Chelsea Ames is the daughter of Etienne and Bridget Ames. She was an extremely powerful Tuatha de Dannan changeling before she made her Changeling's Choice and became a pureblood fae. She is intelligent and has a scientific bent, having been raised with the knowledge that she was a changeling.[1]
About[]
Chelsea has black hair and copper eyes similarly to Etienne. She enjoys playing video games on her Xbox and watching human TV series, presumably due to her upbringing in the human world. To Toby's slumber party, she wears pajamas with a spaceships and planets pattern. While she was a changeling, her hair was strategically styled to hide her pointed ears and wore rose tinted glasses to dim the eye colour she inherited from her father.
Her magic signature is sycamore smoke and calla lilies.
Chelsea is interested in science and likes fantasy and sci-fi, both books and visual media. She enjoys playing video games with Raj and the other teens. She also enjoys watching horror movies.[2]
Biography[]
Chelsea was born the changeling daughter of Bridget and Etienne during the former's Sabbatical from her position as a Berkeley folklore professor. Bridget raised her to avoid the fae, though Chelsea didn't know it at the time, and Etienne had been unaware of Chelsea's existence despite the amount of sprites and people he paid off to keep an eye on her. When Chelsea's baby magic began to fail and her fae features were exposed for what they were, Bridget warded their house with iron and fae-repelling charms, and she encouraged Chelsea to hide her pointed ears by growing out her hair and dim her eyes with rose tinted glasses. She said Chelsea's father was a nobody who had abandoned them.
Prior to her powers awakening, Chelsea seemed to have a typical human childhood. She was very interested in science and reading, as her room had rows of paperbook books, model kits, and a working microscope. Chelsea also decorated her walls with posters from the science fiction franchises Star Trek and Firefly, and her ceiling had Lord of the Rings posters.[1] When her powers began awakening, Chelsea hid them from her mother, who encouraged her not to use any magic she had been born with, but took copious notes and treated her abilities like a scientific study, recording trips all the way to Albany and Vancouver - something that Etienne was not able to do despite his power level.[3]
In the Series[]
Ashes of Honor[]
Sixteen-year-old Chelsea disappears while walking back home from Colusa High School in Berkeley. Etienne discovers her existence when Bridget called him, which forces him to ask for Toby's help finding her.
Toby doesn't realize the seriousness of what Chelsea is until she finds a notebook with research notes on her teleportation limits - limits that stretch beyond a normal Tuatha de Dannan and indicated that she was one of the horror story changelings with all the power and no control.
With assistance from the Luidaeg, Toby uses a specialised tracking method to find Chelsea, who has lost complete control over her magic and is bound to a blood charm by her captors Treasa Riordan and Samson, who wish to use her abilities for their own gains. Their meddling causes Chelsea to open a hole from the Fire Kingdom to the Court of Dreaming Cats. Then, Treasa forces Chelsea to create a portal to Annwn so Treasa can colonize the faerie land and begin her reign there as Queen. Toby and Etienne rescue Chelsea, with Etienne using a power dampener created by Walther Davies to curb Chelsea's teleporting for a year. The potion affects them both and negates their powers for a full year.
The Winter Long[]
Chelsea, Bridget and Etienne are adjusting to a family life together. Her temporary loss of powers is bittersweet, as it gives her time to rest but also cuts off an important part of her. She bonds with Raj. Because she is still used to a diurnal schedule, she stands in as the daytime guard for Shadowed Hills. Her attire as a day guard distresses Quentin as she is wearing jeans under her Shadowed Hills tunic.
Once Broken Faith[]
Seventeen-year-old Chelsea regains access to her teleportation powers. Raj, who developed a crush on Chelsea, invites her to a sleepover that Toby hosts for Quentin, Dean and Karen
The Unkindest Tide[]
Though she doesn't appear, eighteen-year-old Chelsea is mentioned playing video games with Raj and Quentin.
When Sorrows Come[]
Nineteen-year-old Chelsea is mentioned as one of the Tuatha who assist in portalling Toby to the High King's knowe. Later, she attends Toby's wedding.
Be the Serpent[]
Chelsea helps by teleporting Toby and her allies from Shadowed Hills to Muir Woods. She is disappointed to be left out of the action, but Sylvester insists.
Sleep No More/The Innocent Sleep[]
Chelsea is enchanted to believe that she is still a changeling, and that Etienne was part of her family her whole life. Etienne asks October to shift Chelsea's blood to fully fae, but October says that it's already been done. Then, with Chelsea's permission, October pulls apart Titania's enchantment and restores Chelsea's memories. Chelsea panics and accidentally shoves October through a portal that sends her to the streets of San Francisco.
Later, Etienne assures October that Chelsea retained all her memories of the false world, and growing up with her father in her life, even once her real memories were returned.
Relationships[]
Bridget Ames[]
Chelsea has a solid relationship with her mother, though things were briefly rocky when Chelsea realized Bridget was keeping important secrets from her. Even after she is shifted into being a pureblood, she values her mother and is happy when Bridget and Etienne reunite and rekindle their relationship.
Etienne[]
Chelsea first meets her father at age sixteen. At first she is cold to him, believing Bridget's story that he abandoned them. When she learns better, and Etienne stops her wild teleporting, they bond with each other. Chelsea is currently living with Etienne and Bridget in Shadowed Hills.
Quentin Sollys[]
After her Changeling's Choice, Chelsea bonds with Quentin. Because both of them identify as LGBT, Chelsea has had friendly debates with Quentin about sexuality in general,[4] and also play video games together with Raj during their down time. Toby theorizes Quentin may be interested in Chelsea romantically, particularly in forming a triad like Dean's parents.[5]
Raj[]
Raj and Chelsea bond with each other a little during Evening's return to the Mists. Raj seems to have a one-sided attraction to her in their interactions, but he, Quentin and Chelsea have been remarked to play video games together.
Trivia[]
Word of God[]
- In video games like Overwatch, Chelsea mostly plays tanks.[6]
- McGuire confirmed that Chelsea identifies as pansexual and has long, friendly terminology debates about sexuality with Quentin.[4]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ashes of Honor, Ch. 6
- ↑ A Killing Frost Ch. 9
- ↑ Ashes of Honor
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Tumblr: Chelsea's Sexuality
- ↑ Be the Serpent
- ↑ Tumblr: Overwatch