The Quarantined Characters Blog Tag!

Hello folksies! So I know that life has gone topsy-turvy in recent weeks for many of you, and the you-know-what outbreak has really taken a toll on the world. All of it is sobering to think about, that such a seemingly small thing could’ve grown to countless countries all over the world. It’s something that’s affecting both you and me no matter how far apart we are. People are scared, people are sick, people have died– but we have hope, and we have courage, and we have God. No matter your current situation, remember that it’s not the end of the world.

Yet.

That hasn’t been confirmed, but we are in what many believe to be the last millennium, so. Really, only God knows, and I’m not going to pretend that I know. 😉

Anyway, Kell recently posted about what her characters would be doing during the pandemic, and I thought it was an awesome idea! For those of you bloggers struggling to come up with non-corona-related posts, play along (whether or not you get tagged) and let it serve as a fun way to explore your characters for Camp NaNo or beyond! Thanks, Kell, for letting me steal this idea 😉 Come on, writers, stretch your imaginations and see how similar (or different!) your characters’ reactions are to yours!

Rules

1. Technically, these aren’t rules… just guidelines.

2. Just share about what any of your original characters (yes, any, from whichever project you choose) would be doing if they lived in this modern world during this pandemic– ALL QUARANTINED IN ONE HOUSE. Use pictures of them if you like. Don’t if you’re like me 😉.

3. Tag other quarantined writers you know to do this tag and link back to this post so I can read all about your characters’ quarantined adventures! Use this link: https://imperialscribis.wordpress.com/2020/04/03/what-your-characters-are-doing-in-quarantine-blog-tag/

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Here’s what my characters from The Faithless Empire (which is a working title) would be up to if they were in our world during the pandemic…

Pax has, so far, no problem disappearing into random parts of the house at hours on end and reappearing only for mealtimes (mealtimes should never be missed). No one questions what he’s doing because honestly, would you in your right mind try to disturb an artist at work? Of course, there’s also a huge possibility that he’s just sitting on the balcony or the porch somewhere arguing with Lehar and listening to Epona (Epona is the bird) sing. Basically, kind of like an old man.

Speaking of Lehar, when he’s not arguing with someone, he’s slinking around the house trying to find something to argue about because he’s shedding and when he’s shedding he’s grumpy. Plus quarantine means being stuck in the same house as Z and that does not make him a happy camper.

Z, by the way, is short for a name I’m not allowed to disclose (spoilers, you know). He hides himself in the library or the gym (this is like a modern-day mansion or something, because someone here is rich enough to afford it and also because where else could I fit them all) and generally tries to avoid social interaction like a good little boy. But Z likes to listen to rap and I don’t know what Rizon did with the speakers but for some reason you can’t listen to music in one place without the rest of the house hearing it as well. So really, Z is spending his days alternating between the library, the gym, and running around the house trying to locate Rizon to fix the speaker thing (Z doesn’t really do techy stuff).

But Rizon can be evasive when he wants to be, especially in a house this big. In fact, one might wonder if he’s actually made it so no one would be able to approach him about the speaker issue, or the fact that all the computer and TV screensavers show the same annoyingly cute/creepy meme with baby crocodiles, or the over-saltiness of food every time it’s his turn to cook,… among many other things.

Faëll and Anahera are basically living the Quarantine Dream. I mean, for them, this is very rare father-daughter time! However, Faëll gets really annoyed when he’s meditating and Z’s rap comes through the speakers and Rizon is suddenly nowhere to be found. Then Faëll goes searching for Rizon, somehow manages to find him (to Z’s great chagrin), and spends way too much time lecturing Rizon on being a “responsible human being” and “doing things for the good of others” and other “Confucian values,” as Rizon would call them, and then they would get into an argument about philosophy until Ana comes along to drag Faëll back to whatever they were doing. Ana, by the way, has been on a Disney princess kick lately and no one can refuse her whenever it’s her turn to choose what to watch on movie nights. Other than that, Faëll is currently teaching Z Muay Thai and by some miracle neither of them are dead or too terribly injured yet.

Serena is the sanest person in the house at this point– only a matter of time, I suppose. She’s doing the best with the whole quarantine thing but has a mini heart attack every time someone steps foot outside. Of them all, she has the most patience and also the weakest immune system, which is why any one of them has a mini heart attack every time she steps foot outside. But I mean, Serena is the healthiest member of their group, weak immune system or not, and takes care of herself the best, so she actually remembers to put on a mask first. (Not that anyone can leave the complex anyway.)

Numair has been, surprisingly, the calmest member of their group regarding the pandemic. He’s taking the time off from work to learn how to do, like, everything: ventriloquism, cooking with Chimen, Muay Thai with Faëll and Z, painting with Pax (really awkward since the unskilled member of the duo is the sighted one), method acting as Lehar, and now Rizon is teaching him the fine arts of video-gaming. At some point he got bored and wandered in on Della while she was embroidering. Because Numair is That Kind of Person, he briefly considered asking her to teach him before deciding that was too much, even for him; and yes, I know that he was thinking this because 1) I can read character minds and 2) I know Numair. Also, he hates rap and has daily battles with Z over control of the speakers. See, Numair has… interesting musical tastes. Tastes Z vehemently disagrees with.

Della isn’t really doing anything out of the ordinary. Bingeing the appropriate amount of TV shows, railing at Rizon, getting irritated by Numair’s ridiculous antics, ignoring her annoying companions so she can just text and video call her friends (like A NORMAL PERSON). BUT one day she’ll announce a “no electronics” day on everyone and it will aCTUALLY kILL Rizon. #NoRegrets

Then there’s Chimen… is it troubling that I truly don’t know what he’d be up to? Besides kitchen shenanigans, I mean? I’m pretty sure at some point they ran out of mangoes and he had like an actual #CrazyChimenCrisis which happens approximately once every two blue moons. Other than that, I can only guess how he’s decided to entertain himself. He probably had an indoor field trip on April Fool’s Day, but the others have too much pride to tell me what he did. I can also guess that he’s probably learned that social media is for posting stuff, not just sitting around collecting millions of followers just ’cause he’s an Important Person, and now is taking advantage of that.

So, these are the shenanigans of my main characters in this quartet (yes, I said quartet and I know what I said). I left out the villains, because I decided that would be too much, even for you guys. 😉 In actuality, this story is set in the same fantasy-steampunk world as my blog serial— but they’re practically in separate hemispheres, and actually I have a lot of stories planned for this relatively new world… Oh, don’t you dare ask me about my other projects. I needed to take a dive.

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Now that we’ve gotten that over with… oh, tags!

Abigail @ Books, Life, and Christ

Eloria @ Halfway Home

Jenna @ Jenna Terese

Penny @ Jane Austen’s Lightsaber

Carlye @ Carlye’s Camera

You, Yes, You

I want to tag YOU (if you’re a writer, whether or not you’re doing Camp NaNo) for it, and I look forward to reading about your character’s shenanigans 😉

In other news… I hope you’re all doing well. ❤ If you have any prayer requests, I’m here!

Until next time,

~ Merie

How are you doing this season? Which of my characters do you relate to the most in quarantine? Are you doing this tag? Let me know in the comments!