Falling in Love in a Coffee Shop - Part 10

"Agent Officer Audrey Parker Mason; I presume?" Duke helped her out of the hatch and onto the deck.

"Yeah, thanks." Audrey bit at the insides of her cheeks to keep from smiling at him. "And you must be Duke."

Since this is my quiet little spot - Part 2

So Eric tweeted that he was bummed about Emma not returning as Jennifer but that Emma had to do what was best for her and her family.

1st of all: I hope this means simply that she and her family wanted to go home and that all is well. Off hand, I would say that it's likely they didn't or couldn't offer her a contract with suitable pay. In which case, she would have my full support: when possible, never take less than you know you're worth.

2nd of all: It's good to know that Jennifer's death isn't the result of some whim coming from a writing team that kills off characters (particularly females) willy-nilly.

3rd of all: That's really sweet of Eric. I wonder what kind of questioning/grilling he got from fans?

At this point, I always consider recasts. When we love a character, how attached to the actor is that? Could Jennifer be loved if she was played by someone else? Could Duke?

I'm glad that Jennifer wasn't just some disposable character to this show. That makes me feel better, but there are a number of emerging reasons that I might not watch Season 5. At least, not in the way that I have watched the previous four seasons, not week by week, certain to watch it live or as soon as possible after.

P.S. Eric's tweet doesn't explain why Colin Ferguson is the new Maytag man.

Falling in Love in a Coffee Shop - Part 9

Duke jerked awake to the sound of someone pounding on the door to the deck. He was still on his back, Jennifer still tangled on and around him.There was a mild tingling in his arm from her head resting on his shoulder through the night and the sun was shining on her through the window, lighting a dark fire in her hair. The bruises on her face had darkened through the night and interrupted the vision of porcelain he should have been treated to. He grimaced as he eased her to the side, his frown deepening when he felt signs of a fever on her forehead and progressing right to snarling when the pounding on the door sounded again. Pulling a pistol from the nightstand, and pulling on some pants, he went to let the visitor know that they didn't want any.

Falling In Love In A Coffee Shop - Part 8

So, this is where things get rather Café Noir. There's depiction of abuse here and if you don't like that sort of thing then don't click through. This was a fevered vision of mine and so I wrote it. It's pretty rough and drafty as hell and that's before I address the content. I wrote this from Duke's perspective because it was easier to deal with emotionally. Though I don't imagine Duke sees it that way. As I wrote it, I found myself musing on the narrative function of placing one character in danger and torment in order to force the other character to acknowledge or even develop their feelings. It's a cheap trick for a variety of reasons, the worst being rampant sexism. The fact that this almost always means that the female or femme character has to suffer is something to really consider. Statistically, women are more likely to be victims of violence than men. But in our fictional narrative world we do have the opportunity to change that, so many of us writers fail at that. I think I'm going to have to watch Emma Lahanna as Kira Ford and flip the table on her and Duke at some point, putting him in mortal danger and send her to an ass kicking rescue. Actually seeing the actress in a hero's role would help me switch my visualization around.

Obviously, this is several hours ahead of the current timeline for FILIACS#5. Sometimes I write an event like this and then write to it, altering the ever living shit out of it by the time the story carries itself there. I don't particularly like plot driven drama or narrative myself so if the character development won't carry it to that event then the event gets tossed to the side or unrecognizably altered. If the point of this blog is to let you and myself watch my process then even though this story remains for Ann, I felt like I should go ahead and publish this. It's always subject to be changed or even removed. I'm not comfortable with the implications in this content or with how I would depict some of the events leading up to this moment. Also, when I put something in italics and/or alternate color it's because I'm seriously considering cutting it. In this instance, I'm trying to convey how Duke finds Jennifer herself attractive but is certainly not aroused in the current circumstance.

Finally... Hypothermia. This is already too damn long but you should know that while I once treated my own dumb ass for hypothermia from freezing water this way it certainly isn't sound medical advice. Except for the part of having Duke with you. I'm pretty sure any decent doctor would get on board with having Duke press his naked body against you in pretty much any circumstance. If not, seek 2nd opinion.

Umm.... Enjoy?

Falling in Love in a Coffee Shop - Part 7

"You come lookin' for me, and I'll find you."