A reversal. Negi isn't a Mage. He's really a genius-boy graduate from Oxford. His Class, tough is buried eyes-deep in the mystical world. Hilarity issues.
That's the basic premise. What I'm looking for, tough, is how to make this work.
I've already thought about the powers and backgrounds for most girls. Some already have theirs (Eva's a Vampire, Mana is a Half-Demon Gunslinger, Zazie is... Something...), some just need a bit of tweaking (Konoka is a Konoe, a family with ties to the Imperial family, and thus, with Amaterasu. so she'll be a kind of High Priestess) while some are completely made up from the ground (Ayaka belongs to an old blood clan, which embraced Western magic, but they're kinda decadent now; Nodoka's family has been charged with the Guardianship of the Mahora Library for generations now). I think I'm safe here. The problem is, why would Negi be sent to Mahora? Why would he put up with the madness, before he's too deep to get out? What would be his drives?
Similarly, would we keep his family history intact? If is, it becomes easier to send and keep him in Mahora, but then it would be tricky to explain why he doesn't exhibits the most basic Magical potential. Alternatively, we could throw Arika and Negi in the trash, but then... Why Mahora? Why him?
I intend to make Negi skeptical at best, downright blind at the worst, at least in the earlier chapters. As the story goes on, he starts believing in things he sees, but he's obsessed with explaining everything in scientific terms (Why, it's obvious that she applied quantum uncertainty to open a wormhole that sucked all heat from that particular area). Maybe, by the end, he turns magic into a rational, structured theory, instead of blaming everything on "spirits".
So? Ideas, criticism, thoughts? I have other elements for the story, but I would like to hear your opinion on the basics first.
That's the basic premise. What I'm looking for, tough, is how to make this work.
I've already thought about the powers and backgrounds for most girls. Some already have theirs (Eva's a Vampire, Mana is a Half-Demon Gunslinger, Zazie is... Something...), some just need a bit of tweaking (Konoka is a Konoe, a family with ties to the Imperial family, and thus, with Amaterasu. so she'll be a kind of High Priestess) while some are completely made up from the ground (Ayaka belongs to an old blood clan, which embraced Western magic, but they're kinda decadent now; Nodoka's family has been charged with the Guardianship of the Mahora Library for generations now). I think I'm safe here. The problem is, why would Negi be sent to Mahora? Why would he put up with the madness, before he's too deep to get out? What would be his drives?
Similarly, would we keep his family history intact? If is, it becomes easier to send and keep him in Mahora, but then it would be tricky to explain why he doesn't exhibits the most basic Magical potential. Alternatively, we could throw Arika and Negi in the trash, but then... Why Mahora? Why him?
I intend to make Negi skeptical at best, downright blind at the worst, at least in the earlier chapters. As the story goes on, he starts believing in things he sees, but he's obsessed with explaining everything in scientific terms (Why, it's obvious that she applied quantum uncertainty to open a wormhole that sucked all heat from that particular area). Maybe, by the end, he turns magic into a rational, structured theory, instead of blaming everything on "spirits".
So? Ideas, criticism, thoughts? I have other elements for the story, but I would like to hear your opinion on the basics first.