More Story Ideas

Okay, I was on a roll with a part four WIP of Cherie and Aura at The Atelier Cafe and then I didn't save my post properly, so I have to re-write it and now I'm questioning the whole thing, so fuck it. I'm just going to record some more story ideas when I can concentrate again.

Last time, I described:
Ice, Queen of Summer

A Thousand Auras

Britney the Dwarf Queen

Beverlee Hills Mummy

Beware the False Moon

This time, let's start with:

Subs & Normies -- Pre-Rift Era -- Coral is a mermaid born with legs instead of a tail and no gills. I think at first, I was describing it as a genetic anomaly, and it is, but I think we're going to go with evolution. Merfolk evolved out of fish, and Coral is the next step but right now it's super rare. Literally one in a million. Anyway, if her issue sounds familiar, it's because you already read about Aura (of A Thousand Auras). I actually came up with Coral way earlier and Aura was born out of wondering what would happen to a baby born without gills and with legs instead of a tail if their mother didn't have the resources to take care of it. 

Anyway, I've never really figured out Coral's story, which is why I talk about Aura more. But I'll tell you what I know. Coral is a princess. Because she has no gills, she uses a mouthpiece to breathe underwater, and grew up expressing herself through sign language. As an adult, she works with deaf merchildren. 

When she was born, her parents set her up with a little cottage in a bubble under the sea, with a human nanny. As she grew, she spent plenty of time in the palace, wearing a prosthetic tail, playing with her siblings (I forget how many, I think it was like twelve or something). I think she was initially supposed to be super emo about being different, but I think she just becomes aware of other kids and people who are different, which is why she works with deaf merchildren.

My initial storyline had to do with an evil fiance who is trying to kill her -- or seem like he's trying to kill her. I can't remember. And she had an evil sister, which I don't think I'm going to keep. Basically, what happened was, I wanted an exciting way to start a story, so I had her racing through her little village to get home before her mouthpiece stopped working entirely. But then, I was like, okay, what if this is something that keeps happening because someone is tampering with her breathing things?

Another part of her story was her mouthpiece malfunctioning, her spares are not working either, and she almost dies but Lush saves her. Anyway, there was some royal conspiracy thing supposed to be happening, but I never really developed that idea because I didn't find it as interesting as I wanted to. I think I'm more interested in relationships than politics, and also I used to believe in meritocracy, so anyone could be rich as kings if they worked hard enough. The reason I stopped making princesses the main characters in all of my stories is because I grew up and am now disgusted by classism and colonialism.

Anyway, another part of Coral's story is that she ends up being a nanny in Connecticut for a deaf six-year-old. Her mother just died and the story is a slow-burn romance between Coral and the kid's dad. The concept kind of makes me gag now that I know more about grief, but if I make it slow burn enough, and incorporate the mother as an actual character, I think I can live with it. And, no, I can't just make the mother a deadbeat a) because I am a feminist and b) because I have a short story I tried to write once called Spotted Tom about the mom's twin brother who is grieving his sister and I really want to tell that story.

Since I have been developing Aura's story with The Rift and everything, I think that I want to make Coral a part of that story. She has a connection to Lush and to royalty, so if I make Coral's parents one of the four parties that is fighting to blow the world into four mini-planets, then we'll be closer to the action. And we can have Coral's parents be kind to her and still really selfish and greedy like all royalty.

Initially, I was going to have all four parties be anonymous rich assholes, but now The King from Beverlee Hills Mummy is one, and if Coral's parents are another, that makes for some more fun worldbuilding than evil strangers. I don't think I have any other characters who are this evil, but I might be able to develop some. Cherry from The Incorruptible Man would be an interesting choice. I'll try to talk about that story in this blog post so that you'll know who I'm talking about. I haven't mentioned that story on this blog yet.

The Incorruptible Man -- Pre-Rift -- Okay, this is a love story between a con artist (Tracy) and her mark, Fred. Tracy is leaving a toxic relationship (not abusive, he's just married) and looking for a new mark to distract her from her broken heart. She's going through a Google spreadsheet that she and her con artist contacts keep updated and comes across a man's name with a million dollars (fluid amount, I'll probably change this) as his net worth and an asterisk next to his name.

The asterisk leads to a note calling him The Incorruptible Man. Apparently, he's never been involved in con that involves him doing anything shady like the Pigeon Drop or Insider Trading. He's also never fallen for a love con because he's still simping over his dead wife. He, however, has been victim of multiple cons that rely on a soft heart and a trusting nature. And, if anyone ever approaches him with an honest request for help, he'll never refuse them. The note says that he can be used for an emergency but never to take more than $5k because he can easily recover from that.

Tracy is more curious than anything else. She wants to meet this man and see if he's as incorruptible as he's described. He is. He is the best man. I would marry him if he were real and I was capable of love. It's an age-gap relationship, which could be gross, but he gives her so many orgasms that I forgive him. It's a highly erotic story, very different from what I usually write. And, initially, I thought it would be platonic, but then I thought, what would it take for me to not be grossed out by them as a couple? And the answer was, her initiating, him being a genuinely good person, and him being a very generous lover. 

When Tracy tracks him down, she finds that his house, garage, and boat are all full of uninvited house guests. Not fair, they were invited. They invited themselves. Tracy's kicks everybody out (helps them find other places to go), cleans his house, and cooks him dinner (they've already fucked). 

For his part, Fred really misses his dead wife, Janice. He briefly married his wife's best friend but that was out of shared grief and ended amicably. He barely remembers that he was even married to Eve, usually only when someone else brings it up at a cookout or something. He finds Tracy attractive because she's hot and cool, but isn't really expecting anything when she asks to stay over. A lot of people stay over. She initiates sex, and he's a little touch-starved. He ends up being so over-enthusiastic with the oral sex for her that they both forget about him before falling asleep. 

He goes to work the next day, expecting her to be gone when he gets home. (As if she would, after six or seven really good orgasms. Like, REALLY good ones. All of them.) When he comes home to beef stew bubbling on the stove and a clean, empty house, he's conflicted. The reason he lets people stay with him is out of generosity, but also out of loneliness. 

And he's not an easy mark because he's stupid, he usually knows when people are lying to get money. But if he has it, and the other person seems to need it, he's willing to give it, whether they ask honestly or not. He has a policy of never loaning money, only giving it (This is based on a rule my mom gave me. She said friendships get weird when one person owes another money. So, if you have it to give an never expect it back, give it. If you need them to repay you, you can't afford to loan it. I'll probably have his mom be based on mine.)

Regarding plot, Tracy's on the run from a bad relationship, but she was already on the run from her old madam, Cherry, who she met after running away from home. Cherry and Tracy are only a few years apart, but Cherry was already a madam when she met Tracy. Cherry taught Tracy house to con as well as how to trick. Cherry can be charming but she's incredibly controlling and when Tracy wanted to leave to start a normal life with a nice young gentleman, Cherry stole all her money and slept with her boyfriend (to prove that men ain't shit. It proved to Tracy that Cherry wasn't shit).

She left to trick and con on her own, and Cherry has tracked her down several times, always with jobs that Tracy can't afford to refuse. She leaves a cherry blossom as her calling card because she's a psycho. In this story, Cherry finds out where Tracy is, kidnaps Fred and holds him for ransom. Tracy, who has been building a real life for the very first time in her life, is pissed. 

She has an ace up her sleeve. The way she rescues Fred and earns her freedom is by telling Cherry that she knows Cherry's real name. She knows where Cherry was born, and about her brother who is in a very expensive home. Cherry is shaken, but Tracy isn't done. Tracy is not Tracy's real name, even though it's the one that she gave Cherry when they met. Tracy had stolen the identity of a person who looked like and was close enough in age, but was otherwise unrelated. And the way that she came across the identity would make Tracy's real identity untraceable. (The reader will already know this. I hate twists that the POV character knows about but keeps secret from the reader until the pivotal moment. It always feels like a betrayal.) 

Tracy takes Fred, and leaves. The story ends a few months later, with a cherry blossom left on her doorstep. This time, Tracy knows, that Cherry is asking for help, not demanding it. I'm not sure I'm going to make that clear. Maybe have it on top of a stack of cash, the same amount Cherry stole all those years ago, or ten times that amount because Cherry's whole deal is making sure that people pay ten times more than what they ever stole from her.

This was an initially going to be a standalone book not related to any of my more fantastical stories, and it still will be. Cherry is the villain in this story, but not a main character, so she'd either get her own story or just be a minor character in The Rift storyline. I like the idea of Cherry being one of the people behind The Rift because that means I've figured out three of four.  Who should be the fourth? I'm trying to think of rich assholes that I've already created, but most of my stories don't have actual villains, just obstacles.

Also, I forgot to mention, but Cherry has her own romance going on, throughout the story with one of her bodyguards. It's a totally different vibe to Fred and Tracy (BDSM where as Fred and Tracy are gourmet vanilla) but just as erotic. Cherry is a horrible person but not entirely unsympathetic. I don't think she gets a happy ending, but she will get some happy moments.

Echo of Magic -- Pre-Rift -- Addy is a princess with one major enemy:  her twin sister Echo who slipped out, fell to the floor, and slid under the bed while they were being born. Her cries are mistaken as an echo of Addy's. She grows up, blending into the other palace children and being mistaken for Addy, usually doing something wrong, like sneaking food from the pantry or wearing rags or otherwise trying to exist. One day, the real Addy gets punished instead of her. Echo feels bad but also kind of good. So, she does it on purpose.

Addy gains the reputation with the castle staff and her parents and the entire kingdom as being a troublemaker who never takes responsibility. Addy's only friend is a frog named Seymour who resides in one of the castle ponds. He's in disguise until he's old enough to be married, and he and Addy plan, for years, to marry. On the wedding day, Echo ties up Addy and takes her place. 

Growing up, Addy and Echo are frenemies, often trying to get along but one child's selfishness or mistake gets blown out of proportion. By the time they're adults, they actively hate each other. Addy is good and Echo is bad, but everyone thinks that Addy is bad and that Echo doesn't exist because Echo refuses to show herself. 

Seymour is friends with both and often councils them both to grow up. Although he loves Addy as a friend, he does (to his shame) fall in love with Echo. He intends to marry Addy, but one their wedding day, when Echo ties up Addy and takes her place, Seymour marries Echo. She kisses him and he turns human. Echo finally makes her real identity known, and the entire palace and kingdom is immediately apologetic to both princesses, showering them with affection.

Echo's suffering is soothed and she tries to make up with Addy, but now, Addy is pissed. She can't believe that Echo has been torturing her for her entire life and the response of the entire kingdom and her parents is to welcome Echo with open, forgiving arms. Their apologies don't mean much when she sees her enemy being so embraced, so she leaves the kingdom.

My original short story ended with the kiss and Echo marrying Seymour. When I thought about making it longer, I had Addy go out and try to figure out why magic is disappearing from the kingdom, only to find that it's disappearing from the world. She has her own love interest, but she has to learn to love herself before she can love him. 

I think that, maybe, now that I have lush (see Worldbuilding) as my magic system for all of my other stories, I can use it here and have the reason magic is disappearing is because the avatar is taking it all back from humans who have been abusing it. So, rather than having her restore the magic, she learns to live without it, and maybe helps other people do so, as well? 

For Echo to have survived being punted around the floor after being born and not being fed and stuff, she must have had to rely on lush to survive, so having it disappearing from the world permanently makes her sick or weak or something. Actually, what if Addy's quest was given to her by her parents and Addy agrees publicly but privately decides to find out where the magic is going in order to prevent it from returning, permanently? Then, when she realizes that it really is gone forever, she feels petty and returns to help Echo adjust.

I always intended for the girls to reconcile and go on their own adventure together. So many of my villains are based on my cousin who I loved once but who turned into a sadistic nightmare (Ahmose, Cherry, Echo). Addy is based on me, that's why she's so good the whole time. I never turned evil because I didn't want to prove to my cousin that she was right to hate me, that there was some secret evil in my heart that only she could detect, but that meant that being good always felt performative, and Addy was my chance to explore that aspect of myself. What is goodness? What is authenticity? Do you have to be perfect, in order to deserve love? That kind of stuff. Losing my mom answered a lot of those questions, for me. 

For one thing, I figured out that when other people were in pain, it was my instinct to help, not hurt. For another, I realized that choosing to perform goodness was a reflection of the kind of person I was, not just wanted to be. And, my mom was far from perfect. She was capable of great cruelty and great generosity, and when she died, I would have sold my soul to The Devil just to be able to experience three more seconds in her presence. (In fact, it was The Devil never showing up that sped me along the road to Agnosticism. That, and Jesus not showing up.) All that to say, no, you don't have to be perfect in order to be loved. Regarding deservingness, I've been loved and hated without deserving either, so "deserve" is a nonsense word to me, now.

Anyway, I have no idea what their adventure would be. In real life, my cousin stayed evil, and even got worse, so I no longer have any hope of reconciliation and don't even know what that would look like. It would be fun to explore a universe in which a character ruled by jealousy and greedy was able to reform, though. I could explore the relationship I always hoped to have with her.

Next time, let's talk about:

Clara's Fortune

Darcy's Date

Love Chicken

Just Ducky

Meda's Lark

Loansome (The Pink Assassin)

Missing Mothers

Small Victories

Granny Smith

Edena Gorlcat

The Princess with Three Eyes

Foo's Message Board

The Ghost

Esme