Cold Cuts -- Various Slice of Life (m/f...)

[Kitteredge]

First the happy important stuff --

• Given my work schedule, I am not able to post during the days and some evenings I'm too blitzed to think creatively. I will aim to post two to three times a week.


• My posts will be about four to five paragraphs a pop. That's my comfort level and I am looking for the same.


• Characterization is of paramount importance. I want to create a richly considered character to play against your richly considered character.


• (Or characters.)


• A high degree of 'literacy' is highly attractive. Fun writing, funny writing, provocative writing. Cool ways of conveying detail. Those sorts o' things.

Also --

• Look at my O/O's. And I invite you to inspect my post history.
• Please do not respond here. Respond via PMs only! Please give me your ideas beyond a basic 'wassup' message.

That out of the way, I am looking for one or two stories of strong, intense characterization. They involve May-December relationships (well, April-August, really) of vaguely taboo or transgressive nature. Right now these are of the m/f variety, with the male the older character. I am open to including race as an element. What appeals to me is the riptide of attraction, for whatever reason, and the recognition of trouble. The logistics of the relationship is an attraction -- how are they getting together? What are their houses like? Teh potential of doubling up characters and/or playing NPCs with some depth is also there.

For now, I'm casting this in a fairly narrow band, but I am up for related ideas. I'm always open to discussions springing from my other request threads as well.

[Kitteredge]

Name: Going Too Far

Scenario: A man has grown close to one of his daughter's high school friends, maybe because her home life is a bit shaky, or otherwise, and the feelings are clearly reciprocated. One pool party, one day otherwise, things take that extra, terrifying step as they get together. Needless to say, a pretty bad thing all around, other than the sweet moments they have with each other. Maybe his wife has just given birth to their third kid, a surprise, and he's being selfish.

Tone: Realistic, slice-of-life, furtive; I'm intrigued by how they process sex and affection at their separate stages in life, how he knows this is utterly wrong but cannot help himself, how she's smart enough to know he's inappropriate but is sucked in as well.

Notes: I've pitched variations where she, on the cusp of truly exploring herself, falls for both her best friend and her friend's father at the same time. There's a way to do this with her falling for the mother of her best friend, instead.

Notable Notes: He can be white, she can be black -- perhaps my preference, as they are both intrigued by the 'taboo' of it (within their social circles). I was picturing him as a Justin Theroux type, in his early forties, hunky, vulnerable, a bit self-centered.

Scenario: The Princess and the Warrior

Scenario: The city is engulfed in anti-capitalist protests, in some sectors growing rowdy and violent. He is a high-placed drone for a large conglomerate with a natty wife and big suburban house and grown kids. She is antifa-adjacent, a student-type who has bought into one of many layers of anarchy and resistance, maybe working class, maybe from a background like his. She's not a princess, he's not a warrior, but... Outwardly disgusted by the protests, inwardly intrigued, he stumbles over evidence of the executives of his firm destroying pensions and going into all manner of illegal activities, enough to want to punch back, from the inside.

Tone: Realistic, with potentially heightened 'five minutes in the future' sensibility. Gritty street scenes, placid office floors, awkwardness as he meets her balaclava-wearing compatriots, intrigue in planning next steps.

Notes: Less overtly sexual or romantic than the previous idea, I'd like to somehow include those elements. I can see him having the eventually manic energy of a Christopher Eccleston as he is excited about letting the veneer of his life slip away; she could even be thrust into the role of trying to bring him down to earth lest he give himself away. Open to a lot of ideas here overall.