Ensign Saoirse Quinn

Character Information

Gender		Female
Species		Human
Birth Date		July 1, 2371

Physical Appearance

Height		6'3"
Weight		131 lbs
Hair Color		Blonde
Eye Color		Blue
Physical Description		Saoirse "Elle" Quinn is a sharp-featured tomboy in her mid-twenties, with blue eyes, pale skin, a willowy build and a long, slender neck. She keeps her blonde hair cut short and styled straight. Among humans, she is considered attractive and unusually tall for her gender — an appearance that belies her socially-awkward ways.

Family

Father		Clancy Quinn, father (deceased): Starship engineer/designer
Mother		Eleanor Ivy Quinn, mother: University professor
Other Family		Unknown! There may be a long lost brother or other relative out there — although whether they are an actual blood relation remains to be seen.

Background

Childhood/Background		Elle grew up with the burden of expectations. Although her first generation Irish and English parents had themselves come from humble beginnings, their white-collar success in academia and in starship engineering proved to be quite a high standard that was difficult for Elle to live up to. The only child of two academics, Elle was born with both books and sheets of music in hand, and she grew up in the intellectually curious collegiate environment of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her father Clancy was a respected starship designer in the Starfleet Engineering Corps, known for his innovative revamping of shuttlecraft systems. Elle's mother Eleanor was a distinguished humanities professor at Harvard University, with a creative musical background. Her father had so fully immersed himself in schematics and equations, that Elle rarely saw him when she was growing up. On the rare and brief occasions that she was able to secure his time, Elle fought hard to learn and understand the design concepts that were beyond her years, so as to feel more connected to her father. Elle’s mother on the other hand, was so involved in her young life that though Elle felt loved, she felt smothered too. Many and long were her lessons in music theory, and in various extraplanetary creative endeavors – but Elle was rarely engaged, much to her mother’s chagrin and vocal disappointment. Although she feigned interest as best she could, Elle preferred to compose her own music, incorporating influences from other cultures as they struck her fancy. And so, despite possessing some measure of ability in both her parents' fields, she chose to follow in the footsteps of neither. Elle was instead drawn to space exploration. In her view, both of her parents dealt only in the analysis of what had come before — and that said study was conducted at such a remove that something vital was lost in translation from experience to isolinear chip. Elle wanted to see what was next for mankind – and to see it for herself firsthand. Elle idealized how space exploration would make her feel. She hoped that personal experience “in the field” would bring her new and profound levels of understanding that the cloisters of academia could not. So sincere was Elle in this belief that she took at Starfleet’s stated goals at face value, championing them to an almost naïve degree. And through it all, Elle strove to make her parents proud, all the while haunted by the fear that she would never be able to do so.
Academy History		Elle became so focused on her studies that she had time for little else. She wound up foregoing even her interest in music composition and nearly all social interaction. The pressure she felt to excel at Starfleet Academy multiplied tenfold after her father died suddenly of a heart attack, shortly before she entered her final year. Elle's subsequent guilt-ridden and guilt-driven focus allowed her to vault into the top ten of her graduating class. Despite the communication issues that became more and more apparent the closer she came to graduation, Elle was well regarded by all her teachers and considered a promising officer. Because of her excellent test scores and projects, Elle's social difficulties were often overlooked, and were attributed to grief over the loss of her father. Elle graduated with honors in the Astrosciences and Navigation, but she also earned high marks in Combat Strategy, basic Starship Engineering (thanks to her father’s influence), Semiotics, and even hand-to-hand combat. Her success with the latter two proved most surprising. The more she learned about symbols and meaning-making, the more muddled and difficult her own conversations became. And although her height and long limbs were sometimes an advantage in close-quarters fighting, Elle’s proficiency in hand-to-hand combat proved surprising because of her otherwise slender frame. Though her formal technique was unremarkable, Elle’s creative improvisation and dogged persistence allowed her to hold her own against stronger opponents. In fact, her combat instructors noted that she seemed to relish the physicality of it all. And that was true. As with her long distance running, this physical activity was one of the few ways that she could vent her pent-up frustration without words.
Career History		Upon graduation, Elle accepted a post as Flight Control officer aboard the Nebula-class starship, the USS New York, under Captain Wright. For her first year aboard, Elle served as nightshift Flight Control Officer, with little to see and little to do except fly at impulse power until dayshift awoke. Although it was far from the exciting exploration Elle had envisioned, the shift suited her, because she had always been a Night Owl. With little verbalization needed on her part, Elle was left alone with her thoughts for the first time in a long while. And she felt at peace for the first time since before her father’s death. In the limited windows of time she encountered Captain Wright and the command staff during shift change, she was able to put her best face forward. Her relief role even allowed her to perform songs in the ship’s lounge before her shift, revitalizing her atrophying musical skills. She befriended the bartender and waitstaff, and managed to pen a few original songs that were catchy enough for dayshift bridge staff to remark upon them when she ran into them during the shift change. Unfortunately, this period of calm was not to last. Due to the New York’s previous mercy mission to save the Federation colony Cassiterides from botanical plague in 2385, the crew was called upon again to help contain a similar outbreak in the Beta Quadrant. This time however, the virus proved far more virulent, and wound up claiming not only a number of colonists but also the lives of several dayshift personnel. With the charm she’d shown in limited exposure to senior staff keeping her name near the top of the list of potential shift transfers, Elle stepped into the role of dayshift Flight Control Officer and was thrown into the fray immediately. Already in the Beta Quadrant, the New York was tasked with peacekeeping duties during the Klingon-Gorn peace summit of 2392. When news of the Gorns’ invasion of the Klingon colony of Ogat reached the summit in the dead of night, Elle found herself tested for the first time in active duty, as she was forced to think on her feet in the chaos and violence that followed. Displaying creative use of starship tactics, Elle proved herself a capable combatant under fire. With only the overnight skeleton crew on the bridge and an unattentive officer in ersatz command, Elle read the Gorns' aggressive ship vectors accurately and preemptively maneuvered the New York into a defensive position in time to aid the Klingon vessels. While regarded as a prescient decision at the time, Elle’s “outside of-the box” thinking soon began to veer too far outside of protocol. Even the quirky charisma that had been seen as portent of a potential future in a leadership role began to chafe at the very same crewmen to whom it had once been endearing. And so, it was as the regular dayshift Flight Control Officer on the USS New York, that Elle made daring use of the “Picard Maneuver”, and gained her some unwelcome notoriety. With the ship already under heavy fire from a rogue sect of former Obsidian Order operatives, Elle performed the risky maneuver before requesting official clearance from her captain. Although successful at repelling and escaping their attackers, her unsanctioned actions were viewed not only as brash, but also and more so as a breach of the chain of command. Nonetheless, the New York had survived a close call. As the starship underwent repair above Outpost 8013, Elle was put on leave until it could it was decided as to whether or not she would be subject to disciplinary action. Soon she began to hear whispers of derailed potential. Some days she thought that was the way she'd prefer it – to be free from expectations and others' high hopes. Other days, however.... As she awaited Captain Wright’s decision, Elle again had time to think. After her father died, her mother had grown increasingly concerned about Elle’s career at Starfleet. And Elle did not want to disappoint. Already accustomed to embellishing the truth to her mother during their semi-regular communiques, Elle began to exaggerate the importance of every mission and overplay her role in it, but she’d not spoken with her mother since shortly after she made the move to dayshift Flight Control. What would she say now? And so, as she did too often, Elle instead said nothing. She has not answered her mother’s messages in weeks. Fortunately, with some recently vacated positions available on the USS Malinche, Captain Isabel Kersare seemed willing to take on a “potentially problematic” Flight Control Officer. Already at a crossroads in her young career, Elle hopes that she can figuratively right the ship and find her way again.
Service Record		2388-92: Starfleet Academy 2392-2393: USS New York, Flight Control Officer (night shift), Ensign 2393-2394: USS New York, Flight Control Officer, Ensign 2394-Present: USS Malinche, Flight Control Officer, Ensign

Personality & Traits

Personality		A creative, but stubborn and strong-willed, insomnia-ridden night owl, Elle is also an obsessive compulsive through and through. Her chief worry is her belief that she cannot ever express herself properly or as she intends. It is a valid concern. Although Elle does not get tongue-tied in a traditional sense, she is rarely able to express her thoughts succinctly. On a day-to-day level, she overcomplicates most conversations in her search for the right words. And she almost always finds the wrong words, when she is asked to verbalize her thoughts quickly, or when she is otherwise put ‘on the spot’. As a defense mechanism, she has begun to keep others at an emotional distance. She hides behind verbose attempts at dry wit to avoid explaining or defending herself in an argument. Elle has a few other noticeable ticks as well. She sometimes review entire conversations she's just had under her breath, and obsessively counts out certain activities or objects. Her OCD is generally manageable, however, unless she is under duress. Elle is a fabulist at heart and a stifled creative, but she is completely sincere in her belief in the Federation's mission of exploration. Elle trusts that she is pursuing a greater good. She has never shied away from speaking honestly, nor from pursuing her interests to their furthest extent, but because she secretly suffers from strong “imposter syndrome”, her (anti)social insecurities and her odd modes of expression have begun to hamper her burgeoning Starfleet career.
Hobbies & Interests		Elle is musically inclined. Although classically trained, she prefers performing her original pop songs. Her knack for improvisation, the originality of her instrumental compositions, and her stage presence are creative strengths, but she is only an above average pianist in terms of technique.  Elle is also an avid runner. She finds that long distance runs allow her brain some respite from the sometimes overwhelming thoughts brought about by her OCD.  Trained in self-defense and otherwise in good physical health, Elle has nonetheless been known to indulge in “junk food”.

OOC Info

Notes

Saoirse Quinn is portrayed "onscreen" by actress Elizabeth Debicki.