The Writerly Sibling Tag

Hello! I am back with a tag that has waited a shameful span of time for me to complete it. Without further ado, I present The Doorman's Writerly Sibling Tag, tagged direct from the man himself. To start off, here are the rules:

• Thank the blogger who tagged you and provide a link to their post. (Thankee kindly, good sir!)
• Answer the inquiries, including any ones added by #6.
• Always use your own characters. No exceptions, unless you don't actually have sibling characters (in which case you need to go and write some) or you don't write (in which case you need to start ASAP).
• Tag three other bloggers.
• If you happen to have any siblings who blog, they are automatically tagged, and they cannot count toward your three.
• Add one question of prompt to the list you were tagged with (see at the bottom of this post, or at the bottom of Doorman's, as I was tagged first).
• Close out the post with some honoring of the King of Kings. 

Alright. Now that that's settled, I will start answering the questions.

 

           

 Name the most annoying sibling character in any of your stories (Either annoying to you as the author or to any other characters)

Eh... That's a hard one. Really, siblings all annoy one another (let's be honest), so it's more realistic to pick ones annoying to the author. (Unless you're talking about those siblings whose life mission is to annoy their siblings. Then... that's a different story.) Owain from The Second Brother actually annoys me a lot, probably because he gets a lot from his writerly mama. It is an ongoing thing that I cannot stand any of my characters who act like me in any way, intentionally written so, or unintentionally. Because of this, I find Owain incredibly irritating at times. As for annoying to other characters... Feo might win that prize. 

Name the most caring sibling character in any of your stories

That one's fairly easy. Blakely from The Clarion Call/Alagna is, despite his frequent eye-rolling and scolding, extremely fond of his brothers, Francis and Edmond, and cares for them probably better than he does for himself. Heaven knows what kind of trouble they would get into if he weren't around to keep a check on them... and how bored they'd be if he didn't fall into their pranks all the time.

Name the most entertaining sibling character in any of your stories

Well, I sort-of already mentioned the Almost Twins (Francis and Edmond), but they'd probably get this award. Through thick and thin, the twosome find their greatest pleasure in the simple things in life... especially giving Blakely a hard time and, in their younger days (mostly), giving their mother gray hairs with their various escapades and misdemeanors. They have won particular infamy for a certain episode involving stew...

Name a sibling character who was inspired in some way by an actual sibling

Intentionally, I try to steer clear of basing characters off of siblings, as it can create too much trouble (what if I wanted to kill off the character...?). However, a couple characters became a reflection of real life without my permission, particularly Feo from The Second Brother. He was never meant to be based off of anybody, but is, in his present state, my first younger sister to a 't.' Just as Owain unwittingly soaked in my own personality, Feo seemed to become ZZ (my sister's nickname) out of sheer fatedness to be so. The only particularly great difference between them is that Feo is, obviously, a guy.

Name the largest character family (talking family, not family tree) in any of your stories

Well, there are a few competitors. Celeise from Alomina has four younger siblings, a boy and three girls (I think? I keep changing it...). Alejandro from A Broadway Waltz has five younger brothers (and an unofficial older one). Freddie Mayne from The Top-Hat Gang has seven sisters, either all younger, or all but one younger. The winner, though, I believe, is Vic Vance (from In Greater Hands), who has eleven siblings (three boys, eight girls). The catch there is that he is adopted, as well as a fair few of his siblings, so none of them are his biological family. (But then, nobody said that this tag had to be for biological family, right...?)

Provide one to three excerpts from your sibling characters' dialogue from any of your stories

Alrighty... Let's have Francis and Edmond, since it's been a long time since they've gotten any spotlight on the old blog...

***

            "Welcome to our humble abode, my lady." Francis did a little half-bow to her, playing along with her masquerade, as usual.

            Then all pretentions dropped. Alagna relaxed her form a little, smiling teasingly at the both of them. "Surely that's not your best bow?"

            "Of course it is," interjected Edmond grinningly. "He's just never learned as well as I, even for being the elder one." Edmond bowed with a flourish fitting for a king's crier.

***

             Confusion only grew in Blakely's eyes at Alagna's behavior. "Alagna    ," he began, but was cut off by a different voice.

            "Ah, Blakely?" Francis and Edmond came up behind him all of the sudden. Alagna might have laughed at their uncanny knack for it if it had been any other situation.

            Blakely half-turned from Alagna. "Yes? What is it, Francis?"

            Edmond's expression turned from a rather more serious one to a rather sly smile upon taking in Blakely and Alagna's close proximity. "And, ah, what might you be doing now, Blakely?"

            "Or, ah, saying?," joined Francis hintingly.

            "And to whom?"

            "And whatever about?"

            Blakely looked both of them over. "Nothing more than Alagna's name, I'm afraid, because     "

            "Because you were interrupted?" Francis laughed. "I wonder who did that..."

***

Name three published books which have an amazing portrayal of siblings and family

Well, Outlaws of Ravenhurst had a pretty awesome family in it, even if it was small. The mother, Lady Margeret Douglass was a great character - a Scottish lady and an accomplice to her outlawed priest brother. The family seemed so close, it was awesome (especially considering the protagonist hadn't met the other three members in nearly ten years). 

As tortured as the siblinghood was sometimes, the Books of Bayern by Shannon Hale had a good portrayal of siblings. Personally, I would only recommend the first one (as I thought the others were slightly stupid, plus, the second one had some content issues), but the first and last both had pretty good sibling characters and relatively low content caution. In the first one, the protagonist, Ani, barely knows her five siblings, and is distraught because she may never know them (she is sent away to be married off near the beginning). It really hits hard for anyone who grew up close to their siblings to think of never knowing them, and never seeing them again. Then, for a closer sibling relationship, Razo and Rinna in the fourth book were very close, constantly teasing each other and giving each other a  hard time, just like real siblings, and it was adorable. I think, despite the other issues of the middling books, the series as a whole has a believable pluck for large families. The happiest families are the Forest-Born ones, which range from a couple kids to eleven or twelve (mostly on the larger end, including Rinna and Razo's), and the least happy ones always seem to be those that are not close or don't have many siblings (like Ani's, where she wasn't allowed to know her siblings, or Selia's, as an only child). 

And what talk of siblings and family would be complete without Louisa May Alcott's Little Women? The story of four sisters and their way in the wayward world, always finding their way back to Marmee (their mother) and their beloved home. Need I say more?

Name another author's character family that you wouldn't mind jumping into

Hey! I thought we weren't allowed to use anybody else's characters...! Well, anyhow, I'd like to be in Peter Wimsey's family - seems like some smashing good fun, even though it's just him, his brother, and his mother (as far as I've read).

Provide an excerpt/quote of sibling drama or camaraderie from any title (though be sure to credit it)

Oh dear. I'm afraid I'm far too lazy to get books out at the moment, and this post has already been waiting too long. I believe I shall direct you to Little Women and sit back for the rest of this question.

Name two characters from two unrelated books that you feel would make for great literary siblings (whether in terms of getting along, or being a constant head-to-head combat)

Hmm. I think that Taran from The Chronicles of Prydain and Finn from The Goose Girl would have been good siblings. Finn, quiet as he is, would be balanced by Taran's outgoing nature, and Taran's slight hotheadedness would be tempered by Finn's common sense. Their skills and interests are also very similar - both grew up on a small farm but desire knighthood and the life of a warrior. It would be a siblinghood I'd like to see. 

***
As for tagging other bloggers, if you aren't tagged, consider yourself so. Particularly, I suppose I shall recognize Catherine Hawthorn, Sarah Seele, and Lia, at their leisure and capabilities, of course.
***

And there are all the questions for now. If' you'd like them in a list, here you are.

•  Name the most annoying sibling character in any of your stories (Either annoying to you as the author or to any other characters)
• Name the most caring sibling character in any of your stories 
• Name the most entertaining sibling character in any of your stories  
• Name a sibling character who was inspired in some way by an actual sibling
• Name the largest character family (talking family, not family tree) in any of your stories 
• Provide one to three excerpts from your sibling characters' dialog from any of your stories 
• Name three published books which have an amazing portrayal of siblings or family
• Name another author's character family that you wouldn't mind jumping into 
• Provide an excerpt of sibling drama or camaraderie from any title (though be sure to credit it)
• Name two characters from two unrelated books that you feel would make for great literary siblings (whether in terms of getting along, or being a constant head-to-head combat)

And I shall add this, per the terms of the tag:

Name sibling characters at odds with each other in any of your stories

And I believe that just concludes the tag, but for one last salutation.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

In Greater Hands - Sneak Scene

As I have been rather lax in blogging, I will apologize with a snippet scene, since it's been a while since I've put one up. Here is the first entrance of Vic Vance, master of surprise and oddball extraordinaire, from In Greater Hands.

***

Leta shrugged and headed towards a small building that looked like some kind of a cafe. She entered and looked around inside it. It was decorated in a quaint, sort-of picturesque style, with flowers in carved wooden vases along the half-walls that were by the entrance. There were a few random paintings on the wall behind the counter, but aside from these the walls were bare of anything but their warm, brown paint. Only a few people were inside - an old lady with a small girl in a booth, a server behind the counter, and a dark-haired younger guy sitting at the counter. 

Nothing seemed out of place... Not that anything should, Leta reminded herself. Leksvia was a pretty quiet town, after all. Leta went to the other side of the counter and sat down. 

The server came over. "Would you like a list?," he asked in Russian. 

"Yes, thank you," Leta replied in the same tongue. 

It felt like a flashing memory to speak her home language again in her homeland. It had been so long... Even just one word felt like she was home again when she spoke it. It filled her with the old thoughts of the last time she'd been here. Leta shook herself. No. Can't think of that now, she told herself. 

After the server had left, Leta glanced around the cafe again, more closely observing her company to distract herself from more reminiscing. The old woman in the booth was dressed in a black trench coat and had her silvery hair bunned up stiffly. Her expression was very calm, and she watched the small girl. The girl had to have been around four or five. She wore a large white bow in her red hair, and had a long, flowery skirt that reminded Leta of the flowers in the vases along the cafe's walls. The young man across the counter had dark, coffee-colored hair that looked like it had been blasted back by a gust of wind. He was actually looking in Leta's direction, glancing over at her with bright lime-green eyes. 

Leta looked down embarrassedly. Maybe it was a little rude to watch other people and expect not to be watched in turn. So she turned her attention to the menu that the server had given her. 

When the server came back, Leta gave her order and handed back the menu. She fell back into looking around the cafe. There was that sweep-haired weirdo again - the guy across the counter - still looking over in her direction. Oh well... This probably wasn't the last time Leta would be watched by someone or other with her career starting now. It didn't really bother her. Well, okay, maybe it did bother her a little bit, but not any more than the fact that she still hadn't gotten her order... and time ticked on relentlessly. Normally she wouldn't care, but today, everything had to be on time - no messing up. 

Leta tapped her finger on the counter, a sign of impatience usually. The server came back, and gave Leta a paper with her bill and Lady Lecta's name on it. Leta had been instructed to use Lady Lecta's name, in case of trouble. 

The server brought her a tray with her order. "I apologize for your wait, Miss Lecta." 

Leta paid him, and then the server departed. Leta ate quickly, still thinking of her mission. She still had time, but it was best not to cut it close. 

Suddenly, interrupting her thoughts, there was a buzzing noise, faint, but surely not just imagined. It must be my contactor... If it was, though, it could be Lady Lecta. It could concern the mission or any other thing of great importance. Leta took it out. It was the contactor making the noise alright.

Glancing around briefly, Leta quickly swiped her hand over the device. She expected to see the eyes of one of the secret sergeants pop into view, or the commanding countenance of Lady Lecta, but instead she saw the recently-familiar lime-green eyes and swept-back dark-brown hair of someone else entirely. It was the man who had been watching her from across the counter! 

"Hallo!," the man said from the contactor. 

Leta glanced bewilderedly across the counter. The guy was still there! He had his own contactor out and nodded when she looked his way. She looked back at her own mechanism. Fears began to pop into her mind one by one. Maybe he was dangerous. Maybe he was from an enemy of Lady Lecta. Maybe he was a spy or the one who had made the fake message to bring her here. Maybe he had found out what Leta was doing here and had come to stop her. Leta knew she couldn't panic, though, whatever the case. 

So Leta decided to try and play it cool. "Why did you contact me?," she asked, hoping the question sounded commanding. 

The device's hologram-man shrugged. "I was bored, you looked nice enough, so I decided I might query your name," he said, half-smiling in a friendly manner. 

Leta didn't quite know what to think. Only her first official task mission and something like this had to happen...? She raised an eyebrow in question. "You could have just come over and talked to me if you were that bored." 

"Well, that's the easy solution," He nodded nonchalantly. "Most guys would have done that in such a case." 

"Why didn't you?," Leta questioned dryly. 

He shrugged again. "Me, I like to keep things interesting - surprise people. Didn't I make it so much more interesting this way?" 

She blinked in confusion and quickly checked herself, as she felt a smile coming through. "You did, I suppose," she said, feeling foolish talking to the hologram of a person who was right across the counter. 

He nodded as if to prove his point. "You see?" he smiled. "Way more interesting." 

"How did you contact me?," Leta asked bewilderedly, trying to get a grip on the conversation. 

The man's face brightened. "Simple! I - being as bored as I was - happened to overhear the waiter call you Miss Lecta. Now, I happen to know of someone called Lecta, and if you had been the same Lecta, he would have never called you something so plain as 'Miss'. So, I looked it up on my contactor. Now, there were several different pins under the same name of 'Lecta', so, ruling out the one I knew, I simply picked at a guess," he said carelessly, as though the occurrence was nothing special. 

"Some lucky guess," Leta mumbled, somewhat put out that she was such a terrible spy that she got contacted by random guys in restaurants on whims. Suddenly a thought struck her. "Wait. If you already knew my name, why were you going to ask it?" 

He shrugged yet again. "If I had gone over and talked to you instead, wouldn't I have still asked your name relentless of whether I had heard?" 

"I suppose..." 

"Then there you see my point," he answered honestly. "Wouldn't you have thought it was odd if I contacted you and acted like I already knew your name even though you hadn't even the slightest notion of mine?" 

Leta rolled her eyes in frustration. "I do think it's odd." She looked irately at the device. "Why don't you just come over and talk to me now instead of being weird?" 

"Alright, Miss Lecta - as you like it," said the man's voice, not from the contactor, but from right next to Leta. She started, but quickly masked her jump as putting away her contactor. 

"Alright then..." Leta really had no idea where to go from here. "And since you know my name, you can stop calling me 'Miss Lecta'" 

"Actually..." He paused. "That's all I know of your name - is Miss Lecta. It only puts surnames and sometimes initials on the pin codes. Might I inquire as to what your first name is?" 

Leta hesitated. Should she tell him her real name, or Lady Lecta's? Since he said he knew of someone called Lecta, maybe it was Lady Lecta? And he had said that the Lecta he knew of wouldn't have been called merely 'Miss,' so that sounded like Lady Lecta... If that was so, then telling him Lady Lecta's name, as she had been instructed, might get her found out as a fake! So, then, should she tell him her real name? She probably wouldn't ever see him again, so what harm was there in it? None, I guess. Leta saw no great harm in it, and if she had hoped to be discreet, she had already failed. 

"Leta. It's Leta," she said finally. 

The man looked thoughtful for a moment and raised an eyebrow with an expression as though he was trying to decide whether he liked an odd new food. "Hmm... Leta Lecta?," he murmured, looking at her again. "Just doesn't fit you. Well, Leta does, but it just doesn't sound well together. Hmm. Leta Lecta..." 

"Well, I live with being called it, so I think it's fine," Leta said, trying to act offended. Acting for cover-up wasn't as easy as acting for any school-play or stage-musical as Lady Lecta had made it sound. 

"I'm sorry, I just don't think it fits you very well," he said apologetically, seeming to buy her poor act. 

"Well, your name fits you perfectly, then?" 

"Fits like a boot." 

"Uh, don't you mean a glove?" 

"Nope," he said, absently tapping his rather long fingers on the counter. "I said what I meant: a boot. Never yet seen a glove that fit me well, so I amend the phrase for myself, to something that actually does fit well. So, like I said, it fits me like a boot." 

Weirdo. Leta shook her head. Whatever. "I'll decide that, since you seem to be the judge of mine. What is your name?" 

"Vic Vance, or Vicinius Vance if you prefer." 

"Vicinius?" 

"What? It fits me, doesn't it?"

"Well, yes, I guess it does..." Leta had to admit that it actually rather did.

Vic Vance nodded. "Then there you go." 

Leta suddenly remembered her mission. She had to somehow get out of this conversation without seeming suspicious - she needed to start heading to the Ristoff House. I need to get Ristoff…

"What about Ristoff...?," Vance questioned with a confused smile. 

Leta flushed. Had she said that out loud...? Oh no... Another blunder to add to the count today...

"I know where the Ristoffs live," Vance offered. "If you're looking for any of them, that is." 

Leta hesitated. She needed to find Ristoff, it was true. And time was quickly flying... Leta might not have time to find Ristoff herself at this rate... And if she didn't find Ristoff, it would be a failed mission. And if Leta only let Vance show her the house, then there wasn't any harm done... right? Maybe just this... 

At last, Leta nodded. "Yes - could you show me?" 

Vance smiled brightly. "Just follow me."

***

AABB, Part Two: Belle

Not so long ago, I posted that I would be attempting a moral defense of Disney's Beauty and the Beast; this shall be the first real chapter. And, fittingly enough, as the story begins with a prologue and then with Belle herself, so will I.

Belle is an interesting character... and a controversial one. Because there are so many interpretations of both her and her actions, she ranges from being a characterless bookworm to a self-centered feminist to a paragon of redemption. Well, here goes...

Her Treatment of Others

One of the main things people point out first about Belle is that she seems rather rude and dismissive of other people, especially in the stage version. She calls the villagers "little people," their town "dull" and "provincial," Gaston "boorish, brainless" and "monster," the Beast also "monster" and "fool," and generally has no friends. Not to mention, she seems to regard other people's lives as irrelevant - how they live is of no consequence to her. This is seen not only in her sung insults above, but also in her careless attitude towards the servants and the rules in the Beast's castle. Now, even for all this, you might notice that I still said she only seems rude and dismissive of other people. Well, the truth of it is, she doesn't want to be - this is one of Belle's defining features, in fact.

Belle certainly has a disregard for the rules, but I believe that this is more out of her contrary nature rather than her disbelief in them or a progressive mindset (as some have claimed). Think about it. She only goes to the West Wing because she was told she shouldn't; same for her eating despite his command. And, really, is there another good example of Belle breaking the rules? She doesn't do it often; I would say her breaking of the Beast's rules is more a way of being contrary to the captor she so loathes at the beginning, not a lifestyle. The involvement of the servants is merely an afterthought to Belle - she didn't do it to get them in trouble, nor did she show any sign of even recognizing that possibility.

For Gaston and the Beast's parts, Belle's critique of them is really only an offense when piled upon other things. After all, isn't Gaston boorish and brainless? Does he not treat her with the utmost arrogance and near-monstrous presumption? And does he not even go to the length of attempting to make her miserable to make himself happy, as in the case of imprisoning her father? And what of the Beast? Didn't he also imprison her father, as well as her? Did he not behave himself with every intent of being the monster he seemed? As for his being a fool, this is a mere passing shot of Belle's contrary character - it was rude and uncalled for, but it is yet another part of the arc that she shapes (as I will demonstrate below). 

As for Belle's treatment of other people in the village, her dismissiveness is a clue to her character arc. She calls them things like "provincial" and "little people" in an unintentional ironic sense of humor - she is one of them, but not enough to reap the benefits of being a little person... in that, she is the littlest of them all. In her complaining of the village life, she doesn't realize how much pettier even than them she has become - while they concern themselves with bacon, fish, bread, and the market prices, she has a leg above them and complains about life in general. But it's not meant as an insult.

When Belle complains, her intent, however pettily played out, is that she merely wants something higher than being alone in the village. Her conversation with her father reveals this perhaps more than anything. She asks him if, for her being alone, she is odd, as she hears. He replies that she should not acknowledge the other villagers - their opinions and what they say is quite irrelevant, and she should not care whether she has a friend among them. They are, after all, "the common herd," as he claims, and aren't worth much. Reluctant to accept this truth, Belle vaguely affirms the notion - if I'm not one of them yet, then it must not be worth it to be one of them, she thinks. But we never really get the idea that Belle is crazy about the idea - she accepts it because the only friend she does have says it's so.

What Does Belle Really Want?

This gets to the very root of exactly what Belle desires. She does not shun the traditional life, or other people's company - in fact, this is what she yearns for most. It is, once more, her contrary personality and the influence of her well-meaning but oversighted father that shapes her dismissal of the small world she inhabits. The best look we get of Belle's dreams are when she sings of the beauty she finds in books - not of the traveling life or of great distance from other people, but of prince Charmings and true love, of someone who will be a companion to her, and of the chivalry of old, beauteous devotion. It's not that she rejects the husband-wife-children-life attitude of the villagers, but, rather, she envies them so very greatly because that is what she desires. She doesn't want to be passed off as one more girl marrying a good-looking guy for adventure and thrills (like so many of the women fancying Gaston are), but wants desperately to marry for love, and for someone who will stick by her in life. 

Belle rejects Gaston because she knows that he will not help her. Not only is he openly unfaithful, but he cares much more about what he does outside the home than in - Belle is irrelevant to him except as someone to be there for the rare time when his whim lies with making a legacy for his household. He can't help her discover herself, he can't help her live up to a higher ideal, and he certainly cannot love her, wholeheartedly, giving instead of taking. Life with Gaston would be oh-so lonely for Belle, who already struggles so with her loneliness and stumbling journey.

Because the villagers would look well on Belle even if she married for the adventure of Gaston, Belle believes that they are errant (and, to a certain extent, they absolutely are). She herself only sees the lack of mystery and constancy in such a union, and abhors the thought. 

Even in her petty state of mind, she yearns for a true, profound relationship - one that will give her fulfillment. Belle's desire for the infinite is a desire in us all, isn't it? And even in the beginning, when it is her constant complaint against the town, the integral good of the thing remains - Belle merely wants a lasting thing.

But Does She Actually Change?

It is my belief that Belle does indeed change, and quite drastically. Think about it. In her first scene, she complains of how boring and typical her hometown is. A few scenes later, when she realizes the true tragedy that is out there, with her father being imprisoned by the Beast, she chides herself, singing "and to think I complained of that dull, provincial town!". Even though her ungrateful attitude remains at that point, we see already her change in attitudes towards the village. Then, later, when she wonders at the spell, and when she finally befriends the Beast, we hear her start to show gratitude more (as when she is healing the Beast). Then, finally, before the mob scene, she sings of how wrong she was, how stupid and silly to disregard everyone but herself, and how much, even against her own stubbornness, the Beast has changed her. And to top it all off, her farewell to the Beast as he is dying claims him a better being than herself - one more worthy of love.

By the end, really, we see a much humbler and more grateful Belle - humbled by hardship and mortification, perhaps, but humbled nonetheless. This is actually one of the biggest reasons that my preference strictly script-wise lies with the stage version (while she's ruder in the play's beginning than in the movie's, we don't get either of Belle's character arc songs, "Home" and "Change in Me," in the movie). To hold Belle's beginning character against her after her change is ridiculous, and I think it is not sufficient reason to condemn the story. 

Her ego diminishes as the story goes on, creating, actually, quite a pleasing character arc. In fact, her character arc can be seen as a reflection of the Beast's - just as he is reformed by her, so she is by him. And both have the same problem after all - egotism, stubbornness, and a rebellious temper. But by the end, both are willing to give their own ways up for the other. The story is all about redemption - after all, the only character who never reform in a story are the villains, and Beauty and the Beast is no exception. Gaston and LeFou (both of whom I'll get to later) don't change a bit, except perhaps for the worse, and same for M. D'Arque (the asylum keeper - unnamed in the movie). But Belle changes. The Beast changes. Lumiere, Cogsworth, and most of the rest change (as I'll also get to in a future post). The only people who don't change are those who represent ideal virtue in the story (Mrs. Potts) and those who represent the utmost lack of virtue (I would argue LeFou, but Gaston works as well). In a way, Beauty and the Beast is a title not just labeling the romance of Belle and Prince Adam (the Beast's oft forgotten real name, by the bye), but the two sides of Belle as well, fighting for her until the nobler one wills out. 

In this, I would defend Belle. Your thoughts on her? Do you have anything to add? To object? To suggest for future posts in this series? Please - spare a thought or two, if you have them.