Fanfic ideas you've had/would like to see.

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Fuzzy Necromancer
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Re: Fanfic ideas you've had/would like to see.

Post by Fuzzy Necromancer »

FaxModem and FakeGeekGirl, have you seen the Batman TAS episode "The Joker's Favor"?
"Believe me, there’s nothing so terrible that someone won’t support it."
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Re: Fanfic ideas you've had/would like to see.

Post by FaxModem1 »

Fuzzy Necromancer wrote:FaxModem and FakeGeekGirl, have you seen the Batman TAS episode "The Joker's Favor"?
I have. That's about one guy's life affected by the Joker. This would be one guy's life affected by Gotham in general and Batman specifically because Batman's 'War on Crime' usually doesn't take into account the non-physically endangering collateral damage.
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The Romulan Republic
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Re: Fanfic ideas you've had/would like to see.

Post by The Romulan Republic »

FakeGeekGirl wrote:
FaxModem1 wrote:I've been wanting to make a fanfic that takes place around the events of Arkham Knight, centering around the character of Noel. Who is Noel, you may ask? This guy. He's the guy celebrating his birthday, alone, in Pauli's Diner right before things go to hell. A day in the life of an average guy just trying to survive. A story of unemployment because of Gotham's economy, joining Two-Face's gang out of financial desperation, homelessness due to Bruce Wayne's Gentrification of Founder's Island, and how Batman screwed him by putting all the bank robbers in prison over the course of the evening.

Batman may be a hero, but for Noel, it's the worst day of his life.
This sounds really interesting. I love stuff dealing with the everyday lives of people in these crazy fictional universes like comic books and Star Trek, and Gotham is about as crazy as you get. I can't seem to find it anymore but there was a tumblr called "Tweets from Gotham," that imagined how average people would react to such events - basically they were very jaded dealing with all this nonsense. One of them was something like, "A Halloween store opened across the street and it got robbed the next day. #CalmDownScarecrow #ItsSeptember."
These are both really interesting ideas.

Edit:

Regarding the whole thing about Batman's crusade not considering non-physical collateral damage- considering the Joker's backstory (at least in some versions) and, hell, his own defining experience with the death of his parents, that's really something that Bruce ought to be aware of.
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Re: Fanfic ideas you've had/would like to see.

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Steve wrote:For fun, I will share with you one of the many crazy fic ideas I've had over the years. This one is from December 2013. And presented in properly over-melodramatic style, think "Defenders of the Earth"-style from the 80s.
Reality is in peril as a mysterious threat plots to unravel existence. Five champions of different worlds must work together to save us all!

Winged avenger of the Justice League, SHAYERA HOL, HAWKGIRL

Wizard and champion of mortals against the things that go bump in the night, HARRY DRESDEN

Wielder of the elements and bridge between the material world and the spirits, AVATAR KORRA

Brilliant mutant engineer and scientist, skilled in the art of ninjitsu, DONATELLO THE NINJA TURTLE

Timeless wanderer, the master of time and space, THE DOCTOR

Naturally, Hilarity and Awesome Ensues.;) (Note: In case you're unsure, this would be the DCAU version of Hawkgirl, post-series).
Intriguing.

I remember we had a thread here once (might have been on the old forums), where I posited a team made up of various folks from across the multiverse, but I can't quite recall the line-up. The Doctor was on it I think, and Ashoka from Star Wars, and River and Simon from "Firefly". Not sure who else was. I have a feeling Spike (from BtVS) and/or Batman were members.

If I were to redo it now, setting myself a ten-character limit (a bit high, perhaps, but I want a well-rounded team, and there are so many characters who deserve a spot), maybe:

The Doctor ("Doctor Who"). Saving the multi-verse is kind of his thing. ;) Plus, I want the TARDIS in the story.

The TARDIS ("Doctor Who"). Comes with the Doctor; also home base, transport, and secret mastermind (going off of her comment in "The Doctor's Wife" that she always takes the Doctor where he needs to go, coupled with her precognitive abilities). Won't be included in the character count (yes, I guess I'm cheating a bit) because she'd usually be just functioning as a ship, despite being technical alive.

The Doctor's clone daughter, Jenny ("Doctor Who"). I want to make better use of that character, and explore her relationship with her "father" (or mother, now, I guess). She'd fill the "Doctor's companion" role.

River Tam ("Firefly", post-Serenity). All-around genius, who can pick up how to do just about anything by reading it out of your brain.

Simon Tam (Firefly). It would be too cruel to separate him from River, plus the team needs a medic.

Susan Sto Helit (Discworld). For the death connection and mystical knowledge. Plus the Discworld would play a key role in the story (at least if I were better at writing comedy).

Spike ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer"). Resident snarky anti-hero.

Batman (DC Universe). The serious member/strategist. Not sure which I'll use. Either Affleck, Nolan/Bale, or original version/amalgamation, likely.

Harry Potter (Harry Potter). A more idealistic character, I think, plus you can do a lot with Potterverse spells.

Matt Cauthon (The Wheel of Time). Not a huge WoT fan, but he's one of the better characters, and he has an ability or two that would be handy for the enemy I have in mind, I think.

Sanya (The Dresden Files). I want a Knight of the Cross because I feel that the conflict I have in mind would be of a scope to warrant Divine intervention, especially since it could be seen as necessary to preserve free will (as per DF cosmology), and because I need some more idealistic characters to counter-balance the dark, gritty ones. Also, their abilities to see through deception and always be in the place the need to be will be useful counters to the villain I have in mind.

As for why I picked Sanya, the atheist one is obviously interesting, and as much as I love Michael, I have enough white guys on my team.

And who is the villain dangerous enough to warrant this team-up? The Guide Mk. II from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. An AI which exists in all parallel universes, can see all possible realities, and is manipulating people behind the scenes to bring about the destruction of all Earths.

The TARDIS, which also has precognitive abilities and (I think?) inter dimensional capability, would arrange for the Doctor to meet the other members of the team, to bring them together to counter this threat.

Edit: Naturally, the Guide would use other villains (and heroes) as catspaws, so that the main villain doesn't get over-used (especially since by its nature its a non-action villain).
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Re: Fanfic ideas you've had/would like to see.

Post by ScreamingDoom »

The Time Load -- Meet The Load, a Gallifreyian (but not a Time Lord; he flunked out of the Academy) who stole a TARDIS (really, he just bummed it off a friend to go on a fast food run in the Andromedia galaxy and "forgot" to return it) and travels time and space trying to find snacks, get reception on his scanner to watch gameshows, and do as little actual work as possible. Unfortunately, he's often mistaken for any number of OTHER renegade Time Lords and ends up -- much to his chagrin -- constantly meddling in temporal affairs despite desperately trying to avoid anything that might look like effort.

After fleeing the Snack Police of Foodcourtia IV, the Load ends up in a seemingly abandoned Dalek research facility where he finds Zero, a young human girl in some kind of biological research tank. She has no memory of who she is or why she is there, and the Load doesn't care; she does have an uncanny ability to be able to steal Space Cable, which he cares very much about. The rest of the series is their misadventures throughout time and space, gradually revealing the Horrible Truth behind Zero and the facility she was in.

His TARDIS interior is mostly a comfy couch situated in front of an overly large scanner.
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Re: Fanfic ideas you've had/would like to see.

Post by phantom000 »

ScreamingDoom wrote:The Time Load -- Meet The Load, a Gallifreyian (but not a Time Lord; he flunked out of the Academy) who stole a TARDIS (really, he just bummed it off a friend to go on a fast food run in the Andromedia galaxy and "forgot" to return it) and travels time and space trying to find snacks, get reception on his scanner to watch gameshows, and do as little actual work as possible. Unfortunately, he's often mistaken for any number of OTHER renegade Time Lords and ends up -- much to his chagrin -- constantly meddling in temporal affairs despite desperately trying to avoid anything that might look like effort.

After fleeing the Snack Police of Foodcourtia IV, the Load ends up in a seemingly abandoned Dalek research facility where he finds Zero, a young human girl in some kind of biological research tank. She has no memory of who she is or why she is there, and the Load doesn't care; she does have an uncanny ability to be able to steal Space Cable, which he cares very much about. The rest of the series is their misadventures throughout time and space, gradually revealing the Horrible Truth behind Zero and the facility she was in.

His TARDIS interior is mostly a comfy couch situated in front of an overly large scanner.
Sounds like if Dave Lister stole the Tardis. :lol:
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Re: Fanfic ideas you've had/would like to see.

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Worst. Time Lord. Ever. :D

Anyway, some more crossover thoughts, though at this point they're less story concepts than observations/character analyses.

1. Harry Potter would make a good candidate for either a Green Lantern Ring or a Dresden Files Knight of the Cross. He's got the strength of will for a Lantern, if his ability to throw off an Imperius Curse at 14 is any indication, and he's got the self-sacrificing sense of love and compassion and willingness to give a villain a chance at redemption to be a Knight (particularly a bearer of Amorachius, I think).

On that note, I also think that Rory from Doctor Who might have some KotC potential. :)

2. If I ever do a Harry Potter/"Angel" crossover, Lindsey MacDonald pretty much has to be Harry's arch enemy at some point. Not necessarily his most powerful enemy, by any means, or even the most evil, but the one that represents the greatest personal and philosophical conflict, and is a twisted reflection of him, the flip side of the same coin (like how the Joker is sort of Batman's evil mirror in some interpretations).

This occurred to me after watching the episode of "Angel" in season two where Lindsey arranges for Darla to get turned into a vampire again. Ostensibly because he loves her and doesn't want her to die, but really, at least in part, to stick it to Angel (also basically Fridge-stuffing in-universe- Lindsey arranged Darla's death in order to hurt Angel). It was one of the most horrifying moments of the series or the entire Buffy franchise, and it gave me a loathing for Lindsey that I've rarely had for a fictional character. And then it got me thinking.

You see, Harry Potter's characterization is arguably pretty much defined by his ultimate acceptance of death, and by his capacity for love- and his is a very self-sacrificing definition of love. Harry probably wouldn't hesitate to lay down his life for a stranger, but he (at least post-book seven) would certainly be appalled by the idea of turning someone into a vampire (a demonic mockery of life) in an effort to prevent them from dying, particularly when its ultimately for selfish reasons. That Lindsey would claim, or imply, that he did so out of love, when what he did amounted to arrange Darla's murder and metaphorical rape so that a demon could go on a rampage in her body, would probably just be adding insult to injury from Harry's point of view.

You could draw parallels to the tale of the Second Brother in the story of the Deathly Hallows (though what Lindsey did is far worse), and Harry would probably empathize with someone trying to cheat death through unethical means despite (or because of) having overcome that temptation himself, I think he'd view Lindsey's motives as pretty much the opposite of love. In fact, I have a hard time thinking of anything that would be more likely to push all of Harry's buttons than what Lindsey did to Darla, except targeting his family.

Plus, wizard cop (which Harry is post-Deathly Hallows) vs. demonic defence lawyer is a pretty obvious basis for hostility. :D You could have various encounters where Lindsey torpedoes one of Harry's cases. Or where they're forced to team up during one of Lindsey's stints of going rogue against Wolfram and Hart. And its another way in which they mirror each other, while ultimately making opposite choices. Harry and Lindsey both have a degree of disregard for the law and authority, but Lindsey's is based more in selfishness, while Harry's is about doing what you have to in order to help the people you care about and stand up for the truth, even if it means going against what those in power want. So on the one hand, you have a cop who bends the law to help people, and on the other hand a lawyer who perverts it to protect the villains and advance his own career. Though I'd be wary of the story developing an unintended anti-government, pro-vigilante subtext.

You could even draw some parallels between their backgrounds. Harry grew up abused and neglected, but dedicates his life towards trying to help others, because he has a strong capacity for love and compassion. Lindsey grew up in poverty, but responded by concluding that the only thing that matters is doing whatever it takes to get ahead, at others' expense. So I think that Harry might understand where Lindsey is coming from, but at the same time hold a pretty much opposite view of the world. But I think that Harry would also hold out some hope for Lindsey's redemption (which was toyed with at various points in the series canonically), so that would add another dimension to it.

Despite being from a different franchise, Lindsey feels very much like a dark mirror of Harry to me, when viewed in that light, and I think that they'd make good foils/antagonists for one another.

Edit: Okay, while I'm on the topic of Buffy fan fics, and to avoid a double-post, here's a rare non-crossover idea from me:

Buffy runs for President.

The story would basically be a semi-satirical take on American politics viewed through the lens of the Buffy-verse. The idea originated, I think, during the 2016 election, when I facetiously joked that if I did a protest write-in vote, I'd write Buffy the Vampire Slayer for President (Note: this is intended for HUMOR ONLY. I do not advocate squandering your vote on protest write-ins.). Plus, at some point, it occurred to me that as of 2016, Buffy's canonical age would be 35 (she turns 17 early in 1998), thus rendering her legally eligible for a Presidential run. :D

I'm not sure weather I'd follow comics continuity post-show, or go the alternate continuity route and have the supernatural still be somewhat secret. I expect the latter would make for a more plausible, yet in some ways more challenging, scenario, since Buffy has a LOT of skeletons in her closet that could torpedo a campaign.

Granted, some of those would be known regardless, like the two separate times she was wanted on suspicion of murder before finishing high school.

The motivation for Buffy doing something so out-of-character would be a prophecy or something showing that either of the major party candidates winning would lead to some sort of catastrophe. This would have to be very carefully constructed to keep from playing into the odious "both sides are just as bad" false equivalency meme. I'm thinking that one of the candidates is a Wolfram and Hart pawn (they've canonically had associations with past US Presidents), and the other is a basically well-meaning person, but compromised in some way that will ensure that they either lose the election or are unable to be an effective President.

Maybe she gets the information from someone like Lorne, who can read people's futures when they sing. You know, when the time comes for one of those God-awful, awkward "the candidate sings" moments. :D

So after Buffy proposes Plan A (Slay the Wolfram and Hart-backed candidate), someone points out that assassinating a Presidential candidate is likely to end very badly for her even if the Secret Service doesn't gun her down during the attempt, so she runs herself as an independent instead. Possibly Spike or Faith (or even Xander) suggests that she run as a joke, but then people actually start running with it. Actually, Xander works, as it wouldn't be the first time he's hit on a good idea by chance/joking around (see the end of season four's conflict with Adam). I'd probably have Dawn be the one who takes the idea seriously first, since for some reason Dawn strikes me as someone who'd likely grow up to be a politics nerd/activist, and as I recall she expressed frustration/disappointment over how Buffy couldn't have a normal career. Besides, Buffy's getting a bit old for field work.

At first, the campaign would be a complete non-starter (going off the idea that this is an alternate continuity where Buffy's Slayer identity is still secret), with Buffy trying to get enough signatures to get on the ballot in California and getting basically about the publicity and attention of a crazy guy ranting on a street corner. Actually, less. But then, at a "rally" (held at the local community centre, with about three people in attendance), Buffy happens to be in the right place, at the right time, to save some innocent bystander from a horrible accident, and it gets caught on tape. The video goes viral thanks to Youtube, and suddenly all of America's talking about the independent Presidential candidate who saved that kid from getting run over by a car or whatever. This gives Buffy enough of a PR boost that she's able to squeak past the 15% threshold to get into the Presidential debates, especially since Buffy is actually pretty good at making a rousing speech (see season seven). She also gets a big boost when that rich businessman friend of Angel's (I forget his name) endorses her (since he's familiar with all the supernatural stuff, and friends with Angel and his crew).

Now, Buffy's a good speech-maker. But I don't know how she'd fair in a debate. Cue frantic debate coaching from Giles, Willow, and Dawn.

Of course, by this time, Wolfram and Hart are taking things seriously, and they start throwing every bit of campaign dirt, real or faked, that they can dig up. And oh, boy, is their a lot to dig up, especially if you take things out of context.

-Buffy was the focus of two murder investigations and resisted arrest as a teen.
-Buffy was investigated by social services while raising her younger sister as, essentially, a single mother.
-Buffy was living with a lesbian couple for a couple of years.
-Buffy was a college drop-out.
-Buffy hosted a bunch of teenager girls who went missing under mysterious circumstances in her house (during season seven).

So Buffy has to deal with every painful aspect of her past being dragged into the lime light. The most painful would probably be her relationship with Angel coming out. On the one hand, there would be sympathy for Buffy from some people because when you get down to it, that relationship was her being used by an older man while she was still underage. And the fact that said man later became (briefly) CEO of Wolfram and Hart would be a way to strike back at them (not that Wolfram and Hart's reputation is great to begin with).

On the other hand, you'd have misogynists engaging in innuendo about how Buffy slept around as a teen, and is that really the kind of role model you want as President?

Which moves this pretty effectively from light-hearted political satire to dark political satire-bordering on tragedy.

I'm thinking the climax would have a twist- Buffy doesn't win... no one does. In a three-way race, nobody gets a majority of the Electoral College. It goes to the House.

I'm not sure what I'd have the ultimate outcome be. Or what states Buffy would win. California probably, because if you can't even carry your home state...

Also maybe Colorado, purely out of favouritism (Colorado is my home state). :)

Depending on how dark I want it to get (and considering that a large-scale Buffyverse story ought to have a certain amount of action in it), I might have a sub-plot where someone tries to assassinate candidate-Buffy. It ends badly for them. Very, very badly. 8-)

Hmm, actually, I could see the assassin almost succeeding, since bullets are not something Buffy has a terribly good track record against. Slayer powers don't make you bullet-proof, or able to necessarily dodge bullets. So Buffy gets shot, but survives due to Slayer healing (and gets a bunch of sympathy votes), while the Scoobies/Slayer army hunt down whoever did it.

As to VP- I can think of three decent contenders from Buffy's inner circle.

Principle Wood. My idea is that after season seven, he continued to work as an educator while keeping an eye on the Cleveland Hellmouth, and eventually worked his way up to some higher-up position like superintendent of schools or maybe even a position related to education in the state government. So he'd have some political experience, in addition to adding racial diversity and representation from a swing state (Ohio) to the ticket.

Riley Finn. Probably the strongest candidate, aside from the fact that a lot of voters would probably find it weird to have a VP candidate who's the ex-boyfriend of the Presidential candidate. ;) At this point, he'd likely be a fairly senior military officer, and is also from a swing state (Iowa). Plus, well... having an "all American guy" white man on the ticket might reassure some voters.

I don't know if he'd be interested though. Part of his character is that he preferred the simplicity of military life to the complexities of Buffy's world. That likely holds true for politics as well (even if his being briefly wanted for Treason never leaks out, since the circumstances were classified).

Rich guy CEO friend of Angel's. A businessman on the ticket would appeal to some people. But having two Californians on the ticket might be off-putting to some.

Its one of my stranger ideas, I admit, but I'm rather fond of it. I guess this is what happens when my politics nerd side meets my SF nerd side. :D
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Re: Fanfic ideas you've had/would like to see.

Post by Meushell »

Star Trek: DS9 / Stargate: SG-1

A crossover where some Tok’ra meet Dax. I don’t care which Dax. Jadzia might be a little more interesting because she would emphasize more on the honor and privilege of being joined. You have one society where people are competing to be hosts, and another where symbiotes are dying if they cannot find a willing host. It could include some rejected Trill that would jump at the chance of becoming a host, but that would mean leaving their own universe.

Xena

I never liked the way Hades was treated in the end, so...

After the series, Gabrielle is walking down the beach or something when she asked accidentally spots Hades. She’s confused and worried. How is he alive? Is he going to attack?

Upon seeing her, Hades just looks annoyed, then says something like, “I guess I can’t hide forever.” When Gabrielle ask why he’s alive, he replies that he never really wanted to fight to begin with. He just went along with it to keep Athena happy, and he was waiting for the right opportunity to fake his death. He even complains that Xena took too long. He asked, “I’m the King of the Underworld. Did you really think I didn’t notice you didn’t die?”

Then he just leaves, leaving Gabrielle with a bunch of questions, such as, was he the only one to fake his death? She’ll never know.
The Romulan Republic
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Re: Fanfic ideas you've had/would like to see.

Post by The Romulan Republic »

The Star Trek/Stargate crossover sounds interesting.
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Re: Fanfic ideas you've had/would like to see.

Post by FakeGeekGirl »

So I've decided to do the terrible fanfiction sellout thing and turn the Avengers band idea into a Young adult novel with original fiction. Thanks to Romulan Republic for starting this thread and reminding me of it.

Also I was reminded that I also want to write a short story for Stranger Things by my rewatch of season one and by discussing Zootopia with my friend that I had an idea for Nick and Judy adopting several kids including a mustang foal that ends up being the center of a custody battle (based on real cases involving Native American children adopted by non-native parents).

Plus I have like five fanfics I've started posting but need to finish and two novel-length DS9 fics I've written a lot for but haven't started posting. And an Enterprise Au fic for Unexpected where Trip has to raise the baby. To say nothing of the original fiction I'm working on.

So basically I need to either get way better at focusing on one project at a time, quit my job and write full-time, and/or perfect self-duplication if I ever want to finish anything.
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