I've been pretty lax about posting to my writing journal, in part because I've been pretty lax about writing the past several months. But I have once again vowed to write a story a week for 2021 (this is a common New Year's resolution for me). It's January 16th and I've written three stories this month -- so far so good!.
In November I participated in National Novel Writer's Month (NaNoWriMo) and I "won", in that I managed to write more than 50,000 words. I was hoping to finish a Ranma 1/2 / Ah My Goddess fanfiction story that I've been working on for years but haven't published. It's called Nerima All-Stars, and it's basically a take on what if the cast of Ranma 1/2 were given superpowers. I originally started this story as early as the year 2000, but I only really started working on it in earnest for NaNoWriMo 2016. I didn't finish it, and so I worked on it again for NaNoWriMo 2019.
I still had not finished it but I had this idea that I was almost at the big final battle, and another 50,000 words would come close to wrapping it up. So I set out to do that this past November, and as I noted I wrote another 50,000 words. The problem however was that most of what I wrote was finishing off the previous chapter, and setup for the final battle. I'm also not happy with what I've written -- the story lacks focus and kind of wanders. I think I know what the problem is -- aside from it maybe being too long. I have two long "side quest" chapters that delay the main plot, but the first one seemed to work fine, and I think that was because the focus was on the growing friendship between two characters. The second side quest chapter is much longer and doesn't develop any of the friendships or relationships between the characters, so it winds up seeming pointless.
I think I can fix that but it's going to take a lot of work, maybe another NaNoWriMo next year. ^_^
In the meantime, I had not finished a Grandpa Anarchy story since the ones I listed in September, but I have a lot of ideas and I've written three new stories for 2021. Those are:
413 I Swear
414 Collateral Damage
415 I, Gardener
The first story was just an idea that popped into my head, that I managed to turn into a complete story within a day or so. The second is the setup for a Christmas story that I plotted in December and did not write. It occurred to me that the explanation for what Grandpa is doing in the Christmas story could be a story in its own right, and I came up with Collateral Damage on the spot.
The third story is part of a planned trilogy, and is related to three other stories and an incomplete story. Last year I wrote The Emancipation of Philip Dos, which ended with Annie Two (Grandpa Anarchy's self-aware computer) in control of a Nazi gynoid/death bot, named Annie 3-D. Then in Wilfred 2.0 I introduce Grandpa's new robotic butler. Later I wrote Miss Trinity, in which I introduced a slew of other robotic characters -- a maid, a gardener, a non-heroic physical counterpart to Annie Two, and robotic versions of Annie Two who work with various other super hero groups and/or are stationed at the hidden resurrection stations.
I then plotted a story called Infinite Dojo which would reveal that all of these robots were built by Glory Ashes, Annie Two, and friends in a brand new sub-sub-basement complex below the Anarchy Cave. I didn't have an actual plot worked out, just a rival ninja showing up to challenge the mistress of the Infinite Dojo -- which Grandpa knows nothing about. I had a lot of plans for what lay beneath the Anarchy Caverns, but the story didn't develop in my head so I've yet to get anywhere on it.
However, I thought that I should also introduce these robotic helpers better, so I plotted three stories around them -- the gardener story, titled I, Gardener; the maid story, titled Maid Ex Machina; and a story about one of the Annie clones called I Think Therefor.
I mean I really had no plots in mind at first, just the idea that I wanted to feature each of these robot characters in a story. But I soon came up with a villain and a setting for I, Gardener, and I managed to finish it this past week.
Other ideas I'm developing:
1. There is an ancient evil buried beneath Grandpa Anarchy's mansion that has been awoken thanks to the newly-installed Infinite Dojo sub basement. (Which may be the plot of Maid Ex Machina or might be part of the story of Infinite Dojo, or it's own story, I haven't decided.)
1a. This is something that was summoned and then buried by Professor Victorian Honesty St. Normal, a mad scientist neighbor of Grandpa's in the 1920's. One of my other ideas was that perhaps the professor himself is trapped deep beneath the ground, or his spirit, or something. I've written one story in which the good Professor actually appears, and partially wrote another; otherwise he's just referred to as the person who built the St. Normal Tower which is the building next door to the Anarchy Mansion. Bringing him back to life would be a lot of fun. ^_^
2. Glory Ashes has a rival who is a rich spoiled girl of some sort, maybe with super powers or just a lot of gadgets. This may or may not be part of a story I started called Recipe for Disaster.
3. Glory Ashes may be working with F8Wasp and Miss Bloodraven, who were last seen travelling to Intersect (the city where dimensions meet) in the story My Sister the Computer. F8Wasp is the creator of Annie Two, and Miss Bloodraven is a heroic companion of Kid Anarchy's from the 1920's, but whose personality is partly or mostly derived from Annie Two. I haven't decided who else they might be working with -- Annie 3-D I think, but maybe someone else -- or if they have a name for their group. I'm not sure if there's a story here or it's just part of the story Infinite Dojo.
4. Glory Ashes and Annie Two have set up their own resurrection station -- somewhere. There should be a gateway to it from the Infinite Dojo sub-basement. Again, not sure if this warrants a separate story or if it's just another part of Infinite Dojo. Although one of my ideas is that the ancient evil mentioned in item 1 takes over one of the bodies in their resurrection station (which, unlike those built by Dark Dr. Dark, does not have any magical wards. Yet.)
5. There's a version of Annie Two that is a robotic magical girl called Little Morphin' Annie. This is actually mentioned in Miss Trinity so it's cannon. ^_^ I have an idea that somewhere in the Infinite Dojo sub-basement is a gateway to another planet or moon or other realm where Little Morphin' Annie is based. I haven't figured out where this bit of info goes, either.
6. I want to write a villain named Riddle Me Rhino. He's a classic heavy with a rhino theme, but also a genius-level villain who poses riddles for Grandpa Anarchy to solve. Because why can't that be a thing? Or maybe he just thinks his riddles are clever and they aren't. I also want to write a story about a villain named Plaid to the Bone, who was mentioned in passing in I Swear. I want to create a villain who hates robots and computers (seems a natural now that Grandpa has all of these robotic helpers), and I also am working on an idea for a doll-themed villain who I'm calling Lucille Dahl.
Stories that I am theoretically working on:
Maid Ex Machina
I Think Therefor
Infinite Dojo
Recipe for Disaster
So Good It's Plaid
The Trouble With Annie
Micronation
Fear and Loathing in Frosthaven
Every Alien Race Loves Shakespeare
Doomscrolling
Badge and Gun
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