Big Spoilers Ahead.  If you thought you were going to read the Best Story in the World without spoilin’, read this not.

In the post before (the post before) this, I grabbed a Grimm Bros fairy tale at random, like the Wizard of Oz core of Wild at Heart, Alice in Wonderland-ish aspect of Blue Velvet, and tried to spin it into a contemporary tale.  I turned Puss in Boots into an LGBT crime story.  Now I wanna try to infuse it with all of the things my dude likes, from other posts.  Here I go…

Not yet.  I still don’t feel ready.  OK, a big recurring thing my dude likes is a sense of mystery, but what can be mysterious in this?  In original Puss, how a cat talks could be a mystery, but the story isn’t interested in it, so it isn’t, and in my story he isn’t a cat.  Maybe a combo of little magical elements can add up to that.  I know he generally doesn’t go in for what would be called “magical realism,” more just surrealism proper.  Ugh.

Surrealism is the challenge.  To me what’s great about Lynch is the surrealism, because it carries a sense of profundity.  Something that feels special in a very undefined way.  Maybe undefinable.  Most simply, can I make it feel like a dream?  I’m gonna skim my dreamposting.  Before I do that and before I forget, one element I just came up with and might use:  Boss has a vault with some unknown treasure in it, he sometimes goes in and comes out smoking.  Is it a weird drug stockpile, or a gate to hell?  Daughter is tempted by it at the end but resists and leaves the mystery unanswered, leaves with the boys.

Alright dreamposting…  A few surreal bits.  Main one I thought might work is the boy who accidentally names the antagonist in a video game after himself, and sees that reflected in adult life.  A lot of patchwork environments of grubby weirdness.  Some perv stuff.  Celebs I do not want to include.  Characters with deformities or disabilities.  Messed up animals.  Sense of obligation to menacing paternal figure, shades of The Freshman.

Still not feeling ready.  It occurs to me Puss is kind of a wizard, and he fights a wizard during the story.  Maybe the Wizard and Henchpuss can be actual wizards, Henchpuss being a wayward apprentice that comes to kill his mentor.  “Someday you’ll be killed by an apprentice junior.”  Later on has opportunity to teach some tricks to Princess or Boss and declines to.  What would wizardry be here?  Getting away with absurd things, like our original cat?  I dunno.  Henchpuss should at minimum have prior familiarity with or knowledge of Princess and various key figures in the Underworld.

Maybe the story within a story can feel magical.  Start with Boss as kid playing video game against himself, refer back to it in ways… keep intercutting flashbacks to that, or make him rediscover game as an adult?  So that’s three magic things.  Godfather’s vault, Henchpuss+Wizard being wizards, and Boss’s save game haunting him.

Maybe just plotting things out with more details will suggest to me what the magic should be.

Opens with Marlon Graf age nine playing video game.  Accidentally names enemy with his own name.  His character has the name of his mother.  He goes ahead and plays the game, being a practical kid and unbothered by foolishness.  Some indication of the ghettoness – he lives in the projects.

Marlon’s friends Jared Henke and Colin Gordon get tangled up with a mysterious sorceress.  There’s another kid there that they don’t see the face of.  Sorceress is named Majel Billy.  She gets them tempted on some turkish delights shit.

Grown Marlon gets dragged by Jared and Colin into doing a crime.  They go to a different part of the projects from the corner where they live, and break into a guy’s apartment.  It’s just to steal his supply of Thing X, but they end up killing him.  What about the assistant?  Something in circumstances causes them to split the goods.  Jared takes the treasure, Colin takes the money, and they leave Marlon with the gun – and the understanding he’s to kill the witness.

Marlon says I didn’t even want to do this.  What am I doing here?  Assistant introduces himself, David Coter.  I didn’t want to be a victim of violent crime either.  You know, if you trust me, I could make you very wealthy.  Just don’t get me killed and I’ll let you live.  Are you sure that’s all you want?

Later Marlon gives gun to Jared, saying “you’re gonna need this to watch your ass.”

David tracks Marlon to his home.  Are you sure that’s all you want?  Dude, get out of here!  I’m going to make you rich, because you saved my life.  If being rich is crimes, please don’t.  You won’t have to do a thing.  What can I say to make you go away?  Gimme those cool boots.

Jared comes by Marlon’s pissed, “Somebody got the loot!  The sorceress is going to be big mad.  Watch my six.  This was your fault.”  He goes charging down to a place where he gets ambushed and killed, while trying to roll David.  Echoes of death of David’s old boss.  David sees Marlon and gestures for him to stay out of sight.

The killer congratulates him and he takes him back to Godfather and Princess to keep his head low.  “Thanks for restoring Thing X to me.  You’ve been rewarded with your life, so this is fair.  But I haven’t given anything to your boss.”  “Let him operate in the project, and we’ll make sure you don’t get hit again.”  “Deal, but I simply must meet him.”  “You will.  He’s busy guy.”

David calls Marlon.  “I had to do that, you understand?  I’m so sorry you had to see it.” “Alright but are we goddamn done yet?”  “Please let me make it up to you.  I mean, I took your cool boots.  It isn’t fair.  We aren’t even.”  “Don’t kill my other friend.  No more killing.”  “OK.  Also let me make it up to you.  I got you into the Godfather’s graces so you have a pass for at least one fuckup.”

Comes by with a gift – game cart from a pawn shop.  It has his old save on it!  You mind if I stay and watch?  Bonding.  Colin comes around and David hides in the bathroom.  Bathroom flushes and Marlon says something wrong with toilet, goes to check and Colin startles him barging in, but no David.  Did he flush himself down the toilet?

Colin says “Jared got aced because that weasel got away.  I don’t blame you, not like you’d ever been in that position before, not a bad person…  But we gotta make sure we don’t get caught.  Let’s never go anywhere near there again.  Here, have some cash monies.”

..

NEIN.

This run at the particulars is sucking.  There are some potentially funny bits, it could be reworked to be a lot more interesting.  And the fundamental plot wasn’t bad, I am very likely to use this idea in the future!  But I am realizing this will be less about mystery and horror than about action and crime, which is not going to be the best story in the world for my guy!  And I can’t bend it far enough in that direction!

Last ditch desperate new attempt tomorrow.

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