Have Fun Storming the Castle - Part Three

As stated in the previous post about Have Fun Storming the Castle, act two of this whole rigmarole is The Quest. In act one, a person is acquainted with the protagonists’ plight; act two deals with them deciding if they even want to confront the problems (I’ve been told dragons can be a little pesky at times) and striking out to do so. It all starts with what I call, gathering the company. Think Lord of the Rings and the forming of the fellowship. The knight or prince or princess chooses who they will ally themselves with to meet and conquer the challenges before them. And, after giving appropriately solemn head nods, they depart the kingdom. In this case, they usually don’t physically go anywhere, though that isn’t a hard and fast rule. The departure usually takes on a more metaphorical status as the protagonists and their company of intrepid adventures—the Pages and the Jester—start to implement their plans to save the kingdom from its sundry woes.

Now, the protagonists and their company can’t just achieve victory with ease. No, no, no. That would be too…too…well, easy. Good stories of any kind, whether they be hardcore dramas or the lighter, more fluffy rom-coms, have to present problems, obstacles, challenges for the protagonists to overcome; and oh the challenges that the knight, prince, or princess have to face.

One of the most common challenges is a case of mistaken identity. Often one or the other of the protagonists doesn’t really know who the other is and that ignorance usually gums up the works towards the end of act two.

Another challenge is what I call The Secret, which sometimes overlaps with a case of mistaken identity. The Secret usually entails some tidbit of information, ofttimes superficial, at least to the outside observer, that one of the protagonists is keeping from the other, and, once revealed, this scrap of information opens up a rift between the two destined lovers.

One of my favorites I call Crossing Blades. This comes about when the two protagonists are at cross purposes to each other, whether that means they are competing for the same job, one wants to buy the others property, or their first encounter just went poorly. As their interactions continue their “swordplay” leads to a greater and greater admiration for each other.

Other challenges include, The Treacherous Lady-in-Waiting or Dark Knight, those individuals that think they are the better romantic option for one of the protagonists and seek to subvert the budding romance. The Kings Stooges, those fools that do the bidding of the wicked monarch in an attempt to stymy a courageous knight. The Taskmaster’s Tasks, or those petty errands put before the antagonist in order to waylay them from their true goal. The last that I’ll mention is called Earning Their Spurs. This has the knight working to prove themselves, often to their superior at work.

But whatever the challenge that the protagonists undertake—and often several are blended together in a single narrative—toward the end of act two of every rom-com out there, the protagonist have a false victory. Everything looks rosy; the protagonists’ love story appears to have blossomed; the challenges have gotten vanquished.

Oh, if only that were all true.

Unfortunately, act two ultimately ends with apparent a reversal of good fortune for one or both of the protagonists as the Hidden Secret is revealed, the Evil Monarch exacts their revenge, or some other obstacle that the audience has watched with anticipatory horror and dread emerges to send our intrepid protagonists retreating from their inchoate love in heartbreak and apparent defeat.