Bonding Emotions?

[veritasseeker90]

OK, so it sounds stupid, but I sat down to write on The Keeper and an idea came to me.

I have a story in which December has a "protector" (for lack of a better word) which he's always been. But I had an idea come to me while thinking how to rewrite a scene.

As December's protector, what if when he took the pledge to watch her, if his emotions were bonded to her own?

What this would do, is he would feel her emotions alongside his own, no matter how far apart they were, which would help him guage any situation. But what makes it such an interesting idea is that later in the book, he has to "betray" her to save her life. He knows she's terrified of him, but how much more powerful would it be if he felt it as well as knew?

I just wonder how dumb it is, now that I've written it.

[Andy]

It's a cool concept. Does it work the other way where she feels the Protector's emotions somehow? Of course, the protector would have to disguise his emotions during the betrayal, but that might be part of how she realizes he's still protecting her, though his actions suggest otherwise.

[Christian Soldier]

Actually, I think it's a good idea. It adds to the turmoil within the protector's mind during the betrayal event.

[veryblessedmom]

I like it. Very creative.

[tonylavoie]

Seeker, I like it! Definitely gonna keep your character on edge - dealing with his own emotions AND December's. How much tension can you build with that? (hint: the correct answer is: "quite a lot".

Will he ever experience times where he "gets lost" in her feelings, at the expense of his own? And Andy's question also sprang to my mind...is there any sort of emotional feedback where she gets an occasional (or even constant) whiff of his feelings?

[lexkx]

Not knowing the protector, I would have to wonder how that worked for him. One would assume there would be a certain internal divorce between the protector's emotions and December's. What kind of safety is the protector supposed to provide? If he protects physically, and December is frequently in harm's way, the emotional component has a few interesting options. If the protector, being bonded to December's emotions, must also protect December's emotional well being (which might be a consideration for someone who was entrusted with December's safety and then provided with continual, intimate knowledge of her emotional state), that provides a very different set of questions and problems. Especially if the protector has emotional responses towards December that do not match December's emotional response to the protector. And vice versa. It can be done, the questions are should it? and why? If it's not crucial to the story, it might be a distraction.
(While I have read plenty of sff with a character who knew and/or acted upon extra-sensory intelligence regarding someone else's emotional state, what this most made me think of are angels. Guardian angels, in what could almost be described as the real world, report first and foremost to God. He assigns them. God has intimate knowledge of our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual condition, but He is perfect and He cares. Do angels? Oh, wait, God kind of left that out of the Bible. For good reason, because the point of having a spirit within us is to come to God, not to come to an angel. Angels defend and watch over us, certainly, but their primary loyalty MUST be to God. What has December's protector's loyalty?)