HMLIS Update
Hmm, I've hit a weird writer's block with HMLIS and Chapter 14 of Vice. I can only get a few words out a day, but it's going along. I'm thinking of doing a thing with HMLIS...we will see.
It's all weird, I'm having doubts about a side character/plot which is no where near central to HMLIS, but it's vexing me.
The Story I Wish I Could Have Written
There are a lot of amazing stories out there and as a writer I get all grabby hands. But there is a film coming out that has kind of a cyberpunk-ish storyline I really WISH I could have written.
It's the Spike Jonze movie, Her, where Joaquin Phoenix falls in live with an Artificial Intelligence Operating System voiced by Scarlet Johannsen. I just saw the trailer and thought that is such a cyberpunk story even if it isn't all Crapsackworld, gangsters and crime. Here is the TV spot:
While I think Vice has ventured away from cyberpunk, I'm starting to see there really were two schools of cyberpunk. The more action packed Total Recall type of thing and then things like Her, which is something you'd see in a Cyberpunk short story. This whole Veritas project started out as the first kind, but has been moving towards the other kind.
And in case you were wondering, no, Siri is not pleased.
Sundays
In which I give Maxwell a The Reasons You Suck Speech....TDOSH Sundays 3
Honey, I'm worried about you. You did a little to much sensible and critical thinking. . . with yourself. Great insights. . .just a little crazy
ReplyDeleteLogic : And
Ms. 3 : So what now female serial writers can't think internally ?
Muse : How come we don't get to write lemons ?
LiLe : Nevermind
Lol, Lile what have you started with these TDOLLs/Split personalities ?
DeleteAlso, the sensibile-ness just kind of came out. I wasn't planning on it AT ALL.
Er, Maxwell just because they sit at your desk doesn't mean they want to be like you . . .
ReplyDeleteRight ?
DeleteWow, I didn't know that could be considered cyberpunk. It looks like a cute film.
ReplyDeleteWell, I mean it's labeled as Sci-Fi. At first I couldn't tell if the was weird or heartwarming or what. I read the whole synopsis and it gets kind of weird...
DeleteSo, I think The Reason You Suck Speech is like my new favorite trope. Did you take this one kind of Meta or is this about a particular scene ?
ReplyDeleteIt's more Meta. I thought about the trope while writing this blog post, but if I had thought about it during the TDOSH I would have written one.
DeleteStill in love with the name Corporal Strange, does he get a first name ?
ReplyDeleteNo actually...hmm...idk
DeleteSo. . . all I saw was a hint that TDOSH-BH was happening. Anyone else ?
ReplyDeleteMeh, probably not. I tried it and it just wasn't going anywhere. I have no idea how Lile does these long hauls. Maybe I'll do one and see what happens.
DeleteOh, CPS it's always great knowing where we can find you.
ReplyDeleteRight ! I want to have drinks with that bitch !
DeleteI highly recommend that !
DeleteDid you make the choice to call him Alex instead of Haley in TDOSH. We see Haley so much
ReplyDeleteWell, in the beginning Maxwell is calling him Alex in his POV, so that's what I did. I actually forgot I called him Haley in everything else.
Delete
ReplyDeleteHmm, that piercing your ear while drunk in the dark then falling on a concrete floor sounds a lot like a story Joel and Erik like to tell when they are drunk.
OMG. . . is this based on them.
Okay. Yeah I kind of see Joel as Alex and Erik as Maxwell
i knew it
Delete
DeleteLiLe *imagines it* *Dies*
*dies too*
DeleteBut, since you may not have been around Mansfield, at one point I said that the relationship between Alex and Alan is a bit like you and JB. One is this brooding guy beat down by society and the other one is a shining blonde optomist...of course this was back when you had books coming out...I mean...um...
Dude. Maxwell I was all up on your side in the comments.Now he just made it pretty hard with that tie scene. I don't even know anymore.
ReplyDeleteDon't you hate is when a character disappoints you ? This was me with Tomas in SA up until the very end.
DeleteI think Maxwell isn't a loveable anti-hero. I mean V2 characters are anti-heros but they are mroe rule of cool sympathetic anti-heros. I think Maxwell is what a real anti-hero looks like.
ReplyDelete
DeleteYeah. . . no he seems kind of like a jerk.
Maxwell is just an unsympathetic protagonist I think. Just because we hear from his POV and he does the ocassional good thing, it doesn't mean we are supposed to like him.
DeleteHow did we not know that Collins was Cleo ? Was that ever mentioned. I'm all like DONT GO
ReplyDeleteCollins isn't Cleo. Cleo and Collins have a scene together in chapter two, they are two different (but equally inconsiquential) characters
DeleteI have no idea what the deal is with Collins. I have no recollection of writing him. He's a football star who volunteered for the military.
I'm worried how that film could end. Like what if he drops it (er Her ?)
ReplyDeleteI didn't read the end, but the plot actually has a lot more than the trailer or TV spot depicts.
DeleteAlso, the full trailer shows she's an operating system, so she can be in his computer or GPS or wherever.
Wow, I can't believe we are on chapter 14, it feels like we just started with that tinny snippet.
ReplyDeleteOh, well, I I'm on Chapter 14. You all are on Chapter 12
DeleteWow, SH doesn't seem to be on the Maxwell/Haley train. I can't help but to love CSP enthusiasm for Sundays.
ReplyDeleteWell, let's keep in mind CPS may be a little wasted.
DeleteHmm, I just realized that looks like Child Protected Services...oops.
Would you say Vice is more elemental (like Her) Cyberpunk and Vertias is more "true to form ?" I had no idea it could be so diverse.
ReplyDeleteUm, I'd say Vice is more true to form because it's all gangsters, cyberntics and guns. I'll blog about this at some point.
DeleteIs it odd that I never saw Maxwell as a boxers kind of guy. . . he seems the commando type (lol)
ReplyDeleteTo Be Honest I never actually though too much about this.
DeleteWell, actually that's not completely true. Now that I think about it, this is another logic!fail. Maxwell would be wearing military assigned black briefs like Alex is. So he wouldn't have boxers on.
So, is the Rubix cube inspired by anything ?
ReplyDeleteI have no idea where that came from. I think it shows up in Hidden and Alex is touching it again at some point.
DeleteThis is going to be the official trademark saying of TDOSH
ReplyDeletehttp://oi44.tinypic.com/x1adqb.jpg
Ahhh ! I can't believe someone made that ! I have no clue why I started saying that. I'm going to use it.
DeleteOkay, just an idea for you SH but couldn't Rhett like have a therapist who is a Major. eh eh ? Then you can write about a major and doctor again.
ReplyDeleteWait, he does have a therapist or mentor in the Coast Guard right ? Who is female (off to re-read UL2)
DeleteHe does and her name is Channing too. It was a total mistake.
DeleteIs it the official TDOSH consensus that what happened between them wasn't consensual ?
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I am saying this.....but....uh...it was kind of a Blurred Line. Or date rape at the least. I mean Alex doesn't mind the touching or oral sex with Maxwell...it's the penetrative sex he doesn't like, but he does it anyway to make Maxwell happy.
DeleteHowever, if you're talking about The First Time, Maxwell never even asks him if he wants to do it and Alex never actually says no or resists....so, yeah. Blurred line ?
CPShawna: *eases back into the jokes* Barbra Walters would disagree
ReplyDeleteMOST CLEVER JOKE EVER.
CPShawna: The joke was staring right at me !
DeleteShawna: That line was horrific anyway.
I Think what I was orginally looking for in Sundays was the usual SH quirky dark lovable characters. Now I see Sundays with new open eyes. It's so dark and complex with similar tones as Veritas.
ReplyDeleteSundays has all the serious business feels in it. It's just so raw and character based. I'd really like to know more about Maxwell.
DeleteYou should write somethign just called Maxwell.
Delete. . . we need to stop tell SH what to write.
I'll write whatever you all want if you can force Lile to open her vault again.
DeleteAlthough I kind of have a Maxwell/Alex story in my "vault" but it's not cannon anymore, so I'm not sure if I'd ever share it. It may turn up in something else.
As for Harlow's suicide as plot device was it supposed to make Alex more vulnerable ? Would he have fallen for Maxwell if Harlow lived.
ReplyDeleteHarlow's death is what forced Maxwell to have direct contact with Alex for the first time. Also, I think (despite being kind of mean) Harlow wouldn't let Maxwell take advantage of his brother.
DeleteYou know aren't all SH characters Anti-Heros ? It's like SH and CyberPunk were bound to meet.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea how I even got on this CP bandwagon. I think I just thought the word sounded cool.
DeleteI know ! I didn't even give that one to CPShawna, I said that.
ReplyDeleteAHH OMG SQUEEE ! I can't believe I'm based on a character in your book. OMG it explains so much. I have blonde hair, JB has dark hair.
ReplyDeleteI'm SO Honored. OMFG *flails* *shakin' N' cryin'
I don't even know where to begin. You are so sweet. This has made my day, SH. (:
you know i also have blonde hair
Deleteactually . . . I have no idea who you are. Wait did we meet at Christmas or something ?
DeleteSorry, Spike (wait, have we met ?) but I didn't know of you when I wrote this.
Delete
ReplyDeletedifferent (but equally inconsiquential) characters
meta---burn, SH
(:
DeleteI know ! I'm just glad it means chapter 12 isn't the last. . .
ReplyDeleteSpoiler alert: neither is 14.
Delete