(no subject)
Because blast it, I'm too ticked off not to write it. Not to finish it.
Who is Hardik Janu? He's a Yumerantha man from the northern borderlands. He's a master swordsman and a self-styled hero, despite his rather unimposing physique; he learned to fight as a noble's [not a squire, but the Yumerantha equivalent--something between a squire, a second in a duel, and a hunting partner] and honed his skills on hunts in Chui'techanth. Later, he entered that noble's [militia equivalent] and served in a few successful campaigns against the neighboring kingdoms. During his term of service, though, Janu discovered one of the most harsh realities of war: rape. He immediately determined to defend the defenseless women of Yumeranth against sexual criminals, administering justice personally. Janu technically deserves some criticism for following this path, though; by the laws of most Yumerantha kingdoms, he is a sex criminal because he is a practicing bisexual. Janu is generally an optimistic, strong-willed, [not hard like I am becoming hard] person, but he tries not to dwell on the conflict between legality and morality because it makes him terribly depressed. He loves to laugh, he loves to duel, and he loves to hunt; he hates rapists with a passion, and hates homophobic people with a kind of aching numbness. He hates long and pointless waits; he hates when winter comes on the borderlands, and he absolutely glories in the "endless summer" of the coastal kingdoms. He loves the sun and the freedom of the open plains, and he loves boats. He loves lying with a person in the morning, after sleeping beside that person (sex totally unnecessary), and just feeling warm and safe. Deep down, he is terribly, terribly afraid of himself.
What does Hardik Janu want? He wants a lot of things, but mainly he wants to find The One. He tells himself that his goal is to make the night safer for the women of the world (and, when he discovers the scary and disgusting and horrid world of child prostitution, for children as well!), but he also desperately wants to be loved.
What does Hardik Janu look like? As I said earlier, he's rather trim in build--probably no more than 5'9", weighing no more than 150 lbs. However, the vast majority of that is muscle. Janu is of the rather antiquated build that was well-suited to hard riding and military endeavours, but not required to perform the gratuitous heavy lifting and pushing of the farming class. As a [not exactly a squire], he was of a higher class than those folk. However, as a northern borderlander, he is also far paler than the southern coastal folk with whom he is spending the majority of the book, and he will be very clearly a member of the "outgroup." Very clearly Yumerantha--flatter face than the Deitish, more smooth nose, eyes less round, hair darker and straighter--but also not the "typical" Yumerantha ethnicity (see: Ambika and Malina in serpent_dreams's stories). However, he has green eyes (think the Afghani girl who was made famous by National Geographic) and a browner cast to his hair than the southern folk. He also has a rather unfortunate hawk nose that can't win him any points on the Seventeen Magazine "Top Ten Hottest Guys" list. Nonetheless, he's very . . . clean-looking. Very healthy, and he keeps himself as well as can be expected for a wandering self-styled hero. I think he even remembers to shave on occasion.
What is the immediate plotline? Janu has just managed to trace a kidnapping/prostitution ring to its center, and now he's stalking the ringleader. He frankly wants to kill him, but that's not an option, so he involves the police and gets assigned a sidekick an officer to help him find proof and make arrests and kick butt and whatnot. A lot of random justice-meting-out happens, too, and Janu falls in love more or less simultaneously with both the sidekickofficer and a werecat who saves his life. In the end, even though the officer loves Janu, he feels obliged by his duty to the law to end it and to advise Janu to leave the city; even though the werecat does not love him, she tries to defend him from The Mob that eventually hangs him. The hanging comes from another plotline that's been skulking around since the very beginning of the book, about one of Janu's comrades in arms hunting him down in revenge for being justice-d (well, he was raping a woman! The law was on Janu's side!). So yeah, not a good or happy storyline.
Coming as soon as I can manage it: character profiles on the officer, the werecat, and their stories. Also hopefully sketches. =)
Love to all those who suffer because of who they are.
Who is Hardik Janu? He's a Yumerantha man from the northern borderlands. He's a master swordsman and a self-styled hero, despite his rather unimposing physique; he learned to fight as a noble's [not a squire, but the Yumerantha equivalent--something between a squire, a second in a duel, and a hunting partner] and honed his skills on hunts in Chui'techanth. Later, he entered that noble's [militia equivalent] and served in a few successful campaigns against the neighboring kingdoms. During his term of service, though, Janu discovered one of the most harsh realities of war: rape. He immediately determined to defend the defenseless women of Yumeranth against sexual criminals, administering justice personally. Janu technically deserves some criticism for following this path, though; by the laws of most Yumerantha kingdoms, he is a sex criminal because he is a practicing bisexual. Janu is generally an optimistic, strong-willed, [not hard like I am becoming hard] person, but he tries not to dwell on the conflict between legality and morality because it makes him terribly depressed. He loves to laugh, he loves to duel, and he loves to hunt; he hates rapists with a passion, and hates homophobic people with a kind of aching numbness. He hates long and pointless waits; he hates when winter comes on the borderlands, and he absolutely glories in the "endless summer" of the coastal kingdoms. He loves the sun and the freedom of the open plains, and he loves boats. He loves lying with a person in the morning, after sleeping beside that person (sex totally unnecessary), and just feeling warm and safe. Deep down, he is terribly, terribly afraid of himself.
What does Hardik Janu want? He wants a lot of things, but mainly he wants to find The One. He tells himself that his goal is to make the night safer for the women of the world (and, when he discovers the scary and disgusting and horrid world of child prostitution, for children as well!), but he also desperately wants to be loved.
What does Hardik Janu look like? As I said earlier, he's rather trim in build--probably no more than 5'9", weighing no more than 150 lbs. However, the vast majority of that is muscle. Janu is of the rather antiquated build that was well-suited to hard riding and military endeavours, but not required to perform the gratuitous heavy lifting and pushing of the farming class. As a [not exactly a squire], he was of a higher class than those folk. However, as a northern borderlander, he is also far paler than the southern coastal folk with whom he is spending the majority of the book, and he will be very clearly a member of the "outgroup." Very clearly Yumerantha--flatter face than the Deitish, more smooth nose, eyes less round, hair darker and straighter--but also not the "typical" Yumerantha ethnicity (see: Ambika and Malina in serpent_dreams's stories). However, he has green eyes (think the Afghani girl who was made famous by National Geographic) and a browner cast to his hair than the southern folk. He also has a rather unfortunate hawk nose that can't win him any points on the Seventeen Magazine "Top Ten Hottest Guys" list. Nonetheless, he's very . . . clean-looking. Very healthy, and he keeps himself as well as can be expected for a wandering self-styled hero. I think he even remembers to shave on occasion.
What is the immediate plotline? Janu has just managed to trace a kidnapping/prostitution ring to its center, and now he's stalking the ringleader. He frankly wants to kill him, but that's not an option, so he involves the police and gets assigned a sidekick an officer to help him find proof and make arrests and kick butt and whatnot. A lot of random justice-meting-out happens, too, and Janu falls in love more or less simultaneously with both the sidekickofficer and a werecat who saves his life. In the end, even though the officer loves Janu, he feels obliged by his duty to the law to end it and to advise Janu to leave the city; even though the werecat does not love him, she tries to defend him from The Mob that eventually hangs him. The hanging comes from another plotline that's been skulking around since the very beginning of the book, about one of Janu's comrades in arms hunting him down in revenge for being justice-d (well, he was raping a woman! The law was on Janu's side!). So yeah, not a good or happy storyline.
Coming as soon as I can manage it: character profiles on the officer, the werecat, and their stories. Also hopefully sketches. =)
Love to all those who suffer because of who they are.