Dresden/Potter idea I've been sloppily chewing on lately. Either the Red Court or the White Court have been funneling resources into the Nevernever that lead into the Potterverse. Dresden get's assigned to stop them. He get's thrown out into the Potterverse, either in America so he has to deal with the MACUSA of the modern day, or in England somewhere for the more familiar annoyances of the Ministry of Magic. He gets away from the respective authorities and now has to track down the vampires and whatever else from his world has set up shop in the foreign world.

The way I'd been playing with this initially, it was supposed to be an excuse for Snape to be a vampire of one White Court flavor or another, so he gets sustenance from the terror he imposes on the students, and Dresden is hired as the Defense Professor of the year who puts together the matter and finally confronts Snape, but that is just so bland overall that I've mostly dropped it by now.

 

So I've got a number of Worm related plot ideas that have been rattling around for a good while and I'm kinda thinking I want to get back on the writing horse and maybe even attempt the five hundred challenge and smash out one of these ideas as a short fic. The ideas that I've most plotted out are two Taylor AUs, and two OC stories. I've got one I'm rolling around a lot at the moment too, but I've not quite got the plot down just a bit of the premise and where I'd want the character to start off and where I'd want him to end.

I'm just looking for some input or challenge on the ideas as they stand, and any obvious pitfalls you might see. If anyone would be willing discuss one of them further in detail, that'd be great.
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1. Twelve Seconds of Vengeance (Taylor AU)

Elevator pitch: a coming of age story about the cape daughter of a nationally infamous supervillain, and her struggle to adapt her ideals about how the world should work to how the world does work.

Background: Diverging from the crash that took Annette's life, Danny is the one driving and he doesn't die. He becomes crippled and angry, and after a bit of time this leads to an untenable home situation and a divorce. He triggers with a more potent Skitter power, and for a brief time becomes the crimelord of Brockton Bay before a televised fall from grace and imprisonment or death. He makes a lot of money doing so, and as he fails buys two vials from cauldron - one for Annette and one for Taylor - Taylor gets 'Vestige' which gave Greyboy, Epoch and Perdition their powers, getting a sorta inverse of Epoch's time travelling. A 'stronger' power needs more challenge so after the publicity of Danny's villainy they move to NYC and the story takes place there.

Plot: Around the time Noelle unveils the conspiracy, in some manner similar to canon, as the case 53s begins leaving, one of the Staten Island wards is 'kidnapped' but the wider Protectorate concerns at that moment mean the response is lacklustre, and Taylor ends up splintering with several non case 53s too. She tried to initially just go vigilante, but finds how much difficulty that presents. She then sets up a commercial cape team, and struggles to maintain some effectiveness. The middle act would also deal with various lower level parahumans who aren't capes and their roles in society. The antagonist would be the Adepts and Epoch who can no-sell Taylor whom can no-sell him. Initially, Taylor would be pursuing vengeance against him for the kidnapping of her ward friend, but when it becomes clear that it wasn't a kidnapping but a defection and when she stops pursuing him, it would become apparent that Epoch has no interest in letting her go.

The story would be a good opportunity to explore other capes that we don't have much exposure to in Canon but know a fair bit about, like Jouster, Barrow etc. It suffers from the fact that I don't have a clear end point in mind.
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2. Hierophant (AKA, Taylor vs. the Elite)

Elevator pitch: Kingpin and arbiter of Brockton Bay, Taylor returns from the most recent endbringer fight to find the Elite's most prominent assassin awaiting her. The Elite want a hold on the eastern seaboard, and they think they've got what the protectorate didn't, a way to take her down.

Taylor has a few names. She is Minos on PHO and to the PRT. She is Arbiter to the villains of BB, and she is the inheritor of Terminus to Cauldron. She only calls herself Taylor. She's a little older than canon, 18-20, and she's long since conquered the Bay. She accepts crime is inevitable and so she enforces simple rules. If you kill a civilian you lose a cape. You don't deal in slaves or murder. A tithe of all profits goes to her (to the bay) and the bay has been stable, incredibly stable.

Prosperity looks to be returning. The Wards and Protectorate are half the size of canon because the need for them is so reduced.

Enter the Elite, seeing a ripe and fruitful first incursion on the east coat.

From the first scene, the Elite come out swinging. Speaker of the House and Uppermost attempt to assassinate her at Somer's Rock, after speaking to the villains of BB and promising them more personal wealth under them than Taylor. She survives and kills them, and arrogantly assumes that's the end of it.

The second attack would come at her when she is visiting her parent's grave. She'd survive that too, but she'd not have had time to recover her strength from the first attack and this would alarm her. As well as the location lending an emotional weight to it.

She gets attacked again and again, with a few emotional reprieves where she visits Grue and some of her personal history in this timeline is hinted at, and another with Parian and Foil, which ultimately ends with Parian being killed.

Eventually, in the final confrontation, I'm imagining at the point bastard son comes out to play being suitably vicious but suitably defeatable, and Taylor achieves victory by sacrificing her desire to rule the bay and instead escape with her life.

She's there at the ending, survived, broken, weak, but optimistic - before long she'll recover. Then Foil turns up angry and betrayed that Parian died caught up in the conflict for a moral position Taylor didn't even keep. Then an ambiguous ending.

I read the magical kingdom of landover by Terry Brooks when I was a kid and I enjoyed the first. But then, once the secret of the unbeatable Paladin was known, the following books were boring because if the king could call on him there was no challenge and therefore, each novel, they'd contrive a way to throw him away. Until the last book where the villain, instead of presenting one almost insurmountable challenge, just throws challenge after challenge at the king and his paladin and each one is just a little harder than the last, and they're worn down just a little bit more with each conflict, until there's doubt that they can win. This would be that story, in one arc, in worm.

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3. The Three Brothers (OC)

Elevator pitch: A young provincial cape, moderately successful screws up in a 'shoot out' and a civilian ends up in ICU. While it blows over, the PRT assign him to capture a trump that has recently appeared in Brockton Bay's E88, the catch is, they think it's long-lost brother and they're pretty sure it wont be a happy reunion...

Background: The main character is one of three AU son's of Glaistig Uaine with varying levels of phantasm projection power. Their parentage led to a kidnapping attempt in which their father was murdered. They move from home to home until an argument with the main character causes the middle to run away. After this occurs, the eldest washes his hands of the MC and MC eventually discloses his abilities to the PRT and his brothers' existence and becomes a ward.

Plot: The main character is mentoring a new tinker, in the small rural community he works in as a roaming Protectorate member, a showdown with a minor villain who's normally more concerned with showmanship than actual profit doesn't got as planned and a civilian gets shot due to his show boating.

He is recalled to regional headquarters and assigned a case rather than severely reprimanded, to travel to Brockton Bay and bring in his brother, before he gets a kill order on himself. He's given a ticket to Brockton and instructed to liaise with the protectorate there. Instead he heads to New York, last known location of his eldest brother to ask him for help. It's a conflict filled dead end, because the brother is actually gun running from the border.

He heads down there and finds that brother the head of a small local gang trying to cut ties with his sponsors in New York, and none too happy to see him regardless. Violence ensues between them and against them on the road to brockton bay.

The time line is placed when they arrive in the ruined city immediately post Leviathan, and they end up dealing with craziness that goes on there in a sort of parallel drama to what's going on with Skitter and her Gang and the S9. Ultimately in the style of the three brothers: The eldest is killed, the middle commits suicide by cape after a suitably human moment and the youngest lives to regret it all.
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4. Three Point Five Million Dollars in Cash (OC)
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Elevator pitch: No country for Old Men meets 90s Brockton Bay.

plot: in the mid nineties a new cape stumbles across Iron Rain's defection gone wrong, he witnesses the whole thing and ends up taking it all. With the money she was carrying for the Empire gone, both Allfather and Marquis (her intended drop off/lover - although this is not well known) have a strong interest in finding out how she came to die.

After a period of stashing the money, he returns with a new cape identity, and before too long comes into contact with the cape hired to find him. A cat and mouse game ensues, with MC escaping on several occasions. The investigator finds out his identity and traps his personal life in order to gain his compliance, and begins training him up to 'earn back the money'. However, this isn't a solution because the Empire is watching and they want the money. They discover the arrangement and kill the mentor antagonist before coming for the MC. I'm unsure if the MC would be killed in the end, but Allfather would be assassinated by Kaiser, who pins it on the MC adding more fuel to the fire.

 

I've been mulling writing a story that injects some of Marvel into the Young Justice universe. The new Metal universe characters in DC like Damage, and Sideways really have gotten this idea flowing in my head. The plot is mostly what would a DC inspired origins of some of my favorite Marvel characters.

As an example combining parts of Captain America and his origins into Wonder Woman. Instead of the super soldier serum being man made it comes from the Greek gods. Ares is the force behind Hydra, and is the one to give the American military Ambrosia/Ichor to try and create a new demigod. It kills everyone, but our original Wimp Steve Rogers, and this leads to Rogers replacing Trevor in the Wonderwoman origin. It has some areas I haven't really thought out, but I think it gives an interesting direction for actually fleshing out some of the Young Justice universe a bit more, well adding in some Marvel flavor.

I really am just trying to figure out a way that I could create a Spider Man origin story in the DC universe without just sucking him in with multiverse crossover shenanigans.

 

Pokemon idea I've been thinking about for a while. It's one of the 4-5 of quest ideas that waffle between quest and just straight fanfiction at any moment, but since the most success I've had at actually writing came from questing that's what I'm leaning to. I think I mentioned the idea earlier in this thread, here it is expanded upon some. It's still just a plot bunny so I'll keep it here till I'm ready to do something with it. Setting is 5-10 years prior to the events of Red and Blue.

When a trainer license is granted and a starter is gifted it could be something simple like a nearly feral Rattata or a Zubat. It could be something more family related, like a Growlithe pup from a breeder or an Eevee. There are a few situations where people of higher societal standing function as a patron for a promising trainer. The most common are pokemon professors that will recruit promising young trainers to help them with a specific branch of research and fieldwork. This gives loose direction to the young trainer, grants aid to the professor, and so the cycle continues. Other high socialites are Gym Leaders, Mayors, leaders of Corporations, and the Elite Four. It’s common for professors to have six such starters a year, three each of the regions starters at midsummer and midwinter. Gym leaders typically prefer to pay a tax to avoid the patronage and responsibility of checking in on such trainers.

This story follows One of three such options- a child of a director in Saffron who has been provided a Patronage with a Drowzee. Her training begins simply and will rise in complexity as is befitting a psychic trainer in Kanto- this is a region where the psychic are nearly uncontested.

The second is a trainer from a poor family in Viridian. He’s been offered a Charamander and informed that his directions will be very restrictive, but that he will be provided with further Pokemon as he completes his tasks. There’s a promise that what he does will lead to a potentially lucrative career at the end of his trail if he should succeed.

The final trainer is the child of a family from the outskirts of the wild. At the base of Mount Moon there is a pokecenter run by his family. A well dressed and dangerous man has passed through several times and the child has been able to help in tending the intense traveler’s companions. In turn now, three years later the trainer has come as a Patron, providing a bull Nidoran Male, the alpha of a local nest at the base of the route.

 

Want to do something with Persona 5. Ideally tight nit, 60k words at the maximum.

I was thinking of focusing on the Fortune Arcana and Chihaya/Protagonist but as I'm sitting here thinking it up. I'm not sure if I want to do a generic romance sort of piece or if I want to fully bring in the metaverse and have other elements outside of it while the relationship is just an added factor.

P5's Scale makes it nigh impossible to incorporate the whole game into such a tight story. So I was thinking of setting it in the Casino Palace, with a Joker wholly fixated on the idea of fate. Which is where Chihaya's fate is inescapable belief comes in as the two play off each other in that way.

The Casino Palace is also the place where the concept of Fate can be explored the most. Due to the nature of the shadow involved, where one of the underlying themes was taking control of destiny albeit by unsavoury means. Creating a Joker who is sympathetic to the Shadow involved while he comes to his own idea of what Fate is to him as a character.

So either a generic romance or a piece that fully explores one of the themes of the game in a much tighter setting than the game.

 

Hp/avengers idea that popped into my head. Resurrection stone is actually the soul stone. Works near enough. Thanos comes a calling. Gets Harry involved more naturally.

 

ASoIaF bunny

Backstory: Minor fudging of canon dates where certain events occur.

(Mad) Danelle Lothston, once Lady of Harrenhal c. early 200's AC, was killed due to her reportedly using blood magic and going crazy.

Insert a family member that got away and settled in around Barrowton. A generation or two later and the latest Lothston girl meets Brandon Stark, who is fostering there. Instead of taking the maidenhead of Barbrey Ryswell, he takes the Lothston girl and she winds up pregnant.

Brandon panics because he is betrothed to Catelyn Tully, who he's not fond of. Instead, they marry under the local Heart tree with a couple friends as witnesses. It's better to ask forgiveness than permission is their thought on the matter. Maybe Ned can marry Catelyn instead.

Anyway. Since the Lothston girl is pretty much nobody at this point, Rickard winds up having Brandon set her aside (canon events take over from here). Lothston leaves the North and travels to Essos, meandering around until she winds up in Asshai with a little girl.


Arc I: 13-16 years or so later.

Danelle Stark has grown up, secluded at her mother's manse/estate/whatever, having very rarely stepped outside, because supposedly there are no children in Asshai-by-the-Shadow. Instead, she's been taught and trained in spellsinging, archery, and minor self defense (enough to get her used to blades, etc, but not much else) by people her mother hires while Mom is out and about taking part in gods know what kinds of depravity. What Danelle does know is that Mom always comes home with something very interesting every so often. Magic books/items/bags of gold coin/jewerly/etc. It's kind of depressing that she doesn't spend much time with her daughter, but Danelle doesn't know much else so she isn't all emo about it.

Eventually, seeing as how Asshai is a very messed up place, Mom comes home with a new pox or something equally as horrible (demonic genital warts), and dies, but not before letting Danelle know about her heritage.

At this point, she doesn't really care about Starks or Westeros, because they are so far away. What's the point? Instead, she sees her mother cremated and sets her mind to get out into the world, because she is quite talented in spellsinging, or she thinks so at least.

Insert, exploring Asshai while she works on a plan for her future. She learns about the darker side of this already dark place. She also hears stories about a ruined city north of there called Stygai. There are a bunch of ghost stories about the place, but honestly, who really believes in that sort of stuff? If there are ghost-like things, then it's most likely Shadowbinders behind them or some other type of sorcery like that. And she's more than a match for them because she's so talented and has all her magical stuff... and her bow.

Danelle reaches Stygai and realizes that she seriously fucked up when she managed to get through the gates. Lovecraftian horrors engage!

Somehow (plot armor) managing to get out of there she makes her way back to her estate a clearly broken woman. Scarred, hair limp and stark white from fright, and having lost nearly everything she brought with her to Stygai, Danelle realizes she has to get the fuck out of Dodge. She can't stand the darkness anymore, magic didn't solve all of her problems, and her bow was next to useless. She had to go somewhere where things make sense, or at least somewhere where she could hide and build herself back up.

Somewhere where there is no magic and she could defend herself easily with her obviously meager bag of tricks. Somewhere where there isn't some eldritch abominations that are hiding north of where she lived. Hold on, mate? How about Westeros, in the North! It'll be totally safe there with her relatives!


Arc II: The trip to utter safety!

Selling off the estate really didn't net her much in the way of gold, but that guy Mom was fucking was pretty loaded. If he wasn't dead of the pox (or whatever) then vengeance was hers... and hopefully some gold and maybe some magic stuff too.

It was an easy score. He was poxed but not quite dead and had nobody to leave his crap to. Danelle would have to serve as an heir. Stuff! Enough to hire a ship for the trip and some interesting things to restock her magic supply with.

About here is where I introduce a little Pathfinder/D&D lore (since there really isn't much detail about magic in Asshai in this ASoiaF-verse) it'll be toned down to fit into the story properly and not Mary Sue the girl. For those that are interested Danelle will basically be a toned down version of a Pathfinder Magus, someone who mixes magic and martial fighting. A low level Bladebound Archetype. More on this later.

Ports of call will be:

Leng (more fucking Lovecraftian abominations ho!)
Qarth (House of the Undying warlocks really like Danelle's aura, but thinks she needs a little blue lip gloss to set it off!)
Port Yhos (Nothing to see here, moving on.)
Volantis (No, she won't be going to Valyria. Ships totally crash there, dude.)
Lys (Uh... stuff happens there.)
Sunspear
Tarth
Gulltown
And fucking finally, White Harbor

During these stops Danelle will be engaging with some of the locals, getting a read on the area, maybe some minor adventuring (Tomb Raiding), and picking up a stray or thirty.


Finally, the North of Westeros! Totally safety achieved!

Meeting the family... what do you mean I can't stay? Catelyn hears the word 'Asshai' and Nopes out of anymore family reunion. GTFO.
Fucking Starks.
Ned sidesteps Cat and since he notices Danelle is fairly well off, offers her Moat Cailin to call her own if she can build a new fortress. It's totally a fixer-uper! And it's as far south as one can get and not be wading around in swampy water and still call itself the North.

And this is as far as I've plotted out. By this point I should be sitting around 100k or so words. Then canon ASoIaF begins.

 

I recently read plenty of various self insert fics from different fandoms. Some better, some worse, but it did give me some plot bunnies for similar fics.

One that could be fun is Marvel SI (mostly based on MCU, but including some elements from X-Men and FF) where the main character doesn't get any superpowers nor he's talented with anything that could be of use for a street level superhero. Yet he's aware that Thanos is coming and the world needs to somehow prepare to stop him. Sure, he could assume that Avengers 4 will undo the Snap, but he couldn't be certain that his presence alone isn't going to change that. That leaves him with only one option, becoming what can only be called a real world equivalent of a supervillain. A politician.

The main character finds himself in a body of thirty something IT guy who was playing with some summoning spells he found on-line. One of them actually worked, but instead of sexy succubus, he summoned a person from our world and merged their souls.

It's a year 2004, 14 years before Thanos arrival.

At first, the main character does indeed try to become a superhero. Since his arrival was caused by magic, he tries to use it with a rather lacking effects. His attempts to learn fighting end up with weeks of getting better from many contusions. And while he's a competent IT person, it doesn't make him a computer wizard who can hack his way out of trouble.

Still, there should be something he could do to prepare NY for upcoming invasion? For that reason he competes in an election for the City Council. He actually manages to win a place in 2005 election and gets on the Public Safety Committee.

While his "be prepared for the worst" world view and an inexperience in actual politics doesn't help him to win over fellow council members, he wins over NY people after many of his proposals help the city in the 2008 Monsters Rampage (i.e. Hulk versus Abomination battle).

With the help of a dedicated team of the supporters, he manages to win in 2010 the United States Senate special election and becomes first independent Senator from NY.

In the Senate he quickly gets involved in various politics involving superpowered individuals. From mutants rights to SHIELD's budged issues.

Then the NY invasion happens giving the main character a good chance to win the 2012 presidential elections.

After that, the world becomes a lot bigger. Yet, as he prepares for Thanos and deals with some of the other canon events, he must face normal social and economical issues in the world where superpowers exists and alien technology is real, like a right to a mind privacy and an upcoming superpowers arms race between the countries.

 

Pokemon One-Shot Plot Bunny:

The story is about Aya, a newbie trainer in Kanto who keeps encountering a strange trainer during her journey.

1. The first time she sees him is in Viridian Forest, where he walks around with a Charmander and attacks every bug and grass pokemon that they see. She notices that his eyes are completely white, suggesting that he is blind. She attempts to talk to him, but he and his pokemon ignore her and continue attacking weaker pokemon.

2. Next time is in the tunnels of Mt. Moon, where it turns out that the Trainer somehow got there before her. She sees him moving very slowly and searching for something. Meanwhile his pokemon, already a Charmeleon attacks every wild pokemon in sight. The Trainer again entirely ignores Aya. One new thing she notices is that the trainer keeps muttering to himself a constant stream of numbers. Something about his monotone voice is off and creeps her out so she leaves him alone.

3. During a night in Cerulean City, Aya is attacked by former Team Rocket thugs who want her money. They threaten her with an Arbok and Raticate. The Trainer materializes from nowhere in a flash of light between them. She notices a half-asleep Abra in the Trainer's backpack. He looks around the situation, says "Acceptable Targets" and releases his Charmeleon and a Poliwhirl. The two Pokemon attack the Arbok and Raticate and wipe the floor with them. Then they attack the thugs and force them to escape. Before Aya can thank the Trainer he calls back his pokemon and has his Abra teleport him away.

4. In Lavender Town Aya once again meets the trainer, who is apparently hunting for ghosts. She sees him catch a Gastley and then immediately release it back to the wild. Her curiosity gets to the best of her and she approaches him as he battles another ghost. She thanks him for saving her in Cerulean and asks what he's doing. He doesn't acknowledge her but she hears him mutter to himself once more: "10/11/15, insufficient specimen." And then after catching and releasing three more ghosts he suddenly stops. "15/15/14. Sufficient specimen. Commencing grinding." And then he teleports away.

5. She doesn't meet the Trainer until much later, in Fuchsia City. She sees him walk past her when leaving the Safari Zone. This time he stops and looks in her direction silently. "Rival Trainer Spotted. Evaluating. Level sufficient for battle." And then he sends out a big-ass Gengar against her and suddenly she's in a pokemon battle of her life. While she fought (sucessfully) Kanto Gym Leaders up until that point, he makes defeating her look like a child's play. After winning, he doesn't even wait for money she owes him, but instead teleports away immediately. She vows to get stronger so she can defeat this stranger.

6. The final time she sees him is after she walks out of the Victory Road. She challenges him this time. It's her Blastoise against his Charizard. He wins, somehow, despite her type advantage. She cannot believe it. Who is this weird man, what's his secret? And then another person materializes from nowhere. This one she recognizes, the famous Bill. Upon seeing him, the Trainer freezes like a statue. Bill walks up to him, plugs in a laptop to the Trainer's ear and begins praising his BOT for successfully training High IV Pokemon. Aya demands answers. Bill explains that the Elite 4 and the Champion are too busy managing the country to train new pokemon. So Bill built a robot trainer to do it for them. This unit already has successfully trained fifty powerful Level 100 Pokemon. Of course, it's a state secret, so before Aya can react Bill uses the Bot's Slowbro to use Amnesia and Aya forgets ever seeing the Trainer.


I was wondering how in-universe regular trainers would react to player-generated bots playing the game

 

I was expecting a Twitch Plays Pokemon result more than a bot at first, and then I wasn't expecting an in-universe answer being that it was Bill who had made it. Sounds fun.

 

DC universe SI.

The SI wakes up in an alley and discovers he was somehow transported to DC universe. Because he's unlucky instead of ending up in more sunny place like Metropolis, he ended up in Gotham City.

He quickly discovers that it's not yet Batman's Gotham City and young Bruce Wayne is still missing/travelling in the Europe.

Being homeless and with no identification the SI ends up in a shelter where he finds help. As the time goes by, he manages to find some work. Mostly these are jobs created with the Wayne Foundation's support. He makes friends and surprisingly even finds love.

The SI starts to believe he found the place in this strange world, but Gotham is Gotham. The gangsters rule it and even staying out of trouble is sometimes not enough to not get involved with them.

With no other options, he decides to not wait for the Batman to make his appearance, but starts fixing the city on his own. As his actions are surprisingly successful, he believes that whoever put him in this setting probably wanted him to play the superhero role from the beginning. He even discovers to have some superpowers allowing him to avoid getting hurt in the fight. Something along a spider-sense and a probability changing abilities.

Because he doesn't want to upstage Batman, his superhero character, or rather costumed vigilante as it's called at the moment, is based more on Spider-Man type with more colourful costume and general mocking of his opponents.

For a few months he fights the crime and actually starts to be happy living in this world where he can make a difference. Even his personal life is much better than in the previous world with him getting a fiancée.

It all ends when the gangsters discover who he is and where he lives. They decide to make an example of him and anyone who he is close with.

The SI survives, mostly because instead of simply killing him, the gangsters tortured him. For laughing at them they carve a smile on his face.

It gives him enough time for his powers to present him an opportunity to escape.

As he stumbles into the alley he woke up many months ago, he realizes he has nowhere to go and nobody to contact. In a way, he decides, it shouldn't surprise him since he's in a fictional world based on the superhero comics where everything can change, but must return to the status quo. His face in a mirror tells him another important thing. He was never mean to be a hero in this story.

A year later Batman meets his most dangerous foe, Joker. The madman who believes that the world is just one big joke, mostly at his own expense.

Despite his best attempts, Batman never finds anything about the man behind the smile.

 

Fandom: Naruto, inspiration from Mulan Disney and East Asia culture.

At young age, Naruto explore the abandon Uzumaki Mask Temple, and awake there a guardian spirit style Mushu (it will be refer currently Mushu until better name is found), who is dismay to learn the Uzumaki clan is no more and a main branch Uzumaki like Naruto knows nothing about his family.
Mushu goal is to restore the Uzumaki clan through Naruto, either in Konoha or through Naruto returning to the whirlpool islands and relciaming his homeland.

Mushu was out of contact with the outside world since the early days of Konoha, Mito shoved him there for annoying her. (He came with Mito to Konoha)
(Mushu doesn't know about the Kyubi is possibility, nor able to access the inner working of the seal to figure what it is, he recognize it is an Uzumaki seal, an awesome complex Seal that he never encounter, he recognize some of its functions and discover as a spirit if welcome he can hide there.

From young age Naruto now has a friend, who plays with him (and even train him) and can tell him stories about the the founding of Konoha, the Senju and Uchiha clans, even what he knows about other clans.
Further he knows how Uzu and the Uzumaki were in those old days.

Mushu isn't a fountain for all Uzumaki related staff, he knows some staff, how the youngsters were trained, he knows lore, history some sealing and other skills, but he isn't Master of any of them, maybe expert in one of them, his purpose was to be more of a guardian to main branch members, which is why he accompanied Mito.

Not sure what are Mushu combat related skills.
Note: He isn't some S rank capable guardian, just B-A rank.
Or maybe lower rank as he was among the more younger guardian spirits.

The Idea that through games and various adventures Mushu is slowly training Naruto in how the Uzumaki raise their own children.
hordes of Kushina style children require different methods than Konoha academies.

Mushu ultimate goals of seeing the Uzumaki back, might conflict with Naruto and Konoha goals, and Mushu might subtly push Naruto to leave Konoha and establish Uzu as friend of Konoha but not as part of Konoha.
It depend on how the story goes, so a possible Naruto never becoming a Ninja, or going missing Nin at certain age is possible.
It depend on the bonds Naruto create with other people.

Note: this story isn't about Seal Master super uber Naruto.

Spoiler

I treat Mastery as a travel of of a life time commitment.
(Note: that also mean the Yondaime wasn't a master, he was genius expert, who specialize in certain area of sealing, with Kushina teaching him more theoretic expects and made massive brilliant break through in modifying (or creating) his ultimate technique, he was also keep learning from Jiraiya )
I also view the seal on Naruto as product of Mito and later Kushina of improving their own seal, knowing that at some point Kushina won't be able to hold the Kyubi like Mito, and Naruto will inherit it, she looked for better solution she received, also for the demon consuming seal to be Uzumaki technique. (Naruto was always going to become the container of the Nine tails at young age, it was just going to be done on his parents terms, no one knows, and live life like Kushina and Mito)
The Uzumaki specialty was mostly seals, summons, spirits and constructs, they were left mostly of their own in their island, which created different culture.

I would also power down some abilities style Legacy Undone (not sure if everything or just taken parts, is example Sharingan rare as Wood Release), less 16 years old like canon becoming the most powerful Ninja in the world, exploring how S rank ninja are really a terror and why Jinchuriki are also fucking massive double edge military resource.
Will probably dial down the Shadow Clone abilities.
It is awesome scenes with many Narutos all talking with themselves, but more competent Naruto=> to more competent Shadow clones, and at some point it become to OP.
Plus I dislike the shadow clone training regime.

Exploring various clans and how they still keep their own traditions.
Exploring different types of Ninja, and attitude to Ninja.
That not all clans of Ninja were different completely from Samurai clans.
That some clans were something in the middle.
Exploring the power balance between the Daimyo and hidden villages.

Taking different route with Black Zetsu, the moon eye plan and Narutoverse cosmology.
Maybe: Black Zetsu is the left over will of the Ten tails who seek to restore it self.
A Demon/Monster Lord with the Sage being a demigod send to defeat it.
No Kayuga, maybe even more interesting and origin for the tail beasts and how those great spirits take part in the greater supernatural world of extended Naruto verse.

What prevent me writing this :
1) poor English writing skills
2) poor story telling.

I will keep fleshing this idea, and add more substance and maybe one day someone will take it, or join me.

Last note:
More details about Uzu fall, and how the tail beast are related, further effects of the Kyubi attack, and giving more reasons of the irrational fear the older people have from the Kyubi and Naruto.

Uzu fall: what broke the Uzumaki defenses and their attackers, was Tail Beasts rampage, Iwa and Mizu brought their own Jinchuriki who wen't berserk.

Kyubi attack and the number of miscarriage and infant mortality even in the aftermath of the battle, (Sakura was born outside of the village in one of Konoha satellite villages) only strong Kunochi were still capable to give birth in Naruto age group, which is why there are so few students.

The populace both Civilian and Ninja see interaction with Naruto might bring curse on them, poisoning them with what he carry inside (for those who are capable to separate between Naruto and vessel ).
Lots of Konoha older Ninja remember Uzu and see Naruto as ticking time bomb in addition they remember how much of a double edge is keeping a Jinchuriki is for other villages.
If Konoha until now had no Jinchuriki they don't need one now, or leaving among them in the village.
Further Fuuinjutsu is a mysterious art that rarely anyone dabble beyond exploding tags , storage scrolls, and few other simple staff.
So while people trust the Yondaime skills, the Kyubi is still something beyond even mortals, talented as they are.

The conflicts will be in the early stage if Naruto is capable of creating the bonds for him to remain in the village grow and love it, or he eventually wil give up and seek to restore his family somewhere else (While looking for other survivors).

Last edit: maybe also exploring if there are other guardians in the temple Mask, that Naruto will also interact, maybe ancestor spirits, I need to read more on Eastern Asia spirits to figure things more properly.

 

Dresden story idea:

In a bizarre incident, Marcone gets killed. A reluctant Dresden steps into Marcone' shoes. This will trigger a chain of events. Fix joins Police to keep Dresden in check.

Now Harry has to juggle his various responsibilities, at the same time he has to maintain the order in Chicago underworld.

 

Firefly with some elements from Cowboy Bebop.

Firefly is the main part with Cowboy Bebop proving additional material where it comes to some themes and expands the world without need to create a bunch of OCs.

The SI is reborn into a wealthy family from the central planets though he has a grandfather on the border planet where his father sends him to man up.

As a big fan of Firefly he believed that when the Unification War starts he will join the Browncoats, but when the time comes to make a decision he joins the Union of Allied Planets.

There are many reasons for that decision, but the main cause are difference between watching something and taking part in it.

It's easy to support the Browncoats when you don't live in the central planets and have first hand experience of how strong central authority does help with many things.

It's easy to want to join Zoe and Mal when they're just a fictional characters fighting other fictional characters. A lot less so when your own brother joined the Union army and you could end up fighting him.

When the War ends, the SI is a high ranking officer and a war hero, his promotion helped by his familiarity with some key evens of the war, like when he prevented the total disaster caused by Book.

Feeling somehow guilty of his choices in the War, he joins a newly formed Planetary Rangers Division. To prove the Union's cause by helping enforcing the law in distant planets and colonies that are often left to be ruled by criminals and mobsters.

He's perfectly aware that despite his wishes, it makes him a natural enemy to the heroes of his other life and the fate won't be merciful enough for him to not cross his ways with them, no matter how big the Verse is.

 

I've been toying with a Dresden multi-cross for awhile, and I wanted to put my ideas down just to see what sticks when it's slightly more than an amorphous blob.

The central conceit is that a young Dresden, just after burning DuMorne gets sent to a different universe with only Bob by his side due to outsider shenanigans/some other handwave. I'm not fully sure what universe he'd go to, but I'm leaning towards Harry Potter. He wouldn't be going to the book timeline, but to the era of the Founders. I really enjoy the urban fantasy protagonist thrown into classical fantasy. I'm worried it's a little repetitive of what I've done before but I'm willing to be artistically bankrupt. The multi-cross elements would be that a few other heroes and villains would be tossed into the world, but the most obvious would be Buffyverse vampires.

Harry Potter wizards are the unquestioned top of the heap in canon, but a vampiric plague hitting when the wizards weren't quite up to the level of canon could get somewhat apocalyptic. Dresden, Bob, and I'm leaning towards Faith the Slayer, would be hiking through a world increasingly dominated by the undead as other monsters emerge. They don't know what's going on, Bob is stumped and Faith would have come from after her Watcher was killed but before she met Buffy and the rest, but they're more than capable of holding their own against the various threats as long as they keep a low profile by killing everyone who sees them.

This can't keep up forever, despite Harry utilizing Bob a lot more than canon and Faith's power, at some point there will be enough vampires that they'll be discovered. There's a faint hope though, rumors among the vampires and captive humans of a refuge to the north. A castle built and guarded by four powerful wizards, Hogwarts.

I'm thinking I'd keep it less than an epic, 50k-100k words, but I don't really have a plot beyond the chase. It's something I'd like to read, which is the key for what I write, but I'd appreciate feedback or other comments.

 

Start the fic in media res, with Harry, Bob and Faith towards the end of their rope, maybe somewhere in the south of England? They find/hear something that makes them think there might actually be something to the rumours of a sanctuary to the north. The meat of the fic is then their march to safety.

Of course, Harry being Harry, they're not exactly quiet on their journey, and they make it to Hogwarts with something of a horde on their heels. Cue siege defense, and the pyrofeugo to end all pyrofeugos.

You could really grab readers and do something new by showing off the different strengths of Dresden magic vs HP magic in different situations. Go hard on HP canon with the absence of traditional fantasy 'wards', and have Dresden the only one able to do something direct like that.

 

Well, it makes more sense than your sig at least Otters.