Work In Progress

Don Quixote

Chris — 2005-12-08T20:12+00:00

One of the interesting facets of the story of The Man of La Mancha is why people get drawn to DQ. You can also see this theme in several of the works of Chesterton, perhaps most notably in Manalive. The idea of a man whose insanity takes the form of actually achieving the childlike goodness that we all approve of in the abstract, but don't have the energy to actually do, and why people are drawn to this. (One might say that the original would be the story of Jesus Christ, but while Jesus embodied that goodness, he didn't do it in a childlike way. Jesus was good, but also quite aware of the evils of the world and quite shrewd.)

In The Man of La Mancha, the character that we can relate to who is drawn to DQ is that of Aldonza, a prostitute. There is also Sancho Panza, but he's something of a simpleton. It would be very interesting to amalgamate these characters, and reverse the idea of the weak being drawn to the madman. Instead, someone powerful like an extremely rich CEO, or better yet someone like an assassin, a drug lord, or someone else who's very powerful and very deadly and up till he met the madman, very bad.

It would be good to have someone who knew him from his former life, before he became the madman's lackey, to ask him why. He could explain something like, "I was practical for the first thirty years of my life. It made me very wealthy and very powerful, but it never made me nearly so good as when I followed this madman. I thought that I used to be happy, but now I know what happiness is. I thought that I used to laugh, but now I know what laughter is. Even if I'll never be a saint myself, I'd rather smile with the saints than smirk with the sinners. Just a moment of real happiness is worth several lifetimes of fun. More than that, I can't explain. The world we lived in is like being inside of a balloon. It's very complete, but it's very small. If you've never been outside, I can't tell you about it, other than to say that the world is a lot bigger than it looks when you're inside the balloon we called being realistic. I wish you luck in finding it. And now, if you don't want me to become practical again, get the hell out of my way." (This should be said in some manner where the friend is blocking the way, and the protagonist is obviously threatening to break him.)

The Miracle Men

Chris — 2005-08-08T18:08+00:00

Set over the course of several centuries (at least), The Miracle Men is about two unimaginably good fighters. Very strong, very fast, good with any weapon, and seemingly impossible to kill, dodging before their opponent strikes, etc. In the middle ages they would fight (smaller) armies and win. They were called the miracle men because they would pull off what could only be described as miracles, enabling certain losers to be victorious. They weren't mercenaries, but were independent and unattached; they sometimes answered requests, etc. They were also enemies, equally matched. And here's the kicker: they were once the same person.

Backstory: our main character, call hime Mane, was the son of a knight, in training himself. His father was a very minor noble, but he was nobility. Mane heard stories of a magical thing (probably a chalice) which would grant people who found it power. Some investigation later, Mane set off to find it, and succeeded. He asked the thing for power, and it granted his wish on a condition: that Mane would get his power, but he would not get it unchecked (being no more specific than about that). Mane agreed, and the chalice gave him power in some manner that blinded and disoriented him during the process. When he came to again, he saw another man there which he didn't recognize but who also called himself Mane and who had all of the same memories. Using some water, they caught site of themselves and realized that they too had changed; neither looked like Mane, yet they both were.

They travelled home together, but before they could make it home their help was requested in some battle which they found easy and which started to get them fame (for their incredible skill, etc). As they tried to make their way home, they kept getting side-tracked, until on one job it was ambiguous which side was right. For some reason, Mane and Mane (who took to using different names, each giving up Mane for something else, say Peter and John) couldn't agree. Eventually when the battle was fought they were off on the sidelines fighting each other. Since they were evenly matched, neither won, and neither was really injured (they weren't big on the idea of killing each other), though they were quite impressive to watch. They tried to reconcile, once the battle was over, but they couldn't. It's quite difficult to be with someone who's exactly the same as you — it really undermines your sense of your own necessity in the grand scheme of creation — and this was the wedge which split the fissure. They split up, and sometimes fought apart, often they fought each other. To their mutual amazement, neither grew old or died.

(It turns out that the condition of checked power meant that neither could die of old age or get infirm while the other lived; and that when one was killed the other would die as well. (they could die in battle or of disease, but they wouldn't degenerate over time.) They eventually theorized something like this, during one of their truce periods, and so were especially careful not to kill each other when fighting, but limit it to wounding.)

Over the many years, they generally stayed away from each other, but occasionally during calm times would make truces with each other and talk. When you're (sort of) immortal, few people can relate, but time doesn't diminish the human need to talk to a sympathetic listiner. While they started out the same person, they grew apart from each other and changed with their different circumstances.

The main action should take place in the modern day, where their great physical ability isn't as useful any more as their vast experience and cunning (not that minor super powers aren't worth anything, but the ability to dodge arrows and kill 10 men in 10 seconds with a sword is of comparably less value when there are guns and explosives in the world; useful, but not what it once was).

As for what the modern day plot should be, good question. I'll let you know when I find out. :)

A brief explanation

Chris — 2005-08-08T18:08+00:00

All my life I've had stories floating around my head that I want to tell, and soon I'm going to begin to write them in earnest. This category is a place where I'm going to put partially finished story ideas which occur to me so that they don't get lost. If they inspire anybody to write a good story, then I wish you God's Blessings in the task, and ask only that you:

Let me know (not to ask permission, just make me aware)
If you're published, it turns into a movie, or whatever, give me credit for the idea in some publically accessible way I can reference so that if I ever write about it, I won't be accused of plagiarism.

Anyhow, what follows will be anything from brief ideas to brief outlines. I hope that some people other than me find it interesting, and everyone else finds it forgiveable.