YA Author a Fellow Fetishist?

[LapidotLover22]

I just finished reading Painted Blind by Michelle Hansen. It's a modern retelling of the Eros & Psyche myth. First off, it was pretty good, I'd definitely recommend it to those who like YA romantic urban fantasy. But, back to the point of the post, after reading it, I seriously think Michelle has the fetish.

In the book, instead of shooting people with arrows to make them fall in love, Eros sprinkles them with this weird, pink cave dust. The person he sprinkles sneezes and falls in... well, not exactly love, more like fondness and serious lust, with the first person they see. Here's a few quotes:

“Ah chew!” Mr. Darling sneezed and sent the bloody tissues flying. “Excuse me,” he mumbled. A new red trickle started down his lip. He looked at Ms. Hubble and the expression on his face shocked us all. He eyed the counselor like he eyed me just a moment ago. Then his features softened, and he gave her the most pathetic puppy-dog eyes. “I bumped my nose on the board. It won’t stop bleeding.” The counselor stepped forward, all her motherly compassion surfacing right there in front of our class. “You poor thing.” Then, “Ah chew!” and we all gasped as she lit up like a forty-year-old flashlight. “Just come to my office after class.” She winked on her way out.

Hansen, Michelle (2012-01-14). Painted Blind (p. 24).Kindle Edition."

That's the only passage where the sneezes are spelled out, but here's a little bit of explanation about the dust.

“Near the caves on the other side of the mountain, my mother collected a small flower, which she intended to transplant at home. When she unwrapped the plant and shook out her skirt, her maid swooned at the sight of the gardener. The maid was all of seventeen, and he was nearly three times her senior. My mother believed the flower had done it, so she potted it, delighted by the prospect of inducing love with this simple potion.......She decided to get rid of it. In the garden, she pulled the plant from its pot and shook the soil free from the roots. The gardener sneezed, fell to his knees and declared that he would be her slave if she would love him. Stunned, my mother called for a stable hand and another maid. They hauled the poor man away, and when they returned, my mother got the wild notion to try the experiment again. She stood them facing each other and threw a handful of dust between their faces. They both sneezed, looked up, and their faces burned with newfound passion.

Hansen, Michelle (2012-01-14). Painted Blind (p. 58).Kindle Edition."

There's even an animal sneeze! Maybe she's also a furry?

"I opened fire with the pepper spray. The dog’s (wolf) sensitive nose took the hit. He sneezed, yelped and rubbed his nose in the dirt. Then he pawed at his eyes and tried to rub them in the dirt, too.

Hansen, Michelle (2012-01-14). Painted Blind (p. 192).Kindle Edition."

That's not the extent of the sneezy goodness, but that's all I'm putting. So, what do you guys think? Could Michelle Hansen be one of us? Personally, I've never read a book with this much sneezing. I mean, one that wasn't for little kids.

[TaurielRiver]

Sounds like an interesting read!

It could just be the passages you’ve chosen, but I think the sneezing is purely being used as a way of showing people/animals have inhaled the dust. It’s sort of an easy one-word physical action that makes what has just happened obvious, without being clunky and long-winded (like, “Mr. Darling looked like he’d just inhaled something incredibly potent” or “they both sniffed and rubbed their eyes”.

Plus, if the author is a fetishist… different sneeze-sounds for different characters? But maybe that's being too obvious about it!

[Sawyer]

To me, this looks like really typical vanilla work! I think the blatant connection of sneezing and attraction/romance is waaayyy too voyeur for it to be one of us. It seems like one of those quirky ways of recreating the classic "meet-cute" more than it seems like an incorporation of the fetish into popular fiction. Sneezing is quirky and not repulsive, so it makes sense that she'd choose it as a catalyst like this.

My guess is, if someone with the fetish had fiction published, we'd never be able to catch their little "shout outs" to the fetish unless they told us!

[Icarus Rex]

Also, in Greek mythology, sneezing-- like pretty much any and all natural phenomena that was beyond human control/comprehension at that time-- is construed as an omen sent by the gods. Usually a very good omen. I'm not familiar with this book or author, but I'd sooner guess that she just substituted one symbol for another, from the source material, since sneezing would blend in better than jabbing people with arrows in a modern setting.

[bloom]

I agree with everybody above - I think this is just a case of looking at something through a fetishist's perspective and seeing fetish-related intentions when sneezing is just an everyday thing to almost everybody.

The dog sneezing (yikes...) cements it even harder for me - being a furry isn't the same as being into bestiality and that's basically what getting off on animals is, so.

[LapidotLover22]

All very good arguments. I'm still relatively new to the fetish world, so I guess I'm still prone to making mountains out of mole hills. Ah, well.