Bigby: Super clown (Story Preview, aka everything I have so far)

This is another work in progress, starting its development earlier this year. Let me know what you think.

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A fog of curry drifted over the Bazaar, leaving Ofir's mouth dry. The sweat dripped from his light hair down his thin face, his narrow frame perfect for sliding through the crowds.

He shifted through the wide marketplace, between groups of women with baskets on their heads, men arguing loudly, and donkeys passing through. He was so busy, in fact, that he could barely see the ornate decorations adorning the buildings, the drapes of purple and scarlet silk.

He needed to find Aarav, fast. The boy had been at his side until a second ago, and if he didn't bring him back to his Mother, he'd be done for. He had to tie his shoelaces at the exact moment a band started playing nearby. That kind of act would've gotten him a stern look from his commander. He followed the noise, a percussion of drums with a harmony of sitars, bansuris, and pungis. The crowd dissipated as he grew closer to the music.

It was through a small crowd that he saw Aarav race back to him, with his seemingly lost Mother in tow. The two of them shared smiles as Ofir found his sister and nephew.

"The crowd is spreading and getting thinner. What's going on?"

Noa turned to her brother, a head shorter than her, and replied back in their native tongue. "It's another big wedding going on. They're having a big dance before the reception."

"In the middle of the market?!"

She smirked. "It's only a few minutes. Besides, it's beautiful to watch, and we have an enjoyable view from the middle of it."

They migrated towards the sidewalk as the music grew louder and more harmonious.

Hundreds of women in scarlet satin slid down the street in synchronized swaying. Their henna-covered hands reached to the heavens as the music crescendoed into a ballad.

A woman, dressed in yellow and adorned with henna and sparkling jewelry, sashayed within the group of women, the sounds of Hindi flowing melodically from her lips. The group moved as one, dancing with the band to their own rhythm.

Farther down the street, an assembly of men stomped to their own swing of the same song. Dressed in green tunics and headpieces, only one of them stood out, a red flower in a field of living grass.

"Ofir, we should join them!" Aarav tugged at his mother's and uncle's pants.

Ofir's eyes lit up, to Noa's concern.

"What a great idea! Noa, can we-"

"Absolutely not."

"Oh," Aarav moaned, shoving his hands into his pockets and shuffling his flip-flopped feet.

"Can I at least go?"

Noa looked down at her brother, raised his head up, and in the calmest voice she could gather, said:

"You're 16. If you could travel to India from Tel-Aviv, then you could certainly do this. Just remember, if anything happens to you, Imma will kill me, and then you. Hevanta (Understand)?"

"Ken (Yes). Hevanti (I understand)."

To Aarav's protest, Ofir raced into the Men's dance, entering the field as the red flower contorted and waved his hands above and around his body.

Being on the outside of the circle closest to the women, he got caught as they danced towards each other. The two groups raced towards each other, then between each other. In his tan shirt and khaki jeans, he looked like a piece of dust in the sea of green and red. The red and yellow flowers danced as one, with the rest of them dancing in a different flow.

Soon enough, Ofir caught on to the beat and mastered the dances. Soon he looked like a flower as well, dancing along with the women in red and the men in green. The group circled the two flowers as they danced atop a growing podium in the middle of the marketplace as if planned in the architecture since the beginning. He wanted a better look, so he moved in closer to see the two lovebirds as the priest married them on the spot. Only when he felt the rice hit him did he realize that they had just gotten married.

Now he became stuck in the inner circle. With no way to get out and relearn a new dance they had just begun, he resorted to doing the one thing he wished he didn't have to do; dance his own way, among strangers, in the middle of a celebration that must have been planned for weeks, including rehearsals...

Then the dancers saw him miss steps, clap at the wrong times, and as the music stopped, see him continue to dance to his own rhythm.

He never made that many people laugh at once. Even before he found his super-power, he never had been able to pull it off. Even Noa and Aarav couldn't stop laughing.

He grinned along with them. He knew they were laughing at him, but in this case, it was perfectly fine. Since he found his power to make people laugh, he knew that he was going to be the butt of the joke. Yet that was a risk he was going to learn to make.

Ofir Yitzhaki traveled to India to figure himself out, similar to most Israeli soldiers on Holiday. Yet after discovering this power to make people laugh, he ponders what that will mean for his life. With the help of an Ethiopian girl and his supportive older sister, he'll learn what it truly means to make people laugh.

Learn to laugh, learn to live.

While this story was planned for later, I'm curious what you think about this concept. Would you want me to write about this now over everything else? Let me know! Thanks, bye!

-Zach

Story Idea- Manta's Riot (Working Title)

Here's an idea I'm working on that's taken me less than a day so far:

MANTA’S RIOT

Monty Russell joins his uncle’s racing squad in his gap year, diving headfirst into the world far beyond New Amsterdam.

The tracks move above gravity and physics, the cities are larger than life, and the world is bigger than you think.

A look into racing culture outside and inside of urban areas, looking at the burgeoning combination of racing and automation.

His foot tapped the pedal as the needle moved towards 150 mph. He gripped the wheel ferociously, his white knuckles matching the whites in his eyes. The car tore down the track, sending debris flying across the road. What stood in front of him would be another test. The track began to twist into two paths, the audience stared in awe as the road took a life of its own.

“Take the one on the right, slick! The other road’s a dead end!” His coach barked into his ear through aviator goggles and three hours of sleep. His car waited for the choice as many drivers took the road Stanley suggested.

“I’ll believe you this time, Stan! Let’s do this!”

He took his car to the right side as the world separated away from the track. The road curved away into a loop, our driver silently thanking his magnetic tires. The loop reached a plateau as the leading cars started heading down. He pushed the pedal down further, sending his beloved Riot into the fray. Some cars weren’t so lucky. Their magnetic tires gave way, sending them straight down as they reached the peak.

“Now’s when you push it, kid! Send the Riot into overdrive NOW!”

He shifted forward like he was physically pushing his car, as Riot screamed forward, its engine spewing fire out the exhaust.

The straight line down sent him aerially. The tires left the track. He floated in his seat. The back of the car began to spin as gravity tried to dominate over his car.

Not today. 
He narrowed his eyes as he pressed buttons and shifted his gears.

A signal was sent to the tires, the balls of rubber and magnets that only hovered in the wheel bay. A compartment opened up from within the tires, sending exhaust flying from the back wheels.

Both Stan and his mechanic prepared for this moment. For racing in this climate, you had to be ready for anything.

At that moment, the Riot glided down the bottom half of the loop, sailing over other cars and hundreds of feet of track.

Through the sunroof, he saw his next problem. Drivers screamed helplessly as their cars careened towards the bottom of the loop.

“You have to outrun those cars before they get to the bottom and blast apart the track!”

Before Stan finished, he knew exactly what to do- at least what he thought would work.

He turned the burners towards the track as he shut off the tires' engines. The Riot jumped even further away from the track, straight towards the falling cars.

“Monty! What the fu-”

The Riot collided with the other cars, sending them ricocheting away from the bottom of the track. He reactivated the tire burners, sending the Riot spiraling towards the bottom of the loop. With a touch of the burners and a strategic wheel turn, the Riot landed all four wheels on the track. He heard Stan’s string of expletives as a sign of approval.

The race wasn’t close to over. Monty held the wheel firmly as the track moved into further contortions that defied gravity and physics. Yet he soldiered on, the Riot his chariot, the track his path to victory.

Now it was about placement. He was still in 19^th place, three higher than he started. For his tricks, other drivers had more. His jetpacks in the wheels were exhausted, his chassis looked beaten up, and the sunroof was cracked from the impact with the other cars. Yet his engine kept thundering on as the Riot stormed across the track, catching up to the armada of other cars.

He zoomed past Cobalt Striker, Jetstreak, Eclipse, and Hyperious one after the other as the track seemed to favor whatever choice he made.

Also, HEY THERE! HAPPY BELATED NEW YEAR...yeah, the timing is so bad, it's lower than the Mariana's trench. Anyways, it had to be said. I hope you enjoy some good ol' fashioned concept writing.

If I could Advise Universal on the Pokemon Franchise, Here's What I Would Say

So as Detective Pikachu continues its development, any fan can see the amount of untapped potential that could come from this franchise. You have hundreds of Pokemon across vast lands to show, with massive takedowns of Syndicates and epic battles brought to life on the big screen. Imagine Red's final battle with Blue (and vice versa), or Sun/Moon vs. Giovanni in the most recent games! 

This franchise could be a game changer for everyone involved, especially Nintendo and Legendary. So here are some of my ideas for the movies that could not only look great in theaters but also breathe life into this glorious decades-old franchise:

1) Don't use the turn mechanic- players of Pokemon know that depending on which Pokemon has more speed, it goes first in the battle. BUT, imagine if the faster the Pokemon, the more blows can be dealt, or the other status boosters that can be implemented? What if the stronger the bond with the Pokemon, the more independent they were and therefore capable of fighting a battle with barely any command from the trainer? Imagine the possibilities.
Speaking of which-

2) Give the Pokemon personalities- I know this has been going on in the anime as of recent memory, but it could be extremely fun to see Pokemon have their own character arcs while changing and growing with their trainer. We'd actually root for Pokemon as much as for their trainers!
Speaking of growing, actually-

3) Please fix the Pokedex size numbers. Is Haunter really 5'? That's terrifying, especially when you take Charizard into effect as well, being that they're also 5' TALL. I'm not trying to bash on Haunter, but there are some entries in the Pokedex that are downright unexplainable in reality. Think Dratini and Wailord, too. 
Also, and this is just a theory, what if Pokemon grew in size with higher experience points, and by evolution level, they'd be at the minimum height for their evolved forms and the process continues until the next form, etc. Just a thought...

4) Save the iconic ones for last/ don't put them all in the first movies- Pokemon in your movies are like heroes and villains in comic book movies; they're great, but there is a concept of too much of a good thing (see Amazing Spiderman 2, Spiderman 3, and Green Lantern). People might get fatigued from seeing so many famous Pokemon take a huge chunk of the spotlight in the franchise, so mix them up. I'd personally hold off on the highest stage of the gen 1 starters, including Charizard, until the 3rd movie or so. Pikachu is a given for all of them, but some fan-favorites should be dispersed throughout to generate more buzz. Imagine revealing iconic Pokemon like Greninja and Infernape across different movies. You'd definitely get those butts in the seats.

5) Don't make them all a part of one series of movies. Imagine someone saying they were going to see a movie called "Pokemon 9"; I'd feel bored even hearing that phrase. Just like a long lasting movie series, it might feel stale to keep them all under a single narrative with one set trainer across all the regions. While a live-action remake of the animated movies sounds good, it might not give the Pokemon world new stories that could breathe new life into this franchise. 

6) Acknowledge the fanbase and use everything produced with the Pokemon name- While some of the ideas and theories brought by the fans wouldn't fly with the child-friendly nature of pokemon (like creepypastas about lost game files and Cubone's mom, as well as many others), I feel like adding in winks and nods to either previous spin-off games or major events in pokemon (ex: Pokemon Go and the Twitch streams, as well as winning PCG decks and Smogon battle rosters) would be massively appreciated by the fans, of which there are so many.

Finally 7) Make it epic- Think of the storyline you have and just make it more epic. Develop a cohesive story with relatable characters, exciting Pokemon and threatening villains, but THEN, and ONLY then, should you go epic. 
But my goodness, imagine what you can do with this franchise. Now print that on film. 
People have waited years to see their favorite imaginary animals become real, so make every single Pokemon their most epic selves. 
Make the battles epic, 
the showdowns epic,
the massive takedowns of syndicates epic; 
make the different regions epic, 
the Pokemon moves epic, 
the evolutions epic, 
the people epic, 
but most of all, make their world epic. 

Anyways, that was my totally original list of things I would advise Universal on for handling the Pokemon franchise. What do you think? Leave a comment, if you dare.

Ari Spector- Story Bible

This is a VERY ROUGH story bible, but let me know what you think-

This story takes place in a suburb outside of Tokyo, Japan. There have been reports traveling around the city that spiritual energies have descended onto the island country. While most of the inhabitants of the suburb don't feel any change, Judas finds a Geisha floating around his room. After running out of his room and getting a plastic samurai sword for protection, the Geisha reveals that she is who he was 300 years ago.
While going to school and learning more about his Jewish culture, Judah squeezes out of his Rabbi information about the reincarnation of souls and what souls are like when brought back to the living world. With that information, he reconnects with the Geisha and they become a team of sorts, ready to defend the city from threats that others might not even notice.

Sooner or later, he'll find other reincarnations of his soul all around the world. Then good demons and bad angels, harbingers of death and bringers of peace, will come. The story will get crazy, but just remember that it's about a boy and his connection to past lives, and how they help him save his world from utter chaos.

Firewall- Story Bible

The place is Venezuela Nueva. A thriving country yields many types of bounties, good and bad. Our story focuses on a man who is both. 
A Robin Hood hacker, Roberto's a good man who bares his fangs when behind a keyboard. He's menaced multi-national corporations based on the sole purpose of benefiting people whom he believes need it most.

Then one of his favorite systems of hacking, the racker code- where a site gets so flooded with code and spends so much time deciphering it in order to display the site, that the exposure points for hackers are able to be accessed like flies to a carcass- gains sentience. It uses his phone's camera as an eye, the speakers and talk-to-text as a mouth, and the internet as its brain. Yet the computer doesn't attack him, nor does it show any aggressive attacks towards its creator. Instead, it tries to ally itself with Roberto, turning its gaze away from his creator, and swearing to help him.
When the internet's most unknown groups hear about a program that gained sentience, they all come for a piece of it. Using VR tech to personify the code in the real world, Roberto, and Firewall.exe revolutionize the way to defend themselves from attackers.

When even greater threats arrive seeking only one program, Roberto will do whatever it takes to save his creation.  

I failed NaNoWriMo, and That's Okay

So that happened.

To be honest, I entered the challenge with apprehension and doubt if I could finish it. Hell, I even changed story subject at the last second. I had no idea where the story would go after a specific point, and all I had for the ending was a twist in the way the story was written. I know hindsight is 20-20, but after spending hours writing the most I have ever written, around 12,000 words in three weeks, my creative juices stopped. I have more than 40,000 words left and there's absolutely no way I'll be able to write that much in such a short amount of time, so I throw in the towel. That's it. It's over. I failed. Whoops.

To be honest, I'm actually kind of glad that I didn't finish NaNoWriMo. 
Maybe it might have something to do with what I started reading over the month. I cracked open John Truby's The Anatomy of Story and put my current story under a microscope, curious to find what unconscious Freudian-levels of symbolism and plot were planted by my subconscious. Shockingly, I found out that the story actually had nowhere to go, the main character wasn't formulated at all, there was no opposing force to speak of, and the protagonist's life seemed dull. With that bit of reality shoved in my face, I instead took the time to rebuild Point of View from scratch, away from my computer, taking what I've already written but editing it to match the tropes I wanted to keep and nothing else.

It's kind of going the same way as STTR (Second to the Right). The story is being rewritten after 5/6 chapters and the characters will be laid out in writing for future reference, somehow.

This month gave me time to tweak the background of my stories, to learn to frame a character in a certain way so that they change. Point of View's protagonist (Michael Whittaker) is an aged celebrity coming to terms with a world that won't appreciate him or his craft, as the new form of film-making goes back to its roots and focuses on story over actors. Peter Pan doesn't really change so the focus will have to be on Elizabeth Robertson and how she finds Peter hidden amongst the unknown. 

We'll see how that turns out, but I'm just happy that I'll actually get to improve my writing, instead of just pick up little descriptions along the way.

Here We Go Again... STTR REVISED Story Bible

Well, it's happening. Disney is releasing a remake of Peter Pan, with the Director of Pete's Dragon directing. And it's coming out in 2018.

STTR is being heavily redone now, so I'm pretty much in the same place when I started this whole shindig. A big movie's release date becomes a deadline, I end up publishing STTR around the same time as the movie is released and barely get any results. Well, hopefully, it goes better this time, as the book is slightly different than before.

Well, here it is, the synopsis for the new version of Second to the Right:

London was no place for legends, for fairies, or tales of adventure. The grown-ups had forbidden childish behaviors, replacing them with good manners and priming for adulthood.

Yet there were whispers of a child, a dirty-haired boy named Peter who soothed children to sleep with his pan flute, roamed the streets, and saved children from Grown-ups' grasp by sword or by cleverness. This boy, a heartless, joyful, and clever child, with a knack for sword-fighting, dreamed of reaching Neverland again after his shadow got torn off by pirates.

Through his adventures with other children, including gangs of thieves and a young bookseller, he learns more about the world around him, including how terrible mothers are. After narrowly escaping the clutches of Captain Hook once again, he lands on the doorstep of Elizabeth Robertson, a precocious rebellious girl who hides him from her inventor-turned-investment banker Father and her strict Mother. She gives him the name Peter Pan after his trusty Pan flute, and her Mother tries to take him in as a son she never had. As Captain Hook, with his trusty crew and a wise Mr. Smee, draws closer to the child, Peter finds that his shadow had been torn off again, only this time by a dog's teeth. She glues it back onto him using a bar of glue soap her Father invented, before the alarm clock.

He realizes he can fly and brings Elizabeth to fly above the clouds with him. They are soon encountered by Captain Hook again, only for Elizabeth to be captured. He uses another flying ship with Elizabeth's father to catch up to the Jolly Roger and dispatch of the crew. Peter fights Hook as their ship travels further along to Neverland. After Peter cuts off Hook's hand, thanks to Father Robertson distracting alarm clock, Hook swears revenge as he and Smee escape from the Jolly Roger to rebuild their crew. Peter flies the ship back to London, per Elizabeth's request, as Peter Pan flies back to Neverland, finding the Lost Boys and ultimately flying back to the same house, where Wendy, John, and Michael Darling now sleep.

What do you think?
Let me know!
Thank you, have a great weekend, and I'll see you in the sunlight!

(Firewall Story Bible coming up if you want.)