SCP-1236 is a set of four paintings, each appearing as a simple, colorful figure in the style of artist Keith Haring when viewed indirectly, such as through a camera or mirror. However, when viewed directly, each painting shows a different, personalized image to the viewer. SCP-1236-1 shows the viewer's ideal physically and mentally perfect person, SCP-1236-2 shows the viewer as a perfect version of themselves, SCP-1236-3 shows their romantic partner as perfect, and SCP-1236-4 shows the viewer as a horribly repulsive person with magnified flaws. Due to the severe emotional distress and even suicides caused by direct viewing, especially of SCP-1236-4, the paintings are kept covered with black fabric in locked cases and can only be uncovered when staff are safely behind them.
Penelope was a platypus at the Bronx Zoo in the 1940s and 50s, notable for her disinterest in her male counterpart, Cecil, and for "faking" a pregnancy to receive extra food rations. She repeatedly made headlines for her antics, including rejecting Cecil's advances and leading zookeepers to believe she was nesting eggs, only for them to discover she had no offspring. Penelope eventually escaped the zoo in 1957, with officials believing she fled to avoid Cecil's continued courtship attempts, and was presumed lost.
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