Ideas Thread

[Jason_Miao]

• Ranma in Shampoo's body: Hey, I hadn't noticed that these are even bigger than mine! Akane: *applies cold water on shampoo!Ranma, turns him into cat!Ranma* Ranma: *faints in horror*
• Happosai is swapped into one of the girls, is happy. Everybody else: No way!!!

Ranma undergoes the nekoken when in close proximity to a cat.  But Ranma recovers when he takes a nap on a girl's lap.  So, rather than just a short gag like that, you could have a small arc where everyone is running around petting/playing with/chasing random cats, since they've lost track of Ranma. 

Having Happosai swap into a girl is one start.  Having him continually try to swap, but keeps getting foiled by the cast, intentionally or unintentionally, and swapping into guys, would feel more in line with a Takahashi plot (and now that I think of it, something like this could be a UY episode).

On the whole, this probably doesn't work well as a written fic because of the difficulty of keeping track of bodies/persons in that format, and losing the visual gags would severely reduce the overall comedic effect. However, if it's possible to create a good outline from these ingredients then I just might draw it.

Other gags:
Someone kidnaps "Akane".  There's lots of ways you could play that; my thought is to have Genma as "Akane".

Ryouga wanders in sometime during act 2, having decided he is going to finally declare his love to Akane.  Naturally, he doesn't succeed.  He's about to go away, dejected, when Ranma mocks him.  So, Ryouga becomes determined to declare his love to Akane no matter what, and starts confessing to everyone.  Naturally, he never actually manages this.  End scene shows Ryouga confessing to someone random.  Mousse observes this, and mutters "idiot" under his breath.

Tatewaki and Kodachi think the other is Akane and Ranma, so try to date each other.  This is opposed by the real Ranma and Akane.  However, Genma and Soun see that "Ranma" and "Akane" are trying to date each other, so try to get them married.  Story ends when both Tatewaki and Kodachi swap out with others.
* Hmm...and as one side note, you could have whomever is in Ranma's body propose to Mousse cursed form, thus recreating the manga chapter when Mousse tries to curse Akane.

[Muphrid]

It seems a bit convenient that the effects wear off.  Stargate did an episode with this, including the restriction on just straight switching back, and the way they handled it was to go for the geometric solution--folks would switch through intermediaries as needed until they returned to their proper bodies.  Considering the amount of cooperation that would be needed for this to work, getting everyone together and willing to cooperate, minux hijinx, would be a clearly defined goal with plenty of potential for chaos along the way.

I agree that, if Happosai managed to get into a girl's body, it should be only so briefly that he can't do anything with the opportunity.  Perversion of that magnitude shall never triumph for more than a spot of "hope".

This would be a lot of fun to see, though.

[Edward]

Now who would keep endangering Kyon?  Who would be so persistent that they'd ignore having been trounced by Nagato despite repeated demonstrations of her power?

Who?  It's hard to anime a cast member that wouldn't.

They're used to new rivals or random weirdos showing up and excel at jumping to conclusions.

And getting trounced in combat makes most of them try harder, not give up.

[Edward]

It seems a bit convenient that the effects wear off.

It would be very true to the original, though.  After all that effort and worry, the status quo resets. It even makes more sense than many status quo resets in the original.

[Jason_Miao]

It seems a bit convenient that the effects wear off.

It would be very true to the original, though.  After all that effort and worry, the status quo resets. It even makes more sense than many status quo resets in the original.

Super glue is another viable option.

[Arakawa]

Eurgh... I... don't really want to inflict this one on you guys, but I'm having trouble spotting the character plausibility issues and I could use someone's help. It's basically an Extremely Bad End for the SOS Brigade, and is generally no fun. I don't actually have any intention of writing a fic for it (it feels like a depressing waste of time, and it borrows far too many elements from 'Later'), but I am mulling it over as a possible concealed backstory (similarly to how Brian came up with a concealed Bad End for New Game+, but I'm afraid I don't quite have the experience on my part to design a bad end and work it in without feedback) to something much less depressing:

Spoiler: ShowHide

Initial state is similar to 'Later' (because I had enough trouble with coming up how it proceeds from here). Mikuru was recalled soon after high school, Haruhi and Koizumi got married, or maybe they didn't (there might be an easier excuse for Koizumi to perform his cunning stock-market manipulation scheme or whatever), then Koizumi dies under similar circumstances to those in Later.

For some reason, I also see Haruhi as a mathematician or scientist rather than a movie actress in this one.

Here's where things diverge, and what I want feedback on. There was none of that stuff with Haruhi trying to force Kyon into the same elite university as her; so Haruhi is still on speaking terms with the Brigade (what's left of it, scattered around Japan); and they do a twice-yearly mystery search. Moreover, Yuki is still an interface and the IDSE keeps trying to delete her (since Haruhi's ability has settled down somewhat, and they are no longer in the same city, Yuki is not well equipped to observe her and is in general a liability), which they can't do because of Kyon's trump card. Finally Kyon, Yuki and the IDSE agree to the compromise of 'Later' and Yuki is turned into a human, subject to 'human frailty and deterioration' or something along those lines.

Human frailty and deterioration turn out to mean a terminal disease that will kill Yuki after several months, so the IDSE has effectively cheated Kyon. (This could also be presented as just a failure of mutual understanding. e.g. Kimidori: "I don't understand. You did not specify the extent of deterioration allowable. You did not ask us to take active measures to prevent what is for humans an entirely natural process." -- their basic view is that, with her occasional interaction with Haruhi, Yuki is still a liability even as a human and they want to limit such risks, and Kyon did not explicitly disallow them to take that option.) Before falling into a coma in the hospital, Yuki drops the masquerade and expresses her regrets about what has happened. (This is interpreted by Haruhi as delirious babbling.)

Then Kyon decides to use the trump card to save Yuki, getting as far as "I am John Smith". However, when Haruhi displays significant hesitation in remembering and accepting the initial evidence (Tanabata, and a brief mention of the first kiss in closed space), Kyon in turn exhibits visible anger. This is used by the esper organization (who have infiltrated the hospital) as an excuse to restrain and sedate Kyon, claiming that the grief is destabilizing him mentally; since Koizumi, whose loyalty was mostly to the Brigade, is dead, the Agency now views Kyon as a liability, and certainly has no interest in Nagato's welfare or seeing what happens if the trump card is deployed.

There's more events beyond that (we still have the question of the time travelers), but already I've hit the first difficulty -- how plausible is it that Kyon could get angry enough in this situation, that it would be possible to justify forcibly restraining him (even with ulterior motives in mind)?

I'm definitely not sure how plausible this is as a whole, and I'm sorry if I've ruined anyone's day contemplating it. On the other hand, maybe I'm wrong and this would actually make an interesting fic? Very conflicted on this.

[Brian]

It's basically an Extremely Bad End for the SOS Brigade, and is generally no fun. I don't actually have any intention of writing a fic for it (it feels like a depressing waste of time, and it borrows far too many elements from 'Later'), but I am mulling it over as a possible concealed backstory (similarly to how Brian came up with a concealed Bad End for New Game+, but I'm afraid I don't quite have the experience on my part to design a bad end and work it in without feedback) to something much less depressing:

I ... have to admit, it's disheartening that the things I write encourage you to write things that go counter to my ideals.  Write what you like, but the fear of writing something 'less depressing' suggests you're leaning in a very R. Controversy, "Depressing for the sake of being depressing," writing goal which, well.

It's been stated here and elsewhere; I do not read Bad End stories.  Keep in mind I'm opposed to the concept at a fundamental level, and don't take this personally.

Spoiler: ShowHide

Initial state is similar to 'Later' (because I had enough trouble with coming up how it proceeds from here). Mikuru was recalled soon after high school, Haruhi and Koizumi got married, or maybe they didn't (there might be an easier excuse for Koizumi to perform his cunning stock-market manipulation scheme or whatever), then Koizumi dies under similar circumstances to those in Later.

For some reason, I also see Haruhi as a mathematician or scientist rather than a movie actress in this one.

...exactly like she was in Later, before becoming an actress?

Then Kyon decides to use the trump card to save Yuki, getting as far as "I am John Smith". However, when Haruhi displays significant hesitation in remembering and accepting the initial evidence (Tanabata, and a brief mention of the first kiss in closed space), Kyon in turn exhibits visible anger. This is used by the esper organization (who have infiltrated the hospital) as an excuse to restrain and sedate Kyon, claiming that the grief is destabilizing him mentally; since Koizumi, whose loyalty was mostly to the Brigade, is dead, the Agency now views Kyon as a liability, and certainly has no interest in Nagato's welfare or seeing what happens if the trump card is deployed.

All those places where common sense and clear communication could save the day and don't....  In the original take of Later, I did go with Poor Communication Kills, but it was meant to be true-to-life, not because of a specific adversary (the idea that Haruhi's powers could take on that 'adversarial' role without me meaning it bothered me enough I shifted away from that approach anyway).  Here, you've got a specific bad guy and....

Actually, I'm sorry -- especially because it borrows so heavily from Later, I don't want to offer suggestions.

I'm definitely not sure how plausible this is as a whole, and I'm sorry if I've ruined anyone's day contemplating it. On the other hand, maybe I'm wrong and this would actually make an interesting fic? Very conflicted on this.

I ... can't buy into it.  But it plays against my biases, and also borrows from something I made -- so, I'm about the worst person in the world to ask for advice on this one.  If you want to write it, go nuts -- explore away.

But honestly, I don't plan on reading it. :\

[Arakawa]

Okay. Like I said, I was afraid that reading this was going to ruin someone's day, and I did emphasize that I don't want to write the fic. I'm just faced with the problem of trying to figure out a consistent Bad End for the Brigade, one timeline over from what I'm actually writing, and based on your response my verdict is "drop this idea like a burning potato and figure out a Dark Past for Haruhi that makes more sense and doesn't borrow so heavily from Later". (Poor Communication Kills doesn't feel like a good idea for me, and if there's no obvious way to make things have a better reason behind them... the idea is not plausible.) I... hope we're good on this?

I think you misread that first paragraph: I'm not afraid of writing something less depressing. (I'm actually scared to pieces of doing the opposite and actually deciding to write the idea I just described!) I'm considering writing something less depressing and just using the bad end described above as a Dark Past for Haruhi.

So, it was helpful to read that response. I hope I haven't ruined your day by coming up with that idea.

[Arakawa]

Again, thanks for the charitable attempt at constructive feedback for this, but, yeah, that might not have been worth posting, because...

*slaps forehead, bashes skull against wall, and otherwise displays frustration with myself*

You know, farch my Bad End idea thoroughly and to hell. I just remembered what my original backstory for that fic was supposed to be, which makes me doubly angry with myself for infuriating Brian (yet again >_<) with an idea that never even needed to exist.

Basically, I was originally going to have a backstory where Haruhi remained at around age 30 physically while the rest of the Brigade grows old and dies (or, in Yuki's case, simulates the procedure to maintain appearances). Which is still way more than enough of a Dark Past in my view and doesn't require the Brigade to be on anything but excellent terms throughout, or for significant plot elements to be cribbed from 'Later'. The only thing I need to figure out then is why Kyon doesn't drop the masquerade as it becomes apparent Haruhi isn't aging and everyone else is. Any thoughts, from anyone?

(In particular, if in anyone's estimation this somehow isn't an improvement on the previous backstory, that would be kind of important to know.)

What happened next was that I forgot all about my original backstory, reviewed the actual fic idea it plugs into, found the gaping hole in my memory, and attempted to fill it in with an extremely forced and contrived way to achieve the same outcome.

... gehhhhhh ...

I'm actually considering deleting my earlier post so it doesn't clutter up this thread uselessly, but in general: things said, can't be unsaid, so I'd only be kidding myself on that count. Ehh, I'll leave it up, qualifying that, in my final estimation, it's only good as a pointless exercise in sheer squick.

Thing is, I'm only concerned about a plausible way of attaining the final outcome I have in mind -- Brigade gone, Haruhi remains with a vague idea that something very strange was happening involving her but not much knowledge beyond that -- just that vague sort of situation, to act as a setup for a different story. The "brigade ages but Haruhi doesn't" notion, while still very much imperfect (why would Haruhi unconsciously decide to stop aging?), fits my criteria better in almost every way conceivable.

*wince* So sorry for wasting everyone's time.

[Brian]

You know, farch my Bad End idea thoroughly and to hell. I just remembered what my original backstory for that fic was supposed to be, which makes me doubly angry with myself for infuriating Brian (yet again >_<) with an idea that never even needed to exist.

As easily as I do lose my temper, this didn't anger me.  More confused. :)

I did mean what I said about you should write what you want to write (though, if you don't want to write it, well, that's also fine by me >_>).

Basically, I was originally going to have a backstory where Haruhi remained at around age 30 physically while the rest of the Brigade grows old and dies (or, in Yuki's case, simulates the procedure to maintain appearances). Which is still way more than enough of a Dark Past in my view and doesn't require the Brigade to be on anything but excellent terms throughout, or for significant plot elements to be cribbed from 'Later'. The only thing I need to figure out then is why Kyon doesn't drop the masquerade as it becomes apparent Haruhi isn't aging and everyone else is. Any thoughts, from anyone?

Take it a step further.  Haruhi can't have the masquerade be broken -- if something doesn't prevent Kyon from telling her, she just completely forgets it the second he's done talking (after all, Yasumi fixes everything bad, so there's no need for her to deal with those things!).  Haruhi ages with the brigade normally until her thirties, when she begins to inexplicably regress, growing younger--

End with the introduction of a new character who meets Haruhi in highschool, where she's got a reputation and....  (possibly, work in the former Brigade members as the background roles -- Kyon is the homeroom teacher, Koizumi and Mikuru (or Yuki) are given the role of playing Haruhi's 'parents'--

Work in some implication that a similar thing happened in ancient history at some point (possibly having Kyon stumble across a narrative and discard it, then having homeroom-teacher-Kyon leave a copy of the same manuscript in new-character's backpack).  Leave off with the implication that she's been doing this for hundreds, if not thousands of years, just playing at growing up, resetting things, and relegating her old favorite toys to background positions while she's going on looking for something else.

* Brian looks back at that.

Er.  Actually.  That has almost nothing to do with what you suggested.  Something you described (the not-aging thing) struck against an old idea lodged in my skull--  Er, I'll leave this here, since I don't particularly want to write that one....

Thing is, I'm only concerned about a plausible way of attaining the final outcome I have in mind -- Brigade gone, Haruhi remains with a vague idea that something very strange was happening involving her but not much knowledge beyond that -- just that vague sort of situation, to act as a setup for a different story. The "brigade ages but Haruhi doesn't" notion, while still very much imperfect (why would Haruhi unconsciously decide to stop aging?), fits my criteria better in almost every way conceivable.

*wince* So sorry for wasting everyone's time.

Hmm.  Maybe not that far off from my idea after all.  Perhaps some elements of it will work for you.

[Muphrid]

Regarding the major stumbling block so far:

Spoiler: ShowHide

You might consider finding ways to tweak this setup, since it does borrow so heavily from Later.

Beyond that, I think there's a central question:  if no one but Haruhi knows about John Smith, how is it she would hesitate to believe Kyon?  I think that would require someone trying to jump the gun with her.  The IDSE know about the trump card.  If they fabricated letters from "John Smith" and hinted that he'd been in touch with Kyon, it would make it plausible that Kyon would know without being John Smith himself.  Add in a bit of taunting from Asakura and I could easily see Kyon going ballistic, thinking his trump card really has been beaten.

[Arakawa]

Interestingly, the trump card actually has a second layer of defense which the IDSE may not have been aware of.

Spoiler: ShowHide

I'm talking about the Take care of the John Smith who would shock the world! line, which I think only Asahina-san(big) knows about in any detail. If Haruhi gets suspicious, she may demand to hear this second trump card (instead of volunteering it like she did in Disappearance).

That's just one interpretation, though. As mentioned, I have no reason to write this fic or even employ it since I've remembered the more straightforward backstory I was originally going to use.

Some aspects of Brian's idea are... eerily correspondent to what I was going to write. Not exactly, but enough that I need to mull things over carefully before responding to that, in case it results in an even more interesting idea. Haruhi existing cyclically for thousands of years, that's, uh... some definite food for thought there.

[Brian]

Some aspects of Brian's idea are... eerily correspondent to what I was going to write. Not exactly, but enough that I need to mull things over carefully before responding to that, in case it results in an even more interesting idea. Haruhi existing cyclically for thousands of years, that's, uh... some definite food for thought there.

Haruih the character as merely a manifestation of Haruhi the real being (effectively, Yasumi is an irresponsible god who uses Haruhi as an avatar to have 'fun').  There's plenty of horror and bitter/melancholy options here, and it could be explored any number of ways.

Depending on how you want the cast involved with the next 'cycle' (or, _if_ you want that)....  Of course, the implications there are that for the reset to occur, everything has to go away.  The IDSE doesn't get to retain knowledge about it (or is otherwise altered to be more interesting).  Perhaps, they're just outright replaced with a very slightly different type of alien--  The esper powers work slightly differently, the rules of time travel are changed....

If you don't use the Brigade in the new setting, then you have a whole menu of horror options to choose from.  They just get erased, they get rewritten, 'horrific coincidence' just starts killing them off as they start to figure out what's going on, and the Brigade realizes with dawning horror that Yasumi won't let Haruhi understand what's going on -- and she is going to kill them all.

This is right up there with my 'Kyon has MPD, and Haruhi is his most significant Alter, not a real being' idea, except that one I have a happy ending planned for.   Weirdly, Rai Shu mentioned considering a similar story, and I actually thought for a few chapters Sarsaparilla's The Shadow of... was another take on that same premise for a few chapters.

(...that one I do actually want to work on a bit.)

For the 'Cyclic reversion' thing, you can take as much or as little of my ideas as you find interesting; I don't plan on writing it.

...but this one, I would actually read. >_>;  My major issue was not finding a good mythological figure to tie to Haruhi to indicate the cycle, but that wasn't research failure as much as research laziness. <_<;

[thepanda]

Haruih the character as merely a manifestation of Haruhi the real being (effectively, Yasumi is an irresponsible god who uses Haruhi as an avatar to have 'fun').  There's plenty of horror and bitter/melancholy options here, and it could be explored any number of ways.

Like in Air?

[Muphrid]

Why Haruhi should stop aging at 30...is it essential that she does so?  She could live a happy life, only to realize that no matter what, she cannot die, and that might spur her on to investigate the truth about herself and her friends?