A Novel Idea II: 20 Facts About Elliott + Aidan

Hello! Today I'm linking up with Sky + Ashley for A Novel Idea, which is a writer link-up that has different prompts each week to help us writers with our works. The prompt this week was to list 20 facts about one of your characters to get to know them better, but because I'm me, I thought I'd put a little spin on it, and do 10 for one character, and 10 for another.

I'm pretty sure I'm horribly late at joining in on this, but I really wanted to do it, so here it is. 

Today I'll be focusing on Elliott (who you got to meet a little in the snippet I shared) and Aidan, who is my precious little muffin.

(all images from pinterest)

10 FACTS ABOUT ELLIOTT 

-Elliott inherited his father's overseas shipping business at a young age, and he both loves and loathes the job. He's incredibly proud of how he turned it into a large, reliable company, and he definitely loves the money it rakes in for him. But the actual business part of it?? No thanks. He shoves that away from him as much as possible, and often forces his boys to work on the nitty gritty details of the business. 

-He is physically unable to stay out of situations where he thinks he can be of service. He's taken in stray pets, and the misfit, hopeless boys of the island. He meddles in the lives of all the townsfolk and his list of "charity work" is ever growing. 

-He's essentially the slightly psychotic mom friend™ 

-His "charity work" has banned him from at least five stores, and three residences on the island.

-Elliott has no clue about his sexuality and this annoys him to no end. Girls?? Boys?? Fast cars + money?? 

Who knows? Not Elliott, that's for sure. 

((*cue author in the corner smiling and clapping hands happily bc SHE KNOWS, SHE KNOWS*)) 

-He appears incredibly callous and unfeeling, but it's only because he's built up so many emotional walls over the years in an attempt to forget his childhood. Sometimes the boys manage to slip past his rough mask, though, and make him smile, or laugh. And they've all decided that there is nothing better than a truly happy laugh from Elliott. 

-Cigarettes are the one vice he can't shake, and he smokes constantly. You can be like Miriam if you want, and tell him that it's probably going to kill him, but just note that he really doesn't care. It calms his scattered brain and gives him something to focus on in rough situations that's not his rising anxiety. 

-He's a horrid driver. Absolutely horrid, but he takes wicked delight in being horrible, + sending passengers flying into each other when he makes sharp turns. The boys place bets weekly on which will be the first to lose their lunch after enduring Elliott's driving.

(It's usually Aidan)

-Circling back to the mom friend thing; Elliott is the one who does all of the cooking in the household, and god forbid you're not at the table when he's dishing stuff out. Edmund swears that Elliott once tried to put a candlestick up his nose. 

 (To which Elliott shrugs, and neither confirms or denies the story when it's told)

-At the end of the day, Elliott's incredibly messed up. There's something off about him that even after all this time, none of the others understand. He's rude, closed-off, and it seems like he's working effortlessly to try to turn his life into a tale of tragedy. But the one thing that's unfailing about him is his quiet, fierce love for his boys, and he'll go to the ends of the world and back to keep them all safe. 

10 FACTS ABOUT AIDAN 

-He's been blind since an accident when he was 8. That occurred nearly a decade ago, and he's come to terms with it. He's often the first to poke fun at himself for it, and he'll take absolutely no pity or special treatment over his loss of sight. 

-That said, he holds a special place of hatred in his heart for all the people who scoffed at him when he was younger, or told him odds were he'd never make it past age 10. He lets the bastard boys use any excuse they can to pummel the Thompson brothers into the ground for him. Repeatedly. 

-He's gay, and the only one of the bastard boys who knows it is Elliott.

-And it's Elliot who Aidan can't tell if he possibly has a small thing for, or if he just feels a sense of gratuitous debt, because Elliott took him in when no one else would. 

-Aidan's sarcasm levels are through the roof, and he's usually the one in the background muttering things at inappropriate times. 

-Of course he wasn't the one to eat all of the chocolates Edmund has just bought. How dare you assume that he has no self control when it comes to sugar. 

(god i can't imagine where this trait came from. *cough*me*cough*)

-His defense mechanism is 100% humor, and he uses it to deal with a lot of the darker moments. It's the one way he knows how to get through the tough things.

-He blames himself over the death of his family, and he carries that guilt with him constantly. 

-The very mention of getting in a car turns his stomach, and he avoids rides whenever he can (which is, unfortunately, not often). To make up for his unease, he babbles incessantly as soon as he slides into the backseat, and once he gets going, it's hard to make him stop. 

-He's got a soft spot for the bitter Miriam, who Elliott brings into the group ("Another damn charity case, Elliott?!"). She's feisty and wants nothing to do with any of them, but Aidan likes her spunk, and she's the first one to read a book for him out-loud since his family passed. He sticks up for her when the group secretly debates casting her back out on her own, and she's becomes a lot like the sister he lost.


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And there we go! I hope you enjoyed learning more about two of my wip characters, and that you're having a lovely day! ^-^


LET'S CHAT! Tell me all about what you're writing! Who's your favorite character in your story? Do you like to participate in writer link-ups? I want to know everything!! :))