 |
|
| | >>> Click
here to download Final Fantasy Ringtones |
 |
#1  An Otaku Love Story... Now this is a work in progress. Originally designed to be a script for a comic book idea until I remembered I can't draw...  (btw, any artist willing to draw the cast is more than welcomed too. I still wish to present like a manga/comic book.)I wrote this part in college and hoped to continue it. Unfortunately it's been on the back burner for awhile even though I had planned quite a bit of the later chapters. I was asked to show some of my other writing works and I figured if it got a good reception I might turn it into a weekly serial on the forum. I hope you enjoy and I am bit embarrassed cause I'm not used to writing romantic comedies... **************************************** ************** An Otaku Love Story… “What am I doing here?” That was the only thing I could say as the MC began to call the name of our group. I mean here I am dressed up in tight black leather that shows off my less than satisfactory form. I have a damn eye patch on and some itchy makeup that is supposed to look like a scar! And to make matters worse, I’m going to be on stage in front of hundreds of people who will probably be laughing at me! I’m not even sure I can do this. My heart is racing, my makeup is running because I’m sweating so much, and why am I feeling sick to my stomach?! I would never do something like this normally. I was always a little shy when it came to being in front of large groups of people. I’ve been doing a lot of things I never imagined I would be doing. Especially dressing up as the epitome of space opera, Captain Harlock … I really don’t think I can do this. So what am I doing here? And why am I doing this? Those two questions just kept swimming in my head. My group and I are walking on the stage; the bright lights shine down on us as though they were exposing our very souls. I kept thinking about my pounding heart as if I had to as if I didn’t, it would stop right their and I could leave this mortal coil. And then I started thinking about the damn questions again, except I looked over to my left and remembered why. I was doing all this nonsense for love…. Year One Chapter 1 It all started one fine spring morning when I was heading to my classes on campus. I was running late that day… “Damn it all to hell!” I said out loud as ran to my class, late as usual. By the way, I guess I should introduce myself; my name was Tylor Branford, age 19. Later I would gain another name but I’ll get to that later. Because of this fateful day I would have a whole new world opened to me and one that would lead me to her… I was dress in my usual attire of acid washed blue jeans that were a relic from the eighties. I tend to take some of my fashion concepts from that era. I also wore my old Tsunami Bomb T-shirt that was so worn and dirty that some would argue that I never take it off. Okay, I seem to have gotten off track here, anyway, I was late for class as usual and doing my morning, routine, mad dash to class when I… tripped and tried to regain my balance before I had my possibly inevitable collision with the concrete ground. This never happened; instead I collided with a something else. The other students looked at the two of us sprawled on the ground. I had run smacked into another student who was talking with his friend. The friend quickly helped us both up, he had dirty blonde hair and glasses. He wore a white-collar dress shirt over his Ranma ½ T-shirt of Panda form Genma Saotome and blue jeans. He sorta has looked like a computer nerd with his glasses and his sunken shoulders but he was surprisingly toned. The guy I bumped into wore a forest green suit coat over a black shirt and jeans. He had black hair and grayish blue eyes. He was very handsome and every movement he made looked like something you would see in a Calvin Kline ad, yet it seemed more natural for him. Kinda’ve creepy in my opinion but mesmerizing at the same time. “I am really sorry about that!” I said as I drastically grabbed my belongings. “Tylor Branford?” asked the student with glasses. “Yeah, wait…how do you know my name?” I asked in a puzzled tone. “It’s me! Edgar Wilson! We went to high school together. Remember? We had Music Theory together.” I just stood their dumbfounded for a second. I tried desperately to remember when finally my little brain elf kicked my brain back into working order. “Yes! I do remember you! You did that musical presentation on that Japanese composer…what’s her name?” Edgar smiled, happy that his old classmate remembered him. “Her name is Yoko Kanno, a talented composer that has experimented in every genre and is known best for her soundtracks to such great anime as Cowboy Bebop, Vision of Escaflowne, and Macross Plus. She also formed a band called SEATBELTS that was a good success in her country.” I just stared at Edgar blankly. Hell if I remembered high school that well, let alone some music class I had my sophomore year… “Tochiro, you sound like a living dictionary. You should stop over explaining things. It makes you sound rather strange but adorable nonetheless.” Edgar’s soft spoken friend said as he was getting up. “I’ll lend you a CD.” Edgar said as he realized my confusion. I looked over at Edgar’s friend, he was brushing the dust off his outfit “I am really sorry about running into you …um, I don’t think I got your name?” “Everyone calls me Seishirou. I am glad to meet a friend of Tochiro.” Once again, I gave a blank stare as I tried to figure out their weird alien names. I mean, I thought his name was Edgar? What is up with this toshy…ro nonsense? “Oh! Sorry about that. Those are our nicknames at the anime club. Well except for Seishirou since EVERYONE calls him that.” Edgar explained cheerfully. As usual… blank, clueless stare never left my face. Edgar tried to explain some more. “Anime is Japanese animation.” Edgar displayed his T-shirt as an example. It’s a unique art form that me and some other students have an interest in. Although the casual observer will discredit it because it seems like a cartoon; it actually can be enjoyed by an adult audiences, since the storylines are better compared to Hollywood movies than Saturday morning cartoons.” I suddenly remembered Edgar, he loved to talk and explain things. Guy always sounded like an infomercial. “That’s nice, Edgar or Tokoro, or Toshy or whatever the hell they call you now, but I really need to be going; I’m sorta’ve late for class so good bye!” I said as I tried to get away from these nutcases. I continued to my class but I remember hearing Tochiro say something about joining him at a club or something like that. I ran to my class and tried to think about what my teacher would say for being late the 28th time in a row. He was a no nonsense kinda’ve guy and I can’t say I really looked forward to his pre-algebra class at 9 a.m. Why do all of the classes that involve real thought take place so early in the morning? There’s a question I wish the Greek philosophers could have gotten around to explaining. As I entered my class, I knew something was wrong. No one was there except for the teacher. Mr. Stravinsky! Hi! Uh…where is everyone?” I asked him in my best, “model student” voice. He seemed to grimace at my question; it made his face look like an old willow tree with all his wrinkles. “Mr. Branford, in all of my 37 yrs. of teaching, I have never seen such an irresponsible student! The rest of my students will at least attend my class on time and not consistently show up 40min. late. You have many future opportunities that you are throwing away…blah, blah, blah…. You can see where this conversation is going so I’ll just skip to afterwards… …. I hope that you will take my advice and better apply yourself. Lest you become one of those dirty, drug craved hippies!” Mr. Stravinsky lectured. His speech was so old, one would almost cough at the dust it is covered in. He handed my previous test as well. As usual, it was an F. After leaving his class, I headed for an early lunch. The campus cafeteria was not known for its gourmet cooking but most of the student body was just happy that it was edible. Everything was fine as I ate my sloppy joes until I noticed a few girls sitting at a table nearby that seemed to be eyeing me. I was a little nervous, after all, I haven’t had a girlfriend since high school. Even then, I wouldn’t have called it a relationship; it was very demeaning and more like slavery. There was also the fact that she saw a few guys behind my back… like all of the guys at our school… So yeah, I was a little nervous. I quickly stood up and began strutting over to their table. I flexed what little muscle I ever had. I tripped over my “other” left foot and crashed into someone and their tray of food. I could here the uproar of laughter at the girl’s table. I got up and tried to brush off the processed meat from my favorite shirt, when I heard a soft but familiar voice. “You seem to be almost accident prone today.” Seishirou calmly said with a smile as he helped me up. Our reunion was cut short by the shrill cry of the girls, “SEISHIROU!” Every girl within a 100-meter radius of the cafeteria rushed in to help him clean the food off of him, knocking me back on my ass in the sloppy joe mess. Seichiro tried to help me, but his groupies wouldn’t let him get near me. I got up and decided to blow off the rest of my classes and head to my one sanctuary. A half an hour later, I came upon my beloved apartment. My old high school buddy Biff and I decided to live together when we got out of high school. Both of us were tired of our families. He was in a band and his family didn’t quite approve. They are rather unique as the try to find a label that can appreciate they’re unique mix of Norwegian Death metal, Broadway show tunes, and old timey country music… I just wanted to get out of my house because I wanted to prove that I could make it on my own. My parents are really nice, but I was always treated as a child. I wanted to be away so I could really see who I really am; I think in psychology, they would call this Identity Diffusion. I could hear my roommates stereo blaring, so I knew he was home. I put my key in the lock and was surprised to find that it didn’t fit. I tried again and then again, but to no avail. Finally I knocked on the door and screamed for Biff. The door swung open and I was nearly sent flying back by the bass on the stereo. Biff, with his hot pink Mohawk and various piercings, stood there with nothing but his underwear on. Stroking him behind was a pale skinned woman with long black, Morticia Addams hair and apparently nothing else. Biff smiled when he saw me, “Dude! What’s up?” “Why the hell did you change the locks on our apartment?” I screamed. “Oh, dude, I forgot to introduce you two. Tylor, this is Veronica. Veronica, this is Tylor.” Veronica and I smiled and said hi to each other. I quickly went back to being angry. “That doesn’t explain why my key doesn’t work.” “Dude! I forgot to tell you, me and Veronica are shacking up and we needed another room so you’re not living here anymore. I got your stuff boxed up, so when you find a new place to live, just tell me and I will send it there.” “What do you mean I’m kicked out?! I lived here first, why can’t she just stay in your room?” “No, dude, we just need your room for all her stuff, because I don’t have enough room so you’re moving out so your room can be used as storage space. Now if you’ll excuse me, we were in the middle of something so good night.” Biff slammed the door in my face. With that over, I returned to school with nothing more than the clothes on my back. I sorta just wondered the halls for a while. Not really paying attention to where I was going or what was going on around me. Time seemed to stop, as if the past and future no longer recognized my existence. When I could walk no longer. I came into a small auditorium and sat in the back row of chairs. All I could say was, “Why god! What did I do to deserve this?!” My rhetorical question was greeted by someone screaming “Why god! What did I do to deserve this?!” I looked up and saw that the room had a few people in it. A tall man with glasses, a red T-shirt and blue jeans stood on the stage. The other people just laughed at him. “Maybe your being punished for sins from a previous life Hediki.” A smart assed spectator said from the audience. The guy, known as Hediki just scowled and went back to his original speech before his outcry. “Even though none of you will appreciate this, we will be watching Vampire Hunter D, some Ranma 1/2, and we will finally watch Project A-ko.” Hediki said in a mocking tone. I wasn’t quite sure what was going on but my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone calling my name. “ Tylor! I didn’t think you were going to come. I’m happy that you took me up on my offer!” Edgar said happily. Edgar was followed by Seishirou and a girl with pink hair. The girl wore blue jeans and a tight red leather sleeveless shirt. “Hey Tochiro, who’s your cute friend here?” she asked cheerfully. I could feel my face turning red at her response to me. Never had I had a beautiful girl say I was cute. Thinking about that made me realize how much of a loser I really was. I quickly went back to reality…. Tylor, I would like you to meet Sam or as everyone here calls her, Haruko.” “Haruko, this is an old high school acquaintance of mine. His name is Tylor.” Edgar said with full formalities. “Are you ready to see the wonders of anime?” Edgar asked. “Not really, I just sorta’ve wandered in here by accident. I should be leaving.” I said in a gloomy tone. The three of them noticed my mood and Seishirou quickly turned to Haruko and asked in a polite tone, “Will you excuse us, Haruko. The three of us need to have a discussion between men.” Haruko smiled and said cheerfully, “Oh, but I want to see some male bonding in action. Those girl teen magazines say that it doesn’t exist.” Seishirou gave her a cold stare and she finally agreed to let us go. The three of us went outside onto the campus grounds and began to talk. I explained my whole situation…. “So your roommate kicked you out and you refuse to go home?” Edgar asked. “My family has always babied me and said I didn’t stand a chance on my own. I moved out to prove them wrong, so crawling back home is not an option.” I said firmly. “The problem is that you don’t have anywhere to go now and you have no options now.” Seishirou said calmly. “Correct, my roommate has the apartment under his name. I don’t really have a job and very little money in my savings.” “Well, I see no other way. Tylor, you can stay at our place until you get back on your feet. On the condition that you make an effort to get a job and find a place of your own before the school year is over.” Edgar proposed. “You would really let me stay with you? I mean we were never really that close and we just met after so long…” “Tochiro has always been a really nice guy. He couldn’t leave you to sleep in the gutters. I’ll agree to let you stay with us.” Seishirou said cheerfully as he patted me on the back. I just remember being so happy that I nearly broke down and cried. We decided to head to my old place to pick up my stuff. The music from Buff’s apartment was so loud that he probably couldn’t hear us when we knocked on the door. Seishirou and Edgar wanted to “speak” with Biff about what he did but never got the chance. I soon found myself at my new temporary home. They had an apartment close by the school, about a 20-minute walk to the school grounds. The place was called Greenwood Hills; they had a nice apartment with two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen and living room. “Welcome to your new home!” Edgar and Seishirou said simultaneously. I was surprised to see the apartment covered with posters of their anime stuff they kept going on about. Still it was better than nothing and after my day… “So what do you think Tyler?” Edgar said cheerfully. The tears welled up and I did my best to stay manly in front of the guys. “It’s… BEAUTIFUL!!!!!” I said as I bawled like a little child. Little did I know that this was going to be the start of many problems and a emotional roller coaster that we would all be swept up into. But hey, that’s college life… |
08-04-2007, 07:49 AM
|  
|
| |
 |  i agree wholheartedly! If you can write a bit more on the looks of each character you would like to see in black and white, i'll try and give you a design for each one! (i can design characters but not soo good at storyboarding - i've tried before...) |
|
08-24-2007, 07:06 PM
|
|
Can't wait to see how Tyler ends up on stage. 
