Talking About Teyla

[jo_graham]

A reader asks, "You say Teyla is your favorite character. Can you tell us a little bit about what you're putting into writing her

Comments

[heather]

Awesome and interesting and refreshing, and TEYLA. :D

[jo_graham]

Thank you! I'm glad you're interested.

[chyti]

Wow, Teyla you have actually thought about the character and about Pegasus thank you, and for that I will definitely support your books.

I love your take on children and the question of her mother has always been at the top of my list.

[jo_graham]

I've done a lot of thinking about Teyla, and we've done a lot of talking about the cultures. I think it's fascinating!

I've wondered about Teyla's mom from the beginning. In Death Game she tells a story about her childhood, and we find out what happened to her mother, which was wonderful to write!

[tuawahine]

Wow, that's really interesting about nomadic cultures vs. agricultural or industrial. Thanks for sharing.

Side question: Teyla introduces herself (or is introduced?) as 'daughter of Tagan' at some point, and since we also know her father's name was Torren, we can conclude that Athosians are probably matrilinear, right?

[jo_graham]

Thanks! I'm glad you found it interesting. Amy (one of my co writers) originally trained as a sociologist, and I'm a history person myself

[tuawahine]

Which is an important plot point in Legacy in several ways!
Ohh...that sounds intriguing. *wants books now*

[sgatlantislight]

See, my thought is that Tagan was an ancestor, but not necessarily her mother, sort of like how, as an example, Jesus was the "son of David", though his (earthly) father was Joseph. The use of Emmagan for Torren would certainly show matrilineal naming, which begs the question of why she would need to name her mother if Emmagan was her mother's family name. Which is why it struck me that 'daughter of Tagan' was sort of a title thing more than a literal identification of an actual parent.

Also, it makes sense for polyamoury of some sort to exist among the Athosians. With death from old age being uncommon, they have to be certain there's someone there to take care of the kids.

[foxyinthecity]

I can’t stress how great this is. As you pointed out there were so much we don’t know about Teyla. And these were things I wanted to see explored more. I just want to thank you and the other writers for this thought process. I find it fascinating the differences between nomadic cultures vs. agricultural vs. industrial. I know we look upon the Athosians’ culture as nomadic and that they did not build permanent settlements, but yet I have to wonder even this. The little that we were shown of this culture in the show, it was not that they did not build permanent settlements, but that their settlements were affected by external forces…a culling by the Wraith then an evasion and then captivity by Michael. I suppose base on appearances they do seem nomadic, so it will be interesting to see this culture come to life in the books. Thanks.

[jo_graham]

There is so much we don't know! It's fascinating.

I've patterned their migrations as semi-nomadic, meaning that they travel regularly between two different locations -- a summer location in the uplands with good pasturage and good soil for growing things, and a winter camp in the lowlands, in a more sheltered valley where the weather is less harsh.

[missyvortexdv]

It's so nice to hear so much thought is put into her potential background.

[jo_graham]

Thank you! We have put a lot of thought into it.