Subject: Re: More Remarks on Autumn and Spring
From: Angus MacSpon
Date: 12/30/1997, 10:34 PM
To: Talswapr
CC: fanfic@fanfic.com

- why was it necessary for Cologne to play possum before bringing to bear her
secret weapon?  Why not douse Ranma as soon as he tranformed into his youthful
form?  Or when Ukyou joined the fight?

- the reference to Ryouga seems illogical and unnecessary.  With her mind-
control powers, couldn't Cologne easily keep Ryouga out of her cave in the
unlikely event that he would wander by?  Moreover, Ryouga was never a match
for her in a fair fight, so why would she need a secret weapon that acted
against his Jusenkyo curse?  It wouldn't strain my credibility if Cologne
simply explained that she'd spent the past few decades experimenting with
Jusenkyo waters.  She might even have brewed Nannichuan and Chisuiton
substitutes that could come in handy for the happy ending...

Cologne's primary intention was to subdue Ranma by simpler means if at all
possible.  The "split" water was a weapon of last resort, principally
because it's very hard to make.  (She didn't call it a "rare distillation"
for nothing.)
Of course, once the split also failed, she thought up one final ploy
anyway.  Cologne always was a tricky one.

As for Ryouga ... hey, Cologne's whole modus operandi operated through
provoking Despair.  Against Ryouga, this is tantamount to handing him a
loaded pistol.  She couldn't rely on turning him away from her cave because
given Ryouga's sense of direction, ordering him to turn away could make him
turn directly INTO the cave...  :)

I thought of a Chisuiton-based method of splitting people (specifically,
adding a third relic to the Chisuiton/Kasuihuu set) but in the end it would
have complicated the plot needlessly.


And are there any more rabbits left in that hat?

Yes ... :)
I have a short sequel planned (and I do mean short, this time) in which
Ranma and Ukyou try to do something about Shampoo's crippled condition.
(Hint: One of the scenes Ranma saw in the Void was actually from his
FUTURE.)  Things don't quite go as intended, though ...


- the climbing-out-of-the-cave scene is tedious.  I could do without it.  Also
expendable is Ranma's late realization of the severity of Ukyou's solution to
his two-body problem.  _I_ knew immediately exactly what she had done, and I
wasn't even there.

Ranma was quite busy at the time, remember...  I'm pretty sure that _I_
wouldn't assume I'd been killed, in the same circumstances.

The climbing-out-of-the-cave sequence was necessary, I thought, to serve
three purposes:  to provide a contrast to the somewhat frenetic action that
preceded it, and let things slow down to the initial pace again; to cover
yet another unpleasant situation (lost a long way underground without a
light, and with a critically ill person to care for); and to give Ranma and
Ukyou a chance to start working together again, after Ranma's "betrayal" at
the sight of Akane.

If it was tedious -- well, it was partly intended to be.  I do try to give
the flavour of the situation... :)  Actually, it did come out longer than
I'd intended and I had to break chapter 15 in two, but I'm not unhappy at
the outcome.

Anyway, thanks for the kind words...
Angus

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Angus MacSpon                                                Allen Gainsford
http://shell.ihug.co.nz/~macspon/          http://shell.ihug.co.nz/~macspon/