Picture this.
You just skipped class, feeling down in the dumps because of your parents quarreling last night, your grades are shit, and you embarrassed yourself in front of your crush earlier. You harbor a fantasy in which you're taller, stronger, and smarter, enough to overcome your problems, and maybe even be *the* alpha male. It would be nice to be the centre of female attention some day.
Your buddy comes along and sees your long face. 'Wassup, bro,' he pokes. He's a guy you trust, a guy who already knows some of your problems. Maybe he knows even more if you haven't told him already.
He looks around furtively for a second, then pulls out a little silver object from his pocket. It's nondescript save for a little sapphire crystal set in its centre.
"Look here bro, I feel bad knowing all this and not doing anything for you. But now I can. You see this?"
Your eyes widen. 'Ain't that drugs or something,' you ask and push it away. 'That shit illegal, man! Keep it!'
Your buddy shakes his head and stares you right in your eyes. "This ain't weed, buddy. This is waaay better than that. Hear me out."
He keeps it in his pocket, but you can't quite take your eyes off its bulge in his pocket.
"Trust me on this man, I don't mean you no harm. But this thing, this Systemator in my pocket, it can give you powers. I ain't shitting you - stop looking at me like that! It's totally safe!"
To prove his point, he brings it out of his pocket and gives it a shake - nothing is heard. He presses a catch and it opens like a clam, revealing--
Yourself. More precisely, it's a reflection of yourself in a mirror. Your own familiar face and nothing more. In the other half of the object, there's a small pattern albeit like a snowflake, but laid in the same sapphire crystal that decorates the lid.
"Now, the Systemator won't just give you any power," your friend continues to explain, "But it works in a certain way. I myself don't know how it works. Umm... Let's put it this way. You want a superpower, you gotta pay for it."
"Pay for it? Like what, money?"
He shakes his head. "Nah, it don't cost anything. But I mean, like, I know a friend who paid for a power, like..." He cocks his head to the side, struggling to recall. "I heard she kinda like, *vowed* to not use her legs again? But she got this awesome rocket jetpack, y'know what I'm saying? A real friggin' jetpack, she actually could fly with that shit!"
"But how do you get a jetpack from that small little thing?" You point at his little silver compact and ask.
He shrugs. "I don't know, man. I've never asked anyone else before. All they told me was that you had to press the button. If you wish to give up something for good, then it'll like, let you get a superpower. It's like all random or something."
"What about yourself? Didn't you get a power from this?"
"Oh no no, bro," he shakes his head. "The rules says that you can either give powers or get a power. You can't give yourself a power. When I first got my Systemator last week, I tried to press it all day long and it wouldn't budge at all."
He demonstrates by attempting to mash in the sapphire pattern in the object to no effect. You think to yourself for a minute. Your buddy curiously studies the object, running his hand over the sapphire carving. Its light seems to dance and play over your eyes in the afternoon sun.
"Alright... How long will it take?"
Your buddy looks up. "One day, at least. Like, if you use the Systemator now, you'll get it tomorrow morning."
"I see."
Actually, you don't really understand that part, because you're too busy thinking about what he said earlier.
Give up something, get a superpower. Give up something, get a super power in return. Can't wish for a superpower, but you can wish to get rid of something.
Give up your legs, like the girl he mentioned? Nah. You're good with your two feet. What about your hands? Oh hell no.
"Must I give up a part of myself like that?" you ask.
Your buddy nods. "Yeah man. It won't work if you like, vow to not have a pet or something. They said it had to be a physical part of yourself."
You sink back into silence, deep in thought.
"..."
"I know. I know what I'll give up."
"Woah, really?" your buddy's eyes widen slightly. "That was fast, man. Aren't you sure you wanna think about this?"
You shake your head. "Nah, I'm okay. I already knew it from the start."
-That I'm insignificant. That I'm nothing. While other people go around doing important things, getting what they work for, I can work all day and nothing will change in the end. If I could, I would just disappear.
"Give me the S-S-Systemator." you stutter. You always stuttered when you were nervous. Your buddy opens the silver compact once again and faces the mirror at you.
You take one last look at yourself in its mirror. For the first time in forever, you can see for yourself a burning conviction within your black eyes. You place both thumbs over the crystal pattern; it feels oddly warm.
"I wish... I wish to give up my voice."
*click*
I draw influence from several particular places:
-The characters from Accel World, who are all children and in their own special way suffer from one or more deficiencies in character. The main character is a timid, fat, escapist who prefers video games to reality, his best friend is frustrated with poor progress, arrogant, and seeks any means to be the best, and their mutual friend is obsessive with both their whereabouts, wishing to keep the three of them together despite her lack of actual effort to do so.
-The genre-deconstruction of Puella Magi Madoka Magica - subverting the usual notion of the magical girl genre, Gen Urobotchi (aka The Urobutcher) turns the series' usual tropes of forgettable villains, flashy power-up sequences more often than not being more sexy and fetish-building than being practical outfits, and a quick, succinct conclusion within twelve episodes that nevertheless is well written. I'm assuming no one has watched it yet.
-A worrying trend of anime & games, though increasing in complexity, art quality, and plotlines, yet preferring to stick to tried-and-true tropes and mechanics. It would seem that the sure-fire formula for a successful anime is to 1) Adapt it from an already popular light novel, 2) Prominently future the female protagonist, 3) Focus on the rest of the female characters and their illogical desire for the MC's D. As for video games, the same could be said of them except that a fourth point is necessary: replicating the control schemes and gameplay of a previous success.
You just skipped class, feeling down in the dumps because of your parents quarreling last night, your grades are shit, and you embarrassed yourself in front of your crush earlier. You harbor a fantasy in which you're taller, stronger, and smarter, enough to overcome your problems, and maybe even be *the* alpha male. It would be nice to be the centre of female attention some day.
Your buddy comes along and sees your long face. 'Wassup, bro,' he pokes. He's a guy you trust, a guy who already knows some of your problems. Maybe he knows even more if you haven't told him already.
He looks around furtively for a second, then pulls out a little silver object from his pocket. It's nondescript save for a little sapphire crystal set in its centre.
"Look here bro, I feel bad knowing all this and not doing anything for you. But now I can. You see this?"
Your eyes widen. 'Ain't that drugs or something,' you ask and push it away. 'That shit illegal, man! Keep it!'
Your buddy shakes his head and stares you right in your eyes. "This ain't weed, buddy. This is waaay better than that. Hear me out."
He keeps it in his pocket, but you can't quite take your eyes off its bulge in his pocket.
"Trust me on this man, I don't mean you no harm. But this thing, this Systemator in my pocket, it can give you powers. I ain't shitting you - stop looking at me like that! It's totally safe!"
To prove his point, he brings it out of his pocket and gives it a shake - nothing is heard. He presses a catch and it opens like a clam, revealing--
Yourself. More precisely, it's a reflection of yourself in a mirror. Your own familiar face and nothing more. In the other half of the object, there's a small pattern albeit like a snowflake, but laid in the same sapphire crystal that decorates the lid.
"Now, the Systemator won't just give you any power," your friend continues to explain, "But it works in a certain way. I myself don't know how it works. Umm... Let's put it this way. You want a superpower, you gotta pay for it."
"Pay for it? Like what, money?"
He shakes his head. "Nah, it don't cost anything. But I mean, like, I know a friend who paid for a power, like..." He cocks his head to the side, struggling to recall. "I heard she kinda like, *vowed* to not use her legs again? But she got this awesome rocket jetpack, y'know what I'm saying? A real friggin' jetpack, she actually could fly with that shit!"
"But how do you get a jetpack from that small little thing?" You point at his little silver compact and ask.
He shrugs. "I don't know, man. I've never asked anyone else before. All they told me was that you had to press the button. If you wish to give up something for good, then it'll like, let you get a superpower. It's like all random or something."
"What about yourself? Didn't you get a power from this?"
"Oh no no, bro," he shakes his head. "The rules says that you can either give powers or get a power. You can't give yourself a power. When I first got my Systemator last week, I tried to press it all day long and it wouldn't budge at all."
He demonstrates by attempting to mash in the sapphire pattern in the object to no effect. You think to yourself for a minute. Your buddy curiously studies the object, running his hand over the sapphire carving. Its light seems to dance and play over your eyes in the afternoon sun.
"Alright... How long will it take?"
Your buddy looks up. "One day, at least. Like, if you use the Systemator now, you'll get it tomorrow morning."
"I see."
Actually, you don't really understand that part, because you're too busy thinking about what he said earlier.
Give up something, get a superpower. Give up something, get a super power in return. Can't wish for a superpower, but you can wish to get rid of something.
Give up your legs, like the girl he mentioned? Nah. You're good with your two feet. What about your hands? Oh hell no.
"Must I give up a part of myself like that?" you ask.
Your buddy nods. "Yeah man. It won't work if you like, vow to not have a pet or something. They said it had to be a physical part of yourself."
You sink back into silence, deep in thought.
"..."
"I know. I know what I'll give up."
"Woah, really?" your buddy's eyes widen slightly. "That was fast, man. Aren't you sure you wanna think about this?"
You shake your head. "Nah, I'm okay. I already knew it from the start."
-That I'm insignificant. That I'm nothing. While other people go around doing important things, getting what they work for, I can work all day and nothing will change in the end. If I could, I would just disappear.
"Give me the S-S-Systemator." you stutter. You always stuttered when you were nervous. Your buddy opens the silver compact once again and faces the mirror at you.
You take one last look at yourself in its mirror. For the first time in forever, you can see for yourself a burning conviction within your black eyes. You place both thumbs over the crystal pattern; it feels oddly warm.
"I wish... I wish to give up my voice."
*click*
=== to be continued ===
I draw influence from several particular places:
-The characters from Accel World, who are all children and in their own special way suffer from one or more deficiencies in character. The main character is a timid, fat, escapist who prefers video games to reality, his best friend is frustrated with poor progress, arrogant, and seeks any means to be the best, and their mutual friend is obsessive with both their whereabouts, wishing to keep the three of them together despite her lack of actual effort to do so.
-The genre-deconstruction of Puella Magi Madoka Magica - subverting the usual notion of the magical girl genre, Gen Urobotchi (aka The Urobutcher) turns the series' usual tropes of forgettable villains, flashy power-up sequences more often than not being more sexy and fetish-building than being practical outfits, and a quick, succinct conclusion within twelve episodes that nevertheless is well written. I'm assuming no one has watched it yet.
-A worrying trend of anime & games, though increasing in complexity, art quality, and plotlines, yet preferring to stick to tried-and-true tropes and mechanics. It would seem that the sure-fire formula for a successful anime is to 1) Adapt it from an already popular light novel, 2) Prominently future the female protagonist, 3) Focus on the rest of the female characters and their illogical desire for the MC's D. As for video games, the same could be said of them except that a fourth point is necessary: replicating the control schemes and gameplay of a previous success.
