Charlie

"Sawed in Half - the Tragic Tale of Charlie"

"I always thought that Maxie was kind of a private guy. I wish I had looked just a little bit closer a little bit sooner. Maybe I could have saved a lot of people...."

--Charlie (in a quote that has been completely fabricated)

The outside cover of Charlie's biography is one of the most ominous on the shelf. It's black, sporting nothing but a large red 'M' on the front - but if you open it, you expose the title and an old photograph of her and Maxwell, the stage magician she worked with.

Inside, the prose launches into the story of the girl's childhood, setting the stage by depicting her as the wide-eyed, innocent daughter of a tailor. The facts are for the most part accurate, talking all about her (for the era) very kind and ordinary upbringing, pointedly highlighting her charming and resilient personality on every page.

Where the fictionalization starts is on that fateful day when she found the ad in the newspaper, looking for a magician's assistant with their own costume. It tells of how she went to meet the man with earnest, wearing a dress that she made for herself, hoping against hope that maybe she could shine like the stars she so regularly outfitted. The book describes their first meeting as follows:

'She walked through his door with a smile on her face and a song in her heart - and there he was. Tall, dark, with long limbs and a cigarette hanging on his lip...the spider, hungrily watching as the fly fluttered down into his web.

In an instant, Charlie was ensnared, and her life would never be the same.'

From this point, the book is a detailed and sordid story of unrequited love and manipulation at the hands of the evil Maxwell. Charlie is painted as the tragic protagonist of the tale, blindly following as she was charmed into a life of showbiz and debauchery. It even talks about the hours before the accident, where she went to try to find Max at his home...and happened upon a secret room of his, full of strange scribblings, cultist drawings, and the sneaking suspicion that something was coming after her.

The way the accident is depicted is as graphic and juicy as anyone could ask for. It describes the way the darkness tore from the pages of Maxwell's cursed book, ripping both him and Charlie from the stage, dragging them screaming into another dimension.

From here, the book actually gets much darker.

The wide-eyed girl is still there, wandering the plains of a deserted island, crying out for the man who had put her there in the first place - but at the touch of nightfall, it becomes apparent that something has gone horribly wrong. There is a particularly gruesome description of Charlie's first transformation, written with flair to give it the feeling of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story. It recounts the monster roaming the night, finding victims and ripping them to shreds the instant their last bit of firelight goes out.

Charlie is described as wandering for years and years, growing crazier and less connected with reality with every sunset. The book ends by making statements about the hundreds of corpses she has left in her wake, the numerous mornings she has found piles of half-eaten flesh and bone, and the many days she has spent crying alone, mourning the lost man that she still loves.

Bonus Materials:

Photographs of
An "Artist Interpretation" of the Grue

OUT of CHARACTER
Name: Lady Vincira
Other characters: Kevin and Rosalind Lutece!

IN CHARACTER
Name: Charlie
Fandom: Don't Starve
Canon point/AU: Post/During!Game
Journal: lovelyassistant
PB: Game art/fan art for now!
History: Charlie's general Wiki page
The William Carter story/Charlie's backstory
The Accident

Very little information is given about Charlie's history before the accident, so a brief word on my headcanons:

Charlie had a relatively normal upbringing in San Franscisco. She was a good girl, her father was a tailor, and she grew up learning how to sew. When she turned twenty, she was already working hard as a seamstress, content...if a little bit bored. She took to making costumes in her spare time for theater companies and performers - she didn't have a lot of talents for performance, but she did have the skills to outfit them. For about a year, she was content to watch the acts, enjoying the sight of her own talents on display.

When the want ad appeared in the paper, however, the chance was too tempting to resist. She applied for the position, came in a dress she had made herself, and got the job immediately. It was then that Charlie the seamstress became Charlie the Lovely Assistant, and she couldn't have been happier. Maxwell was kind, dashing - his tricks were incredible and spooky in equal measure, and she was thrilled with what her life had become.

And then the trouble started. Maxwell suddenly went silent, and Charlie did not hear from him in days. She stopped by his house to try to find him, and she stumbled upon a hidden study room. There were things in there that made her nervous; scribblings on the walls, drawings of peculiar and archaic things, and a strange, deep darkness that turned her cold. She ran from the place, leaving a note suggesting that perhaps they could go on vacation after their new show.

That night, Maxwell and Charlie premiered the end-all-be-all of grand finales. All she needed to do was hold the book that Maxwell performed with, and he would do the rest. Simple. It was mystifying for certain...until the accident happened. The "trick" that Maxwell was using got the better of him, the dark forces he had been tampering with pouring out of the book to collect on the pact he had made with them.

Charlie was caught in the crossfire.

When she woke, she found herself on the ground in a grassy field, no sign of human life for miles around. She wandered, calling out for Max...until nightfall came, and with a rush of cold from within, her world went dark once more.

In the morning she woke again in the field - all she found was a pile of bones and a shredded mass of fur under her legs.

It was then when she realized that her life was never going to be the same. She spent her days gathering her energy, sleeping, trying to find Maxwell...and her nights were lost to the monster that took over her body.

Until now.

Presentation:

Charlie is a bright and sunny girl by nature. Anyone who meets her will see that in very little time - she's very pleasant, outgoing, and grateful for any kind conversation that comes her way. While there's something in her demeanor that hints at sadness, she generally tries to present herself with kindness and cheer. Time spent in the Capitol is time spent chatting with people, being friendly and open with the public. She has very little to hide, though if pressed about Maxwell, she may dodge the subject. Overall, she's simply a very nice young girl who likes people.

While in the Arena, on the other hand, the more serious side can be seen. While she is an outgoing young woman by nature, she is also a young woman who was made to survive in harsh conditions. She is still kind, and will still enjoy companionship and come to the aid of allies...but she also understands that there is danger, and first and foremost she is meant to LIVE. Very little time will be wasted while she's alone - the instant she's by herself, she'll be building weapons and finding food. Food is vital, shelter is crucial, and defenses are imperative.

In appearance, she is every inch the magician's assistant. Big smiles, poise, and a slender frame that could be crammed into the secret panel on the side of a disappearing cabinet. She tends to favor white with her outfits - if not white, light colors - but otherwise she's not opposed to trying out Capitol fashions. The only real sticking point when it comes to what she wears is the red flower she pins into her hair, day in and day out.

Motivations:

On the outside, Charlie seems like a pleasant person.

On the inside, Charlie is a pleasant person.

What you see with Charlie is really what you get. She wears her heart on her sleeve, as much as she tries to put a brave face on for other people, and she's just not a good liar. Secrets she can do - working as a magician's assistant, you learn how to keep those - but out and out lies are simply not in her nature. If a topic is hard for her to talk about, at most she might dodge until she can't dodge anymore...but eventually, she will simply tell you that she is uncomfortable. It's not hard to make Charlie cry, even as resilient as she is.

She tends to be sentimental. Maxwell gave her a red flower to wear in her hair every day they performed, and so now she insists on wearing one until she knows that he is safe. As far as she is concerned, their act is not complete until she finds him again. Friends she makes will be treated with trust until otherwise proven, and loyalty is both a strong character trait and a fault. She's not dumb, but may be gullible enough to fall for deception from someone she thinks is her friend.

Despite the terrible situation she has been in, Charlie is genuinely just relieved to be out of it and back into some kind of society. She is fortunate to still know how to behave among other people - but that may well be a byproduct of all the really terrible things she has done being done by something that isn't quite HER. She misses Maxwell deeply and dearly, even if what happened to her was technically his fault, and he is the one subject that she will keep closest to the chest about where she has come from. Otherwise, she's quite open about what she's been through - even the part where she turned into a terrible monster at night.


Setting: Interestingly enough, Charlie will acclimate very quickly to the setting of the Arenas - because she's been stuck for quite some time in a place where survival and frequent death is the norm (even if she was, inadvertently, the one generally doing the killing). She knows how to scavenge for food, build shelter, craft weapons - even first aid. The pageantry will be familiar as a concept to her, even though the era has changed...being a magician's assistant was nothing BUT showmanship, and her naturally sunny demeanor will lend itself well to presenting herself to the audience.

Being able to sleep through nights and actually live her days will actually be freeing to Charlie - even if she will spend a great deal of that time missing Maxwell and hoping that he is all right, she's still going to see being in Panem as a second chance. She's a soft soul, and she won't like doing the killing consciously; however, if it absolutely comes down to killing or being killed, she has the mettle to do what most be done.

SAMPLES
First Person Thread:

[There is, initially, a very close shot of a woman's eye when the camera clicks on. It's a little watery, a little sad, and it blinks. Once, twice - before a little sound of understanding is heard and the image changes. The girl who had been leaning forward leaned back from the lens, the eye becoming a face, a body, a pair of dainty, wringing hands.

She draws a breath before putting on a shaky smile, the look in her eyes sad.]

I...I have to say, that wasn't like what I'm used to. I know that I'm supposed to tell all of you what I'm thinking right now but I...I actually don't know what I'm thinking right now.

[The fidgeting hands fall to her lap, folding neatly. She is young yet, but still she tries to posture herself in these situations as a lady. She has to sell herself here. She knows that's how it works.

So she tries to ignore the gore still flickering across her mind's eye, the sight of her own arm rolling across the ground, away from her -

She takes in a breath and lets it out in a quiver before continuing to speak.]

I guess...I'm just happy to be back. I'm looking forward to a nice meal, and to talking with some of you out there, and...and I look forward to trying once again to give you a great show!

[With one more long breath, she shuts her eyes, smiling and the feed cuts.]

Prose:

It was all rather dizzying, Charlie thought, walking out into the room. One moment, she had been trying to build herself a new nest of flowers and fur to sleep in, and the next she was being ushered hurriedly down a hall, surrounded by more people than she had seen in...years? Likely years, by the looks of the technology she glimpsed on her way in. The explanation hadn't quite stuck in her head yet. She was so tired...she wasn't sure if she had slept, or when she had slept.

She teetered a little on her feet as she stood before the Gamemakers, a little bit shell-shocked as she tried to process the information. A death match. She had to impress these people.

She had to impress these people to survive.

Shaking herself, she finally addressed the strangers, trying to filter the fatigue from her tone of voice. "Hello," she called out, putting on her best show voice. It had been so long, but she fell back into it like an old habit. "My name is Charlie, and I will be performing for you today!"

Finally inspecting the room, she realized that she was surrounded by weapons and targets. A deep breath, a bright smile, a flourish of the arms. "On with the show, then!"

Taking her own words as a signal to act, she moved swiftly to the weapon racks. Choosing a spear, she stood at a distance from one of the mannequins made up to aim at; she closed her left eye to line up a strike, pretending that she was hunting. Just like taking down an animal for breakfast. The spear was thrown, sticking neatly in the heart of her target. Standing there a moment, she was almost surprised at her own skill - but more than that, she was struck by the image. It wasn't a Beefalo with that spear sticking out of it. It wasn't a rabbit.

It was human-shaped. She was going to be hunting PEOPLE. Actively. During the day.

She still smiled, but her face was pale, her voice trembling as she turned back towards her audience, arms outstretched.

"...Ta-dah! And now...on to my next trick!"

What is your character scored: Charlie would be scored, with her powers removed, at about 6.

She's not terribly imposing, but she knows survival. She has a lot of basic survival skills that would put her at an advantage in an arena - AND she's likable enough to secure sponsors. The detractor to her ability to build weapons is her lack of killer instinct. While she will kill if boxed into a corner, she's not going to seek it out, and is more likely to try and help others than harm them.

**When her powers are intact, however...at the touch of nightfall, Charlie is taken over by pure darkness. She becomes something other than herself, something much darker and older, with the ability to manipulate the shadows. She also sports some nasty teeth, claws, and a big appetite. These darkness powers include:

-Creating forms and illusions out of the shadows. Only silhouettes with empty eyes, though - she cannot create full doppelgangers.
-Creating entities of darkness. These, for the purposes of The Games, will simply be spooky decoys. They will be able to touch people who are afraid, but they will not be able to actively harm them.
-Perfect night vision.
-Enhanced speed.
-Creating "shadow arms." These can grab things (or people, if they are not on their guard), but cannot otherwise harm them.

In this state, however, she (and any of her constructs) WILL NOT be able to bear the light, and a person shining a flashlight or torch (or light of any kind) upon her will cause pain and retreat. Darkness!Charlie is not inherently evil or hostile - it is possible to talk her down or befriend her, if circumstances are correct. SHE DOES NOT SHARE MEMORIES WITH NORMAL CHARLIE.