Possible Story Ideas

[WickedElphie]

Ok. For some time I've had a few Little Mermaid centered Plot-bunnies bouncing around in my skull. With summer coming up, I'd be willing to try my hand at actually finishing a long fic, possibly two, but no more than that. If someone else has a particularly interesting idea, I might even go for that instead. So, as I'm perpetually indecisive, YOU get to choose.

Descriptions:

Crossover with Phantom of the Opera:

Ariel & Eric, on holiday in France happen to come upon a certain show of "wondors". Eric begs Ariel not to go in, but Ariel's never been very good at listening. She is particularily horrified by the plight of one young performer named Erik, and proceeds to rescue the unfortunate little boy who would have one day become the Phantom of the Opera.

Erik is touched by her kindness, but refuses to let the couple adopt him because he is afraid their people would shun them. It is worked out that "officially" they will be training him to be their unborn eldest child's advisor.

Before they get the chance to tell Erik of Ariel's heritage, Morgana's attack (which Erik is NOT present for) occurs. He does hear rumors that there was some attack, and becomes doubly protective of both Ariel & Melody.

Twelve years later, Erik is nineteen & is virtually Melody's shadow(in a protective older sibling capacity), among other things . He follows her to Morgana's lair, and is at first suspicsious of the witch's intentions until she reviels that in addition to giving Melody fins, she could give him a 'normal face'...


Semi-dark/angsty AU Ariel/Eric Romance:

The basic concept is that when Ariel was very young, she was taken from her father, who believes she is dead. Ariel ends up as Ursula's ward/apprentice. She is somewhat more cynical and thoughtful than her cannon counterpart, but is at the core the same mermaid. While still interested in human things, she has had much less experience with them as, ironically enough, Ursula keeps a close eye on her young charge.

She does save Eric from drowning, but because of her lack of knowledge of surface geography, takes him to a small deserted island rather than his kingdom. Thus she doesn't leave in time to avoid being seen. Instead, she and Eric have a long talk & pledge to see each other again before Ariel is driven off by the sound of a search party. They meet on and off for over a year before someone sees them and the two lovers are thrown into the midst of a battle for the Sea itself...

Crossover with Yu-Gi-Oh: I know what you're thinking: how in the heck could you tie Yu-Gi-Oh with TLM? But it CAN be done.

Seto Kaiba. CEO of KaibaCorp. Blue eyes, brown hair, cold as ice. Orphan. The child who sold his soul at ten to ensure his brother's happiness. The man who turned a Weapons Company into a leader of the Gaming Industry. The being who denies the existence of magic, yet can call for the dragons in his soul.

The reincarnation of a high priest of Egypt who claims man can defeat the gods. The person who changed fate. The only one who can save the ancestors of the family he no longer remembers...

Humorous Diaries Fic: Simply put, the diaries of the characters during the happenings of The Little Mermaid.

Excerpt from Ariel's Diary:

Was not worried re lack of voice. Know for fact Atlantican writing is exactly the same as human save for the overuse of calligraphy. Will write Eric letter explaining situation. Hah! Sea Witch not as smart as she thinks she is. Feeling v. smug.

Later: Apparently Eric never learned how to read anything but print. Seems to be Pet Peeve of Stuffy Man as he refused to read contents out loud to still-gorgeous but thick-as-a-seabrick prince. Would be annoyed, but as previously noted, prince is still gorgeous. Besides, having hissy fit just looks stupid when you lack the ability to scream. Will content self with 'accidentally' revealing useless tattle-tail crab's location to cannibal chef to vent feelings.

Humorous Miscasting Fic: Going through various portions of the movie with amusing miscastings. For example: Fox from Gargoyles as Ariel, Zeus as Triton, Giles from Buffy as Sebastian, etc.

So go ahead and choose one. I'd also appreciate constructive criticism on the ideas themselves, if you don't mind. To paraphrase our favorite movie about our favorite redhead, "Whoo! What a post!"

[powerdroid]

How about Kim learning that she is an heiress to the Atlantican throne, as she is related to Ariel?

Still working on the details.

[WickedElphie]

Kim from Kim Possible? Sounds kinda nifty, but I'm gonna have to say no for three reasons:

1) Kim Possible's not one of my fandoms. I've seen a few episodes, but not enough that I think I could portray the universe well enough for a long story.

2) From what I have seen, I have to say that while Kim's a likable enough character, She's not in my top three (which are Shego, Ron, and Dr. Drakken).

3) I honestly don't find Kim very Ariel or even Erik-like.

Now if you've seen some of Yu-Gi-Oh, you may think: 'Well Kaiba's not either.'

In some ways he is: He's virtually fearless in the face of danger to himself, but protective of his loved ones, he is very enthusiastic in his 'collection', and he can be quite stubborn. He also has explosions of temper that make me think of King Triton. Plus he's got those gorgeous baby blues, and can seemingly make the wind blow at his command (In short, his trench-coat moves dramatically in wind that appears out of nowhere). AND his little brother Mokuba has long dark hair and gray-blue eyes and some mannerism's similar to Melody.

But, again, I haven't seen enough of Kim Possible to be certain of Kim's personality. However she seems almost too grounded & levelheaded to make me think of a relationship to Ariel.

Hope you're not too disappointed, but that's just the way I feel. Best wishes!

[powerdroid]

I just can't see Eric or Ariel engaging in a card duel. And for those of us who find CCG a bit on the dull side, this could be a tough sell.

[WickedElphie]

I actually don't really care much for the dueling in itself on YGO except as a vehicle for character development & explanation of relationships & the magic elements involved.

The card game is just the chosen way to settle the conflicts, but there's much more going under the surface. Most fans who bother to write are interested in that, NOT the technical aspects of the card game.

One of the sad things about the YGO dub is you lose so much of that depth of story and characters. Kaiba's one of the one's affected the worst next to Anzu (Tea). A lot of things are oversimplified or simply edited out. www.ratandfox.net/YuGiOh/index.php is a great site that goes through each episode and explains the differences.

If I did the YGO crossover story it would be largely character-driven. There would be references to the monsters themselves, particularly the Blue Eyes White Dragon as it is tied so tightly to Kaiba, but the main focus would be the relationships between Kaiba, Mokuba, and Ariel-tachi and how that would change things for everyone.

Most likely there would be about 2 'duels' in the entire story and both would be relevant to the plot. Ariel dueling is NOT currently in the game plan. At all. In any way, shape, or form.

Sorry if I come off as a tad defensive, but I haaaaaaate the misconception that YGO is a plotless half-hour card game infomercial. Even the 4Kids version has its redeeming moments. OK-Stepping Off The Soapbox now. I do understand your concern & hope I've relieved it somewhat .

[powerdroid]

I just saw a movie of it, and it really did come off as one long infomercial, much like Pokemon. ANd why must they yell all the time?

[swemer]

A nice parody...

[powerdroid]

Don't make me use the Blue Anvil of Eternal Destruction on you.....

[swemer]

powerdroid said:

Don't make me use the Blue Anvil of Eternal Destruction on you.....

But seriously, a parody would be great...
Kill your darlings...

I already have two ideas for parody drawings... But Someone will probably kick me into orbit if I post them...

[powerdroid]

Post 'em, and if they can't take a joke, forget 'em!

[swemer]

Yeah, but if the admin can't take the joke, it is me that is to forget....
KABBOOM!

[WickedElphie]

The Movie was just sick and wrong. 4Kids (the company that dubs YGO) came up with it especially for the American audience. Thus the infomercialage. There was nooooooo characterization and Kaiba was OOC for a post-Battle City time-line.

I found out the original back-story for the movie that I believe the creator of the manga (comic book) came up with online & it would've been awesome. But the end result was saaaaaaaad. Seriously, buy the graphic novels or watch the uncut subtitled version of the show proper. Even the dub of season one's not that bad. However Battle City makes no sense, the Noa Arch was messed up, and they ruined Doma completely (seasons 2-4, aka everuthing else dubbed so far).

The manga's different from the anime, but still very cool. At first there were lots of different games, but fans liked the card game so it began to revolve around that.
The anime kinda went right to the cards, mostly cause there was another anime made by a different company that covered most of the stuff before that.

OK. So-parody? Doable. But I'm gonna give it another week for people to vote before I make my final decision. It would help if more people, ya know, voted. Kay?
BTW I'm not favoring the YGO option, it just seems to need the most defense.

[powerdroid]

Cross-overs with established properties like "Phantom" and "Yu-Gi-Oh", could put off people who are either not familiar with those stories, or might find that in order to make it work, a lot must be sacrified.

Discarding my crossover idea, I would prefer to focus in on Ariel's life, an area that borders on terra incognita.

There is so much there, one is given free rein to explore in any direction. My script "LM3: Ariel's Melody" (if you haven't read it, it is here under "TLM3?") has some dark moments as their love is challenged.

But, I would accede to your decision, whatever it may be.

[swemer]

Crossovers are hard.... Just read Powerdroids comment in my fanfic to see why... I thought many knew about Biggles concidering that W.E J wrote so many books about his adventures.

[WickedElphie]

*Nods* Thanks for the advice. Crossovers can be tricky. I've read some that were truly awful, and some that were amazing. I'd definitely try explain what I was crossing.

The truth is I came up with crossover ideas based on a general thing that sparks my interest.

With Phantom, it was the fact that the Phantom's name was Erik in Leroux's original novel, which is close to Eric, and the importance of music and song in the stories. Plus Raoul was a sailor in the French navy as well a viscount in the book.

The above actually spawned a completely different idea which I may go back to. I'm actually rather attached to it-complete sappy angst-mush, but the fun kind.

And if it seems like I'm teasing it's only to pay Powerdroid back for making me wait ANOTHER chapter for the explanation in TMS.

Powerdroid: You are Pure Evil-I'm beginning to love to hate you for making me wait. But drag it out TOO long and the love part's going bye-bye.

With Yu-Gi-Oh a lot of it had to with Seto Kaiba and Mokuba's characters compared to those in The Little Mermaid. In one flashback sequence Kaiba as a young teenager SIGNS a CONTRACT that he will meet his adoptive father's 'challenge' or return to the orphanage with his brother. Plus the baby blues. Pretty eyes. And Mokuba looks a little like Melody. Acts a tad like her too, but less rebellious, most of the time.

And we know next to nothing about their birth family except that relatives on one side are jerks. They stole the brothers' inheritance and then dumped them at the orphanage. Not cool. And Kaiba likes to shout. And the wind sometimes seems like it obeys his commands (that is his trench-coat blows dramatically in the wind that comes out of nowhere).

And one of the meanings of Seto is storm or Set was the god of storms, one or the other. And 'Kaiba' means seahorse. Yes it's his adoptive name, but it's a sign I tell you! Actually the creator chose 'Kaiba' cause there's a myth or belief that seahorses are baby dragons or turn into dragons or something.

And then there's the amusing idea of the person that after having his soul stolen by Pegasus, witnessing a vision of his past life as a high priest, and just being in the general vicinity of Yugi-tachi and all the stuff that goes on with them, continues to insist there's no such thing as fate or magic for about four seasons being flung into the past to fulfill a prophecy that ties him to a 'mythical' race.

The reason I have all of this knowledge is cause I was originally very hesitant about the idea because of all the reasons mentioned. But all this other stuff seemed to fit. So I'm a little shaky on this one. Leaning toward not, but sadly so. Cause it'd be a kick to write, if not to read.

So I get the issues about the YGO crossover, but how about critiquing the other options? It'd be a big help. Thanks!

Almost forgot. Powerdroid: I started reading the TLM 3 script before I even signed up for the board. What I read was good but I just couldn't get past the fact that Eric let himself be manipulated via hypnosis AGAIN and his attitude toward Melody.

Eric's always struck me as having a good amount of common sense, so I think finding ways to avoid being mentally attacked wouldn't be OOC. Plus there was the fact that he was mentally violated. He was Ursula's puppet and I think he'd want to avoid a repeat performance. I'm also of the sort-of Jedi opinion that 'mind games' only work on the unwary or weak-minded. In my book Post-TLM Eric should be aware of what mesmerism feels like and be able to shake it off.

Plus I was kind of getting a "Darren Stephens" vibe that just didn't seem to be there in the movies. At the end of I he had no issue with Ariel's people being there, or with Ariel's secret beyond the "what the heck?" moment on the not-wedding ship. In II he was much more calm than Ariel, which I found a little surprising and a lot endearing. I am not the be-all, end-all Eric expert, but that part of the script just didn't gel for me personally. *Shrug* I'm touch about weird things.

[WickedElphie]

Okay. The votes are in-all three of them.

So parody for Swemer-any specifics?

Is Script format okay? It's just easier for me.

And one Ariel centered one for Powerdroid. Same thing-place your order.

The Semi-dark/angsty AU Ariel/Eric Romance I had planned would have been interesting as I would have tried to stitch together an Ariel based on the innocent mermaid from I, the protective more sure woman from II, mixed with a dash of Satine from Moulin Rouge. And the 'semi-dark' aspect would have been inspired by musical theater. I have a feeling that that's not what you're looking for, but I thought I'd give you the option.

I'd probably go between the two movies for a non-AU. I really want a shot at developing Eric & their relationship as well as Ariel herself. That said, what are your thoughts?

[niki121488]

I would say Yugioh since I'm a Yugioh fan, but it's really up to you.

[WickedElphie]

Nikil, sadly you just missed my deadline. However, you're in luck. I think I will go for a third story. I always did like a challenge.

[niki121488]

wickedelphie said:

Nikil, sadly you just missed my deadline. However, you're in luck. I think I will go for a third story. I always did like a challenge.

Okay, that's fine.

[powerdroid]

It sounds interesting.