Hmm. Well, imaginary friends flopped as a topic-starter, but slavery was quite successful, so let''s try something else controversial... how about ''racial purity''? Okay, two neighboring space kingdoms, one kind of like japan and the other kind of like aryan germany. Make the first one a bit more conservative, traditional, hierarchial, patriararchal etc., and the second a bit more liberal with sexual equality, but both have the same sort of natiolal pride and prejudice against gaijin/foreigners. Now let''s complicate things - there was an alliance-marriage between the two kindgoms which resulted in a japanese prince or duke with blond hair and blue eyes. o_O So he has two conflicting visions of who people expect him to be, the perfect noble prince or the sneaky unreliable outsider of questionable morals. So he''s under mental stress from this - what does he do about it? Become a hitler-type? (Did you know hitler was also a frustrated artist? There''s a fascinating short story around somewhere called _Hitler Painted Roses_) Anyway he''s our tormented political visionary, let''s call him Ravennin. Now let''s give him Soarel, a female sidekick who''s the image of the ideal japanese - short, slender, perfect skin, looong black hair, doe eyes but very intelligent underneath the cuteness... perhaps she''s in love with him? Anyway he looks at her and isn''t sure whether to admire her or feel irritated because he can never live up to her traditional perfection. And then we''ll have the prince or duke''s opposite number, the pureblooded aryan princess/dutchess Merru- blond hair, blue eyes, bears some resemblance to the other although they''re only second cousins or so. She''s very friendly and has a sunny temperment because she''s been loved and encouraged all her life and she''s never had a reason to feel out of place. Also she''s very independant and assertive, the total opposite of the ideal japanese woman. She has a military rank and can captain a starship. Can you sense the love triangle brewing? ^_~ Get the characters together any way you like, but the reason for their meeting is that there''s a war brewing and they want to avert it with diplomacy - but it''s not going to work. Ravennin is going to end up in command of a japanese starship across a field of battle from Merru. You decide where Soarel is, but trapped with some civillians on a spacestation in no man''s land between the two starships would probably be good. Or maybe the two nobles are on a contested planet or station, each with a troop of crew members, and Soarel''s gone missing somewhere on the planet/station... Okay, your turn! Get the characters together, set up the love triangle (any way you want, it could be Ravennin being fought over by the two women or Soarel being fought over by the two blonds, whichever is more fun). Have some socializing like a ball or court sessions going on before things get interrupted by the war. Add worldbuilding details and more characters, suggest gameplay... go wild! ^_^

Ravennin has not grown up but rather has spent too much of his life in preperation. He is afraid of Soarel because he knows she loves him but he can''t imagine himself marrying her as she represents to him the traditional way of life.

He meets Merru at a diplomacy talk (really, who cares) and is so abashed by her free spirit that he instantly concieves against his people. With no remorse or afterthought at all, he turns his mind over to anguish. How can he get away? He seems trapped as an order by the knig is sent to go to war. He heads toward a small vessel and jetisons into space. Soarel is relieved to a way station to oversee civilian operations.

So Ravennin flies. As his mate he takes his friend Oghough who is close to him. He attests his contriteness for fighting and says to his friend, "You know Merru? I am going to join her. I hate this life. You understand, don''t you?" There is silence the rest of the trip. Oghough knows his friend cannot be turned about.

Nearby, the King''s troops approach Merru''s vessel. Hundreds of scouts apprise the waylay and from the other side more starships zoom in. The King calls for reinforcements, specifically from his son, Ravennin.

Ravennin is close by, now. He sees the mighty space tanks preparing. The air is a mess of swarming machinery. The moment is here. He speeds his vessel toward the aryan mothership. He knows that his father must see him, so he arms his cannons and sounds the attack. His plan is to sneak through the brigade while the melee is underway. Merru blows him out of the sky.

Of course, I never told you how Merru felt about Ravennin. She never even acknowledged his existence let alone his sorrowful puppydog attempt at love. To her, he was nothing but a rickety little ship descending on the armory. Oh well... 2 women, no men. It is better that way in this story. But the sad thing is that Oghough loved Ravennin! So it is a good thing they died because that could have gotten very awkward. After the battle, the Japanese King died from injuries. The kingdom passed to Soarel who changed her name to Casady and joined a punk band called The Flippers. Merru, who had won the battle, eventually, conquered much of the galaxy and contracted several venereal diseases from various "trophies of war." EOF

no wise fish would go anywhere without a porpoise - The Mock Turtle