❛ 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠; 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲'𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐭. ❜ — hey there everyone ! i’m jaz, a twenty three year old animal crossing enthusiast currently drowning in deadlines lmao rip, final year, am i right? but i’m here!! ready to bring my two gals to life, and the first of ‘em is red, my little gemstone whom’st i love.
* ╰ marilyn lima , little red riding hood . ╱ welcome to castle rock , RED . you’ve just blown out NINETEEN candles on your most recent birthday cake , and rumour has it that you had your last birthday in A HOUSE IN THE FOREST . now , you can be found loitering around THE CORN FIELDS . why did you leave there again ? was it something to do with THE ANIMAL WHO STOLE YOUR HEART FROM ITS HOME ? regardless , we’re glad to have you . i hope that FOOLHARDY , INQUISITORIAL , TENACIOUS & PHILANTHROPIC behaviour of yours doesn’t cause too much trouble here … it’s funny , you remind me of THE MOTTLED SKIN OF A PORCELAIN GIRL, CRIMSON STAINED AXE HEAD WORN BY A TWO MAN WAR, TEETH TOO SMALL TO EAT YOU WITH BUT SHARP ENOUGH TO TEAR, VELVET CLOAK OF A BYGONE INNOCENCE, THE WEIGHT OF A THOUSAND HOPES UPON THE MOST DELICATE SHOULDERS . perhaps i’m going mad . ╱ cis female , she/her . + written by jaz , 23 , she/her , gmt .
trigger warnings : violence, death, blood.
red grew up in the forest, in her mother’s small cottage, for most of her life. they had an idyllic lifestyle not bound by the constraints of normal society. there weren’t bills to pay, there weren’t taxes to deal with, nor were there hours to work at some job her mother hated. it was just the two of them besides red’s grandmother, after red’s father had disappeared into the woods when she was a mere baby, and that’s how it stayed.
her grandmother, of course, lived down a long winding path away from them. not far, but far enough that it was a decent ten minute walk. red adored her grandmother. they spent countless hours together, with the elder teaching red everything from knitting, to gardening, to wood chopping. her grandmother always stressed one rule, however: stay out of the woods. for the woods were full of something dark and dangerous. not spirits, no... just energy. death. decay. destruction. and so, when red was just a little girl who loved her mama and her ma, she did as she was told.
but it didn’t take long for her to find her fire. spirit passed on to her from her father lit up in her belly and soon red found herself wishing for more. she loved her life, found this miniature peace forever relaxing, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t long for the outside world. the world further down the dirt path. but as she knew, her life was good. she was loved deeply and strongly, the bond of the three women unbreakable, displayed by the hand me down, plush, red cloak that red would now wear.
the worst day of red’s life started out like any other. her mother, with a freshly baked batch of goods, only this time with a selection of cured meats also, sent her on her way to her grandmother’s, the same warning as always ringing through the home: stay out of the woods! and so, red did. but halfway through her journey something seemed off. the air was thick, copper seemed to coat the trees, and a low growl followed no matter which way she whipped her head.
the wolf appeared, fur thick as midnight and eyes as hollow as death itself. he requested just a taste, just a bite, of what red had in the basket, but she refused, explaining where she was going. rather than attacking, as she had assumed, he seemed to understand, seemed to respect her wishes, suggesting to red instead that she should pick some flowers for her grandmother, that he was sorry for wasting her time. he skulked off into the shadows and the young girl, naively, took his advice.
she showed up to her grandmother’s only two minutes later than usual, but it had been enough, for when she walked into her grandmother’s room, a ghastly sight greeted her. the wolf, dressed up in her grandmother’s robes, desperate to hide his beastly frame. she bided her time, acted as if she were stupid, plied him with a silly rhyme before pulling an axe from her basket and catching him in his shoulder. he viciously yelped, weakened from straying too far from the dark confines of the forest, and quickly retreated, but not before telling red something miserable.
‘ you will never see your grandmother again. ’
the girl desperately searched the rest of the home but only blood found her. she never did find her grandmother, never found a clue as to where she had gone besides the hidden violence, but she was never the same.
red spent the next four years honing her skills. her tracking, swordplay, blacksmithery, anything you could think of to help her track down that awful beast, she was doing it. she became an expert and as she sought out people to help her, she discovered a village twenty minutes walk from her and her mother’s home. they, too, were a simple people, and red brought to them something they had never seen before; hope. she was dangerous and lithe, she sought out missing children stolen by evil witches, stopped the men with the dangerous instruments luring the children from their homes, and discovered her fair share of true evils. to call her a private investigator of sorts would’ve been silly. but maybe that’s what she’d become.
she willingly moved to castle rock to follow up on a lead but also to continue helping those who need it. the corn fields, in particular, remind her horrendously of the woods back home and all of their decrepit tricks. she plans on bringing everyone’s loved ones back, one way or another, in hopes that no one suffers her fate.
personality.
foolhardy : if red is anything, it’s reckless. she began exploring after her grandmother died despite knowing the wolf could’ve still been lurking. she will follow a lead no matter where it goes, and won’t give it up until she reaches the end. her boldness has gotten her into trouble more than a few times, but she’s learned well enough how to get herself out of an awful situation.
inquisitorial : she’s nosy. oh my god, she’s a nosy little rat. if red isn’t in your business, do you even exist? she has this innate desperation to know everything about everyone, but the other side of this is that she’s always a good person to talk to about your hobbies or issues, because she just loves hearing all about it. so yeah, it might be annoying having this pint sized midget up in your business all the time, but she’s also an a+ listener, plus the stories you’ll hear from her about the countless mysteries she’s always chasing are one in a million.
tenacious : what’s a young investigator without a bit of tenacity? if red sniffs something out, she won’t let it go, and that doesn’t just mean her cases. if she knows something’s wrong, if she has something she cares about, if you try and prove her wrong, red will defend it all, follow it all, or investigate it all until she’s blue in the face.
philanthropic : red has successfully found a whole lot of missing kids that would’ve been left otherwise, and she does this, and all her other actions, from the kindness of her heart. all of her spare money goes to those in need, and if she’s not at her usual spot or at home, she’s more than likely volunteering somewhere, helping someone with something. red doesn’t know selfishness, her family taught her that.
tidbits.
like i’ve mentioned, red’s kinda . . . a private investigator? sort of? for all the very dark goings on. because of her small frame, her adeptness with knives, her tracking, etcetera, she’s really the best bet at finding someone and has had her fair share of run ins with ghoulish beasts back in her home land. but yeah! she’s sort of well known, probably known as “that kid who won’t leave well enough alone” but you know, she’s trying.
still has her cloak but no longer wears it. it’s really the only thing of her grandmother’s she’s brought with her to this new world, and she’s be distraught if something happened to it.
has lots of skills but is not good.... academically. it’s kind of good she doesn’t charge for her services nor has she ever had to go to school, because she actually has undiagnosed dyscalculia, so numbers are incredibly difficult for her to wrap her hear around. she’s very practical and hands on.
