A big one. Like Alice’s, only without the opium smoking catepillar.
So about 3:00 this morning—wait. It’s 12:03 am right now, so that’s actually 3:00 yesterday morning I awoke from an intense nightmare. The dream is familiar to me. I’ve had it since I was a child, whenever I was away from my siblings. I have it now on the rare occasion that my husband’s away, or—as is the case—my tall kid’s at camp. It’s a “my chickens aren’t all snug in the roost” dream, and it’s…awful.
Anyway. When I awaken from this dream, I have to get up for at least a half-hour. Lights on. TV on. A caffeinated drink and a funny book. Anything to wake me up and distract me in order to overcome the fear of sinking back into the dream.
Well my subconscious decides that it’s as good a time as any to push my ass into a big, gaping plot hole. The futuristic that I’ve been working on for EC—but isn’t my current project—has lived in my head for some time. I know this story inside and out. Essentially the heroine is forbidden to be intimate with the hero, and the consequences are dire. Not death, but quite dire. Trust me.
Needless to say, she succombs to passion and, when he discovers the direness of the consequences, his honor won’t let him abandon her and they run away and yadda yadda yadda. While the story borders on romantic comedy, the black moment and the ending are pretty damn emotional with some fine alpha male action, and…I digress.
Present Day (umm…yesterday)
03oo hours
Shannon’s subconscious: The heroine, knowing how dire the consequences of her actions are, never even pauses to question whether one night of sex with the hero is worth the suffering? Not even once?
Oh, I’m awake now! No. No, she didn’t. She does the deed, and then, during post-coital chit chat, she mentions the punishment for what she’s done.
Now, I’m not the most worldly person on the planet, but I have some familiarity with the male penis. Have I ever met one that I’d like to get to know so much I’d be willing to have my genitals and face disfigured so as to discourage future indiscretions and live thereafter in slavery for?
Ummm…no. I don’t even like my husband’s penis that much, and it’s my favorite.
Muse…meet drawing board. Have at it.
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Hmmm, well, alrighty then. The heroine needs motivation. Maybe a weakness in her past? I’ll throw some ideas your way and see if you can get some inspie for something:
1- her sister got mutilated for something the heroine did and she feels guilty.
2- the hero’s society rewards fertile males (or destroys infertile ones) and he NEEDS to make her pregnant.
3- if she gets pregnant she won’t be mutilated.
4- sex will cure some flaw or disease she has or thinks she has
Stoopid maybe, but hopefully my lame comments might plant a seed or help reveal something your subconscious already knows about the situation.
Need. More. Coffee.
Latah, babes and good luck!
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You’ll find a way, Shan. Plot holes are merely an opportunity to write in a really cool ladder.
And BTW, I used to have a recurring stress dream. I won’t repeat it here, because it sounds really trivial, but it used to upset me for days.
The point is, have you ever experienced Lucid dreaming? That moment where you’re nearly awake, but not quite, and although you’re IN the dream, you can control it? If you ever do find yourself there, DON’T exit the dream, take control of it. Take an action that redresses the balance, or solves the problem. Go after the yeti with a broom, travel to hades and rescue your family, seek medical help, whatever.
It doesn’t always work, but sometimes it does. And if it does, chances are you won’t ever dream that dream again.
My dream involved losing a part of my anatomy (see, I told you it sounded silly. Sounds even worse if I told you what part). When I found myself in the Lucid Dreaming state, I made myself collect those lost pieces and present them to a medical professional, who put them back. Sounds gross, eh? It was. But I’ve never dreamed that dream again, and I used to have it on average once a month.
Just my experience, in the hope that it might help.
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maybe she’s really really really horny
damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead! :lmao:
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Ok I know it’s futuristic but I don’t know any women who are THAT horny, EVER! :eyebrow:
Hmm, tricky one that Shan. I’d suggest you give him some kind of irresistable pheremone, but I know someone’s just published one where the hero has that problem.
Actually she’s sounding TSTL based on your brief summation. Could she be fuck-em-all stubborn and bloody minded?
Sorry, You Writer, Me Reader, best I can come up with. Good luck with that one :write:
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Does she truly believe it would happen or is there reason for her to think its just been told to prevent copulation? Would she be the type to “call a bluff”?
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Actually, the very very horny scenario is the one that works best for me. The itch that becomes huge over time and can’t be scratched no matter what she does. Particularly if she tries other avenues to relieve her ‘want’. That itch escalates out of all proportion until satisfying that need is her obsession. Wonderful tension/conflict building possibilities there
X
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Just an idea, could you make it in someway vital for the hero to have sex with the heroine? Make their goals opposite of each other like he’ll die (or something bad will happen to him or his world or the universe) if he doesn’t have sex with her?
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Hmm. That’s a big plot hole, all right. If you fill yours in, I’ve got one over here I need a backhoe for…
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My post was actually longer but that —-> :rant: smilie got hungry.
I’ll be online 2night hon, if ya wanna bs about it. :write:
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I’m just so impressed with Shan using the word penis in a public post multiple times.
And I love this smiley :write:
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Hi Shannon, there’s one idea that’s occurring to me, though I’m not sure it’s of any help.
Okay, the big question is WHERE does she get this notion that she’ll be so horribly punished? What if it’s the dogma she’s been raised with all her life–a parent’s law, something she’s never questioned before–but as she’s coming of age, and particularly since she’s met the hero, what if she’s questioning everything she’s always believed is true. Like, his mere EXISTENCE is already proof that what she’s always been told is wrong. Then add in the horny as hell itch X mentioned…combo and she’d give it up if she had genuinely begun to QUESTION the validity of the punishment.
Possible?
Dee
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I have kinda experienced that, Anna, but with this dream, as soon as I have any kind of control over things I’m struggling to wake up. :nod:
My plot hole…Charli and I should go halfsies on an excavator. I truly believe that I have never, ever been horny enough to suffer disfigurement and slavery in exchange for an orgasm. :rofl: And you’re right, Kitty. She’s definitely TSTL at this point.
Basically—Alison’s warnings about posting story ideas and such on blogs have made me paranoid :roll:—she’s an ambassador to his planet, and any physical contact is forbidden. And, if she actually thought about it the way a non-TSTL heroine would, she knows she can’t get away with it. She has to pass through a scanner/quarantine…thingy with each trip. And the punishment has to be valid and real for the ending to work.
The Muse monkey is kind of pondering the possibility of her planning to not even go back, but to run away. Since she’s skipping town, she may as well shag the taxi driver on her way out. (Well, he’s not the taxi driver, but you know what I mean.) I don’t want anything too heavy, either, or I’ll lose the I Love Lucy thing the story has going on.
Thanks for the awesome suggestions! It’s amazing how, even if something isn’t quite right (which would be a miracle considering my paranoid self won’t actually say what the damn story’s about), it’ll spark an idea that grows to fit the story. I think I’ll let the mental monkeys play ball with this one for a while. It’s one of my favorite stories, so hopefully it’ll work out.
And Angie—penis penis penis :neener:
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Could she believe she’s about to die or be killed?
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That might make her less inclined to be funny.
:lmao:
I need something comically dire…or dire-ly comical? :eyebrow:
:write:
It’s in the hand of the mental monkeys now. I’m one of those people who can’t consciously sit and work through plot points and motivation arcs and such.
I’m more about letting the mental monkeys work, and then being in the mustard aisle at the grocery store and shouting “Holy :censor:! HE’S the alien!”
(Which he’s not. I’ll be really, really ticked if I shout anything of the sort at the mustard, as in no way will that work for this story.)
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In order to make it work, you need a bigger threat if she does NOT sleep with him. *g* Something more horrific than disfigurement and slavery. Such as a big end of world plot point. She is sleeping with him for the greater good of her planet (this is a comedic futuristic, no doubt you can think of something kooky *g*), etc. Or, he will suffer something if he does not sleep with her. Think BIG motivation. You can work it. :woot: Go, Flash Go!