"Everything around here will be just fine if there's a little less leaning a lot more leadership. We need obedience. We need discipline, not this chaos."
--Maj. Margaret Houlihan, M*A*S*H*
BASICS
NAME: Houlihan
GENDER: Cis woman
PRONOUNS: she/her/hers
ORIENTATION: Straight, to her own detriment
BIRTHDATE: Early spring 2740
AGE: 35 as of 2775
LOCATION: Fort Weyr
OCCUPATION: Assistant Headwoman, former Healer Apprentice
APPEARANCE
EYES: Blue
HAIR: Blonde
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 5'7", trim
PLAY-BY: Loretta Swift
EXPY SOURCE: Maj. Margaret Houlihan (M*A*S*H*)
FULL APPEARANCE:
Houlihan has very light blonde hair that she wears slightly longer than shoulder length with bangs that she is very vain about. She occasionally throws it into a high bun, but otherwise prefers to wear it loose. She has a round face, blue eyes, and a wide mouth. She keeps herself in shape and has excellent posture. She tends to wear more pants than skirts, preferring practical clothes in earthy colors when she's working. But Houlihan still appreciates the finer things, and will not pass up an opportunity to wear something more feminine, but only if she's off duty.
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY:
At first glance, Houlihan is a stickler for the rules. She is rigid, uptight, and demanding. She's a hardworking perfectionist who expects as much excellence from others as she does from herself. She values ranks and hierarchies, and expects everyone to play their part in the grand scheme of things; she distains the Weyrs who have turned their backs on the color hierarchy. She finds rank attractive, but ambition more so. This is rather unfortunate for her, as she often finds herself in relationships with people who have more ambition than brains. She will often see these people with rose-colored glasses, forgiving any flaws, and taking a long time to realize that they are neither good people nor right for her.
On second glance, she is an opportunistic, power-hungry hypocrite. She will kiss up to those of higher rank, and is not above using her relationships with people for her own gain. She expects nothing but perfection of others, but is quick to anger if the rules are not bent or broken for her when she wants. Luckily her temper usually just amounts to some shouting and then storming off to sulk. Even when her anger is turned on her subordinates, however, she is rarely unnecessarily cruel, often just becoming more nit-picky than usual and assigning more menial or cleaning tasks than she would have normally. While she is willing to be sneaky and underhanded to get what she wants, she is the first one to (loudly) criticize anyone else's actions that she doesn't approve of. She is not as subtle about all of this as she believes herself to be, and it rubs more than a few people the wrong way.
On a final, third glance Houlihan is a woman who cares very deeply. When she is finally able to let her guard down, to drop her perfectionism and overly inflated view of herself and Fort, she can be quite kind. She is idealistic and afraid of getting hurt, and so she clings to the things she understands and can control in order to protect herself.
HISTORY
FAMILY:
Father - Fortian Brownrider
Mother - Fortian Weyrfolk
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: Depends on who you ask
BIRTHPLACE: Fort Weyr
HISTORY:
Houlihan is from Fort, considers herself to be inseparable from the Weyr and might as well bleed Fortian knot colors. She is proud of her place of birth, a pride instilled in her by her father, whom she adored and who doted on her in turn. Her mother worked in the infirmary, and Houlihan received some training there as well before she was old enough to be expected to stand for impression. While Houlihan did well in the infirmary's environment, she decided it wasn't for her. There was little room for advancement, at least not on the timeline she wanted, and even from an early age Houlihan was interested in a position of leadership.
When Houlihan eventually aged out of candidacy with no dragon of her own, she was undeterred. Becoming a dragonrider was not the only way to hold power at a Weyr, and it did not dampen her ambitions nor her love of Fort. Secretly, she'd been relieved, since she knew that the idea of fighting thread scared her more than most people. She'd stood for impression because it had been her duty, but truthfully she had no desire to put herself in harm's way. Supporting the dragonriders as weyrfolk suited her much better. After all, every success of the riders could be traced back to the hard work of the weyrfolk supporting them, and their failures were an opportunity to offer comfort and compassion rather than having to share in any blame. It was truly a perfect environment for her.
Unfortunately, she did not get the meteoric rise she had hoped for herself. She was asked to prove herself over and over again, almost like Mayella didn't want a woman with younger, fresher ideas anywhere near the position. Not that she's bitter, that's Mayella's right, she has earned it. Now, she's finally the woman's assistant, and is quietly counting down the candlemarks until she retires and Houlihan can take over from her.
Houlihan has had a rather checkered love life. Her taste in men has always been extremely questionable, and the moment a man of higher rank than the one she's talking to walks into a room, her eyes stray straight to him. It's less of a problem in the Weyr than it would be in the Holds, but her lack of subtlety with it has hurt a few feelings. She has decided she wants to wait to have kids, however, until she finds a partner who will be as good a father to them as her own father was to her.