Zanafar

  Book one is plete!

  After listening to "Superhero" by ILLENIUM, what started as an idea became an enjoyable journey in writing a superhero story. I want to preface that I haven't ed a lot of tent for that genre (aside from watg Marvel films and the older superhero cartoons), so if my depi of said genre isn't quite up to scratch...I apologize.

  While writing, I ended up building a world and characters to explore different themes from a differeing. The choice of a dystopian cyberpunk theme aing helped me to vey the social themes aaphors I wao address in this piece. It rocess that challenged my writing and forced me to think critically about what I utting down on paper and in what format I could tell that story.

  This was something I found important for my personal development; the ideas and worldbuilding became more than what I intended from the beginning, and that was the challenge I set for myself.

  If you're familiar with anime and cyberpuings, you'll find many parallels here. I'm certain I borrowed tropes and elements here and there, although hopefully not overused and overpyed ventions. I hope I was able to weave them in and present new angles and interpretations of what have bee familiar motifs aany pieedia. I don't believe I've strayed too far from the familiar path...at most, it was an alternate route that leads to the same destination in the end.

  The choice of having the setting based on the slums instead of the metropolis wasn't arbitrary. I wao explore the challenges of being a superhero in a wless pce rather than an orderly and wful enviro. No jail, no prison, no system to report to for justice; everything bees subjective.

  Not to say that there are not aspects here for which I am less proud; there are certainly parts of this story that didn't quite end the way I wahem to be—or could have beeer veyed. This is a result of both having to make promises for the sake of a story that wouldn't drag on indefinitely, and my own inexperieh this genre and style. That said, I feel like I aplished enough in terms of what I initially envisioned and hoped to achieve.

  That doesn't mean I'm doh this world...far from it. There are a lot of things left untouched or undeveloped iting: the majangs that I've briefly introduced, the Outnds (mentioned in Chapter 67), Fii's iions with the other characters like Lyria and Rao, and even enters with more supernatural elements. I'll likely explore them in ter installments or one-shots. The world is still ripe for development and exploration.

  Speaking of Fii...writing the superherin story of a young protagonist like her was quite a fun experiment for me. There was a challeo bance her growth from naive and idealistito someone who had to e to grips with doing what she believed in and what might be right...even though the reality she lived in was quite unfair and cruel.

  There were many things about her I wish I could have doer or developed more. I'm irely pleased with certain developments and motivations, and I do wish I had taken more time to polish certain plot points a bit more. However, overall I am satisfied with her character growth and the dire her are.

  The dynamic between Fii and her supp cast gave me an outlet to py with character retionships while keeping them grounded aable. It's a style that suits my current skill level in writing. This approach also helped me to stay focused oory I wao tell above other storytelling devices and styles.

  As for why I chose gravikinesis as her superpower...well...let's just say that the cept appealed to a geeky side of me that loves sci-fi and physics. I did try to keep the limitations for su ability in mind and tried to be sistent. However, I may have missed a few in my haste. Feel free to point out any insistencies I have overlooked in my enthusiasm...I'll be happy to iron them out. I'm sure there'll be a couple of typos here and there too.

  If this story mao stir something within you...then my goal has been achieved! What did you like or dislike about it? What did you take away from these pages? What might you seek out from my venture? I hope that you'll share your thoughts and feedback.

  So...what es ?

  For now...I io take a breather from this pied focus my attention on my other stories while I pn out the framework for what will be the story of Book 2.

  There is much to explore and expand on; from how I want the narrative tress, where I want to introduew characters or explore existing ones, which style or tone will suit best, what themes I want to explore...and so much more. These are all factors I'll take into at before moving forward with a sed draft of this work.

  Thank you for reading Slumdog Hero! This has been a most enjoyable journey. Until our paths cross again—stay safe and have a good one!

  Zanafar