Questions for meta, thoughts and inspiration

[epeeblade]

I've been keeping a running tally on questions for the Kept verse, because this universe gets me all thinky. I'm honestly interested in discussion, and heck, if any of these concepts inspires someone to write more fic -- awesome! ;)

At least one of them has been answered in fic, but the majority haven't. And for the first one, I'm debating writing a fic to explore that possibility, but haven't had the time yet...(story of my life...)

- There is no manumission, but is there allowance for someone who is enslaved wrongly? - incorrect debt, identity theft, legal case in appeal?



- If a slave bears the child of a master, is that baby still a slave?

- If a master bears the child of a slave, is that baby free or a slave?

Abortion - does it exist legally? Is it only for masters/the free? Would it be illegal to increase the work force? Can a master force a slave to have an abortion to keep down the number of mouths to feed? Can a slave request one? Is there a back alley business for slaves who don't want to have children who grow up to be slaves?

Marriage
- Is gay marriage allowed? (answered in fic)
- Can slaves marry? Is there an underground marriage -- ie the leaping over a broomstick
- Can a master marry his/her slave?

- Can you take a mortgage out on yourself? or use your own freedom as collateral? - if you don't pay back the loan in say 20 years, then your freedom is forfeit?

Comments

[canadiangoddess.livejournal.com]

well in the line of marriage...there is an underground movement of "commitment ceremonies" for slaves but they are not officially recognized.

GOOD QUESTIONS on the kids/slaves/abortions thing...I never would have thought about that!! (especially since PT just knocked up MLP) Maybe that will get covered in the next part of A Kept Boy...*ponders*

[epeeblade]

I was watching Animal Planet the other night and some guy referred to his dog's wife (I think honestly because the show was for kids, and he didn't want to get into the whole breeding thing), and it made me think - wow, our society is so fucked up. We let dogs marry, but deny the right to some human beings?

In terms of Kept, I guess the idea of slaves marrying would be the same - they don't count.

And thanks, I've been keeping tallies of the random questions that have been going through my head as I try to figure out this universe. I guess it just seems unfair to me that the children of slaves end up as slaves, and hell, it seems really unfair that children can be sold by their parents. I know, the universe isn't fair, but I can channel my feelings into fic:)

[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

I guess it just seems unfair to me that the children of slaves end up as slaves, and hell, it seems really unfair that children can be sold by their parents.

Even though I wrote it that way, Joe's backstory makes me sniffly, because a part of him is still convinced that his parents sold him because they didn't want him. The truth is that they sold him rather than have one of the older kids seized for medical bills (which happened anyway, later), and they chose Joe hoping that he wouldn't remember much of his life with them because he was so young.

[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

If a slave bears the child of a master, is that baby still a slave?

Yes.

If a master bears the child of a slave, is that baby free or a slave?

Yes, unless it's been deliberately arranged so that a family can have a legitimate heir. I suspect this is considered illegal, and you could be in a lot of trouble for doing it.

Abortion - does it exist legally? Is it only for masters/the free?

Yes, and no, I don't think so.

Would it be illegal to increase the work force?

One or two kids here and there is okay. However, mass breeding operations are illegal, and if an owner is caught running one, he'll end up a slave himself--that's what happened to Kyle's former master (http://telesilla.livejournal.com/681404.html). Basically, Commerce doesn't want anyone else infringing on their monopoly.

Can a master force a slave to have an abortion to keep down the number of mouths to feed? Can a slave request one? Is there a back alley business for slaves who don't want to have children who grow up to be slaves?

My thought is that a master can force a slave to have an abortion, but not to have the child. An owner can also have a slave sterilized, provided he or she pays for it, and everything's properly documented. One of Joe's mistresses would definitely have had this done.

Is gay marriage allowed? (answered in fic)

Yes. It's not all that common outside the coasts and in the former Canadian provinces, though.

Can slaves marry? Is there an underground marriage -- ie the leaping over a broomstick

Not legally, and yes. Jensen thinks about how weird it is that Jeff acknowledges Wendy and Zach's marriage (http://poisontaster.livejournal.com/350636.html) at one point.

Can a master marry his/her slave?

Nope. That would be like me trying to marry my cat or my laptop.

[poisontaster]

If a master bears the child of a slave, is that baby free or a slave?

Yes, unless it's been deliberately arranged so that a family can have a legitimate heir. I suspect this is considered illegal, and you could be in a lot of trouble for doing it.

Well, it might be a slave if the master could be gotten to ADMIT that she was impregnated by a slave. But that doesn't happen very often.

[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's why I'm thinking that Joe's been snipped. Certainly there was no way Carly Fiorina was going to risk an accident in that department.

(Given that her new husband's considerably older, though, I also suspect that she may be regretting that decision now.)

[liliaeth]

I'd think that if a master were pregnant of a slave, she probably wouldn't admit that the slave is the father. Hell, unless the family wanted to get rid of the child, they'd probably hide it as well.

[epeeblade]

That's what I think. I mean, generally there's nothing genetic that sets one apart as a slave. Though now I'm imagining Commerce tagging slaves' DNA in some way...

[jadaryl.livejournal.com]

But if Commerce would tag a slave's DNA, couldn't that result in any children from before enslavement being enslaved as well?

Another thought... What if a pregnant woman is enslaved? Would the child be born free or as a slave? Would the father, if free, have the opportunity to contest the child's status?

[epeeblade]

Can a master marry his/her slave?

Nope. That would be like me trying to marry my cat or my laptop.

The first thing I thought of here was that article about the guy (I think in Japan?) who wants to marry a cartoon character...

Although it gives me bunnies for a romeo/juliet like story where someone who's free falls for someone else's slave and it all ends in tragedy...

Thanks for taking the time to answer some of the questions!

[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

The first thing I thought of here was that article about the guy (I think in Japan?) who wants to marry a cartoon character...

YES! So bizarre.

Thanks for taking the time to answer some of the questions!>/i>

Hee! I love this stuff, believe me!

[aecamadi.livejournal.com]

The story I'm working on right now will have the issue of progeny via slave coming up as a key plot point. Hmm.

[epeeblade]

Cool! Looking forward to it.

[aecamadi.livejournal.com]

It's my NaNoWriMo effort for this year! :D

[daughterofelros.livejournal.com]

for reasons entirely secretive and of my own, I'm going to say that I see there being no legal form of slave marriage, amongst themselves, or to a master-- afterall, one must be a citizen to marry and sign marriage papers, and slaves are not citizens. And the master bearing the child question? IN the rare case this might happen, it would probably be a case of whether the child's father was registered on the birth certificate as a free man, or as the slave. If the free man, then free. If the slave, a family of sanding would probably find a way to...avoid the situation, meaning the child would probably end up in slavery.
And is the slave bears the child, then I'd say, as was the case historically, that the child would auomatically be a slave.

I've given these much thought, and these are my conclusions. :) \
Feel free to argue any point, however.

[lomer.livejournal.com]

What would happen if a slave abandoned a child? Would an abandoned baby automatically be assumed to be a drain on society and be made a slave, or would there be an orphanage or adoption for abandoned children?

[epeeblade]

Huh. Makes you wonder about any abandoned baby, or children taken from their parents and put into foster care. Are they automatically enslaved to cover their financial care?

Truly a cold society.

[lomer.livejournal.com]

But I wonder about childless couples. I mean, would a rich couple just pay a woman to bear a child for them? Is there a middle class? Can a middle class couple adopt?

[epeeblade]

Can they hire a slave to be a surrogate? With the masters' egg and sperm? One way to get around children born by a slave is a slave....

[lomer.livejournal.com]

I guess that would technically work. But I wonder how much of a middle class we have and if they're allowed to adopt?

Of course I can see some really cold hearted people adopting a child simply so they have some collateral financially.