Strawberry Blonde

Introduction:

Amelia Charlotte Roberts (known locally as Amy) may seem like the usual 'girl next door', though like with many of the paintings she has made over the years, there's more to her than meets the eye. Wise beyond her years and initially hailing from the wealthy city of Cambridge, Amy has settled for a more modest life in Harbourside, Bristol, preferring to spend her time painting away in her arts and crafts room or tending to her garden when the weather permits it. If you know anything about British weather, you will know its unpredictable.

Estranged from her family, Amy lives her life to the fullest, surrounded by a few close friends. Though content with her day-to-day routine, she can never help but wonder what it would be like to have someone by her side to share in her adventures.

Personality:

By nature, Amy has always been a crafty person. From childhood, she's made many types of creations. She's dabbled in a little bit of everything from art to patterns for clothes. When you're a Roberts, the world is kind of your oyster...At least, you'd think it would be.

Never mistake privilege for happiness. Neither of them go hand in hand a lot of the time.

Inspiration:

We have many sources of inspiration for Amy regarding her design and character, some more noticeable than others. Though one of our biggest inspirations was models from the '60s, some of these including Brigitte Bardot, Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton and many more such as Joanna Lumley.

We also took inspiration from Anya Taylor-Joy's portrayal of Beth Harmon in the Netflix mini-series The Queen's Gambit.

Once a Cambridge girl, always a Cambridge girl! As well as being a visual inspiration, Joanna Lumley is who we based Amy's speaking voice on. (see here) When creating her, we wanted to consider all aspects of her character. Not just with physical representation, but how she would sound if she were a character in the game.

Appearance:

(Visuals concepts exploring Amy's initial design along with choices that were later scrapped/changed, with concepts of what she would look like if she appeared within We Happy Few itself).

Since Amy is based on the Mainland as opposed to Wellington Wells, naturally she is going to have more freedom in how she dresses as opposed to those oppressed on an island cut off from the rest of the United Kingdom. It's important to factor in that she is going to be a lot healthier in terms of her physical appearance, having access to proper healthcare and a balanced diet.

We wanted to embody Amy as a 'diamond in the rough' with features complimenting this. Her green eyes and strawberry blonde hair were a deliberate decision as they are not only rare features statistically, but they also act serve as a visual representation of her positive personality, contrasting the darker colour palette of Arthur Hastings (see here for example)

Amy's styles are a blend of the bright and colourful hippie movement of the '60s with some elements of the '70s as the years go on. The differences in colour, as well as overall style, are representative of her not wanting to fit into a single box.

She's a free-spirited person, a woman confident in who she is and someone who embraces her sexuality, acknowledging her beauty not in a way that makes her narcissistic, but affirming her own self-worth. You won't find anything she wears in a clothing store and she likes it that way!

Relationship with Arthur Hastings:

If you haven't read Strawberry Blonde, please click off this post and use the link in the introduction, otherwise what comes up next won't make any sense.

(Fan art by @zafiroxdsgsg)

For as long as romantic love has existed, so has platonic love (though it is often overshadowed by its passionate counterpart). Derived from the Greek philosopher Plato (fun fact: he never actually used the word) platonic relationships are deep, intimate relationships without the need or desire for anything sexual. These can happen between members of the same or opposite gender.

A soulmate doesn't necessarily mean romance and don't let this mislead you, this is a love story. Just not the kind you may be thinking of.

When comparing Arthur and Amy individually you may wonder how such people could come together to form a relationship. They're polar opposites, one being bright and bubbly and the other being stubborn and level-headed. Combined, however, it's easy to see how well the pair works.

They bring out the best in each other, the epitome of what people today have coined as 'black cat and golden retriever' types of relationships, where one is more introverted and mysterious while the other is more outgoing and friendly.

They're an important part of each other's healing journeys, perhaps more than they realise in the beginning.

A Final Word:

To find out the rest of Amy's story, you'll have to read Strawberry Blonde. We don't have time to go into everything here in this post, but we hope we have been able to offer you all some further insight into Amy's character and the process behind her conception! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through our messages- we're more than happy to answer anything you have to ask in the best way we can without giving too much away!

Until next time and signing off with love,

DevilishlyVintage & Pixlraccoon

As children competed bobbing for apples and spectators cheered them on, Amy was still searching for Arthur when a frantic Ada Carrington came rushing by. Amy was able to stop her, her hands on her shoulders.

“Slow down, Ada, slow down! What is it?” Amy looked Ada over, seeing if she was hurt. With no signs of injury, she knew she had to probe further. “What’s wrong?”

“My purse…” Ada took in a deep breath before exhaling. “I’d forgotten my purse…I went back home to get it…Charles…the girls…”

“Doctor Carrington? The girls? Are they alright?”

Ada’s grip on Amy tightened, causing her to wince.

“A-Ada, Ada please- You’re hurting me.”

Ada quickly let her go. “Charles…He’s been lying to me.”

“Lying to you? You’ll have to be more specific, Ada, I can’t help you if–”

“He said he liked my Christmas pudding.”

Oh. That was it? All these tears over a dessert?

“O-Oh.” Amy replied, although relieved. “How did you figure this out?”

“I saw him throw it into the rubbish bin when he thought I wasn’t looking.” Ada wiped tears from her eyes. “He didn’t have to be so secretive about it, he could have just told me the truth. ”

Yes Charles, you could have just told her the truth.

“I’m sure he meant no harm.” Amy tried not to hesitate. “He probably didn’t want your feelings getting hurt.”

“Y-You…” Ada sniffled, handkerchief in hand as she wiped her eyes. “You think so?”

“I’m sure of it, Ada. Charles loves you very much– told me so himself.”

Ada managed a smile, wiping her eyes. “He did?”

“Oh yes.” Amy nodded, feeling the usual sickening feeling in her stomach whenever she was nervous. “We had afternoon tea together not too long ago. We were discussing reviving the town book club.”

“The book club?” Ada reached into her pocket, applying light powder to her face. “That would be nice. It would do Charles some good to have something to focus on other than the practice. He’s quite the wordsmith when he puts his mind to it.”

“Really?” Amy asked, intrigued by the new information. “He’s a writer then?”