Another delicate/too much info? question

roach · Jul 25, 2006

You got to love the complications that come up when writing in the fantasy genre.

Here's the situation. My main character is a psychic who picks up psychic impressions through her skin. At one point in the story I have her at a competitor's office. She's taken to the bathroom by the receptionist and when she emerges the receptionist is gone, allowing her a chance to roam around and do a little spying. The part about going to the bathroom is just one sentence and I hadn't really thought about it, until one of my beta readers wrote in the margins "Does she pick up impressions through her butt?"

Now I'm wondering just what to do. No one else has pointed this out, although I'm waiting on a few more readers to get back to me. So I might be able to just ignore the comment and hope that not many readers are going to be wondering about this.

On the other hand, yes she would pick up impressions through her derriere. And since I've devoted some text to the precautions she goes through not to pick up impressions (gloves, cloaks, etc.) it would only go to reason that she'd at the very least be padding the toilet seat with tp. Which then leads into the question of is that too much information?

A third option is to specify in the text that she just goes into the bathroom to wash her hands or something. But then I feel like I'm adding unnecessary verbage that doesn't really do anything for the story.

I'm leaning towards the middle option. Has anyone dealt with anything like this? Would a brief mention of those toilet sanitation covers (I can't think of the name at the moment) be considered TMI?

Shadow_Ferret · Jul 25, 2006

Is it a skill she can sort of turn off and on at will? I mean she might choose NOT to gather impressions while on the toilet after years of disgusting messages. I know if I was in that situation, I wouldn't want to know where other's have been or done before me.

jchines · Jul 25, 2006

Being me, I'd go the humorous route. Do any of the other characters know about her power, and could they ask her what your friend asked?

"Hey, when you use public restrooms, do you pick up psychic impressions through your butt?"

MC opened her purse and pulled out a box of extra-strength, double-wide toilet seat covers. "Only once," she said. "Never again."

dpaterso · Jul 25, 2006

Yup, all depends on whatever amount of control she has over her ability. If it's random impressions then I'd sure be looking to put an insulating layer between my rear end and the seat.

Any sex scenes? Enquiring minds wants to know.

-Derek
My Web Page - naked women, bestial sex, and whopping big lies.
Take the critiques you get with a grain of salt. Invariably, some of the critics will be kooks, bitter curmudgeons, or complete fools. ~odocoileus

dragonjax · Jul 25, 2006

If you really wanted, she could squat over the toilet seat. Unless she's short. Then she's stuck lining the seat with toilet paper.

dclary · Jul 25, 2006

"She never really worried too much about the impressions she received while sitting on public toilets. For the most part, everyone always felt the same way here. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh."

Kate Thornton · Jul 25, 2006

It would be a good opportunity to illustrate some of the ways she deals with unwanted impressions - you could mention the toilet seat covers, the door handles, the towel dispenser ("Iolanthe preferred the noisy air blowers that went on automatically, even if they did chap her hands raw.")

Since public restrooms are a common fact of life, maybe it would be a good time to mention how she deals with them in general. Only not in exquisite detail, please!

"Iolanthe loathed the toilet paper dispenser. It either never gave you enough to do the job or it gave you enough to cover a twelve-year-old's Halloween spree. And the nervous panic of hundreds of people scared they had already soiled themselves was another drawback. 'I'm just going to start carrying baby wipes,' she said to herself."

Anonymisty · Jul 25, 2006

roach said:
The part about going to the bathroom is just one sentence and I hadn't really thought about it, until one of my beta readers wrote in the margins "Does she pick up impressions through her butt?"

I like some of the suggestions others have offered, if you really feel the need to address it in the narrative. But honestly, not everything needs to be included. If you write about every little thing she sees whenever she touches a door handle, or opens a plastic spork at Burger King or pushes an elevator button, you'll never get your story written.

For me, as a reader, I wouldn't have worried about what she could pick up with her derriere unless it had something to do with pushing the story along.

roach · Jul 25, 2006

Thanks for the feedback everyone. The ability is one that she cannot turn off at will, which is why she wears gloves and lots of layers.

jchines said:
Being me, I'd go the humorous route. Do any of the other characters know about her power, and could they ask her what your friend asked?

That's an awesome idea! There actually is a character in the story who gives her all sorts of grief and that question would be right up his alley to ask.

dpaterso said:
Any sex scenes? Enquiring minds wants to know.

No, no sex scenes.

So it looks like a passing mention of dealing with the toilet seat covers is within the realms of *ahem* good taste. I certainly won't go into detail about her bathroom experience but I think it would certainly give another look into the problems she faces in everday life.

Thanks again everyone for your suggestions!

Andrew Jameson · Jul 25, 2006

roach said:
Here's the situation. My main character is a psychic who picks up psychic impressions through her skin. At one point in the story I have her at a competitor's office. She's taken to the bathroom by the receptionist and when she emerges the receptionist is gone, allowing her a chance to roam around and do a little spying. The part about going to the bathroom is just one sentence and I hadn't really thought about it, until one of my beta readers wrote in the margins "Does she pick up impressions through her butt?"

Now I'm wondering just what to do...

Well, then, here's a question for you: Does it work in your story to expand this little bathroom episode from one sentence to a whole mini-scene? If it works to have a little semi-humorous interlude, then I don't see anything wrong with describing your character's bathroom ritual (because it *would* be a ritual, right? She'd have thought it through and perfected it and everything, because she doesn't like it when it goes wrong.).

On the other hand, if this drags your story down, I don't see anything wrong with something like: "The receptionist unlocked the door to the bathroom. Unisex; never a good sign. Clarisse hurried through her ablutions, trying her best to ignore the stray thoughts forcing their way in, then slipped back out the door." Acknowledgement of the predicament, but with all the detail left up to the reader and a quick return to the story.

Another delicate/too much info? question

roach

annoyed and annoying

Shadow_Ferret

Court Jester

jchines

Got the hang of it, here

dpaterso

Also in our Discord and IRC chat channels

dragonjax

I write stuff and break boards.

dclary

Unabashed Mercenary

Kate Thornton

Still Happy to be Here. Or Anywhere

Anonymisty

roach

annoyed and annoying

Andrew Jameson

(not his real name)