Fanfic Story Ideas

Six Degrees of Vampirism

Thu, 29 Nov 2018 17:18:20 GMT

Description: Ryoga gets mistaken for a vampire, killed by Hellsing, turned by Seras, and then gets lost. P-Chan then bites Ranma-chan and it turns out the curse is stronger than vampiric transformation abilities. Alucard doesn't believe Ranma and winds up also cursed.

(09:11:10) weebee:
weebee5: Jonak once kept bugging me about a Hellsing crossover,
weebee5: and HEA just released the first part of what's probably its final episode, where they did their girliecard bit, which is helarious, btw.
weebee5: and I now have this stupid scene running through my head, and need to put it somewhere.
weebee5: For contxt, the fic's premice is that a chain of misfortunes involving Ryoga, the wild gease, Seres doing something stupid, and Mrs. Tendo having been a vampire hunter end up with Ranma as a vampire being held by Hellsing.
weebee5: An early running gag is that the curse is still a thing, and overrides even vampiric shapeshifting. Ryoga's got the same problem, but Integra keeps him chained up in the basement ever since he got lost and bit Ranma, so Ranma's the primary one who Alucard sees changing.
weebee5: being Alucard, he gleefully trolls Ranma over it.
weebee5: (Even canonically Alucard's sort of a massive troll._
weebee5: one day Ranma snaps and notes that Alucard doesn't have a curse, so he can keep saying how easy it is all he wants, he's actually got no idea.
weebee5: ...cue a few days later, petite black haired girl stomping down the halls of the hellsing mansion, aura of snapping wolves and bloody darkness around her, because yup, turns out Ranma was right.... probably shouldn't have tried that, man....
(09:17:58) weebee: just wanted to get it out there to a couple people, because I know full well I can never write a hellsing fic properly.
(09:18:32) ssokolow: I have seen a couple of "Ranma as a vampire with the curse, working for Hellsing" fics, but I don't think I've ever seen that particular joke.
(09:19:21) weebee: well, Hellsing's a bit too hardcore for Ranma to work for normally.
(09:19:27) ssokolow: *nod*
(09:20:30) weebee: if I had him as a human hunting vampires, I'd imagine his relationship with them would be more like "I killed it already, you homocidal assholes don't have to raise the city block." and to be fair, Integra's response to that would be "All right, thank you. Everybody go home."
(10:43:51) weebee: other joke for the never to happen Hellsing fic.
(10:44:09) weebee: "Die, Protestant dog!" "I'm Buddhist, you ass!" "Protestant Buddhist, probably, now die!"
(10:44:26) ssokolow: *snicker*
(10:44:56) ssokolow: This should go as a contributed entry in my ideas bin in case I ever get to a point where I feel like writing it.
(10:45:24) weebee: go for it if you want.
(10:46:25) weebee: "Wait.... so, your friend used a christian ritual to bind you by the word of god, and it worked, and you're still a Buddhist?" "Damned right I am, Just 'cuz there's actually someone up there pulling the strings, doesn't mean I can't eventually figure out how to punch him in the teeth by turnin' me into a vampire by way of pig bite!"
(10:46:32) weebee: and suddenly, Alucard smiled.
(10:46:34) weebee: LOL.
(10:46:50) ssokolow: Likewise. :)
(10:48:24) weebee: my general opinion on Ranma's opinion of finding out there's an interventionist god. "Oh, so it's YOUR fault, is it?"
(11:03:38) ssokolow: What do you think the placeholder title should be? I'm thinking something like "Hellsing's Wild Hellhound"
(11:07:16) weebee: kinda generic.
(11:07:19) weebee: but I've got nothing.
(11:07:41) weebee: since I like taking the piss out of everything, I'd be inclined to name it off of the inciting plotpoint,
(11:07:45) ssokolow: Well, the idea doesn't really have much to it beyond "Ranma at Hellsing causing humour" yet.
(11:07:45) weebee: six degrees of vampirism.
(11:08:18) weebee: oh right, I never told you that.
(11:08:26) ssokolow: ...or "Vampire Pig Bites"
(11:08:35) ssokolow: It is a *placeholder* title after all.
(11:08:43) weebee: true.
(11:08:52) weebee: basically, how we had it happen,
(11:08:59) weebee: Ryoga smashes into the hellsing estate while lost.
(11:09:06) weebee: big, superhumanly strong guy with fangs,
(11:09:14) weebee: the wild geese fill him full of holes.
(11:09:24) weebee: Seres does a dumb, and turns him.
(11:09:26) weebee: he gets lost.
(11:09:43) weebee: Ranma then annoys P-chan, who promptly bites her arm.
(11:10:49) weebee: )Has to be her due to the whole can only turn opposite sex vergins rule.
(11:13:03) ssokolow: Ahh.
(11:13:51) weebee: Poor Ryoga spends the rest of the fic chained up in the Hellsing basement.
(11:14:02) weebee: ...at least it's a nice room.
(11:25:42) weebee: Oh, in case you're wondering about Alucard's logic on the initial, Jusenkyo chicken idea,
(11:26:27) weebee: Alucard's always seemed very into 'how a true vampire is supposed to be.' He's always on S Seres about it, no matter he thinks he's a monster, he thinks he's a specific KIND of monster, damnit, and there are RULES, and there's some PRIDE in it!
(11:26:44) weebee: so he sees Ranma knuckling under to the curse's effect as a pitiful display for a proud vampire.
(11:26:50) weebee: ...then Ranma tells him he couldn't do better.
(11:26:58) weebee: Them's fightin' words.
(11:28:09) ssokolow: *nod* Not to mention, Alucard is pretty damn used to being able to overcome whatever people throw at him.
(11:28:58) weebee: yeah.
(12:11:43) ssokolow: How this for a description to show up in compact listings?
(12:11:44) ssokolow: Ryoga gets mistaken for a vampire, killed by Hellsing, turned by Seras, and then gets lost. P-Chan then bites Ranma-chan and it turns out the curse is stronger than vampiric transformation abilities. Alucard doesn't believe Ranma and winds up also cursed.
(12:13:02) weebee: sounds fine.
(12:13:15) weebee: also, quick synopsis of why it's a thing you might like.
(12:13:44) weebee: Alucard, Centuries old vampire who has captured thousands of souls, a true monster, the embodiment of the "No Life King."
(12:14:37) weebee: Jusenkyo, vally steaped in dark magics for three thousand years, at least, has probably touched and altered tens of thousands of souls, and has a being near Alucard's strength who has t to, every hundred years or so, go abck to it to regain his powers.
(12:14:43) weebee: sorry pal,k you kinda lose.
(12:15:42) weebee: oh, there's also a good chance it might hate him specifically for trying to fight it.
(12:15:52) weebee: imagining outright physics defying water.

F**k that, I quit!

Fri, 07 Sep 2018 22:58:00 GMT

Description: What if, one day, Harry Potter realized "Holy shit, I'm a literary hero! ...fuck that, I quit!"?

Every "Harry isn't putting up with this anymore" fic I've seen has involved something in-setting, like time-travel or or a non-canon interpersonal encounter.

I've never seen a story with that degree of almost fourth-wall-breaking genre savvy and it'd be funny to see a Harry who's convinced that his life is a story and he won't stand for it pitted against Hogwarts staff who, being "sane, responsible adults", won't let him use this crazy whim of his as an excuse to give up his education.

(ie. There are plenty of "fuck this" HP stories, but they're all based on something like a do-over or a non-canon interpersonal interaction. I'm talking about something where the comedy from Harry saying "fuck this" and the teachers saying "no" is explicitly tied to Harry being delusional/correct in concluding that he's a literary hero.)

Inspiration: The scene in And Yet Again Still Even More Fragments, Chapter 36 where do-over Harry tells his friends that he's abstaining from the adventure of the year and that, when it comes knocking, he'll inform the teachers and wash his hands of it.

(17:28:16) weebee: so... what, Harry gets the book series, and 'nopes' out of there?
(17:28:55) ssokolow: More like "Harry realizes that his last few years have been 'literary' and, while still suck at Hogwarts, starts trying his darndest to fight fate".
(17:29:16) ssokolow: Could be quite amusing to see a Harry who's trying to "defy the author" interacting with the rest of the cast.
(17:29:34) weebee: hmm, gets ahold of one of the more cliched series that use a similar formula and start thinking about it?
(17:29:39) weebee: Hardy Boys or something?
(17:29:44) ssokolow: Could work.
(17:30:01) weebee: 's just that Harry normally doesn't think that much.
(17:30:06) weebee: you'd need to spell it out for him.
(17:30:19) weebee: (I'm not saying he's dumb, he just... doesn't bother thinking... a lot.)
(17:30:21) ssokolow: *nod* I was more saying "could work" to the Hardy Boys point.
(17:31:12) ssokolow: The point being that it has to feel as opposite to "a conversation with another character made him think" as possible to capture the desired feel.
(17:31:15) weebee: Dudly's school sends back what is effectively a 'your son's an idiot' letter, but very politely worded because the Derslies tend not to react to that, and casually toss off that he should read more.
(17:31:46) weebee: in their usual bout of over-reaction, Vernin or Petunia proceed to go out and buy an entire book series which, of course, Dudly does not read.
(17:32:13) weebee: about a year later it finds its way to Harry, who when not running around like a chicken with its head cut off or trying to sneak school homework, is bored out of his mind.
(17:32:26) ssokolow: ...and Hogwarts does have that "mystery of story arc" aspect when Harry's around.
(17:32:43) weebee: right.
(17:33:09) weebee: I was thinking something like the Hardy boys because they're small, VERY formulaic, and there are enough that even a kid will figure it out within five books or so.
(17:33:19) ssokolow: Heck, now that you mention it, this could work out VERY well as an explicit counterpoint to fics which drum up the "A mystery... let's investigate!" aspect.
(17:33:48) weebee: Nod*
(17:34:20) weebee: "I... was right, this is a bad mystery novel... nope, not doin' it. I don't want to spend the next four months absolutely convinced it's Snape again because he's the obvious culprit..."
(17:34:33) ssokolow: *grin*
(17:35:00) ssokolow: This idea is definitely taking on a life of its own distinct from the inspiration in https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12286952/36/And-Yet-Again-Still-Even-More-Fragments
(17:36:05) ssokolow: (In that one, the "F**k it" was explicit enough that do-over Harry withdrew from Hogwarts in fifth year to seek tutors, thanks to being a do-over character who knew the relevant laws.)
(17:36:21) weebee: sorry, I've always been partial to the narrative device scream used, where knowing horror movie tropes was actually useful, because they just HAVE to play out that way.
(17:36:44) ssokolow: *nod* I've never seen Scream but I know what you're talking about.
(17:37:13) ssokolow: Problem is, I'm not trope-wise enough to pull it off yet.
(17:38:05) weebee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StU-StL0PHo

(18:50:09) ssokolow: Set it in year 4.
(18:50:44) ssokolow: Then, Harry's "Nope. I'm not going to be a bad mystery protagonist" kick will arrive just in time for someone to actually *be* trying to railroad him onto a plot.
(18:51:24) weebee: ah, so he just stands there with his arms crossed all through the triwizard tournament.
(18:51:29) weebee: or... at least ries to.
(18:51:57) ssokolow: There have been various "alternative Triwizard Tournament" fics... but I don't think I've ever seen one with *this* kind of humour to it.
(18:53:08) ssokolow: It's also about the right position in the series, given the whole "Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action" thing.
(18:53:40) weebee: Nod*
(18:54:39) weebee: your logic seems to add up, though you'd have to be careful about Harry's inaction, maybe a 'like they'd really do it' bluff calling on the mirfolk, etc.
(18:55:03) ssokolow: Not necessarily inaction... just entertainingly trying to "outplay the author".
(18:55:14) ssokolow: Could almost be a "Man Who Knew Too Little" scenario in some ways.

Ranma ½: Ignorant Edition

Wed, 18 Apr 2018 02:48:00 GMT

Description: Try writing a semi-fanfic based around my first impression of Ranma ½, back when the closest I knew to anime and manga were the Pokémon comics that came with Nintendo Power.

The story of a boy who turns into a girl, a father who turns into a panda, and the weird Chinese curse that did it to 'em!

That summary was in the back of a Pokemon comic I got for free. I was curious but didn't try to get it. (No disposable income) I though the curse change was permanent (stuck in their cursed forms) and I assumed that they had both fallen in a single, solitary cursed spring somewhere in China. (Maybe at a shrine, temple, tomb, or off in the wilderness)

I had already seen a preview for the first Ranma movie although my memories of it were a bit hazy. My memories haven't really faded that much since then (I kept them once I realized what Ranma ½ was), there was a clip of Happosai becoming airborne thanks to a kick by Ranma, a clip of Kirin's flying ship arriving (and/or Kirin arriving on the ship), a clip of Akane being pulled up to the ship, and the "Ranma, please come rescue me before I'm married to Kirin" soundbyte from the preview's narration.

EDIT 2018-04-17: This ad (Closing To Pokémon: Poké Friends 1999 VHS)

I saw Ranma (female or male?) punt Happosai into the air in the preview for the first movie but I didn't didn't know who they were. It is important that I remember the impression I got of Happosai I got from that blurry memory. (A diminuitive old man, probably a martial artist, capable of taking a fair bit of damage, and someone who the character doing the kicking (Ranma, but I didn't know that) disliked. It may be possible to refresh the feeling by reviewing my preconceptions of Dragonball.)

I had no idea who was cursed so I ran through several possible scenarios when I heard Akane say "Ranma, please come rescue me before I'm married to Kirin" in the preview for the first movie. One such possibility being that the cursed character was the one in danger of being married off. (I hadn't retained any knowledge which would confirm that the cursed person was the one doing the rescuing)

<Katana> Hmm, fun. Maybe some sort of curse that reflects what they need to learn? (from vengeful spirit/god/etc. that somebody annoyed?) Though what Genma could stand to learn from a panda, I don't know. Abstinence? Okay, bad joke. So, permanent curse... or maybe, the curse will be lifted once they meet certain conditions? That could be entertaining. Maybe Ranma winds up in positions best suited for the damsel in distress as part of the curse, and circumstances often contrive to make her incapable of escaping independently?
<ssokolow> I'll have to think about that and get back to you. Semi-fanfics require my full faculties to ponder.

UPDATE 2018-04-17: One idea for a final title could be "Who-ma? 1/2"

A Much Simpler Answer

Thu, 05 Oct 2017 18:30:00 GMT

Description: For reasons not yet determined, Pinkie Pie is really a unicorn in disguise.

Inspiration: Finding Artemis, Chapter 9

“...really?” Shining stares at the pink pony, who pauses, in mid air, and turns with a smile, waving at him before going back to her bouncing. “That’s kind of… strange.” Is she somehow hiding a horn under all that poof of a mane or what?

Given depressed pinkie, I'd assume that an illusion would be involved... at least as a backup. (But maybe her poofy style really could serve as a first layer of defense against her getting found out.)

(Theoretically, being an alicorn in disguise is also possible, but I feel like it would lend itself to overly obvious reasons. A unicorn has much less reason to pretend to be something else than an alicorn, for example, so her being an alicorn would encourage a less original story.)

Every Flavor Beans

Mon, 28 Aug 2017 09:43:00 GMT

Description: Harry Potter ideas too small to have their own entries.

How about a Sirius-style prank on Moony that the child of a werewolf and a witch will be a leprechaun? (inspiration)
Why not put a new spin on the "Parselmouths are good lovers" fanon cliché by having it that speaking parseltongue does give you an advantage (perhaps by training up useful tongue muscles), but Voldemort is a mediocre lover despite that. (inspiration)
Hermione could notice that a floo password in Gobbledygook is an extra layer of security because, even if you hear it, most wizards won't know the difference between the phonetics and the phonology. (Which aspects of the sounds are significant) (inspiration)
How about "Malfoy, did your father bribe the sorting hat? ...because I've yet to see you be cunning in the slightest." for a line in a fic?
How might Voldemort react to discovering that Harry Potter, known to be alive but not having turned up at Hogwarts, is under the protection of an allied bloc of dark families outside Britain whose numbers and power greatly exceed his own, but who see him as a mad dog and a big threat to their own political efforts? (Inspired by a random thought while reading Gabriel, Chapter 36)
"I've been to New Zealand once — that's about the furthest you could potentially portkey, unless you make one that has multiple stops. You shouldn't worry." — Death Shall Have No Dominion, Chapter 6
I don't think I've ever seen a Harry Potter fic where Lucius and Draco Malfoy die or are otherwise taken out of the equation and some squib (or person mistaken for a squib) or supposedly banished relative with little love for the pureblood cause somehow manages to inherit. That could make for interesting character interactions if done well.
I wonder if there's any situation where The Daily Prophet could be shown as not even printing the truth about Harry Potter's birth notice. (Inspiration
"Open your eyes. Think for yourself. For fourteen years, they made me out to be some kind of spectacular hero, when really I'm just a normal kid who had something horrible happen to his family. They've spent the last year making me out to be some unstable liar, when again I'm just a normal kid who had some horrible things happen to him. As far as I can tell, the last thing the Prophet printed about me that was accurate was my birth notice back in 1980."
— Harry and Luna Against the High Inquisitor, Chapter 4
)
Perhaps an HP story where someone illegally breeds spider monkeys or capuchin monkeys capable of using magic and someone (maybe Fred and/or George) winds up with one as a pet? (inspiration)
One thing occurs to me. Why doesn't a time-travelling or super Harry ever send through some large, irritable, hard-to-kill magical creature when he recognizes a portkey sent by Voldemort's followers to trap him?
I know trust can go a long way, but if only the marauders had understood enough about the effects of torture, they could probably have crafted an unbreakable vow that would kill Wormtail before he could divulge the Fidelius secret... just to be sure.
Interesting forgotten point about Voldemort. He rarely gives his word, but tries hard to keep it. (eg. The lengths he went to ensure Lily the opportunity to surrender and be saved for Snape.)
"Draco may be a jerk, but you have to keep things in perspective. His father is the right-hand man of Lord Jerk himself. It's sort of the family business." inspiration
Inspired by Flawed Perfection, Chapter 4 and, in another amusing convergence, almost duplicated by Flawed Perfection, Chapter 5
Add 806 to my list of things to complete once I'm more skilled.
I'd really like to see a well-done sequel/continuation to nonjon's Whatever Happened to the Likely Lad? or something functionally equivalent.
What if Godric Gryffindor had been a wandering spirit and, deciding to provide a long-lasting prank on future headmasters and staff, gave the Sorting Hat a foreign name like Alejandro.

Draco appeared in what appeared to be a modest guest room with his pants around his ankles and fell over backwards. "What?"

Lucius rolled his eyes, knowing his son had no doubt been amusing himself with his twin sister the squib. Normally he'd give his son a lecture over such behavior as it was a trifle tasteless, but squibs weren't useful for much else until they reached adulthood and could be sacrificed for a slight increase in power of course.

Besides he could hardly throw stones considering the number of muggleborns he'd collected and played with while waiting for their 21st birthdays to boost his own modest core.
— http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3776911/20/

Those last two paragraphs would make for one hell of an intro to a novel take on this plot in a longer fic.

All of the fics that go in this direction that I've seen have Harry breaking free, rather than Harry remaining in his role and Dumbledore struggling to fix the mistakes he's just realized he made.

(Hell, it'd be even more interesting if this IS a manipulative "Harry is a weapon" Dumbledore because, instead of him honestly begging for forgiveness, he'd be rationally scheming... to give Harry something to live for. I've NEVER seen that angle explored and I've read a lotta fics.)

— My response to https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6280893/1/Words-Have-Meaning

UPDATE: I've seen plenty of stories where manipulative Dumbledore tries to set up Harry with Ginny from the beginning. The key here being that we've got a Harry who's already jaded and familiar with the other characters' normal behaviour, so Dumbledore would have a hard time just following the old tropes.

Ponder these for ideas:

A Hermione who fled a world where Voldemort won discovers that Dumbledore somehow imbued her penseive memory of him with portrait-style sentience. — Child's Play, Chapter 5
It's an almost unknown fact that, in approximately the same percentage as wizards, some muggles are born immune to all magic including the killing curse. — Child's Play, Chapter 8

Idea bins open for public use:

In Search of a Plot

Idea bins of uncertain permission status:

Accio Brain

Odds and Ends

Tue, 15 Aug 2017 02:41:00 GMT

Description: Unsorted bits and bobs... usually too short to have their own page.

How about writing my own "Odd Ideas"?
Try writing a report/log/journal-style story like The Virus.
...heck, why not try some "What if...?" stories exploring how differently various series set in the future might go if Nerimavirus has become simply a part of what it means to be human.

Stuff too short for its own page:

"Hulk Sell!" inspiration
"So, you're like a Hulk now?" She asked, putting her hand on Xander arm and feeling the muscle beneath. "Wow, how much do you weigh now, or lift, oh my god, I bet you're stronger than Buffy now!"

"I don't know," Xander laughed as they walked out of the house into the night, ducking under the doorway as he did. "They should have someone take a look at that, shoddy workmanship."

"Yeah," Jennifer replied with a grin. "We just knocked and it caved right in, no defence against door to door salesmen."
Somehow, I get the feeling that Rei reading Faust would have interesting effects. (inspiration)
Outsider comment regarding the crazy/fanatical Cylon Model Ones to use in an nBSG fic: *sigh* There's at least one in every family.
How about a Futaba-kun Change fic that doesn't cross over with Ranma 1/2? (it would be a first)
What other stories could be set in "The Virus"-verse? (eg. What series haven't been crossed in yet?)
The world can always use more good fanfics for under-appreciated series like El Hazard, Sabre Marionette J, and so on.
Send someone who isn't the main character back in time to the beginning of the series. (bonus points if they're not even a main character)
Look into possible ways for the concept of "I Was A Teenage Dummy Plug" to be applied to other source series.
How about a "self insert" where the person admits to being godly but doesn't do anything godly because their preferred method of meddling is to use chaos theory to solve problems? (Preferring to use their omniscience rather than their omnipotence)

How about a Beavis and Butthead gender-bend crackfic? (Inspired by something in Uhhhhh ok)
Try to get some inspiration from the comment about Utena and OMG-style valkyries on this page.
If I can't find a decent implementation of the final author note from The Wild Horse Thesis, then I should write it myself.
Once I've finished figuring out how to model characters accurately and I've got a few stories under my belt, I should start completing the current story arcs on old Addventure favorites. Then I should try asking for permission to complete standalone fics, eventually working my way up to "Forever The Tomboy" and "Girl Days" once I hopefully have enough of a reputation to receive it.

"You're forgetting that this is the guy who drinks a glass of chocolate milk by drinking the glass and throwing away the milk, which then explodes. For him, BLT probably means something like Begonia, Lead, and Tarantula... and that's assuming he wants to hit all three food groups." (animal, vegetable, and mineral)

Ponder these for ideas:

Discworld:
- Dumbledore has seven portraits but only six are known... because the seventh is hidden in the Patrician's palace in Ankh-Morpork where the magic field is so strong that Dumbledore's portrait self can step out of the portrait into reality in case of emergency. — Harry Potter and the Color of Magic, Chapter 19
Neon Genesis Evangelion:
- Some of the AU universes touched on in http://tinyurl.com/gymgz and http://tinyurl.com/marzs (Chapters 15 and 16 of Innortal's "True Angel".)
- Perhaps something starting at http://addventure.bast-enterprises.de/170181.html and involving "Dual!: Parallel Trouble Adventure"?
Sailor Moon:
- http://addventure.bast-enterprises.de/203004.html
Slayers:
- http://addventure.bast-enterprises.de/35529.html

Idea bins open for public use:

Neon Genesis Evangelion:
- Spare Parts
- The Beginnings Repository

Analysis TODO

Note: This category is for stuff that's probably only relevant to me at the moment but may become generally-useful ideas later on.

Re-read "Generation Lost" [2], identify what about it captivates me, distill it, and design a fic plan to reproduce it.
Analyze "Eldritch Asylum" to identify what about it I crave and what pitfalls to avoid... then look into writing something like that once I've proven that no more fics like that exist.
Figure out what atmosphere/tone traits appeal to me in the combination of Make a Wish chapter 38 and luinlothana's omake on chapter 39 and plan a fic around them. (In essence, a Harry Potter (-ish) fic that mixes in a modern North American setting without completely throwing out the baby with the bathwater)

Chaos Leak

Fri, 04 Aug 2017 23:09:00 GMT

Description: TODO: Think about this enough to come up with a concise description that doesn't throw the baby out with the bath water.

I wrote the following comment to express my disappointment at an un-taken opportunity and then that got me thinking about possible plot-worthy implications of it...

While I definitely enjoyed Screwball outwitting Starlight, it still feels a little disappointing that she just did something any old OC could do, rather than something uniquely Screwball like what came to mind for me the moment someone got the jump on her.

I doubt the unmarking spell would work properly if cast on a changeling who's just mimicking a mark, so why should it work properly on a pony who's Discord's daughter and, thus, also "outside designed parameters"?

For example, It would have made all the sense in the world if, as with Discord, chaos is an inherent part of Screwball and, thus, emanating from all living parts of her being, rather than centered on some part. (I say "living" to rule out chaotic hair clippings and hoof filings.)

Then, as an aspect of her metaphysical self, her mark would count as a "living part" and would be an active source of chaos, even when separated from her. Cutting her off from it would simply cut off her ability to control it, causing it to slowly leak uncontrolled chaos into the Cutie Mark repository, ignoring or only being slowed down by containers designed to obstruct the flow of magic that's probably harmonic in nature and, thus, fairly opposite to Discord's.
— ssokolow @ https://www.fimfiction.net/story/302400/31/its-a-screwed-up-life/map-to-oh-you-gotta-be-kidding-me#comment/8344685

...for example:

1. Would the chaos leak just be a different way to resolve the situation or would it have lasting effects on the other cutie marks?
2. Is there any other situation where this concept could be applied, to increase the chances of it happening?

The problem is that, currently, my brain is fixated on the idea of some kind of lasting contamination of other cutie marks... and to do that would essentially writing two stories to re-create the pattern established by Why Am I Pinkie Pie? and School of Hard Knocks where the story I want requires conditions too distanced from canon to believably come about without a story to be a spin-off of. (And, now that I think about it, that is sort of what I'm going for. An entire arc following some background character's quest to either cure or learn to live with an under-mentioned leftover of the hero's quest of the week.)

Oops Effect

Sat, 29 Jul 2017 02:14:00 GMT

Description: What if, in reconstructing Commander Sheppard for Mass Effect 2, the process accidentally included a gender-swap?

No special reason. It's an opportunity for a gender-swap and it could be an interesting option for exploring either the author's vision of Sheppard or the social context of the Mass Effect universe in general.

Important: I generally don't like Mass Effect 2 and beyond, so I have a strong preference for the ridiculously implausible reconstruction from seeming nothing being the only elements of post-ME1 continuity in the story. For some of the reasons why, check the links on the Mass Effect page.

Update 2017-07-28: That said, "no time to sedate for another couple of years and rebuild correctly" is a good way to justify keeping Sheppard gender-swapped for the duration of the story, while not needing some "Sheppard's gender identity changes" magic BS to achieve a happy ending.

TODO: Think of a more relevant title.

How could it happen?

Whether it's accidental, mistakenly perceived as the only option for salvaging damaged DNA, or actually a result of the limitations of the already magically-powerful recovery technique is up to the author. The result is what matters, not the process.

The most likely excuse for accidental would be one of the following leading the machine to "repair" the recovered DNA to the wrong gender:

Due to operational security, policy, or plain old overwork, the operator doesn't know the subject's original gender and guesstimates incorrectly.
The operator of the machine put too much trust in the automation.

Either way could result in the system restoring missing bits by either duplicating the X chromosome "in better condition" (male-to-female) or pulling a known good replacement chromosome (X or Y) from storage.

If it's purposeful, I'd rather the person making the decision see it as a necessary evil (eg. the only way to make it work) rather than some kind of villainous means of manipulating Sheppard.

Update 2016-11-07: Probably best to make it a comedy of errors centering around how compartmentalized TIM keeps knowledge in Cerberus.

ME-Com

Sat, 29 Jul 2017 02:12:00 GMT

Description: The Ethereals from X-COM are actually Protheans who survived the last cycle.

Think about it:

The Ethereals are running from something and the reapers fit quite well.
Prothean society was a multi-species empire with the original Prothean species at the top. Now compare to the Ethereals.
50,000 years is easily enough for Protheans to engineer their reading abilities into powerful psi abilities. (Hell, their beacons already have the appearance of telepathy in Mass Effect canon, regardless of how they actually work.)
Any divergent technology can be explained as intentional R&D to escape the reaper technology trap.

(The only fics I remember encountering had them as contemporaries of the Protheans.)

Tip: Subvert Plot Clichés

Mon, 13 Mar 2017 08:13:00 GMT

Description: TODO: Find other places this example of applying an old plot device to a new situation can be used:

Kaji and Asuka head into the city, not realizing what horrors await them. Asuka's luggage may get infected by an Angel, turning her panties into a Menace Of The Week.
— http://addventure.bast-enterprises.de/229026.html

Bleach

Mon, 13 Mar 2017 08:07:00 GMT

Ideas using Bleach as a source.

She's Got The Holes for It

Mon, 13 Mar 2017 08:07:00 GMT

Description: MLP:FiM Changelings are Bleach-style Hollows

Inspiration: This comment

Going Nativity

Mon, 07 Nov 2016 21:09:00 GMT

Description: What about writing a story with a scenario sort of like Probation where Urd is on Earth with only minimal magic but instead of doing it how Probation does it, jump a few months into the future and show that Urd quickly found a compatible friend/roommate and is probably enjoying her probation a little too much.

Perhaps the conflict could be a social one between Urd and her sisters because they feel Urd has lost interest in working off her probation any time soon.

Update 2016-11-07: weebee: It could also work out well if it was for breaking one of those rules she thinks is stupid, like how she doesn't go first class because she thinks lying is too useful an ability.

See Also:

They walked in silence for a time (Same origins, sort of an Urd-style take on O!MG)
Outside the Box (Similar "whole new facet" take on O!MG, potentially similar feel)

For Want of a Regent

Mon, 07 Nov 2016 20:39:00 GMT

Description: How about a story where some kind of loophole results in a perfectly ordinary Harry Potter (no time-travel, no super-intelligence, etc.) satisfying this quote?

Harry Potter owned Hogwarts. Harry Potter was nine years old, rich, powerful, missing and owned Hogwarts. — The Curse of Fate, Chapter 10

Note: This wasn't originally envisioned as subverting any specific bad plot archetype. I just wanted to throw a curve ball at the wizarding world and watch them run around like headless chickens.

Update 2016-11-07: weebee had a good idea: It could be one of Dumbledore's contingency plans and Dumbledore could die early without getting the chance to inform others of the plans he's been secretly making.

Well, I Didn't Vote For You!

Mon, 26 Sep 2016 01:07:00 GMT

Description: How about a story where first-contact war leaves a humanity with a propensity to spin off disgruntled break-away states and terrorist groups (of a different character than Cerberus).

After reading the fics mentioned under "Inspiration" it occurred to me that, given human nature, the discovery of the prothean ruins on Mars resulting in a unified Earth government is a bit of a case of "Bioware wrote it this way because author says so".

As humans, we're a fractious bunch and, even in this day and age, we still sometimes see new countries being fissioned off. It would make perfect sense if, by the time Mass Effect rolls around, humanity is either still on the United Nations model of global politics or has an uneasy world government which would shatter like glass when some parts of humanity declare that the world leaders did not have the authority and, thus, the citadel council's political standing is invalid.

That would then produce a cauldron of unrest which would periodically produce attempts at breakaway republics and terrorist groups defined not by their decision to practice asymmetric warfare the way Cerberus does (the breakaway republics would also be doing that) but by their actual use of terror tactics.

However, I'd need to think about some way to make the breakaway republics more interesting than just an ongoing sparkle of "rebellion... pacified" around human space. (I'd want to research unconventional "nations" and see how all kinds of nations could be applied to a space contect.)

...how exactly does the whole "need to discharge the drive core" part work? Is there any way a breakaway state could, at thought-to-be-prohibitive expense, develop some kind of solution for getting outside the normal selection of worlds? (eg. Would it be possible to build a Matryoshka ship where the built-up charge is discarded along with each shell+engines layer? What about some kind of normally-prohibitive method of capturing the charge and then discarding the capture vessel/material?)

Maybe I could bluff the readers with a line analogous to "With no Relay, it will make a direct jump to the Citadel, but will need significant work done on its engines before it will fly again." from Early Discovery, Chapter 19 where, because I just take it for granted that it's possible, the "destructively long survivable jump" comes across as "the author knows what he's doing, but explaining it would dilute the story as a whole".

Either way, it'd be primarily about the politics rather than the tech anyway so I don't want to let thinking about that side-track me.

TODO: Read the Wikipedia article on asymmetric warfare.

Update: If done believably, it's also possible that an advantage could be had as a result of surviving a "suicidal gambit" and making a technological breakthrough as a result of it. (inspiration)

Update: The Day The Arms Closed is probably the closest I've yet seen, but focuses itself very differently from my vision.

Inspiration: Reading fics like A Dark Dawn and The Illusive Emperor

X-COM

Thu, 01 Sep 2016 22:31:00 GMT

Description: Ideas based on the X-COM games.

Differences between the original and rebooted X-COM series:

Obviously, the original series has 1990s-level plot development.
In the new series, the aliens are holding back more, so X-COM's plight doesn't come across as nearly as desperate.
The insanely harsh RNG in the original series prompted the fans to impute an "ends justify any means" character to humanity's plight and X-COM's character.

Cursed! Whodunnit?

Thu, 01 Sep 2016 21:38:00 GMT

Description: One day, without warning, Hinako turns male. Shortly afterwards, Hiroshi and Daisuke reveal that they've been cursed for several months already but they kept it a secret. The game is afoot and the question on everybody's mind is "How did Ranma's curse become contagious, why now, and why THEM? After all, Akane spends plenty of time around Ranma and nobody has started turning into a panda." Cursed! Whodunnit?

Experimental Attempt at Writing It

Story Structure:

Main Story: A Whodunnit-style story beginning with Hinako getting "spontaneously cursed" and ending, at the earliest, once they know what's going on. (Though that'll probably just be the main subplot. Seeing how Yuka and Sayuri deal with the curse and react to Hiro and Dai's curses could be good fun too.)
Prequel to be read afterwards: A view of how Hiroshi and Daisuke reacted to getting cursed, how they kept it secret, their motivations for doing so, and what they did with their curses.

Subplots for the main story:

The whodunnit
Hinako (In cursed form, 'he' is stable at an in-between age. This gives the clarity necessary to see the extremes she bounces between. With that, she can figure out what she's done for her students, both good and bad, and so on. The conflict is that she wants to go back to normal but she doesn't want to lose that clarity.)
Yuka and Sayuri ("Cliché" pretty much doesn't exist when dealing with female-to-male transformation and, if we decide that they're currently dating or considering dating Hiroshi and Daisuke, then we REALLY have some fun options. Probably best to make a clean break from male-to-female cliché by having the guys be the experienced once. Additional fun can be had if, once they're used to being guys, Yuka and Sayuri decide to take the intiative and not only date Hiro and Dai, but suggest things Hiro and Dai either never considered or decided against intially... but not girl training. That brings back the cliché.)
Herb (Lime and Mint end up cursed before this story even starts because of how much Herb blasts them. However, Herb doesn't know why until he receives a letter from Ranma detailing the events of this story up to a certain point. However, while dragon heritage provides for ki production and control, damping isn't so easy. This results in a character crisis (he's almost certain to eventually curse his bride) until Ranma comes up with a solution. However, he has to put his pride on the line to let Ranma teach him. Lime and Mint get cured... by force (Hinako) if need be.)

Subplots not needed:

Kasumi seems unaffected by getting cursed and serenely trusts that Ranma will find a cure. This really gets on Akane's nerves... especially since some of Kasumi's mannerisms really don't fit with a male body. (As a plus, periodic cut-aways to Kasumi can entertainingly build on the underlying theme.)
Nabiki is pretty imperturbable. She'll just end up deciding to keep the curse so that she can become a male business tycoon if need be. After all, by this time, it'll be obvious that only Ranma has the water magnetism.
Kuno may get cursed

Rules:

Ranma's curse taints his ki. Prolonged exposure to Ranma's curse causes peoples' ki to slowly become curse-tainted. Enough taint and you start changing.
The osmotic taint only works for gender-curses because other curses are "too much work" to implement. (Complete genetic rewrite for most, Large mass change for age curses, etc.)
Male-to-female curses are much easier than female-to-male curses because no Y chromosome needs to be synthesized.
- Also, Hiroshi and Daisuke have been hanging around Ranma long before Hinako showed up.
Cursed people are immune. (Genma, Shampoo, Taro, Mousse, Ryoga)
Happosai's ability to drain and convert female ki has taught him to filter what he draws but he knows what's going on and he finds it hilarious. He doesn't tell anyone because he's a jerk that way.
Hinako is the most vulnerable female because of her draining ability and how frequently she uses it on Ranma.
- Her "Happo no Yen Coin Return" doesn't purge her ki system because her techniques make a distinction between native and foreign ki. Because it would probably bring her back to her original weakened state, she never flares her native ki.
- Draining Ranma's ki is similar to glomping onto him for several hours while having weakened defenses. That's why she picks up a curse much more quickly than Yuka and Sayuri.
Cologne has never heard of this because it's really the first time population density, ki mastery, huge ki reserves, and a gender curse have combined in this fashion.
- The amazons know that a gender-cursed mother will give birth to gender-cursed children, but not why. Other kinds of curses don't spread this way because 9 months isn't enough exposure.
Herb probably hasn't heard of this either, given how the Musk feel about gender-segregation.
- It doesn't help that neither the Amazons nor the Musk have an equivalent to "sit three feet away from a cursed ki adept for six to eight hours, six days a week". (school)
The curses won't make Hiroshi and Daisuke into water magnets. Maybe it only works for Ki adepts who fight their curses. (The old "chi in turmoil" explanation)
- Note: The explanation doesn't really matter as long as Hiro, Dai, Yuka, Sayuri, and our choice of anyone who inherits a gender curse are free of water magnetism.
Akane isn't the first girl to get cursed because flaring your aura (in her case, getting angry) helps to flush the taint out.
Kasumi is the second girl to get cursed after Hinako. (Not only does Ranma live there, Kasumi does his laundry. If Happosai can get charged by panties, then Kasumi can get tainted by laundry)
Yuka and Sayuri are the third and fourth girls to get cursed. No boys other than Hiro and Dai have been cursed yet. (Ranma keeps his aura controlled and they're the only non-immune (Akane) people other than Hiro and Dai who spend that much time in range)
Ranma will learn to control his ki to prevent further tainting by the end of the story and will teach Herb and probably Cologne too so it can be recorded for future generations.
Hinako can cure someone by draining them twice in rapid succession. However, the taint regenerates once you're cursed, so accidental curing by non-consecutive drains is impossible. Two drains will render a person unconscious for 12 to 24 hours but do no permanent damage. The body won't allow fatal amounts of ki to be drained. Cologne explains this so they'll allow it to be done.
Nabiki gets cursed fifth: After Kasumi is changed, Ranma starts to think that the change has something to do with him. When Akane's friends are affected as well, he's completely confused. In a concerted attempt to find out what's going on, he and Nabiki, who's helping him because she's worried for Kasumi, spend days sifting through books on Jusenkyo at the Cat Cafe and Dr. Tofu's. During this time, Ranma's using his aura to keep himself awake, and heavily exposing Nabiki. When Nabiki is changed, Ranma finally realizes, at least basically, what's going on.

<deitarion> In essence, if you're a martial artist, you're unlikely to get cursed via osmosis. If you're cursed (doesn't matter how) you only spread it via osmosis if you're a strong martial artist.

<weebee> the main themes of the ending, IMHO, are what happens when Ranma finds out the mechanics.
<weebee> he knows he'll lose control of his aura occasionally.
<weebee> what will he do about it?
<weebee> Then again, with Nabiki and at least one of the couples HAPPY about it, that may not matter.

Questions to be Answered:

Do Hiroshi and Daisuke's parents already know about their curses before Hinako spontaneously gains one?
- <weebee> It's entirely possible that the families know, but the boys have convinced them not to tell for several reasons.
  1. The families don't know that Hiro and Dai are harmless letchers,
  2. Well, let's face it, having a son that turns into a girl is rather embarassing.
- <weebee> ...though revealing it in the main story could be amusing, too.
Do we want to curse Gosunkugi in order to set up for a "Gos + Girl = Goth = People taking interest --> Why!?" joke?

Ideas:

Maybe Daisuke can borrow one of his mother's old wigs for his female form until his hair grows out. (Either the wig will match his natural color or "she" will claim she had the hairstylist dye her hair back to its natural color when his real hair looks apropriately androgynous)
"How did you keep this a secret for so long?" "I dunno. We just don't seem to attract water the way you do... or trouble for that matter."
By the time Yuka and Sayuri reach saturation point, they'll be so resigned to the probability of it that when one of them transforms in school, 'he' will jokingly turn to some of the other girls and respond with "Ok... does anyone have a pickle jar they need help with?"

Notes:

Hiroshi's hairstyle looks half credible as a girl's cut but Daisuke would need to grow his bangs down in the side not to look really odd as a girl. A hairstyle change could play a part in the plot. ("And here I thought Dai only started growin' that ponytail ta copy me or somethin." or something equivalent)
Subplot timelines need to be written. Possibly using HTML tables to get parallel columns, one per subplot.
Hiroshi and Daisuke's curses aren't going to kick in at the same time (too implausible) so, In the prequel, it's a given that the phrase "Can I touch them?" will get used at least once. A good response would probably be something along the lines of "Not now. I haven't even had a chance yet." but with more effort made to make it funny.

<weebee> Hmm, now that I think of it, this isn't a disease. It's radiation exposure.
<deitarion> Heh heh heh. That's great. "The Virus" turns the curse into a disease. I'm turning it into radiation poisoning. :P

(12:28:53) deitarion: First, a simple thought that, once the news of the extra curses has spread enough for the administration to not take issue with it, I'd like Hiro and Dai to come to school in female form in borrowed uniforms at the request of some of the girls. It'd be an opportunity to flesh out characters all around.
(12:31:11) deitarion: ...but especially the female characters. Of all the bits in the Ranma anime that I enjoyed, the one that felt the most unique and memorable was probably Ukyo having fun playing with Ranma's curse. (The part that, in the dub, ended with "I'm not a plaything!")
(12:32:18) weebee: always preferred "I'm not a toy," but that dub was mostly okay, so meh.
(12:32:45) deitarion: I prefer that too, but it's been too long and audio stick in my mind better than subtitles.
(12:32:52) deitarion: sticks*
(12:32:55) deitarion: Same reason I enjoyed Boku no Futatsu no Tsubasa. Anime and manga have a frustrating tendency to mute the fact that girls are human beings too.
(12:32:57) weebee: Hiroshi and Daisuke are taking this pretty well all around, so it could be all right. Though having someone should almost certainly flip out over it a bit more.
(12:33:28) deitarion: Remember, the plot summary says "Shortly afterwards, Hiroshi and Daisuke reveal that they've been cursed for several months already but they kept it a secret."
(12:33:42) weebee: agreed,
(12:33:46) weebee: they still took it pretty well.
(12:33:53) weebee: being capable of keeping it secret, especially.
(12:34:49) deitarion: I've always had a fondness for the idea that there be some way to appease the rule of funny so the water magnet effect goes away.
(12:35:48) weebee: well, it doesnt even need to be rule of funny, that's not what I meant.
(12:35:57) weebee: though I suppose their parents might have found out and not told.
(12:36:07) weebee: the initial flipout would at least give it away to them.
(12:36:32) weebee: anyhow, it's easy to explain no water magnetism, or much less. Curse is weaker since it's a 'secondary infection,' and the gender change itself is more important.
(12:37:42) deitarion: That'd actually work well since the parents could help provide the cash for the latter part of "Daisuke or Hiroshi: A little time alone with some cold water clears up a lot of mysteries. Getting leered at and hit on while out to buy some girl clothes... more than I wanted."
(12:38:11) weebee: yeah, presumably.
(12:38:21) deitarion: This IS Furinkan-cho. It's somewhat canon that people are desensitized to crazy things happening.
(12:38:44) weebee: make this a "Meh" nerima similar to Help Wanted's, and the parents could even just be like "I told you hanging out with that Ranma boy woul dbe trouble..." or something.
(12:39:16) weebee: whole bunch of ways to take it.
(12:39:24) deitarion: *snicker* Yup.

Reference:

Daisuke & Hiroshi
Yuka & Sayuri
Note to Self: If I ever need the chatlogs with weebee, I believe everything was discussed in one fairly long chat on 2009-03-28.

Timeline: (Under Development)

Ranma begins Ki training around the time of the Amaguriken. Ranma's aura, tainted with the Jusenkyo curse, begins radiating into his near surroundings. This effect will continue to strengthen as his training continues.
Hinako arrives and begins draining Ranma's aura.
Herb arrives, battles Ranma, and then returns to China.
Lime and Mint reach taint saturation, having absorbed it quickly from constant exposure and frequently being on the receiving end of Ki blasts. They manifest curses.
Hiroshi and Daisuke reach saturation point (when? Volume 36?) but decide to keep it a secret.
- There should be a day or two between them since it's more or less impossible that they'd get equal exposure.
Main story starts here. Hinako reaches saturation point a few weeks after the end of the manga. (Volume 38) Hiroshi and Daisuke reveal their own curses at this point.
[Somewhere in here, Yuka, Sayuri, and Kasumi reach saturation point. Ranma starts to get seriously concerned.]
Nabiki gets involved, helping Ranma search for a cure for Kasumi's sake.
Ranma sends a letter to Herb asking if he knows of anything like this.
Nabiki reaches saturation point within three days of working with Ranma. Ranma realizes the basic mechanics of the process.
Ranma, Nabiki, and Cologne begin to try and determine the specifics.
A few days to a few weeks pass, depending on the needs of subplots.
Herb Arrives with Lime and Mint.
TODO: <How much time passes in here?>
Ranma and Cologne figure out the cure to the problem, Ranma devises a method to supress his own aura totally, based on Dr. Tofu's old technique and the Umisenken, and he teaches it to Herb. Kasumi gets cured.
End of story?

Cursed! Whodunnit? - Attempt

Fri, 19 Aug 2016 16:33:00 GMT

See Also: Cursed! Whodunnit? (story plan)

"Another English class, another day of boredom," Ranma thought to himself. Everything was ordinary. Students doing very little studying, Miss Hinako doing very little teaching, and Ranma with little to do but nap and toss the odd distraction in the general direction of their variably-aged teacher.

It was at that moment that things decided to go from normal to abnormal and did so even more quickly than was normal for Nerima. Miss Hinako had been firmly focused on finding the best way to combine her strawberry milk with the lemon lolipop Ranma had given her five minutes ago when the elastic on one one of her shoes slipped and she took a tumble, sending her milk flying.

In an instant, two very strange things had happened. The cold liquid hadn't, as it always did, somehow ended up on Ranma Saotome but, instead, on Miss Hinako herself, who had gone from a young girl to a teenage boy in a tight, yellow dress in the blink of an eye. Ranma just blinked lazily for a second, a yawn almost coming to his lips, before that last observation rammed its way through his sleep- and boredom-fogged mind.

Wait... Miss Hinako had just turned into a man? He blinked slowly several times, the unreal image refusing to go away. The week's weirdness quota was now well and truly satisfied.

Cursed! Whodunnit?
By: deitarion/SSokolow

Now, for most schools, a teacher spontaneously changing gender in front of a class would be followed fairly quickly and abruptly by some combination of shocked silence, confusion, and panic... but, given their history with the insane, the bizarre, and the just plain stupid, the students of Furinkan High (and especially those of class 1-F) can be excused for having slightly higher standards. After a few furtive glances at each other, the thankfully principal-free windows and door, and their own secondary-sex characteristics (not necessarily in that order), normal operation resumed and the class, as one, began reacting.

TODO: Finish thinking on how Miss Hinako would react. Given how Genma didn't seem to even notice his curse at first, and how Ranma, once used to his curse, often doesn't even notice he's changed, and that Hinako is quite used to transformation of a different sort, I think it's quite plausible that it would take her a few moments to realize that she's no longer in a familiar form. (Likely as a result of a "Do I have something on my face"-esque thought in response to the class's behaviour)

(19:28:49) jonakhensu: also, the one problem I saw for Hinako not noticing she changed: panties not being at all comfortable on a guy- is lessened by the fact that she probably doesn't wear any
(19:33:37) ssokolow: *nod* Doubt she'd be able to find something that sits equally well on her small and large forms and, as with one of the fanon tracks for Ranma's curse, I doubt she'll ever have a period unless she can stay in adult form for at least a month.

Potential fragment:

While this was going on, Akane had been busy weighing the evidence and, based on long experience, had reached the highly prescient (though still tentative) conclusion that this was all Ranma's fault, as usual.

Potential narrative response to a line of dialogue: suave to stupid in _ seconds flat. (with the number being how long the dialogue would take to say.)

Random Idea Fragment (100% Raw)

[Write: Hiroshi and Daisuke admit they've already been cursed for several months.]

??? (probably female): "So that's why you have been less pervy lately? I thought Akane finally scared you into toning it down."

Hiroshi or Daisuke (Mock affronted tone, if it's not too "Weasley Twins"): We were sharing classes with Akane long before Ranma was keeping her busy. Why do you think she's the only person who calls Ranma a pervert?

Daisuke or Hiroshi: A little time alone with some cold water clears up a lot of mysteries. Getting leered at and hit on while out to buy some girl clothes... more than I wanted.

[Probably immediately followed with Ranma asking why the heck they'd want to buy girl clothes and Hiro/Dai responding with "Not everyone wants to be the center of attention, 'pigtailed girl'." with that last bit in a teasing tone.]

Also, I think, once the news of the extra curses has spread enough for the administration to not take issue with it, I'd like Hiro and Dai to come to school in female form in borrowed uniforms at the request of some of the girls. It'd be an opportunity to flesh out characters all around.

Self-Deception, Changeling-Style

Thu, 06 Aug 2015 04:47:00 GMT

Description: When changelings encounter problems, our habit is to hide... even from ourselves, it seems. I couldn't bear to confront my past, so I tried to just leave it behind and let the guilt and remorse die with the name I'd forsaken and the face I shunned. ...it didn't work very well.

Inspiration: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/75755/3/molded-to-love/scars-of-the-past

TODO: Brainstorm interpretations of that dialogue snippet.

Not Your Ordinary Cutie Mark

Wed, 11 Mar 2015 06:14:00 GMT

Description: Stories have made some great justifications for the nature of cutie marks being cultural... what if exceptional circumstances could alter their position or nature in more exceptional ways?

Some stories have put a lot of thought into the nature of cutie marks.

For example, in The Xenophile's Guide to Equestria, Chapter 13 (Ponies Behaving Badly, a deeply-considered and perfectly canon-reasonable argument is made for how much of the form cutie marks take is nurture, not nature. (ie. not only is the iconography based on what the subject is familiar with, but things like marks running may come and go as societies change.)

Given that and how loosely defined the whole setting is, why not a story built around coming to terms with some kind of "extremely exceptional circumstances produce something well outside the normal bounds of 'cutie mark'" as the driving conflict?

Inspiration: Just a random thought when I was looking at a scene from the cartoon and thinking about how it makes sense to put an athletic contestant's number over their cutie mark because, with their cutie mark being probably the most distinctive single feature on their body, habit would probably draw the eyes there when trying to remember who someone is.