"Harbor Lights" (1937)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3DUvOQ4Vm8

This song will be a meme in "DSS Vimana." It's as much about creating a mood and a sense of time and place as it is about giving the story yet another unifying thread.

Sorry I can't say much more than that. It's complicated; it has to do with Ned's glamorous life and relative lack of romance. He's gay and living in a time and place where that's a serious crime and a career-killer for someone in a high-profile profession like aerospace engineering, so dating prospects aren't exactly great for him.

I find if you give a character a near-perfect life but leave them wanting something they can't have, you never run out of ways to use that in the story. Someone who isn't satisfied with their life will take more risks than someone who is, and characters who take risks are just more interesting to write about all around.