Addendum: Honestly, writing this interaction between Garrick and Minmei is surprisingly easily. I can get why some authors make heavy use of things like 'Status Quo is God' and 'Holding the Idiot Ball' - it makes it easy to create conflict that helps drive the plot along.
But like I said before. It's too cheap. Too easy. And it degrades both the character and the audience. "Wait a minute. I know this character is too smart for this idiocy. Why aren't they doing X or Y? It's perfectly reasonable, and I know it's not like they couldn't think of it!"
But here? Minmei has, as Garrick describes it, a blind spot in which Kaifun occupies. One that she absolutely refuses to look in to because with all the turmoil in her life, she wants something safe, secure, and known to hang on to. It's like taking refuge from a storm in the harbor of an island that has the plague. If you remain blind to the dangers inherent in such a situation, then you're going to get sick, too. But you supposedly know this harbor because you've tied up there so many times before. Everything is going to be fine, isn't it? ISN'T IT?
Meanwhile, Garrick's flaws here are VERY MUCH MY OWN. I tend to be very protective of people that I call friends or loved ones, and I am very quick to go on the offensive... or, at the very least keep an extremely close eye for any wrongdoing. I've been through so much that I won't tolerate any one that I call My Own having to deal with the same.
Knowing what kind of person Kaifun is right off the bat, Garrick is going to bristle even at the sound of his voice. And later on, seeing Grandmother Lynn lay into both Minmei and Kaifun - Kaifun for being an utter prick of a human being and Minmei for being a willfully ignorant fool - is going to be somewhat cathartic for Garrick.
Although, that's not to say that she won't have words for Garrick as well. But she will be much kinder to him. She understands all too well: his intentions are very much good, and his fears are very well founded. But that manner in which he approaches the situation is quite ham-handed and needs work. She would advise that, given Minmei being so young and unwary, he simply not say a word on the matter. Doing so only alienates her and drives her closer into her cousin's clutches - a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. (And really, something that I only now thought of as I sat down to write this post. My own flaws at work, see?) Whereas if he says nothing, she remains close to Garrick, and that will provide her the distance she needs to see the bigger picture.
All that said, this just makes it so easy to write out the interactions. Authors should strive for character driven plot more often. They'd run into far fewer blocks that way because they aren't wracking their brains trying to figure out how Character X is going to interact with Character Y because they aren't suddenly acting out of character.
A new chapter should be up soon. I'm just looking through everything to see if there's any glaring screw-ups.
But like I said before. It's too cheap. Too easy. And it degrades both the character and the audience. "Wait a minute. I know this character is too smart for this idiocy. Why aren't they doing X or Y? It's perfectly reasonable, and I know it's not like they couldn't think of it!"
But here? Minmei has, as Garrick describes it, a blind spot in which Kaifun occupies. One that she absolutely refuses to look in to because with all the turmoil in her life, she wants something safe, secure, and known to hang on to. It's like taking refuge from a storm in the harbor of an island that has the plague. If you remain blind to the dangers inherent in such a situation, then you're going to get sick, too. But you supposedly know this harbor because you've tied up there so many times before. Everything is going to be fine, isn't it? ISN'T IT?
Meanwhile, Garrick's flaws here are VERY MUCH MY OWN. I tend to be very protective of people that I call friends or loved ones, and I am very quick to go on the offensive... or, at the very least keep an extremely close eye for any wrongdoing. I've been through so much that I won't tolerate any one that I call My Own having to deal with the same.
Knowing what kind of person Kaifun is right off the bat, Garrick is going to bristle even at the sound of his voice. And later on, seeing Grandmother Lynn lay into both Minmei and Kaifun - Kaifun for being an utter prick of a human being and Minmei for being a willfully ignorant fool - is going to be somewhat cathartic for Garrick.
Although, that's not to say that she won't have words for Garrick as well. But she will be much kinder to him. She understands all too well: his intentions are very much good, and his fears are very well founded. But that manner in which he approaches the situation is quite ham-handed and needs work. She would advise that, given Minmei being so young and unwary, he simply not say a word on the matter. Doing so only alienates her and drives her closer into her cousin's clutches - a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. (And really, something that I only now thought of as I sat down to write this post. My own flaws at work, see?) Whereas if he says nothing, she remains close to Garrick, and that will provide her the distance she needs to see the bigger picture.
All that said, this just makes it so easy to write out the interactions. Authors should strive for character driven plot more often. They'd run into far fewer blocks that way because they aren't wracking their brains trying to figure out how Character X is going to interact with Character Y because they aren't suddenly acting out of character.
A new chapter should be up soon. I'm just looking through everything to see if there's any glaring screw-ups.