InsaneJournal

NAME: Ophelia Charlotte Stover

DOB/AGE: August 12, 1846 (age 21)

SEXUAL PREFERENCE: heterosexual

ETHNIC BACKGROUND: Danish, but born in America

OCCUPATION: writer for Macnamara Press

FAMILY:
father; Josiah (age 50, widower; living in New Shelby; gunsmith/mayor)
mother; Bergitte (d. 1860, influenza)
brother; Cassius (age 30, married; living in New Shelby)
daughter; Cordelia (age 29, married; living in San Bernadino)
daughter; Desdemona (age 27, married; living in San Bernadino)
brother; Fabian (age 26, single; living in New Shelby)
brother; Duncan (d. 1862 at age 18, Battle of Shiloh)

CURRENT RESIDENCE: New Shelby, with her father and brother

APPEARANCE:
Ophelia is petite at 5'3", with long, straight blonde hair and guileless blue eyes. She's the very picture of a proper little lady, despite the devilish glint in her eyes at times, and the fact that her dresses aren't always in pristine condition. Keeping her skirts from soiling is hardly what one thinks about when in pursuit of a story, after all.

PERSONALITY:
Despite Ophelia's pixieish appearance, she's a lot less innocent than she looks; being the youngest of six gave her a healthy sense of self-preservation, and a touch of tomboyishness that has served her well against her older brother. She's cheerful and outgoing, if a bit of a perfectionist, and won't hesitate to tell someone when she thinks they're doing things wrong. She's also the apple of her father's eye, and has learned how far she can push him before he pushes back. She's a sharp observer, and doesn't miss much, especially when she might be able to get an article out of it -- and since her father is in the public eye as New Shelby's mayor, she's likely to verify her all her facts twice before submitting any article.

SPECIAL SKILLS/WEAPONS:
Given that her father is the town gunsmith, Ophelia is a crack shot with a pistol or a shotgun, since he taught all of his children how to arm and defend themselves, including the girls. She inherited her father's love of the written word, and has honed her own writing skills to the point that she's reasonably satisfied with it -- satisfied enough to answer Mister Hyde's ad for writers for the local paper, at least.

WEAKNESSES:
Ophelia has very little in the way of patience, especially with other people who see or do things differently. She's quite convinced that her way is the right way, and anyone who sees differently is misguided or just plain wrong. She's a bit spoiled, being the baby of the family, and a bit of a perfectionist -- it's not unusual for her to pore over an article dozens of times until it's just right, in her mind.

HISTORY:
Ophelia was born on August 12, 1844, the baby of the Stover family. Ophelia was very much a daddy's girl, and she grew up adoring her father. Jed Stover was Ophelia's hero, and her fondest childhood memories are of curling up at his feet to listen to him read to her, no matter what the material. It didn't occur to her that her given name was unusual until she was in grade school, and the teasing from her classmates prompted her to ask her father why she was named 'Ophelia'. He told her the story of Hamlet, and although she wasn't really sure she liked being named after a mad princess, at least she was a princess, or close enough. She grew used to her unusual name in time, and has become quite proud of it.

Ophelia grew up playing with Fabian and Duncan more often then not, since they were the closest of her siblings in age. She became the two older boys' mascot, of sorts, since she didn't complain about getting dirty or anything 'girly', a cardinal sin in the eyes of small boys. Because of her close relationship with the two of them, she developed a tomboyish streak, and never had any trouble diving headfirst into anything they suggested, heedless of the consequences.

It wasn't until Ophelia was around eight years old that she developed any close friendships with any girls her own age. She befriended another little girl at school named Emma, and they two of them were inseparable for several years, until Emma's family moved. The friendship knocked the rough edges off of a childhood spent almost entirely in the company of boys, since Emma was a great deal more ladylike, and Ophelia admired her sweet temperament, although she never managed to match it. By the time Emma left, Ophelia was thirteen and finally settling into public behavior that was more acceptable for a young lady.

The shift in her behavior proved to be timely, since her mother fell ill the next year. Birgette's death hit the family hard, and since both of her sisters were either married or preparing to start households of their own, Ophelia was left to take care of things around the house. It was difficult to try to fill her mother's shoes, especially when her brother Duncan ran away from home to join the Union Army.

Ophelia didn't quite understand why he felt the need to fight in a war so far from home, but she was terribly proud of her brother's bravery -- until they received word that he'd been killed in battle. The news hit her almost as hard as it hit their father, and Ophelia's previously sunny disposition dimmed. It took months for her to recover her good humor, which she only managed to cheer her father's spirits. When Jed Stover decided to move what was left of his family to New Shelby, it never would have crossed Ophelia's mind to stay behind; she was young still, with no permanent ties to San Bernadino, and her father would need her to manage the household for him and Fabian. She's of an age that she should be thinking about marriage, but she's convinced herself that her father needs her more than some half-grown man-child ever could.

Despite her duties to her father, Ophelia still feels that she should be contributing to the family in some more worthwhile manner -- and when she saw an ad in the local newspaper calling for writers, she thought she might just have discovered a way to supplement the family income. Mr. Hyde was in need of writers, and Ophelia had come by her love of reading and writing honestly; she gathered together several copies of letters she'd written to her sisters back in San Bernadino, each filled with humorous and biting little anecdotes about living in the small town, and took them to Mr. Hyde herself. Her writing style wasn't ornate, but precise and descriptive, and she felt she'd do well writing daily articles about the town's happenings.

Of course, that meant she'd have to keep her ears open in case something newsworthy happened in town...

MUN: Stacey
PB: Maggie Lawxon

See Ophelia's in-game
TIMELINE

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Random facts about Ophelia:

...Coming soon...