In Which SHV Writes The Worst Recap Ever

Just kidding, I just thought that GIF was funny I couldn't resist. This serial has been hard going and for a long time I planned my next  posting to be a hiatus post....

 So I guess that means I'm back to the trenches

I will say....I don't actually drink a lot to write, but sometimes you want to take the edge off.

Bellum
During SHV Serial Related Break Down #4837 I did really enjoy just being a reader of Lile's Bellum and I've kind of gotten re-obsessed. Which is to say a GIF reaction post is brewing...I have so many relationship related GIFs that fit my feelings perfectly.

Picspirations:
Audrina,  28
She's Pascal's wife and works as a nurse at Camp Harmony.  She's a bit of a Girl Friday. Her picspiration is Zoey Deschanel without her New Girl makeup.

Chapter 10
I don't have much to say about chapter 10, as a refresh it was Rayne going down to Dakota's brothel to try and find his kidnapped son.  There is definitely more Rayne/Ivy/Sara in Compulsion and I think that comes from those shorts I wrote about them. I'll recap their story more next time.

Let's Recap
Let's recap...Alex Haley is taken to an Republic Liberation Army (RLA) labor camp at Fort Harmony, after getting caught with  his brother, Harlow, and his friends, Felix and Marco, who are stealing a pair of shoes. Haley gets a one year sentence because he is caught wearing Harlow's jacket...which has drugs in it.

The camp requires hours of physical labor and there are sporadic incidents of violence and assault. Harlow decides to leave and comes up with a plan to escape. In the process he is shot in the head by a corporal. The bullet lands in Haley's stomach and Maxwell takes him to his personal quarters as he works to quickly cover up the murder by having Harlow's body cremated.

Sgt. Maxwell has already singled Haley out because he met Haley while he was in the hospital for an injury during a failed secret military operation. And much to his fustration Haley has no memory of there meeting. Maxwell is as much as a prisoner as Haley as he is assigned to Camp Harmony to distance him from any real RLA operations. No one has ever seemed to trust him since he worked for Julian Walker, the treasonous former Secretary of Public Safety.

Chapter 11
As I edit this I realize this chapter just happens to have a lot of recapping built into it since Haley and Maxwell have had seperate POVs the whole time and have to be brought up to speed on each other.

Also I think I've settled on Alan being even chapters and Ft. Harmony being odd chapters.

Chapter 11
Playlist
-1- We Move Lightly by Dustin O'Hallaron
-2- The Fire by Kina Grannis
-3- Not even going to try typing this one by Olafur Arnalds

Back with a Vengance (mini-GIF post)

***It's a mini-GIF post***

 

Get ready for something about me feeling bad about not posting

You when you came to my blog today

When I realized I was 8 chapters ahead of posting in V2

When I remembered I have mostly no idea where any of this was going

When I think about some of the stuff I will / wanted to put in V2

My response to if I've been thinking about a UL3

 

Because seriously UL3

(I blame that new Ed Sheerhan song..it gives me ideas)

Okay, back to the trenches

So, I'm on chapter 17 or 18 (I got really confused with my numbering since originally each POV was it's own section so like I had Alan1, Alan2 or Harlow1,Harlow2, and Maxwell1, ) so I am going to start posting with a vengeance...I hope. This is strange because I know where I am, but I have no idea where this is going.

Let's Recap:

We have two storyline going on, but let's stick to A storyline:

It's been a year since Alan Gray joined the Cartel, sure he owes Rayne more money than he can ever payback, but he's adjusting. He hasn't had to kill anyone yet,  he's training to be a bodyhacker by the reclusive Blackbird so he can understand his android body  and he's in an on again / off again relationship with Minnow Dory....while also sleeping with Perespohone, a bartender at Luxor who wants to join the Cartel.

But things have also gotten dangerous  being involved with the Cartel. Alan narrowly avoids a machine gun raid at the Luxor and there is a new drug being sold by the Mjollner that is causing people to throw themselves at trains.

Sara Grace had a baby with the Cartel leader Rayne Washington and now that he has an heir he's ended his arranged marriage to Ivy, Sara's former best friend.

But then during the night of the christening, they all get too drunk and the baby is stolen by a group of men in red face masks.

Chapter 10
So, we've had the christening and a wild afterparty where we learn the Cartel was started by Rayne's great-great-great grandfather when he fled Japan. It's nearly 3 am and they are all walking back to Rayne's house where he has promised to make breakfast....

"Suddenly, a pair of red hooded figures rush past me and one of them knocks into Sara’s back, the other takes the second of confusion to yank Zacarias violently from her arms.  Like the trained sharp shooter he is, Griffin pulls the glock off his back in a second and the men pause. 

The hooded men are wearing leather balaclavas to cover their faces. The one  holding the baby stares back at Griffin unmoving.  The bastard  should be dead, but Grif isn’t shooting.

He can’t.

The hooded man has the barrel of a small pistol pressed to the infant’s head.

Griffin hesitates, we all hesitate. I think about how babys are supposed to have soft spots.

.....

“The train, they’re going to go to the train!,” Minnow screams hoarsely  

....

I pry open the train doors in one try and we enter the cool stillness of the train car.

It’s empty.

I bolt to the next car and it’s the same eerie quiet.

We run ahead to the next car and find the same eeire quiet.

“Come out!,” I shout.  I take out my pistol and start shooting just for effect. 

“Stop,” Luce hisses. “They’ll kill him.”

We run through all 21 cars and don’t come in contact with another soul on the train.

...

“Alan, they have to be on that train,” Sara barks.  “ The whole town is being searched and they’re not here.”

“We tore the train apart, Ma.” Luce says. “He’s not on the train.”

“No,” she says. “You keep looking.”

Chapter 10

Playlist

-1- Take Me To Church by Hozier ( I promise I had this song before it was being played on the radio every 10 seconds.
-2- In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins ( I know this is a weird choice)

Tell Me Santa

Christmas in July  er, January

So, let's take a little break from the gritty anti-heroes and enjoy some Christmas fluff  HMLIS style ! I had a great time crafting this story and it was nice to revisit the HMLIS gang. I promise I'm not scratching my brain to come up with a Valentine's themed story...

So just to recap....

Setting: Eastham College, Eastham, Massachusetts


Jonah Morrow 19-year-old violinist trying to live up to having a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist for a father, record breaking (but slacker) triathelete for a brother and a deaf-blind musical prodigy as a friend.

Corinne - 19-year-old foster kid from New York attending Eastham on a scholarship, working at a coffee shop to pay her way through school. She's an extrovert who loves The Killers, desserts and live music.






Abigail Winters - Avid Poetry reaser who spent a year in a coma after being pushed off a bridge by her depressed  ex-girlfriend. With the help of Corinne and Jonah she is back into her own body.









So, not much of their backstory is going to come up in this Xmas story, but just thought I'd do a recap.

Tell Me Santa

Playlist

- 1-  Little Christmas Tree by The Jackson 5

 -2-  Let it Snow by Jessica Simpson

 -3-  Santa Tell Me by Ariana Grande ( This is the titular song, but I had a dyslexic moment which is why the serial title is different)

 -4-  All I Want for Christmas by Mariah Carey

 -5- Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas by Sam Smith

Last Name Basis

And by wishes I mean...get me out of this writing slump!!!

Xmas Story Update

I have a beginning and and end. Zero words and zero...what's that thing called ? Oh, plot. This may be a New Year's Story at the rate I'm going.

Chapter Seven

So, Harlow Haley. He was one of the most "engineered"  characters I ever wrote. I knew from day one that if I ever wrote him again... he would die. It wasn't until I started writing the first few words  that I realized he was also  kind of a sociopath.

In every scene Harlow is in he is taking advantage of someone. He's predatory, controlling and vain. He's also charasmatic which is how he has such loyalty from Felix and Marco.

I don't consider myself an experimental writer, but I'm always interested in different narrative devices and one of the things I wanted  to do was have a character die during their own POV.  With Harlow's death his POV and thoughts are effectively erased (which is why Maxwell had to have a POV). This also changes Haley's identity because no one is going to be calling him Alex anymore...what can I say I love some Last Name Basis.(wink, Fierro)

*Also, to complicate things further Haley is going to randomly get an occasional third person POV, because his first person is super bland when I write it  insert writerly-smart sounding reason.

Chapter 9

This chapter. I re-wrote this chapter three times. Once when Maxwell's voice was 3rd person, once when I forgot to save it and one more time in first person.

So, fed up Harlow tries to escape Camp Harmony and is shot in the head right in front of  his brother, Alex Haley. Now Camp Harmony has its second death and wait...who exactly shot Harlow anyway ?And what's Sgt. Maxwell going to have to say about it ?

Chapter 9

Playlist

-Andulasia by Hammock

-Eyes- by Kaskade (Yes, I stole this from Lile)

Mini (TGIT-ish) Gif Posts

I can't think of a blog so.....GIF Post

On Bellum II

Me After Every Chapter (Particularly Chapter 5)

Pariphina 5eva!

My General Reaction to Paris

And Now that Seraphina is gone and he's called Isobel. Well....

™Moving on....

Plotting the Christmas Story

I've got a few scraps of ideas, but nothing full

How I Consider Ending All My Serials When I'm Desperate

One scene or line or ending in every chapter of Vice from here on out

I'd Really Like to Write Two Love Interests Like This

                                                         But They Are Always More Like This

Then This

So, I'm thinking of finally writing that OHG rewrite. Just remember:

And by people I mean SHV

But I'm Really Going to Try and Maybe I'll have something by Spring

Your Faces Right Now Since I Bring up UL Once every couple of months

It Will Be A Slow Process. Just need to limber out the UL muscles

 

Me On the Outside 

Me On the Inside

So, Muse

Also This Gif I just found, because Corinne was pretty much invented by KStew's closed lip snarl  thing in the beginning of this Gif. Also, I kind of love her Post-Twilight smile.

Let's Talk About Chapter Six
It's occurring to me it makes more sense to talk about the previous chapter that goes with this section and not just the previous chapter with the B storyline. So, I'll talk about Ch. 7 next post

Last post I talked a little bit about how yes, Rayne is the father of Sara's baby. And as the novella was supposed to hint at, Rayne and Ivy have broken up..although it's platonic so I guess it's more of a conscious uncoupling ? Even in the Veritas!world I always saw Rayne's marriage as being very cold and I couldn't figure out why and then I did...it was an arranged marriage.

Chapter Eight
Rayne and Ivy are done, Luce and Ivy both feel outsted by the baby and Minnow and Alan run into Dakota while running to get shoes for a party. What is this party about anyway ?

Chapter 8

Playlist

-1- Silhouette by Active Child w/ Ellie Goulding

-2- Don't Wake Me Up by Avicci  Remix

-3- Work Song by Hozier

Challenge Accepted ?

 
A Christmas Story ?
So, I've accepted this challenge, Lile. I will say though, I'll probably do two stories---one cracky and one a little more serious.

Okay, off to see if  the Michael Buble Christmas CD is on Spotify (it is) !

No Need To Call Maury
So, I think it is safe to say that you all get that Rayne is the father of Sara's child. Their child was actually conceived in Vice, but I wasn't sure if I was ever going to use it.

In chapter 12 of Vice everyone (including Rayne) is at Sara's apartment as she is hacking someone out of the draft. After they do that Alan leaves to go talk to Jean and Sara makes him take Luce with him leaving her alone with Rayne.

Then when they get chased back an hour later Rayne  is gone and Sara is alone and taking a nap on the couch (because she is...tired *wink) and then Sara doesn't ever drink the rest of the serial.

Chapter 7 or Things I've Googled That Have Me on A Watch List
So, this is another short chapter and the last super short one I see in the forecast. I was just getting my bearings in these early chapters  so that's why there are so many in the beginning.

So, back to Fort Harmony. Alex refused an offer from Sgt. Maxwell to go home and has settled into being a model prisoner while Harlow was given two weeks in solitary for refusing to work and talking back...

Chapter 7 (also, I just realized I re-used a line from a previous serial...see if you can spot it. I felt like I was having dejavu everytime I read it until it finally clicked.)
Playlist
-1- Your Hand in Mine by Explosions in The Sky
-2- Wait by M83 (either i've used this before, or I've been waiting forever to use this song)

I've Run Out of Things to Blog About

In law school I’d been attracted to one of the professors and we’d had a number of tumbles in the sheets. I’d drink in his opinions on law and politics in bed all night. My sexual appetite had grown with the stress and competition of law school.  I’d had a number of lovers and discovered quite a few kinks.


So, I do a lot of re-reading when I'm working on a serial, particularly with this one. After I post a chapter I usually start re-reading from the point before I write more. And while I'm re-reading I usually change and edit things.I'll change names, descriptions and wording or even add stuff.

For chapter 5, I was looking at the above paragraph and I originally had the word fetish instead of kink. I assumed fetish and kink meant the same thing, but I looked it up and they actually mean two different things; a kink in about partner intimacy and a fetish isn't.

Anyway, in the process I stumbled across wikipedia's page on paraphilia and I have to say there are some interesting ones like Autassassinophilia, sexual arousal from almost being killed and somnophilia which is sexual arousal from seeing people sleep...I don't think any of these will be making appearances in my serial, but I did go down a sexual health rabbit hole.

Actually, it's interesting homosexuality was legitimately  considered a type of sexual disorder 40 years ago so in 85 years who knows what our culture will have to change it's mind about.

Also they rarely find women who have paraphillic disorders and if they do they are usually sadists, which is interesting.

BTW, I don't suggest reading this paraphilia page because there are a lot of gross ones. I mean really.

Chapter 4 -5
So, we finally put Haley and Maxwell together...but things are different. One of the things I don't think got across in Sundays is that Maxwell is putting on an act a lot of the time.  He's self-concious and unsure and is trying to stay under the radar so he doesn't get in anymore trouble. But Maxwell is also super smart so when given a job he's to smart for...well, who knows what might happen.

I originally was going to have Harlow make someone eat a bug and I just couldn't do it. I had some dark plans for this serial, but I've been wimping out a lot. More on this later.

Chapter Six
So, this chapter was one chapter that was split in half so it's more of a set up. This is also the one with two mini flash fics.

We're back to Alan, who has become fully entrenched in cartel life...and is fighting with Minnow for reasons he doesn't remember...also Sara has a baby ? Daddywatch 2100

Chapter Six (It's a shortie)
Playlist
-1- We Might Be Dead by Tomorrow by Soko (should have named the serial this...)
-2- Finally Moving by Pretty Lights