Thanks for the write up :) Despite their sometimes annoying streaks, there's something pure-hearted to the way "jesters" are portrayed in fiction. They are often misunderstood despite their good intentions to make people laugh (and therefore happy). While those who don't like to be teased always take any form of a joke as negative and can create lots of tension. I lean towards the jester end. I think anyone who can take a joke is awesome, but of course it's always good to be tactful and respect people's feelings. So long as it's followed by recognition and a sincere apology, there's no foul.

As for female examples, I'd say Merida from Brave sort of fits the jester role. Wish there were more. Nice to know what's lacking so we can bring more!

One of my main characters is totally an Explorer. Thanks for the analysis, great post!

I kind of agree and disagree about the tease. I love tension, and I even appreciate books where the build up is there but the kiss never happens, it's mainly a tease. So for me it depends on how it's executed. You've brought up a lot of great points and examples. The convenient interruption is usually frustrating. It's gotta come from the characters, which means there's true resignation for why they didn't kiss, which brings conflict and intrigue.

I also don't really like it when the "big kiss" is at the end of the book and after it's over it's like oh, well, it's done. The end. I feel like the reader should still be invested in the relationship after the kiss. If they are, you did it right. If not, it was all about the build up. But, again, depends on the story. Great post!

That was an interesting (and somewhat surprising) review. I usually don't expect much from any Barbie movies for kids. I enjoyed Tangled a lot, but my issue with it was the message that kids should question their parents. I mean, obviously, in this case Rupunzel's "mother" was evil. But is that really the best message Disney could think up? I think on some level it would bring even more kids to question their parents' intentions. While in some families it might be a good idea, in others it could just bring more issues. There's the flip side, of course, where we do have to question authority and make sure they don't keep us from our goals and dreams.

salad

Such a great post. I agree, I think it is inherently engrained into us. Whether we choose to believe it or not (and it is our choice), we at least want to fantasize that we can transform a mysterious stranger heading down the wrong road into the perfect guy because of his love for us. Doesn't that, after all, prove just how much he loves us? It's kind of like the prodigal son story, which everyone always comes back to and seems to love. It seems the love is all that much stronger because he is willing to give up more of his wrong deeds than the good son. I think there's more conflict to write in this case, too. But the fact is, as you said, the story does suffer from reality. Yet the more real a story is, the more people tend to shy away from it. Reality is just too harsh, and that's why we escape into the delusion of fiction. I actually don't see this changing any time soon, but I do think readers do have to become aware of this, or else it could very negatively affect their real love life.