Character Castle 2.0
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🤣 that was hilarious!
Practice went according to Jade’s plan until she neared Abirami. She leaned toward him so he could pick her up, and then it seemed to take as long as a Destiny ceremony for him to figure out what he should do. Once he finally lifted her into the air, Jade outstretched her arms as a bird would its wings. Then Abirami spun. Stiffly. Carefully.
Jade glared at him. You dolt, I’m not nitroglycerin! How do you expect to give that kid a decent show if you’re going to screw it up? She crossed her arms. “Put me down,” she said through gritted teeth.
Abirami promptly obliged. “Sorry.”
Jade huffed and shoved him toward the stage’s rear. “Just watch Ophelia and Isaias. You need to do what they do. He has seen lifts before while watching me practice.”
She refrained from mentioning the illegal circumstances that prompted his spectatorship. She owed Isaias for protecting Rosemary, and he owed Jade for protecting himself. So she tolerated his dangerous friendship. Screw the Benevolents; they’d get folks no matter which way they turn.
Jade and Abirami watched Ophelia and Isaias dance, and Jade was actually impressed. She hadn’t known Ophelia’s skill level, which was not too bad. Isaias, however, surprised her. Then she thought of the rebellious farmer kid’s skill with a pencil. Maybe his gracefulness wasn’t so surprising. The pair was on the second lift of the dance. Isaias fluidly swept Ophelia up into the air, giving her just the effect Jade wanted: that of a flying bird.
”See?” Jade asked Abirami a bit more gently.
I might write some from Isaias’ view, too. That would be interesting.
We are called to be lights in the cosmos.
May your inkwells never run dry!Awesome.
I’d say the favorite name I’ve given a character… that’s a hard one. Probably still say Setti. Not only is his name’s meaning fitting, but Setti is ancient Egyptian and is another name for Seth.
Setti’s parents were named Asur and Iside. Asur is another name for Osiris, and Iside is the Italian name for Isis, the Egyptian god of sky and nature. In ancient Egyptian lore, Osiris, the god of the dead, married Isis. Seth was Osiris’ brother who killed Osiris but Isis revived him back to life.
So it makes a fun little background connection with the names. Though Setti didn’t kill his father. However, his parents died to protect Setti and his older sister Menna when he was just a baby. (Menna is Egyptian for ‘favor’ or ‘grace’)
Other than that…. some of my favorites….
Dubshlaine is the name of the evil emperor… his name is ancient Irish meaning “dark defiance”. He is evil only because of the blood curse he suffers under (so…. big reveal here… hehe. but the “last vaelintrien” in the story about Abirami’s parents wasn’t actually the very “last”… Dubshlaine is the son of the “last vaelintrien”…) – it’s a great name because everyone will see the emperor as evil through the first few books, but then will slowly learn that Dubshlaine actually wants to free himself of the curse and isn’t evil by choice. gives ‘dark defiance’ a whole different meaning. =)
Abirami has a she-wolf that is loyal to him. Her name is Accalia, which is a cool name that is literally Latin for ‘she-wolf’
Abirami’s mother, Aefflaed, is Anglo-Saxon and means “elf-beauty”
Hanniumm, Abirami’s father, befriended a bear that was loyal to him, his name was Jamba, which is short for Jambavan, which is the name of the Hindu god of bears.
An ADHD maunin who is the fastest runner in the village Aefflaed tends to is called Muska, which is ancient Assyrian meaning “one who runs about”
Ku’Aya has a large bee (called a Nyuki) that she trained to transport messages over long distances. Ku’Aya named it Plysky , which is Persian meaning “messenger”
Sharrukin is the name of my wise king (who is also kind of like a Jesus-like figure in Aefflaed’s Weakness) and his name is ancient Akkadian meaning “true king”
finally, Hanniumm also had a wolf he befriended, who Abirami actually grew up with and was the first animal Abirami was able to transform into. Hanniumm’s wolf is named Tarvis, which is Japanese for “lightning king”
…….. just some of my favorites. =)
I would love for you to beta read Aefflaed’s Weakness!!! And you can start whenever you want to. =) The two easiest ways for me to share it with you… if you want to give me a gmail, I can add you to my google document, and you can comment directly to it, or I can give you a link to the google document, and you can just send me any comments/suggestions…. whatever is easiest for you…
Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried. ~ G.K.C.
Abirami
Ophelia and Isaias danced across the stage. They were so elegant!
They were so close!
My cheeks burned. Isaias lifted Ophelia so gracefully, and she flew through the air, but I wasn’t transfixed by the flight. I was transfixed by how close they were. There was barely any space between them.
I’d never been that close to a woman before. Did Jade really expect our bodies to get that close? I hardly knew her. Was she really okay with that? Scratch that. Was I okay with that?
Sure, it was just dancing. I’d seen dancers long ago, at the palace, before the fall. But I had never realized…
Was that really okay? Just dancing, right?
Puabi’s golden skin, deep black hair, and blazing orange eyes filled my mind’s eye. I wouldn’t hesitate to dance with her, even if it was improper for a princess and a commoner to touch. I would always defend her. With my life. But would I ever give my life for but a dance, if this was what a dance was.
Snapping fingers cracked in front of my face.
“Are you watching?” asked Jade, the frown reset upon her face.
“Um, yes,” I muttered. “Sorry.”
“Stop apologizing to me,” she scoffed. “It’s your sister we’re doing this for. How well you want it to go is up to you.”
She paced a few steps away, whispering, “No skin off my back if it goes bad.”
Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried. ~ G.K.C.
It would be best if you gave me a link to the document. Do you want to put it in this Castle room, or the one I recently saw you posted about beta reading? (I’m guessing it’s the same story?)
Abirami’s mother, Aefflaed, is Anglo-Saxon and means “elf-beauty”
Yes, I noted that name! It’s pretty, and similar to Anglo-Saxon and Nordic names I’ve messed around with (though I didn’t actually end up using any 😂).
We are called to be lights in the cosmos.
May your inkwells never run dry!Glad you’re back! I love those names! Naming characters something that actually means something is very fun, especially when it has the right sound as well!
I’ve been having a lot of fun with that for the Murder of Swans’ characters XD For all of them, I tried to reference either mythology or literature. Except for Jasper. Jasper was an inside joke XD
Athena and Ophelia were originally just filler names, but they stuck.
Ophelia is obviously named after the Hamlet character. Ophelia’s eventual madness and death by drowning… play a role in the story. Let’s stop there so I won’t give spoilers XD
Besides that, I just looked it up, and apparently, it means ‘aid’ or ‘benefit’ which is oddly appropriate XD
Athena is named after the Greek goddess of war and reason, obviously. Especially the reason part is interesting to me since Athena is both very smart and extremely aware of that and values it above all else. It’s… not healthy but look it’s interesting to watch XD
Calliope was named after the muse, mainly just because it sounded cool.
Malcolm was named after the Shakespeare character from Macbeth. Again, mainly because it sounds cool XD
Frey (Oh goodness I have to get him into the castle soon, I love him so much.) was partially named after some Norse deity, I think, but again, mainly because it sounded cool and suited him XD
As previously stated. Jasper’s name is an inside joke. I’m never getting rid of it, it’s hilariously incongruent with all these other pretentious names XD
I’ve been trying to come up with last names that have some connection to the bird each character symbolizes. Ophelia’s last name is Schwann, which… obviously means swan XD Athena in mythology is connected to owls, Calliope is symbolized by a crow, Malcolm’s is a crane, Frey is a sparrow. (His last name is Spurling, which means sparrow too.) I think Jasper’s is a pheasant? I wanted to say turkey but that’s too mean toward Jasper. I already bully him too much XD
So yeah… totally unnecessary rant about symbolism and character names XD
I’ll write Ophelia first, and I might get time for Cal later!
Without darkness, there is no light. If there was no nighttime, would the stars be as bright?
Ophelia
Abirami and Jade were struggling. Abirami seemed completely clueless about what to do. It was hardly his fault, Jade hadn’t given him many explanations or enough time to actually learn it.
I watched with deep amusement as he seemed to be trying to walk on his toes without actually managing it.
Jade danced well, but wasn’t nearly as good at explaining. As she jumped for the lift, Abirami backed away instead of lifting her. And when he did, it seemed to be more of an attempt to keep her as far away as possible.
Jade’s frustration reached a peak as she gestured to us. “Watch Ophelia and Isaias, do what they’re doing.”
No pressure.
I glanced over at Isaias. He nodded that he was ready. His bright smile was some encouragement, but watching Abirami fumble hadn’t been.
I had an idea and ran behind the curtain. Surely there had to be some kind of music here?
Indeed, there was an old cd-player. I opened it, but the disk was unmarked. Time to hope for the best. I pressed the play button and turned down the volume button. If it was a string of gruesome threats, I didn’t need the others hearing it.
Instead, quiet music drifted out. It was simple and cheery, and it fitted the time signature.
I turned the volume up just enough so the others on the stage could hear it.
“I think that’ll help,” I said, cheerily. I skipped out onto the stage, to the place where I should start.
I just hoped I’d remember all the steps. I tried to remember what Jade had done, but the memory was like trying to grab at a handful of mist. I’d have to improvise.
“Five, six, seven, eight,” I counted, just loud enough for Isaias to hear.
The memory of the steps was stronger in my body than in my mind. Despite the sudden forgetfulness always brought on by the stage, I drifted through the steps, meticulously making myself perform them technique-perfect. Or as close to perfect as I could get.
Thankfully, the stage wasn’t too slippery. Falling wasn’t likely. I watched Isaias’ part with trepidation. However, my fear proved to be unnecessary. His technique was practically nonexistent, but he was in the right place at the right time, and it didn’t look too clunky.
Now for the true test. I exhaled, then started in for the lift. I spun into the jump.
Please be there. Please don’t let me fall.
People had let me fall so often. I would jump and crash when nobody caught me. It was my own fault. I shouldn’t have jumped.
Isaias caught me around the waist and suddenly I was weightless, my pose curved into the exact way I’d intended it. It swept my breath away, a single moment of euphoria as I synced with the music and my partner.
I landed in perfect grace and we stood frozen for an instant, a breath, a pause. It shattered as I burst into a fit of light-headed laughter. There was nothing like this. All the pain, all the embarrassment, all the fear of not being good enough, and then one of those tiny moments where everything went right, so rare I forgot about them until they surprised me. That was what I was doing it for. It was almost pathetic.
“Thank you, that was perfect,” I said, trying to catch my breath. Isaias grinned back at me, and there was the tiniest filament of friendship, as ephemeral as that single moment I wasted my life chasing.
I gradually found my way back to planet earth and turned to Abirami.
“Did that make sense?” I asked.
He nodded sheepishly but eyed Jade like he was scared she was going to bite his head off. It appeared to be a rational concern.
“Can you just try the lift again? Maybe I can help,” I asked, uncertainly.
Jade nodded, shortly, and took a few steps back.
This time, Abirami didn’t try to back away from Jade, but he still tried to keep her at arm’s length, and he still tried to balance on his toes, only to inevitably fail. That made me smile.
Jade didn’t. She was glaring at Abirami in the heights of frustration.
“You don’t have to stand on your toes,” I started.
Abirami looked confused, so I clarified.
“It just makes you unstable. There’s not enough time to really worry about technique, it’s better to just focus on not falling over.”
For the first time, I noticed Abirami’s ears were red, and by the way he was constantly keeping Jade at arm’s length and stepping away from her whenever he could, I could guess the rest of the issue.
“I know, it’s rather awkward,” I said, with a nervous giggle. The secondhand discomfort of the situation was enough that I was probably blushing in sympathy. I hoped they wouldn’t notice.
Partnering was always awkward at first, and now it was amplified by the fact that we barely knew each other. I’d known Malcolm even before we’d gotten assigned the pax de deux, but the first few times had still been uncomfortable at best.
__________
Okay, I won’t be able to get around to Cal today. Oh well 😅
Without darkness, there is no light. If there was no nighttime, would the stars be as bright?
I can just post it here real quick. then anyone else who wants to look at it can as well if they wish. =)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qkFnMaYylWtV0TuCIqZsEq4QaBKswWpt5VW1l11QM48/edit?usp=sharing
thanks for being willing to take a glance at it for me!
Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried. ~ G.K.C.
“You don’t have to stand on your toes,” I started. Abirami looked confused, so I clarified. “It just makes you unstable. There’s not enough time to really worry about technique, it’s better to just focus on not falling over.” For the first time, I noticed Abirami’s ears were red, and by the way he was constantly keeping Jade at arm’s length and stepping away from her whenever he could, I could guess the rest of the issue. “I know, it’s rather awkward,” I said, with a nervous giggle. The secondhand discomfort of the situation was enough that I was probably blushing in sympathy. I hoped they wouldn’t notice.
awesome! and a well written post! I liked how you portrayed the dance, her worries, and her euphoria in the perfect moment.
Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried. ~ G.K.C.
That bird/mythology/literature name theme is cool! (Turkey? 😂) Crow seems to just fit Calliope. I did a floral theme in Between Here and Fairyland. My MC was Malai, which is a Thai name meaning “garland of flowers.” She was a flower seller and flower garlands were an important symbol in the book. Some of her family members were named Ubon and Ubol, which are also Thai and mean “lotus flower.” And Malai made a garland of lotuses 🙂.
Thanks! I’m going to start reading it today.
We are called to be lights in the cosmos.
May your inkwells never run dry!awesome! and a well-written post! I liked how you portrayed the dance, her worries, and her euphoria in the perfect moment.
Thank you! I’m glad you liked it!
That bird/mythology/literature name theme is cool! (Turkey? XD) Crow seems to just fit Calliope.
Thank you! 😀
… If you knew Jasper I think it would make sense XD Suffice it to say, all the characters combined have maybe three brain cells and Jasper has never seen any of them XD (Neither has Ophelia for that matter XD)
I did a floral theme in Between Here and Fairyland. My MC was Malai, which is a Thai name meaning “garland of flowers.” She was a flower seller and flower garlands were an important symbol in the book. Some of her family members were named Ubon and Ubol, which are also Thai and mean “lotus flower.” And Malai made a garland of lotuses
Oh, that’s such a fun idea! I love when stories have a unified symbolism throughout the story, it’s so fun!
Without darkness, there is no light. If there was no nighttime, would the stars be as bright?
@jared-williams incidentally, I’ve just recently recovered from a two week long bout of Covid as well XD
Name meanings are so cool! I used to really be into name meanings, but now I mainly pick names based on the sound or aesthetic.
There was one really cool coincidence though, where I had two opposing characters who accidentally ended up with different versions of the same name! Spire is based off of the post WW2/Cold War era, at least politically, and one of my protagonists (Basil) is a super-soldier who escapes the labs. Well, this country’s Soviet-inspired rival is developing a rival super-soldier of their own, and I ended up naming him Vasily – which turned out to be the Russian version of Basil XD
I think I’m going too drop Basil in again sometime. He’s changed a lot since he was last in here – I’ve finally nailed his backstory and motivations, so that’s changed, but he’s no less of an annoying brat XD
And, I completely agree with your take on touchy subjects. I think that as Christian writers, we do have a duty to talk about brokenness from a Biblical viewpoint, but that’s going to look different for different people, and I think different people are equipped to write about different things. Like, I personally couldn’t write Aefflaed’s story, but I think it’s certainly an important issue to address!
Or, you’re completely unequipped and then you just have to rely on God to make His will known and show you how to approach it XD
Which speaking of, I really don’t have the mental energy to read a book right now, but I would love to read yours someday! I’m going to bookmark this page so I remember it when I’m less burned out XD
@everyone I’m going to be a little while – I want to get back into this soon, but I have a lot going on this week 🙁 We’ll see!
In the meantime, here’s some art I did of Kit and Val 🙂
*laughs as one fey*
Ku’Aya
My heart was in the pit of my stomach, my ears were burning, and my stomach was caught up in my throat. What was wrong with me? I can’t believe I actually asked him to marry me! I’d have squealed in embarrassment if it wouldn’t have made it worse.
“I can’t file houses!” Ehud hollered stiffly. From the jagged hair line, across from ear to ear, and down past his cute little Adam’s apple, Ehud was blushing something terrible, like a sunburn from hell.
What he said didn’t register. I was too preoccupied wondering if my blushing sunburn was redder than his.
“Oh, what you got there?” I said, turning my attention to the creature in his hand. Anything to change subjects. “Oh, that’s a harvestmen. Many people think it’s a spider, but it’s not. It is an arachnid, but see how it only has one body section, not two? That’s how you can tell. And while they can eat other insects, they are also scavengers, which means they can eat carrion or compost. Can we be friends?” I grimaced. Terrible cover up. What would he think of me? Hey marry me? Oh wait, let’s just put you in the friend corner. Smart, Ku. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
“Sure!” He cried, grinning sheepishly.
His grin melted through my anxiety. He… he was okay with being friends? Friends with ME? A dirty, bug-loving aelacrin? Green-skin and all?
“What’s Shaear eat? And what do you do if bugs eat other bugs and you like both bugs…??” he asked.
I laughed, still not quite believing it. Was he for real? Not a figment of my imagination? Had that horrible nightmare warped my mind? I wasn’t hallucinating was I? Pinching my arm, I gently rubbed the spot to alleviate the pain and held my arm nervously.
“Most of my bugs are scavengers. They will eat anything that has already died, which is kinda beautiful, if you think about it, because they use death to promote life. It’s always so connected.”
“Yeah…” he murmured.
“But for those who do eat other bugs, I make sure they go outside the hive to eat. And they are usually good with that. Insects are very territorial beings. They have no issues cannibalizing a foreign colony. Especially if it means protecting the hive or self-preservation. Are not most men the same?” I grimaced again. Stupid! As it was, people thought aelacrins loved their insects more than they did other people.
“Yeah…” He agreed, taking me by surprise. “It’s awful that men are like that…if we instinctively know that’s wrong, we don’t have any excuse for it. But everybody always comes up with an excuse to excuse hurting people as long as they don’t know them too well…That’s not how it should be.”
I held my breath. He understood! How can such a person exist? Oh please, don’t let me mess this up. If I hadn’t already. Surely he thought me weird, awkward, or… what did he think of me?
I fought the urge to run. I fought the urge to push him away. Five or six different lines of insults came to mind, but I fought them back. No, I wanted this to work. I thought back to the first time I’d met Abirami, well, the first time I’d met him in his regular form… I’d kicked him in his sensitive spot. To this day, I’ve never understood why he hadn’t given up on me but instead asked me to live with him as a fellow orphan. Abirami didn’t abandon me, but… would Ehud? I shook my head. Stupid. Wasn’t like we were going to ask him to join our family too…
Gah! Just what was I thinking?
“You know…being able to talk to someone and being listened to is like the bare minimum you have a right to as a person…you should expect it from everyone, not just special people in your life?”
Oh, I wasn’t listening. Was he lecturing me? Special people? What was he talking about?
“It’s like Shaear!” he said with a cute little jump.“He doesn’t need anybody to reproduce or to get everything he needs, but that means he’s free to love other bugs because he wants to, and that makes it real love…I think…”
Free? I needed people… I needed Abirami. I needed Semiramis… Did that mean I wasn’t free to love? Did that mean it wasn’t real love? Was Ehud free to love? He spoke so confidently about it…
“Do…. do-” This was so embarrassing, but should it be? It was just a question, and he’d been so kind so far… He said we could be friends… and it wasn’t like I actually wanted to marry him.
A wistful expression cross my face before I could stop it. Huh… well, not like I would be adverse against it…
Shaking my head again to clear it of the silly rubbish, I stammered again. “Do… no. Are… Have you ever had real love, Ehud?” I winced, subconsciously closed my eyes, and willfully hoped with every fiber that he understood what I meant.
It’s been a while. hehe. Hope this is good. 😉 Super embarrassing! Lol. But Ku is enamored that anyone would even be willing to be friends with her. Like a person dying from thirst, she’s been desiring a true like-minded friend… (not saying Ehud is truly like-minded in all or any respects. lol. Ku is a bit of an enigma, but just being accepted is a first for her, really. Abirami and her adopted family don’t count in her eyes.)
Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried. ~ G.K.C.
@jared-williams awww I feel so sad for Ku :'(
I know this is probably a spoiler, but will Ku find romantic love? Or, a close lifelong friend?
I’m sorry but I’ve wholeheartedly adopted her now XD
*laughs as one fey*
I’m sorry but I’ve wholeheartedly adopted her now XD
haha. Well, thank you! @calidris
Will Ku find romantic love… I’m sad to say I don’t know yet. I can’t really say yet…
Ku is very close with her adopted family. But… you know, she’s a teenager. lol. Especially with her background, teenage years is where she really seeks to find her place outside her family and has those pesky questions about her own worth and who her parents were and why they abandoned her, etc.
(My cousin, who I was close with, had a close friend in high school who was an abortion survivor – ie. she survived an attempted abortion as an infant…!!! – she was adopted by a loving family as a young child, but it was her high school years where she really started asking questions about her own self-worth and who her biological parents were and why they had tried to kill her, etc. Even to the point of depression and thoughts of suicide. She actually did find her biological mother and had some of her questions answered, but I think it really was my cousin’s friendship with her and her Christian example and engagement with church that saved my cousin’s friend. – – in a way, a lot of Ku’Aya stems from that story…)
But yeah, Ku normally has really tough skin. =). She’s snarky and a little prickly at times. Ehud has her at odds with herself. lol.
I do plan for this to be a series with lots of books to follow, so there may be a love interest or life-long friend in the future, but I’m just not sure yet. She is still rather young, more like a pre-teen than a full-on teenager.
I will say this. Menna is Ku’Aya’s adopted sister (Menna is another orphan Abirami invited into his family, along with Menna’s little brother, Setti who I spoke of before…) Menna is an evianian (a flying race) which is a matriarchal race, which means the women are generally those in seats of power while the males are the warriors (the females can’t fly but have feathers for hair that comes down to their shoulders, but the males have large wings on their backs that allow them to fly). So Menna, in the first books, comes across as snobbish, especially in her reactions with Ku’Aya. They fight like cats and dogs – like oil and water, they don’t mix well.
But that’s the wonder about names, right. hehe. Ku’Aya (meaning ‘many blessings’) grows into her name as the books progress, as she learns to love and open up to a world that had spurned her for so long, and Menna, which means ‘grace/favor’ starts off not very gracious at all, but as the books go on, she becomes more benevolent and gracious. As this happens, there will be a very strong kinship that grows between them and they will later become, well… inseparable is the wrong word, but they will be connected in a very strong way. This also occurs rather naturally as they work together to overcome some rather harsh situations together.
lol. a long answer for a short, simple question.
Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried. ~ G.K.C.
It’s been a while. hehe.
Lol no problem man! This is the week of my finals!!! If I live I shall try to update monday XDDDDDD
Ku is so adorable, I love her.
To be a light to the world you must shine in the darkness.
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