Wencit of Torenth, the Deryni, and Me

[mescott]

I’ve been following Judith Tarr’s re-read of the Deryni books over on Tor.com, and it sent me searching for a photograph that seems to have disappeared in my most recent move. It showed me and Lisa, sometime in the 1980s, indulging in cosplay from the Deryni books. I had made us both lovely medieval gowns (roughly twelfth century, though the

Comments

[ex_hrj]

I remember that era of desperately looking ... not even for queer subtext, but for queer metaphor. For closeted persecuted subcultures hiding in plain sight until they were outed. And often that did mean identifying with nominal villains, or at least people viewed as potential forces of destruction.

[mescott]

Yes! That's a good way of putting it, looking for a queer metaphor. And I am very grateful that there are so many more options available now - though I seem to have internalized a liking for "potential forces of destruction."

[kindkit]

This makes me want to re-read the Deryni novels, which I loved as a teenager and into my twenties. Somehow I missed the Wencit and Rhydon subtext, although I was certainly looking hard, in every book I read, for any hint of queerness.

Did you ever read the second trilogy, the one focused on Camber of Culdi? There's another queer-readable relationship, the intense love between Alistair Cullen and Jedediah of Alcara. It's presented very positively, but they're both priests and so presumably celibate, and I have a bad feeling that for Kurtz, the lack of sex made it okay.

Speaking of queer villains, back in the day I had a soft spot for Dyan Ardais, from Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover novels. He did bad enough things that I'm sure I ought not to like him (though he did get a redemption arc), but he had a lot of queer rage and carefully guarded pride, and those things spoke to me.

[mescott]

Heh. Remember Wencit kissing Derry, when Derry was his prisoner? That sealed the deal for me, right there. ;-)

I did read the Camber trilogy, though I managed to miss Alistair Cullen and Jedediah of Alcara - I think I took priestly celibacy at face value then. (A friend of mine held a Winter Court party at Boskone one year, with everyone supposed to come in white as had been done in the book. I... came in scarlet, though there were even fewer redeeming qualities to Imre of Festil. But her love for Camber had gotten on my last nerve.)

Dom Dyan! Oh, yes, I remember him very well, and had much the same reaction, despite what he actually did. So did a lot of my friends: I remember several people cosplaying him, including one young man - a serving Air Force guy at the time - who was utterly amazing. Queer rage and guarded pride and amazing masculine beauty.

[kindkit]

I had forgotten that Wencit kisses Derry, but now that I'm reminded, I think I definitely have to re-read.

Alistair and Jedediah's relationship was romantic intensity barely veiled as brotherly love, and at the age I was reading the Deryni books for the first time, I found that easier to interpret than sexual subtext. (On the other hand, Imre's odd relationship with Camber's eldest son, the one he kills right before showing up at the party in scarlet, did ping me as having some kind of very dark UST.)

I envy you getting to see Dyan Ardais so well cosplayed. That sounds amazing.

[mescott]

If I remember correctly, the kiss was described as "obscene and ravening," and then we fade to black....

Yeah, that... peculiar... relationship was a lot of what made me build a scarlet gown, although Imre was really pretty disappointing as a villain. Someday I will rewrite him as a protagonist.

Oh, that guy was wonderful! (All right, he was a bit short, but he had enough presence that it didn't really matter.) And then he ended the night in the hot tub, in partial costume and full character. It's one of the few times in my life that I've really wanted to be a gay man.

[kahva]

I'm not familiar with those stories at all, but I really hope you find that picture one day because those costumes sound wonderful! :)