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First off, there's the ancestor in question, Lottie Richter: German 1848 revolutionary, American Civil War guerrilla, 1st-wave feminist, Populist, Transcendentalist, and widow of the heroic assassin who killed the man who would be King of America. She's present at "Red House" as not just that beautiful skeleton but a gallery of portraits (some nude), a violin, and a librarian AI. Unlike most Spirit Advisors, she takes active part in her descendants' affairs.

#Spanner #AmEditing #2003 /2

Then there's Severina Becket. She wasn't in the early drafts of Spanner In The Works. Her backstory with Sia came to me in a long feverish semi-dream. Like I said, she's a vampire. Sia's a "Factor-positive" who seduces vampires with her healing-factor-infused blood. Severina tells Sia in feverishly romantic reveries that she wants her to be her slave. Too bad for her the word "slave" happens to be Sia's "berserk button".

#Spanner #AmEditing #2003 /3

Spanner In The Works chapter 37 contains the series' first confrontation between Sia and Severina. I'm going to go edit that now, because I have new lines between Severina and the far more hostile Factor-positive turned determined sacrificial victim and would-be "newtype suicide bomb" Jennifer.

#Spanner #AmEditing #2003 /4

This is how the first Sia/Severina scene begins in Spanner In The Works chapter 37:

"Severina turns and suddenly Sia stands in her way, boldly claps hands onto her bared breasts, and flashes a dazzling smile... The utter shock in the blue-skinned woman’s ice-blue eyes quickly turns to murderous hate. 'You--'

"'Hello, Severina,' her smiling enemy sweetly says..."

This is not the #trope Foe Romance Subtext because it's not the subtext but the text.

#Spanner #AmEditing #2003 /5

Sure enough, my muse caught me on the pot again, this time to show me what the flashback in which Severina tells her struggling captive Sia "I long to make you my slave" is really like. It's Pepé Le Pew with the painted cat in his romantic clutches played as decadent vampire erotica with all implications of dubious consent fully intact.

#Spanner #AmEditing #2003 /7

One more set of rapid-fire flashbacks and the section of Spanner In The Works chapter 37 called "No Love Lost" (not the chapter name; that would be "Last of the Terrorist Wokes", referring to the Socialist Revolutionary Organization posse now attempting to storm the "Lifeday Ceremony") will be complete.

I've got the perfect CSS style to use for those flashbacks. #AmWriting them now.

#Spanner #AmEditing #2023 /8

A little detour involving influences.

I just found @bruces here in the Fediverse. Along with @GreatDismal and @JohnShirley2023 he's one of the pioneer #cyberpunk authors who imprinted me in the late 1980s and early '90s. Bruce Sterling's strongest influence on me is what I like to call the "moral floating world" effect he creates. I'm too much the moralist to perfectly replicate it but you can easily see its heavy influence on my writing style.

#Spanner #AmEditing #2003 /9

Back to Spanner In The Works chapter 37. Specifically, that section "No Love Lost". The "flash flashbacks" are about the violent collapse of Sia and gangster king Boris' torrid love affair previously told in the Chapter 2 flashbacks. They turned out to be easier to write than I thought. I just had to put a little thought into them. Their relationship's violent implosion revolves around Boris' terror of being dominated and Sia's of being enslaved.

#Spanner #AmEditing #2003 /10

Finally, I made some fine edits to "No Love Lost". The longest section of #Spanner In The Works chapter 37 is now finished and Sia's twisted relationships with Severina and Boris are fully established.

This is convenient because it coincides with my #EarlyBirdMode today giving out so I'm almost too tired to think. My first #AmEditing session of #2023 is now complete and I'm ready for my muse to give me more uneasy dreams.

/end