The Last Generation

So, in addition to the main characters, the movie of the book will obviously need to cast people for the characters of Major Patriot and Bombshell, two of the most important parahuman heroes of their generation before the Massacre. These are both characters who would have been active in the 80s and will be seen in flashbacks/newspaper clippings/etc.



This is Major Patriot, the leader of the *Insert Most Famous Hero Team Here* and America's Golden Boy. I wanted somebody who was both very attractive and also very all-American looking. Major Patriot would not let himself get a five o'clock shadow, though, so Chris Hemsworth will have to shave. He is the actor who is going to play Thor in the upcoming movie which is how I know who he is (although apparently he has been in other things). Ironically he is Australian, but this makes sense as all of the cutest guys are. He is also 6'3" which is great for an iconic hero like Major Patriot.




This is Bombshell, another member of *Insert Name*. She's unoffically third-in-command. She's into punk rock and wearing studded leather and she's the wild child of the team, but she's loyal and always comes through. The girl in this photo is Hayley Williams (lead singer of Paramore) who I definitely do not want in the movie, but the photo really looked like what I think of when I think of Bombshell. I was originally thinking Rachel McAdams (I want that bubbly personality she has), but when I was googling "redheads" this photo of Hayley came up and it was just right.

Flaws

1) I've changed my mind about JD's real name. It will not be Kira.... I still stand by my reasoning in choosing it, but I need something that is less Porn Star Barbie (in my eyes at least). I got this "Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook" so I might start pouring through it a bit more and give up on the 80s Rock star names.

2) Today I'm at 46,396 words. I have a list stapled to the inside of my notebook of "Scenes Needed" so that's helping me sort of stay on track a bit. Some of them are very specific, but some of them are just things like "Show more of Mara's personality" which can be a little bit harder because if I had an idea for that I already would've written it, right?

3)Team Daniel? Team Tyler? Hell if I know. I thought I'd decided and was writing in that direction, but I keep having second thoughts.

4)Lately I have been thinking about "Fatal" or "Tragic" flaws. What got me thinking about them was actually the Percy Jackson book series, because (since they are so strongly tied to Greek myth), they mention that all heroes must have some kind of fatal flaw. This is a very loose and technically not-quite-right interpretation of Artistotle (who considered it to be more or a fatal CHOICE rather than character trait), but I like their interpretation better.

I will be working on figuring out what each character's fatal flaw is, but since JD is the hero of the story I have so far just concentrated on her. Her fatal flaw is that she only sees the world in black and white. Good guys do good things, and bad guys do bad things. She has a really difficult time believing that someone (Erin, for example) can do bad things but still ultimately be a good person and be on her side. This results in her being judgemental and unable to forgive, which is really going to hold her back in terms of forming relationships (that she needs both as a person and as a hero). Other than the obvious defeat-the-bad-guy plotline, a lot of the book revolves around her learning to STOP compartmentalizing and judging people, including (most importantly?) herself.

45,919.

And every time I type the bad guy's name, I spell it differently. I really need to pick a spelling and stick with it.

Drawing a Blank.

I just typed up about four handwritten pages, both of which are unfinished scenes. I have "NEEDS MORE" written in red in so many places in that thing. I've started trying to go back and fill some stuff in, but sometimes I have a really hard time figuring out how to end a scene. I just sort of stop writing after the "important" stuff happens.

Today's Word Count: 43,107. Not much higher than the last!

And finally, after months (literally, I was thinking about this back at Ocracoke), I think I've decided on JD's real name. Kira. Which is the name of the bass player for Black Flag (which fits the image I am setting up of her mother as this punk rock sort of superhero, and she would've listened to Black Flag back around when JD was born). I'm not sure though because I had already decided her last name was Curran and I don't know how I feel about the alliteration of Kira Curran. Or Aidan Curran. UGH. Curran might have to go. So much for my sly Gene Kelly reference.

I know this is a short update but it's 11:00 and I've got to get ready for bed.