Saturday, June 4, 2016

Thoughts on Arc 2 (possible spoilers, do not read if you haven't finished Part 15)

I just finished the second story arc of fs01.  I feel a bit drained.  This pulled in at roughly half the length of the first arc (~17k words, the work as a whole is now at over 50k words). 

After finishing the first arc, Part 10 is the only actual chapter I had in mind that progressed the plot.  That too was based off of a fantasy I wrote for K back in our early days as one of my assignments.  Getting all excited, going all out in pleasuring her with the promise of return, only to be denied in the end and have to accept that her decision was right and just. 

I knew I was going to have Theresa reveal a sub.  I personally don't really like being around other male subs too much while in subspace, so I went with the cheap lesbian fantasy and created B even though I knew it wouldn't appeal at all to some readers.  As of this point I didn't have the rest of the arc planned.  I wanted to portray a B as someone who was pure and good and just... someone you would want to protect.  e.g. even if you weren't a dominant, or if you were a heterosexual Domme, I wanted a character that felt "fragile" enough to where you might consider taking her simply to protect her from falling in with the wrong kind of male Dom. 

B ended up becoming the most important supporting character of the arc.  While normally timid and shy, she had a fire just below the surface.

I put the arc progression up for a vote and people chose the more difficult but emotionally rooted choice.  I followed the suggestion and went along with it.  I already had in mind what I would do if that was the route that I went.  I never had any intention of killing Cassandra.  That would have hit me too close to home. 

Creating Brianna was necessary for this path.  I wanted her to be the fear of kinksters everywhere: a white person with money, conservative values, judgement in her eyes, and a wicked tongue.  As much as we try to insulate ourselves from these types, they are still the constant fear that we try to avoid.  Their words still hurt no matter how much we have prepared ourselves for them.

I felt that fs would need someone to be his pillar through this.  Someone who's nature didn't care about appearances, politicking, or pleasantries, someone that only cared about right and wrong.  The first time I wrote a B outburst, I wasn't sure if it was just for contrast or shock value, but that cemented it. 

I didn't give her a clear physical description aside from being "tiny," but I pictured her as someone that was about 4'9" and maybe 85-90 lbs.  My final debate was in the collaring scene, whether to have her skin be pure or to give her scars.  I teetered with this since I didn't want to conflict with her introduction in Part 9, but it sat consistent with the current state of her character:  I was abused before, I chose to stay in the lifestyle, I will never again standby and watch anyone be hurt unjustly ever again. 

She didn't need to monitor her own behavior and try to behave with delicacy.  This became a very useful tool in progressing the story but it probably also stunted some of the dialogue into 2 word phrases that may have been a conversational give/take had it been with Lisa or Theresa instead.  

My feelings are very mixed as I reflect.  I feel like this was a bit sophomoric... which makes total sense.  Not following a set of pre-determined fantasies made it a lot more difficult.  I hope that people at least found it interesting.   

I got the idea for arc 3 while writing the early parts of Part 15.  I thought about seeing if people could pick it up, but I put it out there plain as day at the end.  I have no clue if/when I will start writing this arc.  I may sit back and read feedback on this arc first.  If people enjoy my writing, I will keep going. 

I do plan on finishing the last arc 1 bonus chapter soon (maybe even tonight).  That chapter was originally slated to occur between Parts 6 and 7 but I felt it broke the trend of escalating intensity so I omitted it. 

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