so hey guys, I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year! if you want, come be writing buddies with me! https://nanowrimo.org/participants/aj-strong
and check out my latest project, which I'm hoping will be my first published novel (if I'm able to publish it for people to read for free somewhere uwu), The Lovely Disaster Sideshow! It's a mystery, horror, adventure, historical, weird mishmash that takes place in a Victorian Era circus!
Here's the cover, and below the cut are some bullet-point details about the main characters!! Let me know what you think so far, and... well, get ready for me to do very little else throughout November XD
ABIGAIL HUGHES AND EULALIA "LALI" HUGHES
Mother and daughter protagonists
Abigail (late 20s) is missing a hand and Lali (6 years old) is unable to speak due to trauma (Abigail’s missing hand and Lali’s trauma are both from the accident which killed Abigail’s husband)
They fill the jobs of whatever needs done within the circus after joining; cooking, mending, running errands
Abigail occasionally performs with Bharata after he teaches her tricks on how to live without one hand
Lali enjoys working with Estelle and Cedar particularly, but the entire circus is protective of her as their youngest member
Native English
RINGMASTER
The circus ringleader, the master of ceremonies who runs shows and hires new workers
A friendly fellow (late 30s-early 40s) who welcomes anyone into the circus, regardless of disabilities or age, as long as they can work in some way or another
Creative in describing the sideshows to attract the attention of the public
In reality a cold, calculating bigot who is bitter toward, resentful of, and disgusted by the ‘freaks’ he employs in the circus
Native English
GWYNN
“The Eyeless Albino” visual oddity (pure white hair, no eyes)
A young man (early 20s) who is completely albino and was born without any eyes
He is entirely blind and relies on other people (most often Bharata and Siobhan) to help him around, though he’s learned to navigate most of the circus by sound as long as he has landmarks to go by; new areas confuse him until he learns the layout
His skin burns incredibly easily, meaning he often carries a parasol to block sun rays even when it’s cloudy
(His parasol also double functions as a makeshift cane)
Welsh and a little English
SIOBHAN
“A Marvelous Mouth” sword swallower and fire breather
A young woman (early 30s) who is a former prostitute, leading the Ringmaster to capitalize on her relaxed gag reflex to make her into a sword swallower (and, occasionally when the shows need that extra oomph, fire breather)
Quite heavily tattooed, at least for the time period, she sports many tattoos on her arms, legs, back, and hands, as well as one on her neck; this causes many people to view her as a degenerate and adds to her ‘freakishness’ for the circus
Irish
CAIN AND ABEL
“Two-For-One Twins” visual oddity (conjoined twins)
Two young men (mid 20s) joined at the hip, they’re unable to be separated and sometimes have issues with moving around; they have separate bodies (two arms each, two legs each, separate torsos, separate heads, etc.) but their bodies are fused at the hip and doctors have all told them separation is too risky
They get along fairly well, with the occasional sibling fights, though they feel isolated even from the rest of the circus, stemming from only having had each other for most of their lives, especially given that they were the most recent additions before Abigail and Lali
Native English
ESTELLE
“Silent Angel” trapeze artist
A young woman (early 20s) who is almost entirely deaf and can only hear (barely) if someone is shouting right next to her ear, she cannot speak very well and prefers to communicate in other ways
She can’t read or write, but she’s made up her own variety of gestures (basically an individual sign language) to speak with the other circus performers, and she can read lips quite well
Short, petite, and kind… and will simply walk away from anyone who treats her or her friends cruelly
Spends hours teaching Lali her individual sign language, so that Lali can communicate even though she’s too traumatized to speak verbally
French and English
BHARATA
“One-Armed Wonder” knife thrower
A young man (late 20s) who has only one arm, and is perceived by many others as very clumsy; every household he’s worked for has set him up to fail by assigning him tasks that simply can’t be done with just one arm, leading him to find a belonging in the circus
Wanting to prove everyone wrong, he trained to do something that others thought couldn’t be done with only one arm: knife throwing… and is very good at it
He’s sympathetic toward Abigail and tries to teach her every single tip he has about how to live without one arm/hand
Indian
CEDAR
“Crystal Ball” fortune teller/palm reader/astrologist
A young nonbinary person (mid 20s) who was ostracized from society when they refused to answer to ‘she’, who ran away from home after their parents tried to beat them into conforming
No physical disability aside from dysphoria (which is obviously helped when they’re around supportive people who respect what they want to be called), and very supportive themself of the people in the circus who do have disabilities
Rather easygoing in terms of interacting with other people, they tend to simply go with the flow, but they’re also incredibly perceptive which is what makes them such a good fortune teller; while they do study palmistry, astrology, and tarot, they also employ the use of cold reading techniques (“might as well take advantage of all the gifts I have, including observation, right?”)
Native English
SALEM
“The Lizard Man” visual oddity (has X-linked ichthyosis resulting in scale-like skin)
A man (late 30s) who was cast out from society because of his strange appearance, stemming from his medical condition; people have been ‘terrified’ of his looks before, not to mention fearing that whatever he has is ‘contagious’ (despite him knowing from experience that he’s not)
Soft-spoken and gentle in general, but if one hits the right buttons he’s very capable of getting violent, particularly in defense of his friends
He has anywhere from 1-3 animals (that he’s nursing back to health) in his tent at any one time, even though he’s allergic to anything with fur… he has a soft spot for reptiles, though he adores all animals
Native English
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