Number One Token

November 19, 2020 3:41 am Published by EverEden Leave your thoughts

Number One features in 7 books so far (yes there are 8/9 incoming that I know of.) Number One’s gender is never revealed and was always written that way. When I started writing about Cleo Darkrose, it was an era with no openly gay kids at school, one gay character on TV, and gender dysphoria was classified as a mental illness. I didn’t make Number One seem “gender fluid” for any political issues or awareness, sentimental ideas or empty token inclusiveness. I didn’t even know about anything aside from the concept of androgyny and the miracles of makeup, Bowie-style and Ru Paul. I thought it was artistic and cool that people used artistry to create an illusion and come up with different styles.  I saw similar creativity in my goth circles and the alternative clubs I frequented later but Number One was just Number One, never referred to as HE or SHE and nothing more or less.

Why tho?

Respect, firstly. Number One’s rank/position in the MDS means gender, appearance, anything else doesn’t make for a footnote, let alone a difference. Number One is Number One. Just like the other “Numbers” or heads of departments; all of their previous names don’t matter and neither does what’s between their legs.  Department heads/ Numbers see MDS as their one purpose and almost all of their identity, as far as we know.

Number One’s gender is a secret that no reader knows, except me. (muahahaaaa!) Number One has a gender they would identify with medically/biologically. I know it, and have for decades. I made the subject ambiguous in the books because I wanted a reader’s imagination to tailor characters. If you think Number One is a man, that’s 100% allowed and plausible. If you think Number One is a woman, that’s also 100% believable but the reader can use their own assumption and imagination when they read Number One’s dialogue or references to Number One by the surrounding characters.  Do you think Number One having long hair makes the superior seem female? Do you think that Number One’s attire makes the superior seem more male? I wanted to make the reader’s mind construct a reality that felt believable to them without them knowing they were contributing to their own version of the story.  It wasn’t ever a political statement or anything, I wanted you to play with me.

In Red Cowboys, we hear a character talk about Number One being like a teacher, mother/father and a God. The superior is honoured and thought of as a near-deity by the agents who serve at HQ.  We hear another character tell someone else that they are crumbling without being overseen by their superior, Number One. The agents don’t question decisions handed down or assignments given by a superior they have been raised to accept is better than them in every single way and worth the upmost respect.

Number One’s mystery made for a great character but because of the status of the superior and location (Number One is mostly found in an office on Level 4 of the Red Tag Building,) there hasn’t been opportunity to have a larger storyline in the books currently released…

I’d love to (eventually) do some sort of fanfic spin-off where the ideas could be explored.  It’s already mentioned that Number One’s bloodline comes from one of the original founders of The MDS. The subject is touched on later in the novels, but it would be fun to figure out the intricacies of the superior’s upbringing and past separately. The origin story would be very interesting and probably include snippets of real history (as with most Darkrose Novels.) In this case, the much-debated and talked about 1947 Roswell New Mexico crash and the panel recruited to handle the event. It would possibly also contain reasons for Number One’s decisions and even appearance.

Number One is not my favourite character because of the callousness (maybe brought on by being treated like a God/having no real experience with the “common man” lol) and flippant about other people’s lives. BUT Number One is definitely an extremely important part of the Darkrose Novels and I look forward to sharing more about this character with readers.

 

 

 

 

TLDR
* Number One is genderless – assume whatever you want

*It was not for any political statements or token credits.

*Number One is like a deity to the agents.

*Number One has better hair that me.

 

 

 

 

 

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All content is no copyright infringement intended. All posts are opinion only and are subject to change due to experience, kicking ass and learning how to adult more effectively. If you don’t like it, don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya. Elements of original content may be reproduced with expressed permission from Ever Eden.

 

 

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Tags: art, bias, darkrose mythos, female, fiction, gay, gender, imagination, king of spades, long hair, majestic 12, majestic defence syndicate, male, MDS, mythology, new mexico, number one, Numbers, play, politcal, reader, red cowboys, red tag, roswell, roswell crash, secret, sexuality, Teo L, token