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On June 22, 2024, Kasie and Rex continued the Seven Deadly Sins with Lust. Here are the show notes:

Theme for the day

Seven Deadly Sins: Lust

Agenda

• Quick Catch Up
• Seven Deadly Sins: what are they?
• Focus on Lust

Segments 1 & 2

This blog gives a quick summary of all seven sins and some examples of how to use them. So reading it might mean you don’t need our seven episodes but how about come along for the ride anyway?

The Seven Deadly Sins (this link) in Roman Catholic theology, are the seven vices that spur other sins and further immoral behavior. First enumerated by Pope Gregory I (the Great) in the 6th century and elaborated in the 13th century by St. Thomas Aquinas.

The sins are:

1. Pride
2. Greed
3. Lust
4. Envy
5. Gluttony
6. Wrath
7. Sloth

We’ve done these before (episodes 151–157), but it’s been a while and this time we’re going to sharpen the focus on the sins as potential stakes-raising behaviors.

This week’s focus is Lust. When we did this in Episode 155, I was writing novels with a good bit of sex in them. Weirdly, that hasn’t changed. In fact, the motivation of Lust is even more relevant to my vampires who are equally motivated by thirst.

Last time we started here:

What is lust? According to Wikipedia:

Lust is a psychological force producing intense desire for an object, or circumstance while already having a significant other or amount of the desired object.[1] Lust can take any form such as the lust for sexuality (see libido), money, or power. It can take such mundane forms as the lust for food (see gluttony) as distinct from the need for food. It is similar to but distinguished from passion, in that passion propels individuals to achieve benevolent goals whilst lust does not.

Going straight to the source, Christianity.com gives us this:

Lust is essentially to crave something, usually associated with worldly desires of sexual intent or material possessions. Lust has as its focus gratifying oneself, which often leads to toxic actions to fulfill one’s desires without consideration of the consequences. Lust springs forth from selfishness and greed.

Lust is considered a sin because it puts physical, human impulses above Godly or spiritual pursuits. Not unlike greed, lust is insatiable and similar to pride, is focused on the individual, not the betterment of family or community. 

Are there any benefits to lust?

What are the positive effects of lustful behavior? This link talks about the advantages but, like all things, suggests moderation and aimed in the right direction, so controlled lust, is the only acceptable kind.

Most Google results are about the way to combat the seven deadly sins, so it seems pretty well ingrained in human psyche that these are bad behaviors.

Some of the teachings on this suggest the disadvantages of lust are:

• Broken relationships: The excessive pursuit of physical pleasure can lead to infidelity, promiscuity, and the breakdown of committed relationships. Lustful desires often prioritize immediate gratification over long-term emotional connections, resulting in heartbreak and damaged trust.
• Objectification: Lust reduces individuals to mere objects of desire, disregarding their inherent worth and dignity. This dehumanization can lead to exploitation, sexual harassment, and contribute to a culture that objectifies and commodifies individuals based on their attractiveness.
• Emotional emptiness: Continuous indulgence in lustful desires can leave individuals feeling emotionally unfulfilled and disconnected. The shallow and transient nature of purely physical relationships can prevent the development of deep emotional connections and intimacy.

But what should writers know about lust? This is a writing show, after all…

Segment 3

Part of the lust conversation is character motivation, part of it is character type (episode 155), and part of it is the action characters take.

Here’s the first part:

This link discusses character motivation in broad categories: greed, revenge, acceptance, identity, love, survival. When it comes to lust, I guess it lives in the broad “love” category but we can see lust without love, right? Is lust without love sufficient motivation to drive a novel? 

This link names some character types:

• Chivalrous Pervert — he’s a good guy, but he loves the ladies. Think Matthew McConnoughey in pretty much everything.
• Covert Pervert — trait given to a shy character to show us they’re not as innocent as we think they are (this one time, at band camp)
• The Casanova — loves, lands, then leaves the members of the opposite sex; James Bond-like
• Lovable Sex Maniac — a spectrum of perversion from pornography to sexual harassment; think Howard on The Big Bang Theory
• Dirty Old Man — played lightly as a harmless flirt who demeans but is no real threat to younger objectified persons; played seriously, this is a sexual predator
• All Women Are Lustful — can be the woman ignoring social convention to get hers, or can be the reversal of the “all men are perverts” trope wherein women are actually the listful ones who need to be tamed via marriage
• Death by Sex — common in slasher films as people coming off the high of intercourse are less aware of their surroundings and therefor vulnerable to homicidal maniacs
• Stalker with a Crush — love makes you evil, if I can’t have you, no one can, and all those other cliched and doomed scenarios
• Villainous Incest — how bad can you make a villain? Can he love his mama a little too much? Have taken advantage of a sister or half-sister? Just yikes.
• Serial Killers (of the hedonistic variety) — getting sexual pleasure from causing pain and murder
• the villain who says “I Have You Now, My Pretty.” — licking, sniffing, groping, unwanted terms of endearment, unwanted kisses, dressing the captive victim in skimpy clothing (Leah’s bikini), or forcing the captive into marriage (Robin Hood Prince of Thieves when Alan Rickman forces Maid Marion into marriage. Yikes).

Then there’s the action the character takes – this is my vampire novel. Characters who are driven by a desire to love and be loved, with little regard for the morality of those exchanges. Characters who have no regret or remorse, who see their sexuality as natural or necessary. These characters seduce, indulge, fornicate and are remorseless over the consequences.

Segment 4

Let’s start with the attraction, the tension in the scene before the sexuality event begins. This link puts it this way:

• Awareness – start with the characters noticing illicit things about one another, sensual details, the kinds of attractive qualities or physical characteristics that get one’s blood pumping. Eyes, lips, neckline, curve of breast, that v at the hips.
• Near touch – close the space between them, it will crackle with anticipation. The back seat between their pinky fingers in a quiet cab ride, the breath they share in a crowded elevator, any kind of forced proximity is delightful and filled with tension.
• Feelings – talk about how the proximity or the distance, or whatever it is between them makes the character feel – like she cannot breathe, like his jeans are too tight, like time stopped moving, the earth stopped turning, all sound disappeared except her breath and the pounding of his heart. Sigh.
• Leave them wanting – sexual tension is about the unfulfilled. If everytime he wants to reach for her he does, we won’t have tension, we’ll have action which isn’t bad, but there’s a time and a place and it’s more fulfilling if we’ve led up to it with tension.