Razzbury Swanzen is one of the supporting characters of The Twighlight Manor series. While one of the books' more colorful characters, he only makes a rare apperance in only a few of the stories. (I shall have to try and use him more often in future books.) However, seeing how MySpace is exactly the type of place he'd love were he real, I decided he deserved a profile here.
- ~~~Wendy
ABOUT ME: SHORT VERSION:
IN "HIS" WORDS:
-
I was born on August 1, 1658, to the Flamite prince Sir Roderic Swanzen and his siren wife Lady Melneeva Liore; Etiole de Blue de Azure is my dear sweet little baby brother.
We currently live in The Twighlight Manor, here on planet earth. I have never been to my home planet, in fact I've have never been off of this planet at all, and really have not desire to leave it. Bad as Earth and it's human creatures are, I hear Flame is so much worse: No cars.
My father thinks I am crazy. Not much to say there, except that that's comming from one who believes his house is out to kill everyone off. When he's haveing his fits, I must say I do prefer living in White Rock Assylum to the Manor. Much more sane there than here. Lest wise they ain't got no pirahanas. Here at the Manor? You never know what Alchemist has got hidden in his lair. Nothings worse than pirahanas.
No time to stay and chat, must go antagonize Etiole some more. He's such fun to pick on.
Chow!
ABOUT ME:
LONG VERSION:
(written by the author)
Of Razzbury we do not have a complete history. What we know of him, is as follows:
Razz is half alien-half faerie. He was born on an island, which would later be identified as Papua New Guinea, while his parents were on a world tour. His father Sir Roderic Lincandonia Swanzen was a prince of the Planet Flame, living on the Earth. His mother, Lady Melneeva, was a Blue Star Sirean (a type of mermaid). He was their third child.
He was named Raspberry by his mother, who said the name meant “My sweet berry among the thorns, may he be a thorn forever in his father’s fleshâ€. As an adult he changed his name to Razzbury, but it was his merman/siren brother Etiole who began to call him Razz, and that is the name he has used since.
One notable event was when Sir Roderic , Melneeva, and the than 6 year old Razz, were on their homeward voyage at the end of their world tour. They were on The Lansquin’s boat time, going down the Amazon River. A member of the crew had been ridiculing The Lansquin’s wife. The Lansquin responded by tying the man to the bough and leaving him to drag behind the boat for several days. By the time the man was brought back on board, piranhas had stripped his legs to the bone. The event had a lasting effect on the mind of a 6-year-old boy who had witnessed the whole thing. That boy was Razzbury Swanzen, at the time Sir Roderic‘s youngest son. This incident would trigger a life long fear of piranhas that over time would become the massively paranoid phobia, which would seriously hamper Razz’s ability to function in society.
Once back at The Twighlight Manor , Razz had a childhood, he would like more than anything to forget. Of the Swanzen children, it was Razz that got to worst of everything, from everyone. His mother, in her vengeance towards her husband found little time to care for her children, who were more often than not, left in the care of Al~Keeme‘s twin sister, Bettina, who was Melneeva’s handmaid. True to his name, his father resented him, and rarely acknowledged that Razz was his son at all.
As a child, Razz was a victim of King Vielder's reign of terror. At the age of 9, he and his than 3 year old brother Etiole , were abused and tortured by King Vielder and the Flamite soldiers. This abuse would continue over the next 11 years. While Etiole retaliated and became violent towards their attackers, Razz slowly closed out the world around him, eventually closing down his mind to everyone but Etiole .
Razz never called The Twighlight Manor his home, his visits to The Manor were rare and few. As a general rule he only lives at the Manor when Etiole does. Etiole left The Twighlight Manor at age 14, and Razz followed him a few weeks later. It was nearly 300 years before Etiole would return to The Manor , at which point Razz went with him. For a short time in the 1940’s Etiole was presumed dead, and Razz lived at The Twighlight Manor during this time. However, Sir Roderic had Razz sent to White Rock , where he remained for the next 35 or so years as a patient.
Throughout most of his life Razz, simply followed his little brother Etiole de Blue de Azure Swanzen , Etiole being the only person he would talk too. It was well over a hundred years before Razz would attempt to speak to anyone other than Etiole , and than he said little. When he does talk, Razz stutters very badly, and often repeats entire sentences several times.
By the 1850’s Razz had settled down to living in an apartment over Etiole‘s French theater. Etiole‘s flamboyant life style as a drag queen, rubbed off on Razz, who began to wear clothes drenched in beads, and sequins.
By the 1890’s Razz had discovered the new fangled motorcars and set out to buying every model he saw. It was his love for cars that would finally bring him out of his own world and into the real one.
In 1937 Etiole‘s wild lifestyle simmered down after the birth of his son Phozeen Swanzen. Etiole’s wildness was ending, Razz’s had just begun, for he had now discovered metal flake, and set out to turning all of his cars a color that he called “Dazzling Raspberryâ€, a black with an overcoat of blue and purple metal flake. It would become his trademark color, as not only his cars, but also all of his clothes would become shimmering purple jewels. He still remained dreadfully shy though, rarely speaking to anyone, and never speaking to strangers. He took to wearing dark glasses and a wide-brimmed hat, neither of which he ever takes off.
With World War II rising around them and Nazi soldiers threatening an invasion, France was becoming an increasingly dangerous place for a drag queen to live in. Sir Roderic’s third wife Melody took advantage of this time to start a legal battle to take Phozeen away from Etiole . Vwoodell stepped in, and took Phozeen to live with him. Weeks later arson burnt his house to the ground, with no trace of Vwoodell or Phozeen found. Believing his beloved son to be dead, Etiole was devastated and fled back to the ocean, were he took up life as a wild siren.
Roderic returned to America and The Twighlight Manor , and Razz, for the first time in his life without Etiole , found himself unable to survive on his own. Razz returned the The Twighlight Manor as well, but living with his father was no less difficult than it had been in his youth, Razz once again closed his mind to the real world, preferring the stories in books to reality. He spent his days living in The Twighlight Manor Library . Nightmares of piranhas plagued his sleep, leading to his staying awake for days at a time, dreading sleep all together. All surfaces that looked like water, be they mirrors or vases or windowpanes, began to reflect images of bloodthirsty piranhas to Razz. It was Razz who first started seeing the ghost of King Vielder at The Manor. Between seeing piranhas in glass windows and being chased by the ghost of Vielder, Sir Roderic eventually sent Razz to White Rock Asylum , where the White Rock doctors diagnosed Razz as having severe paranoid schizophrenia. Razz would remain in White Rock until the late 1970’s when Etiole returned the The Twighlight Manor .
Razz picked up where he left off, buying up cars and having them all painted the same color. With Etiole once again his constant companion, Razz saw less of piranhas and ghosts. The tables turned after Etiole‘s heart attack in 1989, and it would be Razz who would take care of his younger brother. Both brothers still live today, in The Twighlight Manor . To date Razz has never married.
Disclaimer:
Twighlight Manor, EelKat, White Rock Asylum, Planet Ptarmagin, Crystonite Chronicles, Sir Roderic, Etiole, Razzbury, The Swanzen Family, and all other related characters, info, writings, names, images, and content were created by and Copyright to © Wendy C. Allen 1978-2007.
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