TB, funny that you mention medical science because one of the variations that had occurred to me was a Dorian Gray meets Frankenstein sort of scenario where, rather than a picture, it's Dorian going to a plastic surgeon who keeps Dorian beautiful and eternally young, but rather than dispose of the parts that are cut away, keeps them and grafts them together. Again, just the brain playing with ideas.

I had actually thought to make Dorian female to turn the original on its head, but the possibility certainly exists to go either way.

I think, too, I know the perfect city in which to set it-- at least part of it-- New Orleans. Around Mardi Gras when there's hedonism and magic in the air... wouldn't it be DELICIOUS?

Interested to see where you go. Sounds like you will go somewhere. Maybe the doctor should be female. Now THAT would be a reversal of stereotypes (not that it has never been done, but definitely not the stereotype). Marie Moreau?

One thing: I'm enjoying the luxury of playing with something I won't have to write. But let me know if you are at a stage where outside suggestions could interfere with the creative process. Also, let me know if they are irritating you. Cause you get a enough tsuris from people who don't wish you well, and don't need more from friends with good intentions.

No worries, at all-- if I feel the need to retreat into my writing cave and marinate, I'll feel free to let everyone know. But for the time being, it's actually really cool to brainstorm "out loud" as it were. I don't generally let anyone into the process this early but since I'm playing with relatively familiar source material, I kind of felt like it merited a go.

I also brainstormed with Lewis over dinner and he gave me a great Criminal Minds sort of twist. So this is actually taking on a great life of its own at this point. I've jotted down notes and I think I've got some good framework ideas to play with.

OK here is my plot and I don't expect you to use it. It is not CSI. It is lush and decadent and implausible and over the top.

We start with a woman who is bug fuck crazy in a relationship with a sugar daddy, a big time businessman with relations to the entertainment industry. She is obsessed with pleasing him and maintaining a long term relationship. She know he will eventually trade her in on a younger model, and there is no chance of his every marrying her, so she intends to become his baby Momma - with his advance agreement. She brings up the idea over a romantic dinner he takes her to, and he is enthusiastic. He likes the idea of a baby he can take financial responsibility for, but spend time when he wants, but have no set ressponsibility for other than financial. Another couple at the restaurant has twins. He makes the usual jokes about "double trouble" than says that twins are bad luck, carry misfortune, are servants of evil.

She takes this very seriously, because she obsessively wants to please him. So when the doctor tells her she is going to have twins, she arranges for one of them to be adapted at birth so she Sugar Daddy only knows about one.

Both twins grow up beautiful, and selfish and obsessed. The twin raise by Mama is obsessed with his own beauty and all that it brings him. Because he is also overwhelmingly talented, and has Daddy's connections, and a lot of Daddy's money, he is able to become a Rock Star. His obsession with his own beauty does not cause him to take good care of himself. He works hard at peforming because it gives him a chance to show off his beauty, but drinks and drugs, and eats what he pleases.

The adapted twin grows up poor and obssessed with money. But he sees his beauty as the only path to money, and does nothing to develop anything but his beauty to get money. He eats a fanatically health diet, exercises 3 hours per day, etc. But because he develops nothing else about himself, he remains poor. He is so good-looking he gets some modeling jobs, but not many, because modeling is hard work, and good models have to do a heck of a lot and all he has is his good looks. But because his beauty is breathtaking the local modeling agency will use him in very limited circumstances. Similarly is able to get some work at a strip club, but not much because the only time they can use him is if they pair him with a partner with enough dancing skill to make a hat-rack look good. And they won't waste someone with that skill on him very often.

He has a day job as a barista, which he only keeps because he is the manager's lover and she covers for him. But as much she likes his beauty, she knows that someday she will have to stop covering for him and fire him to keep her job and when that happens that is what she will do.

Poor twin discovers rich twin, and comes to him for help Rich twin won't do a thing. Back to obsucrity for poor twin. Until rich twin finds his kidneys are going bad. Calls poor twin, asks for Kidney. Poor twin won't donate but will sell.

So Dorian gets kidney transplant pays poor twin, back on top. Poor twin can't buy success and blows money trying. And looks maybe a bit tired from transplant. Dorian is starting to show wear, meets multi-skilled Hollywood Doctor Marie Moreau. She tells him she has special operations to maintain his beauty, but it needs very compatible donor.Dorian tells her of twin.

So twin is approached, gets paid more to donate skin, gets paid more to donate muscles. Looks uglier and uglier. Deteriorates and goes downhills, constantly blows money. Ends up on street. Dorian does not want a reasource like him on street, so puts him in apartment with a guardian. Continues to do transplants. Twin slips guarian ends up on street again. Dorian finances clinic for Moreau and she locks evil twin in basement. Twin is now both victim and llving portrait of Dorian's soul.

In end wheh all this is exposed, will destroy Dorian, but too late to save twin who is hideous, dependent on permanent hookups to various forms of life support, and has been (continued...)

( continues...) driven mad in some way that he can no longer speak or communicate, just stare at unseen horrors.

A version that will never be written. More Grand Guigonal than than CSI.

Just throwing out ideas.

Dorian develops a nanotechnology that he can inject into his/her blood to give him/her eternal youth by cellular repair. With his/her body that can withstand all sorts of chemical abuse and disease he forsakes his/her significant other as he/she descends into more and more debauchery.

He starts to alienate his friends, sending tweets, facebook comments etc. while drunk or high, the social media comments get more vicious and nasty and everyone he knows starts to fall away. Then he starts to see subtle changes in all his pictures in his online presence, flickr, facebook, youtube, etc...

He decides to change his life thinking his sinful life is causing this to happen. But the hateful messages, and degrading pictures continue, his social media has taken a life of it's own. He can't get rid of the accounts, if he deletes them they reappear.

In the end he's lost all of his friends, everybody hates him, so he decides only giving up his eternal youth will stop it. He injects himself with something to counteract the nanotech, but it turns out it's also been spiked with poison. As he dies, his spouse/SO reveals he/she as been hacking all his accounts be he/she knows he always uses the same few passwords (all something vain), nothing supernatural has been happening at all. Maybe that's a little too simple, could also be an abandoned child or someone else with a ax to grind.

See, nanotechy stuff is SO not my forte. I'm all about the psychological implications and grounding it in (for me) a certain measure of reality. It's where my strengths lie so to try to veer too far from that, I'd be setting myself up for failure, I think.

TB, that's a hell of a crazy/lush story there- there are definitely some elements that I find intriguing and that have sort of sparked some offshoots in my twisted little brain.

Lizard brain is busy marinating, yes it is...

Well, the nanotech is just to get to eternal youth/beauty without something supernatural, not very important. More about the cloud of social media taking the place of the portrait.

Still like more goth in my Dorian. But if I were going to a "cloud Dorian" I think I'd take a mirror approach to you. Dorian is an ordinary schlub, gets a little money, establishes a permanent fund with an online PR firm to polish his on-line image. The alter his photos so that he wins all the "hot or not" contests, send out bots and paid personas to raise on-line money for charity. On-line he becomes more and more of a beautiful person. Meanwhile he suffers skin and muscle disease, looks less and less like his persona on-line. Eventually no one will believe he is the real person connected with his facebook page and the rest of his on-line persona, he loses his job, his bank account, becomes homeless, robbed of his wallet and all ID. Gets pushed out of all the good begging spots by other homeless people in better shape. Ends up shivering in a cardboard box in a dark alley, as the snow falls he probably won't make it through the night. While his on-line personal goes on and on from success to sucess, the permanent fund ensuring the PR firm will keep his cyber self alive forever, eternally growing more beautiful. The cyber self is the real Dorian, and the live (but not for long) Dorian the "portrait" that is finally discarded. About public image and celebrity rather than beauty. No relation to my last idea. I still like my last idea better for a novel, but I think "The Facebook Page of Dorian Gray" would not make a bad short story. You will note this Dorian, unlike Wilde's is not a bad person. Just get's eaten by his public image.

I'm not a bad macro plotter. Shame I can't micro plot.