Wordsmithing and Worldbuilding: Beautiful People August Edition: Friendship!

Thanks again to Paper Fury and Further Up and Further In for hosting Beautiful People for Writers. It's a monthly meme that helps you get to know your characters (and get a peek at other WIPs) If you're interested and wonder what the meme entails, click here.

This month's theme is friendship. I'll be focusing on my current project (same as the last few posts) The Last Coffee Shop. I have a group of three friends who are important to the story, though only one is the main character, Madeleine (Mads) Capot. Her best friends, Krillia (Krill) and Alan Dekker III (an alien and a human, respectively) aren't present for most of the novel's action, but they are very important to Mads' character and the plot arc.

Image Copyright Marvel Studios

<---How I picture Krill (but much less fierce looking, and more modestly dressed!) Also, she has four arms, and she's around 6ft tall. Her ears are long and pointy. In other words, she sort of looks like a violet-skinned humanoid dragonfly! Her age translates to about twenty-three in human years.

Alan, on the other hand, is average height and build, and he's twenty-six (a little bit younger than Mads). I picture him looking a bit like a tawny-haired youngish Kenneth Branagh ------>

So now, for the questions:

1. How long have they known each other, and how close are they?

Mads and Alan are best friends from childhood. They have a rather complicated history (Alan's father was in love with Mads' mother, and so he despises Mads), but have remained friends for years, despite the fact that they have basically nothing in common. Mads views Alan as a brother, but she is (uncomfortably) starting to suspect that he doesn't feel quite the same.

Mads gave Krill sanctuary (she was on the run from her past), and then gave her a job. Krill is Mads' only real female friend, and they are also like night and day, but they are more like sisters than friends.

2. What's their earliest memory of being best friends?

Alan: Mads' earliest memory of Alan is meeting a little boy in the street, and then defending him from bullies with her eventually-notorious right hook. They were inseparable ever since.

Krill: Mads remembers meeting Krill because it happened when she was an older teenager. Krill was running from a restrictive culture and an arranged marriage.It was friends-at-first-sight.

3. Do they fight? How long do they typically fight for?

Alan: They don't fight, they bicker. Since they grew up together they know each other's weaknesses and pet peeves (which they sometimes capitalize on). Alan is easy-going, so he can't stay angry with Mads for long. Mads, on the other hand, can hold a grudge like a champion. She's frequently irritated with Alan's shenanigans.

Krill: Not really. They disagree a lot, but not to the point of animosity. And as they're both adults, they handle disagreements in a pretty mature fashion. Neither of them can stay mad at each other (actually, Krill is one of the only people Mads can't stay mad at).

4. Are their personalities similar or do they compliment each other?

All three of them are very different. Mads is the sober, loyal, responsible anchor. Alan is the fun-loving, free spirit who gets by on charm and a good heart. Krill is the life of the party and the peacemaker, and the best person to go out dancing with.

5. Who is the leader of their friendship (if anyone)?

It depends on the situation. Mads holds them together and gets them out of trouble, but Krill gets them to have fun, and Alan gets them into trouble.

6. Do they have any secrets from each other?

Mads: Not until the events of the book! By the end, she has more than she wants.

Krill: Mads knows the extent of her troubled past, but she's never felt comfortable telling the whole truth to Alan.

Alan: Though he's had a lot of friends and girlfriends, he appreciates Mads unfiltered honesty. If he's honest with himself, he's more than half in love with her (and he's kind of narcissistic, so the idea of any girl not attracted to him is appealing).

7. How well do they know each other and each other's quirks and habits?

Too well! (Questions 1-3 sort of answer this too).

8. What kinds of things do they like to do together?

Both Mads and Krill work (Alan is the post-apocalyptic version of a trust-fund kid, and his father is grooming him to take over his place as head of Dekker Industries). If they aren't working, they like to hang out and do nothing in particular. Krill likes to go clubbing, but Mads cannot be induced into a club, so they don't really go out together.

9. Describe each character's fashion style (use pictures if you like!) How are their styles different/similar?

Springs Village (the city under a climate bubble where everything is carefully regulated to be like [in their best estimation] pre-apocalypse alternate-Earth), the hometown of Mads in The Last Coffee Shop, is supposed to be just like the previous world. So they wear clothes that are similar to our Earth's, but a bunch of time periods slightly mixed, with sci-fi/spacey influences. Mads, Alan, and Krill have very different styles, so I'll attach some pics for reference :)

Krill, off work

Mads is like 90's grunge meets bohemian meets hipster, but more authentic, less intentional. Give this girl much darker skin and cropped dreadlocks, and she's got the perfect look - - - - - - - ->

<------Krill. She'd work in heels, if she wasn't so conscious of her height!

Alan, on the other hand, wears very classy clothes in shades of brown or warm colors, something like the photo below:

10. How would their lives be different without each other?

Alan: Mads keeps him grounded and humbles him a little, they've also supported each other for years. She has supported his desire to be his own man (apart from his father). And Krill has been a female friend he can hang out with, someone he likes as a sister, and good fun.

Krill: If Mads hadn't reached out and helped Krill get back on her feet after her traumatic run from her terrifying fiance, Krill would have had a totally different life.

Mads: Without Alan and Krill, she'd be an overworked workaholic without much of a life or friends (her grandmother is more like her child!). Alan has always supported her and convinced her to have fun. Krill brings out whole other sides of her. Mads would tell you that without Krill and her (Mads) work (which includes running the shop, and managing/maintaining the intricate complex where they are able to grow the preserved coffee beans, tend bees, and keep other relics from the pre-apocalypse world alive), she's nothing at all.