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Hmm. What now?
Aug. 4th, 2015 04:07 amWell, August is really not off to a great start. I'll be rather surprised if that changes for the better, but not if it changes for the worse.
I did finish my Perry story, which I'm thrilled about. Then I have a slight dilemma of wondering what to do next. I believe long ago, I posted about how a steady reviewer had an idea for a story he was hoping I could write and I liked it. The problem is, even though I like it, I can't figure out how to really flesh it out into a fully workable plot. Right now it involves a possessed necklace and the idea that Della eventually gets hold of it and sometimes the spirit takes her over. I believe I also remember something about the spirit witnessing a crime. And she has a motel or an apartment somewhere.... It's kind of similar to the season 1 episode The Deadly Double, except that there's a supernatural slant instead of the person having multiple personalities.
My puzzlement over figuring out how to fully make it work is not just because it was suggested by someone else. A lot of times, I have an idea but can't give it enough meat to make it work as a story. Occasionally the missing piece will come to me and suddenly I'll know how to make it work. Other times, my mind is just left a blank. Currently I'm not sure how to work that story any more than I was sure when the idea first came up. I also wonder if a story with a definite supernatural slant would be the best thing to have as a Perry fic comeback. I've written a couple of creepy haunted house Perry fics while the big fic was hanging, but it still seems a little different than a fic where one of the main characters is possessed, so I'm a little nervous to think of posting that as my first new Perry mystery following the conclusion of The Malevolent Mugging.
My other main idea probably isn't much better, though: that idea of maybe doing a story taking place right after The Spectral Stalker and showing how Captain Caldwell is reintegrating back into society and maybe a mystery coming up. The Spectral Stalker was probably my most self-indulgent Perry fic and very, very sci-fi in nature. A sequel wouldn't be along those lines so much, but having Caldwell around at all, alive, would mean it would tread the path at least a little bit.
I had a vague thought of doing a mystery around The Decadent Dean episode, which I love for wonderful performances by Milton Selzer and H.M. Wynant, but the problem with that is that it would kind of re-tread some of the same ground as The Spectral Stalker, with the character murdered in the episode showing up alive. Although the similarity in plot would end there, more or less, save for the other similarity of a shattered friendship.
The shattered friendship in The Misguided Missile episode is unique among all of the shattered friendships on the series, however, because we don't actually know who was right and who was wrong. We never got Caldwell's side of the story, and I never believed that Jerry was fully in the right. I think they were each telling the truth and that while Jerry really gave the order, Caldwell really didn't ever receive it. But anyway.
In The Decadent Dean, the situation is very different, with the friendship being shattered over the one character being an absolute slimeball to Milton's character. It's disgusting; greed gets a hold of him and he wants to sell the land Milton's character owns, so he spreads lies and tries to shut the private school down. Then he gets Milton's character's alcoholic wife sick and drunk and frames Milton's character for manslaughter by pretending to fall off a cliff during a fight between them. It's even worse because from things said in the episode, it sounds like he actually was a genuine friend at one time, instead of always pretending right from the start. I think out of all the Perry slimeballs over the course of 271 episodes, he's just about the worst.
I ended up reviving him in a Livejournal-only blurb, so that he would have to suffer with what he did while trying to put his life back together. Also because I wanted to explore what would happen if he ever did regret his actions, considering they seemed to have really been friends at one time. But I don't know if I want to bring any version of that blurb into my official timeline. The idea of a friendship being shattered over one character being a slimeball was kind of covered in the story I just finished, too, so there's that to think about. That one remains dead, however, but comes back a couple of times to try to help out, as he regrets what he did.
The thought of writing something based on The Decadent Dean really is appealing, though. I love Milton's character and the wife and it sounds like fun writing for them. Maybe I'd have to come up with a different plot than Tobin Wade coming around alive again. (Although ten to one, if I actually write the story, he'll show up in there anyway and I'll have the same problem of my comeback story having a supernatural slant.) I'm getting an idea of the new school seeming to be haunted and Milton's character or the wife going to Perry for help. Can't I stay away from supernatural plots for long?
Maybe I could write a fic based around The Decadent Dean or The Misguided Missile first, and then I could do the necklace story when it's closer to Halloween. I've wanted to write a Perry mystery set at a masquerade; maybe the necklace could turn up in that. Or maybe I'll get yet another idea for the next mystery (preferably one that does not involve ghosts or returning dead people).
Hey, maybe the story with The Decadent Dean and the necklace could all be one thing. Maybe the necklace is at the new school and Della finds it, and things happen, and the masquerade could be a thing the school is holding! Hmm, I like this idea. But I don't know if it should be my next story. I'd really like it to be a Halloween story and then do something not supernatural-ish as the comeback story.
I could always focus the next mystery more on Virginia, who's been left open as a recurring character, and Jodie, who was set up as a character to play a larger part in a future story. But I'd kind of rather do an episode-based fic.
I could give Daniel Conway his own story now, which I intend to do at some point since he piggy-backed on The Impatient Partner-based story I just finished. But I can't think of another plot for him at the moment.
Maybe I should write a mystery based around Sergeant Brice. I've been wanting to explore his interaction with Della, after that adorable canon scene they have in the uncut version of The 12th Wildcat. Also, there's that idea of a Mannix crossover, but I need to write the fic where Della meets Peggy first.
And now that I have this idea of combining the necklace fic with The Decadent Dean-based fic, I'm getting the most excited to write it next after all, despite the supernatural slants. Oh dear. I really think something else should be the comeback fic....
Decisions, decisions....
I did finish my Perry story, which I'm thrilled about. Then I have a slight dilemma of wondering what to do next. I believe long ago, I posted about how a steady reviewer had an idea for a story he was hoping I could write and I liked it. The problem is, even though I like it, I can't figure out how to really flesh it out into a fully workable plot. Right now it involves a possessed necklace and the idea that Della eventually gets hold of it and sometimes the spirit takes her over. I believe I also remember something about the spirit witnessing a crime. And she has a motel or an apartment somewhere.... It's kind of similar to the season 1 episode The Deadly Double, except that there's a supernatural slant instead of the person having multiple personalities.
My puzzlement over figuring out how to fully make it work is not just because it was suggested by someone else. A lot of times, I have an idea but can't give it enough meat to make it work as a story. Occasionally the missing piece will come to me and suddenly I'll know how to make it work. Other times, my mind is just left a blank. Currently I'm not sure how to work that story any more than I was sure when the idea first came up. I also wonder if a story with a definite supernatural slant would be the best thing to have as a Perry fic comeback. I've written a couple of creepy haunted house Perry fics while the big fic was hanging, but it still seems a little different than a fic where one of the main characters is possessed, so I'm a little nervous to think of posting that as my first new Perry mystery following the conclusion of The Malevolent Mugging.
My other main idea probably isn't much better, though: that idea of maybe doing a story taking place right after The Spectral Stalker and showing how Captain Caldwell is reintegrating back into society and maybe a mystery coming up. The Spectral Stalker was probably my most self-indulgent Perry fic and very, very sci-fi in nature. A sequel wouldn't be along those lines so much, but having Caldwell around at all, alive, would mean it would tread the path at least a little bit.
I had a vague thought of doing a mystery around The Decadent Dean episode, which I love for wonderful performances by Milton Selzer and H.M. Wynant, but the problem with that is that it would kind of re-tread some of the same ground as The Spectral Stalker, with the character murdered in the episode showing up alive. Although the similarity in plot would end there, more or less, save for the other similarity of a shattered friendship.
The shattered friendship in The Misguided Missile episode is unique among all of the shattered friendships on the series, however, because we don't actually know who was right and who was wrong. We never got Caldwell's side of the story, and I never believed that Jerry was fully in the right. I think they were each telling the truth and that while Jerry really gave the order, Caldwell really didn't ever receive it. But anyway.
In The Decadent Dean, the situation is very different, with the friendship being shattered over the one character being an absolute slimeball to Milton's character. It's disgusting; greed gets a hold of him and he wants to sell the land Milton's character owns, so he spreads lies and tries to shut the private school down. Then he gets Milton's character's alcoholic wife sick and drunk and frames Milton's character for manslaughter by pretending to fall off a cliff during a fight between them. It's even worse because from things said in the episode, it sounds like he actually was a genuine friend at one time, instead of always pretending right from the start. I think out of all the Perry slimeballs over the course of 271 episodes, he's just about the worst.
I ended up reviving him in a Livejournal-only blurb, so that he would have to suffer with what he did while trying to put his life back together. Also because I wanted to explore what would happen if he ever did regret his actions, considering they seemed to have really been friends at one time. But I don't know if I want to bring any version of that blurb into my official timeline. The idea of a friendship being shattered over one character being a slimeball was kind of covered in the story I just finished, too, so there's that to think about. That one remains dead, however, but comes back a couple of times to try to help out, as he regrets what he did.
The thought of writing something based on The Decadent Dean really is appealing, though. I love Milton's character and the wife and it sounds like fun writing for them. Maybe I'd have to come up with a different plot than Tobin Wade coming around alive again. (Although ten to one, if I actually write the story, he'll show up in there anyway and I'll have the same problem of my comeback story having a supernatural slant.) I'm getting an idea of the new school seeming to be haunted and Milton's character or the wife going to Perry for help. Can't I stay away from supernatural plots for long?
Maybe I could write a fic based around The Decadent Dean or The Misguided Missile first, and then I could do the necklace story when it's closer to Halloween. I've wanted to write a Perry mystery set at a masquerade; maybe the necklace could turn up in that. Or maybe I'll get yet another idea for the next mystery (preferably one that does not involve ghosts or returning dead people).
Hey, maybe the story with The Decadent Dean and the necklace could all be one thing. Maybe the necklace is at the new school and Della finds it, and things happen, and the masquerade could be a thing the school is holding! Hmm, I like this idea. But I don't know if it should be my next story. I'd really like it to be a Halloween story and then do something not supernatural-ish as the comeback story.
I could always focus the next mystery more on Virginia, who's been left open as a recurring character, and Jodie, who was set up as a character to play a larger part in a future story. But I'd kind of rather do an episode-based fic.
I could give Daniel Conway his own story now, which I intend to do at some point since he piggy-backed on The Impatient Partner-based story I just finished. But I can't think of another plot for him at the moment.
Maybe I should write a mystery based around Sergeant Brice. I've been wanting to explore his interaction with Della, after that adorable canon scene they have in the uncut version of The 12th Wildcat. Also, there's that idea of a Mannix crossover, but I need to write the fic where Della meets Peggy first.
And now that I have this idea of combining the necklace fic with The Decadent Dean-based fic, I'm getting the most excited to write it next after all, despite the supernatural slants. Oh dear. I really think something else should be the comeback fic....
Decisions, decisions....
