Back at the start of the year, I had plans. Finish up The Alternate Extras of Halesowen, along with pushing out some other short stories for Shorts of the Rula. As such, that meant I would be publishing one short a month. Rather than have a planning article for each and every story, I felt it would be better to have them quarterly for everything that released.
This first of those articles will cover Future: Uncertain and Rapid Fiction of The Alternate Extras of Halesowen, and The Gates of the Heart from Shorts of the Rula. Once I’ve talked about all three, I’ll provide some small bits of my plans for the next three shorts to be released across Q2. And so, let’s start with those stories about the Halesowen College media students.
Future: Uncertain was a difficult one. Hannah’s future barely had a focus until the end of Future Adventures. It was by design back then, as she was written to value present experiences rather than looking to the future. But, there was something else. Something that was clear when a rift felt it was forming among the group. Hannah had insecurities, that she wouldn’t admit to having. Such insecurities about her friends had to stem from somewhere, and so I set out to answer the where.
Since her future doesn’t get focus until the end of Future Adventures, I wanted her to have been thinking about it a lot earlier. Even if she has no answers. For this was to reinforce her values and set up how she would react if those present experiences started to pale compared to the previous year of college. I decided on a library setting and the summer job simply because it connected in some way with Brandon and his love of writing. Brandon being one of those who Hannah saw as having a future set in stone.
With that in place, it was easy enough to build the story elements to get Hannah relaxed about her future career. Starting with Hannah too focused on the futures of her friends, a librarian who cared and was willing to part with valuable advice, and a cynical other who seemed set on never having any future prospects. All of that together shifted Hannah’s focus from her future, but would start setting her on a cynical road regarding the rifts that would form in the group.
Rapid Fiction continues the exploration of the secondary group, defining who they are. With the main group having a writer in Brandon, I wanted the secondary group to have one, too. With Grant being the only one left to start on a path to the future, it was obvious he would get it. The structure ended up similar to that of Pixil Perfect and Travel Plans, whereby the group are enjoying an activity, something the viewpoint character enjoys gets brought up, with the group then seeing how that could be part of their future.
It’s… not surprising such a structure formed when these characters had very little focus on them. Wanting to show them as individuals, and wanting to continue the focus of futures not seen in Future Adventures, meant I stuck to what I felt worked for them. Of course, I made sure each story had them in different places, out enjoying activities while together. It helped piece together likes for each of them along with form the personalities and interactions that connected them.
I knew that I wanted to bring the group to an amusement park. Getting near to the end of the holidays, it was a perfect place for them to be. One last big adventure before the second year of college. Setting up the thinking of the future part was easy. Just as Carl remembers adventures of the past through photos, so Grant would through diary entries. All the others need then do is push him to think about fictional flourishes to those diary entries, or at least his current one, to set him on that path.
The Gates of the Heart was a brief plan I had for a Secret Santa gift, with those gifts being art that a person had developed themselves for another person. The idea of a person coming to realise they had a true friend all along when being helped get into the world of tabletop gaming was going to be what I used, before I settled on a different one that still focused on relationships. And so, I still had this idea I could develop further, and get out into the world.
Originally set inside a house, I felt it best to take the action outside. While inside would still have the same ideas, there was something about taking this outside that suited the physical distancing and closing of that distance that I seemed to feel would be more natural. Rather than deal with furniture getting in the way, the two would be on the grass, where movement would be so easy. Along with that, this was a story about navigating new things. The open air was better for that theming than being inside the house.
In terms of the characters, I wanted a contrast. The energetic enthusiasm for any encounter displayed by Hunter. The nervous uncomfortableness to everything displayed by Brittany. As Brittany comes to her understanding, that is the start of her growth to becoming more comfortable with the world around her. By accepting that Hunter is a true friend, she can start to open herself to more experiences, and perhaps have the confidence of Hunter, too.
As for the stories of the second quarter of 2025, there will be two added to Shorts of the Rula. One which will keep the focus in the Alternate Halesowen and Beyond universe, with a promotional event for a certain popular game in the Republic Antarctic. Perfect for Star Wars Month. The other will take a trip to the Herzan State for that second story set in an amusement park I mentioned at the start of the year. Between the two is a story for The Alternate Extras of Halesowen that puts the viewpoint on Quinn.
