The Mystic Marriage: the challenge of chapter 19

[hrj]

The challenge of chapter 19 is to continue presenting romantic protagonist #1 as a sympathetic figure even while, having despaired (prematurely) of moving out of protagonist #2's "friend zone", she decides to have wild animal sex with the next willing warm body that presents herself because, hey, a woman has needs. This chapter includes the closest I've come to writing an explicit sex scene (hint: not very close). But do not despair -- eventually protagonist #2 has her chance at being a clueless idiot and nearly screwing everything up thereby. There must be balance.

Comments

[thread-walker.livejournal.com]

i totally believe this story line. Clearly protagonist #1 is grieiving and needs proof of being desirable, ergo the wild animal sex. In fact, I think there should be multiple wild animal sex encounters with different willing bodies. With lots of confusion, remorse and guilty enjoyment. I haven't read any of your book, but I am very sympathetic.

[thread-walker.livejournal.com]

wait! for good measure, one failed encounter with a man. A really crazy-grieving chick would totally doubt her self-identity after being rejected by her true love and if courted by the right guy, might talk herself into experimenting.

Just saying.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

Oh, Protagonist #1 has already done the man thing. (She was married to one, once upon a time.) But she's definitely feeling age creep up on her and needs to be convinced she's still desirable.

Is the problem that..

[zujia.livejournal.com]

...her having had this wild animal sex hook-up when she's really pining for bachelorette #2 makes her inherently unsympathetic? Imagining this situation, I think how well she treats the hook-up partner, the morning after, could go a long way towards mitigating the damage. Also, the extent to which she recognises that, while it may scratch the itch, hook-up sex doesn't solve her real problem.

Re: Is the problem that..

[hrj.livejournal.com]

Actually, the random hookup is totally in character for her. She's carefully developed a reputation as a major flirt and (gossiped about somewhat more discreetly) a lighthearted womanizer. (Keep in mind that the setting is the early 19th century, so she has to maintain a certain amount of plausible deniability regarding relationships with women. It's a matter of "everybody knows, bot nobody knows".) It's being seriously and soberly in love that's out of character for her.

Personally, I'm far more of a "pining forever in lonely solitude" sort, so I have to work a bit to get into her head.

Re: Is the problem that..

[zujia.livejournal.com]

From one lonely pine to another, those forest trees don't know how good they've got it!