Three Pages Attempt 2

Do I really have to do this? I don't want to write if I don't feel like it. You know what none of the writing books will tell you? All the "advice" they give you is just stuff that worked for them. It might not work for you, but none of the books will tell you that. Every writing book I've ever read has omitted that part. 

Anyway, to fill my quota for the day, I thought I'd talk about some of the manga that inspired me.

Starting with: Gleipnir. It's a manga about a kid named Shuichi who has the strange ability to transform into a dog-like mascot with a pistol. Why he can transform into this is a mystery at first but the story pulls you along with the strange ideas that it presents. Later, it is revealed that if you put this coin inside a vending machine, you can get a drink that will grant you powers. Shuichi doesn't remember ingesting such a drink which leads to the mystery. Shuichi, like anyone, is scared of his powers and often refuses to use them. In comes Claire who "helps" Shuichi use his abilities. After saving her from a fire, she seeks out Shuichi and forces him to transform. Since Shuichi is basically a fleshy mascot, she can go inside of him but unzipping the back of his neck. It's an interesting concept showing how Shuichi is hollow inside. It's like the manga is saying that he's too weak to handle it by himself. I like that representation, especially because Shuichi has no idea how he got his powers and hates them. I always like it when the hero hates their abilities.

Claire, on the other hand, has no scruples about using Shuichi's powers or gun. Giving that the two are teens, sex comes into play as well. When the two team up the act is called "becoming one" or something of that nature. Shuichi eventually convinces Claire to wear a bathing suit while inside of him instead of being naked. Claire's goal? Find her sister who killed their parents. It turns out that Claire's sister Elena has the power to turn into a ghost. Why everyone has these abilities is eventually revealed. The coins are the remnants of an alien race who's ship crashed here on earth. They transformed their bodies into coins to allow long space travel and can't be seen my modern technology like cameras. Instead, a person has to hunt for the coins with their own eyes. It reminds me of those geocashe games where you have to use your eyes to find the stash of goodies. I've barely read more than half of the manga series so I think I'll start there with my reading list. It seems like the writer had a cool idea but didn't know what to do with it. There's less than a hundred chapters which isn't a bad thing but sets off warning flags in my head. But in fairness, what can you do with such a concept? 

Since Shuichi can transform into a dog-like creature, his beastial nature comes out more. He is sexually attracted to Claire and almost rapes her in the first chapter before coming to his senses. Strangely enough, this made me understand him more. I remember the raging hormones inside of me when I was a teen. I never wanted to rape someone, but sex was always on my mind. There's this confusion in Shuichi's mind where he doesn't understand what he's doing. He accidentally leaves his cellphone at the scene, or maybe Claire snags it from him while he isn't looking. Either way, she confronts him and kicks him off the roof to force him to transform. I like that idea of her being so antagonistic to him that she gets the ball rolling for Shuichi. It's obvious that Shuichi won't do things by himself unless forced to. It's like the protagonist and antongist are teaming up, in a way. Claire explains that she's "upset" with Shuichi for saving her because she was trying to kill herself. She shows that she has a coin that her sister left after killing their parents that may be tied to why Shuichi can transform. But Claire isn't the only one after the coins. Someone else, another teen, noticed the coin Claire showed off. We can see where this is going, the three are going to have to fight for the coin. But that's for later. 

I should mention there are a LOT of panty and boob shots in this series. I will admit that I enjoy it but I think it's also a weak way to get attention. It's like the author isn't confident enough that their work is good. That said, the previous works that this team worked on are also filled with erotica. Again, being a straight male, I don't mind it but it comes off as a crutch for the story. Lots of groin touching too, now that I think about it. 

Moving on to other manga, Dandadan. 

The story follows two kids who go off on a dare. Ayase doesn't believe in aliens and Ken (Okarun) doesn't believe in ghosts. The two go to a spot each other dares them to go in an effort to prove each other wrong. Of course, things go bad. Okarun gets possessed by a ghost called "Turbo Granny" and Ayase gets abducted by aliens. Okarun has to use his possessed abilities to save Ayase who uses latent psychic powers to save him. I love the cast because they are so flawed. Okarun is a dork who no one really likes and Ayase stays away from people because she hates her powers. Again, I love that trope of hating your own powers. Other kids follow who develop their own powers which is something I wanted to bring into the KIY series. It's amazing how naturally the story flows, especially with the comedy. Like Glepinir, there's a lot of sexual puns in the story but this time it's played up for laughs. Sex jokes are thrown in without being too explicit and it comes off as funny rather than rude. The way the two main characters develop is facinating as well. They don't know how to activate their powers or why they have them but it's how they develop that makes the series interesting. I should do a break down on how they develop once I get that software. 

Well, that was a rabbit hole. I just spent ten minutes looking at writing apps. I already pay for a subscription to Claude which helps me develop my characters but I haven't used it in a while. But I still don't want to lose all the work I put into my characters. Good thing I wrote it all down. I had this policy of keeping all the notes I made on one page and put the breakdowns on another app called Visio. My dad recommended it to me so I'm thankful. There's so many apps out there that I don't know what to use. Ugh, now I'm out of time. My aid is coming over and I'm still here in my underwear. I didnt have enough time to get all the stuff I wanted done. Even though I woke up early and got to writing right after eating breakfast. And using the bathroom. I don't know what to do. I just want to get my exercise in. Is this really going to cost me all my gaming time? I don't know how I'm going to do this. I can't write three pages a day without some kind of prompt. Well, at least I got two page in, almost two pages. What else can I write about before that evil woman comes in? I need to get some pants. I skipped pants so I could write. How weird is that? Maybe I can see this as a break. My back is killing me hunched over the table like this. I'll probably get rotator cuff injuries after a while if I work like this. Writing isn't even my job, it's just a hobby right now. I just want it to be something more. 

And I'm back. Work was hard and I have to exercise tomorrow. I feel better after a nap. Now I just need to get another page in. Right now I'm watching a rant online about Charlie Kirk and a person who celebrated his death. It seems like everyone wants to be angry and now I find out that Bethesda decided to throw their hat into the ring. Someone from Bethesda decided to post a video of their new game Indiana Jones where Indy talks to a cat and says something like "You don't mind these facists do you?" Who in their right mind would post that. This is a game based on a series owned by Disney. Do you think Disney is going to see that and say "Let's work with that company again." That's incredibly, unbelievably, stupid for someone to do. Microsoft who owns the game company, has already put out a statement about investigating into the matter. Damage has already been done. If you look at Bethesda's Twitter page you'll find pages of people ranting at Bethesda. The person who posted it has deleted the post and hid their account but the damage is massive. People's livelihoods are on the line here. Are people more autistic than me when it comes to posting stupid stuff online? Who thought this was a good idea? I know, someone who thought the game was a platform for their opinions. It's a sad, sad day for this person. There's a long, long line of people who want to tear this game company and Microsoft to the ground. I would be scared if I were them. I'd be scared if I were either of them. I'm sure this will eventually blow over but the internet doesn't forgive or forget. I can't wrap my mind around why someone would do something so foolish. I mean, I've done dumb things but never at this level. Bethesda's not doing much better, they have a long list of complaints but getting into politics and mocking someone's death is not something I think they were prepared for. Know what's weird? September eleventh came and went and no one really talked about it. Usually there's a discussion about it and the events that took place but Kirk's assassination has taken over the whole conversation. A sad day even if you didn't like the guy.