I know posting story ideas is kind of cheesy, especially when you have no
intention of actually writing the fic yourself. However, I have neither the
skill nor the time (or even the memory of what exactly happened in the canon
story) to do this fic, but I can't get it out of my head. So...
We've all seen the "Ranma (or others) go back in time to take things from
the top, knowing everything they do now." Here's my idea though. What if
Ranma's (or whichever character you find easiest, I don't think this would
work for Ranma) first time through was actually a different universe. Say...
Ranma and Akane were greatly and openly in love with eachother but in doing
so offended Shampoo to the extent that she killed all the Tendos, and Ranma
ended up killing all the Amazons (not a exceptionally viable idea, but work
with me...).
Now, this Ranma has an idea of how things SHOULD go, and for the most part
tries to re-enact what originally happened, up until the critical moment
where he can do something different to save the world as we know it, yadda
yadda yadda. However, getting all the details of the first time through
would be very hard, and mistakes will abound. Hense, he will accidentally
play through the canon story, which is not what he wants. (So you can see
why Ranma isn't particually viable, as this one would probably not act as
ambivilent to the fiancee situation or be as mean to Akane, etc. [provided
that is what happened the first time through])
Seeing how most people know more or less what the canon story is, the trick
isn't to tell that story well. The trick is to make sure you explain WHY
this neo-Ranma is acting in the all too familear way, seeing how the though
"he should know better" will always be present, and the "acting this way to
keep everyone from being suspicious" would become very tedious (both to the
reader and the write) and would begin to look like a cheap cop-out if done
too often. Also, throwing in dashs of the "regular" universe, so the reader
can compare and contrast them (but not put in too many as to become one
amoung hundreds or simple aternate universe fics).
This idea can be used for any story, and any character. Now that I think
about it, it would be a perfect candidate for a Sailor Moon fic, seeing how
Serena (I haven't seen the original Japaneese :( ) can quickly shift from
ditzy (an act in this case) to very serious (which would be what the mature
Serena would do when necessary).
So, anyone up for the idea? (If you are, I'm interested to know so I can
keep a look-out.) Thanks for reading all the way through.
(I wonder if more people would have read this if I labled it a challange
instead...)