the deeply stupid Code Geass idea I am not writing
I want this out of my head, so I am going to write up the scenario so as to (hopefully) lay it to rest.
The basic idea is to add one extra fantasy element to Code Geass (well, one element with subsections, as it were) and see what it does to the plot. Logically the plot should diverge from canon at some point, because otherwise there is no point to the extra element, but I have no idea where that would happen, because the idea is more a series of images and scenario-flashes from a dream I had last night than an actual story.
Right. So the extra element is... there is no way to make this not sound stupid, but dreams never make much sense. Anyway, in this AU, people are born with a sort of... totem animal? Soul animal? Whatever. Everyone has some animal (or mythical creature) that represents part of 'who they are,' so to speak. And for most people, that's pretty meaningless, but for some people, that part of their soul is strong enough that they can 'manifest' -- i.e., actually shift into the form of their soul beast thingy. Also, if you can manifest, usually you will display some personality traits of your soul animal even in human form (though not physical traits, except maybe coloring).
All members of the Britannian royal family are dragons. There is a way to read a person's soul at birth and determine their animal, and royal children who aren't dragons are immediately killed. (Infanticide for the lose. Yes, this was in my dream.) Also, all dragons are strong enough to manifest; otherwise they die before birth.
The same goes for phoenixes, incidentally. And yes, Suzaku is a phoenix. Kallen is a tiger. CC is a qilin, obviously. Getting a Code makes you a qilin, regardless of your previous animal affiliation.
The story plays out as in canon until Shinjuku, where I need a justification for Lelouch not to shift to dragon form and just tear the soldiers to shreds. So, I think, he's spent years training himself not to manifest and the soldiers get off the first shot before he can react (that's the one that 'kills' CC). Then he's going to shift, but CC grabs his hand and gives him Geass first, and he uses that since it won't immediately proclaim his survival and true identity to anyone who might come along.
So the story doesn't diverge there, but it really needs to at some point thereafter, and at more than just the basic tactical level. (Tactics are obviously going to be slightly different if you might be facing a giant, flying, fire-breathing dragon at any moment.)
Um. Other points. The size and strength of most manifestations is related to the size and physical strength of a person's human form. This doesn't hold for mythological creatures, whose size and strength is determined more by strength of will (and, maybe, possession of Geass?), and somewhat by how big the person feels like being at that particular moment -- it's variable by whim, I guess. (Strength of will only sets the upper limit.)
You must be in human form to pilot a Knightmare, and most manifestations are useless against modern technology, except in guerrilla and infantry situations. (Exceptions again for mythological creatures, as they have magical powers and stuff. Such as fire. Or maybe other elemental alignments; I dunno; details escape me.) Mmm. Also, most people consider themselves human even if they can manifest, but for some people, the identification runs so strongly that they think of themselves as both human and manifestation equally, or in a few rare cases, manifestation playing at humanity. (Again, this identification slip is more common in mythological creatures, who are, I should mention, quite rare.)
But mostly my dream was a series of images of Lelouch as a huge, sinuous black dragon curled protectively around Nunnally (either as a human girl or as a smaller, white-gold dragon), or Suzaku becoming a giant phoenix and flash-frying Tokyo, or Kallen prowling around that desert island as a tiger and pouncing on Suzaku (who was in human form, because he hates and fears his manifestation), or the Emperor using some weird area-effect technology that could force people to manifest against their wills and thereby revealing Lelouch's identity (either when he was being Zero, or in the middle of Ashford Academy; I saw it both ways), and stuff like that.
So yeah. Like I said, a crazy idea without a proper story attached to it. Hopefully I will be able to move on and think about my actual fics now.
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ETA: So not only will the idea not go away, I have committed background/prequel fic for it. *headdesk* Made Manifest: Mother Wolf is 825 words on Marianne vi Britannia and her son.
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The basic idea is to add one extra fantasy element to Code Geass (well, one element with subsections, as it were) and see what it does to the plot. Logically the plot should diverge from canon at some point, because otherwise there is no point to the extra element, but I have no idea where that would happen, because the idea is more a series of images and scenario-flashes from a dream I had last night than an actual story.
Right. So the extra element is... there is no way to make this not sound stupid, but dreams never make much sense. Anyway, in this AU, people are born with a sort of... totem animal? Soul animal? Whatever. Everyone has some animal (or mythical creature) that represents part of 'who they are,' so to speak. And for most people, that's pretty meaningless, but for some people, that part of their soul is strong enough that they can 'manifest' -- i.e., actually shift into the form of their soul beast thingy. Also, if you can manifest, usually you will display some personality traits of your soul animal even in human form (though not physical traits, except maybe coloring).
All members of the Britannian royal family are dragons. There is a way to read a person's soul at birth and determine their animal, and royal children who aren't dragons are immediately killed. (Infanticide for the lose. Yes, this was in my dream.) Also, all dragons are strong enough to manifest; otherwise they die before birth.
The same goes for phoenixes, incidentally. And yes, Suzaku is a phoenix. Kallen is a tiger. CC is a qilin, obviously. Getting a Code makes you a qilin, regardless of your previous animal affiliation.
The story plays out as in canon until Shinjuku, where I need a justification for Lelouch not to shift to dragon form and just tear the soldiers to shreds. So, I think, he's spent years training himself not to manifest and the soldiers get off the first shot before he can react (that's the one that 'kills' CC). Then he's going to shift, but CC grabs his hand and gives him Geass first, and he uses that since it won't immediately proclaim his survival and true identity to anyone who might come along.
So the story doesn't diverge there, but it really needs to at some point thereafter, and at more than just the basic tactical level. (Tactics are obviously going to be slightly different if you might be facing a giant, flying, fire-breathing dragon at any moment.)
Um. Other points. The size and strength of most manifestations is related to the size and physical strength of a person's human form. This doesn't hold for mythological creatures, whose size and strength is determined more by strength of will (and, maybe, possession of Geass?), and somewhat by how big the person feels like being at that particular moment -- it's variable by whim, I guess. (Strength of will only sets the upper limit.)
You must be in human form to pilot a Knightmare, and most manifestations are useless against modern technology, except in guerrilla and infantry situations. (Exceptions again for mythological creatures, as they have magical powers and stuff. Such as fire. Or maybe other elemental alignments; I dunno; details escape me.) Mmm. Also, most people consider themselves human even if they can manifest, but for some people, the identification runs so strongly that they think of themselves as both human and manifestation equally, or in a few rare cases, manifestation playing at humanity. (Again, this identification slip is more common in mythological creatures, who are, I should mention, quite rare.)
But mostly my dream was a series of images of Lelouch as a huge, sinuous black dragon curled protectively around Nunnally (either as a human girl or as a smaller, white-gold dragon), or Suzaku becoming a giant phoenix and flash-frying Tokyo, or Kallen prowling around that desert island as a tiger and pouncing on Suzaku (who was in human form, because he hates and fears his manifestation), or the Emperor using some weird area-effect technology that could force people to manifest against their wills and thereby revealing Lelouch's identity (either when he was being Zero, or in the middle of Ashford Academy; I saw it both ways), and stuff like that.
So yeah. Like I said, a crazy idea without a proper story attached to it. Hopefully I will be able to move on and think about my actual fics now.
---------------
ETA: So not only will the idea not go away, I have committed background/prequel fic for it. *headdesk* Made Manifest: Mother Wolf is 825 words on Marianne vi Britannia and her son.
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comments)