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rynlingThe secret genre of The Demon King is “second chance romance,” which is, along with monster romance, one of my favorite genres (together with psychological horror and literary fiction, don’t judge me).
Ceres has already killed Balthazar a number of times, which is what provokes him to begin his “quest” to become more powerful. Basically, he wants to be able to stand his ground against her without being instantly murdered.
In the present timeline of the story, Ceres has never actually met Balthazar in person, which is how he prefers it. Instead they communicate by… it’s complicated, but let’s say “magic.” They have a good working relationship, and they genuinely care for each other. He loves her, because he’s a doofus, but he’s also terrified of her, because he should be.
What’s going on with Ceres is more complicated.
When I was maybe ten or eleven years old, I played Final Fantasy VI and fell in love with steampunk. I now have a fairly decent understanding of steam technology and why we don’t use it anymore, but at the time I was like, “But why aren’t we all flying around in airships, though?” I really enjoyed math, so I started taking classes at GA Tech when I was sixteen. (Before you ask: it was through a special program for high school students, because I’m nowhere near smart enough to get accepted to GA Tech via regular admission.)
My classmates were almost entirely male, and every single one of them was really sweet. Most of them treated me like the class pet, but a few of them tried to ask me out. I didn’t have “an LGBTQ+ identity” back in 2000-whenever-that-was, but I was 125% Not Into Men. I like to think I’ve become more comfortable with straight men as I’ve gotten older; but, at the time, if I had seen a dick I would have cut it off. Now, of course, I’m like, Can you even imagine being sincerely asked out by a kind and handsome person (who happens to be male) who is not only very smart but would do anything for you and is also going to make tons of money one day, and I just sort of shake my head. But I was young, I was going through an entire sewer system’s worth of shit, and I just wasn’t ready to be in a relationship, especially not with a straight man.
So that’s sort of what’s going on Ceres. When she first met Balthazar, she was focused on staying alive in the middle of royal succession politics and intrigue, and she would eliminate anyone she perceived as a threat to her survival and autonomy. Now that she’s older, she has the self-confidence to allow herself to do more or less whatever she wantsincluding indulging in all the fun fantasy sex that I’m always surprised that SF&F authors never have the courage to write about for some reason.
Anyway, the nature of Ceres’s magic and the backstory behind “the magical artifact” under her castle are going to be fun to explore, but let it suffice to say that Balthazar is never, no matter what he does, going to be able to defeat her. And she knows it.
Ceres has already killed Balthazar a number of times, which is what provokes him to begin his “quest” to become more powerful. Basically, he wants to be able to stand his ground against her without being instantly murdered.
In the present timeline of the story, Ceres has never actually met Balthazar in person, which is how he prefers it. Instead they communicate by… it’s complicated, but let’s say “magic.” They have a good working relationship, and they genuinely care for each other. He loves her, because he’s a doofus, but he’s also terrified of her, because he should be.
What’s going on with Ceres is more complicated.
When I was maybe ten or eleven years old, I played Final Fantasy VI and fell in love with steampunk. I now have a fairly decent understanding of steam technology and why we don’t use it anymore, but at the time I was like, “But why aren’t we all flying around in airships, though?” I really enjoyed math, so I started taking classes at GA Tech when I was sixteen. (Before you ask: it was through a special program for high school students, because I’m nowhere near smart enough to get accepted to GA Tech via regular admission.)
My classmates were almost entirely male, and every single one of them was really sweet. Most of them treated me like the class pet, but a few of them tried to ask me out. I didn’t have “an LGBTQ+ identity” back in 2000-whenever-that-was, but I was 125% Not Into Men. I like to think I’ve become more comfortable with straight men as I’ve gotten older; but, at the time, if I had seen a dick I would have cut it off. Now, of course, I’m like, Can you even imagine being sincerely asked out by a kind and handsome person (who happens to be male) who is not only very smart but would do anything for you and is also going to make tons of money one day, and I just sort of shake my head. But I was young, I was going through an entire sewer system’s worth of shit, and I just wasn’t ready to be in a relationship, especially not with a straight man.
So that’s sort of what’s going on Ceres. When she first met Balthazar, she was focused on staying alive in the middle of royal succession politics and intrigue, and she would eliminate anyone she perceived as a threat to her survival and autonomy. Now that she’s older, she has the self-confidence to allow herself to do more or less whatever she wants
Anyway, the nature of Ceres’s magic and the backstory behind “the magical artifact” under her castle are going to be fun to explore, but let it suffice to say that Balthazar is never, no matter what he does, going to be able to defeat her. And she knows it.
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Date: 2020-10-21 05:50 pm (UTC)I fucking love second chance romances and I am Here For This.