11/5/10: For Thrills

[swankivy]

For Thrills

Even this early, baby Ivy appears to be a thrill-seeker; she's been seen free-falling for fun, and in this issue she enjoys the rush of being chased. How do you imagine her reaction would change if she thought she really was in danger? Do the things that seem thrilling to you have an element of real danger in them?

[SHO!]

I think most things that are thought of as thrilling, by definition, have an element of danger (even if it is only perceived or psychological). Doesn't the thrill itself come from the rush of chemicals and muscle tensity when our animal brain kicks into "fight or flight" mode? Isn't the rush the new heightened awareness and opening of the senses that comes from the mind's "high alert" status and the extremely satisfying relief of tension to the entire mind and self when the danger (or perceived danger) subsides and your body can relax while munching on an unnecessary banquet of endorphins and adrenaline? Even when watching a scary movie or going on a thrill ride there is that "what if" factor that tries to make the danger more real and it is only with logic and reasoning away of the likelihood of danger that begins to calm you.

As for Amanda, I think if she thought the danger was real she'd immediately switch from "flight" to "fight", so to speak (she's one of the few creatures on earth that can do both simultaneously and effectively, heh). She's also shown quite the attitude, stubbornness, and willingness to use her abilities in a forceful (yet adorable) manner when she doesn't get what she wants.

[skygawker]

I liked Ivy's "pretend scary" reaction because that's how I feel about roller coasters. Though they scared me when I was 12 and I loved them anyway (but tried to double-wrap my arms around the grab bar!), now I am not the least bit scared. Roller coasters are far safer than cars. They're safer even than planes and other less dangerous forms of transportation. So it's just "pretend scary" for me, if that at all.

People then think I would do something like bungee jumping or skydiving. I have absolutely no desire to do the former; I think the latter would be fun, but it is too dangerous for me to want to try it. (My sister did it and now I'm irked because that makes me want to override my common sense to some extent, but it is too strong. That's not merely "pretend scary." It has an element of real danger in it that is far, far different from roller coasters, though people who aren't coaster junkies don't always seem to see how dramatically different they are.)

So I guess I don't need an element of real danger to feel thrills. I like roller coasters because I feel like I'm defying gravity and flying and going at high speeds and all that as though I have abilities like Azilie or Ivy or Celeste in Altitude (not that you know so much about her) and they're just as safe for me as they are for them!

(Incidentally, I noticed that two of my major characters have gravity-defying abilities of some extent combined with other "powers" that aren't of the dramatic super-hero-y kind, or at least are not used that way...and that you have such a character too! I wonder what that says about us. One day some English major can write a comparative literature essay on our work.

[swankivy]

I wondered if you would bring up roller coasters. Heh.

There are a lot of people who don't even like being pretend-scared (well, like me--the "pretend scary" of watching horror movies is way too much for me, because I hate imagining suffering). But some people don't actually feel a thrill unless there is very serious danger! Adrenaline junkies, you know. . . . I think most people are somewhere in the middle.

Regarding characters with gravity-defying powers, it's interesting how often that comes up in my work too. Besides the obvious example in Negative One, you can look at my other stuff and see a theme there, I think. Bad Fairy of course has a main character who flies (after she gets her wings, that is), and even in Finding Mulligan there was that dreamland scene with the random wings. And even my novella "Stupid Questions" had a major character with flight abilities. (Summer really reminds me of what Ivy would be like if she had, you know, a completely different upbringing/personality.) Er, what's up with that?

[skygawker]

I also don't like the "pretend scared" of watching horror movies. Kate brought this up yesterday herself, coincidentally. We were both saying that we also don't like imagining suffering of other people! And I also don't like imagining myself suffering by splatting on the ground when my parachute fails. Roller coasters, fortunately, don't cause me to imagine those things. (And of course you knew I'd bring those up! They are the perfect connection in my mind, to the extent that when I'm at Cedar Point, I ponder my stories and often consider riding the rides active research.)

The only ride that still scares me a little is the free-fall ride, because I think no matter how sure you are you'll be caught, you can't train yourself out of fearing falling without professional assistance, or at least without more practice than I get at the amusement park, as much as that may be!

And yeah, I remembered this as a common theme in your stories, too, though I neglected to say it. Definitely would be a fun topic for a literary analysis.