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I'm here to do Beautiful People for the second month in a row, as I enjoyed the sibling edition so much back in April. This time around, I'm featuring two characters who I affectionately (yes, I love them, so there) term the "mean girls" of On the Midnight Streets, my WIP.

 This is mainly by request of Alyssa, because HOW COULD I NOT:
(I promise I'll do Finn at some point. He's too important not to feature.)

Yes, that's right. The aforementioned mean girls are Yvette Scarleigh and Rowen Raveneye, who actually have more in common than one thinks at first glance, and will likely become allies, if not friends, if (or should be that be when?) they meet. I think the fact that they are Alyssa's two favorite characters says a lot about her personality. *ahem* But anyway, some context for those not in the know:

zhenya katava as yvette scarleigh [via]
(This is the closest thing to Yvette's appearance that I've been able to find, but if anyone has face-cast suggestions, shoot them my way.)

Yvette Scarleigh is the daughter of Godfrey, Earl of Hightrill, and arguably the most socially canny nobleman's daughter in the city of Peralton—or the entirety of the Mendlands, for that matter. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of Upper City society has the good sense to respect her or fear her, depending on their circumstance. She's armed with a shining reputation and manners like you've never seen, and she is strictly not to be crossed, because she'll do whatever it takes to get you back tenfold. To someone who doesn't know better, it may seem like Yvette's sole goal in life is to snag a wealthy husband, and she certainly does spend much of her time and effort working toward that. But she's ambitious and clever and absolutely terrifying if provoked, and the social waters are her domain. She's determined to be the most successful Upper City wife Peralton has ever known, whatever that may come to mean for her.

tian yi as rowen raveneye [via]
(Again, closest approximation of Rowen's face I can find and attach a name to at this point.)

Rowen Raveneye is an immigrant from Xianhai, a country on the opposite side of the continent only known to the Mendish for trade purposes, who leads an all-women Xianhaine crime ring in Peralton's Lower City, where the poorest people and the criminals live. She came to the Mendlands when she was very young, so she has little to no memories of her homeland (hence the more Mendish-sounding name, which she took for herself early on). Once she arrived in the capital, Peralton, she built her name from the ground up, working her way from petty thievery to more large-scale exploits. She has an underground network of wanted men and women under her thumb, and she's one of the most powerful criminals in all of the Lower City. The word Raveneye has almost the same effect in Peralton as the word Voldemort has in the Harry Potter universe. She's the main rival of the legendary Midnight Hatter aka Finn, and she vies against him for dominance all the time.

(The two have yet to duel it out, though. I won't say who would win, but it'd be a close match. But I don't think a physical fight between Finn and Rowen would happen, because they're kind of frenemies. They respect each other's skills but never acknowledge each other or work together because THEY'RE RIVALS.)

1. Do they get nightmares? If so, why or what of?

Yvette: She seldom has any dreams at all—frankly, there isn't much in the Upper City that will stir the subconscious into producing dreams. But if she does have nightmares, they usually involve her mother, Octavia. The thing about Octavia is that she's been raising Yvette to be the perfect society woman with the perfect husband and the perfect household, essentially everything that Octavia herself tried but failed to achieve. So Yvette's still haunted by memories of her early childhood, when Octavia did everything in her power to make sure Yvette had a flawless walk, a cultured voice, a sophisticated but demure demeanor. These measures often ended up causing Yvette a lot of physical and emotional pain, so her nightmares, when they happen, usually make her relive those times.

 Rowen: Rowen's nightmares vary widely, and she gets them a lot (though she never tells a soul about them, because her fellow thieves don't need to see their leader showing such weakness), but one thing that always comes up: death. It's not so much the act of dying itself, or even the potential pain, that her subconscious keeps trying to pick apart; as a criminal, Rowen's had plenty of time to get used to the inevitability of that. It's more about a too-early death, a death that occurs without anything meaningful having led up to it. Rowen feels like she can't leave this earth without having made her mark on it first, and she doesn't want hers to be a random, senseless death. In all things, Rowen wants to matter, and so naturally her bad dreams make her feel like she doesn't.

2. What is their biggest guilty pleasure/secret shame?

Yvette: She's never been outside the walls of Peralton's Upper City, where the wealthy are housed, despite the utmost necessity of keeping up a cultured, worldly air when in polite company. Most other Upper City girls Yvette's age have been abroad multiple times, but even her father's title can't keep the family wealthy enough for the expenses of travel. It's not exactly that she feels like she's lying. She lies all the time and is good at it and is not bothered by it in the least. But she hates that feeling of being lesser and having to patch things up because of it. She blames her father for this, as he's rather bumbling and has no head for management and is really bad at worming his way into the king's good graces, which has left the family finances in semi-disarray for the past few years.

Rowen: Since she's been in the Mendlands since she was really, really little, she's illiterate in Xi, the language of those native to Xianhai, and no longer as fluent when speaking as she'd like to be. She's been accused on multiple occasions of not being a 'true' Xianhaine by subordinates, and this makes it difficult to maintain cohesion within her ranks. She's been having her second-in-command, a much older woman, tutor her so that she can relearn the language, but it stings her pride to have to ask her second for help. But this touches on a deeper shame that affects almost every aspect of Rowen's character: she's constantly in a state of cultural limbo, and she doesn't know which side of her identity she owes loyalty to.

3. Are they easily persuaded or do they need more proof?

Yvette: One should basically describe Yvette as the antithesis of gullible. She's had trust issues all her life because she's never been trustworthy herself, so she won't believe anything anyone tells her if there isn't concrete evidence before her eyes. This is especially true of her peers' interpersonal dynamics—if someone tells her that two people are in love or about to kill each other or anywhere in between, she's not even going to consider their input on the situation unless she can see and make decisions on everything with her own mind. She places her own judgment first, last, and foremost, as it's the thing that's led her to her present advantageous position, so she won't let people persuade her of anything, because she's seen others socially destroyed by making the same mistake.

 Rowen: Rowen's probably the most street-smart character in the entire book. She's practically at the top of the Lower City food chain, and she didn't get there by putting her faith in the wrong people. (Or any people at all, really.) People are not going to persuade her of things easily, especially since she often sees people robbed or brutally murdered for being even a little too trusting—and she herself has manipulated gullible people many, many times. Like Yvette, she relies heavily on her personal judgment, with all its prejudices and petty fears and lethal strategies, to get things done, because she knows from experience that trusting one's own self is the most effective way to go in her world.

4. Do they suffer from any phobias? Does it affect their life in a big way?

Yvette: She doesn't have any phobias in the medical sense, but she has a very deep-seated fear of being ostracized, instilled in her by her childhood and her experiences with Upper City life. This fear has shaped almost all her actions from the day she was first exposed to polite company, and it dictates all her motivations. Whatever happens, she will not let herself become a pariah, because the unknowable vastness and frightening implications of being rejected by her peers terrify her.

Rowen: Like Yvette, Rowen doesn't have any medical phobias. The few worldly fears she has are quickly dismissed, because fear is something she cannot afford when she's holding so many deadly and morally ambiguous people under her command. She's always the first to head into danger, though not without first arming herself with weapons both tangible and abstract. But she is truly and terribly afraid of having everything she's worked so hard and paid in blood and tears for—her underground empire, her status, her power—taken away. This influences all of her day-to-day decisions.

5. What do they consider their “Achilles heel”?

Yvette: Yvette believes she has two weaknesses: her family and her lack of a husband. To her, they're evils brought upon her by her situation. If someone targets her in either of those two areas, she is undeniably vulnerable. She does her best to shove those weak spots under the carpet, and most of the time, she succeeds. These are the only real cracks in her armor—or at least the only ones she herself sees, and she resents them with everything she has in her.

Rowen: Rowen's "Achilles heel" is her fellow Xianhaines. She will never ignore the call of someone she feels is her countryman—she feels a very strong sense of duty toward Xianhai, despite the fact that she hasn't actually been there for at least fifteen years. This sense of duty, as one might expect, leads her astray at times and can be used to exploit her emotions. She knows that it has this effect on her, but she just can't let go of that feeling that she owes something to what she considers her 'home country'.

6. How do they handle a crisis?

Yvette: As a general rule, Yvette does extremely well under pressure; it's essentially how she's secured such a high place in the social spheres of Peralton. She takes control of the problem politely but firmly before anyone else can, and then just as politely and just as firmly, she does away with it. Whether it's a ruined dress or a growing rumor or a blackmail threat, you can count on Yvette Scarleigh to turn it in her favor without letting anyone know what she's doing, all while keeping her reputation as snow-white as it's always been. Lots of people think that Yvette has her grip on every bit of the Upper City's social bubble; they're not wrong. She's got claws in everyone's skin. She just digs them in deeper when the times call for it, and people have no choice but to smile through the pain.

 Rowen: Rowen's response to a crisis: eliminate all potential threats. This is true in both the short and long term. It is also true of both people and events. Anything or anyone that could potentially cause a problem or is currently causing a problem is immediately slashed out of the picture. Some document might return to haunt her later? It's gone. Someone's holding too much sensitive information? Goodbye. Rowen's method of handling a problem can be boiled down to ripping apart everything in her way until she's got a clear, straight path to the finish that she can take with maximum speed. A little primitive and paranoid when put that way, perhaps, but it works like nothing the Lower City has ever seen. It's efficient and pragmatic and has been known to involve a lot of blood.

7. Do they have a temper?

Yvette: Yes indeed, though perhaps not in a traditional sense. It's probably one of her defining traits, as her actions as a result of her temper have intimidated just about everyone in the Upper City at this point. If Yvette feels she's been slighted in any way, her anger will flare up, but it'll manifest itself in the most subtle and poisonous possible way. She will let nothing slip in her outward appearance, but she knows how to manipulate the current of gossip and the tide of the Upper City's general consensus, and she won't hesitate to do it. She'll take control of any situation quickly and quietly, and no one she targets will know what hit them. If someone tries to so much as crease her social standing or her chances at a good marriage, she'll bring them down.

Rowen: Let's say that's an understatement. She always has ample amounts of festering anger against Alastair's corrupt government and those who are prejudiced against Xianhaines and women. Her temper inspires fear in the hearts of enemies and steadfast loyalty (with a healthy dose of fear?) from the girls and women she takes in. Her temper in and of itself is a force of nature. She's had plenty of time to learn that volatile and violent is a great combination of character traits when consolidating power, and she's perfected her anger, honed it into a wickedly sharp blade both literally and figuratively. Think of it this way—if you really tick her off, you'll know because the streets will be running red with your blood in about 2.5 seconds.

8. What are their core values and/or religious beliefs?

Yvette: The Mendlands eradicated religion during the Laceblade Uprising that resulted in the founding of the kingdom because the two first queens, Rosalind and Clarabel, saw it only as something that would corrupt and skew government. There is no religion but the state—at least not officially, anyway. Due to her thoroughly Mendish upbringing, Yvette doesn't have any religious beliefs to speak of. But she places huge importance on the will to ascend, the will to be better, whatever 'better' means at any given moment in time. This could be because she's been trained to be a social-ladder climber and nothing else, with no other real skills, but she also feels it's a part of her own personality.

 Rowen: Rowen's core value can be summed up as the freedom to establish identity. This is cultural identity, mental identity, emotional identity—you name it. She wants to be wholly her own, and the ability and room to do that is something that she holds close to her heart. She will not be bound or caged or subjugated when she still has so much to find out about herself, when so much of herself is still coming into being. She wants all the space in the sky she needs to throw her voice at, and all the space under the earth so she can better tread the ground beneath her feet. She can't imagine living with anything less, which is one reason why she's fought so hard to cling to her freedom in the Lower City. 

9. What things do they value most in life?

Yvette: She was taught from a young age that complete financial security is the first thing a woman should set her sights on, preferably in the form of a rich and easily exploited husband with a very nice house, and everything else is secondary. So that's definitely part of it. But even broader than that is the idea of shining, flawless success and the eventual goal of perfection. She doesn't want a storybook life necessarily; she wants a life that is above all imagining.

 Rowen: To be short about it: her life, her spirit, her wits, and her weapons. She's made a habit over the years of not forming dangerous attachments to much else, because anything—possessions, loved ones, you name it—can be lost in an instant. There's a kind of stark beauty in simplicity and utility that Rowen appreciates, so she tries to surround herself with that and sever ties to anything extraneous.

10. What is one major event that helped shape who they are?

Yvette: Yvette formally made her entrance to society at the age of thirteen, having completed all education her parents felt she needed and reached an acceptable level of maturity. This was an unusual occurrence indeed, since most Upper City girls wait to have their 'coming-out' ceremonies until they're fifteen or sixteen. When she had her cotillion (essentially a ball that spotlighted her introduction to the marriage market), however, she was immediately eclipsed by Lavender Hawkins, mainly because Yvette doesn't have the 'typical' beauty that the Mendish approve of and Lavender, frankly, has it in spades. The anger and envy she felt that night has helped Yvette use her wiles and her incisive, impeccable taste to her advantage ever since.

Rowen: When Rowen first got to Peralton, she was captured by a disgusting gang of men who made their living selling 'exotic' young girls to brothels. Keep in mind she was really little at the time, probably around four or five. She escaped, obviously, but only by the skin of her teeth, and only after killing three people, which she still isn't sure how she managed. The guilt of leaving the other girls there to that fate haunts her to this day. This has left her with an intense distrust of men and a fierce protectiveness of those she considers 'her own'—that is, Xianhaine girls and women.

So that's all for this round! Do you love these cutthroat girls as much as I do? Did you do Beautiful People this month? Sound off in the comments!

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graphic courtesy of topaz winters

so what is #litlove?

It's a collaborative post series that happens every two months. It debuted in December 2014, featuring myself and four other lovely writer/bloggers, dubbed ATTAC:

Alyssa / Topaz / Taylor / AnQi / Christina (that's me!)

Officially(ish) speaking:
#LitLove is our chance to spout our love for the written word in all its forms, and it happens once every two months. It was born from a feverish Twitter fangirling session (as so many good things are) and then put into action. We've got a veritable army of ideas cooking, and we plan to spotlight everything from authors to tropes in the future.
Previously, we've featured brilliant middle grade authors Kate DiCamillo and Roald Dahl. Today, though, we're shifting our focus a bit. We'll be looking into our takes on arguably the most famous playwright of all time—the Bard himself, William Shakespeare.

shakespeare 101

It's kind of hard to be a reader of any kind of literature in the English language and not know about Shakespeare. (Okay, so Shakespeare may not even really be Shakespeare, but that's not the point of this post.)

Here's a bio from Goodreads if dear Will's name doesn't ring a bell:
William Shakespeare (baptized 26 April 1564) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language, and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
So, um, pretty darn famous.

I have to marvel at the audacity and power of Shakespeare as a writer. Honestly, all of us writers do. He invented words, twisted them to fit into new places with new purpose. He retold old tales and filled them with vivacity and emotion, and he wrote to appeal to both the masses and to royalty. His plays are hilarious, heart-rending, gorgeous, terrifying, and most of all, universal. Shakespeare finds things within us all and brings them to light in astounding ways—things we love about ourselves, things we'd rather not see in ourselves, things we're afraid to talk about, things we talk about too much. Once I found myself embedded in some of his work, I could truly see that his eminence is justified. To date, I've read Hamlet, Othello, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and The Winter's Tale in some form or other, and I look forward to delving deeper into Shakespeare for the rest of my life.

othello, an intro

Well, to begin, a tiny, tiny synopsis:
Othello, a Moorish captain, secretly falls in love with and marries Desdemona, the daughter of a Venetian nobleman. While the two live happily at first, a spurned suitor of Desdemona’s and Iago, an ambitious officer under Othello’s command, plan to tear the couple apart out of revenge for perceived slights suffered at their hands.
Of course, that doesn't even begin to do it justice. Othello is a play rife with complexities and emotional richness on every part of the moral spectrum. It's about the seeds of doubt and envy that grow to impossible and frightening proportions. It's about the extremes that humans will go to if they're pushed in just the right ways, the scary little flaws in all of us that can be exploited and make us into monsters if we aren't careful enough.

Plus we have a very interesting exploration of racism, as Othello's ethnicity is constantly brought up and 'otherized' by his peers, and the relationship between Othello's identity and his achievements is fascinating to read about. While I'm not totally sure if this was Shakespeare's intent, I think it makes the play that much more rewarding.

Combine those meaty themes with the Bard's trademark superbly realistic characters, stunning backdrop of a setting, and mind-blowing skill with language, and you know you've got a winner of a play.

(Also: I've always loved the tragedies so much more than the comedies for some reason. *pretends not to see the weird way everyone's looking at me*)

(Also: one of the most truly disturbing villains I have ever encountered in literature. Iago is brilliant and terrifying and I can't get him out of my head but at the same time he really needs to get out of my head.)

what this play means to me

I will always love Shakespeare for the people he brings to life first and foremost, and the characters of Othello are no exception. I'll be talking about the four main figures who stuck out to me and fangirl about themes and wordplay in the process because I am a literature nerd at heart.

Othello

As the title character of the play, Othello is a deeply tragic and multifaceted figure, and he is the perfect focal point for this story. His position in Venetian society seems to set him up for failure: not only is he a firmly practical military man in the midst of nobles who've been navigating the treacherous social waters for their entire lives, but he's also an outsider in terms of his ethnicity (he's described as a 'Moor' throughout the play; there's some debate among scholars as to his actual ethnicity). Despite this, when the play opens, it seems he's doing admirably—he's proved his worth and honor in the battlefield, earning praise from his superiors, and he's snagged a wonderful wife, albeit through unconventional methods. He has friends who genuinely care about him and a fairly good social position. He's done the impossible: assimilated into Venetian society despite the odds stacked against him.

But we quickly see that his personality, so perfect for war but so unsuited to peacetime and high society, starts to work against him.

All that he could be, all that he never becomes because of both his own failings and the predatory nature of his surroundings, is heartbreaking. In the beginning, we see that he's an honorable, good man with some very deep fault lines in his character. By the end, his life's work, his hard-won victory, has been reduced to rubble, and we ask: whose fault is this?

 And the thing that really gets me about Othello is that it could be his own. 

Iago

Like I said before, I think Iago is truly one of the most disturbing villains English literature has to offer. He's evil given flesh, to put it kindly. He winnows his way into people's minds using half-truths with alarming ease, and his web of deception upon deception is absolutely horrifying.

I think one of his own lines says it best: 'I am not what I am.'

One of Othello's strongest aspects is that it tackles a very, very difficult theme head-on by fully engaging with and picking apart the distinctions between one's image to the public, one's image to close friends and family, and one's true self. This appearance vs. reality divide is really shocking but very real and relevant. Iago's real talent is that he can manipulate this boundary and twist it to his own advantage by appealing to emotions like jealousy, the 'green-eyed monster'.

And all the while, you're thinking "why? why would he go to these lengths to ruin these people's lives?" and I think literature scholars have been trying for the past four centuries or so to figure that out. It's a tough nut to crack. 

Desdemona

Desdemona is so intriguing, and I definitely pondered her situation a lot as I read. Desdemona is, in the eyes of the males that dominate the Venetian social landscape, the perfect woman. She is obedient to a fault to her father and husband (with the notable exception of her secret marriage, which I'll get into later), she is generous and well-spoken at all times, and she is both accomplished and beautiful. Heck, she's rich on top of it all.

Throughout the play, Desdemona is objectified, even by her own husband, who refers to her once as 'monumental alabaster'. On the outside, she seems so polished and put-together, with no incendiary opinions of her own to voice, and she appeals to my personal curiosity because there must be so much going on underneath that whole socially-acceptable mask she puts on every day. Thus we get a subtle but extremely important view into how Desdemona lives with her own façade.

The one moment she shows any clear, definite defiance (although this is certainly up for debate) is when she deliberately disobeys her father in order to marry Othello. I feel like this isn't talked about enough: Desdemona, the individual. Desdemona, the human, capable of passion and emotion just like anyone else. That's what draws me to her—that single lapse, that solitary but vital decision that eventually spirals into her own end.

Emilia

One thing that Shakespeare does rather awesomely (although maybe accidentally) is provide three female characters who are on completely different levels of adherence to the obligations and burdens their patriarchal society has set on them. As I explained above, Desdemona is, or at least seems to be, the perfectly obedient, idealized noble wife figure. Bianca, another supporting character, is a prostitute, and therefore ridiculed and scorned by all, even by the man who teases her with marriage proposals. 

Emilia is the middle ground, and this is why I love her, although she may seem like a minor character in the grand scheme of things.

My favorite moment for Emilia—and one of my favorites in the entire play—is her speech on the relationships between women and men that she gives to Desdemona. It's such a progressive speech for the time and contains a lot of great feminist principles. We see that she has a fierce devotion to Desdemona and a lot of wry wisdom, and she resents the fact that society tries to contain her.

so that's all from me—but wait! there's more #litlove!

* AnQi and Topaz unfortunately won't be participating in this round.
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...but I will have to eventually, and so will you if you're working on a manuscript.

So continues my new post series, "Scribbler School", and my long reflection on how to make names—long or short or just goshdarn eccentric—stick to the things they're meant for.
"Scribbler School" is my occasional post series where I share my ruminations and ramblings on any and all aspects of writing, partially inspired by my good friend Alyssa's Noveling 101. There's no rhyme, reason, or semblance of sequence other than some honest thoughts. While I don't pretend to be teaching surefire writing methods—heck, I'm still that awkward kid in the back corner of the classroom and probably will be for a very long time—I'll use what little creative fairy dust I've picked up on my journey so far and great literary examples to try and help others out. (And, as you can see, some pretty amazing alliteration.)
Names are a ubiquitous issue in novels, whether you're working on a sweeping high fantasy, a sweet contemporary, or a jumbled mess of no-genre-in-particular. And while sometimes they simply fall into your lap or knock you over the head in a burst of transcendent inspiration, they're usually matters of much head-scratching and brain-pain. In some cases, they can even make or break the readability of your work—distracting names are a huge letdown for many readers. Place names, character names, and names for the random little bits and pieces of your storyworld are all important, and despite their seemingly unobtrusive nature, they are essential to making your story tick.

What makes some names better than others, and how can we find the best names possible?

(NOTE: These examples are based on my opinion only, and you're welcome to agree or disagree in the comments!)

sometimes, it works

EXAMPLE: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.

I think that what makes these names work is that Maas does a really good job of mixing familiar and unfamiliar name elements—they all still feel foreign enough that they're believably from another world, but they're not completely impossible to wrap your tongue (and head) around. That might be a good strategy to employ when considering one's own fantasy names, and it definitely helps worldbuilding, in my opinion.

(The one glaring exception I can think of is the name Chaol, because try as I might, I still can't figure out how precisely to pronounce it. Is it 'kale' like the vegetable? Is it 'chale'? NO ONE KNOWS.)

Some examples of character names that were done well and illustrate the phenomenon I pointed out above:
  • Aedion Ashryver. Now, I admit, the first time I saw this name, I wanted to back away and kind of avoid it. But once I actually got a handle on it, I realized that it was actually quite manageable. 
  • Manon Blackbeak. Not only is this name evocative—I mean, you get the hint that Manon is kind of sharp and cruel and sinister just from her name—it's also easy to adjust to. 
And a place name that has similar properties:
  • Rifthold. The pronunciation on this is pretty intuitive, and it also captures the feeling of this high fantasy metropolis, the capital of the great empire—which is precisely what Rifthold is. 

other times, it flops

EXAMPLE: The Selection by Kiera Cass.

For those not aware, the Selection trilogy is set in a future North America called Illéa that is ruled by a monarchy and divided into caste systems. The names in the series... well, they leave something to be desired. The main problem with the names in this case, I believe, is that it doesn't seem like worldbuilding was taken into consideration. Names, no matter how idiosyncratic, should make at least some modicum of sense in the context of the culture and world they're being used in.

Character name examples (these are pretty darn ludicrous, at least in my eyes):
  • America Singer. In a country that was once North America, this feels unrealistic and contrived—it doesn't seem like any parents would give their child the same name their country used to have. It wouldn't happen. And the fact that the surname is Singer... well, guess what their family does for a living? Yeah.
  • King Clarkson and Queen Amberly. These names honestly sound like the kind of thing celebrity parents would name their children. Essentially NOT what a) a king born into his throne and b) a common girl found through the Selection would be named. 
A place name example:
  • Swendway. Honestly, I am incapable of saying this out loud with a straight face. It is, quite frankly, pretty hilarious. This country is presented in the book as a combination of Sweden and Norway, combined under a monarchy. But think about it—in the real world, two countries being unified wouldn't simply mash their names together and call it good. (I also don't really find the idea of Sweden and Norway merging into one country super realistic, either, but that's a worldbuilding issue.) So it shouldn't happen in a book, either.

some other opinions on names in fiction (mainly YA)

how I do it (or, anecdote time!)

To be quite honest, most of my names come to me completely by accident. (Seriously, the entirety of my WIP stemmed from the fact that I saw the word 'chantilly' somewhere on a blog and immediately had to use it as a heroine's name. The rest came afterwards.) But here are some ways I use in order to nudge that accident a little closer.

Look it Up: This is usually my first strategy whenever I'm stumped for a character name. My personal favorite website for names is behindthename.com, as well as its companion, surnames.behindthename.com (the surname site is especially nice because in some situations, surnames can work as place names, too). There are lots of extremely useful explanations on name etymology, usage, variants, and more—and you have to admit, it's kind of fun when a character's name meaning matches their personality (although sacrificing a truly well-fitting name just to get a good meaning can be dangerous). This is also an easy way to make sure the names you're choosing are relevant to your characters' cultures, which is incredibly important in order to make sure that you're fleshing out cultures tastefully and respectfully. I've stumbled upon some gems in the lists here and in other places, so don't be afraid to use name websites as a starting point if you're out of ideas! 

Keep Your Eyes Peeled: I've already told you the brief origin story of my current manuscript, wherein I totally just found a word in the middle of nowhere and made it into a name. *rubs hands together* But now it's time for me to share a true story about one of my character names—Finnegan Lyle. His first name just dropped serendipitously into my head, which was super nice, but I searched for a last name for a long, long time. Anything from Merton to Langley was on the list of possibilities, and I was in a rather dire situation at that point, having no last name to call this EXTREMELY IMPORTANT character by. I was out on a drive near my neighborhood and caught sight of a sign with the word 'Carlyle' on it, and it immediately piqued my interest. A few minutes and copious amounts of fiddling later, I'd taken the 'car' off the front and was left with just 'Lyle'.

Fiddle With Familiar Names: This works really well if you're writing fantasy, for example—tweaking humdrum names can make them a whole lot more exciting. One of my novel's supporting characters is named Yvette Scarleigh, and her last name came to be because I spent WAY too long poking and prodding the name Scarlet. In the same way, you can experiment with various syllables and such in other names in order to make them your own. However, I'll caution you on this method; there is definitely a limit to how much you can do this before it becomes absurd. You don't want to be that one writer with all these 'unique'/actually unpronounceable and unreadable names filled with apostrophes and weird vowel sound variations.

Think About It A Lot: When your mind is fixed on something for a while, it'll eventually start to give you ideas. Use this strategy with some of the others to get your brain on the right track.

What Sounds Right?: Sometimes, when you visualize your character, a name just sort of rises up out of the blue and demands to be attached to that face. My advice? Go with your gut. Your intuition is usually the best judge of what name is right for your character. Plus, sometimes you inadvertently name a character in your head before actually officially naming them and then you can't stop calling the character by that name, like, ever.

so that's all from me—writers, speak up! did you find this post helpful? what methods do you use for naming?

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I've decided I'm going to start doing monthly recaps, since I've enjoyed reading recaps from other bloggers and I'd like to start opening up a little more about my daily life here on the blog. So without further ado, here's your wrap-up for the month of April 2015!

On the blog

  • I participated in Beautiful People and talked about the main sibling dynamic in my WIP, On the Midnight Streets: my heroine, Chantilly Rosewater, and her younger sisters Chamomile and Velvet.
  • I recommended "Gray Girls" by Tess Walsh for Fiction Friday #14. 
  • I received the Cake Book Tag and the Addictive Blog Award from my good friend Alyssa.
  • I finally made my first #WatchMeWrite video and showed everyone my drafting. (It's actually quite boring. I'm sure people only watched for the music.)

That one time I was offline *gasp*

  • During the first weekend of April, our district-level speech and debate tournament happened! It was boatloads of fun and plenty of drama went down, and it was less nerve-wracking than usual because our school was hosting. I got to finals in Original Oratory (the only event in the entire competition I might be semi-okay at), but sadly I didn't place. But lots of team members are advancing to our state-level tournament now, and I'm really happy for them! 
  • (I really love speech and debate, even though I'm basically a complete mediocrity.)
  • During the second weekend of April, I performed at a small recital and ABSOLUTELY FAILED. Thankfully, though I managed to shore myself up fairly quickly and save the piece before it wrecked itself completely.
  • I spent, um, a lot of time practicing piano. Every day. Like I do every month.
  • I advanced to Level Two of my second degree black belt in taekwondo! (I still can't beat you up. We all prefer it that way.)
  • High school is still... *sigh*. But hey, what was I expecting?
  • I participated in a master class for piano with a really wonderful pianist who was super cool and very insightful. 
  • We started a unit on analyzing film in our literature class and it is vaguely tolerable. (We're watching The Hunger Games and Catching Fire.)

I've been reading

  • The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski, which was disgustingly beautiful and also devastating. If you need me, I'll be in the next room trying to piece my heart back together.
  • Rules of Seduction by Jenna Mullins, which was fun but kind of bland, and the characters made some spectacularly terrible decisions.
  • Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, which was enthusiastically recommended to me by Alyssa and for good reason (reasons like Shakespeare love, apocalyptic creepiness, and an eerily beautiful and realistic presentation of the end of the world as we know it).
  • Blood and Salt by Kim Liggett, which was the book by my Freshman Fifteens COMMON ROOM Anthology mentor, and Kim's book was as awesome as her mentoring. Which is to say: pretty darn great.
  • Currently: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, for literature honors. I'm enjoying it so far but am still developing my thoughts.

I've been watching {television}

omg omg guys this show is everything i NEVER knew i wanted
I've been slowly but surely getting into the CW show The 100. It's essentially Tumblr's fault that I've gotten on the bandwagon, because The 100 takes up about half of my dashboard and I'd been wanting to see what the fuss was all about. And GUYS. I am so into this show it's not even funny. If you are at all interested in powerful women, moral ambiguities, diversity, dynamic relationships, and a (literally) killer cast of characters, WATCH. THIS SHOW. 

(Those of you who follow me on Tumblr have probably become suddenly aware that I've fallen in love with The 100 because I've been spamming you all with Raven Reyes. And, you know, everyone else. But mostly Raven.)

I'm done with the first season so far and I JUST. I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF EVERYTHING.

I even tweeted about it:
But the responses I got to my tweet were terrifying:
So this basically sums up my thoughts about season two:
omg omg guys this show is everything i ALWAYS knew i wanted
Wolf Hall is basically the PERFECT TV Tudor England period drama and that is that. There is POLITICS EVERYWHERE and the costumes are ACTUALLY PERIOD ACCURATE and SO IS (to some extent) THE SOUNDTRACK. Oh my goodness I might actually die flailing about this show.

It just started airing here in the U.S., so I'm only up to the fourth episode (and there are only six total so what will I do with my life when this ends?). It's giving me an interesting lens on the events of this time period (Henry VIII's divorce from Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn's reign, execution of Thomas More, etc.), which is definitely helpful, since I did a Renaissance Fair project on More that didn't exactly go into his... moral ambiguities, let's say. The entire cast delivers absolutely stellar performances, with special shoutouts to Damian Lewis as Henry VIII, Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell, and Claire Foy as Anne Boleyn.

Hey here have some Claire Foy because SHE'S MY FAVORITE. PROTECT ANNE BOLEYN even if she is incredibly ruthless and conniving.

look she's amazing

Help, someone teach me how to Instagram

A photo posted by Christina (@clocksandcages) on


Links of interest

  • A fabulous hashtag called #VeryRealisticYA was started on Twitter by the equally fabulous John Hansen. Basically, it's all about what young adult novels would be like if they were... y'know, actually sensible and realistic once in a while. A huge variety of Twitter voices quickly jumped in, and the hashtag even started trending! (You have no idea how much this excited me.) Anyway, my good friend Alyssa Carlier did a recap, and it's great.
  • The title, cover, and back cover blurb for the sequel to A Darker Shade of Magic: A Gathering of Shadows! AND IT'S... AHHH. (Also, Alyssa did a fangirly post full of caps and squealing and theories.)

...and that was my April! How was yours?

(PS: How did you like this recap? Are there any components you'd like to see added?)
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I have a surprise for you all. 

Now that I reflect upon it, almost everything I post is a surprise because hey, I have zero schedule or organization or anything on this blog. But I wanted to make it all official, because I've been meaning to do this for a long time.

Like six months, in fact.

This weird and wonderful hashtag-thing #WatchMeWrite originally started back in September 2014, when E.R. Warren, Japanese fantasy writer and all-around awesome person, decided that it would be cool to screen-record her writing process, fast-forward it, add some music, and share it with the Internet. I loved it, because not only is E.R. just a fabulous writer, it's a great way to peek into another creator's skull (that was not meant to be as creepy as it sounded). I even went so far as to make a how-to post so that other writers could join in on the fun.

Then I was tagged by the absolutely splendiferous Samantha Chaffin to create a video myself, and I was itching to do it. But I was on a PC at the time, and screen-recording on a PC is... painful, to say the least.

So now I have a Mac and I finally did it.

...some context, I guess

This is me drafting a bit of the eleventh chapter of my WIP On the Midnight Streets. If you're not caught up on Figment (this bit picks up exactly where the Figment posting leaves off, if you're eager for the next chapter—okay, let's face it, I'm talking directly to Alyssa right now in order to avoid her guilt-tripping), you may want to do some reading first.

the video!

So here it is! Enjoy. (The music is Paola Bennet's downright chills-inducing cover of Bastille's "Pompeii".)


recommended #WatchMeWrite videos 

(I'll admit it: these are all writing friends of mine. They're all WORD MAGICIANS OR SOMETHING. If you've seen a good one that I haven't included, though, don't hesitate to shoot me the link!)

  • E.R. Warren works on rom-com fantasy crack (Burnt Chocolate, Fairy King) in the inaugural #WatchMeWrite video (plus, you can read the full serial over at my lit + art mag).
  • Samantha Chaffin messes with fonts as she starts "hail the pumpkin king" (which has a glorious Pinterest board, by the way).
  • Raefah Wahid makes headway on her mythology-based short story "Ophelia and the Reaper" (featuring some too-cool background music by MS MR).
  • Lydia Albano chips the ice on a Yeats-inspired (yes, watch out for all of the rabid Yeats fans, myself included) mermaid project.
  • Alyssa Carlier revises the opening of her novel Winner Takes All, complete with dead queens and ghosts and OOH, POLITICS (uh-oh, she's running out of Star Wars music to use).

and that's it for my first #watchmewrite! writers, come to the dark side. we've got internet cookies for you.

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this has basically no significance. i just thought it was really cool that a wikipedia cake exists. [via]
*glances up at title* Um, basically everything, but we won't remark on that.

Who's brought this nefarious but undeniably brilliant combination to Christina's blog, you may ask? (I think we all know the answer at this point. HUMOR ME.) That would be the equally nefarious and even more brilliant Alyssa Carlier of The Devil Orders Takeout. She's tagged me for the Cake Book Tag and the Addictive Blog Award - my thanks as always! And if you're not devotedly following her takeout, I'd recommend it. There is much science and snark and writerly witchcraft to be had (sometimes all at the same time).

But let's get down to what you're all *really* here for: dessert.

Cake Book Tag

I think I can present this tag basically without comment and proceed, so I'll do just that.

Flour: A book that started slowly but turned out amazing.

still don't love any of the covers for this series. *sigh*
Honestly, this entire series started out slowly but turned out to be MIND-BLOWING. When I first read Throne of Glass, I was pretty 'meh' about it—I enjoyed the experience but it was nothing that I hadn't really seen before. But then I read Crown of Midnight. It was better, so I figured I'd stay with the series. And then Heir of Fire came along and IT SLAYED ME, YOU GUYS. IT... BROKE ME. The Assassin's Blade had an equally debilitating yet wonderful effect on my feels. If any of you are considering the Throne of Glass series, DO. IT. Although it may not seem amazing at first, DO NOT BE FOOLED. THERE WILL BE EMOTIONS EVERYWHERE.

Butter: A book that had a thick, rich plot.

i still don't know how i feel about these covers. i'll never know.
I mean, this series had a thick, rich EVERYTHING, not just the plot. Laini Taylor brings colorful characters and lush, vibrant settings to life with supernatural grace and power. Her writing just slides into you, settles over you like a second skin. I feel so at home in her worlds and her characters' minds, but at the same time, I'm exploring something real and new and radiant. This trilogy is such an original and powerful fantasy, fearless and gorgeous and earth-shattering. READ. IT.

Eggs: A book you thought would be bad but turned out great.

(First of all, I love eggs through and through, so I kind of take issue with this heading. But I digress.)

stop elizabeth wein 2k15
A really good IRL writer friend of mine read this book and enthusiastically recommended it to me. I super super respect her as a reader and writer to the highest power, and our tastes are usually pretty similar, so I figured I should trust her and go for it. So I borrowed the hardcover from the library and promptly decided that it just didn't click with me. The tone felt juvenile, the characters felt forced, etc. I returned it and told her that I didn't manage to finish it.

Fast forward to a deal I found for a free audiobook of Code Name Verity. Fast forward to when I decided to give it a chance.

GOODBYE, BLITHE IGNORANCE. Cue gross sobbing at the beauty and tragedy and absolute gold that is this book.

Sugar: A sugary, sweet book.

okay, fine. so this is sweet but not necessarily 'sugary'. but i am ignoring that so hard right now.
I don't really read a lot of books that could be described as 'sugary', so I'm going to have to go with Ella Enchanted. I am, as a whole, a HUGE Gail Carson Levine fan (actually, I'd say Fairest is my favorite book of hers), but I guess Ella Enchanted is the real 'classic' that she's written, and there are definitely sweet moments. And AHH THE NOSTALGIA.

And anyway, those of you who haven't read this book clearly missed out on an essential part of your childhoods. Rectify this error immediately. I promise it will help you grow up to be a more well-adjusted, awesome human being.

Icing: A book that covered every single element that you enjoy about a book.

no i will never stop book-pushing this series. #sorrynotsorry
I have squealed about this series on MULTIPLE OCCASIONS, I'm certain. But I need to bring it up again because it's one of my favorites of all time and it is so horrifically underrated. There is DIVERSITY. There is BANTER. There are COMPLEX, LAYERED, STRONG FEMALE CHARACTERS EVERYWHERE. There is BEAUTIFUL WRITING. There is BRILLIANT WORLDBUILDING. This is one of my most treasured fantasy series ever to exist and I need EVERYONE TO READ IT. YOU MUST ALL READ IT. I WILL NOT STOP UNTIL YOU HAVE. I enjoyed every bit of it and it contained basically 'every single element' I love in books. Truly the perfectly sweet icing on the literary cake. 

Sprinkles: A book that always cheers you up.

unrelated note: why are the covers for every single edition of this series so unashamedly horrible? they remake the covers over and over again and they're all absolutely terrible. this series deserves better, random house. really, it does.
John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series never fails to pick up my mood. I can flip to any page in pretty much any of the books and be completely sucked in within a few sentences of skimming. The effortless and intelligent yet hilarious Ranger snark, the gloriously played-out fight scenes, the general kick-butt everything about the series (highly skilled and awesome women! diverse characters! rich worldbuilding! detailed descriptions of weapons!)—this is the good stuff, right here. My memories of this series are immeasurably fond, since I first picked it up in the fifth grade and never looked back. It's a staggering twelve books long, so I have lots and lots to choose from if I ever need a comfort read.

The Cherry on Top: Best book of the year so far.

actual gift from the cover design gods, clearly.
(I think the fact that Alyssa and I both put this particular book in this particular spot says a lot about our friendship.)

I mean, everyone was expecting this to be here, right? V.E. Schwab's A Darker Shade of Magic sounded fantastic, yes—I even spotlighted it for Waiting on Wednesday once—but I was so not ready for THIS LEVEL OF PERFECTION. I think I was operating on some kind of book-induced high for the entirety of this reading experience. CROSS-DRESSING LADY THIEF LILA BARD! KELL, THE DASHING BLOOD MAGICIAN WITH A FABULOUS COAT! ASTRID AND ATHOS DANE! HOLLAND! PRINCE RHY! I mean, it just doesn't get much better than this.

Cupcakes: An awesome short with the epicness of a book.

also LOOK GORGEOUS ART
This is a really inventive and beautifully written reinterpretation of Penelope's side of the Odyssey, with a pretty darn wonderful twist. (What can I say? I'm a sucker for the mortal women in Greek mythology, and Penelope is one of my favorites.) It is truly epic—and look! The story is available to read for free here.

Addictive Blog Award


Rules:
  1. Thank the person awarding you.
  2. Share a little about why you blog and how the journey started.
  3. Paste the blog award on your page.
  4. Nominate 10 other bloggers you feel deserve the award.

Why I blog

My reasons for blogging have definitely evolved over the past three-odd years. At first, it functioned as my excuse for playing with Blogger and trying to sound sophisticated. But soon it became a great kind of outlet for me, allowing me to express opinions about things I was passionate about, explore new areas of interest, and just generally be unashamedly me on my own little corner of the Internet. The friends that I've made here, the memories I've squealed about here, the fun I've had here—that's all thanks to this good old blog. And that's really what it's all about for me; I'd like to thank you all for making this such a great space for me and hopefully for anyone else who takes the time to stop by.

How the, er, 'journey' began

The rather humdrum and somewhat embarrassing Fairy Skeletons origin story: I was young(er). I thought I was good at writing. (Every day I argue with myself over whether or not this is true. I'll get back to you when I've decided, which will probably be never.) I could clearly see that Wordpress was not going to take me anywhere at that point, which is what I was using at the time, and so I stumbled upon Blogger one day and was immediately seized by the desire to try it out.

After over three years of 'trying it out', I think I'm finally starting to get it right. Kind of.

I'm tagging/nominating

Taylor @ Paper Daydreams
...so I'm totally blanking on more nominees. But! If you were awesome enough to read down to the bottom of this post, consider yourself tagged/nominated! 

Thanks again, Alyssa, and I hope you all enjoyed reading my answers!

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Hello, everyone, and happy Fiction Friday! (What are you talking about? It's totally a real Thing with a Capital T. Go with it.)

This week's rec was published by Literary Orphans, a magazine that's known for publishing some pretty top-notch material despite its comparatively generous acceptance rates. I had vaguely heard of the publication before around the online lit sphere, but I hadn't really delved into it until I stumbled upon its archives by accident.

(Let's face it; the entirety of the Internet is composed of fortuitous accidents and we all like it that way.)

Anyway, I took one look at the magazine's 'mission statement' of sorts and I was absolutely intrigued. It's a gorgeous idea captured in equally gorgeous language:
It’s the nervous glances back at your apartment when you go for a walk without your cell phone. It’s the nostalgia you have for squeaking cassette tapes and Soviet ICBMs. It’s an analog dream in a digital era. The writing on Literary Orphans is an exorcism of the mind of its contributors, and reading the work here is putting up your fists and getting confrontational with solitude–solitude in a world where neon signs are out and LCD billboards are in, a world where you can’t think for following because everyone is doing all the thinking for you.
The Lit Orphans story that I read was "Gray Girls" by Tess Walsh. This is a rich and reflective short story about two sisters, Harper and Ophelia Gray. Its greatest strength lies in its characterization; Harper and Ophelia are polar opposites, and that's evident in the mood, the tone, the taste of the entire piece. Walsh explores how we don't really realize how tightly intertwined our selves and souls are with those of our siblings until it's almost too late to fix any damage each of us has done to the other. We're shown that our siblings can be our lifelines and our weaknesses all at once. It seems ordinary, and maybe on some level all of it is, but Walsh's writing tells us the truth: deep down, it's anything but.

It helps that the writing is really elegant and wonderful, too:
The girl in the bed looked like Ophelia’s corpse, bones and wires glued to the skin as if there were nothing left inside anymore but parts and strings. Unnatural. Something dug up from a grave and scrubbed over. She looked even worse than their dead father had in the casket, and Harper could hear the breath shaking in her own lungs as panic crested inside her, lots of foam and the sensation of drowning.
You can read the full story here.

Enjoy! (Anyway, ahh! Thank goodness it's Friday, right?)

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Hey everyone! My apologies for kind of falling off the face of the earth this blog. For the first time ever, I'm linking up with Beautiful People, hosted by amazing blogger/writers Cait (of Paper Fury) and Sky (of Further Up and Further In)! I've been meaning to do this for a while, but I've never really had the time to sit down and do it until now.

You may remember my gigantic WIP spew post back in November, when I participated in Beautiful Books (a variation of this very linkup!). So I guess this is kind of an extension of that—you guessed it; I'm talking about On the Midnight Streets! Again! Because let's face it, my life revolves around this book!

Essentially, what makes Beautiful People different from Beautiful Books is that this linkup focuses exclusively on characters, meant to help us get to know these people better. This month's topic is one especially near and dear to my heart: siblings!

 This month I'm featuring Chantilly Rosewater, the heroine of OtMS, alongside her two little sisters, Chamomile and Velvet. The girls are seventeen, fifteen, and thirteen years old, respectively. They've got a mostly incredibly positive and supportive sibling dynamic that I am so, so excited about, and I'm so thrilled to introduce it to you all!

1. What is the first memory they have of each other?

For Chantilly, it's her sisters' births. She has, in most cases, an uncannily good, near-photographic, highly visual memory, so she remembers those two days in particularly crisp, lucid detail. She remembers being terrified for her mother but struck with a strange, immense kind of joy when her sisters were finally born.

Chamomile also remembers Velvet's birth startlingly well, as she was with Chantilly the whole time and they were both kind of freaking out. But her first memory of Chantilly is weirdly quiet: Chantilly curled up in the corner by the single window in their boardinghouse room, deep in thought. Chantilly didn't develop her protective, smart, older-sister edge until she was around eight or nine, so she was very nervous and soft-spoken as a younger child; Chamomile just barely remembers that side of her.

Velvet's first memory of her sisters involves all three of them together—Chantilly is telling a story, as she's wont to do, and little Chamomile is trying to listen, though she's clearly nodding off. Velvet herself doesn't remember quite what the story was about, but she likes to think it was an especially good one.

2. Describe their relationship in 3 words.

Good-natured, protective, unbreakable.

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

Chantilly and Velvet are both partial to stories, though Velvet struggles a bit with reading at times, so Chantilly makes up tales to lull her little sister to sleep. (She's basically rubbish at it, but she tries so hard that Velvet hasn't the heart to tell her so. And Chantilly's voice is so comforting that it doesn't much matter either way.)

 The girls' mother, Diane, works as a washerwoman to support the family (or at least she does before they all have to haul themselves over to the Upper City), and Velvet and Chamomile help her out. They started work when they were both really little (Chantilly managed to snap up a job at a bookshop, which was just about the best job in the world for her), and they were constantly making up little games to make the chores less tedious. They still do it, giving each other small dares and making the time go by quickly. Simply working together amiably is one of their favorite things to spend time doing with each other. Unfortunately, now that they're in the Upper City, there's really no opportunity for them to do that.

 Chamomile and Chantilly don't like to admit that they love each other, so they're not doing things together as much. But when they do? They like to just talk and take comfort in the knowledge that while their relationship gets strained sometimes, it'll never fall apart. Never.

4. What was their biggest fight?

When Chamomile was fourteen, she declared that she was going to find the girls' father, Robert, and make him answer for what he'd done to their family. He was an abusive, misogynistic poor excuse for a human being, and she was planning on making him pay. Chantilly immediately shot down any such ideas, saying he was probably dead anyway, and it was best to let such things lie. Velvet didn't remember their father much at all, but she was terrified by what she'd managed to piece together, so she begged Chamomile not to go through with it. Chamomile was so determined and angry that she ran away from home. She nearly got away with it, too, but Chantilly found her shivering and sad in a Middle City alley two days after she'd gone missing. None of the girls really spoke to each other for about a week afterwards.

5. How far would they go to save each other?

Chantilly would, without hesitation, die to save her sisters. She would, in most cases, kill for them as well. Chamomile is much the same, though she's constantly pretending that she doesn't care nearly as much as she actually does. Velvet would unquestionably suffer fates worse than death to save her sisters, but she would be more hesitant about the moral implications of, say, killing.

Basically: great lengths. These girls love each other to the moon and back.

6. What are their pet peeves about each other?

Chantilly: Chantilly is annoyed to no end by how brash and impetuous Chamomile is, and she spends a lot of time and effort trying to make up for this perceived fault. However, she's a little sweeter on her youngest sister, Velvet. Velvet's so kind that it's hard to think anything against her. Sometimes, though, she can't help but think that Velvet could be a little more practical.

Chamomile: She hates the fact that Chantilly always feels the need to rein her in and question her judgment. She loathes acknowledging her own mistakes; she wants to be self-reliant, but her impulsiveness undermines that. She doesn't like admitting that a lot of the time, she acts without thinking things through. Chantilly points that out for her and tries her best to keep her out of trouble, and Chamomile resents her supposed 'inability to mind her own business'. As for Velvet—well, just like Chantilly, she finds it difficult to find fault in her lovely younger sister. But sometimes she wishes that Velvet would just snap and speak up for herself instead of being so quiet and obliging all the time.

Velvet: She's a little peeved by Chantilly's tendency to try and soften the harsher truths of life. Basically, Chantilly's overprotective of her youngest sister, and it shows. Velvet thinks she can very well handle any difficulties that come her way, but Chantilly tries to shield her from it. Chamomile is also inclined to coddle Velvet, and she's not too enthusiastic about that.

7. What are their favorite things about each other?

Chantilly: Chantilly most loves Chamomile's deeply emotional core, although there are admittedly many, many layers of tough-girl bravado hiding Chamomile's vulnerability. It's that part of her that gives Chantilly faith that Chamomile will always pull through, no matter the circumstances. Chantilly also loves how Velvet can find beauty and grace in anything and everything, whether that's the overcast sky outside or the rough clothes they wear.

Chamomile: Chamomile secretly loves Chantilly's selflessness and unfailing ability to catch her loved ones when they fall and make mistakes and mess things up. She also is—yes, she admits it—a little jealous of Velvet's unconditional kindness and caring.

Velvet: Velvet loves Chantilly because she has an unassuming but undeniable backbone to her, and it shows up in everything she says or does. It's a quiet strength that Velvet wishes she could draw from. She also has a huge admiration for Chamomile's fearless way of speaking her mind and being assertive about her own wishes. 

8. What traits do they share? Mannerisms, clothing, quirks, looks, etc?

via
All three of them have the trademark 'Rosewater hair', passed straight down to them from their mother, Diane: strawberry blonde, easily tossed about, sometimes unruly. They're also all pretty smallish in terms of build—though Chamomile is easily taller than Chantilly now—and they have a habit of fiddling with their hair when they're nervous, possibly because it subconsciously reminds them of the bonds that tie them back to their family. They're also (probably due to their mother's experiences with their abusive father, and the fact that they were raised by a single mother) somewhat disinclined to trust boys, with their hearts or anything else. Other than that, though, they're all very different personality-wise, except for the deep-seated, awkward current of bravery running through them all. They like to say they inherited it from their mother; she's probably the person all three of them respect most in the world.

In addition, Chamomile and Velvet both got their mother's green eyes. Chantilly's unsettling purple eyes make her the odd duck.

via

9. Who has the strongest personality?

To a stranger, I'd say it would look like Chamomile has the strongest personality, and maybe that stranger would be right. She's certainly the loudest, most outspoken one of the three, and she has a more immediate presence than either of her sisters. She's a little commanding, a little rude, and a lot protective of her own ideas and her loved ones. But Chantilly's personality comes out really forcefully at certain times—when she feels like she should be the 'glue' holding her family together, for instance. Velvet's personality isn't weak, per se, but it's a lot more subdued.

10. How does their relationship change throughout your story?

It never once weakens—their strong sisterly bond is, in fact, one of the only constants throughout OtMS—but they grow to understand a lot more about each other as they each go through their own trials and tribulations. They each change individually in often-painful ways, but they always have their sisters to fall back on.

And that's the Rosewater girls for you! What do you think? Did you link up with Beautiful Books?

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