| Oooooh...*droolage* o_o |
[31 Aug 2004|03:23am] |
I just came up with a REALLY GREAT concept.
I was sitting here thinking about Ocryx and Ocryana before they were turned into...well...Ocryxes (demons). As you may or may not know (depends on if you've read the short stories or not...I think the one in question is "Hatred's Birth" (I admit, I had to look it up)), Ocryx of Manitou Island was a powerful manitou (spirit) created by Gitchi Manitou (the Great Spirit; pretty much the equivalent of God), and then Ocryana was the manitou created to be his mate--kind of like Adam and Eve. I think. Anyway, these two had a rocky relationship almost from the start; you know, one of those "get in a fight, have make-up sex, get in a fight, have make-up sex"-type things. All was pretty much well and good, though, according to Old Mother Manitou's (possibly inaccurate) version of the story, until Ocryana got jealous and demanded powers equal to Ocryx's. She got greater powers, all right, and promptly used them to turn Ocryx into the wolf demon that came to bear his name. Out of rage he did the same thing to her, then Gitchi Manitou had to separate them and put them to sleep before they could tear each other's throat out. And so Ocryx remained sleeping beneath a dried-up lake, and Ocryana deep within a cave sealed by a rock, at least until Stick-In-The-Dirt and some other even more unfortunate guy happened to free them. (Stick ended up losing his wife and tribe. The other guy...lost a teeny bit more than that.)
Well anyway...it's in Ocryxes' best interest to keep away from each other, as they are the only creatures who can kill each other. So for the most part Ocryx and Ocryana steer clear of one another even though it's pretty obvious they'd occasionally like to...make up. o_o But on just ONE occasion, Ocryana (unwittingly influenced by Nathalit...you'd have to read the serial) tricked Ocryx into visiting with her (he too was influenced by Nathalit...scheming Dreamer); he took the most advantage of that that he could, and as a result, Tal Natha (the third and last fullblooded Ocryx) was born. Seeing as Nathalit was actually "mother" AND "father" of Tal Natha (he/she/it did influence their actions) while the Ocryxes were only his physical parents, he turned out to be hardly anything like them at all, at least temperamentally. (He does occasionally get territorial and possessive like Ocryxes tend to do, but not nearly to the same extent as his mother and father.) But that's not the point of this entry.
Anyway...at least so far, Tal Natha is the only offspring these two have. And there's practically no way I can pair them up again without them destroying the Island and everything. ^_^ Just a little bit ago I got to thinking about their life before the s**t hit the fan and they were transformed. They DID get to spend quite a while with each other before this, and I was actually wondering what it was, exactly, that made Ocryana detest Ocryx so much in the first place. One idea--and a very plausible one--is suggested in the short story--that Ocryx got a wandering eye and Ocryana succumbed to jealousy for more than one reason. She may have had in addition other reasons of her own, more personal to her, but I haven't fleshed any of that out. But then a completely DIFFERENT idea came to mind.
Since it's highly likely in the first place...what if Ocryx and Ocryana had a child before they were transformed?
Hmmmmmmmmmmm... o_o
That really got me thinking. What would such a child have looked like? Obviously human, like them--but what would have become of it after their change and imprisonment? Would it have been changed into an Ocryx too, by default? Would Gitchi Manitou, fearing the worst, have imprisoned it somewhere, as well? Would it have turned out with the basically good (if pissy) nature of its early parents, or the basically evil (if vacillating) nature of its later parents? If basically good, would its nature have turned dark after being unfairly imprisoned (if that's what happened to it)? Would it be weak, or strong, or even more powerful than either of its parents? Would it have the powers they have or something different? Would it be able to spin dreams and do the things Tal Natha does? Would it have the same weaknesses as Ocryxes or would it be immune to such things? Would it be male or female? What would it look like? Act like? Sound like? Where would it live, if it's been free for a while at least? Or where would it be imprisoned? What would its reaction be on being discovered, set free, or whatever would be done to bring it to light? What if there's not just one, but MORE than one? What if it's started a family of its own...?
Hmmmmmmmmmm. O_o
All sorts of opportunities here that I can't believe I never even thought of. The truth is, I've never focused much on Ocryx and Ocryana's past together because of the Big Recurring Theme that you'll seem to find in many of my characters' backgrounds. It always seems to turn out that either somebody lost their lover/mate/family to tragedy or murder (witness Stick-In-The-Dirt, Trooper Broderick, Dja'mui, Djuta, Black Rat, Francois LaCroix, Inspector Dobermann, Damien, etc.), or else that person was either sexually abused or violated in some way (Upuat, Djuta (double whammy!), Didrika, Dr. Leja, Shrine Knight, Derrick Grant, Det. Kristeva, Lt. Kincaid, Morning Star, and probably a hundred others who are fleeing my mind). Well, a long time ago, back when I was still writing the old MI stories (probably around junior high or high school, I suppose), I came up with one of those faux Encyclopedia Of Things That Never Were entries for Ocryana, and yes, she had a similar story. What better reason (besides Ocryx's philandering) would she have for hating males? I still won't write this backstory off as never having happened, but it's so very trite in my fiction it's like you can't get away from it. This is one of the reasons I won't ever consider myself a children's writer; you'll find these themes always at least alluded to in my writing, and that's not acceptable if kids are reading. I can't help it; it's just always there. >_<
For the time being, though, Ocryx's wandering eye (which is already mentioned in the short story, although I nearly missed it) seems like a good enough reason for Ocryana to hate him. (Shadow Water must be a lot more understanding! No, settling down has not changed THAT part of him, very much.) But anyway. Where was I? I think that might be the reason why I never even considered their past that much before. I mean, take a look at all the crap that ensued when I so innocently tried to figure out Francois's past. (!) But think of all the story opportunities before the Ocryxes turned on each other! *drool* I really, really, REALLY like the thought of a potential "other" child they might have had, who has remained unnoticed until now. I just have no clue about anything other than that.
But once I get an idea I like, my mind tends to really run with it (witness poor Francois yet again)...so I'm betting I'll come up with something, sooner or later... >_<
We went to Mackinac Island on Sunday. I'm still having trouble walking. Walked for like nine hours straight. o_o;;; Did NOT find Lover's Leap, Chimney Rock, or Scott's Cave (I completely forgot to look for the last one! ^_^; ). DID find the Battlefield, the Friendship's Altar (coolness!), and possibly the back of Eagle Point Cave. And nearly thought they had filled in Cave of the Woods. -_-; And walked TOO CLOSE to the Grand Hotel--*bitchy rant ensues*--get this, you cannot even WALK DOWN THE ROAD IN FRONT OF that thing, if you are a regular old prole like me. It's a PUBLIC road, but heaven forbid you should stink up the Grand Hotel's atmosphere with your lower-class presence! (I would not be so permanently steamed had not the two employees who shooed us off of their PRECIOUS public-then-private-then-public road laughed after we walked away. Dressing better and being an EMPLOYEE (that's right!--NOT upper class!) of the Grand does not give one better manners, apparently. I try hard to be a good tourist, but it would help if the maps and guidebooks SAID that the public road suddenly turns PRIVATE once you get within a mile of the Grand! Whenever I should update my site, I am so dissing that place. Always hated it, now I always will. >:/ ) Besides, it SUCKS in that place! I saw scenes of its insides on TV once and it is SO butt ugly--it's not pretty and Victorian and ritzy like you'd expect. Everything's checkered and yellow and ugly green and all mismatched retro Seventies! Ickness!! Tehuti recommends, NEVER go anywhere NEAR the stupid Grand Hotel--or most of the West Bluff for that matter. The West Bluff sucks. The East Bluff (most of which I missed this year) is much nicer. Or at least the interior! It's public in those places, at least!
*deep breath* Sorry! It's just that I happened to get lost on the West Bluff since they DO NOT LABEL THEIR STREETS! >_< And just because something is given a grand name like Avenue or Boulevard does NOT mean it will be a big fancy open road--far from it. Most of the avenues are little dinky wooded tracks. So a lot of good a map does when you see the streets but you aren't sure what they are, and many of them apparently head onto private property even if the map says they're public. UGH! That's why I gave up on Chimney Rock and fled down to the shore (after backtracking God knows how many times because the roads leading to the shore always seemed to be private!!). But after that, it was MUCH nicer. I found these little trails and saw all these things I never even knew about...and got SO MANY gorgeous tree photos... :D It's taking me forever to upload them all, but they will be there, and hopefully I will have more time to post a proper entry about the thing later on. (It should be a longie.)
E-mails coming to people who are owed them when I'm able. I've just been avoiding doing that lately, what with all this scanning and uploading and junk, and one of them I'm not even sure how to properly respond to. :/
Have to log off now and mull and such. Not proofed. Tar.
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