Brothers

It's funny, Cal and Bel have always been brothers in my mind since the moment I thought of the key antagonists to introduce into the BKI storyline. First, I created the dynamic between Norman and Cal (their arc, story, development ideas, and eventual conflict). I HAD to start with my gay couple, right? I mean, they were the center of the story. After that, I wanted to dive into their character backstories. I had so many swirling ideas for Norman that I was almost afraid to write about him first because I felt I would get lost in the cyclone of creative tangents. So, I started with Cal.

The moment I put my fingers to the keyboard, Belphegor's name came out neatly-typed in my word document. I knew he was the one to push Cal's story and test his character.

Though they are only half-brothers (they have different moms), they both inherited a certain aspect of Astaroth's bloodline: manipulation. Cal represents Manipulation of the Self, while Bel represents Manipulation of Others. These are actually the literal names for their respective Sins, too. This theme of manipulation is what transcends the entire arc of Cal's familial dynamic – a strong-standing metaphor for the struggle of LGBTQ+ people finding your own identity in a sea of familial turmoil, rejection, and malicious manipulation. 

I enjoy writing about deep LGBTQ+ themes and symbolism, lol.

I wanted Cal's family (specifically Belphegor and Astaroth) to play a major part in his character development because my own family played such a pivotal role in my own development as an openly gay man.

I never had a good standing relationship with my own brother. When we were kids, he bullied me a lot and I saw him as the antagonist to my life's story more times than I can count. But as we've grown older we've also grown closer and have been able to put a lot of that tension and anger behind us. We may not be best friends, but we get along. And for me, that's enough.

For Cal, Bel will be the obstacle to a lot of his happiness, especially with Norman. I think it will be all the more interesting to see how a demon handles that type of situation...

Spoiler alert: Belphegor is NOT the main antagonist of BKI, but he definitely is an antagonist/character that has his own role to play. He'll be a key figure in ushering forth and building the various plot arcs that lead to the penultimate Big Bad of the entire series.

Hope you enjoyed this brief ferryman's ride through my creative subconscious.

-J

© James Schleisman July 2019 All Rights Reserved