Probably too cliche to pull off, but thought I'd ask anyway

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

This weird little idea for a Ranma/Shampoo fanfic came to me recently, and I'm not entirely sure where it came from. I think I recognize elements of the "Lust Dust" branch of Anime Addventure, and a dash of Awkward Consequences, but other than that I don't know. Like the title says, I'm pretty sure that the idea has probably already been done to death, but I just thought I'd see anyway.

The basic 'template' that I've got in my head so far sees Ranma wake up one morning with a throbbing headache and completely unable to remember what happened last night, or even yesterday at all. To his horror, he then realises that he's both naked and not alone in bed. Naturally, he gets somewhat hysterical and blames Shampoo for this, and the Chinese Amazon promptly rebutes him (or whatever the appropriate term would be) by emphatically telling him that she wants more from their "relationship" than a one night stand, she doesn't have access to any 'lust potions', and she certainly wouldn't have used one that left the victims completely unable to remember what happened, as she (in a bit of somewhat stereotypical girlishness) wanted her first time with Ranma to be special.

I'm a bit foggy on precisely how things develop from there. I have rudiments of the two trying to secretly find out who made them sleep together so they can get revenge (Shampoo personally doesn't mind the "sex with Ranma" bit, but thoroughly objects to being manipulated/used- yes, I see the irony too), which naturally prompts suspicion from the others involved in Ranma's little love dohecahedron, and Shampoo discovering (to equal parts shock, joy and horror) that their 'accident' has had consequences, but nothing really concrete at this time.

Still, that's probably not neccessary, as this story is too cliche to be worth bothering with, right?

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

A seperate idea, but probably fits under the title as well. This oneshot opens up with a 'mysterious' woman sitting in park/beside a canal somewhere, reminiscing. A man joins her and the two talk for a time, their conversation basically about how the woman has been waiting patiently for the man, who was married to someone else and whose marriage ended a while ago. Eventually, the man agrees that he's over "her" now, and asks if the woman still wants to try and have a relationship with him. The woman agrees and the two walk off.

As the climax, we find out that the two are Ranma and Shampoo. It's been about a hundred to a hundred and twenty years since the events of the series, but due to their high level of ki (Ranma's from training, Shampoo's from genetics), the two have aged so slowly that they're still somewhere in their late 20's (Happosai didn't look like he was in his late-30's/mid-40's until he was about 200, after all).

Ranma ended up marrying Akane, but to his surprise Shampoo withdrew fairly gracefully- she knew that Ranma (and also herself) would outlive Akane, who for all her talk was really never a martial artist in the same caliber as the Amazon and the Saotome. Knowing this gave her the patience to wait for him, either for him to grow tired of her and divorce her (wishful thinking) or to simply outlive her (pragmatic thinking). Akane has been dead about a decade, so Ranma is willing to give relationships another try.

So, how cliche is this little drabble?

[Dumbledork]

The second one is probably original. I like the idea. As for the first one, I'd read it. Even if it has been done before it still could be interesting.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Wha...? Well, I believe this is a first- usually, whenever I submit an idea here, it's either been beaten to death, reanimated as a zombie, then beaten to death again, or it's so far out that nobody would ever want to read it. Definately have to speak to my co-writer about these when he comes back at last...

[Tovath]

Well this time you have come up with a really good idea. Now lets see if you can write it.

[TerraEpon]

Certainly the first idea is cliche as you say, but it could still make a good story.

The second, I agree with the others, is quite different, and I like a lot (most of the time it's Ranma alone who outlives everyone, either because of the curse or her ability)

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Well, the first one will probably need to wait until my co-writer returns in a few days, and may take some time after that, seeing as how three other series we work on.

The second one I can do on my own, but I could use a little advice first:
-how might their appearances have changed in the intervening 120 years?
-where should I have them meet?

I'm also, despite my desires, not too familiar with this sort of fanfic, so I could use some suggestions on how to make it 'flow'.

I have a somewhat firmer, if still rough, outline for idea 1, but I'll post that a bit later, so I don't get mixed up with folks' replies.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Okay... well, that was something of a disappointment, but there's no real hurry. Guess it means I'll have to wait until my co-writer gets back and discuss it with him.

Anyway, I said that I had a somewhat firmer outline for my firt idea, so I thought I might as well post it here so I can have the flaws pointed out (as well as to ensure I don't forget it). Listed by 'points' because I couldn't really think of how else to organise it.

Point 1
Ranma wakes up with a splitting headache, no memory of what happened yesterday, let alone last night, and -to his horror- to the discovery that he is stark naked, unusually sticky, and in bed with Shampoo, who is in the same condition.

Point 2
Ranma immediately accuses Shampoo of being behind this state of affairs, but to his surprise (he was expecting, wishfully, embarrasment, and realistically expecting outright and/or shame-free joy), Shampoo vehemently denies being involved at all, going on to... "enthusiastically"... point out that the Amazons don't have any 'lust magic', that she wants more out of him than a one-night stand or even regular casual tumbles and that certainly wouldn't have used memory-damaging poisons on herself to finally claim her long-awaited "first time with Ranma".

Point 3
Admitting that Shampoo is telling the truth, the two clean themselves up as best they can and seperate to try and alleviate the suspicions/concerns (predominantly the former) of their respective families, though they promise to meet up again to try and figure out who the culprit behind this mysterious turn of events was.
Problem: how to realistically have it that Shampoo agrees to do this without begging for/demanding she and Ranma 'try it again' so she can have some semblance of her long-cherished dream come true.

Point 4
After finally managing to get away from Cologne & Mousse and Genma & the Tendos respectively, the two meet up somewhere relatively private to discuss who could have possibly benefited from 'zapping' them yesterday. Realising that the only two possibilities (Ryoga and Kuno) are also too stupid to have pulled it off successfully, they then turn to the possibilities of A: someone who wasn't intending to get both of them, but who screwed up, and B: someone who they've never met before (as far as they recall) who did this for some reason that they don't know.

Point 5
I don't particularly have any real ideas on who 'dusted' the duo and why, though a vague and pretty much jokish idea places the blame on none other than Kasumi Tendo, who was seeking to spend some 'quality time' with Ranma without her 'break in character' becoming known. This is, I emphatically state, most likely not the idea I will use- not least of all because it's impossible for me to think of a way that this could be done with Kasumi remaining even remotely in character.

Point 6
Anyway, the duo start investigating. They do try to keep it secret, but, in all honesty, subtlety is not the strong point of either martial artist. Sneakiness, yes, but not attracting suspicion is a skill that the two lack. This, of course, means that they arouse the suspicion of the ever-watchful, ever-jealous, non-involved parties (Mousse, Ukyo, Akane, Nabiki & Soun Tendo, Genma Saotome). This makes it harder for them to try and succeed and/or keep what happened a secret, courtesy of the any interrogations/attacks that they receive.

Poiint 7
At some point, though I'm not sure whether this happens before or after they finally get a lead on who was responsible, Shampoo discovers that she's become pregnant as a result of that night. This makes things all the harder for Ranma, as Shampoo & Cologne now have very real grounds to 'support' their insistence that he marry Shampoo. I'm not sure, however, whether or not Ranma would indeed feel morally obligated to marry Shampoo once he finds out about the pregnancy. Also... could it be at all possible that Shampoo initially keeps her condition a secret from him? If yes, what would her motives be?

I'm not sure where to take it from there, though likely possibilities include them finding out who caused them to sleep together, possibly Ranma agreeing to marry Shampoo, and the resultant fallout when everything gets revealed, either by Nabiki's snooping or by their own admission. Anyone have any further suggestions?

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

I wrote something *distantly* like that (DC comics characters) back in the sixties. I never could figure out whodunnit. The closest I could come here would involve Kodachi trying to get both the scarlet harridan and the purple-haired slut distracted from her Ranma-sama. But, feeling a bit (whatever) from whatever Kodachi did, the scarlet harridan takes a warm bath before the full power of the potion strikes....

[Lord Aries Greymon]

Would Ranma be morally obligated? Most likely. This greatly depends on how you write Ranma, though most such examples I've seen involve him taking the marriage route.

Keeping it secret? Hell, simple fear would do it.
Or even her refusing to believe it herself. (if real people can so delude themselves, then so can an anime character.)

[TerraEpon]

Or perhaps, make it an Josekuzoku cultural thing -- any group of warriror women could easily have developed an aversion to announcing it until it showed because of the likely hood of losing it in battle...and such.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Or perhaps, make it an Josekuzoku cultural thing -- any group of warriror women could easily have developed an aversion to announcing it until it showed because of the likely hood of losing it in battle...and such.

...That's so in-character that I can't believe I didn't think of it before. Thank you. And thank you as well Lord Aries Greymon- you've both been quite helpful.