[quote=@Dervish]
I absolutely love how you describe appearances; it’s got this very poetic flourish to it that makes the imagery pop without feeling superfluous. I can picture Joy so vividly even without having seen your lovely artwork for her! I know you’re going for a kindly and gentle souled character and your word choice here really helps convey that sort of personality without even having to describe that aspect about Joy; you just have this beautiful talent for finding the best words that carry so much weight. It makes the sudden appearances of scars and old wounds that much more jarring and horrible; it’s like a splash of cold water while you’re dreaming. It makes you feel compassion for this character, and we haven’t even got to the bio yet!
If I had to find a way to describe Joy’s personality in a single word, it would be “seasonal”. There’s something about how she carries herself where she expects her encounters with people to be fleeting and temporary, but instead of finding that discouraging and a “why bother” sort of situation, she really takes the time to cherish the moments she has with people, and there’s just this genuine warmth and moment to moment love that really sticks out about her. It’s so easy to go with an orphan character who is distrustful and really negatively affected by their experiences, but Joy seems to have transcended that where possible, even after enduring abuse and carrying scars from the experience. There’s an inner strength to her that she’s weathered so many storms and instead of lashing out, she faces down her demons with a smile. I feel like she’s yearning for love and acceptance and a place where things stay for a change, but she’s not trying to force anything, and I find that really admirable.

“I have never been able to cast a spell, but I like to believe that the other orphans and I created magic by the fireplace from pure imagination.” < I quite love this line. It’s so sincere and it really makes it feel like there’s more magic than just the spells you can cast, but intangible things carry their own sort of spell. It’s just a delightful aside.
“across the border to High Rock where I wound up on the outskirts of Jehanna.” < Something that’s really easy to miss, but Jehanna hasn’t actually been founded yet! The closest city to the dock area that will one day become Jehanna is actually Orsinium, of all places. I’d say Evermore might be the next most feasible place, as it’s not too far away from the border of Hammerfell and Skyrim; I imagine a lot of travellers passed through there. 
“Her temper was coarse, in a way that I could only liken to a saber-cat with a thorn wedged in her paw.” < another lovely descriptive bit!

I am *so* glad that Minasi didn’t take Joy to the brothel to work as a prostitute. That would have been super dark, and not that that’s a bad thing, but it was a pleasant surprise Joy was brought on to take care of the establishment and the people within it. It really shows the origins of her motherly and kind ways where this surrogate mother might have been harsh, but she clearly cared about Joy in a way that’s unique to her and maybe not ideal. Her parting gift is actually touching, and it’s really interesting to see how she shaped Joy into the woman she would grow up to be.
“tended to agents of the Empire.” < Worth noting, the Empire’s more or less been collapsed without an Emperor for a long while now;

“It began with the assassination of the last Akaviri Potentate, Savirien Chorak, and every one of his heirs on one bloody night during Sun's Dawn of 2E 430, by orders of the Night Mother. She hired members of the Morag Tong,[1] which then became the Dark Brotherhood in the 430th year of the Second Era.[2] It ended in the 854th year of the Second Era with the establishment of the Third Empire by Tiber Septim. 
The Interregnum was a time of great turmoil. The Reman Empire, which had survived through the Akaviri Potentates, fell, and resulted in a series of "insurrections, misrules, and loss of power."[3] The Chim-el Adabal, or Amulet of Kings, was lost amid the "petty wars of gone-heathen kings." In Cyrodiil, the East and the West fought one another.[4] “

The Three Banners War started in 2E 582 and we are at 2E 600 in the timeline. For Joy living in High Rock, she’d be encountering Covenant soldiers from Hammerfell, High Rock, and Wrothgar. The High King’s personal guard is called the Lion’s Guard. 
You have Speechcraft written as two separate skills; you can combine the two, even if they have different purposes. Maybe you could sub it out for something like Mercantile? She did work in a Brothel for ages; I imagine she had some hand in the accounting side of things and taking payment from clients.

Joy is a, well, absolute Joy of a character to read! I greatly appreciate you bringing her into this and I don’t see anything about her that’s brought up reason for concern. If you have any questions about my points or suggestions, don’t be a stranger! 


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thank you babe <3