The Beautiful Books #20: August

Welcome to another installment of The Beautiful Books, this one focuses on appearance and description, so this installment will probably be a little more lackluster than usual, I’m certain I have mentioned short and tall far too many times. I know what my strengths are and description is not one of them, however perhaps I could use this as an opportunity to improve. On with the post!

Give a brief overview of their looks. (Include a photo if you want!)
James: James is taller than average, blue eyes, black hair (about waist length, his build is thin but athletic.

Beth: petite and curvy, long dark brown hair, green eyes, short.

Share a snippet that involves description of their appearance.
I don’t have much description in Pushing Boundaries, but this is a description of James from Robert’s (James’s step-father) point of view when James was twelve.
James: “Up close he was skinny wee thing, tall though, with long black hair that fell across his face. He must be older than Robert had assumed, but if he didn’t know better, he’d have thought the boy was a girl”

This description of Beth is from James’s perspective.
Beth: “Sitting on the bed behind him was a young woman in a purple dress with a pleated skirt and short sleeves (he noticed on the right sleeve the tail end of a tattoo, but he was unable to figure out what the tattoo was as a whole).
She was also wearing black and purple tights with wide horizontal stripes. The young woman had the same dark brown hair as Detective Smith and the same almond-shaped green eyes that both he and Mary-Anne possessed. James assumed this was Beth.”

What is the first thing people might notice about them?
James: When out in public, James has a tendency to dress overly-formal.

Beth: Beth can be a little slob-like, one of the things James’s notices about her is her seemingly endless supply of grandpa golf sweaters.

What are their unique features? (Ex: freckles, big ears, birthmark, scars, etc.)
James: James’s long black hair (it’s roughly waist-length)

Beth: Beth’s height (she’s five-one)

How tall are they? What is their build (Ex: stocky, slender, petite, etc.)
James: Athletic with a slender/skinny build at seven feet and five inches

Beth: Petite and curvy at five feet and one inches

What is their posture like? How do they usually carry themselves?
James: A hunched in the shoulders

Beth: When not sitting at a computer, Beth has excellent posture, straight back and shoulders, but tends to hunch her shoulders when using a computer or her laptop.

Your character has been seen on a “lazy day” (free from usual routine/expectations): what are they wearing and how do they look?

James: James seems to dress in two extremes, when out in public, he’s rather formal, but at home he tends to dress in track-pants, sweaters and slippers

Beth: usually she’s bundled up in bed in either pj’s or track-pants and moccasins

Do they wear glasses, accessories, or jewelry on a regular basis? Do they have any article of clothing or accessory that could be considered their trademark?
James: James usually has his hair in a pony-tail and he occasionally plays with it when he’s nervous. He generally wears a tie to work, he does have a couple of bright colored ties and a Dr Who TARDIS tie, but he mostly wears shades of blue.

Beth: Beth has a stimming bracelet that she gives to James at the beginning of the novel, she and Mary have a matching set (James keeps telling himself he needs to give it back but he doesn’t get around to doing so). Beth typically has her hair in a braid or pony-tail braid. Beth typically wears more neutral colours like yellow and green (mostly pastels) but does enjoy pink and purple.

Have they ever been bullied or shamed because of their looks? Explain!
James: James has experienced bullying and insensitive comments about his lack of facial expressions and monotone. However, James is usually very good with hygiene but also good at not wearing a lot of cologne or body spray.

Beth: Being curvy or perhaps being considered as being on the heavier end of the weight spectrum, Beth has experienced body-weight issues and body weight bullying, and while she’s got her own insecurities, those tend to be more mental insecurities, rather than physical and sexual insecurities.

Are they happy with how they look? If they could change anything about their appearance, what would it be?
James: James has a slender build and he would want to put on more weight and muscle mass, however as he’s vegetarian and has a fast metabolism, he does struggle to put on weight.

Beth: Beth is relatively fine with how she looks, she feel the pressure occasionally to lose weight, body-shaming issues are something she struggles with (especially when it comes to clothing choices), but she does possess the awareness that loosing five or ten kilos won’t really change much in the grand scheme of things.

Links:
~Paper Fury: BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE #20 // APPEARANCE EDITION

~Further Up and Further In: Beautiful People: August Edition