Penelope

Penelope Harris

Penelope edit.jpg

Quote: It's going to be okay in the end! If it's not okay, then it's not the end.
IC Info
Race: Human
Blessing: Bat
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Demisexual Demiromantic Lesbian
Age: 26
Date of Birth: October 13, 1995
Place of Origin: A random little, peaceful town in good old Earth
Height: 5'3"
Weight: Short and fat
Eye Color: Hazel
Hair Color: Chestnut Brown
Bloodtype: B-
Sign: Libra
Hobbies: Writing, reading, exploring, blessed spring hunting, swimming, wildlife logging, cooking, eating, enjoying music, meeting new people, relaxing, lucid dreaming.
Favorite Things: All her hobbies, chocolate, marzipan, cheese, mushrooms.
Likes: Animals, sweet things, adventures, water, love.
Dislikes: Hatred, discrimination, hypocrisy, onions.
Romantic Status: Single, shyly opening up to close intimate friendships while nursing more romantic feelings.
Romantic Identification: Unsure yet. If she falls for someone, she will be happy loving them regardless of their other relationships.
Religion: Pantheism (Spiritually similar to Yuriban Animism)
Residence: Yuriba's fine wilderness and inns until she finds something more permanent
Occupation: Undecided - would love to dedicate herself to arts and crafts.
OOC Info
Source: Original character (sort of self-insert)
Player: Ham! (They/them)
Other Characters: None
Notes: [1] <-- Check out my art!! I am always happy to chat, never hesitate to hit Penelope up when she's online :D

A newcomer to Yuriba, Penelope's arrival at the island was a blessing she never thought she'd deserve. Guided by her endless curiosity, you can usually find her roaming all over the place, trading the tired path for the uncharted unknown, seeking beauty and wonder in every nook and cranny of wherever she goes. Even if often distracted or even a little timid, Penelope will always be happy to greet whoever she encounters, always looking forward to making a new friendly connection and give back the kindness and compassion the island has shown her so far.

This new future is so full of promise, and she wants to give herself completely, in all motivated passion, to it all.

Contents

Physical and Psychological Description

Find here a quick overview of Penelope’s looks and personality!

Physical Appearance

A young human woman in her late twenties, Penelope is short and pudgy, soft and curvy. Her skin is honey-glazed and dusted with freckles across her face, shoulders and waist. A fountain of voluminous curly dark brown hair falls to the top of her bum, usually bouncing along with her steps. Big chocolate brown eyes hold a usual inquisitive or awed look, atop a slightly hooked nose and plump smiling lips. A long flowy dress - more of a large elaborately draped expanse of soft fabric - covers her large chest and skirts just below her knees. Her small feet are bare upon the ground.

Her past home has ingrained a very negative and distorted sense of self image onto her, and she is not the more confident in her looks. Nonetheless, she is learning to accept herself as she is, and learn that there is nothing wrong, not beautiful or unloveable about her appearance.

Clothing

Once favouring any sort of tomboyish fashion as a means to blend in, not stand out and hide herself, all of this seems to have vanished the moment Penelope dreamt herself to Yuriba.

Now she sports the ideal outfit: long threads of smooth, colorful, breathing fabric that she wraps around herself in dress-like foldy robes. Orange, yellow and red, these robes cover her body and keep her warm while showing some bits of her skin: the legs below her knees, arms and shoulders, the curve of a round breast.

Depending on the situation, Penelope can be seen sometimes using silly colourful plastic sandals when her bare feet prove unsuccessful in crossing the wild ground.

A constant in her clothing is the companion bag, where the young woman keeps food, water, basic medicine and her writing equipment. When in her "awesome outfit", as she excitedly calls it, this bag is a normal bag made from the same fabric as her robes.

Penelope does not have much experience with nudity on the island aside from times when she finds a new hot spring and wishes to bathe or swim by herself. When alone, being in the nude doesn’t bother her, and she even finds herself thinking of her body as cute. She thinks it will need a considerable amount of trust and reassurance for her to show herself this vulnerable. Luckily, anyone can easily become a good friend of Penelope, and she is rather likeable as a friend as well.

Personality

Penelope is an adult who never let her inner child fade.

Naturally curious and driven to adventure and exploring, Penelope constantly roams this new world in search of new sublime, beautiful things to marvel in, to cherish, to protect. Luckily for her, there is beauty in every living or non living being, if only the eye cares enough to dig deep.

Her imagination runs free on all occasions, and for that her solutions to problems might be eccentric and bizarre, but also effective in a point-and-clicker puzzle sort of way. She is usually quiet, and every word she says has sincere meaning. This might give the wrong impression of timidness: when connected to someone, she won't fear speaking up and will often ramble.

She enjoys being alone without feeling lonely, enjoying the peace of solitude while sitting at a breathtaking corner of Nature, but she fears the day when no one will want to sit along with her. Her thoughts envelop her completely, musings on her dreams, her fears, on how she has disappointed or pleased others and on how she can make herself a better person. If she starts thinking by herself too hard, she starts going down a whole rabbit hole of how the world is full of wonder, and how our fleeting lives connect to the collective soul and story of the universe, and the deep existential fear of leaving things unsaid and undone because of silly inhibitions. Every experience has a lesson to give, every mistake is a push in the right direction. Some of this perception is directed to her writings, mixed with all her other beliefs.

She thirsts for company, for true friendly connection, longs for souls she can touch, people she can give a part of herself to. She years to leave the people she meets better for having her in their lives, and she always wants to be where she is needed and can love the most. Penelope believes in fundamental connection between living souls, and befriending someone is the purest way to return to the only-one-immense-yet-diverse Soul state. Her feelings towards people are quite intense and platonic. Like a child, she loves with her heart, and then with her senses.

She believes in people being what they want to be, not lying to themselves. That is one key to happiness. Perhaps that is why her arrival at Yuriba was such a fortunate happening, for here she found herself free from all prejudice that haunted her before. She thinks people tend to complicate the simplest things - one of the most important ones being human relations, and it angers her deeply when these complications affect people's well-being. For this, she feels strongly against discrimination.

Before, when human company upset her with its petty troubles, she would scurry to the wild, to the origin itself, burying her mind in the simple wonders of the world. Then, through an undying, childish optimism, Penelope would forgive and the cycle would begin again, with her returning, scared yet willing, to the sea of new, unmet people. Thankfully, Yuriba's people have been most kind and quite similar to her in everything, making her genuinely happy for her presence here. She no longer needs to run and hide - instead every new person is a chance to give kindness and compassion.

Still, sad moments follow cheerful moments and so on. Sun and rain are a circle she will follow all her life.

Everyday Life In Yuriba

Since her arrival, every new day in Yuriba gives Penelope the opportunity to explore and enjoy so many novel places, activities and dreams.

She usually wakes up amidst her robes on the soft grass under the stunning sky, or on some wonderfully cushy bed in one of the island’s inns, wherever her feet grow tired. She bathes in warm relaxing water before seeking breakfast out from the island’s many eateries or natural resources, and beginning a brand new day of adventure!

Short Term Goals

As a newcomer, Penelope’s first goal is to become familiar with the island.

This drives her to:

When hungry, she looks for food, when weary and dirty, she dives for a cleansing bath. Even if mostly uneventful, no day is like the other, and Penelope is rather proud of that.

When the sun sets and darkness takes its place, the young woman once more finds a good spot to lay upon, inviting slumber and a promise of a new, better day.

Long Term Goals

From her ongoing grand journey of becoming familiar with the island and its wonderful people, Penelope has already gained the following yearnings, wanting to work hard to accomplish them:

Hobbies

As mentioned before, Penelope is passionate about both exploring and adventuring, her natural curiosity driving her to the unknown with no fear of ill consequences. Most of her time in Yuriba is spent giving into this passion.

When resting on a good discovered place, the young woman gives into the rest of her hobbies, including writing, reading something she got from the library (preferably an exciting book of adventures or fantasy - or perhaps a study book), conversing with a friend or maybe just sitting back and take a light nap.

If faced with some time and available food, Penelope gives into another of her passions, cooking with basic instruments the craziest meals she can come up with.

Finally, when given the rare chance, the young woman will go to wherever lively, heartfelt music will be played, one of her biggest joys in life, one she is sorry not to experience more often.

Dreams and Fears

Her sudden arrival at Yuriba Island changed many of Penelope's purposes and worries in her life, but the most important ones still remain, though the methods of achieving them have surely altered under the circumstances.

As imaginative as ever, Penelope still wants to finish a decent book of creative, fresh, original stories, as well as a bigger book of a fantastic saga tied into dreams and humanity coming together. Her motivation is endless, but the lazy days in the sun and having so much to learn might prove to be counter-productive, so the young woman needs constant reminders that time goes on too fast to work harder on her dreams.

Very linked to her writing, Penelope also wishes to study life in Yuriba more profoundly, mainly because of her past studies in biology. She generally handles animals very well, and almost the same goes for plants. Their behavior, their interaction with others, their evolution, is the key point of her observations.

Finally, even before her arrival, Penelope had much practice with lucid dreaming, an activity she wishes to continue, if only to help her adjust to this new life and ensure she has the tools and courage to make the most of this wondrous gift and give it all back to others.

As for fears, Penelope is frightened by the possibility of complete loneliness, which was mentioned before. This leads to the fear of disappointment, of failure, of betrayal and corruption. Because of this, many of her own ambitions revolve in aiding the good friends she makes, for most of her happiness comes from their well-being and success.

Though fearing loneliness, she makes sure to accomplish her goals all by herself, especially when there is no need to bother anyone else.

Lucid Dreaming

Lucid dreaming - the ability to retain full consciousness and control of oneself while dreaming - is a practice that has fascinated Penelope for her entire life.

She now suspects that her desperate dreams of wanting to leave the stringent world she belonged to were key to bringing her here, and she wishes to keep using them to guide her to make the most of this gift, and be her best self so she can give the best version of herself to others.

Background

Penelope was born twenty-six years ago to a happy couple in a small town in Canada. Her parents, both owners of a grocery store, were glad to have their own child and raised her quite uneventfully, giving her a younger brother called Peter Michael when she was eight.

Both the children were raised to be fine, well behaved citizens, silent and mellow as to avoid being gossiped about in that little town: happy, but repressed of their every dream that could raise the slightest disturbance over the peaceful environment of their home.

And this proved to be most difficult when the young girl soon showed an imagination far too uncontrollable and vivid to their liking, wild desires of working in something she loved rather than in something that was sure to give her some status, soon showing a strong streak of homosexuality that was completely unacceptable in that small town. Penelope learned to repress these differences, and lived her childhood and teenage years always being someone she wasn't. Because she didn't feel okay befriending others with a fake personality, she would spend most of her time by herself - where she found her current love for exploring and observing life, thinking of humanity's way of behaving.

College was easier to cope with, and being away from home allowed her to experience a life much truer to herself, and as she did so, she realized she had to be brave and never go back to that repression, no matter the consequences. Yet no matter how far, home was always way too close, and with it its gossiping restrictions and chains...

And then, at the peak of her despair and depression, she slept and dreamt a dream…

She didn't know she would actually arrive at Yuriba, where fears and lies truly do melt away.

Everything about this place is unknown and spontaneous, and while she should be scared, for the first time in her life, the pull and sweetness of the air surrounding her, the flare of curiosity and wonder it brings, makes her feel truly alive.

What is there to see? What will she learn about herself? And most importantly, what can she give back, whole heartedly, as pure gratitude envelops her?

She may feel guilty about her sudden departure, of no goodbyes, but she is never going to look back, give this dream come true up.

Relationships

Although she has only been on the island for a very short amount of time, Penelope already scribbles about her new friends in her diary, blessing their kindness and tender beauty.

These friends are:

Penelope’s Journal

This section is dedicated to the contents of Penelope’s actual journal/diary in MUSH! Please treat this as OOC knowledge, unless you are given permission to see it or she happens to lose it and you want to return it.

Ongoing list of places of interest

First couple of weeks

I still can’t believe I’m not dreaming? Even the colours feel brighter and smell nice and fresh here, how is it all possible? Even the saltwater on my feet is more real and thrilling than anything I’ve ever felt before.

I met a person here, a Real Person, and she says it’s all real, and she showed me around while leading me by the hand and she made food and it was so wonderful and so vivid. Her name was Ari… Ahriana? I ought to make something for her, as thanks… if I do see her again.

… The worst part is that I could get used to this place.

The worst part is if I wake up again.

More people today! Their names were… Five, Katsuko.... And Ahriana again! I’ve been way both too sleepy and hyper to have actually made her something, and I now have more people to add to the gift list, and more things to look for and explore.

It’s all girls! And they are all so sweet to each other and… nobody is here to make you feel bad and guilty about it. Love is real and free, and I am not broken.

Everything here is so beautiful, I cannot take two steps without walking into a postcard, or finding a tarot card, or almost crying because literally every single thing is just so stunning and perfect. I keep finding different pools and wanting to just leave all my worries behind in them, but then I remember there is a whole place left to look at, and I need to continue.

I saw a shrine today, and learned about Goddesses. They keep mentioning special pools with blessed water and people looking like themselves but like something else and better at the same time. No one knows how many there are, and what kinds. I want the water to wash over me, and promise me I am just fine the way I am.

I found a few places with beautiful flowers, and I think where I can maybe find a nice place to bake. I think it’s more than about time I start thanking my new friends.

Early September 2021

I truly have found amazing companionship with both Five and Ahriana. I got to meet them both again today, and even if they were both different conversations, we got to share a lot of thoughts about spirituality, the harmful religious institutions of our past, and our sheer gratefulness towards the island.

I want to start learning more about the Ladies, about the spirit of Yuriba. And I definitely need to finish making these gifts for these wonderful women!

Late September 2021

The weeks have passed me by so fast, entrenched as I am in my own thirst for knowledge. I have fallen into a simple routine of waking up somewhere warm and verdant, making my way to the library to read more about the spirituality and magic and culture of the Island, until I tire and seek a place to rest once more. There are way more wonders to this place than I ever imagined, and I am so compelled to devote myself to them.

Sometimes I get only, but it's become easy to walk down to the bar and find Five and Ahri again, to revel in their companionship, even if I still must learn to convince myself, that I am not a source of annoyance to them... I am full of drive and affection, and I am getting the means to do something about it now...

Early October 2021

Something... must have clicked in my brain somehow, after this time here and... maybe being open with affectionate sincere words and gestures isn't... bad at all. Maybe there is nothing wrong with allowing yourself to be flirty to those who have made your life so much better. The more time I spend with tender friends, the more I wish to do it, and the easier it becomes to let them know, just how lovely they are, how warm they've made my life.

I... want to do more for the Goddesses. I am so smitten with all of them, but my heart pangs hard for Issui and Zakutou. Reading about the Lady of the Spiral is like feeling acknowledged of all the beliefs I have held deep inside my heart all along... I wonder if that's why I can lucid dream, why I am drawn to liminal spaces, have always been fond of spirals, and feel so passionate about the telling of stories. If I could, I would devote myself to both... Is that blasphemy?

Winter & Spring 2021/2022

Wow, that was a long sleep! I don't think I ever ever before allowed myself to rest so long, and so unapologetic. Sequestered away in temples, with hardly a blanket and a myriad books as company, I have learned so much about the Goddesses, and I slept. Now, the stars and the moon are with me, and my tired sleepy heart is brimming with yearning, in the sorrowful comfort of my current solitude.

I don't regret this retreat, or all I am learning. But maybe... maybe soon I should be brave, in other ways I have never been before. Why be in an island of love, why learn so much of its spirituality, if I do not appreciate is beauty, share in this gratitude and budding affection? Sometimes, in the quiet dark before dreams, I close my eyes and just see her face.

Late June 2022

The summer is here, and I am rubbing my sleepy eyelids and saying goodbye to my retreat for now. The hot springs beckon, and already I've seen Ahri and Five again, and how surprised but blessed I was, that they still reached out and missed me as much as I missed them. I... should be brave. I should hold onto this feeling, these connections. How precious they are.

Early July 2022

I was making my merry way into one of my favourite hot spring spots and... I didn't notice, how a couple was already within, sharing an... intimate moment. I... I had never seen anything like that before, never ever... imagined how... beautiful it could be, how sublime. I turned away and ran, blushing like heck, but I don't think anyone saw me leave.

Could it get even better than that, when you do it yourself? Is it possible? Can the world truly hold such warmth and affection? I wonder...

I can barely stop smiling lately. To get to kiss someone you adore, who you have been lowkey fantasizing for, dreaming of? What an absolute delight... All along, this is what everyone has been making a fuss about, when it comes to affection, love, intimacy. I am beginning to understand it. To... crave more of it, in all of its delicate passion.

Late July 2022

Oh Goddesses and Aphrodite and any other divine ladies out there who can hear my woes. What a joy it is, to be so delicately lost for a sweet girl. What a joy, to be together even alongside friends, to relish in intimacy that is both casual and means so so much. I got to sleep in a bed for the first time in over a year last night, and she wanted to stay to tuck me in, to watch over my slumber. And sleep came so easy, feeling this safe and protected, this wholly cherished and cared for. If I caress her tired face, her soft weary head, will I survive it? I think it's worth doing it even if I may not.

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