Faye (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
said_scarlett) wrote2006-08-29 02:21 pm
said_scarlett) wrote2006-08-29 02:21 pm
Author Commentary for Zinjadu!
Now this was one fun commentary!
So, I'm a huge fan of pulp fiction. Not the John Travolta movie, the genre of fiction. Pulp fiction magazines were widely published back in the 40s ad 50s, and came after the penny dreadful novels. They were lurid, fantastical, and completely innaccurate, featuring brave heros who were often explorers or archeologists or some other dashing yet intellectual profession. The Indiana Jones style of pulp fiction wasn't the only style, but it was a widely popular and common one. Horror was big, as were Westerns.
A very long time ago, I attempted to write a pulp fiction series in the Harry Potter fandom. It starred Bill and Sirius, and was full of all the classic pulp staples. Manly men, big weapons, a mysterious and beautiful heroine akin to a Bond girl, exotic vistas and lots of action. The plot was cheesy. the dialogue was snappy and cliched. There was a 1940s feel to it. And maybe two people understood what I was going for. Everyone else called me out on innacurassies or informed me that it read like a bad dime store novel.
I gave up on the fic - which had both a gen version and a slash version - and wandered away from writing pulp for a good long time. But my love of pulp remained.
Somehow, I got it into my head that Hohenheim is the perfect example of one of those brave and brilliant British gentleman so often seen starring in pulp stories. I imagined he had to have lived an exciting life full of adventure and exploration, always on the search for new knowledge and discoveries. I have in my mind this image of Hohenheim outfitted in khaki's and a safari helmet, elephant gun strapped to his back, making his way through dense jungles to forgotten temples.
I explored that idea somewhat in my Lovecraft crossover, but I wanted to write true pulp with Hohenheim. When I started Kulshedra, I didn't have much in mind as far as a plot went. In fact, the original idea involved Hohenheim finding an island with a dinosaur on it. That was tossed out, however, and I was torn between a dragon and a death cult. I was discussing the fic with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
zinjadu at the time, and summed up my base plot with this:
"Basically, the whole thing is an accident, since Hoho's trying to get away from his family problems. His thought process is literally 'Hmm, I can't stand my wife and we always fight, I barely know my son, I ought to do something about this. I'm going on a sea voyage! Wheeee!'."
That was it. He'd go off on a ship and get stranded on an island and have an adventure. We'd learn more about why he's so eager to get away from home, and delve into that some. He'd come back thinking he's a changed man. But only thinking, because it's Hoho and Hoho doesn't change easily.
On the ship I wanted to set the stage for the rest of the story. In comes Captain Smythe, who I kept calling 'Blythe' randomly and needing to correct myself. Smythe tells Hohenheim all about the wonders he's seen, and Hohenheim's fascinated. One of the things mentioned are giant, man-eating sea dragons. I wanted to build the stage but not bore folks, so it seques pretty soon into the storm, where Hohenheim starts to come face to face with mortality.
This is also where we start getting a bit more depth. Hohenheim has alluded to his family often, but now we get into his relationship with his son. Who I named Christoph. There were a bunch of other options for his name, including Friedrich and Jacob. Friedrich and Christoph were my top choices, andzinjadu confirmed that Christoph fit better. As I said 'every other blond German pretty boy is named Friedrich'. So he became Christoph, which means Christ-bearer, and was chosen for no reason other than I liked the sound of it. It's 'kind of nancy but still 'arr-I-Will-Stomp-You'.
The letter to Christoph became a running theme. He manages to hold onto that damn letter until he makes it home. It survives shipwrecks, dragons, death-cultists, all of it. It became very symbolic to Hohenheim, and actually sets things up for later stories in the series.
Hohenheim's alchemy made it easy to get him from the middle of the ocean to the island. But I kept him weak, so it wouldn't be too easy. And now foreshadowing starts. The sea dragon he sees in his little boat is the very same one worshipped by the cult he comes across.
Hohenheim's merry romp on the island is just that - the merry romp of a man glad to be alive.
Enter the Cult of Kulshedra - which was the original title of the fic. I wanted to stay away from a stereotypical native look, andredrose999 suggested that I make them exotic and frightening, but also very beautiful. And that was what I did. They're sleek and lean and clean, with very long hair and very fine features. They fascinate Hohenheim. And repel him, when he sees Captain Smythe/Blythe all tied up.
From here on out, it's classic pulp. A chase through the jungle, with barefoot and muddied Hohenheim. The cavern with it's blend of nature and manmade awesomeness. The chanting, the alter, all of it. I could see it all so clearly in my mind. The blood and gore was skipped over, there was no need for detail. Hohenheim's horrified by the death of the captain, that's all we need. So horrified that he's captured.
And here is where I pull on his Awesome Alchemy Powers of Doom. Hohenheim doesn't need to clap to transmute. He has a harrowing fight with both cultists and the dragon, and of course plunges all of the evidence of both into nothingness by destroying the cave that is their layer. He goes home and lies to his wife, but eventually tells his son the truth and makes some sort of effort at bonding. but Hohenheim being Hohenheim, he's ready to get out into the world immediately....
Now the idea for a dragon-death-cult is also thanks tozinjadu. I asked her whether she'd rather see Hohenheim fight a giant man eating dragon thing, or a death cult that was into human sacrifice. Her answer was 'uh....both!'. And so the Cult of Kulshedra and Kulshedra himself were born. Kulshedra is really just another word for dragon in Balinese, I believe, and it sounded cool and 'exotic' by pulp standards.
This fic may not be to everyone's taste, but I enjoyed writing it massively and intend to continue the series.
So, I'm a huge fan of pulp fiction. Not the John Travolta movie, the genre of fiction. Pulp fiction magazines were widely published back in the 40s ad 50s, and came after the penny dreadful novels. They were lurid, fantastical, and completely innaccurate, featuring brave heros who were often explorers or archeologists or some other dashing yet intellectual profession. The Indiana Jones style of pulp fiction wasn't the only style, but it was a widely popular and common one. Horror was big, as were Westerns.
A very long time ago, I attempted to write a pulp fiction series in the Harry Potter fandom. It starred Bill and Sirius, and was full of all the classic pulp staples. Manly men, big weapons, a mysterious and beautiful heroine akin to a Bond girl, exotic vistas and lots of action. The plot was cheesy. the dialogue was snappy and cliched. There was a 1940s feel to it. And maybe two people understood what I was going for. Everyone else called me out on innacurassies or informed me that it read like a bad dime store novel.
I gave up on the fic - which had both a gen version and a slash version - and wandered away from writing pulp for a good long time. But my love of pulp remained.
Somehow, I got it into my head that Hohenheim is the perfect example of one of those brave and brilliant British gentleman so often seen starring in pulp stories. I imagined he had to have lived an exciting life full of adventure and exploration, always on the search for new knowledge and discoveries. I have in my mind this image of Hohenheim outfitted in khaki's and a safari helmet, elephant gun strapped to his back, making his way through dense jungles to forgotten temples.
I explored that idea somewhat in my Lovecraft crossover, but I wanted to write true pulp with Hohenheim. When I started Kulshedra, I didn't have much in mind as far as a plot went. In fact, the original idea involved Hohenheim finding an island with a dinosaur on it. That was tossed out, however, and I was torn between a dragon and a death cult. I was discussing the fic with
zinjadu at the time, and summed up my base plot with this:"Basically, the whole thing is an accident, since Hoho's trying to get away from his family problems. His thought process is literally 'Hmm, I can't stand my wife and we always fight, I barely know my son, I ought to do something about this. I'm going on a sea voyage! Wheeee!'."
That was it. He'd go off on a ship and get stranded on an island and have an adventure. We'd learn more about why he's so eager to get away from home, and delve into that some. He'd come back thinking he's a changed man. But only thinking, because it's Hoho and Hoho doesn't change easily.
On the ship I wanted to set the stage for the rest of the story. In comes Captain Smythe, who I kept calling 'Blythe' randomly and needing to correct myself. Smythe tells Hohenheim all about the wonders he's seen, and Hohenheim's fascinated. One of the things mentioned are giant, man-eating sea dragons. I wanted to build the stage but not bore folks, so it seques pretty soon into the storm, where Hohenheim starts to come face to face with mortality.
This is also where we start getting a bit more depth. Hohenheim has alluded to his family often, but now we get into his relationship with his son. Who I named Christoph. There were a bunch of other options for his name, including Friedrich and Jacob. Friedrich and Christoph were my top choices, and
zinjadu confirmed that Christoph fit better. As I said 'every other blond German pretty boy is named Friedrich'. So he became Christoph, which means Christ-bearer, and was chosen for no reason other than I liked the sound of it. It's 'kind of nancy but still 'arr-I-Will-Stomp-You'.The letter to Christoph became a running theme. He manages to hold onto that damn letter until he makes it home. It survives shipwrecks, dragons, death-cultists, all of it. It became very symbolic to Hohenheim, and actually sets things up for later stories in the series.
Hohenheim's alchemy made it easy to get him from the middle of the ocean to the island. But I kept him weak, so it wouldn't be too easy. And now foreshadowing starts. The sea dragon he sees in his little boat is the very same one worshipped by the cult he comes across.
Hohenheim's merry romp on the island is just that - the merry romp of a man glad to be alive.
Enter the Cult of Kulshedra - which was the original title of the fic. I wanted to stay away from a stereotypical native look, and
redrose999 suggested that I make them exotic and frightening, but also very beautiful. And that was what I did. They're sleek and lean and clean, with very long hair and very fine features. They fascinate Hohenheim. And repel him, when he sees Captain Smythe/Blythe all tied up.From here on out, it's classic pulp. A chase through the jungle, with barefoot and muddied Hohenheim. The cavern with it's blend of nature and manmade awesomeness. The chanting, the alter, all of it. I could see it all so clearly in my mind. The blood and gore was skipped over, there was no need for detail. Hohenheim's horrified by the death of the captain, that's all we need. So horrified that he's captured.
And here is where I pull on his Awesome Alchemy Powers of Doom. Hohenheim doesn't need to clap to transmute. He has a harrowing fight with both cultists and the dragon, and of course plunges all of the evidence of both into nothingness by destroying the cave that is their layer. He goes home and lies to his wife, but eventually tells his son the truth and makes some sort of effort at bonding. but Hohenheim being Hohenheim, he's ready to get out into the world immediately....
Now the idea for a dragon-death-cult is also thanks to
zinjadu. I asked her whether she'd rather see Hohenheim fight a giant man eating dragon thing, or a death cult that was into human sacrifice. Her answer was 'uh....both!'. And so the Cult of Kulshedra and Kulshedra himself were born. Kulshedra is really just another word for dragon in Balinese, I believe, and it sounded cool and 'exotic' by pulp standards.This fic may not be to everyone's taste, but I enjoyed writing it massively and intend to continue the series.
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I totally do have to do Hoho vs A Dinosaur at some point.
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I just can't think of one to ask about. :/
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*kisses* Whichever one you have any interest in hearing me blather on about.
Or, in the case of some, pull a bunch of psychological BS out my tush.no subject
Hm.. I don't know.. I want you to do one of your Ed/Al fics.. I just don't know which. :/ Maybe you could just pick one of your favorites out? I seem to like them all too much to decide. But you don't have to if you don't want. *hugs*
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Of course I want to! *smooches* Hmmm... I'll have to pick just the right one....
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Yeah, I know. :/