HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

DIET: Vegetarian - eats a lot of salads and sandwiches, usually with handgrown or foraged ingredients when she can. Specifically pescatarian, so fish is still an option.

EXERCISE: She loves going for walks, but that's about it!

SLEEP: Pretty light sleeper, but she can fall asleep pretty quick. Dedicated side sleeper, needs at least two pillows.

HYGIENE: Showers every other day, unless she forgets...

ADDICTION: None yet!

HISTORY OF PHYSICAL ILLNESS

Gets sick every spring. Has suffered the dreaded chicken pox and has bronchitis twice.

SCARS: Dinged up knees from a lifetime of eating shit

ALLERGY: Dust! Gotta keep the room clean...

INTOLERANCE: None! We love milk

STRENGTHS

Fast learner - she tends to pick up on things quickly!

Careful planner - she likes to have her bases covered!

WEAKNESSES

Often overthinks things and can get herself worked up without anyone else's input

Can be a bit stubborn about doing things the "right" way - inflexible to change

FLAWS

Cowardly - tends to overthink things and panic, causing her to abandon people or not act during pivitol moments - just not very reliable!.

Gullible - tends to trust too easily

HABITS

Has a few stims, tapping her nails/knuckles together, slaps her thighs or fist pumps if she gets really excited

Hides in her scarf if she gets overwhelmed

Might smack a drink out of your hand if you offer it to someone and she didn't see you make it. Aaaa!!!

PET PEEVES

Dislikes people who are loud!

Gets annoyed by information she knows is untrue being pushed as correct

WISHES

To become a braver, stronger person.

To apologise to the person she let get hurt...

PREJUDICE

Nervous around Sin. What do you mean you don't regret it???

Doesn't trust party people anymore

SECRETS

The ones Miranda gave her

What she saw that night...

PHILOSOPHY

We owe everything to the earth, and so, we should give back in kind... Everything is in cycles, everything is in moderation... Nature is not cruel, nor should we be!

ETHICS

You should always try to do your best... she's trying!

HISTORY OF MENTAL ILLNESS

Autism, misdiagnosed as OCD, but she also has severe anxiety so it balances out. She's on a few medications for the anxiety after a mental breakdown sent her to a psychiatric ward for three months prior to arriving at the Academy.

TRIGGERS: Parties, alcohol, unfortunately Duncan

PHOBIAS: Loud parties, big crowds, the dark, heights, open water

DEFENSE MECHANISM: Reaction-formation

THREAT-BASED MINDSET: Flight

BIRTHPLACE: Summerland - a middle class suburb town by a large, beautiful lake, a few hours outside of Killigan.

ENVIRONMENT: An Academy for the cursed, like her!

OVERALL HISTORY

CHILDHOOD: Zoey was unplanned.
Not that her parents would ever admit this to her - it's not like having a child wasn't something they hadn't discussed and dreamed about, but... not at the moment when the pregnancy test came back positive. They'd only been dating for a year. Living together for a few months. They didn't even have the money for a shotgun wedding. Whatever shaky start to a life together they may have had was thrown into complete disarray as they scrambled to sort something out for the new baby unceremoniously entering their lives. Her mom dropped out of school and began looking for jobs. Her dad took on a second one. Their parents offered their support as they were faced with a grandchild far earlier than they expected.
Zoey spent a lot of her early years at Grandma's house, once she was old enough to be conscious of her surroundings and form memories. A series of people would filter through the house to watch and take care of her. Developmentally, she was pretty far behind - struggling to walk, barely able to speak, prone to wandering off, seemingly living entirely in her own head. This was both largely unnoticed due to the variance in her guardianship and undercared for due to how busy everyone was. Not that they didn't try - every night, once she was off work and driving Zoey home, her mother would sit down and do her best to read and speak to the child, hoping beyond the pale it would help her out. And it did! She just needed a bit more help. They wrung their hands and hoped kindergarten would get her the support she needed - after all, it's not like they could afford preschool.
Zoey did not take well to her routine being disturbed.
Too many new places and faces - she clung to her mother screaming and crying, unable to calm down, even after she left. The administration and her mom worked together to try and slowly get her used to the school - calling in from work to sit in class with her. This, paired with her speech issues, isolated her from the rest of the class fairly quickly. No one wanted to hang out with a weird crybaby.
No one except Duncan, that is. Perhaps relieved to find someone else who didn't talk much - though his issue was far different from Zoey's - speaking an entirely different language. Still - he was silly and friendly and made Zoey feel less afraid and alone at school, so she clung to him. The two were inseperable for that first year, slowly improving until they weren't so far behind the other kids. Neither of them were really geniuses though - but it was nice to have a friend.
As she caught up, she slowly started befriending the other kids, until school was less scary. There were still awful bullies and mean kids who made her time there worse, but she had enough things to look forward to. Her parents were relieved to finally see her talking. With the kid out of the house, some of the panic had stabilised. Her father found a job that he could work at from home - giving him more time to spend with Zoey in between orders. Her mother picked up a second job, with the caregiving relief that Dad had provided. They could finally think about getting married - a small affair, with a little Zoey as the flower girl, skipping down the aisle and throwing flowers everywhere. And with all of that sorted, maybe... more kids? They'd always wanted a big family - especially since her father had been an only child, envious of her mother's family get togethers and how rauccous it always was. Besides, with Zoey being older, that meant a third pair of hands to help out with more kids.
Two boys were added to the family. Zoey went from excited, to angry - as these loud, irritating beasts stole all her parents attention!! - to excited again, as they got a bit older and less screamy, and, in her opinion, cuter - friends she could always hang out with and dress up and help out around the house. She loved them to bits!

ADOLESCENCE: It happened slowly.
First it was Duncan - he started acting weird. Always busy. Didn't have time to play anymore. Losing her best friend was rough, but... she was busy with her little brothers and schoolwork, and she still had Simon, so...
Then the girls started talking about boys. Zoey didn't know when it happened. Everyone started dating. Why? She wasn't even interested in any of the boys! She found herself keeping up with less and less of their conversations - boys and makeup and fashion and... no one wanted to play pretend anymore. They pushed her out until she had the common sense to just leave.
But then it was everyone else! A new boy transferred to school, and all of a sudden, Simon was all over him. Liam started spending all his time chasing after Chris and Paul. Martin moved away.
Suddenly, she found herself all alone. Everyone else had... changed in some sort of way, and she was just... just Zoey! She didn't know what was wrong with her. She spent a lot of time wandering the schoolyard alone, talking to the trees and any kind of critter she could find. They managed to bring her some comfort. Sitting in the back of the field, leaning against a tall birch tree, listening to the wind...
Hey - people follow Gaia, right?
She took out a few books from the library, perhaps looking to fill this new hole with religion - replace friends with the trees - digging deep into the texts of the priests of Gaia. The delicate balance of nature and keeping it safe resonated deeply with her. She traced a world tree onto a little disc of bolsa wood she picked up from the dollar store, tying it around her neck. She told her parents she wanted to go vegetarian. They wanted to know how the hell they were going to afford that sort of lifestyle in Lacuna. She inherited the food budget and began shopping for the family - helping her Dad out in the kitchen, researching different ways to provide a healthy, vegetarian lifestyle for cheap. A lot of the books suggested growing your own food. Hey - they had a backyard! Her dad was on board. Together they built a garden and began caring for their own plants. Zoey devised a mechanism to make watering the plants easier. She began devising of a few mechanisms - all this research made her realise how much she enjoyed it - solving puzzles and constructing things together. Her dad called her his little engineer - and she beamed with pride. Maybe she didn't need friends, maybe... a purpose was enough. If her brothers are safe at home and her family well fed and her garden full and her devotion to Gaia pure - did she need friends?
Transfers are pretty rare, so they're a pretty big deal, when they happen. That said - everyone seemed to collectively agree they wanted nothing to do with the new one - a strange boy named Joakim, with a weird accent and even weirder mannerisms. He didn't seem to want anything to do with everyone else either - sitting in the back of the class, snapping more often than not. Constantly getting into fights and getting into trouble. Maybe she was still bitter about Lewis taking Simon from her - maybe she thought the new boy seemed lonely like her - maybe she was just desperate for a friend. She slowly began approaching the boy, offering him some food, showing him the latest gizmo she was working on, reptile she had adopted into a glass jar - whatever she could to get a conversation going. At first he would stare at her awkwardly, accept whatever she had given him, and stalk off. But eventually, he started warming up to her, staying to chat, even bringing her the odd thing - she couldn't believe it was working! They started spending all their time together, especially after... something. Unsure what happened. But she had his attention now. She was relieved! She finally had a friend! He was like the cool older brother she always wanted. He wasn't nearly as scary as he led on - a soft spoken sweetie under all that anger. He would help her garden and tell her stories about all the different things he had seen. She didn't really like physical contact, but he liked to hold her, and eventually she managed to get used to it before finally enjoying it. Reminded her of how affectionate Duncan used to be... Maybe everything wasn't so bad after all?
The girls started teasing her about her boyfriend. No amount of protesting would convince them that they weren't in love. But they weren't! They were just friends! But the girls kept getting into her head - stupid, he likes you! You like him too, obviously, why else would you hang out with him? Zoey rolled this emotion around in her stomach. No. No! That's gross. That's awful. They would never be in love. They were just friends! She didn't know why she found it so distressing. It wormed its way into her core, keeping her up at night. No, no she would never. She would never! Right?
He's unable to finish asking, before Zoey panics - a YES leaving her mouth before she can think about it, burying her face into his chest. Surprised, he hugs her. Zoey slowly realises she has a boyfriend now. She worries how that will change things!
Fortunately, it doesn't seem to - though the girls keep asking her weird stuff that she doesn't appreciate!! No they haven't kissed - ew!
Everything goes back to normal, or - as normal as it was. Her parents ask her if she's made any other friends yet. Can't rely on your boyfriend for everything! She doesn't even know where to start, though she feels less scared with Joakim by her side. Maybe now that she has a boyfriend, she can finally get along with the other girls, keep up with them. Chris invites everyone to his birthday party. They haven't talked in years, but... hey, Joakim? You go to parties, right?

ACADEMY: She didn't even have time to pack. One minute she's in the livingroom with her family and Joakim as they all hold her hands and try to calm her down and figure out what happened. Next thing she knows, she's inside an interrogation room for ten straight hours, being repeatedly drilled by a succession of men, all yelling at her in different ways. She manages to choke out the truth between sobs and gasps a small handful of times. They won't answer any of her questions about what they found, or what happened -
What happened?! She finds herself in a holding cell all alone, no liquid in her system left to cry, just shaking and dry-heaving into the air. Is he okay?! Why won't they tell her?! How could you be so useless, Zoey?! Why didn't you do something?!
She can't really be cursed - can she?! She panics until she passes out.
The next few days are a blur - a lot of bars and metal and handcuffs and big men in dark uniforms handling her - too many questions and not enough will in her body to answer them. A long drive in the back of a cruiser and paperwork before she finds herself in a new four-bed room - already crammed, with three, deeply unimpressed girls looking at her. The girls all have ears. After a moment, she realises she's at the Academy. In her arms are the uniform. Oh -
So she really - she really is, she really is... The girls ask her what she did to get here. Another panic attack rips through her. She finds herself waking up in a bed in the nurse's office. The nurse tells her she caused a scene, and to calm down. She staggers back to the room. All her roommates think she's a freak and ignore her.
She... she probably is.
It takes a few weeks and several phonecalls and a visit from her family to finally move past the shock and fully grasp what had happened. It takes even longer to begin to fully cope with it - Cursed? Cursed?! She can't be cursed, she can't be - her parents hold her hands and smile at her, but they all know - there's no way, there's no way -
But she doesn't want to die!
But she can't even call it unfair! It's not like she didn't do something horrible! Something horrible... Every direction she comes at it from is miserable. She wishes she never went to that stupid party. She wishes she wasn't such a coward! Joakim said everything is okay, no one's - dead or anything, or arrested, or anything, but... but... She couldn't have gotten cursed over nothing.
Nothing...
Her grades drop. Every social interaction is a nightmare. She can't get herself under control. She can't accept this! She tries her best to not think about it, but how can you not, how can you not?! Her life is on a timer. Someone got hurt. Over and over again she returns to the same wall. She doesn't understand how she's the freak here. How is everyone so calm?! How can everyone else just talk about boys and eat lunch? She spirals out of her mind.
She finds a gecko. She has no earthly idea how the hell it got here, but - it's squished up in the corner of the room, and she carefully extends a hand out. This is no place for a lil guy like this! Probably one of the girls who smuggle contraband, did someone try to buy a pet? That's awful... She holds it in her hands. She should turn it in. But everything seems less bleak with the lil guy in her arms. Unable to resist, she takes him in, and calls her parents, asking for a favour. Considering it's the most coherent she's sounded in weeks - they easily agree. Her roommates range from neutral to excited about the lizard, and she names him Teep at her youngest brother's suggestion. Everything sucks, but - it sucks a little less with a friend. She finally starts to snap out of it. Focus on today, Zoey, it'll be okay. It'll be okay.
Her anxiety had always been pretty bad - a shy and nervous child - she'd already been diagnosed with a panic disorder in highschool, but it quickly got much worse at the Academy. Her jumpiness skyrocketed, her appetite dropped, it got harder to sleep - she became incredibly nervous around drinks in general, only drinking water she'd poured herself for her first year at the Academy. She started to calm down slowly, but it was hard when the girls around her were so awful all the time - especially Kathy - a relentlessly mean bully who seemed hellbound and determined to get the truth of Zoey's crime out of her - something she'd been unable to admit to anyone outside of her police confession.
It goes much the same - having spent a year and change at the Academy, running from most and slowly trying to calm down, she's doing a lot better than when she first arrived - but far from how she was prior to her curse at all. It takes her a bit to notice one of the new students - a strange girl named Maya, with a weird religion and even weirder mannerisms. She didn't seem to want anything to do with everyone else either - sitting in the back of the class, snapping more often than not. Constantly running away and getting into trouble. It felt familiar, in a strange way. Slowly, and cautiously, she approached the girl much the same way she had approached Joakim all those years ago - maybe - maybe she was also just lonely? Maybe she was just desperate to have her only friend back. Maya is much nicer once approached than Joakim was - and it doesn't take long, before she finds herself in the library late at night, having spent the last few hours chatting. She lets out a breath of relief. Maybe things really are getting better? She calls her parents and tells her Dad about her new friend.
Her dad asks if they're sin or repent, and what their crime is. She realises she never asked. He gives her a lecture she can't really argue with, but she resolves that asking, well... she knows what that's like to be asked.
Her grades slowly improve back to where they were. She slowly returns to some sort of new baseline of normal - an anxious mess, but not as destitute as she was upon arrival. There's only one issue - one rapidly approaching hurdle, one inescapable conclusion she can't avoid, as time continues its cruel march, inevitably, inevitably, with her 18th birthday behind her, and the construction of the new Academy nearing its final touches, inevitably...

ADULTHOOD: She wakes up in a different place, again. This one is different, though - as she stares at a deeply unfamiliar ceiling, looking out the window to see unfamiliar landscape... she's not at the Academy anymore. Whatever they put in her system prevents her from screaming about it in a matching way to the panic attack that sent her here in the first place, which is a surreal feeling - a voice in the back of her head screaming, in a way she can't quite hear. It seems she's been sent to some sort of psychiatric facility, after the massive panic attack she had. The Academy was done construction, they were meant to move in, her bags were all packed, Teep waiting, but... when they came to get her, she couldn't. She never freaked out so hard in her life. She remembered three men pinning her to the floor, and something sharp, and now...
You've gotten out of control.
Zoey staggers through the halls of the facility like a ghost. Everything feels surreal. Maybe it's suddenly being surrounded by humans again - white walls and sterile floors. Maybe it's the sedation. Either way, it's a lot of closed rooms and conversations with strangers in white coats, groups of people her age but not cursed, staring at her with wide-eyes and gossiping amongst themselves. She's diagnosed with something called OCD - they tell her she obsessively panics as a way to dodge responsibility.
It tracks.
We think repentance will be good for you. You're already Repent, now it's time to pull yourself together and work hard, Zoey.
I will do better, she writes into the journal they gave her. I will do better. I will do better. I will do better. She wants to believe it so badly. She has to... for her family, for Joakim, for herself... for...-
Her bags are packed and it's time to go. She gets out of the car, staring up nervously at the Academy. Finally, finally she's - actually here, it's... it's all so real, it's... it's time to repent, huh...
She raps her knuckles against each other and steps forward.

BEST MEMORY: From this distance, it's a lot better, less loud - her mom laughs and pulls her close as she shivers in the late autumn air. In the distance, over the hill they're sitting on, the neighbouring city is firing off fireworks. They fill the sky and dazzle. It's one of the prettiest things Zoey has ever seen.

WORST MEMORY: Just some water, you'll calm down, you'll be able to think. She rubs the cold water into her pores with trembling hands, letting out a shaky breath. It's okay, Zoey, just think, think, think! What do we do? What do we do? She looks up in the mirror. Her reflection has ears. It takes her a moment to process.
No - NO-

SHORT-TERM GOALS: Try not to wind up back at the psych ward, probably. It should be - it should be going on missions and starting all of that, but... but for now, for now it's just... you're okay, Zoey! Just keep being okay!

LONG-TERM GOALS: Graduate and get out of here. What's even the point of planning past that? There's no way she's getting out of here alive, ah... help! Help!!

INTERNAL CONFLICT: She needs to be braver, she needs to be stronger, she needs to make sure this never happens again...

EXTERNAL CONFLICT: Why is he here?! She's not ready!!

CURRENT CONCERN: What isn't currently concerning her?! Maya got possessed! Her roommate is acting in ways that make her worried! Duncan is here! Miranda is here! Her new friends all have so many problems! Celeste has a heart condition that could kill her at any moment! AAAAAA

VERBAL

ACCENT: PNW Canadian

VERBAL TIC: Um - uh - I think - Oh -

CATCHPHRASE: ...I think.

SPOKEN LANGUAGE: English, a bit of French

ARTICULATION: Speaks very quietly and fairly monotone, tends to mumble a lot. Is pretty hard to hear overall.

BREATHING PATTERN: Fast and irregular - tends to forget to breathe a lot.

NONVERBAL

BODY MOVEMENT: Doesn't do too many big movements but is almost always fidgeting

EXPRESSION: Doesn't have many big expressions - usually just small ones

EMOTIONAL STATE: Quiet, usually anxious

BODY POSTURE: Slouches a LOT - she feels awkward being this tall, and also... she can't hear the people below her!

WALKING STYLE: Walks a bit slow, whether it's due to taking in the scenery or nervously looking around...

SITTING STYLE: Tries to keep good posture, until she gets really into something or talking to someone and starts leaninggg

SLEEPING STYLE: Curls up into a little ball! Can't sleep on her back.

ABILITIES

Can shoot fireworks! Patchew!

Can use her fireworks to propel herself into the air and travel greater distances! They also break her fall quite nicely.

TALENTS

Naturally good at math and science - it all clicks neatly in her brain! Just not in a way that translates too well to tests...

Naturally pretty quick! In another life, she could have been a track star.

SKILLS

Pretty good green thumb. Grows beautiful plants!

Good at fixing things! She studies an item for a while, figures out how it works, and figures out... how to fix it!

TRIVIA

Her scarf is a gift from her grandma - she's been wearing it religiously her whole life! She gets pretty anxious and uncomfortable without it...

Did a LOT of speech therapy as a kid. The school eventually gave up. Whatever. She's coherent enough. She struggles a lot with communicating information and often assumes others can follow her various internal lines of thought, which leads to a lot of piecing her sentences together and reverse-engineering the point.

Had a bad habit of bringing animals home her entire childhood - mostly bugs and caterpillars inside of glass jars, but she's also snuck cats, dogs, snakes, a raccoon once into the house... How can she resist? They're so cute! Pleaseeee Mom??

Almost every single one of her close friends has been an artist of some description - she LOVES art and adores artists for their ability to create. She's tried many different pursuits, but she is squarely a science-brained girl, so she merely lives vicariously through those around her. If you make her something, she will adore it forever.

HOBBIES

Gardening!

Foraging! Finding food and turning it into a delicious meal to feed yourself and your family... that's what it's all about!

REFSHEET

DESIGN NOTES

Link to full image

Hair is cut at a blunt angle, its longer in the front and shorter in the back

Pointy features, big eyes

Fairly shapeless, lanky, inverted triangle bodytype. No hips, no ass.

Usually slouching/very closed body language

Almost always wearing her scarf! She gets anxious without it.

While transformed, if she gets too excited, she begins sparkling with little sparkler-style fireworks

MOODBOARD

PLAYLIST

purity ring - peacefall

florence & the machine - dog days are over

iyowa - kyu kurarin

(hatsune miku) - botanical garden

ATTITUDE

TOWARDS STRANGER: Pretty nervous! Does her best to be polite, but is pretty quiet and shy-

TOWARDS ACQUAINTANCE: Awkward, will try to stop herself from rambling and stutters a bit more

TOWARDS FRIENDS: More comfortable! Will ramble on and on. Happy to help if she can and quick to hide behind them if something spooks her!

TOWARDS FAMILY: Does her best to be responsible and work hard! She's most comfortable around her family and tends to tell her parents everything, especially her dad. She has a lot of fun hanging out with her brothers! At least they still like playing pretend!

TOWARDS LOVERS: Humm well nothing changed between her and Joakim after they started dating so!

TOWARDS RIVAL: Honestly don't think Zoey is competitive enough to have rivals

TOWARDS ENEMY: Wary and cautious, will freak out easier. Will take quite a while to regain her trust.