Monday, May 18, 2015

Beautiful People - Rose {May 2015}


One of these days I’m going to do a Beautiful People post properly at the beginning of the month. But it is not this day!

Ahem.

Our benevolous (what do you mean that’s not a word? it means benevolent and fabulous, obviously) hosts Sky and Cait have come up with some fantastic questions to torture—ahem, I mean explore our characters with this month. You can link yourself up here or here should you choose to join in. (Pst. You should.)

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The moment I read this month’s list of questions Rose, my protagonist from my current WIP Burning Thorns, popped in my head. I’ve since thought about it, weighing out each character and even some from other novels, but it kept coming back to my Rosie girl. So Rose it shall be!

Rose"You know, I could help clean for you." Rose's voice pulled him from his agitated thoughts. "But it's much too nice a day for that right now. Come on." She snatched the feather duster right from his hand and tossed it into the study. It clattered into a bookshelf, making the Beast wince, but Rose seemed oblivious. She snagged his arm and gave it a mighty tug. "Let's go!"

The Beast stared at the feather duster thrown carelessly to the floor, not budging. "We can't."

Her futile but determined pulls halted. "Why not?"

He turned to meet her innocent gaze and the tense muscles in his jaw relaxed. "Because the exit is the other way." He was rewarded with a laugh that made her brown eyes light up brighter than the sprite's.

With his guidance, they made their way to the entrance doors, Rose talking excitedly all the way about nothing in particular. The walls of the castle that held in the tense silence for so long quivered to life with the echoes of her sprightly voice. No, not sprightly. Joyful, alive; as vibrant as the roses.

~ Rose ~

1. Do they get nightmares? If so, why or what of?
Honestly, Rose isn’t terribly prone to nightmares. She’s always held a child-like wonder of the world and keeps tight to her happy-go-lucky personality, despite her not great circumstances. As a result, her dreams soar in the clouds more than creep in the shadows. She does dream often about her deceased mother, though they’re usually happy dreams. It’s the waking up part that’s hard. But from time to time a nightmare will crop up involving her oldest sister, Anya, torturing her in various of ways, but these aren’t too numerous.

2. What is their biggest guilty pleasure/secret shame?
Her father appears to favor her over her two older sisters, in fact most people do. Though she might not honestly know it consciously, Rose loves the attention from others. Love and companionship fill her up, make her whole, they’re her sustenance. Not in a selfish way necessarily, she just loves people and feeling like she belongs. But I think there is a little shame and pleasure there that her father holds her higher up than her sisters.

3. Are they easily persuaded or do they need more proof?
Rose is woefully easily persuaded. It’s not in her nature to believe anyone is a liar, she always wants to see the best in people. Her sisters are about the only ones she’s wary toward, and only because they’ve deceived her time and time again. But even still she tries to see the best in them.

4. Do they suffer from any phobias? Does it affect their life in a big way?
She’s pretty terrified of both her sisters, and since she’s forced to live with them, yeah, that affects her life a lot. She’s spent a lot of her years keeping far away from their wrath.

But as far as actual phobias, she fears being unloved. As I said earlier, she feeds off love and companionship. She clings to any she has and fights to keep it, always having room for more friends and loved ones. Her sense of worth also ties into that. She often worries she’s unworthy for her role in life, and when someone strikes her with an unloving act, it only makes her think she’s unworthy to even be loved.

5. What do they consider their “Achilles heel”?
She clings to her father’s approval more than anything. Since her mother is gone and her sisters despise her, she has nothing left but her father. To fail him would shatter her world.

Then of course she meets the Beast and another weak spot forms in her soul. . .

6. How do they handle a crisis?
Rose’s instinctive reaction is to hide. She hates conflict and hopes if she can hide and ignore it, it’ll eventually go away. But if the crisis involves someone she loves, she’ll pick herself up, swallow her fear, and do what she must to resolve it, however much she wants to run.

7. Do they have a temper?
Gentle, joyful Rose? Nah. Again, she’s the running type, not one for fighting. If things get out of hand she’s more of a mouse in a corner than a lion in the thick of it. She does lose her temper once or twice in the book when her world shatters and everything she loves is stripped away. It has to be something like her sense of justice being provoked or pure tragedy to set her off.

8. What are their core values and/or religious beliefs?
Rose holds tight to her belief in the Giver of Lights (the God-figure in that world). She knows all light comes from Him and strives to seek it even in the darkest places. She believes that everyone deserves a second chance, that good can be found in all.

9. What things do they value most in life?
She keeps her father’s love and memories of her mother closest to her heart. The gardens outside her home also hold many happy moments. She loves sitting in the midst of all the bright blooms and sweet smells where the world feels safe and beautiful.

10. What is one major event that helped shape who they are?
After her mother’s death, her life altered completely. Her father became more distant, her sisters more vicious, and new responsibilities were thrust on her shoulders. Before, she thought life was carefree and full of rainbows, but then reality came and weighed heavily on her heart. She learned the hard way that rain has to come before the rainbow. I think it’s because of her mother’s death that she so clings to the love of others. Losing the greatest loved one in her life pushed her to hold tighter to the others she has.

This was extremely insightful for me! It’s crazy how much one can learn just talking about their characters. BP is a wonderful thing!

10 comments:

  1. Ahh, so you picked Rose! I had been speculating, but Rose barely crossed my mind as an option. :P Silly me, because obviously these questions lend quite a bit of insight into her character! (By the way--her DRESS. Where do you find such perfect pictures??)

    The way she's so hurt by her sisters, and the way she clings to whatever love and acceptance she might find, and the way her self-worth is so tied to that...I think of what's coming for her, and my heart hurts. Poor Rosie! D: But at least there's a certain someone to love her in the future. ;)

    *stifles laughter* Ha, no, Rose is not an angry sort of person at ALL. XD

    Ooh, this Giver of Lights concept sounds awesome! That wasn't in the novella, was it? I am so very intrigued! Love love LOVE that name. :D

    This post makes me just want to hug Rose again and be her sisterly friend for always! ^.^ She's such a sweet girl, so tender and loving. She just needs a hug. <3 Again, Christine, I just love the depth found in all of your charries!!!!

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    1. Not silly at all! She does seem almost too happy-go-lucky for these torturous questions but then I realized they actually work quite well if I closely examine her life bit by bit. I DID consider both Larke and the Beast but some of these questions would have been almost too spoiler-y for their charries. But I'm sure they'll get their turn, almost positive.
      (Basically every picture I use ever is from Pinterest. I have a serious Pinterest addiction. XD I found that actress for Rose before I even started the story, so I just look up pictures of her. That dress is breathtaking. o.o)

      I knooow. *sniffles* I hardly even realized how MUCH she relies on the love of others and now I feel bad... But it's our job to take away what the character loves most, right? Being evil is an author's job after all. ;)

      LOLZY. Definitely not. Sometimes I wish she had a bit more of a temper. XD

      No, it wasn't. I'm threading in some much deeper Christian themes this go round. For the novella it was more allegorical, this time it's very much in the forefront. Oh, you like Giver of Lights? I struggled to figure out a name and finally settled on that, but I was afraid it was a little cheesy. So you think it's good? It kind of fits with the theme of the novel which is basically all about darkness and shadows now.

      D'awww! I know Rose would very much appreciate your hugs. ^_^
      Goodness, THANK YOU!!! People loving my charries is like them loving my own children and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

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    2. Ah, yes, I can see why they might be a tad spoiler-y. ;) That's something I'm constantly ruminating over, now that I have a blog. When it comes to talking about my WIPs and all my characters, how much is too much? I want to share a bit of my writing journey, but I don't want to give away too much of the story.

      Poor Rose! Don't feel bad--after all, it's in the job description. XD And it's a good "Beauty" trait to have. Or at least it works very well for this reincarnation of Beauty. *nods*

      Methinks the Beast has temper enough for both of them. XD

      I love that you're weaving that in! And yes, I do like Giver of Lights! It's hard to settle on good names for the Christ-figures in books like this, but I think it works great. It really highlights the light-darkness contrast you have going on, and it also gives a nod to the passage in James about good gifts coming from the Father of lights. As for potential cheesiness...*groans* I second-guess my own self about that so often, so I'm probably not the best person to ask! But I know that it clicked for me. So... *shrugs* I personally think it's great!

      <3
      *heaps more warm fuzziful feelings on you*

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    3. Yes, it's such a hard thing to balance! I used to not want to mention ANYthing about my stories, but I've gotten braver through the years. We want to entice people with our stories after all. ;) I also have to remember that by the time people read my stories they're not going to remember something I mentioned way back in a blog post. I'm not going to give away entire plot points and twists, but otherwise I figure it's okay. That's just my humble opinion on it though. It is definitely a difficult line and I'm still learning.

      True, true. XD Awww, thanks!

      You make a point there. Anya also has a monstrous temper. And Marigold. ...And Rose's father. Okay, maybe it's good Rose doesn't have a temper. XD

      It is so very hard! I struggle with it a lot. Oh, ya know, that passage hadn't even crossed my mind! :O Well, that makes me feel better! Thank you! I'm constantly fearing my novels are full of cheesiness as well, right there with ya. But I'm so glad you like it. ^_^

      Nooo, not more. I'm going to explode with all the warmth and fuzziness! *splits it all and gives half to you* There. ;D

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  2. I LOVE WHEN YOU DO BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE! ^_^ *cuddles Rose* This was awesome and so lyrical and insightful. :D I don't know HOW you get so deep into your amazing charries! And now I love her even more. ^_^ Poor sweet darling... *pets* I especially love the lines about her clinging to light even in darkness, and believing everyone can be good and stuff... that's sooo awesome and splendid and I like how it ties in perfectly with the whole theme of B&B! ^_^ AND OH MY GOODNESS THAT SNIPPET AAAAAAAAAAHHH! <3 *cuddles Beast too* HOW YOU WRITE THINGS SO BEAUTIFULLLLLL??? <3 ^__^

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    1. EEEEEEE!!! THANK YOU. I LOVE DOING THEM. And seeing everyone else's! I get SO excited when I see a BP post pop up on my dashboard. They're so fun to read!

      Lyrical, really? o.o I thought I was just blabbering. Lol. BUT THANK YOU. I don't know...they just become themselves, I seem to have no control over it. It means so much to me that you think they're deep though! I learned a ton myself just writing this.

      *FLAILS* THANK YOU, CELTI. I CAN'T EVEN COME UP WITH A PROPER RESPONSE TO THIS SWEET COMMENT. <3333

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  3. Rose is so sweet, It was nice getting a more in depth look at her. I feel so bad for her about her sisters.

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    1. It makes me all happiful that others think so, too! Thank yooouuu! Yeah, it's pretty awful. But we can't have fairytales without evil siblings, now can we? ;)

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  4. Rose seems like a sweetheart! I like that she's maintained her positivity despite losing her mother and being bullied by her sisters. It shows that she's stronger than she thinks she is. I also love her answer to #9, for valuing her parents and nature. I just got back from a walk outside, and it's such a lovely day... and Rose's thoughts about nature sort of mirror my own right now. :)

    Nice to meet you, btw! I don't think I've stopped by your blog before. Good luck with Burning Thorns, and yay for another Tolkien fan. :D

    Here's my BP post, if you're interested: https://saraletourneau.wordpress.com/2015/05/11/beautiful-people-vol-4/

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    1. D'awww, thanks! Yeah, she's meh baby girl. I like that about her, too. Though sometimes I wonder if she clings to her child-like wonder in order to ignore all the unpleasantness...
      Walks are fabulous things!

      You as well! Thank you SO much for stopping by and taking the time to comment. That means the world to me. Thank you! I need all the luck I can get. ;)
      Oooh, a fellow Tolkienknight? YAY!!!

      Oh yes, I'd LOVE to! Reading BP posts is the best! *frolics over there*

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