Beautiful People - Ethryl {July 2015}

This is the second Beautiful People post in a row that I’m getting to just a couple days after the new version was put up and not at the very end of the month. Yes, you may applaud me.

Or not.

Ahem, yes. So! This month, in honor of the lazy summer days (although thus far my summer has been anything but lazy), our resourceful hosts Sky and Cait have come up with questions centered around such days. Also ice cream. Because apparently July is National Ice Cream Month. Like what? How have I never head of this?? And the third Sunday of July is the official National Ice Cream Day (which lands on the 19th this year). Um, YES PLEASE. I can’t believe I’ve gone my whole life and never known this. All the wasted years! *makes note to consume unhealthy amounts of ice cream this month* So obviously you want to join in on the summery questions. Ice cream is involved, people. So yeah. Go here and/or here to snag the questions and thrust your characters into this summer, ice cream goodness.

I’ve been doing characters from Burning Thorns for obvious reasons, but due to the questions this month being fit more for a modern setting I realized not really one character from BT would be well suited. Since I mostly write medieval-type stuff, this was quite a conundrum. But about a million years ago (AKA 2013) I wrote a book called The Avriot, which is the first book in what I hope will be a trilogy called The Traveling Library trilogy. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned it, but that was a long time ago so I don’t know who all knows about it. Basically it’s this silly, steampunk, time travel story full of bizarre characters and, you guessed it, a library that can move and travel through time. Fun stuff. It’s horrendously written (in fact the other night I read through some of it and just laughed at how bad the writing was), but I adore that story and plan on someday turning it into something tangible. But ANYWAY, this story is basically always on my mind, it’s kind of my happy place. Definitely the most fun, lighthearted story I’ve ever written. So I thought why not do a character from it?

The book is full of characters (it basically has 8 main characters. . .yeeeah) but the core of the story is centered around Ethryl—a happy-go-lucky, always willing to help even though she’s extremely mistake prone, somewhat peculiar gal. She’s spent her whole life time traveling with an elderly man called Mortimer (or Timer as she more commonly refers to him as) and as a result isn’t easily shocked or fazed by, well, anything. When you’re raised by a crazy old guy and spend your life going on even crazier adventures you learn to accept the weird.

So now that I’ve probably already bored you to tears and typed your eyeballs out, let’s get to the actual post. (One of these days I’m going to jump into a BP post without a novel-length intro.)

"Oh, Timer and I run into ourselves all the time," Ethryl remarked casually.

The pirate's jaw dropped. "You do?"

"Sure. When you're time traveling your whole life you're bound to run into yourself from time to time."

"What's it like?" the girl asked in awe.

"Loud," Mortimer answered. "As if Ethryl talks enough, but when there's two of her..." He shook his head.

Faerwen laughed. "I think it would be nice. Do you like meeting yourself, Mr. Mortimer?"

"Sometimes," he muttered.

Ethryl gave him a mischievous grin. "Now, Timer, you know you relish the chances you get to talk to yourself."

He cleared his throat. "Well, it's nice to have someone to be able to carry on an intelligent conversation with."

Ethryl just chuckled.

~ Ethryl ~

1. What’s their favorite ice cream flavor?
Basically if it’s colorful, she wants it. Any sort of rainbow ice cream combination is her favorite. Although she will settle with something plain as long as there are sprinkles on top. The sprinkles are the key. Having traveled the world (it’s a made up world, but ya know) and been to basically ever century, she’s had it all and is not picky when it comes to food, especially sweets.

2. Your character is getting ready for a night out. Where are they going? What are they wearing? Who will they be with?
Where are they— *sputters* Where are they GOING? I did mention she spends her whole life time traveling, right? Mortimer has the gift to basically seal holes in time and travels around looking for them and putting them back together so time doesn’t collapse. So yeah, they’re EVERYWHERE, and never stay in a place long at all. The only person Ethryl really knows is Mortimer. Not exactly many opportune times to make lasting friends. So who will she be with? Timer. What is she wearing? Probably something practical. They never really know where they’ll land. It could be on top of an airship or in the middle of a lake full of alligators. Ya know, wherever. So she likes to wear practical boots, usually brown pants, and a comfortable shirt with a vest or something over it most likely. She also always has a wide belt on where she carries necessities such as the Avriot (which is an hourglass they use to travel through time with), a pistol, a dagger, etc. And where are they going? That’s anyone’s guess. Wherever Mortimer senses a crack in time.

3. Look at your character’s feet. Describe what you see there. Do they wear dress shoes, gym shoes, or none at all? Are they in socks that are ratty and full of holes? What do they consider comfortable and what do they consider agony?
Ethryl will pretty much always be found in leather, slip on boots. Practical, quick to put on, easy for running, and comfortable. At one time in her life she preferred the laced kind but those took way to long too lace up (one never knows when one will end up in a band of cannibals or the middle of a war and needs a quick getaway), and occasionally all the time traveling jumbles her memory and she can’t quite remember how to actually lace them. So slip on boots it is. She likes to wear warm, thick socks under them. Heels are not her thing. She will fall and break her nose in heels.

4. Do they have any birthmarks or scars? Where are they and how did they get them?
One of my few characters that isn’t  scarred that I know of, but with all of her adventures she’s bound to have something. You should just ask her. She’d love to regale you with some wacky adventure story or another.

5. What kind of music do they listen to? Does it change depending on their mood or is it always consistent? (Feel free to share samples!)
Oh, Ethryl is open to most types of music! She enjoys upbeat things, and really loves old folksongs (usually because she can tell you where they originated from and why). She adores stringed instruments of nearly any kind. Also the accordion fascinates her (even if Timer thinks it’s an absurd instrument).

6. Do they have any musical talent? Play an instrument? How’s their singing voice?
Hahahaha! Timer tried her with so many instruments, from all different centuries, but absolutely nothing stuck. He was hoping she’d be able to play an instrument because music playing eases the process of repairing holes in time. But no such luck. Although, she did almost click with the trombone but Timer quickly said no to that. Definitely not the type of music he was hoping for.
As far as singing, that’s not her strong suit either. Timer often wonders why he keeps her around since her talents seem extremely lacking, but of course he secretly loves her as his assistant (or apprentice as Ethryl claims she is, but he’s firm on referring to her as an assistant).

7. What kind of book would you catch them reading?
An atlas maybe? Lol. Reading isn’t Ethryl’s favorite activity. She doesn’t exactly hate it, but she’d much rather be traveling and adventuring for real instead of just reading about it in a book. But maps, that’s something she gets in to.

8. How would they spend their summers (or their holidays)?
Well, they can travel to any season at any time, so she may have half a day in summer and the other half in some freezing wasteland. One never knows. But if she had a choice in the manner, she’d probably spend most of it at the beach chatting with strangers and making sandcastles. Or perhaps out on an airship or hot air balloon over the ocean. The beach and ocean absolutely fascinates her. But she actually likes colder weather more than the heat. (Of course Timer complains that the cold weather stiffens his old bones. They make such good partners, obviously. XD)

9. It’s Saturday at noon. What is your character doing? Give details. Ex. If they’re eating breakfast, what’s on the menu? Are they hiking, shopping, lazing around?
It would be a miracle if Ethryl knew what the day of the week actually was. In a 24 hour period she could land in multiple different days, and time gets jumbled as well. The Avriot can travel to any day at any time, but it can’t be set for a specific time of the day. So it may throw them on the day they set it at 3 in the afternoon or 1 in the morning or any time at all. Gets pretty confuzzling. Basically Ethryl and Timer eat and sleep when they feel hungry and tired. They do not exactly have perfectly scheduled internal clocks.
But if they’re staying in a certain place for a few days and it’s noon, they’ll most likely be off looking for a nice café to have lunch in. Timer isn’t much for the large, busier restaurants. He likes quiet, intimate places, so that’s where they usually end up getting food. And what’s on the menu? Depends on what century they’re in. XD Ethryl isn’t big on vegetables, but she likes spicy and/or exotic types of foods. Trying different kinds of fruits is also a hobby she’s picked up.

10. Is there anything your character wants to be free of?
Lol. Ethryl can travel to any place and time. She doesn’t exactly feel imprisoned in any way. BUT she would like to be free of always having questions with no answers. Timer is pretty stingy on providing information about his past and how he can heal the cracks in time, and other such things. She’s an extremely inquisitive person and the constant vague answers from him gets frustrating. (Of course her never-ending questions frustrates him as well, but you know.)

That’s meh Ethryl girl! She holds a very special place in my heart. I can’t think of any other character I have that’s quite like her. She’s so very joyful and flighty and mistake prone but doesn’t even seem to be bothered about it. It’s a lot of fun working with her. Although I’m thinking these questions still didn’t quite fit with her lifestyle and are just all over the place and probably make no sense. . . I don’t write contemporaries, guys! I can’t help it. Also I’m sleepy and probably shouldn’t even be writing a blog post right now. *cough, cough* But now I’m making myself want to rewrite this story soon. . . Whoops. No, Christine, you have a hundred million other projects that need your attention right now.

Ahem. Ignore me.

So how has YOUR summer been thus far? And what’s your favorite ice cream flavor? I think we need to eat it profusely this month, don’t you? You know, in honor of National Ice Cream Month. Yes.