Monday 6 March 2017

Beautiful People link up: Em

Em from Glory Brats. She's an awkward half-feral mute child. Beware, she bites.

What’s their favourite book/movie/play/etc.?
She can't read, but she likes looking at the book that Sparrow is using to teach Tekla to read and write. She understands more than she lets on, but doesn't like the way the black marks jump all over the page. Her favourite part is licking the glue off the pages.

Is there anything they regret doing?
She regrets nothing! She lives in the moment and is probably overall the happiest of the Brats. If something bad happens, she generally bites someone and moves on.

If they were sick or wounded, who would take care of them and how?
Bee would feed her syrupy things from their food stash, Zed would tend her wounds, Dee would finger-wrestle with her (and let her win), Tekla would build her a blanket fort and Sparrow would worry about how to get her to a medic.

Is there an object they can’t bear to part with and why?
She is insanely jealous of Tekla's soft toy bird and constantly finds dead things to carry around as a substitute because she thinks that's what Tekla's toy is. She doesn't understand why the others find this objectionable and keep taking her dead things off her.

What are 5 ways to win their heart (or friendship)?
Food, food, food, food and food.

Describe a typical outfit for them from top to bottom.
Frayed wool hat, baggy t-shirt, dungaree shorts with big pockets (for stashing stuff), dirty sandshoes with mismatched laces. Sometimes bandage mittens that Sparrow ties on to stop her scratching, but she tears these off as soon as she can.

What’s their favourite type of weather?
She likes all kinds, but especially storms. She could watch lightning and listen to thunder rolls all night.

What’s the worst fight they’ve ever been in?
When Exchange is besieged by the Outsiders and the Glory Brats sneak into their camp. Em is caught stealing food and starts biting the guards when they catch her, and the others have to rescue her.

What names or nicknames have they been called throughout their life?
She gets called Em at the research clinic because her designation is 'M' - mute. When Bee and Zed first find her, they nickname her 'Rat' because that's what they thought she was when they heard her scuffling around in the store room. Then when Sparrow joins them with her reading knowledge she tells them that the mark on Rat's wrist is a letter called 'M' and the one on Zed's wrist is a 'Z' and Bee's is a 'B'. Personally, she doesn't like the high, sharp sound of 'rat' but she likes the round, happy sound of 'emm'. So she ends up answering to that.

What makes their heart feel alive?
Being free. Climbing to the tops of things. Using the swing that Cap makes for them. Eating food until she's full. Being with the other Brats, but she doesn't realise this until they get to Central and she gets taken away from them all.

If you want to see the other blogs in the link-up then pop on over to Paper Fury




21 comments:

  1. Can you do this for all your Glory Brats characters?! There's so much depth and heart put into all of them and I love it so much!
    (For the button, I usually just copy and paste the Beautiful People link to my blog, I can't figure out the button either.)

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    1. Haha...I will put the others on the Quill fb page just for you!

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  2. Such a vivid personality, I can see her darting around in my mind's eye

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    1. Thank-you, Jenny. I've tried so hard to avoid making her cute and adorable because that would belittle the very real problems she has. But I hope that people like her as a character! (Even though she'd be extremely difficult to be around...)

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  3. Wow. I didn't think I would get hooked on this story, but I did. I have so many questions. Is this post apocalypse...who are these people? Where are their parents? Now I'm going to have to go back through your whole blog and read everything. Are you considering getting it published? I would read it.

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    1. I've described it before as 'post-post apocalypse' - their society suffered a devastating biological war, and managed to rebuild itself, but like a broken limb that healed wrong, and now these kids have to find their way through this world and find out who they are. Bee, Zed, Dee and Em were all taken from their parents as very young children and used as medical experiments; and Sparrow and Tekla are the young daughters of a prominent research doctor involved in those experiments. Thanks for commenting!

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  4. Commenting round two - I love love love that she realises that she actually likes being around the rest of the Brats only after they've been taken away. It reminds that she's actually a child with very little experience, despite all the experience she has too much of. As they all do I guess! I also really really like Bee and Zed calling her Rat - again, the casualness of childhood. My blood ran cold at the letter marks on them - are they tattoos or brands? Chilling!

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    1. Mwuahaha. They are tattoos, to make it easier for the doctors to identify them, particularly if like Bee they get passed around various research facilities.

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  5. I was already sold at "awkward half-feral mute child."
    Ahh, Em sounds like such an interesting character!! I absolutely love the name Glory Brats, and this sounds like such a unique story. (And I'll admit, I'm a sucker for slightly vicious characters)
    I'll have to look through your older blog posts-- I need to know more about this story + it's characters! It sounds like such a good one. ^-^
    xx a || not gary cooper

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    1. Aw thank-you! If you click on the label Glory Brats then it will present you with only all the GB posts; otherwise you will get the other stories and stuff mixed in and it could get confusing...

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  6. Goodness, she sounds violent yet I feel an overwhelming desire to protect her. Excellent character, wonderful answers!

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    1. Thank-you! She's not really violent, just more like a half-wild animal. :)

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  7. Wow I'm very interested in this story! The characters sound so unique and from what I can tell, have lots of depth. Awesome post! XD

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  8. OMG Em sounds so adorably wild! I'm completely fascinated by your story from the snippets of information in your answers, it sounds really different and interesting x

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  9. Melissa: Thanks! I like to think of each of the Brats as agents in their own story, rather than as supporting cast members, so it's good to know that you feel they are unique.

    Lyndsey: She is a wild thing! She's not been given much love or understanding in her short life so tends to see most other people as threats, or at best, as competition. Ta for commenting.

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  10. I think that my son Brat would love to have Em around, except for that biting people around part. Someone should give poor girl a soft toy just to stop her from carrying dead things around...

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    1. It's alright - they meet up with a stray dog later in the story and Em transfers her affections for dead things to the live dog. Thanks for stopping by!

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  11. Is "adorable" the wrong word?

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    1. Ha ha, I can't help it if people keep thinking she's adorable! I suppose she is sort of cute, but personally I think four year old Tekla is more stereotypically adorable. I want that contrast between a healthy, loved, well-adjusted child, and this 'wild thing' that is nevertheless worthy of love.

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  12. Okay I relate to the 5 ways to win her heart VERY much and also this: "f something bad happens, she generally bites someone and moves on." YESSSSSS. THAT'S THE ACTUAL BEST. Em is officially my favourite. ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚

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    1. Ta Cait! I'm not allowed to have favourites but I do think Em is the most precious of the lot. And there will be much biting in this story. Biting is Em's defence mechanism against people who want to take her food.

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