Years 20

I'm not even going to pretend chapter 20 isn't the wedding chapter.

Chapter 19 

One of the earliest things I needed to figure out when I was thinking about Years is *when* Luce and Haley would get married.

In the Vice!Verse they secretly get married almost as soon as they get together because Haley kidnaps Sky to a satellite ship and wants Luce to be his next of kin if something happens to him. I couldn't really come up with an equivalent for this serial---especially since  same sex marriage wasn't legal in Nevada until 2014. 

I kind of liked the idea of them being older when they got married and for Nova to be a little bit more of an active participant.

Somebody asked about picspirations and honestly, IDK but just image all the adults are hot

I Drive Myself Crazy

I've been listening to my old playlists (I've given up on finding new music) and I saw an inspy playlist in my library called LSAM and drove myself crazy for an hour trying to figure out what it was for. I tried looking at the dates I added songs and coorlated them to blog posts but that didn't get me anywhere.

Then I searched my docs and saw LSAM was the document name for Pulse but I still didn't know what LSAM stood for. It bugged me and then on a whim I searched my blog and I guess I originally called Pulse Let's Solve A Murder...there is no point to this story, it just took up a lot of my brain space.

Chapter 20

CPShawna: Okay, SHV, how much from Lile did we still for this one ?

 

Recap
In 2015 Luce and Nova take Haley to Ceasers Palace where Luce pops the question. Haley says yes and is walking on air but six months later then he finds out Nova shoplifted a very expensive makeup palette. Let's skip ahead to 2016...

Years 20

Playlist

An Extra 90s Playlist For Some Reason ?
-1- Truly, Madly, Deeply by Savage Garden

-2- Hold on by Wilson Phillips

-3- Born to Make You Happy by Britney Spears 

-4-  Blonde Sun  by Angus Maude

When Life Gives You... Years 18/19

Years 17
In Chapter 17Haley turns 40 and Luce surprises him by taking him to a party Maverick is hosting.  I wanted to close the loop on the rough patch of their relationship after his suicide attempt and also show how BDSM is a strong piece of their dynamic. In my original incarnation of this chapter I wanted to show some of Haley's insecurities about his physical appearance (which are mostly PTSD from his relationship with Maxwell) and have him get upset at the party when it really wasn't about Luce. But I think when I finally  wrote the chapter Luce was more in the wrong than I intended.

WIP
I'm kind of in another tough spot with Years at the moment. Writing this serial (and all the AUs) has been surprisingly easy and kind of cathartic. I think I'm on track for a record number of posts this year and I'm hoping not to lose the momentum.  I'm just trying to get the pacing right and keep hitting walls...so that's what I'm dealing with. I want to take a note from Lile and just skip those hard sections but something in my brain won't let me.

I haven't really looked at writing other things, it's occurred to me that I might TDOLL either Sunshine, Nova or one of the AUs.

Chapters 18 + 19

Recap
Haley turns 40 and Luce takes him to a BDSM party that gets them out of their rut and reignites the flames...

* Double Chapter Post *
Chapter 18
Playlist
-1- Whitby by Stephan Moccio
-2- Can I Call you Tonight

Chapter 19

-1- Locked out of Heaven by Bruno Mars
-2- Till The World Ends by Britney Spears
-3- I Like Me Better by Lauv

XXX Shawna XXX Years 17

It's getting hot in here...

 

XXX
A lot of Maverick's  life was inspired by this video from The Cut. I'm not sure how much of this interview is staged but I lifted the idea of porn star roomates directly from here.



In my quest to sort of see what the trade show AEX is based on was like I looked at some adult film star social media and watched some vlogs. The industry is almost exclusively cam shows and Onlyfans content which has put pretty much everyone else out of business. Companies like Fallwater and Virtue can't really succeed.

I watched  pieces of some terrible documentaries about Cam Girls (these isn't a lot of articles or sources  about men who do this) and it is interesting to see the devotion of their fans who feel like they have a relationship with these women. The women are aggressive about getting their money so that's why I added a lot of ads in Maverick's podcast. Anyway, that about sums up my scandalous  XXX research.

Blogger
I did a little bit of a blog refresh, I'll probably change it as I try to remember how to do this. I haven't changed my blog in almost 6 years so I'm a little rusty.

Chapter 17
Recap 
Haley and Luce are living together and working on bringing the romance back to their relationship but something  is still not clicking. Meanwhile Grayson is diagnosed with ADHD and Haley is trying to figure that out too...

Chapter 17
Playlist
-1- Out of My League by Fitz and The Tantrums
-2- I Got You by Jessie J
-3- Feel My Needs by Weiss
-4- Almost by Hozier

Pretty Colors: Years

 

 

Dear Lile,

 It's just now occurring to me I have no idea what Lile meant when she said something about chapter 15 and 16 of Years being like AYC. Those chapters had a lot of domesticity and parent/child stuff...

My Madness

So, I learned something new about my Microsoft:

 

 

I think I've mentioned before I color code drafts. The color-coding thing has really come full circle in Years. Previously, I used color coding to outline UL and Compulsion but now I'm using it both to outline and write Years. I'm normally more of a pantser but I had to outline my last few serials to make sure the years were lining up. When I zoom out my draft  looks like this (this isn't the whole thing but you get the idea) :

I like using colors because then I can easily spot where one chapter ends and another begins. I also just like typing in pretty colors!

Years 16

Recap

After Luce's suicide attempt he moves in with his brother Rias and spends the next year and a half working to get better. He is able to end the conservatorship by going to therapy and even finding a part time job teaching math at a community college. He and Haley make amends and Luce moves back in but things between them still aren't exactly the way they used to be, especially in the bedroom...

Years 16
Playlist
-1- Electric Feel by MGMT
-2- Please Keep Loving Me by James TW
-3- Can't Take My Eyes Off You by Frankie Valli

-4- Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding

Yola.com Would Never: Years 14 + 15

*stares in new Blogger*

 

Years Thirteen

 
Update: It's been a while, I guess I should add a recap ? In chapter 13 36-year-old Haley and 4-year-old Grayson have been living in Luce and Sara's condo for over a year.  When being Luce's caregiver becomes too much, Haley hires outside nurses but Luce's depression, overwhelming medical debt and mood swings get the better of him and he attempts suicide by having Grayson put medicine down his feeding tube when Haley is away on a overnight trip to film segments for a "buzzfeed for porn" website.

Luce is rushed to the hospital and Haley is questioned by CPS. Okay to the post:

In chapter 13  I wanted to explore the tensions among Haley, Luce and Sara occupying the same space. I've always seen Sara and Haley as having a good relationship and working together even if they aren't emotionally close.  Sara is kind of a distant person. I've sort of been flying close to the Lucely timeline in the Vice!Verse but now we've gotten to some years that aren't even alluded to in the Vice!Verse.

Years 14 + 15
I feel like these chapters are the very beginning of another tonal shift. A lighter one believe it or not.


Recap
Luce is two years into his recovery and struggling with depression. When Haley goes to California to shoot a freelance videos, Luce takes advantage of Grayson to commit suicide. Luce is under a conversvatorship by his brother but Haley is left responsible. This picks up six months later...

Chapter 14
Playlist
-1- Like Everybody Else by Lennon Stella
-2- Torn by Boyce 
-3-  Faith by Sleeping At Last
Chapter 15
-1- Concrete Jungle by Au/Ra
-2- Sideways by Citizen Cope 
-3- You Keep Lifting Me by  Amber Run

Having The Time of My Life: Years 13

Someone Please Call Patrick Swayze
Up above I said I was feeling writer's block but really I feel more backed into a corner. I know what the penultimate chapter  of Years looks like but not the chapter before it or the very last chapter.

I'm not trying to make all my posts about Lile, BUT I love what she did with the court room transcript in TGWOSM. I was inspired by that--and by the first bit of QC--to do some non-narrative story telling to break me out of my corner and find new ways to hit my story beats.

At this point I am significantly ahead  of what I've been posting so you won't see the non-narrative stuff pop up until much  later.  Using text, e-mails and whatever else fake-found-document-tool I can find is really flexing my creativity muscle and it's been fun.

I think it would be fun to write a whole short story in texts, letters and e-mails etc but it take SO much planning,

Chapter 11 and 12
When I was writing chapters 11 and 12 I realized (as someone pointed out on the comments) this serial is a mess of genres.

I started out with wanting Years to be a Donna Tart-esque / A Little Life - like decade spanning coming of age story . But when I decided to develop Sara a little more  it started to feel almost like a crime novel. And then I added in the did he/didn't he about Luce killing Maxwell and someone pointed out if was Gillian Flynn-y.....the stuff I'm working on now is very different ? IDK what I'm doing.

I know the Sara stuff is a little bit out there but I wanted to keep her character true to her cyberpunk origins.

Chapter 13
Recap
Alex Haley and his son move into Luce and Sara's condo to help take care of Luce and it's putting a strain on their relationship. Haley is just hoping they can get married before Grayson starts school...

Chapter 13
Playlist
-1- Be Okay by Ingrid Michaelson
-2- Can't Believe by Cyn
-3- We All Believe by anatu
-4- We Move Lightly by Dustin O'Halloran

Filing Chapter 11 (Years 11 + 12)

Not only am I stealing Lile story elements,  I am also stealing her chapter 11 joke

I missed this comment and I just have to say, this never occurred to me. I'm not even sure what I was trying to hint at by using the word taboo ?

Procrastination
 This is one of the few serials where, when I wanted to procrastinate, I would go on real estate websites to look up inspiration for where the characters lived. Here are more Grace-inspy apartments. This one is probably the most accurate, I forgot to include it in the post.


 

This is an actual condo building for sale in downtown Las Vegas:

This 3.9 million 5 bedroom Vegas mansion is an inspy for the Washington mansion.

 Balcony (These mansions are closer together than I imagined)

Pool!

 

Chapter 11 + 12

Recap

Luce has a stroke while driving and  when Haley goes to pack his things he finds Maxwell's chronograph and a matchbook from the Palm Springs Hotel, where Maxwell fell off a balcony. Haley's not sure what that means but decides to put that out of his mind because they have a long road to recovery ahead. 

We're still in 2007, this chapter picks up about four months later. . . . 

Chapter 11 (w/ link to 12) 

Playlist

Chapter 11

-1- River by The Mayries

-2- Blank Pages by The Album Leaf

Chapter 12

-1- Digressions by Mija 

-2- Stay Away by The Honorary Title (This song is for the OGs. It's from UL and I love that these guys  still do concerts) 

-3-  Love in The Dark by Leroy Sanchez