Hrm. My first post here.
I've had this idea bouncing around for a while, but I haven't been entirely happy with any storyline I've tried to develop from it, so I thought I'd just throw it on here and see if maybe I can get some help figuring it out.
The basic idea originally involved an A!MG! crossover with Ranma, with more elements of original Norse mythology used in the A!MG! elements. The idea itself came to me after I'd been playing through the Valkyrie profile games, and I decided to do a little looking into Norse mythology. I was surprised to learn that Skuld is actually considered not just one of the Norns, but also was one of the Valkyries.
So, starting with the prologue, we see a very young Skuld some years before the start of A!MG!. In Asgard, Skuld sees Rind heading off to perform one of the many duties of a Valkyrie. Skuld, young and still learning, asks Rind where she's going. Rind replies, explaining her duties, and Skuld is so excited by her tales of adventure and intrigue, that she immediately promises, "When I grow up, I'll be a Valkyrie too!"
Skip ahead (way ahead), and now it's a few years after A!MG!. Skuld's gotten older (around 17-18), and now she's being called upon to fullfill her promise. After a crash-course in her new duties (Valkyries are in short supply, so they want her helping out as quickly as possible), she's sent on her first assignment: Collecting the souls of warriors on the battlefield.
It doesn't go very well. Skuld's never seen a single person die before, much less been on a battlefield, and she shocked by the environment. She doesn't manage to direct a single soul to Valhalla, and the veteran Valkyrie assigned to watch her progress is forced to do all the work when she breaks down.
After the job, Skuld retreats to the shrine, where she's comforted by a worried Belldandy, and surprisingly understanding Urd. While there, a call comes in from "On High": she's being re-assigned. Instead of battlefield duty, she's being moved to hero collection. Belldandy and Skuld are glad, thinking it will likely be easier (and Skuld is particularly annoyed that she wasn't started on that task in the first place), but Urd is less enthusiastic. She warns Skuld not to get to close to the souls she has to collect.
For those who've been wondering just where the Ranma series comes in, it's here: the first Hero's Soul she has to collect is Nerima's own resident pigtailed martial artist, Ranma.
During a fight with Tatewaki Kuno that's ranged across a decent-sized portion of Nerima, Ranma gets cocky, makes a mistake, and gets smashed through a building wall into what turns out to be an old Aum Shinrikyo cache of sarin gas canisters. The canisters are stored and sealed poorly, and a large leak quickly spreads.
Ranma instantly knows something's wrong with the air, and his first thought is to run to the whole he made with his entrance and punch a pursuing Kuno so hard he flies across the street, K.O.'ed. He then proceeds to burn all of his ki using a combination miniature Hiryu Shoten Ha to keep the gas in the building, while heating the room to try and burn the gas away. He's successful, but in the process he's inhaled too much of the gas himself, and dies.
By selflessly sacrificing himself (even though he didn't realize just how dangerous the gas had been), he's been deemed a hero, and Skuld's first assignment is to retrieve his soul to join the Einherjar. Of course, things don't go as planned. As far as Ranma's concerned, some god had to have been screwing with his life, so they don't disserve his help in some future war of the apokalypse. If Skuld wants him to go to Valhalla, she'll have to help him tie up some loose ends.
The story proceeds from there to Skuld showing up pretending to be a mortal at Furinkan High, trying to convince friends and fiancÚes that Ranma's actually dead. (In burning out the gas, Ranma's technique ended up colapsing the building's structure, so no one's found his body yet. And no one believes Kuno wandering around boasting that he's finally managed to defeat the vile Saotome.)
And this is where my idea starts to putter out. Aside from Skuld become more and more furious as she learns about the situation Ranma was living in (and some dangerously Mary Sue-esque fixing of problems/dishing out of justice), I don't have any ideas for an over-arching storyline or subplot. I've no idea for any kind of background villain or enemy.
I do know how I want it to end (kind-of), but without some kind of looming enemy of problem, the whole thing seems somewhat petty. Anyone have a clue as to how I might improve this?
I've had this idea bouncing around for a while, but I haven't been entirely happy with any storyline I've tried to develop from it, so I thought I'd just throw it on here and see if maybe I can get some help figuring it out.
The basic idea originally involved an A!MG! crossover with Ranma, with more elements of original Norse mythology used in the A!MG! elements. The idea itself came to me after I'd been playing through the Valkyrie profile games, and I decided to do a little looking into Norse mythology. I was surprised to learn that Skuld is actually considered not just one of the Norns, but also was one of the Valkyries.
So, starting with the prologue, we see a very young Skuld some years before the start of A!MG!. In Asgard, Skuld sees Rind heading off to perform one of the many duties of a Valkyrie. Skuld, young and still learning, asks Rind where she's going. Rind replies, explaining her duties, and Skuld is so excited by her tales of adventure and intrigue, that she immediately promises, "When I grow up, I'll be a Valkyrie too!"
Skip ahead (way ahead), and now it's a few years after A!MG!. Skuld's gotten older (around 17-18), and now she's being called upon to fullfill her promise. After a crash-course in her new duties (Valkyries are in short supply, so they want her helping out as quickly as possible), she's sent on her first assignment: Collecting the souls of warriors on the battlefield.
It doesn't go very well. Skuld's never seen a single person die before, much less been on a battlefield, and she shocked by the environment. She doesn't manage to direct a single soul to Valhalla, and the veteran Valkyrie assigned to watch her progress is forced to do all the work when she breaks down.
After the job, Skuld retreats to the shrine, where she's comforted by a worried Belldandy, and surprisingly understanding Urd. While there, a call comes in from "On High": she's being re-assigned. Instead of battlefield duty, she's being moved to hero collection. Belldandy and Skuld are glad, thinking it will likely be easier (and Skuld is particularly annoyed that she wasn't started on that task in the first place), but Urd is less enthusiastic. She warns Skuld not to get to close to the souls she has to collect.
For those who've been wondering just where the Ranma series comes in, it's here: the first Hero's Soul she has to collect is Nerima's own resident pigtailed martial artist, Ranma.
During a fight with Tatewaki Kuno that's ranged across a decent-sized portion of Nerima, Ranma gets cocky, makes a mistake, and gets smashed through a building wall into what turns out to be an old Aum Shinrikyo cache of sarin gas canisters. The canisters are stored and sealed poorly, and a large leak quickly spreads.
Ranma instantly knows something's wrong with the air, and his first thought is to run to the whole he made with his entrance and punch a pursuing Kuno so hard he flies across the street, K.O.'ed. He then proceeds to burn all of his ki using a combination miniature Hiryu Shoten Ha to keep the gas in the building, while heating the room to try and burn the gas away. He's successful, but in the process he's inhaled too much of the gas himself, and dies.
By selflessly sacrificing himself (even though he didn't realize just how dangerous the gas had been), he's been deemed a hero, and Skuld's first assignment is to retrieve his soul to join the Einherjar. Of course, things don't go as planned. As far as Ranma's concerned, some god had to have been screwing with his life, so they don't disserve his help in some future war of the apokalypse. If Skuld wants him to go to Valhalla, she'll have to help him tie up some loose ends.
The story proceeds from there to Skuld showing up pretending to be a mortal at Furinkan High, trying to convince friends and fiancÚes that Ranma's actually dead. (In burning out the gas, Ranma's technique ended up colapsing the building's structure, so no one's found his body yet. And no one believes Kuno wandering around boasting that he's finally managed to defeat the vile Saotome.)
And this is where my idea starts to putter out. Aside from Skuld become more and more furious as she learns about the situation Ranma was living in (and some dangerously Mary Sue-esque fixing of problems/dishing out of justice), I don't have any ideas for an over-arching storyline or subplot. I've no idea for any kind of background villain or enemy.
I do know how I want it to end (kind-of), but without some kind of looming enemy of problem, the whole thing seems somewhat petty. Anyone have a clue as to how I might improve this?
