[Steve397]

True, the more i think about it the more, after a little confrontation at the start, laynie and hannah would probably hit it off. I did always like laynie.

I think we should all colaborate to get the stories done but i agree with Thief that we could, if we want, take on certain storylines by ourselves or do the same thing in teams of 2 if two people really want to work on the same storyline.

ug... i guess the first thing to do would be to write down all the different storylines we have. I wish there was a way for us all to better communicate with each other to get this done. granted posting will still work but does anyone else have any ideas?

[Thief Of Love]

Here are the major storylines that come to mind (and I'm probably forgetting something):

• Andy/Nina/Delia/Sam - blending their households; Andy and Nina have to learn to be a couple without ever even having dated; various issues with the kids (Andy/Delia -- which includes Delia learning the truth about the baby, Andy/Sam).
• Harold/Rose/Edna/Lily - living in close quarters; Harold and Rose grapple with becoming parents again in middle age; Edna continues to grieve.
• Ephram/Music Ed./Piano Students - the ups and downs of an education major for someone who always identified as a performer; Ephram's efforts to reach a highly talented student who doesn't want to be there; visit from Kyle, who helps restore Ephram's faith in his teaching abilities, I guess.
• Ephram/Amy - whatever we're going to do with them, hee.
• Amy/School/Politics - throwing herself into her extracurriculars; discovering that not everyone likes her; bonding with Rose and gaining a new appreciation for her mother (though still being sure that she doesn't want to be her).
• Bright/EMT program/Psychology - trying and failing one more time before finding his real purpose in life; bonding (but also arguing) with Harold and Edna over the EMT work; generally growing up -- buckling down on his studies and partying less, realizing that he can't go back to his old relationship patterns. Eventual, as-yet-undetermined reunion with Hannah.
• Hannah/English/Random Other Stuff - gaining the confidence that comes with excelling in something she loves; new friendship with Ephram; various brief things involving her brother and Topher and whatever else. Eventual, as-yet-undetermined reunion with Bright.

I wish there was a way for us all to better communicate with each other to get this done. granted posting will still work but does anyone else have any ideas?

I wish there were some more efficient way of discussing this, too, but I've no ideas for how else we could do it. Hmm.

[Steve397]

ah thanks Thief you're the best!!! i'll try to tackle this some more tomorrow.

['Tos]

Yay, Steve's back to the thread! And is alive, hee.

Random thoughts:

Laynie is so the dark Hannah. I don't exactly want to see us play that up much, but yeah, she can get really dark, and I do think that Hannah will be...kind of scared by her! Hee. So, I definitely like their first meeting being a little awkward. And since we don't have to worry about licensing issues, what about music for their common bond and connection? Hannah always listens to music, and although I'm not sure that Laynie exactly had the same taste as her, I remember her listening to music with Amy. Just a thought.

Personally, I would like to see Laynie around for only a couple of episodes. Like *through out random number* three. Enough to see a Laynie/Hannah mini-friendship. In fact, although this is totally cliche-sounding, maybe she's the impetus for Amy and Hannah hanging out again? Amy and Hannah being a little distant is one of the seemingly endless ideas we've come up with, so maybe Laynie makes Amy see what she's missing? Yeah..cliche.

not a rehash of Season 2 Amy, but an amy that is so caught up in her school work and extra activities that she begins to forget to live her life, while also pinning for Ephram. And since she does this we get to have the awesome conversation between Andy and Amy about what living that kind of life can lead to.

I would also like to see Amy really happy with all that's going on at first. Like S4, where she's super excited about activism and college. I really liked seeing Amy excited. Of course, as she is Harold's daughter, she's going to go overboard, but I would really like to see that she's happy about having a direction and enjoying everything and that's why she goes too far and has to have Andy come in. Like her, I think Andy really loved what he was doing, it wasn't just an escape from having to be a parent and a husband, but it was a passion. We haven't had much of Amy being super passionate like that.

Oh, and I don't know if we've come up with this or not (everything I am saying right now could be all rehash or contradicting what we came up with because I'm so tired, heh) but it might be neat to have Rose be the one that gets Andy to talk to Amy. Since they're bonding, and Rose has always been so attentive to others and how they're feeling, she notices that her daughter is exhausted and has gone in over her head and won't pull back by herself, so she goes to see ol' Beardy.

[Thief Of Love]

Laynie is so the dark Hannah. I don't exactly want to see us play that up much, but yeah, she can get really dark, and I do think that Hannah will be...kind of scared by her! Hee. So, I definitely like their first meeting being a little awkward. And since we don't have to worry about licensing issues, what about music for their common bond and connection? Hannah always listens to music, and although I'm not sure that Laynie exactly had the same taste as her, I remember her listening to music with Amy. Just a thought.

That was a thought that floated through my mind, but I wasn't sure if it really fit, or if I was just projecting again. But come to think of it, Amy and Laynie were always listening to music, it seemed, and Hannah made music references left and right in both S3 and 4 (one consistent character trait of hers!) and presumably made Bright listen to her music, because there ain't no way he'd be a fan of Scottish indie pop on his own (though he did have that thing for girlie folk rock, so I could be wrong), so...yeah, works for me! Plus, that way we can squeeze in more circa 2006-07 indie selections (and underappreciated oldies? Ooh, ooh, maybe Laynie can introduce Hannah to the Velvet Underground)!

Agreed on the short-term stint for her; we can determine specific number of episodes as we're plotting, but somewhere in the 2-3 range sounds about right. Do we know why she's there? Is she just home visiting her family? I'm sort of thinking that she might not be in college...she just strikes me as the type who, even if she started out there, would eventually decide to find her own path outside a scholastic setting. Plus, all our other young people are college students, which isn't entirely reflective of how all members of that age bracket do things (unless they post on this board, hee), so it might be realistic to have someone who, well, does something else instead.

In fact, although this is totally cliche-sounding, maybe she's the impetus for Amy and Hannah hanging out again? Amy and Hannah being a little distant is one of the seemingly endless ideas we've come up with, so maybe Laynie makes Amy see what she's missing? Yeah..cliche.

But -- OH! Part of me was afraid that it might be a bit too much, having Hannah/Laynie on top of Hannah/Ephram, but, what if Amy actually freaks out about this to Hannah? Some outburst about Hannah hanging with everyone else Amy loves while Amy doesn't see them or Hannah? And then Amy realizes that she's being irrational and that Hannah's entitled to be friends with the people she likes and has things in common with, but Hannah kind of understands this irrationality, and they realize that they miss spending time together. That work?

Oh, and I don't know if we've come up with this or not (everything I am saying right now could be all rehash or contradicting what we came up with because I'm so tired, heh) but it might be neat to have Rose be the one that gets Andy to talk to Amy. Since they're bonding, and Rose has always been so attentive to others and how they're feeling, she notices that her daughter is exhausted and has gone in over her head and won't pull back by herself, so she goes to see ol' Beardy.

I'd completely forgotten the Amy/Andy angle, so I'm glad you brought that up, hee. That's a cool idea -- if the audience would expect Amy and Andy to interact at all (which they so wouldn't anyway), they would expect it to be related to Ephram or Harold. To bring Rose into things is a nifty way to both surprise the 'viewers' as well as to show how close the families are, to remind everyone that Andy and Rose are friends, too. Heck, he helped to save her life and all, so the friendship's a nice touch, hee.

[Thief Of Love]

Oh, man. I've gotten myself so excited at the prospect of Hannah/Laynie that I wrote a scene last night.

***

HANNAH: I'm sorry if I'm being nervous and...weird. I...it's just that Amy tried getting me together with some of her friends from school awhile back, and it just...

LAYNIE: Let me guess: activists who dine exclusively on ethnic cuisine and applaud themselves for their "bohemian" interests and liberal values, because without the safety net of rebellion against middle-class white bread America, their lives would be utterly devoid of hope or meaning?

HANNAH:...So you've met Beth?

(both laugh)

LAYNIE: God, they're as cultish as cheerleaders. Which 80% of them probably were, like, two years ago, by the way.

***

Well, I didn't say it was any good.

[everwoodfan52]

Originally Posted by Thief Of Love (View Post) Oh, man. I've gotten myself so excited at the prospect of Hannah/Laynie that I wrote a scene last night. *** HANNAH: I'm sorry if I'm being nervous and...weird. I...it's just that Amy tried getting me together with some of her friends from school awhile back, and it just... LAYNIE: Let me guess: activists who dine exclusively on ethnic cuisine and applaud themselves for their "bohemian" interests and liberal values, because without the safety net of rebellion against middle-class white bread America, their lives would be utterly devoid of hope or meaning? HANNAH:...So you've met Beth? (both laugh) LAYNIE: God, they're as cultish as cheerleaders. Which 80% of them probably were, like, two years ago, by the way. *** Well, I didn't say it was any good.

That is really excellent! I can just hear Laynie saying those words. That's exactly how she thinks and exactly how she sounds.

['Tos]

Hee, I LOVE the "...so you've met Beth?" joke. And yeah, Betty's right: you've got Laynie down. Which is actually not as easy as it looks, because her snark is typically more blunt than someone like Hannah's would be.

At the end of Laynie's little guest run, depending on when this takes place in the season, maybe she sees that Amy is exhausted and run down, and she asks Hannah to keep an eye out for her? Just something protective. Ultimately, I think they're going to talk about Amy, and how both never saw themselves at being friends with her, but how she ended up being a great friend and all that. I mean, less sappy, hee, but ultimately I think Laynie's purpose coming in has to be about pushing Amy and Hannah together again, or else she really doesn't have a purpose. Which is why I really like your idea about Amy's outburst, Thief. A different way to go than the cliche I was thinking of, but it still means that Laynie contributes something to the season.

And before anyone thinks that Thief and I are going to go nuts choosing music for Laynie/Hannah, hee, it's really just to get them talking, noticing that they do have something cool in common. I even imagine Laynie walking into Amy and Hannah's place (they are living together, right?) and checking out some CDs and being surprised at what Amy is listening to, and then Hannah, in a quiet voice, says that they're hers. That's after their awkward first meeting of course.

Well, I'm back in an idea mood, but I have to admit that I suck at summaries, so I'm not sure how involved I'll get with those. *suddenly feels like a slacker*

[Thief Of Love]

I even imagine Laynie walking into Amy and Hannah's place (they are living together, right?) and checking out some CDs and being surprised at what Amy is listening to, and then Hannah, in a quiet voice, says that they're hers. That's after their awkward first meeting of course.

Ooh, yeah, I can totally see a scene like that. That'd be an efficient way of showing their shared interest, too (rather than relying solely on dialogue). Now to just come up with something that Amy wouldn't like that Hannah would, but would be a surprising thing for Hannah to like... (And I do realize that this is a totally insignificant detail and can wait until much later in the writing process. I don't care, hee. Frankly, I'm still leaning VU. Because, well, why not?)

I'm so ready to just keep working on ideas instead of having to make up any more timelines, heh. This is more fun! This is what makes it feel like we're actually getting somewhere!

What I might do, though, is compile a list of the characters we're bringing back and noting what the story-advancing purpose of each character's return will be. It's not quite as necessary as the summaries and timelines, but it will help us to ensure that we're bringing everyone back for a reason.

[Thief Of Love]

New summary!

The Feeney/Brown Household

Delia's stuff isn't included in here... I went through the last thread, and man, does she have a lot of story. Saved all the posts, but it's going to be a bit of a trick getting the ideas into a timeline format, since it's more like random short plots -- going out with a boy for the first time, wanting to learn more about Julia, etc. And babysitting for the Abbotts, which reconnects her with Amy.

Oh, and random dialogue thought, but if we're having Hannah meet up with Topher, I really really really want to adapt one of my favorite one-liners from Friends:

BRIGHT: [complains about Hannah going out with Topher/Loafer/Shasta McSpastic/asshat]

EPHRAM: Huh, it's suddenly 2005. Guess my, uh, time machine works.

(Thanks, Chandler. )

['Tos]

Hee, that sounds like it would be really funny! Tuck that into the "Will Go In An Episode" file, definitely.

I've been thinking of adapting a Friends line as well. With Andy, Harold and sometimes Ephram becoming a little group so that Andy can get some help with marriage, I envision Andy taking Ephram's side on something, and Harold doing a variation on Monica's line of "Married a lesbian, left a man at the altar, fell in love with a gay ice dancer, threw a girl's wooden leg in a fire, live in a box!" Of course, I don't know what the variation would be, and there's only two people for him to say it too, but Andy and Ephram have had enough relationship failings for it to somehow work. As you can see, I'm still in odd idea mode.

Even Harold going, "You screwed up your own marriage, and you're about to take advice from your 19 year old son who has been in TWO relationships instead of a man with 30 years of experience in marriage?" I just imagine Harold being Mr. Marriage and being all cocky about it, hee, because he is an amazing husband, someone that Andy should aspire to be.

And I agree with the Velvet Underground as well, by the way, I just wanted to reassure people that we're not going to get too nerdy about the music. Yet.

And eee, the Feeney/Brown household!! My personal favourite storyline, because it's the thing I desperately wanted to see. And because it's so bloody easy, hee. Thanks, Thief!

[Thief Of Love]

That will be a great line, hee. Whatever it will end up being, exactly. It's kind of tricky for Harold to snark on them given that Andy dated his sister and Ephram his daughter, though. (Doesn't mean it wouldn't be even more hilarious for all that.)

And, you're welcome, heh. I think I've run out of any more to do except for figuring out Delia's, since Leo's got Amy, and Ephram/Amy can be taken by someone else whenever it finally gets figured out. (All of which is probably for the best anyway, hee.) I do need to revise what's already been done, though, and...actually, I might just make a Hannah-only timeline, after all. Wasn't going to initially, but now with the college talk with Topher and the friendship with Laynie, she merits one.

Oh, more stuff -- I've started compiling a soundtrack list, with songs we've suggested (and links to those songs on YouTube when I can find 'em) and artists we'd like to use, but haven't chosen specific songs of yet. I'm also going to start an entry for all the dialogue snippets we've come up with; there were a few good Bright/Ephram exchanges in the first thread (Leo had a particularly awesome one regarding Ephram fretting about Delia dating), and then a few other character exchanges posted here, so it'd be good to get those all in one place so we can use them if we want to in the actual scriptwriting.

[everwoodfan52]

I'm just reading and enjoying. Keep up the good work everyone....I'll just let the experts handle all of this.

[Thief Of Love]

Hee. I think we're all on the same level of expertise (unless Steve has a secret screenwriting career that we don't know about? )

Bringing this over from the OT thread...

Originally Posted by 'Tos I was thinking of what an Everwood Father's Day would look like for Andy and Ephram for most of the show, and I imagine it would involve a lot of yelling and a lot of slamming of doors and Andy being left alone at the kitchen table. Brings a tear to one's eye, hee. I would love to do a Father's Day on our S5. The writers fit Thanksgiving in very well, but thematically, Father's Day makes much more sense to the series than Thanksgiving ever did.

If we want to go ahead with this, we can always have Andy and Ephram reminiscing about Father's Days past, too -- secure enough in their new bond to laugh about the days when they would scream at each other about ties and bad cologne and all the times Andy had to leave during brunch to go operate on somebody's difficult and deadly brain thing[/not a neurosurgeon]...

['Tos]

I don't actually have any new ideas, so I'm sure I'm just cluttering this thread up, hee, but I REALLY love our idea to have Edna mourn Irv throughout the season. How the show handled the deaths of characters really was something unique. Andy takes well over a season to even remotely "get over" Julia's death, and she keeps coming back in stories and in characters' minds all throughout the series. Amy takes almost a full season to even remotely "get over" Colin's death, and Bright, Amy, Ephram and Harold reference him long before he's gone. So, similar to those cases, I'm really pleased that we're devoting a whole season to Edna mourning Irv. I don't think we should have him appear in ghost form again like Julia and Colin did--frankly, there's no way we can top his "Goodbye, Love" appearance--but having a character that doesn't mourn, mourn for a whole entire season, is really holding true to what the show did for four years with death.

ETA: As for Father's Day, I really liked your idea about Sam being confused. And it would be a nice contrast having Ephram treat his father so well, and Sam not wanting to have anything to do with him.