Wise Old Mentors and Interracial Romance

[princesselwen]

So I had this idea for the Broken Chosen One story. I want it to start out kind of ordinary. The hero learns that he is fated to bring back the Ellandorian Empire, and so on. However, there was one thing I wanted to ask

Comments

[spinningstar]

Mm, I'd say a better question is, does the story need a mentor figure?

Is there anything I should be careful of there?

There's not much information given to tell either way, and, as is often the the case with writing, a lot will come down to execution. Are interracial relationships frowned upon in that world? Are there a lot of cultural differences to overcome? If so, you should at least give a nod to the difficulties they face by hooking up to show the extra weight they have on their relationship.

[princesselwen]

Well, I came up with a way he could know fighting and stuff without having one. Instead of being Farmy McFarmboy, I made him a minor noble. That way he could know that sort of thing, and I can keep the WOM and his ilk out.
About his relationship with Adanna. . . she's from a group of islands far away that this country trades with. They aren't enslaved or anything. She's looked upon as somewhat exotic and unusual, but I don't think they have the same history of racial prejudice that they do in our world.

[ravenswept]

You never "have" to have anything inn your story. The trope you mention is just that, a recognized pattern in similar stories. There are plenty of stories where the hero learns his role through trial and error, with only close friends to help guide him but no experienced mentor. Just as much, you could have a strict teacher whose job it is to mold the hero into who he needs to be, but doesn't mentor him in life lessons; his role is to teach and build, not to be friends to guide.

Like spinningstar said above, are there issues in your world with interracial love? Issues like that are dependant on how the world functions with those social politics. It could be nothing more than just a descriptive thing, or it could be a major faux pas that could get him, her, or both in serious trouble. It really depends on how much an issue you want to make it.

[princesselwen]

There's no real major issues with interracial love there, because it doesn't happen that often. They trade with them, and every now and then someone takes a dark-skinned wife and no one minds. So its unusual, but nothing more.
And now that I've come to think of it, this story doesn't need a mentor figure. Brendan does have a good friend, who's name I haven't figured out yet.

[wanderlike]

The mentor is only as necessary as you make it, I suppose. If your character should have no experience in fighting or what-have-you, then you'd probably need a fairly seasoned veteran to help him. If they had some exposure to it in the past already somehow, a few tips from a random person might do.

Or they could read a book or something. I don't know. Haha.

In a similar vein, the interracial romance aspect will be exactly as much of a big deal as you make it. If you don't attach any significance to it, any anger at the idea will be totally unfounded and can be disregarded. (Someone will ALWAYS be mad at something, but it's often not your fault.) If you keep pointing it out and making a big deal of it in the course of the story, that would probably be offensive to some.

A few things like "his lips looked pale against her ebony skin" might be okay, but not too much. And don't try to explain it as "okay" in your writing, if that makes sense. That which is okay needs no excuses.

Hopefully that last part makes sense.

[charlottehywd]

This might be totally wrong, but if you feel like you need a wise old mentor, can your love interest also serve that role? Could make for an interesting and unusual story.

[wanderlike]

Me likey. :)

[princesselwen]

I'm doing that in another story, though.
The problem here is that the people Adanna came from have entirely different methods of fighting, which might not work against their enemies here. Still, maybe she can give him a few tips on being stealthy.
I'm thinking about having him have some veteran that he's fought with before, but I haven't worked out the details. (and the hero has fought before, if only in small-scale fights with neighboring lords.)

[charlottehywd]

Well, she wouldn't necessarily have to train him in fighting- are there other things she is more experienced in? Perhaps diplomacy?