All Eyes on Me

This piece picks up immediately after Day #4 - Morning at Home. Something Bernie suggested we do in part V was do something with the relationship between Clara and Mary— we always intended for them to have one, but they didn't end up having much interaction in part III, with Clara being focused on what Nathaniel wasn't telling her, and then Clara didn't end up showing up at all in part IV. So that idea's been by the wayside since part II, but we're trying to pick it up a little here. We found a source of conflict to explore to give it dimension, and the first inkling of it shows up in this scene.



We're a little concerned about how long the piece is going to turn out ot be— something we worry about every time, since we're committed to runtimes of ninety minutes. Unfortunately I think this subplot will be the first to be cut, if anything has to be. But I'm really hoping we can keep it. I've always admired ensemble pieces where each character has individual relationships with all the other characters, so I'm trying to develop the ones between my ensemble here as much as I can.

( Day #12 - Something Amiss )

Looks like the boys are hanging out again! It's because of this scene drafted for part V: Mrs. Frost that I needed Nathaniel and Arthur to have already met before this show happened. This moment kicks off one of the major plot threads of part V, Nathaniel's little solo adventure while the rest of the team is working from another end.

Also, Arthur's joke I can't take credit for. It was Matt Kamm's suggestion, the actor who plays Arthur. Shows how well he knows the character!

( Day #10 - Undercover )

This piece actually is from Mrs. Frost! This is a cute little moment with Nathaniel and Clara that happens early on, before all the plot shit hits the fan. The purpose of it is twofold. It's a nice bit of character, which I'm trying to weave in and out of the stories naturally, giving us information about where these two are right now. Clara is busy with her own life, pushing along merrily with her social contexts. We're reminded that Nathaniel has a day job that he takes care of separately from his superhero life (but which he's very fortunate he's able to basically run on his own schedule). It also reminds us about their kids, who while the two of them are not really responsible for the raising of, are still clearly important to them.

But, perhaps most importantly, it establishes that the status of their relationship. While Nathaniel mentions her several times in part IV, the last time we saw them interact was in part III, when she'd just found out he'd been keeping his superhero activities secret from her and she was upset. This demonstrates how they've moved forward from that point and how they've incorporated things into their lives. But it also establishes where we'll be traveling from in the course of part V-- as Clara will have to deal with the impact of Nathaniel's helping his aunt more directly than she ever has before. All the small, seemingly inconsequential details in this scene will be built upon later in the story.

( Day #4 - Morning at Home )

Mrs. Hawking part V, which I’ve been working more seriously on in the last few months, is going to be a little darker than previously. As I mentioned, the entirety of the second trilogy is heading that way, and while I don’t want to go truly out of the largely family-friendly territory where we’ve been dwelling, if you saw part IV I’m sure you noticed that it had a noticeably sadder direction than previous installments. But in designing part V, I think it’s going to be the first Mrs. Hawking piece that ought to be described with a content note.

All the previous shows, I feel, stay within the expected range of a mostly hopeful Victorian superhero story that there’s nothing people can’t self-select out of if they don’t like the tropes of the genre. We have some high-adventure, non-graphic violence, and the occasional appearance of historical drug use, but no bad language and only the most oblique references to sexuality. I’ve never felt like we needed a note before. I don’t know, maybe someone could argue ( (spoiler) ) warrants it, but I have yet to actually use one.

For part V, though, I think it’s definitely appropriate. People should have the ability to self-select out of media that contains issues they don’t want to deal with, so I want to take responsibility for the experience I’m providing. I do believe that people should call them “content notes” rather than “trigger warnings,” though. “Trigger warning” carries some implications I’m not comfortable with.

First of all, the term “trigger” refers to a serious trauma reaction, not simple discomfort or distaste. I don’t feel anyone can predict what might count as a trigger to another person, as it is not always as straightforward as references to certain objectively negative experiences, like sexual assault or substance abuse. I don't want to appropriate the word "trigger" from people with serious psychological reactions and apply it to people who are just uncomfortable. Plus, I don’t think something should have to be something as serious as a trigger in order for a person to have the right to opt out of it. “Content note” provides all the necessary information for people to make informed choices, while at the same time terminologically does not try to speculate on what your reaction might be, nor that you have to have a serious reaction in order to warrant being forewarned. So I prefer the more neutral phrase.

The challenge for me, however, is to provide a useful content note that doesn’t spoil what’s going to happen in my story. Ideal content notes provide information on the concepts dealt with that a person might want to avoid, but should be worded so the events of the story are not specifically revealed. And that’s tricky in my case. I’m concerned the mention of the issue will be enough to spoil. I think it's particularly important for me to figure out the right way to phrase it so that people get the information they need without compromising the storytelling.

A rough, somewhat vague scene. It's a stab at imagining something that would depend on a plot I know nothing about, the thrust of the story in Mrs. Hawking 5. But I am excited to think about how Clara would be pulled in to help out, particularly because Nathaniel's in danger and she's called upon to be the third man on the team (so to speak) in his absence.

Bah. I do not want to be generating more scenes right now. But I'm pretty much out of non-spoilery Gilded Cages scenes, and I can't bear not to fill out the challenge here on this blog.

I should do more with Mary and Clara. I want them to have a friendship too, but I've never had much of an opportunity to explore it.

( Day #27 - Bravest Soul )

One of my biggest regrets about Mrs. Hawking part 4 is there's no room in it for Clara, who has become one of my favorite characters. However, I definitely want her to be an important part of part 5, going so far as to actually include her in the adventure. Since I'm thinking a major part of that plot is Nathaniel gets captured by their enemy in that, she can become the temporary third member of Mrs. Hawking and Mary's team to help free him and solve the case. Particularly because with her social maneuvering, she has a skill set neither of the other two do, and I love the idea that it enables them to work against their enemy on a totally different level— as they realize in "A Separate Battlefield", a scene that kicked off last year's 31P31D.

It's never a great idea to write high-drama, high-intensity scenes before I fully know the context for them, but they're the easiest to imagine when I don't know the story's whole plot. Here's from after Nathaniel is rescued, a moment with just him and Clara.

( Day #6 - Promises Kept )

Took a crack at further developing an idea I have for Mrs. Hawking part 5, where in taking on Mrs. Hawking's nemesis Mrs. Frost, Nathaniel gets kidnapped and held captive by the villain for information. The idea came to me in thinking that Nathaniel's special power is his ability to talk, so wouldn't it be interesting to place him in a situation where he has to try desperately NOT to talk?

I don't know the circumstances of how he gets captured, because I don't know the larger plot of this story yet. But I'm intrigued by the scenario of a captive character in a dangerous situation who has to figure out how to stay alive and keep from betraying the mission long enough for his friends to rescue him. So here's an idea for an early part of that journey.

This scene would take place chronologically before Day #1 - "A Separate Battlefield" when Clara learns what happened to him.

( Day #10 - As My Guest )