November 15 was America Recycles Day. A day that is dedicated to encouraging Americans (though from what I can tell most of the time people say Americans they mean only USA) to recycle and to buy recycled products. I regularly recycle via curbside recycling and Abitibi paper boxes. On this day I dropped off at the zoo, they were having a recycling event in which they took various recyclables that curbside recycling does not, a box of mostly cdrs; though there were some dvdrs, aol discs, and 3.5 floppy disks as well. I used to trade anime fansubs via the mail until high speed internet and dvdrs became common.
I had traded cdrs for several years (mostly through the now mostly dead Noated forum though did so on a few other now completely gone sites) and had amassed a rather large number of cdrs. Over time I had watched them and no longer wanted the particular series, acquired the actual dvds, got better quality versions, received duplicates, put them on dvdrs to save room, poor quality cdrs that had become damaged, etc. as well as various other cds such as AOL, Netzero, old Linux distros, game sample discs, etc. I felt it was a waste to toss them out so I instead would toss them into a big box saying to myself that I am going to recycle them. I kept putting it off until I saw a flier advertising national recycling day and decided to drop them off (I first emailed the company that was doing the computer recycling to see if they took cdrs). I had looked into recycling them in the past but most places I saw that would recycle them charged or you had to ship them to the company which considering the number and weight of discs I had would have been costly.
Prior to recycling the discs I browsed a few of the discs to see if I was tossing anything I did not want to. I only looked at a few but did find some interesting things (though usually not the content). Things like how poor the quality of some of them were but at the time it had not bothered me (I still will watch things with poor video quality on occasion like youtube videos) and how my computer could no longer play some of them. For example, a few videos I looked at had Intel/Ligos Indeo Interactive 4.0 codec which is no longer supported and does not play on Vista (and is difficult to get to play on any video players including players that play most things like VLC because the 5.0 codec does not play 4.0, or doesn't do so well, and the codec is copyrighted and no longer supported by the company that made it). At the time though the codec was pretty popular with Microsoft (Btw I can get them to play by converting them to a different format but did not bother). I was also surprised about how many AOL discs were in that box there had to be at least 50 and also a few AOL 3.5 floppy's. I had a lot of internet discs from other companies like Netzero, Juno, People PC, MSN, etc. How many discs did those companies mail out?
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Stylistic issues and random thoughts
I am nowhere near where I should be for my current writing goal but as I write I started to contemplate style.
I was wondering whether I should use macrons and other diacritics. In general I do not use macrons or diacritics on this blog because I am lazy and they take a bit longer to input. I probably should use them on some of the romanizations of Japanese words that I have used on this blog since the same word depending on whether it is a long or short vowel could mean something else entirely. As for the macron use I'm currently thinking about using in a fan fic are for character names e.g. using ō to indicate that the o in Ryoga's name is a long vowel; Ryōga.
If I do use them should I limit them to names and possible foreign words or use them on other things like acute accents such as in fiancée (which is a word adopted from french)?
Thinking about that should I call Ranma's situation engagements or betrothals i.e. should I say Ranma is engaged to Ukyo and Akane and Shampoo or betrothed to them? It is more common to see people call them engaged, which is why I'm contemplating using that term, but betrothed is probably the better term to use since betrothal often refers to agreements involving not only the couple but their families and often have binding legal or honor implications that engagements do not.
Something that just occurred to me some fics talk about some of the honor implications of breaking the engagements, often erroneous legal implications, and possible fallout (like Shampoo deciding that Akane really has to die) but I do not ever recall seeing a fic in which Ukyo or the Tendo's sue Ranma/Saotomes for breaking the engagement, which they could theoretically do under breach of promise laws. I do not know what those type of laws are currently in Japan but I do know that there are books in Japan that do have this as part of their plots for example: Kazumi Takahashi's novel, Hi no utsuwa, has the main character a university dean sued for breaking a marriage engagement.
The next stylistic thing is a common conundrum for Ranma fan fic writers, or anyone writing about a multi or no gendered being; that I have not given much thought about until just recently. Namely how should I indicate Ranma's gender? I've seen books, such as Peter David's Star Trek: New Frontier Series use hir and s/he for dual gendered beings but I personally find that annoying though I did enjoy those books. The use of singular they would probably confuse people thinking that they means multiple people instead of just Ranma. I could use it but it is usually not referred to people and may cause readers to view Ranma as not a person.
The way I am currently thinking about doing so is to, when narrating, use Ranma for male form and Ranma-onna for female form. I definitely won't use Ranma for male form and Ranko for female form because I do not believe Ranma would choose to use that alias again because of the memories associated with it and people not in the know would view Ranma and Ranko as two separate individuals. Though this maybe awkward on occasion.
When looking from a character point of view though I am unsure what to do. I originally was going to say that Ranma would always think of himself as being male, but upon further reflection that seems unlikely. Most of the time a person does not think of themselves as being male or female (I, am, me, etc. are gender neutral). Though the main reason is that Ranma has strong associations with some actions as being gender specific, so if Ranma were to be doing or contemplate doing something he associates as female he is likely to view himself as a female during those times (like putting on make-up, wearing a dress, or wearing a swimsuit). As for the other characters it would vary and be dependent on circumstance. Akane, for example, would think of Ranma as male regardless of form most of the time but there would be circumstances that would make her view him as female. Some examples: if it looks like Ranma is about to kiss her in female form or other displays of affection while in female form, a situation in which another girl is needed such as substituting for her in a contest, if he acts like a male while in female form in public (therefor embarrassing her), if she happens to notice that Ranma looks better in some outfit than she does, etc. Characters that do not know his true gender will of course use whatever gender he currently is as his gender. Then there is Tatewaki, he associates Ranma as female when in female form to the degree that all evidence otherwise is ignored, truthfully I think that would be fairly common to some extent. A person who sees Ranma most often in female form is likely to view Ranma as a female even if they know about the curse and that Ranma is actually male; particularly if they see Ranma doing things in female form they usually associate as feminine.
Next stylistic thing. Should I use Shampoo, Mousse, and Cologne or should I use Shanpū, Koron, and Mūsu? In many ways it doesn't matter and Shampoo, Mousse, and Cologne are more common (they were the ones VIZ chose to use) but I kind of like Shanpū, Koron, and Mūsu more (though you wouldn't really know it from reading this blog since I tend to use the more common one). I like them more in part because it shows that their names aren't actually hygiene products they just happen to sound like them to someone who speaks English (which was deliberately done by Takahasi).
I was wondering whether I should use macrons and other diacritics. In general I do not use macrons or diacritics on this blog because I am lazy and they take a bit longer to input. I probably should use them on some of the romanizations of Japanese words that I have used on this blog since the same word depending on whether it is a long or short vowel could mean something else entirely. As for the macron use I'm currently thinking about using in a fan fic are for character names e.g. using ō to indicate that the o in Ryoga's name is a long vowel; Ryōga.
If I do use them should I limit them to names and possible foreign words or use them on other things like acute accents such as in fiancée (which is a word adopted from french)?
Thinking about that should I call Ranma's situation engagements or betrothals i.e. should I say Ranma is engaged to Ukyo and Akane and Shampoo or betrothed to them? It is more common to see people call them engaged, which is why I'm contemplating using that term, but betrothed is probably the better term to use since betrothal often refers to agreements involving not only the couple but their families and often have binding legal or honor implications that engagements do not.
Something that just occurred to me some fics talk about some of the honor implications of breaking the engagements, often erroneous legal implications, and possible fallout (like Shampoo deciding that Akane really has to die) but I do not ever recall seeing a fic in which Ukyo or the Tendo's sue Ranma/Saotomes for breaking the engagement, which they could theoretically do under breach of promise laws. I do not know what those type of laws are currently in Japan but I do know that there are books in Japan that do have this as part of their plots for example: Kazumi Takahashi's novel, Hi no utsuwa, has the main character a university dean sued for breaking a marriage engagement.
The next stylistic thing is a common conundrum for Ranma fan fic writers, or anyone writing about a multi or no gendered being; that I have not given much thought about until just recently. Namely how should I indicate Ranma's gender? I've seen books, such as Peter David's Star Trek: New Frontier Series use hir and s/he for dual gendered beings but I personally find that annoying though I did enjoy those books. The use of singular they would probably confuse people thinking that they means multiple people instead of just Ranma. I could use it but it is usually not referred to people and may cause readers to view Ranma as not a person.
The way I am currently thinking about doing so is to, when narrating, use Ranma for male form and Ranma-onna for female form. I definitely won't use Ranma for male form and Ranko for female form because I do not believe Ranma would choose to use that alias again because of the memories associated with it and people not in the know would view Ranma and Ranko as two separate individuals. Though this maybe awkward on occasion.
When looking from a character point of view though I am unsure what to do. I originally was going to say that Ranma would always think of himself as being male, but upon further reflection that seems unlikely. Most of the time a person does not think of themselves as being male or female (I, am, me, etc. are gender neutral). Though the main reason is that Ranma has strong associations with some actions as being gender specific, so if Ranma were to be doing or contemplate doing something he associates as female he is likely to view himself as a female during those times (like putting on make-up, wearing a dress, or wearing a swimsuit). As for the other characters it would vary and be dependent on circumstance. Akane, for example, would think of Ranma as male regardless of form most of the time but there would be circumstances that would make her view him as female. Some examples: if it looks like Ranma is about to kiss her in female form or other displays of affection while in female form, a situation in which another girl is needed such as substituting for her in a contest, if he acts like a male while in female form in public (therefor embarrassing her), if she happens to notice that Ranma looks better in some outfit than she does, etc. Characters that do not know his true gender will of course use whatever gender he currently is as his gender. Then there is Tatewaki, he associates Ranma as female when in female form to the degree that all evidence otherwise is ignored, truthfully I think that would be fairly common to some extent. A person who sees Ranma most often in female form is likely to view Ranma as a female even if they know about the curse and that Ranma is actually male; particularly if they see Ranma doing things in female form they usually associate as feminine.
Next stylistic thing. Should I use Shampoo, Mousse, and Cologne or should I use Shanpū, Koron, and Mūsu? In many ways it doesn't matter and Shampoo, Mousse, and Cologne are more common (they were the ones VIZ chose to use) but I kind of like Shanpū, Koron, and Mūsu more (though you wouldn't really know it from reading this blog since I tend to use the more common one). I like them more in part because it shows that their names aren't actually hygiene products they just happen to sound like them to someone who speaks English (which was deliberately done by Takahasi).
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Believable knowledge level
I'd like to say that I am off to a good start and have written at least 1667 words (50,000 divided by 30 rounded to nearest whole number) but sadly that is not the case. I had a few false starts where I wrote something and then deleted it because I did not like it. Now I do not really know what to write, the reason I am writing this post is in hopes that in doing so it will kick start me into actually writing more (I have about 150 words) and it is far too soon for writer's block.
My first start, that I ended up scrapping, had Ranma interrupted while making homemade chloroform from common household ingredients in the shed that is in the corner of the Tendo compound. The manga has Ranma use chloroform but never explained where he got it so I figured why not have Ranma making it himself (many people are surprised how many things can be made with stuff lying around the house). The household ingredients used are pool cleaner(Sodium Hypochlorite), ice, and paint thinner(Acetone) though I do not advocate people doing this unless they know what they are doing because it is not entirely safe (another thing that could be created by accident is phosgene a world war one chemical weapon). Upon reading the scene I did not like it so deleted it.
In writing that scene I started to wonder how many potential readers, provided I do ever let anyone see it, would have found that to be out of character for Ranma. In addition to that would they find it strange for several of the characters to have an extremely good understanding of things like applied sciences, though the character may not know the technical terms. How much knowledge could I give a character in a particular field before it becomes unbelievable? There are many things people would probably not find OOC, such as making a mention to a lesser known martial arts style such as Aki Kiti a martial arts style of Nagaland (a hill state located in the far north-eastern part of India). I do not think many people would find it out of character for Ranma to make a potion after watching Happosai do so (Ranma has watched Happosai do similar things in the manga and Happosai has made potions; he made a rejuvenation potion) or acquiring a book of potions and following the steps (he can read, cook and follow basic instructions so if he has a book on it should be no problem). While I am pretty sure that most people would find the above as being in character, I am unsure if they would find him doing other things like basic practical chemistry as still being in character.
That is not worded as well as I'd like, basically I'm wondering as to what knowledge I can have the characters, such as Ranma, portray without people viewing them as being out of character (though the knowledge would vary by character and what is shown in the manga). My personal view, which is probably obvious to people who have read my other posts, is that Ranma is very intelligent and would have (and is shown to have) picked up a lot of practical knowledge as well as quite a bit of eclectic knowledge during his travels. Displaying some knowledge would not be balked at such as knowledge on anatomy (since some is required just to prevent hurting people in Martial arts and he has displayed knowledge in first aid, pressure points, and the human body) or geography (he has traveled quite a bit even during the manga) other knowledge I am not sure of. Since some people would find anything I wrote to be out of character I probably should not care but it is something to think about, though as long as it makes sense for the fic and could be explained in a somewhat believable way it should not matter. A few thing he definitely will not have a lot of knowledge on, in any possible fic I'd write, is popular culture, Shakespeare, and politics; he seems to have very little interest in things like movies, music, idols, and (non-martial art) sports. He probably knows some but not a lot, could tell you how to play soccer/baseball but would be unable to name any but the biggest stars or give their stats.
My first start, that I ended up scrapping, had Ranma interrupted while making homemade chloroform from common household ingredients in the shed that is in the corner of the Tendo compound. The manga has Ranma use chloroform but never explained where he got it so I figured why not have Ranma making it himself (many people are surprised how many things can be made with stuff lying around the house). The household ingredients used are pool cleaner(Sodium Hypochlorite), ice, and paint thinner(Acetone) though I do not advocate people doing this unless they know what they are doing because it is not entirely safe (another thing that could be created by accident is phosgene a world war one chemical weapon). Upon reading the scene I did not like it so deleted it.
In writing that scene I started to wonder how many potential readers, provided I do ever let anyone see it, would have found that to be out of character for Ranma. In addition to that would they find it strange for several of the characters to have an extremely good understanding of things like applied sciences, though the character may not know the technical terms. How much knowledge could I give a character in a particular field before it becomes unbelievable? There are many things people would probably not find OOC, such as making a mention to a lesser known martial arts style such as Aki Kiti a martial arts style of Nagaland (a hill state located in the far north-eastern part of India). I do not think many people would find it out of character for Ranma to make a potion after watching Happosai do so (Ranma has watched Happosai do similar things in the manga and Happosai has made potions; he made a rejuvenation potion) or acquiring a book of potions and following the steps (he can read, cook and follow basic instructions so if he has a book on it should be no problem). While I am pretty sure that most people would find the above as being in character, I am unsure if they would find him doing other things like basic practical chemistry as still being in character.
That is not worded as well as I'd like, basically I'm wondering as to what knowledge I can have the characters, such as Ranma, portray without people viewing them as being out of character (though the knowledge would vary by character and what is shown in the manga). My personal view, which is probably obvious to people who have read my other posts, is that Ranma is very intelligent and would have (and is shown to have) picked up a lot of practical knowledge as well as quite a bit of eclectic knowledge during his travels. Displaying some knowledge would not be balked at such as knowledge on anatomy (since some is required just to prevent hurting people in Martial arts and he has displayed knowledge in first aid, pressure points, and the human body) or geography (he has traveled quite a bit even during the manga) other knowledge I am not sure of. Since some people would find anything I wrote to be out of character I probably should not care but it is something to think about, though as long as it makes sense for the fic and could be explained in a somewhat believable way it should not matter. A few thing he definitely will not have a lot of knowledge on, in any possible fic I'd write, is popular culture, Shakespeare, and politics; he seems to have very little interest in things like movies, music, idols, and (non-martial art) sports. He probably knows some but not a lot, could tell you how to play soccer/baseball but would be unable to name any but the biggest stars or give their stats.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Misc Ideas
November is fast approaching and I've yet to decide anything. By this point I ought to have some clue as to what I'm going to write next month, I don't. I should have the beginnings of an outline and researching specifics. Coming up with ideas is very easy, choosing which to use and implementing it not so. I continually think of new ones and not every idea I have is Ranma related (I am not that obsessed with Ranma 1/2), though many could be were I to try and make them.
Another series I have had many ideas for is Slayers (which is one of, if not, my favorite anime). Though I am unsure as to where the best splitting point or continuity to use (novels, manga, games). Though it would be very unlikely that I'd use the games, many reasons but largest being Xelloss is killed in the SNES Slayers RPG.
Some miscellaneous, and probably not all that good since very little thought was put into them, ideas:
1.Ranma/Slayers crossover. One possibility Ranma watches the Slayers anime then deciding to have some fun he splashes himself with water and pretends to be Lina Inverse using ki techniques and tricks to mimic her spells as best he can. Another would be to have him be summoned by a sorcerer in the Slayers universe. Most of my ideas for Slayers are not crossovers (and are not posted anywhere).
2. Lupin the Third/ Ranma crossover:
Kodachi is kidnapped by a criminal organization. I chose Kodachi because she was not kidnapped in the manga, is the most reliant on objects rather than pure physical abilities, and in my opinion rates lower in skill than Ranma's other fiancees (Akane or Shampoo locked in a brick walled and steel bared room would, judging by the manga particularly the scene where Akane does just that, break out). While Ranma does not love Kodachi he would go to rescue her. The thing is he does not know where she is and her release is dependent on Ranma acquiring (i.e. stealing) several things for them.
Here is where Lupin enters the story, he is trying to get the very same items. Conflict between Lupin and Ranma, which of course would be resolved eventually, they then find out why the villain wanted the items, which leads to a grander adventure. The person who kidnapped Kodachi was just a cog in another villains very large plan for world domination (not that Ranma actually cares about who rules the world but he does care about kidnapping people he knows and murder).
3. I'd like to see a Ranma/ Dirty Pair crossover but I don't even have a vague idea how to cross those two series.
4. Idea that came from a combination of the Romeo and Juliet play and the play Ranma wrote to convince Happosai to change Pantyhose Taro's name. A year has nearly passed since the Romeo and Juliet play and the drama club approaches Ranma with a request that he star in the play for this years competition (last years play may not have followed the script but it did win the competition and was enjoyed by the audience). They word their request in such away as to trigger Ranma's competitive nature so he agrees making the stipulation that he gets to chose the play; the play Ranma chooses is one of his own making. Ranma does not write himself as the hero of the play instead he makes himself the villain who kidnaps the heroine. That's all I have for this idea, at this time.
All the above ideas and the recently posted ones, baring the Inuyasha one and the rehash of ideas in the second post that mentions national writing month, are newly conceived ideas. I have recently found a text file I created a few years ago labeled Ranma Story ideas. I am not going to post any of them. Every single one of the ideas in that text document is terrible, which tells me something about how my thoughts have changed in the intervening years. Not a one of them looks to have have anything worth even trying to salvage for possible later use.
Another series I have had many ideas for is Slayers (which is one of, if not, my favorite anime). Though I am unsure as to where the best splitting point or continuity to use (novels, manga, games). Though it would be very unlikely that I'd use the games, many reasons but largest being Xelloss is killed in the SNES Slayers RPG.
Some miscellaneous, and probably not all that good since very little thought was put into them, ideas:
1.Ranma/Slayers crossover. One possibility Ranma watches the Slayers anime then deciding to have some fun he splashes himself with water and pretends to be Lina Inverse using ki techniques and tricks to mimic her spells as best he can. Another would be to have him be summoned by a sorcerer in the Slayers universe. Most of my ideas for Slayers are not crossovers (and are not posted anywhere).
2. Lupin the Third/ Ranma crossover:
Kodachi is kidnapped by a criminal organization. I chose Kodachi because she was not kidnapped in the manga, is the most reliant on objects rather than pure physical abilities, and in my opinion rates lower in skill than Ranma's other fiancees (Akane or Shampoo locked in a brick walled and steel bared room would, judging by the manga particularly the scene where Akane does just that, break out). While Ranma does not love Kodachi he would go to rescue her. The thing is he does not know where she is and her release is dependent on Ranma acquiring (i.e. stealing) several things for them.
Here is where Lupin enters the story, he is trying to get the very same items. Conflict between Lupin and Ranma, which of course would be resolved eventually, they then find out why the villain wanted the items, which leads to a grander adventure. The person who kidnapped Kodachi was just a cog in another villains very large plan for world domination (not that Ranma actually cares about who rules the world but he does care about kidnapping people he knows and murder).
3. I'd like to see a Ranma/ Dirty Pair crossover but I don't even have a vague idea how to cross those two series.
4. Idea that came from a combination of the Romeo and Juliet play and the play Ranma wrote to convince Happosai to change Pantyhose Taro's name. A year has nearly passed since the Romeo and Juliet play and the drama club approaches Ranma with a request that he star in the play for this years competition (last years play may not have followed the script but it did win the competition and was enjoyed by the audience). They word their request in such away as to trigger Ranma's competitive nature so he agrees making the stipulation that he gets to chose the play; the play Ranma chooses is one of his own making. Ranma does not write himself as the hero of the play instead he makes himself the villain who kidnaps the heroine. That's all I have for this idea, at this time.
All the above ideas and the recently posted ones, baring the Inuyasha one and the rehash of ideas in the second post that mentions national writing month, are newly conceived ideas. I have recently found a text file I created a few years ago labeled Ranma Story ideas. I am not going to post any of them. Every single one of the ideas in that text document is terrible, which tells me something about how my thoughts have changed in the intervening years. Not a one of them looks to have have anything worth even trying to salvage for possible later use.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Rosario + Vampire Season II Ranma reference
I have not read any of the Rosario + Vampire manga. Someone e-mailed me the above page from that manga since it does somewhat resemble Ranma and Genma and I have been listing possible Ranma references in other works.
Ranma/ Kim Possible crossover
Even though, in an earlier post, I had ruled out comedy as being the main genre for a story this idea still came to me. This idea is mostly about Ranma and Shego hanging out and playing pranks on the various Kim Possible villains (and some of the other people as well).
Ranma would be neither a hero or a villain. Doesn't give a crap who rules the world and has no idea as to why anyone would want to, seeing it as being more trouble than it is worth. Shego won't turn good. Basically Ranma and Shego are going to do whatever the hell they feel like. Sometimes it will be stealing, sometimes scamming a casino for cash, sometimes playing pranks, and sometimes saving the world. Not a Shego/Ranma pairing, they will only be friends. Though Shego is willing to cross lines that Ranma would not which would cause contention between them.
Ranma-onna wakes up in a prison cell with Shego not knowing how he got there but more importantly very hungry. Upon learning that food will not be given for several hours Ranma breaks out taking Shego with him. Ranma than not having anything better to do at the moment goes with Shego to Dr Drakkens latest lair.
Some things that could happen in the fic:
- Ranma will not interrupt fights between Shego and Kim.
- Yamachi ninja school will attack Ranma over a misunderstanding.
- Many pranks done at others expense (Ranma does do this in the manga like using ventriloquism to say "kiss me" in Akane's voice to Ryoga, sneaking up on Akane to see her reaction, dressing Akari's pig as Akane and telling Ryoga that she wants to kiss him, etc.).
- Shego will fight some of Ranma's fiancee's, if official duel Ranma will not interfere, otherwise he would attempt to stop them from fighting.
- Skillwise, in my opinion, for the girls: Shampoo>Ukyo and Akane>Kodachi, Kim Possible, and Shego. That does not necessarily mean that Shampoo would beat Kim or Shego since there are many other factors (An example as to why skill alone does not necessarily matter: Kodachi, since she is willing to fight the dirtiest using things like paralysis powder and traps, could conceivably defeat all of them at once depending on other factors).
Ranma would be neither a hero or a villain. Doesn't give a crap who rules the world and has no idea as to why anyone would want to, seeing it as being more trouble than it is worth. Shego won't turn good. Basically Ranma and Shego are going to do whatever the hell they feel like. Sometimes it will be stealing, sometimes scamming a casino for cash, sometimes playing pranks, and sometimes saving the world. Not a Shego/Ranma pairing, they will only be friends. Though Shego is willing to cross lines that Ranma would not which would cause contention between them.
Ranma-onna wakes up in a prison cell with Shego not knowing how he got there but more importantly very hungry. Upon learning that food will not be given for several hours Ranma breaks out taking Shego with him. Ranma than not having anything better to do at the moment goes with Shego to Dr Drakkens latest lair.
Some things that could happen in the fic:
- Ranma will not interrupt fights between Shego and Kim.
- Yamachi ninja school will attack Ranma over a misunderstanding.
- Many pranks done at others expense (Ranma does do this in the manga like using ventriloquism to say "kiss me" in Akane's voice to Ryoga, sneaking up on Akane to see her reaction, dressing Akari's pig as Akane and telling Ryoga that she wants to kiss him, etc.).
- Shego will fight some of Ranma's fiancee's, if official duel Ranma will not interfere, otherwise he would attempt to stop them from fighting.
- Skillwise, in my opinion, for the girls: Shampoo>Ukyo and Akane>Kodachi, Kim Possible, and Shego. That does not necessarily mean that Shampoo would beat Kim or Shego since there are many other factors (An example as to why skill alone does not necessarily matter: Kodachi, since she is willing to fight the dirtiest using things like paralysis powder and traps, could conceivably defeat all of them at once depending on other factors).
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
A Japanese Ghost Story
This idea is for a supernatural fantasy/ghost story. Ranma has for several months (offscreen parts during the manga) been sneaking into the school after hours and playing with a ghost named Hanako. Hanako is a very common ghost story told in Japanese schools (several movies and the story is told in just about all the schools with kids really being to afraid to go to the bathroom to the point that schools have started upgrading the bathrooms to make them less scary). To call the ghost you go to the third bathroom stall and say "Hanako-san, Hanako-san let's play a game". The ghost then comes out and says "Yes. Do you want to play." Depending on the story sometimes she is nice and wants to play, some times she scares people, and sometimes she kills people. She usually, and for the fic idea would, have short hair and wears the color red.
Ranma has been keeping her company some nights and they play games like Chess, Monopoly, Trivia Pursuit, Life (very popular in Japan), cards, Go, Shogi, Renju, etc. The thing is Ranma left for awhile and neglected to tell her where he was going. She starts to worry about him and goes in search for him, by randomly popping out of toilets (for the purpose of this fic she is metaphysically bound to them - place bound spirits are common in ghost stories, particularly vengeful ones, generally bound to the place they died usually by strong emotional ties). When he finally does show up and summons her she is initially glad to see him but upon learning that he was not in danger, just forgot to tell her he'd be busy for a few weeks and was not able to visit her, she gets extremely angry and drags him (still alive) either to the Sanzu river (Buddhist river of the dead), Purgatory (Catholic waiting room to the afterlife), or to Yomi (Shinto afterlife) - the Japanese would not see a problem with all three existing congruently and I don't know what afterlife I'd choose were I to write this.
That is really all I have for this idea, besides after that event instead of occasionally meeting supernatural creatures/spirits he does so with a greater frequency than he did in the manga (though he did encounter quite a few in the manga). Some would be dangerous such as the Teke-Teke (ghosts that are missing the lower half of their bodies and chase people while carrying scissors or a sickle with the intent of chopping off humans lower half and making them into Teke-Teke). Some would be harmless though freaky looking such as man-faced dog (Dog with the face of a man often seen digging in garbage, sometimes chases cars, generally tells people who happen to see them to leave them alone). Some would be helpful like the Baku (a monster that eats nightmares).
The ghosts would also have common ghostly powers, though some would be dependent on type, such as the ability to enter dreams (like the astral form of an old man Ranma went on a date with in the manga), hitodama (balls of spiritual fire that most of the ghosts had like the lady ghost who wanted her panties stolen or the Bakeneko, ghost cat, in the manga had), possession, intangibility, ability to place curses, shapeshifting, etc.
Ranma has been keeping her company some nights and they play games like Chess, Monopoly, Trivia Pursuit, Life (very popular in Japan), cards, Go, Shogi, Renju, etc. The thing is Ranma left for awhile and neglected to tell her where he was going. She starts to worry about him and goes in search for him, by randomly popping out of toilets (for the purpose of this fic she is metaphysically bound to them - place bound spirits are common in ghost stories, particularly vengeful ones, generally bound to the place they died usually by strong emotional ties). When he finally does show up and summons her she is initially glad to see him but upon learning that he was not in danger, just forgot to tell her he'd be busy for a few weeks and was not able to visit her, she gets extremely angry and drags him (still alive) either to the Sanzu river (Buddhist river of the dead), Purgatory (Catholic waiting room to the afterlife), or to Yomi (Shinto afterlife) - the Japanese would not see a problem with all three existing congruently and I don't know what afterlife I'd choose were I to write this.
That is really all I have for this idea, besides after that event instead of occasionally meeting supernatural creatures/spirits he does so with a greater frequency than he did in the manga (though he did encounter quite a few in the manga). Some would be dangerous such as the Teke-Teke (ghosts that are missing the lower half of their bodies and chase people while carrying scissors or a sickle with the intent of chopping off humans lower half and making them into Teke-Teke). Some would be harmless though freaky looking such as man-faced dog (Dog with the face of a man often seen digging in garbage, sometimes chases cars, generally tells people who happen to see them to leave them alone). Some would be helpful like the Baku (a monster that eats nightmares).
The ghosts would also have common ghostly powers, though some would be dependent on type, such as the ability to enter dreams (like the astral form of an old man Ranma went on a date with in the manga), hitodama (balls of spiritual fire that most of the ghosts had like the lady ghost who wanted her panties stolen or the Bakeneko, ghost cat, in the manga had), possession, intangibility, ability to place curses, shapeshifting, etc.
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