Farrco Character Development Spotlight
Spoilers for everything major I’ve written beyond Amethyst Shards. Do not read if you don’t know what I mean by this.
Farrco! Congratulations readers, you’ve seen Farrco from day 0 of being up until the latest piece of canon. Farrco is written from ‘birth’ effectively, unlike the other characters who have unwritten backstory. And before birth, well that’s covered too. But point is: all his development is basically on the page so to speak. So what is there to discuss?
Well…my perspectives on it all.
The Making of Farrco
I said in Spellbinder’s post that her backstory is irrelevant and that is true for me. But for Farrco…not so much. Well yes and no.
As you may have inferred from The Lost, the robots built at the end of it are the twin robots Farrco and Wildfire. They were built with Diamondae parts and other things by a very nascent Sacon and a construct of a God within the Kolaq’blegae zf Ruksh.
This is important but it really isn’t. It’s less important for Farrco than for Tzu’rla, his maker. He was made to exert Tzu’rla’s identity and creativity. And Farrco, upon awakening, exerts his identity and creativity. Tzu’rla made him and chose to let Farrco take his own journey. And that’s what happened, in the end.
But why? Why, you may ask, did I have this happen?
Well, let’s go back in time a bit.
Everything started off as LEGO. Farrco as we know him is based on his LEGO form. The Lost was once a series of LEGO stories too.
And Farrco’s LEGO form was built with three LEGO robots from a set or something. I tore them apart and made Farrco. Hence the colors. Then I named him Farrco—I think I was trying to go for something four seasons based and somehow landed on Farrco and that’s how the name came about.
Those robots were part of The Lost stories (at least I remember it that way). I did a lot with The Lost setup. It wasn’t originally set in my world per se at that time, I think—it was just some long running story. Then I eventually fused it in my mind and always planned on writing it. I have a Lost outline from Sept 2015 that confirms that I planned for those three robots to be canonically Farrco/Wildfire’s ‘parents’.
But this is about Farrco and not about The Lost, though they are entangled. Just in inception, not beyond that. Yet, maybe.
Italics and Bold Thought Text
If I started How to Stop Wildfire with the discipline and thinking I have now, I might never have gone with bold for Farrco’s thoughts to begin with.
I use italics for thoughts for everyone else and bold italics for telepathy/similar communications. At one point in HTSW’s development, I think I used bold for computer things and I believe that is why Farrco was bold too. I did it, I think, to show he was analytical and computer-like. Very methodical in thought and how he thought and rationalized wasn’t like the others. Maybe I would have started like that and given him italics at the end—at his joining of the Trinity and the One.
After all, that’s effectively what happens to Balon and Dien. They get their thoughts once they accept their identities/become their destined selves.
But I didn’t because that was what I did and I do think it makes sense for Farrco to have remained bold until EH. Like, yes, maybe if I started things with my mindset now it would be italics, but that doesn’t make it…apt?
The moment he gains italics in Emerald Haze is the perfect moment for it. In a way, Farrco grows more in EH than he has ever had in the series before. He’s truly challenged and made uncomfortable in his own self. He has a primal existential dilemma and thus reevaluation. So that’s why he gets italics in that book. It felt right. It’s his book, really. Hence why the afterword is of him. OFE and HTSW could be his book too, vaguely, but EH is his judgement.
It’s his big step forward in actualization. I think, in a way, Farrco was allowed to coast on his convictions and ride the roller coaster with his comrades, but in EH he had to absolutely take charge and drive. And it works out.
Wildfire
The biggest counter to what I just said is Wildfire. The reason I don’t feel that this applies to that basically boils down to Wildfire being like a caricature or having superficial goals. It was a super basic conflict of goals and ideas between them. To be a weapon or not. Farrco early on had his answer and that personality grappled with it and accepted that fate for Wildfire relatively smoothly. It wasn’t as uncomfortable as what was presented in EH.
There’s some angst or guilt, to be sure, hence OFE’s bit with Wildfire’s parts. It’s more mournful than anything…stickier.
And it’s also simple. Twin robots, one evil and one good basically. Yeah, it can hurt a bit, but the answer is clear.
EH, on the other hand, was a mess of tension and questions.
And Farrco was able to see through it and find some answer, but still had to live with the pain of it. The answer was good, but sitting with the journey was extremely hard for him.
Relationships
I don’t want to analyze this too much, but I want to call out how Farrco’s relationships with people and meeting people are a large part of his world. He’s the one meeting new people, has a way to just…find his way into any situation and have a conversation with whatever entity. From shopkeeper to princess to God, Farrco treats people incredibly fairly.
Going Forward
So Farrco actualized. What’s next for him? The baby robot with a strong principle backbone and emotional core?
Not to get into spoilers for what I have planned, but it’s more tests for him. He had a big test, but the pressure will keep coming. It’s like Dien and Balon too—just because you accepted yourself doesn’t mean the struggle is over. It’s not a walk in the park.
Concluding Thoughts
This is the part where I basically say how lovely Farrco is and how important he is. It’s true. He’s such a dynamic character even though he’s not dynamic at all. He’s super static in physical form and general belief system.
He is kind of like Captain America now that I think about it. I remember someone saying the drama in Captain America films is like the world trying to test his convictions and him not backing down—him persevering. That’s Farrco.
Farrco is kind of like a child to me, or I feel a sort of protective nature over him. EH was hard for that reason—it felt like torturing him but it was important. There was a point in EH where I questioned if I was actually killing him with what I was writing (like narratively, if that made sense, if that was what was being led to), if that was going to be it, but of course it wasn’t. I couldn’t. It was so awful to think about.
But anyway.
Farrco is Farrco and he’s going to continue being Farrco. And that’s just far more than fine.
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