Myfanwy

Myfanwy thinks of herself as a perfectly ordinary, cheerful young adult. She goes to university in a bustling and lively city, and while she doesn't yet have many friends, she's extremely close to the ones she does have, particularly her beloved twin brother. She will need to hang on very closely indeed to save him, and herself, from the abyssal darkness - both of the sea, and of her own mind...

Myfanwy's basic personality is bubbly, harmlessly silly, and a bit awkwardly over enthusiastic. A kind and gentle person, you can always rely on her to rush to the rescue of anyone suffering in her sight, even if they don't want her help. No problem is too large or too complicated for Myfanwy to take on (often in an overly simplistic manner…) She is extremely soft-hearted and can't resist cute things, especially if they're ~collectible~ (this inevitably leads to a minor plushie hoarding problem).

Myfanwy’s greatest strength is in never giving up: this manifests as her eternal optimism. Even during times of great hardship she keeps trying to roll with the punches and retains her hopefulness. She is very self-reliant, after Morgan disappears she struggles to admit to anyone that she needs help and tries to keep up appearances even once she realises she's a witch and dangerous magic is slowly building up in her brain.

Unfortunately, she's also very stubborn and tends to make snap decisions that she then insists on sticking to. Getting her to change her mind will require more than just a logical argument (in fact, you might be better off without that!). A more effective approach is to appeal to her compassion, preferably armed with a cup of tea and some bara brith.

Despite being very "friendly" she's actually really bad at making lasting friendships and it's in a sense deliberate, as she tries not to be vulnerable or let anyone take care of her - though she doesn't realise this makes friendships less likely to form. (The exception to this is, of course, Morgan, who she is co-dependent with.) Though she is an extrovert, who needs others, she often fails to seek them out when she really needs help. The trouble is that while Myfanwy realises that people like her casually, she has doubted everyone's deeper feelings, even her twin's. She feels very much at a disadvantage when compared to Morgan and can only imagine negative reasons why someone might choose her over him.

Early Life

Myfanwy and her twin Morgan were born to a curious pair of morgwin - a local lighthouse keeper, and a runaway bride from a foreign country, trying to escape her family and the life they had planned out for her. She was not happy in the remote rural community she was forced to settle in, and entertained herself by playing mind games with everyone she met. The father, meanwhile, was frequently drunk and perennially unfaithful. Over time he slept with half the female population of the local group of islands, though he always came back to his wife afterwards. Both parents were entirely unsuitable for and also mostly uninterested in babies, so the actual looking after of the infant twins was mostly left to their child-minder child-minder Nora, who sadly was far from an ideal parent-substitute herself. As they grew older their parents took on a bigger role in their lives, but never became truly responsible. From age fourteen onwards the twins boarded at school during the week, so their parents only had to interact with them on weekends. Myfanwy reacted to the parental neglect with chronic self-doubt and co-dependence with her twin. She and Morgan felt responsible for the lighthouse and consequently for the safety of the local shipping from a young age, and this weighed heavily on Myfanwy's mind.

Growing Up

Her artistic talent showed fairly early, in the elaborate outfits and layouts she constructed for her many toys. She learned to sew at age eight and went on to create clothes for herself throughout her teens, which was when she developed her interest in lolita fashion. Myfanwy did very well in Textiles and Design Technology, but was not intellectual and did nothing like as well as Morgan in any of her more academic classes. Probably much of her lower ability scores could be blamed on her self-doubt leading to a cycle of underperformance. She was somewhat jealous of Morgan's success, chiefly because it divided them into different ability groups. She always emphasised their twinship and sisterhood, which in particular bothered Morgan more and more the older he got. When he came out as trans to Myfanwy (age fourteen) she was at first devastated (she was losing him to maleness) and then, when reassured they were still twins, hugely relieved (there was a "reason" they were different). However, though she didn't really understand it she never doubted that Morgan knew his own identity.

Free At Last

When the twins were sixteen, Myfanwy’s parents unexpectedly won a fortune in a lottery. They reacted to their newfound wealth with typical selfish style - by buying a luxury yacht and leaving on a trip across the world. Myfanwy was distressed by their leaving but less than you might expect, as things had become very tense indeed between them and Morgan and their leaving brought him some peace. The twins were now rich and Myfanwy was finally free to go on the shopping sprees she'd always dreamed of. When the time came to leave school, Myfanwy and Morgan were accepted by the same university in Porthclaer, with Myfanwy choosing to study Product Design rather than art or fashion as it had better employment prospects. Their move to the city caused Mfanwy a little heartbreak as it finally ended her by-then rocky romantic relationship with Osian, who stayed behind on the island of their birth, but she recovered very well as the romantic element had only ever been secondary to their friendship.

Strange Events...

Morgan, however, suffered from clinical depression, and after a bad incident during their first year had to drop out and return to the lighthouse he had grown up in. He developed a habit of taking the twins' boat (the Ciwcymbr) out for night swims. One night he did not return. The general belief was that he had deliberately drowned himself. Myfanwy was devastated and, taking a break in learning, returned home herself to mourn with Osian and his family. As an outlet for her grief, she took to dressing in mourning full-time. After a few months she returned to university but found she was struggling with strange mental symptoms - hallucinations that seemed to blur with reality and blackouts which she awoke from to find the world subtly changed. She realised she was becoming a witch, and if she was discovered would be forced to undergo partial lobotomy in order to destroy her powers before they could become dangerous. She tried to continue her life in secret but her madness and magic became more and more troublesome. And then one day she found a note, in her own handwriting - saying "ALIVE, MORGAN"…

Morgan • twin brother

The twins are very close, each would label the other as their best friend. Due to their narcissistic, immature parents’ lack of interest in them they were mainly raised by their (inadequate) childminder, but they still spent a lot of time alone with only each other for company and support. This led to Myfanwy becoming somewhat codependent with her twin, and he with her (though Myfanwy's dependence is greater). They bicker a lot but fight relatively rarely. Ironically the things that most annoy them about the other tend to be faults reflected in their own makeup; Myfanwy finds Morgan's stubbornness in refusing help for his mental health problems his most distressing trait.

Myfanwy and her brother have a million in-jokes and shared nonsense stories that they are constantly adding to whenever they spend time together, as well as more involved projects, mostly involving their TTRPG adventures. The main setting is an endless desert dying earth fantasy invented by Morgan, and the main character is Myfanwy’s PC, Folly. (Generally, Morgan leads on setting and Myfanwy on characterisation.)

Osian • close friend

Osian was in the same school year group as the twins and was looked after by the same childminder. He is close to both of them but Myfanwy moreso, as they were in the same ability class for many lessons. The two became officially an item in their early teens, though they were never deeply besotted and usually included Morgan everywhere they went. Myfanwy and Osian share a love of fashion and clothing that neither were very well able to indulge for most of their youth due to neither having the shopping districts nor the money required. Once Myfanwy became rich she bought him a lot of things as presents, with mixed results, as Osian loved the items but felt overly indebted to her. When they entered the last years of school Osian's decision not to go to university and instead begin to take over the family farm caused more tension in their straining relationship and they broke up.

Bron • friend

Bronwen, Osian's younger sister, grew up watching Myfanwy and thinking how she would act instead in her place. As such, she loves Myfanwy a lot and likes her company well enough but has little respect for her common sense and intelligence. She doesn't know that this is obvious to Myfanwy, and would be ashamed if she did realise. For her own part, Myfanwy is constantly surprised by how much Bron knows and yet how little she understands things which seem obvious to herself.

Bleidd • friend

Myfanwy met Bleidd some time after Morgan's disappearance, when she returned to university and tried to get her life back on track. The two of them both attended meet-ups of the university's table-top roleplaying games club, and Myfanwy's attention was caught by the air of gloom that hung over Bleidd, which matched her own sorrow. When it turned out they also had a dead sibling in their past, she felt a sense of connection. Bleidd's matter-of-fact way of expressing things and unromantic view of the world don't mesh well with her own ways but neither of the two has anyone else to hang out with, and despite their differences they do genuinely care for each other.

Neha • close friend

Growing up as the only child in her penal colony/sanitarium home territory, Neha was used to playing alone but longed for a friend, someone like her. Happily, with the arrival of the limited version of the internet that was offered by the morgwin research ship anchored there, she got Myfanwy as a penpal. The two friends have much in common, though Neha is more confident in herself than Myfanwy is, probably due to the support of her Chorus (the ancestral minds that share their advice with her, as is usual for her people). Neha was the one who first realised Myfanwy was a witch, and the training she has received in serving a magic user (quite an anachronism in her own land) suddenly made sense. Neha is convinced there is more to everything than meets the eye, and that includes Morgan's death.

Physical

• Myfanwy is about 160cm tall and on the plump side as an adult.

Demeanor

• Myfanwy has quite a loud voice but a pleasant one (and a very loud and rich giggle)
• She moves as if she's comfortable in her body and knows it well, but without any particular grace.
• If given a chance, she tends to slip her shoes off and sit cross-legged.
• Before Morgan's disappearance, she comes across as awkward socially but not shy. Afterwards she loses a lot of her confidence.

Style

• Myfanwy is very dedicated to looking cute, she takes a lot of time and trouble over her clothing and spends ages planning her outfits the night before.
• Her Cymr-Lolita fashion is important to her and she spends a large portion of her monthly outgoings on it.
• When she's not "dressed up" though she's a total pyjama slob (but they do have a cute character on them of course).

• Myfanwy likes scouring charity shops for retro toys. She collects a brand of little flocked animal families and playsets and has a whole village set up in her room at the lighthouse - she does try to avoid letting people know she still plays with them though.
• She gets very over excited at karaoke and shouts instead of singing. Her normal singing voice is fine though and complements Morgan's nicely.
• One of her many hobbies is amateur underwater archeology, an interest in which she is well provided for by the rising sea levels and unstable rock formation of the morgwin lands, with its frequent submersals of built-upon territory.