The Spiralling
Bonus Feature: Writer's Commentary Part 8
Chapter 7: Stepping Stone: This chapter begins with its feet firmly planted back on reality. The nightmare was over, and it was time for the real nightmare to continue, and what better way than to start it off with some update on what's going on? Dave Lizewski decides to meet his friends after school for some catching up, but it was actually more to do with his obsession as a superhero, and his commitment towards stopping his new nemesis, the young, disturbed girl, Demoness.
The main purpose of his talk with his friends Todd and Marty was a rather simple plot device to divulge some important information to the readers. Todd and Marty had become plot devices on their own- They had become something like information brochures with the message printed on them. It was crude, but it felt right, the way I advance the story in this manner.
In the movie, they were supporting characters and comic relief. They reveal, through their amazing ultimate trio friendship, how Dave Lizewski was like as a person. In his own words, Dave wasn't a funny guy, just a normal teenager 'just existing'. While Dave and Marty were robbed walking home together by two street gangsters on 'pussy patrol', Dave was shown to be the more wilful person (to change his circumstances). It was especially obvious later on when Dave was the one becoming Kick-Ass, not them. In the story however, I chose not to build on this relationship much, as Todd and Marty weren't the point of the story, but they were easy to use as information kiosks as it meant I won't need to create new characters that are convincing and deep- It takes creative energy to do such a thing. Yet, as I said, it's not out of place to do this.
Another very important element of this chapter was that it would go on to show something else that is very essential for a good story to work- Character development. In the second half of the story, Dave as Kick-Ass returned to the streets at night to continue patrolling to look out for Demoness, or as a lower priority, other criminal activity. One part of this character development was how his equipment continues to evolve and improve. Earlier in this chapter, even before he met his friends in the Atomic Comics Cafe, he had spent his savings on an Iphone so that he could access his Myspace account anytime, anywhere. Also, he started rummaging through his dad's old stuff to come up with a radio that could, to his luck, jack into police channels.
However, that was just at the surface, even if it was quite an important aspect of Dave's development. After getting equipped and prepared and going for his foot patrol, he did indeed encounter a robbery at a pawnshop just when he was about to give up at midnight. He fought and won, but it wasn't just any normal victory- sure, winning by force of arms is encouraging and rewarding, and it shows character development, the whole point of this half of the chapter. As I wrote this, I found a more potent way to do this rather than just coming up with a generic fight scene- yes, it occurred to me only when I was about three quarters of the way through this fight scene. Instead of just showing he was a better fighter, why not show the other aspects of a hero that became apparent in him? This improvement on multiple lanes in his character did what I wanted to do- It showed character development in a high one-shot dose. In other words, effective character development. It worked for me, hope it works for you.
Chapter 8: Development: Hmm, I just realised the title of this chapter seems to coincide with the point of the latter half of the previous chapter. Odd. Anyway, the start of this chapter builds upon the previous instalment of the previous chapter- or the essence of the ending of the previous chapter. Dave felt triumph for the first time in a long time, since his glory in aiding Mindy to exact justice and revenge all at once on Frank D'Amico. This is further elaborated and expanded upon in the opening of this chapter.
However, the opening is also there for another reason- It acts as a bridge to the next level of Kick-Ass' superhero operations. He wanted to call in Mindy for help, and he was willing to do it despite the rift that had formed between him and Mindy Macready- By bringing in his former teammate, he was intending to heighten his chances of finding Demoness, and we all know... Mindy's a hunter-killer against criminals. Another reason for this small but meaningful (at least I think so) entry was to set the stage for the fake climax of the story. By this point, I was still misleading the reader, and this was part of the gag- This time, I wanted the reader to think 'something big, dynamic and epic is about to happen!' As we all know, it did when they got together in the movie- ending it with a bang as loud as ten thousand bundles of TNT. Of course, this was not meant to be, as I had something entirely different in store- A twist I was hoping that would define this fan fiction.
Most of the story, however, focuses on Aldan Bonitus, the new hero around the block. This is done partially to break the monotony of the story- As amazing as Kick-Ass was, we as modern human beings get bored of even King Kong when it appeared enough times on screen. I had some kind of a bored-meter in mind as I wrote this story. Whenever the mercury in the bored-meter climbs too high, I would naturally try to insert something different and fresh in to make the story more dynamic. This time, I did it with Aldan to cool the bored-meter. This is not to say though, that Aldan was just there to distract the readers, oh no. He was a unique character, and he's got his own important place in the story- As a major supporting character. This part develops him even further the way I did with Kick-Ass in the previous chapter.
Grandmaster arrives in the city, entirely bewildered at how it had transformed in his absence. As Mr. Bonitus marvels at the sight before him, he was soon harassed by police officers, and he acts awkwardly towards them. This entire sequence was to emphasize his estrangement from modern society and culture- He had exiled himself to relieve himself from his trauma of having failed badly in creating a family for himself, and to continue the craft that current society had so rejected altogether.
As I wrote this, I was brainstorming at the same time how someone would react if they were away from all of civilization for twenty years before coming back, how I would react. This was what I got. This was of course just part of it. This was the beginning of the healing process in Aldan- In coming back, he will start getting used to civilization again, though it won't be that soon. The other side of this chapter was of course, society's reaction towards a quaint guy in return- And this was embodied in the form of two police officers. Assumption, tension and ridicule was embodied in those two police officers.
One thing I felt could have been improved right from when I wrote this chapter was that the tension between Aldan and the police officers could have been handled better. It was designed to be awkward, but it became too awkward for my taste. If I remember, I had trouble with this chapter, and it took me more time than the rest to figure this one out. This was the best result- I do hope you guys agree with me too.