First, an explanation.

I'm not an author, and haven't got a prayer of becoming one; I'm only
occasionally even barely competent as a rewriter or an editor. But since
getting hooked on fanfiction, I've been coming up with ideas every now
and then, and writing them down. Some of them are story ideas, some of
them are story-element ideas, some of them are minor things of almost no
significance. And now the file has gotten large enough that I think it's
worth the time to post them and see a) what people think and b) if
anyone wants to use any of them. Anyone who wants to can use any of my
ideas, though I'd appreciate being informed of it.

That said, here goes, in the order I've got them down:

It is a tradition that the villains in Sailor Moon are named after
minerals, metals, jewels, and so forth; this results in many names
ending in -ite. In a takeoff on that tradition, I'd like to see a
villain (presumably in a silly fic; now that I think of it, Nuke 'Em
Till They Glow might be ideal) named Catamite.

Here's one that I've got *no* idea how to do; all I have is the title.
It's a fusion of Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon and Robert Heinlein's
"Starship Troopers" (preferably based on the book, not the movie):
Starship Senshi. Again, I have *no* idea how that might be pulled off,
but the idea came to me so here it is.

This one's a bit more complicated. You have two canon universes, one
with the Sailor Senshi, the other with the Sailor Scouts, with all (or
at least most) of the differences that implies. The story happens when
one or more of them gets swapped with her counterpart in the other
universe. Language problems may be the least of what could ensue. Pluto
would probably have the worst time in some ways; Neptune or Uranus, if
one but not both of them switched, would have some real problems. The
others could mess things up also, though the problems are less obvious.
This can be done either by telling the story from/of one universe only,
with the events that happen there; or it can be done as a two-universe
story, with both teams trying to adapt to the change of members, win
whatever fight they're currently engaged in, and possibly get their
original teams back (which may not be possible). The latter is
especially interesting if for some reason one of the universes, and
hence its native Sailors, is farther in the future than the other,
including the associated defeat of later enemies. It might even be
possible to have one set of Sailors be in the present day, and the other
already in Crystal Tokyo.
The author can, if desired, provide explanations as to why the switch
took place, but it could work at least almost as well if it were just a
spontaneous event with no discernible cause. It could, of course, be the
work of some new enemy, though why an enemy would want to do it makes
for something of a poser.

This one is complicated enough that, rather than try to rephrase it at
the outset, I'll paste in my original overview from my ideas file, like
so:
Either dump (some or all of) the Ranma cast into the Slayers universe
(it's not hard to come up with an excuse for it to happen from their
side, especially if by coincidence someone's casting a summoning spell
on the other side - but please, no clich�s; the Nan-ban mirror has been
overused as a change-the-setting-right-at-the-start tool), or bring the
primary Slayers cast (good guys at least, probably a bad guy or two)
into the Ranma universe. No particular ideas for the former, but the
latter requires a bit of work to get a good story out of, so I've put
together one idea.
In the Slayers universe, the usual gang are chasing another powerful bad
guy, and are winning; as either something of a desperation move ("I've
got to get out of here!") or as part of a larger plan ("Strategic
retreat; I need some time to recharge and get some work done."), said
bad guy creates/finds and goes through a portal to another universe. The
Slayers crew has two options: either they get sucked through the portal
while it's still open (which could cause problems - I'll get to that),
or they decide to follow the bad guy to wherever s/he's gone (either "We
can't allow that creature to terrorize another universe!" or "We've got
to get the Sacred Foo back!"; knowing Lina, more likely the latter, for
non-altruistic reasons) and open a portal of their own (which is likely
to take some time and effort - even if the portal was 'found' instead of
'created', opening it is not likely to be easy) to follow. Obviously,
they all end up in the Ranma universe; the good guys at least almost
certainly arrive at the Tendo dojo, or perhaps Furinkan High.
The bad guy arrives first, with a choice of actions. A: Begin trashing
everything, in the (plausible, unless this is a disproportionate
Ranmaverse) assumption that everything here is going to be much weaker
than it is. B: Try to find someplace to hide, rest, and plot. C: Go to a
prepared place to rest, restore, and put plans into action (assuming the
"Strategic retreat" reason for the portal). The Slayers arrive later,
and things get more complicated.
If the Slayers were sucked straight through the portal after the bad
guy, they're probably going to arrive at the same place only moments
apart; this creates a problem, since unless you can think of a plausible
way for the bad guy to get away without being immediately chased it goes
straight into the big fight, skipping over the whole story that really
should come before that. (If on the other hand you *can* think of a
plausible explanation for that, go for it; it makes some things much
simpler, and perhaps more interesting.) It's possible, however, for the
two groups who came through the portal to arrive at either considerably
different places (though even as little as the difference between the
dojo and the school might be enough) or considerably different times
(and you can get rather different stories, depending on which group
arrives earlier in time and how far ahead it is - maybe even every
person has a different exact target, but they're all in the same
universe and general time range?), which would eliminate that problem.
If the Slayers opened a portal of their own, that eliminates the problem
of their arriving right after the bad guy and hence going straight into
the fight; it creates the problem of how, with no direct trail to
follow, they're going to *find* said bad guy, though there are multiple
solutions to that.
There is of course the problem of where the Ranma crew (and especially
the big guy himself) will fit on the power scale of the Slayers
universe; I think the best answer there might be to have each side's
special capabilities (the Slayers' version of magic, the Ranma crew's
version of magic plus their ki/chi techniques and some of their weirder
martial arts techniques) be completely unknown in the other universe,
but surprisingly effective/ineffective as appropriate to level things
out enough. (Though I'm not fond of significantly reducing the
higher-end Slayers spells; it sort of ruins the whole point of those
things.)

A beginning for any Ranma-crew-in-another-universe crossover:
It seems typical among some authors to have such stories begin with the
use of the Nan-ban mirror to accidentally/as a trap put some or all of
the crew in some other universe; I don't much like that, as it seems
like just an excuse to get everybody else out of the way in a hurry so
the author can concentrate on the characters s/he wants to write about.
I would propose something else.
Begin the story with another typical crazy adventure, involving weird
(supernatural-type?) threats to be taken down with high-end martial arts
and whatever else, much as in canon. At what would normally be the end
of such a story, with the bad guy defeated and the crew getting ready to
return home and have things go back to what passes for normal, have
something involved in the preceding story (including possibly even the
Nan-ban mirror) do something unexpected (or be accidentally activated,
or something), dropping whatever characters are appropriate into another
universe and allowing the crossover to begin.
The net effect of this is to get everybody else out of the way so the
author can concentrate on the characters s/he wants to write about; the
important point is that it doesn't do it in such an all-fired hurry as
the other, and avoids the clich� that prompted me to come up with this
idea in the first place. Not to mention the nice reversal effect of
having the *real* story begin at what looks like the end. ^_^

If only because of the name, a crossover between Slayers and Buffy the
Vampire Slayer - probably done best by dropping Buffy (and possibly Co.)
into the Slayers universe. The trouble lies in how to handle the
ridiculously out-of-sync power levels of the two canons; one possible
solution would be to have the power level of the Slayer be proportionate
to the power levels of whatever universe she's in at the time. This
almost certainly wouldn't give her magical capabilities, except perhaps
the ability to shrug it off (though with training in Slayers magic, she
*might* be able to draw on the power that lets her do superhuman things
to act as a power source for the magic), but it would enhance her
physical capabilities - strength, speed, agility, resilience, toughness,
reflexes, possibly fighting skill, and any others I've left out - to
astonishing, super-heroic levels.

An AMS/Ranma crossover in which Keiichi ends up with a Nyanniichuan
curse (how is left to the discretion of the author). The twist is that
when in female form, for whatever reason (probably something complicated
and cosmic, involving interesting bits of history of the gods), he's a
goddess, despite being perfectly normal-human (in a metaphysical sense)
in male form. This is *not* involving a 'spring of drowned goddess'
(which would be something of a ridiculous concept); it's the same
Nyanniichuan that Ranma fell in. The difference is something to do with
Keiichi.

A story of some sort involving a BTVS-style Slayer who drowned at
Jusenkyo (what would *that* spring be called?), and someone who falls
into her spring.
Possibly another same-old-Ranma-story twist (though it's important to
note that the person who gets so cursed does *not* have to be Ranma, or
any associate); it might provide an interesting explanation for why he's
so much better at fighting than most other people (though that should
technically only affect his female form...), but one would probably also
have to deal with the responsibilities/duties of the Slayer.
A nice tie-in bit to allow a canon-up-to-a-point Ranma story to branch
off into this would do with the Slayer's ability, little used in BTVS
canon outside of the movie (and early first season), to 'sense' vampires
- possibly tell when one is near (not sure about that), but definitely
tell when a given person is a vampire rather than a normal human. I
think it has something to do with the presence or absence of a soul.
Another canon-up-to-a-point idea would be that for part or all of the
canon, there is another Slayer in the world performing her duties, and
so the various Slayer candidates (i.e., people who could be the next
Slayer when the current one dies) are left to their own oblivious lives;
but at some point the existing Slayer is killed, and the candidate
tapped to replace her is Ranma-chan. The Slayer's dormant strength,
speed, resilience, skill, and so forth would be triggered, bringing
Ranma's female form up to far surpass his male form in fighting
capability; and the Watchers' Council would be left gaping at the idea
of a part-time Slayer who's male the rest of the time. (Though that
might not turn off the monster nastiness, and certainly wouldn't turn
off the fact that vampires and so forth would want to kill him...)
Another idea (divergent from BTVS canon for a number of reasons, and
tying in with the above paragraph) would be that *all* Slayers (except
the first, presumably) are such because of the water of this spring,
having been cursed (splashed, dipped, whatever) very early in life for
the most part, and locked in every case (if by the Chiisui-ton, the Musk
would have to be involved in some way...), so that they rarely if ever
realize that they were ever anything other than what they now are. Some
would have been female (so that the curse provides only the Slayer's
'birthright'), and some male (so that the change is much more
significant), but since the vast majority are cursed in infancy
virtually none of them ever know about it. The cursing, of course, would
most likely be handled either by the Watchers' Council as a whole or by
a small, probably-secret circle within the Council. Or it could be the
work of another organization entirely, unknown even to the Watchers,
dedicated to preserving the existence of the Slayer...

A Kasumi who's actually perceptive rather than oblivious would be
formidable.

This one is the bastard child of my brother's mind and a one-liner in
Brian Randall's "Process of Elimination". Note that neither of us has
seen the part of the Ranma canon dealing with the ryu in question.
A Ranma/Sailormoon crossover in which Martial Arts Cheerleading is the
faded remnant of the fighting styles of the Silver Millennium, and the
capabilities of the Sailor Senshi are specialized forms of the high end
of the art - in much the way that things like ki blasts and the
Forbidden Techniques are the high end of Anything Goes, except that the
Senshi's capabilities are proportionally even farther advanced. The
Senshi, in their previous lives, had gone through Martial Arts
Cheerleading training in parallel up to a point, after which they
branched out into the specialized forms associated with each of their
planets/positions; they now instinctively use the high-end capabilities
they'd learned back then, but have not had occasion to have their buried
memories of the less advanced techniques (closer to the form of Martial
Arts Cheerleading shown in Ranma canon) unlocked in the way that their
other techniques have been. The problem with handling this is dealing
with Pluto, especially if she'd been alive for thousands of years even
back in the day of the Silver Millennium. The problem vanishes
(somewhat, at least) if she was reincarnated like the others; but if she
had lived through the intervening time, as in one form of the canon, the
problem would need to be dealt with.

Another Ranma idea, this one more general than some.
A fic in which Ranma is, or more likely comes to be, linked mind-to-mind
with one or more people. The link works as follows: someone linked to
another (use Ranma as example, obviously) can tell where said other is
in relation to himself; can sense said other's emotional state; and
(perhaps - depending either on circumstances, or the way the author has
decided the link works) can 'hear' said other's thoughts. The third part
might not be a good idea to include if more than one person (think
fianc�es) is linked to Ranma, because then each would be able to tell
when he was thinking about the other, and he'd be able to tell when they
were thinking about killing him (or whatever - yes, I do use metaphors,
people) because he was thinking about/spending time with said other, and
as a result of the normal situations that crop up inevitably in his life
would fairly soon suffer a nervous breakdown from trying to avoid
setting off either of the two.
Many possible variants of this are possible, depending on who he's
linked to and what that person is to him; some of them are listed below.
Linked to his preexisting One True Love, whoever that may be; this one
can branch further depending on whether or not she's on the shortlist of
those usually considered fianc�es. If she's not, this may be her first
hint of how he actually feels; it may also help clarify that in his own
mind, which it would probably do regardless.
Linked to the person who *will* be his One True Love, but who he is not
yet that interested in, or perhaps not yet interested in at all. The
same branchings as the above are possible, only this time the mutual
interaction of feelings is virtually guaranteed to be more complicated.
Linked to not only his One True Love (either of the above types), but to
someone else as well (perhaps even all of the other candidates); this
will have the same effects as in the above cases, except with a vastly
increased potential for complications (and authorial mischief).
Linked to a fianc�e who is not his One True Love, and will not become
such; this could be interesting (possibly told from the viewpoint of the
other member of the link?), especially if he falls in love with (or
(reveals/admits to himself) his feelings for) another fianc�e over the
course of the fic.
Linked to *all* of his fianc�es *except* his One True Love; not sure
where this would go, but I'm sure someone could make something
interesting out of it. Especially if the link allows those linked to
hear thoughts.
Linked to someone who is neither a fianc�e nor his One True Love; I'm
sure interesting things could be done by linking him (presumably
temporarily, in some cases, unless you wanted to have the link
eventually widen to the point where there's essentially one, doubled
mind in two bodies) to Ryouga, or Tatewaki, or Happosai (don't ask me
where *that* one came from; I just typed it out of the blue), or any of
several other people. Murderously outraged or WAFFily filial scenes
could be had if he ends up linked to Genma; WAFF or blood-and-death
could also be had by linking him to Nodoka. I have no idea what would
happen if you linked him to Soun; it depends far too heavily on other
factors.
A thought I had while typing out the original form of this idea was of
linking him to everyone with a Jusenkyo curse, either starting once he's
met the other person or starting simultaneously with every other cursed
person in the world, regardless of whether or not he's ever met them.
(This does not necessarily mean that Jusenkyo curses provide such a link
to other cursed people; but that could also be written, and perhapd made
into something interesting.)
The point is, link to whomever (and however many) you choose; the fun
lies in where such a link takes events.

A Ranma fic with a new character who, regardless of whether or not he
(or she, pick your pronoun) is unusual in other ways (made of stone,
say, for the cast-iron-stomach effect? Hey! Cross that with the
Ranma/Slayers crossover above, and you might be able to use Zelgadis!),
honestly likes Akane's cooking, and takes no harm from eating it, no
matter how toxic it might be to others.
A possible variant would be if said character doesn't actually like her
cooking, but still takes no harm from eating it; and would thus be able
to pretend to like it with far more success than most people who make
that attempt have.

No one knows Principal Kuno's personal name. In canon, he's apparently
identified only as 'Kuno-kouchou' (or however you spell that; I forget);
some people have misinterpreted this, and think his name is Kuno
Kouchou. I propose a fic in which that is actually true, and it is
*because* of his name that he is Principal of Furinkan High - or at the
very least, that's the reason he remains in that post, if not the reason
he ended up in it in the first place.

A fic (probably a spamfic, actually), or perhaps a section of a
fan-fiction Website, entitled "Lemon Tree". Got the idea from the song
of the same name, but the fic need have nothing to do with the song.

--
      The Wanderer

I feel I should warn you I'm slightly mad.

Warning: Simply because I argue an issue does not mean I agree with any
side of it.
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