BEHIND THE CHARACTERS - EPISODE 08

BEHIND THE CHARACTERS - EPISODE 08

MALA — The Scent of Bad Intentions

Seductive, unpredictable, dangerously playful, and blessed with a rather unconventional idea of entertainment. Mala is one of the most unsettling characters in The Seven Magnificent Dwarfs. And she has her own song, Mala – Scent on Silk, because some women don't need an introduction. All they have to do is walk into a room. The trouble begins when they decide to stay.

A Queen Nobody Saw Coming

Picture a stage, psychedelic lights, funky music, and an audience made up of creatures that would give even the most experienced forensic pathologist a nervous breakdown.

Now add Ebenezer Halley, a megalomaniac convinced that destiny has reserved a particularly important place for him in the universe, and let him solemnly announce the arrival of his future queen.

Enter Mala.

A breathtaking miniskirt, towering black patent-leather boots, a magnificent Afro, and a way of moving that could make a Tibetan monk forget everything he'd learned during forty years of meditation.

Mala dances onto the stage, perfectly comfortable among the grotesque creatures surrounding her. She doesn't seem remotely intimidated by her monstrous audience. Quite the opposite. She appears to be having the time of her life.

Among the spectators is Alita Sanlorant, the formidable editor-in-chief of Nanity Fair, who immediately declares Mala's outfit an unforgivable crime against good taste.

Then she takes another look.

Perhaps there's something worth stealing for next season's collection.

That's the wonderful thing about fashion: practically anything can become a trend, provided somebody presents it with enough confidence.

A Panther With a Few Self-Control Issues

When I created Mala, I didn't want another stereotypical femme fatale standing beside the villain, looking gorgeous and occasionally whispering something wicked into his ear.

That would have been far too easy. And terribly boring.

Mala's sexuality is unapologetic, but what really makes her interesting is her behavior. She can switch from seduction to irritation, from childish impatience to outright cruelty, as casually as an ordinary person might decide between coffee and tea.

To Mala, the world is one enormous playground.

Unfortunately, some of her favorite games would probably require an emergency meeting of the United Nations.

There's something almost childlike about her, but mistaking that quality for innocence would be a potentially fatal error.

Mala can be playful and merciless at precisely the same moment. She sees no particular contradiction between wanting affection and inflicting pain.

That complete disregard for boundaries makes her fascinating, but also profoundly unpredictable.

And yet, whenever I think about Mala, there's something about her apparent confidence that doesn't quite fit.

A faint discordant note.

Something just beneath the surface that prevents me from seeing her as a simple caricature of evil.

I'd rather stop there.

Some aspects of Mala deserve to be discovered in the novel, not explained in a blog post.

Ebenezer and Mala: A Relationship With Serious Safety Concerns

Ebenezer Trevor Halley has one rather inconvenient personality flaw: he considers the entire universe a piece of private property that somebody simply forgot to register in his name.

Mala, on the other hand, considers it a recreational facility.

He's obsessed with grand plans, hierarchies, and power. She would rather dance, flirt, provoke, and get whatever she happens to want at that particular moment.

Ebenezer might be discussing matters of planetary importance, but that doesn't necessarily mean Mala is willing to wait until the meeting is over.

Their conversations frequently become spectacular collisions between his limitless ambition and her almost animal impatience.

Romance, in their relationship, has an unfortunate habit of turning into something considerably less reassuring.

But Mala isn't merely a decorative accessory attached to her companion's oversized ego.

Her presence introduces an unpredictable element into Ebenezer's carefully constructed world. And despite his overwhelming self-confidence, he doesn't always seem capable of managing it.

A rather serious inconvenience for a man who intends to control absolutely everything.

Including things that probably shouldn't be controlled in the first place.

Mala – Scent on Silk: Seduction Has a Soundtrack

For Mala's contribution to The Blackrain Session, released by GNOME RECORDS, I chose the title Mala – Scent on Silk.

A scent lingering on silk.

I liked the image of something intangible, elegant, and sensual. Something that remains after the person who left it behind has disappeared.

The funky music accompanying Mala's appearance in the novel immediately suggests her intensely physical relationship with rhythm. She doesn't merely listen to music. She inhabits it.

But for her song, I wanted to go beyond that spectacular entrance and explore a more insinuating kind of sensuality, one that could also suggest a certain uneasiness.

I wasn't looking for a heroic theme or a conventional love song.

I wanted the musical idea to reflect the way Mala attracts attention: first comes the fascination, followed by that indefinable feeling that something isn't quite right.

Silk suggests the pleasure of touch. A scent, on the other hand, is something we cannot hold, something that sometimes continues to haunt our memory long after its source has vanished.

Two images that, together, seemed perfectly suited to Mala.

Beautiful, seductive, and just a little dangerous.

Which, come to think of it, isn't a particularly encouraging combination.

One Last Piece of Advice

In The Seven Magnificent Dwarfs, some characters confront danger with courage, others with magic, and still others with weapons powerful enough to level an entire neighborhood.

Mala doesn't need any of those things to make the people around her extremely nervous.

All she needs is a glance, a smile, and one of her sudden ideas.

I won't tell you anything more about her, because Mala is one of those characters whose secrets are an essential part of the pleasure of discovering her.

So I'll leave you with a simple piece of advice.

If Mala invites you to play a game, make sure you ask about the rules first.

And, more importantly, find out exactly what happens to the loser.

Listen to Mala – Scent on Silk

The original track dedicated to Mala is part of The Blackrain Session, the musical collection produced by GNOME RECORDS and inspired by the characters of The Seven Magnificent Dwarfs.

Explore the complete Blackrain Session collection

Enter the World of The Seven Magnificent Dwarfs

Discover The Seven Magnificent Dwarfs on Amazon

Behind the Characters is a series of articles in which I explore the personalities, contradictions, and creative decisions behind the characters of my novel, along with the original musical interpretations that bring them to life in The Blackrain Session.

Andrea Bigiarini

Author of The Seven Magnificent Dwarfs