The emo-goth girl who inspired 2 protagonists and counting
One emo-goth girl I briefly knew from my droning days of public school had a lasting legacy as she inspired Kaija Jokiharju and Tarja Titan.
It’s funny how useful public school can be at times, even if the place itself is hell on earth. The truth is, many of my motivations for fiction stemmed from those hellholes. And this emo-goth girl whose family life had to nearly as hellacious as school itself attended our district for bits of the 2004-05 and 2005-06 years.
She wasn’t a good student, hung with the crowd you knew would be meth-addicts, and after she left, most forgot she even existed. Whatever happened to her, I’ll probably never know.
That said, she was good-looking enough to have hung with the “prep crowd” if she wanted. Well, if she had the good family life and income required to be part of that crowd.
Still, her natural looks beat those fake-ass chicks most dudes leered at as “eye candy” back in the day. Crazy how much social conformity dictated all the “happenings” at that old school.
And to me, she was so memorable that Tarja Titan and Kaija Jokiharju both spawned from her. I didn’t know it at the time, though. It wasn’t until I looked at an old yearbook and said, “Holy shit, Tarja and Kaija look a hell of a lot like her.”
This emo-goth girl had a few defining characteristics
I remember more than a few things: Dark brown hair, large blue eyes, a petite build that could’ve been athletic if she worked out, a mixture of sharp and delicate features, and the occasional highlights in her hair. If you read Cursed Mage, chances are you’re nodding, saying, “Yep, that’s Kaija.”
But before I concocted Kaija, Tarja Titan debuted in a novel of the same name. Tarja also appears across my shared Renegades Epic, in The Last Sentrys (Sentrys of Terrene), Wind Ruler (Elementals of Nordica), and Catch 22 (Terrian Chronicles. Important, because she’s not the protagonist in this book, even if it’s in the same series).
But what is Tarja? She’s emo-goth, like the girl in question and like Kaija. She also has dark hair, pale skin, blue eyes, and the same petite build. Hell, if you lined Tarja up alongside Kaija, you’d think they’re sisters.
Which series to start with?
If you’re interested in meeting Kaija and Tarja, meet Kaija first. Trust me, I was still a rook when I wrote Tarja Titan, so Cursed Mage is easier to follow, more genre-specific as opposed to genre-fusion, and doesn’t integrate the Five Worlds or other random characters appearing in the same way Tarja Titan does.
Plus, Kaija better resembles the emo-goth girl in question here. The only difference is that Kaija’s a gifted student and one well-liked by her teachers. Still, she’s rough around the edges, isn’t afraid to go toe-to-toe with anyone, and had a piss-poor family life.
Meet her in Cursed Mage, which you can snag over at The Rebel Lore Vault, my personal Payhip store. Why get it there and not Amazon? Because I don’t believe in mass surveillance to the degree at the ‘Zon finds acceptable. And you’ll discover a few characters in Cursed Mage who feel the same. Check it out now.
