#Melantha is definitely autistic

[wryn-polaris]

Okay- so here's an update to answer your questions:

[Quick note: the main trio have powers/abilities which is dangerous in the social and political climate]

Veronica "Vera" Willis is an engineer, who at the start of the story is doing a freelance job as a favor to a colleague at Kulkarni Institute/Technologies (I haven't decided). After the death of Singh Kulkarni, she is named as the new head of the company as his will lists it to be given to his next of kin. She grew up with Kulkarni as basically her only family, but -and you guessed it- he does not care about her in any capacity. She has some qualms about all of this, but she is trying to make the company something better and more publicly accepting of individuals with powers. Now, she may fumble with this new position but make no mistake, she's a badass bitch who's doing her best. She has BDE and will not let people walk all over her or the people she cares about, namely Melantha.

For Vera, Melantha is the single most important thing in the world. She will do anything and everything if it means keeping her best friend (and the love of her life) safe. They first met in highschool and became very close friends, but their college years sent them separate ways and they lost connection (Vera's fault- she's too much like her mother and doesn't even know AH!). They reconnect at the start of the story and it's sort of as if they never had time apart. [I genuinely have notes to think about Barbara and Melissa when I think about their friendship. That's the closeness and love and communication I want to show between these two dorks.]

Now Melantha.

Melantha is the first character I created for this story, and I'm still trying hard to figure out the nuances of her existence. She doesn't even have a last name yet.

Melantha is a chemist doing research for Kulkarni Institute/Technologies. She was initially sent to the city in high school after her mother passed away. She lived with her mother's sister, Fawn, during this time. Anyway, she has a strong sense of justice, and after Kulkarni's death leads to a BUNCH of riots and attacks against people who are suspected of being "powered" or even in support of people existing, she is done sitting idle. She's not even aware she has powers at this point, she just needs to do SOMETHING. This starts her arc and kick-starts the main plot.

To Melantha, Vera is one of her few connections in the world. She's horribly anxious and has a difficult time with social interactions. But with Vera, everything feels easy, like she's found her place in the world. During their time apart, she's just sort of fumbling through, doing her best to seem solid and stable. Anyway, Vera is home to her. Even when they first met, Melantha trusted Vera so implicitly.

Their friendship is so important to the story, and I really want to establish that before they even understand what anything else means.

ALSO- Vera is the first and only person (until Josephine) who doesn't try to call Melantha "Mel." It's important to me.

WHO are Josephine and Riley i am so curious (and if you're cool sharing) 👀👀👀

-- @the-frankenman-writes

MY FRIEND - LET ME TELL YOU:

Okay, so they're both OCs from a story I'm writing, which originally I thought was going to be a single book. At this point- and let me be clear, I'm still planning everything out and have two incomplete chapters- it's going to be at least two THICK books.

Dr. Josephine Teresi is a trauma surgeon, and a lot of the way I'm writing her is based on this part of her identity (i.e. medical terminology and the way she responds to different situations, which means a LOT of research for me). She is the most fleshed out character despite the fact that she literally appeared one day and from there became one of the three main characters. I have no idea how this happened, but she's very important to me and the story. She is so deeply traumatized and just keeps running from literally every emotion she feels because she's bad at coping.

At the start of the story, we are approaching the tenth anniversary of the death of her son, Riley. There's a lot going on with him, his death, and how Josephine and her ex-husband handle it (pssst it's not healthy at aaaalllll). Not to say too much, but Riley has a connection to the Big Bad™, and that's a LOT for Josephine.

There's sooo much more going on with the story that I don't want to spoil too much on here, but I am more than happy to tell you more. I quite literally have playlists for everyone and reasons for every song on it. I also have MANY notes and pages in my document about her arc and everything. I love her so much, and I haven't even gotten into everything about her relationships with Vera and Melantha. Uhg.

Anyway. I hope this answers your question. 😊

@the-frankenman-writes