If i may, G H S & U for Miriam and Meredith? —leila-of-ravens
Ahhhh thank you!!! 😭💖
A-Z of Mannerisms/Behaviors
G. Grow: Has your character picked up any mannerisms from other characters? Do they tend to imitate other people without realizing it?
Miriam: As a twin, she spent most of her childhood/early teenage years just copying her brother in order to trick their family, so she still has some mannerisms that she picked up from him and vice versa. Other than Marco, she's not that good at imitating others, so she doesn't adopt many other mannerisms!
Meredith: answered here!
H. Hair: If applicable, how often does your character touch their hair? Do they toy with their hair absently? Do they twirl their hair when they’re nervous, or to flirt?
Miriam: She ties her hair back to keep from messing with it, otherwise she would always be twirling her fingers in it, playing with her curls. She does tend to play with loose curls around her face if she's nervous!
Meredith: Almost never, except to tie it back out of her face, and it's just habit to keep it long at this point, to help protect against the cold of the South. When it's down she often runs her hands through it to push it out of her face, while her hair isn't particularly curly, it is very thick.
S. Secret: Is your character good at communicating using nonverbal mannerisms? Do they have any “secret gestures” with other characters? If so, what?
Miriam: She uses her hands and head a lot while speaking, and can often have conversations with close friends entirely through interpretive signs. She and Portia have communicated across a ballroom using only their expressions and hands before, and Nadia has some secret gestures that Miriam helped develop during particularly boring court meetings.
Meredith: Yes. One look at her face is usually all you need to discern a command, she has the Eyebrow Raise, the Frown, the Deeper Frown, and at least a dozen other expressions that her whole crew knows by now.
She has more specific gestures and expressions that are shared with Saoirse, more like battle tactics and directing them in a fight without actually saying anything, like hand signals.
U. Untrue: Is there something your character always does when they’re lying? Have any other characters realized this?
Miriam: Oh, she's a terrible liar. She gets Extra Fidgety, her eyes dart around, and she stumbles over her words more often. She can combat this by telling half-truths, or purposely omitting facts when being asked a question, but any outright lies are pretty easy to see through—and Nadia is well aware of all of her tells.
Meredith: She overcompensates when lying by holding eye contact for just a bit longer than necessary. It's something Saoirse knows, and Tariq knows, but it's subtle enough of a thing that no one else has quite caught on yet. If someone starts trying to question her or poke holes in her lie, she'll start to get defensive though, but people don't usually question her.
