[GMG-Devel] On Gavroche, our goblin mascot

[Christopher Allan Webber]

The other night I sat in the movie theater.  There's a new Les
Miserables movie coming out.  I guess (aside from creating another
proprietary derivative of a public domain work) it doesn't look
terrible, it even looks like it may be well executed, but I'm kind of
dreading it... not because I'm dreading the film itself, but because I'm
dreading the assumption a bunch of people are going to make (it's
starting already):

  "Did you name Gavroche after that kid in that movie?  Is it like, a
  goblin version of him?"

So I'm sending out this email defensively, before that movie comes out:
no, that's not why at all.

Our goblin Gavroche existed for a long time before we had a name for it.
Our goblin was already its own character before we decided on a name,
and there was a period where I was fishing for names but really wasn't
happy with any of them.  My spouse suggested Gavroche because he looked
"like a little French street urchin", and she had read parts of Les
Miserables (Victor Hugo's novel, in the public domain) when in high
school and liked the character.  I liked the name because it sounded
vaguely goblin'y.  And actually it's a made-up name, and all the rest of
the goblin names (Machalus, Shaquannah, Avea, etc... exception being
Spencer) are made up names.  And I thought the character *looked* like a
Gavroche.  So I decided we should go with it.

Legally, I think we're on safe ground since all that's shared is the
name, the book is in the public domain, and anyway:
  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7793803.stm

But to be absolutely clear: this character isn't Gavroche from Les
Miserables... not from the novel or any future adaptation.  In fact,
it's a bit odd... I've been building a bit of a universe of these
goblins, I have significant backstory for them.  I have a good idea of
the story and character of this goblin and actually all of the goblins
I've drawn and some day I might start building a free culture universe
of them.  And I had most of that story before I had a name.  Our goblin
will not die on the battlefield... in fact, our goblin is a pacifist.
He's not *really* French either though he looks vaguely
french-stereotype because there's no France in this goblin universe.  He
is, however: young, a goblin, fairly poor but clever enough to make it
by, an artist (that's related to him being poor probably), fairly well
educated despite his poverty, and yes... this is one thing that is in
common... a revolutionary.  (How else could he be the leader of a
project like MediaGoblin if he wasn't a revolutionary?)  But it's a
different kind of revolutionary... a media freedom revolutionary.  And
he was all those things before that name was chosen.

I just wanted to make that clear.  Now you know a bit more about the
history and thinking behind our mascot and his name!  In the future, I
really do hope to expand the universe of the characters I'm drawing
out.  Some day... in that period where I have more free time.

May our tiny, goblin'y revolution churn on,
 - Christopher Allan Webber