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name: irene holm
age: ~40, but looks younger
gender: cis female
occupation: former ballerina, currently a poor dance teacher in the provinces
sexuality: headcanon bisexual, played female-leaning
residence: various minor towns and villages in jutland, denmark
place of birth: copenhagen, denmark
status: single
romantic interest: i'm going to go wild and say, i am very into the sweet relation she nurses with the daughter of the town's pastor
__________



canon:
irene holm is the main character in the danish impressionist author, herman bang's short story by the same name. she is one of his 'quiet existences', portrayals of women trapped in poor situations in the denmark of his day and age. the short story was released in a newspaper in the late 1880's and published in a collection of short stories in 1890. bang himself was an author of some scandal, his first major work banned for several years in denmark, and he was - both by his contemporaries and later scholars - presumed gay.



setting:
unnamed smaller danish town, most likely in jutland (as the copenhageners simply go by 'those over there'), late 19th century. we're supposed to get the feeling that irene has been in multiple towns just like this one and will go on to teach in similar towns afterwards, too. it is not a special town, it is a town like all others. it also serves as contrast to the life she used to live as a corps dancer with the theatre where she would have earned a better living and heightened the living standards for her family and herself. she has fallen a long way.

however, i can pretty much place irene wherever. she would no doubt be willing to travel far and wide if she thought she could earn enough to sustain her mother and sister. or i could make up some other reason she'd be elsewhere in the world, yolo.



history:
she had the same hopes everyone else who pursues the arts do. stardom, the spotlight, applause and recognition, but irene's life would shape up very differently. she danced for a while as a corps dancer at the theatre under a ballet master who didn't like her or who considered her talents, but at some point (i'm going to assume before she turned 20), she was let go from her position and had to earn enough to provide for her mother and sister some other way. so now, irene holm travels around denmark and visits provincial towns, teaching dance classes by the season. it's not much, but it will have to do. it's a quiet existence, but she still hears the music - as if she were sixteen again, or ten, at the school, with the other girls whose friendship bracelets she still wears and whose names she still recognises on the cast listings for every performance that is announced 'over there'...



personality:
childish, gentle, frantic, artistic, dedicated, hard-working, fearful, emotional, not the brightest, a good teacher...



appearance:
short of stature, curly hair, a face that looks both young and old, worn...

OOC

contact: pm to this journal / thewriteway
active times/pace: cet/cest player, active sporadically throughout the day, most often online in the evening. slow to medium pace
brackets/prose: brackets pref, but will match, just note i'm slower with prose
offensive subjects/triggers: n/a



IC

physical affection: she'll be flustered and not know what to do with herself, but very receptive
physical violence: please, let's not
relationships: f/f pref, but willing to play her f/m if the chemistry is right
offensive subjects/triggers: she has a history of institutionalized bullying and abuse of power from a man in authority, themes of poverty and alienation