¡Bienvenidos and welcome to The Invasion of Ian (IofI) random info/discussion forum topic!
I have a few lists and things I'd like to elaborate on here. There is a link to my Spotify playlist that will be regularly updated, some general story info, and review responses. I'll be updating this as time allows. I have a book that I'm writing for real life monetary compensation that I have to get done. Also, I spend probably way too much time researching music refs and writing/editing so please be patient. If you have any questions about this story, I'm ready and willing to answer them. I like feedback on my writing so feel free to post anything you feel like, even if it's totally random.
Music:
You can find all the music referenced in this story in a variety of places online. The vast majority are on Spotify, a free music app that syncs with Facebook. The rest are on Soundcloud or the Hype Machine (which has an app for Spotify). When I write, edit, and re-read my stories, I create a Spotify playlist and listen to it to get me in the mood (no pun intended).
You can now access my public Spotify account and IofI playlist! I hope that makes it easier for y'all to listen to the IofI soundtrack. It's also much easier for me to update, so it's not an entirely altruistic endeavor on my part .
I also posted it at Share My Playlists.
General Story Background:
IofI is the second and my least personal favorite story written for AFF. It's very loosely based on the experiences of Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala and Incans living under the tyrannical rule of Portuguese Catholics in Peru. He wrote Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala: El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno (or simply, the Guaman Poma, pub. 1615).
I dislike this story because of its morbidity, violence, and the rape elements. Why did I write it? I have been raped and know many women who have similar experiences, and this story serves as a way to talk about those experiences without going into specifics and engaging in online feminist warfare. I feel like it is important to speak out about domestic violence, rape and pedophilia, rather than let that kind of thing fester. This story is both triggering and cathartic for me to write. I'm not ashamed to admit to what I've gone through, because the world needs to know that women and men will not and should not be silent about sexual assault and domestic violence.
There are also a ton of allegories that I am alluding to in this story, including but not limited to:
American enslavement of Africans and Native Americans
Sex work in Latin America (men and women prostitutes who cater to European and North American tourists because there is no other work available to them)
Patriarchy and male chauvinism
The invasion of European Catholics in Mesoamerica - abuses by Catholic priests especially, and the ongoing treatment of Native peoples by Criollos and Mestizos, etc.
Globalization and the ways humans are destroying the Earth in an unsustainable manner
Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, etc. in current society
Manufacturing inequalities, etc. in China and third world countries
Violence in Africa, especially in terms of mining cell phone minerals in the Congo
I try to add elements of humor in order to even out the sad parts in the story. I prefer to read erotica that is funny rather than only romantic.
Guide to Character and Place Names:
Note – Squids have no surnames, because each emits a signature brain wave recognizable to any of their species.
Adaira Imamura: Ian’s mother. Adaira is a Scottish female forename meaning “successful spear warrior”; the feminine form of Adair (Adair is a surname as well). If you recall, Ian mentioned that Adaira was a strong-willed woman. Imamura is a Japanese surname meaning “new village”. In this case, Ian’s family creates a “new village” in an alien environment.
Atharax: A frozen oceanic planet where a super-intelligent, telepathic alien species humans refer to as “squids” live. Atharax is a name derived from anthrax, a lethal bacterial disease (i.e., the planet itself is a plague to humanity). The nature of the planet was inspired by Dante’s Inferno (Italian for “hell”), part of his Divine Comedy; and the mythical Aztec (Méxica) underworld called Mictlan.
Baltazon: The head slave master of the cattle slave pens. Baltazon is derived from the name of the demon Baltazo, an incubus legendary for his powers of seduction, who is said to have possessed a French woman in 1566.
Cluizela: Ian’s hybrid squid-human daughter, and the name of Meléx’s mother. Cluizela is a name derived from a combination of the French surname Cluizel (made famous by the world-renowned chocolatier Michel Cluizel) and the Italian surname Lizella. Ian’s daughter has a “sweet” nature, like the chocolate that M. Cluizel makes.
Czadkial: An adult squid, and Suli’s elder half-brother. Czadkial is derived from a combination of the word czar and the archangel named Zadkiel, which means “righteousness of God” in Hebrew. He was the archangel of benevolence, freedom, and mercy. Some believe that he was the angel who held back Abraham's hand to prevent him from sacrificing his son Isaac in the land of Moriah. Czar is the Russian word for male monarch/emperor or a person of great power. The character Czadkial stops Suli from killing his mate, Yuki.
Hoshimi Imamura: Ian’s elder sister. Hoshimi is a Japanese female forename meaning “starlight” (i.e., she dies among the stars in outer space).
Ian Imamura: An 19-year-old man (as of Ch. 20) abducted by squids from Atlanta, Georgia in June 2012. He is also a life-mate to the squid Prince Meléx. Ian is a Hebrew and Scottish male forename meaning “God is forgiving” (i.e., God forgives Ian for being an atheist and waging war on the squids).
Ichiro: Malcolm and Sàbehl’s hybrid squid-human son. Ichiro is a Japanese male forename meaning “first son”; Ichiro is Malcolm’s first child. The character Ichiro names himself after his great-grandfather Ichiro Imamura, father to Shinobu.
Jacob (Jake) François Chrétien: A 14-year-old boy of Louisianan Creole ancestry abducted by squids from Atlanta, Georgia in November 2012; he is Michael’s identical twin. Jacob is a Hebrew forename meaning “supplanter”; in some theories, his name is thought to have evolved from Ya'aqov'el meaning "may God protect". In Biblical mythology, Jacob had a twin brother named Esau. Jacob’s twelve sons became the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel (i.e., Jake and his brother will give birth to a new species of humanoid squids). François is the French equivalent of Francis; Jake is named after St. Francis of Assisi. Chrétien is the French masculine form of 'Christian'.
Magdalena (Magda) de Jesus Nuñez: A young Hispanic woman abducted at the same time as Yukiyanagi, Malcolm, Jacob, and Michael; she is later made into a cattle slave by the squids. Her forename is based on the biblical prostitute, Mary Magdalene, who had seven devils cast out of her by Christ (Mark 16:9, Luke 8:2). Mary Magdalene is now venerated as a saint. Her surname is taken from Álvar de Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, a Spanish conquistador (1490-1557), who endured many trials in his journey across the Gulf region of what is now Texas. The character Magda is a saintly, adventurous and brave character that sacrifices herself in order to help the human-squid resistance. Malcolm Imamura: Ian’s 14-year-old brother. Malcolm is a Scottish male forename meaning “devotee of St. Columba”. In the Shakespearean tragedy Macbeth, Malcolm is the elder son of King Duncan and heir to the Scottish throne. Macbeth kills King Duncan in his ambition the gain power for himself, while Malcolm flees to England and gathers an army to retake the Scottish throne. In this story, Malcolm is a troubled young man whose father has been murdered by squids, and he wishes to restore the honor of his family, which is half-Scottish in nature.
Michael (Mike) Jean Chrétien: Identical twin to Jacob F. Chrétien. In Hebrew, Michael means “who is like God”. In the Bible’s Book of Revelation, he is the angel that fought “the dragon”, Satan, during the war in heaven. Jean is the French version of John; Michael is named after St. John the Baptist.
Meléx: An adult squid, life-mate to Ian, and prince of Atharax. Meléx is a name derived from a combination of the name Melville and the word mêlée. Melville was a French Norman place name meaning “bad town”; it later evolved into the Scottish surname Melville, most famously borne by the American author Herman Melville. Melville is well known for Moby-Dick, a story about the sailor Ishmael who travels under Captain Ahab on a vessel called Pequod. Ahab’s sole purpose was to seek vengeance and destroy Moby Dick, a white sperm whale who had decimated Ahab’s ship and tore off his leg. In this story, Ian is the sailor that lives with Prince Meléx, who seeks vengeance against his father Saxen (a sea creature), who sexually abused him as a child. Mêlée is the French word for melee, meaning “confused fight or skirmish”. Meléx was also born in a “bad town” and is confused about where his loyalties lie: with the people of Atharax, or solely with his immediate family?
Rajak: An adult squid who commands the ship which abducts Ian, sentenced to death by Meléx. Rajak is derived from the Indian term for monarch, raja (alternately spelled rajah).
Sàbehl: A teenage squid, son of Silaren and cousin to Suli. Sàbehl is a name derived from the Muslim male forename Sabeh, meaning “pretty, handsome, beautiful”. In this story, Sàbehl has both a beautiful outer and inner nature.
Saxen: An elderly squid, father to Meléx and emperor of Atharax. Saxen is a name derived from a combination of the names Satan and Saxon. The name Satan is Hebrew for “adversary”; in Biblical mythology, he is the ruler of Hell. Saxon refers to the Germanic Saxon people, who invaded and colonized England in the 5-6th centuries A.D. In this story, Saxen serves a dual role as the evil invader of Earth and a psycho-sexual invader of humans.
Shinobu Imamura: Ian’s father. Shinobu is a Japanese male forename meaning “endurance”. Shinobu was a student of martial arts who taught his son how to fight and prepared him for a life in the prison-like environment of Atharax. Shinobu had to hone his physical and mental endurance to learn martial arts, which require focus and concentration as well as pure physical strength.
Silaren: An elderly squid, uncle to Suli and father of Sàbehl. Silaren is a name derived from the Silures people, the warlike tribe of ancient Wales. Siluren’s nature is warlike; he is willing to fight anyone to protect the honor of his only son Sàbehl, and avoid the pain that Suli went through as a child and young adult.
Suli: An adult squid and Meléx’s best friend, nephew of Silaren. Suli is a name derived from Suleiman I of Persia, a Safavid shah of Persia who reigned between 1666-94. Suleiman I was brought up in a harem (i.e., Suli was brought up in the Saxen’s harem, where he suffered repeated sexual abuse).
Synéxtar: The name of a preserved genetically modified squid brain holding the central squid information library in the Atharax royal palace. Synéxtar is derived from the English word sinister.
Yukiyanagi (Yuki) Wakahisa: A 20-year-old human woman, life-mate to Suli, abducted at the same time as Jacob and Michael. Yukiyanagi is the name of a Japanese flowering shrub with white blossoms, Spiraea thunbergii; it means, “snow willow”. Wakahisa is a Japanese surname meaning “forever young” (i.e., the process of genetic modification via squid life-mating leads to longevity in humans).
Zenex: The name of the Atharax maximum security prison located on the planet’s surface. Zenex is derived from Xanax, which is a psychoactive pharmaceutical drug used in the treatment of anxiety. Zenex is a play on words: in prison, you must be anxious in order to stay alive. Zenex will not cure anxiety – rather, it will produce and intensify it.