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The RA 3, Ch 11
🕑 Added 2023-05-16 23:53:41 +0000 UTCHere we are, near the end of part 3. When I started this chapter, I was sure it would end here. I'll do a handful of scenes of Spencer checking in as needs be, wrap up the Lexi issue, have a proper erotica Halloween party and there we go.
Then I wrote... this.
I'm really, really happy with how this chapter turned out. It wound up being entirely occupied with those check-ins, though. (I titled the chapter Rounds, which as jargon is bad, since Spencer is not making rounds in the sense we've used the term elsewhere, but in a common colloquial sense he's making the rounds. We'll see what feels right in revision.) There's a lot of great scenes in here, some spicy, some dramatic, some just plain fun. I'll tighten up this and that, and where appropriate I'll go back to foreshadow this and that earlier in volume 3.
The problem, however, is that I am as yet unsure how to finish the book now. I still want to sneak in a little Hancock epilogue, since that's one of our RA tropes and it's nice to squeeze in some big picture here and there. I'm just not sure what to do with 1) the Lexi issue, and 2) the Halloween party.
1: Lexi. My gut sense is that it's shitty not resolving this. It was one of the big chapter 1 problems, after all. However, a theme of this installment is moving forward from fuck-ups, how sometimes things get broke and all you can do is do better moving forward. Tori, obviously, is our case in point, but Spencer's got his share, Casey, etc.
So there's also a part of me that thinks it's all right to end with things remaining dicey between the two, with Lexi still hurt and sad, and Spencer still not sure how to make up for objectifying and sexualizing a woman in a moment of pain since his best maneuver for bonding has been sexualization. I want something between the two as an interaction, even if it's just acknowledgment of "hey, I'm sorry" "yeah, probably ought to be" thing. For as much as got wrapped up in a neat little bow here, maybe not everything should be. Still mulling it over.
2: Any party on Higgins 3 is going to be great, especially on Halloween, the sexiest of holidays. I have oodles of thoughts and plans for this scene. Costumes, funtivities, depravities. It's gonna be metal.
The question is whether what we have now is a better note to end the story on. We've had a Halloween party already, after all, and while it was watered down, will it be redundant doing another 2 chapters later. Plus, there's an opportunity to do the thing where we pick up exactly where we left off when we start book 4 and kick that off with the Halloween party -- where this volume opens pretty gloomy, we could mix it up and kick things off with a nice costumed orgy. Likewise, volume 4 will need its own core conflict, and there's good potential to introduce new conflict for a fresh story there. People do crazy stuff at parties, after all, and it's a public and chaotic environment, so a lot of unlikely things can more plausibly happen. Savannah walks in on it during rounds and OMG and gosh you better make this up to me (or bring me down to your level); or Vickie does, and hubba hubba we should get back to fucking and maybe find out if we actually have chemistry or if we just like fucking each other; Ramona decides she's tired of hiding and joins the Hotties in play time but Spencer is like oh frick people are gonna freak out oh nooo; any of a million incidents with the Hotties, possibly including the beginning of a road to reconciliation with Lexi, above.
Or maybe it's better just end with a big, uncomplicated fuckathon! Maybe after what we've been through, we should just get to have a scene where Spencer judges myriad sub-categories of a Hottie costume contest and the winners get first dicking. Which is also really fun!
So... yeah. I'm mulling it over, trying to balance what's going to be interesting as the series moves forward with giving this one a satisfying ending. Is it best to take a volume about a rebellion against dear leader and end it with him hugging and crying and licking and fucking the rebels back into the fold (i.e. call it quits here), or is it better to approach it as an erotica tale about a harem that stops putting out, and end it with everybody going back to being horny sluts (i.e. onward to Halloween party 2.0).
If you have thoughts or opinions or just want to tell me to shut up and not bog you down with another thousand words of rambling, leave it in the comments or DM me or whatever.
For now, though, I hope you enjoy. More to come.
Comments
Ice Bear
I'm low-key looking forward to seeing the final word count, seeing what kind of words/day I averaged on this thing. Easiest book I ever wrote!
WDB
Seriously, though, I think it's best to save Actual Halloween Party for the next book (structurally, it just doesn't make sense in this volume after the last two chapters) and maybe try and find some way to put a brief run-in with Lexi at the beginning of the final chapter, before transitioning into Hancock Institute stuff. Just the two of them passing in the quad or whatever, he admits that he's guilty but trying to move on, she admits that she forgives him but she can't forget it, save the rest for Book 4. I think you've got the right the instinct, that the dilemma (as stated in this chapter) is that you can't look for other people to absolve you of your guilt by demanding/requiring their forgiveness; you have to work at it everyday, and forgive yourself. It would undercut the scene with Jo to then have Spencer think "But I gotta make things right with Lexi no matter what." I think you already know what would best end this book, you're just worried about the audience's reaction. As a member of the audience, I'm saying to trust your gut. After all, it gave us this remarkable, *definitive* chapter of The RA, so it must be trustworthy. I think I said a while back that my ideal RA chapter/book would be Spencer kicking around Higgins 3 and solving little problems with residents, and I'm so happy that I was right in my assessment. This was... god, you know how it good it was, and that's very exciting to me as a reader. I'd hate for you to deliver a piece of writing this nuanced and multi-faceted and be like Really Shanked That One. This was the chapter that solidified my belief that this series could run for years (in real life, if not fictionally as well) without exhausting either its premise or my patience. It's so clever in its dialogue; so heartfelt in its humanity; so sexy in its debauchery; so perfect in its construction. And that's, if anything, my main argument against trying to do another long chapter to end this book: You've already got the perfect ending. Give this volume an epilogue (a bit of business to let us know that Lexi isn't in danger, some Big Picture stuff with Hancock) and let it be as good as it can possibly be. There's plenty of room and time for sexy shenanigans in Book 4 (and 5 and 6 and), but Book 3 has reached its apotheosis. Nothing left for it now but the well-deserved kudos. You are exceptionally good at this. Thank you for sharing it with us!
WDB
The best thing you can do for the next chapter is, obviously, to have Spencer find out what he missed in the classes he skipped for this chapter. You're welcome!
Serendipity
Having problems finishing the book? Solution: Just keep releasing new chapters.
