beautiful people // june

this month we get to choose our own questions. but being the indecisive person that i am, i had a little from skylie. i asked her if there was anything she wanted to know about James, my main male character in Oaths. she gave me four questions to start off with and then my NarniaWeb friends supplied the rest. [if there's anything more you'd like to know, just ask, i'll add it to the post. ;)]

so without further ado, introducing James Anthony Conner.

he's the main character/Allyn's love interest. actually, it's more like mutaul love. they're pretty awesome together, if i do say so myself. ;)

What's his hair color? and what does he look like?

His hair is dark blonde, i think, contrary to this particular image. it's normally styled kinda spiky-ish. he has blue-grey eyes and lightly tanned skin. he's about six feet tall and about average build.

What's his family situation?

his father, Mason, was a Protector in the first war, who disappeared after the fall of Valentine. his mother also disappeared, but her body was found, whereas his father's was not. he's very well taken care of, however, as his parents left him quite a bit of money. they also secured him a place that the Academy [Protector's headquarters/school for new trainees].  he knows realtively little about either of his parents and constantly searches for more information on them.

Favorite type of shoes? 

boots. but if he lived here, probably converse.

Does he like plaid? 
probably not. i can't really see him going for something that...loud. he's more of a quiet-prefers-to-make-an-understatement sort of guy. ;)

[the following questions were asked by my dear friends on NarniaWeb. be prepared for randomness.]

 Does he like burritos?
of course! who doesn't like burritos? they're pretty much my favorite food.

How do your characters feel about outer space?
it's really a mystery to them. they've never been there in this particular world, so it both fascinates him and is out of his reach.

What is his favourite flavor of flavored water?
definitely the raspberry-lime sort. so tasty and refreshing.

Do they believe in demons?
sure. i'm not exactly how this would play into the novel, but he does believe in both good and bad spiritual forms.

Do they like to get scared (like people who watch horror movies)?
i don't think so. fear for him is pretty legit. he doesn't scare easily, but when he does it's a full on panic attack. strangely enough, those panic attacks are normally brought on by Allyn's recklessness.

What brand of bottled water does your character like and why? :P
um, i don't think they have bottled water where he is, exactly. perhaps canteen? ;)

[these questions are all my own. it took me several hours to come up with them. hardest beautiful people post yet.]

Can he make a cake?
probably. he's quite a good baker/cook, so a cake is probably somewhere in his recipe book.

what's his favorite flavored Pringles? 
barbecue.

Does he have any strange phobias? 
spiders and hospital recovery wards.

What's his handwriting like?
chicken scratch. it's horrible. Allyn can barely read it, let alone the teachers at the Academy.

If he could build his ultimate hamburger/cheeseburger from the bun up, what would he put on it?
bun, ranch dressing, meat, cheese, lettuce, more ranch dressing, bacon, tomato, more ranch, and the other bun.

His first crush?
a girl named Audrey. that quickly ended after the dance, when he learned she wasn't quite what he thought she was.

Most embarrassing moment?
either when Allyn pranked him or when he told her that he loved her and she ran away. he's always been a sensitive/easily embarrassed person, but those two were the worst for him.



there ya go! again, if you have any more questions for James, just comment with them and they'll get added. ;)


[linking up with beautiful people]

Beautiful People // May

This month I'll be using my villain from Oaths (which will be either my Camp NaNo in August or this year's NaNoWriMo novel in November. I haven't decided yet.).

Prologue the First. 15 years previously.

He was young, much to young to be faced with his own death. In a bloody heap, not too far away, on the floor, lay his wife. Dead. He had not moved a muscle when they had killed her. He couldn’t.
It was fear that paralyzed him. Fear of the one person who would kill a woman with no second thoughts. The monster that that person had become chilled him to the core and caused him to shiver violently.
But more than that.
He knew that not fifteen feet away, hidden in a secret room, was his best friend and tiny daughter. He could not allow her to be found. Neither of them could be found.
He took a step forward.
The monster smiled.
Another step.
Forgive me for leaving her, Amelia.
Another step.
Another smile from the monster across the room.
I love you, Allyn.
Two more steps forward.
He raised his little golden throwing knife. His last defense.
The monster held his arms out. He was unarmed.
It would be an easy kill. One knife thrown, caught in the chest by the man across from him. He could do it. For Amelia. For Allyn.
His hand lifted the knife oh-so slowly into the throwing position. His eyes locked on his target.
The monster smiled cruelly, “Do you have what it takes to kill an unarmed man, Valentine? Could you do it?” He took a step towards Valentine - and the knife. “I know I could.”
Two more steps towards his doom.
He was now only a few feet away; he could reach out and touch the blade if he wished.
“I thought it was not your way to kill. Not the way you chose. My way would not hesitate as you are.” He smirked.
The knife wavered.
“Come, old friend,” the monster said smoothly. “Are we really resorting to blows?”
This was it, and Valentine knew. He could not kill him. It was not of the way he chose. He would rather give up his life than break the Vows. Sweat dripped down his face and neck, into the collar of his soft tunic. His eyebrows drew together in a sharp line and his breathing became irregular. “I...can’t,” he breathed out. Then again, stronger, “I can’t kill you.”
The knife was lowered and then dropped to the floor with a metallic clanging.
The monster’s smile was genuine now. “Oh, brother...friend.” He laughed as he bent down and picked up the jeweled knife. “You don’t have what it takes to be in power, Valentine; you never did. But me, I have everything you lacked.”
Valentine’s eyes moved away from the man across from him and rested on his wife’s lifeless body. “Not everything, brother.”
Fury erased all attractiveness in his enemy’s face. “Everything, Valentine, everything.” And then he struck out with knife, burying it deeply in the younger man’s chest.
He sunk to his knees, each breath came to him slower and slower, gradually everything faded to black before his eyes. He called out one last broken sentence to the monster before succumbing to his death, “I loved the boy you were, brother; but not the man you became.”
 

(This is what Ishmael will look like in my book, 15 years after that prologue. He's somewhere around 45-50 years oldish. I think. He's not currently speaking to me.)

1. What is their motive?  Anger, fear, but mostly jealousy. Ishmael has always been insanely jealous of his younger brother, Valentine. To the point that he killed him.

2. What are they prepared to do to get what they want?  Pretty much anything so far.

3. Are they evil to the core, or simply misunderstood?  A mixture of both, I think. He longs for and craves power, but deep down he just wants to belong and make his family name great.

4. What was their past like? What about their childhood? Was there one defining moment that made them embrace their evil ways? In the past, Ishmael was part of the Protectors. As one of the best, he was given more power until he was consumed with a lust for more. He was left the Order when they refused to give him more, taking with him several of his closest friends, including Allyn's mother, Amelia. When Amelia left his group of 'Insiders' he turned his back completely on anything that he deemed to be weak. That's when he got really evil.

5. Now that they’re evil, have they turned their back on everyone, or is there still someone in their life that they care for? (Brother? Daughter? Love interest? Mother? Someone who is just as evil as they are?)  He was in love with Amelia, but when she realized how far gone he was, Amelia left the Insiders and rejoined the Protectors, which crushed him. Yes. I do realize how much of a run-on sentence that was. :P

6. Do they like hugs?  Nope. Not at all.

7. Are they plagued by something? (Nightmares, terrible thoughts?) A little bit of guilt, but not much else.

8. Who are they more similar to: Gollum or Maleficent? In a way, both.

9. If your villain could have their choice of transportation what would it be? Probably some sort of time machine so that he could change everything and make it fit his visions of how it should have been.

10. If you met your villain in the street, how afraid would you be? Are they evil enough to kill their creator? I would be pretty scared. He did kill his own brother, after all.

And, the most important question of all: Does the dark side really have cookies?  Of course. Dark chocolate cookies. ;)

beautiful people >> one year edition edition

We've offered 15 questions this month. The first 10 are normal questions that you answer about both your characters. Then, there are 5 extra questions focusing specifically on what kind of a relationship they have.
If you don't want to do the additional 5 questions, you can always just pick one character and use just the 10 questions as planned. This relationship challenge is completely optional and it's up to you whether you want to participate.

I'm going to be doing this one with Allyn and James, the two main characters in a rather newish novel of mine.

1. Do they believe in anything that most people think is impossible?

Allyn is a skeptic. She's been lied to too many times to believe in things that are generally considered 'impossible'. 

James, however, tends to have more faith in others than Allyn and normally is the one who believes things that sound silly or impossible. Such as the legends.

2. Are they strong, or the "damsel/knight in distress" sort?

For the most part they're both pretty strong. Allyn does have her moments of vulnerability, but they're few and far between.

3. Do they have a special place? (e.g. a corner in his/her bedroom, under a tree...)

Not that I know of, but knowing these two, they'll come up with something and totally surprise me. ;)

4. What occupation do they have, or plan on having?

James is a soldier. When he heard about the war, he was one of the first to sign up. He's the leader of a small squardon. 

Allyn is part of a resistance movement and fights in the background. She's a Protector.

5. Describe their current place of residence.

They live in the city in a massive manor house complete with towers, stained glass windows, and staircases. It's really the headquarters for the resistance, but most of the Protectors live in the manor.

6. Explain their last crisis. How had they changed when they came out of it?

These two are still pretty new characters for me and they haven't told me about their crisis' yet.

7. If they could drive any kind of car they wanted, what would it be?

Probably something cute and sporty for Allyn and a truck for James.

8. How do they deal with change?

Allyn takes it in stride and allows herself grow with it, but James literally loathes it. It's not consistant and that scares him.

9. If they had to amputate one body part, which one would they choose?
They're both extremely active, so anything major would be hard for them to give up. Probably a finger or toe.

10. What would their favorite be at the local coffee shop?

James drinks his coffee black with only a little bit of sugar and Allyn likes black tea with cream and sugar.

And here are the extra 5:

1. How did they meet?
They met when Allyn was fourteen and she was sent to the city to finish her schooling. They were both at the same school and were partners in crime. Both were troublemakers.

2. How do these two deal with conflict?

They try to avoid it. There's already so much in their lives due to the War and the fact that they play an active role in it.  When it's unavoidable in their relationship, they fight it out, although it usually turns into a tickle war and then they get hot chocolate.

3. Do they have a special song, phrase, item, or place?
If I had to choose a song for them it might be Constant by House of Heroes.

4. What kind of things do they like to do together?

Haven't a clue yet. When in school they liked to cause trouble and had a competition going on who could get the most detentions in a week. 

5. Describe their relationship as a whole in 3 words or less.
Constant. Love. Forever.

beautiful people >> allyn

Sneaking in late with this one. I suppose I'll start with a little background on this girl and then move on to the questions.

This girl is the product of many sleepless nights. She's a feisty one and has quickly become of my favorite characters to write. Her name is Allyn and she's one of the main characters in a new story of mine. Although she often comes off as tough and invincible, she's really a softie on the inside. 

She's stubborn...

"I'm fine," she said stubbornly.

James raised a skeptical eyebrow, then shrugged. "Whatever ya say, Red."

...independent...

"I can do this on my own, Amy; I don't need your help."

...easily frustrated...

"Sure," said Morgan, aimlessly twirling a strand of hair around one of her fingers.

Allyn grit her teeth, that simple motion seemed to get to her more than anything else Morgan had done or said.  She burst out quite suddenly,"What part of leave me alone  do you not get?!"

...but can be quite sweet once you get to know her...

 James is Allyn's best friend and I'll let you in on a secret, he loves her. He'd do anything to keep her save and, while she knows that he protects her, she doesn't know quite the extent to which he cares.

She slid down the wall, curling up in a tiny ball once she hit the ground. Tears were already forming in her eyes and were more than ready to spill over. His arms were around her as he knelt beside her, his tears mingling with his. 

"What's happening, James? I'm so scared." she said quietly.

"I don't know, Lyn, but I'll keep you safe," he replied, tightening his arms around her. "I swear I will."
She only held on to him tighter. He was her rock in the middle of the wars and she clung to him with her whole being. 
It was there that they were found in the morning, still holding each other, sleeping in the corridor.

Moving on to the questions now...

1. If your character could be played by any actor, who would it be?

Um, I don't know about an actress, but I think she'd look a little like this... just Allyn has reddish hair, not blonde.

2. Does your character have a specific theme song?

*blank stare* Can I get back to you on this one? I'm coming up with nothing.

3. What’s their worst childhood memory?

When Allyn was three she lost her parents in the First War. Their murder is something that still haunts her dreams sixteen years later.

4. If your character had a superpower, what would it be?

Forcefields. She likes to keep those she cares deeply about safe and this would be the easiest way for her to do so.

5. If your character crashed on an island with a bunch of other people, how would your character help the group survive?

She's not the most helpful of people. She's been on her own too much for that, but she'd pitch in after awhile. She likes to succeed.

6. Are they married? If not, do they someday wish to be?

She's not married, although she does like her friend, James. It's her deepest secret and she refuses to tell him, thinking that keeping it to herself will protect him.

7. What is a cause they would die for?

Allyn would die for anyone she loves. While she doesn't often let people see the vulnerable side of her, it is there and she does care.

8. Would they rather die fighting valiantly, or quietly at home?

Without a doubt, fighting. To die knowing that she was protecting others would be the only way she'd want to go out.

9. If someone walked up to them and told them they were the child of the prophecy, would they believe them?

She'd probably mock the person who told them and tell them she doesn't believe in fate or foretelling the future. However. She is part of a prophecy in the end. ;)

10. Do they prefer the country or the city?
Both! Allyn lives in the country, but is sent to the city later in her life. While she loves what the city has to offer, there will always be a place in her heart for the country.

[linking up with Beautiful People at Skylie's.]