Welcome to the roleplaying journal of Penny, a tree-hugging do-gooder from the epic web thingy that is Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.  If you have anything at all to say about my portrayal of her, go ahead and leave a message.  I've used all of my limited computer skills to try to allow anonymous commenting, so enjoy?

Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated.  You're also more than welcome to hit me up for plotting here!

...There's also no canon evidence that she hugs trees, but I like describing her that way.  Sorry.

Links:
In-City Relationships

You know the day's going to be interesting when your reflection starts talking to you when you're brushing your teeth.  I don't know exactly what's going on here, but I'm thinking it's safe to say that today?  Mirrors are bad. 

I'd like to clear up a few things, too.  If you saw me during the curse where everyone was speaking French, that wasn't really me.  At all.  I mean, it was, since it was physically me, but I don't work at a bordello and I don't know any French... except for the words to "Lady Marmalade," and I only know what about half of those mean.  Everything about the curse is still kind of fuzzy.  I remember most of the people I met, though.  It'd be great to meet you again now that we're all uncursed.

Okay.  In other news, there've been a lot of people leaving.  For anyone who knew them, Emma Woodhouse, Robin, Alice (the one with brown hair), and Billy, aka Dr. Horrible, are all gone.  I checked the Hall, pictures're up, and... yep. 

Last, if there's anyone out there who's pretty new to the City and needs anything--food, a coat, a bed, a map, whatever--look for the blue sign that says "Welcome Center."  It's straight out from the fountain.  Go into that building and we'll see what we can do.  If anyone else is looking for somewhere mirror-free to hang out, you're totally welcome, too.  We can make a party out of it.

( [Flagged to Welcome Center Staff // Not Filtered] )

Is everyone doing okay today? Staying away from mirrors?


[ooc: Anyone who is around Penny is free to notice (or not notice, at your discretion) that her pep is rather fake.  People keep leaving. ;-;]

I've been thinking a lot about the Welcome Center since Emma--Miss Woodhouse, sorry--made some suggestions about it.  Some of her ideas were really strange, but it's so great that she's excited about making things better around here.  I don't think I've ever met anyone with that kind of enthusiasm.

[pause]  But the Center.  Right.  I was wondering if there would be any way to figure out a schedule?  You know, so there's always someone there in case anyone comes in.  Freckles, Angela--I don't really want to ask either of you to do anything since you've both helped me out a ton, but would either of you consider volunteering for a shift or something?  You don't need to, but you're so good with people.  Freckles--I know you don't believe me, but you've got to be one of the sweetest people in the world.  And Angela?  No one can meet you without liking you.  It's like you two were--

[significantly longer pause]

Wow.  Completely lost my train of thought there. If I can just...

[clicks, general fumbling]

Or not. Not erasing is fine, too. So there's either a curse or I'm being incredibly stu--

[end audio feed]

[The video has a hand-held, Blair Witch quality to it, as Penny is making this entry while walking through Xanadu. The snowy garden is visible behind her (if, that is, you can see it past her outrageous outfit, which consists of a snowflake sweater with a bright blue winter coat over it, rainbow gloves, two scarves, and a fuzzy gray hat with ear flaps).]

So... that curse today? I thought I'd, you know... get out of the City for a little while, take a break from the hate, have a nice walk. Great idea, right? Right.  [From the look on her face, she disagrees.]  Except for the part where I overestimated by navigation skills and I have no idea where I am. I mean, I'm in the garden, but I don't know where I am in relation to where I want to be, which is... pretty much anywhere that's not here.

Does anyone out there have any tips for getting back to the main part of the City? Should I be looking for moss or calculating the angle of the sun or something?  I'm somewhere between... two dead flowerbeds.  And some trees.  Help, please?

[She pockets the device and the video goes blank.  Those with sharp hearing might pick up on a cheery but muffled Penny rendition of "When You're Smiling".  After a moment, she stops, retrieves the device, and adds the following.]

And I don't want to hear anything about how much you hate people who get lost, how much you hate redheads... how much you hate people wearing hats... none of that.  I don't hate people who hate things, but I could do with a lot less of it.

[Beat.] 

In before "I hate people who don't hate people," too.


[ooc: I've been wanting to do a totally pointless post like this for a while.  Don't ask.  If anyone else is wandering around Xanadu and wants action, I'm good with that!]

It's snowing!  First white Christmas ever, which makes it about a hundred times better than most Christmases and most Christmases are pretty awesome, so that's definitely an achievement.  It's really weird, not being at home for the holiday.  I feel like I should be dishing out soup or something. 

[A pause for reflection.  Not a long one, as a long pause might result in unpleasant homesick feelings.]

Anyway!  I could've done without the crazy ax-murdering Santa, but it was nice hearing about everyone's families yesterday.  I wish the City could bring friends and families here... they're such an important part of Christmas, and I bet more than a few people're kind of lonely and homesick today.  But we have to work with what we have, right?  And what we have here is amazing.  I've made so many friends that I wouldn't trade for anything.

Speaking of friends, I have presents for you guys.  I'll get them to you a little later when I head out for a walk.  Walking in the snow on Christmas Eve--that's incredible!  Perfect weather for caroling.  Does anyone here do that?  

One more thing.  Blue, Rosella... I've kept practicing and Hiiragi's been helping me out, so this should be better than the last time.  Okay...

[There's a short pause accompanied by the sounds of Penny retrieving the violin.  After a moment, she plays "Greensleeves" (or "What Child Is This?", if you're in a holiday mood) and, immediately after, "The Holly and the Ivy."  She's still not perfect, but there's been improvement since the last time she played on the network.]

Better?  Worse?  Keep your day job, Penny?

...So that's that.  I hope everyone's having a good day celebrating whatever it is you celebrate with the people you care about most.


( Gift List! )

[ooc: First gift list that was so long that I had to alphabetize it!  Feel free to make action happen if your character wants to run into Penny while she's delivering gifts/cookies.  If you don't know if your character knows Penny and gets cookies... assume they do.  And let me know.  I try to keep track of the people Penny should know IC, but I lose track.

brb, celebrating the holiday by playing BEATLES ROCK BAND OMG with the little brother.♥]

Okay. So for most of the day? Everything electronic I went near either stopped working, fizzled out, or exploded (except the network thing, but I think it's probably magic or something). Things exploding... this is becoming a theme.

On the plus side, Raikov's attracted every cat in the City to the Center. It's a whole sea of fluffy adorable here.

Totally out of left field, but if you don't have any warm clothes stop by the Center and we'll see what we can do for you. It's getting cold out there, so you might want to think twice about running around without a coat. And without socks. We have a lot of socks, so go ahead and get some if you need them. Thanks, Angela.

[The network device reveals Penny, looking rather distraught, sitting at a table with one of the dreaded boxes. She addresses the network while watching the box carefully as if it's going to spring up and attack her.]

Why's this happening?

[She gives the box a look. Perhaps she expects it to explain itself.]

It's just a button. Just a--

But everything that's happening? I don't... this doesn't make sense. What do they get out of this? The deities, I mean. What do they want?

[Penny sniffs. She sounds like she's either on the verge of tears or on the edge of hysteria.] Why do they do any of it? And all at once? It was bad enough when Billy left, and then now all of this? Vicki, Tohru, Raikov, Harry Saxon, Rosella's Sam, everyone else... leaving, dying, or dead. It's all over the network.

[Now there are proper tears.]

And you know--you know what really sucks? There's nothing anyone can do. There's nothing that can help. It's not like home. Things can be fixed there, but here? No matter how hard you try, no matter how hard you hope, no matter how much you want to make things better... there's no way. And there's no reason why it has to be this way, and no reason for the deities to do these things, but they still happen.

[She suddenly stands, grabs the box, and throws it against the nearest wall with a surprising amount of anger.] Are you happy, deities? Are you getting what you want from us?! The--

[Penny stops mid-rant as the box vanishes. She's too busy gaping to notice the sudden appearance of a photograph by the network device. Mildly stunned by what she just did, Penny blindly fumbles with the device and turns it off.]


[ooc: I wasn't going to do it, but I kind of underestimated how much Bad Stuff was going to come out of this curse (and, to be honest, I kind of want to curse my other pup in a ridiculous fashion to diffuse some of the angst, so a post by fluffy!kitten!Justin is pending).]

Look! A day without curses or people being killed! It feels like that doesn't happen too often anymore.

So. Angela's back, which isn't that great for her, but I'm glad (and how awful is that?). Billy's still gone. I don't know how long I should wait for him before clearing his things out, you know? The minute I start giving his stuff away he'll probably show up. Maybe it's worth a try. Oh, and I finally let the ducks go. Most of the ducks. Doris is staying--she's definitely an inside duck--but the rest seem pretty happy to have something bigger than a bathtub to paddle around in.

I hope they'll be okay.

Thanksgiving's coming up soon. How many people around here celebrate that? How many people want to celebrate it? I was thinking that maybe there could be a big Thanksgiving dinner that everyone could come to, even if they're not American and on board with that tradition. It'd be nice to set aside a little time to be thankful for what we have here.

Speaking of 'here'... why doesn't the City have a better name?

( Private to Captain Hammer // Entirely Hackable )


[ooc: Sorry for being gone. ._.; Pretend Penny (and Justin) have both been around as usual?

ETA: Also! This was here before this happened, please. Thank you. Darn murders.]

[The entry begins--perhaps not surprisingly, to those who have known Penny for a time--in the middle of a musical number. A rather downbeat musical number, no less.]

--say there's a better tomorrow
At the end of every day--
A ray of light down every tunnel,
A smile for every sorrow,
A happy tune to follow every note that pulls our hope astray.

But sometimes there's no silver lining
Pointing out the way
To days of future happiness
And I'm left looking, finding
Any pieces reminding me that it's okay.

It's not okay.
I'm not okay
But only for today.

[The song ends and, after a significant pause, Penny starts the entry as if no song occurred. Singing? What singing? There's no singing here.]

So that wasn't such a bad way to end the month, right? Sorry I missed all the Halloween parties! Things got kind of crazy at the Welcome Center after people started showing up, and--oh... note to self: Get more beds. It was nice, though. I don't think I've ever gotten to meet so many people all at once. And Death! I was totally freaked out when he first said hi, but he was such a sweet guy. He and his girlfriend, Life--and how cute is that?--even had a present for me. It was sort of a 'sorry you're dead' thing, which was completely unnecessary but really nice. Also? Death's on the pirate side in the pirates-versus-ninja debate. Good to know.

How's everyone doing? Still in one piece after all of that?

[Pause.]

Billy's gone. Just, you know... so you know, if you were looking for him. His picture was up and everything.

[A longer pause.]

Could I maybe talk someone into babysitting the Welcome Center for a couple days?  It's not hard... just hand out guides to anyone you see wandering around by the fountain, make sure they get what's going on, maybe hook them up with something to eat and a jacket.  Raikov's the only one living in back right now.  I usually feed him three times a day...

So that's that.


[ooc: Haven't done a musical entry for a bit, so... yes.  As usual, she isn't consciously revealing any inner thoughts in song form, so expect mild confusion if your character references that.  Penny's been getting progressively more disturbed by the friend-leaving thing that the City does, and Billy/Dr. Horrible's recent exit isn't going over well.  Soul-staring is a-okay if anyone drops by the apartment or wants to do this thing via video post.]