I got interested in this idea that romance might have a passive protagonist, so I started searching a bit. Here's a good article that covers some interesting ideas: Conflicts and Goals: How Do They Work in Romance? The article is specifically about romance stories with multiple protags, which is what it sounds like you're doing @Felix J. Léon . Also delves into passive and active goals, which is a new one on me. OK, nvrmnd. Not new, just worded differently than I've heard before: Last week, we explored the difference between passive goals (when a character is trying to maintain the status quo) versus active goals (when a character is pursuing something beyond the status quo). But there are also internal and external goals, which definitely is new to me (unless it's just another name for something I already know again, but I don't think so—must look into it). Yep, that one's new. Good stuff, but probably only needed in romance or literary stories, where the character's inner world needs to be complex and nuanced.
This is starting to get very interesting. My search is now taking me into some very familiar territory: Active Protagonists are a Tool of the Patriarchy Seeking vs. Suffering: The Secret of Passive Protagonist A Reactive Protagonist Doesn’t Have to Be a Passive Protagonist Here's a line from the 1st link: "While the title of this post is tongue-in-cheek, I do think that passive protagonists are unfairly maligned in part because of the unspoken association between passivity and femininity." I would amend that a bit to say "The unspoken association between femininity and women (or females)." This goes back to that old drum I keep beating—feminine doesn't mean women or females and masculine doesn't mean men or males. They're personality traits (or character traits) that exist within each of us. There are feminine men and masculine women. It's a sliding scale—every person, whatever their biological sex, can lean toward the masculine or the feminine, but as Jung pointed out with his anima and animus, we all contain both—it's just that some of it is visible on the surface and the rest has gone subterannean. In fact, each of us can react in a feminine way at times and a more masculine way at others. We can even be feminine in certain regards and masculine in others at the same time. It helps to remember to affix a the at the beginning of each—the masculine, and the feminine. Let me once again link to a post I did some time ago: Male and Female Writing Styles and Character Voices I'll also link to a couple of blog posts that relate directly: Steaming Mess-O-Xoic page 8 At least currently the posts I'm talking about are near the bottom of the page, here are direct links: So Narrative Form is the Masculine way... So Narrative Form is the Masculine way pt. 2
The danger of having a Kindle is from reading your recommendation, to the book being on my kindle, was about 90 seconds
That's a blessing and a curse. But hey, it sure does save shelf space! My bookshelves are bursting at the seams and I have boxes stuffed full as well plus plies here and there. The Kindle allows me to save them in virtual space, like those chests in video games where you put weapons and healing herbs and can access them from just about anywhere.
