Gonna Be a Little Distracted...

[Black Aeronaut]

... And for once, it's a good thing.
http://www.bladebunny.com/2014/12/21/it ... rs-wanted/http://www.bladebunny.com/2014/12/21/it ... ment-11481
And this was the response I got back...

Drowemos wrote:

---

Not
bad.  Not bad at all. I just gave it a quick read over, not an in-depth
look but it looks pretty good. It doesn't help that I no clue who these
characters are but the writing is crisp and entertaining and fun to
read. 

How
would you feel about writing something small for the Blade Bunny
"Universe"?... Can I call this a "universe"? Any way how would you feel
like writing something inspired by the comic to see how you would handle
that?

And....

Drowemos wrote:

---

Well
don't break out the Charlie Brown Christmas music yet.  There are other
writers that are in contention for this job, it is still a one out of
ten shot that you will be selected at best.  But silll you are better
than the 40+ people I rejected outright for the job so its still saying
something.  

I
just want to see how you would handle character I am more familiar
with.  I am frighteningly ignorant with most manga and anime despite
making a comic like Blade Bunny.  As so where to start that is up to
you, I'm not looking for anything in particular just how you write
characters, humor and action with in the context of writing something
specifically for the comic. It can be prose or script.  It cab be the
beginning middle or end of a story or a complete short on it's own.  The
whole point of this exercise is for you to hook me and get me to want
to read more.  I can't tell you how to do that.

...
......
.........
HOLY.  CRAP.
That is all.

[Bob Schroeck]

Fantastic -- good luck with it!
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Black Aeronaut]

Well, good news and bad news.

Bad news first.

I didn't get the job.

Good news.

He thinks I deserve a shot at something!

Here's the text of the email I got back (just for context, I did a Bunny in Evil Dead/Army of Darkness short):

Drowemos wrote:

---

I have to say I am really divided. You've got a good sense of humor and timing. You mix action and dialog well. Your descriptions need a little work but in a comic descriptions don't matter. You have a lot of potential. Also you seem like a genuinely nice guy that would be fun to work with.

The problem is you are not writing your story in your voice but you are imitating my voice in someone else's story. This is not you talking but you pretending to be me pretending to be Sam Raimi. You did a good job of it but really it's an impossible task to make a script with this many degrees of separation sound natural. You're a good writer but I don't think you are ready to take on someone else characters yet. You have to find your own voice.

Now this is the point where I could wish you the best of luck and send you on your way. But I really do believe you have potential or at the very least could have fun hobby writing your own stories. So I am going to offer you a deal. I have called in some favors and gotten an artist to agree to do some cheap artwork for me. It is not Erwin but Faris the artist who worked on the Halloween filler comic.

He has agreed to give me 12 pages essentially at cost. I am going to offer those pages to you if you are interested. But here is the catch. In those 12 pages you have to write a complete story that is 100% your own. No fan fic. No transcription of Role-playing session. No derivative characters. No borrowing universes. All from your imagination on a theme that is important to you. I will work with you helping you refine and focus the script and then I'll post it as filler art on Blade Bunny and you can post it anywhere you want.

That's the consolation prize I am offering.

So, I'm taking him up on the offer. This is what I'm pitching:

Black Aeronaut wrote:

---

As for what I have in mind... Well, it is something that is very much close to home for me. It will be a story about someone who has been a victim of circumstance all his young life. And whenever he has tried to stand up for himself, he has always been brutally beaten down for it - not just physically, but psychologically as well. But when his life takes a turn for the truly strange, can his odd new friends help him to stand up?

The setting will be sci-fi/fantasy - a bit of Shadow Run and Leiji Matsumoto thrown together. Shades of Galaxy Express 999 and Eureka 7, since this is going to be a coming of age story with strange and bizarre characters in odd settings. Earth is a primitive backwater, and our protagonist really is a young stranger in a very strange land.

Sure, something like this is best told as an epic... But I think I can get a slice of it out that will stand fairly well on its own with just 12-pages. Who knows, maybe people will want more?

Thoughts?

[Bob Schroeck]

It's a hell of an opportunity -- and the pitch has me hooked. Here's wishing you luck, and I'm looking forward to the results.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[ECSNorway]

DANG, dude. One heck of an opportunity indeed. Grab on with both hands and don't let go!

And if you get enough of a story to publish it, let us know, 'cause you'll find some buyers here.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[robkelk]

Go write - we'll see you later.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Black Aeronaut]

I'm still waiting to hear back from Drowemos. Besides, I'll still be around. Gotta ping the collective consciousness now and then, after all.
Update: He likes what I have in mind.  I got most of it hashed out and I'm gonna be writing the script soon.  I've already tracked down the artist's dA account so I can get a feel for how he likes to split up the panels.

[Black Aeronaut]

Hello? Life? Would you kindly knock it the fuck off. I got enough on my plate as is.

After a mild stroke, my step-dad has been on Percocet to deal with the migraines he's been having. Unfortunately, with migraines like these, you might as well be popping pez. The only thing that really does the trick for him is something you get only in a hospital (gone blank on the name).

But the Percocet takes some of the edge off... until recently.

While mom was away, dad had a real humdinger come on - enough that it completely skewed his perceptions. So he took some Percocet, went to sleep... woke up a few minutes, took more... woke up a few minutes later, took more... woke up a few minutes later, took more... woke up a few minutes later, took more...

I think you're starting to see where this is going.

Fortunately, he's okay. Mom came back home in time, and got him to the hospital. And the blood tests came back showing he has no liver damage (thank God). In the meantime, Mom has had to cancel a trip here to San Antonio to take care of business with some storage units she rented out when we moved recently (place we were at had a 2-car garage and she was using it as storage). Now, Tsjoat and I have been running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to consolidate these storage units before we get nailed for more rent.

Unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating today.

FML.