I promised an update

Congratulations

I just want to say how happy I am for Shawna and Erik and I totally did not help pick out the engagement ring !

Chapter 8
Consider it a study guide or more crazy

There is a bit of intrigue going on in this story and even I lose track of what's going on. I usually make a "motivations" list to help keep track

I think the thing to understand is that Mr. DeLune asked Mr. Fierro for help in creating a reward for Clara, realizing how in need of money and how proud Martin was he then decided to blackmail Martin hoping he will once again come to him for money because he is "predictable"

Chapter 8 really revealed that Martin hadn't used the money from chapter 7 to pay the ransom hoping Mr. Fierro wouldn't find out but of course . . .


Chapter 9

So here it is chapter 9, this was orginally chapter 8 but I felt that this section was necessary for the story to be well rounded, if you will. This chapter is slighly less complicated. . . at least at first glance.

Playlist

This playlist features in particular order ; One song by an italian pianist who isn't Clara, One song I've used before, one song that has been on almost every primetime drama and another song that really grew on me

+1+ - Piano Sonata No. 14 - Murray Perhaia

+2+ - Le Onde - Ludvocio Einaudi

+3+ - 9 Crimes - Damien Rice

+4+ - Blower's Daughter - Damien Rice

Chapter 9

Link Crazy

OH, I'm so sorry I accidentally "opened" LL8 not HOF 8 sorry.. . . new chapter coming soon

This is a long blog entry because chapter 8 is a short one.

SYTCD

Yes, we made it to another taping of SYTYCD, it was a performance show. I 'm an American Idol fan but my niece seems to be a big fan of Kent. I think he is from the same small town as my sister-in-law.

Pictures

I did have a few pictures for inspiration for a few of the characters

Clara's Mother is inspired by Carla Bruni AKA the new First Lady of France

Clara's Father - John O'Hurley aka, that guy from Dancing With The Stars (p.s.Ms. DeLune and Mr. Fierro are dancing the foxtrot in chapter 2, obviously more like this !)

Henry Thorpe - an older Paul Cincotti whose version of "Sway" I used

Music

As much as I love playing the guessing game, one of the "goals" of this was to use a diverse amount of music from different eras and genres I think so far we've explored Classical, Pop, Mambo and Soul.

Speaking of Soul I was concerned about using Otis Redding in this chapter I originally wanted a pop song that everyone knew such as"I Can't Help Myself" by the Temptations or "Twist and Shout"by the Beatles or something by Michael Jackson.

However I had that song left over it was supposed to be in chapter three (when Mr. Fierro starts smoking) but I felt it worked better here. It's difficult to find reasonably music from the 80's although I do have one.

Chapter 7/Comments
(speaking of comments Erik and Shawna might find it fun to look at some of their old comments)

Mrs. Beck

I can't say when I knew Mrs. Beck was going to die but once it happened it was unavoidable. The scene after Mrs. Beck's death was another one of those "written first" sections and I Find it interesting that some of you missed something about that part that was important in the first draft.

Also there was another Commenter (I usually keep tabs) who said Clara should hit Mr. Fierro, have you been picking at my notes ?

Wanna see how crazy I am ?

I noticed in Chapter 7 when Lucie drives the car into the ravine Mr. Fierro calls her Clara instead of Ms. DeLune. This happened in another chapter and I fixed it but for some reason I did not even notice this, and I realized that he probably wouldn't call Clara "Ms. DeLune" infront of Lucie (like he does Clara's mother)

Questions

There have been questions as to why Lucie would let Clara talk to Mr. Fierro, and it is because Lucie would like to pretend they are ". . .the family [she wants them] to be", however she does have an alternative reason.

of course the real question is where Lucie is going . . .

Why Does Addison lets Lucie Control Clara ?

It was somewhat revealed in chapter 6 but it may have been to subtle. In one word "Ultio"In chapter 6 he comments on how some feelings out way other and that feeling is Revenge. If he can keep Clara in his house he can use her to act out vengeance on Roger, however at the same time there is something that prevented him from chopping her to pieces. If anything he and Lucie are unbeknowestly working together. It's convenient because he knows Clara will blame Lucie for her suffering and not him, but he is not completely convinced it's the ethical thing to do (cue: chain smoking)

As for Violeta's Comment

. . . he is just a young insecure 25 year old man who doesn't know how to deal with his feelings.

I buy this, especially when isn't sure how to comfort Clara when she is crying.

Clara = Canon Sue

Another comment that spoke about Clara being the only innocent one with everyone out for revenge made me think that possibly Clara is a Canon Sue. In her defense she tries to please everyone, she plays her sister's favorite songs at the wedding, she is the maid of honor, she became a teacher like Lucie. I'm not entirely convinced either way but I'd be interested in what readers get from her.

True, in LL she was a bit naive and possibly selfish but that's not much to work with. Since HOF is pretty much outlined/done I won't be making her clumsy or make her kick puppies to give her personality.


Chapter 8

Okay this chapter is a little different and once again it is short and involves a bit of Dramatic Irony (I could have used a wiki or scholar link but I love this website now, I started using tropes in Real life, Thanks Shawna). Once we are all finished I may be able to explain why this part had to stand alone.

I'll try to update soon to make up for it !

Playlist

Um, well there isn't really a song although I did like C.S Lewis song for this one. I didn't add it to the playlist but there a link here


Chapter 8

Fine Fresh Fierce We Got It On Lock

Yes, I know I'm from the midwest

No excuse

So, I've been away for a while. I'm working on a few projects not related to Cobalt.

Anywho I decided to make this post after coming back from taking my girls (mostly my niece)to see So You Think You Can Dance Live.

Chapter 6

Okay, this chapter gave me a hard time. I was afraid the part with Mr. Fierro talking to Reverend wouldn't work ,but it served two purposes

1. It explains why Addison never left his farm in the 1950s. His foster parents were strictly relighouse and self sufficent which is why he had to sneak out to the library. This is also why he is a bit of an introvert. It also semi-explain why he doesn't cook or do house work.

2. It also put the idea in Clara's head that people would not recognize her and have stopped looking.

Also it may become more evident in this chapter but Mr. FIerro could easily dominate (you know what I mean) Clara but from what we know of Lucie she took advantage of him. Even Clara sort of calls him out on it in chapter 11.

Yes, I'll admit to some unsavory subtext at the end of chapter 6, if it made you uncomfortable it's supposed to.

Once again this is another one of these chapters where Mr. Fierro and Clara's Mother's scene was written early on. In Chapter 5 when Mr. Fierro says

her disappearance was quoted as causing sympathy and heartache for her wealthy family and fiancee, among other things I would later find to be lies.

He is referring to The DeLune's being bankrupt , Mr. DeLune marrying his daughters off for money, making him wonder if Martin wants Clara back for the right reason.


Tropes

Someone at Cobalt e-mailed me this list and I love it but there are a few things I don't agree with

Genius Book Club
Tolstoy was the social equivalent of Harry Potter back in the day, it's not really appraised except by us simple people, which is why she is reading it.

Crowning Moments of Heartwarming Angels : Sofia looks in the mirror to see a man in love
I think I've gone on and on about how much I regret writing that, it was one of the reasons I did a sequel it was just so predictable and a little cheesy. YMMV, right. Did I use that right ?

Happily Married -- Subverted . . . with everyone . . . Lile has ever written about . . . to this point . . . hmm
Okay, so just looking at S&A the ending sort of gave the idea that Sofia and Tomas have the happiest ending they deserved.

I will discuss this more when I finish HOF *making Venn diagram* I'm calling it my Epic Romance Post and am writing it as we speak.

Speaking of which I'm trying to come up with a non-canon parody crossover. My therapist says I need more humor !

Playlist

Today's Playlist has in no particular order a I've used before, A song that was featured on SYTYCD (but I had it first), One song from a Shakespearean film and a song that has been covered more times than I thought.

+1+ - Against All Odds - The Postal Service*It's supposed to sound like that
+2+ - I've Been Loving You - Otis Redding
+3+ - A Time For Us - Nino Rota
+4+ - Sweet Escape - Paul Cardall

Chapter 7