Francesca Santos

Valentina Flores (aunt)

### Summary

Francesca Santos, commonly called Panchita, is the lead protagonist of Songbirds and the youngest character in the series. She attends Meadowlark School of the Arts in hopes of becoming a professional violinist.

### Personality

A happy-go-lucky and hyperactive girl. Panchita is cheerful and optimistic, always down to try and do anything. She’s a free spirited person and wants to enjoy her life while she still can. While normally bubbly, she is very nervous about her future. She’s forgetful and easily distracted, having difficulty concentrating on things. She can get frustrated and stressed with herself fast, especially when it comes to her violin playing. Because of a strict upbringing, Panchita is used to have her toes stepped on and is commonly talked over by others, shy to push her ideas and plans. She tends to bottle up her emotions and hides her worries behind her cheerful front as to not bother others in her mind. She tends to come off as an airhead or messing around, but she really does care. Her family calls her a crybaby and they aren't wrong as Panchita's highly emotional and once she starts crying, it takes forever for her to stop.

### Biography

Born and raised in Chile by overbearing and strict parents, her only remote outlet in life has been playing violin. From a young age she was overbeared with chores and studies, yelled at and punished harshly for messing up on anything. At school, her teachers constantly complained to Panchita's parents about her hyperactive and loud nature. This only worsened her parent's grip on Panchita. She wasn’t allowed to go outside to play, which made her fidgety and worse when she was allowed outside. When she entered the 2nd grade, her parents sent her to study abroad with her aunt in Meadowlark. Panchita quickly befriended Robert Crowley despite being a grade below him, mainly because he was the only kid in school who knew Spanish. While an odd friendship at first, the two became best friends. She'd drag Robert along on her antics, sometimes getting the duo in trouble. Panchita would go over to Robert's house constantly, where she was treated like family. She had a decent childhood from then on, honing in on her violin playing with the help of Robert's father, a violinist. Panchita is passionate about playing violin, even if her parents are against it. She wishes to win the state competition more than anything so she can finally break free from her parents grip on her.

### Trivia and Extras

- Currently Panchita is voiced by Bern Aniceto.

-Nothing terrible happened to Panchita to cause her lazy eye, she was simply born with it. Her parents tried treatment for it but nothing really worked. Panchita can see out of her left eye, though she prefers to cover it up due to it impairing her vision.

-Despite both Spanish-speaking natives, Panchita and Ana almost always speak to each other in English even when it's just the two of them. Though it's mainly because Ana couldn't understand her half the time because of Panchita's dialect and Chilean slang.

-She loves soccer and is pretty good at it. Panchita can do a few tricks and maneuvers that get her picked first at school games. Panchita doesn't play with soccer, she shows no mercy and is in it to win.

-Her aunt, Valentina, is constantly at work as a nurse. This gives Panchita the apartment to herself, so she's always coming home late and messing around inside.