It's been twenty years since I cut these folks, but the vile Barthromians are still out to get me. Or make me snicker. I try not to let them see me laugh, it just makes them angrier.
Not only did I slight the Barthromians by replacing them with nastier aliens, I’d cursed them with a name that sounded like they were spawned in a bar bathroom.
The problem was, well, once I got around to reading to story out loud, they made me snicker. It’s hard to be evil when you make people laugh. Not only that, but they weren’t very alien. They looked human. They talked human. They just lived underground on some far off planet that looked like a cave here on Earth. The pure fact of living underground didn’t give much weight to their evil rating.
They did mistreat my main characters, talked down to them a little, threatened to hurt them, but the Barthromians never really followed through. They just weren’t committed to being the bad guys.
I didn’t give them any warning when I replaced them. They went from the page to the floor in a matter of seconds - the first casualties of my then very dull editing knife - probably more like a spoon, actually.
The Barthromians have been milling about, shaking their fists and glaring at me ever since. Each time another character gets culled, they pounce on them, enlisting them to their cause.
I’m not sure what their cause is exactly, but I’m glad I didn’t make them very effective bad guys.
But that assassin I cut four months ago? Yeah, I'm keeping my eye on him.
I actually laughed out loud at this. The Barthromians. I made the connection before you mentioned it. Gee, they must hate you.
ReplyDeleteNo, it's really funny what your mind does when you don't notice it.