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Jul. 12th, 2002 08:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
strange_aeonsI was reading rasfc's current viewpoint thread (there's always one, if not more than one), and had a minor revelation. Or a something, anyway, which I'm going to call a revelation. I sort of tied together several other revelations I'd already had.
If you look at the main characters in the WIP and ignore, for a moment, all that 'protagonist' baggage, it's clear that .
This is, at root, your generic quest fantasy, where some larger-than-life personages get on their eerily biddable horses and go get the magical dingus, meeting various exciting and exotic people along the way and killing many of them. It departs from that format in that the reader doesn't really get to see any of the finding-the-dingus because it would be boring, so it's actually the story of What We Do Once We've Got The Dingus.
Rook is The Dingus. Without him there's no story — without, say, Q're, or the doppelganger, there's no this particular story, but without Rook there's no story at all. But the dingus isn't usually a character — by which I mean, it doesn't usually have volition, and if it does it's usually some kind of glowing enchanted silver ice diamond greatsword that cuts through everything, and not very intelligent. Rook has more intelligence than volition, probably, but he's still got a lot of volition. Coupled with the fact that he's the most sympathetic of the major characters, that would be the reason why he's the protagonist (and the main, possibly the only viewpoint character) if it weren't that he's actually the protagonist because he's the protagonist.
Sweeney is The Hero, nevermind what I call Rook. More than any of the other secondary characters, he's the one that enables this particular story to take place. He's the leader of the party, he has a much better idea of what's really going on than most of the other characters, and if there were anything normal about this book he would be the protagonist. (Sweeney is also very nearly the Gay Mage, for those of you following along at home, departing from that archetype mostly in that he regards being angry with people as a healthy hobby and, in most cases, entirely deserved.)
Q're's role I'm not actually certain of. I mean, yes, she gives birth to The other, more powerful Dingus, and she dies in a stupid, infuriating way that directly precipitates what is probably the Climactic Battle. If there were, again, anything normal about this book, she would probably be 1.5iary character to Sweeney's protagonist, and there would be a lot of father-daughter shit, but there doesn't seem to be a term for what she is; she's not Sweeney's Love Interest, but she does have that level of importance.
Arunir is the clincher. (She's also the Female Mercenary, except she's not neurotic about sex because it's not even a part of her mental landscape.) Traditionally I don't think she'd be an extraordinarily significant character — she's grim, she's threatening, she teaches Rook how to not get whupped, she has a hot sister -- but I have a niggling, increasingly strong suspicion she's going to be my second viewpoint character later, when she's getting friendly with the doppelgänger and watching Rook apparently supplant her in her sister's affections. (Arunir and Q're are not sleeping together, though it's not a possibility I haven't entertained; the distance between them appears when Rook coaches Q're through one of her siezures, which has traditionally been Arunir's job.)
The doppelgänger I have absolutely no idea about, really.
At the moment WinAMP appears bent on playing, in succession, every piece of electronica in my collection. This is going to take a while.
Okay, I'm off to scour that fucking pot.
... or not. I had left it to soak and was expecting a battle, but apparently it wasn't as badly scorched as I thought. I swirled the water around, dumped the forlorn scraps of waterlogged pasta into the sink, rinsed the pot, and now I'm taking another crack at this lo mein thing.
If you look at the main characters in the WIP and ignore, for a moment, all that 'protagonist' baggage, it's clear that .
This is, at root, your generic quest fantasy, where some larger-than-life personages get on their eerily biddable horses and go get the magical dingus, meeting various exciting and exotic people along the way and killing many of them. It departs from that format in that the reader doesn't really get to see any of the finding-the-dingus because it would be boring, so it's actually the story of What We Do Once We've Got The Dingus.
Rook is The Dingus. Without him there's no story — without, say, Q're, or the doppelganger, there's no this particular story, but without Rook there's no story at all. But the dingus isn't usually a character — by which I mean, it doesn't usually have volition, and if it does it's usually some kind of glowing enchanted silver ice diamond greatsword that cuts through everything, and not very intelligent. Rook has more intelligence than volition, probably, but he's still got a lot of volition. Coupled with the fact that he's the most sympathetic of the major characters, that would be the reason why he's the protagonist (and the main, possibly the only viewpoint character) if it weren't that he's actually the protagonist because he's the protagonist.
Sweeney is The Hero, nevermind what I call Rook. More than any of the other secondary characters, he's the one that enables this particular story to take place. He's the leader of the party, he has a much better idea of what's really going on than most of the other characters, and if there were anything normal about this book he would be the protagonist. (Sweeney is also very nearly the Gay Mage, for those of you following along at home, departing from that archetype mostly in that he regards being angry with people as a healthy hobby and, in most cases, entirely deserved.)
Q're's role I'm not actually certain of. I mean, yes, she gives birth to The other, more powerful Dingus, and she dies in a stupid, infuriating way that directly precipitates what is probably the Climactic Battle. If there were, again, anything normal about this book, she would probably be 1.5iary character to Sweeney's protagonist, and there would be a lot of father-daughter shit, but there doesn't seem to be a term for what she is; she's not Sweeney's Love Interest, but she does have that level of importance.
Arunir is the clincher. (She's also the Female Mercenary, except she's not neurotic about sex because it's not even a part of her mental landscape.) Traditionally I don't think she'd be an extraordinarily significant character — she's grim, she's threatening, she teaches Rook how to not get whupped, she has a hot sister -- but I have a niggling, increasingly strong suspicion she's going to be my second viewpoint character later, when she's getting friendly with the doppelgänger and watching Rook apparently supplant her in her sister's affections. (Arunir and Q're are not sleeping together, though it's not a possibility I haven't entertained; the distance between them appears when Rook coaches Q're through one of her siezures, which has traditionally been Arunir's job.)
The doppelgänger I have absolutely no idea about, really.
At the moment WinAMP appears bent on playing, in succession, every piece of electronica in my collection. This is going to take a while.
Okay, I'm off to scour that fucking pot.
... or not. I had left it to soak and was expecting a battle, but apparently it wasn't as badly scorched as I thought. I swirled the water around, dumped the forlorn scraps of waterlogged pasta into the sink, rinsed the pot, and now I'm taking another crack at this lo mein thing.
no subject
Date: 2002-07-12 08:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-07-12 08:35 pm (UTC)