This Should Be a Thing: A series of story ideas. Feel free to use them yourself.
This is a story outside the story, following an obsessed fan of the anime “Idol Gear.” It’s a show where the world is threatened by trans-dimensional aliens, impervious to conventional weapons, called “Higher Realm.” Higher Realm can only be defeated by “Idol Gears,” young girls in mecha suits who combine their flying formations with colorful pop songs.
The protagonist is a NEET who’s devoted his whole life to the show. One day, he reads an obscure doujinshi about his waifu, Nagisa. Nagia learns why their attacks are so effective against Higher Realm…also known as “3D.” The people of Nagisa’s world can’t bring any physical force against the Higher Realm, so they wage a cultural war of propaganda. Her and the other Idol Gears are that war’s vanguards, weakening the enemy’s will. Only through controlling Higher Realm can her people assure their world’s expansion, along with new territory and resources.
But now Nagisa sees the Higher Realm as actual people, not just the shapeless shadows they fought before. For the first time, she feels the emotional pain she’s wrought as an “Idol Gear.” The protagonist is one such victim. He’s a man estranged from his family, and any friend he might have once had. Now, he lives in dark squalor off a dwindling bank account, trying to find solace in the glow of a TV screen. She’s struck with pity, and also guilt. She never imagined being an Idol Gear was about sucking away people’s lives.
Surely, she thinks, there must be some way for the two realms to coexist in peace. The battle lines are crossed. She appears as a vision in the protagonist’s head, even when he closes his eyes. Their story together begins. His love pains her. They’re from two different worlds, never meant to be together. Every day,she struggles over whether she’s helping or hurting him even more. Can she open his eyes to the light beyond the blinds, or will he slide even further into isolated depression?
I envision a visual novel as the story’s ideal medium. From here, the story branches in many directions. Each branch finds a different answer to the question of whether this inter-dimensional cold war can end in peace.
Love the Machine 