Aug 13, 2008 09:00 AM
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San Francisco, 1:33 AM
Wed Feb 10
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One of the great mysteries of the universe is why some types of story get to repeat, with endless variations, while others just don't. How is that space opera gets to be its own genre? Or the amnesiac detective story? Or time-travel romance? Who decides that these things are genres, but some other perfectly great story ideas are denied genre status? Here are 20 things we think are way overdue to become genres of their own. Fight the power!
1) On election day, thousands of people forget how to vote. Conspiracy? Psychosomatic?
2) A chemical plant accident causes it to rain love potion... which later wears off. Awkward!
3) Aliens invade, then realize they forgot something at home, and go away. And then invade again, a few weeks later.
4) Genetically engineered meat gains sentience, and becomes a pop star.
5) The only guy who can talk computers into self-destructing loses his voice, right before a robot uprising. Gargle! Gargle faster!
6) A new drug makes you think you have superspeed. But actually, you don't.
7) A supercomputer imposes Kant's Categorical Imperative as the only law of the land.
8) The shrinking-ray chase scene, with pursuer and pursued getting smaller and smaller.
9) Due to genetic degradation, it now takes a village to produce enough healthy chromosomes to make a child.
10) My clone plagiarized my memoir!
11) Only rich people can afford normal gravity, while the poor start floating away.
12) How much can you use genitals, and still take them back for a refund within the 30-day return period?
13) Crash diet: visit a dystopian future for a few weeks.
14) I set up a hologram to make it look like I was at work, while I was at the beach. But it was better at my job than I am.
15) The only way to stop genetic discrimination is to wipe out all knowledge of DNA. Using a sexually transmitted retrovirus!
16) After a conquest, your entire nation is now a giant theme park. Your behavior mods are forthcoming.
17) Sexual identity theft leaves thousands of people unsure of their sexual orientations. In some versions of this story, the National Guard is called in to sort things out.
18) Dead war criminals are reanimated so they can apologize, over and over again, to the descendants of their victims. But then of course they get groupies.
19) A new drug makes you want what you already have. But over time, you forget they already have it, and think you have to go out and get whatever it is.
20) You can't become famous unless your face can look like a more attractive version of whoever happens to be looking at it. The process works great for about five years, then your face melts.
Send an email to Charlie Jane Anders, the author of this post, at charliejane@io9.com.
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