story idea recipe
1. Take one moderately creepy religion/philosophy/worldview. Something that isn’t merely unacceptable or unfit for you, but something that makes you shudder every time you have to deal with it, something you would keep your kids away from, if you could. For me, it is Christianity. For you, it could be something else.
2. Take a kids’ version of that moderately creepy thing. A simple propaganda material that’s meant to be convincing and light. For me – “Bible heroes” flash cards, with oversimplified pictures of smiling people (Jonah in scuba gear, on the back of a smiling whale) and text that is adjusted to the gentle minds of small children (“Jesus died on the cross because he loved us.”)
3. Draw one card and get the rough idea of a story (conflict) out of it.
4. Research some more to figure out the stuff that’s been left out of the card. Dig deep.
5. Put it in a different time, space, religion – anything to twist the idea around until you love it.
6. Sleep on it.
7. Write a story.
Good recipe! Perhaps the struggle of Lačplēsis could also be a good starting point – with his power stored in a place as conspicuous and vulnerable as his ears
That, plus his classmates tease him about being a furry anime fan
(Actually, old stories about Lenin are awesome. I had a couple of books about him, sort of parables about humanity. Loved them a lot when I was a kid.)