No One Is Perfect
(possible minor spoilers)
Among other things, it is our flaws that make us unique. I'm rather a fan of Sherlock Holmes so when it came time to give my protagonist, Ven Zaran, a flaw, I mimicked the great detective's addiction to cocaine. But, being science fiction, I couldn't let it be something so ordinary. Instead I came up with a drug that blocks memories and called it Tint. But why would Ven Zaran need to forget? Well, that took a few drafts before the final reason came to me. This man had another life, another name. A troubled childhood, overbearing parents, and a host of other issues led this man down that path.
I couldn't just make Tint a tool like cocaine is to Holmes. I found it better to have it be a roadblock on the path he has chosen in life. It costs him his first job, it nearly prevents him from being with the woman he loves. But for her, he conquers it. So when, in Well of Dreams, events conspire to strip him of everything he has built by successfully fighting his drug habit, he succumbs to it again. This will be a recurring theme with him. Circumstances aren't going to let him beat this habit completely and it will occasionally just make his problems worse.
Tint has some nice side effects. In addition to making it hard to remember things (and the more you take, the less you remember), as you come off the drug, you have little control over your anger and temper. As for the culture of the drug, I was more inspired by the old opium dens, a place to go for a binge. In this case, the Tint is administered in a dose that knocks you out and clears your head of all thoughts until it wears off. That leads to Ting rages where they person is irrationally angry at everything. Quite a fun thing for a captain to do to his new crew. But Ven Zaran is a strong minded man and even Tint can't conquer him.
Among other things, it is our flaws that make us unique. I'm rather a fan of Sherlock Holmes so when it came time to give my protagonist, Ven Zaran, a flaw, I mimicked the great detective's addiction to cocaine. But, being science fiction, I couldn't let it be something so ordinary. Instead I came up with a drug that blocks memories and called it Tint. But why would Ven Zaran need to forget? Well, that took a few drafts before the final reason came to me. This man had another life, another name. A troubled childhood, overbearing parents, and a host of other issues led this man down that path.
I couldn't just make Tint a tool like cocaine is to Holmes. I found it better to have it be a roadblock on the path he has chosen in life. It costs him his first job, it nearly prevents him from being with the woman he loves. But for her, he conquers it. So when, in Well of Dreams, events conspire to strip him of everything he has built by successfully fighting his drug habit, he succumbs to it again. This will be a recurring theme with him. Circumstances aren't going to let him beat this habit completely and it will occasionally just make his problems worse.
Tint has some nice side effects. In addition to making it hard to remember things (and the more you take, the less you remember), as you come off the drug, you have little control over your anger and temper. As for the culture of the drug, I was more inspired by the old opium dens, a place to go for a binge. In this case, the Tint is administered in a dose that knocks you out and clears your head of all thoughts until it wears off. That leads to Ting rages where they person is irrationally angry at everything. Quite a fun thing for a captain to do to his new crew. But Ven Zaran is a strong minded man and even Tint can't conquer him.
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