March 28, 2024
VALENTINE’S DAY: ARE MY CHARACTERS AFFECTED BY THE LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT BUG  OR  CUPIDS ARROW?

VALENTINE’S DAY: ARE MY CHARACTERS AFFECTED BY THE LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT BUG OR CUPIDS ARROW?

(this is a repost from july 2021)

I just wrote a  recent post about  the love at first sight trope and  over the weekend   I wrote  about my  characters  in my work in progress  novel being  in a love triangle and how it will begin once I start chapter 12 .  Does  them  being  in a long triangle mean they are  affected by the love at first sight  bug?  Or  Cupid’s arrow? As I explained in my recent post.

Well let me delve into it and analysis my  own characters.

 Okay   so when  my Main character  Sirena   first comes  upon  Cristen , who  I like to call the  first  love interest because they interact first.   Both Sirena and Cristen get this funny   kind of tingly  butterfly  feelings  when he stops her from falling  (a  twilight  moment  , but not  really) They also feel like  they have met  each other before (spoiler ) they have .  (you’ll find out about that later) .

However  Sirena  simply thinks  this upon seeing him in chapter 5

Sirena’s  heart  raced and she  panicked.  That boy. That boy  was the same boy  at the  river  stream who  held her  in  his arms and  then  disappeared.  What  was he doing here?  Where  did he  come from?  The  town did not  receive  new  residents  often. Did he  come from Stella  City? An  Actor?  Dancer? Maybe? No.  She would  have heard of him.  Maybe he was a solider  or  spider agent  come to take  her away  to become a  gatherer because  of her  outburst  at the  river? No . He  would’ve  arrested  her  if  that was  the case.  Was  he  a new student  from Umbra  Valley City? If he was a new  student and  not  a Spider Agent or Dancer where  could she have  seen him  from before?  She knew  him from somewhere  other than at the river.

He had  a small leaf looking  scar on the  side  of his prominent  cheek bone  that appeared  to be imprinted  or burned  into his golden skin that made him appear  older than seventeen or eighteen. But  it could’ve  been a  birthmark. Stubble on  his face  as though  he was growing a beard. Neat. He had muscles. He was fit. He  worked  out.  He probably was a runner? Yeah he defiantly  was a runner . He had  these sort of deep set amber  brown eyes  that were kind of  different as though the  iris  of  his eyes changed  colors.  A spec  of red maybe?

 It was strange. He  wasn’t fine or attractive. He wasn’t even her  type at all.  But his allure was  strong.  Sirena  ogled and awed  toward the boy like all the rest of the girls in her class.  She drew  in a breath  but shook her head  unclear  to why she reacted that way.

Note that   I write  that she thought him  not fine  or  attractive.  However  she is drawn to him like  all the  other girls. Well  in   my work in progress  I  kind of use  that  mortals are attracted  (without knowing)   to werewolves  who are in their  human form . So she  is simply   confused   and curious  but I  wouldn’t   say its  love at first sight.  

I  also have  Cristen  reaction  in chapter 6

When the  mortal girl Sirena almost fainted he threw himself to help her. He  tried to  ignore  her  but  her despair  was different than the rest of the mortals.  She wanted answers to her  friend’s disappearance.   And somehow he didn’t  crave for her heart in his mind. She was like a pacifier. She subdued the cravings and the rage.  There was no green-eyed abnormality  to  think  of. Only the fluttering butterflies swarming  each and every way through  her  thoughts. Beyond the butterflies  there  was this movements of  a white sun; circles, spirals and rays that shown through her downtrodden yellow  blue spirit . Glimmers of  her sitting in a room full of people  gawking  at her as though  deciding her fate…glimmers  of her laughing with her friends- a girl and a boy…glimmers of a man laughing with joy… glimmers of a girl dancing  in  snow… glimmers of  a women brushing her hair… glimmers  of her and another  girl laughing and swatting each other with a soft feather material in a brightly colored room…glimmers of her dancing.. her dancing was- was like ice   droplets falling.    Those glimmers  of her life  all  spun  together ,  uneven , disorganized , collapsing. He reached out for them and tried  to settle  the  moments of her life, to keep them still. To go deeper into-but he couldn’t  reach  the  white sun  even if  he tried. How could he make it stop?

So in this passage I try to explore  that  he  is able to see  who  she truly  is and how she  feels .   Which he wants  to  take away her sadness  and make her happy.  Because  she is somehow the only  one to pacify  his  cravings  from the mortal hearts in the room  and also  his rage .   But he can’t  seem  to take  away her despair (he doesn’t know  how.  He hasn’t  fully mastered  his abilities yet.  And  another  spoiler-  he  won’t especially  when  it comes to dealing with Sirena)  . And  he doesn’t  understand why  he is  having these  feelings about her.  

So it’s  not  a  love at first sight  thing for Cristen  it’s just  that he is also questioning their  connection with one another . And he also wants to figure out  why  she can  settle  his rage. But   these  feelings  don’t  overtake his mind   dispelling his   main goal which  is to get off the  mountain.   And plus  he thinks she’s mortal so .  He’s  not going there  with that.

Let’s see  if it was love at first sight  with Adrian and Sirena

The  first time  Adrian meets Sirena  in chapter  7

 He leaned back and abruptly glanced down at her in his arms. He forgot he was even holding her. He gasped . He had never seen a mortal close up before, nevertheless another girl before besides own his sister. The girl was beautiful. He gazed down at her and grazed his fingers lightly against her cheek. wait, what was going on? he sniffed her. Why could he hold her and  not transform into his Canine?  He didn’t know why but he did know he couldn’t just leave her there …

 He placed the girl next to a tree . He glanced down at her,  pushed her hair gently out of her face and smirked ….

Glanced at the girl one more time and sped toward the pack…

With Adrian  I can’t say it is love at first sight because  he has   never  seen  another girl before .  Mortal or Werewolf , besides   his own sister. His first  reaction of her  is  that  she is beautiful  .  But he is just curious and  nothing  more  .   Once again they   think  Sirena  is human . 

Here is a reaction to Sirena meeting  Adrian for the first time in chapter 11

Adrian just looked at her as she cringed touching her head. Finally she turned looking up at him. No, more like through him, and started to stand up.  She didn’t say anything. She just scrutinized him but not like the other mortals did….

For Sirena  it’s  definitely  not love  at first sight  when meeting  Adrian and this is not even  in her  POV but Adrian’s POV.  But  he describes  her as scrutinizing  him not in the way others  did.  You going to come to find out that she  does it not out of  oh I’m in love  with you but  out of  recognition that  she has seen him before but in  wolf  form.   Strange I know,  but it will be more  clear  once  my novel is finished and you  can actually read it.

With  these passages  they clearly   show  that there  is no love at first sight  anywhere  with my characters. However  when the two  werewolf boy will realize  that she  is a  werewolf herself  they will  get  some sort  of  well not  love at first sight but  more  attraction at first site  .   And I’m  also going to mention that  my novel’s  story  takes place in a week’s  time as  by the end of the book it  is  the main character’s  birthday.  And  she does end  up kissing  one of the werewolf boys but that still   doesn’t  account for love at first  sight.

So to answer my own  questions based on my  own analysis of my  characters  I would say no  they haven’t  caught  the love at first sight bug and I  don’t use the trope in my novel . Well… at least not yet….

If you liked this blog post and you want to  see more content involving my work in progress During the Blue Hour Follow , Like , share  . But first  LET’S START A DIALOGUE

Have your characters  caught the love at first  sight  bug in your novel?

 I  want to know so let me know in the comments  below.

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