Lost and Found, Levelling Up

Chapters 30 and 31 are posted to Inkitt - and it surprised me to realize that I've actually concluded Act II. I knew I was getting there, but it kind of crept up on me. I feel a little wistful about it. That's 2/3 of the story posted, only 1/3 to go. And it's the third I'm most worried about, in terms of how it will be received. But I guess before I worry myself about that, I should celebrate what I've accomplished so far and share my notes for these final chapters of Act II.

Lost and Found opens with Cara "lost" in her island survival fantasy with Styles, while he's actually a missing person in real life. In this "subplot", their hope of rescue is dashed when the realization that the plane that flew overhead weeks earlier was not coming back to get them.

It's a turning point for Styles who grieves at the realization that his old life is over, and he must accept his circumstances to keep living. The first thing accepting those circumstances brings, is acceptance of feelings that have arisen between them, and letting go of their attachments to their loved ones at home. Cara is pulled out of her daydream just as they are about to start getting it on, which seems like it would be frustrating, but I can tell you, it's all about the tease. Holding on to this anticipatory moment that her thirst for him will be quenched imminently, and that the feeling is mutual between them. It's okay now. They're not doing anything wrong. They have permission. They are all they have.

Coming out of the daydream, Cara learns that Styles has been found safe. In the real world, he did receive his rescue. 

Now that the Styles crisis is over, Cara can start processing her feelings about what lead to Styles' disappearance - whatever happened between Griffin and Willow. Still, it takes her some time to work up the courage to have the confrontation, imagining all the different ways it could go, and entertaining us with an instructional interlude for how to prepare.

Griffin manages to avoid answering her directly, not specifically admitting to having committed any act of infidelity. He indirectly puts the responsibility on Cara (after telling her that it wasn't her fault) for leaving a gap for he and Willow to bond over the time that Cara and Styles are spending together on their project.

Cara wants to believe that Griffin isn't lying by omission. She lets it go on account of not wanting to believe he's capable of cheating on her, and shifts her concern to whether or not Styles will be alright to continue working on their project together.

In Levelling Up, Cara admits to her therapist, Paige, that she's having romantic feelings for Styles, and that she's not feeling great about it. It's a turning point for Cara, as she finally tells this secret to someone who can help her. It's progress, however small.

But progress is like a cha cha dance, and Cara floats to River the idea of quitting L.A. and going home, leaving her work unfinished. I think she's ready to release the idea that everything that has happened is somehow her fault - that just by being there, she has caused all kinds of disruption. It's an idea she's been attached to, but it's no longer serving her, and by telling River about it, she knows she's going to get a truth-telling. River always calls a spade a spade with her, so his response is something she can take to the bank.

He also sets her straight about his project vs. her project, the idea that Styles put in her head that Sixty-Six is the only project that's really hers, and therefore it should be her priority. Since we know River tells the truth, when he tells her that the record wouldn't be happening without her, we believe him. 

As Cara and Styles resume working together for the first time since he came back from the wilderness, it turns out Cara's overactive imagination was wrong about whether he'd be able to continue the project - he's back to his usual self, and the two of them get back into their zone together immediately. 

So with River helping her move past old ways of thinking and Styles returning from his breakdown in a seemingly cleansed and happy state, everything seems like it's finally hunky dory. But we soon find out that her troubles aren't over yet, as Hannah sends her a warning involving The Fool and the Three of Swords - a dangerous combination signalling that naivete and betrayal could lead to the next bump in the road.

There is another mirror to the island survival fantasy here, if it's not too obvious - Styles returning from his disappearance and being immediately "okay" with Cara. That breakdown in the hills was definitely a grieving process - Styles grieving Willow's suspected infidelity. The fact that he came back from that grief ready to re-engage on the creative level with Cara which is basically a passionate connection between them that is fuelling desire is not all that different from her fantasy where he grieves his old life, releases it, and moves forward romantically with her.

*****

So that's Act II in the can. I guess I'll do a write-up about the section as a whole like I did for Act I. Not exactly sure what I want to say about it yet, but that'll be coming soon.

In other news, I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew. I was inspired by some authors on Inkitt who have been posting Christmas stories, some of them with characters from their other stories. I've had an idea in my head for a little while that I wanted to tell some Maladaptive related stories, but I hadn't landed on a specific way to do that, until now. So, I've started A Maladaptive Christmas Interlude, which is going to be a 20,000 word short story. I guess I should link it here. It's basically an insert between Chapter 24 and Chapter 25 of Maladaptive, but the goal is for it to be a standalone piece - I won't be integrating it into the main novel.

I guess I just thought it would be a fun way to indulge some other scenes I've had in my head without impacting the main story. A little side trip. I hope that Maladaptive readers will be into it of course, but it's also for anyone who is just looking for a short Christmas story. Maybe it will lead them into the Maladaptive world, or maybe it won't, and that's fine either way. 

I'm a little nervous about it though, because unlike Maladaptive, which I've been working on for months with multiple revisions and polishing before posting, this is like a flying by the seat of my pants winging it situation and it feels very vulnerable, like I'm posting pictures of myself in my underwear or with stains on my clothes or something. Hopefully it won't be too rough. Also, I don't know how I think I'm going to be able to finish by Christmas, and continue posting Act III of Maladaptive. I think I might be nuts. We'll see how it goes.