Airi watched most of her village get slaughtered. Those with silver eyes like her were spared, only to be tortured to death by the sadistic soldiers at the order of the Emperor. Airi saw her mother die this way. Airi was on her way to the same fate when she was rescued. Airi was a gentle young woman who loved people and helped them where she could. She was even training to become a healer. Airi was a strong, independent woman. Would something like this turn her into someone who was no longer self reliant? Would it be plausible for her to turn from a gentle healer into someone who would kill others like the soldiers who destroyed her village and tortured her with her healing skills? Would she have trust issues with those who rescued her? Thanks for the help.
Airi's sadistic author
Dear Sadistic,
Its hard enough to grieve the loss of someone you love, much less to watch them die. Add the context of her mother's death, and the pending doom of a similar reality, and all bets are off. I guess what I'm saying is that you could have her go either way: maintaining her independence, fiercely protective of it, remembering what it was like to be in captivity and to be fearful all the time, determined not to be so again. Or you could have her grow angry and bitter at her circumstances, and possibly seek retribution for for the evils she endured (think Linda Hamiliton in Terminator 2). Sometimes these individuals are so cunning that they relish the opportunity to use the same weapons against their enemies that were used against them. I don't think she'd have trust issues with her rescuers though. Of all you wrote, that seemed the most improbable. When you are in a life and death situation and someone rescues you, you'd be more likely to be grateful for the salvation, not suspicious. Hope this helps!
Dear Jeannie,
Davin lives, eats, sleeps, breathes his squire training. Every decision this young man makes is oriented towards becoming a strong and capable knight. Until he goes home for the summer, for the first time in about five years. His parents let slip that he's betrothed to the king's daughter. Putting two and two together, Davin is pretty sure this means he has somehow become heir apparent for the throne. He knows the princess, and even likes her, but this is not part of his plan. As a 13-year-old, how is he going to process this information? My plot calls for him to make a new plan about this--at a fairly adult level--but I'm not sure he's at a point where he can think through the steps and consequences necessary to get where he's going. He's a stubborn, sincere boy who loves order and dislikes deviating from a tested, proven method or structure. (The princess in question is a strong-willed rule-breaker with an impulse-control problem, though Davin has found that she redirects her energy in healthy channels when he supports her unconventional goals.) Can this boy get from childhood to adulthood with his plans intact, or will he allow someone else to choose his future?
Courtly in Cornwall
Dear Courtly,
At age 13, this young boy should be more interested in social relationships that you've indicated he is. Perhaps he's not into girls yet enough to want to give up his plans, but then I'd definitely make his knight training a tight-knit cohort of young men, because that's the stage of psychosocial development he's in. If in your story world you've normed 13-year-olds being betrothed, then he should react in the typical fashion. But for someone so driven to be a knight, he might definitely be irritated. In his push to fit in to a group of people. he might have defaulted to the knight trainees as his "peeps." But I just didn't get a sense of why he's so motivated to be a knight. Most young boys just want to play and goof around. Yes, he'd be trying to figure out who he is and what he wants to do. He'd want to establish his role as a knight, and participate in all the activities knights-in-training do. He might even see the princess as some sort of project to channel his abilities into (like he's trying to salvage her from being so headstrong but learns something from her in the process...that there's life to live out there). I'd welcome additional question if you'd lile to dialogue about this. Good luck!
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Anonymous · 561 weeks ago
Davin has wanted to be a knight since he was very young. (Part of the story universe does include people latching onto future plans at a young age, turning prophecies into probable outcomes. Props for seeing that!) He was technically too old to start the training program at the king's palace, but he'd been asked to leave a few other "knight schools" because he demanded more of the teachers and students than they were prepared to give. He expects excellence from himself and others, and has knowingly alienated people who didn't contribute to a challenging environment. The king likes Davin's work ethic, but he's also impressed with Davin's patience for the spitfire princess. Davin likes her because she has a similar drive, just directed in problematic areas, and she and her sisters are some of the closest friends he has at the palace. (very stubborn girls) He is close with a few other boys and trainers, though generally after they exhibit strength of will.
In this medieval culture, some nobility arrange marriages young. Usually higher up, and Davin didn't think he was high enough in the instep for that. Neither set of parents has told Davin or the princess anything about this until now, so this is a big surprise for him. (All her younger sisters are publicly promised other places, so the secrecy of this betrothal is also a little weird for him.) Davin has had no political aspirations up until now, and subjects like diplomacy or conspiracy theories are not part of the knight-in-training course.
If some of these concepts are too advanced for his thinking, I'll have to reassess the story. The princess in question is eldest, and Davin's engagement to her strongly suggests that their parents plan for him to be the next king. His lack of training, especially at a young age, isn't a huge problem. But he doesn't want the throne. And he *knows* the princess doesn't, either. It'd be nice if he could map a plan to help them both realize their dreams, but I don't know that a teenager on the verge of that mad rush of adolescent hormones is going to help or hinder.
Dialogue would be awesome, or I can repost the question more clearly...?
Courtlier in Cornwall
Anonymous · 560 weeks ago
Dear Jeannie,
So, my boy Davin has been working single-mindedly towards his goal of becoming a knight. At 13, he still has years to go. The medieval culture he's grown up in expects knights to foster in a friend's home (rather than the parents'), to cultivate a small measure of diplomacy (but not make a career of it), and to wed when and where their liege lords command. Davin is almost ready to graduate from one phase of his training to a more serious one when he goes home for the summer. His parents let him know about an arranged marriage with the crown princess, who spends a lot of time in the lists, but they also tell him he has to keep it secret. Not even the girl knows yet. Marrying into the royal family isn't part of Davin's short- or long-term goals, as any court-related obligations would keep him off the field, so this isn't exactly good news. And this plan of their parents would ruin the princess's hopes for the future, as well as some of her younger sisters. (Which explains why no one has told the princess, but not why they think she will fall in with their plans as she matures.)
As an adult, I can power through this and weight out motives and outcomes and character arcs. I don't know that Davin can. I have given him good teachers and thoughtful mentors who demonstrate how to evaluate this kind of paradigm-shift news, but would a 13-year-old manage to think this through? What friends he has are all similarly focused, so none of them would be equipped to consider the political ramifications he's going to face. And in keeping this news secret, Davin would become complicit in deceiving the princess in question, who is a friend. Is this going to drive a wedge between them? I don't want to force false maturity on him, or have him pretend to be something he's not, but I'm not at all sure this young squire would know how to plan *around* the plans of others.
Courtly
jeanniecampbell 76p · 559 weeks ago
Sorry to just be getting to your second posed question. One way around this seemingly incapability of such future projection (ah...look that concept up....it's riiiiight down your alley and is the emerging evidenced based practice technique being done with transitional age youth, age 14-29, in the transition to independence process [TIP] model. here's the website: TIP MODEL) would be to have him a little closer to someone higher up the food chain than he. Perhaps one of the knight trainers is a prince, perhaps doing hsi dead level best to shirk the endless responsibilities of a throne, maybe farther away, etc. That ould expose Davin to the world he doesn't know very well you know? Just a thought. But let me know what you think of TIP. Truly fascinating work it's doing with that population. We use it in my county.
Anonymous · 560 weeks ago
Susan is a good girl, who survived the 60's without falling into drugs or too much social revolution. Mostly because the Dark Woman in the corner didn't like her leaving the house. Susan has enough crazy going on already in her family's home of locked doors and midnight fights, she doesn't need any new hallucinations. But she's come to a point where reality is pretty mixed up, which has led to her being institutionalized for an undiagnosed disorder (not schizophrenia, but close) in the spring of '71.
A lot of my research is on modern psychology, as I want to write Susan and her issues in realistic terms that make sense, though some of the definitions of disorders have moved around in the last 40 years. Research troubles aside, what are some of the treatment options available for her? I'd like for her to get better, but a part of that healing will also involve an attraction to one of her doctors. I'd like for this to be mutual, but right now she's doing a lot of pacing, insomnia, and writing down the Dark Woman's orders so she can tear up the pages. Not mainstream appealing. What boundaries should I be careful of, to make sure that the healing and the relationship both remain stable and healthy?
Caged in Connecticut
Anonymous · 560 weeks ago
Chas · 560 weeks ago
In my book that I started years ago, and have worked on in an on-again, off-again fashion, I have dealt with an angel coming to check on the emotional health of angels who now live on earth. We discussed the main characters way back in the summer of 2009 (June/July time frame).
One of the things my angel therapist has to do is counsel a human woman who is a school teacher who becomes involved both emotionally and physically with one of her students. This has been in the news several times, and I decided to make it part of the plot of my book.
Can you help guide me with how you would provide therapy to this kind of woman, or at least point me to one of your blog posts that have dealt with this issue?
I would be most appreciative.
"Fictional Counselor"
Anonymous · 559 weeks ago
Oliver (aged 17) is – how should I put this – odd. He does things to intentionally make people feel uncomfortable. For instance, on the day that he met his only friend (a quiet, distant, and eccentric girl), Oliver ran a plastic knife across his throat, then coughed fake blood. His father killed his mother, so he obviously has a troubled past. His school therapist calls him mentally disturbed and unstable. I honestly have no idea if his behavior is realistic at all, and if it is, what could he be diagnosed with, and how would he interact with people?
Sincerely,
Unable to Diagnose