Suka's Idea Emporium

[Sukaretto]

For anyone who doesn't know me (which, to be honest, will be most of you), I'm Sukaretto, although if you prefer you can call me Suka, Scarlet (that's what the name means, in fact), Scar, or even "Hey you weird chick!" I'm not picky on that. I was active on this site a while ago, but I had to leave for a while due to personal reasons. Anyway, I was finally able to come back, and so obviously I'm looking for some new writing partners. However, to do that, I kind of have to make a request thread, right? Well, that's why I'm here (in case you couldn't have guessed.) Now, since I already have a (perhaps too detailed) On/Offs thread here, I nicely get to skip all the boring intro and get right into the ideas. Isn't it great! Oh, I do want to be very upfront and clear about two details, though. I'm currently only looking for mxf pairings, and I'd like at least one female main character! I know that'll be the first thing people are looking at, so I won't make you dig through my on/offs to find it, although for more detailed info you'll still have to go peruse that thread. And now, onto the fun stuff!

I do have one story idea that is so long and complicated that it required its own thread. If you're interested in checking that out, it can be found here. The rest of my ideas are slightly less detailed, and hence are all found in this thread.

Historical-ish Ideas

Why historical-ish, you might ask? Well, I'm no historian myself, so most of these aren't going to be strictly historically accurate. In fact, many of them will be AUs rather than in the actual world. However, they're all inspired by a specific historical period, free of any fantasy elements, and should have a senses of being from that time period. Almost historical, but not quite. Hence the -ish.

The Lies Within the Truth (Greco-Roman Inspiration)

YC is a leader of his people (king, prince, emperor, general, etc.) They are at war with MC's people, and she's their captive. MC's people have a habit of making sacrifices to their gods to keep them happy- sometimes human ones. Before a big battle, YC decides that MC is the perfect sacrifice. Seemingly ordinary, yet young and beautiful, exactly the sort of person the gods ought to enjoy, right? However, when MC learns of his plans for her, she makes an audacious claim- she's an oracle, and the gods speak to her, telling her the future. She then makes a prediction of the next fight, of a stunning and seemingly crazy strategy that the enemy will use. YC doesn't believe her, but he decides to test her claim, so he sacrifices someone else, this time. And somehow, true to MC's word, the enemy uses that exact strategy- and to devastating effect, since YC hadn't been sure enough of her claims to prepare for it to happen. Needless to say, he believes her now, and begins to heed her predictions, which are often vague, yet tend to be quite accurate. He can't believe his incredible fortune, that he stumbled upon the one person who might be able to turn the tide in their favor.

But all isn't as it seems. MC isn't receiving mysterious advice from the gods. Oh no, the answer to her mysterious knowledge lies not in the realm of the supernatural, but in her past. She is the daughter of the general on the opposite side, and has seen and heard his war strategies. She knows some of his upcoming plans, and of his favored strategies, that she can predict his next move. It's a deadly game of chess, where any wrong guess could mean discovery and spell her death. Will MC manage to maneuver YC into a trap and, ultimately, to his death? Or will she grow fond of her captors and lead them to a glorious victory? Will her secret be discovered? And if so, will it spell her doom, or will YC be too attached to her to care?

This idea is very much about political intrigue, with MC trying to hide her identity and win YC's trust. There may also be some themes of abuse (MC is YC's captive, after all.) Ultimately, romance would be a plus, but would depend highly on how the characters interact- I won't force it. The exact details on the war and MC's predictions will be much less important than the character interaction.

Sea Wolves: The Underdogs (Viking Inspiration)

Every year the newly come-of-age vikings of Skandia undergo a rigorous training to prepare them for a long career of raiding. The males, and any females who decide they wish to follow the path of the shieldmaiden, gather over the spring and summer. Divided into groups called brotherbands meant to emulate ships' crews (although smaller in number, of course), they are taught weapons, navigation, ship handling, and other such essential tasks. One member of the group will be the leader, or or skirl. They are nominated by the group before the teams are selected, and they choose their teams. After all, this training program is also a competition, with each brotherband competing against the others for recognition and mild, localized fame as the fittest warriors of their year.

However, this year, things are a little different. There are enough trainees to fill three groups, but only two skirls are elected. So those two pick their groups, and the leftovers become the third brotherband. Each considered undesirable for one reason or another, they are a mismatched group, seen as the obvious choice to end up in last place for the year. But will they be able to work together and show that they are stronger than they first seemed? Or will they fall apart from the pressure?

Confession time: this is very much based on a series I like, although it won't be the least bit canon. In regards to the title, the Skandian vikings are referred to as Sea Wolves due to the distinctive wolf figure heads they put on their ships (often referred to as Wolfships, unsurprisingly.) Just in case you were curious. But anyway, it follows a bunch of young adults who don't necessarily know or even like each other being forced to live in cramped quarters, train with each other, etc. Plus on a ship (or in a battle, to be frank, although there won't be any real battles during training, but there will be real ships) one wrong move can be fatal, so they'll have to learn to trust each other and get along unless they want a disaster on their hands. Also, they're competing against people who have bullied, belittled, and put them down in the past, so they'll probably be highly motivated to take them down. And for you who are more interested in the sexy stuff, well, imagine a bunch of young adults or mixed gender with hormones stuck in a small living area together. So have no fear, I'm sure opportunities for that will come up. On that note, since this is an idea that requires multiple main characters and numerous side characters, I'll need a partner comfortable of playing more than one main and helping with the side characters. However, I'm more than willing to carry the brunt of the character load if need be.

An Alliance Sealed in Blood (Medieval European Inspiration)

Two kingdoms have been at war with each other for so long that they don't even remember anymore what the cause of that first feud was. Oh, sure, there have been breaks in the fighting, sometimes for an entire generation at a time, but it always resumes. But the kingdoms have been rendered broken and impoverished by the fighting, and the current kings have decided that enough is enough. They want to form a lasting alliance, and what better way than through marriage? After all, Kingdom A's king's only child is a daughter, and her husband will inherit the realm. So it is agreed that she will marry Kingdom B's oldest prince, so that once the current kings die, the two kingdoms will become one, hopefully forging lasting peace.

There's just one problem with this idea. There are deep rifts between the kingdoms, and factions that don't want to see peace at all. Suddenly, the prince (YC) and princess (MC) have just become the biggest targets of those groups, who wish to prevent the alliance, or at least prevent the couple from ever taking power. MC was reluctant to marry YC, and resentful of being forced to do so, especially since it forced her to leave her home and live in a country where she was hated. However, she quickly realizes that her survival depends on trusting and working with YC and his family, and even that might not be enough...

Yeah, yeah, I know- yet another arranged marriage idea (such a common trope nowadays, huh?) And yes, yet another of my ideas about supposed enemies having to work together. But what can I say, conflict is what makes a story interesting! Again, this one will be very much about political intrigue, with a healthy dose of assassination attempts, and perhaps eventually even an attempted coup. It's all about characters who don't like each other learning to get along, and who knows, perhaps they'll even fall in love along the way?

Fantasy

That's right, fantasy! I have to say, this is probably my favorite genre. I'm a sucker for it. Plus, unlike the previous category, in which I tend to lean more toward political conflict, this one lends itself more toward straightforward adventuring. You know, classic "sword and sorcery" stuff. So for you adventure buffs, this may well be the section for you!

What Lies Below (High Fantasy)

The land of Divalin used to be overrun with monsters. Those were perilous times, when cities were hardly able to be built before they were destroyed, and life expectancy was short. But the gods, in their generosity, took notice and, working with various human heroes, drove the monsters down into the massive hole in the center of the continent that they had been spilling out of, confining them to the subterranean world. Then they built a tower over the entrance as a sort of plug to keep them contained, thus allowing the upper world to finally find peace.

However, if the monsters should ever become too numerous and powerful, they would be able to escape and overrun the world again, so the gods realized they needed a plan in place to keep them in line. So each one formed their own adventuring guilds, some big, some small. All had the same purpose. The heroes, once accepted by the gods, would be imbued with magical powers, and would enter the subterranean world themselves, performing population control by keeping the monster's numbers down, so that they cannot overrun the surface. The heroes make their living by finding rare and valuable substances underground and selling them topside, be they natural objects, like gemstones and gold, or ones only found underground, like basilisk fangs and dragon scales. There is a counsel that runs the tower and manages access to the underground world, preventing less experiences heroes from going to the deeper lower levels, banning warfare between the guilds, and other such formalities.

In case you couldn't guess, our story would follow characters from one of these adventuring guilds, be it a large and powerful one or one that is less well-known. We could come up with a more detailed plot, or it could track their day-to-day adventures of exploring underground and killing monsters. Nice, clean, and simple. Plus that would leave more room for sexy times, if you're interested in that. And oh, alright, I'll admit it- this idea is based on an anime whose concept was good but whose actual execution was not interesting. But it's not canon in any sense of the word, since I'd love to put our own twist on it.

A Thousand Nights (Dark Fantasy)

Most people consider immortality to be a blessing. MC considers it to be a curse. Okay, sure, so she broke the rules and used forbidden magic to bring down a mighty empire. After all, MC had been wronged, her family betrayed and all but wiped out, and a tyrant had seized control of the kingdom. What was she supposed to do, let them suffer? But even MC has to admit that the gods gave her a fitting punishment- to see the consequences of her own actions. Robbed of all of her magic, she is unable to age, get sick, or die. Sounds good, right? Except all that means is that she got to see her once-mighty kingdom falter and split apart into decades of bloodshed and civil war in the power vacuum created by the tyrant's death. Even worse, a family of powerful dark mages eventually emerged as the country's leaders, and have held it in their power for the past 300 years. And that's not the only thing they have in their power- since the early days of their reign they've been keeping MC, experimenting on her, and using her for their own ends.

MC is a prince in this twisted and nightmarish kingdom, and he's aware of his family's immortal pet. And our tale begins with a bizarre event. Three days ago, the sun simply did not rise. There was no day, only darkness. It hasn't risen since. And YC has had the same, disturbing dream three nights in a row. There will be a thousand days of darkness, and then the world will end. But there's a speck of hope- he received a strange riddle that tells him how to prevent the calamity. There's only one catch- it makes no sense. It references places unknown and people unheard of, in an effort to lead him to "the heart of the world." In a desperate bid, he turns to MC for help, and as it turns out, she recognizes some of the names as places and people long since gone. But there's no real way to solve the riddle except to follow it, place to place. And so these two unlikely companions set off in a bizarre quest to save the world.

Okay, this idea sounds a bit strange, huh? And to be honest, it's sort of half-baked, so I'm looking for someone to help me fill it out. But the basic idea is that it's sort of like a treasure hunt, except with much higher stakes.As you may have guessed, it's set in a very grim, dystopian fantasy world, so it should only be taken on if you're comfortable with dark themes. And if you like worldbuilding.

Awake From Slumber (Modern Fantasy)

People are strangely resilient, aren't they? It's the end of the world as we know it, and people are just going about with their day-to-day life. Well alright, it isn't the actual end of the world, except to the scientists who thought that they knew everything. Who thought that magic was just a made-up fantasy. See, the theory now is that our world has always gone through phases. Our world used to be filled with magic, but eventually it got too strong and collapsed. In the void left behind, we developed technology- wonderful inventions and machines every bit as powerful as wizards of old, and a good bit more reliable at that. We could fly from place to place in a matter of hour, communicate with anyone in the world no matter where we are, travel at the speed of sound... We've even left the earth entirely! But we made the same mistakes the people of old did- we let our technology get too powerful, and now it is failing us. We're in an interim period of what are called shifts. Sometimes technology works just fine, and during these times magic doesn't work at all. Then it will change, like a switch was thrown, and suddenly magic works but technology doesn't. But the periods where magic works are getting longer and more frequent, and the scientists believe that eventually we'll settle into a new age where magic works and technology doesn't.

But what kind of magic is there, you might ask? Well, all kinds. Curses and spells now work, and witch covens, shamans, and other magic users have begun cropping up. A new disease called Lyc-V has emerged. It passes between infected humans and animals via bites and creates shapeshifters. Werewolves, werecats, wererats, etc., depending on what type of animal that particular strain was in. Oh, and vampires? Those are real too, although nothing like in the movies. Both weres and vampires live by strict sets of rules. No biting people without permission, and contracts are required to turn anyone. Both tend to live in groups or clams and keep to themselves. They both have to keep the peace in order to try and stay on the government's good side. Any of them who breaks the rules will face strict punishment, by the government if their own group doesn't deal with them first. While bizarre and previously unseen events have begun to become commonplace, people are adapting well, and things are relatively peaceful. There are special law enforcement agencies dedicated to handling magical problems, and if they aren't fast enough for you and you can afford it, there are mercenary guilds as well who will handle it instead.

In case you can't tell, this is sort of a sandbox idea drawn from interesting concept from various source material, and some of my own design. It could go many different ways, really. It probably wouldn't have some epic, overarching plot. Instead, I think it would be more along the lines of people coping with the new state of the world. Whether it be vampires dealing with the negative reputation their kind has, weres trying to adapt to their new way of life, or mercenaries who act as an expensive clean-up crew for the problems that keep cropping up, I think we'll be able to find something that will interest us both, so I'd love to hear some of your ideas on this.

Sci-Fi

Alright, it must be admitted, I'm not huge into sci-fi. However, I do have one sci-fi interest at the moment, if that's your cup of tea. And mind you, this is very much a sandbox type idea, rather than a specific plot. It's based off of a thread I came across (you can find a good summary of it here. Okay, but bear with me: in almost every sci-fi series you see that has alien races, they're all badass and terrifying and the humans are the weak, boring ones, right? Well... What if we created a world where humans are the powerful, terrifying ones? How much fun would that be? And to give you an idea of what I mean, here are a few choice threads from that post I linked you:

Earth is a wonky place, the axis tilts, the orbit wobbles, and the ground spews molten rock for goodness sakes. What if what makes humans weird if just our capacity to survive? What if all the other life bearing planets are there mild, Mediterranean climates with no seasons, no tectonic plates, and no intense weather?

To paraphrase one of my favorite bits of a 'humans are awesome' fiction megapost: "you don't know you're from a Death World until you leave it." For a ton of reasons, I really like the idea of Earth being Space Australia.

Humans are tough. Humans can last days without food. Humans heal so fast they pierce holes in themselves or inject ink for fun. Humans will walk for days on broken bones in order to make it to safety. Humans will literally cut off bits of themselves if trapped by a disaster.

How do we know our saliva and skin oils wouldn't be ultra-corrosive to most other sapient races? What if we actually have the strongest vocal chords and can paralyze or kill the inhabitants of other worlds just by screaming at them? What if most sentient life in the universe turns out to be vegetable-like and lives in fear of us rare "animal" races who can move so quickly and chew shit up with our teeth?

There are so many other interesting anecdotes there too, but I think these convey the main point. So basically, while I don't have a set plot, I'd love to try something where we are built up to be the terrifying, dangerous, bizarre ones, rather than the other way around. So if you have any ideas regarding that, I'd love to hear from you.

Fandoms

Alright, I'm going to tell you now, the list of all fandoms that I'm interested in is in my on/offs thread, so if you want to read that, you'll have to go there. Instead, this section will contain specific plots or ideas I have that require knowledge of a certain fandom. If they're only lightly based on a canon source with no canon knowledge required then I don't really consider them a proper fandom plot, so I put them in the above section that they best fit in.

Summer (Fairy Tail)

Alright, so this is less of a plot and more of a general concept. So, not being a huge fan of Natsu myself, have an idea for a very OC genderbent version of Natsu called Summer Dragneel, and I'd like to try her out, if anyone is interested in that. I do have a couple old plot ideas kicking around that we could work with (the main one involving defeating a dark guild which is based around Norse mythology, if that interests you), but really I'm mainly just interested in any plot that will let me test out this character idea I have. Oh, and also, if anyone is interested in really getting into and exploring the challenges and implications of (spoiler alert!!) her being a demon, I'd really like that too.

A New Conqueror (Game of Thrones/ASoIaF)

Spoiler Alert: This idea contains material from the books that was not discussed in the tv series. If that bothers you, I strongly advise against reading further.

Also, Trigger Warning: I'm not usually bit into incest but, this being Game of Thrones, this idea does contain it. If that bothers you, maybe do yourself a favor and don't bother reading it.


Okay, now bear with me, because I have a couple ideas in mind for how this could work out. But, it's based around the idea, as presented in the books, that Rhaegar's son Aegon was smuggled out of King's Landing as a baby (the "Aegon" who was killed during the sack being a different white-haired baby) and raised in Essos. However, I want to take things one step further. Suppose the account of the killing of Rhaegar's daughter Rhaenys was exaggerated, and while people certainly believed she was dead, she actually survived the brutal attack (she wasn't snuck out of King's Landing with her brother because it's easier to tell older children apart and they thought if the attackers realized that the Rhaenys in the palace was imposter they might find the heir, Aegon, and so she was left behind to protect him.) Her survival was discovered by the person whose job it was to dispose of the bodies of Elia Martell and the children. Lucky for her, that person was a Targaryen sympathizer and got her medical care, then had her smuggled out to Essos. The people who smuggled her out were not connected to Varys, so while Varys found out she'd survived and passed word of this to Aegon's protectors, even he didn't know where she'd ended up, and so the two siblings grew up separate.

While Aegon was kept mostly in seclusion, for fear of his appearance giving his heritage away, Rhaenys was raised around the free companies of Essos. After all, she has just enough of the Martell look to her that no one would guess her Targaryen ancestry. Her protectors knew that Aegon was smuggled to Essos as well, but not where he was, nor did they care. I think maybe one of them is connected to Dorne and the belief that the oldest child should inherit regardless of gender, so they think she should be the heir anyway. But the point is, they raise her to be tough, to lead, and to be able to fight. She's been a soldier in the free companies and hasn't been spared danger. After all, if she can't handle that then how will she ever be able to retake Westeros. And she has a lot of support from these mercenary groups, even if they don't know yet who she really is.

My view on her personality and outlook is a bit complicated, but in framing this, it is important to mention that she was 4 at the time of Robert's Rebellion. So while she might not remember all the details, certain things would be traumatic enough to stick. So I see her having some memories of the sack of King's Landing, etc. But I also know that she and her family were basically imprisoned in King's Landing because Aerys was suspicious of Rhaegar, so she'd have had a front row seat to the Mad King's cruelty as well, and probably spent her early childhood being terrified of him. So I see her having a complicated view on the rebellion. On the one hand, she agrees that Aerys had to be stopped and her father ought to have been punished for kidnapping Lyanna Stark, but on the whole, the rebels went too far. They should have taken out the problem but left the Targaryen dynasty in place, passing kingship down to the next in line. So she wants to right that problem and retake Westeros for her family. And while she hated Robert and the Lannisters for the role they played in destroying the innocent along with the guilty, she doesn't bear any animosity toward the Starks or Arryns because they had a milder approach, even if they aided the rebellion. So I guess you could say she's one of those people who sees everything in grays. No one is completely good, no one is completely bad, and everyone is at varying places on that spectrum. So while she's inclined to give people multiple chances, she also never fully trusts people and prefers to rely on herself as much as possible, if that makes sense.

Anyway, where am I going with all this? Well, ideally I'd like to see the three Targaryens- Aegon (YC), Rhaenys (MC), and an OC version of Daenerys (also MC) team up in order to retake Westeros. I could see this as sort of a new "Aegon the Conqueror and his sister wives" type scenario whereby Aegon marries both women and they retake Westeros. Or he could marry one, and then they could eventually arrange a marriage alliance for the other. Perhaps to bring the North under their control? Things like that. But anyway, I just want to play with the whole "three dragons" dynamic, and not just the three literal dragons. So yeah, I can go into more detail on my thoughts on this, but I'll save that for messages with whoever is interested.

Alright, so that's all I have for now. If you're interested in any of these ideas, please send me a message (if you post here there's a decent chance I'll miss it), and I'd love to talk about it with you!