Disclaimer: This post has some PG-13 content and words that you may not want your child to be exposed to. If you are 13 or older, it’s probably okay for you to proceed.
Hi! I thought it would be fun to share how I first came up with Space Grind. Although I forget how I came up with most of my ideas, I vividly remember how I thought of this one. I will also put this post in the “Writing Advice” category. This is because there is a description of the creative thinking process by a certain person that inspires me.
It all started because of a video game called Yandere Simulator. For those of you who know what that game is, you might be surprised. Yandere Simulator?? How in the world did a silly anime game about “love” inspire a science fiction story? For those of you who don’t know, Yandere Simulator is a game about a high school chick who has a MAJOR crush on a boy at her school. In fact, she will go as far as to kill any girl that tries to win his heart. The game is still being worked on by a guy named Alex. (Wow! What a coincidence! The same person who inspired Space Grind has the same name as me lol) I was such a big fan of the game, I even emailed a few fan art of the game to him 🙂 I even got responses
Before I go ahead with how Space Grind got created, here are links to Alex’s Yandere Simulator website, blog, and YouTube channel:
YS Main Website: https://yanderesimulator.com/
YS Blog: https://yanderedev.wordpress.com/
YS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1EBJfK7ltjYUFyzysKxr1g
In July of 2017, I was watching an interview of Alex (Yandere Simulator‘s developer). I was really into the game, and wanted to learn more about it. He was being interviewed by a YouTuber named Bijuu Mike (I also like watching Bijuu Mike, who plays Yandere Simulator sometimes). I really enjoyed listening to the interview. I also liked learning about Alex’s creative process when he comes up with video game concepts. He said something along the lines of, “I come up with ideas that stem from some sort of taboo.” I thought that was interesting. Then I thought to myself, ‘I wanna try that.’ Watching the video made me want to create something new. Specifically using the approach Alex uses.
Link to interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHx0Bi3gdjE
Link to Bijuu Mike’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/BijuuMike
To get ideas for what “taboo” I wanted to based my new story on, I decided to Google a list of taboos. I should also mention that whatever taboo I would choose would have to have some sort of comedic spin on it. Meaning, I’d have to make a dark topic funny. When I looked at the list of taboos that I found, I seriously has no idea of what how to make any of them funny. Infanticide, racism, pornography, etc. How on Earth was I gonna make a goofy story based on those things? I mean.. I still had a dark sense of humor before Space Grind, but I also have STANDARDS. Like.. I could probably crack a few jokes about something as dark as “suicide,” but there’s no way I make a whole COMEDY STORY around it!
Link to the List of Taboos that I Used for Reference: https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-taboo.html
I remember actually taking a break from brainstorming that day. It took me a few hours before I settled on what taboo I wanted to base my story on. That night, I remembered the list of taboos I read earlier. I decided to give the brainstorming another go. After reading the list another time, the word “slavery” caught my eye. It reminded me of a Futurama episode called “A Pharaoh to Remember.” The episode had a dumb, goofy plot about the main characters being slaves on an alien planet. That made me think, I can probably make ‘slavery’ funny. It’s definitely a dark, taboo topic. One that isn’t usually depicted in a lighthearted way. Making something like that “funny” would be an interesting challenge. I soon brainstormed story ideas based around the topic.
I knew I didn’t want to make a story about slavery in America. That idea would hit wayyy too close to home. Especially with all the current events on the news, I’m pretty sure this was a good choice. After I crossed out that idea, I started to think of other possible stories about slavery. Perhaps I could make a fictional setting where people are enslaved. I started not liking the idea of humans enslaving humans. That’s when I suddenly thought: What if aliens enslaved humans. That’s when it suddenly felt right. I felt a surge of creative energy when I thought of that. It’s the same topic, but didn’t feel like it was insensitive. The idea also kind of reminded me of the show Invader Zim. It’s a hilarious story about an alien that tries to conquer Earth and enslave humanity (in vain). That’s when I felt like my new idea could possibly work.
I started to play around with the idea. The more I thought about it, the more I liked it. I began thinking up of jokes that were related to my chosen topic. Jokes that were actually funny to me. After awhile, I began thinking about what kind of characters I wanted my story to have. Who would the main characters be? Because I knew my story would be sci-fi, I automatically thought of one robot character and an alien master (who would later be: RSL and Trax). After that, I wondered who the unfortunate slaves would be. I settled on their personalities before I settled on their appearances. The only slave character I settled on quickly was Neuro. (The only thing that was different was that he originally wore goggles, not glasses). Dimwit and Onion’s final appearances came later.
To help me flesh out my main cast, I began drawing characters. As I did that, my new idea was getting closer and closer to being complete. Not long after that, I had a solid idea for a brand new comedy. HOORAY!! I came up with a story using Yandere Dev’s method! (note: Yandere Dev is what Alex usually calls himself online)
Thinking back, I can’t believe how random it was of me to create a whole new story based around someone else’s method. It was basically self-imposed homework. However, I’m so glad I did it! ❤ If I didn’t, I most likely would have never come up with Space Grind. After nearly 4 years of working on it, it’s soon going to be my first ever PUBLISHED work. I am so excited for you guys to see it! 😀
Even though they didn’t directly/personally contribute to Space Grind‘s creation, I would still like to thank Yandere Dev and Bijuu Mike for how they’ve inspired me. They’ve even inspired me in more ways than just SG’s origin story. I look forward to seeing Yandere Simulator when it is completely finished. It is so fun following along with the story! It makes me laugh. I also enjoy Bijuu Mike’s videos in general. He makes me laugh, too! XD I just finished watching all his Danganronpa 2 videos. It was awesome! I am currently watching “Ultra Despair Girls.” I will probably watch him play Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony after I play it, if I decide to buy it (I couldn’t afford the second game at the time, which is why I watched Bijuu play it).
I hope you enjoyed reading about how Space Grind was made. It was fun to look back on it as I was writing this post. I love seeing how far it has come along (and there’s still more to go). I can’t wait for you guys to learn more about it as the blog posts and comic books come out.
Incase you wanna learn more about my comic books, here are 3 good links you can go to:
I hope you have a great day! Bye!!
Alex Zen Draw Comic Book Blog 