Dradis058's avatar

Dradis058

Dradis
229 Watchers25 Deviations
34.5K
Pageviews

I think that there's a lot that I could say in regards to my newest work. But somehow, I feel like I can't expound on it too much without spoilers, in case someone happens to see this before reading the actual story itself. I'll likely save that discussion for next time.


I'm pretty happy with the turnaround time. Start to finish, it took a little over 3 months to put this one together. That's pretty remarkable on its own, but also in light of the fact that it's an exceptionally dense piece by word count. The last one to exceed it in size was The Embrace / The Blind Date, if one considers those to be a single project.


I'll spend the rest of my time here outlining my thoughts on Las Vegas' inner workings in the current form it's taken on in my world building. I'd previously provided an overview of Los Angeles in The Yacht Brawl and its accompanying journal piece, so I think it offers a very interesting contrast.


In Las Vegas, a casino functions as the fundamental unit of organization. Each one will have its own stable of fighters, and the size of that stable will typically be larger for casinos that have a higher degree of prestige. Each casino will have its own company culture, so to speak, and will set its own rules for how fighters decide their internal hierarchy. The differences in these factors from one casino to the next foster a varying degree of cooperativeness or competitiveness in each one. As fighters see their career fortunes wax or wane, it's not uncommon for fighters to transition between casinos over time.


Oftentimes, smaller casinos will partner together to put on events or carry on low-level rivalries between each other. They may at times also form a coalition for an event versus a larger casino. At the marquee establishments, the size of the roster and the high stakes nature of the environment will result in there being multiple internal factions that vie against each other for superiority.


A fighter who has ascended to the top of her casino's hierarchy is elevated to a position where she will have to contend with her equals at the other establishments. She can issue challenges to other leaders that seek to force their submission to her, and she can expect to receive challenges that seek the same from her. Because of the fractitious nature of the fight scene, these dominions will always end up being transient. A subjugated leader will inevitably refuse to recognize fealty to another, or will make a direct attempt to overthrow the yoke that has been imposed upon her. Changes in leadership on either side will typically necessitate a contest to reaffirm or renounce the status quo. Particularly ambitious fighters will attempt to claim as many establishments as possible, but are at increased risk of threats from without and usurpation from within.


The backstory of my setting had seen the consolidation of the fight scene under the hegemony of just two fighters. I think that kind of falls in line with the way in the real world that all of Las Vegas' casinos are owned by just two corporations. But suffice to say, the mere fact that the pair were able to accomplish such a feat in such a turbulent environment speaks volumes about their bona fides.

Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In

A long time ago, well before I ever conceived of any of members of my roster or plotted out the stories in which their dramas would unfold, the very first OC I created was Lily Wu.


My writing was still almost exclusively confined to the realm of celeb stories back when I’d first come across the reference that would eventually inspire the character. The real life model couldn’t really fit into that body of work when I started plugging her in against some of my favorites from that period, as she wasn’t at the level of notoriety that one would expect from an actual celebrity in those days – this was well before the time when being internet famous could be a thing all on its own. Nonetheless, I started to conceive of a few idea fragments that she seemed to be suited for, and as my focus began to shift in the following years, she consistently remained at the center around which the rest of my universe was slowly being established.


First and foremost, Lily was a boxer. I think literally the original visual reference I had of her model was in gloves and muay thai trunks. She always meant to be dominant over her peers in that form of fighting – maybe somebody might be able to give her trouble in spots, but actually defeating her was a lost hope without every last star aligning perfectly. Given my interests, I naturally also envisioned her as a catfighter. She likely wouldn’t have delved into it with the same degree of dedication, and certainly would not have been as blatantly overpowered in that arena.


Eventually, I devoted some energy into writing a story with her as a character. It was a boxing piece told from the POV of a blonde protagonist who is outclassed by Lily and is ultimately conquered by her in the end. I’ve never published that story and I think it’s garbage quality by present day standards. But the premise sounds familiar, doesn’t it? A few years later when my focus started to shift more wholly towards OC stories, I started anew and wrote for a second time with a different blonde character who meets her match at Lily’s hands. And we all know where things went from there.


Since then, and up until now, Lily has never reappeared in any of my works. What gives?


A lot of it I think can be chalked up to shifts in preference. The inspiration for Lily ended up not having the kind of staying power over my mind that I would’ve expected previously, and I think my interest in writing for the character waned in tandem. At the same time, the emergence of both Erica as a protagonist and Ari shortly later as a foil to rival her did much to shape the direction that my work would go in. Between that and my rate of output, Lily ended up as one of the many early ideas that never made it to print or didn’t gain much traction after the first outing. If this ends up being Lily’s last hurrah, then it’s probably a fitting piece to go out on. At the moment I have one more one-off idea for her that I might pursue, but it’s a ways off if it ever comes to fruition.


Regarding the fight itself, the tone I was aiming for falls into what I think would be termed as Catty MMA. The catch is that I know very little about MMA on a technical level, so the action comes across more like boxing with an MMA aesthetic. Hopefully it translated well enough though. I also want to highlight the fight’s finish, which is another Lily snippet that I’ve had in the back pocket for some time.


As for Erica, it feels like I’ve reached a particular point for her character. Translated to TV terms, I think we’ve arrived at something akin to a season finale. If I were to end things here and declare that her storyline is finished, I think this piece wrap things up conclusively enough that a reader isn’t left severely unsatisfied. Of course though, there remain a few hanging threads. The aforementioned rivalry with Ari is the most notable. There’s also another major character we’ve seen thus far, but who I feel I have not yet had the opportunity to utilize to her true extent. The road ahead for giving both of these things their proper due is a very long one, but I think I’ll be left wanting if I can’t bring it to fruition. And so we press on.

Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In

This newest story had a very recent inception; I think I first started to conceive of it back in December or January, around the time I was wrapping up The Elevator. I'm pretty sure it's the shortest piece I've posted to date, with the bulk of it getting banged out over two or three weekends. While not crucial in advancing the main storyline I've been developing, it was a nice opportunity to showcase two characters who will be seeing more ink in the near-ish future.


Tiffany is the protagonist of one of my oldest ideas, dating back well over 10 years at this point. The idea with her was that she was a part of the same universe as my other characters, but coexisting in a different geographical area. I got maybe a page and a half into that story, but at this point it's likely never going to be revisited. Thus, when I was trying to come up with characters for a future project, I decided to transplant her to this setting.


Daphne is a character I've been coming up with ideas for since about the mid-2010s. She's probably the last major character that'll be introduced into my universe, and in particular she strikes me as a strong potential antagonist for Erica. Given her late arrival, she's probably not going to be developed as thoroughly as some of the others, but she'll still definitely get at least one moment in the limelight.


As for this little slice of my universe, I've always had the idea that the fighting world was bifurcated into two very distinct arenas. On one hand, there's the high-class penthouse scene in which the majority of my characters inhabit. It's probably a very glamorous and rewarding lifestyle for this who are able to make it there, but I've had this idea that it's very difficult to gain access to in-universe - for an aspiring fighter to make it, they have to be extremely lucky, extremely talented, or extremely connected. Meanwhile, there's also a grittier, more blue-collar scene that we've gotten a few glimpses into, but that I have not delved into quite as extensively. It's significantly easier to make a career there, but it's the type of environment that chew a girl up and spit her out. Both ways are very hierarchical are very well entrenched, and it's an interesting notion that someone might be trying to rebel against them by coming up with an alternative, decentralized sort of system. Something to keep in mind for the future, I suppose.

Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In

Chicanery

1 min read

It's been a while since the last time I did a proper boxing story. It's even longer still since the last time I did one that describes the action in a recap sort of style. Compared to some others I've done in the past with this sort of format, it's still lacking in brevity as each round ended up being about a page to a page and a half. But as an attempt to do an entire fight from start to finish, I think it manages to do it succinctly enough such that the whole thing is not a gargantuan endeavor.


The writing approach for this piece was very atypical. In its essence, it's two separate half-stories that were then spliced together to produce the final product. I think doing it that way worked out pretty well as far as establishing a consistent tone for each half. It was a bit tricky getting the two parts to then line up with each other, but I think I got it to work out in the end.


I am curious about how the non-fighting sections of the story will be received. The ending for sure seems likely to provoke comment.

Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In

The Heel

2 min read

Nothing particularly clever or fancy about this story's title.


The piece is the fourth and final in a series of so-called "short stories" which I began posting in 2020. It was a great idea on paper, but the execution left much to be desired. Between size overruns and the lag time between posting, I feel that I did not achieve the practical goal I had set for myself of writing more prolifically. The upside is that this outing for Ari came together relatively quickly. I think the majority of it was composed in the last 6-8 weeks or so.


Speaking of Ari, in the last few days I've developed an appreciation for her as a POV character. Compared to my other characters, I feel like a get a significantly deeper glimpse into her psyche when I write things from her perspective. I remember thinking this same thing the last time I used her in a story, and particularly her prefight in this outing reinforce this notion in my mind. I'm not sure if or when I'll get to do it again with her. Most future plans have her serving as The Other, the one who's acting from without to force a reaction on the protagonist. And that is certainly a role she excels in.

Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Featured

Of Evolving Ideas and Ruleset Minutiae by Dradis058, journal

Quotation Marks by Dradis058, journal

2 For 1 by Dradis058, journal

Loser Leaves Town by Dradis058, journal

New Perspectives by Dradis058, journal