Authorial Authority
Oct. 29th, 2007 03:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rhienellethI know the whole Dumblerdore is gay thing has been talked to death on LJ, and in the grand scheme of things, I find it pretty darn amazing the amount of time people have devoted to debating this. First, there's the point that a lot more important things have been happening lately, news wise, that have generated a lot less attention. John Scalzi wrote a terrific entry of a real conversation he had with a friend on this very subject, that made me laugh out loud.
And then there's the idea that this is even a debate at all. The author stated her fictional character was gay, not ironically, not in jest, but as an offhand bit of trivia about her character. The author stated. And people (the NYT, no less) have the gall to debate whether or not she's right? Again, I draw on John Scalzi to illustrate the point, as he says it much more eloquently than I.
But it all boils down to: John is right. In creating characters and writing about them, there are a lot of little facts that we as authors know that will never make it into a book. That doesn't make them any less true.
This isn't supposed to be a rant. I was struck by both of John's entries on the subject, especially his latest, but had to give you the above background so you'd get where the latest was coming from. For my last link to Scalzi's blog, here's a list of 10 things about one of his protagonists that readers never knew, and reading it got me thinking what a great sort of character meme this would make. "10 Things about Sark You Never Knew", that kind of stuff. And it got me thinking about the things from my book that I know about, but the reader doesn't/won't...until or unless they come up in later books. Which is of interest to about three of you, maybe, but hey, I'm going to post it anyway. :) Maybe I'll write the Sark one at some point, too, who knows?
1. Gaia brought Elysia into the future, in part, to repopulate the dhampir. When Elysia married Parr, it put a serious crimp in Gaia's plans. At the end, she tells Parr she's making him mortal because she doesn't want to be indebted to him - this is only partially true. The other reason is much more selfish - so he can father children with Elysia.
2. Evie believes she killed both of her parents with her curser's power, but this is not so. Yes, she had a terrible fight with her mother that day, but Zoltan had already discovered them (Evie's parents were working against him) and sent his Hellriders to kill them. The timing was just unfortunate for poor Evie.
3. Every generation of gypsies has not one King/Queen "set", but two, though only two of the four usually survive to reign. There have been times in the past when both sets have lived, and the gypsy clans have been split between them, usually leading to bad blood and war. Also, one King and one Queen tend to be "good" while the other two tend to be, er, let's just say "darker". It's all part of a deal Gaia made with another God eons ago. Usually the best match in a royal pair is a good mix - for example, Oberon was "good" while Delilah had some naturally darker tendencies. This was all great background for me, the author, but not so important to the overall story, and so didn't make it in the book.
4. Elysia wasn't born a Queen, but the gene, you might say, ran in her family. She had the latent potential, and Gaia had plans to make her a Queen for truth, until a certain vampire got in the way.
5. Though he never knew it before his 'death', Parr was a King before he died. He was of the generation preceding Oberon's. His mother had an affair with a gypsy man she never named passing through Harrod's Province, and was marked by her adultry with the mrak's, the mark of shame on her hand. Which is why she lived in exile from her clan, and why Parr was so willing to marry Elysia to keep the same thing from happening to her. This is also, btw, part of why Gaia has never been able to forgive him. Parr wasn't just another gyspy when he betrayed his mother's clan - he was a gypsy King.
6. Which means that when Parr and Elysia have children, that child could very well be a King or a Queen...
7. Sometime in his first thousand years as Protector of the Rom, Demetrius became Gaia's lover! Though their romantic relationship didn't last, the Goddess has had a soft spot for him ever since. What can I say? Demetrius is charming, and his relationship with Gaia complicated.
8. In fact, Gaia has quite the weakness for charming men of a certain type. She and the Goddess Aphrodite have had a couple of less than friendly competitions for the same man, over the centuries. Losing one such competition made Aphrodite so angry, she cursed Gaia's sons in a very particular way. (You'll just have to read Jake's book when the time comes to find out in WHAT way.)
9. During the worst part of Zoltan's reign, Parr used to bring food and warm clothing to the orphaned and homeless human children in Zoltan's Province. Not that he would ever tell anyone that.
10. The Hellriders curse might be broken, but Damian, the one of them most bound to his demon, passed a bit of that demon on to his son, Tobas. It sometimes manifests when Tobas goes into battle, like a beserker going into battle rage. If he doesn't find a way to control it, one day the demon just might end up controlling him.
And then there's the idea that this is even a debate at all. The author stated her fictional character was gay, not ironically, not in jest, but as an offhand bit of trivia about her character. The author stated. And people (the NYT, no less) have the gall to debate whether or not she's right? Again, I draw on John Scalzi to illustrate the point, as he says it much more eloquently than I.
But it all boils down to: John is right. In creating characters and writing about them, there are a lot of little facts that we as authors know that will never make it into a book. That doesn't make them any less true.
This isn't supposed to be a rant. I was struck by both of John's entries on the subject, especially his latest, but had to give you the above background so you'd get where the latest was coming from. For my last link to Scalzi's blog, here's a list of 10 things about one of his protagonists that readers never knew, and reading it got me thinking what a great sort of character meme this would make. "10 Things about Sark You Never Knew", that kind of stuff. And it got me thinking about the things from my book that I know about, but the reader doesn't/won't...until or unless they come up in later books. Which is of interest to about three of you, maybe, but hey, I'm going to post it anyway. :) Maybe I'll write the Sark one at some point, too, who knows?
1. Gaia brought Elysia into the future, in part, to repopulate the dhampir. When Elysia married Parr, it put a serious crimp in Gaia's plans. At the end, she tells Parr she's making him mortal because she doesn't want to be indebted to him - this is only partially true. The other reason is much more selfish - so he can father children with Elysia.
2. Evie believes she killed both of her parents with her curser's power, but this is not so. Yes, she had a terrible fight with her mother that day, but Zoltan had already discovered them (Evie's parents were working against him) and sent his Hellriders to kill them. The timing was just unfortunate for poor Evie.
3. Every generation of gypsies has not one King/Queen "set", but two, though only two of the four usually survive to reign. There have been times in the past when both sets have lived, and the gypsy clans have been split between them, usually leading to bad blood and war. Also, one King and one Queen tend to be "good" while the other two tend to be, er, let's just say "darker". It's all part of a deal Gaia made with another God eons ago. Usually the best match in a royal pair is a good mix - for example, Oberon was "good" while Delilah had some naturally darker tendencies. This was all great background for me, the author, but not so important to the overall story, and so didn't make it in the book.
4. Elysia wasn't born a Queen, but the gene, you might say, ran in her family. She had the latent potential, and Gaia had plans to make her a Queen for truth, until a certain vampire got in the way.
5. Though he never knew it before his 'death', Parr was a King before he died. He was of the generation preceding Oberon's. His mother had an affair with a gypsy man she never named passing through Harrod's Province, and was marked by her adultry with the mrak's, the mark of shame on her hand. Which is why she lived in exile from her clan, and why Parr was so willing to marry Elysia to keep the same thing from happening to her. This is also, btw, part of why Gaia has never been able to forgive him. Parr wasn't just another gyspy when he betrayed his mother's clan - he was a gypsy King.
6. Which means that when Parr and Elysia have children, that child could very well be a King or a Queen...
7. Sometime in his first thousand years as Protector of the Rom, Demetrius became Gaia's lover! Though their romantic relationship didn't last, the Goddess has had a soft spot for him ever since. What can I say? Demetrius is charming, and his relationship with Gaia complicated.
8. In fact, Gaia has quite the weakness for charming men of a certain type. She and the Goddess Aphrodite have had a couple of less than friendly competitions for the same man, over the centuries. Losing one such competition made Aphrodite so angry, she cursed Gaia's sons in a very particular way. (You'll just have to read Jake's book when the time comes to find out in WHAT way.)
9. During the worst part of Zoltan's reign, Parr used to bring food and warm clothing to the orphaned and homeless human children in Zoltan's Province. Not that he would ever tell anyone that.
10. The Hellriders curse might be broken, but Damian, the one of them most bound to his demon, passed a bit of that demon on to his son, Tobas. It sometimes manifests when Tobas goes into battle, like a beserker going into battle rage. If he doesn't find a way to control it, one day the demon just might end up controlling him.
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no subject
Date: 2007-10-29 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-29 10:07 pm (UTC)Though there are a couple in fic I may just have to do...
no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 06:34 pm (UTC)I really liked Neil's take on it - found here:
http://syndicated.livejournal.com/officialgaiman/404208.html
It's pretty damn funny.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 06:42 pm (UTC)Parr still doesn't know, and may never figure it out, though the truth will probably come out via his kids.