgynous, those who aren't conscious of nonbinary identities often assume they are female, so the deeper voice can be startling. One might also want to note that while Torrin will correct people who refer to them as "she" or "her," they do not introduce themselves with their pronouns and can be somewhat awkward when someone asks them what their pronouns are.

[Mariposa Mayumi Flores]

Adolescent Application

Hi! My name is Mariposa Mayumi Flores and I am in the 10th grade. I am 16 years old. Please use she/her pronouns when referring to me!

Basic Information

Full Name: Mariposa Mayumi Flores
Nickname, if Any: Mari
Age: 16
Birthday: 18 July
Sex: Female
Pronouns: she/her
Current Grade/Year in School, if Applicable: 10th
Current Occupation, if Applicable: none
Special Needs: none?

Appearance

Height: 5'6"
Build: athletic
Hair Color: brown
Eye Color: hazel
Distinguishing Features: almond-shaped eyes, several moles on her face
Brief Description: Mari is the kind of understated beautiful that doesn't know it's beautiful. Her straight brown hair falls just past her shoulders, touched with gold from summer highlights. She has a straight nose that belies her Asian roots, along with her almond-shaped hazel eyes. Her skin is a very light brown with golden undertones. She has thick eyelashes and hair and a full, straight mouth that often gives her a serious expression. Several moles on her face only enhance her beauty. Sadness reflects in her eyes.

Personality

What are your greatest strengths?: creative; down-to-earth; conscientious; deliberate; intentional; open-minded; friendly; supportive; good-natured; adventurous; outgoing; passionate
What are your greatest weaknesses?: suspicious; untrusting; emotional; sensitive to criticism; emotionally-inhibited; guarded; impulsive; manipulative; high expectations; easily frustrated; self-destructive
What do you struggle with? Most of all, Mari struggles with boundaries; not only setting them, but also respecting other people's boundaries. Rules are also often an issue for her. She's used to being able to do what she wants and having to abide by rules set by strangers is a real challenge for her.
What are your hobbies or interests? rock climbing & rappelling; drawing; cooking; outdoor activities
What do you really enjoy? spending time with other people; watching the sunset; sketching natural elements; long swims in natural pools; taking off on solo adventures; celebrating holidays with friends rather than family; long-term friendships; making out with boys
What do you really dislike? rules for the sake of rules; being told what she can't do; people who expect instant trust; roads with no sidewalks; being stuck indoors for too long; oversleeping; people who do nothing but complain; people who don't know anything outside video games
What are your favorite things? her sketchpad and drawing pencils; an old photograph of her mother
What do you fear? getting too close to someone and then having them taken away; getting attacked by a bear
Describe your personality in 100-500 words: Mari is the type of person who goes out of her way to make people like her because being liked is the most important thing. While this is a common trait among teenagers, Mari is deeply concerned that being disliked will result in her being shuffled off to somewhere else. Maybe a different house at first, and then maybe sent to St. Jude's, and then maybe kicked off the island altogether. At the same time, she is impulsive and does things that get her into trouble, which has the same emotional effect on her. She goes into shutdown mode when she believes there is the possibility that she could be ejected from the community. Despite all appearances, community is everything to her. The panic is entirely internal, which means that it's not visible to people who might be able to help her and understand her better.

She is also an incredibly private person who does not readily share information about herself, or her emotions, which also puts quite a bit of distance between her and the people who are caring for her. It's intentional, but it's also disruptive to her wellbeing, so in a big way, Mari is self-destructive.

Relationships & Behavior

How do you normally get along with adults? The very last thing Mari wants is to get attached to an adult because, in her experience, they just leave her. She can forgive her (single) mother for dying, but she cannot forgive the family members who left her to the system, the system that chewed her up and spit her out, and then the family that chose to send her to Birchwood Isle instead of trying to find a place for her. She does not trust adults easily -- or anyone, for that matter, but adults in particular. This causes her to resist their authority a lot of the time, which, in turn, gets her into trouble a lot of the time.

How do you normally get along with teenagers? Really well. Mari is friendly enough that people usually like her, and because she's somewhat closed off, she doesn't make everybody else's problems about her. Privacy has its benefits, and in this case it means that she spends a lot more time listening to her mates' concerns than she does sharing her own. Deep friendships are rare, as a result, but when another teenager proves Mari can trust them, she is a friend for life and very committed.

How do you normally get along with other children? Well enough. Mari's good with little kids and they don't clash or anything like that, but she doesn't tend to develop close relationships with them.

How independent are you? Extremely. Mari isn't used to having to answer to anyone who genuinely cares about her. It makes her distrustful, but it also means that she has learned a lot of skills that help her to be more independent.

How do you normally react when you get into trouble? Mari is extremely sensitive, but she is also very independent, so her first reaction to being confronted for something she's done is to challenge the adult by reminding them that she is capable of doing whatever it is she did and that she doesn't need them telling her what she can do. She will not be quick to accept corporal punishment, which may be challenging for the adult. If she's grounded, she's likely to storm off and then try to violate the grounding later. Adults will need to keep an eye on her. On the other side, when the punishment is over, she's going to be an emotional, distrustful mess who doesn't want to let you get close to her, but she's going to require that closeness. This presents a whole other kind of challenge on its own.

Link to your discipline sheet: click here✅

Orphan Village

How long have you lived at the Orphan Village? Just Arrived as of June, 2026
Which House do you belong to? Maple House
Are you currently enrolled at the Orphan Village Academy or BWI College? Orphan Village Academy
What jobs or responsibilities do you have at the Orphan Village? Mari helps take care of the animals in the animal center and volunteers at the adventure camp

How did you come to live at the Orphan Village? Mari's three aunts decided that it was better for her to "go somewhere more permanent" than to keep getting shuffled between foster homes and family members, gaining and losing hope constantly. They meant well, but Mari feels well and truly abandoned now and has lost all trust in adults.

How do you generally get along with caregivers and authority figures? Not at all well. Her trust has been obliterated and the last thing she wants is to allow someone to get close enough to hurt her again. She keeps them at a serious emotional distance if she can, and does her absolute best to stay out of trouble -- all while not being the most well-behaved kid. Mari is a true challenge to authorities for this reason. They are likely to get attached to her before she is to them because well-behaved or not, she's a good kid with a huge heart that needs nurturing.

How do you generally get along with younger residents? Pretty well. Mari's usually even willing to babysit. She might get a small thrill out of "babysitting" older residents who have been put on restriction, too.

How do you generally get along with your peers? Excellently. Mari is friendly, funny, adventurous, and always up for fun. As long as nobody tries to make the relationship get deeper than she's comfortable with, she's great!

Do you prefer to be adopted or remain in the Orphan Village? Mari won't admit it, but she would love to be adopted, within or outside the Orphan Village.

Describe your ideal adoptive family. Mari: Do I have to?

Grownups who encourage adventure and support her interests are crucial. They should have boundaries around going places and doing things without letting someone know where she is, but the answer needs to be "yes" at least 60% of the time or she's going to be so frustrated that she's going to behave even worse than she already does. They shouldn't be so strict that she can't breathe without getting into trouble, but should be strict enough that the boundaries they set matter. Rules need to be meaningful. Punishment also needs to be meaningful. And she'll do best if she has younger, rather than older siblings, but older siblings aren't out of the question, either.

Is there anything else we should know about how you get along in the Orphan Village? Mari is the type to lead the charge into poor behavior, getting other residents to follow her into activities that the adults would prefer them not to be doing. She's challenging that way, but she will ultimately always take the blame if doing otherwise means that the other kids will get in trouble for something she orchestrated -- or did.

Background

Describe your history in 150-1000 words: For the first nine years of her life, Mari was raised by a single mother who loved her with a deep and abiding commitment to giving her the best life she possibly could. Sometimes that meant her mother worked three jobs. But that was only so that she could take Mari on grand adventures. They visited the National Parks and went ziplining or hiking in the mountains, visited local tribes and ate a variety of weird American foods. Her mother provided structure and discipline, but also freedom. She taught Mari independence, which has been one of the few things Mari has successfully clung to since her mother passed away.

Her mother was murdered two weeks before Mari's tenth birthday. Still in shock, Mari was sent to live with her aunt and uncle. They had four children of their own and a lifestyle that didn't match what Mari was used to. Still, she did her best to accept it to the best of her ability. Her attempts did nothing to change the outcome. Within the year, her aunt and uncle passed her on to the next aunt and uncle. This cycle continued until she'd run through all four of her mother's sisters. By then, she was thirteen, and she went through a second loop with six-month stints until her aunts conferred and decided to put her in foster care, as it "wasn't working out" with any of them. That lasted another year, at the end of which she'd been through three homes and her aunts and their husbands again conferred and decided that Mari would do best in a totally different environment.

They sent her to Birchwood Isle.

Alone.

It was terrifying to arrive on the docks, where she was apprehended and questioned about her arrival. Shaken, she spent three weeks living at the Department of Social Services and waiting for the Orphan Village to open. Now she lives in Maple House, which has turned out to be a decent fit for her.

Other

Is there anything else we need to know about you? Mari has been hurt. It cannot be stressed enough just how distrustful she is toward grownups as a result of the abandonment she's experienced. This may be somewhat universal in the village, but it remains an important part of her personality. She wants to trust you and she wants to be loved, but it will take a lot of effort to get her to the point that she feels she can do that.

[Roland Jeremy McClain]

Adolescent Application

Hi! My name is Roland Jeremy McClain and I am a college Freshman. I am 19 years old. Please use he/him pronouns when referring to me!

Basic Information

Full Name: Roland Jeremy McClain
Nickname, if Any: Jem
Age: 19
Birthday: April 11th
Sex: Male
Pronouns: He/Him
Current Grade/Year in School, if Applicable: College Freshman
Current Occupation, if Applicable: Barista at the Grind House
Special Needs: none?

Appearance

Height: 6'0"
Build: Muscular/Athletic
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Blue
Distinguishing Features: distinctive jawline
Brief Description: Jem's posture give him a distinct air of nonchalance, and he often has his hands shoved into the pockets of his athletic shorts. His hair is short, blonde, and worn in a spiky hairstyle. He smiles freely, the smile lighting up his blue eyes. You'll often find him shirtless in a pair of athletic pants or shorts (unless he's required to wear a shirt wherever he is) and wearing a pair of running shoes. Sometimes he wears a baseball cap, especially if he's wearing a t-shirt or tank top. His skin is slightly tanned from the amount of time he spends outdoors. He has long, thick eyelashes that give him a charming appearance.

Personality

What are your greatest strengths? athletic; humorous; self-assured; outgoing; respectful; gregarious; verbal; charming; team player
What are your greatest weaknesses? cocky; boastful; manipulative; volatile; aggressive; changing; stubborn; reserved; insecure
What do you struggle with? Most of all, Jem struggles with the fact that he was sent to the island as an adult only to immediately become classified as a minor who must be under the authority of an adult.
What are your hobbies or interests? Jem's main hobby is playing lacrosse. He loves it and is very invested in his sport. He also loves to work out and does a lot of it.
What do you really enjoy? playing lacrosse; video games in the evenings; hanging out with the guy at the pub; flirting with women; being complimented on his smile; grilled foods
What do you really dislike? professors who are tough on him; having to make decisions; being the one assigned to cooking duty; looking after younger kids; not having internet access or video games
What are your favorite things? an autographed baseball his brother gave him when he was ten; his lucky red t-shirt
What do you fear? failing out of school; being a "young adult" forever; never being allowed to leave the island; rejection
Describe your personality in 100-500 words: On the outside, Jem comes across as incredibly confident. He does know who he is, and he has a remarkable degree of self-awareness for someone his age. He won't tell anybody that he works on himself as much inwardly as he does outwardly (on his body) but he's done a lot of personal development work over the past couple of years and he's really just doing his best. Internally, he's insecure and often feels that he wound up on the island so that he could have more time to grow up from being too childish. But at the same time, he knows he can't grow up on the island so it feels as though he has to stay here until somebody else decides it's time for him to leave and grow up somewhere on the mainland. Jem doesn't like it, and this paradox makes him hostile toward adults often enough that it has become a battle between what he really wants and what he does to prevent that from happening.

Relationships & Behavior

How do you normally get along with adults? Most of the time Jem gets along well with adults (over the age of majority). He's charming and respectful, usually reasonably well-behaved, and adults generally like him from the jump. The issue comes in when a power struggle starts, him seeking his independence and them wanting to force him to obey rules that don't always feel fit for someone his age. He's volatile to the point of being violent at times, and it can be difficult for adults to get their hands on him if he doesn't want to be touched or handled. Adults are hardest for him because he considers himself one of them still, and they don't consider him one of them.
How do you normally get along with teenagers? They annoy him, especially now that he's clumped in with them, developmentally. He sees all of the mistakes they make and doesn't understand why they can't get their shit together.
How do you normally get along with other children? For the most part, Jem actually likes younger children. He's a father himself -- or he once was -- and he tries to do right by the younger ones. He's not perfect, by any means, but he works hard to be a good "big brother" to the younger ones, who often don't know better than to make the mistakes they do.
How independent are you? Very.
How do you normally react when you get into trouble? Jem will do whatever he can to avoid punishment -- to the point of putting up a physical fight if it comes down to it. He's explosive and volatile and he doesn't like people putting their hands on him.
Link to your discipline sheet: click here ✅

Orphan Village

How long have you lived at the Orphan Village? Just arrived
Which House do you belong to? Oak House
Are you currently enrolled at the Orphan Village Academy or BWI College? BWI College
What jobs or responsibilities do you have at the Orphan Village? Not very many because, between college and work, Jem's super busy. He has a lot going on. The main thing he's responsible for is helping to look after the younger kids.

How did you come to live at the Orphan Village? Jem's mother... Well, in his words, she stabbed him in the back. When his girlfriend left him with their two-year-old daughter, his mother decided she wanted custody, and one of the easiest ways to get custody from him was to send him away to a place where he would, in his words, be treated as though he was incompetent. Now she has custody of his daughter and he lives on Birchwood Isle.

How do you generally get along with caregivers and authority figures? It's hard for Jem. For two years, he's been the caregiver to a beautiful two-year-old daughter. Now he's had the tables turned on him and he's being treated, in his words like a little kid. He doesn't like having his freedom taken away from him and he's unhappy about having to follow somebody else's rules. He's respectful toward his caregivers, and they generally like him, but he hates being taken care of and it begins to show after a while as he gets more worn down.

How do you generally get along with younger residents? Jem sees potential in the younger kids, and when he closes his eyes, he can see the person that his daughter might grow into with time. They can be triggering for him because of what he's lost, but he works hard to be kind to the younger ones and makes a point of spending time with them when he's available and especially if the caregivers are busy.

How do you generally get along with your peers? Great. Jem gets along great with people his own age, for the most part.

Do you prefer to be adopted or remain in the Orphan Village? He'd rather stay here for right now. You'll know if that changes. And he doesn't have to be given the choice.

Describe your ideal adoptive family. n/a

Is there anything else we should know about how you get along in the Orphan Village? Simply put, Jem considers himself an adult and the people around him consider him a child. Or, at best, an adolescent. He struggles with this a great deal and he will do whatever it takes to "pass as an adult" around the village in general. He doesn't spend a ton of time there because of his commitments at school and work, plus his lacrosse schedule, but when he is at home he tries to play the role of an adult. For some people, this can really get under their skin.

Background

Describe your history in 150-1000 words: Jem was raised in a toxic family environment. His father left when he was eight years old, and it wasn't until much later that Jem realized that his father had to leave to get away from his mother. She was as toxic a person as there could be. The things she wanted always came first, and she was willing to use and manipulate Jem to get what she wanted. It made life at least a little bit easier that Jem was successful in nearly everything he did, since his success impacted the way she viewed her own reputation. He was a straight-A student throughout his elementary, middle, and High School years, a star athlete on the (American) football, soccer (football), and lacrosse teams, and teachers and coaches always seemed pleased with him. This made other parents admire her and the "work she did raising that boy" and she continued to live off of his reputation.

That is, until he got Aoife pregnant. It wasn't supposed to happen. She started out as little more than a sports groupie. At first, their relationship was built exclusively around sex. Jem enjoyed sex with Aoife and, like his mother, Aoife enjoyed the renown she got for being his girlfriend. But the pregnancy changed everything, and suddenly Jem had responsibilities he hadn't before. His grades slipped, albeit temporarily. He was sixteen years old and had a career in college sports ahead of him! The last thing he needed was a child! But he and Aoife did their best to make a go of it. In the end, however, the relationship wasn't that serious for Aoife, and she left, leaving him with two-year-old Collie to care for.

Two months later, he arrived on Birchwood Isle. Alone. His mother sent him off under false pretenses, and it didn't take long for Jem to figure it out: She had full care of Collie now. She could adopt his daughter as her own now that she'd gotten rid of him and Aoife was out of the picture. Jem was furious, but he couldn't leave the island. He was stuck now, no longer an adult with a daughter of his own, but a "former father" now classified as a minor with no choice but to stay where he'd wound up, without aging while his daughter continued to grow older on the American mainland.

Other

Is there anything else we need to know about you? It would be wonderful if someone could help Jem get custody of his daughter, Colleen! She won't have aged much because he is, like all people joining the Orphan Village, newly arrived on Birchwood Isle!

[Jamie Elizabeth Rowe]

Adolescent Application

Hi! My name is Jamie Elizabeth Rowe and I am a college freshman. I am 19 years old. Please use she/her pronouns when referring to me!

Basic Information

Full Name: Jamie Elizabeth Rowe
Nickname, if Any: none
Age: 19
Birthday: September 9th
Sex: Female
Pronouns: She/Her
Current Grade/Year in School, if Applicable: College Freshman
Current Occupation, if Applicable: Animal Center Volunteer, Server at Hinter Den Sieben Bergen
Special Needs: encouragement to be social with other adolescents

Appearance

Height: 5'5"
Build: athletic
Hair Color: blonde
Eye Color: green
Distinguishing Features: pierced ears
Brief Description: Jamie is blessed to be "conventionally pretty," with blonde hair styled into a long wolf cut, large blue eyes, a straight nose that turns up at the end, and a subtle smile. She works hard to take good care of her appearance, setting aside money every week to have her eyebrows done and investing in a quality skincare routine. On the other hand, she wears minimal makeup, in part because she doesn't need it to improve her appearance and in part because she's protecting her skin from the chemicals in the makeup she might otherwise use. She also takes good care of her body, which is how she can maintain her slender, athletic frame seemingly without putting a lot of effort into it. For the most part, Jamie is a casual dresser, preferring jeans and t-shirts or hoodies over anything that's commonly "in-style." As much as she cares about her appearance, she doesn't want to allow it to define her, and her casual dress helps to take some of the common attention off of her.

Personality

What are your greatest strengths? humble; kind; conscientious; hard-working; gentle; compassionate; self-motivated; calm; studious
What are your greatest weaknesses? sarcastic; anxious; withdrawn; shy; bookish; nerdy; socially-awkward; private
What do you struggle with? Jamie is extremely shy, to the point that she clams up in social situations in which she is not personally in control
What are your hobbies or interests? reading; studying; astronomy; swimming; journaling; scrapbooking
What do you really enjoy? reading; swimming; school; fresh, leather-bound journals; completed planners; large book stores; home libraries; sunny days in the hammock outside; self-help books; church on Sunday mornings; spending time alone; science fiction novels; Star Trek
What do you really dislike? being forced to be social; being told where she can go and when; sudden changes to routine; being corrected for making mistakes; being called shy; being approached by large dogs; the argument that some adolescents make that they're "too old for this;" crowds
What are your favorite things? an old, tattered stuffed bear left over from her childhood; the quilt her grandmother made her; the library
What do you fear? large dogs
Describe your personality in 100-500 words: People's first impression of Jamie is generally that she's very nice. She's respectful, calm, has a strong sense of sonder for her age, and leans toward polite interactions without ever getting too deep with people. This often results in people only scratching the surface of her personality when they first meet her, and while most people like her, they often leave the interaction feeling as though she's a bit "spacey." Nothing could be further from the truth -- well, except for the fact she has a deep and abiding love for space! It's just that most people leave that first interaction feeling as though they didn't get to know anything of substance about her, and for a lot of people that translates into her not being a person of substance. If Jamie knew that people thought this about her, she would be deeply hurt, but fortunately few people have the guts to tell her something like that to her face.

Jamie doesn't like to be the center of attention. This has made a lot of her life difficult because, being very bright, she's spent a lot of time with adults focused on her growth and development and she has often felt as though she was in a fishbowl or a zoo. This has produced an interesting paradox. On the one hand, the amount of focus that has been centered on her throughout her life has resulted in stunted development, which means that she can be quite immature. On the other hand, she is incredibly self-aware and generally makes good decisions for herself -- like packing up her life and moving to Birchwood Isle at the age of 19, knowing full well what it would mean for her.

She's quiet and soft-spoken, gentle, kind, and shy. Socializing is hard for Jamie because she doesn't always understand people her own age, and she gets along best with people who are either older than she is or younger than she is. Even with those age groups, she tends to keep quiet until she knows for certain that it's her turn to say something, and then she stops when she feels that her turn is over -- which is often earlier than people actually expect her to stop speaking, making conversation with Jamie challenging at the best of times. She wants friends, of course; Every teenager wants friends. But she doesn't know well enough how to relate to other people and it has made building relationships especially challenging for her.

Relationships & Behavior

How do you normally get along with adults? The answer is complex. Jamie generally prefers the company of adults over people her own age -- or younger, for that matter. She finds adults easier to be around and, because they have learned how to control the way they express themselves, she experiences them as less judgmental than people her own age. However, just because they have better control over their facial muscles and a better filter on their words doesn't mean that adults aren't judging Jamie. While she likes them, many adults find her strange or immature, especially at first, and for most of them, she can be something of an "acquired taste." Those who have acquired a taste for her will defend her with their dying breath, but for now it's fortunate that she doesn't know how apt they are to judge her!

How do you normally get along with teenagers? Because she isn't like other people her own age, Jamie tends not to get along with them very well. This is not her first time being a freshman in college and so a lot of the time, when she does open up with other people around her own age, they think she's a snob, or that she's especially nerdy (or geeky, for that matter), and she quickly feels othered and left out of their interactions. Some might find they like her if they gave her a chance, but she's so quick to shut down that regardless of their willingness to give her a chance, she's not willing to give them a chance, and in the end, everyone winds up getting hurt.

How do you normally get along with children? Jamie's relationships with younger children are surprisingly good. Despite her superior intellect, she relates better to kids in the middle age range (9-12 or so) than she does with teenagers and young adults. She has the capacity to sit and play with them for hours and is great at listening to them when other people her age or older struggle to let them go on for forever. Because she's most comfortable with this age range, Jamie knows how to ask targeted questions that get kids to open up, and when they open up with her, they become close. She deeply enjoys bringing out the best in younger kids.

How independent are you? Not especially, despite her age.

How do you normally react when you get into trouble? Jamie is most inclined to accept it when she gets in to trouble. She's not the argumentative sort.

Link to your discipline sheet: click here ✅

Orphan Village

How long have you lived at the Orphan Village? Just Arrived
Which House do you belong to? Willow House
Are you currently enrolled at the Orphan Village Academy or BWI College? BWI College
What jobs or responsibilities do you have at the Orphan Village? Jamie volunteers at the animal center and she helps out a lot with the youngest children in her house. She also tutors part time at the Orphan Village Academy.

How did you come to live at the Orphan Village? Jamie brought herself to Birchwood Isle when she learned of the Orphan Village. She is "voluntarily committed" in a manner of speaking. She felt it would be best for her.

How do you generally get along with caregivers and authority figures? Because she is polite and respectful, Jamie gets along well with most authority figures at home and at school.

How do you generally get along with younger residents? Jamie gets along best with school-aged residents of the Orphan Village.

How do you generally get along with your peers? Most of her peers find her weird.

Do you prefer to be adopted or remain in the Orphan Village? She's reluctant to admit it, but Jamie would love to be adopted.

Describe your ideal adoptive family. Jamie would do well as an only child or in a home that doesn't have other adolescents in it. She'd do well either with a lesbian couple or with a mixed-gender couple. Men make her a little bit nervous, but that's something she might be able to get over. The parents would need to understand her need for privacy and dignity and not push her academically. She doesn't need it, and pushing her makes things that much harder for her.

Is there anything else we should know about how you get along in the Orphan Village? If given the opportunity, Jamie will avoid social situations. She's very uncomfortable at community gatherings and will need to be pushed to attend, especially if and when attendance is mandatory.

Background

Describe your history in 150-1000 words: Jamie was always a strange kid. Her parents, a pair of teen parents who never had the opportunity to complete their educations and therefore took low-level jobs earning minimum wage, were barely able to support her. They struggled to understand their daughter who, in the beginning, came home at least twice a week from school with notes about being disruptive in class and lacking self-control. Her parents did their best, but both were overworked and under-involved in their daughter's academic life. At first, her grandparents got involved by disciplining her for the disruptions. Lost privileges from her mother's family, firm, bare-bottom spankings from her father's family. The disruptions continued, and in the third grade, her school contacted her parents about testing her. Not knowing what else to do, they first asked if the testing was free, and then consented when told that it was covered by the school's psychologist.

Everything changed after that. Notes home now reflected that Jamie was struggling socially in school. Her parents ignored them. Teachers encouraged them to let her skip ahead to the sixth grade. They asked if they had to pay for that. The school told them know, and so they skipped her ahead to the sixth grade. Then to the eighth. She graduated high school at thirteen years old and went on to university at 14. Her academic success was significant, and her parents didn't know what to do with her. Her tuition, of course, was covered by scholarships.

Meanwhile, Jamie drowned socially. She'd been given no time to figure out who she was or what she wanted with her life. She graduated with a degree in biology because she hadn't known what to do with herself and her advisors suggested that medical school could be a good path for a gifted child like herself. Not knowing who to listen to, she did what she always did: she did what she was told. But by the time she graduated from University at 18 years old, Jamie was exhausted mentally, emotionally, and socially. She collapsed, resulting in a two-week hospital stay, during which she learned about Birchwood Isle.

An adult in America, Jamie breathed a sigh of relief when she learned of the Orphan Village. She took the time to pack what she could, kissed her distressed parents goodbye, and set off for Birchwood Isle of her own accord, relieved that she might finally have the chance to be a kid. Now that she was legally ana dult in America.

Other

Is there anything else we need to know about you? Jamie is a true genius in a number of ways. She rejects the term "psychic" but she comes across as somewhat "gifted" in that regard, too. She's great at predicting things like odds, usually wins when gambling, and is extremely uncomfortable with this aspect of her personality.

[Audrey Lorraine Fuller]

Adult Application

Hi! My name is Audrey Lorraine Fuller and I am a staff member of Oak House. I am 48 years old. Please use she/her pronouns when referring to me!

Basic Information

Where do you live? Northern Isle
Are you married? If yes, to whom? Yes, to [tbd]
Do you have any children? If yes, list them. Yes, Scott (17), Bethany (14), and Carol (12)
Is your family open to adopting children or adolescents? possibly in the future (once her husband has been made)

Appearance
Height: 5'4"
Build: slender
Hair Color: medium brown
Eye Color: brown
Distinguishing Features: dimples in both cheeks
Brief Description: Audrey has the kind of smile that lights up the room, and she smiles frequently. Her brown eyes are constantly alight with creativity and mischief. She lights up whenever she sees someone she cares about, and given how caring she is in general, she lights up that way a lot. Her skin is fair but tanned, impeccable for her age, but with laugh lines and smile lines that show the type of life she's had. She has very long medium brown hair that she usually wears down, and prefers to dress casually for the weather. Usually this means jeans or shorts and a t-shirt or sweater with comfortable, well-fitting shoes that allow her to take off on any adventure with the kids.

Personality
Strengths: gentle; compassionate; insightful; warm; loving; affectionate; judicious; careful; excellent planner; open-minded; creative; great cook; steadfast; decisive
Flaws: traditional; stubborn; permissive; flighty; disinterested in adult conversation; disorganized; forgetful; perpetually running late; impatient with adolescents
Likes: drawings children make for her; refrigerators plastered with pride; coloring with kids; talking to kids; being proud of kids; her kids; living on the island; traveling to the beach; long drives from coast to coast; sleeping in with her honey
Dislikes: chasing after the dog; being called too permissive; having to punish; being stuck on the island; the aches and pains of aging; not being the one in control; children who take advantage of her; adults who are too harsh or strict; being told she should toughen up
Vices: coffee
Fears: being in a car accident; snakes; spiders; mice
Personality: Audrey is a soft sweetheart. She loves children, and it shows. In fact, it becomes evident pretty quickly that she prefers children over other age groups, as she chooses to spend most of her time in the village with the school-aged children (even though she is accessible to the other age groups). Her vibe is always warm, she speaks lovingly without raising her voice, and she prefers milder forms of discipline over those that cause painful consequences to those receiving them. Most people instantly think of Audrey as being nice, and that is generally correct, but what they are really noting is that she is gentle and affectionate, a good listener, even if not always the best conversationalist.

Relationships & Discipline

How do you normally get along with other adults? For the most part, Audrey finds other adults pretty boring and she would rather spend time being silly then going to meetings and engaging in conversations with grownups.
How do you normally get along with teenagers? Reasonably well, provided they know how to let their hair down and act silly from time to time.
How do you normally get along with children? Brilliantly. School-aged children are just Audrey's speed. However, breaking the fourth wall here, as the player Storm does not do well with children under age 6.
Link to your discipline sheet: click here ✅

Orphan Village

What is your role at the Orphan Village? Day Staff worker at Oak House
Which house or building do you work for? Oak House
Do you live in the Village or commute? Commute
Do you have any special training, certification, or skills relevant to your role? Audrey is a former elementary school teacher
Do you prefer to work with a particular age group? Which one? school-aged children
Do you struggle with a particular age group? Which one? very young/pre-school aged children

Briefly describe your caregiving or mentoring style. First and foremost, Audrey is great at listening to kids, and she excels at getting really excited about the same things that excite them. If a child draws her a picture, she knows how to make a really big deal out of it, put it up on the refrigerator, and show it off to other adults and adolescents to make a big deal out of it. She can spend hours talking to school-aged children about their interests without making them feel like a burden, and she comes across as genuinely interested in all of the things that genuinely interest them. Furthermore, she asks them to explain things to her as though it's the first time she's hearing it. This works for young adolescents, too, and most of the young people living at Oak House have learned to really trust her because of it.

Describe how you see your role in the village. Audrey sees her role as a job that she excels at. When it's time for her to go home for the day, she leaves, goes home to her own children, and she doesn't look back. This doesn't mean that she isn't attached to the kids at Oak House -- of course she is. They are her kids in a space somewhere between what her students were to her when she was teaching and what her own biological children are to her.

Is there anything else we should know about your role in the Village? She's not always on call, and she won't pick up extra shifts. Audrey tries to have really firm boundaries around her role at the Village.

Background

Education: Master's in Primary Education
Work History: Former 1st Grade Teacher
Current Goals or Challenges: Getting her family settled in on the island when she agrees with the children that this was "not their idea"
Reason for Living on Birchwood Isle: Her husband believed that the island was the right place for them and their kid and she moved at his behest
Brief History: Audrey always knew she wanted to be a mother. From a young age, she played with baby dolls, and her favorite game to play with her sisters or her friends was "house." She had to be the mother, of course! She grew up in a fairly traditional family. Father was in charge of Mother, Mother was in charge of her daughters, and the children were expected to obey both of her parents. Audrey found this arrangement confusing, at times, and she often found that she wound up in trouble for natural curiosity. As she got older, she swore that she wouldn't be like that with her own children, if she was blessed to have them. But one thing her parents did do for her was ensure that she didn't rush off into a bad marriage and have children before she'd had a chance to discover her independence.

She went to college, finished with her master's degree, and then spent two years living on her own before she met her husband through work. She taught first grade and he taught fifth. They had a long courtship, a one-year engagement, and then got married. Both of them wanted children, and Scott came along a year into their marriage, followed three years later by Bethany. Carol came along two years after that.

Motherhood turned out to be a lot more difficult than Audrey had expected. She was hit hard with postpartum depression every time she had a child, and after the third, she and her husband decided that they weren't going to have any more. By the time each of them reached kindergarten age, Audrey always felt better. She's felt for a long time that she has more love to give, but the subject of adoption never came up between her and her husband until they got to Birchwood Isle. Then, it came up because they both saw that there were children -- older children! -- in need of loving families. Now it's a question mark that hangs over them.

In spite of her determination not to become her mother, one thing about Audrey is like her mother: Their family's structure is one of masculine authority over women. Her husband is in charge, she submits to her husband, and she does her best to keep the kids in line. She is, therefore, the first port of call for her children, with her husband available as backup if things become serious. Audrey's hope is always to make sure that things don't become serious.

[Victoria Jeanine Kaufman]

Adult Application

Hi! My name is Victoria Jeanine Kaufman and I am a third shift worker at Willow House. I am 39 years old. Please use she/her pronouns when referring to me!

Basic Information

Where do you live? Northern Isle
Are you married? If yes, to whom? No
Do you have any children? If yes, list them. None
Is your family open to adopting children or adolescents? Potentially in the future

Appearance
Height: 5'5"
Build: willowy
Hair Color: blonde
Eye Color: blue
Distinguishing Features: very high cheekbones, sharp jaw
Brief Description: Tori's sharp-featured look often gives her an intimidating look, especially with middle adolescents. Her high cheekbones, the angle of her jaw, her sharp chin, her long, straight nose, and even the pale blue shade of her eyes give her an cool appearance that lacks natural warmth. Even her blonde hair is on the cool side of the spectrum of blondes, straight and without even the hint of waves as it falls to her shoulders, where she typically wears it loose. These features are somewhat softened by her style, usually wearing long, flowing skirts and t-shirts, sweaters, or tank tops, depending on the weather. In warmer months, she wears sandals on her feet, giving her a much more casual style than her facial expressions would suggest. Although not conventionally beautiful, Tori does manage to be pretty.

Personality
Strengths: excellent problem-solver; good teacher; holds boundaries well; rational; loyal; loving; bold; encouraging; straightforward
Flaws: unstable; unforgiving; stubborn; not physically affectionate; contradictory; changing; blunt; hot-tempered; impatient; private
Likes: watching the sunset; picnic lunches; resting in the garden; hanging out with her favorite people; going to the pub with her friends; sail boating; iced lattes; board games; Disney movies; helping with homework
Dislikes: excuses for poor behavior; cooking; elaborate meals;
Vices: romantic relationships
Fears: commitment, particularly marriage
Personality: In a word, Tori is contradictory. The greatest contradiction, in fact, is that she can be both totally straightforward and entirely made up of contradictions. She is remarkably sweet-natured, gentle, and loving while at the same time she is private, prone to fits of temper, and struggles with physical affection and touch. Her love, therefore, has to be expressed in different, often varied, ways. Because of this, if for no other reason, Tori has had a lot of practice in finding ways to demonstrate love without being demonstrative. In addition, she often comes across quite aloof and cold, but in other circumstances Tori is quite warm and affectionate with her words (but not physically affectionate!). What might make her personality the strangest overall is that in spite of this, she's easy to get to know and makes friends easily!

Something that came up later in this application is that Tori is the sort of person who will show up for you even when she's mad at you. She will defend you even if she's angry about something that you've done. This serves her well in almost all of her relationships and despite any negative traits that could otherwise damage those same relationships, this one thing tends to keep people coming back to her.

Relationships & Discipline

How do you normally get along with other adults? Well. Adults always seem to have fewer expectations and preconceived notions than younger people do, resulting in lasting friendships and stronger relationships. Friends favor her loyalty and can put up with some of her contradictory behavior because she is so consistently loyal to them. Even though she gets into arguments with her friends often, she'll be the first to show up for them, even if she's angry. It's probably one of her best personality traits.
How do you normally get along with teenagers? Tori's expectations can make her relationships with teenagers challenging. Ironically, she gives teens what most of them want the most, which starts with the expectation that they behave in a mature, age-appropriate way. When they don't meet her expectations, Tori doesn't become disappointed; she often becomes angry, and this can be hard on her relationships with teens. Most teens will ultimately adapt to her, but it will take repeated interactions to get to that point.
How do you normally get along with children? Because her expectations for them are reasonable, Tori generally gets along pretty well with young children because she understands their basic development and doesn't anticipate them behaving like mini-adults. On the flip side, she talks to them as though they are people and not infants, which helps to improve their development considerably.
Link to your discipline sheet: click here ✅

Orphan Village

What is your role at the Orphan Village? Tori is a 3rd shift staff member of Willow House
Which house or building do you work for? Willow House
Do you live in the Village or commute? Commute
Do you have any special training, certification, or skills relevant to your role? No
Do you prefer to work with a particular age group? Which one? Surprisingly, teenagers, although Tori is also good with older children
Do you struggle with a particular age group? Which one? Very young children

Briefly describe your caregiving or mentoring style. Tori is very... no-nonsense. In spite of her two-sided nature (sweet, but hot tempered), she is quite straightforward and doesn't pull any punches. She's the type of person who tells it like it is, doesn't mince words, and won't try to preserve your feelings. This works surprisingly well for a lot of young people because they always know what to expect from her, even if she is temperamental. From her perspective, the rules are the rules and the kids are supposed to obey them. If they don't, there are consequences, and the consequences are incredibly straightforward. She doesn't punish more for one thing than she does for another, but she "grades" discipline based on the age (and sometimes individual needs) of the person being punished.

Describe how you see your role in the village. For Tori, this is a job rather than a vocation. According to her, that's why she took on the night shift.

Is there anything else we should know about your role in the Village? Tori is very single-minded when it comes to the way that she does her job. She arrives on time every evening, she leaves when her shift is over in the morning, and she doesn't linger or try to form long-term bonds with the children and adolescents she cares for. Likewise, she doesn't attempt to care for children outside of Willow House -- one of the benefits, she says, of working the night shift: She's not expected to venture around the Village and take care of children who aren't under her direct authority.

Background

Education: Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science
Work History: Tori has worked a number of jobs, mostly relating to web design, but also some programming jobs. Very little has stuck.
Current Goals or Challenges: Permanence. Not much in Tori's life has been permanent up to this point and she struggles with trusting the job to stick.
Reason for Living on Birchwood Isle: Tori needed a change and this was it!
Brief History: Tori doesn't talk much about her past, and it's odd that people don't tend to notice. She spent most of her youth drifting through foster homes, and the drifting seemed to continue as she got older. She only finished her bachelor's degree in computer science because that happened to be her major at the time that she finished college, and she drifted through jobs afterward because nothing quite felt satisfying to her and she often struggled to trust her employers not to fire her. It was always better to quit than to be fired.

Now she's determined to make the current job stick. It's nothing like anything she's done before, even if she did briefly study child psychology in college. If things work out, she's willing to switch to a daytime shift, but she doesn't trust the people of the Orphan Village yet. She's a bit like the youngsters she cares for that way.

[Cassandra Frances Galloway]

Adult Application

Hi! My name is Cassandra Frances Galloway and I am a night shift worker at Maple House. I am 42 years old. Please use she/her pronouns when referring to me!

Basic Information

Where do you live? Northern Isle
Are you married? If yes, to whom? Yes, to [TBD]
Do you have any children? If yes, list them. Yes, Anthony (18), Scarlett (14), and Joey (11)
Is your family open to adopting children or adolescents? Definitely. The more the merrier!

Appearance
Height: 5'8"
Build: slender but athletic
Hair Color: red
Eye Color: blue
Distinguishing Features: rare combination of hair and eye color; upturned nose
Brief Description: Cass is the type of youthful beauty that somehow manages to both look her age (due to smile lines, mostly). She bears an exuberant appearance, ready smile, clear skin, and thick hair that belongs to women younger than her while also bearing the signs of aging that come with laughing a lot. She looks friendly and open, which is attractive to most people. It gives her an approachable air that draws people in with a smile that lights up her blue eyes and lines her face with the reminder of past smiles, too.

Personality
Strengths: upfront; personable; hospitable; outgoing; energetic; enthusiastic; supportive; athletic; generous; kind; gentle; accepting; spontaneous; adventurous
Flaws: critical; forgetful; tardy; demanding; demonstrative; poor respect for boundaries; easily confused; changeable; gullible; easy to manipulate; doesn't always stand on her principles; often needs extra support
Likes: running; hiking; camping; camp fires; fresh fish for dinner; cooking; family traditions; sharing with others; baking; Halloween; horror novels; giving out treats; gardening
Dislikes: tight blue jeans; low-rise blue jeans; styles from the 2000s; short hair on women; dirty bathrooms; public restrooms; long shopping trips; disrupted sleep; night shifts; being treated as a non-parent
Vices: oversleeping
Fears: being late for work; getting fired
Personality: Cass is an extraordinarily effervescent person. Her energy seems to bubble up and out of her, where it infects other people with her enthusiasm for all sorts of tasks, which can range from cleaning the kitchen stove to going on an adventure. In fact, she can make just about anything sound fun. Some people think of her as something of a Mary Poppins. It's unfortunate that this skill is only so useful for someone who works overnight! She'd be able to do a lot more with it if she were working during the day! On the other hand, it means that she gets a lot done during the nighttime hours while the residents and the house parents are sleeping -- like cleaning the kitchens, or deep-cleaning the hobby room. She only really seems to have two settings: high speed, or dead to the world. And if she's not moving at night, she's too likely to fall asleep, so she is always moving throughout the night. This does mean that she is very available for young people who need her at night -- such as if they have a nightmare or are determined to sneak out of the house against their better judgement.

Relationships & Discipline

How do you normally get along with other adults? It honestly depends on the adult. Cass is so full of youthful energy that she can be pretty annoying for adults who don't find her charming, and she doesn't have the good sense to avoid these people, so instead she winds up becoming more annoying instead of less. Some people, however, will find this behavior charming because she generally elevates the mood in any room she enters.

How do you normally get along with teenagers? Again, some teenagers will find her annoying. Others will find her energy infectious. It goes one way or the other. She can also be quite strict with adolescents and for that reason she's not always the most popular adult when there are less strict (or harsh) adults around to help them avoid trouble they've brought on themselves.

How do you normally get along with children? Children are generally the easiest age group for Cass to get along with. She gets on well with children of all ages because, generally, her energy matches theirs.

Link to your discipline sheet: click here

Orphan Village

What is your role at the Orphan Village? Night shift worker at Maple House
Which house or building do you work for? Maple House
Do you live in the Village or commute? Commute
Do you have any special training, certification, or skills relevant to your role? No
Do you prefer to work with a particular age group? Which one? Ages 5-11 or thereabouts
Do you struggle with a particular age group? Which one? No, not particularly

Briefly describe your caregiving or mentoring style. Cass is the type of caregiver who proves that it's possible to be both loving and strict at the same time. By the time she got to Maple House, the day shifts had all been filled, and so she had to take on an overnight shift until a day shift opened up (if it opened up). Some residents won't see her much at all because they're in bed before she arrives, while others will see a lot of her if they have high needs. The good news for the kids is that they aren't as likely to wind up being punished by her when she's working -- but that doesn't mean that they won't see her during the day on special occasions or elsewhere in the village on her days off. As far as she's concerned, they're all "her kids," whether she's on shift or not, and the Maple House kids should expect that she will hold them accountable for their behavior if she happens to be the one notified of their poor behavior.

Anything else they want to know about who she is as a caregiver, they can find out from her biological children.

Describe how you see your role in the village. In spite of working the night shift at a specific house, Cass views herself as a parent to the kids of Maple House. She's not one of the house parents, but the Orphan Village really espouses the idea that it takes a village to raise a child, and she considers herself part of that village. Cass is, therefore, very active within the community, involved in all aspects of raising the children in the Village, and not at all afraid to step in or step up for children or adolescents of other houses, too.

Is there anything else we should know about your role in the Village? Although her children are all still minors by the island's laws, Cass considers herself an "experienced parent" and she trusts herself to know what she's doing with and for the children who live in the village. She's incredibly warm, even if she is quite strict, and most children and adolescents find it easy to approach her.

Background

Education: High School Diploma
Work History: Homemaker for the past 18 years
Current Goals or Challenges: Getting the children and adolescents of Maple House to trust her when they don't spend as much time with her as other staff members.
Reason for Living on Birchwood Isle: The educational system in the US has been struggling since Covid, and Cass and her husband wanted to get their kids away from the technology being used in the classrooms.
Brief History: Cass and her husband came to Birchwood Isle two years ago, when the situation with the American Education system really started to feel like the country was crumbling. They'd never been big believers in classroom technology or allowing children to have too much access to screens, but when the schools began to hand Chromebooks out to every student, they made the collective decision that it was time to head for greener pastures. It was hard to give up their life in America, but when they arrived on Birchwood Isle they discovered that there was a whole community and culture here that better reflected their parenting philosophies.