( havana rose liu, cis female, she/her, shaelin chang ) 🐬 ⋆。˚ what’s the word around shaelin chang in capri these days ? don’t look at me like that, you know them — they go by shae, you know, the twenty nine year old tourist. you can probably find them at casa miraflora as an aspiring jewelry maker where people describe them as frivolous and secretive, but others swear they’re kindhearted and bright if you catch them at the right moment. they fit somewhere between designer clothes draping perfectly over freckled skin, the scent of jasmine blowing through loose curls, glittering jewels sparkling in the sun like the ocean, warm green eyes that always give away her heart, though most people associate them with the rumor that she's running away from something big °‧🫧⋆˚。⋆
basics
name: shaelin chang preferred name: shae age: 29 zodiac: taurus pronouns: she/her orientation: bisexual hometown: nyc, new york, usa (upper east side) residence: casa miraflora, capri, italy occupation: none/socialite/possible aspiring jewelry maker
appearance
faceclaim: havana rose liu hair: long brown hair with natural curls, usually left falling down her back and shoulders eyes: green height: 5'4" piercings & scars: she has many piercings on both ears so she can wear earrings however she wants; no scars style: growing up with money, everything she owns is high end, though her style itself leans on the simpler side; light neutrals and soft pastels, lots of flowing fabrics, linens and satins draping like water and hugging her in just the right places; she's obsessed with jewelry and pairing the perfect pieces with all her outfits
psyche
archetype: the explorer alignment: neutral good positive: bright, caring, creative, friendly, kind-hearted negative: frivolous, naive, spoiled, know-it-all, secretive likes: matcha lattes, stacking jewelry, spending hours shopping, anything strawberry, every beach in the world dislikes: working out, extreme cold, rose scented anything, being told what to do, waking up before 8am
bio (cw: sickness, death of a family member)
Shaelin Chang was born to two very wealthy parents on the Upper East Side of New York City, named after her grandmother on her mother's side. they've always had money and all the privilege that comes with it. Shae grew up wanting for nothing, spoiled as her parents' pride and joy, sent to the best private schools and learned to love the finer things in life.
though it was impossible not to spoil their little girl, her parents did do their best to instill the best values in their daughter. she never did quite learn the value of a dollar or hard work, but she still grew up with a heart of gold, always showing compassion and sincerity, and wanting to see the best in people. wherever they went, she tried to lead with the best of herself too.
for several summers in her adolescence, Capri was a regular destination for their family vacations, sometimes adding in stops in Spain and France too, or opting to go in the winter when they weren't feeling up for skiing in Aspen. for no meaningful reason, they stopped going— likely when Rome became her family's newest summer obsession, or the beaches of Tulum. she loved the glittering coasts of the island, and holds many fond memories there, but hasn't thought about them in years.
life is about as perfect as one can imagine, and in her early twenties, Shae finds herself in the life of a young socialite— living off her parents' money and trust fund, taking in the city's arts, culture, and nightlife, and letting her business degree from university collect dust. she'd once thought she'd be inheriting her mom's company— a fine jewelry line crafted from her mother's eye— but that business venture had recently ended, and Shae figures she doesn't need to think about much else than enjoying her free lifestyle now, despite the surprising disappointment around it.
it isn't until her mother gets sick that she starts to take things more seriously. her mom had always been a vibrant, fiery woman. seeing her bedridden by illness shakes Shae to her core, and she finds herself staying home most nights by then, wanting to be by her mother's side and to help the live-in nurses and caretakers look after her. she knows deep down there's little chance of her mom surviving, but she insists on living in a fantasy that it will all get better someday soon.
when her mother passes, Shae gets a taste of reality she was never prepared for. it breaks something in her, something she's not sure she'll ever really recover, and she can see that same heartache in her father too. she understands it when the two of them grow a little distant, even if what they really need are each other. he throws himself into work, and Shae picks up the old dreams she had of following in her mother's footsteps, studying the art of fine jewelry her mother loved so much. maybe it wont be under the name her mother had built, but she'd find some other way to chase after that legacy.
her life starts to get a little bit tedious, finding herself enjoying the city less and focusing on the craft her mother left behind. she'd attend some gatherings and parties like usual, but wished she made more time to see friends or have a spontaneous night out. she knows the bubbly girl she'd always been is still in her, but her spark has slowly been fading.
a little over a year ago, she and the handsome son of a family friend get set up together, and in the safety of a steady relationship, Shae gets lost in a cookie-cutter sort of life. everything is perfectly fine— he's a nice enough guy, with a nice enough family, and the future they're always constantly bringing up could certainly be nice enough too. when he proposes in the new year, she has no reason to say no (other than the fact that she doesn't feel a strong urge to say yes either).
as summer nears, both families head out for a sunny vacation in Marseilles, France. Shae wishes the vacation didn't come with so much discussion of wedding preparation, but no one else seems to notice how much it bothers her. the whole trip is a pain, in honesty, and she misses vacations when they used to be just her and her parents. her mother would always want to pull them along on surprise excursions, making sure they got lost in the local nightlife, and tasted the breadth of culture new cities had to offer. with her fiance's family, all their days are planned out to the minute, stuck inside the confines of a resort.
half-way through the trip, Shae snaps. the offense is innocuous enough, and she's sure they probably think she's crazy for the reaction she gives, but she doesn't care. when at dinner, the topic arises to Shae's plans for her future, and she gets to talking about her dreams to follow in her mother's footsteps and start her own fine jewelry line. her fiance's parents are as swift with their response as they are casual, assuring her that wasn't in the cards for her, that no wife of their son's would need a job, and would instead likely need to make sure she was free to take care of the lavish home they'd soon buy together. when she looks to her fiance to defend her— who always knew about her dreams— he doesn't even bat an eye. she goes to bed that night only saying goodnight to her father, and excuses herself from the next morning's planned activities.
instead, Shae packs up all her belongings she took on vacation, withdraws as much cash as she possibly can from a French atm, and racks her brain for anywhere she can go that isn't here, that isn't somewhere her father or fiance's family will immediately come chasing after her. it's crazy, she knows it's crazy— and a far cry from the picture-perfect mannequin of a woman she was slowly becoming, but she just needs a break.
though it had been years since she'd thought of it, the coasts of a tiny Italian island come to mind, a place she remembers cherishing years ago. so, she buys herself a ticket to Capri by train, then cab, then boat, until she's finding herself on the tiny gorgeous island she used to love. she calls her father and explains that she just needs time away— some soul-searching, or whatever it is rich people with too much time and money on their hands do— and asks to please leave her be. she can't let anyone from her life know where she is, lest they drag her back before she's ready, or see her for the slowly unraveling young woman she is.
checking into Casa Miraflora for an extended stay, she doesn't have much of a plan. with only two (admittedly) large suitcases and a, frankly, obscene amount of cash hidden away, she surmises she can absolutely get by for at least month. maybe by then she'll have gotten this fear and chaos out of her system, found the answers within herself she's looking for, and then get back on a plane to New York, swearing she's totally fine and ready to marry a man she might not even love and stay trapped in a life that may have been slowly suffocating her. right...
so, yes, she's sort of running away, but she's convinced herself she just needs to get out of her head, be on her own for a bit, and do something adventurous before signing up for a life she thinks feels too much like a trap. what better place to do that than Capri in the summer?
with her engagement ring stashed in the safe of her hotel room, and her personal life kept secret from anyone and everyone she's about to meet, shae is trying her hardest to just be a tourist— to give in to the bustling town and the perfect waters and the sweltering sun, and let Capri do what it does best: give her an unforgettable summer.
connections
tbd!
wanted: locals or regulars who know their way around Capri and can help her figure out the best places to go and things to do this summer!
wanted: business owners who might help her hone her passion for making things and owning a business
wanted: someone who may know her from her world and she'll have to beg to keep it a secret that she's here...
tl;dr
bright, bubbly new york socialite, born to wealthy parents, though her mother sadly passed five years ago and it's just been her and her father
used to not have any plans for her life, but when her mother passes, she picks up the old passion for jewelry-making she used to share with her, wanting to follow in the footsteps of her mom's old business
been in a year-long relationship set up by her father and a family they're close to. at the beginning of the year, at his parents' urging, he proposed, and they've slowly been making arrangements.
on a vacation with both families, celebrating the engagement, Shae finds herself feeling more and more trapped. when her fiance's family insists she give up on her dreams of starting a business like her mother, that she'd be expected not to work and take care of the home, Shae snaps and pretty much runs away
she comes to Capri in secret, telling herself she just needs a break and time to figure herself out before she probably goes back home in a month or so and commits to the life laid out for her
she's hiding her ring and her personal life and trying her best to just get lost in the island and be someone different for the summer . . .
















