Que sera sera

★ Character Information ★

Character Name: Constance Blackwood
Character Age: 24 (+ 2 years in Duplicity)
Character Species: human
Current Health: reasonably good
Outfit: either 1950s ladylike dresses or Chanel-style ladies' suits

Character Canon: We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Link to History: Constance is a kind-hearted, helpful, loving, and completely agoraphobic young woman. She takes care of the mansion the Blackwoods live in, cooks all of the meals, and provides care for her invalid uncle Julien. She does all of this work without complaint and it's been shown that she did all of that work when her parents were still alive and likely could have hired a housekeeper or a cook. When Constance was younger, her mother, father, and aunt were all poisoned by arsenic. As Constance was the one responsible for the meals and had washed the dishes, it was assumed that Constance had done the deed and was arrested, though acquitted, for the crime. After the trial, Constance refused to leave the house, taking comfort in tasks which had once been necessary, refusing to leave the house or much further than the garden.

Six years pass. During this time, everyone is settled into their roles, Constance as the housekeeper, Julien as a man who'd lost his wife but plans to write a book about the tragedy, and of course Constance's eccentric sister Merricat who goes into the village, buys the groceries, and is tormented by the villagers as a living emblem of wealth, murder, and malice. Then, Cousin Charles Blackwood comes to town.

Immediately, Charles begins to ingratiate himself to Constance and it largely seems to be working, Constance thrilled at having a handsome young gentleman paying attention to her, loudly appreciating what she did around the house, and clearly trying to seduce her as a means of gaining the Blackwood wealth. Which Constance was completely oblivious to, only seeing a handsome young man promising her a means of escape from her life of servitude.

However, through a series of rapidly escalating confrontations between Charles and Merricat, the house winds up catching fire. While the fire is put out, Charles flees, Uncle Julien dies, and Constance and her sister are forced to escape to the outside where the villagers have gathered to watch the fire and loot the remains. Constance and Merricat are caught, Constance being passed from one village man to another, mocking her and pawing at her, ultimately throwing her to the ground. God only knows what else might have happened had another villager not intervened. The two then hide themselves in the woods.

After the looters leave and the sisters return from their run from the woods, Charles returns. At first, he tries to charm Constance back into letting him into the house and their lives once more. Constance is terrified and refuses. Charles then breaks into the house, pinning Constance to the floor as she screamed in terror. Merricat then bludgeoned Charles to death and the sisters bury him. Merricat admits to the murders and Constance says that she always knew and that their father was 'very wicked' to her. The two resolve to never leave what's left of their mansion again.
Canon Point: From the end of the novel, originally published in 1962.
Canon Iteration: CRAU
Canon Iteration Explanation: Constance spent two years on Duplicity as a submissive. At first, she had decent luck in finding a dominant, Souji Okita, who had another submissive already signed with, Himura Tomoe. Constance fell head over heels for Souji as he was only the second man to pay attention to her and he claimed to love her, too, swearing that he'd marry her and take her with him to Meiji-era Japan. This situation lasted almost two years with Constance merrily making a house for her dominant and his other submissive, secure in the knowledge that Souji loved her and wanted to be with her. However, he broke her heart when he told her that he ceased to love her and no longer wanted to be her dominant. Making matters worse was that it was revealed to her in a public setting, rather than telling her in private. So she had to flounder for a while, trying to find a dominant and regular sex partners. She chose to try and dress 'modern,' rather than her old styles and take a similar approach to sex. However, it never really took.

★ Folkmore Roles & Attributes ★

Skills: Cooking cleaning, designing and making clothes, gardening for both food and pleasure
Canon Abilities: none, she's a baseline human
Role: Familiar
Role Qualities/Attributes: sable cat ears and a tail, to match her hair
Role Reasoning: Because Constance is still suck between the roles of the homemaker she'd been when she'd been home an a 'modern,' liberated woman who goes after what she wants and does what she wants. Therefore, she can't be a Legend or a Myth, since Constance sees a Legend as someone who's secure in being 'good' (or, more old-fashioned) and a Myth is someone secure in being 'bad' (or, more modern). Also, back home Constance was trapped between Cousin Charles and Merricat. She was constantly making excuses for one to the other, trying to smooth social relations between them, and rationalizing each other's worst behavior to each other. Constance was almost a rope in a game of tug-of-war between the two family members, never feeling as though she had a real place with either--her position with Merricat had been badly shaken by the arrival of Charles and Charles knew that Constance wanted to get away from her life of servitude, spread her wings, and explore. Of course, it all would have been on Constance's dime as Charles was penniless.

★ Personality ★

Please choose one of the follow options for your personality section. Please clarify which option you have picked and, if option 2, which questions you are answering:

Option 2. Choose FOUR-FIVE of the following questions to answer and expand upon. You may choose a fifth question if you feel it is integral to your character's personality. Each answer has a 100-300 word requirement.

OPTION 2 QUESTIONS (PICK 4-5) 100-300 WORD LIMIT EACH:

What was the most traumatic experience your character endured? How did this change them? The murder of and trial for the murders of her parents and her aunt. Constance knew the entire time that her then-twelve year old sister Merricat was the one who'd actually carried out the murders, but Constance washed all of the dishes to destroy any presence of arsenic on them.

Constance was placed on trial for the murders, but the jury didn't convict her the implication being that the jury felt sorry for her and didn't want to put a pretty, delicate, well-bred young woman in jail. After Constance is freed, she retreats away from society almost completely. She becomes terrified of people, of the outdoors (except for her gardens), of being placed in a situation of gaining too much attention. That tendency continued while she was in Duplicity, but she forced herself to go along with the local customs and requirements because despite her fears, Constance is at her core a survivor.

What is the most important and defining relationship(s) in your character's life and why? Her little sister, Merricat. Constance had been taking care of Merricat and keeping her fed even before Merricat murdered their parents and aunt. After the deaths, their relationship turns incredibly co-dependent. Constance indulged and enabled Merricat in her peculiarities such as burying important or 'dangerous' objects, the latter to rid themselves of their power and the former to give strength. School for Merricat was out of the question, as Merricat was needed to go to the village to do the shopping and check out library books. Merricat was Constance's confidante, her rock, and her knight in shining armor simultaneously, though Constance didn't fully realize that until after Cousin Charles attempted to swindle the Blackwood sisters and assault Constance when he didn't succeed. Merricat kills Charles with no remorse and Constance admits to her sister that she knew Merricat was the one responsible for the murders of their parents and Constance thanks Merricat for saving her from their father who was being 'very wicked' towards her. While Constance had spent two years without Merricat, she never loses hope that her sister will join her someday.

What are your characters dreams and nightmares? Do you believe they are more likely to obtain one rather than the other? Deep down, Constance dreams of finding a world where she can live in peace with Merricat, where they can be themselves without having to hide from others either mentally, emotionally, or socially. She wants Merricat to have a chance at freedom now that Constance has had a small, limited taste of it. As for herself, Constance wants full freedom. Still living with her sister, but have a chance to find someone to love and be committed to and have that someone love and be committed to her as well. She's still uncertain what self-esteem really means, but she'd like to build that up and be happy, not the nearly brainwashed state of happiness she'd existed in for so long at home. Constance's nightmare is of being returned to Duplicity. She liked it well enough while she felt that she was supported and loved, but after being so publicly dumped, it became a nightmare to her, trying to find three people per month who were willing to sleep with her and a person to be her dominant. She knew she wasn't as bold or outgoing or (her perception) beautiful as everyone else, so she had no confidence in her ability to find and keep a dominant interested in her. As a result, seemingly simple tasks for others seemed impossible to achieve to her.

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What does your character feel like they struggle with still? In a word, confidence. I've already touched on how Constance feels inferior to others. That includes her sister. Merricat was bold, decisive, certain, confident that what she did was right and that anyone who interfered with her was an enemy. Constance feels like she's been made a fool of twice, by two different men, both of whom offered Constance with an escape from the village and its closed-minded residents who only wanted to harm her and make her suffer. But both men were false and played her and her emotions as foolish and easy means for trickery and/or sex. As a result, Constance doesn't trust her own judgement a lot of the time, even though she's gotten better at hiding that fact, mentioning that she has agoraphobia while still carrying on a conversation, but that lack of confidence and fear of being tricked remains.

What is your character's safespace? When do they feel the most settled and comfortable? When do they feel confident and relaxed? Constance's safespace is a garden. A house isolated from others as well, but mostly a garden. A garden she can plant, weed, plan, and execute entirely according to her wishes. Constance has felt as though so few things in life have been according to her wishes so that when she plants and grows her own garden, she has a small amount of control of her life and what's going on around her. It's not just ornamental plants she grows, she'd also put in a lot of fruit trees, vegetables, and berries so that the Blackwoods could have been as independent as possible. Constance feels like anything is possible when she gardens, even if it's only what she's chosen to do as a gardener. When things feel out of control, she retreats to her garden, desperately planting and pruning and pulling weeds. Then, she finds calm and peace.

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★ Player Information ★

Player Name: argustar
Pronouns: they/them
Are you over 18?: extremely
Contact(s): PM the character journal or ping argustar on plurk
Who Invited You?: Already in game
Current Characters: Rey, Alicent, Misty, Ana, Arashi, Dezba, Sarajane, Bella, Susan, Mariane, and Lila
Permissions: Here
Writing Samples: here, here

There was no way around it, she simply couldn't bear to stay in the cottage she'd once shared with the man she loved before she was so unceremoniously 'dumped' to use the modern vernacular. Constance packed a small suitcase and began to make her way out of town. It was long, slow going especially since Constance wasn't used to walking long distances.

But the saying went, the only way out was through. And she was determined to find her way out, even if it made her a hermit beyond all other bits of what passed for civilization. Frankly, there was little about the other world Constance would call civil. She still managed to get to the edge of what was known of the city after several hours walk. She could feel her shoes rub blisters on her heels, then rub the blisters into bursting, but the pain only spurred her forward, beyond the outskirts of town.

They said that those who left, left due to a 'glitch' (whatever that was) in the system. If Constance had managed to find the edge, as silly and empty-headed as she'd been called so many times, maybe either no one else had tried or the claim over her was being surrendered.

She liked to think it was the latter. She'd tried, she'd tried hard to fit in but she was too old-fashioned, too awkward, and too plump to gather attention except for those who gave it to her out of pity. It was all right. She'd been considered quite a beauty in her youth, but now she was twenty-six. A spinster, to be sure.

But Constance drew herself out of her reverie for she could almost feel the presence of another. She looked around herself, afraid to find guards there to drag her back, but instead all there was was a fox sitting in front of her, its head quirked slightly to the side.

Constance didn't know how she knew, but she knew that things would never be the same. And she welcomed it.