Leyna Barwick || Germany

[Deleted]

Leyna Adele Barwick Grease on her hands and work boots on her feet to make up and a proper suit, a woman in the competitive world of mechanics and engineers has to play a fine line to keep herself afloat. With about as much finesse as she can manage Leyna Barwick is more than willing to walk this line for her passions. If she can do so successfully, much less unscathed, is something only time can tell for a fresh new player of this game.

CODE NAME: LAB

Female

21

Bisexual

German

Mechanic, graduate student

Researcher

Physical

178 cm

72 kg

Blonde

Blue

Fair

Athletic, muscular

Personal

‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,’ eh? Well, perhaps there should be a more feminine version to be used for people like Leyna. In just about every aspect of life Leyna can be described as diligent and disciplined. Since even beginning school she would put herself completely into her studies rather than making friends or busying herself with idle pastimes. If a task needs to be done, whether it be cleaning the apartment or some sort of job, she will get it done in a timely fashion while making certain to test every possible aspect three times for good measure. If a job is worth doing it’s worth doing well, after all. And there’s no better way to do that than to make and stick to a schedule so one is allowed a fair amount of time to work it all into a nice, efficient end product. This doesn’t necessarily make her a perfectionist, although she can be considered close to one. There isn’t quite that… anxious feeling behind most of her actions in this regard, other than when she feels pushed for time. Because honestly this need to set things into schedule applies to every area of her life, as stated. Her dogs have a schedule, when they need to be up, fed, exercised. She has a schedule even when she has absolutely no schoolwork and a day off from the garage. Leyna simply makes these sorts of to do lists and efficiency checks in her head without even realizing it. Now, for the part of it making her dull… it can definitely appear that way. In school she was studious, earning herself that stereotype of being a boring bookworm. This followed her into her workplace as someone who tends to stick to whatever she is doing and not make many attempts at social interaction. Many assume she is the critical genius type, or given to misanthropy even, and move on. This is not quite the case, though. In all actuality… due to some formed insecurity relating to her looks and past experiences in trying to make connections, Leyna has an almost painfully shy trait to her that borders on being socially awkward. She has very little experience with friends or keeping up an interesting conversation on something unrelated to her machines and numbers, so in such situations she really is just a fish out of water trying to wade through as best she can. In doing so she can often come off as reserved with those faintly stiff tendencies, unsure even. Most attempts at making said friends aren’t necessarily helped along by her set of ‘default’ reactions and expressions. When Leyna is confused or feeling anxiety her voice has a tendency to raise in volume and perceived anger, as if she is becoming defensive. Speaking loudly with furrowed brows, in addition to her size, can make her seem intimidating in such cases or as if she is attempting to bark someone into a corner. In reality this is simply her knee-jerk reaction to feeling cornered herself. Since she’s rather content with her books and her cars, and has had little luck in fixing this over the years, she has more or less come to accept her status as a bit of a loner. When she is in fact comfortable where she is Leyna can, however, surprise some. She can still come off as a bit… gruff. With a face that more easily leans towards blushing and deep brows, it’s hard not to. But once someone becomes close to her, this is applied in an inclination for ‘mothering’ others. A bit of a worrier, Leyna will pester her friends about taking care of themselves or being too rowdy in public. When her sister comes in from one of her days out following a lead, hair an utter mess, Leyna will sigh exasperatedly while conversely fishing out the brush to comb out all of the tangles herself. Perhaps as a bit of a gentle giant stereotype, Leyna will subconsciously try to care for those that are close for her. It is those people that are able to perceive the more casual, even occasionally giddy German girl. They may not always be conventional things, but Leyna can very well become excited over certain subjects. One such example that can be seen outside of close friends is when she is out on one of her ‘dives.’ The pitch of her voice can raise, cheeks flush, and lips break out into a grin whenever she comes across that perfect part for a project or one that sparks an entirely new idea. Dogs are all too easily included in the list of items that causes similar reactions. That, or the soft sort of smiles she is given to when she has her moments of quiet happiness. Leyna can very well become silently content at seemingly small things just as well. Some absently kind gesture, a cute flower design in a passing window, the soft fur of a dog. The girl has her moments. This sort of almost contrast of traits brings an… interesting bit about Leyna. One possible explanation for her insecurity in social situations is that she cannot always understand the thoughts and intentions behind the actions of others. Leyna, Leyna likes to understand things. She loves being able to pin down the meaning or answer to a concept, an equation and have it right there printed out clearly for her. That’s how math and science works and it’s beautiful. Even when it doesn’t, she knows how to test and experiment to find the answer. People and relationships, though, are never that easy. Being unable to understand causes the given anxiety and more nervous responses. To put it plainly, when Leyna comes to something that she cannot easily compute or find a way to make sense of, she becomes frightened. Whether this along with her strict manner is a want to control her environment is debatable, perhaps true to a degree.

Likes

Dislikes

Dogs;; Bookish Leyna should prefer the intellectual companion that cats are known to be, right? Wrong. The otherwise mindful young girl often scared her mother half to death with a tendency to walk right up to the largest dog possible whenever they went out, letting go of her mother’s hand on the street as if physically compelled to greet any dog they happened to come across. Anke was always terrified that one day Leyna would find that one dog that would not appreciate the pets of a small child and bite her daughter. And yet straight on to today Leyna has yet to be much harmed by a dog – unless you count the teething of puppies or the terrifying attack of germs from a wet tongue, in which case the nine lives of a cat person would have run out long ago. Green & Black;; Two colors that, if she wasn’t aware enough of fashion and professional endeavors, would make up the entirety of Leyna’s wardrobe. The fact that she can often be found with grease or oil somewhere on her person could be a factor to this, since darker colors don’t showcase the stains. Black is also a supposedly slimming color, and any help at decreasing the size of her bust if only in appearance is appreciated. As for green… well, whoever you said you needed to explain your favorite color? Beer;; She’s a big girl, and she can definitely drink her weight in alcohol. Not to say she has or feels any need to, but she can. It isn’t entirely odd for Leyna to pull a cold beer from the fridge after a day at work or the library, or to go out as such despite her seemingly more reserved tendencies. This isn’t to say that she doesn’t like other alcoholic beverages, she has been known to drink champagne and wine at parties. Those are her more social drinks, however, while beer is her drink of choice. Cars & motorcycles;; … or really anything with an engine. Gears. Machinery. Give it to her and give it to her now. For just about as long as she can remember Leyna has felt a certain thrill at making things work, solving problems, improving on old ideas. While most girls found their ways into malls or restaurants for their first jobs, Leyna just short of forced her way into a mechanics shop by proving herself just as handy with a wrench as an adult male to the owner. This otherwise disciplined girl can quite honestly get lost beneath the hood of a car or pooring over the blueprint of some new concept. Her love does not only extend to the building and the fixing, mind you. Driving fast and beautiful cars and bikes, watching the shows for them, reading the magazines for them, they earn her equal delight. Guns;; This, this no one has much to point to as a cause for Leyna’s affinity. Wilhelm was never much of a sportsman in the regard of shooting, nor were there any in the immediate family or even circles of influence. The best that can be come up with is some passing fancy when young Leyna saw a flyer in her school for the Shooting Sports Club. Whatever the reason may have been, in no time at all Leyna found guns as fascinating as she did cars. The history of them, the artistry behind them, how they worked. Added to her rather accurate shot some may question after a certain level of… violence in the girl. The sciences;; Chemistry, physics, robotics, engineering, anything involving parts and numbers and equations. Leyna loves it, she adores it. Numbers make sense, the laws of the universe make sense. When there is something that does not make sense? You create a workable hypothesis and begin an experiment. While many can enjoy a good book, few understand Leyna’s ability to peer with such concentration and avid interest into published scientific journals. The girl has had a subscription to such academic journals for… well, an embarrassingly large portion of her life, enjoying them far more than she ever would the fashion magazines the girls at her school would giggle over at their desks. Reading;; Just because her favorite subjects tended to be the sciences and math does not mean Leyna did not also have her fill of enjoyment in the others. Literature class never saw her looking for Sparknotes, and not once did she attempt to get by with only reading the chapter summaries for a history exam. From dime novels, to journals, to textbooks, to manuals, Leyna will probably read it. The only type of books she cannot and will not read at length for pleasure are those of the theoretical or the philosophical sort. And perhaps the really pointless novels, but, even those she can stomach more than the former. Health;; After the perceived miracle that was her healthy birth, Leyna has not stopped to allow that blessing to be taken for granted. Her health has always been important to her, whether this be through exercise, getting the proper amount of sleep – although that may be the one she admittedly falls down on the job with -, eating right, and, perhaps most notably, her regular checkups. The human body is a machine, and if you treat her right she will serve you well far longer than if you didn’t. Which… isn’t to say that she does not still come up with her own problems that may not relate to proper upkeep, thus the checkups. Exercise;; Due to her involvement in too many academic clubs Leyna wasn’t allowed by the school to take part in any sports teams, although honestly she would have if she had the chance. Although… admittedly there isn’t any particular sport she has any specialized talent or love for. Leyna has simply always understood the need for, as well as enjoyed, time spent exercising. Running, weight-lifting, sparring, it does little to offset her existing not-so-feminine appearance, and yet she has never been able to care enough in regards to exercise to stop. And honestly it’s left her with… well, let’s just say you might not want to be the purse snatcher that mistakes her for some quick cash. Heavy-duty sports bras;; After the engine and mathematics, Leyna swears that the first good sports bra has been one of the greatest inventions. For one, they may exercise a hell of a lot painful and uncomfortable for busty girls like her. For two, they’re just damn comfortable if you get the right one. Underwire digs into the ribs after a time, as do the thinner bra straps. The wider strap of a sports bra, added to its broader back, distributes the weight better, while the coverage of the front keeps the girls more secure and less likely to shift even in the simplest of movements such as bending down to retrieve a dropped tool. For that reason it isn’t at all abnormal to find her walking around the apartment in a sports bra until she has a need to go out or be at all presentable. 'Dives';; At least once a month Leyna will go out on one of her ‘dives.’ For the most part she keeps a good watch on her spending, apart from a splurge or two on beer and gifts for the dogs, so that she can keep up this hobby of hers. It pretty much involves picking her way through antique stores, scrap heaps, and the like for interesting old parts. Some of her favorite ventures include building new machines out of old parts. So far a whole car and motorcycle have been built as such, as well as a number of smaller appliances. To her, very little can ever be completely broken and unusable, to the point she goes out of her way to prove it to be so. Flowers;; She may have her hands covered in grease, her head full of engineering plans, and her wardrobe lacking much with a womanly touch, but Leyna has her… girlish tastes. Things with a flower design seem to keep her attention for longer periods than others, and fresh flowers. God, the girl will be a flustered mess but she will be so happy to receive them. She’s a bit sad to admit that she has little luck with keeping live flowers herself, as she would love to have at least a few little houseplants with flowering tendencies. Sweets;; Damned if Leyna doesn’t try her hardest to keep her sister out of the junk food sections when they go shopping, while Leyna herself has a guilty pleasure for sweets. Cakes, tarts, especially with berries or flavored as such, sweet and tart treats are her kryptonite. When she’s stressed she will bake them herself or head out for her favorite bakery to purchase some. She’s gone so far as to walk in the rain to a café when she was stuck on an assignment.

Her breasts;; You always want what you don’t have, right? That certainly seems to be the case with breast size for most women, unless you happen to fall within the lucky B-cup range. Otherwise they seem too small, or too big. Yeah, Leyna only wishes she had the first problem. She knows being of a small cup size has its downsides but… being a DD is definitely cumbersome. Bras aren’t always entirely easy to find, at least ones that work well enough and are comfortable. Running is near impossible without a good sports bra unless you want some pain and discomfort, perhaps some boobs right in your face. Most shirts that are in your size otherwise stretch at the bust, and over the shoulder bags just… look awkward. Life would be so much easier if she was just a little smaller. Being treated differently because of her gender & appearance;; Although her features are a bit on the soft side all the same, Leyna likes to thinks that if it weren’t for the size of her breasts she could get away with appearing even less feminine than she already does. Perhaps then people might take her seriously in a workshop or a lab. Or, if she was shorter, some might treat with more degrees of normalcy. Even then she knows that is wishful thinking, though. In her field she will perhaps always receive some odd glances for her gender, and in the world she will definitely always have some colorful remarks thrown her way relating to her height. Pet names;; Leyna can take a degree of sexism in her work, she can. However the moment you begin to try and degrade her by speaking to her softly with pet names like, ‘sweetie,’ or ‘dear,’ especially as a male, you have started to step a bit too close to a nerve. She has enough patience to deal with most other things that are not pet names. Every time someone seems to use those in the work and education settings it’s as if they’re trying to talk down an ignorant child that knows not an ounce of what they are speaking. And based on just how much research she does and how much work she puts into her passions, that is one thing she cannot take for long at all. Heels;; God, she’s tall enough as it is! Especially in London, she seems to tower over a majority of women and even some men. Heels would only make it worse, truly putting her under the title of a giant. While Leyna is knowledgeable enough about fashion to dress well for any sort of professional setting, and is willing to do so, she will not wear anything with a hell. Some cute slip-ons will have to do her because she has absolutely refused to wear heels since a particularly embarrassing memory at her high school graduation. Disorganization;; Leyna does not so much mind some light grubbiness, she does work in a garage for god sake. What she cannot tolerate, however, is rampant disorganization. With the mechanical, compartmental sort of way her brain works everything has a place. When someone is working long hours on something as involved as machinery little annoyances like being unable to find a tool or a blueprint can really blow things up. Cooking and living is the exact same way, although it won’t make her quite as curt. It isn’t so difficult to just move things around and make some bins or something to get everything a specific nook in the space. Being off-schedule;; This, along with disorganization, or some of the biggest causes of stress for our Leyna. Feeling harried to find a tool or to finish something on time are not exactly her cup of tea. That’s why she likes to make schedules and do assignments early, in a timely fashion, so she doesn’t feel rushed on time last second to the point she wants to pull her hair out. The girl can take hard deadlines, she really can. She will find a way to make them work even if it’s a week in advance. But trying to get something done the night before – man that’s the bane of her existence. Disregard for personal health;; Especially with those close to her, Leyna cannot stand it when people treat their own health with complete disregard. For one it’s completely selfish, thinking they can treat themselves with such little care when there are people that worry about them. This is also not mentioning the fact that it isn’t entirely difficult to just go to the doctor’s occasionally for a checkup, or to try to eat a little better or at least take vitamins for the nutritional values you are missing out on with a poor diet. Anyone talking with a blasé attitude about their own health will make Leyna tense up, and become quite angry if it’s someone she cares for. Spiders & roaches;; She isn’t scared of them. She’s not. Honestly they just make her a bit squeamish, roaches for the supposed diseases they carry and the general feeling of filth. Spiders for the webs. They’re honestly both just… short shiver-worthy, not scream like a little girl-worthy. And besides, when you have an older sister that’s always wanting to spoil her ‘cute little Leyna’, why not let her feel better by calling her to take care of any spider or roach that happens to come in your path?

Dreams

Fears

Finish her masters & receive her certification;; Leyna enjoys school and study well enough, she does, but at a point it’s a necessary step in the end goal. At this point in time for her, that is to graduate with her masters and receive her engineering certification. With these she may properly begin her life as a professional engineer, researcher, scientist. All of her schooling and long hours have been leading up to that point. The apex of that part of her life, and the beginning to the next slope that is the one that follows: her career. The career of her deepest passions. Design cars;; There are a variety of things Leyna wants to accomplish over her engineering and researching career. She wants to research cleaner fuels, better waste management, more conscientious design habits. Most of these were born as she grew older and became aware of such concepts. The one dream that has stuck with her since she can remember, however, is the want to design cars. Sleek, fashionable pieces of art. Efficient and manageable automobiles. The girl has loved them from her first memory and has always wanted to be able to have her name in the design of such wonderful creations. Live a long life;; There hasn’t been a moment that Leyna wasn’t aware of how lucky she is to have been born, to be as healthy as she is. For that she has always been thankful. One of her deepest wishes is to be able to live a long, healthy, productive life. Both out of respect and gratitude for the chance she was given, and a want to care for her family when they aren’t able to. She wants to be useful right until the very end, whether that be to science and society, or her friends and family.

Losing her family;; Honestly, one of Leyna’s worst nightmares is losing her family to illness. She knows all too well that some diseases, such as cancer, to a point just aren’t curable. And that is terrifying. The thought of watching her parents, her sister, slowly wither away can bring the girl to her knees. Losing them… and in a way she can do absolutely nothing about, to something she came all too close to losing her mother to before she was even born. Could even now. There isn’t much that can shake Leyna to her core as much as this does. Her genetics;; Certain types of breast cancers are hereditary, this is a fact. Hearing the stories and seeing the photos of what her mother went through before she was born, seeing that still present occasional weakness in her that has only increased in recent years, that scares Leyna. It scares her to know that she could have that in her. It’s partly for that reason that she is very adamant about her frequent checkups, as well as insisting her sister do the same even if in her head she knows they are not blood related. There is still that fear. It is… also for that reason that Leyna is apprehensive about giving birth. She could just as easily pass that on to her children. Deterioration of her health;; Not to say she is exceptionally open about her anxieties, but Leyna’s most secret fear is the image of herself slowly eroding away with age. Withering into nothing, without her health, without her mind. Being in a nursing home, confined to a bed and a mind that cannot keep track of what happened two minutes ago and what happened twenty years ago. That nightmare has woken her up at night, surely. Not just because it means she wouldn’t be at all useful to those she cares for… but simply that she would have lost all control, nothing to hold onto. All science, no ethics;; Engines, guns, and chemicals. They are beautiful and fascinating things. However, they can be just as deadly with no or minor tweaking. It is every scientists fear that their creation be used for destruction when they were only trying to improve mankind or further knowledge. Leyna has a special sort of factor that could add to this, though, and that is her personality. Her want for the stark black and white of pristine answers has always made her apprehensive of morally gray areas such as the theoretical sciences, and, notably, ethics and philosophy. And, as they say, science without philosophy is blind… If she cannot bring herself to understand them without feeling flustered are their ambiguous nature, how can she hope to know if she has proper ethics behind her work in a world where it is already so hard to know how your ideas are being applied?

Background

When Anke and Wilhelm Barwick found they were pregnant there was reason for surprise beyond the usual. Having been diagnosed with breast cancer just around twenty, Anke survived the following surgery and chemotherapy knowing that the latter could often lead to infertility. She had been prepared to have a difficult time, if any, conceiving children. Having begun raising the daughter of a dear friend of hers in her stead – Adelaide’s life not one quite accommodating to a baby - and thinking of her as her own, this fact didn’t leave her feeling at all disappointed. Galiena always was and always would be her child, blood related or no. And yet, when Galiena was four and some years had passed following the end of her bout with cancer, a pregnancy test came out positive. Time and further tests this proved not to be a fluke. Due to some continued fatigue and occasional weakness of health, on top of everything, there was some fear about the health of the unborn child. Despite all of the worry, however, Leyna Adele Barwick was born blessed with perfect health. There seemed little other choice than to name her something that meant ‘little angel.’ Although, honestly, they could have thought a little more when it came to that naming process. No irony has gone unnoticed by others on the fact that the pair of sisters have names so utterly befitting their personalities. Galeina, the fast talking reporter, has initials that spell GAB. Leyna is then blessed with LAB as her initials. From a rather young age Leyna has found a certain fascination in machinery. Anke often says there’s little surprise considering Wilhelm’s collection of automotive and motorcycle magazines. Either way, it didn’t take long for Leyna to take to fixing little odds and ends around the house. This mixed with her diligent nature, a love for reading, and an innate curiosity for knowledge, led to a child that straight from kindergarten took her studies seriously. Perhaps too seriously, according to her family when the girl failed to make many friends through her time at school. Although… at times, Leyna attributes another factor to her lacking of close relationships with her classmates. When she was young she was fairly average and size. Honestly for a fair while she had an especially angelic look to her, with long blonde hair that leaned just on the side of wavy, big blue eyes, and soft features. In an odd turn of events, however, the little angel was hit with puberty at an early age and with a particularly hard smack up the face. More like the boys in the class she began to shoot up inches over just one summer vacation. Not so much like the boys, her chest seemed to… grow at a similar rate. Not only did this set her apart from the girls in her age for maturing so early, from the boys for being taller than a fair portion of them, but it also added a level of insecurity to the already somewhat shy bookworm of a girl that Leyna was. She became painfully aware of how much she stood out, more so than she already had for her studious tendencies, until those in her grade caught up to her size to a degree in later years. For that reason, there wasn’t much argument on her part about moving away from her friends when her father was offered a job in England just as she was entering high school. It did bother her, however, that her elder sister Galiena would be staying behind in Germany having already started into her university studies there. The one friend Leyna did have and always had since the moment she first looked upon her and reached for her with quiet amusement, was her sister. When she was dug far too deep into her books it was Gali that pulled her out for some much needed fun. Destressing through shopping, sparring, or even just sitting about the house snuggling up to her. So, to say the least although she didn’t complain about it outwardly, Leyna was apprehensive for the move knowing she wouldn’t be living with her sister during the rough years of high school and college applications. There were certainly frequent, long phonecalls and videochats shared over those strings of separation between Gali’s school breaks. Despite her worries, Leyna was able to get through high school without much difficulty. Fortunately for her, before she could be left to finish her bachelor’s in engineering on her own when her parents planned to move back to Germany, Gali offered to move to London and live with her. With her sister and the family dog her parents were willing to leave with them and their apartment, she was then also to push through her first degree without a scratch. At the young age of 21, she began her graduate studies while keeping her side job at a local mechanics shop. Before any sort of issues involving finances could crop up… she was approached by MI6.

Role-Play Sample

“… screeeeeeak…” She’d told them it was acting up, that the wheels were squeaking. Sworn up and down that it was getting bad enough to replace the wheel. Even offered to do it herself! But the boss had laughed at her and shaken his head, said it was perfectly fine and she was just being her usual overly-analytical self making some little whine of a well-used wheel on a perfectly fine creeper into a bigger problem than it was. How many times would it take of her being right in her ‘anal’ worrying over small details did did in fact prove to be warranted for them to listen to her? A hundred and one? The woman paused, wiped at her brow with the back of her wrist before she rose her hand back up to its current task beneath the car that had been brought in. For now it was a simple checkup on a used car a customer had ended up with, wanting to know what he’d gotten for his money. Leyna, attuned to detail as she was, was usually given such jobs, leaving her to now slowly slide along the under carriage with a flashlight inspecting for rust and structural damage. One wheel well was rather pristine in comparison to the others, indicating repair somewhat recently. She hadn’t seen that on the file. The blonde snorted – very few were honest about the history of a used car when they sold it off. The wheel well was added in her forming mental list to be written down once she moved out from under the vehicle. “scree-” Okay, maybe that sudden right slide had been too fast for a creeper as old as this one. If it weren’t for the fact that she watched guys even bigger than her roll around on it no problem Leyna might have been worried about what the rickety sounds meant about her weight. Speaking of weight, she would have to ask Geliena if she wanted to go with her to the gym the next afternoon. It had been some time since their schedules had meshed well enough to go at the same time, and there were very few willing to spar with her that weren’t her sister. As helpful as it was to do general work outs and kicking at a punching bag, one could rust not facing an actual opponent for a time. Even if it was someone she had been learning with near her entire life. They both still managed to catch the other off guard occasionally and floor them. That in itself made Leyna grin for a moment in her work. Now was that a crack in the back axle-“sce-clakrACK.” That quick movement had apparently been too much, cracking away at the hold the wheel still had on the underside of the board until it slipped right out from under it, slamming one corner of the creeper and Leyna’s back onto the concrete floor. “Gott-!” That was definitely laughter she was hearing at the faint sounds of her German cursing. One hundred and two times until someone realized she knew what she was talking about when she said something.

OOC Information

Becca

Skype - happygothchan. Tumblr - thehiccuphaddock.

For some stories, it's easy. The moral of 'The Three Bears,' for instance, is 'Never break into someone else's house.' The moral of 'Snow White' is 'Never eat apples.' The moral of World War I is, 'Never assassinate Archduke Ferdinand.'

Did the sun come out, or did you just smile at me?

made by CAPTAIN of BACK TO NEVERLAND

[Misso Pan]

APPROVED

Welcome to TND. Your application has been accepted. She's female. She's German. She's a mechanic. And I find this to be absolutely perfect. A marvel of German engineering (school)! I loved your application. Very German, very independent, tough, and no-nonsense, but with a subtle soft-side that proves she's not as scary as people may think. I hope we can rp sometime, shove our German girls into a thread somewhere! I look forward to having Leyna on the forum. Maybe now that we have a legitimate mechanic we can get some cars in here. The name is Barwick. Leyna Adele Barwick.

made by CAPTAIN of BACK TO NEVERLAND