Okay, checked out the "Tribe of Ki Sorcerers". So far, so good. Do I get it right, is the broken Sieve essentially an addict? Was it Ranma's fault rather than Saffron's? Was Identity finished? Do chapters correspond 1-to-1 (or close) in terms of plot progression?
edited 15th Sep '13 10:04:06 AM by TheNobody
Rather than smart, I'd prefer to be wise. It would let me be silly more often.
Relativistic physicist
Is the broken Sieve an addict? I suppose that's one way to put it, if instead of drugs you replace that with emotional energy and the ability to draw that energy out from others, sure.
Was it Ranma's fault rather than Saffron's? Yes (this is something that was present in the original, so I don't feel uncomfortable confirming it).
Do the chapters correspond? Not really, no. Restructuring was a major goal of the rewrite. Chapters in the original were shorter (some quite a bit shorter) than chapters in the rewrite are. Still, the plot follows the same basic progression, and if you do wish to look at the original, starting around FFN chapter 12 should put you in roughly the right neighborhood compared to where the rewrite is.
Was Identity finished? No. The whole first arc of Ranma in Sorcerer hands and the efforts to free him had been concluded, and the second major arc had begun, but at that point, my dissatisfaction with how the first few chapters of the story differed in overall tone and content from the rest had reached a breaking point. Should someone stumble upon Tribe of the Ki Sorcerers out of the blue and read it, they should now get a reasonably good idea of what kind of story it is, where the original really didn't do that, in my opinion.
Thanks for reading. I have a draft of chapter six of the rewrite prepared, but my prereader came back with some significant criticism that's gonna take some time to work out.
Author of The Second Coming (NGE) and The Coin (Haruhi).
Edit: wrong thread.
edited 16th Sep '13 9:18:24 AM by TheNobody
Rather than smart, I'd prefer to be wise. It would let me be silly more often.
And here's the next chapter of Wait, Did That Happen Before?
.
“AAAAAAAUUUUUGH!”
The rock slammed into the screaming boy, barely even slowing down as it finished its arc through the air.
Whump.
“No! You need to hit the breaking point! Don't just scream and cover your face with your free arm! Poke your finger at the rock and hope it explodes, too!” Despite the inherent danger of the training, Naruto grinned maliciously. It wasn't often he'd been playing the role of tormentor lately, and it felt better than he remembered. Even if he was also playing the role of the victim at the moment. Speaking of which... Naruto glared at his languid, unmoving counterpart trapped in a bag and slowly swinging back and forth from the branch of a tree. “Hey! Are you even listening to me? I know you're not unconscious! You're breathing wrong for that.”
A twitch ran through the Naruto in the bag, and abruptly his head snapped back up. “I HATE YOU SO MUCH!”
“Yeah, yeah,” the shadow clone replied, as he grabbed the rope attached to the massive rock and began pulling it back into position for another round. “You're just mad that I'm the one dropping the rock and you're the one eating it.”
“YES! YES I AM! HOW 'BOUT I GET OUT OF THIS THING AND YOU TRY A FEW ROUNDS!?”
“No thanks. I think I'm enjoying this side more than you would, anyway.”
“SCREW YOU!”
Negi stared at the pair of Narutos again. “...Sensei, are you sure he's alright?”
“He's fine,” scoffed Ryouga. “If he's got energy to yell at his clone like that, he's got energy to keep going. Just focus on forming that bandanna into a blade.”
Negi looked down at his bandanna sheepishly. It wasn't like he was trying to put off his exercise. He really was worried about Naruto. That he wasn't making much progress had nothing to do with it. Or at least very little.
“But I thought we weren't letting him use shadow clones anymore,” added Negi, in what was totally not a stalling attempt. Really. “I mean, they can cause brain damage, right?”
“Only when he uses a bunch of them at once for an extended period of time,” replied Ryouga. “Don't worry. I looked into it after he hospitalized himself that first time. As long as he's only using one or only using them for a short period of time, it shouldn't cause any problems. ” Despite his assurance, Ryouga frowned. It shouldn't have even been possible for it to be a problem to begin with. Shadow clones are way too chakra intensive for genin to make, and most jounin can't make as many as Naruto can. And even the ones that can make that many can't sustain them for more than a few minutes. How the hell is it that a genin can make hundreds of them and sustain them for hours at a time?
Negi snuck a glance over at Sakura, who was currently pulling her bandanna out of a tree. Somehow, Sakura had been able to make her bandanna into a blade on the first try. So had Naruto, now that he thought about it, and Naruto never got anything right on the first try. He, on the other hand, was having trouble even getting it to stiffen up.
Negi had never had these kinds of issues before. Ryouga assured him that it had happened to him too, back when he was first starting out, and that he would get better with practice. But from Negi's point of view, it was extremely unsettling. Both of his teammates had been able to get blade-like hardness right from the start. Naruto had actually drawn blood on his first try (even if it was his own blood), and Sakura had proven piercing power. So why was his bandanna so frustratingly flaccid?
Admittedly, Negi did have a theory about his troubles. Unfortunately, if his theory was right, he was going to have a lot more trouble with the exercise than he hoped he would. ...Well, technically he was already having a lot more trouble than he hoped he would, but if his theory was right, he might not be able to get it at all.
He really hoped his theory wasn't right.
As Sakura tugged her bandanna out of the tree she had embedded it in, Ryouga walked up to her. “Alright,” said her sensei. “It looks like you've got the sharpness aspect down. Let's move on to something a little trickier.”
Sakura looked at Ryouga interestedly. “Finally. I knew there had to be something more to this. This was way too easy for that to be all there was to it.”
Some distance away, Negi's shoulders drooped. Something that did not escape Sakura's attention.
“Ah! I mean, this was very hard!” Sakura quickly lied, only to immediately see the problem with her claim. “I mean, uh... It's just that I have very good chakra control. And Negi and Naruto don't.”
“But Naruto also did it on his first try,” said Ryouga, looking a little confused.
Negi's shoulders drooped further.
Sakura decided to try a different angle. “Everyone has some things they're bad at! I mean, look at me! I can't... uh... I can't sing worth a damn!” At Sakura's odd claim, a look of understanding dawned on Ryouga's face.
“Don't worry, Sakura! I'm sure you have a beautiful singing voice!” chimed in Naruto, only to suddenly look confused. Wait. Why did I say that?
Sakura stiffened. Count on Naruto to screw up a situation like this while trying to help. “I don't, really. Absolutely terrible at it.”
Ryouga just looked on in amusement. “Actually, Negi seems to progressing at about a normal rate. It's just that you and Naruto are weirdly good at this. I didn't have this down reliably until I was fifteen, and even then, I couldn't make them stay solid for more than a few seconds at a time.” Ryouga smirked. “That said, I managed to get this next part down much pretty quick. Comparatively, anyways.”
Withdrawing another bandanna from his head, revealing yet another beneath it, Ryouga spun the piece of cloth around his fingers, then flung it toward the trees nearby. Sakura, Negi, Naruto, and Naruto's shadow clone watched as the bandanna flew straight toward the gap between the trees, apparently missing its target.
“Hah!” said Naruto's shadow clone, pointing at the poorly aimed headband. “You missed!”
Abruptly, the bandanna swerved to the side, shearing a large chunk off the back of a tree. A feat that was met with stunned silence from the genin.
“By manipulating your chakra in the bandanna,” explained Ryouga, “it's possible to alter its trajectory even after you've thrown it.”
“Hah!” said Naruto, pointing at his shadow clone with his free hand. “You're an idi-OOF!” Unfortunately, his insult was interrupted by a large rock slamming into him.
“Oops, looks like my hand slipped,” said Naruto's shadow clone. “Remember to hit the breaking point!”
“HATE YOU!”
An hour later, Ryouga called an end to their respective training sessions. Neither Negi nor Naruto had made any progress in their training. Sakura, on the other hand, had progressed to the point that she could influence the vectors of up to three different bandannas simultaneously while maintaining iron-like hardness in each of them. It had been a frustrating blow to Negi's ego to see both of his teammates accomplish with ease something he didn't seem to be making any progress on, and Naruto was absolutely livid by the time Ryouga cut him down from his torture sack. Needless to say, both of them had built of quite a bit of frustration.
“Alright,” said Ryouga. “Now that you've all had time to warm up, I want all of you come at me at once. Our next training is a full-contact, three on one sparring session against me. Feel free to use whatever weapons, jutsu, and tricks you've got on your person. If any of you can so much as land a single strike on me, I'll teach you something of your choice. Or in Naruto's case, give you the option to stop learning a certain jutsu if you'd prefer that instead.”
“No way!” yelled Naruto. “I'm learning this jutsu, even if it kills me!”
“Just an offer,” replied Ryouga. “I'm more than willing to teach you whatever you'd like. Assuming, of course, you can land a hit.” Ryouga paused to inspect his students. Naruto was snarling openly. Negi was trying but failing to completely hide his frustration. Sakura was actually grinning. Ryouga smirked. Looks like Negi's the only one who understands the magnitude of what I'm asking them to do. “Well? What are you waiting for? Let's go.”
“Bunshin no Jutsu!”
“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”
Ten Negis suddenly appeared in a circle around the original, followed promptly by several dozen Narutos. In an instant, the horde of ninja surged forward, apparently attempting to overwhelm with quantity what they couldn't hope to match with quality.
As the swarm of clones converged on him, Ryouga began lashing out. Keeping himself restrained to light taps, just enough to stun, the jounin began rapidly clearing out the horde of mostly orange-clad ninja. Every few seconds he would swipe his way through an illusory Negi, although he couldn't seem to find the real thing.
“KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!”
Another wave of shadow clones joined the first. Ryouga snorted. Naruto had apparently decided he just wasn't using enough clones. The problem was that Naruto was pouring in so many clones that his teammates couldn't do anything. At this rate, Negi and Sakura are going to be stuck at the sidelines until Naruto gets a clue. And that could take a while.
“Bunshin no Jutsu!”
“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”
As the swarm of ninja burst forward, Negi grabbed the Sakura and the real Naruto by their arms. “Wait!”
Both Sakura and Naruto aborted their rush to join the fray. “What?” they asked in unison.
“Hold on,” Negi stated, then turned to his blond teammate. “Naruto, quick, make a bunch more clones!”
“Easy,” replied Naruto, his hands flying into a cross seal. Immediately, three hundred more shadow clones burst into existence, then dove into the fray. “But no whining about it if I get the hit in first.”
You won't, Negi nearly muttered, but the boy managed to stop himself at the last second. “That's fine,” he said instead. “Now that we've got some time, listen. Ryouga is a jounin. If we just attack him head on, we're not going to get anywhere. We need a plan.”
“I've got a plan,” replied Naruto.
“Naruto, swarming Sensei with clones until you get a lucky hit is not a plan,” replied Sakura.
“Yes it is,” replied Naruto. “Watch! KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!” Naruto formed another cross seal, and several hundred more clones joined the ocean of orange.
“I think that's enough clones for now, Naruto,” said Negi, eying the growing swarm worriedly. I really hope Ryouga dispels those quickly enough to prevent Naruto from accumulating even more brain-damage.
“You just don't want me to get the hit in,” accused Naruto.
“If that many clones can't land a hit, a few hundred more aren't going to make a difference,” said Sakura.
Naruto paused to consider this.
“Look, just listen for a second. I've got a plan, and if all goes well, we'll each get a hit in.” Naruto looked at Negi doubtfully, while Sakura stared at him with complete faith in her eyes. Negi wasn't particularly pleased with either look, but pressed on nonetheless. “Right. Here's what we need to do."
Fun fact: my list of ongoing fanfics I follow has 13 names related to Naruto, and 7 not related to Naruto. Even though I like Ranma more.
Quick, recommend some fanfics. Hyouka? Detective Conan? Spice and Wolf? Crest of the Stars? Anyone?
Rather than smart, I'd prefer to be wise. It would let me be silly more often.
The Titans and the Lost Boy. Dark Titans. The Road to Cydonia. Reflections Lost on a Dark Road.
All of them are Ranma One Half crossovers, and all of them are good. Although the last two on that list are kind of dark.
Hmm, those two that aren't dark - can you tell me more about them, please?
Rather than smart, I'd prefer to be wise. It would let me be silly more often.
The Titans and the Lost Boy is a crossover between Ranma One Half and Teen Titans. In it, Ryouga stumbles across the Titans fighting Cinderblock in China when he catches Raven falling from the sky. After defeating Cinderblock and Hive, the Titans and Ryouga end up staying at Juketsuzoku while the Titans get their ship repaired. After spending a few weeks there, they leave, and Ryouga parts ways with them. Only to immediately get abducted and brainwashed by Brother Blood. The Hive Academy for Extraordinary Young Persons then goes on to kidnap and brainwash half of the Nerima Wrecking Crew (and Nabiki and Kasumi), who are then used as weapons against the Titans. From there on, the story switches back and forth between the Titans suddenly up against martial artists that completely outclass them and Ranma and what remains of the Nerima Wrecking Crew trying to figure out who took their friends.
Dark Titans is a sequel where Ryouga joins the Teen Titans, Ranma starts his own team in Japan, Jinx becomes Happosai's apprentice, and the Titans actually take action to try to revive Terra.
I'd like to rec Roses of Shadow [1]. I hope it hasn't already been brought up and I missed it somewhere.
For Want Of A Nail fic, the nail being that Ranma's curse activates in his duel with Kodachi, and Akane tries to fix it with a firehose while he's in midair, which knocks him out of the ring and makes him the loser of the match. On top of that Kodachi manages to buy one of Genma's many "Engagement to Ranma Saotome" contracts so he's caught good and well and goes to live with the Kunos. The meat of the story is that Ranma's stuck in a situation he can't punch his way out of. He finds out just why and how the Kunos are so broken and needs to basically invent Anything Goes Psychology and fix the their many mental defects in order to get himself free again.
It's complete.
Springs Ranma Should Never Fall Into.
"So, Tendou-san, as you can see, your issues are the result of a long ingrained feeling of male inadequacy brought by intense opression from your father and your master, plus competition from my father. You must realize, not only you measure favorably next to my father, but you can be an achieved, strong and proud man as long as you actually try. Also, I'd suggest you to start dating again."
Soun cried thick streams of manly tears. "Thank you, Ranma! I'll never forget your help!"
"Akane, in the current age, you must realize there is nothing wrong with your feminity. Don't concern yourself about measuring to your mother and eldest sister's standards of traditional behavior, since you are a well liked person the way you are. Additionally, in order to improve your cooking, I advice you to practice with a clear mind and without pressuring yourself. Meditation and yoga may help you to ease your nerves."
"... that's bulls— Surprisingly deep and helpful advice, Ranma. Thank you."
"Nabiki, you are perfectly sound and rational. You just happen to be a bitch."
"Hey, it works for me."
"Kasumi-san, you need to realize your deeply rooted complexes before being able to reach true happiness. Starting tomorrow, we will have a series of therapy sessions to make you realize the true causes of your lack of identity, expressed through a complete devotion to others. Loyalty is fine, but not as long as it comes at the expense of your own personal development."
"Will we be doing that before or after dinner?"
"We'll order takeout. Kuno-sempai, Kodachi, as for your disadjustements, they are the result of years of parental abandonment and negligence. From today, you will start taking these pills, one after each meal, and you will contact this specialist for further advice, since being near you sickens me."
"Likewise. I think. I'd be hitting you right now if I understood half of what you have said."
"Ooohh! These pills look like aphrodisiac candies of love! I will consume them eagerly, if they are recommended by you, Ranma-sama!"
"As for you, Ryouga—"
"I know. Do you think I haven't tried therapy before? That I wouldn't resort to anything in my struggles to make sense out of my miserable, sad existence?"
"Have you been able to attend more than one therapy with a single specialist?"
"DON'T TRY CONFUSING ME WITH TRICK QUESTIONS, DAMN IT!"
Genma cried at a corner. "Nodoka will kill us! He should be swallowing all of his pain and bottling it up under layers and layers of denial and social inadequacy, like a good Japanese man...!"
edited 29th Sep '13 2:08:11 PM by NapoleonDeCheese
Fandom Heretic
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
I approve of this Ranma. ![[tup]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Thumbs_up_emoticon_3268.png "[thumb up]"){kind=small}
![[lol]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lol2v12_4863.png "[lol]"){kind=small}
Just had an idea for a fic. Ranma and Akane are gender-flipped. Everyone else is the same gender as before.
Genma takes his daughter, Ranma, on a 10-year training trip, where they run into Jusenkyou. Ranma falls into the spring of drowned boy. They go to Japan, where they meet the Tendos. When Ranma shows up as a guy, Soun promptly tries to switch the engagement to Nabiki or Kasumi, prior to finding out the truth, at which point it's switched back to Akane, who's less than happy about finding out his fiance is a part-time dude.
The fic would explore the differences and similarities to canon. Akane, being male instead of female, would have something of a rivalry going with Kuno, and would be a somewhat sexist Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy. Ranma, being female, would not have met Ryouga in middle school. Instead, their first meeting would be when she knocked him into Jusenkyou (and would thus only know Ranma by her cursed form). Shampoo would be chasing Ranma for the kiss of marriage at first, and the kiss of death later (and the kiss of death would be the one that would stick in the end). Ukyou would not be a fiance, but someone who had their livelihood stolen by Genma Saotome. Cologne would not be an ally, but a bigger threat than Happosai. Mousse would be significantly less motivated to kill Ranma. The Kunos would possess similar relationships with Ranma as their canon counterparts. Also, Akane would be repeatedly emasculated by losing fights to powerful female martial artists trying to get at Ranma and by having to be saved by Ranma herself.
Not sure how to deal with Nodoka. Likewise, I'm not sure if I'm actually going to write this. But since the idea's in my brain now, I figured I'd put it somewhere in case I actually decided to do it.
edited 15th Oct '13 6:47:17 PM by Hyp3rB14d3
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
I could certainly see Genma insist on raising the female Ranma much more like a boy than a girl, and even go as to trick the Kuonjis into thinking that she's a boy and thus promise "his" hand in marriage to Ukyo in return for the dowry.
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
That was done before by Takahashi herself, with Ryuunosuke in Urusei Yatsura.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
If you want to keep the same seppuku contract drama that Nodoka has with Ranma in canon, she needs a new motivation, obviously. Perhaps this version of Nodoka, rather than focusing on gender roles, now focuses on gender equality. The contract now specifies that Genma will raise Ranma to be "A woman who never relies on a man." She has no problem with Ranma being a total tomboy (otherwise she'd never let Genma take her), and probably celebrates that aspect. Perhaps she really wouldn't even think the gender swapping's a problem but Genma doesn't want to run that risk, and his panic over it infects Ranma leading to the same issues anyway, only this time it's all about nothing.
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
Actually, I'm more inclined to think that Nodoka would want her daughter to be a "woman among women".
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
The problem is that opens up a brain-breaking plot hole. Why would she have such a goal, yet still send Ranma off to live with Genma alone for ten years? He's not exactly a bastion of feminine virtue and the thought that he could possibly teach Ranma womanly ways better than Nodoka could is too crazy even for Ranmaverse characters. Nodoka has to have a goal for Ranma that is clearly served by having her practically raised by wolves or the training trip needs to be called off.
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
Solution: He ran away with Ranma when he couldn't sway Nodoka, and while he's running off in the distance the enraged Nodoka swears that she'll have them (and maybe herselfnote ) go through seppuku if he dares to not teach her how to be a perfect traditional woman/lady.
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
edited 20th Oct '13 12:56:07 AM by Hyp3rB14d3
This... Is not Haiku.
Rather than smart, I'd prefer to be wise. It would let me be silly more often.
No. No it is not.
Then, I don't get it. Even with the picture. Something about "Samurai Kuno", but what exactly?
Rather than smart, I'd prefer to be wise. It would let me be silly more often.
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
Ranma takes the role of Samurai Jack's villain, Aku, while Kuno takes the role of Samurai Jack's title character and hero. The not-haiku is an adaptation of what Aku says in the beginning of each Samurai Jack episode.
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Happosai is more versatile and challenging as an adversary, but OTOH he shows up just way too much. Maybe he'd be less annoying with less appearances under his belt, especially when, save minor setbacks and humiliations, he's such a long term Karma Houdini.