What if… — Idea inklings

[Té Rowan]

1. Something really "anti-villainy" or outright heroic...

Heh. Would be a mindblowing thing if that was the case. I could believe one of Flash's rogues to be like that, but not Batman's. That lot is way too batty.

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

Definitely a Flash rogue thing - but some of the Batman crew might also. Catwoman has a long record of doing it. Harley Quinn might do it, when she wasn't under Joker's influence. Even Joker might, if he could figure a way to make it a real mindfuck for Gotham and Bats. There have been Penguins and Riddlers in the past that might, though I don't know about these days. But Killer Croc and Scarecrow? Never.

[Té Rowan]

Even Joker might, if he could figure a way to make it a real mindfuck for Gotham and Bats.

And now you have me imagining the Joker doing just that, resulting in Batman going (sound of frying eggs).

[Té Rowan]

Usagi (or some other magical girl) decides that the best way to cure evil guys of being evil is to show them endless runs of Care Bears, Sesame Street, Barney and Teletubbies. Simultaneously.

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

I've seen it done in fanfic. I've even seen it done in comic books. This was way, way back when Al Capp (Li'l Abner) and Chester Gould (Dick Tracy) were having a cartoon war. Capp created Fearless Fosdick as a parody of Dick Tracy, used him in Li'l Abner, and he eventually got his own comic strip and comic book. And became spokestoon for Wildroot Cream Oil hair tonic. They had a short, but catchy, jingle that played on the radio a lot - at least until the company went away in 1960 as hair fashions changed.

Fosdick.jpg (21.62 KiB) Viewed 2221 times

There was one strip where thugs had captured Fosdick, tied him in a chair, and forced him to listen to the Wildroot jingle on repeat. After several panels the thugs were lying on the floor gibbering, with fried brains, and Fosdick walked out the door combing his hair and thinking "That was refreshing."

Details not guaranteed. It's been over sixty years since I heard it. I'm not sure how long since I read the comic, but that was at least sixty years also.

Little Abner, incidentally, is where the term "skunk works" came from. I wonder if Lockheed paid royalties?

[Té Rowan]

HP what-if:

Harry Potter's name comes out of the Goblet, but there is no Harry Potter in Hogwarts. What if a different Harry Potter was called in instead, and the replacement was a squaddie (British Army regular)? More, this squaddie lives up (or down) to all the tales told about squaddies?

I dare say that Hogwarts, Beauxbâtons and Durmstrang will have their collective moon queen thoroughly space-tested that winter.

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

That has happened in fanfic -- no Harry Potter to be found, and the goblet used to draw him in. That's made a few good stories. In one, Harry got at the goblet and used it to put Tom Riddle, Cornelius Fudge, Dolores Umbridge, and Peter Pettigrew into a no-win situation. But there's another scenario possible: two Harry Potters in Hogwarts. It could happen. Potter is a not-uncommon surname, and our Harry Potter was flash-famous. I can see quite a few Potters naming their newborns "Harry". There'd be time for the kid to grow and be in first or second year. What might happen if the goblet wanted all the Harrys?

[Té Rowan]

Oh, heck… a classroomful of Harrys of various sizes, shapes and colours, and all wondering what is so special about being Harry Potter. Meanwhile, the Harry Potter Fan Club can't decide if they have a target-rich environment or whateveryonderhell is going on here.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY6y2ubhBvg — A medley of 1960s Wildroot Cream Oil ads from TV.
https://www.101soundboards.com/boards/22348-wildroot-cream-oil-hair-tonic-advert-music — "Wildroot Charlie" sung by Nat King Cole.

[Té Rowan]

Just a potential Minako-ism today: “Being an idol is not what it’s knocked up to be.”

[Té Rowan]

Based on the "Loki is sent to Midgard, ending up as someone else than intended" idea.

ATC: "Shortwave 123, did I really hear your captain giggling?"
SW123: "Yes, you did. He had a mad idea this morning and has been giggling away since then."
ATC (with sinking heart): "What kind of idea, if I may ask?"
SW123: "Sounds like the kind that would lead to the forced closure of an airspace, just to protect the tattered remains of a country's sanity."

---

Incidentally, I found myself reading the pep speech scene with Oliver Wood (the Gryffindor team leader) and hearing, in my mind, the intro and launch music from "Apollo 13".

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

You want airborne insanity, I'll give you some.

[Té Rowan]

I'll give some more back: Rex's Hangar has clips about several monstrosities that make the Twin Mustang look outright tame.

[Té Rowan]

Was reading one of sakurademonalchemist's HP/Supernatual crossovers…

Lucifer refuses to take up that throw-down with Michael unless, as the challenged, he gets to choose the weapons.

He chooses… simultaneous Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution.

[Té Rowan]

Naruto, possibly a crossover:

Naruto enters the seal, only to find the fox missing. On closer check, he spots a tunnel within the fox’s cell. He sneaks in and enters the tunnel. At the other end, he finds an empty jail cell, one that he can not leave except the way he entered. So what is outside this cell?

[Té Rowan]

HP: Someone ‘muggleborn’ has an unusual patronus: Snagglepuss, Scooby, Pink Panther, Taz…