Characters and Victorian Spiritualists

[Sulis]

Okay, so this is going to sound sort of strange, but my Nano is going to be set in a Victorian-Spiritualist-themed brothel. The whores are going to be as much actors as anything else, dress and decor is going to be very conservative upper-class Victorian, and there are going to be a wide variety of "types". For instance, I have the Voodoo Queen Marie; a Mesmerist and his assistant, Svengali and Trilby; I need to come up with a personality for a clairvoyant and a spoon-bender, and one of the MCs is a medium.

Some of these people are frauds, but some actually are the parts they play. The gentleman who claims to be a member of the Golden Dawn, actually IS, and the MC happens to discover that she is actually a medium when one client, not quie understanding the nature of the place, tries to get her to contact his dead girlfriend, and actually DOES.

I'd love to hear other people's ideas for what sorts of characters should be employed there, and names... So far Svengali is the only one I have (his real name is Terrence). "stage" names are also good.

[Tundra]

hang on, so its modern?

[AXJ]

Woah. That sounds trippy.

Might be fun to have a token lower-class cockney whore among the fine ladies. Maybe she can be the one secret survivor of Jack the Ripper's rampages (or decendant thereof), and has taken a personal vow of silence about the whole thing, but maybe the experience left her with some sort of ability.

[Adapa]

Okay, so this is going to sound sort of strange, but my Nano is going to be set in a Victorian-Spiritualist-themed brothel. The whores are going to be as much actors as anything else, dress and decor is going to be very conservative upper-class Victorian, and there are going to be a wide variety of "types". For instance, I have the Voodoo Queen Marie; a Mesmerist and his assistant, Svengali and Trilby; I need to come up with a personality for a clairvoyant and a spoon-bender, and one of the MCs is a medium.

Some of these people are frauds, but some actually are the parts they play. The gentleman who claims to be a member of the Golden Dawn, actually IS, and the MC happens to discover that she is actually a medium when one client, not quie understanding the nature of the place, tries to get her to contact his dead girlfriend, and actually DOES.

I'd love to hear other people's ideas for what sorts of characters should be employed there, and names... So far Svengali is the only one I have (his real name is Terrence). "stage" names are also good.

Sorry, I can't help much, but I just wanted to say that this sounds frickin' cool :P

[Sulis]

hang on, so its modern?

Yup... It should be a lot of fun, I think. Came from a pretty crazy dream I had...

Hey, does anyone know what the name of the psychic ability is, if you can touch an object and know its history? I need one of those... Also, the technical term for a tea-leaf reader.

[AXJ]

hang on, so its modern?

Yup... It should be a lot of fun, I think. Came from a pretty crazy dream I had...

Hey, does anyone know what the name of the psychic ability is, if you can touch an object and know its history? I need one of those... Also, the technical term for a tea-leaf reader.

The touch thing is "Psychometry"

Tea leaf reading is "Tasseography"

[merrihart]

Wasn't Typhoid Mary active around then?

Names from Victorian age are still used today, so the basic names would sound common and every day. But you could probably look up acresses and actors from that time to give you ideas.

Oh, you could call your brothel the Demi-Monde, or something similar. :lol:

[Wilwarin]

... Came from a pretty crazy dream I had...
So did my story idea... 8)

[Adapa]

hang on, so its modern?

Yup... It should be a lot of fun, I think. Came from a pretty crazy dream I had...

Hey, does anyone know what the name of the psychic ability is, if you can touch an object and know its history? I need one of those... Also, the technical term for a tea-leaf reader.

The touch thing is "Psychometry"

Tea leaf reading is "Tasseography"

I always incorrectly thought the former was called postcognition, which is a pretty funny way to describe it ;)

[Sulis]

The touch thing is "Psychometry"

Tea leaf reading is "Tasseography"

Ha! Bless you, AXJ! I knew it, I just couldn't remember it...

And the brothel is Madame, Z's House of Mysterie... With, of course, Madame Z's proper name there. I just haven't decided what it will be yet. I want it to start with a Z, though.

[Tundra]

Zarzuela.
yes, i realise this is a musical thing.

[Sulis]

Where from?

[Tundra]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zarzuela
it's a style.

[Sulis]

Ooh, that could work! I was thinking about Zenobia, but I'm not actually very fond of that name...

[Sulis]

Okay, so, so far, I have:

Madame Zdenka/Zenaida: madam of the brothel. I really prefer Zdenka, personally, but I worry that it'll be to difficult to pronounce for the readers. She's not cruel, but she's got more than a bit of a control issue, and is a real stickler for historical accuracy. Tall, sophisticated, snotty, dark hair, not especially thin, but not overly heavy either.

Javier: Telepath. Former police officer. Occasional bouncer, but also a whore. The real strong, silent type. Left the force because he was tired of all the stress and anger. This job is MUCH less stressful. Sandy brown hair, reasonably muscular.

Victoria: a Medium. "channels" the spirits of past women of interesting repute for clients. Actually channels the spirit of a dead girl, but until then didn't realize that she had that ability. Very fragile, mentally, and has recovered from a heroin addiction that, unbeknownst to her, used to keep the ghosts away. Thin, but gradually gaining weight. Brown hair, brown eyes.

Magdalena: the religious one. Claims to spend all her time in prayer and meditation. (You should see her cell!) The newest of Madame Z's girls. Very quiet, very demure, VERY submissive. Very thick black hair, large gray eyes, usually dresses in pure white.

Sophie: Sees fairies. Flighty as can be, around clients, but actually a pretty practical sort. Wispy, fine blonde hair and pale blue eyes. Tends to wear Liberty tea gowns.

Svengali and Trilby: Mesmerist and vic... assistant. Svengali is stern, snarky, dark hair, dark eyes, goatee-- the stereotypical Victorian villain. Trilby is 17, looks about 14, and dresses either as a young man (which he is) or a 5-year old girl. Which he defintely isn't. He is either, depending on dress, very subtly cruel, or very playful and bouncy.Trilby has issues.

Esmeralda: Gypsy tea-leaf and tarot reader. Actually a young hispanic woman with a great knack for accents. Also, a talent for cold reading that a con artist would envy.

Marie: the Voodoo queen. the oldest of the bunch, somewhere between 45 and 55, and very good at both her jobs. Slightly sinister, quiet, tends to give forth strange pronouncements at random intervals. Black, tends to dress in dark, rich colors, and a very strong New Orleans accent.

Alastair: Mage, member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Analytical, thoughtful. Tall, almost gangly, with brown hair, somewhere around 30.

Marian: Telekinetic/spoon-bender. Also really good at sleight of hand, and with a very low grasp on ownership laws... Tends to dress in greens and browns, with brown hair and slightly olive skin.

Annnnd... The psychometric hasn't explained herself much yet. But there will be one, probably.

The names in bold indicate people who are actually what they claim to be. Opinions? Suggestions? Any idea who is missing?

[vindemiatrix]

I prefer Zdenka too. Has more of an atmosphere.

Also, although I've not really contributed -- this is really, really awesome. I totally want to read it.

[Sulis]

:oops: I need a plot, though...

[vindemiatrix]

:oops: I need a plot, though...

What would cause the most damage to your characters and why?
What do you want to write it about? Do you want an apocalyptic epic? A struggle between good an evil? A study on human life? Write down a bunch of types of story and see if there's one that grabs you.

Will think of more.

Also: DUDE, you have quoted John Connolly in your sig. That's awesome. I idolise him. :D

[Sulis]

What would cause the most damage to your characters and why?
What do you want to write it about? Do you want an apocalyptic epic? A struggle between good an evil? A study on human life? Write down a bunch of types of story and see if there's one that grabs you.

Will think of more.

Also: DUDE, you have quoted John Connolly in your sig. That's awesome. I idolise him. :D

I'm not sure... I have been contemplating the idea that Victoria killed her father, because he killed her mother, and her mother's ghost possesed her, and that's why she ended up on the streets in the first place, but I'm concerned about the angst levels inherent in such a plot, and also, that would have been about 5 years ago, so I'm not sure how much actual bearing that would have on the current situation.

I do NOT want an epic battle. Preferrably I don't want anything that's going to get out of the city, or maybe even out of their quarter of the city. Good and evil are themes I've never much liked. I like to emphasise that everything's a jumble of morality... Really, I'm very fond of putting ordinary/mostly ordinary people in very unreal/surreal situations and forcing them to deal with it. So I want Victoria's coming to terms with her abilities to be a large part of the story, but I don't want it to be the ONLY plot. Also, I like mysteries. I have been cogitating...

And I picked up a book of Connoly's short stories in the bargain section of the local bookstore and loved it... Ithought that quote was particularly apt for NaNo.

[vindemiatrix]

Mysterious deaths? People that work at the brothel dying off? I'd read it. Like a supernatural mystery. :D

I'm still thinking...

It was Nocturnes you picked up, then? :D Because if so, then did you like the story at the end? I forget what it's called; it's the one with the old house full of mirrors. If you did, then you should totally pick up the Charlie Parker series. They're crime thrillers, but with a supernatural twist and a lot of creepiness. And more Angel and Louis, which is always a bonus. Best. Sidekicks. EVER.

[Sulis]

Ooh, killing off all the characters I worked so hard to design? Interesting idea....

And yeah, it was Nocturnes. He's got a lovely knack for creepiness, and Louis and Angel are, as you said, the best... I look forward to finding the others.

[cat_lover_4113]

Mysterious deaths? People that work at the brothel dying off?

Yeah! How about some spirits have angered other spirits, and then taken residence in the bodies of the characters, so the angry spirits have to kill the characters to get the spirits, and the characters who can read the future and stuff have to figure out why, then how to stop the angry spirits!

[vindemiatrix]

Ooh, killing off all the characters I worked so hard to design? Interesting idea....

Because somehow them dying in the story would mean that all the characterisation you did was useless? Sorry, not getting the viewpoint here. ^_^;

[Sulis]

I was being silly, and it didn't work out...

Anyway, I think I have my plot, and it involves police officers asking awkward questions about the death of the MC's father.. It's going to be convoluted, and hopefully a hell of a lot of fun.