...In Characters

dell

dell could be described as a somewhat paradoxical person; curious and fun-loving, but petrified of anything new or unknown. she wants to try and branch out, to experience all kinds of things, but thoughts flood her mind... everything that could possibly go wrong, or maybe everything that could possibly go right, only to be dashed to the floor immediately after. and yet, she doesn't seem to have a sense of immediate realistic danger, especially if someone needs her help. she has been known to climb into small tunnels or up precarious ledges to retrieve things for complete strangers without a second of hesitation. yes, once she gets going, she can do anything - but the beginning is the scariest part. she tries though, often pushing herself past her limits and getting sick as a result. but it's fine. she always bounces back.

a series of traumatic incidents in dell's past have caused her to withdraw from the outside world, while not completely, to a definitely detrimental extent. she only barely finished high school, opting not to follow up on any secondary education due to the fear of ostracization. she's plenty talented, and very clever, but what is the point of it all when people around you will be needlessly cruel? whatever, whatever. who even cares...! is what dell tells herself, but she mourns how her life has gone.

dell is prone to psychotic episodes, mostly with tactile hallucinations, which cause her discomfort and sometimes pain. during one such episode, her hallucinations began getting to her much, much worse than usual, then suddenly stopped, and dell had found herself in a hallway. it seemed to go forward a short while, then turn sharply to the right; following it lead to another hallway, which lead to another, which lead to a fork in the road... and so on and so forth. a maze. with no sign of where she is or how she got there, there wasn't much to do other than keep going. eventually, she found a single door, and decided to go through it. of course, right? it could be an exit, after all. and at first, it seemed that it was, only... it also lead to a strange place that she didn't recognize, a world full of pipes and steam valves, of strange mechanisms she would never in her lifetime come to understand. but... it was better than the maze. anything was better than the maze. so she ventured inside, and started searching for answers.

personality

• closed-off - she doesn't have many options for reaching out to people, but even if she did, she probably wouldn't
• practical - she's very strategic and calculating in how she gets by in her day to day life, from what roads she walks to feel safe, to which words she uses to raise the least scrutiny from others
• scared - she feels she has good reason to be terrified, after what's happened to her in the past... but slowly, she's getting somewhere
• gentle - despite how harrowing it feels to interact with others, she always gives everyone the grace, dignity, and kindness they deserve, as best she can
• tough - she's still going, somehow, even after it all. somehow, somehow, somehow...

design notes

• her natural hair colour is dark brown, but she bleaches it orange; it always has a choppy look to it
• she wears a lot of layers, and almost exclusively skirts or dresses
• her shoes are almost always untied, no matter how well she tied them before
• she has freckles!
• she has thick eyebrows and sleepy-looking green eyes

motifs

• the minotaur; the labyrinth
• apple peels
• long steam pipes
• cute stickers
• doors

trivia

• she has schizophrenia and ptsd
• she dreams in black and white
• she's never eaten tomatoes before
• she has eczema, especially prominent on her face and hands, where she usually has bandaids on
• she can play the piano quite well

gallery

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