International Women’s Day from Kaylyn’s Universes Volume III

 International Women's Day has become one of my favorite holidays, so I'm trying to celebrate it every year. Starting back in 2021 I always start by sharing about my lovely, beautiful, and sometimes sinister or even deadly female characters in my stories then I add something new every year apparently. This year there is still no new information from the tales I've mentioned in 2021 or 2022, but this year I have some amazing women from two new tales: Paying for the Past and The Fierce Mermaid. 

In Paying for the Past, Teagan Thwaites has been emotionally alone for years. She’s a powerful psychic who just escaped an abusive family and got her own home. But life has other plans for her when it lands her new, pushy friends who want to get to know her before the curse that her house has takes ahold of her. Within twenty-four hours she’s befriended a familiar and a powerful witch as well as a doctor who is keeping a close eye on her. Will they be able to get close to her before the curse takes effect and destroys her?

1. Teagan Thwaites: Teagan is an introvert. She doesn't want to get close to anyone. She's a powerful psychic who helps every worthy spirit she possibly can get to the other side. She's been abused for a very long time, and she fought long and hard to get away. After succeeding, she actually got a huge house that came with a blessing and a curse; the blessing, very pushy friends and the curse is still a current unknown. Teagan is a fighter, a compassionate woman who always treats spirits with respect. She's studious, quiet, and she's quick to adapt to situations which is good when lying or protecting someone. She has an eating disorder that one of her new friends picks up on immediately and makes her verbally fess up to. She's interested in other cultures which she studies thoroughly. She's doing her best to readjust to this new life. 
2. Mr. Minka Potter: Dr. Minka Potter is Nikko Orpin's, one of Teagan Thwaites new friends, coworker. She's more observant than anyone realizes and she likes to keep it that way. It helps her catch patients like Teagan in a lie. Not much else is known about her yet.  

The Fierce Mermaid is my own adaptation of Disney’s 1989 animated The Little Mermaid. On land, Coaxoch Stenkjær, mother to six children wants her kids to help her make connections with other kingdoms and villages. Unfortunately for the triplets, Casmara, Driscoll, and Amelia they are not the best at socializing, so their mom does not make their lives easy for them.  Another obstacle for Amelia is that thanks to her Cerebral Palsy her mom to look down upon her to the point she wrote her out of the family tree. That didn’t stop this determined princess from swimming around the town through the underground water tunnels to see what’s going on. Swimming helps her legs stay strong, and it also helps her glean village secrets that could save her siblings and other kingdoms. And with the silencing punishment that often befalls her, no one ever notices her motives. Now the question is, will her older sisters hear her out and listen to what she found out before it’s too late or not?

1. Amelia Stenkjær: Amelia is the youngest of a set of triplets, and she is the bane of Queen Coaxoch's existence because she's not afraid of her. She will not let her 'mother' who disowned her get away with anything, even if she's the only one suffering the wrath. She was disowned for having Cerebral Palsy and not being 'social enough' in her 'mother' 's eyes. Because she was locked away and isolated from her sisters, and she protected her brothers from everything she suffered through she gained a lot of mental health issues including but not limited to disocciative disorder, body dysmorphia, and anorexia. But she's a fighter through and through. She exercises for her Cerebral Palsy, attends therapy virtually, travels outside the castle under the alias Laine Carver. She only wants what's right for her family and village. Amelia is studious, a people watcher, thoughtful, and has a protective personality.
2. Casmira: Casmira is Amelia's first friend in a long time, and the first friend she ever will remember actually having. They met when Amelia didn't want one of her brothers to see her punished into silence again. Casmira was gentle, understanding, and knew exactly how to handle skittish behavior. Casmira owns a bookstore with one of her best friends called the Well of Knowledge. She's studious, knows her customers, and she's a great cook. She's a caring friend who is incredibly observant. She will do anything for her loved ones, and she's kind to strangers. 
3. Queen Coaxoch Stenkjær: Queen Coaxoch likes to believe she's a fair and powerful queen, but she's cruel and ruthless as a queen and a mother. If you are of use to her you will be treated fairly, but if you fight back or are not of use to her you will face her wrath like her triplets. As a social climber, she does not appreciate her three youngest lacking social skills. She tried to beat it into them, but they refused to learn them considering their disabilities were the thing stopping them, and the beatings and abuse wasn't exactly in her favor. 
4. Princess Valerie Medina: Princess Valerie was chosen to be Prince Driscoll, one of Amelia's twin brothers that she's a triplet with, fiancee. Amelia went to protect her brother by doing the traditional threat of 'you hurt them and I'll hurt you', but it didn't go as planned and now the two are friends. The threat will stand, all the same. She used to be shallow and more self-involved unless it involved people in her circle, but once she met Amelia and was warned about how Princess Valerie's own village was threatening to torture her or worse, she decided to take a good hard look at herself and didn't like what she saw. 
5. Fira Razi (meaning 'fiery secret'): Fira Razi was originally introduced as Amelia's fiance, Prince Jael. They are still in the middle of transitioning. Only Princess Valerie knew in the beginning about their wanting to change, and that's when Princess Valerie tells them that Amelia may know more than they think about the emotions they were experiencing and how to empathize with them. Amelia was the one person they were able to about how to pick their name for reasons I won't disclose here. 😜 Fira Razi is completely protective of those she cares for, observant, intelligent. She makes great care packages, apologizing when she puts her foot in her mouth which isn't often, and cooking. She can also offer her services in the kitchen if one needs help. Fira Razi is not from a safe kingdom. Their royal customs for marriage are cruel and barbaric. On Fira Razi and Amelia's wedding day, where their friends and Amelia's family had planned to get her out of there safely, the traditions of her kingdom almost killed her until she was saved by Amelia.  
6. Lady Faxan Stenkjær: The youngest sister of the single sibling of the family, Lady Faxan is the meekest when it comes to confrontation and their mother. Faxan is the first to see how her lack of standing up and doing the right thing really hurt her siblings. 
7. Lady Marigold Stenkjær: Lady Marigold is the oldest child still living at home. She's just as loud and defiant as Amelia but unfortunately for Amelia it always seems to be against Amelia. She had a child who was murdered but was made to look as though it was due to Amelia's negligence. When push comes to shove, she always does the right thing. And that's why Marigold's next in line to be in charge of her village ooor... take charge of it from her mother. 
8. Queen Ren Stenkjær: Queen Ren's the oldest of Queen Coaxoch's brood, and she was actually the best at ignoring that her siblings were being abused because she knew that soon she'd have her own village or kingdom to be in charge of. Without even thinking about it she was actually completely okay with raising her kids believing they had aunts and uncles except for the one that had been disowned. Even Marigold gets on her for that. 
9. Queen Nailah Hamada: Not much is known about Queen Nailah or where she's from. Queen Nailah was friends with the Stenkjær children's father before his passing, and based on the stories she told Amelia they were likely on the battlefield together around the time he passed away due to his injuries. She had come to check on them and see how they were doing when she could. Queen Nailah makes sure that people in her care feel protected but also care for themselves as well as they can. She mentors them if they want, encourages them, and knows how to keep people calm. She's a great leader from what we can gather. 

International Women’s Day from Kaylyn’s Universes

In this post there were women from: 

1. Escort Recon
2. Music Nymphs
3. Mayday
4. Project Poseidon 
5. Heart on Her Sleeve
6. The Pain of the Silenced 

International Women’s Day from Kaylyn’s Universes Volume II

In this post there were women from: 

1. An Unnatural Pull to Death
2. Sin Eater 
3. Test Marriage (short story)
4. Neck Bites and Risen Hairs