Evolution: When the voices in your head sabotage your first day at the new job.
Tag Archives: Saccadius
Illegitimacy… The Family Secret
How would you feel if someone took your newborn baby away from you? In Evolution – Tale of the Alchemist, we follow Saccadius Cartwright’s fictional life from birth…
Being born out of wedlock in the Victorian age was seen as a shameful thing. This stigma meant many children were taken into social care and adopted, irrespective of the circumstances that led to the pregnancy.
A rich man’s mistress might not have the respect of everyone, but with the right resources – money from a lover – she could live quite well and be accepted in a certain segment of society. On the other hand, a single woman with a child had little opportunity to earn her own way, and if there was no one to help she could soon be lost to poverty or prostitution, which could lead to more illegitimate children.
And then there was the issue of title or inheritance, which is something we take seriously here in the UK. An illegitimate child was not entitled to the family name or to inheritance – even sons of royalty were often granted titles, but they were not entitled to inherit the title from their father – essentially Jon Snow in Game of Thrones.
During the Industrial Revolution, women migrated to cities for work and many lost family support. Some weren’t particularly streetwise – which led to a rise in illegitimacies. Some were desperate enough to abandon newborn babies, leaving them to die, others were dumped in the doorways of the local church or a foundling home.
When local villages couldn’t afford to subsidise living at home for the poor, the ‘workhouse’ came into being. All types of poor, including women with children, were put in such institutions. Many turned to prostitution to support themselves and their children.
“In earlier times, a girl had little opportunity to run away to hide her shame and start a new life. A single, pregnant girl would be hustled out of town quickly so the child wasn’t born in the parish and thus a local responsibility.”
“When cities became larger and more anonymous and the middle class had more money, another option became available. A woman might go away for an extended visit to a relative in a distant location. She might return a few months later as a ‘widow’, having supposedly met and married a husband who met an untimely end, leaving her with a small child. Or, she might take an extended trip and give up the child for adoption before returning home.” – www.geneaology.com
“Evolution – Tale of the Alchemist, will be on sale at San Diego Comic Con, and other conventions including the Lakes International Comic Art Festival, later this year. The whole Clockwork Watch series is available through our online shop.
Are We There Yet? No Saccadius, Not Quite.
Well, almost, in fact we are at the penultimate stage of the adventure. It should really be the end, but as things have developed over the past 5-years, we’ve adapted to the fluid nature of our interactive / participatory narrative, which in other words means – you – the audience – have been in the driving seat for most of the ride, and you’ve changed the original story… a dream come true.
Our team created an engaging story that the audience were at liberty to tweak, change, and co-create, but as time progressed I noticed we had overlooked one of the special elements that bridged the divide between the graphic novels and the immersive events – Saccadius – a character created on-the-fly by my friend – Paul Giffney.
For the past five years, Saccadius’ character has only appeared at our live events, and in the online world, but he has yet to appear in any of the books.
In 2010, when I announced that I was developing a Transmedia concept called Clockwork Watch, Paul contacted me and introduced me to his alter ego. From the outset I knew Saccadius was going to be a key player at our live events, but hadn’t quite worked out how to introduce him into the bigger story.
When we launched at Tomorrow’s World… Today! (2012), Saccadius was on stage to introduce the first Clockwork prototype to our audience. Later that same year, he ended up barricaded in a tent by protesters and trade unionists at the Advancement of Sciences Roadshow (Latitude 2012), he uncovered the hidden science laboratory at the Make Believe Festival (2013), he conducted the tours at the Queens Steampunk Soiree (2014), and he explored the depths of Saccadius’ multiple-personality disorder at The Asylum (2015).
So, last year I decided to dedicate the final chapter of this story to Saccadius, the amazing character Paul created and grew in the world of Clockwork Watch.
The book is called The Alchemists’ Story, and the first few pages will be included in Countenance, which is out this summer. And before you yell… Yes, I know. When we started out, I promised three books, that grew to six, and now we have the seven.
Here’s to you Paul for all the joy, fun, and laughter you’ve brought into my world since we first met in 2009. Paul got married over the weekend, and the whole team wish you and Phil the very best the world has to offer.
And with that, no more talk about this special treat until 2017.
Y
P.S. I hear you ask, “wasn’t there meant to be a film?” That dream is still alive, in fact someone has advised me to adapt the film script to a series of graphic novels. Only time will tell.