I've decided that I too will write a novel, I'm going to try to write a fantasy story, I assume it will not be the best. Well I was inspired by a show on Castrato. Now I wanted to incorporate the ideals of what it is to be a Castrato the looking a little more female and the voice not female, not male, nor a child's voice. But I don't want to incorporate the religion around Castrato because this is a fantasy story I wanted to know, how should I go about this? How can I incorporate the details of Castrato without the needing of my male character's having themselves castrated? Thank you for the help. I appreciate it very much. ~Here and Now Rem Nightfall
You might want to look into androgyny. I think that's closer to what you're looking for--a sort of combination of male and female (or, in some cases, neither) without having to be, well, castrated. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgyny
I also suggest looking up the Navajo concept of "Nadleeh." It is the idea of both male and female spirits existing in a single body.
You might want to give a read to Anne Rice's A Cry To Heaven. The plot revolves around a Castrato who raises to eminence outside of the world of Castrati.
Consider an alien/magical race which has a structure akin to an insect hive; the only members of the race who are sexualized at all are the queen and the drones who fertilize her eggs. The remainder are technically members of one gender (female, for most insects, but there's no reason that has to be the case for your imaginary race) but are completely non-sexual; it's just not a part of their worlds, and their organs aren't developed enough to use for it even if they wanted to.
Oooo! I can't believe I didn't think of this one before! Also give a read to Storm Constantine's Wraeththu. I must warn that there is some rather... adult ... material in this book, but it is wickedly awesome (fantasy/sci-fi/weird fiction) and does very much pertain to the concept you have mentioned.
Or, just the more general concept of the "Two-Spirit"--I actually found that article at Wikipedia yesterday while looking up Androgyny. There's a link there to the various names of "Two-Spirits" in different cultures. Very complex and interesting stuff.
Most interesting. My question is: will the story be just about the experience, or something else. Also, will there be contrasting creatures? Ideas: It might be a good exploration to have three creatures in the world. 1. Ultra-Females. They would be based on your commentary about what's "too female" and extreme. 2. Ultra-Males. They're too male. 3. The in-between characters you mention. You could also flip that around and make the ultras the ideal and the betweens lacking.
Well I was thinking about this the species I was talking about are accompanied by one race and they are ultra manly I guess you could put it that way. They are cousins to giants and have the evolutionary traits of trolls. So their kinda ultra manly, big tall stupid things.
Oh sorry, I assumed that all the air would clog the ears and stuff so they can't hear very well. I probably should state that I am trying humor fantasy and not dark fantasy. I am all solemn and mysterious. No, I prefer to have to much fun. So big tall manly, and can't hear very well. To much weather in the ears.
