Penelope Goldsworthy

Penelope Goldsworthy is a major character in Single-Handed Alchemy. She is a repairwoman situated in the mountain town of Khemidale, and a close friend of Flynn Rainridge.
===Appearance===
Penelope has brown eyes and reddish-brown hair tied in two short ponytails. She generally wears “boyish” clothes, with her main outfit consisting of a pale blue shirt beneath a greyish-blue jacket, dark blue jeans and grey trainers.
===Personality===
Penelope has a strong “ask questions first” mindset and an incessant need to know the full picture of anything that peaks her interest. Because of how many questions she asks, she is sometimes considered talkative or a nag. When she isn't asking questions, however, she acts cool and collected, especially around friends.
At times, Penelope can also be very snarky, being quick to criticise others without considering their response. Because of this, she gets along badly with sensitive people (asides from Aleah, who has learned to put up with her criticisms) and rarely interacts with young children.
===Story===
Penelope originally lived in a countryside village, later moving to Khemidale at the age of ten. She acquired an interest in technology from eight years old. Despite her parents' ideas, she was keen on moving out and starting her own business as soon as she left university. After graduating in machine science, she went on to found Gold Tech, a small technology shop where she repairs machinery and sells used devices. Her shop has yet to attract popularity, with Flynn Rainridge being the only frequent customer.
Penelope first met Flynn in junior school, though the two didn't interact much. Later, in secondary school, Penelope was one of few students who didn't discriminate Flynn due to his inoperable arm, and the two were able to become close as a result. Three years later, when they were both fourteen, Flynn revealed his interest in alchemy to Penelope, which she thought was “out-there in a good way”. Penelope would later help him in hunting for alchemy books to further his research.
Seven years later, Flynn decided to set out to search for a translation to his newest alchemy book. During his travels, Penelope explained to him how to repair his technology without her direct assistance, and frequently provided information that would be helpful to him.
==Relationships==
===Flynn Rainridge===
Flynn and Penelope have been close friends since secondary school, and Flynn is also Penelope's most frequent customer at her shop. Penelope seems somewhat depend on Flynn to keep her business going, as expressed by an angry phone call she made shortly after he left Khemidale. Flynn, however, shows little concern over her shop, as he mostly goes there due to his friendship with her. Penelope doesn't seem to notice this attitude of his.
===Rylan van Herpen===
Rylan and Penelope have been friends since secondary school. Penelope often comes round to Rylan's house after an unsuccessful day of work, and sometimes invites him to come to her shop. She has had no success with this so far.
===Aleah Monet===
The two didn't get off to a good start, with Aleah finding Penelope to be “mean” due to her critical attitudes. However, Aleah eventually learned to live with it, and the two caught on to their coinciding interests and became friends.
==Creation==
When Single-Handed Alchemy began development with an idea of featuring people with wings, Penelope started out as a female blacksmith. However, when the idea of flying people was scrapped, she was changed to a tech specialist to better fit in with a more modern world.
Penelope's status as a female mechanic, as well as her being somewhat of a tomboy, resemble Anna "Ani" Polar, a major character from the Tigzon series. She also resembles Winry Rockbell from the manga series Fullmetal Alchemist, which somewhat inspired the creation of Single-Handed Alchemy.
==Trivia==
*Penelope was named after Andy Goldsworthy, a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist. All of Flynn's friends are named after artists.
*Penelope claims that she has never been seen in a skirt. How much truth there is to this statement is unknown, though her rather masculine outfit supports it.
*Penelope likes things that show the cleverness of humanity. For example, she likes bridges because of how they offer easier travel over obstacles to pedestrians.
*Penelope used to like management games, such as job simulators, as a child, but grew out of said games because of them being too difficult to manage under a busy schedule.
*Penelope took guitar lessons as a teenager, though didn't get very far. She still owns an acoustic guitar, however, and often plays it when she's bored.
**She may have started taking lessons due to catching on to Aleah's flute performances in early secondary school.
*Penelope's favourite subject in secondary school was DT.
*Penelope is a very bad writer, to the point that she prefers typing notes on her phone and showing them to her customers instead.
**She does have some talent in drawing, however. She owns a collection of drawings in the back room of her shop, most of which are references to her namesake - a bridge, a sheep pen and a house with a circular window, for example.
Category:Characters
Category:Females